Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2320 Central Valley (25)

On February 1697, 2, the Central Valley of Chile, the former half of the ditch prison.

Because this year's grain harvest exceeded expectations, the warden "Longyan Dayue" decided to purchase a lot of fruits, spirits and canned food from the outside world and distribute them to prisoners serving sentences, which won warm cheers from everyone.

The first half of Jiegou Prison is roughly located in the small town of Curarebe in the mountains of Chile in later generations. The Shihezi and Slatted Houses in the south are all strongholds established by exiling prisoners. Currently, there are 600 people in the prison. Looks like (including family members), to grow rye, herd goats for a living, and at the same time provide supplies for the caravans coming and going, life is still passable.

People on the east coast have been practicing cross-border cultivation through the model of exiling prisoners from prisons for decades, and the results are still very remarkable.These inmates may be allowed to bring family members (if they wish) to the prison site and receive a plot of land to farm or accept a job of some other kind until the end of their sentence.

In fact, the prisoners are not good people, so when facing the harsh natural environment and hostile foreigners, they can always better protect themselves and survive.Take these colonization prisons in Chile's Central Valley as an example. Inmates come to the prison regularly to receive basic training.If there are foreign enemies, the prison will decisively distribute weapons to them to meet them. The Spaniards have never had a good way to do this.

Of course, the prison also has its own armed force, but the number is not large. Fortunately, the counties in the south will also send some militiamen to guard in turn, and the security force is still sufficient.With these powers, the prisoners have to weigh the consequences if they continue to commit crimes (once caught, they will basically be beaten to death, and many serious criminals will even be executed directly), the government has given them a chance, Don't be shameless.

By the way, prisons such as Shihezi in the south were officially established as counties at the end of last year.Because most of the prisoners in the area have already served their sentences and the number of immigrants has reached a certain level, with the approval of the Government Council, Yingtian County ( The 185th county-level administrative unit in the country) was also established, which is the seventh county under the jurisdiction of the Southern Chile Regional Administration, and the east coast government has taken another step forward in the development of the Central Valley.

In addition to the establishment of Yingtian County, the people on the east bank did not relax their encroachment on the area north of the Wa River (Valdivia River).No, the first half of the ditch prison, the second half of the ditch prison (located near the later town of Pucon, on the east side of Villarrica Lake, across the lake from the city of Villarrica), Nanwan Prison (located in the later age of New Torten Town), Haba River Prison (located near the later city of Pitruvken), Nanlu Prison (located near the later Kunke Township), and Goubangzi Prison (located near the later Meripeuko Township), the strength is still relatively strong The big ones can almost wipe out all the prisoners in the inland prisons.

The distribution of these six newly colonized prisons almost completely surrounded the Spanish town of Villarrica nearby.Because of the extremely rich mercury mines, this city has a very large population. There are more than 5000 people in the peninsula alone. The other mestizos and Indians add up to even ten times that. It can be regarded as the largest city in south-central Chile. It's a big town.

The mercury mined in Villarrica was transported to the Potosi silver mine in Chalcas through mules and horses for the local people to refine silver.In addition, there is a small lead mine (associated with a small amount of gold), a small and medium-sized copper mine, two small silver mines, and several sulfur mines near the city. The resource endowment is quite good and the status is very important.Therefore, when the people on the east bank set up these prison colonization areas, although they had been psychologically prepared, the Spaniards still panicked and immediately protested through the ambassador to the east bank.

The East Coast Foreign Office did a good job of placating the Spaniards.They promised not to affect the normal production, transportation and sales of these minerals, and recognized Spain's ownership of these minerals.If the Spaniards are willing to sell minerals and food, the people on the east coast will buy more, and the overall attitude is relatively good.

Although the Spanish ambassador heard that it was as disgusting as eating flies, he was quite satisfied with not moving those mines on the east bank.If there is no mercury, the production of the Potosi silver mine will be greatly affected, and Madrid's already tight finances will go bankrupt in an instant, and there is a high probability that the money owed to the Dutch will be repaid. This is simply a disaster.Although the colonists on the east coast have invaded a lot of land, the production of the most important mercury mine has not been affected, so——so be it!It seems that there is no good way, just ignore it!

In this way, six reclamation areas including Goubangzi Prison were quickly established.In the early stage, they even bought a large amount of food from the Spaniards in Villarrica, which played a great role in surviving the initial difficult period-is it ironic that although the local Spaniards I can't understand the unreasonable occupation of land by the people on the east coast, but they still won't let it go when there is business to do, which is extremely utilitarian.

From the Wahe River to the northernmost Habahe Prison, the branch line is only [-] kilometers away. Speaking of it, this is another [-] to [-] square kilometers, and it is probably a good place.There are forests, mines, rivers, and lakes everywhere, and there are also a lot of flat land where food can be grown. The climate is not bad, and it is definitely a fertile land.Not to mention, there are several rich fishery resources in its offshore, and this wealth should not be underestimated. If the Spaniards don't cherish it, it can only be developed by the people on the east coast.

In addition to resources, the geographical location of the six prison colonization areas mentioned above is also very good.The Andes Mountains to the east of them are relatively "thin", and there are also large sections of canyons and river valleys in the mountains, which are more convenient to pass through.On the other side of the mountain is the Ludang River Basin. The economy is not bad. In the early years, a large number of businessmen set off from Dingnan County and went to the Chilean side to do business through the tunnels between the mountains.Now that the northern line of the wool transportation special line is open to traffic, after the goods land in Yancheng Port, they can be transported quickly and cheaply to Jiuyuan Township Railway Station in the western suburbs of Dingnan County, which is very close to Shanxi.

The establishment of Goubangzi and other six reclamation areas will make this business route more convenient, safer and more profitable.Therefore, the State Development Bureau is now considering sending a group of serious immigrants to these six prison reclamation areas to speed up the development of these areas.

After all, in the event of hostilities with the Spanish government in the future, or even an armed conflict, it is very important whether the six major prison colonization areas can provide sufficient supplies (at least food).Going all the way north from the Central Valley controlled by the east coast is also one of the combat content, not just landing along the coastline.

The Chilean region is actually very important in the planning of the people on the east coast, even more important than the populous Paraguay and the silver-filled Chalkas.Here is close to the sea, facing the Pacific Ocean, has a wide space for development, and is very rich in mineral resources, and the agricultural conditions are also very good - at present, a large number of seafood and agricultural products are exported to the mainland, typical representatives are salmon and cherries - can accommodate a relatively dense population .

And when the population increases, industries can naturally develop.From the current point of view, the industrial investment of people from the east coast in Chile is still relatively weak, and most of them focus on rough processing fields such as food and wood that use local resources.The highest-grade industrial facility is the Pacific Shipyard established when the Southern Railway Company operated Chile.However, there is still a gap between the factory and the other three shipyards located on the Atlantic coast, both in terms of technological level and production scale, and there are too few technical patents at hand, and after cross-licensing with brothers, they have to find a lot of money. It's a small expense every year.

As for other companies, they really can't get on the table.There may be a lot of them, but most of them are junior enterprises and commercial enterprises with low technical content, and the scale is not large. There is really no one who can fight.

But fortunately, the executive committee also intends to invest more in this place - this time it is not chanting slogans to fool people, it is really planning to invest, and millions of dollars in legal currency cannot be escaped every year - after all, there is the Third Fleet of the Navy here. In the future, a large amount of Spanish land and assets will also be received, and it will definitely not work without preparation in advance.

By the way, there is a widely circulated gossip here that the original relocation plan of Black Mountain Industries in the Southern Cone was rejected because they wanted to go to the Pampa area.According to the latest plan of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, this large industrial enterprise, which ranks third in the country and whose business covers coal mining, steel, and machinery manufacturing, is likely to move to Chile.The specific location has not yet been determined, but it may be Liucheng Port, the home port of the Navy's Third Fleet, and the Pacific Shipyard in the local area. If they work together, they can indeed produce an effect of one plus one greater than two.Of course, there are also rumors that this company will move to Concepcion, which is still in the hands of the Spaniards. In short, there are many news, but no one dares to guarantee it.

In addition, the once mysterious Xuefeng Lake Shipyard may also be relocated to Chile to support local development.Xuefeng Lake was still too small. In the past few days when ships became more and more complex and bigger and bigger, this company, a pioneer in the shipbuilding industry, was restricted and could only move out to seek development.Considering the current lack of technical strength of the Pacific Shipyard, it is possible that the two shipyards will merge.

In short, the current attitude towards the Central Valley has finally been slowly reversed, and technology, capital, and talents began to slowly gather here.After all, the east coast is a country with two oceans in mind. If Chile's industry cannot rise, the conquest of the Pacific Ocean can only be said to be empty talk. Now it's time for a change!

(End of this chapter)