Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 979 Southwest ([-])

"There's not enough construction machinery! Why are all those machine rental companies going?" Peng Zhicheng, riding on horseback, looked at the Italian workers digging drainage ditches on the railway line outside Qianjin Farm, and asked immediately.He is the supervisor of the national railway, responsible for inspecting and inspecting the construction of the national railway. Although the Genoese are responsible for the main construction task of the Southwest Railway, he and his inspection team still come over from time to time to supervise and inspect it.

The railway workers in front of him worked hard enough, but the efficiency was not very high. There were hundreds of people, and they only dug such a small ditch in one morning. At this speed, when will the railway be opened to advance to the farm.Although this farm has not been established for a long time, neither the population nor the output is very large, but the efficiency of railway construction is not high, but it is an indisputable fact.

"Now the Northwest Railway is in the final finishing stage, and many machines have been rented; in addition, the Government Affairs Council has formulated a plan for the '1653 Water Conservancy Great War' since the beginning of the year, and many machines have also been rented to the construction sites of rivers and reservoirs in various counties and townships. We contacted many parties, but we didn’t even invite a steam plow, the construction machinery is really too tight.” Soon, someone from the Grassland Railway Company came forward to report.This person actually wanted to say that there are two steam plows working in the rich and powerful Qianjin Farm, but thinking that this farm is a key investment project of the State Development Bureau, they are also hurrying to prepare the land for planting after the spring, so Wisely not much to say.

In the early years, many people may not have realized the benefits of steam equipment, but today on the east coast, steam engines have been widely used: water conservancy construction sites, docks, ships, factories, railways and other places, only you can build There is nothing they can't think of.The application range of these large and small steam equipment is getting wider and wider, and it has brought about a huge change in the productivity of the whole society. This change is so great that everyone agrees that it can be called "productivity revolution". .

You see, in places like Jinjin Farm, which is extremely remote, there are always two steam plows for plowing and digging. The cost of use is not high. The fuel is mainly firewood collected on the spot, and occasionally a little low-quality coal is burned.Perhaps the biggest cost is the cost of maintenance: replacement of damaged parts, daily use of paraffin (lubrication, more advanced ones will use whale oil, seal oil) and so on, but compared with dozens of times the work efficiency , this maintenance cost is nothing at all.

It took more than ten years for the people to travel through the world, and finally the whole society got used to and even enjoyed the large-scale application of machinery and equipment. Next, as long as education is strictly controlled and old ideas such as feudal thinking are not allowed to flow back, then the whole society can be called entering the world. "The First Industrial Revolution".This is an extremely difficult undertaking, and it is also an amazing feat. If it was in Daming, it would be basically impossible to enter the stage of the industrial revolution in such a short period of time, and once you delay for a long time, those gentry will quickly take it Your heirs are brainwashed into their own, and then everything goes back to the way it was, the feudal gentry blasting the industrial capitalists.

However, the economic system under the rule of the time travel is not without problems. The most prominent contradiction is the shortage of human resources.Insufficient human resources, then use machines on a large scale, but the problem is that the output of machines is somewhat insufficient now, which requires the government to deliberately guide, adjust the production structure, pay attention to market demand, and make the half-market, half-planned economic system on the east coast more flexible , to play a greater role.

"The production capacity of Dafeng Agricultural Machinery Factory and No. [-] Heavy Machinery Factory is still insufficient. Now that the market demand is so strong, their production capacity is limited by the dual constraints of raw material supply and skilled workers and cannot be effectively released; while their upstream Pingan Iron and Steel Factory, Tieling The special steel plant is limited by the bottleneck of coal and iron production and logistics and transportation, so it cannot increase production quickly..." Peng Zhicheng turned his horse's head, and while approaching the railway construction site, he said: "In the final analysis, it is the double shortage of human resources and educational resources. The output of primary raw materials has increased, and the number of skilled workers has increased through education. Alas, look at the Ping’an Coal Mine, Changshan Iron Mine, and Tieling Coal and Iron Base that have enslaved so many slaves and hired so many foreign laborers. The bone marrow is about to be squeezed out, but the output just can’t keep up with the demand; look at the vocational schools run by major companies, the number of students in the training is far from enough, and this industrialization really can’t be achieved overnight.”

"In the future, these people—" Peng Zhicheng said here, and suddenly pointed his horsewhip at the Italian laborers who were working hard in front of them, and said, "You can't let them go back! They finally came to the east bank, and after a long period of hard work, they have returned to work. A certain degree of organization and discipline, and some people who are flexible and have learned some engineering skills are considered talents. How can such talents and such a labor force be allowed to return to Sicily, where there is no hope? The East Coast Republic of China is the most suitable stage for them, and they can only realize their value by staying on the East Coast. After five years, they will be given citizenship in a unified way, and none of them will be allowed to go back. At worst, some compensation will be given to the Genoese That's all."

"In this regard, the National Development Administration and the Immigration Department have always had a plan. In principle, they will stay on the east coast after five years and become naturalized on the east coast. Because they have built the railway for several years and have seen so many projects. After learning so much engineering and technical knowledge, and being fortunate enough to hear and witness various affairs in the East Coast, it is really not appropriate to let them go back. Of course, in order to take care of their emotions, the Development Bureau will also find a way to send their direct contacts All the relatives came to the East Bank, and for those with outstanding talents, they were allowed to bring their relatives and friends as well, so as to calm their emotions a little bit.” An official from the State Development Bureau who followed Peng Zhicheng said, “The Genoese have been Two batches of more than 40 Italian laborers were moved here to build the railway. For this reason, they even hired more than ten sea ships and spent nearly 200 lire in freight. It is foreseeable that in the future, they will In a few years, more road construction workers will be transported here one after another. The total freight may cost [-] million bank liras. Of course, the sea ships they charter can bring some goods back to Europe when they return. France, Spain, and Portugal are fighting endlessly. It can more or less subsidize their expenses."

Peng Zhicheng stopped talking when he heard this, and just quietly looked at these people who were wearing old and dirty clothes and working hard with metal tools.There is no doubt that these people are hard-working, perhaps not as good as the Ming people at this time, but they are definitely much more industrious than the Chinese in later generations, and they are more able to endure some pain and disasters. This may be related to their relatively difficult life in their hometown. Related, they are used to this kind of life.

At this time, Italy's industry was in decline, business was sluggish, and the population was growing significantly, faster than other places in Europe, which naturally caused their living standards to drop significantly.Especially in areas like Sicily and Naples that lived under the rule of the Spanish, the residents had suffered the fate of an aggressive and extortionate monarch for eight lifetimes. Many people not only had a heavy tax burden, but often had to On the battlefield, it is almost impossible to live.

Perhaps the huge population growth in the Netherlands has something to do with the fact that many Italians can't get by.From the end of the 16th century, a large number of Italian merchants and craftsmen immigrated to the United Provinces and the Southern Netherland. When they went, they often brought a large group of assistants from their hometown. One-third of the population is foreigners or descendants of foreigners-a considerable part of them are Italians-but it is amazing that Italy has lost so many people, and it is still the most densely populated area in the Mediterranean, which is simply speechless .

"There are less than seven months left in this year. There should be no problem with the opening of the Southwest Railway to the Qianjin Farm. In addition, there may be room for leveling the distance between the Qianjin Farm and the soon-to-be-established Victory Farm (located near the small village of Pintado, Uruguay). to prepare for the full-scale start of the next step.” Peng Zhicheng looked at the hard-working laborers for a while, then suddenly turned to his secretary and said, “Tomorrow, you will go talk to the people from the Grassland Railway Company. Negotiate, let them keep an eye on the Genoese, don't let them be lazy - of course they won't do this on purpose, after all, they are paying for the road repairs themselves, the longer the delay, the higher the cost, believe in themselves It will be weighed clearly, but you'd better go and order with them."

"I understand." The secretary nodded in agreement, and said: "According to the plan submitted to us by the Genoese, a group of more than a thousand laborers from Naples will land in Jingjiang Port in two months, and then start from that side Leveling the roadbed and laying rails will greatly speed up the construction progress of the Southwest Railway. They are all businessmen and are very sensitive to costs. At this time, they are actually more urgent than our own people, and they wish they could not delay the construction schedule for a day."

"Huh, I'm afraid I've tasted some sweetness. I think this business is really profitable. At least it's higher than the annuity yield that absorbs the most idle funds in their country. I heard that the annual yield has dropped from 1.2% to 1% in recent years. %, you can’t win even if you are connected to inflation, so it’s better to invest in railways. Recently, Taoyuan County was established, and the Government Affairs Council approved a large amount of funds for urban infrastructure construction. In addition, the construction of Shengli Farm and Qianjin Farm also cost a lot of money. Among them, personnel, supplies, construction materials and labor tools have to be transported by the more than 90 kilometers of railways that have been opened to traffic. The Genoese are not fools, and I am afraid they have seen the profit prospects of railway transportation.” Peng Zhicheng commented, “But this is not enough. Well, everyone gets what they need, they make money, we pick up the railways for free, and we don’t owe anything.”

(End of this chapter)