Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 131 Peace talks completed, initial stability

Thanks to Yunhai Shuyou Shitongzhou for the tip!
The population of Santa Catarina State is about 70,000. After the war broke out, some local white residents chose to leave Santa Catarina State and head to Paraná State in the rear because they were afraid of the Chinese Independence Army. After nearly a month of fighting, less than 40,000 Brazilians remained in the area, and the rest of the population either left or entered the Chinese Independence Army's prisoner-of-war camps.

Compared with the occupation of Rio Grande do Sul, the Chinese Independence Army suffered greater losses when marching into Santa Catarina. When the troops advancing north of Iguazú encountered the Brazilian garrison, the total casualties of the Chinese Independence Army reached 2600, of which 600 were casualties attacking the local Brazilian army, and the remaining were casualties in small-scale conflicts attacked by local Brazilians.

The Chinese Independence Army's practice of forcibly expelling local residents in Rio Grande do Sul caused panic and anger among Brazilians in Santa Catarina. In order to protect their land and property, a large number of young and strong Brazilians formed small armed groups to attack the scattered forces of the Chinese Independence Army, forcing the Chinese Independence Army to send a large number of troops to maintain law and order in the occupied areas.

After seeing off Liu Pu and other members of the negotiation team, Li Mingyuan devoted his energy to the encirclement and suppression operation to eliminate local rebel forces.

Having experienced the encirclement and suppression of guerrilla forces in Rio Grande do Sul, Li Mingyuan had a clear goal and focus when facing the resistance elements in Santa Catarina State.

First of all, the leaders of the resistance were mainly the local landowner class. When the Chinese Independence Army entered Santa Catarina, they were the ones who suffered the most. Those who participated in the battle were the lower-class white people and landless Indians, who were hired by the local landowners to fight against the Chinese Independence Army.

As for the local landlords who dared to resist, there was nothing to say but to eliminate them and take away all their land and property. As for the lower-class Brazilians who had no money, Li Mingyuan had already thought of a way to deal with them. He would pull one group together and beat another.
Those who took the initiative to report and expose the rebel forces were pardoned and rewarded with land and wealth, while those Brazilians who chose to fight the Chinese Independence Army to the end were completely eliminated, in order to intimidate ordinary residents in the occupied areas.

Using a stick in one hand and a carrot in the other, after eliminating several powerful rebel forces, Li Mingyuan stopped the policy of maliciously expelling local residents, and then assured the Brazilians who stayed behind that if they reported the rebels around them, not only would their land and wealth be preserved, but they would also be rewarded by the Chinese Independence Army.

After the new policy was revised, although the local residents did not report the rebels on a large scale, the security environment in Santa Catarina State improved a lot. The land wealth of the local residents was guaranteed, and they saw batches of rebels being executed. Most people did not dare to risk their lives to help the rebels. As time went on, the rebels who lost the support of the local residents had a harder time. One by one, the rebel forces were surrounded and eliminated. Some double-minded rebels took the initiative to surrender to the Chinese Independence Army, guiding the encirclement and suppression troops to find the rebels' hiding place and then catch them all in one fell swoop.

The siege operation that lasted for more than 20 days came to an end with the surrender of the last batch of rebel forces. The local residents who had suffered from turmoil and fear gradually returned to normal life.

During the more than 2000 days of security operations, more than 2000 local Brazilians related to the rebellion were killed or captured. Among the more than people, half were Brazilians who directly participated in the rebellion, and the rest were local residents who provided assistance to the rebels.

It would not be feasible to capture the rebels and then directly put them into concentration camps for labor as they had done in Rio Grande do Sul, because Brazil had sent a message through the British to protest against the Chinese Independence Army's suppression of ordinary residents. Under pressure from both Brazil and the British, Li Mingyuan chose to compromise to a certain extent and not equate the rebels with prisoners of war. However, as punishment for participating in the rebellion, all their land would be confiscated and they would be forcibly sent out of Santa Catarina.

Two thousand rebels were expelled, and the population originally living in Santa Catarina decreased again. The Indians and a small number of black slaves were wiped out, leaving only less than 30,000 white people and Indian-white mixed-race people. The population of Santa Catarina dropped to an extremely low level.

The forced expulsion of local residents led to resistance from Brazilians in the controlled areas and strong protests from the Brazilian Empire, but for Li Mingyuan, all these costs were worth it. Only by expelling most of the locals could the Chinese occupy the majority and the ruling foundation of the Chinese Independence Army be consolidated.

After numerous security operations, the negotiation team represented by Liu Pu returned from Brazil with news of the negotiation results.

The negotiations were not smooth sailing. The five representatives bargained over the contents of the agreement one by one. After half a month, they finally reached an agreement that all parties reluctantly accepted. Among them, the agreement related to the Chinese Independence Army had a total of eight articles, which are as follows:

1 The Brazilian Empire agreed that Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina would belong to the Chinese Independence Army, and the area south of Iguazú would be controlled by the Chinese Independence Army. The sovereignty issue would be temporarily shelved, and the remaining controlled areas would be returned to the Brazilian Empire. The two sides would draw a border line on the front line.

2 Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina states merged into the Principality of Rio Grande do Sul, which joined the Brazilian Empire and became an inalienable sacred territory of the Brazilian Empire. At the same time, the Brazilian Empire did not interfere in the internal affairs of the Principality of Rio Grande do Sul and allowed the Principality of Rio Grande do Sul to be autonomous.

3. Release Brazilian soldiers captured in previous operations within one month.

4. Stop expelling local white people and let the white people decide whether to leave. If the local white people choose to leave, the Chinese Independence Army needs to pay compensation of no less than % of the converted value of the land and property.

5. The Brazilian Empire lifted its blockade on the Chinese, and the Chinese Independence Army could purchase the necessary goods and supplies from Brazil.

6 The Chinese Independence Army promised not to conclude a military treaty with Paraguay, Peru, and Bolivia against Brazil.

7 Chinese independence military supplies returned ten Brazilian Navy sailing warships and twelve gunboats,

8 The five countries participating in the peace talks granted Britain the right to free navigation on rivers within their respective controlled areas, and granted British merchants the most-favored-rights-to-trade. The territorial issue in the eight-point peace agreement was the core of Li Mingyuan's concern. Preserving the territorial sovereignty of the two states and the actual control of the area south of the Iguazu River just reached the bottom line of the peace talks. Although the establishment of the Principality of Rio Grande do Sul, which was affiliated to the Brazilian Empire, did not achieve independence, the actual control of the two states was still in the hands of the Chinese Independence Army. As for the restrictions imposed by the Brazilian Empire on the Chinese Independence Army in the name of national sovereignty, Li Mingyuan was not too worried. The Chinese Independence Army continued to maintain sufficient combat effectiveness and deterrence, and the Brazilian Empire naturally did not dare to act rashly. Establishing an independent country was not a problem. If the strength of its own independence army declined, Brazil would have plenty of excuses to deal with the Chinese, so it did not care about having one more excuse.

After carefully reading all the contents of the agreement, Li Mingyuan smiled and said, "Brother Liu has been through a lot of trouble. Reaching a peace agreement with the Brazilians has made a great contribution to the Chinese Independence Army. I will hold a banquet to reward Brother Liu."

"Your Highness, you are too kind. We were able to reach an agreement because we brothers hurt the Brazilians so much that they were willing to give in and compromise. Otherwise, I alone would not be able to do much."

Liu Pu spoke modestly, but his eyes revealed a look of satisfaction and joy.

After encouraging Liu Pu a few words, Li Mingyuan began to ask questions related to the peace talks.

"The Brazilian Empire sees itself as the hegemon of South America. It won't be easy to get them to recognize the Chinese Independence Army's sovereignty over the two southern states, right?"

"That's right. The Brazilian representative initially proposed that only Rio Grande do Sul belong to us, and all other regions belong to Brazil.

The Brazilians were trying to save face and refused to compromise, so naturally, I would not be polite to them. I immediately stated at the negotiation table that the Chinese Independence Army would not give up an inch of occupied land. If the Brazilians did not agree, the Chinese Independence Army would continue to advance, and the navy would also bombard the Brazilian capital, Rio de Janeiro. "

"Negotiation means bargaining. Our army has the upper hand for now. It would be a waste if we don't use our advantage to force the Brazilians to bow their heads." Li Mingyuan nodded in agreement.

"Haha, I was also angry when I said that." Liu Pu smiled awkwardly and continued, "The Brazilian representative heard what I said through the translator and immediately threatened to launch a counterattack against our army, clamoring to drive the Chinese Independence Army out of Brazilian territory. He looked so angry that it seemed as if Brazil was the winner.

The Brazilian representative refused to give in. According to the agreement reached in advance with the representatives of Paraguay, Peru and Bolivia, they took a unified stand and strongly refuted the conditions put forward by the Brazilian.

The Brazilian representatives did not gain an advantage in the initial negotiations, and during the halftime break they tried to defeat each other one by one, and privately negotiated with the representatives of the other three countries. However, because Paraguay, Bolivia, and Peru also understood that now was not the time to split, they did not privately reach an agreement with the Brazilians. "

None of the people who can rule a country are fools. Victory is about to be achieved. Even if there are various contradictions among the four forces, they still need to unite when facing a common enemy. Li Mingyuan understands this truth, and the three countries of Peru are also clear about it.

“After more than ten days of arguing at the negotiation table, no agreement was reached. The British intervened first and forced Brazil to cancel its unreasonable demands. Then we, Paraguay, Peru and Bolivia also lowered our demands and finally reached an agreement.

Peru and Bolivia gave up half of their occupied land to Brazil, while Paraguay retained the western part of Mato Grosso State. In exchange, Brazil provided Paraguay with some food supplies to alleviate the domestic food shortage in Paraguay.

After introducing the content of the peace talks between the three countries and Brazil, Liu Pu took out a piece of paper and said happily, "In order to obtain the two southern states and the area south of the Iguazu River, I have ceded other occupied areas, prisoners, and some warships to Brazil.

Our army gave up a lot of interests to facilitate the success of the peace talks. It is impossible to only get the control of the land in public. Some agreements were signed in private, and they are all on this piece of paper. "

Li Mingyuan took the paper, quickly read the contents, and said, "We won't suffer any loss by exchanging sugar and grain for sailing warships. As long as the ironclad ships are in our hands, maritime safety can be guaranteed. As for transporting Chinese workers from Cuba in the name of Brazilians, isn't it inappropriate?"

"Don't worry, Prince. Although the Chinese workers are being transported in the name of Brazilians, we will send our own people to each transport ship to monitor the entire process. In addition, the exchange of prisoners of war and the transportation of Chinese workers will be carried out in batches. The Brazilians will transport one ship of Chinese workers, and we will hand over a batch of prisoners of war."

The Chinese Independence Army has temporarily settled down, but it is not easy to trade Chinese workers directly with the Spanish colonies, so finding a third party as an intermediary is a last resort at this stage.

The Chinese Independence Army had many prisoners of war, and the Brazilians hoped to take them back to increase Brazil's national defense. With the supervision of the Chinese soldiers on board, the safety of the Chinese workers could be guaranteed.

(End of this chapter)