Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 880 Southeast Pacific ([-])

Another cheap paddle steamer bought by the Southern Rail Company crashed into the relatively calm waters of Montes Bay.They had just suffered a sudden storm, and the 72-ton boat did not dare to sway in the sea, so they stepped up their horsepower and plunged into the bay named after the first explorer Meng Hu to avoid the harsh sea conditions.

This bay faces the Strait of Guafukou (the strait between Guafu Island and the Chonos Islands), on the north side of Guaitca Grande.It was originally "discovered" by people led by Menghu two years ago, so it was named Mengshi Bay, and dozens of families of Eight Banners captives who were exiled here lived on the coast. The Nigerian immigrants watched over them, and together they formed a small fishing village - Montessori Port.

Port Montessori is the last supply point for ships on the east coast heading to Port Maureen for trade. This poor port sells vegetables, potatoes and fresh meat (mainly goats) to passing ships as its main source of income. The most imported materials in the country are spirits, tobacco, cloth and grain.And on Ascension Island, which is only separated from Guaitca Island by a narrow waterway in the east, and on the original site of Melinca Port in Chile, there is also a place of exile of the East Coast Republic - Blue Whale Port. There are 73 criminals and their family members, 88 captives of the Qing army, 95 Polish prisoners of war (generally of noble origin) who refused to obey discipline, and there are also free Fuego Ona, Patagonian and Ezo people. There are 226 immigrants such as Shandan people and Shandan people, and the total population of Hong Kong does not exceed 500 people.

The existence of Montessori Harbor and Blue Whale Harbor has clearly proved that the East Coast Republic of China has started at least two years ago—that is, the second year after the establishment of the Southern Railway—to those broken small islands on the southern coast of Chile. Prisoners were exiled on the island as early tentative immigrants.And this is probably also the reason why the Southern Railway Company dared to secretly immigrate to the southern tip of Chiloe Island, which was abandoned by the Spaniards.Anyway, in the "Valladolid Peace Treaty", the Kingdom of Spain has sold the fishing rights in the southeast Pacific Ocean in southern Chile to the people on the east coast, so the people on the east coast will set up some temporary rest and supply bases nearby in these waters. That's understandable—anyway, there was a lot of nonsense about this matter, and in the end, the East Coast government probably paid a sum of money to compensate, and the Spaniards took advantage of the situation to go downhill.

However, it is not accurate to say that the east coast government exiles criminals in these places because they have really considered how to use the relatively rich fishery resources here.Due to the influence of the Peruvian cold current, the rising sea current off the coast of Chile has greatly increased the nutrients in the sea water, thus forming a rich local fishery resource.In addition to the famous horse mackerel, local salmon, shrimp and crab resources are also very rich, in Corcova, north of Blue Whale Harbor, east of Chiloe Island, and south of Puerto Barrios (later Puerto Montt) The sea area of ​​the bay has always been the main place for blue whale activities, and its density is so high that it is rare in other sea areas in the world.According to statistics from later generations, more than one-tenth of the more than [-] blue whales in existence at that time lived in this sea area, which is evident from this.

In order to effectively explore local whale resources and increase the company's income, Southern Railway has already planned to order some more whaling ships from Hyundai Special Shipyard, and then use Blue Whale Harbor and Guanhai Harbor as bases to carry out fishing in Corcova Bay. Whale work.The captured whales will be towed to the Blue Whale Port for processing due to a secret relationship, and then various products will be shipped back to the port of Araucan, and finally shipped back to the mainland for sale for profit.

Of course, the role of Blue Whale Harbor is obviously far more than that!From here to the south, until about 50 degrees south latitude, there are extremely rich salmon.In the Moraleda Strait (the strait between the Jorns Islands and the mainland) south of the port of Merinca, the Chileans of later generations came here for fishing regularly in summer and autumn, and also set up in this semi-enclosed waters. There are a large number of salmon farms, and Chile has become the largest salmon farming country in the world. It exports a large amount of high-quality salmon to foreign markets every year, relying on this cold and extremely clean waters.

What's more, most of Chile's salmon farms in later generations are in the Morales Strait (this sea area is a Chilean national reserve)-there are a large number of small islands here that provide natural anchorage points for salmon farming cages ——And south of here, all the waters to the north of Araucan Port can actually be used to raise salmon.In other words, the salmon farming potential in southern Chile is far from being realized, and the production can still be greatly improved.

How can this kind of god-given wealth be let go!Neither the East Coast Executive Committee nor the Southern Railway Company, which owns the fishing rights here (the East Coast government puts the acquired fishing rights into the Southern Railway Company as an investment), will not just sit back and watch this wealth flow away in vain.No, they began to exile prisoners and resettle immigrants here two years ago, and built two port towns in advance to provide sufficient supplies for passing ships and immigrants who may come later.

After the construction of these two small settlements, the South Railway Company has already started the intensive preparations for the next step: the customization of the breeding cages - this requires a special order from Xinhua Island for high-grade cages specially made of sisal, Ordinary fishing nets may not be able to carry the huge salmon raised in this icy water; the ordering of fishing vessels (partly whaling ships and processing ships, partly salmon and horse mackerel fishing ships), the recruitment of sailors; the quantity There are also a lot of seafood processing personnel-this is actually easy to handle, and only a part of the immigrants from the Ming Dynasty need to be trained to be competent.

After all this is done, the Southern Railway Company will also set up a midway shelter at Puerto Aguirre on the south side of the strait to provide supplies and shelter for fishermen who fish and salmon in this area .At the same time, a meteorological observatory and a botanical garden are planned to be established on the island. These two institutions are respectively managed by the Navy and the Ministry of Agriculture.The meteorological observation station is responsible for observing and recording the weather in the nearby sea area, and also undertakes additional tasks such as measuring the water depth of the nearby sea area and drawing island maps-of course, this is a long-term task, and there is no rush to complete it in the short term.

The botanical garden is more interesting, because experts from the Ministry of Agriculture found on this island that all kinds of tree species in the mountains of southern Chile, such as beech, cypress, and pine, can be seen here.In addition, animals such as yellow-legged foxes, Chilean deer, Chilean beavers, small otters, and seals can also be seen occasionally. Sometimes, if you are lucky, you may even be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the huge and elegant figure of a whale. All in all, here You can see everything you can see anywhere else in southern Chile.

Of course, the above are not all the reasons why the Ministry of Agriculture decided to establish a botanical garden in this place outside the east coast in theory. The main reason why the Ministry of Agriculture is determined to establish a botanical garden and seed cultivation base here is this island. Unique wild potato varieties are found on

The chief agricultural expert on the east coast, the former minister of agriculture, and the current vice president of the Southern Railway Company, Jin Kela, had thought hard for a long time when he heard the news. Finally, after carefully studying the potato samples brought back by the expedition team, he deduced that this place was probably potatoes. One of the original places of origin, potato genetic resources are extremely rich, and it is worth setting up a national breeding center here.

As we all know, potatoes are suitable for living in relatively cold plateau areas. If they live in warm and humid plains, they are easy to get sick and the variety is easy to degenerate.And the Jones Islands in southern Chile are humid and cold all year round, and the cliffs and mountains of the islands stand tall, so it is not so surprising that potatoes are suitable for growing here.And setting up the potato breeding center here will naturally be able to use the abundant local wild potato resources and the environment that is extremely suitable for potato growth to cultivate high-yield potato seeds or seedlings, which will help increase the grain production of the East Coast Republic. extremely high meaning.

At present, there are already dozens of farmers on this island. Under the leadership of several Bingtuanbao student cadres, they are building their own residences while waiting for the arrival of experts from the Ministry of Agriculture. A potato variety called "Aquinas" by the Indians of the islands.By the way, the port to be built on this island was named "Qingfeng Port" by the agricultural expert Jin Kela—an extremely vulgar name—meaning that the production of potatoes and salmon on the east coast of China will be prosperous in the future. A bountiful harvest, which fishermen and farmers will celebrate with great fanfare.

However, these farmers in Qingfeng Port are obviously not the first batch of outsiders in the local area. The first immigrants on this island and some nearby scattered islands are naturally bison from the North American continent and various goats and sheep bred by people on the east coast.These animals thrived freely on these broken uninhabited islands (some of which were inhabited by a small number of Indians, who used canoes as their main means of transportation).There are no natural enemies, abundant food (these islands are full of hills, dark woods and dense grass), and a relatively closed environment (meaning that diseases are not easy to spread). I believe that in time, the population of these free-ranging animals will surely usher in Explosive growth.

From 42 degrees south latitude to 52 degrees, there are a large number of broken islands along the coast of Chile.In the eyes of normal people, these scattered islands with towering mountains, forests of glaciers, dark and humid, and where the westerly wind howls all year round are probably worthless burdens.But in the eyes of the people on the east coast, this is indeed a treasure land bestowed by the gods. There are a large number of whales, salmon, horse mackerel and pearl resources in the cold and clean waters. The island is densely forested (most of which can be used to build ships) ), seals, beavers, otters, foxes and other animals with high economic value abound. In addition, they are suitable for breeding some high-yielding potato varieties.Based on the above factors, this place is obviously a treasure!I am afraid that the Spaniards look down on this kind of place. For the people on the east coast who mainly focus on farming and fishing, this is indeed an inseparable source of wealth that must be held tightly in their hands.

Of course, the East Bank Executive Committee also sees it this way. In their eyes, the land in the Southern Cone region will be the natural territory of the China East Bank Republic in the future.Whoever does not admit this, then of course they will "help" him realize it!

(End of this chapter)