"The focus of our army's next stage of operations will shift to competing with the Argentinian forces for control of the northern region. The operational goal is to achieve control of Hussein, Chaco, Corrientes, Formosa, Salta Province around 1871.
The actual occupation of Huy and other five northern provinces.
Therefore, in terms of fighting against the Brazilian Empire, our army will be on the defensive within two years. The army troops stationed at Invia Naval Base and Yongan (Bage) must closely monitor the actions of the Brazilian army on the opposite side and cannot create provocations for the Brazilian troops to start a war.
opportunity." After confirming the matter of going to the meeting to meet Lopez Jr., Li Mingyuan began to make arrangements for the follow-up actions of the National Defense Forces.
"Your Highness, if the Brazilian army crosses the border to provoke, how should our army respond?"
Li Sandou, who had just returned from Yong'an County to report on his work, asked.
"After General Luo marches into northern Argentina, I will deploy Brigadier Zhou's Second Mixed Brigade to reinforce Yong'an County. If you encounter Brazilian troops who are unreasonably picky, don't hesitate and beat them back hard."
Li Mingyuan glanced at the Rio Grande do Sul area with his peripheral vision and continued, "Commander Li, when there is a conflict between the army and the Brazilian army, you must grasp the point of proportion. You must not only beat up the provocative Brazilian army, but also control the conflict within a certain range.
, the conflict cannot be expanded into a full-scale war and affect our army's core strategy in northern Argentina."
"When a conflict breaks out, subordinates will discuss countermeasures with the combat staff in the army and will not act blindly."
Li Sandou expressed his stance.
"Affairs involving Brazil must be handled carefully. During the period when I am attending Lopez Jr.'s enthronement and restructuring, if something unexpected happens, you must report it to Chief of Staff Liu and General Chen before making a decision."
Participating in the four-nation meeting hosted by Lopez Jr. meant that Li Mingyuan would have to stay in Paraguay for at least ten days. As for the affairs during this period, Li Mingyuan left them to Liu Pu and Chen Guozhu to handle them.
The Chinese presence in the South American continent has grown, and it is obviously not appropriate to leave the affairs of Rio Grande do Sul to Liu Pu alone, so he left the country briefly this time, and the military affairs were assigned to Chen Guozhu, assisted by Zhang Ansong.
,
In terms of political affairs, Liu Pu continued to be managed, with Zhao Yan serving as his deputy.
Li Mingyuan divided the duties that were originally responsible for Liu Pu to other people. Liu Pu himself was not dissatisfied, because in the past year or so, Chinese businessmen from the Caribbean, Southeast Asia and other places have continued to defect to Rio Grande do Sul. Among them, except
In addition to the sailors who ran ships for foreign shipowners and the Chinese pirates who went to sea to make a living as pirates, most of them were Chinese businessmen from the British colonies who traveled all over the world to do business. Their arrival provided much-needed government management talents for Rio Grande do Sul and greatly enriched the workforce.
The governance structure of Rio Grande do Sul.
The British, Dutch and other Western countries seized colonies for the purpose of plundering economic interests. Unlike the Dutch, who were small and weak and worried that the increasing strength of the Chinese in the colonies would threaten their rule, the British have established the British Empire as the world's number one hegemon in the world.
They adopted a supportive attitude towards Chinese businessmen doing business in various colonies. Chinese businessmen in the Straits Settlements and East Malaysian colonies had a strong economic status. Until later generations, the status of the Chinese in Malaysia was higher than that of the Chinese in Indonesia. This was the policy of the two countries towards the Chinese.
Different results.
Rio Grande do Sul implements a development policy that attaches equal importance to industry and commerce. In order to attract funds from Chinese businessmen, it has formulated many immigration policies that are beneficial to Chinese businessmen. This benefited from the Qing government's non-recognition attitude towards overseas Chinese and the repeated victories of Chinese troops in the war.
Due to the success of Rio Grande do Sul, some far-sighted Chinese businessmen began to set up commercial bases in Rio Grande do Sul. Some businessmen who were very optimistic about the prospects of Rio Grande do Sul transferred most of their property to Rio Grande do Sul and used their many years of business experience in the industry and commerce.
Seek an official position in the ministry.
Over the past year, the number of Chinese businessmen who have taken the initiative to defect to Rio Grande do Sul has exceeded 2,000, and as Rio Grande do Sul becomes more stable, this number continues to increase.
Among the more than 2,000 Chinese who defected as free persons, the number of Chinese businessmen reached more than 600. Of course, about 500 of these Chinese businessmen were small traders who relied on their crafts to make a living or hawked on the streets in the British colonies.
After spending the money, the remaining money can probably buy thirty acres of land in Rio Grande do Sul.
Thirty acres of land was set in accordance with the standards for land granting to Chinese workers in Cuba. Even if those Chinese who immigrated at their own expense had extra money, they could only purchase land within the scope of thirty acres for the first time.
The development of Rio Grande do Sul requires not only capital, but also industrial technology and high-quality human resources.
Thirty acres of land can ensure that the first generation of Chinese immigrants can live a life with sufficient food and clothing, and can also mobilize the enthusiasm of immigrants to obtain more land and a better life.
Rio Grande do Sul has restrictions on the purchase of land by Chinese traders with limited wealth, but this does not stop their enthusiasm for buying land, because in the colony where they live, although the land they acquire belongs to them in name, it is not actually the land.
The ownership of the land is in the hands of the white colonists. An order from the white colonists can not only make them lose all their property, but even their lives may be threatened. The massacres that occurred in Indonesia and Manila not long ago, and the natives in the British colonies launched attacks against the Chinese.
This makes overseas Chinese businessmen fearful and always worried about their own safety. In the eyes of overseas Chinese, even if they have thousands of acres of fertile land overseas, they are still passers-by living in the local area. They can only return to their hometown or go to a country that is completely Chinese.
A sense of security.
As the only Chinese country outside the mainland, Rio Grande do Sul is naturally very attractive to overseas Chinese. As for Lanfang Company on the island of Kalimantan, it is just a colony affiliated with the Netherlands, and the local economy and politics are controlled by the Dutch.
, the Lanfang regime was nothing but a puppet under the Dutch.
After more than 500 Chinese vendors arrived in Rio Grande do Sul, most of them returned to their old businesses and continued to make a living from their original crafts.
More than five hundred small traders account for a small proportion of the population of more than 300,000, but their arrival has filled the commercial vacancies in Rio Grande do Sul. In the vast countryside of Rio Grande do Sul, they carry goods on their backs and push them with horse-drawn carriages
Small traders walked through villages that were more than ten or dozens of miles apart, bringing necessary daily necessities to the Chinese in the villages, as well as some small clothes and toys for newborns.
Small traders and craftsmen traveling around doing business met the living needs of Chinese immigrants, activated local economic activities, and brought Chinese immigrants scattered in various areas closer together.
The Chinese small traders initially followed the well-off Chinese businessmen to immigrate to Rio Grande do Sul. However, most of the more than 100 Chinese businessmen with small fortunes were persuaded and recommended by Liang Xing, and they made up their minds to abandon their industries in the colony and choose to immigrate.
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Liang Xing had been doing business in Southeast Asia and the Caribbean for many years, and he had some friendship with Chinese people doing business in various places. In addition, after joining the National Defense Force, he was given important tasks by Li Mingyuan, which made him more convincing to those Chinese businessmen who were interested in leaving the colonies. Therefore, in
Encouraged by Liang Xing's example, each Chinese businessman made up his mind to sell off his colonial properties and immigrate to Rio Grande do Sul.
Most of the successful Chinese businessmen had some background in reading. Simple literacy and experience in managing workers' estates were beneficial to them in handling local affairs. Therefore, more than 70 of the more than 100 people were selected to serve as officials of central ministries and deputies of local officials.
The central officials and local county magistrates and other chief officials are served by the old subordinates who follow Li Mingyuan.
The number of government officials gradually increased, and there were more and more things that needed to be dealt with. Therefore, before Li Mingyuan was about to leave Rio Grande do Sul, Liu Pu raised some issues that needed to be resolved by Li Mingyuan himself.
"Your Highness, Rio Grande do Sul has 310,000 registered citizens, 30,000 unnaturalized Brazilians, and two newly built settlements with a population of more than 30,000. It meets the criteria for an independent county. Does it need to be re-established?
Plan the administrative structure of Rio Grande do Sul and add two new counties?”
“Which two areas meet the criteria for establishing counties?”
"If Invia has a population of 36,000 and Floriano has a population of 34,000, both places meet the criteria for establishing counties."
"If Invia and Floria are the two most important military bases of the Navy, the establishment of county governments can separate civil responsibilities from military tasks and facilitate the unified wisdom and management of the Navy."
Li Mingyuan pointed out the benefits of establishing a new county in a few words, and agreed with Liu Pu's suggestion, "It can be implemented to establish counties in two places, but considering the importance of the two places as naval military ports, more consideration should be given to selecting the county magistrates of the two places.
Issues of coordination with naval ports.”
"The candidates for the two county magistrates will communicate with the Navy in advance."
After Liu Pu answered, he continued, "The administrative structure of the government has been set up. Except for the cabinet and the head of the Twelve Ministries who did not appoint candidates because the timing was not right, the adjutants of each ministry and the local county magistrates have been properly arranged.
The subordinates believe that the government has rudimentary administrative processing capabilities, and officials in local counties and ministries can handle government affairs independently. It is inappropriate for some army officers to concurrently serve as civil affairs officials. The subordinates suggest that the military and political affairs should be separated, and that some officers who are concurrently in charge should either leave the army and transfer to other posts.
Government officials may either resign from their concurrent civil official positions and return to serve in the army.
The separation of military and political affairs should be done sooner rather than later. When the country was founded, there was a shortage of military and government officials, so I and some of my brothers had to take on two jobs. Now that the time has come, I hope to resign from the post of Chief of General Staff and concentrate on politics to assist His Highness.
Government affairs, I hope His Highness will give you permission."
""I have considered the separation of military and political affairs before, but due to the changes in northern Argentina, the matter of separation of military and political affairs has been delayed. Now that Brother Liu has raised it first, we can solve it at once.
First of all, I agreed with Brother Liu to withdraw from the army and engage in administrative work. However, Brother Liu should not be busy handing over the affairs of the army first. He should concurrently serve as the Chief of General Staff while I am in Paraguay, and we will make arrangements after the outcome of the war in northern Argentina.
"
"Thank you, Your Highness, for your permission."
"Brother Liu, do you have anything else to say?"
"I have said everything I have to say." Liu Pu smiled and shook his head.
"Brother Liu's suggestion is good, and now I will add one more.
The Military Academy was an institution established during the Peruvian uprising. After entering Rio Grande do Sul, the Military Academy still followed the troops. I think this situation should be changed.
Western countries have military schools that specialize in training officers. My brothers in charge of intelligence reported that Japan also established a military school called the Kyoto Military Academy last year.
Rio Grande do Sul was conquered by our brothers with their lives. We cannot lag behind other countries in terms of military education, so the Suiying School can no longer move back and forth with the troops. I plan to transfer the Suiying School away from the army and establish it in Xinjing (Areg
Ligang) established a special military academy to cultivate outstanding command officers for the entire army."
"Your Highness, establishing a military academy requires the selection of outstanding officers from the army. Our army is currently facing pressure from the Brazilian army, and northern Argentina also needs a large number of outstanding officers to serve on the front line. Will removing officers from the army at this time reduce the combat effectiveness of the army?"
"The transfer of some officers to serve as military academy instructors will have a certain impact on the unit's combat effectiveness. However, don't worry, the first batch of transferred officers are mainly instructors from the original battalion school, and the impact on the unit's combat effectiveness is within a controllable range."