Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 142 Agriculture
ps: Thanks to Yunhai Shuyou Shitongzhou for the reward!

Six days after Sun Bin arrived in Rio Grande do Sul, the first fleet carrying Cuban Chinese workers arrived at its destination.

After arriving in Rio Grande do Sul, the Cuban Chinese workers stayed at the port for two days to rest and adapt. On the third day, ships at the port loaded the workers in batches and transported them to various parts of Rio Grande do Sul.

The first batch of Cuban Chinese workers had three main destinations. The first was to Passo Fundo to participate in factory installation and construction. This group had the largest number of people, about 15,000.

Second: The destination is Ifina. Building a naval base for the National Defense Force in the north of the Principality will require about 4,000 Chinese laborers.

Third: Disperse to various parts of Rio Grande do Sul to engage in agricultural and animal husbandry production.

When Brazil ruled the two southern states, the sparse population and poor infrastructure led to slow development. After the Chinese took over the area, roads, towns, agriculture, industry and other aspects needed to be built from scratch.

Industry and agriculture are the two cornerstones to ensure the healthy development of the country. In terms of industry, Passo Fundo is a core industrial base under construction.

In terms of agriculture, the two southern states have a mild climate and abundant rainfall, making them ideal agricultural product production areas.

There are many areas suitable for agricultural development in the two southern states, but based on the current situation of the Chinese, it was finally decided to establish the first agricultural production area in Pelotas.

Pelotas is located at the southern mouth of Lake Patos, on the left bank of the São Gonzalo Channel of the Atlantic Ocean. It is 244 kilometers northeast of Porto Alegre and 40 kilometers southeast of Rio Grande Port. It has convenient land and sea transportation.

Pelotas has a mild and humid climate, flat and low terrain, and the coastal areas are suitable for growing rice. The inland Campos grasslands have developed animal husbandry and are suitable for the development of animal husbandry.

In addition, the local area is close to the sea and has excellent ports, so the agricultural and livestock products produced can be transported by sea to other places in Rio Grande do Sul or exported to European countries.

There is a town in Pelotas where Brazilians stayed. After the Chinese troops arrived here, some of the local white people fled to Uruguay for refuge, and some Indians and black slaves were taken into custody and returned to the Brazilians as part of the Brazilian peace talks.

After the implementation of several targeted policies, the population of Pelotas was reduced by more than half, and the once busy agricultural product port trade suffered a severe blow, with the number of ships returning less than one-third of that during the busy season.

Agricultural and animal husbandry trade is the main way for the two southern states to obtain overseas fiscal revenue.

The Chinese replaced the Brazilians as the masters of the two southern states. After investing most of their energy in industrial and housing construction, they began to devote some of their energy to developing agriculture and animal husbandry.

Pelotas was a major agricultural development area, and approximately 4,000 of the remaining 6,000 Cuban Chinese workers were assigned to Pelotas.

When the Brazilians ruled Pelotas, they implemented a free-range management method. Agricultural land was scattered among the local white people and divided into small plots of land on which different crops were planted according to the owners' preferences.

Brazil has a vast territory and a sparse population. Even though large areas of land are used inefficiently, the local white people who own vast tracts of land still have ample income.

The superior natural environment nourishes the fertile fields, and the lifestyle without survival crisis also leads to the lazy character of local residents.

Sitting on a treasure mountain, you will never have to worry about food and drink. After planting a season of crops, you don’t have to weed or water them. When autumn comes, you can just wait for the harvest.

Argentina, Brazil and Chile were later called the ABC of South America. They were the three major powers in South America. However, except for Chile, which barely entered the ranks of developed countries by relying on mineral exports, Brazil was still lingering in the ranks of developing countries. Argentina was even worse. At the beginning of the 20th century, it was already one of the most developed countries in the world, with a per capita income higher than that of the United States at the same time.
However, in the second half of the 20th century, Argentina's economic development stagnated and the national situation was turbulent. In order to gain support from the grassroots civilians, the opposition parties blamed the Argentine elite for the stagnation of economic development and gained the approval of a large number of grassroots civilians. Then the opposition parties came to power, nationalized the land wealth held by the elite class, and distributed it equally to the grassroots civilians.

The land of landlords and the elite class did not come out of thin air. Except for some people who obtained it through trickery and robbery, most people's land was obtained by their ancestors or through their own hard work. Depriving them of their land indiscriminately has a bad impact and is a blatant robbery of the minority by the majority.

The radical democratic revolution is essentially the same as the peasant uprisings in the feudal period.

The long-term stable environment led to a sharp increase in population. Wealth accumulated in the hands of a few people during social development. The contradictions caused by the differentiation of social wealth accumulated to a certain extent and broke out. Uprisings continued, wars broke out, and a large number of people died from wars, plagues, and hunger. The population decreased, land was redistributed, and the contradictions were alleviated. Some of the lower classes in the war took power and became the new elite class, and then the usual path was repeated. The land of Rio Grande do Sul is not unlimited, and Li Mingyuan would not be arrogant enough to think that he could conquer the entire South America with more than 40.3 field troops under his command. With the influx of Chinese immigrants, the total area of ​​ square kilometers of land will become a densely populated area in a few decades.

As the population increases and the land decreases, the Chinese who were originally grateful to Li Mingyuan will turn to dissatisfaction, and new conflicts will quickly erupt as they accumulate.

The environment changes the racial character of a group of people. The descendants of the Dutch developed a national characteristic of bravery and good fighting in the South African plateau. The Portuguese and Spanish who immigrated to South America became lazy and romantic. The hardworking Chinese workers were also likely to be assimilated by the environment after adapting to decades of comfortable life. Therefore, blindly granting large amounts of land to Chinese workers for free would be extremely harmful and would seriously reduce the combat effectiveness of the Chinese troops and even endanger Li Mingyuan's ruling position.

The Chinese who came from Peru had experienced the test of war, and the 300 acres of land each was a reward for their merits.

However, the Chinese workers and soldiers who came by ship from Cuba were different. They had not made any contributions to the Principality of Rio Grande do Sul, so Li Mingyuan would not give them land for free.

There is a reason why the monarchy has existed for thousands of years and even in the period when democratic republics became common in later generations, there were still more than twenty monarchical countries.

The monarch is nominally the master and symbol of the country. In order to maintain their rule, they need to keep the country stable, ensure a balance of interests among all classes of people in the country, and establish an image of a fair and just monarch.

Li Mingyuan formulated the policy of distributing land according to merit. He cannot turn a blind eye and undermine his policy just because a large amount of land is now barren.

The first batch and subsequent Chinese workers who arrived in Cuba would not receive their land within one year. After one year, the land they should receive would be determined based on their merits in military service and construction work, and the area of ​​land would range from 30 to 100 acres.

After the policy regarding Chinese immigration was announced, neither the Chinese soldiers who had already obtained land nor the newly arrived Cuban Chinese workers had any objections. The retired soldiers were proud that they were allocated a large amount of land, and the Cuban Chinese workers were happy and satisfied that they had been freed from the land of death and could obtain a large piece of land through military service and labor.

Attracted by the land, the Cuban Chinese workers became more enthusiastic about work after two days of rest. They all wanted to leave a good impression of hard work in the eyes of the supervising Chinese soldiers and obtain more land.

In the coastal area of ​​Pelotas, more than 200 Chinese workers were cutting down the surrounding trees under the guidance of five or six retired soldiers. More than 100 people were clearing the open space left after the trees were transported away. Behind them, two buildings built with rubble and bricks left by the Brazilians were crowded with people. Outside the buildings, a batch of mechanical equipment was dismantled into parts and placed on the open space. There were more than 30 blond-haired and blue-eyed foreigners discussing and talking around the mechanical equipment.

Pelotas is a place where grain, cattle and sheep are produced. The grain and beef and mutton produced need to be industrially processed before they can be shipped out of the port. Therefore, a flour mill and a meat processing plant equipment were transported to Pelotas, and two buildings left behind by Brazil were requisitioned for industrial use and are being renovated to be suitable for the installation of machinery and equipment.

Eric was one of the thousand Prussian technicians and experts in charge, and planning and building Pelotas was his main job.

"Sun, the Pelotas port is 500 meters long, with a water depth of 30 meters in the deepest area and an average water depth of over 10 meters. It can accommodate ocean-going ships with a draft of 5 meters. It is an excellent port."

Eric introduced the hydrological data of Pelotas Port to Sun Bin.

"We are one kilometer away from the port. The flour and meat products processed by the flour mill and meat processing plant can be shipped directly through the port.

The open space to the left of the flour mill and meat processing plant can be planned as a large warehouse. The grain produced in the plains and the furs of farmed animals can be stored in the warehouses and then sold to foreign merchant ships.

An animal trading area is set up on the right side of the factory area, and the trading of horses, cattle, sheep, wild deer and other animals is managed in different areas..."

The Kingdom of Prussia originated in the southern Baltic region, where the large landowners, the Junker aristocracy, occupied a dominant position in the kingdom. The land in the southern Baltic Sea was fertile and the agricultural industry was developed, so the Prussians were no strangers to agricultural development.

"The Crown Prince has assigned 4,000 workers and 1,000 retired soldiers to participate in the construction. If there is anything that needs to be dealt with, you can tell me directly and I will arrange personnel to assist you in the work."

Leave professional matters to professionals. Eric is an expert invited back from Prussia, and Sun Bin will meet all his requirements.

(End of this chapter)