On July 12, 1909, after a month and a half of journey, King Pedro III of Brazil arrived near Cuiaba, the capital of Mato Grosso state.
"Oh, dear, we have finally arrived at the plains," Mary said brightly.
After hearing what his wife Mary said, Tangning also laughed.
"Haha, it's true that there are mountains, and there is no railway network. It's quite uncomfortable to ride a horse-drawn carriage for a long time."
Although the Brazilian Plateau is a high-quality representative of the plateau world, with the flattest terrain in the world, as a mountainous area there are still some rugged places. Since entering the plateau from Rio de Janeiro, Tang Ning and the others have been riding shock-absorbing carriages, but the level of comfort on the plateau is definitely not as good as on the plains.
"The Romance of Fairy Wood"
"Tangning, I have never seen so many mountains. I have seen enough in the past month."
Mary said with emotion: "Luxembourg, where I grew up, is a place dominated by mountains. I didn't expect that the Brazilian mountains are wider than people imagine. Although the scenery along the way is indeed beautiful, it is still very disturbing when you see too much."
The original terrain of Brazil was a vast Brazilian plateau in the middle, surrounded by plains. Now Brazil has gone through a round of expansion and its territory has been extended to the Pacific Ocean. The current terrain is low hills and the Paraguay River plain basin to the west of the Brazilian plateau. Further west are the Andean plateaus, and finally the Pacific coast is a small coastal plain.
"Mary, you can rest assured for the next journey. In the next period of time, we will mainly take boats and go south along the Paraguay River to Paraguay."
Mary felt even happier when she heard that the boat ride was next. "That's great, it's annoying to be in a carriage for so long."
Thinking of this one-month tour, Mary couldn't help but feel sad about the backwardness of the Brazilian mainland!
"Dear, our population in the interior of Brazil is really small. Since I left Belo Horizonte in Miras State and traveled along the way, I haven't seen many large-scale towns.
Except for the population of Miras, which is pretty good, I think the two large states of Gilas and Goiás have very small populations. Even their state capitals only have a population of 10,000 or 20,000 people.
Not only are there fewer people, but the living standards of the people here are much worse than along the coast, and the prices of many daily necessities are very high. Now I finally understand why you want to immigrate inland, build transportation, and set up light factories in the five-year plan. . "
Along the way, Mary realized deeply why her husband Tang Ning always talked about the sparse population and poverty in the interior.
The population here is really so small that as the royal family, they have to camp for many days as they advance because there are few populated towns in the interior.
The quality of Brazil's inland towns is also far behind that of the coastal areas. When she stayed in the towns, even though local officials provided the best accommodation, Mary still felt a little uncomfortable.
The living standards of people in the inland are really not very good, because the roads are imperfect and light industrial products are missing. Their quality of life is much worse along the coast.
There is really a lot of land in the mainland, but because of the lack of population base, it is difficult to develop.
Mary now understood why her husband directed a large number of immigrants from the East and Southern Europe to the inland. The reason for doing so was actually to develop the inland.
Without enough population, the hinterland cannot develop.
"Your Majesty and Queen, we are still two kilometers away from Cuiaba City."
A reconnaissance knight rode over at this time to report to the respected Brazilian King and his wife with the latest progress.
"Yes, I understand." Tangning smiled and said, "John, you knights have worked hard on this journey. I am very grateful to you."
"It is our honor to serve His Majesty!"
Cuiabá is a city with excellent development in the interior of Brazil. Although it has a population of only 20,000 to 30,000, its excellent geographical conditions and transportation are much better than others. The quality of life of the people and the development of the city are considered to be of high quality inland.
Cuiaba, the capital of Mato Grosso, is located on the left bank of the Cuiaba River, the upper source of the Paraguay River, with an altitude of 165 meters. It is the geometric center of South America. It was built in 1719 for gold mining and was established as a city in 1818. It is the trading center of nearby agricultural and pastoral areas and the distribution center for rubber and coconut in the north. Export cattle, dried beef, sugar, leather, wine, etc.
Although a railway has not yet been built, the Cuiaba waterway leads to Colomba, and with the Paraguay River, a golden waterway, Paraguay's external transportation is very convenient.
The Paraguay River Water Conservancy Project is a major plan in Brazil's first five-year plan, as famous as the São Francisco River Water Conservancy Project. It is also the only two large-scale water conservancy projects in Brazil's five-year plan.
The Paraguay River project, which runs from Cuiaba to Ascension in Paraguay, has used 30,000 manpower, and the manpower is still increasing. A large part of the immigrants from the East and Southern Europe are distributed inland here.
In the plan set by Downing, the Paraguay River Basin in the middle of the country is positioned as one of Brazil's three nuclear engines. The Paraguay River Industrial Zone, together with Brazil's coastal industrial zone and the Orinoco River Industrial Zone, will support the Brazilian state.
The natural endowments of the Paraguay River Basin are excellent. The natural conditions are excellent and mainly hills and plains. It has natural development potential and high agricultural potential. To the east is the Brazilian Plateau and to the west is the Andes Plateau. Both of these plateaus are rich in resources. In fact, the Paraguay River Basin itself is not bad either. It is also rich in mineral resources, and its iron ore and gold reserves are also world-class.
There are four major rivers in Brazil: Paraná, Amazon, São Francisco, and Orinoco.
The Paraná River is a wide basin. The upper reaches of its main basin are very flat and the height difference is too great. However, its important tributary, the Paraguay River, is a golden basin.
The Paraguay River, a golden river basin, was actually considered a main road for a long time. However, the river has a long source and eventually lost its claim. Considering the fact that Brazil is developing, if the upper reaches of the Paraná River cannot work, of course, the core of the future will be left. On the Paraguay River.
The Amazon River is a world-famous river and the largest river in Brazil. Although it has excellent navigation conditions, due to environmental reasons, its ceiling in the tropical rainforest area is too low. It is destined to only develop mainly in economic agriculture, such as bananas, rubber, cocoa, etc. The development of light industry and food industry is the best choice. It cannot serve as an industrial center at all. It is a pity that the shipping conditions are wasted.
The shipping conditions of the São Francisco River are too poor. Although the precipitation is good, the distribution of time and space is uneven, so that Brazil needs to carry out a major project for it.
It is simply unrealistic to build a national core base based on this river basin. In fact, the main development in this area is agriculture and animal husbandry, and the industrial development areas are mainly in Pernambuco and other places on the coast downstream of the river, which is already a coastal industrial zone.
The Orinoco River, the basin of this river, is rich in natural resources such as iron ore, copper ore, and gold ore. The climate of the basin has a portion of tropical rainforest, but is actually dominated by a savanna climate.
The natural shipping conditions in this basin are excellent, and there are even tributaries that can communicate with the Amazon River. The only drawback is the delta archipelago at the outlet, which blocks traffic and limits shipping tonnage.
However, this level of transformation is not difficult. Brazil can simply transform it, including digging canals and dredging. This is a good base for establishing a large industrial zone, so it is also positioned as one of Brazil's three cores in the future.
The Orinoco river basin can actually be better utilized, but Brazil currently has limited energy, so it will not invest in it for the time being. It can only carry out small projects. If there is time in the future, it will vigorously develop the river in an all-round way. .
Brazil's plan is very ambitious, but Brazil currently does not have many resources and energy to use, so the first five-year plan can only focus on the coast.
At present, Brazil's three cores can only build one core in the coastal industrial zone, and the others can only wait until the future.
