Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1170 Terrace ([-])

July 1658, 7, Northern Patagonia.

Taking advantage of the rising tide at night, an old-fashioned two-masted Galen ship of the South Sea Liner Company (affiliated with the Ministry of Communications) carefully floated into the mouth of the Chubut River with the assistance of lighthouses and navigation marks.After a careful inspection, the experienced captain ordered the double anchors to be dropped, and waited quietly for the tide to recede tomorrow and the ship to be stranded before unloading.

"For more than two years, Hai'an Port has not even completed a modern wharf. Sometimes it is said that there is insufficient steel, and sometimes it is said that there is insufficient cement. Next time, I will probably have to complain about the lack of labor. It is really moron." Already in his fifties. The old captain untied the flagon from his waist and took a sip, then shook his head and walked towards the restaurant.

In the dining room on the ship, Li Zexin, who was wearing a rose red coat, sighed, pushed the food on the plate aside, rested her right hand on her chin, and stared out of the window: there was a coast full of rocks. The subdued tide kept hitting the cliff shore. Although Li Zexin couldn't see anything, she could fully imagine the majestic momentum of the tide.

After all, this is a rough and heroic wild land. The Tehuelche savages are so terrifying, they couldn't stop that bastard from coming here to make contributions!Can't you be an official in the capital?If you are willing to work in the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, you can go to the Ministry of Industry and Commerce. If you like to work in the Ministry of Communications, you can go to the Ministry of Communications. Even if you want to work in the Ministry of the Navy, it is not impossible. What else can't be done?

But he was fortunate enough to roll silently to the barren land of the Chubut River, where he got mixed up with the gang of Cossacks, fought with the barbarians of Teverche all day long, and lived a life of licking blood with knives!This is ridiculous!

The middle-aged naval officer who was entrusted to accompany Li Zexin to come to Hai'an Port for business on the way smiled when he saw this, then lit a pipe with one of his colleagues, and went to the porthole to smoke together.The father of Miss Li is Li Yi, Minister of the Navy. One of her two elder brothers is teaching at the Nautical School, the other is serving in the First Fleet, and the other two younger brothers are studying in Bingtuanbao. This family can be regarded as a pretty good group, and now they will go to Hai'an Port, which is not a shit, to "play", it is really confusing, maybe they are here to meet their lovers!

The night passed quickly.In the early morning of the next day, Li Zexin carefully stepped on a wet and slippery stone trestle to the pier area. The brigantine that was drifting with the current last night was already half-stranded in the river at this time. Wait a little longer and wait for all the tide After retreating, the ship will be completely stranded in the mud.At this time, the loading and unloading of the cargo on the ship by the steam boom in the dock area will start slowly.

There was a strong smell of fish on the pier. Li Zexin looked around and saw a canopy stretching for more than 180 meters on both sides of the Shugang Highway. Obviously, anyone who has stayed in any fishing port on the east coast knows that this is a salty place. Fish processing area - Because of some food problems exposed in the early days, the Ministry of Agriculture ordered that all salted fish processing workshops must be openly processed in the wharf area, that is, the process of picking, cleaning, pickling, and barreling must be done in these shanty towns It is carried out openly in order to accept the supervision of passers-by.Therefore, it is normal for you to smell the fishy smell soaring on both sides of the dock road. You must know that more than [-] tons of various seafood are processed here every day.

Disembarking with Li Zexin and others were about [-] immigrants from the Ming Dynasty and North Korea (apparently made up by the Heishui area, mostly women). These people used to live in the damp and dark hold. After setting sail from Hong Kong, we went all the way to Hai'an Port.Next, they will take a short rest in Hai'an Port, then organize on the spot, receive farm tools, seeds, livestock (all are loans) and other daily necessities, and head northward for several Ten kilometers to Haiping Port (later Puerto Madryn) to build a fortress and open up farmland—as for the various building materials needed for building the city, they will be transported by small steamers off the coast. With these heavy materials, people and livestock can only walk on their legs.

"Miss Li, we can only send you here." Standing in front of the office of the Logistics Department of the Ministry of the Navy in Hai'an Port, the two middle-aged naval officers said solemnly: "Please don't leave Hai'an Port too far. The grassland here is not very peaceful. I heard that the intensity of the war between us and the Tehuelche people has recently escalated. Please don't go to the wild for the time being, this is also your father's entrustment."

"I will pay attention, thank you two uncles for your care..." Li Zexin said with a sweet smile.

After finding a villa in the northern suburbs with ease, Li Zexin lived in the house of Liu Wei, the daughter of her best friend and naval lieutenant commander Liu Dafa, as she wished.Liu Wei is currently working at the Northwest Reclamation Bank. Her husband is a local customs official. His main job is to collect export duties on local specialty products such as wool, frozen meat and leather.After the establishment of Baitao Township, a small amount of white pottery clay has been transported to Hai'an Port by horse-drawn cart. The hardware facilities of the second ceramic factory, which has been established for more than a year, have basically been completed, and small-scale trial production has been carried out several times (only The result is not ideal), I believe that in time, all kinds of export-use porcelain produced by the second ceramic factory will become the main source of local export taxes.

"You're here." Liu Wei brought Li Zexin a cup of coffee. The coffee was top-quality Tacheng Arabica coffee, which smelled unique.It is a pleasure to be able to enjoy this kind of coffee in such a place like Hai'an Port.

"Anyway, I'm free." Li Zexin stirred the coffee cup lightly with a spoon, and said, "Where's your child? Are you used to living here?"

"I went out to ride horses, with a bunch of wild kids outside. It's okay to live here, but the wind and sand are a little bit bigger. After all, it's not as good as a big city. Fortunately, the land price is cheap." Liu Wei sighed inaudibly.She used to work at the Bank of La Plata on Expo Street in Qingdao Port. Later, her husband retired from the navy due to injury and was assigned to Hai'an Port as the deputy head of customs. She also tried to find a way to transfer here from Qingdao.

"It's incomparable to you. Your dad is only one of your daughters. He spoils you too much." Liu Wei added later, saying in a slightly jealous tone: "My dad has 11 children, and he gave them to me when I got married. I have 3000 yuan, and we have to earn the rest by ourselves. Unlike you, there are only three houses under your name, and there are shares in Air Canada..."

"Maybe." Li Zexin smiled nonchalantly, and then changed the subject: "Where has Guo Handong been recently? He hasn't written to me for a long time, if it wasn't for reading in the newspaper last month that he won a big victory in Polubao Thuel cut the savage and beheaded the fourth level, I thought he disappeared, that bastard still owes me 100 yuan..."

Liu Wei glanced at Li Zexin with a smile on the corner of her mouth, finally sighed lightly, and said, "It's nice to be young...Guo Han set off again at the beginning of the Eastern month, this time they dispatched a total of more than [-] people on foot and cavalry, chasing and suppressing him in Polubao A Tehuelche tribe that appeared nearby has gone, and it is estimated that they should be able to return by the end of the month. Don’t worry, the danger is not great. It is far worse than the one that was wounded in Polubao a month ago. I heard that the main force of the barbarians has been defeated. There are a few embers left that don't make a difference."

When Li Zexin heard that Guo Handong was injured, her hands tightened, and then she breathed a sigh of relief, and said with an unfriendly expression: "This bastard, it's wrong to leave a good first-class staff member of the Navy Department, and he insists on going with the army's stinky Cossacks." If you eat sand on the grassland, you deserve to be injured, and you should die."

Liu Wei didn't even make fun of Li Zexin when she heard the words, but was slightly distracted as if recalling something from the past.Back then, we all grew up together in the naval compound. Guo Handong was handsome, good at studying, and loyal. He had always been the core of their small circle, but it was a pity that he...

"Okay, I know." Li Zexin put down the coffee cup and said with a smile, "I'm going to live with you for a while, is it okay?"

"Whatever you want, stay as long as you like." Liu Wei said indifferently, "But your eldest brother may come here this month. Last time I heard people say that the 'Executive Committee' will return to this area for training, you Isn’t brother the third lieutenant on the top? If he knows you are here, he will take you home. Ah, I seem to have heard that they are going to the Caribbean to escort a group of non-national laborers who have reached the end of their service Workers (blacks) go to the Free State, and then stop at San Juan Port to patrol the sea."

"What! The 'Executive Committee' is going to the Caribbean, and I, a shareholder of Air Canada, don't know yet!" Li Zexin was startled, and her face turned a little ugly: "Will we start a war with the British?"

"Probably not." Liu Wei was also a little uncertain, but she still said, "It's okay even if there is a war. Shouldn't a man's fame be taken immediately? You can't be like Bai Yutang who spends all day in the capital." One mu and three quarters of the land are occupied by dog ​​dogs, hoping to start a company to earn money from the common people, right? If you have the ability to grab food from foreigners! Bai Yutang and his father Bai Siwen, what kind of men are they!"

The rumors of the disharmony between the East Coast and the UK (most of the smuggling ships are British and Dutch ships) are often discussed even in the streets, and there are not a few people who swear that the two countries are going to war, not to mention that they have a lot of information It’s the second generation—the “Executive Committee” going north may not be easy for ordinary people to know (although there is no intention to keep it secret), but it is not difficult for them at all.

"I hope there won't be a war. If there is a war, life and death will really be decided by the gods." Li Zexin was a little frustrated, obviously afraid that her brother would be involved in the war.

(End of this chapter)