Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 704 The Great Western Wilderness ([-])

The roar of the steam plow resounded in the field. It was a machine leased by Dahuang Farm to dig trenches and drain water.

Today is the fourth day, and the work of leveling the land and digging ditches is still going on here.Li Dayan felt that he could no longer see anything new, so he packed his bags, bid farewell to these pioneers, and then continued westward, toward the next destination—the future Jose Batlle Ordones The bush farm near the town.

A bush farm, as the name suggests, is a farm cleared from bushes.This farm was established earlier than the Dahuang Farm, and the investment is even greater: the farm has introduced more than 40 investors including veterans, big businessmen, and cross-travelers, and raised a total of more than 3 yuan in funds.They jointly registered a unit called the Shrub Agricultural Development Company, and based on this, they issued ten-year corporate bonds totaling 1 yuan to the rich and powerful Dong'an Company as a reserve fund for early agricultural development.

It can be seen from the above that the shrub farm has sufficient capital and its development prospects will be quite good.

In fact, this is also the case. Since the shrub company leased the land here more than five months ago, a series of large-scale development operations have been launched successively.First, they used a gravity roller machine pulled by multiple bulls to overwhelm the bushes on the wasteland, and then set them on fire to burn them all.Of course, this kind of rough action is definitely not thorough, and there will definitely be many wooden piles left in the ground, but this is not important. After two years of cultivation, the root system in the ground will be completely destroyed.And after the first season of grain harvesting, the cultivators can set fire to the land again, so that the remaining tree buds in the soil will be completely gone.

The Shrub Company currently recruits not many people, only about 90 to [-] people, all poor ghosts from Scotland and Ireland.They were introduced by Mendez, a famous Portuguese agent who was active in the Gerard Mountains. They seemed to be able to endure hardships, so they negotiated a five-year employment contract with a monthly salary of four yuan. The Backshrub Company can apply for the citizenship of the East Coast Republic of China for these people.

Since Li Dayan and others arrived here on August 8, they have been attracted by the hard work of these Scottish and Irish people.Every morning they ate black bread, and at noon they ate some sorghum rice—if the work was heavy, they would add an extra piece of salted fish or a bowl of broth, and at night they ate black noodles with vegetables.The food conditions are not good, but the work is so difficult that Li Dayan can't figure out what is supporting them to work here.

A manager of the farm revealed to Li Dayan the answer to the question: First, most of the pioneers came from the overpopulated areas of the Old World. Lacking the necessary labor skills, they can only join the construction industry in addition to agricultural work.

Secondly, the policy of obtaining East Coast citizenship and then obtaining five acres of free land is very attractive to them.They work for the farmers, and they earn four yuan a month including food and housing, which means that they can theoretically have 48 yuan in cash left over a year. This net income is decent enough even in a city like London. They can be compared to a trained craftsman, but they are just the humblest farmers.

Finally, they don't have to worry about being involved in wars at any time here, and they don't have to worry about being heavily taxed by kings and nobles who are about to go bankrupt because of the war.Mostly from Scotland and Ireland, they were fed up with greedy nobles and endless wars, so life in the New World made them feel very comfortable, especially when they hoped to get a piece of land of their own.

"The above are the direct reasons why they are willing to work hard." The administrator of the bush farm said, "And after they settle down, they will undoubtedly spread the news back to the Old Continent, which will attract more landless farmers to come by boat Our country. As far as I know, our East Coast Republic of China seems to be the only country in the world that provides new immigrants with land, houses, and even women, and I heard from my cousin who works in the capital that the government seems to be brewing to legislate these contents Written and fixed in the form of law. Oh, it seems that the name has been thought of, and it is called "Homestead Law."

Of course Li Dayan knew about the Homestead Law.As a senior editor of "Pravda", he is very concerned about the government's various policies that have not been introduced.To be honest, the "Homestead Law" is currently a lot of controversy, and it is still uncertain whether it can be rolled out smoothly.The main content of this law is: Anyone who has lived in the East Coast Republic of China for five years and obtained nationality will be given a piece of land with an area of ​​[-] mu for free in an undeveloped area of ​​the government (tax-free for the first five years) ), if he continues to cultivate the land for five consecutive years, then he will own the land permanently.

The "Homestead Law" changed the land given to new immigrants by the government for free from five acres to thirty acres, but the scope was also firmly limited to the undeveloped areas of the government, which generally refers to the large grasslands west of Xiling on the east bank area.Today, when European immigrants are becoming more and more strict, this law is almost the only way for European male immigrants to obtain land.After all, in terms of the immigration policy on the east coast in recent years, except for the Ming people in the East and the purchased female slaves who automatically obtained nationality, it was very difficult for European immigrants—especially male immigrants—to obtain nationality.

At present, the East Coast Republic is only recruiting a small number of immigrants (both men and women) in Livonia. These people are taking the channel of the unified arrangement of the government, that is, the government arranges them to newly-built settlements and allocates five acres of land for free , and at the same time provide a set of houses at a low price (mortgage loan available).As for the immigrants from European countries who spontaneously poured into the east coast, apart from marrying the nationals of the east coast, which is a shortcut to obtain nationality, they have to wait for five years to live in the country - of course, the introduction of special talents is not included, that is Citizenship granted on the spot.

The launch of the "Homestead Law" is currently facing many obstacles. Most of the people who want to implement this law are business owners, large farm renters, construction companies and other units or individuals. They are extremely thirsty for labor.It can be said that if it is not expressly prohibited by the government, these people would dare to bring in black slaves to work. They only need labor force, and they don’t care about anything else. Therefore, they are very enthusiastic about the introduction of the "Homestead Law" that seems to attract more foreign population. .

As for the opposition, they are mainly conservatives or nationalists. These people are wary of the possible increase in European male immigrants year by year, and believe that the influx of these people will lead to the "discoloration" of the East Coast Republic of China. , so they strongly opposed the promulgation and implementation of the Homestead Law.However, judging from the current situation, it seems that they are slightly at a disadvantage, and the situation is not very optimistic. This is mainly due to the rapid development of domestic industry and commerce, and many transversal people are investing heavily. It is not difficult to understand which side to sit on when the interests are involved up.

"If the "Homestead Law" can be introduced, it should have an extremely far-reaching impact." Li Dayan sighed. In fact, he didn't know whether it was a good thing or a bad thing.On the surface, it seems that the government can sit back and wait for the influx of foreign immigrants to open up wasteland for free, but in fact, the introduction of too many foreign populations will definitely pose a serious threat to the transportation, medical care, education and even security in the East Coast. It is possible to change the ethnic composition of the nation.But on the other hand, this will undoubtedly have a huge role in accelerating the development of domestic industry and agriculture on the east coast. At least the manpower gap in the large farms in the west and the road construction army active in various parts of the country will be greatly made up for.

"Actually, as a farm manager and shareholder, I really hope that a large number of cheap labor from the old continent can be introduced. This goes without saying." The native administrator on the east coast said very honestly, "but from the perspective of personal feelings In other words, I really don’t want a large number of people from other races to flood into my living environment, even if my parents and mothers came from this way before. My father is from the Ming Dynasty and my mother is from Switzerland, but now I feel People from both countries don't feel very close. Well, I admit I'm such a combination of contradictions."

Li Dayan was keenly aware of the national sentiment in the words of the young farm manager. This man may have received a complete East Coast education since he was a child, and maybe there is a group of people around him who have the same understanding as him. All these make Li Dayan Vaguely realize that maybe a new ethnic consciousness or even a national consciousness has taken root in the minds of these new generation of young people.At this time, if there are caring people who will continue to cultivate and persist in two or three generations, the brand-new East Coast nation will be fully formed here.

Perhaps, some wars with foreign countries will speed up this process.

After bidding farewell to the young farm manager, Li Dayan finally remembered his mission, so he led his subordinates to be active around the farm, observing and interviewing at the same time, in order to obtain first-hand information as much as possible.You know, the interview drafts they are writing are all to be submitted to the Government Council and the Executive Committee as an internal reference for "Pravda" for reading.It is definitely not enough to be empty, there must be something to say.

On August 8, after living on the farm for a week, Li Dayan and his party finally said goodbye to this place, and then, under the escort of a group of cavalry patrolling here, they headed for Ningjinbao, the nearest settlement.After arriving at Ningjin Fort, they will continue to ride horses to Xiayihe Fort, and then return to the capital Dongfang Port by river steamer and train.

(End of this chapter)