Chapter one hundred and ninety-two food self-sufficiency
The seasons in the northern and southern hemispheres are opposite. At the end of August, Rio Grande do Sul is in the early spring. At this time, the retired soldiers who have been settled for a year and the Chinese workers who later migrated have just finished harvesting the third crop of crops and begin to clear the crops in the fields.
Straws and hardened land are being plowed in preparation for the new year's spring plowing.
Crops generally crop three times a year in South America. Rice, corn, soybeans, and sweet potatoes are crops with high planting rates in the region. The total planting rate of rice and sweet potatoes accounts for 70% of the crop cultivation area of Rio Grande do Sul. Corn
, soybeans account for about 15%, and the remaining 5% are crops such as wood and wheat.
Rice is the staple food of the Chinese. The Chinese who obtained a large piece of land first dug a pond on suitable land, and then built several isolated farmlands around the pond to provide rice with water from the pond.
With the right amount of water, you can grow green seedlings.
In the southern part of the mainland, one acre of good paddy field can be exchanged for three or four acres of dry land. If a family owns more than ten acres of paddy field, it means that the family is either a landlord in the village or a scholar with a good reputation.
In the mainland, the quality and quantity of land are the main basis for judging whether a family is prosperous. When ordinary Chinese accumulate a fortune or a position of power, the first thing they do is to purchase a large amount of land as capital for family inheritance.
In Rio Grande do Sul, the Chinese who were allocated a large piece of land have not changed their previous ideas. They work hard on hundreds of acres of land for a whole year and are not willing to waste large areas of land growing grass.
The first batch of Chinese who followed Li Mingyuan from the Peruvian expedition survived about 110,000 people. Each of them was assigned more than 300 acres of land. When the land was just distributed, Li Mingyuan persuaded them in advance to
Twenty or thirty acres of relatively fertile land among several hundred acres of land are selected and reclaimed as farmland. The other parts of the land are spread with grass seeds and fenced as pastures to graze cattle, sheep, horses and other livestock, or to grow economic plants such as cocoa and coffee.
Bean etc.
Li Mingyuan's well-intentioned persuasion had a certain positive effect. Some Chinese who had worked as laborers in plantations resumed their old professions. While managing twenty or thirty acres of farmland, they received cash crop seeds provided by the government and planted them in their own fields.
Try to operate a mixed crop planting area on the land,
The other group of people, represented by the Chinese who came from the lower class farmers in Fujian Province, have personally experienced the pain of being without land and starving, and are afraid of living such a hard life again, so these Chinese will distribute as much as possible to them.
The land is reclaimed into farmland and high-yielding crops such as rice, sweet potatoes, and corn are planted.
In Rio Grande do Sul, the vast majority of Chinese people are afraid of poverty. They adhere to the simple principle of having food in their hands and not panic in their hearts. They are busy in the fields every day, reclaiming as much land as possible and organizing farmland.
Most Chinese did not stop and enjoy a comfortable life after retiring. Instead, they devoted themselves to the work of opening up wasteland and farming with a sense of urgency.
From the first rush to plant crops in July last year until the spring plowing this year, the industrious Chinese used simple iron plows, steam seeding machinery purchased in small quantities and other tools to reclaim 5 million acres of farmland and 12 million acres of pasture and grassland.
After Rio Grande do Sul meets its self-sufficiency in food, it can also save part of its surplus food as reserve supplies.
Grain is an important part of national stability at any time. After the end of the year's grain production statistics, Li Mingyuan issued an order to purchase surplus grain at a price 1.2 times higher than the average grain price in South America to regulate grain prices and prevent the occurrence of food shortages.
The problem of falling grain prices in good years has dampened farmers' enthusiasm for production.
The purchased grain is mainly placed in the reserve granary, while the replaced old grain will be distributed to various units of the field army as military rations.
Pingshan Town, formerly the San Javier Iron Mine District. It is now the headquarters of the First Mixed Brigade of the National Defense Forces.
A team of more than 70 people boarded twelve small boats loaded with food, weapons and ammunition, quietly crossed the river border dividing line between Rio Grande do Sul, Argentina, and Paraguay, and headed towards the Argentine territorial line.
After entering Argentinian territory, twelve small boats carefully sneaked along a winding river covered with dense woods.
"Da da da da." The unique steam engine sound of the inland river gunboats sounded from the other end of the river, alarming the cautious small fleet of boats.
"Company Commander, I hear the gunboat is heading towards us. Do you want the fleet to prepare for battle?"
On the small boat at the front of the fleet, the soldier operating the only heavy machine gun on the boat warned in a low voice.
"Wait a little longer and observe the situation before we talk."
The man in black military uniform listened carefully to the direction of the sound of the gunboat, and at the same time whispered to the ship behind him not to reveal its traces.
The sound of the gunboats continued for two minutes. Two minutes later, an Argentine water gunboat patrol force, before approaching the small flotilla, skipped the narrow waterway where the flotilla was located and sailed in the other direction.
After successfully evading the Argentinian water patrol, the man in military uniform raised his arm and made a gesture. After the boat behind saw the gesture, it immediately followed the first boat and continued moving forward according to the order represented by the gesture.
Ma Jizu is a company commander of the First Mixed Brigade. As a Chinese who followed Li Mingyuan in the uprising in Peru, he has more seniority than many battalion and company-level officers of the First Mixed Brigade. However, he was injured on the way to southern Brazil and did not catch up.
The opportunity for promotion in the Paraguay War and subsequent fights was never given.
Among the Chinese soldiers who participated in the uprising at the same time as Ma Jizu and were assigned to the same squad, except for the five who died in battle and retired due to injuries, three of the remaining seven were promoted to battalion-level officers, and two were promoted to deputy battalion-level officers. He was the only one
And another person is still holding the position of company commander.
Ma Jizu was originally the first person in his class to be promoted to a company-level officer. However, due to an injury experience, his comrades who had lower military ranks than him were promoted one after another, and he was the only one behind. Faced with missing military merit, Ma Jizu except
In addition to feeling regretful, he was also looking for opportunities to accumulate military exploits, and it was a hard-earned opportunity for him to contact Sun Qisheng in Argentina and be responsible for transporting supplies for Sun Qisheng's troops.
Ma Jizu has been transporting supplies for Sun Qi Sanctuary for half a year. This time, the sudden appearance of the Argentine inland river patrol gunboat unit near the transportation route made him feel a little unusual.
The war between Argentina and Paraguay lasted for about seven months. During the war, the cruising routes of the Argentine troops were generally waters close to the Paraguay border. For the waters near Pingshan Town, the patrol density and intensity were low.
The sudden appearance of the Argentine patrol gunboat on the stowaway supply route made Ma Jizu alert in advance. During the subsequent voyage, adhering to the principle of caution, the supply fleet did not choose the predetermined route, but bypassed the previously explored trails.
In the end, we arrived at Sun Qisheng's base in northern Argentina two days later.
