Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1431 Terrace ([-])

Ma Wenqiang has just welcomed a team of pack horses from Chile, because it has brought all kinds of urgently needed goods to the residents of the settlements near the Andes, and will also take some away from here on the return journey. Refined flour, wool, cheese, cured meat, ham, spirits and other local products.It can be said that it is these caravans that shuttle continuously through the various mountain tunnels that maintain the most basic commercial activities on both sides of the Andes, and at the same time maintain the most basic life of the residents of these settlements with inconvenient transportation. .

The packhorse team in front of us has more than 80 mules and horses. The scale is extremely large, and it belongs to the Southern Railway Company. As soon as they arrived at the destination, they were warmly welcomed by the residents. Ma Wenqiang happened to be checking the work nearby, so he also came to "join in the fun" to welcome the arrival of the pack horse team.

The arrival of Deputy Commissioner Horse made the leader of the pack horse team a little flattered. They had traveled back and forth in this mountain area many times, and this was the first time they had seen such a high-level official.Therefore, when Ma Wenqiang asked about the situation of the mountain pass, they talked a lot, basically they knew everything without saying anything.

"I have read the geography books written by teachers Wang Zhijie and Meng Xiaohu, and I have gone through them many times." The young team leader who graduated from the 52nd class of Bingtuanbao talked confidently: "The Andes Mountains are generally from north to south. It shows a trend of getting lower and lower, and the roads are getting better and better, and there are more and more mountain passes and tunnels. From 39 degrees south latitude to the south, the altitude of the mountains is basically difficult to exceed 2000 meters. Many mountain passes—— For example, the famous Cochamo Pass (more than 400 meters above sea level) - only a few hundred meters high, and there are many mountain valleys and river valleys along the way. Many roads are not much worse. The only shortcoming is probably that the mountains will be closed by heavy snow in winter, which is very regrettable.”

"This time we walked the Cochamo Pass, which was discovered by Spanish explorers back then. After winding through the mountains for more than ten days, the road forked at 41 and a half degrees south latitude, and we could reach it by going north. On the shore of Nahuel Huapi Lake, you will arrive at Shangbao Township in the south. It is not too far away, and the road is not difficult to walk. Regarding these, the "Geography of Patagonia" compiled by Mr. Meng Humeng has described in detail , I walked a few times and found that it was true." The leader of the packhorse team continued to add.

The Shangbao Township he mentioned just now is actually a newly established settlement. Because it assumed the function of a trade fair connecting the two sides of the Andes, it was called Shangbao by everyone.Shangbao Township is located near the small town of El Bolson in Argentina in later generations, and three settlements were established together with it, namely Fengyang Township near the small town of Cholila in later generations and Shangluo Township near the small town of Epuyan in later generations , Danfeng Township, which is located near the later town of Ermateng, including Shangbao Township, a total of four newly established townships, all of which are not very large, with a total population of only 300 to [-] people.

It can be seen from the map that these four new settlements are located very close to the Andes Mountains, because of the climate type of the Patagonian Terrace, the closer to the Andes Mountains, the wetter the climate and the less wind (Blocked by majestic mountains), the richer the vegetation, the better the agricultural conditions, so it is also the most able to absorb and place pioneers.

However, the agricultural and climatic conditions are excellent, but its geographical location is awkward, because it is not convenient to go anywhere from here.Going east to the Atlantic coast, the journey is long, inconvenient, and desolate along the way; if you go west to the Pacific Ocean, the straight-line distance on the map is very short, but in order to cross the Andes Mountains, you must pass through the mountains. It's a long way to go back and forth, it's really not that close, and there is no ready-made road, and the mountains will be blocked by heavy snow in winter. In short, it hurts a lot, far from what the leader of the packhorse team full of pride and ambition said. Easy—do you think it would be fun to walk in the mountains for half a month, eating and sleeping in the open air?It is only these young cadres who have received ten years of closed education in the Bingtuanbao and have been "thoroughly brainwashed" will not regard it as daunting.

But no matter how far and difficult the journey is, these trade routes over the Andes must be persisted, because the most fertile land in the Patagonia region, the best climate, and the most valuable land for development are here—from Since Lake Alumine, a series of cross-cut depressions have appeared in the Andes and nearby areas. Some of the depressions accumulated water to form lakes, and the other part became fertile low plains due to the higher terrain (later Argentines called them vega).In particular, Lake Nahuel Huapi has the largest area, beautiful scenery, unique shape, and numerous lake branches, some of which are embedded in the Andes, giving it the appearance of a fjord.And it is these lakes that provide the main water source for agricultural farming in the nearby low plains. At the same time, the excess water overflows to the east, nourishing countless dry lands, and making the pastures and shrubs on the terraced grasslands grow stronger.

From Lake Nahuel Huapi to the south, the vast Andes Mountains have three longitudinal zones with different geological characteristics: the first zone is a mountain range composed of Paleozoic granite blocks, which is also the national border mountain range between Chile and Argentina in later generations. Inaccessible, densely forested, numerous animals, and difficult to develop; the second zone is composed of ancient gneiss; the third zone is located further east, composed of Mesozoic continental deposits and Tertiary andesite strata, distributed There are a lot of volcanic extrusive rocks (basalts), less vegetation, and less animals than in the west mountains.

Between the towering national border mountains and the easternmost mountain (the third zone), there are some deep depressions, the most famous of which is the Bolsong Canyon where Shangbao Township is today.It is more than 200 meters above sea level, with snow-capped mountains on both sides. It is one of the most beautiful places to live in the Andes (later it will be a popular tourist area).

From here further south, another group of mountain depressions appeared, which is what people on the east bank call "Golden City Valley".Jincheng Valley is a depression group with extremely flat topography, partly occupied by the lake group centered on Futalaufken Lake, and partly cross-cutting large depressions. The geographical location is superior, and there are many mountain tunnels gathered here; on both sides Linshan is rich in forest resources. It is self-evident that the fishery resources in the lake have never been developed for thousands of years; the soil is fertile, there is a lot of precipitation, and the temperature is suitable. The hottest month (January) The average temperature is 1-17°C, and the average temperature of the coldest month (July) is about 18-7°C - it can be seen that the lake group has a huge regulating effect on the temperature - the long-lasting heat and long-term sunshine in summer , making it possible to plant a variety of crops, so agricultural activities are basically concentrated in these valleys.And this is the main reason why the higher-ups have tried their best to open up the Andes Passage, allowing them to communicate with the outside world.

"It's really a headache to cover the mountain with heavy snow. It would be great if the winter snowfall in the mountain is not so heavy." Ma Wenqiang raised his eyes and looked at the Tronador Mountain (a dormant volcano with an altitude of 3554 meters) which is faintly visible in the distance. m), said with a sigh, but he also laughed immediately, and laughed at himself: "If there is not much snowfall in winter, then in the spring and summer when the precipitation is scarce, the small streams on the terraced grasslands in the east will not have enough alpine snowmelt. Added, it would be a disaster for the herdsmen."

"Yes, although the platform grassland is arid and barren, it can feed a huge number of sheep. The amount of wool produced every year is so huge that it has almost become a big gold mine. No wonder so many businessmen from all over the country have come here to invest in textile workshops. The conditions are true. It’s a blessing.” The leader of the packhorse team also echoed.

Some of the supplies brought by the caravan were transported to the state-run department store to replenish the inventory, and the rest of the gadgets were directly sold at the village market, especially some private traders who joined forces and traveled around. A rain cloth was spread in the place, and then loudly peddled things ranging from small needles and threads to large knives, axes, saws and forks, and attracted many residents to come to watch and purchase.

A lot of trade is carried out in the form of barter. Silver is not very useful in this relatively backward place. This may be because the local commodity economy is not yet developed enough.There are not many commodities that the residents sell, mainly agricultural and pastoral products, such as cheese, ham, wool, cattle and sheepskin, self-woven cloth, refined flour, privately brewed grain wine, etc., these commodities Chile The self-production in the area is limited and the supply is relatively insufficient, so it gives the local residents the possibility to exchange trade with Chile.

However, due to the relatively sparse population of Jincheng Valley and Shangbao Canyon (Jincheng County, which has seven townships under its jurisdiction, has a population of just over 8100, and Shang County, which has not yet been established, has a population of just over 2300), as well as the undeveloped productivity. That said, the scale of this trade is actually quite limited.Ma Wenqiang, who has just been promoted to the deputy commissioner of the Jinshang area (the commissioner is temporarily vacant), is also well aware of this point.Moreover, in his view, in order to develop the counties in the Jinshang area in the future, apart from continuing to maintain trade with the Chilean region, in fact, the more important thing is to focus on the terraced grasslands in the east, that is, to pay close attention to the current situation that is increasing. An increasingly prosperous wool industry.

Deputy Commissioner Ma insisted that, given the relatively superior agricultural conditions of the native east coast prairie, it is basically impossible to herd sheep on a large scale in the future, because it would be too wasteful.With the gradual increase of the population, the local land will either grow food or develop industries in the future, and it is unimaginable to use it to herd sheep.And considering the relatively hot and humid natural environment in the Duck Lake Basin, southern Brazil and inter-river areas, the efficiency of grazing sheep is quite low (the mortality rate of sheep in this environment is high), not to mention that these fertile lands are also more fertile. It is suitable for growing food, fruit or cash crops. Therefore, the future of the local wool industry on the east coast still depends on the Patagonian platform—it is cool and dry, with a vast area, and only a few people can graze a very large number of sheep. , is the most natural wool producing area, or the main wool producing area of ​​Argentina in the future will not be located here, so that the British invested in the construction of the Patagonia wool transportation railway in order to transport the wool here. It can be seen from this.

Therefore, in Ma Wenqiang’s plan, in the future South Patagonia and North Patagonia, except for a few river oases where grains and fruits are mainly planted, the rest of the vast areas will be used for sheep grazing and wool spinning. As the main industry, counties suitable for agricultural production such as the Jinshang area can provide them with food, fruits, wine, timber, and building materials, while pastoral areas can provide them with meat, cloth, salt, leather, and dairy products—— Of course, the seafood processing enterprises, ceramic factories, fruit deep-processing workshops, and textile enterprises distributed along the coast of Patagonia can also provide a small amount of industrial products for the Jinshang area.

It can also be seen from this that the economies of these regions are actually completely complementary, and it is a relationship in which one prospers and the other loses. Judging from the production of wool textiles on the east coast, which is currently in a prosperous cycle, gold merchants The prospects for the future development of the region are also very promising.The only thing to worry about is that in the minds of the members of the Executive Committee, this is not the core area after all, and the annual investment is extremely limited. The investment in immigration, materials, technology, and capital accounts for about 15% of the total investment in all parts of the country. It looks like (this is thanks to the extremely rich fishing resources along the coast of Patagonia), very poor.

At this point, we have basically understood that if these places want to develop, in addition to attracting the local government's own accumulation, they can only do everything possible to attract foreign investment. For example, the previous Chuangji Investment Company operated along the Chubut River. This is the case with orchard farming.After Ma Wenqiang's family slowly recovered their investment in the orchard in Shenwu County, they issued additional shares on the Qingdao stock exchange a while ago, financing from several families including the Wang family, the Bai family, and the Liang family, and planned to invest on both sides of the Ludang River. Circled a large piece of land, specializing in the cultivation of fruits, hops, alfalfa and other crops. For this reason, they also found three major labor brokers, and asked them to find a way to recruit non-national laborers from the old continent to work. The intention of one vote is quite obvious.

And once such investment projects gradually increase, and the population of the Patagonian platform gradually increases, the economies of the two largest regional administrative units in the Eastern China Republic, South Patagonia and North Patagonia, can move forward. On the fast track, and then the gold merchant area on the side of the inland Andes Mountains can also get a share of this development process. This is the deepest thought of Deputy Commissioner Ma Wenqiang.

(End of this chapter)