Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1911 Hunting Country ([-])

"This forest is really dense." Standing on the edge of the Chaco Forest, a young student in the expedition team couldn't help saying.

Yes, after walking all over river valleys, grasslands and swamps, anyone will be shocked when they first see such a vast forest.It may be difficult to know the specific area of ​​the forest in a short period of time. We can only send people on horseback to survey and draw maps in various directions, which will probably take some time.

At any rate, Wang Zhijie is also the leading brand in the botanical circles on the East Coast. With just a cursory glance, he saw many kinds of trees: elephant ear beans, paradise trees, laurel, oaks, cedars, red broken axe trees, etc. There are also many white palms and chilean willows growing near the banks.

As you can tell from the names, this grove, mainly north of the Bermejo River, is rich in species and has a very dense evergreen community.And if you look closer, you will find that it is actually the same. There are many kinds of trees, wild flowers, weeds, bushes, and of course some tall climbing plants.

There is no doubt that this forest has the characteristics of a large forest, although it cannot be compared with the dense virgin forest on the Xuanwu Plateau in the north of Hejian—it is inferior in both number and shape. For example, the height of the canopy of the Xuanwu forest is generally Between 20-25 meters, it's not as good here - but it's pretty good.You know, this is the endless Chaco Plain, which is originally dominated by grasslands. It would be great to have such a forest.

Seeing this forest, Wang Zhijie couldn't help recalling that he saw a large forest somewhere south of the Bermejo River.That forest is called the "Chaco Forest" by the Spanish (the one in front of us is called the "Formosa Forest"). It grows in a drier area, and its tree species are generally more drought-tolerant than here.That piece of forest is relatively open, with slightly fewer tree species, lacking the dense and complex characteristics unique to tropical forests, and almost all the trees grow alone, so it is a kind of sparse forest to some extent.

The largest and most famous tree in the Chaco Forest is of course the broken axe tree.There are also many trees of this kind in the Hejian area, and they have been harvested and processed in large quantities. They have been applied to all aspects of industry, construction and even furniture, and have exerted huge economic value.Broken axe is hard and rich in tannic acid, which is of great value in industry. In addition, it has a wide crown and a tall tree body, and it is also very valuable in civil use.And it is precisely because of this characteristic that all kinds of broken ax trees have been felled crazily in the Hejian area, and the number has dropped sharply in a short period of time. Ten years of being cut to extinction - this is no joke, and some places have verified it.Because the broken axe tree grows extremely slowly, once it is felled, the vacated ground is quickly replaced by other fast-growing species.

In addition to the trees of great economic value in the Chaco forest, it is worth mentioning the guaiac wood (which occupies a dominant position in some parts of the forest, is heavy and fragrant, and is valued by people, but It is a pity that it cannot be used in propeller propulsion systems like its close relatives in Central America), yellow laurel, spindle wood, thornwood, mesquite, etc., are all darlings in the wood market and have certain development value.

"This forest is very important. We will spend some time investigating it. Let's camp now and inform Lieutenant Zhao." Wang Zhijie found a dry place, put down a blanket, sat on it, and said .

If you find such a large forest, especially in Chaco, a plain with short grass grasslands and swampy wetlands as the main landforms, you must investigate carefully and draw a good map, otherwise it will be impossible to go back.

Lieutenant Zhao, a veteran in his 40s, was re-drafted into the reserve system.Because of his rich experience and strong will, he was appointed as the vice-captain of this expedition team, focusing on security and security work and being responsible to Wang Zhijie.Before that, he had accompanied several expedition teams to go deep into the desert, wasteland, and rainforest, and he was familiar with the business, so Wang Zhijie just mentioned this and immediately called his men to set up camp.

The camping equipment is all on-site, on the back of the mule and horse, and it doesn't take long to disassemble it.At most, send someone to cut a few trees in the forest ahead and get some wood to reinforce the camp. After all, there is a big difference between a long-term camp and a makeshift camp, so you can't be careless.

As for himself, he took people to hunt at the edge of the nearby woods, planning to add another meal for everyone later.There are so many animals (especially large animals) on the Chaco Plain, no wonder it is called the country of hunting by the Indians!Lieutenant Zhao still remembers that he was lucky enough to encounter Indian hunting behavior along the way before, which was very interesting: the indigenous Quechuas like to hunt in the way of "trapping animals in a desperate situation", that is, hunting down in the triangle where two rivers meet Capturing wild beasts that have nowhere to escape is really a bit dumbfounded, and I feel that these barbarians have really big brains.

The camp quickly made a rough outline. While smoking spicy shredded tobacco, Wang Zhijie felt the waves coming from the forest.Just as they were feeling refreshed, Lieutenant Zhao and others rode back happily and happily. They brought back two deer and a daunting poisonous snake called "yarara" by the Quechua people.

In fact, if you are not in a hurry to get down to business, the Chaco Plain is still worth spending some time for hunting enthusiasts.There is no other reason, the number of animals here is too much!Not to mention the horses, cattle, and sheep that were lost and bred by the Spaniards in the past, other large animals such as American tapirs, boars, armadillos, deer, ostriches, and even anteaters abound. Crocodiles, snakes And cats (tiger cats, bobcats, jaguars, jaguars, etc.) can also be seen everywhere, Duandi is an amazing animal kingdom.

And it is precisely because the Chaco Plain is so rich that it is possible to support so many Indian tribes above it.You must know that those with a lower level of civilization are still in the fishing, hunting or gathering stage; those with a slightly higher level of civilization are in a nomadic or nomadic farming state; Lived a settled life and made a living by farming.However, no matter what stage of civilization it is, almost every Quechua tribe will hunt as an important supplement to the source of food. There are so many animals killed by them every year on the plain, so that this vast plain has " Chaco" (Land of the Hunt).

The people on the east coast also hunted a lot along the way, and even had some small conflicts with the Quechuas because of hunting (fortunately, they were handled properly), and they are no strangers to how to deal with wild game.Therefore, when Lieutenant Zhao and others brought back the prey, a group of cooks immediately stepped forward to harvest the prey, and then got busy: Everyone was about to collapse from eating hard bread and pickled crocodile meat on weekdays. Fresh prey came to the tooth festival, and the morale of each one was naturally high.

"Didn't you encounter any Indians peeping on the road?" Wang Zhijie walked up to Lieutenant Zhao and asked casually.At this moment, he was still holding a plan that had just been written in his hand, which was given to him by the students below for correction, and it was about the future development of the Chaco Plain.

His students carefully analyzed various factors such as the terrain, climate, hydrology, soil, and resources of the Chaco Plain, and finally made several major plans.The first is the logging and processing of wood in the forests (Chaco and Formosa), including the extraction of tannin, a chemical of great industrial use, from the axe tree.He believes that the future of this business is great, because the output of leather on the east coast is astonishing, and there is a great demand for this important raw material for tanning leather, which is very valuable for development.

The second is to vigorously promote cotton planting in the Chaco Plain.Especially the places outside the floodplain of the Chaco Plain, where the sun is bright, the sunshine is abundant, the rainfall is not too much, and it is an endless plain, which is very suitable for the growth and harvest of cotton crops.Although the soil layer on the Chaco Plain is a little thinner, and the nutrients are not as rich as the adjacent river area, but as long as you take care of it carefully, it shouldn't be a big problem.The big deal is to strictly implement the rotation and fallow system. The Chaco Plain is so big that there is no need to stare at a piece of land and use it desperately.

The student carefully compared the situation in the Daqing Basin of Xinhua Island, the most important cotton-producing area in the East Coast Republic of China, and finally believed that the Chaco Plain is not inferior at all, and even has a greater advantage because it is close to the local processing area. It was someone who invested in the construction of railways, roads and docks in the Chaco Plain.

He optimistically predicted that if the cotton planting industry can be widely promoted in the Chaco Plain, it will attract a large number of immigrants to settle here.In that case, this barren land will soon be filled with densely packed small towns, and the flags of the East Coast Republic of China will also be spread all over the plain (the development of the Chaco Plain in Argentina in later generations has contributed a lot to the cotton planting industry, which has become the country's main cotton-producing region), and isn't that what the Executive Committee would like to see?

Third, the student believes that the cultivation of tropical crops can also be properly promoted.For example, he took a certain Spanish colonial town in the north as an example to successfully grow a lot of bananas, and thought that this place could also follow suit.The three crops of sugarcane, banana, and citrus can be vigorously promoted, and temperate crops such as corn, wheat, rice, and castor can also be planted.In short, because the climate here is just right (the annual frost-free period exceeds 210 days), whether it is the cultivation of cash crops, the cultivation of food crops, or the raising of livestock, there are very good conditions, and it is worth trying.

At the end of the article, the student believes that in the future, East Coast University can relocate all kinds of cotton mills to the Chaco Plain to make use of the abundant cotton resources here.Anyway, the navigability of the Paraguay River is quite good, and all kinds of cloth produced can be easily shipped to various places.In addition, leather tanning and processing, tropical food processing, etc., can all be invested here for realization.

To be honest, Wang Zhijie still appreciates this kind of planning. Regardless of whether it can be realized or not, at least this kind of thinking is worthy of praise.In particular, he favored the idea of ​​turning the Chaco Plains into the cotton production base of the Eastern Republic.He has observed the meteorological data recorded by Wang Dazhuang for the past two years, and found that the temperature here is relatively high, the sunshine is abundant, and the rainfall in summer will also stop when the cotton buds bloom. .

However, in the future, if the hunting country of the Chaco Plain really becomes a cotton production base on the east coast, then the New Huaxia Island, which is far away in the southwestern Indian Ocean, will be depressed for a long time.Especially in the Daqing Basin, which has the largest population and the best economic development, it is really hard to say whether their economy, which is dominated by dry farming and cotton planting, will collapse, but this is beyond Wang Zhijie's control. Anyway, he Suggestions only.

However, there is still a "little problem", that is, the Chaco Plain still belongs to the territory of the Kingdom of Spain.How the people on the east coast can get such a planned cotton production base in the future depends on the relationship game between the two countries and the changes in the world situation.

(End of this chapter)