Although it has entered early summer, the weather is still a little cold in the morning and evening on the land where the Slat House Prison is located, so that the prison guards and soldiers have to wear thick tweed coats. . The fastest update

The exact location of the Slat House Prison is probably located near the small town of Utrono in the Lake Chile region, on the north shore of Lake Lanco. Of course, the guards or prisoners here may not think so, especially a reserve cavalry platoon affiliated to the Southern Chile Regional Security Command and more than 30 armed guards from the Southern Railway Company.

"Look at those hard-working prisoners and exiled prisoners, they can receive a tweed coat every year, and the quality is also good. And we have no less work than those exiled prisoners, but it takes three years to wear a uniform and two years to wear a military coat. The exiled prisoners can receive two pairs of leather boots a year, but we only have one leather boot and two pairs of soles. This is really bad." A guard of a considerable age stood on a watchtower inside the walls of the slatted house prison and complained to his colleagues.

"Yes." Another young guard, carrying a 32-C flintlock rifle on his shoulder and holding a pipe in his mouth. Looking at the lush woods outside the prison, he casually said: "And they only need to come back and report once a month, so that we can confirm that they are still there. The rest of the time is free and can work hard for their little days. Compared to them, I think we are more like prisoners, because we have to stay in this prison most of the time."

The young guard's words caused a bitter smile from his companions. Yes, in addition to their good sanitation conditions, good living benefits and good income, they are really not much different from those prisoners. Although there are few prisoners in the Slat House Prison (most of whom were not honest during exile), there are many supplies here, such as medicines, cloth, food, wine, weapons and ammunition, sulfur and silver, etc., and people still need to be guarded.

"The only benefit is that the work is relatively easy. At least you don't have to endure mosquitoes like those exiled prisoners who travel through the primeval forest. They soak in the accumulated water for half a day, working hard to reclaim wasteland. And they also have a high income from service here, so they can send more money to go home." The older guard took a deep breath and sighed, "Okay, stop complaining. People are coming over there. It seems that they are a high-ranking official. The warden has gone out to greet them in person. Let's be more energetic, don't lose your looseness."

The person outside the Slat House Prison was Xu Xiangdong and his group. After inspecting several surrounding land reclamation villages, they finally arrived at the core of the Slat House Prison on the last day of 1672. The reason why this prison is the center of the reclaimed land in this area is actually easy to understand, because most of the surrounding land reclamation villages are composed of exiled prisoners and hard-working prisoners. They are all under the jurisdiction of the Slat House Prison. In fact, the management is relatively lax. No one cares about what you do. Just come to the prison to report it once a month to prove that you are still there.

The prison registers each prisoner, formulates a land reclamation plan, and sends various subsidies and allowances. The most important thing is that there is a cavalry platoon with strong combat effectiveness and more than 30 other guards of the Nantie Company. It is a considerable armed force and is also a security guarantee for more than ten land reclamation villages around.

Therefore, from the truth and reason, Xu Xiangdong must have come to the Slat House Prison for investigation and inspection, listen to the prison report, and see how they grew step by step amid the harassment of the Indians and the uninterrupted protests of the Spanish, and finally formed the current pattern.

"Very good. There are walls, trenches, sentry towers, barracks, and warehouses here. Is it really a prison?" It has been a month since I left. Xu Xiangdong changed his shoes, his horse, his beard grew a lot, and he felt a little tired, but his spirits were getting better. At this time, some of his entourage, accompanied by the warden, rode his horse into the stronghold called the Slat House Prison.

In fact, to be honest, the Slat House Prison cannot be regarded as a prison in the simple sense, because in addition to normal prisons (in fact, there are not even a few prison rooms, and there are only seventy or eighty prisoners at the most). There are also grain warehouses, material warehouses, arsenals, barracks, stables, etc., and even a small cargo yard for storing sulfur and wood. They are regularly transported to Boling County opposite through Lanke Lake, and also receive the reclaiming materials and subsidies transported there through this lake.

Therefore, to be precise, it is not so much a prison, but a colonial government agency, because the guidelines for more than a dozen surrounding villages are basically issued here. After all, most of those people are exiled prisoners who have not yet been sentenced to full sentences, and of course they have to be managed by the prison.

"Of course it's a prison. My position as a warden, but the appointment of Nantie Company and registered by the Ministry of Justice is not a wild way..." The warden spoke a little humorously, and only heard him say: "The prisoners are genuine. Any criminal prisoner with a sentence of more than fifteen years has the opportunity to be sent here. To be honest, these brothers are all talents, and they are so stable when they come to this wilderness full of crisis. But thinking about it, they are lazy and cunning and fierce, and it is impossible for them to work, and they will never be able to be sent to work here. Therefore, there is no way to be sent to work here for labor reform."

"Haha." Xu Xiangdong also laughed and then moved in the prison at will. There were no houses in the prison, but outside the wall, there were many houses, which looked like more than a hundred households. This also proved that the area of ​​the Lace House Prison itself is the largest reclamation point nearby. This is actually very easy to understand. It is close to Lanke Lake and has rich aquatic products; there are dense forests nearby, and there is no shortage of wood; the soil is also very fertile. Not to mention anything else, it is no problem to plant potatoes; the last point, and it is also the most important thing here.

There is a sulfur mine nearby, and there is a real centralized labor camp, which contains more than 300 prisoners or cultists who are considered to be extremely guilty and not suitable for exile by the court. They are carrying out heavy physical labor day after day, and the Slat House Prison has the obligation to transport some food to this labor camp. As for the output of the sulfur mine, it is transported through the Andes in summer and autumn every year by a team of mules and horses from Patagonia (there are exactly several passes nearby that are easy to walk). Of course, the living and means of production from Patagonia were also transported through this road.

"What do the Spanish think of you? It's been a few years. I don't believe they are so stupid that no one can see them at a glance." Xu Xiangdong and everyone entered a somewhat dark corridor. There were many rooms separated by wooden boards on both sides of the corridor. He knew that these were jailhouses, used to detain prisoners who really didn't repent or violated the regulations.

"They are not really stupid, but pretend to be stupid." The warden slapped the door of a cell hard, calming the people who were tortured by illness or pain inside, and then turned to Xu Xiangdong and said, "This is less than 200 kilometers away from the Spanish ports Coral and Valdivia. Moreover, closer to us, there are some small silver mines that the Spanish have developed for many years. Although the output is now very average, the silver mine is a silver mine. There are still many Spanish people living around and working Indians. How could these people not know our existence? They just pretend not to know! Not to mention, there are some bold merchants there trying to come and trade for trade.

It is easy, for example, merchants selling tobacco, sugar, wine, and dried fruits. Unfortunately, we are too poor here and there is nothing. They only value sulfur, high-end fur, grain, aquatic products, etc., but sulfur is a public thing. The amount of fur, grain and aquatic products is very limited, so this trade scale is very small. But the same goes for the same thing, no matter how small the trade is, there are Spanish merchants who have come. They must have told others about the existence of us and even the reclamation area of ​​the Slat House Prison, but no Spanish have come to cause trouble yet. Doesn’t this mean that they are guilty and want to pretend not to see it? Haha, we can now say that they have tested their bottom line, that is, exiled prisoners in this area to cross the border and cultivate, no problem!"

In fact, the incompetence, powerlessness or cowardice attitudes shown by the Spanish colonial government in the face of the cross-border reclamation behavior of the East Coast people step by step have long been well known to many people. The warden can say this because he has seen through their fierce and cowardly nature and is just not caring. Compared with the declining Spain and Portugal, the East Coast people have expanded more honestly in South Africa and other places, because they know that the Dutch will take all measures to prevent the East Coast people from cross-border reclamation, but the Spanish do not have the courage and courage. In addition, the expansion of the East Coast people is not the territory they value, so they give in step by step.

Of course, then again, the areas where the exiled prisoners in the Slat House Prison crossed the border and reclaimed have actually slowly touched the edge of the Spanish American colonies. You should know that this is less than 200 kilometers away from Valdivia, and the distance from the few small silver mines inland them is even more exaggerated, less than 100 kilometers, although these small silver mines have been exhausted day by day.

Therefore, the Slat House Prison also has a hint of deep strategic temptation for the Spaniards. That is, if the Spaniards continue to pretend to be dead, then it is not ruled out that the East Coast people even swallowed this land after swallowing it, and did not intend to digest it further northward, and swallow other areas of the central valley including Valdivia, Coral, Biarica, and Temuco.

On the above lands, there are a lot of Spaniards and Mestiso people living, and the number of grains, fruits, livestock, wood and even silver is quite large. Even from the "not low perspective" of the Spaniards, these places are not without any value. Therefore, it is conceivable that the resistance people in the East Coast will encounter when they expand northward in the future.

"It's good if the Spanish don't move, it's good if there's no movement. In this way, you can concentrate on dealing with the threat from the few Indians who are not very smart, and the pressure is much less." Xu Xiangdong spoke, looking at the prison on both sides of the left and right, he could guess without looking. The black prison was full of mice, parasites, moss and other dirty things. The prisoners inside were wearing moldy clothes, sleeping in the wet bed, and living like ghosts. But these people are not worthy of sympathy, because they committed crimes again during their sentences, either failing to report according to regulations, or a second crime, or running away. In short, they are not good birds, so let them rot in prison.

"The Indians are indeed a little troublesome, but they do not pose a major threat. Over the years, with the persuasion of the remnants of the Araucanian Kingdom, many Araucanians were naturalized and moved out (the places are usually South Africa, New China, and sometimes a group of them will be sent to Australia). Among the remaining people, there are many unwilling to be hostile to us (in fact, there are reasons for their struggle). They crossed mountains and rivers and went to the Patagonia platform to survive, so there are really not many people who stayed in this area and were embarrassed by us." The warden said with an indifferent look: "But if Commander Xu, if you are willing to send someone to sweep it, it will definitely help us a lot. It is not easy to find these people. After all, the forest here is complicated, and they always like to hide in the mountains as savages."

"Haha, it's not impossible to send people here, but it's not possible to have too many people, and it's meaningless to have fewer people. After all, the environment here is too complicated. Therefore, everything depends on you." As everyone spoke, they walked to the end of the corridor. There was a rather large hall, which was hung on the top of the wood with the words "Catury" written on wooden signs.

This will be the meal time, and some guards are already eating. Lunch is a traditional feature nearby, with clams, tofu soup and potatoes, which are quite rich and taste good. It is worth mentioning that all the miscellaneous work in the prison, including cooking, were made by exiled prisoners with minor crimes, and they were unable to do their best. After all, the guards are not easy to talk to. A prisoner once was beaten by the guards all night because there was no less than this fish soup.
Chapter completed!