Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 853 New China's New Crisis ([-])

March 1651, 3, Cotton River Port.

A rare heavy rain fell on the arid savannah, which caused the surface of the Mian River, whose water level had dropped sharply due to excessive water diversion for irrigation, to surge again. Overjoyed, they opened the sluice that separated the artificial reservoir from the Mian River, and then put the raging muddy river water into the reservoir.

These rivers washed down from the upper reaches carried a large amount of sediment, dead branches and dead leaves, and animal carcasses. Even, in a certain reservoir, a slender Nile crocodile (subspecies of Madagascar) was also washed in, and was killed Several Polish workers patrolling the reservoir were caught on the spot.Don’t underestimate these river waters. In the eyes of the locals, this is a very precious thing. Just like the South Railway affiliated area, the sediment and nutrients carried in the river water are deposited at the bottom of the reservoir, and plantation workers regularly clear the silt. , Cover these relatively fertile silts on the cultivated land in the plantation to improve the nutrient content of the soil, and the effect is quite good.

It is said that since the introduction of 1648 Polish prisoners of war in the second half of 300 to serve as agricultural workers (actually indentured slaves) in the state-run cotton plantation in the port of Cotton River, these people have suffered from diseases, barbarian attacks (the local Sakarawa tribe) ) and heavy work, about a third of them have died so far, and now only about [-] people are still alive.

And even these living Poles are all demoralized and pessimistic about whether they can survive in this harsh place in the future.In fact, they don't resent the people on the east bank very much, because they were captured by the Cossacks on the battlefield, and then the Cossacks gave them as part of the spoils to the Crimean Tatars; the Tatars will naturally not raise them for nothing They, so they were resold to the Azov Sea Chamber of Commerce of the Ottomans, and the Azov Sea Chamber of Commerce finally resold these people to the East Coasters.

After this complicated handover process, they were transported from Suez Port to Cotton River Port by ships of the East African Transport Company to engage in construction site construction and plantation labor.According to the policy advertised to them by the East Coasters, each of them was obliged to serve the East Coasters for at least five years—to repay the fees the East Coasters paid to buy them from the Ottomans—during which time they received a small After the expiration of the service period, they can invoke the relevant provisions of the "Household Law" of the East Coast Republic of China to choose a piece of their own land for cultivation, and after another five years, they can occupy this land free of charge, and at the same time You can apply for the citizenship of the East Coast Republic of China.

Therefore, in a sense, these Polish prisoners of war have a future.The east coast people bought them from the vicious Tatars and asked them to serve them for several years. Cooperation is not bad.The only thing they worry about is that they are not sure whether they can survive such a harsh natural environment here.

You know, what threatens them now is not only the natural environment, but also many other things, such as the attitude of the local indigenous savages who have recently become more and more unfriendly.

In fact, Ma Wanpeng has recently been puzzled by the more and more frequent spying and attacks of the Sakarava people on the western savannah, which has never happened before!Especially after the Dutch had plundered a lot of the nearby Sakarava people, these natives had seen the strength of the enemy and disappeared without a trace. How could they come back to find the bad luck of the foreign colonists? Woolen cloth?It shouldn't be!There must be something wrong here!

In order to find out what happened here, Ma Wanpeng took a slave hunting team of no more than a few dozen people under his command (mainly hunting Comoros, and now the business is basically at a standstill) and set off to the north to raid A small Sakarava village was captured, all of which were captured, and tribal members were immediately interrogated.

After so many years in Xinhua Island, there are quite a few talents among his subordinates, such as people who understand the local Sakarawa language.Therefore, the interrogation went quite smoothly—the local natives had no anti-reconnaissance awareness at all, and they basically used all methods before they resorted to methods.The interrogators corroborated and analyzed the confessions they obtained, and then recorded the parts they thought were more accurate and handed them over to Ma Wanpeng for review.

It doesn't matter if Ma Wanpeng didn't read it, but he was shocked when he saw it. It turned out that the interrogation report revealed an important piece of news: the large Sakarawa tribe in the west of Xinhuaxia Island started an annexation war again, and many small tribes suffered. The front of the big tribe—or the tribal alliance, which the local Sakarawa people even call it a "kingdom"—has begun to push south.There are some small tribes between them and the plantation on the east coast. According to the current development, they will unify this area sooner or later.

The emergence of a powerful native kingdom near his important economic crop plantation area is absolutely unacceptable to the people on the east coast, and it is also unacceptable to Ma Wanpeng, who has invested nearby.For this reason, he sent someone to report the latest information to Xinhua Port in the north, and at the same time communicated with other plantation owners—especially the largest state-owned farm and Chuangji Investment Company—to discuss what to do.

On March 3, Ma Wanpeng arrived at Xinhua Port in one of his motor-sail fishing boats, and brought a joint petition signed by more than 8 local plantation owners, requesting that the Xinhua Development Team allocate more weapons and dispatch the Xinhua Development Team established last year. The infantry company went there to help defend in case of possible tension.In the second half of last year, a large number of cotton seedlings were planted in the local area, and there may be a lot of harvest this year. At this time, the barbarians must not destroy this hard-won situation.You know, everyone spent countless efforts and sweat in the previous year to open up land, improve the soil, and cultivate seedlings, just for this year's crop of cotton. If the barbarians destroy it, then I am afraid that everyone will not be able to accept it.

"Mianhe Port has no regular garrison, and now there is only a shallow coastal defense fortress with a few dozen gunners." Sitting in Shi Qinjie's office, Ma Wanpeng said sincerely: "I don't care, I am in Mianhe Port I only invested in two small plantations, but in order to slow down domestic inflation, the central government 'fooled' a large number of people with extra money to come here to invest in plantations. Now time, money, and sweat have been spent, and even some People have paid the price of their lives. Seeing that the plantation will have a good harvest this year, if the harvest is destroyed by barbarians at this time, I can't think of what those people will do! Therefore, the executive committee and the New China Pioneering Team Government We cannot be irresponsible, we must eliminate these threats from the barbarians."

Shi Qinjie listened and nodded, seeming to agree with Ma Wanpeng's opinion, while his secretary was making nervous records behind him, finding some materials from time to time and handing them to Shi Qinjie for viewing.

After listening for a long time, Shi Qinjie chuckled, got up and poured Ma Wanpeng a cup of herbal tea, patted his shoulder, and said, "Xiao Ma, you didn't even understand the local situation, so you rushed It’s too hasty to come here to ask me for soldiers and weapons, isn’t it? When will you change your temper? Besides, you led your slave hunting team to attack those Sakarava villages again this time. Speaking of which, it also has a negative impact on the current situation. Those natives didn't trust us in the first place, because the plantations we are developing now still robbed their land. What would they think? What would they do? I'm afraid that these small tribes that would not have surrendered to that native kingdom will now have to surrender to the past. No one else, in order to seek asylum! You are still a little edgy about this matter .”

Hearing what Shi Qinjie said, Ma Wanpeng was also speechless, but he was not without slander: Mianhe Port is a newly developed territory, and our foundation on the East Bank is very weak, and there are no native tribes attached to it. , Naturally, his eyes were smeared with the inside story of the local aboriginal society.In addition, in the past two years, everyone has indeed been negligent. They only know how to work dully, and lack of systematic investigation of the surrounding terrain, environment, special products, and tribes, so there is indeed very little information at hand.This time, if I hadn't acted decisively this time and led the slave catchers under my command who have been cooperating for many years and have been fighting like magic soldiers to attack an indigenous tribe at night, it would be impossible to know the status of the Sakarawa native tribe today. inside story.

"How about this..." After walking around the room for a while, Shi Qinjie lightly grasped the handle of the high-grade sandalwood chair with his right hand, and said to Ma Wanpeng: "I came from Xinhua Port, Tacheng Port, and Guihua Port. I will send you [-] Polish prisoners of war from each region. Don’t worry, these people have been reformed in the past two years and have performed relatively well. They are all young and have no family entanglements in the Old World, so they are willing to actively move closer to us. These people and a ship of weapons will be transported to Mienhe port soon, and you will use them as the basis to formally form the Mianhe garrison.”

"The policy should be clearly explained to them. If you join the garrison, you will be a 'prepared national'. After one year, you can divide the land, house, and daughter-in-law, and live a good life from then on. In addition, the three places are attached to our island Eight Banners tribe. I will also draw out 500 people each, and I will give you a total of [-] native soldiers. However, their equipment and fighting will are very poor, and they cannot be used as cannon fodder to consume the enemy. Xiaoma, I am now officially I have given you the military and political affairs over the Mianhe River. You must keep it safe for me. It is best if the enemy does not come. If the enemy comes, call me back. Of course, it is best to find out what happened there before. Don't be afraid, as soon as I can spare extra manpower, I will send reinforcements to you immediately, work hard!"

(End of this chapter)