Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 57 Ming Dynasty Survivors
Shortly after Anthony and Mary left, more than a hundred cavalrymen rushed out.

"Make way for the troops in front and don't block them from entering the city." After leaving the city gate, Li Mingyuan ordered the escort cavalry behind him, and then the troops went around the center of the road and walked side by side with the troops migrating on the official road.

"Call the leader of this unit. I have something to ask him." Li Mingyuan slowed down his horse and said to the guards around him.

"I, Sun Bin, Deputy Director of the Logistics Department of the General Staff, pay my respects to the Crown Prince." The man who came back with the guards was a man in a long gown, about 30 years old, with a handsome face. He had difficulty walking with his right foot and was obviously a cripple.

"Director Sun, there's no need to be so polite," Li Mingyuan jumped off the horse, handed the horse to the guard beside him, and said with a smile.

"Director Sun, I found that there are many alpacas transporting goods in the army. What's going on?" In his previous life, Li Mingyuan had heard stories about alpacas. Alpacas are gentle and shy, and are raised as pets by many people.

"Haha, these alpacas are not wild alpacas, but domesticated by local indigenous people. The Indians here usually use alpacas to transport goods." Sun Bin explained with a smile.

"Oh, it's a good idea to use alpacas to transport goods. Chief of Staff Liu, how big is the gap in pack horses in the army?" Li Mingyuan turned his head and asked.

"We have collected 23,000 pack horses now, plus the 20,000 promised by the Peruvians, a total of 43,000, with a shortfall of about 3,000." Liu Pu lowered his head to recall the data for a while, then spoke.

"Director Sun, how does the transport capacity of alpacas compare to pack horses?"

"An adult alpaca can carry 40 to 60 kilograms, which is slightly lighter than a draft horse."

"Director Sun, is there any way to gather 5,000 alpacas to replace the shortage of pack horses?"

"This is not easy to solve. The number of alpacas has been reduced to one-tenth of its original size after being hunted by Spanish colonists.

The remaining alpacas were either driven to the harsh plateau areas or were controlled by some Indian tribes.

If alpaca wool had not been popular in Western countries, the number of alpacas would be even smaller." Sun Bin shook his head.

Upon hearing that alpacas can not only be used as a means of transportation but their wool can also be used to produce wool products, Li Mingyuan became more interested in alpacas.

The Pampas in southern Brazil is vast, and much of the vacant land can be used as excellent pasture to develop animal husbandry.

The Merino sheep that Li Mingyuan values ​​are also valued by Western countries. It is difficult to introduce Merino sheep on a large scale in a short period of time, but the emergence of alpacas can temporarily fill the gap of Merino sheep.

Alpacas are produced in South America, and the southern part of Brazil that they want to occupy is also suitable for alpacas to grow.

As long as the Chinese Independence Army obtains a large number of alpacas and then controls the export of alpacas like Peru and Bolivia in the previous life, they can initially monopolize the alpaca wool market and obtain considerable profits.

"Director Sun, how many alpacas can we find at this stage?" Li Mingyuan asked after thinking for a while.

"The local Chinese descendants can provide one thousand, and we can search for another two thousand from the surrounding occupied areas. So at most we can gather three thousand."

"Are there still Chinese descendants in Peru?" Li Mingyuan knew that Chinese laborers went to work in South American mines in the second half of the 19th century, but he had never heard that there were Chinese living in South America before that.

"Yes, these Chinese are different from the Chinese laborers. They arrived in South America during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty. Now they look like traditional Indians, but they still retain the Chinese language and living habits." Sun Bin told Li Mingyuan what he knew.

"Are those people who drive alpacas and look like Indians the remnants of the Ming Dynasty?" Li Mingyuan seemed to understand something and pointed at a middle-aged man in his forties.

"Yes." Sun Bin nodded.

"Go, call him over." Li Mingyuan called a guard beside him and said, suppressing his inner excitement.

The Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty is three hundred years away from now. The fact that they lived in a foreign land for three hundred years without changing their national symbols is worthy of Li Mingyuan's admiration.

There is no China after Yashan, and there is no Huaxia after the fall of Ming. This sentence is not only the contempt of the Japanese for China.

China and Huaxia are an organic whole formed by a cultural bond. The beauty of clothing is called Hua, and the greatness of etiquette is called Xia.

The representative of Huaxia is the cultural connotation composed of clothing and etiquette. The invasion of the Yuan Dynasty by the Mongols broke the discipline that the Han people were not completely ruled by foreign races, which was the first time that the Han people lost their country. The Manchu Qing Dynasty ruled the Central Plains and shaved their heads and changed their crowns, which completely interrupted China's cultural inheritance.

In later generations, all fifty-five ethnic groups had their own national costumes, but the Han people regarded the Ma褂 worn by the Manchus as their own national costume. When a few young angry people wore traditional Hanfu, others either thought it was a kimono or thought they were trying to attract attention.

Cultural heritage has been interrupted, and without a strong revival, it is normal that national culture is not inherited by its own people.

"I am Zhao Youde, a commoner, here to see the Crown Prince." Zhao Youde, who arrived with the guards, pulled Li Mingyuan back from his reverie with a greeting.

"Please stand up, father-in-law." Li Mingyuan reacted and helped Zhao Youde up as he was bowing.

Zhao Youde had dry palms and a dark complexion, and a hint of Chinese could be vaguely seen in his Indian features.

"I dare not trouble the prince to support me." Zhao Youde said as he broke free from Li Mingyuan's hand.

When Zhao Youde learned from the guards that the young man in front of him was the leader of hundreds of thousands of South American Chinese, Prince Shi Wang Li Mingyuan, he couldn't believe it.

However, after close contact with Li Mingyuan, Zhao Youde not only felt that Li Mingyuan was approachable, but also felt a kind of kingly aura, and Li Mingyuan's image suddenly became taller in his eyes.

After Zhao Youde stood up, Li Mingyuan asked, "How did your ancestors get to South America?"

"According to records in the village, in 1603, the Spanish colonists instigated the local indigenous people to participate in the massacre of the Chinese, killing more than Chinese in total.
At that time, there were 5,000 to 6,000 Chinese who survived and were transported to Peru, but only 500 to 600 survived. The others either died at sea or died of fatigue and disease. Some of the surviving Chinese married Indians and gathered together to create our current village, which has 700 to 800 people.

Overseas Chinese have always been unable to escape the fate of being massacred. Once overseas Chinese have accumulated enough wealth, European colonists and local indigenous peoples will launch a massacre against the Chinese.

Treat the Chinese like leeks to be planted, harvested one batch after another.

Li Mingyuan hated the colonists' massacre of the Chinese, but he had no ability to retaliate at the moment, so he could only comfort them by saying, "The Central Plains cannot protect itself since the Qing Dynasty. If overseas Chinese want to live with dignity, they must use the swords in their hands to defend the safety of the Chinese.

The blood of overseas Chinese will not be shed in vain. One day, I will seek justice for the Chinese who died in the disaster."

"Thank you, Prince." Zhao Youde said as he knelt deeply to Li Mingyuan.

"Father-in-law, you can't do this." Li Mingyuan hurried to help him.

"Your Highness has led the rescue of countless Chinese people and has done me a great favor. You deserve my respect." Zhao Youde's eyes were red, and he insisted on bowing before standing up.

After chatting with Zhao Youde for a while, Li Mingyuan asked, "Father-in-law is helping us transport the goods, why don't you want to move in and out with us?"

"I look like a barbarian, and there are women, children, the elderly and the weak in the village, so I dare not raise any unreasonable expectations."

"My father-in-law is over-worrying. Although his appearance is slightly different from that of Chinese people, he has retained his ancestral heritage and has Chinese blood in his bones. He is still a member of the Chinese community."

Li Mingyuan took the initiative to accept them, and Zhao Youde was so moved that he shed tears.

The seven or eight hundred Chinese descendants were like homeless children who no one cared about. The Peruvians did not accept them, and their appearance was different from that of traditional Han people. That was why Zhao Youde felt inferior. He could only do his best to help the Chinese Independence Army transport goods, and did not dare to ask for together migration.

After persuading Zhao Youde to migrate with the Chinese Independence Army, Li Mingyuan walked into the transport team and met with more than one hundred descendants of Ming Dynasty survivors who had the same identity as Zhao Youde.

Upon learning that they could move in with the Chinese Independence Army, more than a hundred young people excitedly surrounded Li Mingyuan and expressed their respect to him.

After the excitement of the crowd died down, Li Mingyuan asked them about the situation of the local Indians, and finally decided to trade alpacas with them using the extra food and obsolete muskets he had.

When we turned into southern Brazil, we had to go through a long mountain road. It was difficult to transport too much food, so it was just right to exchange the excess food for alpacas.

(End of this chapter)