Chapter 49: Guns are the foundation of our existence
What is the first thing built in a city?
As a coastal port city, the first thing to be built is definitely the dock, which is actually a pier. The so-called pier is made by driving wooden piles from the beach to the deep water area, and then laying wooden beams and wooden boards on it. The dock for ships to dock is then completed.
Of course, this is just a simple dock. A real dock would certainly not be so simple.
But now in Nanhua, having such a dock is enough to meet the needs of cargo loading and unloading.
With a dock and a wooden pulley, the rest became easy. Horse-drawn carriages, sawmills, and even steam engines were all moved off the ship.
More people means more work, and in just half a month, a town took shape on the banks of the Qingshui River in Nanhua Bay. Although these wooden houses looked simple and ten people had to squeeze into one room, what else did the people who had just gained freedom want?
The housing problem is easy to solve. Although there are not many tall trees on the mountain, there are more than enough trees to build houses. However, Nanhua's economy cannot rely on real estate. To build a city and a port in such a place with nothing, the most important thing is to reclaim wasteland.
The Chinese workers were definitely experts in this regard. Although they were a little unfamiliar with the European heavy wheels and horse-drawn plows at the beginning, they simply adapted to them and soon reclaimed thousands of acres of land on both sides of the Qingshui River.
"Master, look, this land is so fertile..."
Li Changchuan sighed as he picked up a handful of soil turned up by the plow.
"You can squeeze oil out of this kind of soil if you squeeze it a handful. If it were in my hometown in Hubei, not to mention the common people, even the landlords would fight to the death for this kind of land. But here, it's just left to waste. What a pity."
"Don't talk about this, Brother Changchuan. Even when we were in the mine, the land there was fertile, but it was used to grow trees..."
Listening to them talking about these abandoned lands, Mr. Zhu smiled.
"This place has a lot of land, and don't worry. Thousands of miles east of here, there is land like this everywhere. It's all black land that can produce oil from a handful and sprouts if you stick a chopstick in it!"
The Pampas Plain is one of the four major black soils in the world!
In terms of natural conditions, the natural conditions here are even far better than those of the Northeast Plains and the Great Plains of Ukraine, which can only be compared with the Mississippi River Plains in North America. However, compared with the Mississippi Plains where hurricanes and blizzards are constant, the climatic conditions here are even better. There are neither blizzards and extreme cold in winter nor hurricanes in summer. This is definitely a rare paradise on earth.
But will this blessed land belong to me?
Facing this fertile land, Zhu Xianhai couldn't help but feel a little confused.
Whether it is the Mapuche people living here or the Argentines, will they tolerate the emergence of a third party?
But it doesn't matter.
Looking at the valley surrounding the Nanhua Bay, Zhu Xianhai smiled with satisfaction.
This valley is thirty to forty kilometers wide from east to west, and more than twenty kilometers wide from north to south. The valley seems to be surrounded by mountains, but in fact it is just undulating hills. It is better to say that it is undulating grasslands and woodlands rather than mountains. There are many rivers around the bay, which ensures that water supply here is not a problem.
With plenty of land and water, plus the surrounding terrain, this is definitely the best choice for "growing up".
Moreover, this is a bay with its own outlet to the sea, so transportation will not be a problem if a factory is built here.
What’s more important is that although this place is hidden enough, it is actually not too far away from human civilization.
For example, it is only 150 kilometers away from Viedma.
This distance is neither too far nor too close, just right. I can buy some horses from there to plow the fields. Of course, this distance will also dispel the prying eyes of outsiders.
"Sloppy development" takes time.
As long as there is enough time, by the time the Argentines realize their existence, perhaps they will be ready.
Of course, the premise is that you are indeed well prepared!
what to prepare?
“One, two, one…”
In the distance, two teams of armed guards were conducting military training following Brian's orders. Although Brian was Elizabeth's coachman, he had served in the army before coming to Argentina from his hometown in Europe, and even participated in the Crimean War. Although he was a sergeant, he had no problem conducting basic training. Of course, Zhu Xianhai would also take time to train them personally and explain some simple tactics to them. This was to determine the "master-disciple relationship". In the traditional Chinese culture, the status of "master" was second only to "father". How could such an opportunity not be seized?
Almost on the day of the "Landing Day", Zhu Xianhai selected 200 Chinese workers to form a guard team and equipped them with weapons - both Henry rifles and Enfield P1853 rifles.
However, this is just the first step.
While the guard team was being trained, all Chinese workers also needed to be trained. According to Zhu Xianhai's plan, all Chinese workers had to undergo one hour of military training every other day, with one training day a week for the entire day.
This will definitely affect land reclamation and urban construction.
But Zhu Xianhai didn’t think it was a big deal at all, and even felt that his foundation was still too weak .
The first batch of trained guards consisted of only two hundred people, which seemed like a lot. On Viedma's side, Lieutenant Philip only had fifty or sixty soldiers under his command.
But the problem is that there are hundreds of thousands of Mapuche people living on the Pampas Plain and the Patagonia Plateau. They ride their war horses and rush to various places like lightning. If they are not careful, they may even lose their own nest.
Of course, if there were a few Maxim guns, no matter how many Mapuche people there were, they would be nothing but trash. They could probably be wiped out with a sweep back and forth .
But the problem is that Zhu Xianhai didn't.
Even the weapons were pitifully scarce.
In addition to the weapons he had bought from Buenos Aires, he also seized more than a hundred long and short guns of various models at the mine. In addition to a dozen Henry rifles, there were also dozens of Enfield P1853 rifles.
There is definitely enough equipment to equip the guard team, but he has more than 1,800 Chinese workers!
This is his real team. Only with this team can he gain a foothold in this prairie.
So many simulations in the past have made him fully aware that in such a dangerous living environment in this world, force is the only way to protect oneself.
Before this, he had money but no one. The result was that he was just a fat sheep in the eyes of the dignitaries.
But now that we have this weapon, everything is very different. Even if someone wants to eat this fat sheep, they should always consider their own teeth first.
However, some things cannot be rushed, so take it step by step!
All things are difficult at the beginning!
It's like there aren't even enough weapons right now.
Staring at the guards who were doing formation training, Zhu Xianhai frowned. There was a more important thing at the moment - how to make money!
Everything in Nanhua is burning money right now!
Construction costs money, and so does maintaining an army. There are places to spend money everywhere. Even if you have gold robbed from a gold mine, it will eventually run out!
Money...you must make money first!
Fortunately, we were prepared!
