Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 819 South Patagonia ([-])

"Is there enough food in the castle?" After lunch, Meng Hu lit a pipe for himself, squinting his eyes comfortably and asked.

"There are fewer people now, and there are subsidies from above. It's not a big problem to eat enough. After all, we can still hunt." A civil affairs official from Bingtuanbao replied, "But in our place, flour and rice will always be precious luxury goods. , the most eaten ones are still potatoes and sweet potatoes, mixed with some fish meat, vicuna meat, seal meat, sea lion meat, fur seal meat, sea otter meat, etc., but the quantity is very unstable. Moreover, hunters who have obtained hunting licenses in the township There are not many, and the quantity is limited, so these meats from the ocean are actually very tight here; the only thing that is not lacking may be vicuña meat, after all, this stuff is everywhere here, but the men here usually have to eat it. Regular military training requires planting pastures and barley, raising reindeer and dogs, and logging in the mountains in winter. In fact, I don’t have much time to go hunting, so..."

"So without the food subsidy from the Southern Railway Company, it would be difficult for you to persevere?" Meng Hu frowned.

"That's not likely." The civil affairs official quickly replied, "With the deforestation, we will clear a larger area of ​​arable land after the spring, and then plant potatoes, barley, and of course pasture—this is for livestock to spend the winter. A must-have. As for reindeer food, we can go up north, where there is moss everywhere, and the reindeer eat it cutely. And their population is not large enough now, and the feed problem is not enough to pose a problem. All in all, If it develops normally, the settlement of Beech Castle should be self-sufficient after the end of the three-year subsidy period, and there is no need to transport a large amount of grain from the mainland. But the problem is that with the preparation of the Pacific Shipyard, we are required to expand the logs Cutting volume, and also need to build a wood processing plant and a drying plant by the pier, which will inevitably take up a lot of manpower and prevent us from developing enough arable land.”

The Pacific Shipyard that the young official said is located in the port of Araucan and is currently only a ship repair yard.The Executive Committee does not intend to upgrade it to a shipyard in the short term, but the Southern Railway Company is very keen on this, because Mo Ming wants to control a shipbuilding enterprise by himself, so as not to be controlled by others.At present, the two sides are arguing back and forth, and this matter is estimated to disappear in the short term.

"Don't worry about the food issue." Meng Hu shook his head when he heard the words, and reassured everyone: "As far as I know, the Pacific Shipyard will be out of business in the short term. Your main task after the spring is to expand the arable land area and plant more barley And pasture. Part of the barley is used for self-use, and part is exported back to the mainland—the price of this stuff is good in the local area, and the pasture is used to feed livestock. The conditions here are so good, there is no reason not to develop animal husbandry. In addition, the Southern Railway Company is currently tight on money. After the beginning of spring, a large number of hunting licenses may be issued in a concentrated manner, allowing everyone to openly hunt seals, fur seals, sea lions and sea otters in designated areas. On the one hand, they will provide enough meat for the new settlers, and on the other hand, they will produce more high-quality leather and sea otters. Lubricating oil comes out, these are very profitable projects, but the company is just short of money.”

It is said that Tierra del Fuego and its surrounding islands have always been a paradise for seals, sea otters, sea lions, fur seals and other animals because they have been inaccessible for thousands of years and the fishery is good.After the opening of the South Pacific route, the number of people on hand of the Southern Railway Company has increased significantly. Now they plan to send more people to settle on the island to hunt the abundant resources such as seals here in exchange for sufficient funds for the company's development.You must know that in today's Dongfang Port, with the increase of residents' disposable income, the auction price of a piece of first-class sea otter skin has soared to about 50 yuan, and the auction price of second-class sea otter skin is also 30 yuan, and even seal skin is currently rising. At eight yuan a piece, the profit is huge.

What's more, in the process, a large amount of high-grade lubricating oil comparable to whale oil can be produced, and selling it is also a big income, and the number of these animals on Tierra del Fuego is estimated to be as many as 80 million. , if the rules are set and the hunting is limited, this is a long-term business.What did the French work so hard to do in Quebec?Get fur!The French are flocking to these high-quality leathers, so don't the relatively wealthy people on the east coast stop consuming them?How can it be!

However, although it is determined to capture these amphibians, in order to avoid the extinction of the population due to overfishing, the necessary regulations still have to be formulated.For example, muskets are not allowed to be used during hunting (the ones who die under muskets are basically female animals with limited mobility, and there will also be carcasses of sea beasts that sink to the bottom of the sea, which is too wasteful. Of course, the main reason is that muskets are too efficient in hunting), and no Hunting of female animals, only sea animals over a certain age (usually three years old) are allowed to be hunted, some areas are set as forbidden hunting areas, and the number of hunting of each sea animal habitat is determined by officials of the Ministry of Agriculture after actual inspections every year, etc.If these regulations can be strictly followed, then theoretically speaking, the number of sea beasts will not decrease, and the people on the east coast only need to use "interest" every year to obtain the wealth they need-if the total number of sea beasts is regarded as For the "principal" words.

Of course, as far as Meng Hu's personal opinion is concerned, he does not approve of this kind of hunting behavior. He is a "donkey friend" and an environmentalist, and he also loves animals.In his view, although various so-called "rules" have been stipulated, even if muskets cannot be used, he believes that under the leadership of those old Shandan hunters, the swarms of Ming immigrants will definitely hunt and kill these people very efficiently. Sea beasts, thus greatly reducing their populations.

He has seen how those Shandan people hunt sea beasts: a thin net can often catch a seal easily; when a few people surround them from the sea, the panicked seals will swim towards the shore, and then All they need to do is bang a fur seal on the head with a wooden club to get a full, high-quality fur, and so on.All in all, he would never believe that these people would honestly hunt and kill sea beasts in accordance with the law. Driven by huge profits and with the acquiescence of the Southern Railway Company, many people would definitely take risks and carry out indiscriminate hunting and killing of sea beasts .

The history of the Russians in the Comandore Islands is an excellent example.Back then, the Russians also formulated many measures to limit the killing of sea beasts, but they were still irretrievably defeated under the magic of money.For example, before 1892, they only obtained a few thousand sea beasts every year, but with the popularity of sea beast fur in the London market, the Russians frantically hunted and killed 1892 sea beasts in 8, 1893 sea beasts in 10.2, and 1894 sea beasts in 14.1. [-]...

After so many years, the hunting volume suddenly dropped to just over 50, which is already very telling.In fact, this is not only the case with the Russians, but also with the Americans in Alaska. With the indiscriminate hunting and killing of sea animals, they were on the verge of extinction. In the end, they had no choice but to stop hunting for many years.Meng Hu doesn't believe that Mo Ming of Southern Railway Company doesn't understand this truth, but his eyes have been blinded by money, so there is nothing he can do.In addition, he, Menghu, was only alone, and he had three or five friends, his arms could not twist his thighs, and he could not stop the Southern Railway Company's decision-even if only [-] sea beasts were hunted every year, the profits during the period would probably be too low. It is more than [-] yuan, which is a wealth that no one can easily give up-so it can only be out of sight and out of mind.

"Let go of hunting sea beasts?" Everyone cheered up after hearing the words.Of course, they are very clear about the profit of the sea beast. There is a small oil refinery in Beech Castle, and the seal oil refined every month can bring thousands of yuan to the Southern Railway Company. This is enough to support the Southern Railway Company on this island. On a small scale (more than 800 people) expedition and business activities so far.

I believe that if the hunting restrictions are relaxed, the oil refining income may increase several times or even ten times. After all, there are only two companies on the east coast that can refine high-grade oils, namely the South China Sea Fisheries Company (cod viscera refining, whale fat refining , Falklands Baleen Whale Harbor Seal Oil Refining) and South Railway Company (Sea Animal Fat Oil Refining), among which Nanhai Fisheries Company occupies most of the market share.These oils are undoubtedly extremely important to the Eastern Republic of China, because they can be used to make high-quality cooking oil, high-quality smokeless candles, high-grade lubricating oil, high-grade soap, high-grade cream (butter), etc., which are widely used and the market demand is very high It is so big and the profit is so high that no one can take it lightly.

After seeing the excitement of a group of people seeing the money-eyed, Meng Hu secretly sighed in his heart, thinking that the future of the sea animals (seals, sea lions, sea otters, fur dogs, etc.) with a total of nearly 80 in the entire archipelago and nearby waters will be miserable. And mourn.Fortunately, the hundreds of thousands of sea beasts on the Valdez Peninsula in the La Plata region and the island of Falklands have not been hunted by anyone for the time being, and these sea creatures finally have a safe habitat.

"The hunting restrictions should have been lifted a long time ago." Some people said excitedly, "In addition, it is time to start whaling activities. The nearby whale resources are actually very rich. Every year, many whales are thrown ashore by the waves, and some are found late. We can only let it rot and not make good use of it, what a pity!"

Historically, in the 19th century, near the Kamchatka Peninsula of the Russian Empire, dozens of whales were pushed ashore by waves and stranded almost every year, which was an extremely important source of food for the local aborigines.This is the case in the Bering Sea. Near the Southern Ocean, where whale resources are more abundant, the number of whales thrown ashore every year is even more objective.In fact, the aborigines on Tierra del Fuego, such as the Ona people, have always lived by hunting stranded whales. Of course, they will also bravely drive canoes, break into the rough Strait of Magellan and the Beagle Channel, and use wooden spears or stone spears to catch whales.

"Release the hunting restrictions on sea beasts, and add a few more whaling ships, and Tierra del Fuego will surely develop slowly and become a rich place." Some local officials couldn't help but start some happy associations.

(End of this chapter)