Chapter 188: New Year in South America South America, East Coast Republic, on the banks of the Rio de la Plata, near the city of Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay.
The twelfth lunar month at the end of the year should have been howling with cold wind, but now the sun is scorching like fire.
It was just clearing up after the rain, and already the hot sunshine was baking on the cement pavement, and the rising water vapor was vaguely visible.
No way, who said this is in the southern hemisphere?
Obviously, the new Chinese immigrants here are not used to this climate that is completely contrary to traditional common sense.
Well, although it felt a bit awkward, the residents of Guiyi Fort still reluctantly accepted this reality.
At this point I have to mention that since we are in the Southern Hemisphere, the seasons are opposite to those in the Northern Hemisphere.
The East Coast Republic has organized people to spend several years compiling an East Coast calendar.
Modeled on the Chinese lunar calendar and based on the local climate, a new twenty-four solar terms are compiled, which run parallel to the Western calendar and have the significance to guide agricultural production.
The date of the Spring Festival has also been moved from the beginning of the year to the middle of the year, but most immigrants obviously still prefer to celebrate the New Year on the old date.
"Hey, it's Ani.
I'm here to sell fish."
"Yes, Uncle Tian, today is a big market.
Go and sell the fish early, the family is still waiting for the New Year's goods."
A village woman and a girl, each carrying a big fish basket bigger than the girl's body, were walking on the country road leading to Guiyibao Market.
Today is the twenty-sixth day of the twelfth lunar month, and it has arrived in traditional China.
A day when people purchase new year’s goods.
Originally, when they were in their hometown in Fujian, Mao Ani and her mother had never sold fish, because the fish in the river belonged to the old men.
It was okay to secretly catch a few to eat, but if they were sold, they would be sold by the old men.
If our thugs find out, they will fine them money, and if they don't pay, they will be beaten half to death.
Although Ani didn't understand what this meant, the villagers who were beaten to a bloody pulp by the thugs and tied up at the entrance of the village wailing couldn't do it.
However, since the family left the village with the Australian and Song soldiers and came to this strange place, all the rules of their hometown no longer apply.
For more than a month after moving here, my grandfather and father went to the river to catch fish whenever they had free time, and then gave them to Ani and her mother to sell in the nearby market: although the local government provided food and a house to the family , but if you want to buy some odds and ends, you still have to spend money.
Like Mao Ani's family who just arrived, Guiyibao is also a newly established town.
It has only been a year since the groundbreaking.
Fort Guiyi is located in the flat alluvial plain at the confluence of the Santa Lucia River and the La Plata River.
The soil here is fertile, the rainfall is sufficient, and the climate is superior.
The conditions for agricultural development are unique, and there are rivers nearby.
A little improvement will make it good.
Irrigation canals have great potential for agricultural development, otherwise modern Uruguay would not have its capital here.
At present, the coastal area near Dongfang Port, the capital of the East Coast Republic, is not suitable for large-scale agricultural production.
The main reason is the lack of water and the lack of large-scale surface runoff.
In layman's terms, there are no big rivers.
There are only some small streams and rivers with not very abundant water, and many of them are seasonal rivers, so they generally present a grassland landform.
To this end, the government of the East Coast Republic had to spend a lot of effort and cost to build a large number of water storage tanks, rainwater collection tanks, artificial reservoirs and farmland irrigation facilities, so that it could barely achieve food self-sufficiency for the few tens of thousands of people in the capital area.
Therefore, in order to take advantage of the abundant water resources in the interior, the East Coast Republic has long had the idea of developing the inland La Plata River Basin.
However, it has been suffering from insufficient numbers of immigrants and has been unable to start reclamation.
It was not until the establishment of the Chinese League and the launch of the Ming Dynasty's mainland strategy that the number of immigrants pouring into the Republic surged more than ten times in the past two years that the Republic government had the manpower to develop these areas.
Today's Guiyi Fort was built not long ago.
Its scale is still very limited and its conditions are relatively simple.
They are all rough-looking wooden and brick houses.
Only a road near the dock is paved with cement, and the rest is still sand. road.
The entire town only has a permanent population of one or two thousand, so in addition to irregular markets, there is only one department store that is open regularly, selling various goods shipped from the Republic's capital, Oriental Port, and there are two restaurants next to the pier. , business is not very prosperous either.
Then there are some service industries such as barber shops, tailor shops, and blacksmith shops.
However, on the twenty-sixth day of the twelfth lunar month, Guiyibao is still filled with festive joy.
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As the Spring Festival approaches, there are more goods on the market, including various local agricultural products and exquisite products from big cities.
Of course, the most industrial products are those selling salt, vinegar, sugar, tea and cloth.
Residents came in waves from nearby rural areas to the suburbs, crowding the narrow roads to the brim.
The children were running around in the crowd, calling friends, laughing and playing, feeling very uncomfortable.
The adults, on the other hand, stopped at each stall and debated prices with the vendors in a battle of wits and wits.
It was really a picture of a harmonious and prosperous township market.
The sporadic sound of firecrackers adds a bit of "New Year flavor" to this bustling scene: after all, at the end of the year, even if you are a new arrival, even if you are in a foreign country thousands of miles away, you still have to celebrate the New Year. of.
Walking among the crowds of people, Mao Ani couldn't help but wipe the sweat on her neck, took off her big straw hat to protect her from the sun, and fanned herself back and forth.
Like most people in the market, Mao Ani and Grandma were wearing light-colored short-sleeved shirts, big shorts, sandals and straw hats.
Although some old people always murmur that such clothes that expose arms and calves are really immoral, most people still have to change their clothes after suffering from heatstroke several times.
According to several military masters, wearing such tight clothes in such a hot weather is basically asking for death.
The local aborigines don't even wear clothes.
Well, Mao Ani has actually seen this kind of lack of clothes a few times. clothes indigenous After finally squeezing into the market, Grandma and Ani put the fish baskets they were carrying on their backs on the ground.
Because they were late, there was no good place in the market, so the mother and daughter had to find one.
In the corner, strange fish caught from the nearby river were hawked.
There are really some strange fish caught in the river here.
They are all species that Ani and her family have never seen in their hometown and don’t recognize them.
There was even a fish whose teeth could be made into scissors to use on piranhas, which astonished the immigrants.
In order to confirm that these strange fish can really be eaten, the tabby cat in Uncle Wang's house next door has a good taste: whenever he catches any fish he doesn't recognize, he has to let the cat try it first and make sure that there is no problem.
Dare to sell it, otherwise if someone is poisoned to death, Ani and her family will have to carry it away without being able to eat it.
Fortunately, looking at the tabby cat still meowing vigorously, I knew that although the fish here were of strange varieties, most of them were still edible.
As we all know, the Chinese have been paying attention to "having a surplus of fish every year" since ancient times, so fish is absolutely indispensable for the New Year's Eve dinner.
Even if they are too poor to buy real fish to eat, they often have to carve a fish out of wood and place it during the New Year.
Put on a show at the table.
Therefore, Ani's and her other strange fresh fish were quite popular at the New Year's market.
Although the stall was relatively remote, people still came to patronize it very quickly.
"Hey, there's a fish seller here.
Hurry up and buy some.
There should be enough for the whole company."
Several army soldiers wearing khaki short-sleeved uniforms walked slowly to Mao Ani's stall and turned over the fresh fish in the basket.
"Master Jun, our fish were all caught early in the morning, and they are all still alive."
The fish sold at Mao Ani's stall were all relatively large.
Several soldiers garrisoned at Guiyi Fort murmured as they picked out the fish that looked more energetic, gestured and began to calculate, and finally gave A-ma a few.
A note made of paper.
Although Ani and Grandma have seen such light paper bills several times, they are still quite resistant from the bottom of their hearts.
If they have a choice, they would rather accept copper coins and silver coins.
The East Coast Republic originally had a pure mint currency system using gold, silver and copper coins.
It was not until the establishment of the Chinese League that universal banknotes were introduced, but this was met with considerable resistance among the people.
Since there is no shortage of precious metals, the government has no intention of forcing the public to use banknotes, so it has not yet been fully promoted.
However, common people throughout the ages have known one thing: Never reason with soldiers who are fighting for their lives.
"Mom, what should I do?
Can I use this flower paper?"
Ani said with some frustration as she watched the soldiers in yellow carrying the biggest fish away.
"Little girl, this is not flower paper, it is called banknotes, and it can definitely be used."
A thin and dark old man next to him suddenly interjected a sentence in Fujian dialect, which greatly surprised Ani, who had not heard the local dialect for a long time.
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"Old man, hearing this accent, could it be that you are also from Fujian?
Do you know that this banknote can be used?"
"Haha, I'm from Nanzhili, but I also lived in Fujian for a while, so I can speak a few words in Fujian.
You can get this banknote in the department store in front.
There is salt, sugar, and toys in it.
You can buy things like needlework and fancy clothes with this banknote.
Of course, you can also save the money and go to the bank to exchange it for silver dollars when you have enough, but that requires a lot of savings.
"The old man said kindly.
"Huh, it's great if this money can be used, grandma.
Let's go to that store to buy salt soon.
Last time grandpa made salted fish and used up all the salt he got from the government on credit.
There is no salt at home. .
Ah, yes, and thank you, old man."
Xu Xiake smiled and touched the little girl Mao Ani's head, then walked through the market and continued walking forward.
As a member of the Writers Association who was "ordered to write travel notes," Xu Xiake certainly didn't just come here to wander around.
He came to inspect the customs and customs of the East Coast Republic and write promotional materials for the Chinese League.
After Mr.
Xu Xiake left, Mao Ani had been thinking about going shopping, and her grandma was worried about the pieces of paper in her hand, so the mother and daughter combined their efforts and asked her to continue selling fish in the market. , while Ani took the banknotes and went to the department store to buy things.
The department store in Guiyibao is not large in scale, just a small bungalow with not many goods in it.
But at this special moment when the New Year is about to begin, it is still very lively.
Men, women and children from all over the country gathered here, and there was already a huge crowd at the door of the department store.
People who had finished shopping were already walking out carrying large and small bags.
The men carry large bags on their shoulders, which may contain shiny rice or snow-white flour.
They also carry chicken, duck, fish, refined salt and sugar in their hands; the women carry small, stuffed bags on their shoulders. seams on A piece of cloth or a set of clothes is vaguely exposed through the gap; the children are undoubtedly the happiest, either holding a big doll or carrying a wooden sword, and without exception, their mouths are filled with preserves and candies.
Regardless of men, women, old or young, everyone has a satisfied smile on their face.
Just as Mao Ani was about to go to the department store to buy salt as planned, a hot fragrance quietly drifted into her nose.
Ani looked for the incense and saw a black vendor selling spicy roast beef skewers.
The beef was skewered on an iron grill, grilled over charcoal fire until it was sizzling and oily, and sprinkled with cumin, The surface of the meat coated with honey exudes an oily sheen, and is filled with a rich sweet aroma and a rich garlic aroma.
The mellow meaty aroma is so rich and lingering that it makes people almost obsessed with it, and it almost lures out the greedy people.
So, after discovering that this black vendor was willing to accept "flower paper" banknotes, the little girl Mao Ani decisively forgot about the task of going to the department store to buy salt, dropped the banknotes in her hand, and grabbed two hot strings.
Spicy grilled beef skewers, I happily opened my cheeks and started chewing Regardless of how this gluttonous little girl Mao Ani will be spanked by her angry grandmother after secretly using the money from selling fish at home to exchange it for fragrant kebabs.
At the same time, Xu Xiake, who had walked out of Guiyibao Market, several of his servants, and an East Coast Republic Crosser officer who was responsible for escorting him, were walking together on the road along the La Plata River.
Rao Looking at the surrounding scenery with interest.
At this time, the fields that had just rained were still a little damp and muddy, but this did not affect the interest of the visitor Xu Xiake.
The newly paved road beneath my feet was extremely smooth, with a layer of strange black material covering it.
After listening to the introduction of the officer next to him, he learned that this was a substance called asphalt, which was also used to coat telegraph poles in Hainan Island and had good waterproofing and moth-proofing effects.
What you see along the way are large areas of reed swamps and miscellaneous trees, in addition to newly reclaimed grain fields and vegetable beds.
There are endless vast plains everywhere, with large and small rivers crisscrossing each other.
The climate is very pleasant.
Villages and towns are built along the rivers.
From time to time, there are boats rippling on the water.
Occasionally, people can be seen fishing on boats or on the shore.
Xu Xiake's Suzhou People feel as if they have returned to the familiar Jiangnan water town again.
Indeed, from a climate and geographical perspective, the conditions of the East Bank Republic, located in the alluvial plain of the lower reaches of the Rio de la Plata, are similar to those of the Jiangnan region of China.
Uruguay is located in the same geographical location at the beginning of the 21st century.
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Although the majority of residents in Uruguay are Hispanics and mixed races, and there are very few East Asian immigrants who are good at growing rice, due to the suitable climate and soil quality, it is still rich in rice, and has even become one of the world's most populous countries.
The sixth largest rice exporting country.
In this time and space, immigrants from all over southern China are determined to recreate the rich scene of the land of fish and rice in the south of the Yangtze River.
However, even if the climate and geographical conditions are suitable, it is not easy to turn a barbaric land into a land of plenty.
First of all, any land suitable for reclamation must have been covered with natural vegetation, so the wasteland must be burned before reclamation, that is, the shrubs and miscellaneous trees in the land must be cut down, and tall weeds must also be cut down, etc.
After it is dried, it is set on fire.
Only when it is burned out is the first step of land reclamation completed.
Next, use a hoe to dig out the grass roots and tree roots that can be dug out.
Some very thick tree roots may have to be left until a few years later, when the wood has completely rotted before they can be dug out.
This work is naturally quite hard, but you have to dig out the tree roots remaining in the ground, otherwise how would you plow the ground?
After doing this, you have to pick out the large rocks in the ground before you can dig them.
Loose the ground.
Moreover, plows cannot be used at this time because the ground is still too hard and unevenly soft and hard.
Oxen cannot plow with the plow.
The fields that can be plowed by oxen are generally mature land.
Then, after the initial preparation of the land, drainage ditches must be dug, otherwise a heavy rain will destroy your land.
After digging the drainage ditch, it is finally possible to plant some easy-to-live coarse grains, such as soybeans, sweet potatoes, pasture and corn, but fine things such as rice and wheat are still not possible.
There is a risk of no harvest.
The method is, this is the first year of land reclamation, it is already very good to be able to achieve this.
The subsequent field management is also very labor-intensive.
On the one hand, the fertility of the raw land is not enough, and on the other hand, there are many weed seeds in the field.
Even if you apply chemical fertilizers, the crops may not be able to get rid of the weeds.
For this, you need to work every day.
Weeding must be done regularly, otherwise weeds will grow better than crops.
In the second year, life finally got a little better, because the land had been loosened, and ox-drawn plows could be used.
However, the land was still very green and had to be plowed deeply.
At the same time, a large amount of fertilizer had to be applied to restore the soil fertility, so the workload was heavy.
Not small either.
Generally, rice and wheat cannot be grown until the third year.
Just looking at the above procedures, you will know how hard the days of land reclamation are.
For the real settlers, the problems they have to face are not limited to this.
Just being acclimatized is enough to kill many people, and there are also various new germs that have never been exposed to.
Putting anyone off.
It’s not that China never organized immigrants to move to the border areas in ancient times, but due to the unsuitable climate and disease, the death rate every time was horribly high.
Even the provinces south of the Yangtze River, which are known to be fertile, were developed bit by bit after several dynasties and thousands of years of changes.
During the Han and Tang Dynasties, the southern provinces were places where criminal officials or prisoners were exiled.
However, despite all the above-mentioned hardships, for immigrants from the Central Plains who have never had a place to establish themselves in their hometown, being able to obtain a large area of fertile farmland of their own, even if it is uncultivated wasteland, is enough to drive them crazy with excitement. .
Not to mention that the East Coast Republic, with its productivity far beyond the times, has done its best to provide them with all kinds of conveniences.
Houses, farm tools, first-year rations and daily necessities are all ready-made.
They, the new immigrants, only need to concentrate Just work hard.
At this moment, Xu Xiake, led by the officer, strolled into a village where a large number of new immigrants were concentrated. s: The temperature has dropped sharply recently and I have a slight cold, so the updates are a little irregular.
Please forgive me. oshow7: