December 10, 1648, near the mouth of the Galegos River.

With the gentle sea breeze blowing on people's faces, Wang Qinian stroked a common local cypress tree and said with emotion: "Water is the source of life, and only in the place with the back of the big river can there be such a forest." As far away, hehe. ”

In the distance, of course, it is a desolate and lonely landscape: low, drought-tolerant shrubs, sparse weeds and unknown wildflowers dominate this temperate semi-arid zone. Far from the banks of the river, near the mouth of the Gailegos River, the river is wide and abundant, and even in the dry winter and spring, it continues to flow uninterrupted, thus providing a valuable source of life for the forests, pastures and many other animals on both banks.

"In recent years, the Navy's meteorological observation stations have paid attention to collecting meteorological numbers in parts of Patagonia, and according to the numbers of the last five years, even in the plateau with the most scarce precipitation, the annual precipitation is about 300 mm. According to the standards set by the state (400 mm semi-humid dividing line, 200 mm arid dividing line), the Patagonian plateau belongs to the semi-arid zone. However, the water resources on the banks of the Galegos River are more abundant than other regions, and they can basically be regarded as semi-arid and semi-humid areas, which can develop a certain amount of agriculture and animal husbandry. Another vice president of the Southern Railway Company and former Minister of Agriculture, Jin Kola, leaned over and touched the soil on the ground and said: "The soil within a few hundred meters on both sides of the river is fine, because of the cutting effect of the Galegos River for thousands of years, there is more fine soil and the soil layer is relatively thick." In addition, when the river floods during the summer and autumn seasons every year, it brings a large amount of fine soil particles, animal and plant carcass feces, organic matter and other things from the upstream, so the soil here is still suitable for farming. ”

Kinkola only said that the soil within a few hundred meters of the banks of the shore was suitable for farming. As for the brown desert soil and the Gobi Desert further away. He didn't say anything. The meaning is self-explanatory. It's not that the land is unusable, but that the cost of renovation is really too great, and it requires a lot of manpower and material resources, which is not something that the East Coast, which is extremely short of labor, can afford now. With that energy, the Executive Committee might as well organize people to develop the western wilderness areas of China, which are all virgin lands with abundant precipitation, so flat that they can't be seen at a glance, and if they are developed, they are good land. Isn't it better than rolling on the sand and gravel on the Gobi Desert where precipitation is scarce?

"It's enough to have this land that is suitable for farming." Wang Qinian turned around, leaned on the thick trunk of the tree, and said with a smile: "The headquarters of the Southern Railway Company is located here, and the first settled town under the jurisdiction of the Southern Railway will also be located here. Haha, the headquarters of the Southern Railway Company, have you figured out what to call it? ”

As vice president of agriculture and animal production, Kinkola will focus on squatting at the mouth of the Gallegos River for the next period of time. He was accompanied by a hundred people who had been squeezed out of the country and a large amount of supplies. Before they arrived, the Taoist church had already organized more than 200 Patagoni and Araukan people to come to this place and build Taoist temples, warehouses, wooden docks and other facilities. So that these new immigrants don't have to sleep in the wilderness as soon as they arrive.

The headquarters of the Southern Railway Company was located in the future port of Rio Gallegos, Argentina, at the mouth of the Gallegos River, which would also serve as the starting point of the Interoceanic Railway. After the construction of this railway. Ming immigrants from the South Pacific to the Free City of Araucan would walk across a stretch of valley road before boarding at the train station near the Rio Turvio coal mine, where the roaring Guò train would be pulled to the Atlantic coast and finally by boat to the east coast.

Of course, the immigrants from the Far East will all settle in the area, where they will log, farm, graze, mine coal, and build towns. Instead of drawing people from here, the local government will relocate some technicians, their families, and a large number of young women to the area, in an effort to develop it in a short period of time.

Most of the areas of Patagonia, where rainfall is scarce, may not be suitable for farming, but it is clear that the vast majority of areas are suitable for animal husbandry. Therefore, in the future, wool, leather, animal fat, and frozen meat may become the first batch of export products of the Southern Railway Company. In Tierra del Fuego, which is also within the scope of the Southern Railway Company's business, the local abundant resources of squid, cod and whales will also become the profit point of the Southern Railway Company, not to mention the large area of Southern Shell Douke Forest (dwarf rockery) suitable for both military and civilian use, which is also a big source of wealth.

"Let's wait until Mo Ming arrives in February, after all, he is the president of the Southern Railway Company, and we old guys are all for him." Jin Kola laughed, waved his hand indifferently, and said: "He is a god of wealth, and he has really made a fortune in the Far East in the past few years, and it is said that he has also attracted the investment of Li Chuang's forces. The fundraising gap of the Southern Railway Company still depends on him to fill it. The 200,000 yuan given by the Ministry of Finance in advance can be used for a fart, and for such a big undertaking as the Southern Railway Company, the 200,000 yuan will be gone in the blink of an eye, and there will be no more water drifters. ”

Wang Qinian himself is currently serving as the chairman of the fundraising committee of the Southern Railway Company, and when he heard this, he immediately said with a wry smile: "The capital gap of the Southern Railway Company is very large. The Government Council packaged various business privileges, the first batch of immigrants, technical support and 200,000 yuan in cash into the Southern Railway Company, and then took 60% of the shares. Hehe, we're a good woman now, and it's not interesting for me to be the chairman of the fundraising committee. ”

To be honest, officials within the East Coast government, especially in the government affairs system, are generally not very interested in the Southern Railway Company, and the main reason is that they do not believe that the Southern Railway Company can make a profit, or that the profitability does not meet their expectations. Although the shortage of funds in the country has eased this year, there are still many places to spend money, and with the arrival of the new year's immigration, the huge financial pressure on the construction of new settlements has begun to loom over the head of the Ministry of Finance, and their pressure is not at all light, and they are not at all light, and they are not willing to invest precious resources in areas with uncertain prospects, which is completely understandable.

Under such circumstances, the nascent Southern Railway Company faced considerable financial difficulties. As a last resort, the government began to allow some shares to be sold to the outside world to raise some of the much-needed funds, but there was little response. Eventually, the East Coasters, who were really unrecruited, began to seek foreign investors - limited to "friendly people" on the East Coast, of course.

In November, the Government Council began to make a clear explanation of this in the latest batch of documents on the establishment of the Southern Railway Company: 1. The shares of the Southern Railway Company are raised in batches, and the funds raised must be invested in the Liangyang Railway that is planned to start construction (the workers and tools are not yet in place); 2. The shares of the Southern Railway Company are all registered in the form of registration, and their holders are limited to the government and citizens of the Republic of China and the government, enterprises or citizens of the Republic of Genoa, and the investment of citizens or enterprises of other countries can only take effect after being reviewed and approved by the East Coast Government; 3. The president (1 person), vice president (2 people), and managers of various departments (tentatively 8 people) of the company are all appointed by the government; 4. The issuance of bonds by the Southern Railway Company shall be subject to the approval of the board of directors and the Government Council, and the creditor's rights shall not be converted into equity.

On December 1, the Executive Committee also instructed the Southern Railway Company to develop the transport industry in southern Patagonia (in essence, the construction of the Transoceanic Railway, the modern port facilities of Natales and Rio Gallegos), and that some of the ancillary businesses along the railway, such as the coal mines of Rio Turvio, the fishing off the coast of Rio Gallegos, the small amount of deforestation along the line, the warehouse industry at the wharf stations, and the right to sell goods along the east coast, will be jointly developed. The Executive Committee even allowed the Southern Railway Company to operate local housing, civil engineering, education, health and other undertakings within the railway line (1 mile on both sides), and appropriately levy some fees as compensation, which is amazing. Although it is not as awesome as the East India Company of Britain and the Netherlands, it is not far off.

More than a week ago, Sirigu, who had been seeking other investment opportunities on the east coast on behalf of the Genoese Doria family, immediately came to the door and said that he would officially invest 1 million bank lira (about 164,000 yuan) in the Southern Railway Company on behalf of the Doria family, and said that if approved, he would soon be able to instruct the La Plata Bank in Qingdao Port to transfer funds to the account of the Southern Railway Company to support the cause of the Southern Railway Company.

Peng Zhicheng, Wang Qinian, and others expressed surprise at the fact that there were "wronged leaders" who came to the door, because of the foreseeable huge amount of upfront investment (settlement maintenance, port construction, railway construction, etc.), the Southern Railway Company was bound to suffer huge losses in the first few years, and it was very likely that it would not be able to fulfill the dividend ratio indicated in the company's prospectus at all, which can be seen from the cold reception received by the domestic sales of the Southern Railway Company's shares on the east coast. After all, no one's money is blown by the wind, everyone has to calculate the accounts carefully, the Southern Railway Company is obviously a huge pit at present, and it is really unwise for you to jump down with real money.

However, the Genoese people are all local tyrants, capital exporters, they want to look for speculative opportunities on the east coast but have been hitting a wall, and now they finally seized such an opportunity as the Southern Railway Company, so it is understandable that they will go first regardless of 3721. Moreover, the Southern Railway Company is now so short of money, it is naturally a good thing for someone to invest, so Wang Qinian readily agreed to the other party's request and converted the investment of the Doria family into about 1.64% of the equity of the Southern Railway Company. Then he said that as the first foreign investor, and for such a large amount, the East Coasters would also give them certain concessions, namely the right of the Doria family to continue to subscribe for shares in the Southern Railway Company for five years, up to 5% of the total shares.

After the Genoese funds arrived, the fundraising committee of the Southern Railway Company in the port of Qingdao continued to raise funds, but the first step of construction had begun on the banks of the Gallegos River ahead. (To be continued......)