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Today is the last day of the year 1650. Chen Ke, a researcher from the Ministry of Agriculture and a second-generation worker, rode a horse and came to the Great Wilderness Farm in the Western Wilderness, ready to investigate the agricultural situation here - including the construction of farmland and water conservancy facilities, the use of agricultural machinery, the development area of cultivated land, the actual sowing area, the use of improved seeds, the number of livestock, the yield of various crops planted, and so on. Only after a clear understanding of the actual situation of more than 150,000 acres of farmland, including the Great Wilderness Farm, the Shrub Farm, and the Glorious Farm (farms developed by the retired army), can the Ministry of Agriculture formulate an agricultural subsidy policy in a more efficient manner, so as to protect the enthusiasm of these large farm leasers and individual pioneers, and maintain the agricultural production of the East Coast Republic.

The weather near the Great Wilderness Farm is good, and the blue sky stretches as far as the eye can see. Even though the temperature was high in the middle of summer (about 33 degrees), the cool breeze whistling by their side still felt very comfortable – at least much more comfortable than when they were researching in the North Duck Lake area at this time last year, where the summer was a bit hot and humid.

On the periphery of the farm are tall watchtowers, guarded by armed militia to guard against barbarian raids. In fact, at the end of 1650, with the gradual increase in the local population (which means an increase in the number of militias trained) and the intensification of the army on the east coast, the remaining Chalua tribes in the vicinity were either expelled, exterminated, or surrendered, and the social order was generally stabilized.

Nowadays these watchtowers are preserved. It's just that the inertia of the residents' thinking of being prepared for danger in times of peace and preparing for war and famine has continued. Maybe wait another year or two. With the great strides of the colonization and development of the East Coast people. These watchtowers will eventually be gradually removed, and the Great Wilderness Farm will become a peaceful and stable inland pastoral village.

Some of the nearby streams have very clear water and are very sweet to drink. The banks of the river are planted with many introduced plants such as agave, cumin, cactus, etc., which are widely distributed along the river and extend along the river into the distance. On the other side of the river, a flock of large ostriches (South American three-toed ostriches) were drinking, and the male in the lead, with his wings outstretched, watched warily as Chen Ke and his party slowly walked by on horseback – apparently they were not very afraid of people.

There are very few trees here, or there used to be some. However, it was later cut down by the early settlers to make building materials. But now that the settlers have replanted saplings (mostly oak and peach) in the area under the government's arrangement, it makes people feel that their previous logging behavior is really meaningless.

Chen Ke found a visible scratch on a surviving native tree, and the two gaucho riders who acted as guides told him that there must be a jaguar moving nearby, because the mark on the bark was caused by the jaguar's claw grinding. It is worth mentioning that the fierce predators such as jaguars and cougars are very common in the territory of the East Coast Republic - or there are too many of them - but the East Coast government still does not allow private hunting of these animals, for fear of being hunted by the residents, and now the government organizes some patrol patrols from time to time to hunt them to avoid flooding.

However, as their habitat is gradually encroached upon by humans, it is not necessary for humans to hunt and kill them. Their numbers will continue to decline slowly, and the process is largely irreversible. Ultimately. The eastward expansion of the people on the east coast is not only competing for living space with barbarians such as the Charua, Guarani, and Klandi, but also fighting for living space with these animals!

A few houses gradually appeared, a few of which were red bricks and green tiles, but most of them were still wood-paneled, adobe or reed-style houses. The brick house should be the house where the farm tenant and his relatives live, you must know how difficult it is to transport some building materials from the outside world in this semi-isolated grassland area, so the brick house should be a double symbol of status and wealth in this place, and ordinary people will not be able to live for the time being.

Here and there are some gently undulating low hills, wild grasses grow all over the earth, some almost as tall as a man, beautiful wildflowers dotted in between, butterflies or bees surround it from time to time, and the summer east coast prairie is so beautiful! The reception staff of the farm, who had already received the news, rode horses from afar to greet them, and after the two sides exchanged pleasantries, the farm invited everyone to go to the field to rest and rest, and then have lunch together. Chen Ke knew very well that these farm leasers regarded the researchers of the Ministry of Agriculture as the "God of Wealth" (their research report is an important basis for the distribution of agricultural subsidies), so he smiled and agreed.

After seeing the "God of Wealth" agree, the farm reception staff was immediately overjoyed. Without him, the prices of agricultural products are so low that if it were not for the subsidies issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and the protective purchase by the national grain reserves, they would probably have gone bankrupt one by one, so they have no choice but to be unsatisfied.

A middle-aged man in his forties in the lead turned his head towards the next few juniors, who were obviously still a little childish on their faces, and turned around and threw themselves to the side. Chen Ke looked intently, and saw that there was a flock of big ostriches eating something slowly, and immediately ran in panic after seeing several young people rushing over.

The teenagers pulled out the Meteor Lasso from their pockets under the saddle and spun it vigorously overhead, often topped with two or three polished balls, which were connected to ropes by guò coats, mainly for catching ostriches. As for the capture of wild horses or bison, it is another kind of lasso without stones.

At this time, I saw that these teenagers found the target, and then threw the meteor lasso in their hands quickly, Chen Ke looked at it, only to see that the lasso that flew out very accurately caught a male adult ostrich, and then the lasso was enchanted to wrap around the ostrich leg, the ostrich was suddenly attacked, and suddenly lost its body balance, and fell to the ground, and the teenagers not far away suddenly laughed.

"The children go to catch some ostriches, cook and eat at noon, and entertain Researcher Chen, hehe." The middle-aged man in his forties explained with a smile.

Chen Ke nodded, he now felt that the riding skills of these teenagers were really very good. Don't look at the fact that ordinary people can catch ostriches with meteor lasso after studying for a period of time, but the most test in this is actually whether the riding skills are exquisite. For example, when going at full speed and making sharp turns, not only do you have to keep the lasso spinning steadily overhead, but you also have to aim at the target at all times, which obviously requires a lot of skill, otherwise you are more likely to hurt yourself than your prey.

A few other teenagers rushed towards a few fat stupid birds, Chen Ke knew that that kind of bird was actually called a big bird, which was a very common bird in South America, not small in size, tender in meat, and not afraid of people at all, and not very good at flying, very easy to catch. At this time, I saw these teenagers join hands, keep circling the birds, and then quickly approach them. At this point, all you have to do is take out a stick and hit them on the head, and you can hit as many as you want. Of course, you can also use a lasso with a slipknot to catch it, and in the Western Wilderness, this is the favorite game of boys, even a clumsy little boy riding a foal can catch thirty or forty a day.

But now the boys' interest has shifted, these stupid big? It's no longer their primary goal. They prefer to take their hounds with them, and then ride their beloved foals and go out into the wild to chase hares introduced from the Old World - since they were introduced to the prairies by the people of the East Coast more than ten years ago, their numbers have grown dramatically due to the climate and conditions that are extremely suitable for their growth, and now the wild can be seen from time to time, and the boys are chasing them.

Ignoring the teenagers who went to catch prey, Chen Ke and the group from the farm continued to ride forward. At this time, I was already in the confines of the farm, and as far as the eye could see, there were well-planned and neatly arranged fields, most of which were planted with soybeans that had been sown last month—the improved varieties "Mancangjin" and "Mandihuang", which were purchased from the Northern Seed Company.

Of course, there are also many fields that are planted with overwintering wheat, which is growing very well, and will be ready for harvest in another month. However, good wheat growth does not necessarily mean a good thing for farmers, as it is likely to cause a sharp drop in wheat prices, affecting their profits. Of course, this is not something they can control, in the large grain-producing counties in the Nanyahu basin in the north, the wheat sowing area there is about 10 times that of here, so the quality of the harvest in Xihu County is the key factor affecting the trend of wheat prices.

The farm was soon there, and it was hidden in a grove of trees - "sapling forest" to be exact, because it was full of fruit trees that had not been planted for a few years, and were growing large and small, but generally not yet fruit-bearing years. But in a few years, when these trees are lush and green, I believe that this place will become the most beautiful corner of the whole farm, and the fruit will be fragrant and juicy.

The field is composed of a row of brick bungalows, the outer layer of the wall is plastered with some lime, and a lot of grain beans are dried on the top of the wall at this time - this is last year's old grain, taking advantage of today's sunny weather, the farm staff climbed a wooden ladder to transport many grain beans to the roof to dry, in order to prevent these grains from being damp and mildew due to long-term storage.

Smoke rose from the roof of the nearby kitchen, and boiling beef was simmering in a large iron pot on an earthen stove. On a wooden shelf at the door, several laborers from Ireland and Scotland are skillfully killing a goat for the guests. There are beef, lamb, ostrich meat, large? Meat, this lunch is already very rich, it is really worth the trip! (A good event for pie in the sky, cool mobile phones are waiting for you!) Follow from ~ Dian/Chinese network public account (WeChat add friends - add public account - enter ddxiaoshuo), participate now! Everyone has a prize, now pay attention to ddxiaoshuo WeChat public account! (To be continued......)