Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1417 Chile's Progress ([-])

"Manager Yu, on behalf of the more than 2 people in Guanhai County, I thank you for your trust. History will prove in the future that your investment in Chile is completely wise and correct." Liu Jianguo, who was promoted to the deputy commissioner of the district (and concurrently the head of Guanhai County), shook Yu Xingguo's hand firmly and said with a smile.

Liu Jianguo, who is only in his thirties now, is already the deputy commissioner of the newly established Southern Chile Region and the head of Guanhai County. Together with Ma Wenqiang from the Nia region and Chen Ke from the Hejian region, they can be regarded as the three fast horses in the second generation of politicians, and their future prospects are absolutely limitless.

Of course, some people may say that this so-called Southern Chile region is sparsely populated, but it only governs the three counties of Guanhai, Qingfeng, and Qinghe, and it is also an organization established by the Southern Railway Company, which is not justified.However, those who say this can only be laymen, because anyone who has a certain understanding of the relationship between the Southern Railway Company and the East Coast Government will undoubtedly believe that at the end of 1678, the concession of the Southern Railway Company expired. In the end, the administrative agencies of these companies will be transformed into state government agencies on the spot, and all officials will also be transformed into state cadres, not to mention that they are now cadres of super-large state-owned enterprises, and they also have administrative levels.

Yu Xingguo came to Fenggu Island (Chiloe Island) this time because he was invited by Liu Jianguo to invest here.However, due to the strict orders of his parents, Yu Xingguo himself can only invest in a timber processing factory and a ship repair yard, mainly to provide ship repair and maintenance services for nearby ships. The shipyard is small and primarily serves the company's own fleet.

As for the wood processing factory, it was natural that they took a fancy to the extremely rich forest resources in southern Chile.This forest belt mainly extends southward from around 37 degrees south latitude, located between the coastal mountains and the Andes, until 44 degrees south latitude, the area is extremely vast, and the local climate is naturally a relatively cold forest climate Yes - the main feature of this climate is rainy, that is, it rains continuously all day long, and the rainfall gradually increases from north to south, the wind force gradually increases, and the temperature gradually decreases.The rainfall in some areas is 3-8 times that of the north of the forest climate zone (Mediterranean climate zone), and the period of concentrated rainfall is more than a month longer. The annual average maximum temperature is 18°C ​​and the minimum temperature is 5°C.

In this vast area with a latitude span of 7 degrees, dense forests have replaced the shrubs in the Mediterranean climate zone of central and northern Chile. It is the most important timber producing area and processing area in Chile, and is known as the "Hometown of Timber".

There are many forests, which have both advantages and disadvantages for the people on the east coast of this era.The positive side is that the forest itself is an extremely huge resource, and the animals and wild goods in the forest can also bring a lot of benefits to the residents, which is indeed very good.But on the other hand, the dense and exuberant forest has also brought great obstacles to the reclamation work of the immigrants on the east coast. For example, the first thing they need to do is often logging, and then it is their turn to clear the bushes Weeds, weeds and stones, and finally the arduous work of land preparation and sowing can be carried out. It can be said that there is no profit in the first five years, except for forest output.

The more than [-] residents of Guanhai and Qinghe counties on Fenggu Island must have a deep understanding of this situation. On this humid and cold island, even though there are high-quality crops such as potatoes, the island still needs to import a large amount of crops every year. Seafood, whale meat, grains, and fruits make up the gap, otherwise life will not be easy.In exchange for these food from the outside world, they have to export a large amount of leather and a large amount of wood every year. Yu Xingguo is now investing in Fenggu Island, and he is also entering the well-established local wood cutting and processing industry. To engage in some ship repair services, it happens that you can directly use the products of your own wood processing factory.

To be honest, this wood processing plant is quite large, with a hydraulic cutting machine (shared with a grinding workshop), a 60 horsepower industrial windmill, a small central drive system (driving multiple steam saws, planers, etc.) , woodworking lathes and other machinery), plus a medium-sized wood drying kiln, if you count the construction of a road leading to the carriage, the total investment of his wood processing factory exceeds 1 yuan, which is really amazing So much so that the ship repair yard under his name has encountered financial difficulties when purchasing equipment, and is currently looking for someone to contact for a loan—it is said that Qiang Xiaoman has persuaded the Bank of La Plata to lend him 5.5 at an annual interest rate of 5000% Yuan, as long as Yu Xingguo pays a reasonable fee, the loan can be implemented.

In order to raise these expenses, Yu Xingguo really put all the money he earned in these years into it. In addition, he sold most of the ships under his name (this was also the request of his parents, because they couldn't bear the fact that their eldest son went out. Running to the sea), together with part of the funds sponsored by my parents, I finally set up a wood processing factory, and half of the shelves of the ship repair yard were built, which is quite good.However, Yu Xingguo, who has quite good connections in the southern Patagonia region, how could he completely give up his beloved sailing career? No, he merged the last two ships under his name into the newly established Sun Chunyang Shipping Company, while acquiring 20% ​​of the shares, can be regarded as indirectly participating in the shipping business in the South Pacific.

And Yu Xingguo's ability to invest in Guanhai County actually has a lot to do with Liu Jianguo's invitation.As we all know, he is the son of Liu Ang, the second president of the Southern Railway Company, and he is quite a prominent family in the East Coast. He has known Yu Xingguo and others for a long time, so it is normal to find him to invest this time.After all, the forest resources here are indeed very rich, and the future development prospects are quite promising. My little brother is restricted by his family from engaging in ocean shipping, so it is indeed a good idea to invite him to invest in wood processing and downstream ship repairing industries. way.

"Deputy Commissioner Liu, I have invested all of my wealth on you, and I even owed a whole lot of debt for it. If I go bankrupt, the Bank of La Plata will not be able to let me go. My family treats me It can be said that these two projects in Guanhai County are related to my future life." Yu Xingguo looked at Liu Jianguo's face and said with a smile.

"It's too late for you to regret it now. The money has been poured down. You might as well pray to Tianzun that everything will go smoothly." Liu Jianguo said jokingly. After seeing Yu Xingguo's face slightly collapsed, he laughed again , let go of his clenched hands, waved his arms vigorously, and said imposingly: "Actually, it's not that exaggerated. As long as the population in southern Chile continues to increase and construction projects continue to keep up, these two projects of yours just want to It is also difficult to lose money. Really, construction consumes the most wood! And, have you not seen that the number of fishing boats, whaling boats, and small river steamers active in the waters of Fenggu Island and the Salmon Islands has doubled in recent years? How many times? With so many ships, your two factories will not worry about no business. I think what you should worry about most now is how to recruit enough workers? Most of Xixi’s more than 800 Livonian free immigrants are willing to open up wasteland, log and farm. Only a few dozen people are hired by you. You should contact the three major labor brokers and find a way to do it. Some non-nationals come here, otherwise it would be silly to underemploy workers."

Chile, together with Northern Patagonia and Hejian, are the three major targets of cross-border reclamation by people on the east coast.Even, due to the beautiful scenery, sunny, abundant water and fertile soil (volcanic ash soil) in the Central Valley of Chile (a flat valley sandwiched between the Coastal Mountains and the Andes, extending southward to Puerto Montt), it is not like the North Basin. Tagonia is as dry as it is, and it is not as flood-prone as the inter-river area. The agricultural conditions are far ahead of the three major cross-border reclamation areas, and it also attracts some second-generation immigrants from China to come here to log and cultivate wasteland.

But at the same time, because it is far away from the mainland, and the relationship between the South Railway Company and the mainland is relatively complicated, it is difficult to obtain a sufficient number of immigrants from the Ministry of Immigration and the National Development Administration, and even many years. The number of immigrants is zero, and the Southern Railway Company is strictly prohibited from intercepting immigrants taking the Pacific route, which is also very difficult.

Without immigrants, there will be no development. The Southern Railway Company, which knows this truth well, has also argued for the past two years and resumed the old "tradition" of retaining some immigrants. Locals also take a tacit attitude towards this.Because the Southern Railway Company clearly stated that the company's franchise expired at the end of 2000, and they may not be able to recover the cost within 1678 or [-] years even if they intercept immigrants for construction. Excuse me, why are you still hesitating in the executive committee, the members of the executive committee were speechless for a while, and in the end they could only let it go by default.

"The popularity of Southern Chile is still not enough!" Yu Xingguo sighed softly, and said, "I read the data you gave me, Qingfeng County has 3604 people, Qinghe County has 6550 people, and Guanhai County has a little more. However, there are only 20828 people, and the total population is only more than 3. If we want to achieve rapid development, I don’t know if we have to wait until the year of the monkey. This is doomed to my two industries. The period may not be too short, but it is still not as fast as the ocean shipping business.”

"Take your time. A long flow of water has the advantages of a long flow of water, which is stability. As long as you really take root here and spend two or three generations properly managing these industries, I don't believe that your old Yu family will not be able to become the leading family in southern Chile. "Liu Jianguo patted Yu Xingguo on the shoulder and said: "The huge profits of ocean shipping are directly proportional to the risks. You are also an old sailor. Over the years, have there been fewer ships sunk on the South Pacific route? Every year there must be One or two ships! I don't want you to be a member of the 'Undersea Fleet'. Your mother also hopes that you can stay in one place safely, and your wife and children also think the same way. Work hard, Xiao Yu. "

"That's the only way to go." Yu Xingguo said with a smile.He did not tell Liu Jianguo and his family that he also has shares in Sun Chunyang Shipping Company. This company currently has as many as 9 semi-new and old ships that travel between the Port of Araucan, Turtle Islands, Tahiti, and Latvia. Between the Pacific strongholds such as Baoer and Heishui, while purchasing commodities such as black pearls, sago, copra, dried fruits, spices (resold by the Dutch), Far Eastern medicinal materials, high-grade leather, high-end handicrafts of the Ming Dynasty, antiques, books, etc. , and also undertake the private business of seeking relatives and transporting people.The business situation can only be said to be good or not bad. When the business of these commodities is good (that is, there is no shipwreck in that year), there is some profit, and when the year is bad, they will lose money. As for the transportation business of high-profit military supplies (shipped to the jurisdictions of the three major development teams in the Far East), the business of Sun Chunyang Shipping Company may be really difficult. No matter how much Yu Xingguo himself likes the maritime industry, he probably will not invest in it. .

Now Chunyang Sun Shipping Company and some other ship owners who run the order can bring back about 1500 immigrants from the Ming Dynasty to the mainland every year. If you count the people brought back by some ships belonging to the Immigration Department, this number can rise to nearly 5000. People, already quite impressive.It's a pity that the mainland has no intention of expanding the number of immigrant ships taking the South Pacific route in recent years. Even after some ships sank unfortunately, they did not replenish them in time, which made the immigration business of the South Pacific route unable to grow. This undoubtedly directly affected the South Pacific The development of the Tagonia region has also slowed their movement across the border to encroach on the fertile central valley of Chile, which has made many local officials lament.

And after Yu Xingguo invested in the timber and ship repairing industry in Guanhai County on behalf of his family, in the next few months, many local businessmen rushed over and set up multiple companies in Qinghe and Guanhai counties. It is a small clay kiln for firing bricks and tiles. It is said that Dong'an Building Materials Company is also planning to set up a county-level branch company in this place, specializing in the production of cement, lime, bricks and tiles and other building materials.

In addition, someone set up a small seafood processing factory in Qingfeng County. Dozens of coopers from the old continent were also introduced to Guanhai and Qinghe counties to start businesses. The economy of southern Chile is dominated by foreign capital and technology. With the continuous injection of talents and talents, it has also begun to develop slowly. This undoubtedly made Liu Jianguo very happy-in his opinion, this is an act that is completely self-interested and beneficial to the country. If they can fully support the government's cross-border reclamation operations in Chile's Central Valley, then why not do it?

(End of this chapter)