Chapter 442 White Gold (Third update, please subscribe)

Outside the city of Madita on the banks of the Congo River, there is a vast rubber plantation that is as dense as a rain forest.

This rubber plantation was reclaimed when Madita was first established, and it is also one of the first tropical plantations in the city. And unlike other places, the more than 2,000 rubber trees planted in this rubber plantation are not locally grown, but 2- to 3-year-old seedlings transported from the tropical rainforest of Brazil and planted by transplanting.

Compared with the rubber trees in other plantations, theirs are particularly strong. Rubber harvesting started last year.

Like all rubber trees that have been tapped for rubber, these trees are riddled with holes, bearing all the traces of the rubber tapping process.

"Lily, you hold the lantern."

Because rubber tapping can only be done in the early morning, Chen Jinshui asked a maid to light the way for him. When he used a special knife to cut a hole in the bark of the rubber tree, Li Wende and others all watched the white latex slowly flowing out.

"When tapping rubber, we only need to make a shallow cut on the tree without touching the cambium. As long as the cambium is not damaged, we can continue to obtain rubber without harming the rubber tree..."

Chen Jinshui is a member of the first batch of overseas students sent by Nanhua. He studied botany in the UK. As a botanist, he came to the China-Africa Company two years ago and has been engaged in research on rubber trees.

At the beginning, he studied seedling cultivation. Every year, the company collected millions of rubber tree seeds from Brazil, but the germination rate of seedlings was less than 5%. As a botanist, he spent a year studying and improving seedling cultivation technology. After raising the germination rate to 70%, he turned his attention to improving rubber collection technology.

"Whether in South America or in Congo, workers use a similar method to tap rubber, which is to cut a hole in the tree trunk with an axe. This method cuts the bark, but also damages the "cambium" under the bark. The so-called cambium is a thin layer of tissue located between the bark and the wood of the trunk. Although the cambium is thin, it is very important because both the bark and the trunk are formed by cells in the cambium. Only when the cells in the cambium keep dividing and growing can the trunk continue to grow thicker. The tapping method I invented will not cause any harm to the rubber tree and can continue to produce rubber for decades to come! With the current tapping method, the rubber tree will die in three or four years at most."

Li Wende asked, staring at the cut rubber tapping hole in the light.

“Is the yield from this rubber tapping method guaranteed?”

“The yield is slightly higher than the previous rubber tapping method.”

Staring at the rubber slowly dripping into the bowl, Li Wende smiled.

"Mr. Chen is a man of talent. The prosperity of the rubber planting industry in Central Africa is all due to the 'rubber tapping method' invented by him. If this method is successful, I will definitely ask Nanhua to commend Mr. Chen and award him a medal."

Amid the joy of the crowd, Chen Jinshui spoke again.

"Captain Li, this rubber tapping method can be used not only on Brazilian rubber trees, but also on Congolese rubber trees. I have been conducting experiments in the rain forest for the past few months. I hope to train a group of rubber tappers in various tribes. After adopting the new method, not only can the rubber production be greatly increased, but the tribes can also collect rubber nearby instead of going deep into the rain forest as they do now,"

Five years ago, when Li Wende had just established himself in Madita, which was still just a small fishing village, he sent an expedition team inland. What was the expedition team's biggest discovery?

It’s the rubber tree!

In the rainforests of Congo, wild rubber trees grow everywhere. However, unlike the Brazilian rubber tree, this rubber tree looks like a vine.

It was the rubber trees in the rainforest that drove the company to expand inland, even building a railway to the interior. At the same time, the company also signed a treaty with the chiefs, stipulating that each tribe pay a monthly rubber tax, but harvesting wild rubber is a very hard and dangerous job - in order to obtain rubber, they had to go deep into the rainforest and cut the bark and vines of the rubber trees with a sharp knife to extract the rubber juice. In order to force the men to pay the tax, they even took indigenous women and children as hostages.

"By then, every village will be able to complete the corresponding quota, and all the problems will be solved..."

Without waiting for Chen Jinshui to finish his words, Li Wende laughed and said.

"Well, let's conduct this experiment in our own rubber plantation first. As for the tribe, don't worry about it."

Li Wende then changed the subject. Seeing this, Major Ding Quan, who was standing next to his superior, just smiled indifferently.

What is the rubber tax?

In fact, it is a tool to force the tribe to work.

As for the so-called "hostages", they were also very useful. While working on the plantations, they also took care of the daily life of the white captives. Those white people were all shameless guys, and the native women were also passionate and it was easy for them to hook up with each other.

In the company's plantations, many captives formed families with local indigenous women. The emergence of these black and white families helped stabilize the captives' minds. Many of them had even given up the idea of ​​returning to Chile.

Of course, they had no chance to go back. In Chile, no, in Shanxi, their wives had already remarried and their lovers had become brides of others.

This is the case in Chile, and will be the same in Argentina in the future. The Argentine captives will multiply and thrive here. They and their mixed-race descendants will reclaim the land and become pioneers of colonization in South China.

So why change all this?

Looking at Chen Jinshui who was enthusiastically discussing the "Rubber Tapping Law" with the Governor, Ding Quan could not help but smile slightly. These scholars are like this. They never look at problems from a realistic perspective.

Without those means, how could Congo produce more than 300 tons of rubber every year? Without Congolese rubber, how could Nanhua produce so many airships.

airship!

Only with airships did Nanhua gain control of the sky. However, airships no longer seem to be exclusive to Nanhua, as the French already have them.

They don’t have rubber, though.

Thinking of this, looking at the rubber plantation and staring at the drops of flowing rubber, Ding Quan suddenly spoke.

"Governor, I think that the new rubber tapping method must not only not be spread, but we must also keep it strictly confidential."

"Secret? Why?"

Chen Jinshui said in surprise.

"For the benefit of the country, Mr. Chen, the new rubber tapping method and rubber plantations will inevitably lead to a surge in rubber production. Now, only Congo and Brazil have rubber in the world. We have a monopoly on the supply of rubber, which means that we can control the airships from the source."

Pointing his finger at the sky, Ding Quan said seriously.

"Airships are our most effective weapon to defeat all enemies, Mr. Chen. As long as we master rubber, the sky will be ours for at least the next ten years! Whether it's the British or the French, they can't get enough rubber. Of course, the demand for rubber will also stimulate its price. I believe that by then the company's income will be very considerable, while maintaining national interests."

Just as they were talking, a communications soldier came over on horseback, accompanied by the sound of hurried horse hooves.

"Sir, urgent news from the port."

The letter was sent by the port officer. The content of the letter was very simple. It just told the governor that there was a fleet coming from the mainland, and on board the fleet were the famous South China Floating Force.

"Let's go to the port immediately!"

Li Wende's tone seemed a little anxious, but more of it was happiness.

Half an hour later, at the dock, when he saw Li Du, he immediately walked up to him and gave him a big hug.

"Brother, you are here."

They were brothers in the same shed when they were in the gold mine. Even now, he still thinks that he was able to survive the gold mine thanks to Li Du's care. In the past few years since he came here, he never thought that he would meet Li Du in Africa one day.

"Xiaojiu, I haven't seen you here for a few years. Are you okay?"

Li Du looked at his brother and asked.

"I heard from others that this place is not a good place."

"Brother, look at what you said. I tell you, there is no better place in the world than this. Take a look."

Pointing to the city behind him, Li Wende said with some pride.

"Do you think there's a better place than this?"

Then he turned back to look at his eldest brother and asked.

"Why are you still here..."

His eyes turned to the ships in the harbor.

"No one comes to visit you for no reason. This time we are here with a military order. This is the Marshal's handwritten order."

"The Marshal's order?"

Li Wende took the letter, glanced at it for a few seconds, then nodded vigorously and said.

"Please rest assured, I will take care of this matter. I promise I will not delay the Marshal's important task."

"Yes, I know. Let me settle the brothers first, and then we can have a good gathering together."

Li Du patted his brother on the shoulder and said this.

"We're counting on you for the time being."

"Brother, look at what you said. We are a family and we don't have different opinions. We are all for Nanhua."

While speaking, Li Wende looked at the officers and soldiers of the airship troops who got off the ships at the port, and couldn't help but wonder in his heart, where are those airships?

He had heard a lot about the airship recently, and now the airship troops had arrived here. When the time came, he would definitely take a tour of the sky if he had the chance.

Li Wende didn't even need to say anything. Li Du knew what he was thinking by looking at his expression, so he took the initiative to speak.

"After the troops settle down in Kinshasa, do you want to go to the sky with them during training?"

I want to, how can I not want to?

Who in this world doesn’t want to go up to heaven and take a look?

(End of this chapter)