Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1195 People's Livelihood ([-])

Zhu Chengdong was so anxious that his mouth was frothing. Without him, the fishery resources were tight recently. Many fishery merchants in Luocha Port could not receive enough goods, so they could only sit back and watch the business opportunities pass away.

"Uncle Zan, what is the reason for the overall reduction in fishery production this year?" On a flat rail car heading to the railway station, Zhu Chengdong asked a little depressed: "This time, less than 25 tons of cod and smoothie were collected. Fish, it is much worse than last month. If this continues, the business will not be able to continue. The monthly sales tax has exceeded [-] yuan (now the sales tax of most enterprises on the east coast is negotiated with the taxation department for a fixed amount. Amount), one thousand and two a year, but how many fish have you harvested this year? It’s really worrying, business is not easy!”

The flat-bed rail car was dragged by two batches of horses, and it walked steadily on the roadbed covered with cinders.In view of the fact that the roadbed paved with stones is easy to damage the horseshoes, the roadbeds of many horse-drawn railcars should be made of relatively soft cinder or fine sand, but the horse-drawn railcars within the urban area (called "travel horse-drawn carriages" or "Streetcar") roadbeds are still gravel or slate, mainly for reasons of cleanliness and aesthetics.

It is said that the urban rail transit in several major cities on the east coast—such as Dongfang County, Ping’an County, Qingdao County, and Zhenhai County—is becoming more and more developed, and the local governments have invested in laying a considerable length of urban light rail transit lines.Those who are more particular about use cast iron light rail, and those who have less financial resources use hardwood-clad iron rails. Horse-drawn rail cars travel very briskly on these fixed lines, which brings great convenience to the travel of the people.Now Dongfang County, the capital, has set up a county-owned state-owned enterprise called "Dongfang Street Car Company", which operates the rail transit business in the urban areas on both sides of the Dayu River, and the income is not bad.

And this new industry in the capital has naturally led several other cities to follow suit, such as Ping'an County, an important industrial town that has always wanted to separate from the capital.The "Pingan Street Car Company" established in the county is even more "ruthless". It not only laid lines in the urban area, but also built rail transit lines to important places such as docks, orchards, and steel factories, highlighting the prosperity of old industrial cities. And prosperity—not much else here but money and steel.

Qingdao County, the financial center, is even better. The county has the first and second ring light rails invested and built by the central government. The operating mileage and experience of horse-drawn rail cars even far exceed those of the capital and Ping'an County.The "Qingdao Street Car Company" responsible for operating these light rail lines ranks first in the country in terms of scale. At present, it is heard that the company is already using its profits to lay some vertical lines connecting various settlements to enrich urban transportation in Qingdao County.

Dongfang, Ping'an, Qingdao and other counties have developed urban rail transit, and other counties naturally want to follow suit and launch such projects, and soon formed a big industry.The scale of this industry is so large that it creates a huge demand for vehicles, horses and coachmen, which has become a moderate economic growth point, and it is also "domestic demand" that the princes of the executive committee like .

Zamparini and Zhu Chengdong arrived at the railway station soon after driving for five or six minutes on the flat rail car.Adjacent to the train station was the telegraph office, where seven or eight young women were being trained, and Zamparini knew that they were all newly recruited students of the women's telegraph training class.With the development of the railway industry, the laying of the cable telegraph network on the east coast is also developing steadily, and the business volume is also increasing day by day-although ten words cost a dime, but for some businessmen, newspapers and government agencies, this is not enough. Not a big deal, as long as the value of the message is enough, it's all worth it!

"The east bank is really overcrowded now..." Zamparini patted Zhu Chengdong's shoulder, who was frowning along the way, and said, "Don't worry, Xiao Zhu. Our country has a population of one million now? It's a huge number. Immigration, the development of medical knowledge, and the implementation of health regulations have greatly delayed death. With so many people, the demand for food is huge, not to mention that the residents of the East Coast have always eaten seafood. Customs and habits, do you think about how broad the prospect of this market is? Don’t think about it, the sluggish fishery output this year is just a matter of luck. I asked the comrades in the Marine Bureau, and they said that the fishery output in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom is not high every year. Stable, good years and bad years have always existed alternately, and our east coast has been able to maintain high production for so many years, which is already very good.”

After what Zamparini said, Zhu Chengdong's mood improved slightly.Yes, in the past few years, anyone who is not blind can see that, regardless of the city or the countryside, with the steady improvement in the quantity and quality of food supply, as well as the development of medical and health services, the natural population growth rate on the east coast has been increasing for several consecutive years Hovering at the staggeringly high level of 7%.Moreover, until today, the torrent of life seems to have not slowed down. According to the speculation of the Ministry of Health, the birth rate of newborns on the east coast may reach an unprecedented peak in 1660. After that, as the population age structure gradually becomes reasonable, the birth rate will slow down. Slow down - this means a huge domestic demand market.

The 25 tons of salted fish delivered by Chengxin Fishery Company were soon delivered at the warehouse. Among them, the agent of Grassland Railway Company stationed in Luocha Port was the largest purchaser. The construction of the Southwest Railway is at a critical moment.*** ***Investors have also slightly improved the food for their Italian laborers, so they have to come to Rocha to import a certain amount of salted fish almost every month, and have cooperated with Zhu Chengdong and Zamparini many times.

Zhu Chengdong, who received a payment of more than [-] yuan, was a little dazed for a while. Zamparini smiled when he saw this, and then took him to the industrial area by the pier.

The so-called industrial zone is actually a supporting industrial chain developed by relying on the marine industry, including workshops and small businesses, such as those who make iron anchors, pumps, weaving canvas, weaving nets, twisting ropes, and hoops. Basket weavers, pulley makers, etc. There are also some small handicraftsmen, such as compass makers, blacksmiths, carpenters, cobblers, candle makers, etc., in short, there are many kinds and categories-and it is precisely this With the efforts of thousands of handicraftsmen (including their families), the marine industry in Port Rocha can be maintained and developed.

However, compared with the value it creates, the environment of the industrial zone is somewhat poor.Gein developed on its own here. Many craftsmen originally came from the Old World. After they immigrated to the east coast, they set up work sheds and equipment on the wasteland near the pier, and then recruited three or five apprentices to start work. Production of all kinds of gadgets.Naturally, the layout of this so-called industrial zone lacking in planning is messy and the facilities are outdated and crude. When Zamparini and his wife walked through the narrow and dirty streets, some uncovered sewage can be seen everywhere on both sides of the road. The pits—the kind of sewage pits that are said to lead directly to sewers dug by the locals themselves—smell extremely bad, and Zhu Chengdong has vaguely heard that many babies have been hurt by rats crawling out of the sewers, which is simply sensational.

"The entire industrial area is surrounded by stagnant water, and the industrial area is full of sewage, which is stinky. It's actually better now because the weather is not so hot. When the sun was exposed in the summer before, the sewage and gutters emitted The smell is disgusting." Zamparini said without paying attention, "There are many families living in the industrial area, some of these families have jobs, and some don't. You see, that family raises pigs, and the house doesn't stink. It’s a strange smell. Here, Xiao Zhu, there is a pile of garbage piled up like a hill. No one has cleaned it up for a long time. It's far away. Normal people would not choose to live here, I heard that some workshop owners here have bought land and built houses in the town, probably they can't bear the environment here."

"However, if you ignore the environment here, then you can still find some good things here. Xiao Zhu, I know that you intend to develop upstream industries, and you have always wanted to buy fishing boats to fish yourself, right?" Zamparini lit a pipe for himself, and said with a smile: "But new boats are so expensive. Even the price of a 200-ton fishing boat produced by the private Xinxing Shipyard is not affordable by ordinary people. But why should we How about that? You see that Yancheng Port often auctions all kinds of dirty ships acquired by the navy. Among them, there are quite a few of them with a displacement of [-] to [-] tons. We can spend a little money to buy one or two ships, and then come here to buy them ourselves. Such as fishing nets, fishing tackle, barrels, baskets, skins, ballast stones, pumps, water pipes, compasses, wainscoting, cables, hooks, pulleys, canvas, etc., and spend some money to hire people in the ship repair workshop Refitting is at least half cheaper than buying a new fishing boat, but the performance will not be much different, so it’s really a bargain. We only have this little money, so we can’t do it carefully, Xiao Zhu.”

"Uncle Zan, it turns out that you also agree to go upstream." Zhu Chengdong was a little delighted when he heard the words, and then sighed and said, "Uncle Zan, in fact, this is inevitable. Grandma is a bear, now the government treats trading companies like us, Commercial companies are taxed so heavily that we can hardly breathe. On the other hand, for real industries such as fishing, the business tax is outrageously low, and the business tax is reduced every three days, which is simply too favorable. The intention of the government It’s too obvious. I just hope that we will engage in more physical industries. If our company does not have a fishing fleet, it is destined to not go far in the future. Liu Laosan and his group on the pier obviously have a good opportunity to transform, but I have been too lazy to buy fishing boats, recruit fishermen, etc., and there will definitely be limited room for improvement in the future.”

(End of this chapter)