Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 319 Digestion
The late 1876th century and early th century were called the era of imperialism. According to Li Mingyuan's intuitive impression of the word "imperialism", there were many emperors. The monarchs of countries such as Germany, Austria-Hungary, France, and the Russian Empire all wore the emperor's crown. In , Elizabeth saw a circle of European monarchs claiming to be emperors, and she felt that the title of Queen of England was too low-class and did not match the world's number one comprehensive national strength of the British Empire. Therefore, after privately hinting to Prime Minister Disraeli, she was crowned the Queen of India as a matter of course, which also satisfied her addiction to being an emperor.

The legal system of European emperors originated from the Roman Empire. Among a number of countries that claimed to be emperors, except for the title of the Russian Tsar which was related to the Eastern Roman Empire, the titles of emperors in Britain, France, Austria-Hungary and Germany were all self-crowned and had no legal basis. Mexico, Brazil, and the later Ethiopian emperor, which followed the trend of European monarchies, could only use the title of emperor to show off at home. Few countries recognized them when they went abroad.

The emperor symbolizes supreme power and the right to rule over vast territories. In terms of territory alone, the Han Dynasty's homeland area is more than 340 million square kilometers, and the overseas Congo colony area is more than 200 million square kilometers. The total area of ​​the homeland and overseas colonies is nearly 600 million square kilometers. From the perspective of the Eastern cultural circle, the monarch of a country that rules such a vast territory deserves the title of emperor. However, the population is inversely proportional to the territory. In the native South American region, the Chinese, naturalized white women, and mixed-race people together account for about 600 million people, and there are more than 180 million white people in the Indian, Argentine, and Uruguayan occupied areas. The total population in the ruled area is more than 800 million. In the Central Plains, this is only the population level of two or three prefectures.

Whether to become emperor or not had no substantial impact on the national strength of the Han Dynasty, and Li Mingyuan himself had no urgent desire to become emperor. However, the old brothers of the Taiping remnants who followed Li Mingyuan to build the country, and the young officers and officials who joined the ruling group from Southeast Asia, North America and other regions all hoped to become emperors and change the era name, and establish an independent imperial state in accordance with Eastern cultural traditions.

In order to build an empire and rule the world, Li Mingyuan could feel the pursuit and stubbornness of orthodoxy by the generals, officials and people of the Han Dynasty. To reward the military exploits of the Han army and boost the cohesion of the entire nation, Li Mingyuan changed his low-key strategy of storing grain and delaying the declaration of kingship. He correctly announced the timetable for his enthronement and reform throughout the Han Dynasty, and held the ceremony of his enthronement and founding the new dynasty before the end of the year at the latest.

Having had the experience of founding a country and becoming a king, the preparation process for becoming an emperor and changing the system was roughly followable. From the various costumes worn by the emperor, officials, and soldiers during the grand ceremony, to the etiquette and music, most of the officials from the Ministry of Rites who were former juren and scholars arranged everything in an orderly manner, and selected hundreds of era names from classical books such as "Li", "Yi", and "Spring and Autumn Annals". Detailed meanings were attached to each era name and presented to Li Mingyuan for the final decision.

"Yongxing, Jianwu, Zhaowu, Jianye, Longping..." A dense row of words was placed on the table. Li Mingyuan read it carefully twice, and then chose "Jianye" as the first reign title after he became emperor.

The founding of South America and the start of the great cause, the establishment and development of the Han Dynasty is a magnificent pioneering history. Only the word Jianye meets Li Mingyuan's expectations and anticipations for the country.

The declaration of emperorship and reform of the system is a joyous and meaningful day for all the citizens of the South American Han Empire. The establishment of an empire means that the country has completely abandoned the influence of the Qing court and become independent from the mainland. When ordinary people face self-identity, their first feeling is no longer that of overseas Chinese, but of upright Han citizens. The national mentality changes with the changes in living environment. The difference may not be noticeable at the beginning, but after a few years or a generation, looking back and comparing, the national spirit of the South American Han Empire will have undergone earth-shaking changes.

Granting all Chinese and voluntarily naturalized whites and Indians the status of official citizens, and distributing 5 mu of farmland to each household for free, the decree issued by the Han government was to use the festive atmosphere of proclaiming the emperor to improve the people's recognition and loyalty to the monarchy, and it was also a secret administrative means.

In addition, free land was distributed to the newly acquired Chinese nationals, most of which was concentrated in the two newly occupied areas of central and southern Argentina and Uruguay. According to the Agricultural Law promulgated by the Han government, the minimum area of ​​a single piece of high-quality arable land was 30 mu. After each household obtained the land allocated by the government, it was not allowed to divide the land into fragments. The minimum area of ​​a single piece of arable land with slightly lower fertility and producing less grain was 40 mu, and the minimum area of ​​pasture and forest land was 500 to 700 mu.

A small portion of the 5 mu of farmland distributed for free is in the same area or adjacent to one's own land. After obtaining the ownership of the 5 mu of farmland, farmers can exchange the land with other farmers or merge the two plots of land together. As for the land distributed in the newly occupied area,
Chinese farmers either had to give up their small plots of 5 mu of land or move to the new occupied area, return their original land to the government, and then receive another plot of land in the occupied area.
The climate in the La Plata Plain and Uruguay is pleasant and the land is fertile. The Chinese who had previously gathered in two southern Brazilian states and five northern Argentine states naturally knew how to choose when faced with more attractive land. Through this covert encouragement method, the number of Chinese in the occupied areas ushered in another period of rapid growth, and the white people from Argentina and Uruguay who remained in the local area gradually lost their advantage over the Chinese in terms of numbers.

More than 90 percent of the arable land in the La Plata Plain has not been developed. The Han Kingdom has no shortage of land to allocate to new immigrants, but in order to comply with the country's strategic plan of giving equal importance to industry and agriculture, even if there is enough uncultivated land, each Chinese family will be given two to three hundred acres of land for free, and the reserved land will still be able to meet the subsequent immigration needs. However, Li Mingyuan did not do this.

Things that are too easy to get are not easy to cherish. The first batch of more than 500 Chinese workers who followed Li Mingyuan in the uprising in Peru traveled thousands of miles, and tens of thousands of people were killed or injured due to fighting, disease and other factors along the way. They risked their lives to get 1000 to 200 acres of land. If the new immigrants could get 300 or acres of land for free without doing anything, they would definitely be psychologically unbalanced. Moreover, every Chinese family has hundreds of acres of land, and everyone is a small landlord. They live a good life that they could not even imagine when they were on the mainland. Who would be willing to work in a factory or enterprise? Who would want to fight to the death?

Absolute equality is the greatest unfairness. The industrial development of the Han Kingdom requires a large number of laborers. 30 mu of good farmland per household can ensure that immigrants have a good life with enough food, and also leave them room to continue working hard and improve their social status. When the industrial level in the city is getting higher and higher, more new immigrants will enter the city and earn higher wages than those who work on or mu of land, the industrial and agricultural development of the Han Kingdom will also be promoted and circulated in a virtuous way.

The industrialization of agricultural production is the mainstream of future social development. Through hard work, many early Chinese immigrants have already owned two to three hundred acres of arable land or two to three thousand acres of forest land and pasture.
Therefore, in South America, families with an average of 300 to 2,000 acres of land are the main force of agricultural production. Families with an average of 30 to 100 acres of land, although with a population four or five times that of the former, have only one-third of the total land. At the same time, with the progress of urbanization and industrialization, many farmers, while retaining the ownership of the land, rent the land to other farmers for cultivation, while they move to the city with their families.

Digesting the occupied areas and resettling new immigrants are the main tasks of the Han government at present. Faced with the olive branch that the British were forced to extend, Li Mingyuan simply set the bottom line for the negotiations for Huyaki who was stranded in Rio de Janeiro: on the mainland, the territory will be divided according to the current actual control line, the ownership of the Congo colony and the Natuna Islands will be retained, and Songkhla will not be annexed by the British Malay colonial authorities. If necessary, the Kismayo and Mtwara strongholds can be abandoned, but Britain and its allies must not block the Han immigrant transport fleet traveling between Asia and South America from stopping for repairs and receiving supplies on the way.

(End of this chapter)