Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 135: Founding Ceremony
ps: Thanks to Yunhai Shuyou Shitongzhou for the reward!

On November 11, after personally observing several resettlement sites for retired soldiers, Li Mingyuan returned to Porto Alegre and began preparing for the founding ceremony.

The founding ceremony was scheduled to be held on December 1st. Before that, Li Mingyuan needed to arrange people to send invitations to the three quasi-allies of Paraguay, Peru and Bolivia.

Bolivia and Peru are thousands of miles away from the Rio Grande do Sul region, and it took more than half a month for the representatives of Peru and Bolivia to reach Porto Alegre. However, just two days after the Brazil peace talks, the Chinese side sent people to notify the representatives of Peru, Bolivia and Paraguay who participated in the talks in advance. When the founding ceremony began, the three negotiators participated in the ceremony as representatives of the heads of state of the three countries.

In addition to the three countries of Peru, representatives from countries such as Britain, Prussia, Belgium, and the Netherlands that have business dealings with the Chinese were also invited.

The formal founding of the country was a big event for the Chinese in South America. The selected messengers set out in different directions and headed for the embassies or commercial offices of Britain, Prussia and other countries in the La Plata region. Teams of soldiers selected from various troops set out under the leadership of their officers, marching on dirt roads, preparing to participate in the military parade at the ceremony.

The empty Rio Grande do Sul area became lively because of the founding ceremony. Soldiers and retired soldiers who gathered spontaneously continued to pour into Porto Alegre. The increasing influx of population exceeded the expectations of the top leaders of the Chinese Independence Army. For this reason, Li Mingyuan ordered the temporary construction of a tent area on the open space in the south of the city for retired soldiers participating in the founding ceremony to rest.

As the time for the celebration draws closer, representatives from various countries who have received invitations gradually arrive in Porto Alegre, and preparations for the celebration are becoming more and more complete.

On the morning of December 1, south of Porto Alegre,
A dense crowd of people crowded in front of the venue.
Chinese soldiers in dark black uniforms stood in a line, separating the ordinary Chinese people participating in the celebration from the venue.
In the crowd, groups of ten gendarmes wearing red epaulettes on their sleeves went back and forth to maintain order in the venue.

The sun rose slowly from the sea, and the coolness of the early morning gradually dissipated. At a quarter past nine, the south gate of Porto Alegre opened, and a team of majestic cavalry walked out of the city gate. The cavalry were arranged in two rows, with a young general riding a black horse in the middle. He was wearing a newly customized black military uniform, with a sword on his right and the reins in his left hand, marching steadily in front of the queue.

The cavalry walked out of the city gate and waited for the ordinary Chinese outside the city to voluntarily make way, and the noisy venue quickly quieted down.

Li Mingyuan rode on his horse, his eyes sweeping over the Chinese standing on both sides. In the crowd, most of the Chinese were wearing ragged linen clothes, some were wearing old black military uniforms with patches, and some disabled Chinese had crudely made round nameplates on their chests, which were medals earned for their military merits.

In the early days of the medal system, there was a lack of machinery and raw materials for making medals. The first batch of military medals issued were made manually using primitive methods, with crude workmanship and a total of less than one thousand pieces.

The Chinese who wore the medals had all made contributions in the battle. They were either wounded for their bravery in battle or contracted injuries during the expedition, which led to their loss of combat effectiveness and eventually leaving the army.

The medals were distributed by Li Mingyuan himself. Li Mingyuan had impressions of the retired Chinese people wearing medals in the crowd, and most people could even call out their names.

Seeing the retired soldiers still maintaining the standing attention posture they had in the army, Li Mingyuan's increasingly hardened heart was also moved. The time of fighting together for life and death left a deep mark on the Chinese soldiers. Even though they have left the battlefield, the trust and belief formed on the battlefield are still difficult to erase.

Facing the retired soldiers who were looking at him firmly, Li Mingyuan did not speak, but slowly raised his right hand and saluted the crowd solemnly.

The black military horse continued to move forward. Li Mingyuan kept saluting with his right hand flat, and the same action was responded to him. The whole venue seemed to have become a huge military camp. Whether it was the soldiers on guard or the retired Chinese, some of their salutes might not be correct, but the meaning they conveyed was the same. They were paying tribute to Li Mingyuan and to their own years of fighting.

Riding all the way to the high platform in the center of the venue, Li Mingyuan dismounted and walked to the platform, shouting "The ceremony is over!" as he had done many times in reviewing troops.

There was a sound of arms being lowered from the audience.

"In the mainland, we gathered at the coastal ports for various reasons and came to South America by ship."

Li Mingyuan's opening words surprised the foreign representatives sitting in the guest seats. There were no hypocritical courtesies or welcome ceremonies. Instead, he slowly narrated the process of the Chinese arriving in South America.

“Peru is full of precious minerals and lush plantations, and Cuba is rich in sweet sugar. It is a rich land favored by God, but everything there does not belong to us, nor to the Chinese workers who came from across the ocean.

Cartloads of ore are shipped out of the mine, and boxes of sweet candy are placed on the dining table. Our labor in the mines and manors has created the wealth of the mine owners and manor owners, but what about us?
Still living in the dark and damp mine, lying in the mosquito-filled manor.

We were not slaves, but we lived a life worse than that of slaves. The mine owners and plantation owners ignored us, the Indian overseers whipped us, and even fellow black slaves bullied us by relying on their tall stature.

We lived in disgrace and muddle through, we endured being deceived and beaten by others, we endured heavy labor and a dark life, even when others pointed guns at our heads, we still imagined that they would develop a conscience or pinned our hopes on others' resistance.

As a result, even if they escaped death, they still could not escape the fate of being buried in the mines or abandoned in the wilderness. "The environment in the mines and plantations was harsh and the labor intensity was high. Many Chinese workers could not bear the heavy labor and dared not resist. They could only jump into the hot syrup or jump into the ore to commit suicide. It can be said that the lives of Chinese workers are buried in every dessert produced in South America and every steel refined.

The Chinese standing in the meeting place were all born as laborers. They had personally experienced what Li Mingyuan said. The time in the mines and plantations was a past that was too painful to look back on, but the words in their ears evoked bloody memories of the past.

“The memories of the Labour period are cruel and painful, but we cannot forget them.

, love of war leads to danger, forgetting war leads to destruction. Why did we become slaves of others as laborers? Why did the mainland, with a population of tens of millions, perish at the hands of millions of Tartars?
It is because they dare not resist and just let things go as long as the knife is not on their necks.

Resistance does not necessarily mean death, but surrender will definitely lead to destruction.

In Peru we revolted and defeated our oppressors. Now we have land and fields, and soon we'll have a wife. It seems that danger has left us.

No, it isn't. Once we relax our vigilance and stop striving for progress, the threat of death will come upon us again.

So I hope that every Chinese brother in the audience will not give up the muskets in their hands, and train diligently. If others invade us, we will use the muskets in our hands to defend our land and homes! "

After the voice was finished, the people below calmed down and Li Mingyuan suddenly said loudly, "If someone cedes our land, what should we do?"

"War, war, war." His answer was a deafening and hoarse shout.

"What should we do if someone attacks us?"

"Fight, fight, fight"

Two consecutive high-spirited replies gave Li Mingyuan the answer he wanted. He raised his hand to stop the Chinese people from shouting. Li Mingyuan suppressed his excitement and continued, "After thousands of miles of travel and hundreds of battles, all the Chinese present today will witness the establishment of our own country with their own eyes."

"Long live the prince! Long live the prince!" The thunderous cheers drowned out all other sounds in the venue.

The cheers from the audience lasted for three minutes before they stopped. Then the representative of the Brazilian Empire walked onto the stage and announced that Li Mingyuan would be awarded the title of Duke of Rio Grande do Sul and the Autonomous Principality of Rio Grande do Sul would be established.

After the Brazilian representative's announcement, a military parade was held. Columns consisting of cavalry, artillery, infantry and navy units passed through the parade square one after another. However, the representatives of Brazil and other countries who participated in the establishment of the Principality of Rio Grande do Sul were obviously not paying attention to the military parade. They were still digesting Li Mingyuan's speech on the stage and the reactions of the Chinese in the audience.

Duke Robert of the Brazilian Empire sat in the guest seat. He was not among the Brazilian representatives participating in the founding ceremony of the Principality of Rio Grande do Sul. He participated in the celebration in a private capacity.

Canudut, the son of Duke Fo Robert who was captured in the battle of Oliva, was released back to Brazil as one of the first exchanged prisoners after the signing of the peace agreement. After learning the details of the siege of Oliva from his son, he became curious about how a group of cowardly Chinese workers could burst out with such tremendous fighting power. So he took the opportunity of the celebration to come to Porto Alegre to observe the Chinese troops up close.

The Chinese Independence Army, no, it should now be called the National Defense Force of the Principality of South Riogran. On the podium, Li Mingyuan just announced the new name of the Chinese Independence Army, the National Defense Force of the Principality of South Riogran, abbreviated as the National Defense Army.

Duke Robert had never seen the actual combat capabilities of the Wehrmacht with his own eyes, but he saw the reactions of ordinary Chinese people at the scene.

Fanatical and warlike, Forbert understood the reasons for the failure of the Brazilian army from the eyes of ordinary Chinese.

An army with enthusiasm and faith, coupled with a young, wise leader who is loved by the soldiers, even though they are thin and their clothes are tattered.

Armed with muskets, they were still an excellent army, and it was not a loss for the Brazilian army to be defeated by them.

Forbert quietly left the guest seat and got on the carriage back with his servants and guards, intending to tell Pedro II everything he had seen, reminding Pedro II to make the right decision and not to easily go to war with the Chinese because of the wrong subjective impression.

(End of this chapter)