Álvaro and Alvarez walk slowly on the "People's Avenue" in the mall port (formerly Colonia Trade City). This wide, gravel-paved road is one of the widest and most prosperous in the city, flanked by many brick buildings of almost identical style, mostly residential and a few government offices and commercial facilities.

The city is so small that just two to three hundred meters of street can be used to wipe out all kinds of institutions, including town halls, supply depots, department stores, and militia training camps. The houses facing the street have also been slightly modified by the residents, and some craftsmen have started to operate here, such as tailors, breweries, leather goods workshops, etc., but their customers are limited to the 3,000 or so local residents of Mall Port, which is considered a standard small-scale natural economy.

Since the start of the war with the Spaniards three years ago, the city of Porto Mall (then called Colonia), which served as a window for trade with La Plata, has completely declined, losing the "commercial" aura that had shrouded it for a decade and returning to its "agricultural" nature. The rows of barns and warehouses on the wharf were also emptied, and their owners, considering the uncertain future of the business, changed hands one after another and sold them to the people of the East Coast at a low price.

The Alvaro father and son came to Mall Harbor to sell their family's two warehouses on the docks, which were bought by one of the largest companies in the country on the East Coast, the National Reserve Grain Depot, a large brick and stone warehouse, to expand their storage capacity.

However, the sale of the warehouse in the port of Mall by the Alvaro father and son does not mean that the Rodriguez family has completely withdrawn from the trading circle on the east coast. Instead, the native-born white elite family began to move their possessions before the outbreak of the war, and during the war, they moved their families to San Diego for refuge. It is bold to judge that peace between the East Bank and Spain is likely to last for quite some time. Therefore, he spent a huge amount of money to buy a piece of land on the wharf of Qingdao Port, which is known as "every inch of land". He began to build his own trading house and prepare to reopen the cross-border trade that had been in full swing three years ago, and by the way, to curry favor with the civil servants of the East Coast economic and trade system.

In addition, they also bought 200,000 yuan (240,000 pesos) of 10-year bonds of the Southern Railway Company, and will also invest 200,000 yuan to subscribe for a 2% stake in the Southern Railway Company (which is still pending the approval of the East Coast government) to show favor to the military forces in the East Coast. This family of speculative unscrupulous merchants knew that only by currying favor with both the military and the political side of the East Coast could they enjoy the convenience of doing business within the country.

"It is the family's established policy to continue trading with the East Coast." It's late autumn on the east coast. Álvaro wrapped himself in a fine woolen coat and spoke earnestly to his eldest son, Alvarez, who was beside him. His tweed coat has a strong Spanish pop color and intricate lace around the edges, which looks very eye-catching. There is no doubt that the garment may not have been made in the East Coast, but the raw materials used in it were basically from the East Coast.

Considering it, Chile, Charcas, Peru and other places, which were basically still under the agricultural society under the policy of restricting the colonial industry that the Kingdom of Spain had insisted on for many years (they had to import even bricks and tiles from the Old Continent), but the commodity economy and commercial atmosphere were still relatively strong, were basically unable to resist the invasion of goods from the east coast. Even though the Spanish government strictly restricted the colony's trade with the outside world, it was just as the New World could not resist the smuggled goods of Britain and the Netherlands. They are also unable to resist the invasion of goods on the East Coast, and it is almost inevitable that they will become the raw material base and commodity dumping ground of the East Coast. In fact, even during the two or three years of the war with Spain on the East Coast. Trade between the two sides has also been maintained almost uninterrupted by the Portuguese through Guò Brazil, which can be called a miracle in the history of trade.

"God never wanted the Rodriguez family to stay away from money." Álvarez drew a cross on his chest, then nodded vigorously and said: "Your Majesty the King is very interested in speeding up the development of La Plata, and I have learned from my friend Julio that the House of West India, in accordance with the will of the King, is ready to exile to La Plata those who have committed crimes against the King in Catalonia. As a result, perhaps the region's population will grow much faster than we imagined. I think the family should be able to reap enough benefits if they seize the opportunity. ”

"The king's concern is never La Plata, but Charcas, my son." Álvaro looked at his son and reminded: "The greatest significance of La Plata's deposit is to act as a barrier to the court of the Chalcas Inquisition, where the king and many of the great men have money, and the Dutch are also very concerned (half of the silver of the Americas in Spain is shipped to the Netherlands every year to pay off the principal and interest of the debt). The development of La Plata required a great deal of investment, and the king could not afford it, and of course the Dutch or the Genoese might have been able to provide such a large amount of money, but they were now so close to the east coast that they should not be involved in such unwise diplomatic risks. So, Álvarez, never have too many unrealistic hopes for the development of La Plata, which will only lead you to make a wrong judgment and cause unnecessary losses. ”

"...... de La Plata" said this, and there was inevitably a hint of helplessness in Álvaro's tone: "La Plata is destined to become the foundation for the rise of the East Coast in the future." The peninsulars of the Old World did not understand how fertile the land was, they did not farm, and they had never seen a good land that could yield a good harvest by sowing a handful of seeds. The reality is always cruel, and it is a shame that His Majesty ruled La Plata for more than a hundred years, but his officials never even made a serious exploration of this vast and fertile land, and their knowledge of La Plata was limited to the published geography books on the east coast. Over the years, how many people from the east coast have traveled to La Plata to draw maps and survey the landscape? And how many people from the East Coast have gone deep into the Clandi villages to understand their reality and reality? There is so much wealth in La Plata, and some of it has been exploited, such as the salt desert of Puerto Blanca, if it were not for the great exploitation of the people of the east coast, maybe we would not know that there is such a large piece of wealth given by God. It's a pity that the Lord's people didn't cherish it, but let the yellow-skinned pagans pick up this bargain. ”

The port of Blanca in Alvaro's mouth has been renamed the port of Yancheng, and the basic extent is the extension of the territory originally occupied by the people on the east coast (the port terminal, the urban area, and part of the salt marshes in the interior), and the boundary is now witnessed by officials of both sides. The East Bank government also took great pains to demarcate the border, and the Northern Arsenal spent a lot of money and countless artillery blanks to finally forge an 18-pounder long-barreled cannon. The heavy artillery, which had a range of 1,980 meters, almost stunned the Spanish officials who came to demarcate the border, and also made the port of Yancheng on the east coast much larger than the Spanish expected, including several small salt lakes near the Great Salt Marsh.

This year, the government has relocated about 1,000 people to the port of Yancheng, and hundreds more Slavic women are likely to continue to settle there. And the port city on the golden hill has lived up to expectations, making a profit since January: hake and squid from nearby fisheries, as well as coarse and refined salt from inland salt deserts, have become the fist commodities of local exports.

The people of the East Coast were extremely eager to develop the salt industry, and they not only recruited many salt workers from the Netherlands and France, but also recruited some salt workers from the Ming Dynasty, and then vigorously improved the salt production technology, reducing the cost of refined salt produced on the East Coast to an astonishing degree. In addition to local use, these salts have gradually entered the Brazilian market, which is rainy and not easy to dry, with the characteristics of low price and high quality, and squeezed out the Dutch salt there and obtained considerable profits. Now, the East Coast salt is starting to make its way to La Plata and Chile, for example, the Southern Railcine Company has just ordered a considerable amount of coarse salt to be shipped to the port of Araucan, partly for pickling horse mackerel and partly for sale to Araucan and Spaniards.

This "smuggled salt" from the east coast is undoubtedly much better than the inferior Peruvian salt that is currently widely consumed in Chile, and is not only of good quality and good quality, but also very cheap, and it is easy to dominate the Chilean salt market without taking into account the interference of local vested interests. It is believed that after the official opening of the two-ocean railway, with the reduction of transportation costs, the cost-effective advantage of salt on the east coast will become more and more prominent, and it will no longer be a dream to enter Chalcas, Peru and other regions in the future.

Every Spanish official who had been to the salt desert in the field shook his head and sighed when he returned, lamenting that the king had lost a great fortune and that the pagans had picked up a large gold mine. Later, Dutch merchants who heard about it even went to the vicinity of the salt marshes to find out why their goods (from the salt lakes near Venezuela) were being squeezed out of the Brazilian market.

"The king probably wouldn't let La Plata be taken by the infidels." The young Álvarez disagreed with his father's opinion and continued to renew the news he had received: "The king intends to form a new army in La Plata, consisting of a regiment of gentlemen (mainly peninsulars and native whites), a mestizo regiment (mainly mixed whites), two Clandi regiments (mainly Clani who were subordinate to the Spaniards), and a battalion of gaucho cavalry, with a total strength of more than 5,000 men. These soldiers were to be subjected to rigorous training, probably more often than the original infantry regiment of La Plata, in short, the king had noticed that the pagans would not succeed. ”

"Really?" Álvaro glanced at his son, unwilling to argue with him, shook his head and walked on. His itinerary was in a hurry, and after dealing with the affairs of the mall port, he had to rush to Qingdao port by boat to discuss the issue of sales agency rights for goods on the east coast in Chile with the office of the Southern Railway Company here. It's also a piece of fat that the Rodriguez family has to hold in their hands. (To be continued......)