Wild North America 1846

Chapter 273 The Epitome of Development Boom
one week later

The grains of wheat in Wu Erbao's house had already returned to the barn, and more than 50 large haystacks had been erected beside the corral. The wheat field was filled with black smoke, and the smell of freshly burned straw came to the face, filling the air with smog.

The roots of the burnt orange stalks have to be deeply plowed and dried in the sun. The burnt plant ash is mixed into the soil and fermented by rainwater to provide rich nutrition for the next season.

After 10 days or so, the land will be plowed again. It is best to sprinkle some silt from the river on the ground to increase its fertility. After raking, the next season of winter wheat can be planted.

Paradise Island is a place rich in fresh water resources.

The total area of ​​Paradise Island (New Guinea) is about 78.6 square kilometers, about 2400 kilometers long from east to west, and 655 kilometers wide at its widest point from north to south.

The terrain of the whole island is high in the middle and low on both sides. In the middle of Paradise Island, the central mountain range stretches for more than 2200 kilometers. Most of the mountains and plateaus are above 4000 meters above sea level. It is the highest island in the world.

These majestic mountains are covered with snow all the year round, also known as "Snow Mountains". The highest peak is Mount Chaya (formerly known as Carstens Peak), with an altitude of 4884 (the old measurement is 5029 meters), which is the highest point in Oceania.

The climate on the island is basically tropical. The temperature in the mountainous plateau is 22 degrees Celsius during the day and over 10 degrees Celsius at night, and the temperature in the lowlands is as high as 30 degrees during the day. There is abundant precipitation throughout the year. In some areas on the southern slope of the central mountain range, the annual rainfall reaches 7600 mm.

Xindonggang and Chang'an are not so exaggerated. Both are areas with low rainfall, with an annual average of between 1016 and 1200 mm. This level of rainfall is equivalent to that of Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces.

In addition, these two places are close to the coastline and belong to the marine tropical climate. The average temperature is between 22 and 26 degrees throughout the year, with sufficient sunshine and abundant precipitation, which is suitable for the development of agriculture in three seasons a year.

The new Xi'an and the Yixing Town to Baxing Town that have been opened up this year are basically developed along the coastal area of ​​the Great Plains in the northern part of the Central Mountain Range. The forests here are relatively sparse, the climate conditions are good, and the development difficulty is low.

If it goes deep into the southern forest area, the annual rainfall suddenly increases to more than 2560 millimeters, and some areas reach the level of [-] millimeters of annual rainfall. It rains almost every now and then, for several days at a time. .

It is precisely because of the abundant rainfall in Paradise Island that there are many streams here, and there are more than 10 world-class rivers. There are three big rivers near Xin'an, namely the Mamberamo River, the Sepik River, the La The Moo River, and, further afield, the Macomb River.

The Mamberamo River is just to the east of Jiuxing Town. The Chinese immigrants call it the "Aber River". Wu Erbao has never been there, and it is said that it is a mighty river, and the other side cannot be seen at a glance.

When the railway was repaired there, it made a bend and turned to the south in an "L" shape, and then reclaimed Ten-Star Town, Eleven-Star Town, Twelve-Star Town and Fifteen-Star Town along the river. These six new towns are all in On the side of the "Aber River".

Wu Erbao heard from the people above that a big river city will be built on the east side of the river as a key project in the second phase of the development of Paradise Island.A new city will also be built in Donggang to accommodate the excessive population.

That's what others said, and that's what Wu Erbao heard, and he didn't take it to heart at all.

How can such a big event be considered by a commoner like him? He is now planning to drive his beloved walking tractor to the village below in his spare time to help people open up wasteland!

With the help of tractors, Wu Erbao's farm has a very fast speed of land reclamation, and the wheat seedlings have been planted early. However, there are still many people in the village below who can only work hard on their own. So far, only more than 10 mu of land has been reclaimed. Planting some food and vegetables is almost enough for myself to eat.

For example, Lei Ge, the 60 acres of land he was allocated had hundreds of trees and dense bushes, and there were many large and small stones in the land, which made it more than 10 times more difficult to open up wasteland.

After the collective burning of wasteland, more than 10 mu of land has been opened up to now.

these months

Lei Ge fought hard day and night to cut down the big trees and cut off the branches. There is still a lot of work that needs help in the next step, so Wu Erbao drove the walking tractor.

Take a look at the ground, my God!

The village where Lei Ge lives is a place where shacks are concentrated. In an open field on the side of the mountain, there are piles of big logs as far as the eye can see. Pile wood, it is estimated that each family has cut down a lot of big trees.

It is quite difficult to open up such land, and it is not easy to reclaim it.

There are still roots after the big trees are felled. It is estimated that they can only stay in the ground for now. I will find a way to dig them out one by one in the future. There is nothing for now.

Digging tree roots is physical labor. Five or six people can only dig out one big tree root in a day. This thing can't be rushed, and it will have to be tidied up slowly in the next few years.

Fortunately, it doesn't delay planting crops, just avoid it.

In the village, you can vaguely see the blocks drawn by lime on the ground, and the homesteads of each family are marked with small wooden stakes. The space of each family is quite large, but most of them are a large pile of wood and two The three shacks looked very simple.

Several families in the village have started building houses, but most of them have gone to work in the fields.

Many families have raised cattle, sheep and piglets, and there are quite a few chickens, ducks and poultry, but the numbers are not many.

It can be seen that the progress of pioneering here is much slower than that in the town.

Wu Erbao came to the village with a walking tractor, and immediately someone came up to ask him. After a while, a dozen people surrounded him, mainly wanting to rent his walking tractor to open up wasteland. There are more than a dozen cows in the village, and there are also several walking tractors. But it's not enough to grab, and you can't rent it if you want to rent it.

"Sorry guys, I'm here to help Brother Lei. We have worked in a land reclamation team for more than a year, and we are all close brothers. I will help everyone next time I have a chance."

"Oh, look for Aleigh. He has gone to the ground. If you go along this road, you will see a small river about two miles away. Turn along the road and you will be there not far away."

"Thank you, I'll go right away."

Wu Erbao thanked the enthusiastic villagers and drove the walking tractor all the way to look for it. Sure enough, he found Lei Ge who was busy in the field, and there was a strong man helping him.

Wu Erbao knew this person, his name was Xie Dachuan, and he was also a fellow in the land reclamation team. He had a good relationship with him on weekdays, and it seemed that Lei Ge called him to help.

The sound of the tractor beeping was loud, and Lei Ge and Xie Dachuan saw it approaching from a long distance away. Both of them looked disheartened, but their faces were flushed and they were full of energy.

"Brother Erbao, I'm looking forward to you coming, come and sit down and drink some water." Lei Ge enthusiastically pulled Wu Erbao to sit on the field ridge, scooped out a scoop of water from the bucket, and said apologetically; "I haven't finished it here. The conditions are simple, but there is nothing to entertain, but this water is boiled cold water, so feel free to drink it."

"Brother Lei, why are you still seeing me? When did our brothers pay attention to our work?" Wu Erbao took the water ladle unceremoniously, and finished it in one breath with his head raised.

The tractor drove for seventeen or eighteen kilometers, the road was uneven, and there were potholes and muddy ponds everywhere, which made him bump quite hard.

"Erbao, you are the "excellent laborer" who is popular. I went to the town a while ago, and I happened to take a detour to see your farm. It's really amazing, the wheat waves are rolling, and the cattle and sheep are full of pens, but I'm so envious, I knew we would work hard in the land reclamation team." Xie Dachuan said enviously.

Wu Erbao replied with a smile; "It's not enough compared to the top, but it's more than the bottom. You didn't go to see the farm of "Zhu Ye", good guy! There are 12 big granaries in three rows, all of which are 6 meters high. The two-story wooden building with high ridges and overhanging eaves has been completed, and it is magnificent and beautiful. The door is a whitewashed wooden fence, which may be more than 300 meters long. It is equipped with horse-drawn carts, ox carts, and tractors, so it is called a manor.”

"The "Master Zhu" you mentioned has carried a gun with the emperor, right?"

"Yeah, why don't you talk about other people's cows? There is a housewife and three white-skinned hags in the house. They have several sons and daughters. They are living a comfortable and bubbling life!"

"That's really incomparable. Our village head is the one who has carried a gun with the emperor. There is also a wife in the house, and a white-skinned hag. I heard that she is a woman brought back from Europe. Her eyes are all blue and blue. .”

"Tsk tsk tsk..."

The three chatted for a while, Wu Erbao cast his eyes on Lei Ge's field, frowned, and said, "Lei Ge, it's been almost 5 months since the land reclamation, you haven't tidied up the land yet, but some A lot of life?"

As far as he could see, there were more than a dozen scorched trees lying here and there in the field, and the cut branches were piled up one after another on the left. Mark of.

On the other side, about a dozen mu of land has been planted with crops, and some radishes, Chinese cabbage, and beans have been planted on the small edge of the land.

In all fairness, the growth of this wheat is not good, which means that the land is not plowed deep enough, and the raking is not good enough. Maybe there are many large and small stones and shrub roots left in the field. Of course, the growth is not good.

From the way the land looks, there is still a lot of work to be done.

Hearing what Wu Erbao said, Brother Lei also smiled wryly. After looking at Xie Dachuan beside him, he sighed and said;

"Brother Erbao, let's not talk about it, who asked us to allocate this land, anyway, it is not far from the river and it is convenient to irrigate, just spend more effort to tidy it up, and it will be a good farmland in the future.

I can't compare with you. The energy I saved in the land reclamation team is now doubled and thrown into this field.

Other things about this land are fine, except that there are so many big and small stones that make one's scalp tingle, and the roots of the bushes, Da Chuan and I are about to vomit, but the land on the side of the mountain is like this, and the waiter is no better than you That difference.

Let's not talk about anything else, brothers, I don't have any money to pay you for the farm machinery rent for the time being, let me take a moment, Brother Lei owes you this time. "

"Brother Lei, what are you talking about? I, Wu Erbao, didn't come here for this. Don't worry, I brought both the plowshare and the rake machine. I'll bring back those branches in your field later, sir. The trees were all sawed and dragged back, and we began to plow the land." Wu Erbao waved his hand briskly, he has been very experienced in working for so long, and pointed to the land and said;
"Your land is about 50 mu, and I can plow it in about two days. As long as the soil is turned up deeply, it will be much easier to work on the bottom.

Put on the raking machine head, and you will rake out as many rocks and roots as you can. If it doesn’t work, you can rake it twice more, and then find some riverside silt and turn it in together, and it will be very effective for growing crops.

My walk-behind tractor can support ten strong laborers, and it will take less than a week to finish all your land, so you don't have to worry, I will take care of it. "

The fields that have just been reclaimed are all raw land, and the initial yield is not high. It must be slowly cultivated to become a high-yield mature land.

It goes without saying that the three people present are all masters of farming.

But Wu Erbao's righteousness really moved Lei Ge to the core. With crystal tears in his eyes, he held Wu Erbao's hand tightly and said, "Okay, just do what Brother Erbao said, and don't say anything else. , Lei Ge kept it in mind."

"Stop seeing outsiders, let's work."

"it is good."

With the addition of Wu Erbao's walking tractor, the efficiency of the work suddenly increased. The tractor made more than 10 trips in one afternoon, cleaning up the branches and big trees in the field, and did not stop until the night fell.

In the evening, Lei Ge killed a chicken, stewed the chicken with radishes grown in his own field, and stewed a large pot full, and then fried another dish with eggs and chili peppers. Hold bulk liquor and chat while drinking.

Talking about the hard times in the past and imagining the beautiful future, the more I talked, the more excited I became, and I couldn't help but burst into tears. The three of them had a good time crying and laughing.

Early in the morning of the second day, when the rooster crowed, it was still daylight, and everyone in the village woke up one after another.

Chinese immigrants have a deep love for the land in their bones, they are hardworking and willing to work, and any difficulties are nothing to them.

In this hopeful field, it will soon become a large piece of fertile and fertile land, with criss-cross ditches, smoke from cooking houses, beautiful villages dotted all over, and people have ample food and clothing.

The development of Wuxing Town is the epitome of the second round of development boom in Paradise Island. As more and more Chinese immigrants arrive, this round of in-depth development will continue for many years.

Datang Kingdom has learned a lot of valuable experience from a series of activities in the development of Paradise Island, which can be used in the development of the mainland and other areas of overseas provinces.

In particular, the Panama Overseas Province in Central America is now another hot spot for the kingdom's pioneering and development, attracting more and more Chinese immigrants to settle here and multiply.

Panama is the terminus of the newly opened immigration route in the central Pacific. Chinese immigrants who transited through Paradise Island (New Guinea) arrived here, and some of them continued northward after a short rest to the mainland of the Tang Kingdom.

The other part stayed here, integrated into the local society, and burned wasteland along the Balama Railway to build dozens of new towns.

(End of this chapter)