Shi Qinjie soon met Wang Tiehammer and other cadres in his office in the city. And, soon his deputy, Xu Gang, deputy captain of the Madagascar Pioneer Team and commander of the 101st Company of the Army, also rushed over.

Xu Gang is of medium stature, wears a pair of glasses, and always gives people the impression of Sven on weekdays. But this guy is an out-and-out veteran, he has participated in almost every battle since the crossing, and his seniority in the army is quite old. This time, in order to escort the development of the New China Colony, the military headquarters mobilized the 101 Company, a reserve force, to full strength at the beginning of last year, and after a few months of intensive training, all of them were loaded and transported to South Africa, and then they came to the New China Colony in batches.

The intention of the Executive Committee and the Military Department in appointing Xu Gang as the deputy commander of the Madagascar Pioneer Brigade and the commander of the 101st Company of the Army was very clear, that is, to make use of Xu Gang's many years of experience in the army and the rich combat experience he had established in the suppression of the Charlua and Guarani rebels to stabilize the situation of the new Chinese colony, the most important stronghold of the eastern Chinese republic in the Indian Ocean, and gradually open up a larger living space. After all, the members of the Executive Committee were a little worried about whether Shi Qinjie, a person with an overly peaceful personality and even a little weak, would be able to effectively control the situation here. Therefore, there was the scene of sending Xu Gang, the executioner whose "hands were stained with indigenous blood", to Xinhuabao to take office.

After asking the orderlies to serve a cup of tea to each of the cadres, Shi Qinjie eagerly asked what Wang Tiehammer had brought them over this time.

"A batch of cement, lime, refractory bricks, steel bars and other building materials, the rest are food tools and other living materials and production tools. By the way, I also brought you some grain seeds. Potatoes, soybeans, rice, wheat and other seeds are available. It is said that all of them are the grain varieties selected by the seed cultivation center of the Agricultural Bureau after several generations of hybridization in the field. But so. When Zheng Bin's kid handed it to me, he said that it was stronger than ordinary seeds. Disease resistance and yield are limited compared to ordinary seeds, and they are still continuing to research on better seeds. Wang Tiezhu took out a piece of white paper with words written on it from his pocket, and said as he looked at it.

"Just have a seed." Shi Qinjie smiled with satisfaction and said, "I will find some trial fields to plant these seeds, and then select the best seeds to continue planting." ”

"Well, that's right." Wang Tiehammer lit a pipe for himself and echoed. Suddenly, as if he remembered something again, he turned to Shi Qinjie and said, "That's right. Old history, Zheng Bin from the Agricultural Bureau asked me to persuade you to plant less rice here, saying that rice fields are easy to breed mosquitoes, which will cause a large number of labor on your side to be infected with malaria, lose their ability to work and even die. I think it makes sense, think about it yourself. ”

"How could I not have known that the mosquitoes on this side of the road are so powerful?" Shi Qinjie smiled bitterly, lit a pipe for himself, and continued: "In the absence of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and special selection of seeds or intensive cultivation, rice is the only major crop we currently have at hand other than corn with a seed yield ratio of more than 1:10. What's even more rare is that the environment here is very suitable for growing rice. It's a shame not to plant it. However, the malaria you mentioned is indeed a very real problem, planting rice, pulling weeds, fertilizing and harvesting. It's easy to be bitten by mosquitoes, and it's all over if you get malaria. ”

"Old Shi, I've always wanted to ask, is malaria here in New China really so mysterious? Is the disease rate really that high? Xu Gang, who had been sitting on the side and didn't speak, also asked.

"How to say this question, it is high and high, and it is not high if it is not high." Shi Qinjie first said a few words that were not nutritious, and then changed the conversation and said: "Actually, it all depends on how well you do your protection." The malaria parasites in the mosquitoes here are basically all Plasmodium falciparum, but the disease rate is not too high according to my observation, and there are some introductions in the local data room, I remember that the average disease rate is about a little more than 1%. This means that you get bitten by a mosquito and then you only have a 1% chance of getting malaria. It doesn't seem like a high chance, but the problem is that if you get bitten by a mosquito seventeen or eighteen times a day, then the odds of getting sick are a bit scary when you add them up. After a long time, it's actually hard not to fall for it, unless you rarely go to places where mosquitoes are active. In order for everyone to avoid being inadequate, the best measure is to eliminate all malaria infections on the island. Then there is no source of the virus, and even if you get bitten by a mosquito, then you don't have to worry too much about getting malaria, but the problem is that this is not realistic, at least not at the moment. ”

Xu Gang nodded silently. He had just come here, and he didn't have an intuitive concept of malaria before, but after listening to Shi Qinjie's "popular science" at this moment, he had more or less a bottom in his heart.

"Rice must be planted, but I will plant a little less, only a few acres of experimental fields, even if it is the best choice of seeds." Shi Qinjie said, "I thought about the rest, soybeans and wheat are planted in the dry season, and in the rainy season, due to the violent leaching effect, the fertility of the surface soil is insufficient, so let's plant corn and sweet potatoes and other deep-rooted crops." It just so happens that this high-yield crop is also needed here to solve the food problem, otherwise it will definitely not be enough to grow soybeans and wheat. Considering that a large number of immigrants from the Ming Dynasty will be received in the future, it is not a matter that the grain reserves are not abundant. By the way, this is also very suitable for planting some sisal, this kind of thing should be very needed in China, whether it is civilian or naval procurement, this demand has always been great. After the scale of cultivation here, there is no need to import from the United Kingdom and Russia in the future. ”

"I think it will do." Wang Tiezhu echoed beside him, "In the dry season, just plant only one type of soybean, it can also improve the soil, and soybeans are also an extremely important military material, both the army and the navy are in great demand." It's just right to plant corn during the rainy season, and the slightly acidic soil here is also suitable for growing this thing, hehe, although the land here is a little barren, but it doesn't matter much to grow corn at that time. ”

"You can't just grow corn." Shi Qinjie waved his hand and said, "You still have to interplant sweet potatoes and corn, otherwise this yield figure is also very cold." Don't believe it, in the absence of enough chemical fertilizers and effective pesticides, although the soil and climatic conditions here are quite suitable for corn growth, and we have also selected some seeds, but the yield per mu is mostly between 250 catties and 300 catties, which will not be higher. Corn became a high-yielding crop because of the vigorous development of hybrids and the extensive use of pesticides and fertilizers. With our current agricultural level, the production capacity per mu reaches 250 catties, which must be intensively cultivated. If you look at the corn and sorghum planted in the river fort in South Africa, although the ponds are cleared every winter and the fields are fertilized, and there are also people from the agricultural technology station to guide intensive farming, but the yield cannot go up without the use of chemical fertilizers. Even with the construction of perfect water conservancy and irrigation facilities, the yield per mu of sorghum has always hovered around 300 catties, and the yield of wheat per mu is only about 200 catties, sometimes less than a point. Therefore, we still have to implement intercropping of corn and sweet potatoes, which can greatly increase the yield. Moreover, both crops are deep-rooted crops that absorb nutrients from deeper layers of the soil and reduce the effects of leaching in the tropics. ”

"Then how much grain can be harvested per mu if this sweet potato is planted with corn?" Xu Gang asked next to him again. After he finished asking, Wang Tiehammer also looked at Shi Qinjie, obviously he was also more concerned about this issue.

"It's not good to say, I can only estimate." Shi Qinjie shook his head and said: "The Ministry of Agriculture has not done this kind of planting experiment before, and even if there is an experiment, it is not accurate, after all, the soil and climate are different. I can only estimate based on the data collected by the Ministry of Agriculture in various farmlands over the years, well, I expect to harvest about 150-200 catties of corn and 500-600 catties of sweet potatoes per mu. Of course, the yield may be a little different when planting, because the yield also depends on the land fertilization status, climate, pests and diseases, and the degree of intensive cultivation, but on average, it should not be a big problem to harvest six or seven hundred catties of grain per mu. ”

Wang Tiehammer and Xu Gang looked at each other, and both of them were very satisfied with this output. For an enclave like the New China Colony, which is far from the mainland, it is better to be self-sufficient when the sea capacity of the home country is extremely limited. Of course, this self-sufficiency refers to being able to solve the basic needs of life, as for self-sufficiency in industrial products, it is basically impossible, after all, the colony must have the consciousness of the colony, and at this stage, the local side will definitely not let those advanced industrial technologies and technological processes flow out to the colony, which is not a restriction on the development of the colony, but a matter of national security.

And to solve the needs of life, the most basic point is food. Today, the small 2,000 people in the New China colony, including slaves, have been eating sorghum from the South African Fort in the River, but the situation must be improved. Otherwise, when sorghum occupies a valuable transport tonnage, there will be a corresponding decrease in other goods such as slaves, building materials, cloth and iron products, which will be detrimental to the development of the colony.

And more importantly, according to the latest agreement reached with the Portuguese, a considerable number of Ming immigrants will come to Xinhua Fort by sea by the end of this year or early next year, and the number is conservatively estimated to be two or three thousand. This number is almost twice the current population of Xinhuabao, so is it possible that so many people rely on foreign transportation for food, drink, and Lazar? It's good to say that this short time is good, after a long time, Mr. Ding of the South China Sea Transportation Company will definitely be in a hurry, and the transportation company is dedicated to serving your New China Colony? So, you still have to rely on yourself. (To be continued......)