Brewster prepared a sumptuous dinner for Rock, including roasted whole lamb, braised fish, stewed goose in an iron pot, and of course roast beef with potatoes. Just looking at the recipes, the farmers in southern Africa are indeed quite happy.
To Rock's delight, all the ingredients came from Brewster's farm, including the desserts and fruits after the meal.
"How is your income now?" Rock still misses these old brothers. They are Rock's most loyal supporters.
"Last year, my farm income was 2,500 rand. This does not include the children's income. It seems to be a lot, but in fact there is not much left. My second son bought a car last year, and my third son wants to buy a house in Los Angeles and is planning to get married this year.
The target is a doctor at Nyasaland State Hospital." Brewster was still very proud. R2,500 a year was the salary of Roque, the Minister of Defense.
Just a salary.
R2,500 a year may seem like a lot, but in fact, the average Brewster family, with a dozen or so members, is not much. They are just above the middle class and far from being rich.
"Brewster, if Bechuanaland implements national farms, would you consider joining?" Stoudemire has never forgotten the national farms proposed by Louis Botha. Southern Africa has already begun to implement national farms in Victoria and Dias states.
The effect is still very good.
Compared with independently operated farms, state farms have huge advantages. State farms in Victoria and Dias mainly grow cash crops and employ African-American workers to work on the farms. Their annual profits have now exceeded one million.
rand, and is rising rapidly.
However, there are huge differences in the concept of state farms in the federal government of Southern Africa. Many people, including Roque, believe that if the popularization of state farms is promoted, some new problems will arise. Although Roque has not experienced "big pot rice"
era, I still have a good understanding of the "big pot rice" era.
Of course, the advantage of Southern Africa is that the workers employed on the farms in Southern Africa are not Southern Africans, but workers of African descent from countries and regions surrounding Southern Africa. Therefore, the national farms in Southern Africa are not the big pots and iron rice bowls that Rock remembered.
, there is no guarantee of income due to drought or flood, and workers who do not work hard will be terminated from their employment contracts and deported at any time.
"Is it mandatory?" Brewster was obviously nervous, his eyes widened like bells.
"Of course not. Join voluntarily. After joining, most of the farm's income will still be yours. The company that takes over the farm will withdraw a part of the income as management fees." Stoudemire also has pursuits now. Although the South African company has been disbanded, the Rhodes family is still there.
The advantage in the field of agricultural products remains unshakable.
"Then I have to think about it. In fact, I quite enjoy my current life. My dream is to have a large group of sheep of my own. Every day I lead the sheepdog and drive the sheep to graze. On weekends, I bring fishing rods.
Go fishing and have a barbecue with the family in the courtyard at night -" Brewster has doubts. He is living a rich and carefree life now and does not want to change his current situation.
"To do this, it's enough to leave dozens of acres, but you have 5,000 acres -" Stoudemire was still very generous and not forced.
Brewster's farm employs hundreds of African-American workers all year round and uses many large agricultural machinery to ensure the basic operation of the farm.
5,000 acres is equivalent to almost 30,000 acres. If they don't hire people, the Brewster family will be exhausted and they won't be able to fully develop the farm.
"You should know that your current farm development is not sufficient. Our farms in Victoria will have an average annual profit of more than ten rands per acre in the future. How much do you have, half a rand, to give you such
Big farms are a waste." Stoudemire is not polite. Brewster is not scientific about farm management. The State Farm in Victoria has the Department of Agriculture of Nyasaland University as technical guidance behind it.
"Come on Cecil, whether Brewster wants to join the National Farm is entirely voluntary. You can't force him -" Roque does not object to Stoudemire joining the National Farm, but also wants to ensure Brewster's interests. This is Roque's prestige in southern Africa.
The real reason no one can.
"Lord, if you want me to join, then I will join." Brewster followed Roark's arrangement and gave Roark all his trust.
"It doesn't matter, you have to ask yourself if you want to join, no one can force you -" Rock said this to Brewster, but also to Xiaosi.
Whites account for only a small part of the farmers in Bechuanaland, and more than 60% are Chinese. Rock will not allow anyone to harm the interests of the Chinese.
Not even Stoudemire.
"Locke, you described me as a slave owner." Xiao Si was dissatisfied. Rock's words were a warning to Xiao Si, and of course Xiao Si understood it.
"Don't doubt it, be confident and remove the word 'and'." Rock didn't give Xiao Si face. Henry and Xiao Si were the only two slave owners in southern Africa.
Of course, if Henry and Stoudemire rank in the top two, Rock will definitely rank third.
Leaving Brewster's farm, Rock and Stoudemire took a car and continued westward.
Rhodes City is located at the junction of Bechuanaland and Transvaal. The surrounding farms are relatively mature and their business conditions are still very good.
Leaving Rhodes City to the west, the environment on both sides of the highway gradually becomes desolate. Large tracts of land are in an undeveloped state, with severely exposed soil and overgrown bushes. In Rock's impression, there will be large deserts in Bechuanaland in the future.
Of course, the current situation of land desertification is not serious, but if it is not controlled, the situation will only worsen step by step, and will eventually develop to an irreversible point.
"We are working together with the Bechuanaland State Government to plant cash crops here and send dedicated personnel to manage them. The University of Rhodesia is cultivating cash crops suitable for growing here based on the climate and environment, but this requires a process.
, the effect will not be seen in a short period of time." Stoudemire still attaches great importance to Bechuanaland State, where a lot of land belongs to Bechuanaland Agricultural Company, and Bechuanaland Agricultural Company was jointly founded by Rock and Stoudemire
.
Universities in Southern Africa are still very pragmatic. Federal governments at all levels attach great importance to agriculture. Major universities in Southern Africa have also opened courses related to agriculture. While teaching, universities are also working hard to organize forces to conduct scientific research. These sciences
Behaviors are very purposeful. For example, the research at the University of Rhodesia was funded by the Bechuanaland Agricultural Company.
"Cecil, do your best. This is a good deed that will last forever. A hundred years from now, we will no longer be here, but people will still remember what we have done." Rock has never been a selfish person, like planting trees.
Don't talk about it, merit is beneficial to the present generation, but at the very least it is to accumulate blessings for future generations.
To put it bluntly, those who talk about "I won't care about the flood after I die" all day long, if they can't find you, they can find your son or your grandson, and you can find out how debts between father and son can be repaid.
"Come on Locke, I'm not as noble as you. I'm doing this to make money." Stoudemire is duplicitous. Money has lost its meaning to Stoudemire and Rock.
Rock now understands those richest people who "don't care" about money. It's not that they really don't care, but that money is no longer important to them. When they say those words, they are pursuing other things besides money.
To put it bluntly, after the basic needs of life are met, people begin to pursue higher levels of satisfaction.
This is understandable in itself, just like whether you wear clothes to sleep at home, it doesn't matter whether you wear clothes or not, but when you leave the house, it is best to wear something, even pajamas -
Rock smiled and said nothing. Stoudemire didn't know the final fate of old Cecil Rhodes in another time and space.
If he knew, I'm afraid Xiao Si would not think so.
Back in the car, Stoudemire was still complaining, this time about the Cape State Government.
“Compared with Bechuanaland, the Cape State government is a bunch of old antiques. They are rotten from top to bottom, pedantic and stubborn. Many white farmers in Cape State still insist on running their farms in the previous way.
, ignoring the development and progress of technology, the Cape State government is actually considering giving financial subsidies to those farmers who are not operating well. If you ask me, those farms that are not operating well should be nationalized - "Xiao Si has a deep resentment towards Cape
, thinking that old Cecil Rhodes had his home in Cape Fa and made a huge contribution to the expansion of Cape Colony. But now it seems that Cape State is the first to forget about old Cecil.
·Rhodes, this makes Stoudemire very uncomfortable.
"You go out and buy it and give those farmers a price they can't refuse." Roque also has opinions on Cape State. If Roque is the representative of conservatives in southern Africa, then Cape State is simply stubborn.
"I still can't refuse. It's a good idea. Wouldn't it be better for me to wait until they go bankrupt before I come forward?" Stoudemire is waiting to buy at low prices. Those white farmers deserve it.
Rock didn't say anything. It's not easy to bankrupt those white farmers. The federal government in Southern Africa is still implementing the previous taxation plan. The tax rate levied on farms is not high. It is difficult for even poorly managed farms to go bankrupt.
The reason why Rock came to Bechuanaland was to inspect the farms in Bechuanaland and accumulate more first-hand information.
After the information is complete, Rock will push Congress to discuss levying more taxes on farms. Then life will be very difficult for some farmers who are just getting by. Without money to pay taxes, the federal government has the right to tax the farms.
Confiscated.
Of course, we must be careful with this proposal. Otherwise, the federal government may lose the support of farmers, which is unacceptable to Rock.
After returning to Pretoria, Roque went to find Ada regarding this issue.
As finance minister, Ada has the most say on the issue of taxation.