As the core of the new generation of leadership in the East Bank Republic of China, Liao Xiaoyao, who had just been elected chairman of the Executive Committee at the end of 1677, did the first major event after taking office was to summon Sebastian, the ambassador of the Kingdom of Spain to the East Bank, to consult with the Spaniards on the latest wave of disputes on the Pampa Plain. Then, in the previous month (February 1678), he sailed south to Yinhai Harbor aboard the battleship "Liberator", which had just been completed and was undergoing its first sea trials, to inspect the land that was not strictly the territory of the Republic of China on the east coast of China.

Undoubtedly, this was an unusual move, highlighting the military mentality of Chairman Liao (although he is now officially retired), and somewhat unsettling to the Spaniards. You must know that the "Liberator" is a powerful three-deck battleship, with a crew of more than 800 sailors and more than 100 guns of various types, which can be called one of the most powerful warships on the planet. Liao Xiaoyao actually visited the Pampa Plain on this powerful warship, which had strong political and military deterrent significance in the eyes of the Spaniards.

In addition, the name of this battleship is "Liberator", which makes the Spaniards think about it, because the East Coasters have mentioned their role as "Liberator of South America" before, but it has not been promoted much in the last decade or two. Therefore, when Liao's ship arrived at the silver port on March 6, 1678, the local colonial government officials immediately reported the news to Buenos Aires and then to Lima via Chile.

The governor of Lima did not dare to slack off after receiving the news, because he was not sure whether the newly appointed chairman Liao from the east coast still planned to adhere to many of the policies of the previous more "mature and steady" chairman Qi, and he was also a little uncomfortable with his aggressive style for a while. The Governor of Peru sent people to Madrid as soon as he could, and sent several of his henchmen to Buenos Aires, intending to find out from Ambassador Sebastian about the character and platform of the new leader of the East Coast.

He Yuan, the ambitious commissioner of the Niulanshan District Administration, also rushed to Yinhai Port, intending to listen to the teachings of the new chairman as soon as possible. However, before he could reach Yinhai Port, news came on the way that Chairman Liao had been escorted by a team of cavalry, riding a war horse south towards Niuzhuang County, and he had no choice but to return to the county. However, Liao Xiaoyao did not go to the county, but went directly to Dapan Township, and inspected here for a whole day, until He Yuan and others arrived on horseback in the afternoon of the same day.

Dapan Township is now almost a large-scale warehousing and logistics base, and a large number of materials are transported to Dapan Township more than 100 kilometers away through mule and horse teams and large convoys after they are landed in Niuzhuang Port. Here, supplies such as food, tents, and medicines are carefully sorted into makeshift warehouses and guarded by militia on a rotating basis. However, materials urgently needed on the construction site, such as railway equipment, labor tools, and mechanical parts, were not stored here, but continued onward through Heqiu Township to Guiling Township, a settlement on the Yanbu railway line under construction, near the small town of Olavarria. Along with this, two settlements, Chenqiang Township (near the later town of Laplida) and Wapeng Township (near the later town of Azul), were established at the beginning of this year and are also located on the railway line.

From the setting of these settlements, it can be seen that the general direction of the Yanbu Railway is still southwest-northeast, that is, starting from Yancheng Port, through the established Progressive Township, Tongxu Township, Chenqiang Township, Guiling Township, Wapeng Township and other places that have been established all the way to the northeast, disappearing into the depths of the grassland, and finally going to sea in Buenos Aires City, which can be called a strategic railway connecting the north and the south.

"Commissioner He, in order to repair the salt cloth railway, the central government has made a lot of money. As of the beginning of this year, the total principal and interest of the government's various debts have totaled nearly 12 million yuan, accounting for more than 60% of our country's annual fiscal revenue. The blast furnace of Ping An Iron and Steel Plant has not been produced at full capacity since the last technical reform, and this time it can be regarded as seizing the opportunity to produce with full strength. Hehe, the red molten iron costs a lot of silver. In front of a large livestock pen, Liao Xiaoyao stroked this batch of smooth-haired horses, and said half-jokingly and half-seriously.

He Yuan's heart tightened as soon as he heard this, the first important thing for the new chairman of the new official was to come to the Pampa Plain to see the railway, and he also pointed out the role of railway construction in stimulating the national economy, which made him subconsciously raise the importance of the Yanbu Railway to a higher level and treat it as a strategic work in the region.

"Of course, don't think about it." Liao Xiaoyao saw that He Yuan was a little nervous, and laughed again, and said: "With such a huge cost of the Yanbu Railway, it is naturally impossible for the central government to endure for a long time that its rails are lying on the grassland in the sun and rain and rusting due to the serious lack of utilization, so the use of the railway is also an important part of the work. In this regard, you must also work hard, there is no demand for the Yanbu Railway, we have to artificially create demand. ”

In fact, Liao Xiaoyao's words are somewhat fucked, and everyone knows what the situation is along the Yanbu Railway. To put it mildly, there are probably more cougars than people along the route (don't believe it, Argentina exported at least 3,000 cougars a year in the late 18th century, most of them from the Pampa Plain), and there was a need for a hammer! In the final analysis, the greatest significance of this railway is the military role, and it is indeed a good hand for mobilizing troops and materials, and the role of the gauchos, Klandians, and Quechuas on the united front steppe is not far behind, but the economic significance is very weak.

He Yuan, as the highest official in civil affairs on the east bank of the Pampa Plain, and also the first batch of veteran pioneers from work, is naturally very aware of this. However, he does not intend to argue with Liao Xiaoyao, but intends to make arrangements according to the actual situation, and it is impossible for him to mess around for the so-called creation of demand and risk the collapse of the local economy.

However, Liao Xiaoyao's following words quickly shook his thoughts, and he only heard Liao Xiaoyao say: "Don't be surprised, there is a reason why I say this, that is, the central government has preliminarily decided that all the immigrants who will arrive in the mainland in the next few months will be resettled on this side of the Pampa Plain." At the same time, the quota for the distribution of public land in the towns and villages in the former Brazil was reduced, and more second-generation nationals were deliberately guided to settle and pioneer in the Pampa Plain, so as to accelerate the development of this land. Now, do you get the idea? ”

It is said that as of the middle of last year (1677), the total population of the country has reached 3.912 million, of which nearly 1.93 million are second-generation citizens, accounting for more than 49%, which is the largest population in the country (which can also show how young the East Coast Republic is). As long as the national policy is slightly tilted, then there are tens of thousands of young men and women who carry packages and bags to live and settle in Panpaping every year, and if you count the number of Ming immigrants, it is estimated that more than 100,000 people will be resettled on the Pampa Plain every year...... He Yuan had to admit that he was really shocked!

The resettlement of more than 100,000 people a year, given the vastness and fertility of the land in the Pampa Plain, is actually no problem at all, as long as the number of various materials and cadres supported by the local government is sufficient. But the problem is that this is tantamount to sacrificing the population quota of the northern tropics to accelerate the development of the Pampa region.

In the past, the annual population quota obtained by these areas was actually quite large, especially in the Hue area, where the tropical plantation economy was more developed, and many second-generation nationals and oriental immigrants from all over the country came to settle down every year, and the local economy was relatively prosperous and developed rapidly, and Chairman Qi of the previous government also supported it. But now it seems that everything is different? The newly appointed Chairman Liao does not seem to be very enthusiastic about the development of the northern tropical economic zone, but this man from the army is very interested in the endless Pampa Plain, and he is interested in focusing on the development of this area, which is somewhat surprising.

To be fair, if you look at it from a foundation or a long-term perspective, prioritizing the development of the Pampa Plain is definitely the best choice, because of its vast area, flat land, fertile soil, and mild climate, it is very "nourishing", that is, it is very suitable for what we call "bursting population" - it is not surprising at all, the temperature is neither hot nor cold, there is no need to worry about food production, bison and other meat sources are also very abundant, the coast is also the location of fishing grounds, and there are no unpreventable epidemics in humid and hot areas, and it is difficult to think about population growth quickly.

In contrast, in the tropics, the climate is humid and muggy, bacteria are extremely active, mosquitoes are abundant, and various epidemics of different scopes are broken out at two ends in three days, and the mortality rate of the population remains high. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the French occupied African colonies were still very underdeveloped, and the number of white colonists was still very small, which was not without environmental factors (the British colonies in Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand had a large population).

Therefore, it is not incomprehensible that Liao Xiaoyao has turned his policy around and intends to focus on the development of temperate regions and tilt more of his precious population resources here. Because this is also the consistent thinking circuit of officials from the army, among those guys who only know how to fight and kill, there are too many farmers from farming, Commander Liao has been mixed with them for a long time, and his thinking has obviously been assimilated by them, He Yuan complained slightly in his heart.

Of course, if you abandon the prejudice against officials from Qiu Ba, Chairman Liao actually has a reason to do this. The tropical plantation economy in Hue is basically dominated by the production of tobacco and cane sugar, of which the scale of tobacco production is shrinking due to cost factors, and there is a risk of being crushed by the new Courland. Although the production of sugar is still competitive, the tension in Europe in the past decade, the frequent outbreak of wars, the sluggish consumer demand in many countries, the sharp decline in imports, coupled with the loss of a large distributor in the Dutch hostility, so that the production of sugarcane plantations opened up by investors on the east coast along the coast of Brazil has gradually become less prosperous, and the ability to attract new capital has been greatly weakened, which can be seen from the fact that the Brazilian rural financial cooperatives have cut loans to these two industries!

So, can you say that Chairman Liao must be wrong to cool down the development of the tropics and instead invest most of his capital, technology and manpower in the Pampa Plains? I'm afraid not! Each leader has his own philosophy and style of governance, and Chairman Liao saw that the cost of tropical plantations on the East Coast was too high for Europeans to compete, so he guided the outflow of capital and manpower from this industry, just as Chairman Qi tried his best to guide capital and manpower into this industry when he was in power.

"Chairman Liao, of course I'm very happy that you said that. The Pampa Plain is indeed the foundation of the king's hegemony, if you take Chinese mainland as an analogy, this is Zhongzhou, is the Central Plains, and it is a place that can be relied on as a foundation. From that point of view, of course, we should develop this place vigorously and strengthen the foundation of our country, and that's what my colleagues and I have been doing before. It's just that, after all, the Pampa Plain is still the land of the Puenos Aires Prosecutor's Court District of the Kingdom of Spain, is it really okay for us to immigrate and develop with such fanfare? After thinking about it, He Yuan finally asked this sensitive question.

"The opinion of the Spaniards does not matter!" Hearing this, Liao Xiaoyao waved his hand directly and responded with great momentum: "This failed country is now mired in the quagmire of the European War, and it has also issued a large amount of bonds in our financial market because of financial difficulties, why should they turn against us?" In the past, we were too reasonable, and we were so used to these people that we were very unhappy to shrink back from doing things. You see, the British did not recognize Spain's sovereignty over the two islands of Barbados and Jamaica in the first place, and openly emigrated, and the Spaniards finally accepted the fact after the failure of the armed attack? You see how well Barbados is developing now, with a large population, and it produces huge amounts of sugar, tobacco and indigo every year, making huge profits. The British can do that, and so can we! We don't want the Caribbean islands of the Spaniards, what's the use of those broken islands? Thousands of miles away, once something happens, you can only sit back and watch the fall! We want the Pampa Plains of the Spaniards, where there is no sugar, no tobacco, no indigo, no pepper, no gold and silver mines, and it is not a good land by Spanish standards, and it may not be as good as the tropical territories of Jamaica, Barbados, and Hispaniola. Well, since you don't think it's a good place, then we want it, and don't regret it! ”

Liao Xiaoyao's words really made He Yuan a little speechless, from the four flats and stability of the Qi Wangping era to the rapid advance of the Liao era, he was a little unable to adapt to it all of a sudden.