"The latest issue of "East Coast Review", "Xintiandi" and "People's Livelihood", Township Chief He, the impurities you ordered are here." Meng Hu took out a few magazines from his bag, stuffed them into the hands of the young Bingtuan Fort graduates who had not yet grown their beards, and said: "It's always a good thing for young people to think about it, so let's do it well." Oh, by the way, there is also a "Southern Railway Weekly" in the suitcase that has been saved for several months, and I will bring it to you later. ”

"Thank you, Dispatcher." The head of the Xuebing Township happily put away the magazine. In a place like Shanhou Fort, where birds don't, the guarantee of living materials is not so sufficient, let alone the spiritual pursuit, if it weren't for the convoy of materials this time, these magazines may have to be delayed for several months to reach his hands.

"Huh." Meng Hu patted the young man on the shoulder and encouraged: "The more difficult the place, the more it is necessary for the student corps to play a vanguard and exemplary role. The great cause of the East Coast depends mainly on you young people! ”

At this time, it was already noon, and the entourage, who had eaten well, was now leaning on the benches by the dock in twos and threes and chatting nonsense. In the mirror-like bay of Ushuaia, the blue waters are so beautiful in the sun. Behind the sparkling bay are large mountains covered with lush hardy forests of beech, forest trees, wild cherries, and birches; The green grass at the foot of the mountain is like a tree, and red, purple, and yellow flowers are dotted among them, making people feel like they are in a fairyland; The fort behind the mountain is built on the grassy coastal plain at the foot of the mountain.

"With the sky high and the sea breeze rising, the summer scenery of Tierra del Fuego is truly charming." Meng Hu squinted his eyes and looked into the distance, and the traveler attribute began to attack. The words began to be recited: "The majestic snow-capped mountains are reflected on the calm water. The whole bay resembles a lake surrounded by mountains. No, I've got to paint this picture......"

The head of the Cadet Township looked helplessly at the Monte Pai who was lost in thought, hesitated for a while, and then quietly left the place, he still had a lot of work to deal with. This time, the convoy brought a lot of things, vegetable seeds, corn, rye, barley seeds, newly bred sugar beet seeds, etc., anyway, Shanhou Fort is a vast and sparsely populated place. But it's just a good plant. Although the plains are not very large, growing vegetables on the hillsides is not a big problem, and at least it can be convenient for the fishing boats of the South China Sea Fishery Company or foreign whaling ships that occasionally come to replenish their supplies.

It is worth mentioning that in Shanhoubao, where the climate is cold, the cultivation of wheat is destined to be unharvested, as in Northeast China at this time. As a result, rye and barley are the main growing cereals, as they are more tolerant of low temperatures and have shorter growth cycles. Corn and potatoes are similar, with a short growing season, not low yields, and barrenness, so they can be grown as staple food in almost the entire region. This time, the Southern Railway Company ordered a lot of the latest cold-tolerant corn seeds from the Northern Seed Company. It is based on this idea, after all, it is best to be self-sufficient in food in Shanhou Fort. The Southern Railway Company is a business, and the business that cannot be profitable is a damage to the company's finances in the long run.

Of course, saying that Shanhou Fort is dragging down the finances of the Southern Railway Company is just a joke and cannot be taken seriously. Among other things, the extremely large number of seals and penguins in the vicinity of the settlement alone is a huge fortune. According to the statistics of the Southern Railway Company and the Shanhoupu Township Government, the people on the east coast have been exploring Shanhoubao for a year, and the hunters who have received the license to hunt sea beasts have successively handed in 2,019 high-grade furs, most of which are seal skins; In addition, the Shandan people scattered in the nearby mountains also helped the township government to collect 452 skins and skins of various sea animals, 84 yellow-legged fox skins, and 620 vicuña skins from the natives.

The above two statistics add up, the total number of various types of leather has exceeded 3,100, and the total value has exceeded 30,000 yuan, which is enough to make up for a considerable part of the financial investment of the Southern Railway Company. And this is only the first year that everyone has not had time to settle down, I believe that by 1653, the annual output of Shanhou Fort may reach more than 6,000 pieces, and the number of high-value sea otter skins and fur seal skins will have a large increase.

It is estimated that after the normal development of Shanhou Fort, the materials imported the most from the outside world may be cloth, spirits, flour, salt and other daily necessities, soda ash, machine parts, fishing nets, metal appliances and other means of production; Exports are mainly barley, leather, high-quality oils, fish oil, timber, and seafood, and the economy is barely self-sufficient.

After resting for a night in Shanhou Fort, early the next morning (December 11), Meng Hu took a few young students as an entourage and two guides, with some packages and pack horses, along the mountain path north of Shanhou Fort, to investigate the reckless jungle. The slopes here were originally lined with trees, but they appear to have been cut down by the pioneers on the east bank of the hill below, leaving only bare stumps and large areas of lush grass on the ground.

"The Southern Railway Company and the state-owned Dongfang Hotel plan to build a large hotel here as a summer resort for domestic dignitaries. Nowadays, these slopes seem to be very suitable, the geological structure looks very stable, and the surrounding area is dense primeval forest, and the resort hotel must have been built here to suit the minds of the big people. Hehe, lo and behold, you can smell the fresh air when you open the window, the crisp birdsong lingers in your ears, the calm and picturesque bay is not far away, and the blue mountains in the distance look very holy and beautiful under the mist. Oh, and by the way, the year-round snow at the top of the mountain adds a few points to this beauty, and look, what a suitable holiday destination. Meng Hu said jokingly in an exaggerated tone.

In the evening, the sunset in Sunset Bay (Ushuaia Bay, Ushuaia means to watch the sunset in the local language, hence the name) is also a great beauty, the snow-capped peaks are painted with a light layer of rouge under the reflection of the sunset, and the returning fishing boats on the calm water bring the fishermen's satisfied laughter. Hehe, isn't it a bit of a feeling that the fishing boat sings at night, the sunset and the lonely bird fly together? Meng Hu asked casually. His students looked at each other, especially a few of them of Livonian descent, who seemed to have a hard time understanding such advanced Chinese. Meng Hu smiled when he saw it, and he didn't think he was angry, and took the lead in the mountains with his cane.

The mountain trails were rugged and difficult, and the students rushed to the front, splitting the extremely dense bushes one by one with their knives, looking tired enough. Although Menghu was already forty or fifty years old, he was still quite good in health, and he was very interested along the way, selecting and recording the most suitable passages for people, animals and vehicles to walk in the countryside, and unconsciously walked along the route of the Pan-American Highway (Highway 3 in Argentina), preparing to explore a road to the outside world for the mountain back fort from the northeast.

Meng Hu had a vague map of the location of Highway 3 in his hand, but it was not accurate enough. But that's okay, the two Ona guides are familiar with the local area. The two Heavenly Venerable disciples took Meng Hu and the others along the flat mountain valley all the way to the north, and after only a few days of walking, they arrived at a small river in the east-west direction. The banks of the creek are full of dense forests and flat valleys, and when Menghu and others observe from a high vantage point, they are about a few kilometers wide and stretch far from east to west, like a basin corridor sandwiched between the mountains.

The climate in the mountain valleys is warm and well fed by rivers, so there should be a lot of potential for development if immigrants are spread widely. Meng Hu sighed, marked this passage in the blank space of the map, and sighed while writing: The reckless men of the Southern Railway Company are estimated to get three or five thousand people from Daming to fill up this valley to be satisfied, right? The pastures here are very fertile, the rivers here are very clear, the forests here are endless, the winters here are not too cold (usually around minus 10-20 degrees), and the activity of germs is not as good as in the north.

"The Argentines of later generations are really waste, with such a vast territory and a pitifully low development process. Even the world-famous Pampas, where the soil is so fertile, and it is a rare moist grassland with abundant rainfall, a bunch of losers only know grazing, and have never had the idea of developing it into the Pampas Plain and the Pampas granary. Meng Hu looked at this long strip of fresh air, and somehow this strange thought arose in his mind: "Could it be that I have been with those militarists for a long time, and I have unnaturally been contaminated with the theory of racial superiority?" ”

Leaving behind the strange thoughts that had popped up in their minds, Meng Hu and the others followed the meadows by the river, through the jungle, over the swamps, and finally managed to cross the small stream they named the Green River, and it took them a full five or six days before they stumbled to a pass. From this pass, the guide told Sù Menghu and the others to walk north along the mountain valley for a day, and then turn to the northeast, and there will be two lakes, one on the left and one on the right, and Menghu will soon reach the plain forest on the shores of Lake Boundary (Lake Fagnano) through the lowlands between the two lakes.

Once here, there is no need for a guide, and everyone will only need to walk east along the lakeside, and then all the way north, along the great plains to the east and north of Tierra del Fuego, and you will reach the sea. After knowing the news, Meng Hu nodded with satisfaction, and then motioned for his entourage to take out the pre-agreed remuneration and pay the two guides, while he nervously recorded the route and the diary of the expedition along the way.

If a high-grade highway is built between these two points, then it is obvious that the development efficiency of the entire Tierra del Fuego will be greatly improved, after all, the sea off the Sunset Strait (Beagle Strait) is windy and rough, and it is dangerous and troublesome for ships to enter and exit. (To be continued......)