Chapter 299: Lundhart's Advice
Kalia dragged the two brothers Valvis and ran excitedly towards the alley intersection, rushed into the crowd in front of the notice board, and stood on tiptoe to read the text with difficulty.
The people near Kalia's house were in a similar situation to Kalia's family, all Greeks from Eastern Rumelia.
They came to Greece and were uniformly settled in the small town of Kavala by the local Greek government.
Therefore, now that the Greek government's land reclamation policy has come down, they are also very excited.
"The government's announcement has come down, and it has been confirmed that every landless family can reclaim no more than 50 acres of wasteland for free. That's great."
The people around happily discussed the content of the notice.
"With land, we can survive here"
"Thank the merciful God, long live the generous king, long live Greece"
The excitement in my heart was beyond words, and someone praised loudly with a trembling voice.
Two administrative staff who posted notices stood on the left and right of the notice board and explained to the crowded crowd in front of them: "The government's policy of encouraging land reclamation has been approved by the king, the prime minister, and the parliament, and will take effect from now on."
"If you have any questions about this, you can ask us."
This civil servant is a staff member of the newly formed administrative office of Kavala Town. They naturally understand the miserable situation of these people who are displaced all the way from Eastern Rumelia to Greece on the way south.
For the compatriots who have become miserable refugees in the war, sympathy and pity arise in their hearts, making the two want to do something for them, even if it is a little help to these people who have experienced terrible changes.
The joy makes everyone ecstatic, and the noisy discussion drowns out the reminders of the two.
Until the people around are talking about land reclamation, Kalia, who only hugs Valvis and Little Loves, finally reacts. Fifty acres of free land, fifty acres of free land, Kalia mutters to herself, repeating over and over again.
With these lands, the three of them, an orphan and a widow, have something to live on.
Since her husband died, Kalia, a woman with two children, has been in a very difficult situation.
Even after arriving in Kavala, the local Greek government and church have tried their best to help them.
But the war had just ended, and Kavala, a small port town on the coast of the Aegean Sea, was a territory newly occupied by Greece from the Bulgarians. Everything was still in chaos, and Kalia's family had a very difficult time in the past month.
All their property was lost, the land in Eastern Rumelia was confiscated, and even the packages they carried with them were lost when they fled in a hurry on the road to avoid the Bulgarians' interception.
In just two months, everything changed. In order to make a living, Kalia even wanted to find a new man to marry, as long as he didn't hate Valvis and Little Loves.
But the war had just ended, and the society was in turmoil, and it was impossible to find a job.
All the young men of the right age went to the battlefield. The people you can see every day, apart from girls, are widows who lost their husbands in the war. Men have become rare animals, and even remarriage is not an option.
More than once, in the dead of night, the exhausted Kalia had the extreme idea of ending it all.
The confusion in her heart and the loneliness of being in a foreign land, with no relatives and no way to relieve it, always eroded her heart, and the suffering made it difficult for her to fall asleep.
But when she saw the two young children sleeping, Kalia dispelled this dangerous idea.
Their lives have just begun, and she can't be so cruel and leave these two ignorant children to face the world alone.
Later, the refugees living nearby, who had similar experiences to Kalia's family and had lost most of their property, were spreading a rumor that the Greek government would distribute land to the invincible people for free after the war.
Although such rumors are unknown and difficult to distinguish between true and false, everyone is still willing to discuss them tirelessly every day because this is their only hope.
Everyone is familiar with war.
After the Ottoman Empire entered the decline of the 19th century, the situation was complicated and the Balkans were in a mess. There was no peace for a day. Unrest was the norm here, and everyone was numb.
The Russo-Turkish War, the Bulgarian War, the uprising of independence, religious disputes, ethnic disputes, the two Balkan Wars, and the open and secret struggles between Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia in the Balkans for more than ten years for the control of the Balkans. All these conflicts will affect the people living in the Balkans.
In this turbulent era, hope is more precious than gold.
The reason why they fled to Greece on the southern coast of the Aegean Sea is because everyone has heard that Greece's economy has developed rapidly and social order has been stable in recent years.
Of course, the most important thing is that it is said that the Greek army is relatively strong in combat effectiveness. It has not been defeated in recent years and can protect the lives and property of its people.
Especially after the Bulgarian army was defeated by the Greek army on the battlefield of Thrace, more people fled to Greece.
Everyone is familiar with the years of war. Once Bulgaria is defeated, the people in Bulgaria will suffer another looting. The reconstruction of the army, the reparations for the defeat, the foreign debts borrowed from abroad, and the reconstruction of domestic order all require money. In order to survive the difficulties, the penniless king will inevitably increase taxes on them.
According to the statistics of the Greek government, many of the refugees who fled belong to the Slavic people.
The attitude of the Greek government towards these people is to accept them without discrimination.
Now the news of land reclamation has been confirmed. Fifty acres of land is enough for the expenses of herself and her two children.
And these fifty acres of land belong to her completely.
In an instant, Kalia felt that the burden on her body disappeared, and the breath she had been holding on to for a long time was released. Like a balloon punctured by a needle, her body collapsed on the ground powerlessly.
One of the two civil servants, Lundhart, looked at the woman in front of him who had lost her composure, and hurried forward to carefully help Kalia up.
Lundhart, who had just recovered from the army, noticed that Greece was establishing grassroots administrative agencies in the new territory it had won from Bulgaria, and needed to recruit a large number of people.
Lundhart used the benefits of Greek military veterans to find a job in the Kavala Administrative Office.
The reason for working in Kavala was that Lundhart believed that Kavala was a port city on the coast of the Aegean Sea, and after being incorporated into Greek rule, the prospect of economic development was better.
In a prosperous city like Thessaloniki, government positions are in high demand. Retired personnel from the same batch as Lundhart competed for positions there. Lundhart chose Zavala, which is not well-known but has better prospects.
Lundhart believes that as long as peace can be maintained in the next few years, the economy of Kavala, a coastal city, will develop rapidly.
Because Bulgaria has controlled Kavala for a relatively short time, although Kavala is the only Aegean port in Bulgaria, it has not been effectively developed and has been affected by wars many times. Until now, it is still a small coastal city.
Lundhart, who has been working in Kavala for more than ten days, knows Kalia, understands their family situation, and can understand Kalia's feelings.
"Kalia, for you, a widow with two children, even if the government allows each family to reclaim 50 acres of wasteland for free, can you handle such a heavy job?" Lundhart reminded while supporting Kalia.
Overwhelmed by joy, Kalia seemed a little dazed, and murmured absentmindedly: "What?"
It has been more than ten days since he came to Kavala. As a staff member of the administrative office, Lundhart is relatively familiar with the land information around the small town of Kavala.
Due to the small population and the suffering of war, the land reclamation around Kavala is limited, and a large amount of reclaimable wasteland is preserved.
It is just that reclaiming wasteland in the barren wilderness is a very difficult job, especially for a woman like Kalia.
In the wilderness around Kavala, there are many swamps and forests with lush trees and weeds.
It takes a lot of sweat and effort to transform uncultivated land into mature land.
To reclaim wasteland, it is necessary to drain the accumulated water in the wilderness swamp, and then transport soil to fill it. The weak soil needs to be thickened. If the soil is too thin, crops cannot grow;
The roots of grass and trees must be cleaned up, otherwise the weeds will submerge the crops. The trees must be cut down first, and then the remaining stumps are dug out. The roots are intertwined and cannot be cleaned up. They may revive and sprout new buds in previous years.
In addition, there are many stones and rubble in the wasteland, which also need to be carefully picked out.
Even if these tasks can be completed, there is still a difficulty to plant crops on the land, that is, water conservancy facilities.
If the crops cannot be irrigated in time, the harvest will be seriously affected, and digging water conservancy facilities is also a big project, and the difficulty is no less than land reclamation.
Valvis, who was beside Kalia, raised his head and volunteered: "It's okay, I can help my mother go to the fields. We will be on vacation soon, and I can go to work every day."
Little Loves, who was holding his brother's hand, didn't understand what the others were talking about, but when he saw his brother's actions, he jumped and shouted: "And me, I can do it too."
Lendhart stroked the heads of the two children. The childish words of these two well-behaved and sensible children made him feel more compassion in his heart and looked at Kalia.
After being reminded by Rundhart, Kalia also woke up from the surprise and realized the difficulty of reclaiming wasteland.
"Yes, but there is no better way. What can we do? This is our family's only hope. We can't give up." Kalia said with a forced smile.
After careful consideration, Lundhart once again gave her own advice: "It is too difficult for a woman like you to reclaim 50 acres of wasteland. Do you know that Greece has an agricultural cooperative system?"
Lundhart's words attracted the attention of the people around her. Everyone's situation was similar to that of Kalia's family. Even for an ordinary family, 50 acres of wasteland was a staggering job.
Although it was not long since I came to Greece, agricultural cooperatives have long been popular in Greece. Everyone also knows about this new agricultural system in Greece on weekdays, but it is too one-sided.
Lundhart saw everyone's expressions and introduced the Greek agricultural cooperative system to everyone together with her colleagues.
Due to the support of the government and the strong vitality of the new system of agricultural cooperatives, agricultural cooperatives have been widely welcomed by Greek farmers in recent years, attracting most farmers who own land to participate in this new system.
Even though Greek agricultural cooperatives and various family farms are independent of each other, they can cooperate with each other: a single family is responsible for the planting and production of crops, and the cooperative is responsible for providing sales channels and transportation services. Such a clear division of labor allows Greek agricultural production to Suddenly, traditional decentralized crop cultivation has been transformed into intensive and large-scale production of crops, and production efficiency has been greatly improved.
Farmers don't have to worry about the marketability of their crops. They only need to focus on improving the yield and quality of their crops, because their income is only related to the yield and quality of their crops.
In addition, agricultural cooperatives will coordinate with members to purchase production tools, fertilizers, seeds, pesticides, etc. in bulk to reduce farmers' costs. When selling agricultural products, everyone gathers together to gain more say and increase the price of agricultural products.
"Actually, you are all in a similar situation, and you are all faced with the task of reclaiming wasteland. You can form a cooperative. First, you can pool your respective shares of wasteland together. You can help each other, unite, and improve the efficiency of reclamation."
"Secondly, if an agricultural cooperative is established, according to Greek policies, cooperatives in the land reclamation stage can receive government policy support. You can use the name of the newly established agricultural cooperative to apply for a one-year loan from the bank. interest-free loan”
"You can use this loan to purchase tools to speed up the efficiency of reclaiming wasteland, make the land profitable faster, and help your life get on track."
After everyone heard Lundhart's suggestion, they discussed it quietly.
"If you decide to establish an agricultural cooperative, the Kavala Administration Office can send professionals to guide you in establishing an agricultural cooperative and help you get the agricultural cooperative on the right track faster."
"In addition, I have some good news to tell you. The soil and climate in Kavala are very suitable for growing tobacco. I also met a businessman from Thessaloniki a few days ago and asked me for local advice. Among agricultural cooperatives, are there any whose main products are tobacco? If there is an agricultural cooperative willing to grow tobacco, they can send professionals to guide you in growing tobacco. If the agricultural cooperative agrees to sign a contract, they can even pay a one-year deposit in advance."