Pingyang County, Yunzhou, formerly Resistencia, Corrientes Province, Argentina, the Paraná River rushes down thousands of miles from the source, and when it reaches Pingyang County, the speed of the water gradually tends to flatten.

The tributaries on both sides of the river bank are staggered, and the tall and dense primeval trees stretch their branches crookedly above the water, expanding their living space little by little.

Yunzhou is located in the north of the plain of La Plata, the climate is hot, the forest is dense, during the white rule of Argentina, limited by the natural environment and the lack of manpower, the number of permanent residents has not exceeded 100,000, or the national defense forces completely annexed Argentina, unified and coordinated by the government, a large number of immigrants to the frontier and the newly occupied areas of the organization, the number of permanent residents in Yunzhou reached the average level of the Han states.

Disembarking from the small steamer, dozens of people stepped on the improvised wooden trestle with a creaking sound.

Sun Bin, Zheng Huaide and others sneaked in light clothes, and this trip came to Pingyang County without alarming the local government.

"Two adults, after a few days on the boat, the brothers are a little tired, why don't you find an inn to rest first, and then continue to rush tomorrow, what do you think?"

"It's okay, we are seven or eight miles away from the county seat here, everyone rest, it's not too late to go to the county seat tomorrow."

Sun Bin, Zheng Huaide, and He Yanliang dressed up as businessmen, and more than a dozen officers of the Ministry of Security disguised themselves as men and deliberately walked a few steps behind.

"A few guest officers, whether you are eating or staying in the hotel, there is a new chef in the store, and you are satisfied with the food."

Walking into an inn, the guy greeted him warmly.

"It's okay to eat your meals later."

Sun Bin waved his hand and said, "Our group went to Yunzhou to buy goods, there are a total of twenty people from several owners and guys, are the rooms in your store enough to live?" ”

"Guest officer, relax your mind, don't look at our inn only has a row of street shops, walk more than thirty steps to the back street, the three courtyards inside are all Lin Dong's family, you just have to rest assured to stay, ordinary rooms and private rooms are free, you will not be disappointed."

"Oh, we just came from the port, and along the way, we saw several stores with Lin's signboards, could it be that these industries are all owned by one person?"

Sun Bin motioned for his subordinates to give out two silver dollars, and asked with a curious expression on his face.

"Several guest officials Xu is the first time to visit our Pingyang County, and they have not heard of the name of Lin Dong's family."

The guy took the silver dollar, and he didn't notice anything abnormal, and enthusiastically introduced, "Speaking of the name of the Lin Dong family, I am afraid that no one in this Pingyang County does not know, the Lin Dong family was a famous big man as early as the Nanyang Xingzhou, have you heard of the name of Yixing Company?" Our Lin Dongjia is the second boss of Yixing Company, and since the big boss Chen Xunian Chen Dongjia left Xingzhou and went to Borneo, the business of Yixing Company in Nanyang and the Americas is decided by Lin Dongjia, so tell you, you should understand, right? ”

Founded by Nanyang Chinese businessman Chen Xunian, the company was mainly engaged in plantation reclamation and port construction in the early days, and when the Han annexed northern Argentina in 1872, Chen Xunian controlled the Yixing Company, which was already the largest Chinese plantation owner and port contractor in the Malay Peninsula.

The establishment of the Han Kingdom has led to an investment boom in the Nanyang region, and by taking advantage of the familiar relationship with Zhang Fanglin, Hu Yaji and other Han officials, Chen Xunian has taken the fast track of the rapid development of the Han Kingdom, and the business of Yixing Company has also rapidly expanded to South America, Annam and other places, and the shadow of Yixing Company can be seen in industries such as shipping, immigration contract transportation, and plantation reclamation.

In order to quickly reclaim land and increase the development progress of local agriculture and industry, for some primitive areas, the Han government issued a targeted decree, allowing Han citizens to apply for land reclamation rights in the forests of northern Argentina and the southern Patagonia wasteland from the government in the name of private merchant groups, as long as the merchant group itself has the ability to develop wasteland, after the application is approved, the government will sell 3,000 mu to 100,000 mu of wasteland to the merchant group at a very low price for special commercial agricultural planting and production.

Commercial wasteland reclamation is different from agricultural land, simple agricultural land is based on household registration, each household can only own a maximum of 300 acres of land, more than 300 acres of land, land additional levy land value-added tax, and Yixing Company in the name of reclaiming wasteland, the development of plantations and other industries, not only do not have to pay agricultural tax, but also the reclamation of wasteland within the scope of ports, timber and other resources, the company also has the right of priority to contract and purchase.

The implementation of the wasteland and port contracting laws attracted many Chinese businessmen to invest in it, and the Han mainland in South America, spanning thousands of kilometers of land from the north and south, especially in the lush plains in the north, six or seven hundred plantations of all sizes were reclaimed from the dense forests, and the primeval forests were mixed with flat plantations, and the agriculture of the Han Kingdom developed in this way.

"Yixing Company Lin Yaxiang."

Sun Bin and He Yanliang may not be very familiar with Lin Yaxiang, but Zheng Huaide's ancestral home is Nanyang, and he knows a lot about Yixing Company and Lin Yaxiang.

"Yixing Company is a branch organization of the Tiandihui, seven years ago, Chen Xunian joined the Taiping Society on behalf of the company, since then, Yixing Company has been divided into two, with Chen Xunian leading a group of core congregations to Borneo to set up another rudder, and the rest of the company is mainly Lin Yaxiang, transformed into a pure private company, mainly to and from Nanyang and South America to engage in migrant transportation."

Knowing some of the most basic information from the inn guys, twenty people sat in several guest rooms, Zheng Huaide said, "When I was in Nanyang, the most profitable business in Lin Yaxiang's hands was in addition to opium is gambling, and now it is strictly forbidden to smoke opium in the local area, Lin Yaxiang should not have the courage to act against the wind, but I am afraid that there will be a lot to do to open gambling houses and make a living from usury." ”

"I'm afraid it's not just as simple as opening a gambling house and lending usury."

Sun Bin took out a stack of papers and placed them on the table.

"This is the information handed over to us by the Ministry of Security, there have been a total of 17 accidents in the shipping companies and plantations under the name of Yixing Company in two years, the number of worker casualties has exceeded 180, and there have been seven or eight cases involving Yixing Company and Lin Yaxiang, but fortunately, every time Yunzhou has changed the government and sent a commissioner to investigate, Lin Yaxiang can clear the suspicion."

"Don't be surprised that Yixing Company has a complete chain of industrial channels, take an ordinary worker under the name of their company, starting from the immigration base set up in the mainland to sign up for voluntary immigration to South America, to stepping on the transport ship to South America, until arriving in South America, handling the two-year employment certificate, residence certificate, and turning into a regular citizen of the Han Kingdom, etc., all handled by Yixing Company, and the ordinary people who have just moved to South America owe money to Yixing Company, and their personal freedom is illegally restricted by the company. Unless it was a casualty accident that fell on them, it was difficult for workers who had just fled from Manchu rule to South America to report Yixing Company at the risk of offending their owners. ”

"The performance of the workers of Yixing Company is also excusable, the government financial funds are tight, the immigration transportation business is gradually outsourced to a private company to be responsible, in the case of no accidents, a little more patient, survive the two-year transition period, and change the identity of the local official nationals, at that time the hard days are over, compared with the two years of hard life, the risk and cost for them to come forward and report the company is too great."

Sun Bin understands the distress of the workers of Yixing Company who dare not speak out to report, but from the perspective of the country's long-term peace and stability, it is necessary to deal with and correct all kinds of chaos in the early stage of the founding of the People's Republic of China in a timely manner, otherwise the more problems accumulate, the more huge the price to pay for reform.

"Shipping and plantations are the main industries of Yixing Company, and the manpower brought this time will be assigned to secretly find out the relevant situation of Yixing Company, and the three of us will stay in Pingyang County for the time being, and wait until the problems of Yixing Company are clarified, and then we will inspect other places." …………