Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1679 Pampa (eight)

"Why are there so many exiled prisoners here?" After storing muskets and other obtrusive equipment outside the town, Inigo and others led the horses and entered Niuzhuang Town.And on the way they entered the city, they saw a lot of guys who looked like exiled prisoners listlessly carrying their poor little belongings and walking out of the town in a long line. In the next few years, he will work in four state-owned farms, a pasture and a quarry outside Niuzhuang Town until he has served his sentence.

"This... I don't know very well." Lao Siji changed into new clothes outside, but the knotted hair and the lingering smell on his body all told people that he was a man. The cattle catcher wandering on the prairie will only hear him commenting on the exiled prisoners in front of him who may be cleaner than him in a tone full of superiority: "They are all dirty and lowly guys. Lots of opportunities, hard work will not make you short of food and drink, but you are reduced to committing crimes, and you deserve to be exiled from the army, you are all a gang of killers, I am!"

Lao Siji selectively forgot that when it comes to crimes, the cattle catchers who chase cattle on the Pampa Plain all day may have a better say. Intimidation, extortion, robbery and even vendetta, almost every It will be staged in a few days, really a bunch of lawless people.Lao Siji was originally a middle-level and high-level managerial staff of the restaurant. He could write and count, and he was regarded as a "gentleman" and "cultural person". But after spending so many days on the grassland, his mental outlook has also undergone tremendous changes. At first glance, they are almost the same as those cattle catchers who are half-citizen and half-bandit.

Inigo once laughed at him. He has probably committed more crimes in the past two years than in his entire life. He is now a complete cattle catcher.Well, now you can add a prefix, "rich cattle catcher" or "lucky cattle catcher", because they just found a small and medium-sized cattle herd and successfully drove them to Dajiao Township to sell.

"However, the arrival of these people is not a bad thing for us, is it?" Lao Siji quickly added: "I have seen those farms outside the city, they are very large, and there are a large number of similar exiled prisoners growing Land. Well, it seems to grow wheat, and there are some vegetables, but not many."

"Ah, then I should welcome these people." Inigo whistled excitedly, and said, "I haven't eaten golden bread for a long time, let alone the famous pastry and shortbread in Qingdao Penglai Restaurant Yes, I really miss it when I think about it. Come on, come on, it’s better to have thousands of people grow food a year, so that our life can be greatly improved. Of course, maybe I should suggest that they don’t focus on planting fruit trees, I still think the fruit from the banks of the Chubut River is more delicious, it has a special fragrance and is very sweet..."

In other words, as of mid-August of this year (1674), the total national population of the East Coast Republic of China is estimated to have reached a historical high of 8 million—the proportion of immigrants from the East fell below 329.5% for the first time, about 128.9 million; the proportion of so-called second-generation nationals born in the country continues to rise, about 151.6 million, and is increasingly becoming the backbone of society; the number of white male immigrants is about 22, and the number of female immigrants is slightly more , with 27 people; the number of non-nationals has risen for two consecutive years to 29.3 due to the addition of slaves from Poland, among which white non-nationals are still the largest group, followed by blacks - more than 300 million The population, on the Old Continent, is about the same as that of the Kingdom of Sweden, so it cannot be said to be a small country.Coupled with the martial arts among the people on the east coast caused by historical factors, there should not be too many fights and injuries because of a disagreement, so the number of exiled prisoners produced every year is naturally quite large, even if there are other Some places scramble and share profits, and the Niuzhuang Port area can always get some, and this is the reason why the above-mentioned state-owned farms, pastures, and mines were established.

Needless to say, the land on the Pampa is very fertile.The accumulation of volcanic ash rich in organic matter for thousands of years and the lack of development have made this vast plain a huge wealth that everyone covets, of course, perhaps except the Spaniards, who only have gold and silver in their eyes.

The terrain here is generally flat, with only a few areas with slight ups and downs, but even in these rocky mountainous areas, in some canyons and valleys, there is a large amount of land that can be reclaimed into farmland, such as the area around Niulan Mountain. The area of ​​arable land (the local area is mostly cultivated by people who are tired of cattle catching).Perhaps only some places close to the coastline cannot cultivate land.Because there are floating sand dunes scattered here, with a width of about two to three kilometers, it is not suitable for farming, but it is suitable for afforestation, so it cannot be said that it is completely unusable.

From Niuzhuang to Yinhai, no matter the coast or inland, the soil is famous for its high fertility (fine soil and oily black color), which has long been proved by the trial planting of wheat and soybeans on the state-owned farms.And the climate here is also very mild. For example, it will be summer, and the average temperature is about 20 degrees, which is comparable to the temperature in Henan and Shandong in China, but it is warmer in winter, because even if the temperature is lower than zero It won’t be too low, the lowest absolute temperature is about minus seven or eight degrees, which is more suitable for agricultural production. Later generations, Necochea (Niuzhuang Port) is a famous grain export port, and it is also a relatively famous seawater in Argentina. One of the baths.

Lao Siji, Inigo and others entered the city while chatting and laughing, and then suddenly felt that they had entered the civilized world: besides a large number of shops on both sides of the road, there were also many hawkers who were selling various goods. There are farmers selling wheat, corn, sunflowers, vegetables and fruits from the surrounding countryside, as well as small merchants selling various daily necessities, and some gauchos are standing in the corner in worn-out clothes, waiting for people to come and hire them. It's really a "bustling" market, but of course it can't be compared with the local market.

And now that they have come to such a "prosperous" place in Niuzhuang, it is inconvenient for Lao Siji and Inigo to be too stingy, so they choose a decent-looking restaurant, invite the brothers to sit down, and then directly I called the shopkeeper and asked for two cod per person.God is sorry, after several months of working on the Pampa, everyone has almost forgotten what the traditional food of the East Coast like cod tastes like.

It just so happens that the coastal waters of Patagonia are the main producing areas of cod in later generations. There are also some fishing grounds near Mar del Plata, and the production of cod is also amazing. Some fishermen often drive boats to Niuzhuang Port to sell. After all, this place is known as a place where gold and silver flow As for Niuzhuang, the amount of bacon, cowhide, beef tendon, horns, tallow, and even live cattle that are traded every day is astonishing, which is an astronomical amount for many wealthy businessmen, so everything that appears here It's not worth being surprised.

After lunch, Lao Siji, Inigo and several brothers who were leaving settled their salaries and bonuses.These people were all Russians or ex-Spanish mercenaries recruited in the Hejian area back then, and they were all in their thirties. When it came time to pursue stability, Lao Siji also understood their psychology very well, and gave them an extra gift in a reasonable manner. The settling fee is considered a good relationship - it's not just because Lao Sigui is willing to give more money to his subordinates, but there are also practical considerations in it. After all, these people will be in Niuzhuang, Banks, Niulanshan and other villages and towns bought land and farmed, and became land households. As long as the relationship is maintained well, it will be a resting place and source of news for my group in the future, and it will be of great use.

After finishing these things, Lao Siji and Inigo bought some supplies and daily necessities, and then went back to the market with ease, and chatted with those miserable Gauchos who were waiting for their employers with their arms folded. See if it's worth hiring.

The results of the conversation are generally quite optimistic.These gauchos have solid bodies and excellent riding skills. Apart from the fact that their heads look a bit dull, there are really no major shortcomings.The only obstacle now is probably that Lao Siji, a profiteer, wants to bargain again, and plans to hire these gauchos at a lower price to supplement the vacancy of his cattle hunting team.

Of course the Rausji failed ignominiously in the end!These gauchos told him that if he was reluctant to pay seven yuan a month, they would rather go to work as guards in Master Zhu's quarry near Yinhaigang River and Niulan Mountain. That would make life more comfortable. , and will not encounter any danger to life—thanks to the large-scale war between the Ottoman Empire and Poland, a large number of Polish men, women, and children were transported to the east bank through various channels, and most of them were killed by state farms, forest farms, and mines. However, some of them are openly "sold" to the society. In fact, they are transferring the right to use, so that those who purchase the right to use can sign a five-year labor contract with them, and supplement labor for social production in disguise.Master Zhu naturally also found a way to purchase some of these Polish laborers, so this allowed him to successfully open the quarry in the Niulan Mountain area, otherwise he would have to wait until the Year of the Monkey.

After thinking about the gaucho people's words with a bitter face, Lao Siji felt that it was true, so he could only hire six gaucho people in one breath, and negotiated with them the details of salary and bonus distribution, and then They agreed on the time and place of the next meeting, and then left with Inigo.And at this time, Lao Siji naturally greeted that master Zhu Heng Zhu from the bottom of his heart, what a big deal to mine a quarry and open a lime kiln?I don’t like that kind of messy business. You can only earn a few dollars a year. When I go back to the grassland to search for it, and then catch a herd of bison, it will exceed your annual profit by many times. ——This is not a joke to a certain extent, because in recent years, there have been many versions of the so-called wealth myth of getting rich overnight on the Pampa Prairie, which has inspired waves of people who dream of getting rich to pour into On the grassland, scenes of tragedies and comedies are staged.

When leaving Niuzhuanggang town, Lao Siji and Inigo met a group of Niushou Township, Dapan Township (located near the town of Claras in later generations), and Qianfeng Township (located in later Egypt) that were said to be going inland. near the small town of Nathia), a horse caravan transporting building materials—mainly bricks, timber, lime, and cement.This horse team has a total of [-] or [-] horses, and the scale is quite large, especially among them are many Shar horses from England that are huge in terms of weight and strength. Some were dumbfounded.

This kind of horse easily lifts a heavy cargo carriage with a load of 1.5 tons, and it carries a strong man in the middle of the horse. It is very popular with people on the east coast. Therefore, although the price of Sharma has tripled compared to when it was originally purchased , and the annual number is also limited to a certain extent, but the East Coast people still try every means to purchase huge sums of money every year, and at the same time, they also vigorously cultivate and raise themselves, in order to expand the population of Sharma as soon as possible-now Even Niuzhuang Port has more than 20 Shire horses to pull carts and deliver building materials. This shows that after years of hard work, the population of this kind of horses in the east coast of China has indeed reached a certain level and can be distributed We used to each area.

Of course, Inigo was surprised when he saw this kind of horse. He prefers those horses that are either fast or endurable, rather than the stupid, black and thick thing in front of him, although someone is willing to pay for it. Unimaginably high prices.

At one o'clock in the afternoon, Inigo and Lao Siji returned to the home of a familiar farmer outside the town, took horses and weapons, and planned to go deep into the inland today to find the bison herd that symbolized wealth and glory.The reason why he is so anxious is that besides his eagerness to make a fortune, the bigger reason is that Inigo's reputation is too great. If he stays in Niuzhuang Port for too long and conflicts with others, he might have to I was arrested by the police, so it’s hard to say what will happen. It’s possible to be sent to the state-owned farms in the suburbs to farm, so it’s better to be honest. You must know that there are relatively complete government agencies here. Pampa core colonial city.

After greeting the acquaintances and farmers, the cattle-hunting team, replenished with water and supplies, embarked on the journey again, starting a new round of wealth-seeking journey.As the de facto owner of the Pampa Plain, the Spanish colonists were naturally very upset about this, because it was obvious that their wealth had been "stolen". If they did not want to continue to be stolen, they should take certain measures to protect themselves In fact, it is also a very natural thing.

(End of this chapter)