Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 199 Separation of Military and Political Affairs
"The focus of our army's next phase of operations will shift to competing with Argentine troops for control of the northern region. The operational goal is to achieve actual occupation of the five northern provinces of Salta, Chaco, Corrientes, Formosa, and Jujuy around 1871.

Therefore, in the fight against the Brazilian Empire, our army will take a defensive stance within two years. The army troops stationed at the Ruoinvia Naval Base and Yongan (Baje) must closely monitor the actions of the Brazilian army on the opposite side and must not give the Brazilian army the opportunity to provoke and start a war. "After confirming the meeting with Lopez Jr., Li Mingyuan began to arrange the follow-up actions of the National Defense Force.

"Your Highness, if the Brazilian army crosses the border to provoke, how should our army respond?"

Li Sandou, who had just returned from Yong'an County to report on his work, asked.

"After General Luo marches into northern Argentina, I will dispatch Commander Zhou's Second Mixed Brigade to reinforce Yong'an County. If you encounter Brazilian troops being unreasonable and picky, don't hesitate and beat them back mercilessly."

Li Mingyuan glanced at the Rio Grande do Sul area and continued, "Captain Li, when the troops clash with the Brazilian army, you must grasp the measure. You must not only hurt the provocative Brazilian troops, but also control the conflict within a certain scope. You cannot let the conflict expand into a full-scale war and affect our army's core strategy in northern Argentina."

"When a conflict breaks out, the subordinates will discuss countermeasures with the combat staff in the troops and will not act blindly."

Li Sandou expressed his opinion.

"You must be careful in dealing with matters involving Brazil. If any unexpected situation occurs while I am attending Lopez Jr.'s inauguration and reform, you must report to Chief of Staff Liu and General Chen before making any decision."

Attending the four-nation conference chaired by Lopez Jr. means that Li Mingyuan has to stay in Paraguay for at least ten days. As for the affairs during this period, Li Mingyuan handed them over to Liu Pu and Chen Guozhu to handle respectively.

As the Chinese presence in South America grew, it was obviously not appropriate to leave the affairs of Rio Grande do Sul to Liu Pu alone. Therefore, during this short absence from China, military affairs were assigned to Chen Guozhu, with Zhang Ansong assisting.
Liu Pu continued to manage political affairs, with Zhao Yan serving as his deputy.

Li Mingyuan divided the duties originally handled by Liu Pu among other people. Liu Pu himself had no complaints because over the past year or so, Chinese and Chinese businessmen from the Caribbean, Southeast Asia and other places continued to flock to Rio Grande do Sul. Among them, in addition to sailors who worked for foreign ship owners and Chinese pirates who made a living as pirates, most of them were Chinese businessmen from British colonies who traveled all over the world to do business. Their arrival provided Rio Grande do Sul with the much-needed administrative management talents, which greatly enriched the ruling structure of Rio Grande do Sul.

Western countries such as Britain and the Netherlands seized colonies in order to plunder economic benefits. Unlike the Netherlands, which was small and weak and worried that the increasing power of Chinese in the colonies would threaten their rule, the British had already established the British Empire as the world's number one overlord. They adopted a supportive attitude towards Chinese businessmen who traveled to various colonies to do business. The Chinese businessmen in the Straits Settlements and East Malay colonies had a strong economic status. Until later, the status of Chinese in Malaysia was higher than that of Chinese in Indonesia. This was the result of the two countries' different policies towards Chinese.

Rio Grande do Sul implemented a development policy that gave equal importance to industry and commerce. In order to attract funds from Chinese businessmen, many immigration policies that were beneficial to Chinese businessmen were formulated. Thanks to the Qing government's non-recognition of overseas Chinese and the repeated victories of Chinese troops in wars, some visionary Chinese businessmen began to set up commercial bases in Rio Grande do Sul. Some businessmen who were very optimistic about the prospects of Rio Grande do Sul transferred most of their assets to Rio Grande do Sul, and used their years of business experience to seek an official position in the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.

Over the past year, the number of Chinese and Chinese businessmen who have voluntarily moved to Rio Grande do Sul has exceeded 2,000, and as Rio Grande do Sul becomes more and more stable, this number is still increasing.

Among the more than 2,000 Chinese who fled as free men, there were more than 600 Chinese businessmen. Of course, among these Chinese businessmen, about 500 were small vendors who made a living by relying on their skills or hawking goods on the streets in the British colony. After deducting the shipping fee, the remaining money from their assets could probably buy 30 acres of land in Rio Grande do Sul.

Thirty acres of land was set according to the standard for granting land to Chinese workers in Cuba. Even if those Chinese who immigrated at their own expense had extra money, they were limited to thirty acres when purchasing land for the first time.

The development of Rio Grande do Sul requires not only capital, but also industrial technology and high-quality human resources.

Thirty acres of land can ensure that the first generation of Chinese immigrants can live a life with adequate food and clothing, while also motivating immigrants to acquire more land and a better life.

Rio Grande do Sul has restrictions on the purchase of land by small Chinese vendors with limited wealth, but this does not stop their enthusiasm for buying land, because in the colonies where they live, although the land they acquire nominally belongs to them, the actual ownership of the land is in the hands of white colonists. A single order from the white colonists can not only make them lose everything, but even their lives may be threatened. The massacres that occurred in Indonesia and Manila shortly after each other, and the attacks against the Chinese by the indigenous people in British colonies have made overseas Chinese and Chinese businessmen terrified and worried about their own safety. In the eyes of overseas Chinese, even if they own thousands of acres of fertile land overseas, they are still passers-by living there, and they will only feel safe when they return to their hometown or to a country that belongs entirely to the Chinese.

As the only Chinese country outside the mainland, Rio Grande do Sul naturally has great appeal to overseas Chinese. As for the Lan Fang Company on the island of Kalimantan, it is just a colony affiliated with the Netherlands. The local economy and politics are controlled by the Dutch, and the Lan Fang Generalissimo is just a puppet of the Dutch.

After arriving in Rio Grande do Sul, most of the 500-plus Chinese vendors returned to their old jobs and continued to make a living with their original skills.

The 500-odd vendors account for a very small proportion of the population of more than 300,000, but their arrival filled the commercial gap in Rio Grande do Sul. In the vast countryside of Rio Grande do Sul, the small vendors carrying goods on their backs or pushing horse-drawn carriages travel through villages dozens of miles apart, bringing necessary daily necessities and some small clothes and toys for newborns to the Chinese in the villages.

Itinerant vendors and craftsmen met the living needs of Chinese immigrants, boosted local economic activities, and brought Chinese immigrants scattered across various regions closer together.

At first, the small Chinese vendors followed the wealthy Chinese businessmen to immigrate to Rio Grande do Sul. Most of the more than 100 Chinese businessmen with some wealth decided to abandon their businesses in the colony and choose to immigrate after being persuaded and introduced by Liang Xing.

Liang Xing had been doing business in Southeast Asia and the Caribbean for many years, and had some friendships with Chinese people who were doing business in various places. In addition, after he joined the National Defense Army, he was given an important task by Li Mingyuan, which was more convincing to those Chinese businessmen who wanted to leave the colony. Therefore, encouraged by Liang Xing's example, one by one, Chinese businessmen made up their minds to sell their properties in the colony and immigrate to Rio Grande do Sul. Most of the successful Chinese businessmen had some education background, and simple literacy and experience in managing workers' estates were beneficial to them in handling local affairs. Therefore, among more than 100 people, more than 70 were selected to serve as officials of central departments and deputies of local officials. The chief officials of the central government and local county governors were old subordinates who followed Li Mingyuan.

As the number of government officials gradually increased, there were more and more things to deal with. Therefore, before Li Mingyuan was about to leave Rio Grande do Sul, Liu Pu raised some issues that required Li Mingyuan to make a personal decision and resolve.

"Your Highness, Rio Grande do Sul has 3 registered citizens, and unnaturalized Brazilians. The two newly built settlements have a population of more than , reaching the standard for independent counties. Do we need to re-plan Rio Grande do Sul's administrative structure and add two new counties?"

“Which two regions meet the criteria for establishing a county?”

“If Invia has a population of 3.6 and Floriano has a population of 3.4, both places will meet the criteria for establishing a county.”

"If Invia and Floria are the two most important military bases of the Navy, establishing a county government can separate civil responsibilities from military missions, making it easier for the Navy to unify wisdom and management."

Li Mingyuan pointed out the benefits of establishing new counties in a few words and agreed with Liu Pu's suggestion that "the establishment of counties in the two places can be implemented, but considering the importance of the two places as naval ports, when selecting the county governors of the two places, more consideration should be given to the coordination with the naval ports."

"The selection of county governors of the two counties will be communicated with the Navy in advance."

After Liu Pu answered, he continued, "The government administration structure has been set up. Except for the heads of the cabinet and the twelve ministries and agencies, who have not been appointed because of the wrong timing, the deputy heads of the ministries and the local county governors have all been arranged.

I believe that the government has basic administrative capabilities, and officials from local counties and departments are able to handle government affairs independently. It is inappropriate to allow some military officers to serve as civil officials. I suggest separating the military and politics, and some officers who serve as civil officials should either leave the army and become government officials, or resign from their concurrent positions as civil officials and return to the army to serve.

The separation of military and government should be done sooner rather than later. When the country was first established, there was a shortage of both military and government officials, so I and some of my brothers had to take on two positions. Now the time is ripe, and I hope to resign from the post of Chief of Staff and concentrate on assisting Your Highness in handling government affairs. I hope Your Highness will grant me permission."

"I have considered the separation of military and politics before, but because of the changes in northern Argentina, the separation of military and politics has been delayed. Now that brother Liu has brought it up first, let's solve it all at once."

First of all, I agree that Brother Liu will quit the army and engage in administrative work instead. However, Brother Liu should not rush to hand over the affairs of the army. He should serve as the chief of staff while I am in Paraguay, and then make arrangements after the war in northern Argentina has a result. "

"Thank you for your permission, Your Highness."

"Brother Liu, do you have anything else to say?"

"I have said everything I wanted to say." Liu Pu smiled and shook his head.

“Brother Liu’s suggestion is good, and now I will add one more.

The military school was an institution established during the Peruvian uprising. After entering Rio Grande do Sul, the military school still followed the troops. I think this situation should be changed.

Western countries have military schools that specialize in training officers. I heard from my brothers in charge of intelligence that Japan also established a military school called Kyoto Military Academy last year.

Rio Grande do Sul was won by our brothers at the cost of their lives. We cannot fall behind other countries in military education, so the school attached to the army can no longer be moved back and forth with the troops. I plan to transfer the school attached to the army from the army and establish a special military school in Xinjing (Porto Alegre) to train excellent command officers for the entire army. "

"Your Highness, to establish a military academy, we need to select outstanding officers from the army. Our army is currently facing pressure from the Brazilian army, and northern Argentina also needs a large number of outstanding officers to serve on the front lines. Will withdrawing officers from the army at this point in time reduce the combat effectiveness of the army?"

"The transfer of some officers to serve as instructors in military academies will have a certain impact on the combat effectiveness of the troops. But don't worry, the first batch of officers transferred are mainly instructors from the original military academies, and the impact on the combat effectiveness of the troops is within a controllable range."

(End of this chapter)