Shi Qinjie is a middle-aged man in his thirties, who was just an ordinary clerk in a county agricultural bureau before he crossed over, and has been working in the agricultural system of Jinkola, engaged in some agricultural production planning and policy formulation. This time to develop the Falklands Island, I don't know whose path he went through, coupled with the fact that many people have a fear of coming to this undeveloped tropical area, even made him the captain of the crucial Madagascar development team in one fell swoop, becoming one of the only two "feudal officials" in China (the other is Mo Ming, the captain of the South African development team).

After successfully winning this position, Shi Qinjie did not sit in the office in China and wait, remote command, but took the initiative to apply to the front line. The Executive Committee complied with his request, and he arrived at Fort Riverale on a Spanish merchant ship that had helped to transport supplies. Subsequently, he came here with Li Yi's return fleet to transport people and goods.

After getting off the ship, Shi Qinjie didn't care about finding a place to rest in order to relieve his slightly severe seasickness symptoms after a long voyage, but immediately called a meeting of several responsible personnel of the current Antsiranana colony to understand the current construction progress of the colony.

"First of all, I would like to make a formal announcement that, with the approval of the Executive Committee, the Anziranana Colony on the island of Madagascar has been officially renamed the New China Colony, and the city currently under construction has been officially named Fort Xinhua." Shi Qinjie, who was pale, sat behind the only table in the room, and said a little weakly: "The new Chinese colony is in ruins, and you still need to work together to create brilliance. All right. I won't say more, now which of you will tell me about the situation here. I'm new to the city, and I don't know anything. Who's coming? ”

Shou Daoist, Pei Soning, Kyle and the others looked at each other, and the last thing was Shou Daoist who cleared his throat and said, "Since landing in the New China Colony on May 5 this year, we have completed a number of constructions so far. There are wooden trestle bridges, simple port roads and other wharf facilities; 22 brick buildings such as dormitories, warehouses, health centers, canteens, and bathhouses in Xinhuabao City; Outside the city, a logging camp, a small brick kiln, and the Coconut Tree Creek Reservoir project that is currently under construction, that's about that. ”

After listening to Daoist Shou's introduction, Shi Qinjie closed his eyes and was silent for a while. Seems to be thinking about something. After a while, he opened his eyes, squeezed a smile on his face, and said, "It's not bad." I will report your merits to the Executive Committee truthfully. Now tell me, what are the difficulties you are facing so far? ”

"There are indeed many difficulties." This time, it was Shou Daoist who came forward to answer, only to see him open a small notebook that he carried with him, which recorded something in symbols that I am afraid only he recognized: "The main thing is the problem of personnel and materials." In terms of personnel. As of last evening. Thirty-four slaves, three overseers and one soldier have died for various reasons; In addition, 20 slaves, 2 overseers and 1 army platoon commander contracted malaria, 3 slaves contracted dysentery, and 4 slaves were missing; A total of 68 people were incapacitated. As for the materials, we have built a small earthen kiln and initially solved the problem of the supply of bricks. In the future, we are also looking for opportunities to erect lime kilns and cement kilns, so that we can produce these two vital building materials as soon as possible. It's just that there are not many people here who know this business, and secondly, the manpower is also very surprised, so there is no action for the time being. Captain Shi, see if you can react to your superiors and ask the technical personnel from the local side to support some building materials factories to come over. In order to increase the technical strength of our side. ”

"Give medicine to the sick army platoon commander! Are all three slaves with dysentery quarantined? Shi Qinjie asked, and only after receiving an affirmative answer from Daoist Shou did he continue: "I will write to the local people to ask for some technical personnel from the building materials factory to come over." But far water can't quench the thirst of the near. You'll have to base yourselves, pick some clever slaves, teach them, and then you'll be able to make it easier. I also brought a lot of supplies and manpower this time, well, 400 slaves with short-term training and 30 Eight Banner overseers. The materials are mainly red bricks, cement, lime and grain, of course, these building materials may not need to be brought in the future, which can save us a lot of valuable transportation tonnage. ”

"Ah, yes, I almost forgot!" As he spoke, Shi Qinjie seemed to suddenly recall something important, and saw him say solemnly: "There is another important matter, you will send someone to the navy ship to take down a batch of saplings in a while." Be careful, these saplings are very expensive, and we have a lot of favors and a lot of money to get rubber trees from Brazilians, more than 500 in total. The New China Colony has abundant precipitation, a hot and humid climate, and slightly acidic brick-red soil, which is very suitable for the growth and reproduction of rubber trees. Pick me a high, well-drained place, clean up all the other miscellaneous trees, and plant the rubber saplings. In the future, I will send someone to maintain it every day, and I will not spare anyone if something goes wrong. ”

"Understood." Shou Daoist and others nodded one after another, saying that they would attach importance to this matter.

"Okay, I've got a preliminary understanding of the basics." Shi Qinjie said dryly, "Next, I will personally go to various sites to take a turn, Shou Daoist, you accompany me!" The others are dissolved, and everyone is busy with their own business, hurry up! ”

In the next two days, Shi Qinjie, a new official, accompanied by Shou Daoshi, carefully inspected the main city, logging camps, brick kilns, the construction site of the Coconut Tree Creek Reservoir, the wharf and other places, and then surrounded by soldiers, he visited more than 20 malaria patients in the health center, promising them some empty promises that they might never be able to keep. After a preliminary understanding of the current situation of the New China Colony, Shi Qinjie's own blueprint for the construction and planning of this colony gradually became clear.

First and foremost, the Coconut Tree Creek Reservoir Project. The Shou Daoist priests had a good idea that the reservoir must be built before the rainy season, which is not only of great significance for flood control and discharge, but also for agricultural production. After carefully examining the nearby topography and environment, Shi Qinjie, who came from the agricultural sector, felt that a large area of rice cultivation could be planned along the coastal plains. This rice-growing area can rely on the irrigation network derived from the Coconut Tree Creek Reservoir for irrigation, and there is no problem in harvesting two crops of rice a year, and some short-term crops such as sweet potatoes and potatoes can be planted in the middle of the two crops, in short, the agricultural potential is very huge. The only thing to worry about is that these brick red soils are generally acidic, but this is not a big problem, and the soil can be improved with lime when the time comes.

Just as important as the Coconut Tree Creek Reservoir Project is the construction of lime kilns and cement kilns. These two projects were of great importance, but fortunately they were not in a hurry. Because the cement and lime stocks that were transported twice before are huge, they are enough to be used here for a long time. Therefore, Shi Qinjie felt that he could transfer most of the manpower to build the reservoir, and as for the construction of cement kilns and lime kilns, he probably only needed to keep a few dozen people, and there was no rush anyway.

In addition to these two important projects, the construction of the urban area that followed can be slowed down a little. With the current strength of the new Chinese colony (more than 80 musketeers, more than 50 armed overseers, and more than 600 slightly loyal slaves), there was really no force nearby that could pose a threat to this side, except for the Portuguese on the west side of the strait. As for the Arabs and Comoroans in the Mahajanga region to the west, and the European pirates on St. Mary's Island in the southeast, they really didn't have much combat power. After all, the more than 600 slaves in the New China Colony could also be armed at a critical moment. These slaves were told in advance that they would be freed after a year, and that they would receive a large amount of money from the government, and then return to their hometowns to reunite with their families, so they still had a certain loyalty to the East Coasters.

In addition, the construction of logging camps outside the city is even more dispensable, not the focus of short-term planning at all, but can only be used as a long-term plan. After the settlement of these urgent projects in the New China Colony, how to develop the abundant local timber resources, especially hardwood resources, is likely to be put on the agenda. Locally and in the southern mountains, the abundant red sandalwood and sandalwood are valuable hardwood resources, which are termite-resistant and corrosion-resistant, and can be used to make high-end furniture, musical instruments and shipbuilding. Although this tree is not as suitable for warships as Brazilian sumac and teak, it is not a problem at all for building merchant ships, at least it is much stronger than the pine wood widely used by the Dutch. In view of the shortage of domestic maritime capacity, we can vigorously develop local timber resources in the future to feed the domestic shipbuilding industry.

In addition to the above, in Shi Qinjie's mind, in the future, this place will also introduce Southeast Asian teak, lychee and other tree species with great economic value suitable for local growth; In the southern mountainous areas, we should also find ways to introduce Chinese tea trees; New Huaxia Bay (Antsirana Bay) should also vigorously develop shrimp farming. If these plans can be realized gradually, then the hot land of the new Chinese colony will surely become one of the richest lands in the entire East Coast Republic of China. After all, the environment is so blessed, and nature has so much to offer. (To be continued......)