Chapter 31

May 5th, Sunny.

The Uruguayan autumn has always been Jin Kela's favorite weather, as it often signifies the harvest. The 3,000 acres of soybeans were ready to be harvested. In the past, at this time, Jin Kela would have begged and pleaded with the executive committee to allocate manpower, then endured the unpleasant faces and gossip from department heads, struggling to complete the grain harvest.

This year, however, Jin Kela's luck was better. He easily found the manpower for the harvest. Four hundred immigrants who had just finished building the breakwater at the port and had not yet been assigned to other tasks were immediately intercepted by Jin Kela. In fact, this indirectly indicated that the East Bank Company's human resources had reached a considerable scale. The construction team could easily organize hundreds of people without affecting the normal operations of other departments, which was a significant achievement in itself.

Actually, the population issue is a rather contradictory topic for the executive committee. On one hand, the穿越众 (穿越者) are extremely eager for more manpower, while on the other hand, the food crisis, like the sword of Damocles, always hangs over their heads, unable to be shaken off. The food reserves of the穿越众 (穿越者) are always at a low level. Each time they just manage to harvest some grain, it is quickly offset by the rapidly growing population.

According to the latest statistics, as of May 5, 1632, the total population under the jurisdiction of the穿越众 (穿越者) has reached a record 3,169 people. Among them, there are 928穿越众 (穿越者) and free citizens, 317 war captives and slaves, and 1,924 indentured immigrants. With such a large population, nearly 10,000 pounds of grain and fish are consumed daily.

How much food is currently stored in the East Bank Company's warehouse? After the 500 acres of potatoes and 500 acres of wheat were planted by the 2nd and 3rd production teams in April, and the 500 acres of wheat by the 4th production team, the warehouse now has approximately 240,000 pounds of potatoes, 90,000 pounds of various fish products, and 6,000 pounds of wheat. This amounts to about 35 days' worth of food reserves, just enough to last until the 1,000 acres of potatoes from the 1st production team are harvested in early June.

Fortunately, there is a steady daily catch of over 3,000 pounds of fish during this period, which helps to ease the tension and uncertainty of the food reserves. This is a particularly vulnerable time for the executive committee, and a few hundred more immigrants would completely break the fragile food chain of the East Bank Company. Understanding how empty the grain storage is now, one can fully appreciate the significant importance of the 3,000 acres of soybeans about to be harvested for the East Bank Company.

Four hundred Finns and Czechs who had not yet been assigned to other tasks were organized to carry out the harvest. In just three days, these diligent farmers completed the harvesting and threshing of the soybeans. When the harvest was inventoried, the 3,000 acres of soybeans yielded 165,000 pounds, slightly exceeding Jin Kela's expectations.

During the soybean harvest, over 100 students from the Navigation School and the newly established Dingyuan Military Academy were also brought in to help, as part of their moral and ideological education. These 140 student soldiers, ranging in age from 10 to 15, are at a highly malleable stage. The executive committee has high hopes for them, as they are an important attempt to transmit and maintain the core values and lifestyle of the穿越众 (穿越者).

In addition to the Navigation School and the Dingyuan Military Academy, the executive committee has also expanded three ordinary primary schools and mandated that all school-age children attend. Parents who send their children to school not only get free meals for their children but also receive a subsidy of two yuan per year; those who violate the rules will face heavy labor penalties.

The schools promote the teaching of Mandarin and encourage students to speak Mandarin at home. The curriculum, personally reviewed and approved by the education commissioner Du Wen, includes subjects such as Chinese, mathematics, natural science, social studies, and art. Fortunately, there are many teachers among the穿越众 (穿越者), so they can finally return to their original professions.

In addition to the assimilation education of the next generation, the穿越众 (穿越者) also use various methods to gain the cohesion of the adult immigrants, who currently make up the majority of the population.

According to the executive committee's regulations in 1631, each immigrant must regularly attend night school to learn Mandarin and various rules and regulations. Of course, the night school curriculum is not limited to these two subjects; it occasionally includes the teaching of the穿越众 (穿越者)'s values and ways of thinking. However, the effectiveness of these methods on adults with established mindsets is unknown, and economic incentives and reminiscence of past hardships are more effective.

"1626: Wallenstein imposed war taxes in Upper Hungary, causing over 25,000 people to go bankrupt; 1627: 2,000 farmers in Silesia were robbed and murdered by Wallenstein's army; 1628: Mecklenburg was captured, and the city's residents were plundered by Wallenstein's army, with over 500 people killed."

"1627: King Christian IV of Denmark was defeated at Lutter and fled, leaving the surrounding areas plundered; 1629: Denmark signed a treaty with Austria, and to pay the indemnity, taxes were significantly increased in Norway, Schleswig, and Holstein, causing many farmers to go bankrupt and die from disease and hunger."

"1631: Count Tilly captured Magdeburg, and after plundering and massacring, the population of Magdeburg decreased by a quarter."

"1631: King Gustav II of Sweden conscripted a large number of men in Pomerania."

"1631: Prague was captured by the Saxons, and the mercenaries plundered the city, with an unknown number of deaths."

...

These materials about the Thirty Years' War, compiled and organized by the foreign affairs commissioner Gao Mo, were distributed to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd production teams in the North German region, where the immigrants are concentrated. The propaganda department sent work teams to widely promote these materials in night schools. Since these materials are based on facts and mostly occurred in the immigrants' own regions, they resonated strongly with the German immigrants.

The propaganda department then added fuel to the fire by comparing the immigrants' lives before and after immigration. A few secretly bought immigrants were invited to speak on stage, recounting their previous struggles and hardships in the various states of North Germany due to the war, and the peaceful and stable life they now enjoy in Uruguay. Since this was a true representation of their experiences, the effect was quite good.

In addition, the civil affairs commissioner Xiao Mingli established a new religious affairs office within his jurisdiction. Currently, the office has five staff members: assistant pastor Ye Yongxing, Pastor Francis, Father Pedro (the one captured in the Charuaya village), registered Taoist Wang Bao, and Yu Ci, with Ye Yongxing serving as the director.

These religious figures are either穿越众 (穿越者) or European charlatans who have joined them. Integrity and principles are completely irrelevant to them.

Director Ye Yongxing of the religious affairs office assigned these people to different areas to develop followers and to use religion as a means to promote the穿越众 (穿越者)'s ideas in various settings, gradually transforming the immigrants' thoughts.

Since most of the European immigrants already have established beliefs, Wang Bao and Yu Ci decided to target the nearly 300 Charuaya people who have been captured and are currently engaged in labor. These Charuaya people have been sentenced to five years of labor and are concentrated along the Big Fish River, with men responsible for logging and women planting vegetables under the guidance of the agricultural department. The children are sent to school for mandatory Sinicization education.

Since Wang Bao and Yu Ci are穿越众 (穿越者), it is very easy for them to secure funding and policies from the religious affairs office and the civil affairs department. To improve the success rate of their missionary work, Wang Bao and Yu Ci not only obtained 50 yuan and some material allocation rights from Ye Yongxing but also secured a promise from the internal affairs department that those who believe in Taoism can receive reduced sentences.

This groundbreaking policy made their missionary work soar like a rocket. Not only did many Charuaya people convert, but even some European war captives who were mining in the limestone quarries expressed a willingness to believe in the True God Laozi.

Father Pedro was extremely envious of this situation. Since most of the immigrants were Protestants, Father Pedro had no influence, and the religious affairs office was dragging its feet on his application for missionary funds. This unprincipled man secretly approached Wang Bao, expressing his willingness to convert to the True God Laozi.

Wang Bao, who was both amused and exasperated, reported the situation to Ye Yongxing. Ye Yongxing was also speechless about this shameless and greedy priest. In the end, he comforted him and promised to provide additional missionary funds in the future, urging him to be a model for the executive committee.

On May 31, 1632, the first Taoist temple was built on the south bank of the Big Fish River, and over a hundred believers attended the temple's inauguration ceremony.

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