Australian Storm 1876

  Chapter 131 Songjiang Town

at dusk

  The expedition team raised a bonfire at the foot of the mountain, boiled a large pot of snow-white mushroom fish broth, grilled mutton until golden, and the rich fragrance drifted away, making people salivate.

  There was also an episode in the middle

About to touch a pack of 17 or eight thylacines rushed into the camp, and was shot head-on by the guards on the spot. After leaving more than a dozen wolves, they fled in panic, and three young men from the guards stepped up. Hurry up and chase away.

  It is estimated that the remaining thylacines are more violent, and there is little hope of escape.

  Li Fushou sat on the rock and chatted with Pan Shoudao, Wu Mozhou and others in a relaxed and happy atmosphere.

  The guards cut the roasted lamb with a sharp knife and put it on a plate. They even grabbed the lamb in their hands and started to eat and chew, eating a few mouthfuls of meat and drinking a sip of wine, which felt really refreshing.

  In a moment

  Lei Xiao brought a bowl of soup in her hand, Li Fushou smiled and nodded and said; “Thank you, Brother Lei, I can smell the fresh fragrance of this fish soup from far away. It must taste very good.”

"Master, you are too polite. This is Lei Xiao's duty. I have never seen such a fat-headed fish when I grew up. It weighs 60 or 70 catties, and it can be burnt in several pots. It is enough for all of us. It’s a rare treasure when you’re full!"

   "Hahaha...It seems that Brother Lei has also been in this place, and will let you come here as a sheriff in the future, are you willing?"

"Master can't be without people. When the little rascals in my family grow up and can take care of the master, Lei Xiao is willing to come here to spend his old age and do whatever he tells me to do. Let's not pay attention." Lei Xiao The answer was very simple and frank.

   "Well, I take this to heart."

Li Fushou smiled and nodded. He drank a big mouthful of fish soup while it was hot. It was very delicious and delicious. A large piece of fish brain that looked like tender tofu slipped into the mouth, and it was gone with a single sip. It was almost fresh. I lost my tongue.

  He couldn't help but said "Okay", and began to gulp up the fish soup.

Li Fushou's bowl of fish soup is all the essence of fish heads. The large pieces of fisheye meat tasted wonderfully and abnormally. He couldn't help drinking another bowl, patted his stomach contentedly and said, "Wow, eat it today. It's a little bit braced."

  Wu Mozhou also drank the fish soup beautifully, shaking his head and said; “So the deliciousness of the lake has become a ghost, really should only be found in the sky, how many times do you find it in the world?”

"Hahaha...to say that the spirits are also a large group. The fishing guard said that he saw dense fish heads on the river. After a few sticks, the big fish jumped ashore on their own. Could they take the initiative to dedicate their lives to repay their favor?" Xin Changjun joked happily. .

  Feuerbach-Kant nodded and said with the unique humor of a man of science and technology; “This is a land blessed by God. If large-scale construction projects start, local materials can be used to reduce the pressure on logistics supply.

  These fish meat can provide plenty of protein and lecithin, as well as easy-to-digest fat. If you need to take in muscle fiber, um..."

He looked at the roasted sheep skeleton left on the bonfire, then turned to the body of the thylacine not far away, and finally looked at the shaking bushes, and said, “There are many hares, pheasants and kangaroos here. There are quite a few wild boars that can be eaten. Let's make a rough calculation, uh... I'm sorry, without detailed data to support it, I can't accurately say this ratio."

  Li Fushou surprised? ? ?

  Wu Mozhou stunned? ? ?

  Xin Changjun surprised? ? ?

  Pan Shoudao surprised? ? ?

  Then everyone burst into a roar of laughter, and the laughter was so close that they drew a surprise look from the guards.

  In this rich land, the most indispensable thing is food.

  Li Fushou thought for a while and said; “Zhong Zhai recorded that 1,500 people have been arranged from immigrants in the near future, preferably family-based immigrants. Three new immigrant farming villages will be built along the vicinity, mainly planting, supplemented by grazing.

  This matter must be carried out immediately, reclaiming wasteland, planting seeds, and next spring will be the harvest season, which can be supplied to the main food needs of the project without any further allocation from other places.

  Meat food is solved by the pastoral area of ​​Songjiang Town. The amount used in the project is priced according to the quantity. Tens of thousands of construction workers have worked hard here for three years, which can also promote the development of the service industry in Songjiang Town. "

   "Brother Yuanding, do you mean it's decided?" Xin Changjun asked everyone's questions.

   "Well, yes, with the influx of large-scale immigrants, the Songjiang Reservoir project is imperative." Li Fushou stared at the burning bonfire, and there seemed to be a flame burning in his eyes, and said in a firm and methodical tone;

  "Songjiang Town is blessed with unique geographical conditions. It is an important node city for the Red River Valley to effectively control the vast southern territory. It is also a territory of Southern Victoria. Its rapid development will help us expand our political influence and expand the territory and appeal of the party.

  After the opening of the coastal railway, it will also serve as a distribution center for wool and agricultural products in surrounding towns, reducing many unnecessary long-distance trafficking and further reducing costs.

This requires the construction of a large-scale woolen mill in Songjiang Town. The planned fourth and fifth woolen mills will be established here. The processing of agricultural and sideline products and the marine fishing industry will be vigorously developed. At the same time, a large-scale steel industry base will be established. Super Red River Valley.

  All of this is based on abundant power resources, so the construction of Songjiang Reservoir is imperative. It is necessary to demonstrate and invest in the pre-project preparation work as soon as possible. Time is not waiting! "

   "In this way, how to solve the funding gap?" Xin Changjun knew that with the implementation of three large-scale infrastructure projects, Li Fushou was ashamed.

  The landlord’s house has no surplus!

"Squeezing can also raise part of the start-up capital and raise some shares in the society, and the rest can be mortgaged with the high-quality project of Songjiang Reservoir to solve the current funding problem." Li Fushou quickly calculated in his heart, quite certain points. The head said, "At the end of the year, Huitong Bank will pay dividends again. I will spend more than half of the shares in Songjiang Reservoir. This way, the construction funds used in Songjiang Town will be reduced. Let's focus on the most important ones."

  Secretary Fan Zhongzhai used the pen to write down the words of the master, and wrote down all the words of the master. There were also important things to do, which were listed as top priorities.

  Back to Songjiang Town, he immediately sent an urgent call to the telegram, and quickly implemented the important instructions of the master.

  This matter was confessed to him. According to the rules, Fan Zhongzhai will always follow up and report the corresponding development to the master.

Late at night

Except for the blazing bonfires and night guards, everyone fell asleep. It was an extremely ordinary night. The howling sounds of wild beasts were heard in the distance, mixed with the wind blowing the woods at night. The rustling sound showed the original appearance of the wilderness.

  This is another night destined to be recorded in the annals of history. Li Fushou made an extremely important decision here to vigorously develop Songjiang Town.

  This is an important decision to expand the power of the Red River Valley from Queensland to the entire Australian continent. It is also a starting point for the development of the Red River Valley from a local power to sweeping Australia.

  After dawn

Li Fushou and his entourage broke up with the field survey team and continued their inspection tour of coastal railway towns. A group of experts led by Feuerbach-Kant will recently be stationed in Songjiang Town to visit the nearby mountains and rivers to collect First-hand data, repeatedly demonstrated this major project.

  If there are no major changes, large-scale construction will begin early next year.

Engineering preparation projects have been initiated, including the construction of three reclamation villages and towns, the deployment of personnel to build roads, the deployment of workers to cut logs, excavate mountains and quarry, start the construction of a large cement plant, and notify Hongshan Iron and Steel Plant to arrange the necessary steel bars for production capacity, and arrange Hongshan Shipyard's production of large-scale steel castings, steel components, etc. are all in an orderly preparation.

  Songjiang Town

   is located in the higher hilly area of ​​Taihu Lake. Since the beginning of the year, it has grown to a scale of more than 4,000 people and more than 1.7 million pigs, cattle and sheep. It is a large coastal town.

Songjiang Town has built a simple wooden trestle bridge by the Taihu Lake, which can dock 3,000-ton freighters and 800-ton passenger ships. It communicates with important cities such as Sydney, Brisbane and the Red River Valley through waterways. It is the most important transportation for the town. Way.

  The entire town is dominated by wooden buildings. There are three factories, a slaughterhouse, a meat processing plant and a sheep shearing base. It is also a concentrated area of ​​agricultural and animal husbandry products with a radius of more than 100 miles, and a major commodity trade center.

Mayor Wu Tiesheng led the Royal Mounted Police to greet him early. This person is no stranger. He can serve as the head of Songjiang Town, an important node town. Li Fushou personally ordered the general and specially arranged this capable subordinate to be the mayor.

  Before and after the fight to encircle and suppress the "Wild Wolf" Birken gang, Wu Tiesheng, the captain of the No. 17 grazing site, performed well and fully capable, which left a deep impression on Li Fushou.

  Wu Tiesheng therefore entered the Department of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, and once achieved the position of deputy director, and was eventually transferred to Songjiang Town to serve as the mayor.

  "Dear Lord Earl, Wu Tiesheng has been waiting here for a long time. Please go to the town office to take a break and have a cup of tea, and you will report something important."

   "Oh..." Li Fushou took an interesting look at the horse, waved his hand and said; "Then lead the way, listen to what you want to report?"

   "Follow your humble duty."

  Riding on the streets of the town on horseback

There are many shops on both sides of   . There are shops for various daily commodities and tools one after the other. There is also a three-story Fulinmen Hotel at the crossroads of the small town, next to Huitong Bank and the small town police station.

  It was very lively near noon.

  Several carts loaded with tall wool bales passed by, and some people selling agricultural products set up stalls on the side of the road, and there were no shortage of interested customers.

  Several white people drove two four-wheeled caravans to face each other. The accompanying guards immediately surrounded the caravan and inspected the caravan. Nothing unusual was found. It seemed that it was a bankrupt white farmer who was migrating with his wife, children, and children.

   "Mayor Wu Tiesheng, are there many whites who have recently entered Songjiang Town?"

"In return, Lord Earl, over the past six months, more than 100 white people have settled in Songjiang Town. Many of them are employees and merchants of bankrupt ranch. The total number is about 400 people, accounting for about 20% of the permanent population of Songjiang Town. After all, we have Many cowboy families are nomads in the pastures all year round and do not often come back to the town."

   "How are they doing?"

   "Although there are some minor frictions, they are usually very friendly. They know that this is the territory of the Earl of Queensland, and no one dares to be rough here."

  "How about the security of the town?"

"Return to Lord Earl, there are no major incidents. There are still a lot of sporadic casualties caused by robbers in the wilderness. There have been more than 10 incidents in the past six months, causing three casualties, more than a dozen injured, and robbed. There are thousands of sheep, mostly in remote grazing areas."

  "Have you taken any effective measures?"

"Return to Lord Earl, many of these sporadic horse bandits are guest appearances of white cowboys. We have centralized management of the white cowboys we hired, implemented a leave system, and strengthened the militia training for new immigrants, basically every adult The men have to study for three days and let them pick up guns to defend their homes. The law and order have improved greatly recently."

  At the time of speaking, he reached the town office. Li Fushou got off his horse and walked in with his whip in his hand.

  The personal guard brought tea and withdrew, scattered around the town office to guard, leaving Wu Tiesheng alone in the room to report.

  Li Fushou sat in a chair, took a sip of the hot tea that had just been brewed, and asked, "Are there any difficulties here in Songjiang Town?"

   "It must be false to say that there is no difficulty, but these temporary difficulties can be overcome, but yesterday, Gusu Town sent someone to report that they found traces of the Billy kid gang, which made me very worried about the safety of adults."

   "Billy kid?"

"Yes, it is the remnants of the escape of the "Wild Wolf" gang of Birkens. There are about 30 or 40 people in this gang. They have always been in the area further south near Sydney, damaging the local ranchers, and I don’t know how they came. Our territory is here, but fortunately, we are afraid of the name of the Red River Valley and didn't dare to commit crimes and harm the people." Wu Tiesheng explained cautiously.

   Billy Clayburn, nicknamed the "Billy Kid", is an experienced habitual offender. He once followed the "Wild Wolf" Birken from north to south along the coastline, almost devastating the entire southeast coast of the Australian continent.

   Dozens of **** battles, making this brutal white bandit leader extremely rich in combat experience, and also cunning like a fox, more cautious than the original bandit boss Birken.

  Once there is wind and grass, it will be hundreds of miles away.

  The Royal Mounted Police of New South Wales and Victoria repeatedly smashed into the air, even if they caught the tail, they would bite back, and ended up with heavy losses.

  So far, Billy and the "Scarface" Eck gang that has scoured Victoria, were once the capable men of Birken, and now they are Australia’s two major scourges. The official reward amount has reached 1,300 pounds.

  Slightly consider

  Li Fushou made up his mind to get rid of the Billy Boys gang. This group of scourges must be no good on the ground in the Red River Valley.

  Relying on their strength, they cannot looting the town, but the nomadic spot on the wasteland is not an opponent at all. They can eat meat for thousands of miles, and they will not change to vegetarianism, right?

"The situation you reported is very important. Recently, the Leopard Cavalry was training nearby and gave my order; he immediately rushed to Gusu Town and Songjiang Town to station, and dispatched armed patrols to strengthen inspections. Your town sent experienced militiamen. With the assistance of the RCMP, we must ensure that these bandits are driven back to the south."

   "Obviously, I will send orders."

  The mayor of Wu Tiesheng arched his hands, turned around and went to the secretary to convey the command of the master, and sent a text message to the commander of the Leopard Cavalry Guard.

The   Leopard Cavalry Guard is full of 400 people. It is an elite military force trained around the clock. It has seen blood with real guns and live ammunition. It is not a problem to cooperate with the local militia to suppress this small group of gangsters.

  (End of this chapter)