Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 119: Establishment and Brazilian Situation

The calm water surface was slightly rippled, and the vibration amplitude of the float standing in the water gradually increased. Suddenly, the float was pulled underwater by the fish. The fishing rod on the river bank was quickly pulled up, and a silver freshwater fish jumped out of the water and was pulled to the shore by the fishing line.

Li Mingyuan took the fish off the hook and handed it to Liu Pu, who had just sat next to him: "Are you here today for the purpose of establishing a nation? I told you that the mopping-up operation has just ended and the development and construction of Rio Grande do Sul has just started. Announcing the establishment of a nation at this time will prematurely expose the strength of the Chinese Independence Army and attract the attention of Western powers and even the Qing government, bringing unnecessary trouble and difficulties to our subsequent construction and development."

Seizing Rio Grande do Sul and establishing a Chinese state was the core strategy that Li Mingyuan set at the beginning of the uprising. Going to Peru, fighting in Bolivia, and facing the Brazilian coalition forces were all for the purpose of achieving the goal of establishing a country. After more than a month in Rio Grande do Sul, Li Mingyuan's promise of 300 acres of land to each person had been fulfilled, and the goal of finding wives for the Chinese soldiers was also gradually being achieved, but there had been no progress in establishing a Chinese state.

If the name is not right, the words will not flow. Chinese people always have a legitimate reason to do things. They occupy 28.1 square kilometers of land in Rio Grande do Sul. If the Chinese in South America act under the name of the Chinese Independence Army, it would seem inconsistent with their own strength. 28.1 square kilometers is equivalent to the area of ​​two provinces in the Central Plains. The land of two provinces can be used to establish a country whether in ancient times or during the Taiping Rebellion. Having a formal country name is equivalent to getting rid of the identity of bandits and rebel forces and having a formal official identity.

Establishing a nation and establishing a system can enhance the cohesion of the Chinese in South America and is also in the vital interests of the Chinese soldiers who followed Li Mingyuan. At the beginning of the mopping-up operation, most of the Chinese Independence Army officers asked Li Mingyuan about the specific time of the founding of the nation. Li Mingyuan pretended not to understand what they meant and deliberately led the topic to other directions.
The Chinese officers who did not get answers from Li Mingyuan brought their questions to Liu Pu, resulting in a constant stream of officers coming and going to Liu Pu's house every day. Unable to bear the hassle of everyone, Liu Pu visited Li Mingyuan yesterday and directly conveyed the questions of the Chinese officers. Li Mingyuan was busy dealing with the planning of Rio Grande do Sul yesterday and did not explain in detail to Liu Pu the reasons for postponing the establishment of the country. He simply rejected the Chinese officers' suggestion to establish the country as soon as possible on the grounds that the Brazilian army might attack at any time.

Li Mingyuan had a rare break today, and when he saw Liu Pu visiting again, it was easy to guess that he was still here for yesterday's issue.

Putting the fish into the bamboo basket, Liu Pu said, "I thought about it all night yesterday. Formal establishment of a country can solve the identity problem of Chinese in South America and improve the belonging of soldiers.
However, after the founding of the country, whether it was to stabilize his throne or to suppress public opinion aroused by the failure of the Paraguayan War, the Brazilian Emperor Pedro II would once again dispatch the main force to fight a decisive battle with the Chinese Independence Army. The Chinese Independence Army had experienced several major battles, and behind the numerous victories was the huge hidden danger of our army's serious shortage of weapons and ammunition reserves, and the soldiers' fatigue from long-term battles and lack of rest.
Moreover, the Chinese Independence Army is isolated in the South American continent and is fighting alone. The Brazilian army may fail once, twice or multiple times for various reasons, but our army cannot fail even once. If the Chinese Independence Army shows signs of decline in another battle with the Brazilian army, Argentina, Uruguay, and even Paraguay, which was originally an ally, will pounce on the Chinese Independence Army without hesitation and tear a piece of bloody meat from it.

The Chinese Independence Army is surrounded by wolves. If they want to gain a foothold in South America, every country and force around them will be their enemy. "

Liu Pu was less than twenty years old, a young man of about the same age as Li Mingyuan. At the beginning of the uprising, the Chinese Independence Army lacked talent, and many young Taiping remnants and laborers were promoted to high positions. More than half a year of war had stimulated the potential of many officers. However, because of his youth and lack of experience, Liu Pu, like other young officers, would sometimes fall into misunderstandings and lose his correct judgment of matters.

Liu Pu thought about it for a night and understood Li Mingyuan's intention, which made him feel relieved. However, the problem highlighted by this incident had to be taken seriously.
There were only one or two hundred literate people in the Chinese Independence Army. After more than half a year of teaching knowledge to the officers of the Chinese Independence Army, they only solved the simple literacy problem of the officers, and the number of qualified civilian officers increased only slightly.

During the mobile warfare period, more than 100,000 Chinese were all members of the army. The only issues that civilian officers needed to solve were statistics of military merits and logistical support, which were not that difficult to solve.

After occupying Rio Grande do Sul, more than half of the Chinese soldiers became permanent residents. Except for some permanent Chinese soldiers who also served as garrison soldiers, the rest of the retired soldiers became normal residents. Then they were further divided into farmers engaged in agricultural planting, miners, skilled workers operating textile machinery, cement production, steel smelting, military manufacturing, etc. The complete and complex social division of labor management requires a large number of professional administrative officials. According to Li Mingyuan's observation, the Chinese Independence Army is very short of this kind of talent. There are less than twenty civilian officials who can meet the requirements of this kind of work management in the Chinese Independence Army.

The number of twenty people is really too few. Once the country is formally established and various industrial production machinery needed for national production are introduced, the current Chinese civil servants will not be enough.

The best way to attract talent is to immigrate from the mainland. However, the Qing government implemented slave rule for more than two hundred years. Coupled with the persistent literary inquisition during the reigns of Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong, civil servants in the mainland have long recognized the rule of the Qing Dynasty. It is not realistic to poach people from them in the short term.

The method of recruiting talents from the mainland was not effective, so Li Mingyuan had no choice but to turn his attention to Western countries.

In 1868, the United States had just ended the Civil War and was busy developing industry at home, with little interest in overseas expansion.

Prussia had just finished the Austro-Prussian War and the Danish-Prussian War, and was busy preparing to fight against France and complete the great cause of unifying Germany.

Britain suppressed the Indian uprising and began to enjoy a good life of exploiting the Indian people. The center of expansion also shifted to the areas around the East Asian continent.

France was busy invading Vietnam and Cambodia, expanding its sphere of influence in Southeast Asia.
Tsarist Russia advanced all the way in the Middle East and Siberia, seizing territory and having no time to spare for anything else.

Japan also entered the first year of the Meiji Restoration in 1868, and had just begun its journey to becoming the overlord of East Asia.

The situation changed in 1868. Several major powers from World War I and World War II had already shown signs of rising. At this time in South America, countries such as Brazil and Argentina still had some strength. America had just entered the fast lane of development after the end of the Civil War, and it was still too early to treat South America as its own backyard. Brazil and Argentina did not need to act according to the wishes of the United States.

The old powers, Britain and France, had vast overseas colonies, and their huge overseas interests had fed the two countries well. The two countries needed time to digest the food they had swallowed, and their strength was not enough for new expansion. Prussia, Italy, Austria, and the United States were busy with development and had no intention of expanding either. At this time, it was the most appropriate time to use the real money to introduce much-needed management talents and industrial facilities to the United States, Prussia, Italy, Austria and other still developing countries.

In 1868, the first industrial revolution in Europe and the United States was completed and the second industrial revolution had just entered its infancy, and overproduction of industrial facilities needed buyers to absorb it.

At this time, European and American countries had not yet implemented a technological blockade. Brazil, Argentina and even Japan, which came later, imported a large number of new technologies and necessary development talents from the West.

Faced with the most suitable period of development, Li Mingyuan would not allow the opportunity to slip away from his hands. It was imperative to introduce talents and industrial technology from Western countries.

Li Mingyuan told Liu Pu his idea and planned to hand the matter over to Liu Pu.

"Prince, it is necessary to introduce Western talents and technologies, but before this, the administrative arrangements and institutional planning of Rio Grande do Sul need to be determined."

Liu Pu started the conversation and continued, "In addition to the need to determine the identity and status of the Chinese in South America, the military officers hope that the country will be established soon. The chaotic institutional arrangements in various resettlement sites are also a major factor. Therefore, the formal establishment of the country can be postponed, but the establishment of a preliminary national system and government organizational structure should not be postponed."

"What specific plans do you have?" "I intend to adopt the national governance system of the previous dynasty, designating the six ministries, the Supervisory Office, and the Dali Temple as the highest-level management units. The chief minister of the cabinet and the university scholars who join the cabinet will be responsible for managing specific state affairs and report to the prince."

The cabinet system during the Ming Dynasty was close to the Western constitutional monarchy, which was conducive to the monarch's management of the country in the feudal period. However, it is now 1868, more than years have passed since the Ming Dynasty. The system that was reasonable at that time is not very suitable now. The system of six ministries, one temple, and one court has some institutional references, but completely copying the Ming Dynasty system is not suitable for the current international situation. Li Mingyuan and Liu Pu discussed for more than an hour. While retaining some Ming Dynasty official positions, some new departments were added, and then the composition of the rudimentary national administrative agency was also constructed:
1- Ministry of Household Registration: manage domestic household registration, resettlement of immigrants, allocation of land, management and protection of mountains, forests and rivers

2- Ministry of Finance: currency issuance, tax collection, and official salary distribution,
3-Ministry of Personnel: official assessment, promotion, appointment and dismissal, and conferring of titles, etc.
4- Ministry of Rites: preside over large-scale sacrificial activities, cultural heritage and protection, policy publicity, guidance of public opinion, and approval and management of culture-related industries.

5- Ministry of Education: manages schools at all levels in the country and is responsible for setting up higher education universities.

6- General Staff Headquarters: National armed forces command and management agency
7- Ministry of Criminal Affairs: Trial and judgment of criminal cases

8: Ministry of Industry: large-scale project planning and management, industrial development, railway construction, traffic management

9-Ministry of Foreign Affairs: External relations and management of diplomatic relations development

10- Ministry of Commerce: Management of private commerce, collection of commercial taxes,
11-Inspectorate: Inspect, impeach and report officials, and the censors of the Inspectorate are at the same level as the ministers of various ministries.

12-Legislative Yuan: Constitution and laws formulation, amendment and promulgation,
Abolish the nine grades and eighteen levels of official ranks and implement

There are ten levels of official ranks, namely cabinet, ministry, bureau, department, division and section.

The Prime Minister is at the cabinet level, the Grand Secretary is at the vice-cabinet level, and the ministers of the ministries and the heads of the two houses are at the ministerial level.
The same applies to other officials.

After the establishment of the administrative structure, the establishment of administrative levels in various parts of Rio Grande do Sul also began.
Porto Alegre was the headquarters of the Chinese Independence Army and was named Xinjing, meaning the new capital of the Chinese in South America.

Santa Maria is a county in the Hexi region, named after the western bank of the Guaiba River.

Bare was renamed Yong'an County
Erekhin was renamed Changning County.
One capital and three counties constitute the first-level local administrative unit of the Chinese Independence Army. New county towns will be established as the population increases.

After the administrative hierarchy and local regional planning were completed, Li Mingyuan asked about the situation in Brazil.

"After the defeat in the Paraguayan War, Garcia led 10,000 remnants of his army into the mountains and marched for seven days to Guaira, a city on the Paraná River. They took a small boat of local Brazilians up the river and then returned to Rio de Janeiro by rail."

"After seven days of walking alone in the mountains and forests without food and supplies, I think Garcia must have had a hard time!"

Crossing thousands of miles of desert and forest areas, Li Mingyuan personally experienced the difficulties of long-distance transfers. Garcia's troops lost their camps and were short of supplies when they fled in a hurry. Although they only walked in the forests for seven days, the mosquitoes, wild beasts and diseases in the forests also caused great difficulties for the army.

"Garcia was also a man of great adaptability. It was said that during the seven-day march, 2,000 soldiers were abandoned in the mountains by Garcia because they contracted diseases and were left to die. Another 3,000 soldiers were lost in the mountains due to lack of food and other reasons. In the end, less than 5,000 Brazilian soldiers arrived safely in Rio de Janeiro."

"During the march through the mountains, it was easy for infected soldiers to infect other soldiers. Garcia's action was a rational choice at the time."

There were many factors that led to the victory of the Chinese Independence Army in the Paraguayan War. We cannot deny Garcia's command ability just because of the failure of a war. In his mind, Li Mingyuan regarded Garcia as an opponent worthy of attention.

"Garcia was an excellent general who judged the situation and escaped the encirclement at the critical moment. However, the noble bureaucrats in Rio de Janeiro would not see it that way. What they noticed was that when Garcia took over the command of Mitchell, the Brazilian army had 50,000 people, but now he has brought back only 5,000 people. Only one in ten of the soldiers who went to the war survived. Garcia cannot escape the main responsibility for the failure of the Paraguayan War anyway."

"According to what they said, if Garcia had not taken over Mitchell's command, Garcia would not have launched the flanking operation, and the subsequent series of battles would have changed. The Chinese Independence Army had not used the channel opened up by the Brazilian flanking troops to sneak attack the main force of the Brazilian army. The battle might have had a different outcome. The Chinese Independence Army would have paid a greater price to defeat the main force of the Brazilian army."

Liu Pu smiled and said, "The dismissed Brazilian Army Marshal Mitchell said something similar to the prince. After hearing that the main force of Brazil was almost wiped out, Mitchell, who was under investigation by the Brazilian Army's Military Court, jumped out first and accused Garcia of being greedy and reckless, which led to the annihilation of the main force of Brazil. If he had followed his previous cautious plan step by step, the Brazilian army would never have ended up like this.

Normally, no one would believe what Mitchell said, but after Garcia's accident, his former subordinates and confidants in the Brazilian army began to build momentum for Mitchell, advocating that Mitchell was mature, steady, and foresighted. "

"Did anyone else believe Mitchell's words?"

"How can we not believe it? The main force of the Brazilian army was lost, and other generals in the country did not perform particularly well in the Paraguayan War. Although Mitchell was conservative and slow, the Brazilian army was still intact under his command. In contrast, both the political and military circles in Brazil tend to favor Mitchell. The Brazilian Military Court also recently announced that Mitchell performed his duties conscientiously and did not derelict his duties during his tenure as the commander of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force. After the investigation results came out, Mitchell resumed his position as the commander of the Brazilian Army, responsible for recruiting soldiers and choosing the right time to launch a counterattack against our army."

(End of this chapter)