Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1181 Orange River ([-])

A group of cavalry rumbled over from a distance, and then slowly gathered outside a small market town on the south bank of the lower reaches of the Orange River (commonly known as the Orange River in the middle of the river).The town is named Bailang Township, which means white waves surging outside the estuary of the Orange River. It has a population of more than [-] people. Its economy is dominated by irrigated agriculture and small-scale animal husbandry, which is a typical desert valley oasis agriculture.

However, an event that just happened in the past may bring a turning point for this impoverished new town—just half a month ago, the agricultural work team sent by the Administrative Office of the River Central District discovered two There are two huge diamonds, one of which weighs 4 grams, and the other is more than 2 grams, which is very valuable.

After the news came back, the South African Garrison Command immediately dispatched more than 300 cavalrymen to the place in the starry night. While blocking the far and near river beaches, they searched closely for the place where the diamond was found.The people on the east bank have heard about the diamonds discovered by the local natives in the Orange River Basin (one diamond flowed into the hands of the people on the east bank). This time they found two more on the river beach. The news that there are a large number of diamond deposits in the Orange River Basin was immediately confirmed, so there was an emergency dispatch of the South African garrison—what a joke, the diamond mine may be an excellent opportunity for the development of the River Central region. The River Central Regional Administration and South Africa The Garrison Command will never allow anyone to destroy it.

The two diamonds discovered have been put into the safe of the Hezhong District Administrative Office. When the next transport ship to the mainland sets sail, loyal and capable officers will bring them back to the mainland and hand them over to the Northwest Reclamation Bank. They auctioned it on their behalf, and the proceeds will be deposited into a special account to be used for future construction in South Africa—in fact, Jiao Tang, the Commissioner of the River Central Region, has already had a rough idea, that is, to use diamonds and the customs revenue of the River Central Region as Guarantee, loan from the local United Industrial Credit Bank, and build a railway in the Hezhong area, which will be used to enhance the control of the East Bank people over the jurisdiction.

Of course, whether or not the local people accept the idea of ​​the Hezhong area is another matter.First of all, there must be a local luxury goods market, but it is hard to say how big it is. Whether the income generated by South African diamonds can support the construction of a few kilometers or more than ten kilometers of railways in the middle of the river, no one knows!What's more, once South Africa exports more diamonds or diamonds to the mainland, its price will naturally fall, and the uncertainty will be even greater.Therefore, it is a bit fanciful for the Hezhong District Administration to rely on this to build the railway, but it cannot be denied that it is a method of accumulating funds.

The leader of the cavalry is Captain Leonid (formerly the commander of the South African cavalry company Leonid), and his two twin sons, Lai Weichang and Lai Weizhong, are also registered with the army.Because their mother is Spanish and their father is Cossack, the Lai brothers have high noses and deep eyes. They are often nicknamed "Hu'er" in the Hezhong area where the folk customs are tough and Ming people make up the majority. Don't be annoyed, just laugh it off.Later, an old man from Shandong came to the county. After hearing that Reynide had conquered east and west for so many years and wiped out dozens of native tribes, he compared him to the Zhe family who lived in Fugu during the "Song Dynasty". The two brothers took Weichang and Weizhong as their scientific names, and went to the local Dingyuan Military Academy to study cavalry for several years and returned. Now they have also grown into new cutting-edge soldiers in the South African cavalry battalion.

After dozens of cavalry stopped outside the town, the officers and soldiers consciously gathered up the horses that were eating vegetables comfortably. At this time, two cadres from the town came out to welcome them.One of them is Zhang Daniu, an old acquaintance of Reined, a veteran. I heard that this gentleman has now climbed the high branch of Commissioner Jiao, and will soon be the head of a new settlement. Reinide thinks about this guy for many years The former fool can only lament that the environment can change people.

"Battle Commander Lai, I have an update." As soon as he met Zhang Daniu, he shouted, "There is a small tribe of red people two hundred miles to the south. I found out a few days ago that its people had been living in the gravel. I found a wonderful object named—well, diamond—in the field, so Commissioner Jiao ordered your department to send a company of cavalry to go there immediately to drive out the Khoisan tribe and cooperate with the special commissioner of the Administration to find it. A diamond mine that may exist. Here, this is the transfer order. This is Special Commissioner Sun of the Administrative Office. He will go to the place with us. Oh, yes, look at my memory! Commissioner Jiao has decided that in the tribe where the diamond was discovered A new settlement was established in the resident, named Baibo Township (near Nolos Port in later generations), and I am the first head of the town..."

"Congratulations." Reynold said nonchalantly, he has always had this temper, so Zhang Daniu was not surprised, but smiled and approached him.

"Lieutenant Oleg will bring a company of cavalry to meet your requirements." After carefully looking at the transfer order—for God's sake, he couldn't read all the words on it, so he had to read it carefully—turned and looked behind him A middle-aged officer ordered: "Lieutenant Ao, I order you to assemble all 110 officers and soldiers of the first company of the cavalry within half an hour, carefully check the water, armor, and equipment, and then accompany Zhang Xiangchang and Special Commissioner Sun to Baibo Township, and take care of possible immigrants in the future, there must be no mistakes!"

"Of order, my officer." Lieutenant Oleg, who was chewing grass roots, straightened his cap, put his legs together and stood at attention.

This is the case in the Hezhong area. No matter the people or the officials, not only are the people tough, but they also handle affairs in a straightforward manner without dragging their feet.No, only 15 minutes later, more than a hundred cavalry brothers from the first company were fully dressed and led their horses outside the town.Reynold nodded in satisfaction, then waved and ordered Lieutenant Oleg and others to go on the road. After all, if you arrive at Baibo Township one day earlier, you may find the diamond mine one day earlier. This is undoubtedly of great significance to the Hezhong area.

After the first company left, there were only more than 200 cavalry left in Bailang Township, and the inside and outside of the barracks became much cleaner.The few local residents also turn a blind eye to this. After all, these soldiers coming in and out have little to do with them. If you have that spare time, why not take the time to clean up the drip irrigation pipes in the field—the amount of cement and sand in the Orange River is too large , even if a closed filter pond is dug nearby, the water quality is still worrying, so the drip irrigation pipelines made of these bamboo tubes must be cleaned frequently.

Outside the cavalry garrison of Reined is a large vegetable field, which is planted with various vegetables, fruits, grapes, mangoes, alfalfa and other crops. At the same time, there are many ostriches raised by the nearby people, which provide relative support for local residents and foreign garrisons. adequate food.As for the water for agricultural irrigation and drinking water for humans and animals, it is all provided by some small steam pumping stations built along the river.

The construction of these water pumping stations is funded by the regional administration, but the daily maintenance is apportioned from the local residents.No way, the steam water extraction station needs fuel, but unfortunately, the vegetation coverage in Bailang Township is very low (meaning lack of firewood), and there is a lack of fossil fuels such as coal.In desperation, the only option is to import cheap low-quality coal (washed from the coal washing plant) from Xinhua Island—fortunately, the cost is not expensive, and it is not too stressful to share it among hundreds of people.

The existence of the water lifting station is very important for irrigated agriculture in the Orange River Basin, because the soil here is mostly sandy soil, with strong permeability, poor lateral seepage capacity, low water holding capacity, and the temperature is not good here. Low evaporation, large evaporation, if there is no relatively advanced water-saving agricultural technology such as sprinkler irrigation and drip irrigation, it is not easy to develop a certain scale of agriculture in the local area even relying on the Orange River - the only one here Fortunately, it is probably that the fog is extremely large at night and in the morning, which is extremely critical to reducing the amount of irrigation and evaporation of crops. Perhaps this is why the nearby desert is called a "humid desert".

"This damn place is so dry, if it weren't for the discovery of diamonds, whoever wants to come here." Walking up a section of sand dunes, Reynid looked around, and saw that there were low succulent shrubs and trees everywhere. Weeds, very desolate.But now it is the end of November, and after a while, the western coastal desert will usher in the rainstorm season of the year (the annual precipitation is concentrated in one day or a few days), after the rain is moistened, the sand will be wet. All kinds of gorgeous flowers bloom overnight, which is extremely pleasing to the eye.

"I don't know where Commissioner Jiao's next goal is..." Stepping on the soft sand with the cowhide military boots, Reynide thought silently: "Actually, if it wasn't for the discovery of diamonds near here, maybe Commissioner Jiao was planning to drive the army east Let’s go across the Dongshan Mountains (Cape Fold Mountains, Great Cliffs) for development. The mountain valleys there have sufficient water sources, the soil is not bad, the arable land area is not small, and it can also be used for grazing. It is definitely our expansion The first choice. It's a pity. Now it seems—not to mention all—at least a large part of the power will be involved in the western coastal desert and the Orange River basin. It's a pity. It's a pity. The Khoisan Reds here are too Weak, so weak that we couldn't resist us at all, and ran into the depths of the desert north of the Orange River in two or three strokes, how can this make people make achievements?"

After standing on the top of the sand dune and "pretending" for a long time, Lainid quickly walked down, and then accompanied by his two sons, he entered the town—according to the tasks assigned by the South African Garrison Command, Lainid In the end, Ned planned to lead his troops across the north to enter the Namib Desert area of ​​later generations, and further squeeze the Khoisan Reds' range of activities to the north—well, at least two hundred kilometers to the north to stop, after all, the orange The north bank of the river will also be a prospecting area for the people of the east bank in the future, so we can't leave the aborigines here to make trouble.And before setting off, he also needs to explain the local defense issues to the local officials, and by the way, get a batch of water supplies from them, otherwise he will not be able to go on the road.

(End of this chapter)