Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1515 Yicheng and New China's Transformation

Recently, the number of ships departing from Xinhua Island to the Yicheng area has increased significantly, and there are almost all ports.

Ships departing from Xinhua Port loaded a large amount of corn, cassava, and building materials (including planks, bricks, cement, lime, etc.), ships departing from Mianhe Port were loaded with livestock, leather, bacon, and peanuts, and ships departing from Tacheng Port carried Lots of fuel (coal), sisal, honey and dried fruit.The export of these materials has strongly supported the colonial activities of the people on the east bank in the Yicheng area. Of course, on the other hand, it has also maintained the economic development of some areas in Xinhuaxia Island, such as Tacheng, which has been in trouble and decline in recent years. Hong Kong area.

Tacheng Port, a city that played a vital role in the early development of the east coast, has gradually lost its main coal output to the clean coal from local Heishan and Heijin Island due to high costs in recent years. This has a great negative effect on local economic development.

Although local government officials have been encouraging transformation, this kind of thing is so difficult. It is impossible for Malay or black slaves working in the mine to allocate land for them to settle down. The supervisors, guards, coal washers, transporters and A large number of other workers are not very good at farming. How to arrange their livelihood is really very difficult.

What's more, local officials in Tacheng Port have no plans to give up the coal industry, because they insist that there are many markets on the island.However, it seems that this is more or less wishful thinking at present. Without the two major coal consumers of industry and transportation, the output of Tacheng Coal Mine has been in a state of slow decline over the years.Even though the island's population has increased (currently there are more than [-] people), due to the relative abundance of timber resources in Xinhuaxia Island (even in the western coastal grasslands, there is no shortage of firewood because of the large amount of cotton planted), the folks are not interested in coal. The growth of demand has been sluggish, which undoubtedly puts Tacheng Port in a miserable situation.

In the end, Huang Yi, the captain of the pioneering team who was in charge of the island's affairs, couldn't stand it anymore. He replaced the chief and deputy chief of Tacheng Port, and then appointed a middle-aged official from Dayuhe Youth Cadre School as Tacheng Port. The mayor asked the local area to start economic transformation immediately.The Tacheng Mining Bureau began to formulate a production plan on January 1668, 1, and the surplus personnel were diverted to the south of Duofan Town and Daze Township, where there had recently been some conflicts with the natives (without the common enemy of the French, the east The honeymoon period of the local natives on the shore has officially ended), it is the time when manpower is needed, and it is the right time to divert these people.

As for the slave miners in the mines, a unified inventory of their working years will be carried out, and those who have reached seven years will be given to the Black Eight Banners as citizens of the Free State to replenish them with fresh blood; Half sold and half given to the nobles of the Black Eight Banners, basically the rhythm of exchanging a four-legged sheep for a "two-legged sheep"; for those under five years, they don't need much, and they all go to work in the plantation, no matter what!

These plantations were opened under Huang Yi's order, and they are mostly pepper and sisal plantations within the range of Tacheng Town, in order to avoid the increasingly fierce competition of sugar cane, coffee, cocoa, tobacco and other commodities.Thanks to the economic development and population increase on the east coast in recent years, the domestic demand for sisal, an excellent fiber material, is increasing. There are more than ten kinds of products such as cables, rigging, industrial ropes, fishing nets, and sacks. Seeing this kind of fiber material with good toughness, corrosion resistance and wear resistance, people who invested in sisal plantations in the past few years have more or less made a fortune, and have the urge to increase investment and expand the scale of the plantation.

Sisal is like this, not to mention pepper, this cheapest spice is in a long-term bull market on the east coast today.The explosive growth of meat production has given rise to a huge market demand for pepper. This demand is so large that it can no longer be met by a single Xinhua Island. The Southern Railway Company imports from Peru and the Dutch East India The company re-exports from India, which shows the popularity of this product.Therefore, the newly opened pepper plantations in Tacheng Port will not lose money from an economic point of view, and they should be able to enjoy the benefits brought by them in the future—although pepper plantations of all sizes have sprung up on almost the entire east coast. , the competition has become more and more fierce, but the market is also expanding.

In addition, although the competition in the coffee market is very fierce, in view of the fact that Tacheng Coffee has achieved a certain degree of popularity in the East Coast, many old citizens miss this brand very much. Coffee plantations (mostly located in the mountainous areas on the edge of Ta Township, intertwined with native forces) conduct statistics and inspections, and then help coffee plantation owners solve some practical difficulties, such as security defense, transportation, and financing and loan issues. Provide key support for this industry, strive to make the brand of Tacheng Coffee bigger and stronger, compete with coffee from Peru, New Spain and even the north of China, and compete for market share.

In order to further support the development of the core city of Tacheng Port, a regional core city with a large population, Huang Yi also specifically asked the local executive committee for instructions, and obtained approval, that is, Tacheng Township, Songshan Township, Lingchuan Township, Langxi Township, and Naturalization The townships were merged together to officially establish Tacheng County, the third county-level administrative unit on the island.

After the establishment of this county, it will have a population of more than [-], and produce a variety of commodities including coal, timber, pepper, honey, dried fruit, coffee, and sisal. From the paper, it still has a certain economic strength. of.Moreover, now Xinhuaxia Island has also imitated the "land finance" policy of the local counties, that is, selling cultivated land to private individuals at a price of ten yuan per mu, and the price of Potang forest land may increase or decrease depending on the actual situation. Bring a lot of income - so the establishment of Tacheng County is also the strong support of the development team government for them, because only when the county is established, most of the income from local land sales can be attributed to the county government, otherwise the money will be lost. It entered the finances of the pioneering team government.

However, even if Tacheng is established as a county, in many people's eyes, its future economy will be the same, and it will not be as outstanding as it was before seven or eight years ago. The environment of spices is not as good as the large number of places on the east coast. Recently, people from the east coast have set up a series of towns on the east coast, such as Xiachuan Township (located near the later city of Manakala), Danchuan Township (located in the later Mananza City) Licheng), Gaodu Township (located near the later Nusivarika City) and other places.The above-mentioned three places have attracted a large influx of domestic capital, and those businessmen are begging their grandparents to tell their grandmothers to hire personnel with combat experience (the former members of the miscellaneous army who have become regulars have suddenly become sweet pastries), and then chartered a boat to the east of Xinhua Island. On the coast, a large piece of wild land was leased from the pioneering team government at an astonishingly low price, and spice plantations were opened up while dealing with the natives, which greatly promoted the development of the east coast.

Therefore, since Tacheng County is not outstanding in all aspects, it can be expected that it will be at a disadvantage in future competition.The future of the city probably lies in the Central Plateau, which is still under the control of the feudal kingdom of the Melinas.Only when the people from the east coast completely occupy the essence of the central plateau of the whole island and develop it, Tacheng Port may usher in an opportunity for great development due to its special geographical location. Before that, it probably could only Slowly suffering, because the people on the east coast probably have no plans to enter the inland plateau for many years as far as they can see.

And if it is said that Tacheng County maintained its economy because of the trade with the Yicheng area, then the southeast region, where people from the east bank have just penetrated into the southeast for a few years, has greatly benefited from this trade.In particular, Daze County, which is said to be established (under the jurisdiction of Duofan Town, Daze Township, Qinshui Township, Yangcheng Township, and two other former French colonial towns that may be acquired from natives in the future), will benefit the most.Due to its early development, large population, and excellent geographical location (supplied by ships going south or to Australia all the year round), this county already has a certain economic foundation. Its rice, taro, corn, banana, cassava, melons, fruits and vegetables The yield is huge.This time, the core colonial towns of the French on the island were smoothly annexed, with a certain industrial foundation (inheriting the French mills, wood processing workshops, blacksmith shops, winemaking workshops and other facilities), and through commercial purchases, I also obtained a certain amount of land from the natives, and the economic crops have also developed rapidly. Therefore, this time I have obtained a lot of income by exporting various food, wood, and alcohol to the Yicheng area-the Government Council allocated it to subsidize Yicheng. A considerable part of the special funds for the development of the Chengdu area flowed here through this kind of trade, which is also a skill.

Even in the end, because of the extreme shortage of materials, even in spite of the shortage of labor force, the Yicheng area began to export Swazi or Tonga slaves to the merchants in Daze Township and Duofan Township, but it was helpless.You know, the Yicheng District Administrative Office made an estimate a while ago, and felt that the total population of the entire Swazi-speaking tribe was about 5 to 19 (when European colonists came to Swaziland in the first half of the 5th century) , there are about 8 Swazis in the local area), and although the number of Tonga people is more than [-], it is not much more, at most [-] or [-]. Therefore, to be honest, the Yicheng area The construction of the country cannot enslave enough black slaves.In such an embarrassing situation, they still want to export black slaves to the plantations on Xinhua Island (and at the same time export black slaves to Heiba ​​Banners in the Hezhong area in exchange for sorghum rice and livestock). Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that their chief executive, District Commissioner Qiu Haiyang, is a guy who is more hostile to blacks. He doesn't like to see a large number of blacks living in his territory.

I believe that as the activities of the people on the east coast deepen in the Yicheng area-the biggest problem preventing the people on the east coast from swallowing the land is not the resistance of the blacks, but the extremely serious malaria epidemic on the territory of the Swazi people-this totals more than ten The Vances, the Tonga, and even the Zulus should not fare so well.Those who are less lucky will probably be exhausted and beaten to death directly in the construction site or plantation of the people on the east coast. With a pitiful severance fee, they can go to the Free State to linger on their last days, which is also their best destination.With these black people vacated, the Yicheng area will also become a paradise for the people of the east coast. It's extremely cruel, without any tenderness at all, isn't it?

Such a treasure land in South Africa is naturally home to "virtuous people", so how could it be given up to Bantu blacks?What's more, for the aboriginal Khoisan people in South Africa, the Bantu blacks from the north are also outsiders, who have robbed them of countless lands and killed countless compatriots for hundreds of years.That being the case, Bantu blacks have no right to criticize the East Coasters who are also outsiders. Everyone's means are the same as each other, and they are all for the continuation of the race and the competition for living space.

Well, without further ado.Huang Yi, the leader of the New China Development Team, has also seen the long-term planning of the local area for the Yicheng area. In this area that will be designated as a local area for key construction sooner or later, many New China Islands may emerge in the future. Industries that cannot be involved due to status problems, such as wool textile industry, leather processing industry, coal chemical industry, metallurgy, machinery manufacturing, deep processing of agricultural products, etc.Therefore, how to adjust its economic structure in a timely manner during the development process of the Yicheng area so as to complement it has almost become a compulsory course for officials in charge of the New China area.

To put it more bluntly, Xinhua Island is not a native land, but a colony, and it is not allowed to develop industries, let alone "advanced industries" such as coal chemical industry, metallurgy, and machinery manufacturing.Therefore, projects such as the original plan to develop iron ore for smelting and processing can take a break. Otherwise, even if they develop in the future, they will definitely not be able to compete with the industries supported by the state in Yicheng area, and they can only waste manpower, material resources and time. , it is unwise.

The future of Xinhuaxia Island, apart from plantations of tropical economic crops such as coffee, cocoa, sugar, tobacco, sisal hemp, spices, vanilla, and cotton, lies in the use of its unique location advantages for entrepot trade.That is to say, in the future, Xinhua Island should give up some unrealistic fantasies, stick to the plantation economy and trade with Ottomans, Persia, India and even Australia, and develop industries and even heavy industries, both to challenge the red line of local policies Risks, resources and economy are also quite difficult, and the future is doomed to be bleak-this is not empty talk, because in terms of resources and environment, the conditions for the development of industry on this island may not be much better than those in the Heishui area in the Far East.

(End of this chapter)