Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 951

"The latest issues of "East Shore Review", "Xintiandi" and "Minsheng", Mr. He, the magazines you subscribed to are here." Meng Hu took out a few magazines from his bag, and stuffed them up to his beard. In the hand of a young Bingtuanbao graduate from Changqi, he said: "It is always a good thing for young people to think, so do it well. Oh, by the way, there is also the "South Railway Weekly" that has been saved for several months in the suitcase. I'll bring it to you together."

"Thank you, Commissioner Monte." The head of Xuebing happily put away the magazine.In a place like Shanhoubao, where the birds don’t shit, the guarantee of daily necessities is not so sufficient, let alone the pursuit of spirituality. If it weren’t for the convoy transporting supplies this time, these magazines would have to be postponed for a few months. to reach his hands.

"Hehe." Meng Hu patted the young man on the shoulder and encouraged him: "The more difficult the place, the more the academy needs to play a pioneering and exemplary role. The great cause of the East Coast depends mainly on you young people!"

It was already noon at this time, and the attendants who were full were sitting in twos and threes on the benches by the pier chatting nonsense.In Ushuaia Bay, which is as gentle as a mirror, the azure water looks so beautiful under the sunshine.Behind the sparkling bay is a large stretch of mountains, covered with lush hardy forests, beech, forest fairy tree, wild cherry, birch; Dotted with flowers, it makes people feel like they are in a fairyland; and the mountain castle is built on the green grassy coastal plain at the foot of the mountain.

"The sky is high and the clouds are clear and the sea breeze is blowing. The summer scenery of Tierra del Fuego is really charming." Meng Hu squinted his eyes and looked into the distance. On the water, the whole bay is like a lake surrounded by mountains, no, I have to draw this beauty..."

The head of Xuebing looked helplessly at Commissioner Monte who was lost in thought, and after hesitating for a while, he quietly left the place. He still had a lot of work to do.This time the convoy brought a lot of things, vegetable seeds, corn, rye, barley seeds, newly cultivated beet seeds, etc. Anyway, Shanhoubao has a large land and few people, but it’s enough to plant it vigorously.Although the area of ​​the plain is not very large, it is not a big problem to grow vegetables on the hillside. At least it can provide convenience for the fishing boats of the South China Sea Fishery Company or foreign whaling ships that occasionally come to replenish.

It is worth mentioning that in Shanhoubao, where the climate is cold, it is doomed to fail to grow wheat as a crop, just like in Northeast China at this time.Therefore, rye and barley became the main grains grown, after all, they are more resistant to cold temperatures and have a shorter growth cycle.Corn and potatoes are similar. They have short growth periods, high yields, and are resistant to barrenness. They can almost be grown as the staple food of the entire region.This time, Southern Railway Company ordered a lot of the latest cold-resistant corn seeds from Northern Seed Company. Seems like a financial blow to the company.

Of course, it is just a joke to say that Shanhoubao has dragged down the finances of the Southern Railway Company, and it cannot be taken seriously.Among other things, the extremely large number of seals and penguins near the settlement alone is a huge fortune.According to the statistics of the Southern Railway Company and the Shanhoubao Township Government, the people from the east coast have opened up Shanhoubao for a year, and the hunters who received licenses for hunting sea animals have successively handed in 2019 high-end furs, most of which are seal skins; in addition, The Shandan people scattered in the nearby mountains also helped the township government confiscate 452 pieces of various sea animal skins, 84 pieces of yellow-legged fox skins, and 620 pieces of vicuna skins from the natives.

Adding up the above two statistics, the total number of leathers of various types has exceeded 3100, with a total value of more than 3 yuan, which is enough to cover a considerable part of the financial investment of the Southern Railway Company.And this is only the first year before everyone can settle down properly. I believe that by 1653, the annual output of Shanhoubao may reach more than 6000 pieces of leather goods, and the number of high-value sea otter and sea dog skins will be very high. rise to a great extent.

It is estimated that after the normal development of Shanhou Fort, the most imported materials from the outside world may be cloth, spirits, flour, salt and other daily necessities, soda ash, machine parts, fishing nets, metal utensils and other production materials; exports are mainly barley, Leather, high-quality oil, fish oil, wood, and seafood are the main products, and the economic system is barely self-sufficient.

After resting at Shanhou Fort for one night, early the next morning (December 12), Menghu took several young students as entourages and two guides, and took some packages and pack horses along the mountain. The mountain path in the north of the Houbao, inspected the vast jungle.There used to be some trees on the hillside here, but it seems that they have been cut down by the pioneers on the east coast below the mountain, leaving only bare tree stumps and large patches of lush grass on the ground.

"The South Railway Company and the state-run Dongfang Hotel plan to jointly build a large-scale hotel here as a summer resort for domestic dignitaries. Now it seems that these hillsides are very suitable. The geological structure looks very stable, surrounded by dense primitive The forest, the resort hotel built here, must be very suitable for the minds of those big people. Hey, look, you can smell the fresh air when you open the window, and the crisp birds are lingering in your ears. Not far away is a calm and picturesque bay. The blue and black mountains in the distance are also very holy and beautiful under the mist. Oh, yes, the snow on the top of the mountain that does not melt all the year round can add a little bit to the beautiful scenery. Look, what a suitable vacation A resort." Meng Hu jokingly said in an exaggerated tone.

"In the evening, the sunset glow in Sunset Bay (Ushuaia Bay, Ushuaia means a bay to watch the sunset in the language of the local natives, hence the name) is also a great beauty. The snow-capped peaks are in the Under the reflection of the sunset, it was covered with a layer of rouge. On the calm water, the returning fishing boats brought the satisfied laughter of the fishermen. Haha, isn’t it a bit like the fishing boat singing late, the sunset and the lone duck flying together? ?” Meng Hu asked casually.His students looked at each other in blank dismay, especially a few Livonian students, who seemed to have difficulty understanding such advanced Chinese.Meng Hu laughed when he saw it, but he didn't think he was disobedient, and took the lead to go to the mountain with his walking stick.

The path in the mountains was rugged and difficult, and the students rushed to the front, holding machetes and splitting the extremely dense bushes one by one, looking exhausted.Although Menghu is 50 to 3 years old, his physical fitness is still quite good. He was very excited along the way. They selected and recorded the most suitable passages for people, animals and vehicles in the countryside, and unconsciously followed the later Pan-American Highway. (It is Highway [-] in Argentina) is going along the route, preparing to explore a road leading to the outside world from the northeast direction for the Fort of the Mountain.

Menghu has a vague map of the location of Highway 3 in later generations, but it is not precise enough.But it doesn't matter, the two Ona guides are quite familiar with the local area.The two believers of Tianzun led Meng Hu and others along the flat mountain valley, all the way north, and after only a few days of walking, they arrived at a small river running east-west.Both sides of the small river are dense forests and flat river valleys. Observed from a height by Meng Hu and others, the width is about several kilometers, and it stretches far from east to west, just like a basin corridor sandwiched between mountains.

The climate in the mountain valley is very warm, and it is nourished by the river. If there are widespread immigrants, there should be great potential for development.Meng Hu sighed, marked this paragraph in the blank space of the map, and sighed as he wrote it: Those reckless people from the Southern Railway Company, who are greedy for profit, probably will recruit another 5000 people from Daming to take this piece of land. Only when the valley is filled will you be satisfied?The pasture here is very rich, the river here is very clear, the forest here is endless, the winter here is not too cold (generally around minus 10-20 degrees), and the activity of germs is not as good as that in the north. What a great place for people.

"The Argentines of later generations are really useless. There is such a vast territory, but the level of development is pitifully low. Even the world-famous Pampas grassland, the soil is so fertile, and it is a rare moist grassland with abundant rainfall. A bunch of prodigals But he only knows about grazing, and has never thought of developing it into the Pampas Great Plains and Pampas Granary, what a waste of money!" Meng Hu looked at the long corridor with fresh air, and he didn't know what to do in his mind. This strange thought arose: "Could it be that I have been with those gangsters for a long time, and I have unnaturally tainted the theory of racial superiority?"

Abandoning the strange thoughts that popped up in their minds, Meng Hu and the others walked along the grassland by the river, through the jungle, over the swamp, and finally managed to cross the small stream they named Green River. After five or six days, they stumbled to a pass.The guide told Menghu and the others with gestures that from this pass to the north, walk along the mountain valley for a day, and then turn to the northeast, there will be two lakes on the left and one on the right—Menghu reckons that they are glacial lakes— - Crossing the lowlands between these two lakes, you will soon reach the plain forest area on the shore of the boundary lake (Lake Fagnano).

When the journey reaches here, there is no need for a guide. Everyone only needs to walk eastward along the lakeside, and then go all the way north, along the eastern and northern Great Plains of Tierra del Fuego, and they will be able to reach the seaside.After hearing the news, Meng Hu nodded in satisfaction, and then signaled his followers to pay the two guides the pre-negotiated reward, while he nervously recorded the route and his diary along the way.

If a high-grade highway is built between these two points, it will obviously greatly improve the development efficiency of the entire Tierra del Fuego. After all, the sea off the Sunset Strait (Beagle Strait) is windy and rough, and it is dangerous and troublesome for ships to enter and exit. If there is an aboveground road leading to the outside world, that would be an extra guarantee, wouldn't it?

(End of this chapter)