On October 7, 1651, twenty-one years after the crossing landed in South America, it rained heavily.

Relieved by a timely spring rain that alleviated the region's spring drought caused by the abnormal weather (the rainfall in previous springs was not very small), Ma Wenqiang Shi Ran sat in a small two-story building built of large strips of stone on the spot, drinking green tea from the port of Dinghai in Ningbo, while looking boredly at the desolate wilderness.

Outside, there are small rolling hills, which are densely covered with endemic trees such as Paraná pine and South American cedar, and some pioneers wearing new raincoats (made of latex-coated tarpaulin, produced by Yongan Rubber Products Factory) are also cutting down trees in the rain at the edge of the woods; In the valley not far away, some of the new farmers are also struggling to clear the land at the last minute - mainly the remaining roots, shrubs and weeds, and the seeds that remain in the fields are impossible to remove in a short time - in preparation for the spring planting operation that begins in the middle of next month. Although it is the first year of sowing, the harvest is not very important, anyway, the state grain reserve will send relief grain, but for the individual farmers, even if they only receive an extra pound of grain, it is good, this is completely their own income.

The crop to be planted in the field in the first year has been identified, and that is the potato seedlings distributed by the General Directorate of Development. Cultivated and supplied by the Northern Seed Company, the seedlings are very cheap and not cheap, making them ideal for large-scale cultivation by the pioneers of new settlements.

Potatoes were a miraculous crop until 1616. Or is it a luxury of the French court? Because of its short growing season and the fact that it can be grown on barren land, it is highly prized. Of course. At this time in Ireland, the potato had gradually become one of the main food varieties, and in other parts of Europe, although the influence of East Coast exports was involved, potato cultivation was still not very common.

"The annual production of potatoes in China is very large, but there are very few other crops, and one day if we can domesticate tea to suit the local climate. That's beautiful. Ma Wenqiang gently shook the white porcelain cup in his hand and said silently in his heart. It was nearly three or four o'clock in the afternoon. Ma Wenqiang, who had been running outside for a few hours in the morning and didn't even bother to eat, felt a little hungry in his stomach, so he put down the teacup and asked the secretary to bring him some snacks.

Snacks are sealed in glass jars and come in many variety. But it's probably some candied products like jam, and some biscuits in sealed boxes. Biscuits are produced in Xihu County Dafeng Food Company, the company's general manager Cai De organized the staff to develop a patent for the production of biscuits, they use wheat flour, cane sugar, milk and butter, in the machine qì to cut, roll, bake - the latest technological invention makes Dafeng Food Factory can already engrave on the biscuits - the proportion of various ingredients in the production process is strictly controlled, the temperature and heat control are also regulated, and the flour used is also very suitable for making Zuò biscuits with low hardness South Yazihu wheat.

Nowadays, the progress of food technology in the East Coast Republic is really rapid and fast, and the use of a large number of scientific instruments makes the production process strictly controlled, which effectively guarantees the quality of the product. I have to say. The people in power control the quality of food very strictly, from raw materials to finished products, the pervasive Syphilis Agency (Syphilis Patient Statistical Survey Bureau) agents often visit the country's major food processing workshops. Those caught not complying with the regulations will be fined or exiled, and the enforcement will be very harsh. For some products, such as salted fish, the plum agency insists that it be salted on the spot in an open-air wharf environment to win the trust of people. For example, in the seafood processing center of Yanchang Port and Luoqia Port. Many small processing workshops set up sheds on both sides of the wharf and Shugang Highway to pickle on site, and accept the supervision of pedestrians. to ensure product quality.

Although the preparation of biscuits, milk powder, butter, and cheese is not perverted to the point of being completed on the side of the road, the operators do not dare to be sloppy, because the punishment is too heavy, and the expected benefits of cutting corners are not at the same level compared with the penalties such as fines, exile and even hanging, and the risks and benefits are not proportional, so naturally no one dares to take risks. Coupled with the prestige of the Mei Agency, who knows if there are any whistleblowers among the workers you recruited? The small workshop owners really can't afford to take the risk that it might lead them to ruin!

Among the snacks served to Ma Wenqiang, there are more sugar-pickled products produced in Xihu County and Ping'an County. In the past two or three years, as the East Coast has reaped bumper grain harvests year after year, the grain market has become more and more sluggish. In particular, when the sown area of grain in Yazi Lake and the inland Western Wilderness is expanding year by year, the decline in grain prices has become inevitable, so in recent years, many people have turned to planting soybeans, alfalfa and other feed crops, and at the same time feed more livestock to increase their income, which has slightly curbed the decline in grain prices, so that the farmers in the Western Wilderness will not have a miserable life.

In addition to planting cereals and alfalfa, and developing beef and dairy farming, many people choose to plant fruit trees. For example, in Liming Township and Jushu Township of Ping'an County, which already has a "very long" history of fruit tree cultivation (well, this history is definitely no more than 21 years), many farmers have given up growing grains for many years - or only planting a small piece enough for their own food - and have begun to cultivate various fruit trees, which are then exported to the jam factories that have sprung up in their hometowns and counties to earn income.

The rise of the orchard industry provided a rich soil for the jam processing industry, and after some Ming chefs (many of whom had some exclusive recipes) who immigrated to the east coast participated, the jam processing industry in Ping'an County suddenly showed a blowout trend, and it was exported to all parts of the country for a time, and its reputation was shocked. Soon, some farmers in Xihu County, Zhongshan County and other places with unique climates also began to plant fruit trees on a large scale, but the time was too short and no climate had yet formed.

The rapid development of the jam industry has made it possible to eat delicious and sweet fruit products even in winter. Although the taste is certainly not as good as fresh, jams marinated in sugar water or honey (imported from Brazil, Peru and New Huaxia Island) also have their own unique flavor, and they are still sold quite well because they are stored in thick glass cans for a longer period of time.

At present, the jam processing industry in Ping'an County is not small, and it is relatively formal, from the formula to the production process are after repeated trials and strict scrutiny, and the workers are generally either their own families, or they are also long-term employees, and they are more experienced. Ma Wenqiang's younger brother was quite interested in this industry a while ago, and he even planned to apply to his father and invest heavily in the construction of a large jam processing factory, which will have more powerful resources than those small workshops, such as higher mechanization, such as having its own cold storage, such as hiring chemical analysts to test some ingredients in jam (of course, this is difficult at the moment) - at present, the Institute of Natural Sciences has discovered the existence of pectin in the pulp. This led to a series of research results, which Ma Wenqiang's younger brother planned to buy and then innovate the processing process (the current processing staff in the small workshops do not know this knowledge at all, and they rely heavily on the personal experience of the chef, which is not conducive to large-scale industrial production).

In addition to the in-depth research on the composition of the pulp, the new jam product factory that the Ma family plans to invest in has also optimized the production process, and they have introduced a high-temperature thermometer from the Henan Glass Factory to help with production on the production line. In the traditional production process in the past, the personal experience of the master master was the most important factor in the production process, but they obviously could not hire a master who could accurately grasp the heat of boiling jam, so they could only rely on scientific instruments to assist production. After all, installing some testing equipment on the jam production kettle does enable an inexperienced worker to get into the role and become familiar with production in the shortest possible time - provided that the worker does more practical work beforehand, so that the worker knows exactly what to do at what temperature and how much air pressure.

Of course, some people may say that the scientific instruments currently manufactured on the East Coast are still quite unreliable, and the failure rate and error rate are very high. However, in the process of industrial mass production, these are worthwhile and unavoidable. You know, their output is much higher than that of small workshops, and the cost is much lower than theirs, and the production losses caused by equipment failure are still within the tolerance range of investors.

"To invest in a jam factory, you must first have your own stable raw material supply base. Going door-to-door in a rural orchard is the way small workshops work, and it is not suitable for modern factories with huge demand, so it is imperative to build their own own orchards, which is the opportunity to seize the opportunity. The two new settlements planned by the Executive Committee in the North Duck Lake area this time are very good in my opinion, and if the second child builds an orchard and a processing plant here, and then recruits his own manpower, his future development will not be controlled by others. Moreover, recruiting people to pioneer by themselves can also enjoy preferential national policies, and there are many benefits, and it would be a fool not to grasp the opportunity. Marven chewed on the crunchy and sweet biscuit, but his thoughts had drifted far away.

The place where he is now located is called "Lingshan Fort" on the map - named after the first immigrants from Lingshanwei, east of the Ming Dynasty, near the city of Tapis in later Brazil. After the militia in Xihu County and Ping'an County cleared up the local indigenous people, the East Bank government began to move supplies and personnel to the area and build new settlements.

At present, the construction of this settlement has been taken over by the State Development Administration, and Ma Wenqiang has been transferred to this place because of his outstanding achievements in pioneering land in the jurisdiction of the Northwest Reclamation Bureau, and is in charge of the construction of Lingshan Fort and the nearby three lakeside (meaning easy transportation) settlements of Aoshan Fort (Barado Ribeiro) and Rushan Fort (Guayiba City). He felt that it was necessary to let his younger brother come to see at the beginning of the development, which not only responded to the national policy, but also took the lead for the future development of the enterprise, so why not? (To be continued)