Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 978 Southwest ([-])

In June, the east coast has entered the early winter season.

A group of road builders from Sicily are taking a nap at the Forward Farm (later near the village of Palermo, Florida, Uruguay).And on the opposite side of them all the way, next to the railway station construction site, a red hearth fire was burning in a brick earthen stove. There was a large iron pot on the earthen stove, and mutton soup was stewed in the pot.

There is no doubt that this is a food stall.The slightly gray-haired Mingren stall owner is currently stirring something in the iron pot with a big wooden spoon. Beside him are two children who are less than seven or eight years old. One is squatting on the grass picking up big Cabbage, and the other is pulling the small wooden bellows with all its strength to make the fire in the hearth burn more vigorously.

The Italians who were taking a nap smelled the aroma of mutton soup, and all of them salivated a little.God is so pitiful, I got up at five o'clock in the morning to go to the construction site. It was still dark at that time. After doing physical work for two hours, they were a little bit overwhelmed. Some people sat on the ground and took a nap to resist hunger. Some people watched the food stalls waiting for the time to eat.

The quality of the breakfast is generally not bad, at least much better than that in their hometown in Italy: two huge beef buns (beef is the cheapest kind of meat on the east coast), a bowl of steaming lamb Soup and a piece of dead bread - of course, this is only for the foreman and a few senior workers in this road construction team, after all, the food stalls cannot serve too many people at the same time - such nutritional supply makes these Italian road construction workers He has sufficient physical strength to level the foundation and lay the rails, so as to exert his greatest strength for the construction of the Southwest Railway.

Yes, that's right, this is the construction site of the Southwest Railway - a railway invested and constructed by several Genoese commercial companies.The total length of the railway is more than 400 kilometers, and the preliminary estimate of the construction cost is more than 3500 million liras (in fact, it is probably far more than that). It is another artery-level railway in the Eastern Republic of China. It is of great significance to insert it into the Great Western Wilderness area, cross it and then reach Jingjiang Port on the bank of Wujiang River.

At present, this railway is being built by the newly established "Grassland Railway Company" (the East Coast National Railway Administration and the Genoa Consortium each hold half of the shares, and the company's operations are managed by the National Railway Administration, and the Genoese can only enjoy dividends). Construction was financed by the Genoese, who were also responsible for recruiting labor from the Old World.In other words, people on the east coast of this railway only provide some technical support, and at most rent some construction machinery to help them improve their work efficiency, and the Genoese are responsible for the rest. On the east bank, they ordered railway equipment from Tieling Special Steel Works and Western Forging Works, and made their own construction plans. Anyway, everything depends on themselves.

Of course, the East Coasters don't do nothing.They will build a railway bridge connecting the two banks of the Yi River (currently under construction). After the railway bridge is completed, the entire Southwest Railway will be connected with the Northwest Railway, and the value will increase greatly; Ningxia Railway (40 kilometers) and part of the wharf already built in Jingjiang Port will be packaged together with this railway bridge and put into the Grassland Railway Company as the company's assets.In general, both parties got what they needed, the Genoese solved the problem of excess funds, and the people on the east coast picked up half of the railway for nothing. It can be said that everyone is happy.

The Southwest Railway has been under construction for more than a year. At present, more than 50 kilometers of the section from Ningjin Township to Guangrong Farm have been repaired. Therefore, the section of the railway that is open to traffic has reached more than 90 kilometers. Dahuang Farm, Shrub Farm, and Guangrong Farm The large amount of soybeans and wheat produced and the large amount of beef cattle raised can be transported by railway line to Xiayihe Port for loading, and then transported to the eastern coastal areas. The cost is greatly reduced and the rate of return is increased. Naturally, everyone will develop domestic The enthusiasm for building large farms in the land wasteland is even higher.

Coupled with the export boom cycle ushered in by the outbreak of the Anglo-Dutch War, the government of the East Coast Republic simply continued to immigrate and set up settlements along the planned Southwest Railway. At the same time, it encouraged private capital to lease farms along the railway and further develop the surrounding areas to fully Take advantage of this gradual extension of the railway line.And such a policy will inevitably make the Southwest Railway gradually prosper, and eventually be actually controlled by the people on the east coast.

For example, Taoyuan County, which was officially established a while ago, is like this.As the first county-level administrative unit along the Southwest Railway, the county has jurisdiction over Taoyuan Township (formerly Taoyuan Township), Dahuang Township, Shrub Township, and Guangrong Township, three townships developed on the basis of pioneering farms, and a newly established Fort—Pear Fort (located near the small village of Pilaralaha in later generations, named after a large number of pear trees cultivated in the Northern Botanical Garden).There are five township-level administrative units in Taoyuan County, one town, three townships, and one fort, with a total population of less than 9000, making it the county-level administrative unit with the smallest population in the country.

The county is located in the later fruit-growing area of ​​southern Uruguay, and its soil conditions are particularly suitable for the growth of peach trees, pear trees and other fruit trees. The people on the east bank also discovered this situation, so they vigorously promoted peaches, pears, plums, and grapes in this county. , apples, oranges and other fruits.The Ministry of Agriculture also intends to set up a botanical garden in Taoyuan Town, which is responsible for cultivating and improving fruit tree varieties, and by the way guides local farmers in planting, and strives to develop fruit planting into the economic pillar of the area—especially when the railway is connected. There is enough time for fast transportation to the eastern coast and northwest industrial area, where there are a large number of consumers.

Unlike Taoyuan County, the newly established Qianjin Farm focuses on agricultural planting. More precisely, this newly established state-run farm focuses on soybean and pasture planting.Soybean is a crop that can not only fertilize the field, but also earns considerable income - planters in Brazil, Peru and other places like this kind of thing that can fertilize the field very much, and it is also listed as the three major crops along with bird droppings and whale bone meal in the East Coast. The price of soil and chemical fertilizers is not low, so ordinary farmland can’t afford it, and most of the sugarcane and tobacco plantations are exported abroad; although pasture grass is not as economical as soybeans, but Qianjin Farm also has a livestock pen and raises a lot of sheep. , the feed for these sheep mainly comes from pastures grown in the ground.

Therefore, to be precise, Advance Farm is mainly a mix of agriculture and animal husbandry, producing soybeans, mutton, wool and other products. If it is managed well, it can still make a profit and maintain it.There are currently more than 300 people on this farm, almost all of whom were brought in by Mendes, a labor broker, from Scotland, Ireland and other places. They will work in this farm for five years, and after five years, they will have the right to apply for the East Coast of China. The nationality of the republic, and then buy the land to start a family.

In addition to these more than 300 foreign laborers, there are also hundreds of Italian road construction workers from Sicily living in this newly built farm. These people are sitting on the grass waiting for dinner at the moment.They wore old, dirty, cheap linen clothes, were unshaven, and looked tired, as if two hours of work after getting up early had drained their energy and spirit.Many people stared at the food stalls without saying a word, and some smoked cheap cigarettes they got from nowhere; there was still some dew on the grass, but they sat on it without minding, and seized all the time Relieve the fatigue caused by labor.

These people are all road construction workers brought in from Europe by the Genoa consortium. At this time in Italy, overpopulation has become a relatively serious social problem.The poor agricultural facilities, the unfavorable weather for several years, and the excessive expropriation of the nobles have forced farmers in many areas in the south-central region to rely on high-yielding crops such as corn to survive, otherwise it would not be enough for everyone food.Based on such a situation, recruiting workers from Naples and Sicily, where the overpopulation is the most serious, becomes a very simple matter - of course, you have to use some deceptive tricks when recruiting to blow the east coast into a hype , so that it will be more efficient when recruiting personnel.

These people were recruited by the Genoese, their wages were also paid by the Genoese consortium, and labor tools and daily food were purchased nearby.For example, this food stall next to the Qianjin Farm Railway Station is dedicated to providing food for these people. Of course, the farm also provides food, but it is very unpalatable and crude, and has almost no merits except relatively cheap, so this The foremen of the Italian road construction team arranged the subordinates to go to the farm to eat "pig food", and they went to this food stall to buy food. After all, this food stall not only made delicious food, but also sold some wine class, which won their favor.

The male owner of the food stand is a veteran. After retiring from the Volunteer Army due to his age, he traveled across the ocean to the east coast alone, and was finally placed near the Advance Farm.Because of his background as a veteran and his age, the National Development Bureau in charge of immigration allowed him to set up a food stall next to the train station, cooking for these road workers to earn some hard-earned money.

Of course, this food stall is actually very profitable. The daily net profit is around one yuan, and the annual income is more than 300 yuan. It is definitely a high income on the east coast.At present, this immigrant from the Ming Dynasty specializes in cooking and eating here, and his two children don’t go to school, so they are helping by his side; as for his big and round Slavic woman, in addition to taking care of the family’s farmland, she is also responsible for collecting and killing sheep. Is a good hand.

Time passed quickly amidst the busyness of the family of three. As the rising sun appeared on the eastern horizon, several foremen stood up and began to greet everyone to get up and have breakfast in Sicilian dialect.After driving these people away, these foremen and more than a dozen other senior workers sat at the food stall, and chatted happily in Sicilian dialect while drinking mutton soup.

The golden sun shines on the roadbed, some rails polished smooth by the wheels of horse-drawn railcars shine brightly in the sun, and a new day begins again...

(End of this chapter)