"Good, good, good!" On January 5, 1677, in the mild climate of Niuzhuang Port, He Yuan, who had just returned from morning exercise, looked at a secret document issued by the locals, and whistled excitedly, causing his wife Liu Wei, who was eating breakfast next to him, to roll her eyes, and several children also squeezed their eyebrows and laughed.

"Hehe, what do you know!" He Yuan laughed, didn't eat breakfast, turned over and rode on a horse, escorted by two Ministry of Internal Affairs policemen, and headed towards the office located in the city.

He was so happy because the documents he saw clearly stated that over the next four years, the mainland would send more than 40,000 immigrants, exiled prisoners, and non-national laborers (mainly Poles and Ukrainians) to the Pampa Plain for the construction of railways. Among these people, there are about 10,000 second-generation nationals who were born in the country, and they are the main force and backbone of the disguised expansion of the East Coast people in the Pampa Plain; The exiled prisoners and non-national laborers amounted to about 30,000 people, all of whom were dragged with their families, and were to be organized into four production and construction corps according to their numbers, just as the East coasters did in Denlai in the Far East, cultivating land, growing food, leveling foundations, and building houses, all of which were confined to the railway annexes, and of course that was sufficient.

The reason why the local area is so bold is, of course, closely related to the number of people today. According to the data estimated by the joint statistics of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Ministry of Immigration, and the Mei Agency, by the end of August last year (1676), the total population of the East Coast Republic of China had reached 60,000, continuing to hit a record high.

Among these people, the number of second-generation nationals born in the country is about 50,000, accounting for 2%, and continues to dominate; The total number of immigrants from the East is about 1.38 million, accounting for about 37%, ranking second; There are about 540,000 white men and women with East Coast national identity, accounting for nearly 6%, which is not a small number; The number of non-nationals is growing rapidly, and the reason is well understood, there are currently about 40,000 people, of which the number of white non-nationals has reached a high of 20,000, accounting for 50% for the first time, which shows how many Slavic slaves sold by steppe peoples have been eaten by people on the east coast in the past year.

Taken together, the total number of nationals and non-nationals is over four million. With such a large population, it is no wonder that the local executive committee officials are so bold and willing to send an average of 10,000 people to the Pampa Plain every year. When the Spaniards were too busy to take care of themselves, they first created a fait accompli, and then repeatedly argued with the Spaniards, and finally it was a big deal to give some benefits and forgive some debts, what a big deal!

After the arrival of these 40,000 people, plus the more than 20,000 people from the east coast who already existed on the Pampa Plain, the population under He Yuan's rule was undoubtedly more than 60,000. This is naturally not a small number, and it is no longer something that the grass-terraced team can manage at the beginning, so the local government just promoted He Yuan to the acting commissioner of the Niulanshan District Administration last month, and sent dozens of cadres of different ages and a combination of old, middle-aged and young people here to assist Commissioner He to build a leadership team.

The jurisdiction of this so-called Niulanshan District Administration is also extremely broad, not only the existing more than 10 settlements will be under its jurisdiction, but also the personnel will be arranged to be under its jurisdiction once the route of the Yanbu Railway is officially determined in the future. To put it simply, he will be the leader of the civil affairs of the forces on the east coast of the Pampa Plain in the future, and he can be said to be a high authority. The decision to resign from the post of Hue Customs Commissioner and come to Niuzhuang Town as the mayor of Niuzhuang Town has now received a fruitful reward, at least helping him save no less than ten years in his career.

When He Yuan came to the office, he found that Chen Jia, a cadre of the State Railway Administration and had been preparing for the railway at Yancheng Port, was waiting for him. At that time, this guy was looking through several documents related to the international situation with relish (jointly compiled by the "Pravda" newspaper and the Universal Truth Office presided over by Sun Wuben, which can be used as an internal reference, only for cadres at or above the department level to review), and after seeing He Yuan walk into the office, he smiled, took a sip of the fragrant coffee on the table, and then said with a smile: "The Spaniards are fighting badly!" What do you say they are trying to do? What is that, Charles IV, Duke of Lorraine, a vassal of King Carlos of Spain, right? But how do I see how he got closer to the Austrians? For so many years, he didn't pay much money to the Spanish royal family, and as a result, he was beaten by Louis XIV, and King Carlos wanted to avenge him in a hurry, which is really strange. Tsk, he now has tens of thousands of troops under his command, and it seems that the Dutch and Austrians are paying to help him maintain it, otherwise how could a lost dog who has lost his territory dance so happily? Alas, this Spaniard is just stupid, stupid to the point! Obviously, during the Inheritance Transfer War, Leopold of Austria conspired with King Louis XIV of France to divide up the Spanish territory, but now he is still resolutely on the side of the Austrians. How to do these brain-dead things! ”

"If they are not stupid, then where will we have the opportunity to eat away at their land and wealth?" He Yuan hung his coat and hair on the hanger, then sat opposite Chen Jia, looked at him and said, "If the Spaniards didn't suffer a big loss and didn't ask for us, how could this salt cloth railway progress so fast?" Speaking of which, Director Chen, the Spaniards helped you find this job, and you have to thank them. ”

In fact, He Yuan's ridiculous words are actually not wrong, because strictly speaking, Chen Jia was originally just an ordinary deputy director in the bureaucracy of the State Railway Administration, although his performance at work was quite good, but he did not overpower his peers too much. According to the normal path, it will take many years for him to slowly climb up in the system, step by step as the director, deputy director, director (or general manager of the railway company), deputy director, and director, and the future is basically predictable.

However, the planning of the Yanbu Railway suddenly made him jump out of that fiercely competitive circle, not only raised his administrative level to become the director, but also won the hot position of director of the Yanbu Railway Preparatory Office. After the official construction of the railway began, his every move will fall in the eyes of many bigwigs, as long as there are a little two points on the work, he will soon be promoted and take on more important positions, so this can be described as a broad road on the career.

And this broad road, at least from the beginning, did not exist naturally. Had it not been for the changing international situation and the fact that the Kingdom of Spain was in a critical situation, the people of the East Coast would not have thought of building an arterial railway here. So at this moment, He Yuan jokingly said that Chen Jia's job was found by the Spaniards, although there was some joke and ridicule, but it was not all nonsense.

Chen Jia heard He Yuan say this, immediately laughed, continued to stare at the document in his hand and said: "You are right, Commissioner He, I have to thank the Spaniards, and I am ready to thank the Spaniards." You see, we've raised our first money, and we've built the railway station over there in Yancheng – oh, let me brag, it's a beautiful railway station, and the Yanbu Railway will intersect with the Dingyan Railway in the future – and we're going to continue to extend the railway inland in the future, trying to control more territory and settle more people. Otherwise, how can we repay the 'efforts' of the Spaniards! ”

"Oh, you've raised the money? How much? He Yuan asked with interest: "Three hundred thousand?" ”

"A little more than that, half a million! The General Directorate allocated from the traffic lottery and railway bonds, let's break ground as soon as possible, and start construction from both Yancheng and Buenos Aires at the same time. The speed must be accelerated, as far as can be built, because the policy of the Spaniards may change in the future, and the fate of the railway is still unknown, and it may be forced to stop. Therefore, take advantage of this good opportunity to repair everything that can be repaired first, and people should try to settle more in the past. Having created a fait accompli, can the Spaniards still make up their minds to drive us away? Chen Jia finally put down the document in his hand, looked up at He Yuan, and said with a smile: "That's why I came to you for help." Commissioner He, I heard that a group of 2,000 Polish laborers have just arrived by boat, how about I take them to Yancheng County to repair the railway? ”

"That's the idea." He Yuan laughed a little when he heard this, and then said euphemistically but resolutely: "No, the local government has just approved the establishment of Niuzhuang County (under the jurisdiction of Niuzhuang Township, Dongwu Township, Niushou Township, Dapan Township, Qianfeng Township and Yedianzi Township, a total of six settlements, is the 122nd county-level administrative unit in the country), Yinhai County (under the jurisdiction of Yinhai Town, Xincheng Township, Niulanshan Township, Junyi Township, and Houniu Township, a total of five settlements, is the 123rd county-level administrative unit in the country) and several other scattered settlements, these people are the main force of local infrastructure. How could I have sent you to build a railway? If the local cadres don't scold me to the death, it's not proper, it's inappropriate, you can find another way. ”

There are four so-called "scattered settlements" mentioned by He Yuan just now, namely Waihuang Township near the small town of Tandil in the later generations, Changluo Township near the small town of Ayacucho in the later generations, Tongxu Township near the city of Colonel Pringles in the later generations, and Heqiu Township near the small town of Ziar in the later generations.

These four settlements were all approved at the end of last year to lay a good foundation for the construction of the Yanbu Railway, and they had no other task than to rapidly develop agriculture and animal husbandry, so as to provide some grain, vegetables, and meat products for the railway construction army in the vicinity, so as to reduce the number of long-distance transshipments and reduce costs.

The four townships are all under the jurisdiction of the Niulanshan District Administration, and it is estimated that more than 6,000 immigrants will be invested initially, which can be regarded as a large sum. And the preliminary infrastructure work in these places is undoubtedly completed by Polish laborers, so this is the main reason why He Yuan rejected Chen Jia's request for borrowing - what are you kidding, there are still a bunch of things to do in my own jurisdiction, how can I lend you valuable labor to Yancheng County before completing these tasks?

Another point that has to be mentioned is that the two counties of Niuzhuang and Yinhai, which were also newly established at the end of last year, are also quite special, because this is the first time that the Executive Committee has approved the establishment of a formal government agency in a place that is still nominally the territory of another country. Especially the latter Yinhai County, the old city next to the county seat Yinhai Port is the Spanish colonial town of Mar del Plata, and there are still a large number of Spanish residents living there, but it is also extremely strange that it has been included in the scope of the county on the east coast.

In any case, the establishment of these two counties has made it clear that the desire of the people on the east coast to occupy the Pampa Plain – for now, at least part of the coast – has become clear, and they have not even bothered to hide it. I believe that after the establishment of these two counties, it will not take a few years in the future, and another 1-2 counties will be established, and then the railway annex will develop again, and the total number of citizens on the east bank of the Pampa Plain will reach as many as 80,000 or 90,000, even if the Kingdom of Spain wants to change its mind and take seriously the current situation of the Pampa Plain being encroached upon, they will not be able to do more, and they will not be able to forcibly expel this small 100,000 people, right? That would be no different from going to war, and no one would dare to make such a determination.

"Director Chen, it's not that I don't help you, it's really inappropriate." Seeing that Chen Jia wanted to say more, He Yuan waved his hand and said in an aggravated tone: "Now the militia led by the Cai brothers is fighting very well on the grassland, and the state has also allocated additional funds (finally there is no need to pay more money from the local government, and this is obviously one of the benefits brought by the formal establishment of the county), which has extended their combat time, so the security situation on the grassland is very good, we must seize this favorable time, transport a large number of materials to the preset location for storage, and then build all kinds of infrastructure as quickly as possible." I know that the work of your railway department is also very important, but haven't you just identified the section of Yancheng County now? Then ask the Yancheng County Government for help, let them levy labor and help you build roads in the form of forced labor. Rest assured, Yancheng County is a big city with a large population, and a small section of the railway can't crush them. ”

"At present, those people are more concerned about the construction of the Yanbu Highway, and they send people to the construction site every winter to help, how can anyone come to repair the railway." Hearing this, Chen Jia also said angrily: "That's it, I'll figure it out myself." Isn't it just that this railway can't see the economic benefits for the time being, and one by one it pushes back and obstructs, and I myself report to the General Administration for help. ”