Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 192 Food Self-sufficiency
The seasons in the northern and southern hemispheres are opposite. At the end of August, Rio Grande do Sul is in early spring. At this time, the retired soldiers who had settled down for a year and the Chinese workers who later migrated here had just finished harvesting the third crop and began to clear the crop straw in the fields and loosen the soil, making intensive preparations for the new year's spring plowing.

Crops in South America are generally harvested three times a year. Rice, corn, soybeans and sweet potatoes are the crops with the highest planting rates in the area. The total planting rate of rice and sweet potatoes accounts for 70% of the cultivated area of ​​Rio Grande do Sul, corn and soybeans account for about 15%, and the remaining 5% is wood, wheat and other crops.

Rice is the staple food of the Chinese. When the Chinese people obtained a large piece of land, they would first dig a pond on suitable land, and then build several isolated farmlands around the pond. By diverting water from the pond to provide the rice with the right amount of water, they would plant patches of lush green seedlings.

In the southern part of the mainland, one acre of good paddy field can be exchanged for three or four acres of dry land. If a family owns more than ten acres of paddy fields, it means that this family is either a landlord in the village or a scholar with official titles.

In mainland China, the quality and quantity of land are the main criteria for judging whether a family is prosperous. When an ordinary Chinese accumulates wealth or power, the first thing he does is to buy a large amount of land as capital for family inheritance. However, in Rio Grande doulour, the Chinese who have been allocated large tracts of land have not changed their previous ideas. They work hard all year round to guard hundreds of acres of land and are unwilling to let large areas of land grow weeds and waste.

There were about 110,000 Chinese who survived the first batch of Chinese who followed Li Mingyuan on the expedition from Peru. Each of them was allocated more than 300 acres of land. When the land was just distributed, Li Mingyuan persuaded them in advance to select 20 to 30 acres of relatively fertile land from the hundreds of acres to reclaim as farmland, and sow grass seeds and fence the rest of the land as pasture to raise cattle, sheep, horses and other livestock, or to grow economic plants such as cocoa and coffee beans.

Li Mingyuan's well-intentioned persuasion played a positive role. Some Chinese who had worked as laborers in the plantations returned to their old jobs. While managing 20 to 30 acres of farmland, they received cash crop seeds provided by the government and tried to operate mixed crop planting areas on their own land.

The other group of people, represented by the Chinese who came from the lower-class peasant family in Fujian Province, had personally experienced the pain of having no land and suffering from hunger, and were afraid of living such a hard life again. Therefore, these Chinese reclaimed as much of the land distributed to them as possible into farmland, and planted high-yield crops such as rice, sweet potatoes, and corn.

In Rio Grande do Sul, the majority of the population are Chinese who are tired of poverty. They believe in the simple truth that as long as they have food in their hands, they will not be worried. They are busy in the fields every day, reclaiming and tidying up as much land as possible.

After retiring, most Chinese people did not stop to enjoy a comfortable life. Instead, they threw themselves into the work of reclaiming wasteland and farming with a sense of urgency.

From the first rush to plant crops in July last year to the spring ploughing this year, the hardworking Chinese used simple iron plows and a small amount of steam seeding machinery to reclaim 500 million mu of farmland and 1200 million mu of pasture and grassland, allowing Rio Grande do Sul to save some surplus food as reserve materials after meeting its own food needs.

Food is an important part of national stability at any time. After the statistics of grain production for the year were completed, Li Mingyuan ordered the purchase of surplus grain at a price 1.2 times higher than the average grain price in South America in order to regulate grain prices and prevent a drop in grain prices in good years, which would undermine farmers' enthusiasm for production.

The purchased grain will be mainly stored in reserve granaries, while the replaced old grain will be distributed as military rations to various field army units.

Pingshan Town, formerly the San Javier Iron Mine Area, is now the headquarters of the First Mixed Brigade of the National Defense Force.

A team of more than 70 people, divided into 12 small boats loaded with food, weapons and ammunition, quietly crossed the river border dividing line between Rio Grande do Sul, Argentina and Paraguay, and headed towards the Argentine land line.

After entering Argentine territory, the twelve small boats carefully crept along a winding river covered with dense trees.

"Da Da Da." The unique sound of the steam engine of the inland gunboat sounded at the other end of the river, startling the cautious small fleet. "Captain, it sounds like the gunboat is heading towards us. Should the fleet prepare for battle?"

On the small boat at the front of the fleet, the soldier operating the only heavy machine gun on the ship whispered a reminder.

"Wait a little longer and observe the situation first."

The man in black military uniform listened carefully to the direction of the gunboat's sound, and at the same time whispered to the ships behind him not to reveal their tracks.

The sound of the gunboats lasted for two minutes. Two minutes later, a team of Argentine water gunboat patrols passed over the narrow waterway where the fleet was located and headed in another direction before approaching the small fleet.

After successfully avoiding the Argentinean water patrol, the man in military uniform raised his arm and made a gesture. After the ship behind saw the gesture, it immediately followed the order represented by the gesture and followed the first small boat to continue moving forward.

Ma Jizu was a company commander of the 1st Mixed Brigade. As a Chinese who followed Li Mingyuan in the uprising in Peru, his qualifications exceeded many battalion and company-level officers of the 1st Mixed Brigade. However, because he was injured on the way to southern Brazil, he missed the opportunity to participate in the Paraguayan War and subsequent battles, and he was never promoted.

Among the Chinese soldiers who participated in the uprising at the same time as Ma Jizu and were assigned to the same squad, except for the five who died in battle or retired due to injuries, three of the remaining seven were promoted to battalion-level officers, two were promoted to deputy battalion-level officers, and only he and another person were still holding the position of company commander.

Ma Jizu was originally the first person in his class to be promoted to a company-level officer. However, due to an injury, his former comrades who were lower in rank than him were promoted one after another, leaving him behind. Facing the loss of military merit, Ma Jizu not only felt regretful, but also looked for opportunities to accumulate military merit. Contacting Sun Qisheng in Argentina and transporting supplies for Sun Qisheng's troops was an opportunity he had finally earned.

Ma Jizu had been transporting supplies for Sun Qisheng's troops for half a year. The sudden appearance of the Argentine inland patrol gunboat unit near the transport route made him feel a little unusual.

The war between Argentina and Paraguay lasted for about seven months. During the war, the patrol routes of Argentine troops were generally close to the Paraguayan border. The patrol density and intensity of the waters near Pingshan Town were relatively low.

The sudden appearance of the Argentine patrol gunboat on the smuggling supply route made Ma Jizu alert in advance. In the following voyage, adhering to the principle of caution, the supply fleet did not choose the scheduled route, but bypassed it through the previously explored path, and finally arrived at Sun Qishen's base in northern Argentina two days later.

Thanks to the three students of Lunhui for their support!

I just got home and have some things to do, I will try to keep updated.

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(End of this chapter)