Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 818 South Patagonia ([-])

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The snow is getting bigger and bigger, and the cold winter has gradually enveloped this remote big island at the ends of the earth.

The sky was gray, and with the help of the roaring westerly wind, the goose-feather-like snowflakes slammed on the pedestrians in fur coats, making a slight crisp sound.The trees beside them swayed slightly under the westerly wind, and a group of reindeer with bells hanging around their necks pulled a sleigh and struggled forward on the snow.Several half-sized hounds were running back and forth around the sled, looking extremely cheerful.

Today is the beginning of July, and Tierra del Fuego has also ushered in the coldest season of the year.On the west side of Tierra del Fuego, because it is partially affected by the westerly belt, it has a cooler temperate maritime climate.And because the westerly wind blows from the sea, it carries a lot of moisture, and the mountains block it, so the precipitation is not small.Especially in winter, the precipitation is manifested in the form of heavy snow, making the field full of snow-covered scenes.

In this cold season, it seems that even the few animals on the island (mainly seals, sea otters, penguins, llamas, foxes, wild ducks, and some birds) have hidden and disappeared, and they can only be seen occasionally in the wild. Antarctic wolves migrated from the Falklands by some East Coasters.

Since this dog-like carnivore was introduced to Tierra del Fuego by people from the east coast, the population has multiplied rapidly due to the similar climate and abundant food sources. The first dozen or so Antarctic wolves released have now reproduced. There are several groups, and most of them live on the sea side of the west side of Tierra del Fuego. According to the estimates of the forest rangers of the Ministry of Agriculture, there are about [-] or [-] of them.The introduction of these terrestrial carnivores filled the gap in Tierra del Fuego's lack of large canine predators (except for foxes), so people on the east coast were able to safely and boldly stock some animals introduced from other continents on the island.For example, the hares, goats and other animals introduced to Tierra del Fuego by the Argentines in later generations, of course, the beavers, which proved to be extremely destructive to the island’s forests, were not introduced on a large scale. Currently, research is only done on some uninhabited islands, and the spread to other places is strictly prohibited. other places.

Bison from the North American continent and musk ox from Norway were also new arrivals to Tierra del Fuego.These huge animals are currently living in the plains of northern Tierra del Fuego—there are also 4 on Wickham Island on the west side of Tierra del Fuego, which was originally released by the people on the east coast—the number of bison in them is about There are 20 (the number released by people on the east coast, the specific number may be slightly more, because there are calves born); the number of musk oxen is less, but there are also 10.These animals run on the vast grasslands in the northern part of Tierra del Fuego. Because of the suitable living environment, their numbers should increase rapidly.

In addition to these "guests" from the Americas, moose, reindeer, and sled dogs also came to settle in Tierra del Fuego with the original Shandan immigrants.These animals from Northeast Asia also quickly adapted to the climate here, especially the 8 moose, which had high hopes, have successfully given birth to their cubs and started to reproduce.I believe that as time goes by, the populations of these animals will expand rapidly. After all, the climate here is not much different from that of their "hometown", but slightly better, which is very suitable for their survival.At present, the moose is in a state of stocking, and the number of reindeer and sled dogs is relatively large, which are artificially raised by the Shandan settlers in Beechburg.

Of course, the professionals of the Ministry of Agriculture have raised doubts about whether the large-scale introduction of animals from other continents will cause "species invasion".But at the same time, they also lack direct and strong evidence against them, so it is normal for them to be ignored by the already domineering Southern Railway Company.However, judging from the experience of introducing animals from other continents in the past few years, it seems that the impact on the local ecology of Tierra del Fuego is limited. There are rich and juicy pastures here, but the species of herbivores are quite single (in fact, the species in southern South America were originally For example, Argentina, which may be related to the history of the formation of the continents of the earth), so people on the east coast introduced goats, hares, bison, musk oxen, moose, reindeer and other herbivores from the outside world, and also introduced from the neighboring Falklands The Antarctic wolf, a carnivore, expects to improve the ecosystem here.

The reindeer pulling the sled at this moment were first brought over by the people from the east coast from the Heishui area in the Far East.This time, Meng Hu, a special commissioner of the local Ministry of Agriculture, went to the vicinity of Beechburg for inspection. He took a reindeer sled driven by Shandan immigrants, and it was very convenient to walk.Especially on the vast forest and snow field to the east of Beech Castle, the roads with a snow thickness of more than 30 centimeters are quite inconvenient for people to walk on, so only sleds, the main means of transportation in winter, can be used.

The melodious sound of the bells was drowned out by the howling west wind, but the sled was still walking unhurriedly in the wind and snow.The driver, whose face was smeared with seal oil, squinted his eyes, struggling to find his way in the heavy snow with extremely poor visibility.But fortunately, it is already very close to the range of the Beech Castle - as evidenced by some wooden road signs inserted on the field ground - so the driver's expression is very relaxed, and as he gets closer to the warm town, his A warm flame rose in my heart—in a warm cabin with a fireplace, drinking steaming milk tea while roasting, this kind of life is a comfortable life.

The sled stopped in front of a small three-story building.This small building is a brick-wood mixed structure with a fireplace and heated Kang. It is the tallest building in the Beechburg area, and it is also the most magnificent and luxurious building. It serves as the common residence of the township government, police station, court and other institutions. .

When the two patrolmen at the gate saw Meng Hu getting off the sled, they immediately went up to help him and take his luggage.Meng Hu was also so happy, and after telling them to be careful of the plant specimens collected in autumn in his bag, he strode into the small building.The fireplace in the hall on the first floor of the small building was burning vigorously, and a group of men in various uniforms surrounded them, having dinner while roasting by the fire.Their dinner is mainly based on whale meat, seal meat and vicuna meat, accompanied by some autumn vegetables, and some locally brewed beer.

It is said that due to the cold climate and short plant growth cycle, only some grains such as barley, rye, and oats can be grown on Tierra del Fuego, which provides convenience for brewing beer.At this stage, the residents of Beechburg, after clearing the remaining wood piles and low bushes on the original forest land (the forest has been cleared), they planted barley on a large scale and harvested it in autumn.The yield is so-so, but definitely not enough to eat.Fortunately, Tierra del Fuego had fewer people and more land, and was relatively rich in resources, especially the huge herd of wild vicuñas, which brought a lot of meat supplements to these pioneers.Coupled with some licenses issued by the government to hunt seals and fur dogs, and the subsidy given to pioneers by the Southern Railway Corporation (mostly in the form of food, only for pioneers in the first three years), the local residents will not go hungry , much better than those Spanish pioneers who colonized Punta Arenas more than 100 years ago.It is a pity that the group of Spanish colonists failed to take root in Punta Arenas due to the lack of necessary living materials and the lack of support from the higher authorities. Of course, it is also the luck of the people on the east coast .

A group of officials who were eating in the hall saw Meng Hu coming in and immediately got up to pay their respects.Although Meng Hu is only a special commissioner of the Ministry of Agriculture, everyone here knows that he is a "noble councilor", or a "senator". Official title, so a group of people clattered away their chairs and stood up.

Seeing this, Meng Hu quickly waved his hands, laughed, and said, "Sit down, sit down, orderly, bring me lunch too, I'm starving to death. Another bottle of beer, yes, no West Lake beer, we have to brew it yourself Snow Mountain Beer." After speaking, he pulled out a chair and sat in the crowd, inviting everyone to eat together.

These people are the main managers of this settlement, and there are about ten people in total.Among them are veterans, young cadets from the Academy Corps, graduates of local youth cadre schools, and of course some Shandan and Ona chiefs. It is these miscellaneous cadres with complicated backgrounds who are managing the There are more than 800 settlers in Beech Castle and the lumber field in the mountains to the east (not including the naturalized Ona people and other aborigines).

And it was they, who endured untold hardships and overcame all kinds of difficulties and dangers, opened up a small settlement in such a bitter and cold place near the sea on the west side of Tierra del Fuego.From then on, the East Coast Republic of China also had its own existence on this island at the end of the world.Moreover, with their efforts to open up, immigrants from the Ming Dynasty in the East will also start to be sent here to settle and pioneer in waves. From then on, they will take root here and firmly establish this big island that is farthest from China in future generations. control in their own hands.

The Spaniards, for a variety of reasons—poor logistics, indifferent upper-level bureaucrats, and a lack of technical expertise—did not succeed in taking root on either side of the Strait of Magellan, but that doesn't mean the East Coasters couldn't either.In fact, they will not only establish a stronghold on Tierra del Fuego, but will also cross the strait to establish settlements in Punta Arenas, which was once abandoned by the Spaniards.Since then, the key Strait of Magellan has been named the east coast, and other countries can no longer take it away.

Not long after, the orderly brought Menghu lunch: roasted vicuna meat, whale meat stewed with cabbage, mushroom anchovies soup, and self-brewed snow mountain beer.Under his greeting, everyone continued to eat lunch.The snow outside the house is getting bigger and bigger, but the house is warm like spring, which makes people feel very comfortable. (The novel "The Rise of South America through 1630" will have more fresh content on the official WeChat platform, and there will also be a 100% lucky draw gift for everyone! Open WeChat now, click the "+" sign on the upper right to "add friends", Search the official account "qdread" and pay attention, hurry up!)

(End of this chapter)