Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 943 Heaven-sent Land ([-])

Lobster Harbor, Isle of Be, September 1652.

"Old peasant from northern Shaanxi" Ma Wanpeng once again took a boat to this small port city that also belonged to him.This is the first time he has arrived at this slightly hot island. The reason is that the New China Development Team intends to formally develop the resources here. They even coordinated with the Blackwater Development Team to introduce a group of Ming people with tropical living experience to prepare for this. Primary development of this fertile area.

Hundreds of Sakaravas originally settled in the Lobster Harbor on the Isle of Be, but their population began to drop sharply after the people from the east coast came. Land disputes.Now that the Xinhua Port colony is becoming more and more stable, the pioneering team government has begun to turn its attention to other areas of the island, especially some coastal areas of great economic value, which must be taken first to prevent foreign colonists from getting involved in the future. It's complicated.

The Lobster Harbor on Isle of Bey was included in the development agenda under such an idea, and the resources of this island are undoubtedly extremely rich.From Chalatanana in the southeast (there are such painful long strings of names on the Malay Island...) to the Sambirano River in the northwest - this river originates in the central plateau - passing through After the Tsaratanana Mountains meandered down, a large number of tributaries gathered along the way-especially the Tsaratanana Mountains, known as the water vapor condenser, which contributed a considerable amount of water to the Sambirano River —and finally roared into the Mozambique Channel.

The flow of the river is fast, the water is fierce, there are many torrents and waterfalls, and it has no navigation value, but it is rich in water resources-this seems to be the main feature of the rivers in Xinhuaxia Island. Under the continuous cutting of strong winds, about 1 cm of soil layer is eroded every year. These eroded soils - rich in volcanic ash, mica, soda lime, and a lot of organic matter - are eventually washed in by rainwater and short streams The Sambirano River then rushes into the sea with great momentum, and finally deposits at the mouth of the sea, forming a fertile delta floodplain.

The water potential of the Sambirano River is so fierce that the sea water near the mouth of the river has receded for several kilometers-this can be seen from the fact that the sea water two or three kilometers away from the land is colored with mud.The early colonists on the east coast of Bei Island had reason to thank this river, because it was the large amount of nutrients it carried from the land that attracted a huge number of fish and shrimp in this small bay, among which Lobster is especially famous, and this is obviously one of the main sources of income for the colonists on the east coast of Nosy Be.

The Lobster Port is directly facing the mouth of the Sambirano River. Standing on the pier, Ma Wanpeng can easily see the land on the other side, where there are vast "bright forests"—there are even large areas on both sides of the river. The "dark" forest - but there is no village in sight, not even a canoe, the main means of transportation for the natives, seems to indicate that there is no one inhabited here.

"The other side will also be our land in the future, and the forest resources must be well protected. Don't let those stupid and stupid Sakarava people destroy it. You have all attended night classes at the Agricultural Bureau, and you know that forest resources have been severely damaged on a large scale. I won’t say much about the consequences.” Having said this, Ma Wanpeng turned around and looked at the lush forest in the distance behind him, and said in a serious tone: “As for the development of forest resources in Bei Island, I know that there is a great demand locally, but Indiscriminate deforestation is also not allowed, there must be restraint. The daily and monthly cutting volume must be strictly controlled, and the replanting of saplings must also keep up with it in time. The assessment is linked to these things, you all give me something to worry about."

After the bright forest is destroyed, the bare land will be occupied by short grasses, but these grasses obviously cannot prevent the soil from turning into brick-red iron-aluminum clay through leaching under high temperature evaporation.These feralites are made more impoverished by evaporation and produce a sterile crust on the surface (brick loam crust)—an agriculturally useless dead soil.

Under the protection of the forest, the roots of the trees transport water to the depths of the soil for storage, which can also reduce evaporation and promote biological and chemical reactions, making the brick red soil in its juvenile state-this state contains a lot of nutrients , under careful care and orderly work, it is possible to grow food.But once the vegetation disappears, the content of iron and aluminum salts in the soil will increase, and the soil will quickly become poor and alkaline. This is the case in many areas of Madagascar in later generations. The local people's poor agricultural knowledge and poor maintenance of the soil have caused great ecological disasters. People on the east coast must pay attention to this.

The officials who followed Ma Wanpeng to inspect the port and its suburbs also believed in this. There are so few "civilized people" in Xinhuaxia Island that they can live well without grabbing land from the forest.Coupled with the restrictions on the upper limit of land owned by individuals in the "Land and Resources Law" and the regulations on forest logging in the "Forest Law", the settlers in Lobster Harbor have taken a cautious attitude towards the development of local resources.

Isle of Be is a volcanic island. The island is divided into independent valleys by cooling lava flows or hills everywhere, surrounded by forests and surrounded by rivers.Most of the area still maintains an undeveloped original style, with "Savoca" landforms on the hillsides, bright forests in the valleys, and "dark" forests in occasional places with abundant water sources.It is filled with the sounds of insects, birds and apes, strange animals (unique to Xinhua Island), lush vines, ferns as tall as trees... Rocks, rapids, waterfalls, intertwined into a wonderful, Unforgettable views.

Of course, anyone who has lived in Xinhua Island for many years knows that there are often unknown murderous intentions hidden under the beautiful scenery.The active bacterial reproduction and the astonishing density of mosquitoes are all threatening the health of outsiders. If people want to get close to this beauty of nature, they must make great efforts to transform the environment.Ma Wanpeng originally planned to buy a piece of land nearby to build a villa, but it seems like this will have to wait until the environmental improvement has achieved initial results before it can be implemented.

"Last month, a few ships came from the mainland, and a total of [-] Guarani and Kelandi people were transported here. According to the plan, one-third of these people will be allocated to Xinlaibao and Xindenbao. , two-thirds will be allocated to you. This shows how much Captain Shi attaches importance to your place." Ma Wanpeng took the water bottle handed over by his entourage behind him, and after taking two sips, he sighed comfortably and said : "Stimulated by the soaring tonnage of merchant ships and warships in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, the mainland has decided to increase shipbuilding efforts—of course not warships—to prepare to expand the fleets of the South China Sea Transportation Company and the South China Sea Fishery Company to accommodate The economic scale of the local area is getting bigger and bigger. The timber needed for shipbuilding is naturally not available in the local area, so it can only be settled in the New China region."

"In addition, the dark forest around Xinhua Port has been reduced to a dangerous level after years of logging. Grandma, the local people even use high-quality wood from Xinhua to build decent furniture, let alone shipbuilding. , I don’t know where this evil wind blows from.” Ma Wanpeng continued, “Captain Shi has officially issued a ban on forest logging around Xinhua Port a while ago, and organized personnel to survey and count the remaining forest resources. Organize replanting matters - this is a good thing for future generations. Therefore, in the next few years, the demand for local timber resources will increase dramatically in the three places of Naturalization Island (St. Mary Island), Tacheng Port and Bei Island Now, the burden on everyone's shoulders is not light."

In fact, even if Ma Wanpeng did not say this, the local officials would have known about it long ago, because the Xinhua Wood Factory in Xinhua Port (a large local state-owned enterprise with wood drying kilns, wood processing factories, and multiple logging camps) has already transferred some People have come to Lobster Port to build a branch factory, and the purpose is self-evident.

Bei Island has fertile soil (mainly volcanic ash) and rich forest resources. According to Ma Wanpeng's rough knowledge, many deep-rooted trees on the island are actually 25 meters high, which is really amazing.Moreover, the species of these trees are very good, such as Xinhuaxia Duck Palm Bean (Madao Duck Palm Bean), Red Zhongtian Olive, Olive, and "Longotra Tree" (white thick-shelled osmanthus), rose peach tree suitable for shipbuilding In addition, there are many precious rosewood and ebony resources. Duandi is a heaven-sent land.

"The felled trees were immediately replanted with saplings. The saplings were issued by the Xinhua Port Agriculture Bureau. They were Arabica coffee tree saplings. We bought them at a high price and must be cherished." Ma Wanpeng thought of him when he said this One of my most painful investments is the two Robusta coffee bean plantations I once invested in Guihua Island and Xinhua Port. I don’t know if it’s because of unacceptable water and soil or other factors. The quality of the coffee beans was also very poor. When they were exported to Mocha Port (a famous coffee distribution center located in the Red Sea), they were regarded as the lowest-grade coffee, which made Ma Wanpeng very frustrated.

But now he plans to reinvest in the Isle of Be, which is said to be very suitable for planting Arabica coffee trees, and plant this promising-sounding cash crop.Of course, his biggest investment on Isle of Bei is likely not to be a coffee plantation, but an essential oil distillation plant, which is currently under construction by his eldest son, Ma Xiaopeng, who has just grown up.

This essential oil factory will use the aromatic trees produced in the Ylang Ylang plantation that Ma Wanpeng will invest in as raw materials, refine the essence to make essential oil, and then export it to China.Isle of Bei and Sambirano on the opposite side are the most famous producing areas of plant flavors in Malaysia in later generations. Ma Wanpeng feels that his investment is very reliable and should not lose money.What?You said the market for this thing is not big?Damn, I like it and am willing to lose money, can you control it?

Of course, other mature investors may not be as playful as Ma Wanpeng. They invest and operate in strict accordance with the planting guidelines of the New China Pioneering Team.For example, some local investors (even approved Genoese capital) intend to come to the island of Be to develop coffee and cocoa plantations (it was once the most important Arabica coffee beans and cocoa producing area in Malaysia for later generations), and The pepper (pepper on the southeast coast of India) planted with these two trees has a very promising market prospect and has attracted many investors. The only obstacle now is probably how to develop this wild land.

The manpower, material resources, and medical and security services required for this are difficult for ordinary people to afford, and non-government or large investors cannot provide them (or many small and medium investors operate in partnership, just like those sisal plantations in the eastern region).Fortunately, the successful operation of sisal plantations in Xinhua Port, Guihua Port, Tacheng Port and other places has greatly attracted local residents with spare money. Jealousy (of course, there are many investors who have lost all their money or died on this land because of illness), have a strong urge to invest in New China Plantation.

However, this may not be implemented until a large number of new immigrants from the Ming Dynasty arrive, and Bei Island has sufficient manpower in the local area, right?Now the New China Pioneering Team does not allow the introduction of Comorian "labor workers" to work in the plantations - the local natives are naturally strictly prohibited - so how to obtain a large amount of manpower to develop Bei Island (the loss of must be huge), is indeed a very head-scratching problem.

(End of this chapter)