Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 497 Economic Survey ([-])

In November 1645, it was the annual spring sowing season again.Outside Qishan Fort, this newly established town last year has begun to show its vitality, and the endless flat land is regularly arranged along the banks of the Yi River.And on the edge of these fields, impatient farmers are already planting soybeans, a cash crop that is in high demand and expensive to buy.

If you walk along the ridges of the fields and observe carefully, you will find that among the farmers working in the fields, there are a large number of unshaven men in shabby linen clothes, and Shandong farmers in neat and clean cotton clothes. Together, we worked hard in the fields.

"These are seasonal agricultural workers from Italy. They crossed the Rio de la Plata in small coastal boats and entered the eastern part of the Eastern Prairie. Then they trekked through the wilderness for several days with very little food, and finally entered the most remote part of the Republic. Luocha Port at the southern end." Xu Wenxuan, who has officially resigned from public office and came to Qishanbao to work as a white glove for some people to set up an oil mill, told the reporter who interviewed him.

The reporter came from the capital. His name was Li Dayan, a graduate of the first batch of Bingtuanbao, and an intern reporter for the second newspaper "Kommersant" (formerly the supplement of "Pravda") run by the Ministry of Education.A few days ago, he inexplicably accepted a task, saying that he was going to Qishanbao, Chui Township, and Meilin Port in the Yihe area to conduct some economic and social investigations, and focus on the local industry.The editor-in-chief of the newspaper hinted to him coyly that in addition to the South Vehicle Factory in Meilin Port, the industrial reports should focus on the Xu's Oil Press in Qishanbao.Because this is the first company in China to use steam engines to extract oil on a large scale, it deserves a special mention.Although Li Dayan felt that there must be something tricky in it, based on his nature of obeying orders, he still followed the editor-in-chief's order and came to Qishanbao.

Xu Wenxuan, the proprietor of Xu's Oil Press, specially took the time to accompany Li Dayan for a walk around the fields, showing him the farmlands of many farmers on both sides of the Yihe River that had signed purchase and sale agreements with Xu's Oil Press.

"In fact, these Italians are everywhere now." Xu Wenxuan continued to introduce to the little reporter, "To tell you the truth, my factory employs some Central and South Europeans with complete procedures and temporary ID cards—mainly They are Hungarians. As we all know, they are hard-working, honest and capable, and the remuneration they need to pay is also very low-because they do not enjoy the protection and subsidies of the "Labor Law" and "Social Security Relief Law". Now it is not only me, but many people in China It's become a fad that private companies and even state farms and construction crews hire them on a massive scale."

"Reporter Li, if you are willing to go to other places - especially those big cities - for a while, you will find that nowadays, such so-called manure pickers, cleaners, dock porters, laborers, porters, etc. do not have technical requirements. They have taken over a large number of 'lowly' industries. The Charuya people who originally had deep influence in these industries and even formed guilds were expelled step by step by them, and now they have all turned to South Africa and even New China to seek a living."

"Wait, Director Xu, didn't you just say that they are seasonal workers? My understanding is that they float to the east coast during the busy farming season to earn some wages. Then they should not return to Lafayette after the busy farming season is over. Prata?"

"Then they can't even afford the round-trip boat fare." Xu Wenxuan laughed loudly, "Reporter Li, did they pay the boat fare with all their net worth just to come to the east coast to do odd jobs? You know, La The authorities in Plata forbid their people to go out to work, if not for the result of the war many years ago, they can't even trade with merchants except Lima. The boats that bring them to the east coast are smuggled The cost of the boat is not low. After these people came to the east bank, they never thought about going back. The developed land in La Plata basically has owners, and the officials there have not been very keen on developing new land. , although it has expanded to the south and west in recent years, it is limited after all. But their stupid king is constantly bringing down the downfall of Bohemia, Hungary, Silesia and even Italy, which are in war-torn areas, through Austrian relatives. Residents are coming to La Plata, so that’s why the number of migrant workers on the East Coast continues to increase.”

"It seems that this has become an industry." Li Dayan said with a slightly proud tone, "These residents who are still living in sloppy and poor medieval yearn for a better life in our country. Just look at the city of Qishanbao. Yes, we have carried out a thorough transformation of the environment through hard but great labor, and built a beautiful and strong castle on the banks of the scenic river. The castle has a complete sewer, and there are enough public toilets and bathhouses. There are doctors stationed at the medical school. All this is much better than La Plata. We can really be called a civilized world here. Haha, thank you for enlightening me, it seems that I am You can write one more manuscript."

"Yes, our country has now partially overcome smallpox through vaccinia, there are dedicated medical schools, and every settlement has at least one doctor and a pharmacy, these measures are respect for life and also help our population growth rate It is improving steadily." Xu Wenxuan echoed, "By the way, you just said that this has become an industry, and I agree with you. In fact, they already have roles like brokers or brokers, and you will see soon Here you go. Valentino, come here."

As Xu Wenxuan's voice fell, a man with a Mediterranean face in a round-neck shirt, a felt hat, and cowhide boots came over. He took off his hat and bowed to Xu Wenxuan, then turned his eyes to the young Li Dayan , asked in an uncertain tone: "French?"

"No, I'm from the east coast!" Li Dayan felt a little offended, which made his favorability for the Italian man in front of him drop sharply.

Valentino was taken aback. He felt that he seemed to have said something wrong, so he stood aside embarrassingly.

Seeing that Valentino was a little embarrassed, Xu Wenxuan immediately came out to smooth things over and changed the subject: "Valentino is a well-known labor broker in La Plata. The quality is very high. You can go to big cities such as Ping'an County, Dongfang County and Zhenhai County to inquire. There are at least hundreds of shoe repairers, tinkers, plasterers, carpenters, blacksmiths, locksmiths, coopers, brewers, Mill workers are all introduced by him. Countless people have lived a high-quality life because of him, and we have also solved the big problem of talent shortage, which is the best of both worlds.”

Labor brokering is a profession that has sprung up in recent years on the East Coast and in La Plata.Most of these brokers are from La Plata, and only a few are from the east coast—they are often agents of goods on the east coast. Shore to work, and charge a fee.If the introduced laborer is not going to return to La Plata, then they will pay enough to the broker once; on the contrary, if the person has already settled in La Plata, and he just wants to If he came to the east coast to do some odd jobs for a short period of time during the slack season, the broker would take a certain percentage of his salary as compensation.

The east coast countryside has a huge demand for these migrant workers with temporary IDs.Especially in some small towns, the ubiquitous rural oil press workshops, hydraulic mills (flour milling, etc.), winemaking workshops, and orchards are very welcome to these outsiders, because they (employers) often work at an "unbeatable" price. wages" are hiring these people.

After these central and southern Europeans work in these workshops for a while, if they are recognized by their employers, they will be employed for a long time until the person obtains a formal identity certificate.If he is not approved by the employer or the employer believes that he no longer needs to hire labor, then they must find a new job, either go to a broker to introduce jobs, or go to the construction crews or state farms that are everywhere on the East Coast. (mainly growing cotton) looking for opportunities.

If none of these measures worked, then he had to prepare to go hungry. Some people will build some small boats and go offshore to fish or salvage seaweed.Of course, they actually still have the last way. The overseas colony on the east coast——New China Island recruits pioneers all the year round, and the treatment is favorable. When they go, they will be given a formal identity certificate.Although it is said that the death rate there is quite high, it still attracts many poor people who have nothing to try their luck there.Anyway, there is nothing to look forward to in life in La Plata. If you go to Xinhua Island, you may develop well, right?

"After seeing the brokers in La Plata make a fortune, the Portuguese in the north also became a little bit alive. In the past few years, these Brazilians made a lot of money by helping us immigrate from the East, which gave them enough money. Funding war against the Dutch, and development of new plantations and pastures. They spent money to migrate large numbers of immigrants from war-torn North Germany, fast-growing and famine-ridden Ireland, and England, which was undergoing a tragic civil war, to St. Vincent Te, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and other places." Xu Wenxuan said to Li Dayan, "But they exploited these new white immigrants too much, which made many people escape to us through various channels. And now there are really some Portuguese Smugglers are helping them sneak across the border, and as long as our border guards confirm that they are not armed, they will not stop them too much. You know, the "Immigration Law" that was just introduced in the first half of this year poses a certain problem to these people Protection, our government refuses to repatriate these fugitives to Brazilians, and will eventually give them formal identification - of course this is not easy, which also leads to a rapid increase in the influx of laborers from the north of Brazil."

Li Dayan recorded from time to time while listening to Xu Wenxuan's chat.He felt that it was necessary to let go of his personal dislike for a while, and go to that nasty Valentino to find out some details of the broker's business, so as to better count the inflow of foreign labor over the years and its impact on the East Coast economy, social impact.With the official promulgation and implementation of the "Immigration Law", the higher authorities may be very interested in this investigation.If he completes this survey, it will definitely win him a certain reputation in the newspaper office and even in the Ministry of Education.

(End of this chapter)