Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 306 Untitled
The two battles between the Han Dynasty and the Italians exposed the poor organization and coordination system of the Italian troops. The gap between the Italian army and the powerful countries such as Britain, France and Germany was also clearly revealed in the subsequent battles. The colonial forces around the Juba River basin were destroyed and eroded bit by bit by the guerrilla fleet. After the Italians took over the colonial outposts left by the British and expelled the local indigenous tribes who took the opportunity to cause chaos and the colonial forces of Germany and France who took advantage of the situation, the war advantages accumulated earlier were gradually weakened with the passage of time and changes in the strength of both sides.

The Kismayo offensive and defensive war has once again returned to a stalemate. The situation in various parts of Somalia is unstable. After the Italians divided their troops to intimidate various colonial strongholds, the remaining troops have limited advantages and are unable to eliminate the Han troops in the short term, thereby achieving their ambition of pulling out the nail of the Kismayo stronghold and monopolizing the entire Somalia. …………

The road twists and turns, the mountains and rivers are intertwined, and there is constant noise on the Paraná River. Thick long streams of smoke billow from the huge chimneys of steamships, filling the low air on both sides of the river bank and lingering for a long time.

Commercial steamships were smaller, powered by coal, and were generally used for inland waterway transport.

Most of the steamships sailing on the Paraná River were built by the Xinjing Shipyard and the Xinghe Shipyard. As experimental products of early accumulated shipbuilding technology, steam ships had limited technical levels, insufficient power, and short range. Usually, each steamship was equipped with a small barge specifically for transporting coal, so that when the coal on the ship ran out, it could be replenished in time to extend the ship's endurance.

After the British expeditionary fleet withdrew from the coastal area of ​​La Plata, the Han government promptly lifted the ban on inland navigation, and the Paraná River basin regained its former busy scene.

On an ordinary steamer,

Sun Bin and Zheng Huaide, ministerial-level officials of the Han State, and He Yanliang, deputy commander of the 1st Mixed Brigade, stood on the bow deck, looking at the densely packed ships on the river, without a smile on their faces.

The three men were entrusted with important tasks and were ordered to investigate local administration, business conditions, and some serious smuggling and loan cases.

"Some people are getting more and more daring. The war between our country and England and Brazil has not ended yet. Two hundred thousand National Defense Army soldiers are stationed at the borders ready to fight the enemy. However, some officials and businessmen have the guts to collude with each other and blatantly forge land deeds to embezzle state land. They deserve to die!"

"Some businessmen brought the methods they used to deal with the English and the Dutch in Southeast Asia to their homeland. The situation in South America was unstable in the past two years, so they were a little worried. Now that Argentina and Uruguay are occupied by the National Defense Forces and the English have withdrawn their troops, they have seen that there is no danger in their homeland, so they are naturally much bolder in their actions."

"It's more than daring, it's outrageous!"

Sun Bin angrily said, "Do you really think that because the country favors businessmen and accepts a large number of overseas Chinese, it will allow them to oppress the people and do whatever they want?
Humph! Your Highness tolerated their actions because they invested in business and made some contributions to the country in the past few years, but what about now? Look at the good things they have done, driving up prices, secretly smuggling arms to Paraguay, and even some people are willing to be running dogs of the English and tip off the British! If such people are not dealt with strictly, who knows what kind of trouble will arise in the future!"

"Some Nanyang merchants and local officials have gone too far. Your Highness is very angry and has issued orders to the local security forces. When necessary, the security forces can cooperate with the government and dispatch local garrisons to arrest the officials and merchants involved."

He Yanliang stood behind the two of them and expressed his opinion seriously.

"Your Highness has just appointed Lord Hu as the plenipotentiary envoy to negotiate an armistice with the British. At this point in time, it is best to keep the domestic situation stable, and deal with the problems of the officials and businessmen involved, or leave it to be resolved after the war."

Zheng Huaide seemed to be persuading He Yanliang on the surface, but he was actually secretly reminding Sun Bin.

"One move can affect the entire body. The collusion between overseas Chinese businessmen and officials is too deep. Catching a few businessmen and officials who have exposed themselves will not solve the problem."

After Zheng Huaide's secret reminder, Sun Bin remembered Li Mingyuan's instructions before leaving, and said carefully, "The purpose of our trip is to investigate the extent of involvement of local officials and businessmen. Unless the matter is exposed and the officials and businessmen involved want to escape in advance, we will mobilize local security forces to participate in the arrest. Otherwise, no one is allowed to act without the order of me and Lord Zheng!"

……

Not long after the steamship carrying Sun Bin, Zheng Huaide and others left, two transport ships loaded with cargo slowly stopped in the middle of the river.

"Why did the ship stop?" A sturdy man walked out onto the deck and asked with a fierce look on his face.

"The steam boiler is leaking again. Several guys have inhaled gas and can't do heavy work. I had them brought to the deck to get some fresh air. When they have recovered their strength, they can go back to the cabin to start the boiler."

"Hurry up, the boss is pushing you hard. If you miss the delivery date for this batch of goods, you will lose all your wages for this month!" "Hey, Master Wu, don't worry, it won't delay us. Just take a rest."

"Go away, don't disturb my rest!"

The sturdy man waved his hand impatiently and turned to walk into the cabin.

"Shanzi, how are the guys? Do you smoke a lot of gas?"

Seven or eight coal workers carried four men poisoned by gas to the deck, and the foreman asked anxiously.

"It's nothing serious. A few brothers put a little too much charcoal into the boiler. The charcoal didn't burn completely, so they took in a few more breaths of gas."

“Tell the guys to be careful next time you work, charcoal is not like coal, it burns slower;
The boiler room at the bottom of the cabin is small and confined, with no light and poor ventilation. Don’t keep adding charcoal to the boiler like you did when you burned coal before, otherwise you may get gas poisoning again and you may not be as lucky as you are today.”

The climate in the northern basin of the Paraná River was hot in August. The foreman gave some instructions to the coal burners on the deck, then left quickly, unable to bear the scorching sun.

Several coal workers who were poisoned by gas lay on the deck, enjoying the rare fresh air and slowly recovering their strength.

"Brother Liu, I heard that you are going to quit your job next month. Have you paid back the money you borrowed from Lin Dongjia?"

After resting for a few minutes, the expressions on the faces of the coal burners looked better, and a younger man spoke.

"I still need two taels of silver. I can pay it off with this month's wages."

The man who spoke was more than ten years older than the others. Looking at the three young men around him who were only about 17 or 18 years old, thinking that he was about to leave the hard labor of coal burners, he kindly advised as a person who had experienced it, "Although being a coal burner can earn a little more money, it is not a good job that you can do forever. Listen to the advice of your elder brother, work on the ship for a year or so, pay back the usury (high-interest loan) you owe your employer when you sailed to South America, and find another job. If you don't want to live in the city, at worst, go to the north or south, take a formal residence certificate, and borrow money from the government to buy farm tools to open up wasteland and farm. It is much better than being a coal burner on a ship forever."

"Brothers, we know that working as a boiler operator on a ship is not an easy job, but we still owe our boss money. Our work certificates and residence certificates when we arrived in South America are all in the boss's hands. Without the boss's permission, we can't leave even if we want to."

"What if we report it to the government? No matter how powerful the Lin family is, can they be as powerful as the government?"

Another young man, who still had a childish look on his face, said indignantly.

"Shh, keep your voice down, or someone else can hear you in public."

The older coal burner lowered his voice and warned, "Don't ever say such things again. The county magistrate and the big men in the state are all old acquaintances of the Lin family. They were business partners when they were in Southeast Asia. If you sue the Lin family, will you get anything good?"

"Brother, who told you that the Lin family is really that powerful?"

"Why listen to anyone? Go back to the county and ask around. Who doesn't know the relationship between Mr. Lin's family and the county and the state?"

…………

(End of this chapter)