Chapter 104: The Central Plains of South America

From the perspective of the development of human civilization, South America is actually a place with a not very good geographical location.

Most of South America is located within the equatorial zone, and two-thirds of the northern part of the country is tropical. The tropical rainforest area is one of the most difficult ecological environments for human economic activities, second only to the tropical desert. Just clearing the land of the rainforest is extremely laborious. The cost of building and maintaining roads and railways in tropical rainforests is also much higher than in temperate regions, and tropical roads are more likely to be overwhelmed by wild vegetation, while railways and trains are more prone to corrosion. The bad climate made the construction team more vulnerable to the plague.

Even though there are several navigable rivers in the rainforest area, the banks are mostly muddy and swampy, making it difficult to build towns. Moreover, the acidic soils of the rainforest are quite poor, and diseases are rampant, and the climate is too humid to make it difficult for cereals to grow.

To sum up, in the rainforest area, it is not suitable for the development of neither agriculture nor industry, and even the construction of mines and transportation is extremely expensive. As a result, in the tropics, the vast majority of the population lives along the coastline, while the seemingly densely vegetated inland plains are sparsely populated.

Brazil, the largest country in South America, for example, has a third of its 8.5 million square kilometers covered by the rainforests of the Amazon basin. Although the Amazon River has very favorable navigation conditions, not only abundant water, wide and deep, there are no dangerous shoals and waterfalls on the main river sections, and there is no ice all year round, and the main stream and major tributaries can be directly navigated, constituting a large and convenient natural water navigation network. Unfortunately, the climate along the river is too hot and humid, and despite the ease of water transport and the abundance of minerals and timber, the cost of infrastructure is prohibitive, as is Siberia's. As a result, into the 21st century, this excellent natural water transport network remained largely idle, and did not become the main artery of a civilized society like the Yangtze and Mississippi rivers.

And in the south of the Amazon rainforest. It is a vast savanna, which is not only equally hot and humid, but also has a very acidic soil that must be completely modified to grow crops. And because it's landlocked and has no navigable rivers, the cost of transporting any supplies or agricultural products to the region is extremely high, and Brazilians have been tormented until the 21st century. The land has not been reclaimed.

As a result, only about 600,000 square kilometers of land in the far south of Brazil is arable land in the traditional sense. It occupies only 7% of the Brazilian territory. What is even more tragic is that most of these 600,000 square kilometers of arable land are deep inland, where transportation is inaccessible. The land that was really developed relatively early is only the southeast coast of Brazil, with São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro as the core of the territory of 150,000 square kilometers, which is equivalent to the area of four Taiwan islands or half of Japan, which is the same as Russia.

Other tropical Latin American countries also have similar difficulties, and the country looks not small. There aren't many places where people can actually live.

In addition to the port cities along the coastline, another densely populated region of tropical South America is the Andes. The higher terrain made it relatively cool and dry, and although the mountainous terrain was rugged, it was more suitable for agriculture than the low-lying rainforests, making it the cradle of the ancient Inca civilization. Even in modern times. Colombia, Ecuador and Bolivia are the main urban agglomerations that are not located on the coastal plains, but on valleys and plateaus between the Andes Mountains, which can reach an altitude of up to two or three thousand meters, so as to avoid the hot and humid climate of the tropics.

The problem is that while the alpine areas are cool, the cost of building roads and railways has skyrocketed. The rugged mountains severely limit the city's access to the outside world. It also makes it very difficult for these mountain cities to travel to each other, increasing the cost of everything. These troubles were not too serious in the era of subsistence agriculture, so the Inca Empire was born in the mountains, which was the most powerful in South America. But in the era of industrialization, it became a nightmare for the development of industry and commerce, and there is no large industrial area in the world that can be built on a high mountain with rugged terrain!

As a result, the Andes Mountains are like the Tibetan Plateau of the Americas. Although it is majestic and dangerous, it cannot build an influential power.

In this case, Brazil is the Russia of South America, and the Andes Mountains are the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau of South America, so where is the "Central Plains" of South America?

As you can see from the map, this role is played by the three countries south of Brazil: Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina. They carved up the "Central Plains" of South America: the plain of La Plata, with a total area of 1.5 million square kilometers.

Of these, the southern part of this land is known as the Pampas and the northern part is known as the Grand Chaco Plain. In modern times, the plain of La Plata belongs mostly to Argentina, and a small part is shared by Uruguay, Paraguay and Brazil.

In contrast to the prohibitive rainforests and savannahs to the north, the Rio de la Plata is located in the southern subtropical and southern temperate zones, with a climate similar to that of the Yangtze River and the Yellow River basin in China. It is the most fertile land on the continent, with flat natural savannahs reducing construction costs, moderate precipitation and a temperate climate creating a fertile agricultural area. Summers are dry enough for traditional grains to ripen, while winters are cold enough to limit the impact of blight. But the real advantage of the Plain de la Plata lies in the structure of the region's river channels, in which the Paraná, Uruguay, and Paraguay rivers flow into the La Plata River, forming a huge estuary that flows into the Atlantic Ocean between Buenos Aires and Montevideo (the capital of Uruguay), and most of the river is navigable, both mainstreams and tributaries, thus forming a natural water transport system that is not inferior to the Amazon.

Together, this vast river system covers this vast plain of the Rio de la Plata, which is highly agricultural. The presence of rivers such as the Río de la Plata is of great significance to this agricultural area. Even in the modern world, the cost of water transportation is still ten to thirty times less than that of trucking. Food crops such as wheat, corn, soybeans, etc., which have a low unit volume value. A network of interconnected rivers that can be transported downstream at a low cost by water and by sea to the rest of the world can create a larger economy, create more capital, feed a larger population, and greatly increase the possibility of a unified state in the region because of easy transportation.

And in the mountains and hills around the network of the Río de la Plata system, there are also very rich minerals, as if waiting for the great development after the industrial revolution, according to the Chinese. Such a unique piece of land is the so-called "foundation of hegemony".

Similar regions on Earth, such as the Two River Basins in the Middle East, the Great Lakes and Mississippi River Basins in North America, the Yangtze River Basin in China, the Rhine River Basin in Europe, and the Ganges River Basin in India, were once the cradles of the world's great powers and the most developed civilizations.

Why, then, is it that the Rio de la Plata has never been able to produce a world power comparable to China, the United States, and Russia in our history?

First of all. Unlike the Old Continent, early agricultural civilizations such as the Inca Empire were not born in the alluvial plains of the lower reaches of the Great Rivers. Rather, it originated in the Andes and the alpine agricultural model was obviously difficult to replicate directly in the plains, and the level of Inca civilization was a little too cold. Therefore, before the light of civilization could reach the Río de la Plata, the Spanish colonists broke in and announced the end of the original civilization in the Americas.

Secondly, after entering the colonial era, the Le Plata River basin, which was still sleeping in the wilderness, was finally initially developed. However, due to the distance from the home country of Spain, and the fact that the Spaniards did not have much talent for agriculture. As a result, the pace of development was quite slow, and until the collapse of Spanish colonial rule and the independence of South American countries, the total population of the entire Río de la Plata basin did not reach 5 million.

Due to its sparse population and the relative isolation of the various settlements, the Rio de la Plata basin was not able to form a unified state at the time of independence, despite its convenient water transport conditions. Instead, it was divided into three by Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina. But by this time, people of insight from all over the world had fully seen the great potential of this land, and also understood the truth that "those who have the plains of the de la Plata River have South America".

Thus, the longest and bloodiest war in the history of South America, the longest, bloodiest Paraguayan war, from 1864 to 1870, was followed by the ambitious landlocked country of Paraguay. In order to dominate the Río Plata River basin and open up access to the sea, he did not hesitate to fight to the death with Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil for six years. Although some tactical victories were achieved, after all, the country was small and weak, and in the end the army was defeated and nearly half of the territory was divided.

After the war, Brazil seized a small piece of land in the Río de la Plata basin from Paraguay. Uruguay has basically gained nothing, and about 60% of the country's population has been killed in the war, and it has been in decline ever since. Argentina became the biggest winner, after ceding a large area of land from Paraguay, it occupied most of the plain of the Rio de la Plata, and also controlled the mouth of the Rio de la Plata and most of the navigable river sections, and since then it has become the "hegemon of the Central Plains" of the Americas.

At that time, people of insight generally believed that in time, Argentina would inevitably become the king of South America, just like the United States.

Sadly, Argentina's rise seems to have ended there. Next, the country did not continue to the north, taking advantage of its natural advantages, annexing Paraguay and Uruguay, completely establishing the position of the ruler of South America, nor did it industrialize and become a real world power. Instead, they enjoyed the abundant products of the Pampas grassland, did not want to make progress in the lazy peace, wasted more than a hundred years, and finally pierced the last layer of glossy painting skin in the Falklands War, and became the only laughing stock in the world that has degraded from developed countries back to the ranks of developing countries......

As a traverser regime working on the same land, the East Bank Republic certainly does not want to be "degenerate" and unenterprising like Argentina, and does not want to fall into the same tragic fate as Paraguay Fortunately, in the seventeenth century, the land of the La Plata River basin was still very barren, there were not many people, and it can be said that it was first come, first served for anyone, so from the beginning of the establishment of the East Bank Republic, it was desperate to fill the La Plata River basin with population at all costs, At the same time, he bulldozed the local Spanish colonial stronghold in the most brutal way, and was determined to occupy this treasure land.

As of now, on the Tianjin side alone, a full 180,000 people have been sent to the East Coast Republic to repair the earth, and more than 20,000 people have been sent to South Africa and Madagascar to deal with Uncle Black.

Not to mention how to pay for the huge "payment" to buy so many people from the Eight Banners, if there is no miraculous crop from the Doraemon world, it will grow wheat in seven days. In addition, the central government has allocated a special subsidy of 10 million yen to buy a large amount of brown rice, beans, and wheat at the price of the yen in the Meiji era using the eon-era vending machines, so that the small economic scale of the hundreds of thousands of people in the East Coast Republic alone will certainly not be able to pay the bills, and I am afraid that the local population will be overwhelmed by the frenzied influx of refugees into the country.

But even so, the sudden influx of so many people. It also caused serious social problems in the Eastern Coast Republic, and many chaos broke out in the domestic order...... But in order to occupy the "Central Plains" of South America at your feet. The Eastern Coast Republic still gritted its teeth and fought hard After all, after missing this God-given opportunity, I don't know when it will be able to acquire this large number of people at such a low price.

In fact, the booming trade along the coast of Dagu is coming to an end at this moment in late November...... Wang Qiu pushed open a porthole and felt the cold wind outside and the snowflakes that drifted from time to time. All this reminded him: winter is coming!

The Bohai Sea in winter during the Xiaoice River period at the end of the Ming Dynasty was far colder than the same season in later generations!

Now, the pond near the camp at the mouth of Dagu has begun to freeze, and ice floes have gradually appeared in the Haihe River, and under the harsh northwest wind, it will not be long before even the sea will be frozen - by that time. The landing force had to be withdrawn. And this deformed and prosperous scene in front of me will also disappear...... I hope that after importing so much food, I can let the people here survive a few more!

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After completing the handover of the "goods" and getting the food from the "short-haired thieves" in exchange for human trafficking, the cavalry of the Guanning Army, who escorted the displaced people, did not leave in a hurry, but planned to sell loot and purchase some common bits and pieces in this market during the past few months of campaigning. These Guanning rebels took advantage of the famous name of the Jurchen Eight Banners to attack prefectures and counties in various places in Beizhili, and they captured a lot of valuable things.

But these GIs need to move around to fight, and it is difficult to carry too many bulky things, and they are desperate to exchange them for gold and silver jewelry and other soft things.

Moreover, although they have just made a war fortune, the city of Beijing is now cut off from transportation and department stores are expensive. Even with gold and silver, it is difficult to buy anything good. Now that there is a lively market by the sea, these Guanning soldiers naturally want to take the opportunity to make purchases.

As a result, with the arrival of the soldiers of the Guanning Army, the market became more and more noisy. All kinds of objects were put out by them to sell jade ornaments, porcelain calligraphy and paintings, silk embroidery, farming tools for cultivating land, books for talents, merchants' abacus, musical instruments for operas, and even official seals in the yamen.

In addition, there are also people who come to the market to sell people, not the unkempt and thin-skinned homeless people who were "wholesaled" before, but young women with good looks and handsome prostitutes with red lips and white teeth. But even so, it's usually just seven or eight taels of silver for one person.

Although the participation of these soldiers made the market more lively, those buyers and sellers were also like great enemies, and they all quietly took out their sticks and swords one by one - these murderous soldiers were not good people, even if there were "short-haired thieves" soldiers watching from the side, it was common to use knives for price disputes, and theft and robbery were even more commonplace.

The so-called "sons of daughters, who can't sit down", the "noble" traversers, of course, will not personally go to the mixed market to hang out and shop for goods, nor will they be interested in the tattered things in the hands of ordinary soldiers, and no one plans to get a little girl in this kind of place to enjoy, but this does not prevent them from sending reliable people to try to find out some news from the mouths of those Guanning army soldiers The low-level officers and soldiers in these years generally have no sense of secrecy, as long as a few bowls of wine and a stomach, and a few words of flattery, Just say everything. Combined with the photos taken by the reconnaissance satellite, even if they were sitting in the warship in the Bohai Bay, Wang Qiu and the others could tell the story of the current war situation in North China.

“…… Well, at the same time as entering Beijing. Huang Taiji also sent troops to the west to conquer Xuanfu and drove Emperor Chongzhen to Shanxi, where he is currently facing off on the same front. Now from the south to the Daimyo, to the north to Xuanfu, the entire Northern Zhili has fallen into the hands of this Later Jin Great Khan. A Mongol cavalry went deep into the south, and even plundered Dezhou, Shandong...... That's a lot of momentum...... Tsk, the so-called 'aggression is like fire'! ”

Look at the arrows marked on the map. In such a short period of time, the Daming Dynasty was poked into a thousand holes, and Wang Qiu couldn't help but admire.

“…… Ay. Although they are old rivals who have fought each other for many years, I still have to admit that this Huang Taiji is indeed a heroic generation of heroes, and he is always able to make the impossible possible, although most of the time it is mainly because his opponent likes to die too much......"

Marshal Huangshi, who had just returned from negotiating with the Jurchen envoys, sighed while hanging his military cap on the coat rack, "...... In fact, after the invasion of Beijing, Huang Taiji's situation was not as good as it seemed, and Guan Ningjun was ungrateful and rebellious to the Ming Dynasty. Will they be loyal to the Jurchens? In case they are attacked by a loophole, then these tens of thousands of Eight Banner soldiers will not want to return to Liaodong.

Then, although the noble ministers in Beijing were looking down on the wind, if they really recruited rebels and turned them into dignitaries of the new dynasty, then not to mention how these people were too successful and more than defeated. It's tantamount to letting go of the fat in your mouth. But if they directly plundered and exploited their property, then the Eight Banners who had made a fortune would be happy, but who would dare to submit in the future?

In addition, there are the widespread displacement of people and the spread of the plague. Severed Luck ...... In short, Huang Taiji's entry into Beijing this time was far from a great success, but sat on the fire pit. If it weren't for the amount of food we have shipped, his situation would have been even harder. ”

Speaking of this, Huang Shi couldn't help but sigh, "...... So. I feel hesitant about the new deal that Huang Taiji has just sent someone to propose. ”

“…… Oh? What trades, continue to exchange people for food? The more the merrier on our side! Major General Mo Ming said without thinking.

“…… No, these displaced people who were driven over today are already the last batch of goods organized by the 'official' of the Houjin Imperial Court, and there will only be some small-scale people in private at most in the future, and there will be no such large-scale 'selling piglets' After all, Huang Taiji also knows very well that population is the core productive force. If too many people are sold, the fields will continue to be abandoned next year...... Therefore, after reducing the number of displaced people in Gyeonggi to a tolerable range, he does not plan to sell people to us anymore. ”

Yellowstone said, "...... But he still wants more food, cloth, soju, medicine, salt, and other daily necessities from us...... Actually, I wanted to buy even ordnance and gunpowder, but I refused. ”

“…… So what does he pay for? You can't think you're trying to get credit, right? Wang Qiu said with some surprise, "...... Or is he willing to pay for the money? ”

“…… No, he searched the Forbidden City from the bottom to the bottom, tossed out a bunch of antiques that were said to be very valuable, and even demolished the bronze turtle and golden silk nanmu pillars in the main hall, and wanted to use these things to offset the account...... "Huang Shi spread his hands," ...... Is this business going to be done? ”

For antiques, all of you here are not very interested. However, it is a recent strategic decision of the Huameng to transfuse blood to the Jurchen Eight Banners in this winter, so that they can cause more damage to the Ming court before they lose their usefulness. So after asking for the opinions of the rear, everyone on the front line still pinched their noses and agreed to the deal, but the price had to be cut down as much as possible.

After all, the most effective way to reverse the conservative mentality of the people of the country and squeeze out a large number of people from the homeland of the Central Plains is to plunge the land into a long-term devastating war. To put it mildly, the more serious the damage and panic caused by the Eight Banners in the pass, the easier it will be for the traversers to absorb immigrants, anyway, according to the history of another time and space, they would all have died......

After the deal was settled, the atmosphere in the cabin became lighter, and everyone began to drink tea and discuss unimportant topics.

“…… By the way, since Huang Taiji has demolished the Forbidden City, where does he live in Beijing? Major General Mo Ming asked casually.

“…… At first, he lived in Zhongnanhai, and later moved into the mansion of Wen Tiren, the first assistant of the cabinet, and he didn't stay in the palace for long at all......

Yellowstone replied, "...... In fact, Huang Taiji has never paid much attention to enjoyment, and his life may not be as particular as the prefect of the Ming Dynasty! ”

“…… I think so. How can you say that it is also a generation of Mingjun! Wang Qiu echoed, "...... I remember when I was in junior high school, I once went to the Shenyang Forbidden City to play once, and found that the daily life of Huang Taiji seemed to be very in line with the image of the emperor's life in ancient folklore:

Huang Taiji and his concubines seem to live on a phoenix building, the main palace lady lives in the main house, and the other women live in the side room. There is a kang in every room, as well as a pot stove, the folk say that the East Palace Niangniang bakes flatbread, and the West Palace Niangniang peels the green onions, which is estimated to be like this. Moreover, not counting the buildings added to the Qing Dynasty later, in the era of Huang Taiji, the entire Shenyang harem is the level of the landlord's compound, Huang Taiji and any woman, hehe, it is estimated that the whole courtyard can listen to the sound Anyway, it is difficult for me to imagine that Xiaozhuang and Hai Lanzhu live diagonally opposite the door, and what it feels like to look down and see it......"

“…… Aren't they sisters? Let's understand each other, isn't there still their aunt in the main house! Huang Shi replied casually

“…… Also, Empress Zhezhe lives in the main house......" Mo Ming nodded while searching for information on her smartphone, "...... I checked, in the backyard of Huang Taiji, except for the Empress Dowager Namu Zhong who received it from Lin Dan Khan, the rest of the women seem to be basically aunts, sisters, sisters and other relatives, and they are really a family in bed. This is the benefit of playing the 'whole family bucket', and the harmony of the back house is ......"

When this ambiguous topic was mentioned, everyone let out a hehe-hey laugh that only men could understand......

After chatting for a while, Huang Shi got up and prepared to leave as the supreme commander of the entire East Asian theater, and he was now in charge of the four theaters of Tianjin, Shandong, Fujian, and Japan at the same time, and perhaps opened up more new fronts in the future. Although Japan is now the only one in a state of hot war, there are still things everywhere that need to be decided and decided. Thanks to the satellite phone and the random door, otherwise it would be too busy.

However, just when he went out, he heard everyone's smartphone "ding", and then Wang Qiu immediately took out his mobile phone and looked at it, his face suddenly became very strange, "...... Belch? The latest military intelligence announcement, is there a change in Nanjing? The Donglin Party is planning to support the new emperor?!! ”

“…… No way? Emperor Chongzhen is still alive now! Those people in Nanjing are too bold! Where have all the righteousness of the monarchs and ministers gone? ”

Yellowstone blinked incredulously, "...... Moreover, the Hongguang Emperor of the Southern Ming Dynasty in history, that is, the current prince of King Fu, is still staying in Luoyang at the moment, and even the old King Fu has not been killed by Li Zicheng, who is the Donglin Party in Nanjing ready to support? ”

“…… According to the announcement, they are preparing to support King Lu, to be exact, the second son of King Lu, Zhu Yihai...... This guy fled to Nanjing after the Wenxiang uprising. The former King Lu and his eldest brother were both missing in the war, so he, the second son, could inherit the throne......"

“…… The second son of King Lu? It's hilarious! And even the palace and the garrison have been lost, no matter which vassal king is appointed as the emperor, he is more decent than him! ”

“…… Alas, who knows what the Donglin Party thinks? Maybe it's just that his name is not right......" (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendation and monthly passes, and your support is my biggest motivation. )