Chapter 1288 The only Fertile Land in North America, the West Coast of California
The wind from the seaside blows from the seaside operated by the kingdom to the inland mountains. From the Mayo tribes in Regin Town to the north, there is the Yome tribe occupying the open-pit coal belt, the Yaqui tribes of the "People of Flint". And across the continuous open-pit coal belt, to the undulating valleys, to the Red Copper Mountain, which is like a natural wonder, is the territory of the Opata Alliance, the "People of the Mountain". And from here further north is the fierce migrating hunting tribe alliance, the hunting ground of the "People of the Grassland" Apache tribes.
Continue north and reach the basin from the grassland. In the large basin surrounded by mountains, where the Colorado River flows and can withstand cold waves, there are the "People of the Great Basin". And the most famous among them is the Navajo Tribe Alliance, which owns the Mesa Verde "Cliff Dweller" ruins and is the oldest large tribal alliance in the northern continent!
Of course, at this moment, the ancient city-states and palaces of the "Cliff Dwellers" are still as dusty as hidden holy places, and are only passed down in the mouths of a few tribal shamans and sages. And in the western part of the continent at 37 degrees north latitude, the "People of Golden Bay" who have converted to the Lord God, the territory of the Miwok tribes. Xishan Port, the center of the west coast of the kingdom, is in the center surrounded by the Miwok tribes!
"Praise the Lord God! The bronze smelting workshop in Xishan Port has produced another batch of bronze tools!..."
"The Lord God blesses! Another small paddle boat has been launched!..."
"The Lord God is supreme! Look, the Miwok people who come to trade are also praying to the Lord God!"
At present, in Xishan Port with a population of more than 3,000, the four most important functional buildings are the bronze workshop in the east, the shipbuilding workshop in the west, the Lord God's temple in the center, and the public market on the sandbar north of the port.
Among them, the copper and tin mines of the bronze workshop all come from the mountains in the east of Jinwan, and are the associated ores of two gold veins. But now, the glittering gold belt is not mined by anyone, but the associated copper and tin mines make the Miwok tribes cheer and move towards the Bronze Age...
As for the shipbuilding workshop in Xishan Port, it is not large in scale. There are only a small number of kingdom shipbuilders in the workshop, teaching and commanding dozens of times the number of Miwok craftsmen. The task of this shipbuilding workshop was originally just to repair the long sailing boats and maintain the ships on the northern route. But two or three years later, with the improvement of the shipbuilders' skills, several new southern shipbuilders arrived, and the shipyard in Xishan Port was finally able to build small sailing boats!
And when a steady stream of small sailing boats were launched from Xishan Port, a series of ports on the west coast finally supplemented the rare offshore shipping capacity and were able to carry out larger-scale transportation exchanges!
"Lord God! There are transporting galleys at the port, unloading! They are coming from the south, and the white and gray cargo seems to be salt from the Ipa tribe!..."
"It's salt from the salt lake again!... I don't know how long it will take to sell this shipload of salt before the surrounding tribes can exchange it... I heard that the Black Snake tribe in the south has recently discovered a jade mine? That's really a fortune!..."
"Ha! Jade mine? In the northern continent, jade is useless! Just like in Jinwan, several large gold mountains have been discovered in succession, but no one is willing to dig... Jade is also... Gold can only be exchanged for useful things if it is transported back to the kingdom thousands of miles away, and it takes more than a year to go back and forth! ... I think the best is Huwan Port in the north, which can produce iron materials and forge iron farm tools and tools... That is really a good thing to change the tribe! If only a few more ships could be transported here..."
"Don't even think about it! Huwan Port only has so many people... The iron mountain they found is far away in the mountains and forests in the east, and it takes time and effort to mine and transport... Throughout the year, the iron materials they can produce are not enough to meet their own needs, and they can't even use them. How much should we give to other ports! ... I think that the bronze smelting in Jinwan is more worth relying on!"
"Yes! The Miwok tribes have sufficient manpower, and they have sworn an oath with us and converted to the Lord God in large numbers. They are our trustworthy Jiao people! ... They will mine copper and tin materials, and our port will be responsible for smelting. The whole process will be transported by small boats, and the bronze tools produced will be combined with other parts. It is really the best! ... This is what the northern shaman said, the "natural cycle" and "great spirit"! ..."
"Ha! Miwok The ‘natural cycle’ that the Walker priests talk about refers to the soul and body, not some workshops and products… Don’t talk nonsense and attract the warriors of the tribe to challenge you…”
“Haha! Let’s challenge! As long as it’s not those bear-hunting warriors with strange strength, I, Luo Dachui, a senior warrior of Tekos, will take it here! …”
“Hahaha! Dachui, you are still afraid…”
“You! If you have the guts, you can compete with me!”
“The Lord God is a witness! Let’s compete! …”
The discussions and comparisons of the kingdom warriors echoed on the seashore of Xishan Port. The swaying oars and the elongated sails also came and went in the waves of the port.
The guano stones accumulated in Beiniaoshi Village, the lake salt re-exported by the Ipa tribe, the water jade that the Black Snake tribe is about to mine, the copper and gold excavated by the Miwok tribes, the iron smelted in Huwan Port, the oil from whaling in Whale Port, and the grain and fish produced in other ports are gradually forming a closely connected coastal trade network!
The economy determines the upper class, and culture is influenced by trade. This mutually complementary trade network will gradually form an economic community as the productivity and population of the various departments on the west coast develop, forming the basis of a large feudal state, overseas governorate, or a large church province!
In this 4,000-mile west coast community, the kingdom's Xishan Port is not only a hub for communication between the various tribes, but also a center for technology dissemination! More advanced metal and shipbuilding technology, more advanced religion and organizational forms, and more advantageous agricultural crops and technologies are all radiating from here to the tribes of the entire west coast... As for the Miwok tribes that are close at hand, they are the first northern continent tribe to leap forward!
"Lord God! Stop arguing!... Divide into two teams and inspect the Milpa fields around the port and the potato fields near the hills! Then inspect the riverside and the four new crops that the priest asked to try... Strange beans and rice!..."
"Captain, we just saw them this morning... Those soybeans and peas are growing very well, and we harvested them before... That millet is also okay, it's growing well... But that rice is too water-intensive, it's really hard to grow! Even watering it twice a day doesn't work, it just collapses and dies for no reason..."
"... If it consumes more water, water it more, no matter how difficult it is to grow, you have to grow it! This is the joint order of the chief priest Ke Yuan and the priest Jia Shu!... Forget it! I'll lead the team myself and take a look!..."
In these overseas outposts far away from the kingdom, everything is arduous and requires everyone to work hard to open up. Even the warriors who have been off-duty have to pick up farm tools again and do farm work in the fields.
At present, Xishan Port grows five traditional Mesoamerican crops, namely staple corn, vegetable beans, miscellaneous pumpkins, miscellaneous sweet potatoes and potatoes. In addition, there are four new crops from the West Sea, soybeans, peas, rice and millet.
Among the four "new crops", two beans are the best, almost perfectly adapted to the water and soil in the Jinwan area. They do not require much heat, and are more adaptable to water and fertilizer. They even grow better in Xishan Port than in the northeast of China! …
Similarly, millet is also an easy crop to grow, and it will produce something no matter what. The only difficult crop to grow is rice! It has too high requirements for rain and heat irrigation and planting technology, and it is a crop that really needs intensive cultivation.
Obviously, American farmers need time and experience to slowly master the cultivation techniques of this delicate crop. It is still unknown how many years it will take to make rice a reliable staple food, unless immigrants from East Asia can be obtained...
"Huh! These West Sea crops have low yields and are difficult to grow. I don't know why the priests want to grow them?... In my opinion, the kingdom's Milpa is still reliable! The sacred 'three sisters', together with the potatoes of Mother Earth, have nurtured the tribes of the world with their majestic embrace..."
"What a lush farmland!... Witness the Lord! The Golden Bay area on the west coast is not inferior to the two major lakes in the kingdom in terms of fertility and planting potential!..."
"Ah! Praise the Lord! Give us a good harvest..."
In the fields of Xishan Port, pious sighs and prayers rang out, including warriors from the kingdom and many local Miwok tribes. After three years of cultivation, the reclaimed fields around the port finally became cultivated land, with some signs of a good harvest.
In fact, this Golden Bay area on the west coast is the only fertile land in the agricultural era on the entire North American continent! The extremely mild climate, the mountains that block the cold wave, the medium to high water and soil, and the irrigation rivers flowing down from the mountains all laid the natural foundation for agricultural development!
The entire west coast of North America and part of the Great Basin are the only two fertile lands on the North American continent in this era that are suitable for farming, settlement and development. As for the black soil belt in the Great Lakes region and the grassland belt in the Great Plains of North America, they are absolutely rotten land in the agricultural era, and the death zone of extreme cold and crop failure!
The difficulty of developing these so-called "black soils" is roughly similar to that of the black soil in Northeast China. Before the Industrial Revolution provided sufficient material basis, the severe cold of the Little Ice Age in the late Ming Dynasty ended, and crops were further cultivated to be cold-resistant, whether it was Europe, Asia or the closest Central America, it was impossible to maintain a stable farming settlement here, and it was impossible to maintain a large-scale population gathering!
Because, without the obstruction of the northern mountains, the cold current from the Arctic always brings cold waves continuously. As long as the cold wave of more than ten degrees below zero appears in May and October continuously, it is enough to greatly reduce the yield of crops for a year or even to fail. If such a reduction in production and a total crop failure occurs three times, and there is no harvest for three years, most of the farming settlements will be destroyed! ... And in this cold period of the 15th century, such summer and autumn cold waves are really the most common...
"The west coast of the kingdom, the golden Xishan Port, the hope for the future!..."
The golden light of the setting sun fell on the golden temple of the main god, making the piled gold and stone decorations all glitter and shine. And when the setting sun gradually went west, from Xishan at 122 degrees west longitude to the Great Whale Island at 153 degrees west longitude, five horses of different sizes raised their heads at the same time and snorted at the brilliant sunset.
"Lv!..."