Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 224

After handing over these South American native immigrants and some supplies to the Hezhongbao government, Guo Zili has completed his first task.His second task was to deliver a letter from the Executive Committee to Mo Ming, the leader of the South African Pioneering Team. The general meaning of the letter had already been told to him before departure: there is only one, and that is to vigorously capture the local indigenous people in South Africa.

In the second half of last year, Hezhongbao distributed about 500 South African indigenous people to the local people in three batches. Except for 2000 people who were taken away by the Ministry of Agriculture, the remaining 200 people were used in the Changshanbao Iron Mine in the Yihe area. district.The original [-] miners (with a total population of [-]) in the Changshanbao area have finally escaped from the sea of ​​suffering. They are now either engaged in the idle mining area-wharf transportation, or engaged in equipment maintenance, leaving about [-] people Then they all changed jobs and became supervisors.

At present, South African miners in the Changshanbao area can mine about 200 tons of iron ore per day on average with the assistance of a large number of tools.These iron ores are crushed and screened and then sent to the wharf through the transport track, and transported away by the inland river transport fleet docked on the wharf.This amount of mining is enough to start the iron-making furnace of Pingan Iron and Steel Plant. Once the iron-making furnace is started, the steel-making open hearth furnace will also be started. Next, the downstream machinery factory, arsenal, and upstream coking plant can start normal production. At that time, the old-fashioned graphite crucible can finally withdraw from the stage of history.

However, it is not accurate to say that it will completely withdraw from the stage of history, because the proportion of graphite and other materials in the crucible can be artificially controlled during the manufacture of this graphite crucible, which is very suitable for smelting special steels with different carbon contents.At present, the east coast lacks high-hardness special steel and alloy steel (such as ferrochrome, etc.). Without high-hardness alloy steel, it is difficult to rifle the current steel cannon or wrought iron barrel.

After Changshan Iron Mine tasted the sweetness of using these South African natives, other departments were also extremely jealous and reported to the executive committee to apply for the use of South African labor dispatch workers, especially the brick kiln factories and cement factories affiliated to several major construction material factories. , Lime factories, and labor-intensive enterprises such as Ping'an coal mines and coal washing plants, are even more strongly demanding the introduction of labor dispatch workers.

Faced with the strong demands of industrial and mining enterprises, the Executive Committee had no choice but to follow suit, so it left the issue of South Africa's River Fort in writing this time.

"Tch, those gentlemen from the Executive Committee and the Government Affairs Council finally think of me now." After reading it, Mo Ming casually threw the letter on the table, then patted the table, and said, "Lao Tzu When I went to the capital at the end of last year, what did those people think of me? When they heard that I was here to beg for someone, they all complained and shirked, and Nima made me look like a beggar. From the end of last year to now, our Hezhong Fort has Over 500 laborers have been exported to China before and after, and the Executive Committee sent me the three 400 people in front of me. They are fucking restless elements. Counting it, I am equivalent to taking 7 South African natives to the Executive Committee It will be a loss for the business to replace one person from the mainland!"

Guo Zili smiled faintly, and was noncommittal to Mo Ming's words.The so-called ass decides the head, Mo Ming's ass is sitting on the side of Hezhong Fort, so it is natural to plan for Hezhong Fort, while the executive committee has to consider the whole thing, the so-called national game of chess is also true.

Moreover, he himself opposed the use of slaves, whether it was state slaves or private slaves, he held a negative attitude.These South African natives who were dispatched to the mainland were said to be labor dispatch, but they were actually not paid a penny. At most, their living conditions were better than those of slaves, but in other respects they were not much different from slaves.

Especially those South Africans working in the Changshan iron mine area, they were overwhelmed by the heavy physical labor, and many of them got sick, injured or even died.The few doctors and nurses in the iron mining area were too busy at all, and they first served the people on the east coast, and seldom gave them treatment for the South African labor dispatch workers.The harsh working environment and heavy physical labor make these South African dispatch workers have a high attrition rate, and many of them are doomed not to live until the three-year term expires and return to their homeland.

Under such circumstances, these South African natives began to flee sporadically.However, their fleeing behavior was destined to be a tragedy. In this desolate hills, they would either die of starvation or be attacked by barbarians within a few days after escaping, and there was no possibility of surviving.Moreover, those armed overseers were not vegetarians either. They led hounds and llamas carrying equipment, and they were able to catch up with these fugitives within a few days.

The fugitive who is captured will be sentenced to two years of hard labor for the first time, that is, he will continue to serve two years of hard labor after the expiration of the three-year labor period; Workers will also receive punishments such as food reduction and flogging.Shao Shude, who founded the Changshanbao Iron Mine Area, was dumbfounded when he visited this barbaric system. In his opinion, this cruel, barbaric, and inhumane system was almost the same as what those Europeans did in the colonies at that time. up.As young people who have received the education of the 21st century, the people who travel through the world are indifferent to this cruel system at this moment, which cannot but be said to be a kind of assimilation.That is to say, when the traversing people assimilated the natives in the 17th century, some life concepts of the 17th century aboriginals also quietly affected the traversing people. Assimilation is always mutual.

"On your side...uh, do the Eight Banners still have enough people to dispatch?" Guo Zili looked at the frowning Mo Ming and asked suddenly.

"Of course not." Mo Ming sighed, put his hand on his forehead, and said: "The 500 people sent over the past few times were either slaves who went up to the Six Banners, or they were simply people who went down to the Two Banners. I There are less than 7000 people in the Eight Banners, and now 500 people have gone. Many chiefs and deputy chiefs came to complain to me, saying that no one has harvested the crops in the field, and no one has sheared the wool in the sheep pen. No one has peeled the cowhide or something. In short, they complained about the lack of manpower, and then I threw them all out. Although what they said was exaggerated, it was basically the truth. The Eight Banners cannot be weakened anymore, otherwise these people will You won't follow us wholeheartedly."

"Think about it." Guo Zili nodded in agreement, and said: "They seek shelter from us, and the other is to gain some benefits. If we persecute them too much now, it is indeed possible to force them back. "

"It's impossible to force it." Mo Ming smiled confidently, and said: "Don't look at the current chiefs and deputy chiefs. There are five or six of them, but don't forget that I appointed them to be the superiors at the beginning. Yes. Since I can arrange for them to go up, I can also arrange for them to go down. It’s fine if they keep their feet on the ground. There are a few households to dozens of households. Later, it will be extended to the whole Eight Banners, and the standard Krall will be rated at [-] households.) will be very happy to eliminate the rebellion for us, so that we can get ourselves into the position. But you are right when you say that you can’t force too much Yes, sometimes you have to give them some sweetness."

"So what are you going to do? Continue to organize people to capture the natives of South Africa?" Guo Zili asked.

"Yes!" Mo Ming nodded, and said, "We organized the first mopping operation in autumn and winter last year, successfully clearing the walls and clearing the wilderness, and made a great contribution to the starving and trapped British people in the south. .This year, I decided to carry out the second sweep in South Africa. This time, the sweep was mainly in the north, more precisely, in the northeast. The Xhosa farming tribes who came across the continuous mountain range from west to west have targeted them this time. I reckon that if they act quickly, it will not be a problem to capture thousands of people at a time. With these thousands of people, It can solve our big problems."

Guo Zili nodded silently, and at the same time sighed secretly for the fate of those Khoisan and Xhosa people.They shouldn't have suffered such bad luck at this time. It was the arrival of the people from the east coast that made them plundered and enslaved by foreign invaders dozens or hundreds of years earlier.People on the East Coast are struggling to survive now, and they have no obligation or strength to teach you to enter the civilized world. Maybe after more than 100 years, the East Coast Republic has enough strength and capital to give back to your descendants—if Your children and grandchildren will continue to speak.

On February 1639, 2, Mo Ming, the highest official in the South African region of the East Coast Republic of China, the captain of the South African Pioneering Team, ordered the start of the second sweep.The sweeping lasted for two months and ended before the busy season. The sweeping area was from the Berg River to the north to the banks of Antelope Lake (the former Verlorenvlei coastal lake), and the farthest was not to cross the Great Salt Pond (Wadrif Salt Pond, which is fed by a seasonal river). area; to the east until the area between the Dongshan Mountains (Cederberg Mountains) and the Elephant River.

扫荡目标为在此区域内生活的所有科伊桑人及科萨人部落，主要以抓捕人员为主，抢劫财物为辅。出动的部队包括南非驻屯军第四连全部180人、新建南非骑兵连（预备役部队）55人、民兵一个炮兵连及护兵40人；征调八旗壮丁300人、英格兰和爱尔兰逃亡者壮丁100人，总兵力675人。

In this mission, the cavalry unit was the forerunner, and the light infantry quickly followed up. The idea was to catch these barbarians by surprise, so as to capture as many local indigenous people and property as possible.As for the defense of the local area, it was handed over to the temporary mobilization of nearly 300 East Coast militiamen and the remaining Eight Banners.

(End of this chapter)