Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1301 The Leisurely Wartime Years ([-])

"Proprietor, the completion of the restaurant may be delayed for some time. There is a shortage of wood and paint, and there is no masonry. There is not enough manpower. Some local folks are recruiting from the government to build houses and roads. If we go, we can’t rob people with high prices and the government, right? In this way, it’s…” Lao Siji asked the staff to serve everyone a pot of yerba mate, and introduced the current construction status of the restaurant.

Xu Hao frowned when he heard this, and looked up at the house that hadn't been fully capped—this is still a warehouse, and the restaurant lobby has not yet been seen—sighed, and said: "It's not your fault, it's because I didn't think carefully, Iguazu Although there are more than [-] people in Hong Kong today, there is still a lot of waste to be built, and there are many places for work. It is true that this restaurant will not be built in a short time, and you don't have to blame yourself too much, I understand this."

Speaking of this, Xu Hao thought that this matter would have to fall on Goshkin, and besides, wasn't one of the reasons he got acquainted with this person because he had a large number of laborers under his command? Of course, this person's gray Identity is also a big temptation for Xu Hao, who runs the catering and entertainment industry.Therefore, after thinking about it, Xu Hao decided to talk to Goshkin. This guy should be busy on the construction site in the suburbs now.

Xu Hao quickly passed through the town of Iguazu, which had become a large construction site, and ran to the railway station under construction in the suburbs, where he found Goshkin himself.This guy is giving a lecture to the hundreds of Ross laborers who arrived here earlier——

"Most of you are poor people from the southern province of Astrakhan. Think about the days when you were in your hometown, lying on the barren quicksand, looking at the sea with pleading and longing eyes, wanting to get the food you expected. The result? Perhaps some of you will feel a little superior to the northerners—here, those Vologdas and Arkhangelsk people who are leveling the ground—and feel that even the barren southern sands The land is far from being comparable to the virgin forests in the north. Astrakhan province feeds 20 times more livestock than Arkhangelsk, and the sea has 10 times more fish. A watermelon is only half a kopeck. Any desire to emigrate abroad should arise, and the people should live and work in peace and contentment! But how can it be so simple? Where nature bounties are generous, there will immediately appear violent nobles and greedy merchants, and put everything Take it all! If I guess right, they pay 5 to 10 kopecks for a hundred herrings, when in fact a hundred herrings can be sold for 40 or even 50 kopecks. What a difficult situation this kind of business puts fishermen, you guys You couldn't even get enough fishing gear, salt, and repairs to ship, let alone pay heavy taxes, so you fled and came to the east coast..."

"Well, I know you guys are tired of reminiscing over and over about life in impoverished Astrakhan or the northern tundra, and now that you've all come to the east coast, it's a whole other world. You can go to Look in a restaurant, where workers and peasants are having fun, and you will immediately feel that you have passed from barbaric Russia to the threshold of civilization. In Russian taverns, there is nothing but wooden benches. No, you'll drink till you're unconscious with the cheapest and cheapest liquor, and that's all your pleasure; but in the taverns on the East Coast, with their tasteful furniture, and rich draperies on the tall windows, The band played cheerful music, and the beautifully dressed Italian women attracted customers with their singing or coquettishness." When Goshkin said this, there was a burst of laughter from the Ross laborers below.

Seeing that the audience responded enthusiastically, Goshkin, who is quite inspiring and talented in speech, continued to promote hard: "In the bright tavern hall, there are 100 workers sitting on both sides of the long table. They are well-dressed and polite. For entertainment, it is rare to drink to the point of losing consciousness, because the luxurious and comfortable environment, beautiful music and elegant impression give you a better enjoyment than drinking at all times. However, enjoying this Before everything else, you need to make money first, make enough money! If you—Yuri, don’t look at me, you bastard usually knows how to be lazy—you can only earn one or two rubles a month. You don't have half a kopeck left, so you'd better give up on it as soon as possible, you don't deserve it all. And how do you make money? It's simple, work hard and work more! There's only one way, no There are other shortcuts! Poor people, Goshkin has given you a broad road to benefit future generations. If you still dare to be lazy, I will whip your backs with a whip, I promise! Now, everyone Go to work for me, the more you do, the more money you will get, act quickly, don't dawdle, or all the drinks at noon today will be cancelled!"

Alcohol is really a great gift to the Russians, and it must be indispensable, so these laborers immediately went to work consciously, not to mention that this wine is still brewed with a special secret method from Astrakhan. What about Hill wine?This kind of wine was brewed by early Russian immigrants who had obtained the national status of the East Coast. One of them lived in Puerto Iguazu and built a wine cellar.

This wine cellar once became the main recreational place for Ross laborers. After work, everyone sat here, and then asked some literate people to help everyone open and read letters and talk about family affairs.Speaking of this, Goshkin is quite good. He will temporarily contribute money to help poor laborers bring money home, or bring their families over, or temporarily help them tide over difficulties.

For example, a worker named Pavel once received a letter from his wife saying that she had sold everything and hadn’t eaten for three days, a child had died, and his lovely daughter was very sick, probably going to die.The news shocked him so much that he burst into tears—only Russian workers could cry so sadly—sorrow damaged his eyesight, and he couldn’t see anything for a while. Goshkin immediately gave him more than 100 rubles after hearing the news and arranged for someone to send Ross back as soon as possible (although I don't know if it will be too late), and at the same time gave Pavel some leave, and his salary was paid as usual.

These humane measures of Goshkin have greatly bought the loyalty of the laborers under him, and made his control over this increasingly large group to a higher level. When fighting with Italian laborers on several occasions, Goshkin's men dared to fight and fight hard, and they beat the Italians to the point of crying and howling with axes and sticks, which can be seen.

Xu Hao and others don't understand Russian, so they don't know what he is talking about, but many people who have dealt with Goshkin know that this guy is a very talented orator and agitator, and he was probably giving a speech just now. The workers were intoxicated.After patiently waiting for Goshkin to finish his performance, Xu Hao brought people forward, and instead of explaining the purpose of coming, he asked Goshkin to see if he was free—the most important thing was whether there was enough manpower—to help him with the Cantonese The main building of the East Restaurant has been completed.And if possible, it is best to build a guild hall adjacent to it. This is also Lao Siji's suggestion, that is, in the future, some Italian prostitutes can be recruited to perform singing and dancing, and the business must be very good.

To be honest, Goshkin felt a little difficult when he heard Xu Hao's request.Gein, because the project volume of a certain section of the Yinan Railway (Porto Iguazu-Nansheng Township) they have contracted is actually quite large, and because of the long distance, many construction machinery cannot be present for the time being—the construction machinery on the east coast is relatively large , The weight is not light-it can only be done by manpower day and night, so this time he has to squeeze the energy of every laborer under his command, so that it is possible to complete the project on schedule.At this time, Xu Hao proposed to help him build a restaurant and clubhouse. Even though the price he offered was really good, Goshkin was a little reluctant, but considering that making friends with Xu Hao might have many benefits in the future, Goshkin thought twice. After thinking about it, he agreed to the request and earned Xu Hao a favor.As for how Goshkin deploys manpower to squeeze the working potential of Rose's laborers more, that's his own business, and Xu Hao can't control it.

Therefore, under the flash of Goshkin's thoughts, he immediately said with a heroic smile: "Don't worry, Mr. Xu, I will definitely dispatch people to repair your shop. This year there may be another group from Ognets Province Ross laborers are here, with them, there will be no delays in the railway project, don’t worry.”

Of course, Goshkin said so on the surface, but his heart hurts too.Without him, if you want the workers to work overtime - after taking over Xu Hao's work, it is inevitable to rush to work all night - in addition to force and coercion, monetary rewards are also essential, just ask Ghosh Jin can be happy in his heart.But there's no way around that, let's focus on the future and think in a positive direction, maybe he, Xu, will become Goshkin's nobleman in the future?These are all uncertain things.

By the way, when it comes to the Yinan Railway, we have to mention the middle and upper reaches of the Parana River.Now, both the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Communications are troubled by the Iguazu-Nansheng section of the Paraná River, which has poor navigation conditions (segmented navigation), because when using inland steamers for transportation, they always travel Not too far away, you will encounter waterfalls, shoals and other things that hinder navigation, so you have to stop the ship to unload the cargo, and then reload the ship after transshipment by land.Such frequent loading and unloading not only easily damages the goods, but also greatly squeezes the manpower, increases the workload, and prolongs the transportation time. Therefore, the higher-ups have now officially decided to build this railway with a length of less than 200 kilometers, connecting Iguazu Port and Nansheng Port is connected, completely bypassing this annoying route.

Of course, if there are enough manpower and material resources in the future, the Ministry of Communications does not mind extending the railway upstream along the Paraná River. Anyway, those rivers are seriously silted and the navigation capacity is limited, but this should be a later matter. .As for where will the labor force to repair the railway come from?Quite simply, more than 100 kilometers of the Xiamei Railway is nearly completed, and some people can be withdrawn in batches to repair the road. Therefore, the conditions for the Yinan Railway to be launched are now mature, and the funds and equipment are in place.

Xu Hao and Goshkin chatted casually for a few more words, then looked at the shabby Russian laborers, and sent someone to call for Rausch, and asked him to bring out some corned beef and white wine from the cellar (of course It’s not the Daqu in the river, but the local wine brewed in the countryside, but it’s still very attractive to the Ross people), and it’s a reward for everyone when it’s sent to the construction site.Afterwards, accompanied by his followers, he returned to the city.

After a few days like this, Goshkin sent people over to work. They used a lot of local wood and a boatload of building materials brought in from the outside world by Xu Hao's exhausted efforts to build restaurants and guild halls.And Xu Hao also learned from the sailors of the inland river transportation company who traveled from south to north that now, in order to ensure the navigation of the Paraná River, the National Development and Development Bureau has crossed the border to cultivate in the river area. Tongxing Port was established near the town of Perranza, Chaoyang Port was established near Eldorado City, Nanhe Port was established near Rico Port, and Hexing Port was established near San Ignacio City. A port city along the river.

At present, the construction of these ports has also been included in the government's work plan, and immigrants have also begun to be sent.Anyway, as of the end of July this year (1661), the number of nationals in the country has officially exceeded 7 million, reaching a historical peak of 110 million (the proportion of Ming people is about 114.5%, and the proportion of white men has dropped to about 47%). What's more, not only the three newly established counties in China this month--Yuexi County, respectively, under the jurisdiction of Yuexi Township, Fangniugou Township, Liangshu Township, Wannian Township and Sanhe Township (later Tambori Township) Si Township) five townships; Yongjing County, under the jurisdiction of Yongjing Township, Yunti Township, Andong Township, and Shanyang Township; and Xin'an County, under the jurisdiction of Xin'an Township, Xinding Township, Shuoxiang Township, Liu The five townships of Jiagang Township and Xinhe Township—if they can’t be filled, even other newly established settlements can allocate a large number of people. The control of the river sections above the middle reaches, so the saying that there are more people is more powerful is really true, especially in an orderly country like the east bank.

And the increase in population—especially the rapid expansion of the number of second-generation citizens—has also made the East China Republic itself more and more a consumer market that cannot be ignored.After all, she has a large number of citizens, a large amount of wealth per capita, and is not very exclusive of consumption, so it is not surprising that some economic activities aimed at the domestic demand market have gradually begun to rise.The booming business of Xu Hao’s Penglai restaurant in the capital already explains everything. A large number of immigrants from Shandong and Hebei who came to the east bank in the early days are now of high status and have many children. They often bring their families here to miss the taste of their hometown. As a result, his business is booming, he is making money every day, and then he has the strength to open a new restaurant in Ping'an, Qingdao, and Iguazu at the same time (of course, a lot of financing is necessary).

The launch of the domestic demand market also seems to indicate that the economy on the east bank has entered a new stage. Of course, it also shows how leisurely the East Coast Republic is in this war and has spare power (except for insufficient military expenditure). The Portuguese know that I don't know what to do.

(End of this chapter)