Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 886 Entrepreneurship and Development ([-])

On October 1651, 10, the No. 7 year when the cross-travelers landed in South America, it rained heavily.

A timely spring rain alleviated the spring drought in the whole region caused by abnormal climate (the rainfall in spring in previous years was not very small), and Ma Wenqiang, who was relieved, sat in a room with a large stone on the spot. In the two-storey building, while drinking green tea sent from Ningbo Fuding Harbor, while bored looking at the desolate wilderness.

Outside are hills with little ups and downs. The hills are densely covered with local trees such as Parana pine and South American fir. Some pioneers wearing new raincoats (made of latex-coated raincloth, produced by Yongan Rubber Products Factory) are still in the woods. While cutting down trees in the rain; and in the valley not far away, some new farmers are also rushing to clean up the land at the last minute-mainly cleaning up the remaining tree roots, shrubs and weeds. Grass seeds cannot be removed in a short period of time - waiting for the spring planting operation to start in the middle of next month.Although it is the first year of sowing, the harvest is not very important. Anyway, the national grain reserve will send relief grain, but for the farmers, it is good to collect even one catty more grain. is their own income.

The crops to be planted in the field for the first year have been determined, and that is the potato seedlings distributed by the General Administration of Development.This kind of seedling is cultivated and supplied by the Northern Seed Company. The price is very cheap, but the yield is not low. It is very suitable for large-scale planting by pioneer residents in new settlements.

Potatoes, a miraculous crop, were a luxury item at the French court until 1616.It is prized for its short growing season and ability to grow on poor soil.Of course, in Ireland at this time, potatoes have gradually become one of the main food varieties. As for other parts of Europe, although there are factors affecting the export of people from the east coast, the cultivation of potatoes is still not very common.

"The domestic annual output of potatoes is very large, but there are very few other crops. It would be wonderful if one day we can domesticate tea to suit the local climate." Ma Wenqiang gently shook the white porcelain cup in his hand, thinking said silently.It was almost three or four o'clock in the afternoon. Ma Wenqiang, who ran outside for several hours in the morning and didn't even bother to eat, felt a little hungry, so he put down his teacup and asked the secretary to bring him some snacks.

Snacks are sealed in glass jars, and there are many kinds, but they are mostly sugar-preserved products such as jams, and there are also some biscuits in sealed boxes.The biscuits are produced by Dafeng Food Company in Xihu County. Cai De, the general manager of the company, organized a manpower to develop a biscuit production patent. They used wheat flour, sucrose, milk and butter to cut, roll, and bake in the machine—— The latest technological innovations have enabled Dafeng Food Factory to engrave letters on biscuits - the proportions of various ingredients are strictly controlled during the production process, and the control of temperature and heat is also regulated, and the flour used is also very suitable for making biscuits Low hardness South Duck Lake wheat.

Nowadays, the progress of the East Coast Republic in food technology is really rapid. The use of a large number of scientific instruments makes the production process strictly controlled, which effectively guarantees the quality of the product.It has to be said that the traversers in power have very strict control over food quality. From raw materials to finished products, the secret agents of the all-pervasive Mei Agency (Syphilis Patient Statistics and Investigation Bureau) often visit major food processing workshops in the country and catch Those who do not comply with the regulations will be fined in light cases and exiled in severe cases. The enforcement is very strict.As for the processing of some products, such as salted fish, Meiguan insists that they be pickled on-site in an open-air wharf environment to win people's trust.For example, in the seafood processing centers of Yancheng Port and Luoqia Port, many small processing workshops set up sheds on both sides of the port port road to pickle on-site, and accept the supervision of pedestrians to ensure product quality.

Although the production of biscuits, milk powder, butter, and cheese is not so perverted that it is required to be completed by the roadside, the operators dare not be sloppy because the punishment is too heavy. Not at the same level, the risk-benefit ratio is not proportional, so naturally no one dares to take odd risks.Coupled with the great reputation of the May agency, who knows if there are any informers among the workers you recruited?Small workshop owners really can't take the risk that it may lead to their bankruptcy!

Among the snacks served to Ma Wenqiang, there are many sugar-preserved products produced in Xihu County and Ping'an County.In the past two or three years, as the grain harvests on the east coast have been harvested year after year, the grain market has become more and more sluggish.Especially when the sown area of ​​grains in Duck Lake and the inland West Wilderness is expanding year by year, it is inevitable that grain prices will fall. Therefore, in recent years, many people have turned to planting soybeans, alfalfa and other fodder crops, and at the same time feeding more Livestock to increase income, which slightly curbs the decline in grain prices, so that the farmers in the Wild West will not have a miserable life.

In addition to planting grains, alfalfa, and developing beef and dairy cattle breeding, many people also choose to plant fruit trees.For example, in Liming Town and Jushu Township, Pingan County, which have a "very long" history of fruit tree cultivation (well, the history is definitely not more than 21 years), many farmers have given up planting grains many years ago—or only planted A small piece that is enough for the family to eat - turned to planting various fruit trees, and then exported them to the jam production workshops that have sprung up in the hometown and the county to earn income.

The rise of the orchard industry has provided rich soil for the jam processing industry, and after the participation of some chefs from the Ming Dynasty who immigrated to the east bank (many of them have some exclusive recipes in their hands), the jam processing industry in Ping'an County suddenly emerged. After a blowout broke out, it was exported to all parts of the country for a while, and its reputation was greatly shaken.And soon, some farmers in Xihu County, Zhongshan County and other places with unique climate also began to plant fruit trees on a large scale, but the time is too short, and no climate has been formed yet.

The rapid development of the jam industry makes it possible for people to eat delicious and sweet fruit products in winter.Although the taste is definitely not as good as fresh ones, jams marinated with sugar water or honey (imported from Brazil, Peru and Xinhua Island) also have their own unique flavor, and they are stored in thick glass jars for a longer period of time. So sales are still pretty good.

At present, the scale of the jam processing industry in Ping'an County is not small, and it is relatively formal. From the formula to the production process, it has been tested and rigorously studied. The workers are generally either family members or long-term employees with rich experience.Ma Wenqiang's younger brother was very interested in this industry a while ago, and he even planned to apply to his father to invest a huge amount of money to build a large jam product processing factory. This factory will have more powerful resources than those small workshops, such as a higher degree of mechanization. High, such as having your own cold storage, such as hiring a chemical analyst to detect some ingredients in jam (of course, this is currently difficult)-at present, the Academy of Natural Sciences has discovered the existence of pectin in pulp, and based on this A series of research results have been derived. Ma Wenqiang's younger brother intends to buy these results and then innovate the processing technology (currently, the processors in small workshops do not understand this knowledge at all, and they rely heavily on the chef's personal experience, which is not conducive to large-scale industrial production).

In addition to in-depth research on the ingredients of the pulp, the new jam product factory that the Ma family intends to invest in has also optimized the production process. They introduced a high-temperature thermometer produced by Henan Glass Factory to help production on the production line.In the traditional production process in the past, the personal experience of the master chef was the most important factor leading the production process, but they obviously couldn't hire a master who could accurately control the temperature of the jam, so they could only rely on scientific instruments to assist production.After all, installing some testing instruments on the jam production kettle can indeed enable an inexperienced worker to enter the role in the shortest possible time and become familiar with production - the premise is to do more experiments in advance so that the workers can clearly understand at what temperature and how much air pressure what to do in the situation.

Of course, some people may say that the scientific instruments currently manufactured by Dong'an are still quite unreliable, with a high failure rate and error rate.However, in the process of industrial mass production, these are worthwhile and unavoidable.You must know that their output is far higher than that of small workshops, and their cost is much lower than theirs. The loss of production due to equipment failure is still within the tolerance of investors.

"To invest in a jam product factory, you must first have your own stable raw material supply base. Going to the rural orchards to buy door-to-door is the way of operation of small workshops, which is not suitable for modern factories with huge demand. Therefore, building your own specialized Some orchards are imperative, so we have to seize the opportunity. The two new settlements planned by the executive committee in the Beiyazihu ​​area are very good in my opinion. If the second child builds both orchards and processing plants Here, if you recruit people yourself, your future development will not be controlled by others. Besides, if you recruit people yourself to open up wasteland, you can also enjoy preferential policies from the state, which has many benefits. If you don’t seize the opportunity, you will be a fool.” Ma Wen took a mouthful of crunchy and sweet cookies, but my thoughts have drifted far away.

The place where he is now is called "Lingshan Fort" on the map - named after the first batch of immigrants came from Lingshanwei in Shandong, Daming. The specific address is located near the city of Tapis in Brazil in later generations.After the militias in nearby Xihu County and Pingan County cleaned up the local aborigines, the east bank government began to move supplies and personnel here to build new settlements.

At present, the construction of this settlement has been completely taken over by the State Development Bureau, and Ma Wenqiang was transferred to this place because of his outstanding pioneering achievements in the area under the jurisdiction of the Northwest Reclamation Bureau. ), Rushan Fort (Guaiba City) and the construction of three settlements along the lake (meaning convenient transportation).He felt that it was necessary to let his younger brother come to see it at the beginning of pioneering. This not only responded to the national policy, but also took the lead in the future development of the enterprise. Why not do it?

(End of this chapter)