In August 1649, the atmosphere reached its peak with the successful return of the main body of the third concentrated convoy of the Republic of the East Coast from Europe (with a few frigates floating at sea for French transports transporting slave girls). Because the convoy on the east coast was not attacked by the Spanish fleet this time, the ships left behind by the Spaniards (the main fleet went to the New World for the Spanish treasure fleet) all cowered in various ports, watching the ships on the east coast pass through the Strait of Gibraltar, cross the Messina waterway, and bypass the Bay of Biscay without indifference, which shows that the strength of the navy on the east coast should not be underestimated. In particular, its small but extremely powerful lineup of main warships has made old maritime powers such as Spain quite fearful, not to mention the navies of Britain, France and other countries with only twenty or thirty professional military ships, which has really boosted the face and morale of the people on the east coast of the New World.

The convoy that returned from trade also brought back a considerable number of female slaves—all Bulgarian, Romanian, and Greek slaves purchased by the Ottoman Azov caravans, numbering about three or four thousand. In addition, there are about 2,000 immigrants from Livonia, who were collected by the Riga merchant office over the course of a year. They have no religious beliefs, even their ethnicity is very vague, and they have long been discriminated against and oppressed by the two suzerains of Poland and Sweden, which is an excellent target for the East Coast.

Female slaves were to be repopulated in the country's old settlements to enrich the population and balance the regional sex ratio, while the new Livonians, according to the Ministry of Immigration, were resettled in several settlements along the Uruguay River. These settlements have not been established for a long time. The development process is also not enough. After the end of the war with the Spaniards. The Executive Committee decided to develop the area along the Wujiang River and strive to build it into another land of abundance and abundance in the country on the east coast.

The hydrological situation of the middle and lower reaches of the Wujiang River has been basically clarified through the efforts of the Navy over the years. According to the information given by the navy, this section of the river is extremely wide and the current is extremely abundant, and the narrowest part of the river not far south of Jingjiang Port (New Palmyra) is more than a kilometer wide, which is completely navigable for large ships. Moreover, the water depth of the central channel of the Wujiang River is generally more than 4.3 meters, which has exceeded the draft of the deepest draft ships on the east coast. If the vicinity of the wharf is well dredged and cleaned up, several good ports can be built along the Wujiang River.

On August 15, with the arrival of a new group of 500 new immigrants from Livonia, the settlement, which was founded in early 1648, had begun to take on a rudimentary form after a year and a half of development. Castles, reservoirs, barracks, lumberyards, farmland, dwellings, brick kilns, and other facilities were neatly planned, and the number of residents, who had expanded to 2,500 (plus 500 new arrivals), was liberated from the displacement and lived a comfortable and fulfilling settled life.

On the banks of the river are fertile virgin land that has been abandoned for an unknown number of years, and from time to time there is a slight smell of river air blowing on the river, seagulls flying up and down the river, and long-billed herons stopping in some wetlands along the riverbank. From time to time, he sticks his pointed beak into the water to hunt fish and shrimp. In the distance, a fiery red fox was watching the heron with greedy eyes. Thinking about how to solve their lunch.

"Standing here you can see the other side of the river." Tang Yuan, a member of the first Central Executive Committee and former Minister of Finance, stood on the bank of the Wujiang River with his huge beer belly, looking at the lush woods on the opposite bank and said. He is 51 years old this year, and he is fat, so he is too tired to go around all afternoon, and he will already pant with his hands on his waist.

Tang Yuan is the commissioner of the Wujiang District Administrative Office, newly established by the Executive Committee, who is responsible for the development of the Wujiang River and the development and construction of various settlements. As a "big man" who has been a member of the Central Executive Committee, Tang Yuan, who has been out of the mountain again, has decided to do his best to develop the good place of Wujiang in the spirit of exerting his last spare heat for the cause, even if it is ...... Even if you lose thirty or fifty pounds, you don't hesitate!

Liao Xiaoyao, who had just passed his thirty-fifth birthday, smiled when he heard this, and said: "Yes, not only can I see the forest on the other side, but also the Klandians who settle and work on the edge of the forest, for me, this is the most important thing." To be honest, I'm not interested in the forests, pastures, mines, or farms of La Plata, but I'm most interested in fighting with the Spaniards, but it's a pity that even this fun is deprived now. ”

Liao Xiaoyao is the head of the 35th Regiment of the Executive Committee Guards Cadet Corps, and is also quite influential in the 36th and 37th regiments. At present, he has been valued and co-opted by many military and political bigwigs, and he is very popular in the political arena on the east coast.

After the war with the Spaniards, Liao Xiaoyao, who had been the commander of the Buenos Aires garrison, was transferred back to China. After a short rest, he was reactivated by the Executive Committee and transferred to the Wujiang area as the commander of the regional garrison, assisting the regional commissioner Tang Yuan to improve local security, while his most important task was to contact the group of Klandians who had moved to the opposite side of Jingjiang Port, keep abreast of their movements, and provide them with all-round support at any time, so as to ensure that they would not be quickly wiped out by the Spanish army, and that they could also play a role in the interests of the East Coast Republic of China when needed in the future.

There are now quite a few Klandians who have moved here, and according to the rough statistics of the people sent by Liao Xiaoyao to the other side, there are probably no less than 5,000 people. In addition, there are also Klandis settlers of about a few thousand people just settling in opposite the port of Wing An to the north. The more than 10,000 Krandi people in these two places are basically former rebels and their families who fled from the Spaniards from the south, and now these people are afraid of the strangulation of the Spanish army, and at the same time they are unwilling to follow the people on the east coast to develop colonies overseas, so they can only flee to the forest swamp area east of the Paraná River and west of the Wu River to "live in seclusion".

While accepting the assistance of the East Coasters, of course, they also have to accept the secret control of the other party, and as far as the current situation is concerned, these Klandians are still quite clear-headed, and they know that the basis for their survival is the assistance of the East Coasters, so they are quite cooperative. The instructor sent by the East Coast to guide them in military training reported to Liao Xiaoyao that the Klandians realized their own shortcomings and were very interested in participating in the military training organized by the East Coast. Although he was far inferior to the East Coast militia, and he had all the ills of barbarians, such as freedom and casualness, he was still much better than before. It seems that they have realized the huge existential pressure they may face in the future, so they are doubling down on their efforts now.

The people of the East Coast provided them with considerable financial assistance while training them militarily. One of the most important ways is to provide some corn seeds cultivated by the North Botanical Garden on the East Coast, which are some of the results of the garden's breeding process, but whose traits are not yet fully certain, as large-scale planting has not yet been carried out. At present, the Northern Botanical Garden is looking for some places to plant on a large scale to see how it works, so that there will be enough jù to support the seed cultivation process in the future.

However, the Northern Botanical Garden did not dare to give these potentially defective corn seeds to the farmers in China, and they were really afraid that the township cadres who were extremely protective of their shortcomings would come to their door to find them trouble because of the grain harvest. Therefore, it was a good move for them to leave the land to the Klandians for planting at this time. Even if these seeds have any defects - such as weak disease tolerance - and the yield drops sharply at harvest, what does it matter? Anyway, when the time comes, it won't be East Coast's own people who won't have anything to eat, and other people's children will not be able to die no matter how they die.

"Don't hang around here anymore, get out. The river is windy and it is likely to snow tonight, so I'll have to go back and see if the residents are running out of warm clothes. Tang Yuan straightened the mink hat on his head, then put his hands into his sleeves, walked slowly to the beautifully decorated carriage like an old peasant in the northeast, got into the carriage with the support of his attendants, and told the coachman to go to the city. After the carriage moved, more than a dozen patrol officers also stepped on the horses and followed them.

After they left, Liao stood bored, looking at some farmers who were mowing the grass not far away. Nowadays, Jingjiangbao grass has been created, and the three-crop rotation system has not been effectively rolled out, and most of the farmers are planted with cereals, and there are very few leguminous pastures. As a result, farmers often drive their livestock to the field to graze in the field during the slack period, and sometimes cut some grass to take home and store it. Anyway, now there are fewer people and more land here, and the per capita resources are very rich, so it is not too much to share.

The sheep raised by the farmers are provided by the breeding farm in the capital ranch township, which has bred the seventh generation of bighorn goats on the east coast, and has also made some new breeds named Heihe sheep and Wujiang sheep, all of which are good things for both wool and meat. Although it is not as good as the top breeds such as merino sheep in Europe, the meat yield and hair yield should not be underestimated, at least it is much stronger than before. At present, they are being given to farmers to raise them to see if their genes can be passed on.

Liao Xiaoyao looked at it again, and saw that the sky was about to get dark, so he beckoned seven or eight subordinates to get on the horse, and then also headed towards Jingjiang Fort. He will stay here for one night, and tomorrow morning he will take a small river steamboat up the river to inspect the upper reaches of the Wujiang River. (To be continued......)