Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 852 New situation in South Africa

South Africa in March is a good time for autumn and crisp.

Jiang Yaohui and Ding Zhen were wandering on the long street outside the city wall of Hezhong Town. Along the way, they encountered some naval officers and soldiers wearing sky-blue military uniforms and barrel caps. Most of these were the battleship "National Will" and some auxiliary ships. Sailors on the ship, they all had the opportunity to rest and recuperate in South Africa at this moment, so they greeted each other happily when they met.

After dealing with two fellow villagers from Luocha County with a smile, Jiang Yaohui and Ding Zhen sat down in a snack bar, and then asked the owner to bring them sauced beef made from the famous South African yellow cattle-this is the local Dadi is famous; in addition, there is a plate of salted peanuts, a plate of ostrich meat, and a plate of ostrich eggs with green onions. Of course, I did not forget to order the famous South African cod.Don't doubt the spending power of these two people, go out and inquire, who in South Africa doesn't know that the chief man of the navy is the richest?The most generous shot?

This row-to-row street with many shops is located on the outside of the South African city wall and is a standard attached building.Although the existence of such attached buildings is very unfavorable for military defense, considering that the main defense direction of Hezhong Harbor is to the west (where the coastal defense fort is built) and the south (there is a defensive fort on the south bank of the river, and there are attached Black Tribal Warning), if the enemy can attack below the city, it basically means that they have destroyed the main force of the East Bank people in South Africa. Chang Kaisheng acquiesced in the existence of Fuguo Architecture.

The current population of Hezhong Town has exceeded [-] (the urban population is more than [-]), and it is mainly distributed in the vast countryside on the north bank of the Beige River.Most of these people are bandits, horse bandits, orphans of the Shun army, and captives of the Qing army from Shandong. The people are strong, and the guns in the hands of the militiamen will even be taken home at night, and they call friends and friends from time to time to hunt the heads of hostile black tribes in exchange for bounties.

In addition to Hezhong Township, Gaoda Township to the east has more than 200 people, who are also mainly engaged in farming. At the same time, it is also the first line to resist black infiltration, and often has armed conflicts with black stragglers.Today's Kama tribe has gradually unified the entire Little Karoo and the western part of the Great Karoo Plateau, and its power is getting stronger and stronger.At the same time, because the children of the ruling class were sent to learn knowledge from the Dutch, the civilization of the entire tribe has also undergone tremendous changes-in today's high-level tribe, many people are already proud to speak Dutch.They already knew how to plant crops, raise cattle and sheep, and make ironware, copperware, and pottery. Now they have learned more advanced technology from the Dutch. The productivity level of the entire tribe has been greatly improved, and the population and livestock are also flourishing. , Even the musketeers formed a team of more than [-] people.

This kind of strength is no longer something that people on the east coast can insult lightly. Therefore, the large-scale conflicts between the two sides have gradually subsided in the past two years, and now there are only some small-scale fighting and grass-grazing operations. From a strategic point of view, it is already It's painless.

And nearly three years ago, before Liu Ang, the former captain of the South African Pioneering Team, left his post, he built a settlement near the later Cranwilliam Reservoir in the north, named Elephant Castle.After three years of development, this settlement has now built towering walls, beautiful villages and neat fields, backed by the rich water source of the Elephant River Basin (two-thirds of South Africa is severely arid) and the unique local terrain Climate, more than [-] settlers in Elephant Castle have formed industries featuring wheat, grapes, and cattle.Now the area has begun to try to brew wine, intending to form its own advantageous industry, and then export it back to the mainland to compete with Zhenhai County's Xiangshan dry red for the market.

And a while ago, in view of the population, economy, and land in South Africa have a certain scale, with the approval of the Executive Committee and the formal approval of the Government Affairs Council, the application for the establishment of a county in Hezhong County was approved.The seat of Hezhong County is Hezhong Town, and it also has two township-level administrative units under its jurisdiction, Gaoda Township and Xiang Township, with a total population of more than [-]—a population larger than that of many local counties.

Among the more than 2 people, the proportion of Ming people is extremely high, reaching more than 55%, and the rest are Persian and Baluchi women (accounting for 20%); Indians (accounting for 15%), and some other ethnic groups .In fact, there were originally a large number of Indians—thanks to the local exile policy—but neither the Charuyas, the Guaranis, the Kelandi, or the Tehuelches could adapt well to the old traditions. The environment in the mainland caused a large number of deaths from illness.In addition, a large number of these people also died in the continuous bloodletting battles with blacks. Therefore, although there is a steady stream of supplements (from local exiles), their population proportion is still slowly declining, and it is likely that they will eventually disappear in South Africa. within the fusion.

The advantage of the population of more than 2 in Hezhong County has completely suppressed the southern Dutch colonies.Although the Dutch have gradually realized the importance of South Africa in recent years, and have tried various methods to migrate a large number of Boer (farmers) from the country, the number of which is almost two thousand; plus the trade with the Kama tribe Stimulated, the Dutch tried to "cheat" more than a thousand German immigrants with dreams of getting rich from the neighboring impoverished areas of Germany; plus the Batavia High Court of the Dutch continued to sentence Han Chinese (Chinese in Southeast Asia) to the Cape of Good Hope , and the natives they themselves captured from Madagascar, the population of the entire Netherlands Colony of Good Hope has exceeded [-] (more than half of them are slaves).

This number is extremely astonishing, because even decades later in history, the number of white people in South Africa is only a mere [-] people—because the Dutch East India Company never thought of developing here at the beginning, and there is no competitor , so they leisurely sent some company employees (rather than settlers, who had no land titles) here to plant crops and graze cattle and sheep to replenish the passing fleet.

This kind of colonial policy is naturally unattractive to European immigrants. Therefore, throughout the seventeenth century, more than 25 European immigrants poured into North America, but very few came to South Africa.But it is different now. Due to the rise of the East Coasters in South Africa, the Dutch found after careful research that this place could not be allowed to be controlled by the East Coast family, so they slightly reduced their investment in the East Indies, and then used This money recruited a large number of pioneers from the Old World and promised them land titles, which soon attracted a large number of poor farmers to this place.

Two thousand Low German-speaking Dutchmen plus more than 1000 German countrymen constituted the main body of whites in the Fort Good Hope area.And after these Germans intermarried with the Dutch, their next generation will basically lose their cultural characteristics, and these whites and their descendants in the Fort Good Hope Colony will sooner or later form a new nation-Africa people.

These 6000 people are distributed in a wide area, and the northernmost point has reached the vicinity of Malmesbury in the later generations, and began to border with the power of the people on the east coast—and this is also the border line that both sides have tacitly recognized.The Dutch felled trees to build houses in South Africa, built fortresses, opened up wasteland and farmed fields, grazed cattle and sheep, and salvaged fish. In addition, they reached commercial and political alliances with black people (distinctly targeting people on the east coast to share the huge pressure they each faced). It's not too bad.

Moreover, I heard that as the civil strife in France continued to erupt, the Dutch began to recruit a group of immigrants from France to South Africa through their own channels.These Frenchmen brought advanced grape planting and winemaking technology, and the Dutch themselves were originally the most advanced country in European agricultural technology. Coupled with hardworking and hard-working German farmers, the population, arable land, and economy of the entire Colony of Good Hope are showing an upward trend.There is no doubt that the huge initial investment made by the Dutch East India Company will reap rich returns sooner or later.

But maybe the above think that southern Africa is not chaotic enough. Just last month, several ships from the Principality of Courland suddenly appeared in the Cabinda area north of the Congo River and landed in large numbers.The people who landed included a small number of armed soldiers and more than 500 Courland immigrants. They brought a full set of household items, livestock and seeds, and they looked like they were preparing to settle down and do a big job.

In fact, speaking of the arrival of these immigrant ships from the Principality of Courland in the Baltic Sea, it was something the people on the east coast themselves made up.After the Principality of Courland failed to colonize Tobago Island, her ruler—Grand Duke Jacob—was not reconciled. He was desperate for wealth, and he still wanted to acquire a new overseas colony, thinking that he himself and new sources of revenue for his country.

Zheng Yong, who was in charge of trade in the Great North at that time, wrote to Archduke Jacob, suggesting that he send people to colonize Africa. At that time, Archduke Jacob did not reply, and Zheng Yong did not care, thinking that the matter was over.But now it seems that Grand Duke Jacob really listened to Zheng Yong's suggestion seriously, and then really sent ships to colonize Africa.

But this group of colonies is still operating the tobacco leaf planting that the Grand Duke himself has never forgotten. After they landed in the Cabinda area, they did not adopt any aggressive posture-it seems that they have already moved away from the Indians on Tobago Island and the Netherlands. They learned a lesson from the fact that they joined forces to drive them away - they exchanged gifts and traded with the locals, and they got along quite happily.Next, they should find a way to build a stronghold, and then settle here to grow tobacco leaves.

As for why it didn't choose St. James Island in Hanoi, Gambia as a stronghold in history, you ask me, who will I ask?Maybe it's because they feel that they have a good relationship with the East Bank and want to get closer to the people on the East Bank. No, they even sent someone to visit Hezhong Port a while ago, which roughly means watching and helping each other.

All in all, on the chessboard in southern Africa, besides the Portuguese, the Dutch, and the people from the east coast, there is now a new chess player—a "chess player" from a small country with a population of just over 20. (It’s a great event to drop pie in the sky, cool mobile phones are waiting for you! Follow up~click/Chinese website official account (add friends on WeChat-add official account-enter qdread), and participate immediately! Everyone has a prize, now immediately Pay attention to qdread WeChat official account!)

(End of this chapter)