Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 517: The war and the subsequent impact of anti-Chinese sentiment
The sound of artillery fire from the north was getting closer and closer, and the frequency of fighting was getting higher and higher. In the city of Ilheus, thick smoke rose into the sky. From time to time, a few sporadic shells fell into the residential area, taking away the lives of several or even dozens of poor people.

When the war broke out, the flying shells did not distinguish between the defenders and civilians in the city. Although the main attack direction of the Brazilian Empire's offensive forces was the northern defense line of the city defended by the defenders, in the fierce battle, there were always shells with poor accuracy that fell on residential areas.

As the war intensified, the Brazilian Empire Army, which was fighting with real fire, no longer cared about the harm to civilians. Medium-caliber artillery pieces were pushed to the front line and launched fierce and continuous attacks on the defenders. The number of shells landing in residential areas also continued to increase.

Soldiers, police, and even gendarmes responsible for maintaining public order were transferred to front-line fortifications to replenish personnel.

Some idlers and impoverished people in the city lost restraint and control and became bolder. Two or three or three or five people gathered together, holding sticks and knives they had picked up or robbed, and knocked on the doors and windows of roadside merchants and civilians along the street, carrying out blatant extortion and robbery.

War causes harm to civilians in many ways. Social security and order are out of control, and unstable elements such as hooligans take the opportunity to commit crimes such as beating, smashing, looting and burning.

Traffic jams, road closures, stagnant business activities, shortages of daily necessities such as food and medicine, inflation and rising prices, as well as the rampant diseases caused by rotting corpses and no one burying them, every outbreak of war will lead to a severe disaster and a sharp decline in population.

In the southern part of the city, farthest from the battlefield, groups of panicked civilians, carrying thick luggage and packages on their backs, pushed two-wheeled carts or single-wheeled carts with their hands and walked towards the outside of the city.

There were old people and children sitting in the car. The old people and children were holding big backpacks in their arms, which were filled with the family's property and daily necessities.

The familiar and friendly homes of the past now seemed like a bloody purgatory. The civilians left quickly, with no nostalgia for their old homes on their faces. All that was left was endless panic and confusion about their future lives.

Brazil has been divided between north and south for ten years. The brief ten years of peace will be broken by the Paraguayan War and the involvement of the Brazilian Empire. In order to unify the north and the south and gain control of the entire Brazilian region, both the Brazilian Republic and the Brazilian Empire will continue to push the war forward.

Once the war of unification begins, it will be difficult to end unless one side compromises or surrenders completely.

The civilians in Brazil had few options left. They could either stay where they were and pray that the war would not affect their families, or sell their land and property, spend a considerable amount of money, and emigrate overseas.

It is foreseeable that even if the war ends briefly, as long as the Brazilian region has not regained its unity and after a period of truce, when one side believes that the conditions are ripe, the war will break out again.

Staying in the country will undoubtedly bring risks brought by the coming of war, and emigrating overseas will also cost a lot of money. But for Brazilian whites, it is also the safest choice.

Originally in history, after the 1880s, the United States, Canada, Australia, Central and South America and other countries successively introduced policies to restrict Chinese immigration. Now, with the influence of the Han Dynasty,
Countries are more wary and vigilant of Chinese people, and the degree and scale of restrictions on Chinese immigration are also greater than in the same period in history.

Between 1840 and 1860, approximately 10 Chinese workers entered the United States.

From 1860 to 1880, the number of Chinese immigrants increased to 30.

In 1882, the United States officially introduced the Chinese Exclusion Act. After the law was enacted, the number of Chinese entering the United States dropped rapidly to 1890 in 8 years until 1. At the same time, due to the United States' identity review and deportation of incoming Chinese, the number of Chinese in the United States dropped from a peak of more than 40 to less than 10.

In 1883, the Canadian colonial government passed the Immigration Act, which aimed to restrict Chinese immigration.
The regulations stipulate that Chinese people or people of Chinese descent will no longer be allowed to enter Canada as immigrants; family members of Chinese currently living in Canada are not allowed to reside in Canada; Chinese currently living in Canada are limited to leaving the country for two years and are not allowed to return to Canada after the period; Chinese returning to Canada will use Vancouver as their port of entry, and ships carrying Chinese are only allowed to carry one person for every 250 tons of cargo.

In 1885, a number of bloody clashes broke out between the Chinese and local whites in Victoria, New South Wales, Sydney and other places in Australia. The Australian colonial government used this as an excuse to accuse the Chinese of providing weapons to Chinese immigrants and inciting the Chinese to revolt. Then in July, it announced that Chinese were not allowed to enter Australia without the permission of the Australian colonial government, otherwise they would face severe punishment and repatriation. From 7 to 1886, following the United States, Canada, and Australia, Guatemala, the Cuban colony, Peru, Venezuela and other countries successively introduced targeted immigration laws to strengthen restrictions and supervision on Chinese immigrants.

In the late 90s, due to the failure of the Westernization Movement and the upcoming Sino-Japanese War, the Eight-Nation Alliance's invasion of China, the Russo-Japanese War, etc., the Qing government's exploitation of the Chinese people under its rule became increasingly severe, and the number of Chinese going out to sea to make a living increased. However, as various countries imposed increasingly stringent restrictions on Chinese immigrants, the Chinese who went out to sea to make a living had fewer and fewer immigration destinations to choose from. The South American Han Kingdom and the Songkhla, Lan Fang, and Congo colonies controlled by the Han Kingdom became the main choices for Chinese immigrants going out to sea.

Due to the surge in the number of Chinese immigrants, even though the size of the official ocean-going immigration fleet has expanded to more than 300 ships and the number of ocean-going ships with a displacement of more than 2000 tons has exceeded 160 due to advances in navigation technology and the growth of the local shipbuilding industry, the number of Chinese entering South America through official routes each year has only increased to 45 to 50 people.

Compared with the millions of people who wish to immigrate to the sea, the number of immigrants who are fortunate enough to enter South America through official channels and be exempted from immigration fees such as ship tickets only accounts for one-fifth or one-seventh of the total.

Most people can only wait in line for subsequent immigration quotas, or spend a lot of money to buy boat tickets at their own expense and enter South America through unofficial channels.

Compared with official channels, the number of immigrants entering South America through unofficial channels is growing rapidly.

In 1870, the number of immigrants who entered South America at their own expense was less than 3000, and most of them were family members of the Chinese workers who revolted.

By 1880, the number of self-funded immigrants had grown to 10 per year.

By 1885, the number of self-funded immigrants had grown to 30.

In 1889, the number of self-funded immigrants increased to 50, exceeding the number of official immigrants of 46.

Due to the competition for living space and land, the survival path of overseas Chinese immigrants has been restricted by many countries. Without the supplement of Chinese labor force, the United States, Canada, Australia, and even Guatemala, Venezuela, or the colonies of Western powers in Southeast Asia, Africa and other places still have the need for development. Therefore, all countries are looking for new sources of labor to fill the vacancies left by the Chinese.

For the purpose of national stability and easy assimilation, countries such as the United States, Canada, and Australia limit the source of immigration to white people and descendants of white people.

The white people in old Europe and the Americas who were forced to leave due to the war best meet the requirements of the above countries. Therefore, the United States, Canada, and Australia all open their doors to white people and their descendants in the Americas, and welcome the arrival of white immigrants from Brazil and the previous Argentina and Uruguay.

Unlike the three countries that made specific selections of immigrant ethnic groups, Latin American countries such as Guatemala, Peru, and Venezuela expanded the scope of immigration to include whites and mixed-race whites.

As for black and mixed-race immigrants, only the African colonies of Britain, France, Germany, Portugal and other countries were willing to accept them.

People are despised when they leave their hometown. Leaving the hometown where their ancestors lived and going to a foreign country is a helpless choice. However, even if they emigrate to a foreign country, not everyone can do it.
The total population of the Republic of Brazil and the Brazilian Empire is over 800 million, of which the number of white people is less than 300 million. If the one drop of blood principle is followed, the number of pure white people is even smaller. Only a small number of Brazilian civilians are qualified and have the opportunity to immigrate to the United States, Canada, and Australia. Most civilians and some high-ranking officials, large farmers, and big businessmen with wealth and status are unwilling or unable to leave their homeland.

Therefore, they can only try their best to avoid the battlefield, try their best to reduce the impact of war on their lives, and then pray silently in their hearts that the days of suffering will end soon and peace will come soon.

(End of this chapter)