Great time travel

Chapter 413, Central Plains of South America

Chapter 1 and Four, Central Plains of South America

From the perspective of the development of human civilization, South America is actually a place with a poor geographical location.

- Most of the land in South America lies in the equatorial belt, and the northern two-thirds are in the tropics.The tropical rainforest area is one of the most difficult ecological environments for human beings to carry out economic activities, second only to tropical deserts.Just clearing the land of the tropical rainforest requires extremely heavy labor.The cost of building and maintaining roads and railways in tropical rainforest areas is also much higher than in temperate regions-tropical roads are more likely to be flooded by overgrown plants, while railways and trains are more likely to rust.The bad weather made the construction team more likely to be knocked down by the plague.

Even if there are several navigable rivers in the tropical rainforest, the banks of the rivers are mostly muddy swamps, making it difficult to build towns.Moreover, the acidic soils of tropical rainforests are quite poor and disease-ridden, and the climate is too humid, making it difficult for crops to grow.

To sum up, the tropical rainforest area is neither suitable for the development of agriculture nor industry, and even the construction costs of mines and transportation are extremely high.Therefore, in the tropics, the vast majority of the population lives on the coastline, while the seemingly densely vegetated inland plains are sparsely populated.

Take Brazil, the largest country in South America, as an example. Among its 850 million square kilometers of land, one-third is the tropical rainforest of the Amazon River Basin.Although the Amazon River has very superior shipping conditions, not only the water is abundant, the river is wide and deep, there are no dangerous shoals and waterfalls on the main river section, it does not freeze all year round, and the main stream and major tributaries can be directly navigated, forming a huge and convenient Natural water navigation network.It's a pity that the climate along the river is too hot and humid. Although the water transportation is convenient and the mineral and timber resources are rich, the cost of infrastructure construction is prohibitively high, just like Siberia, which is not suitable for human life.As a result, until 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 River and the Mississippi River.

In the south of the Amazon rainforest, there is a vast tropical savannah, which is not only equally hot and humid, but also has highly acidic soil, which must be completely modified to grow crops.Moreover, it is inland and there are no navigable rivers, so the freight to transport any supplies or agricultural products here is extremely high. The Brazilians have been tossing until the 21st century, but they have not been able to reclaim this land.

Therefore, only about 60 square kilometers of land in the southernmost part of Brazil is arable land in the traditional sense, accounting for only 7% of Brazil's territory.What's even more tragic is that even the 60 square kilometers of arable land are mostly deep inland with inconvenient transportation.The land that has been developed relatively early is only the southeast coast of Brazil, with São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro as the core of the 15 square kilometer territory, which is equivalent to the area of ​​four Taiwan islands or half of Japan - just like Russia, Brazil It also looks like a vast territory, but the real core area is pitifully small.

And other tropical Latin American countries also have a similar dilemma-the land may look large, but there are not many places where people can really live.

In addition to the port cities on the coastline, another densely populated area in tropical South America is the Andes Mountains.The terrain here is relatively high, so it is relatively cool and dry. Although the mountains are rugged, it is more suitable for agricultural development than the low-lying rainforest, so it became the cradle of the ancient Inca civilization.Even in modern times, major urban agglomerations in countries such as Colombia, Ecuador, and Bolivia are not located on the coastal plains, but are built on valleys and plateaus between the Andes Mountains, with an altitude of up to 3000 meters, in order to avoid tropical hot and humid climate troubled.

But the problem is that although the alpine areas are cool, the construction cost of roads and railways has also soared.The rugged mountains severely limit the communication between these cities and the outside world, and it also makes it very difficult for these mountain cities to communicate with each other, increasing the cost of everything.The above-mentioned troubles were not too serious in the era of self-sufficient agriculture, so the Inca Empire, which was proud of South America, was born among the mountains.But in the era of industrialization, it has become a nightmare for the development of industry and commerce - there is not a single large-scale industrial area in the world that can be built on the rugged and broken mountains!

Therefore, the Andes is like the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in America. Although it is majestic and dangerous, it cannot build an influential country.

That being the 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 Plain" of South America?

As can be seen from the map, the three countries south of Brazil—Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina—play this role in South America.They divided up the "Central Plain" of South America: the La Plata Plain with a total area of ​​150 million square kilometers.

Among them, the southern part of this land is called the Pampas, and the northern part is called the Gran Chaco Plain.In modern times, most of the Plain of La Plata belongs to Argentina, with a small portion shared by Uruguay, Paraguay, and Brazil.

Compared with the daunting tropical rainforest and savannah in the north, the La Plata Plain is located in the south subtropical and south temperate zone, with a climate similar to that of the Yangtze and Yellow River basins in China.It is the most fertile land on this continent. The flat natural prairie reduces construction costs, and the moderate rainfall and temperate climate create a rich agricultural area.Summers were dry enough for traditional grains to mature, while winters were cold enough to limit the impact of blight.But the real advantage of the La Plata Plain lies in the river structure in the area-the Parana River, the Uruguay River, and the Paraguay River merge into the La Plata River to form a huge estuary, from Buenos Aires Whether it is a main stream or a tributary, most of the river section is navigable, thus forming a natural water transport system not inferior to the Amazon River.

This huge water system together covers this vast agriculturally developed plain, the Plain of the Rio de la Plata.The presence of rivers such as the Rio de la Plata is of great significance to this agricultural area.Even in the modern world, shipping by water is still ten to thirty times cheaper than shipping by truck.Food crops with low unit volume value such as wheat, corn, soybean, etc.It can be transported downstream at a low cost by water transport, and it can also be transported to other parts of the world by ocean-interconnected river networks can form a larger economy, create more capital, and feed more people. And because of the convenient transportation, the possibility of forming a unified state power in the region has been greatly enhanced.

In the mountains and hills around the river network of the La Plata River system, there are still very rich minerals scattered, 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 "base of supremacy".

Similar regions on the earth, such as the Mesopotamia in the Middle East, the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River in North America, the Yangtze River in China, the Rhine River in Europe, and the Ganges River in India, were once the birthplaces of world powers and the most The cradle of advanced civilization.

So, since the geographical conditions of the Rio de la Plata Plain are so superior, why has there never been a world power that can rival China, the United States, and Russia in our history?

First of all, the situation in South America is different from that of the Old Continent. Early agricultural civilizations such as the Inca Empire were not born in the alluvial plains in the lower reaches of the big rivers, but in the Andes Mountains. It is obviously difficult to directly replicate the alpine agricultural model on the plains, and The level of Inca civilization is also a bit too shabby.Therefore, before the light of civilization shone on the Rio de la Plata, the Spanish colonists broke in, announcing the end of native American civilization.

Secondly, after entering the colonial era, the La Plata River Basin, which was still sleeping in the wilderness, finally got a preliminary development.However, due to the fact that it is too far away from the mother country of Spain, and the Spaniards do not have any agricultural talents, the development speed is quite slow. Until the Spanish colonial rule collapsed and South American countries became independent one after another, the entire La Plata River Basin The total population did not reach 500 million.

Due to the sparse population and the remote and relatively isolated settlements, the La Plata River Basin failed to form a unified country at the time of independence even though it had convenient water transport conditions. Instead, it was surrounded by Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina. Divide one into three.But by this time, people of insight from all over the world have fully seen the huge potential of this land, and also understand the truth of "the one who gets the de la Plata plain wins South America".

As a result, the longest and bloodiest Paraguay War in South American history broke out—from 1864 to 1870, the ambitious landlocked country Paraguay, in order to monopolize the La Plata River Basin and open up the estuary, did not hesitate to use one enemy Three, six years of desperate bloody battles with Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil.Although some tactical victories were achieved, the country was small and weak after all, and eventually the army was defeated and the territory was divided by nearly half.

After the war, Brazil seized a small piece of land in the La Plata River Basin from Paraguay. Uruguay basically had no harvest. About [-]% of Paraguay's national population died in the battle, and it has never recovered.Argentina, on the other hand, became the biggest winner. After cutting off a large area of ​​land from Paraguay, it occupied most of the La Plata River Plain, and also controlled the La Plata Estuary and most of the navigable river sections. The "Central Plains Overlord".

People of insight at the time generally believed that as long as time passed, Argentina would surely be able to become the king of South America like the United States.

Sadly, it seems that Argentina's rise has come to an end.Next, this country did not continue to go north, took advantage of its natural advantages, annexed Paraguay and Uruguay, completely established the status of the ruler of South America, and did not realize industrialization and become a real world power.Instead, sitting and enjoying the rich products of the Pampas grassland, in the lazy peace and not thinking about making progress, it wasted more than 100 years. Finally, in the Falklands War, the last layer of glamorous painting skin was pierced and became The only laughing stock in the world that has degenerated from a developed country back to the ranks of a developing country...

As a regime of traversers working on the same land, the East Coast Republic certainly does not want to be as "degenerate" and unprogressive as Argentina, let alone fall into the tragic end of Paraguay—fortunately, in the seventeenth century, La The land in the Plata River Basin is still very barren and there are not many people. It can be said that everyone is first come, first served. Therefore, from the beginning of the establishment of the regime, the East Bank Republic has desperately moved to the Rio de la Plata at all costs. The watershed was filled with population, and at the same time, the local Spanish colonial stronghold was bulldozed in the most brutal way, determined to occupy this geomantic treasure.

And this Tianjin strategy, also under the strong request of the East Coast Republic, has changed from a fire reconnaissance and landing warfare exercise to a frenzied super-large-scale "buying piglets" operation-so far, only in Tianjin Here, a full 18 people have been sent to the East Coast Republic to repair the earth, and more than 2 people have been sent to South Africa and Madagascar to deal with Uncle Black.

Not to mention how to pay for the huge "payment" for buying so many people from the Eight Banners soldiers. If there is no magic crop [1000-day fast-growing wheat] from the world of Doraemon, there will be a special subsidy of 10 million yen from the central government Jin, using the [chronological vending machine] to buy a large amount of brown rice, beans and wheat as if cheating according to the Japanese yen price in the Meiji era, then the economic scale of the East Coast Republic with only [-] people, not only It must not be able to pay the bill, I am afraid that the mainland will be overwhelmed by so many refugees frantically pouring into the country.

But even so, the sudden influx of such a large population has caused serious social problems to the East Coast Republic, and many chaos broke out in the domestic order... But in order to occupy the "Central Plain" of South America under our feet, the East Coast Republic I still gritted my teeth and fought hard - after all, after missing this golden opportunity, I don't know when the next time I can get so many people at such a low price.

In fact, the prosperous trade on the coast of Dagukou is coming to an end at the end of November... Wang Qiu pushed open a porthole, feeling the cold wind and the occasional blowing wind outside. Snowflakes, all these are reminding him: winter is coming!

——The Bohai Sea in winter during the Little Ice Age in the late Ming Dynasty was far colder than the same season in later generations!

Today, the ponds near Dagukou Yingzhai have begun to freeze, and ice floes have gradually appeared in the Haihe River. Under the icy northwest wind, even the sea will be frozen in a short time—by that time , the landing force must be withdrawn.And this deformed and prosperous scene in front of me will disappear... I hope that after importing so much food, the common people here can survive a few more!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

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 refugees did not leave in a hurry, but planned to sell trophies and Purchasing some commonly used odds and ends—During the campaign in the past few months, these Guanning rebels took advantage of the reputation of the Jurchen Eight Banners to attack prefectures and counties in various places in Beizhili, and they plundered a lot of valuable things .

But these soldiers need to move around to fight, it is difficult to carry too many bulky things, and they are eager to replace them with gold and silver jewelry.

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

So, with the arrival of soldiers from the Guanning Army, the market became more and more noisy.All kinds of objects are sold at low prices by them—jade ornaments, porcelain calligraphy and paintings, silk embroidery, agricultural tools for plowing fields, books for scholars, abacus for merchants, musical instruments for actors, and even official seals in the yamen. There are no surprises, some of which are obviously funerary objects dug out of graves, and the prices are ridiculously low.

In addition, there are people who come to the market to sell people - not the unkempt, yellow and thin refugees who were "wholesale" before, but beautiful young women and handsome child molesters with red lips and white teeth, which belong to the "private goods" of these soldiers "Most of them are stolen by them as private pets, and then they resell them after they get tired of playing with them, and the price is much higher.But even so, it is usually just seven or eight taels of silver for one person.

Although the joining of these soldiers made the market more lively, but at the same time, those buyers and sellers were also facing a big enemy, and each of them quietly took out their sticks and swords—these soldiers who murdered and robbed were not good people. Even if there are "short-haired thieves" soldiers watching, it is common to use knives for price disputes, and theft and robbery are even more commonplace.

The so-called "son of a thousand gold, can't sit down", you "respectable" traversers, of course, you will not go to the market where fish and dragons are mixed up to hang out and buy goods, and you will not pay attention to the rags in the hands of ordinary soldiers. The stuff is interesting, and no one intends to get a little girl to enjoy it in this kind of place, but this does not prevent them from sending reliable people to try to get some news from the mouths of the soldiers of the Guanning Army-the bottom of the year Officers and soldiers generally have no sense of secrecy, as long as they have a few bowls of wine and a few words of flattery, they will say everything.Combined with the photos taken by the reconnaissance satellite, even sitting in the battleship in Bohai Bay, Wang Qiu and the others can tell one, two, three about the current situation in North China.

"...Well, at the same time as taking control of Beijing, Huang Taiji also sent troops west to conquer the Xuanfu, and drove Emperor Chongzhen to Shanxi. They are currently confronting each other on the front line of Datong. Now it reaches Daming in the south, Xuanfu in the north, and the whole of Zhili in the north. They have all fallen into the hands of this Hou Jin Da Khan. A Mongolian cavalry that went deep south and even plundered Dezhou, Shandong... This development momentum is really... Tsk tsk, the so-called "aggression like fire"! "

Looking at the arrows marked on the map, which have pierced the Daming country with holes in such a short period of time, Wang Qiu couldn't help but admire.

"...Hey, although they are old opponents who have been fighting each other for many years, I still have to admit that this Huang Taiji is indeed a heroic hero of the generation who can always turn the impossible into the possible—even though most of the time Mainly because his opponent likes to die too much..."

Marshal Huangshi, who had just returned from negotiating with the Jurchen envoys, hung his military cap on the coat rack and sighed, "...In fact, after the invasion of Beijing, Huang Taiji's situation is not as good as it seems— —Guan Ningjun was ungrateful and rebellious towards Ming Dynasty, but would he be loyal to the Jurchens? If they were to take advantage of the loopholes and fight back, then these tens of thousands of Eight Banners soldiers would never even think about returning to Liaodong.

Then, although the honorable ministers in the city of Beijing surrendered in anticipation, if they really wantonly recruited and surrendered and turned them into dignitaries of the new dynasty, then not to mention how successful these people are and how much they failed. It's different from letting go of the fat around your mouth.But if they directly tortured and squeezed their property, the Eight Banners soldiers who made a fortune would be happy, but who would dare to surrender in the future?

In addition, there are refugees all over the place, the spreading plague, and the cut-off of water transportation... In short, Huang Taiji's entry into Beijing this time is far from being a great success, but sitting on the fire pit.It would have been even more difficult for him if it wasn't for the amount of food we brought in. "

Speaking of this, Huang Shi couldn't help sighing, "...so, I feel very hesitant about the new deal that Huang Taiji just sent someone to propose."

"...Oh? What kind of deal, continue to exchange population for food? The more the better for our side!" Major General Mo Ming said without thinking.

"...No, the refugees who were driven here today are already the last batch of goods that were 'officially' organized by the Later Jin Dynasty. In the future, there will only be some private small-scale population transactions at most, and there will be no such large-scale transactions. "Sell piglets" - after all, Huang Taiji also knows very well that population is the core productivity. If the population is sold too much, then next year's fields will continue to be abandoned... So, in the Gyeonggi After the number of refugees has been reduced to an acceptable range, he no longer intends to traffic people to us."

Huang Shi said, "...But he still wants to get more food, cloth, shochu, medicine, salt and other daily necessities from us... In fact, he even wanted to buy armaments and gunpowder, but I refused gone."

"...Then what will he pay for it? Could it be that he wants to pay on credit?" Wang Qiu said with some surprise, "...or is he willing to pay?"

"...No, he searched the Forbidden City from top to bottom, tossing out a bunch of antiques that are said to be very valuable, and even tore down the bronze tortoises and golden nanmu pillars on the main hall, intending to use these things to pay for the debt... ..." Huang Shi spread his hands, "...is this business going to be done?"

Everyone here is not very interested in such junk as antiques.However, it is the Huameng's recent strategic decision to transfuse the Jurchen Eight Banners soldiers with blood this winter so that they can cause greater damage to the Ming court before they lose their value.So after asking for advice from the rear, everyone on the front line still held their noses and agreed to the deal, but the price had to be cut as low as possible.

After all, the most effective way to reverse the conservative thinking of the Chinese people to resettle and relocate and extract a large number of people from the Central Plains is to plunge this land into a long period of destructive war.To put it bluntly, the more serious the damage and panic caused by the Eight Banners soldiers in the pass, the easier it is for the transmigrators to absorb immigrants—anyway, according to the history of another time and space, they were all going to die...

After finalizing the deal, the atmosphere in the cabin became more relaxed, and everyone began to drink tea while discussing some 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 the beginning, I lived in Zhongnanhai, and later moved into the mansion of Wen Tiren, the chief minister of the cabinet. I didn't stay in the palace for a long time..."

Huang Shi replied, "...Actually, Huang Taiji doesn't pay much attention to enjoyment. He may not be as particular about life as the magistrate of the Ming Dynasty!"

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

Huang Taiji and several of his concubines seem to live in a Phoenix Tower, the main palace empress lives in the main room, and the other women live in the side rooms.Every room has a heated kang, and there are pots and stoves. The folks say that the empress of the East Palace bakes big pancakes, and the empress of the West Palace peels green onions, which is probably the case.Moreover, not counting the buildings that were added later in the Qing Dynasty, in the era of Huang Taiji, the entire Shenyang harem was at the level of a landlord's compound. If Huang Taiji had sex with any woman, the whole courtyard could hear the sound—anyway, I It's hard to imagine how Xiaozhuang and Hailanzhu live diagonally across the door, looking down and not seeing up..."

"...Aren't they real sisters? Let's understand each other, don't they have their aunt in the main house!" Huang Shi replied casually

"...That's right, Empress Zhezhe lives in the main room..." Mo Ming nodded while searching for information on her smartphone, "...I checked, and in Huang Taiji's backyard, except for the ones received from Lin Danhan Empress Dowager Na Muzhong, the rest of the women seem to be relatives such as aunts, sisters, and younger sisters, and they are really a family in bed. This is the benefit of playing the "family bucket"-the harmony in the back house..."

When this ambiguous topic was brought up, everyone laughed in a way that only men can understand...

After chatting for a while, Huang Shi got up and prepared to leave - as the supreme commander of the entire East Asian theater, he is now in charge of the four battlefields of Tianjin, Shandong, Fujian and Japan at the same time, and may open up more new ones in the future. front.Although only Japan is currently in a state of hot war, there are still things that require him to make decisions and make decisions everywhere.Fortunately, there are satellite phones and [random door] now, otherwise it would be too busy.

However, just as he was going out, he heard everyone's smartphones beeping. Then Wang Qiu immediately took out the phone and took a look, with a strange expression on his face, "... eh? The latest military announcement, Nanjing There is a change in the aspect? The Donglin Party is planning to support a new emperor?!!"

"...No way? Emperor Chongzhen is still alive now! Those people in Nanjing are too bold! Where is the righteousness of the monarchs and ministers?"

Huang Shi blinked his eyes in disbelief, "...Moreover, the historical Nanming Emperor Hongguang, who is now the son of King Fu, is still staying in Luoyang. Even the old King Fu has not been killed by Li Zicheng. Who are the Donglin Party votes going to support?"

"...According to the announcement, they are going to support King Lu, to be precise, the second son of King Lu, Zhu Yihai... This guy fled to Nanjing after the Wenxiangjiao uprising. Both the former King Lu and his elder brother He disappeared during the war, so he, the second son, can inherit the throne..."

"...The second son of King Lu? It's too funny! And even the palace and residence are lost. No matter which vassal king is supported as emperor, he is more decent than him!"

"...Hey, who knows what the Donglin Party thinks? Maybe it's just because of his reputation..."