Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 126 Influence
"In fact, if measured as an economic entity, the development and construction of our Qiming Island is undoubtedly a very unprofitable business."

On August 1629, 8, in a golden wheat field, Dong Xinping squatted beside a primitive and simple horse-drawn wheat harvester. Watching Zhang Ruosong and several young apprentices frantically troubleshooting a malfunction, he couldn't help but jokingly say, "Let's not even talk about the new immigrants and Indians we've recruited. We'll need to support them for two or three years to cover our expenses. Just take this machine you made. I don't know how much manpower and material resources it took. I'm afraid it must have cost at least five or six hundred taels of silver."

"Boss, you can't calculate like that!" Zhang Ruosong, along with several craftsmen and young apprentices, lay on the ground, using chisels to pry off roll after roll of wheat wound into the reel, hoping to get it to rotate normally again. "This machine took a year to build, and we went through seven or eight rounds of improvements."

"However, as long as this machine can fully demonstrate its practicality and stability, the cost and time spent manufacturing the second, third, or even dozens of units will undoubtedly be greatly reduced. After all, any piece of machinery undergoes a period of trial and error before it can be officially put into production. Well, this is equivalent to the initial R&D costs."

"But the problem is that our manufacturing equipment and tools are too outdated. Subsequent production will still rely on manual kneading, and the cost may not be reduced much." Dong Xinping tied the sheaves they had shoveled into bundles and tossed them aside. "I'm afraid its only economic value is that it saves us a third of the labor."

"Boss, look at what you're saying. Saving a third of our labor is absolutely the most economically valuable thing for us right now." Zhang Ruosong got up from the ground, clapped his hands, and said with a smile, "This means that with the same amount of labor, we can plant and manage several times more fields and harvest several times more crops."

"This will free up more manpower for fishing, hunting, and raising livestock and poultry, and also free up extra manpower for industrial production. Don't you know that before the industrial revolution, an agricultural revolution of some kind must be achieved first, to provide the necessary conditions for the development of large-scale industrial production?"

"Having said that, given our current extremely small population base, what's more important is how to maintain the health of the entire population and reduce unnecessary illness and unnatural deaths."

"Yes, you're right." Zhang Ruosong stepped aside, signaling the young apprentices to continue forward, leading the horses and dragging the primitive wheat harvester. Then he turned to look at Dong Xinping and said, "You've been with me all morning, so stop beating around the bush. Tell me, what do you want me to do for you?"

"Winemaking."

"Making wine?" Zhang Ruosong couldn't help but laugh when he heard it. "You're not thinking of drinking, are you? Hey, you're the only good doctor on our Qiming Island. You can't ruin your health by drinking too much! Our lives are in your hands. No one can live without you!"

"Why would I want to drink alcohol?" Dong Xinping smiled and said, "I want you to help me make a set of tools to brew high-proof alcohol so that I can provide a large amount of medical alcohol. You said it's been four years, and no matter how frugal we use it, our stock is almost gone."

"Oh, medicinal alcohol!" Zhang Ruosong suddenly realized. "Brewing this stuff shouldn't be difficult. Among the new craftsmen who came last year, there was someone who could brew rice wine. Well, after the wheat harvest is over, I'll ask them what tools and equipment are needed for brewing, and I'll try to get them for you as quickly as possible. Hey, what ingredients are used to brew this medicinal alcohol? ...Wheat? Or sorghum?"

"It doesn't matter." Dong Xinping said, "As long as it's alcohol fermented from starchy plants, it can be used."

"Starchy crops? ...Hey, how about potatoes?"

"Sure!" Dong Xinping said with a smile. "What's more, I happen to have a book that actually explains the entire process and steps of making wine from potatoes."

"Ah, potatoes can really be used to make wine?" Zhang Ruosong was surprised.

"What's so strange about this? Not long after the Spanish brought potatoes back to Europe in the 16th century, the Dutch used the crop for food and then experimented with making wine, which became a widespread drink. You might not know this, but the famous vodka is made from potatoes. For thousands of years, China has used traditional grains to brew various alcoholic beverages, so we rarely hear of or see potato-based alcoholic beverages." "That's great!" Zhang Ruosong exclaimed, "We can use the abundant potato harvest each year to brew a batch of alcoholic beverages as an effective tool to conquer the inland Indians."

"Is that necessary? With food and salt, along with muskets and swords, we are already invincible on Qiming Island! Whether we have alcohol or not won't affect our ability to subjugate the Indian tribes scattered across the island."

"Historically, European colonists conquered the American continent using bacteria, guns, and alcohol. Since we have this path to follow, we should naturally follow it. To a certain extent, alcohol may be able to control them better than food and guns, making them our steadfast vassals, thereby increasing our human resources."

"Our main contradiction now is a severe survival crisis, backward productivity, and extremely scarce human resources. To achieve leapfrog development, we must promote industrial progress and accumulate a large amount of technology. Under such circumstances, we need more people to engage in non-agricultural activities."

"However, if more people engage in non-agricultural activities, we will face food shortages. Relying solely on our limited population to increase food production is unrealistic. Therefore, we must focus on assimilating and taming more Indian tribes, allowing them to quickly transition from their primitive and backward hunting and gathering lifestyle to agricultural production, thereby expanding food production."

"At that time, whether through compulsory taxation or by exchanging salt, cloth, and wine with them, we can increase the amount of our agricultural products dramatically, allowing more people to move away from agricultural production and engage in industrial production, accelerating our technological progress."

"Well, maybe through this subtle contact and management process, they will be completely assimilated and absorbed."

"Ruosong, you have changed too..." After hearing this, Dong Xinping stared at the former chief engineer of the "Polang".

"Changed?" Zhang Ruosong glanced at the harvester ahead, which had stopped due to another malfunction, and said self-deprecatingly, "Have we become a detestable colonialist? ... Times have changed. For the sake of survival and development, sometimes we are forced to make changes."

"In fact, allowing those primitive and ignorant Indians to enter a more advanced agricultural society was not necessarily a bad thing for them. Otherwise, an unexpected cold snap, a tribal conflict, or even a minor infectious disease could have killed hundreds or even thousands of them."

"Did you know? Several expeditions we sent out have discovered that several Indian tribes were practicing human sacrifices and even cannibalism. People are eating each other. How cruel and...barbaric!"

"So with our intervention, you can guarantee that they will be able to enter civilized society?"

"Why not? Back then, our pioneers were able to usher the Yi people, who had endured a millennium of slavery, into a new society. In just a few years, they liberated millions of serfs in the snow-capped mountains, allowing them to become masters of their own destinies. With only a few thousand Indians on Qiming Island, relying on our powerful productivity and cultural influence, can't we assimilate and transform their backward social model?"

"If one generation isn't enough, then two, three generations! While driving and utilizing their existing manpower, we should intensify our efforts to educate and influence their children. Just wait and see, the fifty or so Indian teenagers at Shixingbao School will undoubtedly have a profound impact on the entire Indian community when they return to their tribes."

"After all, as long as one is exposed to and learns everything about civilized society, it will have a significant impact on his worldview and outlook on life. Look at later generations: why do so many people from Run stay in Western countries? Isn't it because the long-term influence of the environment and the surroundings has a severe impact on their inner world, causing them to admire and fawn on the West!"

(End of this chapter)