Chapter 304: Reclamation

In the taxi, Kalia leaned forward in the back seat, stretched her head, held the window with both hands, and stared at the scene outside the car through the glass. She was struck by the bustling scene in front of her, and she was in a daze. Read 520 official website

Kalia's family, Greeks living in Bulgaria, headed south when they fled.

Because the pastor of the village church once conveyed the news to them: the Greek Kingdom in the south is not only a country controlled by the Greeks themselves, no one bullies and oppresses them, but also has a prosperous economy and rich people.

Everyone didn't take it seriously at first. After all, since the decline of the Ottoman Empire and into the 18th century, the Balkans were either fighting or preparing for war. Under the ravages of frequent wars, a large amount of wealth was requisitioned by the authorities for consumption in wars.

Being poor is the norm in the Balkans.

When the Ottoman Empire took control of the situation, Greeks like Kaliya and others lived in villages. Because they were Christians, they had to bear heavier tax obligations.

According to the laws of the Ottoman Empire, Christians paid more taxes than Islamic believers.

Later the Bulgarians took control of Eastern Rumelia. Although everyone was Orthodox Christian, they spoke Greek.

Relations with the Slavic-speaking Bulgarians remain uneasy, and they are discriminated against in terms of political rights and still have to pay more in taxes economically.

Anyway, the Greeks are used to this inferior situation and just make do with their lives.

But in 1913, war broke out between Greece and Bulgaria. For Kalia, the Bulgarians and Greeks became enemies.

The Greeks living in the Bulgarian-controlled areas suffered again. The Bulgarian army attacked Greek-controlled Macedonia on the battlefield. In the Bulgarian-controlled areas, the Bulgarians also began to suppress and retaliate against the Greeks living in the territory.

The buildings in the villages where the Greeks lived were burned, and the farmland was seized. If they resisted at all, they would be killed and injured by the local Bulgarians.

Due to the defeat of Bulgaria, they Greeks became the targets of everyone's anger.

In order to prepare for the war, the Bulgarian authorities not only increased taxes domestically before the war, but also borrowed large amounts of loans from Austria-Hungary and Germany.

Now that the Bulgarian army has been defeated, the financial situation of the Royal Government of Bulgaria is even worse. Not only does it have to pay war reparations to Greece, but it also has to repay maturing foreign debts. The country's severely damaged army is also in urgent need of large sums of money for reconstruction.

Greeks like Kalia could not stand the harsh social environment, so they had no choice but to flee to the rumored Greek country.

Despite going through twists and turns, the family finally arrived in the coastal town of Kavala

, the Greek authorities do take good care of Greeks who defect abroad, but none of Kalia's family feels that Greece is rich.

The buildings in the small town of Kavala are dilapidated and short, the population is sparse, and the people are equally poor. Apart from the fact that the authorities will not levy taxes indiscriminately, Kalia did not notice the so-called southern Greeks' incomes and people's prosperity preached by the pastor.

Kalia thought the priest couldn't bear to see them being bullied and encouraged them to move to the south, so she told some white lies.

This is actually not surprising. Kavala was still under Bulgarian control a few months ago. Kavala was in a war zone and had just experienced the ravages of a war. The Greeks had just taken control.

The local Greek government has just been established, and the situation has not yet completely stabilized, so naturally there will be no prosperity.

And now I came to Thessaloniki and saw the Thessaloniki Industrial Zone.

On the flat and wide asphalt road, you can often see cars (actually Model T cars) and tall trucks loaded with cargo, bustling workers on both sides of the road after work, a dazzling array of goods in the business district, and an endless stream of goods. Absolute shoppers, these scenes, in Kaliya's memory, were scenes that the remote, impoverished and inland Eastern Rumelia had never seen before.

Only then did Kalia realize that the priest had not lied. Greece in the south was indeed a rich and prosperous country.

Even the strong contrast between the two gave Kalia an unreal hallucination.

"It's unbelievable, this is such a bustling city," Kalia muttered.

Yakov, who was also sitting in the back seat, was closing his eyes and concentrating when he heard the murmur of the woman sitting next to him. Through her refugee status, he thought of the scene when his family arrived in Greece from Poland in poverty a few years ago. , couldn't help but feel sympathy for each other, and comforted: "Ms. Kalia, Kavala is now recovered by the Kingdom of Greece. Without the gangsters like vampires and the government like villains, it will soon prosper."

"Tobacco is a cash crop with huge profits. If your agricultural cooperative grows tobacco on the right track, the income of you members will soon catch up with that of most workers here."

Three taxis carrying several people soon arrived at a factory area in the northeast corner of the industrial area, near the train station.

"It's very close to the train station. The wagons containing flue-cured tobacco can be transported directly to the factory. After the railway from Thessaloniki to Kavala is built, the train can transport your tobacco directly here, which can save a lot. "Expenses," Yakov pointed to the endless train tracks in front of the factory and explained to Kalia and others from the inspection team.

Yakov personally led the team and took a few people to visit the open and full-length factory building of the cigarette factory. It was like a spacious warehouse. There was no partition inside, and the sight could be observed from one side to the other without any obstruction.

Inside, a series of cigarette machines just imported from Germany were being installed and debugged by engineers, and it looked very busy.

After finally proving to a few people that the Thessaloniki Cigarette Factory was a legitimate factory, not a fraudulent company, the inspection team finally made up their minds to sign an order for tobacco supply with the Thessaloniki Cigarette Factory on behalf of several agricultural cooperatives in Kavala.

After completing this task, Yakov sorted out the orders that had been signed. According to the agreement, the factory will soon have suppliers from agricultural cooperatives in Thessaloniki and Kavala to provide the factory with 20,000 kilograms of flue-cured tobacco.

The amount of this tobacco is enough to meet the requirements of Crown Prince Constantine.

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After completing the inspection of the Thessaloniki Cigarette Factory, because the reclamation of the free land granted by the government was in full swing, Kalia and his party did not dare to delay in Thessaloniki any longer and hurried back to the small town of Kavala for fear of problems with the land.

The agricultural cooperative where Kalia worked finally chose the site of its land at the bend of a small river outside the small town of Kavala. The members of the cooperative settled their land here with a total area of ​​more than 2,000 acres according to the quota allowed by the announcement issued by the Greek government. It faces the river on three sides and leads to the small town of Kavala on one side.

Such a special geographical location allows the land to be irrigated very conveniently.

After Kalia brought back the signed tobacco supply contract, the cooperative first relied on the government's support policy and applied for a cooperative support loan from the bank in Kavala.

Afterwards, under the guidance of Rundhart, the agricultural cooperative proved its credibility to the Royal Bank of Greece according to the tobacco supply contract and applied for a commercial loan of 80,000 drachmas from the bank.

According to Greek law, agricultural cooperatives have independent legal personality and can be responsible for their own profits and losses like companies, so they can naturally apply for commercial loans from banks.

In this way, the agricultural cooperatives that Kalia and her group had just established had a starting capital of 130,000, which was enough to help their agricultural cooperative survive the difficult stage of reclaiming wasteland in the early stage.

Like Kalia, Kageman, a refugee from Eastern Rumelia, leaned on a small wooden stool. The woman sitting next to him was his wife Lisa. All their property was a wooden box between Kageman's legs and a piglet in Lisa's arms.

Years of continuous war and famine left this young Eastern Rumelia farmer with almost nothing. He could barely make ends meet and had to endure the humiliation and plunder of the Bulgarians.

What was even more despairing was that such days seemed to have no end in sight.

In order to improve his living conditions, Kageman tried every possible way. He believed that the corrupt and greedy Ottoman government caused his predicament, so he secretly joined the army to fight, that is, the war with the Ottoman Empire in 1912. After demobilization, he returned to his hometown to farm.

I thought that after the Ottoman rule was driven away, his situation would be improved, but I didn't expect that the Bulgarians who controlled Eastern Rumelia were hated by the Greeks as much as the Ottomans.

So, in desperation, Kageman gritted his teeth and took his wife Lisa, and abandoned the only remaining property left to him by his father - a few acres of barren hilly land, and embarked on a journey to the Greek country.

Kageman and his wife Lisa came to Kavala under such circumstances.

Compared with Kalia's dead husband, Kageman and his wife were much luckier.

These refugees from Eastern Rumelia were uniformly accepted by the local government of Kavala and arranged to Kavala, which has a sparse population.

The newly established agricultural cooperative has set up a temporary camp by the river outside Kavala. While Kalia was in Thessaloniki, the other members were building their own village.

After determining the location of the land to be reclaimed, the members unanimously agreed to move out of the residence arranged by the Kavala government in the town and build a new village near the land as the new home of the members.

Now the temporary tents are ready, waiting for the arrival of the reclamation members.

Kalia, wearing an apron, smiled kindly at Cogman and handed him a few baked potatoes.

Kalia was full of gratitude. This Greek, who also came from Eastern Rumelia, came here earlier than them.

Cogman, who had participated in the war, was hired by the Greek army in the previous war to transport supplies for the front-line troops. He was said to have a salary of 500 drachmas per month, and he could also eat free baked potatoes and salted fish in the cafeteria, which made the former Kalia family very envious.

Cogman had sympathized with the orphans and widows of Kalia's family and had often helped them.

At the end of a path covered with weeds, a group of people stopped in front of a row of neatly built tents with logs, and the members began to discuss with the people who had been waiting there.

"Uncle Cogman, is this our new home?" Kalia's son. Valvis shook Cogman's arm excitedly and asked curiously, "Are we really going to live here in the future? Ah, I want to raise a dog and some chickens."

Cogman was about to answer when he saw that the people in front of him had finished their conversation.

One of the tall men faced them and said in Greek: "Hello, everyone. I am Gert, an employee of the Kavala Regional Government (similar to a province). First of all, I would like to congratulate you. You Greeks under foreign rule have worked hard to return to your homeland."

"In the future, I will be responsible for the measurement and recording of the reclaimed land of the entire cooperative. You can consult me ​​if you have any questions. After completing the record and witness, I will represent the Greek government to record and witness the land you have reclaimed truthfully, and then submit it to the Kavala Regional Government. After doing this, you are the officially recognized owners of these lands."

Gert announced loudly to the crowd in front of him.

"Okay, that's it. I think you can't wait to own your own land. So, now on behalf of the Greek government, in accordance with the government's decree to encourage the reclamation of wasteland, each household can obtain a decree of no more than 50 acres for free, allowing you to reclaim wasteland"

Kalia and others applauded excitedly, and everyone became noisy.

Kegeman sat on a tree stump and watched his wife Lisa walking around the tent excitedly.

In fact, the furnishings in the tent are very simple: a wooden bed, a simple table made of a stump, and four chairs made of the same stump.

But Cogman has a sense of home.

After struggling in Eastern Rumelia for more than 20 years, he witnessed too many Greeks suffering from war, taxes, hunger and disease.

I didn't expect that after going to Greece, I could immediately obtain a large piece of fertile land.

There are no hateful tax collectors to squeeze my money, and there is no unbearable national oppression. I can live quietly with my dear Lisa and own a piece of land that truly belongs to me.

God bless!

Cogman praised the Lord devoutly at this moment.

No one can take away my new life.

After Gert announced on behalf of the government, the temporary public kitchen at the head of the village began to rise with smoke, and it was obviously almost breakfast time.

Kalia directed several fathers and daughters to move pots of food in and out of the kitchen, and the members of the entire agricultural cooperative gathered together for dinner.

Kalia is an ambitious person. After returning to the cooperative, she has been working diligently.

Kalia works diligently until late every day, because the agricultural cooperative has recently purchased a large amount of materials and transported them here, mainly seeds, farm tools and food.

Kalia understands that this is the preparation for large-scale land reclamation, and she carefully registers each material into the warehouse to ensure that it is correct.

In addition to being responsible for the distribution of materials, the temporary canteen of the cooperative is also under her management.

Kalia rang the copper bell tied to the tree, and the first wave of farmers who were already burning the wasteland, leveling the land, and digging canals stopped working and began to come to the canteen for meals.

Today's breakfast is still the same fried potatoes and fresh fish soup.

The food is simple, but everyone eats happily. The next work is very hard, and they need sufficient calories to maintain their physical strength.

The cooperative has planned 1,500 acres of tobacco planting area here, and the remaining more than 500 acres are used to plant crops such as potatoes and wheat. The main purpose is to solve the cooperative's own rations.