"The best Sichuan brocade is very rare to import from Shunguo." In a teahouse in Dingnan County, Chen Jia, deputy general manager of the American Railroad, watched the bustling flow of people on the street while sipping fragrant tea.

There are a few shops there, perhaps because the land in Patagonia is not valuable, but these shops are not small. The value of the goods sold is not low, including brocade silk and gold and silver jewelry, and even precious jade and jade, which is really amazing.

There is no doubt that there is such a professional and high-end store, then there must be a strong customer base to maintain, which is very simple business common sense. Not to mention the local production of brocade silk silk, it is not valuable, but the cost of Sichuan goods imported from Shunguo in the Far East can go to the sea, and the price is absolutely prohibitive for ordinary people. That is, some wealthy businessmen can afford to wear clothes made of this fabric, and they don't mind spending more money for pomp or affection, because it can be a very effective way to show their strength, and the nouveau riche merchants need these to prove themselves.

Of course, this kind of businessman who only made a small fortune, and the real rich people don't need these things to decorate the façade. For example, Mr. Shao Yuanyi, a natural person investor of the Southern Railway Company, a rural financier, and a famous medical scientist, wears more local tweed cloth clothes, which are not conspicuous, but the money in his bank account can blind many people's eyes.

Today, Mr. Shao also came to Dingnan County. As a veteran of the medical field and a distinguished researcher of the Southern Railway Medical Research Institute and the Capital Medical College, Shao Yuanyi came to Dingnan County to participate in the groundbreaking of the Dingyan Memorial Hospital to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. The hospital began construction at the beginning of this year (1687) and has raised 200,000 yuan in prize money, half of which is state investment and the rest is donations from members of the Founding Parliament and the East Coast Company, and is expected to be completed and put into trial operation in 1690.

As the first modern large-scale hospital in Patagonia, the Dingnan Memorial Hospital was able to build such a luxurious hospital before many developed counties, in addition to the fact that it has a large population and developed economy (although it is agriculture and animal husbandry, but the characteristics are outstanding), it is also related to the fact that this is the regional center. Should the state still consider the balance of development between regions?

In addition, within the country's top level, there is also a hidden reason, that is, Dingnan County will develop into an industrial city in the future, which can be seen from the fact that the Ministry of Geology has sent people to look for petroleum as a liquid fuel in the Dingyan Basin (that is, the Neiquen Basin and its surroundings).

But then again, why does the council think there will be oil in the area of Dingnan County? It is even more confusing that various expeditions and prospecting teams have been sent on several occasions, and there is even a plan to set up a specialized school here to recruit researchers and students to conduct research on oil as a fuel. You know, the only oil sample that people on the East Coast get today is probably from the island of Trinidad, right? There were so few of them that they didn't take long to be spent, so much so that the researchers affiliated with the Academy of Engineering and Technology kept urging the Navy to bring another batch back from the Caribbean.

Well, in any case, the determination of the Executive Committee to look for oil here and to set up a petroleum research institute and other specialized institutions is quite large. And this seems to have further promoted the status of Dingnan County, making its position as the first brother in Patagonia more stable and unshakable, and becoming an important city that cannot be ignored on the east coast map.

Therefore, you can understand that many economically developed cities in the eastern steppe and duck lake basins have not yet built modern large hospitals (one hospital in one county is basically popular, but the gap between hospitals is also very large).

After Shao Yuanyi attended the groundbreaking ceremony of the Dingyan Memorial Hospital, he was invited by Chen Jia, vice president of Amtrak, to attend the meeting at Yiran Pavilion, the most famous teahouse in the city. There is nothing special about it, just that everyone sits down together and talks about the sky, the earth, the domestic economic situation, and the political situation in the old mainland.

The topic was provoked by Chen Jia. He first talked about the current construction progress of the Yanbu Railway and the financial situation, so that everyone had a more intuitive understanding of the current situation of the railway. Subsequently, when everyone's conversation was gradually hooked, Vice President Chen naturally transferred to the top of the wool transportation railway.

Chen Jia talked about the prospects of this railway, saying that with his professional vision for many years, once the railway is completed, the profitability should be very strong. Moreover, this time the state is very generous, and intends to take out 49% of the shares of the railway for public sale, which is a major move to benefit the people and give back to the people.

Hearing this, Shao Yuanyi understood what today's tea party was for, wasn't it a fundraising conference! Looking at the people sitting around, the rich businessmen in the county and the region, and of course there are many rich people from other places like him, I guess that if everyone cooperates, a lot of money can be raised.

Shao Yuanyi is not very interested in the wool transport railway. He now has enough railway stocks on hand, and they don't make much money, and the only stock that makes money is the stock of the Southern Railway Liangyang Railway - after the Liangyang Railway was handed over to the state, Shao accepted the government's disposal plan and replaced the railway stock with the stock of the new Southern Railway Group - but this will Chen Jiadu shouted so hard, he naturally can't help but give face, so he pinched his nose and said that he would subscribe for no less than 3,000 yuan of wool transportation railway (northern line) stock to support the development of the railway industry.

Others are similar to Shao Yuanyi, whether they want to or not, they will buy some stocks more or less, so Chen Jia raised nearly 50,000 yuan in cash after a cup of tea. In a good mood, he put down his burden and chatted with everyone about the development and situation of the economy.

"The prosperity of Dingnan County is mainly based on two things, one is fruit, and the second is wool." Chen Jia raised two fingers and said with a smile: "Fruits, naturally rely on weather resources, well, the temperature difference between day and night is large, and the light time is long, which is incomparable to other places." But I would say that this advantage is not absolute, and in many other places, such as the tropics, the yield and quality of fruit are equally impressive, which will undoubtedly create a fierce competition with this side in the market. In fact, many of you here are engaged in this kind of business, and you should be well aware of this. Therefore, the fruit business of the Ludang and Chubut rivers is naturally the pillar of the economy, but it is not the only pillar, more precisely, not the largest, and this honor should be awarded to the wool. ”

"Compared with fruits, wool is the safest economic pillar in Dingyan County. This thing can't compete with you anywhere else, because you are dry and cold here (suitable for sheep growth, and there will be no common diseases in wet areas such as hoof rot), and the area is vast enough to be stocked by hundreds of thousands or millions of sheep, so that the amount of wool produced every year is amazing, and this is the main reason why our country's woolen industry has become stronger and stronger over the years, and has gradually caught up with the cotton textile industry. Without him, the raw materials are abundant! Chen Jia took a sip of tea and continued: "If the wool textile industry wants to achieve further development in the future, and the economy of Dingnan County wants to go to a higher level, then it is necessary to expand pastures and raise more sheep." ”

Chen Jia's intention when he said this was actually a little obvious, wasn't it just to blow the wind across the border to the north and let more pastures be controlled by the people on the east coast. According to the plan jointly formulated by the General Administration of National Development and the General Intelligence Bureau, the northward crossing was mainly initiated by the two counties of Dingnan and Luyang, crossing the Baoxing River, striking at the remaining indigenous forces of the Klandi people in the area, and controlling more grasslands. In particular, it was emphasized that the expansion should focus on moving closer to the Andes, and as far as possible, seizing as many passes as possible to Chile, in order to lay the groundwork for possible future operations, which were particularly dense and many of them at very low altitudes, ideal for the entry and exit of mule and horse teams, and of course for the construction of railway lines.

Among them, the western line (towards Dingnan County) can be extended to the area south of the Diamante River, where there is a small village and town that the Spaniards have set up for a few years, but it should not be a big obstacle. On the eastern route (towards Luyang County), it expands north to the junction of humid grasslands and semi-arid grasslands, and if nothing else, this is the key point, because from here to the north, there will be a little more precipitation, and dry farming can be developed, and crops such as wheat, sorghum, corn, and peanuts can be planted at a high value, and of course they can also be used for grazing, which is not a problem.

From this plan, it can be seen that this cross-border reclamation can really be said to be a hurricane. The reason is mainly from the Baoxing River to the north, and there are really not too many people. The Spaniards did not come to the New World to endure hardship, but to occupy the best land, cattle and sheep, and mines, so this semi-arid grassland, which had little oil and water, was of little value to them, especially when it was not yet on the main lines of communication.

Therefore, the people on the east coast going north will basically not encounter any trouble in other areas except for diplomatic disputes. When the government arranged for a large number of immigrants to march north with all their possessions, horses and caravans, the only people who would fight for the ownership of the land were probably the local Clandi Indians.

When it comes to the diplomatic disputes of the Spaniards, if they are put in normal times, there may be a bit of a fight, and the diplomatic department will not be so blatant. But at the moment when the situation in Europe is changing, it is not a big problem! Because the government on the east bank has basically decided to forge a closer cooperative relationship with the Kingdom of Spain in order to jointly deal with the threat from the Kingdom of France across the Pyrenees. The foreign minister of the East Coast even assured the Spaniards that France would not be allowed to annex the Kingdom of Spain – a collapse of Spain would be something that the East Coast would never tolerate, because it would lead to an amphibious power with a population of nearly 33 million, a vast area, numerous overseas colonies, and astonishing wealth – and if the French dared to cross the Pyrenees, the Men would not hesitate to intervene to help them defend themselves against the invasion of the enemy.

Of course, if the people on the east coast have made such a level of assurance, then it is natural that the Kingdom of Spain needs to show some "sincerity". As for the specific content of sincerity, the two governments are still negotiating in secret, but it is nothing more than the transfer of interests in land and other privileges. When the East and West are in such a state of diplomacy, what is the matter with the cross-border grazing activities organized by some local people "privately"? Can those arid grasslands be more important than the South Netherlands? Could it be more important than Barcelona? Could it be more important than Milan? Could it be more important than Sicily? Are you kidding!

Therefore, it is the right time to collect more pastures at this time!