"The focus of our army's next phase of operations will be shifted to the struggle with the Argentine forces for control of the northern region, and the objective of the operation is to achieve the actual occupation of the five northern provinces of Salta, Chaco, Corrientes, Formosa and Jujuy around 1871.

Therefore, in the confrontation with the Brazilian Empire, our army will take a defensive position for two years, and if the army units stationed at the Invia naval base and Yongan (Bage) must closely monitor the movements of the Brazilian army on the opposite side, they will not create an opportunity for the Brazilian troops to provoke the war. After confirming the matter of going to the meeting to meet López Jr., Li Mingyuan began to make arrangements for the follow-up actions of the Wehrmacht.

"Your Highness, if the Brazilian army crosses the border to provoke, how should our army respond?"

Li Sandou, who had just returned from Yongan County to report on his work, asked.

"After General Luo marches into northern Argentina, I will send Brigade Commander Zhou's Second Mixed Brigade to reinforce Yong'an County.

Li Mingyuan glanced at the Rio Gran do Sul region with his spare eyes, and continued: "Division Commander Li, when there is a conflict between the troops and the Brazilian army, you must grasp the balance, not only to deal pain with the provocative Brazilian troops, but also to control the conflict within a certain range, so as not to expand the conflict into a full-scale war and affect the core strategy of our army in the northern region of Argentina. ”

"When a conflict breaks out, my subordinates will discuss countermeasures with the operational staff officers in the unit, and they will not act blindly."

Li Sandou said.

"Matters involving the Brazilian side must be handled carefully, and during my attendance at the enthronement and restructuring of López Jr., if any unexpected situation occurs, you must first report to Chief of Staff Liu and General Chen before making a decision."

Participating in the four-nation meeting presided over by López Jr. means that Li Mingyuan will stay in Paraguay for at least more than 10 days, and as for the affairs during this period, Li Mingyuan will be handed over to Liu Pu and Chen Guozhu to handle them.

The Chinese in mainland South America have become larger, and it is obviously not appropriate to hand over the affairs of Rio Gran do Sul to Liu Pu alone, so this time he left the country for a short time, and the military affairs were divided into Chen Guozhu, and Zhang Ansong was responsible for assisting.

In terms of political affairs, Liu Pu continued to be managed, and Zhao Yan served as his deputy.

Li Mingyuan divided the duties that were originally in charge of Liu Pu to others, and Liu Pu himself was not dissatisfied, because in the past year or so, there have been Chinese businessmen from the Caribbean, Nanyang, and other places who have defected to Rio Grande do Sul, and most of them are Chinese businessmen from the British colonies who went to sea to do business in the four seas, and their arrival has provided the much-needed administrative personnel of Rio Grande do Sul and greatly enriched the ruling structure of Rio Grande do Sul.

Britain, the Netherlands and other Western countries seized the colonies in order to plunder economic interests, and the Netherlands because of the small size of the country, worried that the increase in the strength of the Chinese in the colonies threatened their rule, the British have established the British Empire in the world as the world's first hegemonic position, for the Chinese businessmen who come and go to various colonies to do business, adopt a supportive attitude, the Straits Settlements, East Malaysia colonies on the Chinese economic status is strong, until the later generations of the Malay West Chinese status is higher than the status of the Chinese in Indonesia, It is the result of the difference in the policies of the two countries towards the Chinese.

Thanks to the Manchu government's attitude of not recognizing overseas Chinese and the repeated victories of the Chinese army in the war, some discerning Chinese businessmen began to set up commercial bases in Rio Grande do Sul, and 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 commercial experience to seek an official position in the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.

Over the past year, more than 2,000 Chinese businessmen have taken the initiative to defect to Rio Gran do Sul, and this number is increasing as Rio Gran do Sul becomes more and more stable.

Of the more than 2,000 Chinese who defected freely, there were more than 600 Chinese merchants, and of course, about 500 of these Chinese merchants were small traders who relied on their crafts to earn a living or sold on the streets of the British colonies, and their net worth was about 30 acres of land in Rio Gran do Sul after deducting the boat fare.

Thirty acres of land was set according to the criteria for granting land to Chinese laborers in Cuba, and even if those Chinese who immigrated at their own expense had extra money in their hands, they could only limit it to 30 acres when they bought land for the first time.

The development of Rio Gran 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 of sufficient food and clothing, and at the same time, it can also mobilize the enthusiasm of immigrants to obtain more land and a better life.

Rio Gran do Sul has restrictions on the purchase of land by small 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, in essence the ownership of the land is in the hands of the white colonists, and an order from the white colonists can not only make them lose their wealth, but even their lives may be threatened, the massacres that occurred in Indonesia and Manila every few years, In the eyes of overseas Chinese, even if they have thousands of acres of fertile land overseas, they are still passers-by in the local area, and only when they return to their hometown or go to a country that belongs entirely to the Chinese will they feel safe.

As the only Chinese country outside the mainland, Rio Grande do Sul naturally has great attraction to overseas Chinese, as for the Lanfang Company on Kalimantan Island, it is only a colony attached to the Netherlands, and the local economy and politics are controlled by the Dutch, and the Lanfang system is just a puppet under the Dutch.

After the more than 500 Chinese small traders arrived in Rio Grande do Sul, most of them returned to their old trades and continued to make a living from their old crafts.

More than 500 small traders account for a very small proportion of the population of more than 300,000 people, but their arrival fills the vacancy of Rio Grande do Sul commerce.

The itinerant traders and craftsmen met the living needs of the Chinese immigrants, invigorated the local economic activities, and brought the scattered Chinese immigrants closer together.

At first, the Chinese small traders followed the wealthy Chinese merchants to immigrate to Rio Gran do Sul, and most of the more than 100 Chinese merchants with small fortunes were persuaded and recommended by Liang Xing to abandon their properties in the colony and choose to emigrate.

Liang Xing originally did business in Nanyang and the Caribbean for many years, and had some friendship with the Chinese people who came and went to various places to do business, and was given a heavy responsibility by Li Mingyuan after defecting to the National Defense Army, which was more convincing for those Chinese businessmen who were willing to leave the colony.

Most of the successful Chinese businessmen had some background in reading, simple literacy and experience in managing workers' estates, so 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 were served by the old subordinates who followed Li Mingyuan.

The number of government officials has gradually increased, and there are more things that need to be dealt with, so before Li Mingyuan is about to leave Rio Gran do Sul, Liu Pu has raised some problems that need to be solved by Li Mingyuan himself.

"Your Highness, the number of registered people in Rio Grande do Sul has reached 310,000, there are also 30,000 unnaturalized Brazilians, and the population of the two newly built settlements exceeds 30,000 people, reaching the standard of independent counties, is it necessary to replan the administrative structure of Rio Grande do Sul and add two new counties?"

"Which two districts meet the criteria for establishing a county?"

"If Invia has a population of 36,000 and Floriano has a population of 34,000, both of them 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 remove civil liability from military tasks and facilitate the unified wisdom and management of the Navy."

Li Mingyuan pointed out the advantages of setting up a new county in a few sentences, and agreed with Liu Pu's suggestion: "The establishment of counties in the two places can be implemented, but in view of the importance of the two places as naval military ports, when selecting and handing over the county magistrates of the two places, more consideration should be given to the issue of coordination with the naval military ports." ”

"The two county magistrates will communicate with the Navy in advance."

After Liu Pu replied, he continued, "The administrative structure of the government has been set up, except for the cabinet and the heads of the twelve ministries and institutes, who have not appointed candidates because of the inopportune timing, the adjutant of each ministry and the local county magistrate have all been arranged.

It is considered that the government has the ability to handle administrative affairs at a rudimentary level, and that officials from local counties and ministries can handle government affairs independently, and that it is inappropriate for some military officers to concurrently serve as civil affairs officials.

When the country was first founded, there was a shortage of military and government officials, and his subordinates and some brothers had to take on two positions, and now the time is ripe, and his subordinates hope to resign from the post of chief of the general staff and concentrate on politics to assist His Highness in handling government affairs. ”

"I have also considered the separation of the military and the government before, but because of the changes in northern Argentina, the matter of the separation of the military and the government has been delayed, and now that Brother Liu has mentioned it first, then it will be resolved at one time.

First of all, I agreed that Brother Liu would quit the army and take up administrative work, but Brother Liu should not be busy handing over the affairs of the army for the time being, and should first take up the post of chief of the general staff during my trip to Paraguay, and then make arrangements when the war in northern Argentina is successful. ”

"Thank you, Your Highness."

"Brother Liu, is there anything else you want to say?"

"I've 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 set up at the time of the Peruvian uprising, and after entering Rio Gran do Sul, the Military Academy still followed the troops, and I think this situation should be changed.

Western countries have military schools that specialize in training officers, and the brother in charge of intelligence reported that Japan also established a military academy called the Kyoto Military Academy last year.

Rio Gran do Sul was fought down by the brothers with their lives, and we cannot lag behind other countries in military education, so the camp academy can no longer follow the troops back and forth, and I plan to transfer the camp academy out of the army and set up a special military academy in Xinjing (Porto Alegre) to train excellent command officers for the whole army. ”

"Your Highness, the establishment of a military academy requires the selection of excellent officers from the troops, our army is currently facing pressure from the Brazilian army, and northern Argentina also needs a large number of excellent officers to serve on the front line, will the transfer of officers from the army at this point in time reduce the combat effectiveness of the troops?"

"The transfer of some officers to serve as instructors in military academies has a certain impact on the combat effectiveness of the troops. However, there is no need to worry, the first batch of officers to be transferred are mainly instructors from the former camp academy, and their impact on the combat effectiveness of the troops is within a controllable range. ”