After entering March 1873, the world economic situation became more and more deteriorating, and France took the lead in offering high tariffs to keep foreign industrial and agricultural products out, thus triggering a series of reciprocal counterattacks.

The Tang Kingdom, Germany, and the United Kingdom successively announced the increase of tariffs on France and the French colonial areas, and the separation of the three major trade areas of the British pound, the Tang Yuan and the French franc has intensified, hindering the progress of global trade.

In order to maintain their own product market, a trend of protecting the domestic market has been formed when European countries have increased customs tariffs.

The Tang Empire was inevitably hit by a considerable impact in this wave of trade protection, and commodity exports fell off a cliff.

In the first quarter of 1873, compared with the same period last year, the value of international trade exports fell sharply by 37.2%, and the fiery economic development seemed to pour cold water on the head and quickly cooled down.

In the face of the unfavorable international trade environment, the government of the Tang Empire quickly took measures to protect itself, united the north and south of the United States, as well as Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile, the Andean Governor's Office and other countries and regions that signed the unified market of South America, to form an American trade alliance, and uniformly raised tariffs on European imports, involving a total of 723 varieties in 11 categories.

This

The unified action of the "Inter-American Trade Alliance" demonstrated the strong leadership of the Tang Empire in the Americas. For Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and other countries that did not participate in the unified action, the Tang Empire immediately took severe disciplinary measures.

The Royal Navy intensified its patrols in the Caribbean Sea, seized 37 Venezuelan and Colombian cargo ships, and escorted them all to the port of Kohler in Panama Province under the pretext of not implementing the decision of the South American Unified Market.

The goods were auctioned off and the ships were seized at military bases. This move is tantamount to blocking the foreign trade routes of Venezuela and Colombia, which has caused domestic prices to skyrocket, and a large number of agricultural products that want to be exported are piled up at the docks to rot, and the goods that want to be imported cannot be brought in, and both exporters and plantation owners have suffered heavy losses.

Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and other countries on the Pacific coast have been notified that their overland routes to Europe and North America have been closed, and sea routes south to Tierra del Fuego to Europe have been suspended.

The reason for this is that the recent sea conditions have been poor, and the route to the Atlantic Ocean via Tierra del Fuego has been completely closed, allowing cargo ships to pass.

When it will be restored, only God knows? The Tang Empire's own cargo ships are not subject to this restriction and can still travel unimpeded to and from European routes, which makes some South American countries roll their eyes in anger.

This action has also been criticized by European countries, but in the face of interests, the Empire's demand for trade protection has been rising in waves.

At this time, the Tang Empire showed a strong imperialist face and pursued it

The policy of "those who go with me prosper, those who oppose me perish", and provoked disputes on the Bolivian border through Paraguay.

Some Paraguayan cavalry frequently crossed the border, ransacked remote towns in Bolivia, killed people and set fires, and plundered women, causing instability in the region.

Clear-eyed people know at a glance that the Tang Empire has let dogs bite people. Paraguay as

The small country, known as "South American Prussia", suffered a devastating blow in the South American War, losing half of the country's population of more than 460,000 people.

By the end of the war in 1869, there were just over 240,000 left, with a male population of less than 20,000. Thanks to the strong support of the Tang Empire, in the years after the war, about 70,000 to 80,000 young and middle-aged Chinese immigrants settled in Paraguay every year, which made this small South American country quickly regain its blood and re-establish more than 200,000 small families.

According to statistics at the end of 1872, the population of Paraguay has rebounded to 593,000, and the large number of immigrants has passed, but it is still increasing at a rate of 3~40,000 per year.

However, with the increasing number of young and middle-aged Chinese immigrants, there is a large shortage of local women, which is difficult to solve for a while.

Looking around the surrounding Uruguay, which was originally a small country with a smaller population than Paraguay, after the war in South America, it also ushered in a large wave of Chinese immigrants, and there was a surplus of male immigrants.

Argentina was heavily devastated in the South American War, and its main population is concentrated in the surrounding area of the province of Buenos Aires, which has a population of more than one million and a considerable number of Chinese immigrants.

Brazil is the main destination of Chinese immigrants today, with a scale of 6~70,000 per year, and is expected to last for 15 years from 1869, with a total of more than one million Chinese laborers imported to make up for the huge labor gap formed by the suspension of the slave trade.

This part of the immigration funds, paid for by the imperial government of Brazil and supported by the mature transoceanic immigration system of the Tang Empire, has formed a profitable immigration trade.

Officials of the Tang Empire in Brazil are responsible for monitoring the implementation of equal treatment and equal pay for equal work of Chinese laborers in accordance with the imported labor treaty, and so far everything seems to be fine.

Chile is a South American country dominated by white immigrants, with a military government in power for many years, a strong military force, and a relatively stable domestic environment.

Looking around at the surrounding neighbors, it seems that only Bolivia is the best bully. Peru and Bolivia, plus Colombia, were the traditional territories of the Inca Empire in South America, and after independence from Spanish colonial rule, they were also the most populous countries in South America.

At the beginning of 1873, in addition to Brazil, which has a population of more than 14 million, and Argentina, which has a population of 1.5 million, the remaining populous countries are Colombia with a population of more than 5.9 million, Peru with a population of 3.75 million, Venezuela with a population of more than 4.4 million, Chile with a population of 3.15 million, and Bolivia with a population of 2.3 million...... Colombia, Peru and Bolivia are relatively close and have a predominantly Indian population, supplemented by a small number of native whites and mixed races, and are typical of an agrarian social structure.

After the rise of the Tang Empire in North America, colonial expansion was accompanied by a policy of bloody suppression, and the Indians in its country were suppressed, and their proportion of the social population was decreasing.

Many Indians in North America were sent to hard labor camps, and some provinces in the south, formerly part of Mexico, were economically lagging behind and were subjected to discrimination and oppression.

In order to make a living, a large number of Native American women have gone north to work in wealthy families or become playthings, while men have gone to work in mines or plantations, and the future is bleak.

During the emperor's visit to the southern provinces, a monarchicide riot broke out, which was bloodily suppressed by the imperial military.

Two imperial ducal families and dozens of South American nobles were wiped out, and hundreds of thousands of Indians were liquidated, suppressed, or sent to hard labor camps in mines...... The combination of various factors has led to a sharp decrease in the proportion of the Indian population in the Tang Empire, accounting for only a little more than 1% overall, and this decreasing trend has not yet seen a turning point.

The rabbit dies and the fox is sad, and the thing hurts it. Seeing the tragic situation of the Central American Indian compatriots, how could Colombia, Peru, Venezuela and Bolivia, the four South American countries dominated by Indians, have a good impression of Datang?

Even every year in the first lunar month, South American countries will send high-level government delegations to the imperial capital Chang'an for the Hajj, which is also a face-saving effort, temporarily succumbing to the majesty of the empire.

From the bottom of their hearts, these South American countries are extremely distant from the Tang Empire, unwilling to participate in regional organizations such as the South American Unified Market and the Andean Customs Union, and have always maintained a distance from the Tang Empire.

For these South American countries that look like gods, the Tang Empire has long intended to beat them, and instructing the younger brother Paraguay to do it is just an appetizer, and the southern army of the empire has long been eyeing it, hungry and thirsty.

Among them, Bolivia, which borders Paraguay, is the only country with a weak national strength, because it generates a lot of income from the sale of guano minerals and the overall economy is acceptable, so it is listed as the first target.

The invasion of Bolivia was dominated by armed cavalry of Chinese origin, with two or three hundred men in a group, roaring at every turn, and quickly withdrawing after the capture was successful.

Due to its well-equipped combat effectiveness and high cavalry mobility, Bolivia's army of only tens of thousands of people could not resist at all, and could only concentrate on guarding some large and medium-sized towns.

Watch as these invaders roar to and fro, plundering a large number of young women and wealth, cattle and sheep in the township.

With a total army of less than 50,000 men, and more than 10,000 armed with muskets, most of the Indian soldiers still use cold weapons, so how can they defend against the Paraguayan cavalry, which is armed to the teeth?

In just over two months, Paraguayan cavalry ravaged several provinces on the Bolivian border, abducting as many as 100,000 young women and children, destroying a large number of villages and towns, and pouring hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing the fighting into the surrounding cities.

Sudden increase in population pressure has made these cities miserable, with shortages of food and other means of subsistence, causing prices to skyrocket.

In a desperate situation, Bolivia had to turn to neighbouring Peru for help. The two countries had deep ties and declared independence from Spain on July 28, 1821, and established the Republic of Peru.

In 1835, Peru and Bolivia merged to form the Peruvian-Bolivian Confederation, which collapsed in 1839 to form the two states of Peru and Bolivia.

Historically, Colombia, Peru and Bolivia were all part of the Inca Empire, with the same language, religion and customs.

Because Peru was the first country to become rich by selling guano, the army was better equipped with weapons, and it hired European instructors for training, and it was the most militarily and economically powerful country among the three countries.

In response to the little brother's request for help, Peru immediately mobilized to provide some arms and material assistance to help alleviate the current predicament.

However, he also had a hard time, because the Tang Empire closed the route of Tierra del Fuego, the southernmost point of South America, Peru's rich guano resources could not be transported, so it could only be sold to the Tang Empire at a low price.

For this alone, the loss is as high as hundreds of thousands of Tang Yuan per month, which is simply cutting meat! Hundreds of thousands of losses a month, but what about a year or more?