Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1198 Dingjun Mountain ([-])

Just when Zhu Chengdong and Zamparini arrived at Yancheng Port, Shao Yuanyi, who came here from Xihu County, had just set foot on the return boat.He has been here for almost a month, and the reason why he came here was mainly entrusted by his wife and father-in-law to visit his sister-in-law Anna who had just lost her husband.

Anna's husband is a smart man, and he was one of the first group of people who bought a boat to fish together. Unfortunately, their boat sank a few months ago in the sea east of Huangyang Port due to a sudden storm. The accompanying fishing boats were unable to rescue her (in fact, they couldn’t get close at all), so they had to rush back to report the funeral.After the news reached Xihu County, Shao Yuanyi came to comfort him on behalf of his family. This time, he was almost on his way back. After all, his hometown still had a lot of work and business to do.

On May 1659, 5, Shao, who had just returned home for a few days to rest, was invited by the Taoist Association to give lectures at a newly established Taoist hospital in Dingjunshan, and at the same time helped popularize some superficial hygiene for the local residents. Epidemic prevention knowledge.The Daoist Association's position in the east coast of the country was relatively detached, but Shao Yuanyi couldn't refuse, so he had to take a leave of absence from the county health bureau, and then hurried to Ping'an County by boat.

This time, the boat he took was a classic 72-ton inland river steamer, which belongs to the state-owned inland river transportation company. The cabin was full of various grades of flour produced by the Linhu Flour Mill. ——In addition, more than a dozen scattered passengers such as Shao Yuanyi were also carried, and the fare was five cents per person.

It is said that although the inland water transport company has been in an embarrassing situation in recent years-one is that the appropriation from the superiors has been decreasing, and the business has also been strongly challenged by the railway company, so the profitability has begun to decline-but in the territory of the East Coast Republic of China, it is still It is a leading transportation company and a large trust, with 223 inland river steamers (all of which are 72-ton class, and the early 35-ton class paddle steamers have been phased out) with a total tonnage of more than 1 tons and a total number of employees of more than 6 , has made an unparalleled contribution to the economic development of the east coast, and its role is beyond doubt.

In order to cope with the market competition in the new era, inland water transport companies are now trying their best to promote new businesses, such as the passenger transport business that is being brewed, that is, to launch a ship that is completely used for passenger transport to adapt to the increasingly rapid growth of the passenger transport market.You must know that the income of passenger transport business has always been very high. If it is managed well, it will definitely become a new growth point for the business of inland water transport companies in the future.

Of course, Shao Yuanyi was still on a passenger and cargo ship this time.This kind of boat goes to and from the small piers around Duck Lake, and transports people along the way when pulling goods (of course, there are no seats, and no catering service is provided). The frequency is not fixed, the time is not fixed, and the route may not be fixed, so it is still troublesome. of.But now that's the only way to go. Compared with the painful transportation efficiency of the old continent, the east coast is already much better, and it doesn't seem like a planet at all.

Shao Yuanyi arrived at Ping An Harbor Wharf the next morning.The weather in the north is indeed much warmer and wetter than Yancheng Port in the south, which can be seen from the relatively thin clothes of the residents—although it is already late autumn, this autumn is also unusually warm, isn’t it? ?

At this time, a shower of rain came from the sky, and many people's clothes were soaked.Especially for some young girls, the thin cotton clothes clinging to their bodies after being wet by the rain brought them an intriguing "second skin", which made Shao Yuanyi a little bit intent-a big city is a big city , the girls are much prettier than those in the country, and their dresses are more refined.

The port of Ping’an Port is busy as always, with goods from Ping’an Iron and Steel Factory, Northern Chemical Factory, Northern Armory Factory, Northern Gunpowder Factory, Northern Seed Company, Northern Pharmaceutical Factory, Ping’an Machine Weaving Factory, Canned Food Factory, Dyestuff Factory, State-owned Liming Orchard, etc. They are collected here and transported to various places by the ships of inland river transport companies; correspondingly, flour, rice, livestock, seafood, salt, iron ore, machinery, timber, textile raw materials, leather, oil and overseas commodities from the south are also After another, Ping An Port Wharf has become a super-large cargo distribution center, with an annual throughput of close to 20 tons, which is extremely astonishing, and this number is still growing. It is difficult to predict what will happen in the future.

Shao Yuanyi squeezed out of the bustling crowd at the wharf, not to mention how depressed he was - the large number of Comorian laborers with body odor on the wharf almost made him stumble, and collided in the crowd At that time, he accidentally stepped on a pile of horse manure and soiled the newly-made leather shoes, which made people want to cry without tears.

After a hasty lunch at the Ping'an Port Wharf, Shao Yuanyi packed a business carriage for himself and his entourage, and then walked along the Shugang Highway—it was actually paved with asphalt, and the raw materials were probably from the by-products of the coking plant. This also shows that the Ping'an County Government Sufficient financial resources - go to the train station and take a train.

After breaking ground at the end of 1655, the Pingliu Line (Ping'an Port-Liushuying Township), a railway built by the Ministry of the Army and the China Railway Corporation, was built with various funds, but after three years of intermittent repairs (several stoppages due to funding problems), The 57-kilometer railway was finally completed at the end of last year.China Railway Corporation then transferred locomotives and carriages from Meilin County to conduct trial operation on this line. After finding that everything was in good condition, China Railway Corporation announced that the Pingliu Railway officially started commercial operation.This time, Shao Yuanyi and others planned to take this train to Liushuying, and then, together with the officials of the Ministry of Health waiting there, rode to Dingjun Fort located at the southern foot of Dingjun Mountain.

The locomotive running on the Pingliu Railway is the latest "La Plata Star" type, and it runs smoothly and steadily along the way. The 57-kilometer journey takes only one and a half hours, which is unbelievably fast.You must know that the distance of 57 kilometers will take two days to march even for the army on the east bank, not to mention that it will only take longer for the logistics and supply troops. For people to control the Dingjun Mountain Range, its significance is indeed at the strategic level.

Of course, in the planning of the Army and the General Administration of Railways, the 57-kilometer Pingliu line is just a certain section of the Northern Railway. The real direction of the railway is actually along the railway line built in Brazil (Porto Alegre-Pa Sufundu City), along the low and gentle valleys between the Dingjun Mountains, extending all the way to the southern section of the Brazilian Plateau, bringing the tentacles of the people on the east coast to the bottom of this vast land, and conquering more in the future. The land is pre-prepared.

However, due to lack of funds and equipment, there is only one Pingliu line on the Northern Railway currently open to traffic. As for the about 7500-kilometer railway line from Liushuying (more than 65 residents) to Dingjunbao, it is still in the early stage of construction. .Over the years, the Ministry of the Army has taken turns to mobilize militiamen from various counties to the Geral Mountains every winter. On the one hand, it has carried out combat training operations to temper the combat capabilities of each department; on the other hand, it is also to obtain more food, livestock and labor (Guarani barbarians ) to better subsidize railway construction—according to incomplete statistics, over the past three years, people from the East Coast have launched many operations in the Gerard Mountains and even the southern section of the Brazilian Plateau, capturing more than [-] melons. Lani barbarians and a large amount of grain, livestock, leather and other materials, and it is these materials and labor that can effectively guarantee the construction of the northern railway. After all, this is not a railway officially invested by the central government, and everything depends on itself.

After Shao Yuanyi and others got off the bus at Liushuying Station, they immediately joined a large convoy.This convoy has more than 1657 mules and horses and more than [-] carts, and it is fully loaded with various supplies to Dingjun Fort dozens of kilometers away.In addition to a team of heavily armed militia escorts, there are more than [-] new immigrants accompanying the team. They will go to the north of Dingjunbao and settle in the newly established Shahubao. Near the town of Encantadu in Rand State, it is a settlement established at the end of [-]. It currently has more than [-] residents, mainly planting mixed rice and wheat.

On May 5th, the convoy finally arrived at Dingjunbao, which now has more than 20 residents, in the evening. After discussing with the person in charge of the Taoist hospital in the city, Shao Yuanyi and others decided not to delay , Immediately sent people to summon the scattered village doctors to the hospital to gather, and then attend classes together for training.

On May 5, when most of the medical workers gathered in the Taoist hospital, Shao Yuanyi stood in the open-air courtyard in front of the hospital and told everyone about the characteristics and transmission methods of various diseases. He talked about how to judge some common infectious diseases. Finally, he used some of the medical equipment he brought to demonstrate how to infuse fluids, blood transfusions, and measure blood pressure. He could see that most of these so-called "doctors" were unqualified. Yes, and many of them (especially village doctors) have a surprisingly weak foundation, but there is no way, the national conditions on the east coast are like this, and there are too few talents!Therefore, Shao Yuanyi and his assistants were still dead horses as living horse doctors, and taught the village doctors how to find and isolate some malignant infectious diseases in plain and easy-to-understand language. The treatment of the disease is also helpless), so as to prevent the disease from causing too much harm to the people.

The training lasted for three full days. On May 5, Shao Yuanyi finally finished this tiring work and planned to rest here for two days before returning home to rest.At this time, a news came from Dingjunbao: the autumn sowing work in some areas in the south had ended for some time, so the Ministry of the Army routinely mobilized many militiamen to come to the mountains in the north to suppress bandits. The vanguard has already arrived nearby—this time, Chief of Staff Mo of the Ministry of War is personally leading the team!

(End of this chapter)