Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 139 Industrial Layout
Industrial development cannot do without coal as an energy consumer. South America is relatively short of coal resources. Coal mining areas in Brazil are mainly located in the three southern states, and coal resources are concentrated in the southern part of Santa Catarina and the northern part of Rio Grande do Sul.

Brazilian forces withdrew from the two southern states, and the Chinese troops took over the three open-pit coal mines left behind by the Brazilians. Then, under the guidance of captured Brazilians, they discovered two more unmined coal producing areas.

Three of the five coal mining areas are located near Passo Fundo, and the other two are in the east and west sections of the Uruguay River in the Chinese-controlled area. They rely on hydropower transportation on the Uruguay River and then transfer them to Passo Fundo by land. The cost of transportation is within an acceptable range.

Passo Fundo is located in the central area of ​​the coal-producing region of the three southern states of Brazil, backed by the Guaguaiba River. It is an ideal industrial construction base. Therefore, Li Mingyuan dispatched a large number of retired soldiers to the local area in advance to carry out basic engineering construction, preparing to place the steelmaking, muskets, cannons, ammunition and other factory equipment shipped from Prussia here.

Li placed a topographic map of the area around Passo Fundo in the middle of the hall. Li Mingyuan pointed to the Guaiba River estuary area south of Passo Fundo and said, "An industrial base will be built here in the future. The steel smelting plant and weapons and ammunition production plant will be located along the river bank; the weaving factory, match factory, flour mill and other light industrial factories will be located in the outer river section of Passo Fundo.

Taking advantage of the Guaiba River connecting to the coastal ocean, we purchased metal ores such as iron and copper from outside, and then sent the processed products along the river bank to various regions in Rio Grande do Sul, solving the supply of daily necessities for ordinary Chinese in the country and achieving basic self-sufficiency in weapons and ammunition. "

There are five prerequisites for a large-scale industrial system: sufficient domestic and international markets, sufficient funds to purchase machinery and equipment and pay labor, abundant metal mineral resources, mastery of relevant technologies, and a well-trained and skilled workforce.

However, Li Mingyuan faced a huge problem. Of the five prerequisites, only the funds were barely met in Rio Grande do Sul. The country had a small population, insufficient coal and metal mineral resources, no industrial technology, and no skilled workers, and its industrial base was extremely poor.

Among various disadvantages, population size is the biggest obstacle to the development of industry in Rio Grande do Sul.

Industrial technology, industrial equipment and mineral resources can be purchased with money, and skilled workers can also be hired by foreign technicians for training. Only population is the foundation for a country's industrial development.

The human resources in the mainland are saturated, and there are a large number of Chinese workers available for immigration in Southeast Asia and Cuba. The population problem that restricts the industrial construction of Rio Grande do Sul can be solved to a certain extent after a large number of immigrations.

"It costs a lot of money to buy guns, cannons and ammunition from Europeans every time. If we can build our own weapons factory, we can save a lot of money every year."

He was not very clear about the industrial issues discussed by Li Mingyuan and Liu Pu, but as the steward in charge of the financial and logistics of the Chinese troops, he had reviewed the expenses of purchasing weapons and ammunition time and time again. Therefore, no one among the Chinese could understand the necessity of building a weapons factory better than him.

"Sun Bin sent a telegram saying that there are 700 Prussian technicians in the returning fleet. After they arrive in Rio Grande do Sul, they will serve as workers and trainers to install factory equipment. We must carefully select retired soldiers to join the factory and learn operating techniques from them, so as to train our own skilled workers as soon as possible."

"The first batch of Cuban Chinese workers will arrive within ten days. Together with the follow-up and retired soldiers, more than 100,000 young and strong Chinese should be able to select enough apprentices."

After answering Li Mingyuan's question, Liu Pu felt that some parts were not quite right, and continued, "How to build a factory is not as clear to me as to the foreigners, but to develop industry, we need coal and iron ore. There is no iron ore in Rio Grande do Sul. The Brazilians signed a contract promising to lift the embargo on our supplies, but they will not really sell us iron ore. Even if they do, the price will be higher than usual. Without iron ore, the weapons factory will be built without raw materials, and the musket ammunition will still not be self-sufficient.

Prince, if the iron ore source problem is not solved, Rio Grande do Sul’s future development will be restricted. We must consider a solution to this problem in advance.”

“The lack of mineral resources is a major shortcoming of Rio Grande do Sul. To obtain raw materials, we need to purchase metal ores from other places besides Brazil.

In South America, Brazil and Chile close to us, Venezuela and Colombia on the Caribbean coast, and Peru where we revolted, all have abundant mineral resources.

Peru is the closest to us, but we are blocked by Bolivia and Paraguay. Chile is separated from us by Argentina, so it is impossible to buy metal ore from these two countries in the short term. Therefore, before we have our own iron ore producing areas, we can only import iron ore from Venezuela and Colombia first. "

The mineral resources in Colombia and Venezuela are mainly controlled by businessmen from the United Kingdom and the United States. Will the Chinese rashly intervening in them cause dissatisfaction? Liu Pu speculated secretly.

The British were the undisputed world hegemon in the 19th century. They used warships and cannons to open China's door. The Taiping Army in the south, who had personally fought against the British, had witnessed how powerful they were. Therefore, when thinking about the problem, Liu Pu subconsciously considered the attitude of the British.

Sensing Liu Pu's concerns, Li Mingyuan said with a smile, "We won't compete with the British for what they like. We can buy land and mineral mining rights from Colombia and Venezuela, and then send people to explore and develop, which will not harm the interests of the British."

"But Prince, how do we know where there are mineral resources? If we buy the land but can't find the metal deposits, isn't it a waste of money?"

Liu Pu only had a rough idea of ​​where Colombia and Venezuela were. Not only had he never been there, but neither had Li Mingyuan and most of the other Chinese workers. Would it be possible to successfully explore a mine in an unfamiliar place? Liu Pu was not sure.

"When Brother Li Han contacted us for the first time, he was passing through Colombia. He discovered an unmined open-pit iron mine deep in the local mountains and told me about it."

Li Mingyuan couldn't tell Liu Pu his secret, so he could only push the news onto Li Han.

Li Mingyuan's excuse was lame. Liu Pu found many loopholes from the beginning. Li Han secretly crossed the border from Colombia and was chased by Colombian troops. How could he be so lucky to find the iron mine?
Li Mingyuan had many secrets that others didn't know about. He didn't want to talk about them, and Liu Pu didn't dare to ask too much. He could only arrange his subordinates to do things according to his instructions.

(End of this chapter)