ps: Thank you for the reward!

On 12 November, after personally observing several resettlement sites for retired soldiers, Li Mingyuan returned to Porto Alegre and began preparations for the founding ceremony.

The founding ceremony is scheduled to take place on December 1, and before that, Li Mingyuan needs to arrange for people to send invitations to the three quasi-allies of Paraguay, Peru and Bolivia.

Bolivia and Peru are separated from the Rio Gran do Sul region for thousands of miles, and more than half a month is not enough time for the Peruvian and Bolivian representatives to arrive in Porto Alegre, but just two days after the Brazilian peace talks, the Chinese side sent people in advance to inform the representatives of Peru, Bolivia, and Paraguay who participated in the peace talks.

In addition to Peru, representatives of the United Kingdom, Prussia, Belgium, the Netherlands and other countries that have business dealings with the Chinese are also invited.

The formal establishment of the state was a major event for the Chinese in South America, and the heralds who were dispatched were scattered and set off to the envoy residence or commercial representative office of Britain, Prussia and other countries in the La Plata area.

The empty area of Rio Grande do Sul became lively because of the holding of the founding ceremony, and the soldiers and retired soldiers who spontaneously gathered continued to pour towards Porto Alegre, and more and more people poured into the population beyond the expectations of the top brass of the Chinese Independence Army.

As the start of the celebration approaches, the delegates from the countries who have received the invitation gradually arrive in Porto Alegre and the preparations for the celebration are getting better and better.

On the morning of December 1, south of Porto Alegre,

A dense crowd crowded in front of the venue,

Chinese soldiers in dark black uniforms stood in a line, separating the ordinary Chinese who participated in the celebration from the venue.

In the middle of the crowd, military policemen wearing red epaulettes on their sleeves worked in groups of ten, going back and forth to maintain order at the venue.

The sun was slowly rising over the sea, the coolness of the early morning gradually dissipated, and at a quarter past nine o'clock, the south gate of Porto Alegre opened, and out of the gate came a majestic group of horsemen, the cavalry lined up in two columns, in the middle was a young general on a black horse, he wore a newly customized black military uniform, straddling the sword on his right, holding the reins in his left hand, and marched steadily in front of the queue.

The cavalry walked out of the city gate, waiting for the ordinary Chinese outside the city to consciously give way, and the noisy meeting quickly quieted down.

Li Mingyuan rode on his horse, his eyes swept over the Chinese standing on both sides, in the middle of the crowd, most of the Chinese were wearing shabby linen clothes, some of the Chinese were wearing old black military uniforms with patches sewn, and some of the physically disabled Chinese had rough round nameplates on their chests, which were medals obtained for military exploits.

In the early days of the implementation of the medal system, there was a lack of machinery and raw materials to create medals, and the first batch of military merit medals issued were artificially created by earth-style methods, with poor workmanship, and the total number was less than 1,000.

The Chinese who wore the medal were all credited in the battle, either because they were wounded in battle or because they were injured or sick during the expedition, which led to the loss of combat effectiveness and eventually left the army.

The medal was issued by Li Mingyuan himself, and Li Mingyuan, a retired Chinese in the crowd who wore the medal, had the impression that most of them could still call them by name.

Seeing that the retired soldiers still maintained an upright posture in the army, Li Mingyuan's increasingly hardened heart was also moved, and the time of fighting life and death left a deep trace among the Chinese soldiers, even if they had left the battlefield, the trust and belief formed in the battlefield were still indelible.

Facing the retired soldiers who were firmly looking at him, Li Mingyuan did not speak, but slowly raised his right hand and saluted the crowd with a solemn military salute.

The black military horse continued to move forward, Li Mingyuan has always maintained a military salute posture with his right hand flat, and the same action was in response to him, the whole venue seemed to have become a huge military camp, whether it was a soldier serving as a guard or a retired Chinese, some of their military salutes may not be correct, but the meaning conveyed is the same, they are paying tribute to Li Mingyuan and their own fighting years.

Riding all the way to the high platform in the center of the venue, Li Mingyuan dismounted and walked to the high platform, shouting "Finish the salute!" as if he had inspected the troops many times! ”

There was a sound of brushing arms down.

"On the mainland, we came to South America by boat in front of the coastal ports for various reasons."

Li Mingyuan's opening words surprised the foreign delegates in the guest seats, and there were no hypocritical politeness and welcome ceremonies, but a slow account of the process of the Chinese arriving in South America.

"Peru is full of precious minerals, lush plantations, and the island of Cuba is rich in sweet and rich cane sugar, which is a land of abundance beloved by God, but everything there does not belong to us, not to the Chinese laborers who have come from far and wide.

Truckloads of ore are transported out of the mines, boxes of sweet candy are put on the table, and our labor in the mines and estates has created the wealth of the mine owners and the owners of the estates, but what about us?

Still living in a dark and damp mine, lying on a mosquito-infested manor.

We were not slaves but we were not even slaves, the mine owners and the manor owners ignored us, the Indian overseers whipped us, and even the slaves who were also black bullied us because of their tall stature.

We endure the heavy labor and the dark life, even if others put a gun at their heads, they fantasize about the development of their conscience or hope for the resistance of others.

As a result, he escaped death, but in the end, he still couldn't escape the fate of the bone mine or the abandoned corpse forest. ”

The environment of the mines and plantations is harsh and the labor intensity is high, and many Chinese workers can not bear the heavy labor but dare not resist, so they can only jump into the hot syrup or jump into the middle of the ore to commit suicide.

The Chinese people standing at the venue were all from laborers, and they had all experienced what Li Mingyuan said, and the time of the mine and plantation was an unbearable past, but the words in their ears evoked bloody memories of the past.

"The memories of the labor period are cruel and painful, but we must not forget them.

, the belligerent will be dangerous, and the forgetfulness of the war will die. Why did we become slaves of laborers, and why did we die at the hands of millions of Tartars?

It's because he doesn't dare to resist, as long as the knife is not on his neck, he has to get by.

Resistance does not necessarily mean death, and if you are captured, you will perish.

In Peru we revolted, defeated our oppressors, and now we have land and a wife, and danger seems to have left us.

No, no, once we let our guard down and don't want to move forward, the threat of death will come back to us again.

Therefore, I hope that every Chinese brother in the audience will not give up the musket in their hands, train diligently, and defend our land and homeland with the muskets in their hands if others invade us! ”

After speaking, the calm of the anger below, Li Mingyuan suddenly said loudly, "If someone else cedes our land, what should we do?" ”

"Tremble, tremble." He was answered by a deafening hoarse cry.

"What are we going to do if someone else attacks us?"

"Battle, Battle, Battle, Battle"

Two consecutive high-spirited and war-filled answers allowed Li Mingyuan to get the answer he wanted, and raised his hand to stop the cries of the Chinese below, Li Mingyuan suppressed his excitement and continued, "After thousands of miles and a hundred battles, all the Chinese present today will witness the establishment of our own country. ”

"Hooray! Long live the Son! "The tsunami of the mountain whirring drowned out all the voices in the room.

The hooray continued for three minutes before the representatives of the Brazilian Empire stepped up to the stage and announced that Li Mingyuan would be granted the title of Duke of Rio Grande do Sul and the Autonomous Principality of Rio Grande do Sul would be established.

After the announcement of the Brazilian delegates, a military parade was held, and a procession of cavalry, artillery, infantry, and naval divisions walked through the parade square one after another, but the representatives of Brazil and other countries who participated in the establishment of the Principality of Rio Gran do Sul obviously did not pay attention to the parade ceremony, and they were still digesting Li Mingyuan's speech on the stage just now and the reaction of the Chinese people in the audience.

The Duke of the Brazilian Empire, Duke Frobert, was not among the Brazilian delegates who participated in the inauguration of the Principality of Rio Grande do Sul, but he participated in the celebration in a private capacity.

Canudot, the son of Duke Frobert, who was captured in the battle of Oliva, was released back to Brazil as the first batch of exchange prisoners after the peace treaty was signed, and after receiving the details of the battle of Oliva from his son, he was curious about the huge fighting force of a cowardly Chinese army, so he took the opportunity of the celebration to come to Porto Alegre to observe the Chinese troops up close.

The Chinese Independence Army, no, should now be called the National Defense Force of the Principality of Rio Grande do Sul, and on the stage, Li Mingyuan just announced the new name of the Chinese Independence Army, the National Defense Force of the Principality of Rio Grande do Sul, or Defense Forces for short.

The actual combat capability of the Wehrmacht, Duke Frobert, had not seen it with his own eyes, but he saw all the reactions of ordinary Chinese people at the scene.

Fanatical and belligerent, Frobert understood the reasons for the defeat of the Brazilian army from the eyes of ordinary Chinese.

An army of zeal, faith, and a young, wise, leader who is admired by the soldiers, even if they are thin and in shabby clothes.

Armed with muskets, they were still a good army, and the defeat of the Brazilian army was not lost at their hands.

Forbert quietly left the guest seat and returned in the carriage with his servants and escorts, intending to tell Pedro II what he had seen, reminding Pedro II to make the right decision and not to go to war with the Chinese because of a false subjective impression.