Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 747 Scorching Economy ([-])

"Consumption is the ultimate goal of all production." This motto of the Finance and Economics Specialized School under the Ministry of Industry and Commerce explains the mystery of the commodity economy very profoundly.Unlike the soybean and machine milling industries in Meilin County and Zhenhai County, which produced a surplus of goods that far exceeded their own needs, many areas in the northern part of Ping’an County, which have close business ties with the Portuguese, are typical consumption-oriented production. .

In Ping'an Township, the largest heavy industry center in the East Coast Republic of China, the proportion of local residents is quite high among workers. They do not carry out agricultural production, and rely entirely on food such as grains, meat, and oil imported from the outside world.As for other small commodities that are not produced on the east coast itself, they are all produced by the Portuguese on the mountain.

As the East Coast's economy grew and its population grew, so did the Portuguese towns on the hills.A large number of white people who could not get along in the Old World for various reasons flocked here, settled down in Blacksmith Town, New Dundee Town, Slave Town, and Captain Ricardo Town, and then produced products such as buttons, sewing needles, and fish through handicraft workshops. Small commodities such as hooks, woven bags, hat brims, and leather shoes are exported to neighboring Ping'an County for profit.The business is so big and the number of employees is so great that almost fifty tons of grain are transported from Baoan Township on the east bank to the Portuguese territory on the mountain every month, which is staggering.

In fact, it's normal to think about it carefully.Most of the "Portugueses" on the mountain come from Portugal, England, Ireland and Scotland in the Old World, and most of them are handicraftsmen. They use their crafts to earn huge profits from the people on the east coast, so they naturally don't have time to come. Food is produced.In fact, Brazil's grain planting industry has been on the verge of collapse under the impact of cheap grains on the east coast in the past few years. They are a little afraid of the aggressive east coast government and dare not take measures to restrict imports such as trade barriers. Therefore, those The already scarce grain plantations could not compete with the low-cost east coast grains, and began to switch to tobacco, sugar cane or cotton on a large scale.Apart from producing a small amount of wheat for themselves and their families, these white planters relied on importing wheat bran, potatoes, sweet potatoes or cassava from the east coast to solve most of their food—these were for slaves and low-class people (mixed blood) people) edible.

But not everyone is willing to stay on the mountain to eat wheat bran, sweet potatoes, and cassava. Some Britons who have no skills (meaning no objective income) have overcome their fear of pagans under the stimulation of a good life. Under the "inspection" of the border guards on the east bank who turned a blind eye (they were allowed to enter but not allowed to leave), they crossed the border and entered the east coast to seek life.

In this kind of cross-border immigration, Ping'an County, an important city on the east coast, has played a decisive role in its relatively good life.For example, those "New Brazilians" found that the wives and children of farmers or workers on the east bank were often strong, which meant that they had enough food; What's more, a booklet "50 Different Ways to Make Pork" which is quite popular in Ping'an County also aroused the dissatisfaction of these bitter old mainland low-level dicks on the east coast. Yearn for.Therefore, even though the people on the east coast are all heretics, and even though the East Coast is full of depraved Hells according to the priest’s propaganda, a considerable number of indentured slaves tortured by hunger still try their best to escape from the plantations where they work, and then look for opportunities to enter within the east coast.

According to incomplete statistics, in 1648, more than 500 people crossed the border into the east coast and never left. Most of these people came from Britain.With the accelerated economic development of the east coast and the huge thirst for labor, the number of Britons crossing the border into the east coast exceeded 1649 in the first three months of 1000. The number of "illegal immigrants" in China will reach more than 3000 people-an extremely surprising number.

These immigrants who illegally cross the border often choose to live in Ping'an County first.The river digging site in Baoan Township, the orchard in Liming Township, the wharf in Pingan Township, and the coal mine in Meihe Township all provided them with pretty good transitional jobs.After getting acquainted with the domestic situation on the east bank, accumulating a little travel expenses, and obtaining a formal identity certificate, they will be registered by officials sent by the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and then scattered to various new and old settlements in the east bank for resettlement , Try not to let them stay in the original place, so as to reduce all kinds of unnecessary troubles.

With the Southwest Railway and the South Railway Company developing Patagonia and other projects, there was a huge demand for labor. From the second half of 48, these white indentured slaves who spontaneously immigrated began to be gradually assigned to the railway construction site. A few were also planned to be sent to Xingnan Port to support the construction of the Southern Railway Company, which undoubtedly greatly relieved the domestic hunger for labor.

Immigrants and goods constitute the communication link between Brazil and the East Coast.Brazil's small handicrafts, sugar, spices, tobacco, cotton, tropical fruits, timber, and population flowed continuously from north to south, while grains, oil, bean cakes, leather goods, textiles, steel, briquettes, building materials, and hardware on the east coast Products, soaps, medicines, and some luxury goods (such as clocks, whale oil candles, etc.) flowed from south to north. In a few years, their net worth increased several times, and then they joined forces to form a large syndicate, monopolizing most of the trade between Brazil and the East Coast.

The increasing prosperity of trade and the inflow of a large number of people are self-evident for the benefits of Ping'an County.First of all, Ping An's infrastructure is the best among the eight counties in the country (including the newly established Xiayihe County and Qingdao County), which benefits from a large number of cheap to almost unpaid illegal immigrant labor. After digging irrigation canals, loading and unloading bags of goods on and off the ship, mining tons of coal from the ground, etc.; secondly, some handicraft workers also immigrated to the east bank, and they brought to the east bank The craftsmanship of filling the blank increased the level of productivity and enriched the commodity market; finally, the flow of goods from south to north brought a large amount of commercial taxation to Ping'an County and greatly stimulated the development of various local economies.In 48, the financial revenue of Ping'an County surpassed that of Dongfang County, the capital, and reached the first place in the country.The buoyant trade with Brazil accounted for nearly one-third of the scorching economic data.

In addition to these spontaneous immigrants, Valentino, a famous labor broker from Italy, is also importing large groups of Italian and Spanish immigrants (mainly persecuted Catalans) to the east bank.Due to the special instructions and economic incentives from the East Coast government, Valentino is now paying more and more attention to introducing skilled craftsmen to the East Coast.

For example, in December 48, more than 12 Italian glassblowers were fully loaded on a ship from Pisa to the Port of Orient; in January this year, more than 80 German beer brewers from Württemberg passed through the port of Livorno, Italy. Came to the east coast; in February, more than 1 Catalan wool carders who were persecuted by the Kingdom of Spain transited through the port of Messina, Italy, escaped from that nightmare country for them, and came to the east coast of China The port of Rocha in the Republic...

Except for a few of these skilled immigrants who were assigned to Dongfang County, most of them were assigned to the North Yazihu ​​area—especially Pingan County. While making the local population reach 2.9, it also contributed to the extremely hot economy of Ping’an County. Adding another fire, the county's economic scale, financial income and population are all ranked first in the country, and the distance between the county and the capital, Dongfang County, is getting wider and wider.

Qian Hao, the magistrate of Ping'an County, was quite pleased with this phenomenon, which also prompted him to take a more tolerant attitude towards illegal immigrants.For example, he strongly suppressed the accusations of the old immigrants in the county (mainly the Ming people) against the outsiders: they nicknamed these Britons who came over the mountains a "migratory bird"; The "barbarians" refused to receive them or charged more expensive fees than ordinary people. There were all kinds of discrimination and humiliation. Even though they themselves immigrated from Daming not long ago, prejudice took root so naturally.

Fortunately, Qian Hao, the local chief executive, believes that the local residents' criticism of these new immigrants is groundless.Because these people basically do the work left by local people, and the food they eat is mainly South African sorghum and potatoes and sweet potatoes shipped from Dongfang County. Occasionally eating some meat does not seem to be able to push up the local meat on a large scale. price.Therefore, he strongly suppressed these voices of doubt, which made the population of Ping’an County grow far beyond the national average. Last year, it increased by 18% (the net increase after excluding the death rate of 68.5 per [-]). At the same time, the economy of Ping'an County has achieved a rapid development far exceeding the national average level.

It is obvious that a larger population means a larger market and economic scale, as well as more government revenue.Ping'an County is such a living example. The vigorous cross-border commodity trade and active population immigration are the only way for the county to maintain rapid economic development.At the same time, different cultures, concepts, ideas and living habits collided fiercely here, and then blended with each other, all of which made Pingan County develop its own unique culture.And this does not seem to be a bad thing for the people who have traveled through. The new nation will naturally develop a different culture from the mother country.

(End of this chapter)