Colonia is beautiful in spring, with shady grasslands stretching from foot to sky, meandering creeks meandering from the distant horizon, and brightly coloured wildflowers dotting the grass along the banks. A gentle breeze brings the fragrance of wildflowers.

Xiao Baitu lay on the bank of the river, his bare feet swaying in the clear flowing water. The warm sun shining on the face makes people sleepy. A divine horse snorted pleasantly beside it, licking its wet tongue at Xiao Baitu's face from time to time.

"Xiao, what a leisurely afternoon." Lieutenant Leo unbuttoned the collar of his ornate military uniform, sat down beside Xiao Baitu, threw a pebble into the creek, and said with a smile.

"Do you know how much money you will lose by sitting in your sheriff's office and 'doing your duty' in your sheriff's office, but wandering by the river, Mr. Leo?" Xiao Baitu opened his horse's tongue and teased Lieutenant Leo in fluent Spanish.

"Álvaro's Chamber of Commerce controls most of the transactions here, and with him in his life, there will be no shortage of my share." Lieutenant Leo continued to throw a stone into the river, stared at the splash on the river, and said slowly: "Maybe you are worried about security? Dear Shaw, I think you're too worried, the newcomers to the Italians may be clumsy, but they're still up to the job of a security guard. ”

"You're wrong, Leo. In fact, the Italians are very shrewd and cunning, and perhaps by the time you leave, they have earned enough extra money for a month's salary. ”

"Then you must be talking about the Lombards, not these stupid Sicilians." Leo lay down comfortably and rose up.

"Anyway, a lot of Italians have come to Colonia in recent days." Xiao Baitu put his military hat on his face, stopping the further ravages of Aima's tongue, and said angrily.

"It doesn't hurt to tell you. In fact, not only Colonia, but also the entire La Plata region last month saw more than 3,000 Italian immigrants. They were scattered around Buenos Aires, clearing wasteland and grazing cattle and sheep. Lieutenant Leo said in a strange tone, "More immigrants will come, Sicilians, Lombards, Catalans, etc., the Viceroy of Peru and the House of West Indies were deeply shaken by this defeat, and even His Majesty the King began to set his sights on the vast region of La Plata, which he had neglected all along, and Shaw, frankly, may be in big trouble this time." ”

Xiao Baitu whistled and said exaggeratedly: "Wow, what a big stroke." Immigrating 3,000 people at a time, he is still the 'co-lord of the land and the sea' - the great Philip IV has the courage to do so. Is it going to be a big development in La Plata, and what is the current population of La Plata? Thirty thousand or forty thousand? Ah, maybe in a year, the population of La Plata will double, when thousands of Italians and Catalans will rush to the east coast in search of jobs? ”

"Shaw, this joke isn't funny at all." Lieutenant Leo said solemnly, "The kingdom is now involved in too many wars. We are at war with the Dutch, we are at semi-war with Sweden and the German Protestant princes, and we are under extreme hostility from France and England, and I do not think it necessary for the kingdom to be involved in another unsuitable war, especially when its fragile finances are on the verge of bankruptcy. As for the Eastern Coast Republic, do you think it is necessary for you to risk a long-term blockade of the coastline to fight a war with the kingdom that will not be worth the cost? ”

"All right, dear Lieutenant Leo." Xiao Baitu sat up, spit out a stalk of grass that he was chewing in his mouth, and said, "No one wants war. You see, Colonia's trade is thriving these days, where we are free to exchange the goods we need, without having to pay attention to the insatiable monopoly merchants. It is the vast majority of people who have benefited, and only a very small number of big businessmen have suffered, and we are doing God's will. The previous war was really a tragedy, the nobles and the big merchants hijacked the policies of your country, sacrificing the lives of innocent soldiers just to protect their interests. Leo, do you think that these rotten guys are worth fighting for them? The rich, vast region of La Plata does not need these blood-sucking kings, nobles and monopoly merchants, and the affairs of La Plata should be handled by the people of La Plata themselves, and there is no need for the people of the peninsula to make noise. ”

"Shaw, you're instilling dangerous thoughts in me." Lieutenant Leo said, but there was no anger on his face, "Maybe the affairs of La Plata should let the peninsulars go away, but I think you East coasters should also go away." ”

"No, no, no! Leo, listen to me. Xiao Baitu bared two rows of snow-white teeth and said with a smile: "Do you remember the 'Southern Common Market' I told you?" La Plata has abundant cattle, sheep and timber, Brazil has coffee, cocoa, cane sugar, iron ore, Chile has copper ore and saltpeter, Peru has silver and spices, New Granada has coal, dyes, and we can offer all kinds of manufactured goods, you see, what a perfect market......"

"Perhaps, but I've always felt that you Easterners can't be trusted." Lieutenant Leo looked at Xiao Baitu's innocent face, shook his head and said, "Don't talk about this." Shaw, Álvaro is here, he might have something to do with you. ”

Xiao Baitu turned his head and saw Álvaro Rodríguez waving his arms as he walked towards him, followed by a young man who was his son Alvarez.

"Xiao, I heard that you are not going to continue to buy cattle this month, is this true?" Álvaro shouted as he walked away.

"That's right, Álvaro, my friend." Xiao Baitu responded, "You know, our financial situation is very bad. The previous war had depleted our wealth, and now we can no longer afford to sustain such a huge transaction. Maybe when our finances improve, we'll restart purchases. ”

"I see." Álvaro nodded, as if he had already understood the inside story, and that he was only mentioning it at the moment to provoke something to say. Sure enough, I saw him quickly say again: "Xiao, listen to me, in fact, you now have a lot of wealth, a lot of wealth." Not many people know about it, but my family and I happen to know that there is a large area of lush cinnamon forest along the Atlantic Ocean near your Duck Lake, and that is an amazing asset, if you manage to develop it. ”

"Aha, Álvaro, it looks like you've been eyeing our woods for a long time." Xiao Baitu joked, "Well, I'll admit it, it's a forest with gold flowing through it. But firstly, we do not have enough manpower to develop it, and secondly, cinnamon can only be sold at a high price in Europe, because the market in La Plata is not large enough to provide us with enough profits. And as you know, trade between the East Coast Republic and Europe, which has been interrupted for months, has not yet resumed, and we cannot be sure how long it will take to restore that trade link. Maybe a week, maybe a month, maybe half a year or even longer, so it is difficult for me to convince the Executive Committee to mobilize a lot of manpower and material resources to develop this wild wood. It's as simple as that, my friend, and this month we'll buy some gunpowder, cotton, and wool, but that's about it. Maybe next month, when we're a little more relaxed, we'll be back to buying, so you'll need a little patience. ”

"Shaw, our cattle have been transported from distant Buenos Aires to Colonia, and we cannot wait here indefinitely. But if it is not appropriate to bring the cattle back again, I think we can give them to you on credit for the time being. In the same way, I have collected a large amount of wool from Buenos Aires, which I can also give to you on credit. Álvaro calmly uttered something that was jaw-dropping.

"What?!" Xiao Baitu was a little shocked, "Why do you give us such generous conditions?" What do you want to get? ”

"Quite simply, if you decide to develop that cinnamon grove, let me know as soon as possible, and at the same time give me and my family an exclusive trade monopoly of cinnamon in La Plata and Chile." Álvaro said as he looked into Xiao Baitu's eyes.

"Can you sell to Chile?" Xiao Baitu was taken aback, and then smiled again: "Alvaro, your family is even more powerful than I imagined. However, I need to consult my superiors on this matter, because this kind of large-scale development is not something that people of my level can do. But seriously, within my purview, I can only give you a trade monopoly for three years at most. Moreover, you still need to make a small correction, that is, I want all commodity transactions in Colonia to be settled in the 'yuan', the fiat currency of the East Coast Republic of China, and any merchant who carries those chaotic currencies such as pesos, ducats, francs, pounds, florins, rubles, etc., must exchange them for 'yuan' before they can be traded. ”

"Deal!" Álvaro readily agreed.

Xiao Baitu also smiled. The Chamber of Commerce, made up of the native-born white elite of La Plata, represented by Álvaro, monopolized almost all of Colonia's transactions, and Xiao Baitu had no doubt that he would be able to deliver on his promises. Moreover, the "Huaxia Yuan" was already very popular with merchants because of its exquisite production, fine color, and easy calculation, and it was only natural that it should be the only settlement currency in Colonia at this moment.

As Lieutenant Xiao Baitu, who was sent to Colonia from the Army to serve as the administrator of the East Coast Republic of China, this matter was done, and his weight in the heart of the Executive Committee was absolutely different. Based on the current official exchange rate of 1:10 between the yuan and the rial, for every 9-10 yuan of goods traded, the crossing can earn an additional 1 yuan from the coinage. Colonia's total trade volume in November hit a new high of more than 30,000 yuan due to the fact that many smuggling ships from other countries also secretly came to trade, and this alone increased the treasury of the East Coast Republic of China by more than 3,000 yuan per month, which can be described as a great achievement.

For mobile phone users, please read it on m.biquge.info.