Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 289 Post-War Development
Argentina has a temperate climate, with temperatures rising near the Tropic of Cancer.
However, there is no real tropical zone with an annual average temperature above 20°C. The south is very cold, but there is no real frigid zone with an average temperature below -20°C. In the hottest northeastern part of Argentina, there is still a frost period of nearly one month, while in the coldest Tierra del Fuego, there is also a frost-free period of one month. July is the coldest month and January is the hottest month. The highest and lowest temperatures vary greatly between the north and the south. The most densely populated Buenos Aires and its surrounding areas have an annual average temperature of 7°C, without severe cold or extreme summer, and have excellent natural conditions.

Half of Argentina's land is arable land and pastures, and the area with the most developed agriculture and animal husbandry is the famous Pampas Plain, which stretches from the central coast to the foothills of the Andes, covering more than 500,000 square kilometers. Every inch of it is moist and fertile soil, with flat terrain and abundant rainfall. It is considered to be the most superior agricultural and pastoral area in the world.

Riding freely in the central Pampas Plain, after several hundred kilometers, you can hardly feel the change of scenery. All you can see are endless farmlands and pastures.

The joint fleets of Britain and Brazil still imposed a maritime blockade on the National Defense Forces along the eastern Atlantic coast. However, in the vast inland areas such as the two southern states of Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina, the regular armed forces of Argentina and Uruguay no longer existed. The scattered and unaffiliated guerrillas gradually died out under the attacks of the Han armed forces.

Starting from mid-July, the British expeditionary fleet withdrew its army troops stationed in Argentine coastal port bases such as Buenos Aires and La Plata, abandoning its plan of land-based armed intervention in the Argentine war.

With the British Expeditionary Force withdrawing from the coastal areas and the remaining Argentine resistance forces about to perish, the La Plata region had lost the conditions for another major war to break out. Therefore, Li Mingyuan and a group of Han military and political officials began to prepare for a series of post-war affairs.

The first is the issue of rewarding meritorious soldiers and volunteers who supported the front. According to statistics from the Military Affairs Department of the General Staff, during the Argentine War, the Han government mobilized a total of 47 people to participate in front-line combat, logistics transportation and other tasks, including 27 front-line combat troops.

This includes 20 mobilized national defense troops, 7 garrison troops, and 20 volunteer volunteers.

Senior generals were awarded titles based on their merits. Among them were Luo Linshan, Liu Yongfu and other generals and above. Ye Chenglin, Chen Zongbai and others were also granted hereditary earl titles because of their outstanding military achievements.

The first time the Han Dynasty was founded, strict requirements were set for conferring noble titles. Except for Li Sandou, Chen Guozhu and Zhang Ansong, who were granted hereditary marquisates for their contributions as the king's trusted confidants and their loyalty to the king and his son for more than ten years, there were only twelve people granted hereditary earldoms. Among them, nine were from the army, namely Luo Linshan, Zhao Yongzeng, Wang Dashan, Wang Xiaoshan, Li Dawei, Liu Yongfu, Ye Chenglin, Chen Zongbai and Wu Fengdian, two were from the navy: Chen Sen and Li Han, and one civil servant: Liu Pu.

Sixteen persons were awarded the hereditary title of Viscount: Chen Shangfa, Li Dawei, Luo Zhongguo, Feng Guoan, Qiu Mingzhang, Sun Bin, Zhao Yan, Feng Changqing, He Yanliang, Chen Jinzhong, Hu Yaji, etc.

Twenty hereditary barons: Shen Fushan, Liang Xing, Mei Dongxing, etc.

The hereditary duke title will not be granted for the time being. Once the list of 51 people who will be awarded the four ranks of hereditary titles of marquis, earl, viscount and baron was announced, some were excited while others were disappointed.

Even if those who are granted titles have higher expectations for their own titles, they are not disappointed because they already have noble titles. However, those who are qualified to compete for noble titles but do not have enough merits can only feel disappointed and regret not seizing the opportunity to make merit, while secretly gritting their teeth and encouraging themselves, hoping to start a war early and get what they want when the next title is conferred.

Senior generals were competing for noble titles, while ordinary officers and soldiers and volunteers were looking forward to getting the land awarded by the government as soon as possible.

Argentina has a land area of ​​278 million square kilometers, 1/3 of the country's total area is covered by forests, and 3900 million hectares of forests can be developed. The famous Pampas Plains have good agricultural and animal husbandry conditions that are rare in the world: humus-rich black soil, suitable climate,
With moderate rainfall, we can plant in spring and harvest in autumn, and we can get a good harvest even without fertilizer or irrigation.

Argentina had a pre-war population of 170 million. After the war, due to war deaths, disease, hunger, and fleeing abroad, the remaining population was about 130 million. Among the 130 million people, less than % of the population owned % of the agricultural land.

The war had the greatest impact on these large farmers. Before and during the war, some knowledgeable or timid farmers sold their farms at low prices. Other farmers who did not have time to sell their farms either abandoned their farms and fled abroad based on the principle of safety first, or stayed where they were and waited for the final decision of the Wehrmacht.

Compared with those who fled or sold their farms at low prices, a larger proportion of people chose to stay. As for the white farmers who stayed, according to the laws formulated by the Han Dynasty, those who knew what was happening and honestly handed over the extra land to the government would be given a chance to live. However, those farmers who colluded with local resistance forces or were unwilling to hand over the land that exceeded the regulations would have all their land and property confiscated on charges of resisting the government and conspiring for rebellion.

After hundreds of bloody incidents of military deterrence and immediate handling of disobedience to government orders, the entire Pampas Plain presented a rare scene of calm. The problem of large farmers that had previously plagued the Spanish colonists and the Argentine federal government was resolved in just a few months under the bloody and violent suppression.

Pieces of fertile land were taken over by the government and then distributed efficiently to meritorious soldiers and volunteers who supported the front.

Field army and garrison army officers and soldiers could obtain ten to fifty acres of land according to their years of service and contributions during the war, while volunteer volunteers could generally obtain ten acres of land.

Used in Argentina since the 19s

Agricultural machinery, in July 1879, most of the Pampas Plains were mechanized, plowing, sowing, weeding, harvesting
From harvesting to threshing and drying, everything is done mechanically.

Due to the large land area and small population, Argentina generally practices crop-livestock rotation, where crops are grown for a few years and cattle are raised for a few years, or the land is left fallow. This way, the soil recovers quickly and fertilizer is rarely needed.

The areas currently controlled by the Han State include two southern states of Brazil, all of Argentina, all of Uruguay, and the Patagonia region in southern Chile, with a total land area of ​​more than 340 million square kilometers. Among the total population of the Han State, the Chinese include naturalized Annamites, Koreans, white women, and newborns, with a total population of about 600 million. There are a total of 160 million white people in Argentina, Uruguay and other places, and 10 Indians.

Taking into account the total number of people, the population in the area controlled by the Han Dynasty is only 770 million. 770 million people are spread over 340 million square kilometers of land in La Plata. The per capita land area is larger than that of the United States, which is regarded as God's favorite.

There is plenty of land in the La Plata region to support the Chinese who have established their own country overseas. Whether it is now or in a few decades when the number of newborns among the Chinese population surges, Li Mingyuan does not need to worry about the land issue.
However, in order to promote the future development of the Han Kingdom and reduce unnecessary waste of resources and manpower, Li Mingyuan, after consulting with officials such as Liu Pu and Zhao Yan, announced that each Chinese family in the native region (two states in southern Brazil) would be allowed to acquire no more than 300 acres of land in the newly occupied area. At the same time, local and military officers and soldiers were encouraged to move to the sparsely populated Patagonian wilderness. For Chinese families who voluntarily signed up to move to Patagonia, the government not only sold 500 acres of land at a symbolic price, but also provided them with free cattle, sheep, livestock and agricultural equipment. The government's policy of encouraging Chinese families to move to the newly occupied areas led to a huge wave of migration in South America.

At the end of July 1879, 30 households with a total population of 110 million signed up to participate in the immigration activity in the occupied areas. By the end of August, the number of Chinese participating in the immigration activity exceeded 200 million and continued to rise.

In early September, when the Far East was experiencing the beginning of autumn chill, the Pampas Plains of South America had already welcomed the warm spring.

The first group of 15 immigrants set out from Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, and settled in the Pampas Plain in central La Plata along the Paraná River.

Riding on horseback, across the green plains, a simple immigrant settlement appeared before us.

Fat buffaloes were leisurely chewing grass on the grassland. A group of hundreds of goats were squatting under the trees, bleating from time to time. Several children aged four or five were hiding behind the adults, playfully scooping up the stream water at their feet to play.

On the edge of the Pampas, in the suburbs of Cordoba, the Argentine guerrilla forces in the surrounding mountains and forests were completely wiped out in the encirclement and suppression half a month ago. Therefore, the newly immigrated Chinese families are no longer as vigilant and worried as they were at the beginning. In the intervals between the busy work of building their new homes, they can also relax and enjoy the rare happy time.

"Your Highness, 10 kilometers ahead is the Primero River. Urquiza, a senior official of Cordoba Province, originally planned to build a dam on the river. However, due to the turbulent situation in Argentina, the plan to build a dam has been shelved."

After dealing with local affairs, Liu Pu and other government officials moved the government office address to Cordoba in central Argentina in accordance with Li Mingyuan's orders.

Cordoba is the second largest city in Argentina and the capital of Cordoba Province. It is located on the eastern foot of the Cordoba Mountains and the Primero River. It is 425 meters above sea level. The climate is warm and dry, with an average annual temperature of 17℃ and an average annual precipitation of 625 mm. The surrounding areas are fertile and rich in mineral resources. It is an important central hub city in Argentina.

In the areas controlled by the Han Dynasty, the important central cities were mainly Xinjing (Porto Alegre), Buenos Aires, Rosario, and Cordoba.

Xinjing was the seat of the central government of the Han Dynasty and a temporary capital. However, considering that Xinjing was close to the sea and its geographical location was too close to Brazil, it was not suitable as the official capital of the Han Dynasty.

Buenos Aires is the most prosperous city in the La Plata region. Before the demise of Argentina, half of its population lived in the area around Buenos Aires. When planning the construction of the future capital, considering that Buenos Aires is close to the mouth of the La Plata River and is extremely vulnerable to naval attacks by hostile countries during war, government officials and military generals such as Liu Pu, Chen Jinzhong, Luo Linshan, and Hua Yaqui did not agree to make it the national capital.

Excluding Xinjing and Buenos Aires, the only places suitable to be the capital are Rosario and Cordoba.

Rosario is backed by the Paraná River, with convenient transportation and good natural environment, while Cordoba is located in central Argentina. The railway completed and opened to traffic in 1869 connects Cordoba with the central and eastern coastal areas, shortening the distance and time from Cordoba to other places.

Cordoba and Rosario are suitable to serve as the capital in terms of national defense, security and natural environment. Considering the future expansion direction of the Han Kingdom, Li Mingyuan finally decided to make Cordoba the new capital of the Han Kingdom, while Rosario and Buenos Aires would exist as first-level administrative regions directly under the jurisdiction of the central government.

Compared with Rosario, Cordoba is closer to Chile on the west side of the Andes and Paraguay, Bolivia and other countries in the north. In Li Mingyuan's plan, Cordoba will be used as the starting point to build two railways across the Andes, with Mendoza and San Salvador as transit stations respectively. Then, when the time is right, the two railways will be connected to Valparaiso and Antofagasta on the Chilean side, thereby achieving the goal of controlling Chile and opening up the two oceans.

The decision to make Cordoba the new capital has been made. Li Mingyuan and his party inspected the outskirts of Cordoba in preparation for planning the functional areas of the capital.

"The domestic population is growing rapidly. Considering the population changes in the next 100 years, the capital city should be planned to accommodate a population of more than two million."

Li Mingyuan tightened the reins and said while sitting on the horse, "The supply of food and daily necessities for millions of people is a big problem. The arable land area in the surrounding areas of Cordoba is limited. In order to ensure the normal supply of food and daily necessities, it is necessary to build a dam on the Primero River to provide water for agricultural land and industrial factories.

Mr. Liu Pu and Mr. Hu, all government departments should come up with a charter for dam construction, and it would be best if an executable plan could be formed by the end of this year.”

"When the Argentines planned to build the dam, they surveyed various sections of the Primero River. I would like to ask the National Defense Forces to cooperate in identifying those who participated in the dam construction plan from the captured Argentine officials."

"Yes, General Luo, assign a group of people to work with Liu Pu to identify the Argentine officials involved in the dam construction plan."

Li Mingyuan nodded and gave instructions to Luo Linshan.

"The captured Argentine officials are all locked up in the city. I will go back and arrange for someone to follow Lord Liu's command."...

(End of this chapter)