Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 782

On October 1649, 10, Xingnan River, heavy snow.

With an unexpected cold current, the Xingnan River that traverses the entire Gobi Desert was once again shrouded in heavy snow.The surface of the river was completely white, and the snow fell on the thick ice, and it piled up in a short time.The reeds in the distance were blown up and down one after another in the cold wind, and the migratory birds that would stay here in summer disappeared at this time, and it seemed that they all went to the north.

This is Southern Patagonia, a semi-arid desert in one of the few cold regions on Earth.In this harsh environment, only the occasional snowfall every winter can bring the precious source of life to the dry land.The wild bushes, weeds, and sparse drought-tolerant trees all depend on it for their survival.

More than a dozen short, stocky men with disheveled hair, wrapped in thick cotton clothes, were walking quickly on a road that winds into the distance in the wild.The cold wind was biting outside, and the snowflakes went straight into the collar of the man's shirt accompanied by the howling westerly wind, but none of the dozen or so people present dared to complain aloud.This is not because they are high-minded, but because they are all from Newcastle, and they are so-called ex-reform through labor prisoners who need to "rehabilitate".

There are about 800 male residents from Newcastle, almost all of whom are from the Far East, and all of them are captives from various countries captured in previous wars.Among them, the Manchu Eight Banners accounted for about 40%, which is the largest group of people; in addition, the Han Eight Banners and Green Camp prisoners accounted for about 30%, the second largest number; the rest were wild Jurchen, Koreans, and even Two Siberian Cossacks who strayed into Temple Street from the Yayang Bay area.

These people were sent to black water coal mines, logging camps and brick kiln factories for several years of labor reform. They were released after serving their sentences the year before last, and then they were shipped to the southern Patagonia region and formed a village in the area of ​​Zinuovo. Reclamation.The Southern Railway Company, which was in charge of managing them, promised them that as long as they were honest and did not cause trouble, everyone would get five acres of land after a one-year inspection period.The next thing will be smooth, as long as they continue to cultivate their own land for several years, they can apply for the nationality of the East Coast Republic of China.

These people have been in the cold Heishui Port for several years, and they have to go out to work even in winter. The heavy and hard work has long obliterated their various small thoughts.At this time, they traveled across the ocean and came to the New World, and their superiors gave them a seemingly reliable way out and a stable future. Naturally, they all agreed.Coupled with the fact that some Italian prostitutes who wanted to be good were transported to Newcastle to live in Newcastle a while ago. They saw that getting married and having children was no longer a big problem, so their enthusiasm was fully mobilized.

This time, the Southern Railway Company is doing large-scale construction projects on the south bank of the Xingnan River. It plans to spend a lot of money to build a railway across the southern cone, connecting the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. Then venture through the swell, fog, reef, and windy Strait of Magellan.Therefore, in a sense, this is a strategic railway.For the Southern Railway Company, it is the foundation of its life, and for the East Coast Republic, it is a convenient passage for immigrants. If it can be completed one day earlier, it will be completed one day earlier.

However, before building this railway, the Southern Railway Company invested about 30 yuan to build a simple sandy road beside the railway.This road is started in multiple sections at the same time to ensure that it can be completed within one year.In fact, it is almost the same. Thanks to the efforts of the road guard team, a large number of Krandi people in the La Plata area were arrested and repaired on the construction site. They used their hands to repair this key road before the end of the year. A seven seven eight eight.

At present, this simple sand road named Xingnan Highway has been mostly completed, and the remaining finishing work can be completed in about one and a half months. In this way, this road was completed half a month earlier than the original plan. Woolen cloth.This is due to the use of a large number of modern machines such as ox-pull roller machines, steam plows, and gravel rollers by the Southern Railway Company, which greatly improved the construction efficiency.In addition, the Xingnan Highway is located on the edge of the Gobi Desert, the land is fairly flat, and the materials used for road construction are easy to obtain, so this greatly reduces the time it takes to build the road.

After the road surface was completely compacted with a gravel roller, God also gave me face, and there were several heavy snowfalls, and the road could be used immediately.No, this group of residents from Newcastle wearing cotton coats came to the field road to check the road surface at this moment. All of them are also very nervous, and often go out to carefully check the construction status of the road.

"The road surface is very solid, and it sticks after it snows. Wait for another month, and when the weather gets warmer and the snow melts, you can do whatever you want on this road, and it will last a long time if you keep it." A man with a knife on his forehead The man with Scar walked around the road twice, and when he came back, he said to everyone: "This section of the road can be inspected and accepted. If you report it early, you can get a bonus for early completion. It costs a few dollars per person. After sending it, everyone can go to pay for it." Daqu in the bottle river warms the body."

The middle-aged man in the lead nodded slightly when he heard the words, and said: "Check carefully again, and there is nothing wrong. Everyone struggled from Kuyi Island to this new... Well, the new continent is not easy. Since the yellow clothes ... The masters on the east bank are so magnanimous to us and give everyone a chance to reform, then we have to do our errands carefully and honestly! Only when the errands are done to the satisfaction of the masters can we live in the future Comfortable!"

"It's such a reason!" Everyone immediately responded with one tongue, and after they finished speaking, they started to separate and braved the heavy snow, and began to carefully inspect the road.Their inspection standards for road quality are undoubtedly harsh. Some roads with minor flaws may not be taken seriously when the South Railway Company inspects and accepts them, but they just don't let them go. Kelandi road builders resting in their houses and tents and asked them to rectify on the spot.

The pitiful gang of Kelandi road construction workers had just finished repairing this section of road exhaustedly before. They had only rested for less than a day, and they were picked up from the rest place again, saying that they would go to the construction site to rework .Isn’t this tormenting people? Some Kelandi workers were immediately unhappy. They justified something in their own native language. They seemed very excited and danced and danced to make the shackles on their feet rattle.

The former Eight Banners soldiers looked at each other, then unanimously pulled out the sabers around their waists, grabbed the hair of a Kelandi worker who made the most noise, and dragged him to the field more than ten meters away. Raising a knife like a wild dog, he knew his life in an instant.

Once such a cruel method was adopted, the remaining Kelandi workers had no more nonsense, and followed the Eight Banners soldiers like frightened quails one by one, and headed for the construction site.Even though the westerly wind is howling outside, the snowflakes are flying, even if the ground is frozen hard and it is difficult to construct, even if they are really tired, all these are nothing in the face of the threat of death. , Let's talk about the road surface that needs rectification.

These supervisors drew their swords to kill people when they disagreed, and reported the death to the higher-ups after the killing. The higher-ups only cared about the progress and quality of the road, and didn't care about anything else, so death was tantamount to death in vain.In this case, it is better not to go against their good, and it is not wrong.Didn't the above say that as long as we build roads and earn points, we will be sent to Xinhua Island to settle down once the points are enough.I heard that giving back the land is considered a way out, and there is no reason to die before dawn in vain because of disobedience to these god-killing supervisors, it is not worth it!

This kind of story is happening almost simultaneously in ten sections along the entire line (the total length of Xingnan Highway is about [-] kilometers).With the efforts of the Eight Banners soldiers from Xinbao who served as supervisors and some gauchos hired by the east bank, the Xingnan Highway can almost be regarded as the same level in the East Coast Republic of China in terms of construction speed and road quality. The number one in the graded roads made President Mo Mingmo laugh from ear to ear.

To this end, he also specially asked the News Section of the Ministry of Civil Affairs of the Southern Railway Company to send several professional reporters to the highway to interview some construction participants, and then published an article in the "South Railway Weekly".The article is extremely exaggerated and bragging, and it has made a lot of publicity about the so-called "South Railway Speed". Even many local people have heard of it.

Of course, this news report also selectively ignores the 1679 Krandi road construction workers who sacrificed their lives for the so-called "South Railway Speed".In the eyes of these student journalists who were born in the Bingtuanbao and received the education of "East Coastism" since childhood, barbarians have no human rights, and they are pure expendables, nothing more.And the east bank is quite kind to them, at least they didn't take off their scalps to make trophies, didn't they?What's more, if these Kelandi people are still alive before the opening of the railway, and have not been killed by heavy labor and raging diseases, then they will also be lucky enough to board a ship on the east coast with a sum of money and travel across the border. Hai went to Xinhua Island to start his new life, just like many of his compatriots who had already gone there.

And just when the Xingnan Highway was almost being repaired, a large sail carrier sailing from Dongfang Port carefully avoided the small ice floes inside and outside the port, and then slowly docked on the simple wooden pier under the traction of a steam tugboat.The ship is fully loaded with heavy-duty freight carriages produced by the Southern Rolling Stock Works and a large number of construction machinery, which are all prepared for the next stage of the construction of the Liangyang Railway.

After the construction of the road is completed, the construction of the railway will officially begin.

(End of this chapter)