Another cheap paddle steamer bought by the Southern Railway Company rushed into the relatively calm sea in Montessori Bay. They had just been hit by a sudden storm, and the 72-ton boat did not dare to wander around the sea, so they increased their horsepower and plunged headlong into the bay, named after the first explorer, Menghu, to escape the rough sea conditions.

This bay faces the Guafukou Strait (the strait between Guafu and the Jonos Islands) and is located on the north side of the island of Guaitca Grande. It was first "discovered" two years ago by the Menghu people, hence the name Montessori Bay, and the shores are inhabited by dozens of families of Eight Banners prisoners who have been exiled here, and they are watched by dozens of other Shandan or Patagoni immigrants, who together form a small fishing village - Montessori Port.

Montessori was the last supply point for ships from the east coast to trade with Maurin, a poor port that relied on the sale of vegetables, potatoes, and fresh meat (mainly goats) to passing ships, and the most commonly imported materials were spirits, tobacco, cloth, and grain. On Ascension Island, which is only separated from Guajteca Grande by a narrow waterway to the east, and on the site of the former Port Merlinka of Chile, there is also a penal colony of the Republic of the East Coast - Port Blue Whale, which currently has 73 criminal prisoners and their families, 88 prisoners of the Qing army, 95 Polish prisoners of war (generally from noble backgrounds), and 226 free aliens such as the Ona and Patagoni people of Tierra del Fuego, as well as the Ezo and Shandan people, with a total population of no more than 500 people.

Montessori Harbor, Blue Whale Harbor. It has been clearly demonstrated that the East Coast Republic of China had been deporting prisoners to the broken islands of Chile's southern coastline as early experimental immigrants since at least two years ago - the year after the establishment of the Southern Railway. And this. It is likely that the Southern Rail Company dared to secretly emigrate to the southern tip of Chiloe Island, which was abandoned by the Spaniards. In any case, in the Treaty of Valladolid, the Kingdom of Spain had already sold the fishing rights in the southeastern Pacific waters south of Chile to the people on the east coast, so it is understandable that the people on the east coast set up some temporary rest and supply bases in these seas - anyway, this matter is a bit of a joke, and in the end, most of the money is paid by the east coast government, and the Spanish take advantage of the situation.

However, to say that the East Coast government is simply idle to exile criminals in these places. But it's not quite accurate, because they really think about how to make use of the rich fishery resources in this area. Due to the influence of the Peruvian cold snap. Rising currents off the coast of Chile have led to a significant increase in nutrients in the seawater, resulting in a rich local fishery resource. In addition to the famous horse mackerel, local salmon, shrimp and crabs are also abundant, in the sea area of Corcova Bay north of Blue Whale Harbor, east of Chiloe Island, and south of Puerto Barrios (later Puerto Montt). It has always been the main place for blue whale activity, and its density is rare in other seas in the world. Later generations once had statistics, and more than one-tenth of the more than 3,000 blue whales surviving at that time lived in this sea area, which can be seen.

In order to effectively explore the local whale resources and increase the company's income, the Southern Railway has planned to order some more whaling ships from the modern special shipyard, and then use the Blue Whale Port and Guanhai Port as a base. Whaling operations were carried out in the Gulf of Corkova. The whales are hauled to Blue Whale Harbor for processing before the various products are transported back to Araucan Harbor for a secret relationship. Finally, it is shipped back to the country for sale and profit.

Of course, Blue Whale Harbor is obviously much more than that! From here to the south, to about 50 degrees south latitude, salmon grow in abundance. Later Chileans in the Strait of Moraleda (the strait between the Jons Islands and the mainland), south of Puerto Merlinka, came to fish regularly in summer and autumn, but also in this semi-enclosed waters. Chile has become the largest salmon farming country in the world. Large quantities of high-quality salmon are exported to foreign markets every year, thanks to the cold and clean waters.

What's more, most of Chile's salmon farms were located in the Morales Strait (Chile's national protected area) – a large number of small islands that provided a natural anchorage for salmon cages – and from here to the south, all the way north of Puerto Araucan, where salmon could be farmed. In other words, the potential of salmon farming in southern Chile is far from being realized, and there can be a significant increase in production.

How can this kind of God-given wealth be let go! Neither the East Coast Executive Committee nor the China Southern Railway Company, which owns the fishing rights here (the East Coast government invested the fishing rights in the China Southern Railway Company), will not watch this wealth go down the drain. No, they had been deporting prisoners and migrants here since two years ago, and had built two port towns in advance to provide sufficient supplies for passing ships and immigrants who might come later.

After the construction of these two small settlements, the Southern Railway Company has already begun the next step of intensive preparations: the customization of breeding cages, which require a special order from Xinhuaxia Island for high-grade cages made of sisal, and ordinary fishing nets may not be able to withstand the huge salmon raised in this icy water; the ordering of fishing vessels (partly whaling and processing vessels, partly salmon and horse mackerel fishing vessels) and the recruitment of sailors; There were also a large number of seafood processors - this is actually easy to do, and only a little training was required from a part of the Ming immigrants.

After this qiē, the Southern Railway Company will also set up a halfway safe haven in Aguirre on the southern side of the strait to provide a supply and shelter for fishermen fishing and salmon farming in this area. At the same time, there are plans to establish a meteorological observatory and a botanical garden, which will be managed by the Navy and the Ministry of Agriculture, respectively. Meteorological stations are responsible for observing and recording the weather in the nearby seas, but they are also responsible for measuring the depth of water in the nearby seas and mapping the islands – a long-term task that is not in a hurry to complete in the short term.

The botanical garden is more interesting, because experts from the Ministry of Agriculture have found on this island that various tree species such as beech, cypress and pine can be found throughout the mountainous area of southern Chile. Animals such as yellow-legged foxes, Chilean deer, Chilean beavers, baby otters, seals and sometimes with a bit of luck you can catch a glimpse of the whales.

Of course, these are not all the factors that contributed to the Ministry's decision to set up a botanical garden in this theoretically untouched part of the eastern coast, but the main reason why the Ministry of Agriculture decided to set up a botanical garden and seed breeding base here was the discovery of unique wild potato varieties on the island.

After knowing the news, Jin Kela, the chief agricultural expert of the East Coast, the former minister of agriculture and the current vice president of the Southern Railway Company, thought hard for a long time, and finally after carefully studying the potato samples brought back by the expedition members, he deduced that this is probably one of the original origins of potatoes, and the potato genetic resources are extremely rich, so it is worth setting up a national breeding center here.

As we all know, potatoes are suitable for living in relatively cold highland areas, and if they live in warm and humid plains, then they are prone to disease and the variety is easy to degrade. It's no surprise that the Jons Islands in southern Chile, with their wet and cold year-round cliffs and high cliffs, are suitable for growing potatoes. The location of the potato breeding center here will naturally make use of the abundant wild potato resources in the local area, as well as the environment that is very suitable for potato growth, to breed high-yield potato seeds or seedlings, which is of great significance for increasing the grain production of the East Coast Republic.

At present, there are dozens of farmers on this island, and under the leadership of several cadres of the Corps Fort, they are building their own residences while waiting for the arrival of experts from the Ministry of Agriculture, and then they have begun to study and cultivate this potato variety called "Aquinas" by the Indians on the nearby islands. By the way, the island's planned port was named "Qingfeng Port" by agricultural expert Jin Kola – a very vulgar name – to imply a future bumper harvest of potatoes and salmon in the eastern Republic of China, which fishermen and farmers would celebrate.

However, these farmers in Qingfeng Port are obviously not the first local outsiders, and the first immigrants from the island and some nearby scattered islands are naturally bison from the North American continent and various goats and sheep bred by people on the east coast. These animals thrive freely on these small, broken uninhabited islands, some of which are inhabited by a small number of Indians who use canoes as their main means of transportation. With no predators, abundant food (the islands are full of hills, dark woods and dense grasses), and a relatively closed environment (meaning that diseases are not easily spread), it is believed that the population of these free-range animals will explode over time.

From 42 degrees south latitude to 52 degrees south, Chile's coast is dotted with a large number of broken islands. In the eyes of normal people, these scattered islands with towering mountains, glaciers, dark and damp, and the howl of the west wind all year round are probably burdensome places of no value. However, in the eyes of the people of the east coast, this is indeed a treasure land rewarded by the heavens, with a large number of whales, salmon, horse mackerel and pearls growing in the cold and clean waters, dense forests on the island (most of which can be used for shipbuilding), seals, beavers, otters, foxes and other animals with high economic value also abound, in addition to the cultivation of some high-yield potato varieties. Judging from the above factors, this is obviously a treasure land! I am afraid that the Spaniards do not look down on this kind of place, for the people of the east coast, who are mainly farmers and fishers, this is indeed an inseparable source of wealth, which must be held tightly in their hands.

In their eyes, the land in the southern cone region will be the natural territory of the East Coast Republic of China in the future. Whoever does not admit this, then they will naturally "help" him to realize it deeply! (To be continued)