Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 385 Lake West ([-])

This is a small village, strictly speaking, it is already a certain distance from West Lake Fort.Correspondingly, the environment here is also quite primitive, with large tracts of primeval forest everywhere, and the villagers cleared out an open space along the lake after paying a huge price.

The irrigation canal extending from West Lake Fort leads directly to the rice fields outside the village.The canals are all made of masonry and cement, and they are covered with wooden boards to prevent evaporation.Over the years, people on the east coast have spent a lot of energy and money on the construction of small rural water conservancy projects. According to incomplete statistics, as many as 21 micro-reservoirs and 37 water-lifting stations have been built in more than 120 local towns. , a main irrigation canal with a length of more than [-] kilometers, and an irrigation branch canal with an even more terrifying length.

With such a huge investment of manpower and material resources, the people on the east coast have opened up more than 30 mu of fertile land in a wild land that was originally full of forests and reeds.The climate in the Duck Lake area is warm, and it is difficult to exceed 0 degrees in the hottest month, and it is difficult to be below 1200 degrees in the coldest month; and the rain and heat are in the same period, with an annual precipitation of more than [-] mm, which is extremely rich, and there are some freshwater rivers and lakes nearby Such water sources are perfect agricultural bases.Of course, no matter how good the innate condition is, it needs to be developed the day after tomorrow.Therefore, talents from the east bank have invested a lot of manpower and material resources in the area of ​​the west bank of Duck Lake for several consecutive years to open up wasteland, hoping to turn this place into a big granary for the people of the east bank.

The village where Captain Ventura lives has [-] families, and the houses are all standard red brick and blue tile houses on the east coast, that is, three rooms on the left, middle and right, plus a pigsty, a firewood room, and a kitchen.A peddler at the entrance of the village was pulling a small ox cart full of various goods while hawking along the way. Shao Yuanyi looked at it and saw that the small cart was full of rural best-selling commodities as small as needles and threads, as large as agricultural tools and iron stoves. A housewife called to stop the hawker, and then stepped forward to choose the goods.

The housewives are often followed by one or two children, staring at the snacks such as dried fruit, jerky, and cocoa powder on the truck with big black eyes, drooling, and clamoring to buy them.Some housewives were really annoyed, so they slapped their little kid's bare buttocks twice, and the kid blinked, and then cried desperately.After crying for a long time and finding that no one was paying attention to him, the child slowly stopped crying, and then his attention was quickly attracted by other things.

Over there is a group of older children playing war games.They were dressed in old military uniforms that were resized by adults. Some wore large caps on their heads, and some only wore felt hats. Two red-haired children were reluctantly forced to play the role of Dutchmen.Shao Yuanyi took a closer look, and found that the two children should be of mixed race between Ming people and Taixi people. Their eyebrows vaguely resemble Ming people, but their hair is red, so they played the role of Dutch red hair sadly.

The children played the same old tricks, and the East Coasters fought bravely and won in the end.The two kids who played the Dutchman also seemed to have no confidence, and they were quickly defeated.The little kid who had just stopped crying found it interesting and wanted to join them in playing games, but the group of older kids obviously looked down on him and mercilessly refused, making the little kid cry again.At this time, a housewife cursed from the side. She seemed to think that the group of older children bullied her children, and the group of older children immediately dispersed and disappeared without a trace.

What a happy childhood!Shao Yuanyi was a little sentimental. The children of Daming were hovering between starvation and death, especially the children in the northern region. A considerable part of them were destined not to live to the day they grew up.He either died in the ravines of the battlefield, died of starvation and disease, or even worse was caught and used as food. In short, the world in Daming was rotten.He has been practicing medicine with his master for six or seven years. Naturally, he has seen many of these tragedies in the world. He thought he had long since become numb. At this moment, he suddenly saw the happy childhood life of these children growing freely in the countryside on the east coast. Suddenly a sour, almost shed tears.

Captain Ventura walked in front of himself, and said as he walked: "This peddler is a Ming from the East like you. He immigrated here with his parents seven years ago. It seems that he was a man before he came here. A small peddler. His father used to get up early and go to Zhenhai Port every day to buy some fresh fish, shrimps, fruits and so on from the south, and then he worked hard to sell them in Hekou Fort and West Lake Fort, so he made a lot of money. Now his father Already retired, he raised some goats and planted some grapes in the countryside of Three Fortresses; his brother married the sister of Sergeant Louis, and opened a vegetable store in Zhenhai Harbor last year, specializing in supplying fresh vegetables for the Navy, and the business was quite good. This The young man is now living in West Lake Fort, and has obtained a peddling license, and now sells small commodities in the city and in the countryside, and his income is quite good."

"It's all about earning some hard money." Shao Yuanyi said with a sigh.

Captain Ventura shrugged noncommittally.They soon came to a compound at the west end of the village. At the gate of the compound stood a tall middle-aged man wearing a black police uniform. He seemed to be a patrolman stationed in the village.

"Petrov, this is the new doctor. He was sent from the south. Arrange for him well. People in our villages are counting on him when they are sick." Ventura shouted from a distance, "Okay, I My task is also completed, I have to go back to rest, goodbye, Doctor Shao."

"Goodbye...goodbye." Shao Yuanyi hugged Ventura awkwardly, and then whispered.

"My name is Petrov. This is the village office. Finally, a genuine doctor has come to stay here. We don't know how many times we have reported to the higher authorities, but the superiors always ignore our voices. Why don't we withdraw the fort and establish a village?" One day, will we be dispensable abandoned citizens in the eyes of the gentlemen?" The sad-faced middle-aged man chattered a lot, and then led Shao Yuanyi into the office.

The area of ​​the office is small, about six or seven houses, and a material warehouse has been built in the backyard to store food, tools, weapons and ammunition.The gate of the material warehouse is locked most of the time, and the keys are in the hands of the militia director and the village head respectively. Only when the two are present at the same time can the door be opened.

At this time, there was a burst of aroma from the kitchen of the office, and a tall girl brought the food on a tray.

"You are a well-organized person. You can handle lunch in the village office every day. My daughter Natasia is responsible for making lunch at noon every day. Of course, you have to solve breakfast and dinner yourself." Shao Yuanyi said in Petro Sitting at the table at the invitation of her husband, she blushed and accepted the chopsticks handed over by the girl.

The lunch looked pretty good, with mutton, fish, tofu, and vegetable soup. The staple food was sorghum rice.It can be seen that even in the main producing areas of wheat and rice, the local people may not be able to eat what they grow.Of course, maybe they kept some of them for themselves to try something new, but most of them must be sold in towns for money. They mainly eat cheap sorghum shipped from South Africa on weekdays.This point, no matter the south or the north, looks the same.

The sumptuous lunch was quickly finished.After the young girl cleaned up the dishes, she looked at Shao Yuanyi with resentful eyes, as if she blamed him for being silent about her probing words.

Petrov wiped his mouth with his sleeve, and then took off the holster hanging on the wall. After careful inspection, he raised his head and said, "Come with me to the 8th production team at the foot of the west mountain this afternoon. There's a militiaman over there who broke his leg in pursuit of the Guarani attackers, we've splinted him. But since you're here, let's go check it out, maybe we haven't done enough in some places .”

Shao Yuanyi nodded, expressing his agreement, but couldn't help asking: "Isn't this the hinterland of the country? Why are there still wars?"

"Hinterland?" Petrov laughed, "There is no hinterland in our country! There are only two strongholds and more than 20 production teams on the west bank of Duck Lake, which are distributed in a small plain, and those hilly areas reach the west. Such a small Area, to be honest, I can shoot from the east to the west with one shot. What kind of hinterland do you think you can have? Those Guarani people are indigenous people living in the mountains in the west. They always think that we have invaded their land, no Constantly harassing and even attacking us, hoping to drive us away. Maybe what they said made sense, they lived here before us, but in many cases, the way to judge whether something is right or wrong is not to see who is right, Instead—this!" After speaking, Petrov lit up the Model 1633 flintlock pistol in his hand.

"As long as they are killed, no one will accuse us of encroaching on their land. A dead Guaraní is a good Guaraní," Petrov added.

Hearing such murderous words, Shao Yuanyi was speechless.As a traditional Chinese, especially a Chinese whose job is to save the sick and save the sick, Petrov's ideas had a great impact on him.But he didn't say anything more, but packed up his things and went out with Petrov.

The early autumn sunshine is very comfortable and warm on the body.There was not even a horse in the village, so the two had to walk.Fortunately, the government has built a not very spacious gravel road here, so people don't have to walk on the grass full of puddles in this rainy season.While walking, Petrov complained, saying that the government only built asphalt roads in big cities like Dongfang County and Pingan County, and was indifferent to the poor traffic conditions in West Lake Fort.

Natasia stood in the kitchen, looking at the two figures in the distance through the window lattice, the golden sunlight shone on their backs, she was fascinated for a while.

(End of this chapter)