Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1673 West Indian Ocean ([-])

On January 1674, 1, the Ue Seng area was ushering in the most humid and muggy season of the year.

As the first county under the jurisdiction of the regional administrative office, Xiao Jingzong, the magistrate of Yicheng County, who had just returned from Chenggao County, an inland Swazi residential area, could not help but let out a long sigh: the environment in the inland basin is too harsh, no matter how long it takes If you stay longer, maybe you will confess to being there because of the endless malaria. You must know that there is a certain chance of death when treated with quinine cream.

Chenggao County was established in August last year, and it has not been more than half a year. It is the 8th county-level administrative unit in the country. There are five villages and towns in Suo Township (located near the city of Sitaki in the later Swaziland), with a small population. Most of them are the Shandong servants and their families detained at the beginning, and a small number are from Guangzhou and Huizhou. The population is about one Fifty thousand up and down, so-so.

The most important industry in this county at present is probably the Chenggao Coal Mine.This coal storage belt that produces anthracite or semi-anthracite, which is rare on the east coast, has received a lot of investment from the central government in the past five years, including both capital and manpower. For example, it was forced to move to the east coast because of some policies. Zhai Cong'e, the first division of the local servant army, and Qin Shangxing, the second division.

These two add up to 7000 officers and soldiers alone. If the family members are counted, there may be tens of thousands of people. About half of them were cut off at the beginning, and Yicheng County and Chenggao County divided them in half ( Now there are about [-] people in Yicheng County), and they have settled down on the spot.

The arrival of these people is extremely critical to stabilizing the situation in Yicheng and Chenggao counties. When they were in Shandong, they wielded knives and guns all day long, and even fought in battle against those who rose up because of the seizure of land, cattle and sheep. The rebellious Swazis, Tonga and Zulus are not a big problem, not to mention that they still focus on defense.

The current Chenggao County and Yicheng County are almost the two counties with the most complete militias (all with a maximum of 100 people) and the strongest combat effectiveness among the more than 2000 counties on the east coast of the country.This elite militia with a total of 4000 people, plus a garrison brigade of 1000 people under the direct control of the Regional Garrison Command (this organization is generally set up in frontier areas or newly developed areas, and will be gradually dismantled after the area becomes the hinterland) If troops are sent in season, the black indigenous tribes in the wild can basically be plowed and the security situation can be consolidated.

Of course, the two counties support 4 strong men, even if they only train or send troops during the slack season, the burden is not usually heavy. After all, their combined population is only over [-], and the ratio of one-eighth is too high.Therefore, with the acquiescence of the Central Executive Committee, the leadership of the regional administrative office, and the organization of the county government, there are also a large number of state-run farms in Chenggao and Yicheng counties, and more than [-] black Tonga, Swazi Blacks serve as labor force, planting many crops including rice, corn, wheat, and vegetables, and then distribute them to militia and garrison soldiers in the form of training or combat allowances, so as to keep their lives at a good level and avoid going out When I am away, I am still thinking about the one-acre three-point land at home.

In addition, there are still a considerable number of black construction teams in Yicheng and Chenggao counties, mainly for repairing roads—especially the second-class national road between Yicheng County and Chenggao Coal Mine—excavating rocks from mountains, digging coal, etc. The number of people added up is probably tens of thousands, which is very amazing.

There are more than 3 black slaves serving as slaves in just two backward counties. This is unbelievable to many people in South America. At the same time, they are even more jealous. Gein has nearly 30 counties in the mainland, but there are only less than [-]. Laborers are available, and the ratio is too disparate. Is it true that you rely on the mountains to eat the mountains, and rely on the blacks to "eat" the blacks?

Xiao Jingzong was originally the mayor of Yicheng Town. When the district was just established, Qiu Haiyang took office together. He can be said to be a senior figure in the district. Therefore, he took over the position of the head of the county as a matter of course. He is also the deputy commissioner of the regional administrative office, which can be said to be a powerful party.

This time he went to Chenggao County along the Yicheng Second-class National Highway. The main reason was that the local chief and deputy county magistrates died of illness within half a month, and the county suddenly felt leaderless.It just so happened that Qiu Haiyang, the commissioner of the regional administrative office, went to Xinhua Port by boat to discuss the purchase of large quantities of building materials (wood, cement, lime, bricks, etc.) Chenggao County sits in town to stabilize the local situation and ensure the normal progress of various productions.

After staying there for about three weeks, Qiu Haiyang returned to Yicheng Port on a flute-shaped ship of the East African Transportation Company full of building materials, and arrived in Chenggao County, where Xiao Jingzong was replaced. By the way, let him receive the personnel of the Second Fleet of the Navy from the Comoros Islands in the north.

After spending a few hours in a meeting in the county government and arranging some work for his subordinates, Xiao Jingzong drove again——Yicheng County has a street car company and a county light rail line funded by the Ministry of Communications, which made the local Many counties queuing up to wait for funds to set up streetcar companies cursed unceasingly - they came to the increasingly prosperous dock business district, and then met the commander of the Second Fleet of the Navy and the captain of the battleship "Fubo Wanli" Major Morie Eel.

"Yicheng Bay (that is, Delagua Bay) is really a good place. I am really greedy to see it. If our country was not the first to develop Xinhua Island, the headquarters of the Second Fleet of our Navy probably would not have set up In Xinhua Port, it is Yicheng Port, because obviously the climate here is milder, and the harbor conditions are also very good, although it is obviously more suitable for a commercial port rather than a military port (a military port needs to pay attention to many defensive conditions)." Fu As soon as he met Mo Lieel, he said to Xiao Jingzong with a smile.

Both of them are the second generation. Although they can't be said to have grown up in the same compound since they were young, at least they met each other every three days, and their relationship is not unusual.Xiao Jingzong is now the magistrate of Yicheng County, the deputy commissioner of the district, and a serious deputy bureau-level cadre. At his age, he is also very good. After all, there are still no provincial-level units on the east coast, and there are not so many ministries and commissions. It's for you, isn't it?So the main game and the deputy game are almost the limit for them, the second generation in their 40s and [-]s, unless you can be as lucky as Liu Jianguo and Ma Wenqiang and become the captain of the pioneering team one step ahead.

To be honest, Morie Eel, who took the army route, developed better than Xiao Jingzong, because the navy and army still pay more attention to upgrading, except for some senior positions, such as the commander of the large fleet, the commander of the squadron, and the captain. It still needs a young, strong and energetic Mesozoic generation, otherwise you expect people in their [-]s and [-]s to go to sea to fight?Isn't that a joke!Therefore, the military system is relatively friendly to the second generation, unlike the civil service system where elder politics prevails, and key positions are still held by the aging first-generation time-travelers.

"Yicheng is not as good as you think. Although I am the parent officer here, I still have to say that the rainy months of the year are unbearably humid and hot. Especially these stone buildings built in the Portuguese colonial era, Living in it is even more torture. It is humid and hot in the rainy season, and a little dark in the dry season. Now I feel that my joints are not very strong. Maybe I will get arthritis after living in a few years, and this is why Qiu The reason why the commissioner went to Xinhua to buy building materials on credit, of course, is also due to the needs of urban expansion and renovation." Xiao Jingzong stretched out his hand to invite Mo Lie to sit down, and then said.

"So now you have a chance. Go to the south and see that the latitude here in Yicheng is still a bit low." Morie eel sat on a chair with his legs up, admiring all kinds of furniture purchased from the Netherlands and China in the room. Painting, said with a smile.

"The south, hehe, I heard Commissioner Qiu mention this once before, isn't it the east coast of South Africa." Xiao Jingzong laughed after hearing this, and then lit a cigarette for the two of them, and then said: "To be honest, I know that some local 'old men' are also very fond of the east coast of South Africa, and have been urging our Yicheng area to go south. What I want to say is that there are only two counties in Yicheng area, 4 With a large population and only seven years since its establishment, does it really have the strength to go south and colonize the east coast? And even if the shit is lucky and it succeeds in establishing a foothold on the east coast, in case the local Zulu-speaking tribe is hated in the future—— It is almost inevitable—the enemy will attack massively, how can we stand firm? You know, the militia can’t fight outside the country for a long time, so how to solve the local security and defense problems?”

"You magistrates, you're just thinking about your own one-acre three-point land." Mo Lieel said helplessly after hearing this: "I know that you have recently reclaimed a lot of wasteland, built a lot of reservoirs, and dug a lot of ditches. , I have planted a lot of rice, and I have some hope for my little life. I really don’t want to go outside to suffer, but can you let this matter happen? I came here today, without a mandatory order, just Captain Huang Let me come to say hello, so that you can be more or less prepared, so that you will not really be asked to go south in the future, but you will be temporarily caught blind."

In Mo Lie's words, Huang Yi, the captain of the New China Pioneering Team, was mentioned, and Xiao Jingzong was about to continue to complain.Although the Yicheng area is said to be the proper homeland of the East Coast Republic of China (New China Island is a colony), it is far away from the core area after all, so it is popular with the relatively wealthy New China Island side on weekdays, whether it is personnel They have all received a lot of assistance from the other party in terms of technology, technology, and materials, so they were a little helpless when facing Huang Yi.

Morie Eel has served in the Indian Ocean for many years, so of course he is well aware of the inside story, so he tapped lightly, and seeing that the other party no longer complained, he smiled slightly and continued: "Of course, the grain production in Yicheng County The conditions are unique, and the superiors are not blind, so naturally they will not make it difficult for you to do here. No, I didn’t let you go south with all your strength, but let them spare some manpower. In terms of materials, even Xinhua Port can subsidize half of it. Well, mainly building materials and gunpowder , Livestock, and other materials such as personnel, food, fuel, etc., will be borne by you yourself, and then you will choose a bay with good conditions that is closer to you to set foot there, and let’s talk about occupying a place.”

"There are actually only one or two nearby harbors with better conditions." Xiao Jingzong obviously also read the expedition report of the expedition team led by Wang Zhijie on the east coast of South Africa, and he clearly knows which places are suitable for building ports (the nearby ones are actually the Richards Bay and Durban in later generations), there is a shoal, so this person realizes that it may only take one or two points, and then his face turns pale, and he said: "Although so, there are still many difficulties. We also need to subsidize some medicines, otherwise Captain Mao Jun of the garrison may not be easy to talk to."

Captain Mao Jun is the garrison commander of the Yicheng area, the commander-in-chief of the Yicheng garrison, and the top military leader in the region. His status is still slightly higher than that of Xiao Jingzong, second only to Qiu Haiyang, the commissioner of the administrative office.At this time, he was leading more than [-] garrison soldiers in the mountains west of Chenggao County to chase down several Swazi tribes who united to raid the reclamation villages and towns on the east bank, not in Yicheng County.If you really want to go south to the east coast of South Africa to build one or two colonies in the future, you really can't do without them.

"Captain Mao of the Garrison Headquarters, oh, we have dealt with him before you, and the Ministry of the Army probably gave him instructions. Captain Mao is still very conscious. He expressed his determination to complete the mission as long as the country needs it. , he can lead troops south at any time, wipe out the local aborigines, and expand the territory for the country." Mo Lie eel replied with a smile.

After hearing his words, Xiao Jingzong was stunned for a while, and then cursed wildly in his heart, secretly thinking that the army horse dung is really unreliable, disorganized and disciplined, and this is not intentional to embarrass the regional administrative office, what a fool.However, the matter has come to this point, and he has nothing to avoid, so after thinking about it for a while, he said to Morie Eel: "Well, since Commander Mao has said so, what else can we do? But this It still needs Commissioner Qiu Haiyangqiu to come back to make up his mind, he is still in Chenggao County, he will not be free for a while, so..."

"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter!" Mo Lie eel waved his hand and said with a smile: "There is no rush at this time, as long as you know that there is such a thing in your heart. Besides, the materials and so on are not ready yet, and the central government's appropriation is not enough. It hasn’t come down yet, and our navy’s ships are still being maintained. Wait until the local official order comes down. It probably won’t affect your food production this season. The area of ​​Yicheng Bay is a fertile land Ah, with this year's grain base, we have more confidence in what we will do in the future. You know, the number of people growing grain in Xinhua Island is gradually decreasing. There is a lot to do here. !"

(End of this chapter)