Rise of the Argentine Empire

Blanca Port City, Fifth District, Lingang Industrial Zone, Outer Beach,

Here, a simple three-story building stood alone. It was originally a seaside resort villa, but it had long been abandoned. The overall framework was good, and after being requisitioned by the Blanca Port City Hall, it belonged to the Investment Promotion Department.

After being renovated, it was able to be used again. The exterior walls were painted with white lime, and the interior was also painted. The floor was replaced with brand new wooden boards.

Outside the window, in the distance, was a large construction site being leveled, dust flying. Some excavating machines were working, exposing the soil beneath the vegetation.

The Lingang Industrial Zone is eight or nine kilometers away from the center of the Fifth District, which is inconvenient for office work, and five or six kilometers away from the nearest town. To facilitate employees' commuting,

The Investment Promotion Department has laid a simple concrete road here, and purchased three second-hand buses in the name of the City Hall, which can travel back and forth to the city, allowing workers and Investment Promotion Department staff to commute.

Investment Promotion Department, third floor,

The energetic Saint-Jose drove from the Fifth District to here at just after seven in the morning. He was wearing a blue-black suit and sitting in a chair, holding a cup of coffee in his left hand and twirling a steel pen in his right hand, listening attentively to Pusey's work report. Now he is trying to build the Investment Promotion Department into a powerful department, a third party institution that is independent of the City Hall and the Council.

Behind the chair is a huge industrial park planning map, with black lines drawing building plans, green representing lawns and trees, as well as roads, new ports, docks and other buildings.

The Lingang Industrial Zone is close to the coast, but it is a barren beach. Argentina, with its vast land and sparse population, has too much land like this. There is a lot of it in the northern Pampas grasslands, especially after the farmers went bankrupt. The cut reeds and shrubs were placed aside, piled up into mountains, ready to be dried and burned, after all, it would cost a fee to transport them out.

The entire Blanca Port is relatively short of supplies, and there is not even a formal cement factory. Cement bricks need to be transported from outside, and the factory's electricity is also insufficient.

Pusey Kimaer is a talent he discovered from the team that the City Hall packaged up for him. He currently holds the position of assistant, and is relatively reliable in his work. Young people like Pusey work on the first and second floors, and building an industrial zone is also a training for these subordinates.

There are many frustrated young people on the City Hall side. They are new to society, young and energetic, but have no room to exert themselves. Blanca Port itself is a bit dull, and the power is basically monopolized by the older generation.

The newly established Investment Promotion Department is a very good place for these young people. The economic crisis has caused Argentina's bureaucratic system to continue to expand, and the scale of civil servants has expanded a lot, one of the reasons being to prevent these energetic young people from causing trouble.

"Councilor, this is a further plan for the industrial park. Recently, several local families have also tried to participate and share some of the benefits. They also have cement factories,

Construction companies, etc. Currently, the power plant in the Fifth District has begun to erect power lines, and it is expected that electricity will be available in 10 days. At the same time, the initial construction of 5 factories will put a lot of pressure on us, as well as the port construction."

Pusey is a local, graduated from the University of Rosario two years ago, but has been doing odd jobs in the City Hall. This time, the mayor brought a bunch of young people to the Investment Promotion Department, giving Saint-Jose a chance to pick up a bargain. He just needs a large number of people to implement the operation of the industrial zone, and people within the system are more suitable than people outside the system.

"Very good, the power supply problem must be resolved as soon as possible, so that it will be convenient to carry out some night operations in the future. Review the specific conditions, don't worry too much. In the early stage, build a canteen, dormitory building, and warehouse to meet the needs of workers and Investment Promotion Department staff first. The port must be built as soon as possible, otherwise the transportation cost of various materials will be too expensive, and the construction speed will not be fast."

Most of the hundreds of workers on the construction site eat in an abandoned village outside the construction site, setting up pots and cooking, which is indeed quite hard. The Investment Promotion Department is a bit better, with a small building. If the salary was not high,

It is estimated that many workers would not be willing to come here, so improving housing and dining is the first priority. Moreover, after the construction of the industrial zone really starts, the number of construction workers will be in the thousands or tens of thousands. It is too hard to travel back and forth to the city, and it is not conducive to rotation and speeding up the construction progress.

Now, more than a dozen trucks are used to transport the excess mounds back and forth, and the excavated soil is directly dumped into the shallow sea to fill the sea for port construction. When the port is built, many of the initial materials needed can be transported by sea from Buenos Aires, Rosario, Maria and other places to speed up the construction.

With the recent series of factory signings and landings, Saint-Jose has become a rising new industry "agent" in Blanca Port, becoming a powerful councilor with heavy power.

The only difference between him and other local capitalists is that he is acting as an "agent" for himself, in a relatively concealed way.

The development of capitalism in Argentina naturally has some defects. This is a legacy from the Spanish colonial era. The Pampas grasslands themselves were a famous "barren land" in the agricultural civilization era. It was not until the advanced European production methods and various new agricultural technologies were transmitted that there is the current "South American granary".

The ways in which local capitalists influence the government and the council are relatively limited. Either they personally take the field, or they find their own "agent" to speak for themselves. Education is the patent of the church, and they cannot get involved in the media industry.

And Saint-Jose's complexity is more confusing. His capital has become "mixed ownership". The capital forces he originally belonged to have become somewhat complicated with the barbaric expansion.

This time, signing various cooperation agreements in Blanca Port is also an implementation of a part of his company's restructuring concept, and it is also a balance between him as a capitalist and a junior politician.

The trade union problem is somewhat apparent. Currently, the Argentine Republican Party's way of fighting is very low-level. They have no fighting power like the Soviet Republican Party at all.

"Arrange for the cement factory, power plant and brick factory to land as soon as possible. Don't worry about the construction engineering team. I will ask these factories to speed up the construction progress."

For Saint-Jose, who has planned the construction of two cities, he has accumulated a batch of experienced and well-trained engineering construction teams. The various building materials lacking in the early stage can also be transported back from outside.

The most important thing is local production. There is no shortage of limestone mines nearby. The Thunder Mining and Sedek Cement Plant teams are also very active. As long as there is enough production equipment, as well as a leadership team, recruit miners and train them, mining operations can be started.

"Yes, Councilor."

Saint-Jose watched Pusey leave, got up and stood in front of the window. The weather is not very cold today. He glanced at it and it was 15 degrees Celsius, which is very suitable for outdoor construction.

The climatic conditions in Blanca Port are indeed not bad. Because it is close to the ocean, the temperature difference is not very large.

Today, in addition to reading these reports, he also has to arrange some new construction site office factory construction plans, arrange foundations and factory construction, and plans to start construction at the same time, otherwise the speed will not keep up.

Even the simple cement roads needed to be repaved, and the La Plata Steel Plant would produce steel before the end of the month. Then, there would be cheap rebar available, greatly reducing construction costs.

The new cement plant and brick factory were not located on the coast but in a more remote town.

Fortunately, there was a railway for transportation. Establishing a cement plant and brick factory with an annual output of one million tons would be sufficient to meet the urban construction needs of Puerto Belgrano. With the previous experience of building a cement plant, the process could be accelerated significantly.

…

To protect the numerous islands and the long coastline, the Argentine Presidential Palace has always emphasized naval construction. Currently, the Argentine Navy is one of the two major navies in South America, on par with the Brazilian Navy.

The Puerto Belgrano near Puerto Blanca is the largest naval base, alongside the Buenos Aires base, known as the two major naval bases.

The Colorado River south of Puerto Blanca has abundant hydropower resources, making it suitable for building various hydroelectric power stations. Transmission is conducive to developing various energy-intensive industrial sectors, but the investment is enormous. The initial investment for a hydroelectric power station is basically over ten million US dollars, requiring large-scale financing.

Moreover, he had a discovery that wasn't really a discovery: the area around Puerto Blanca was actually quite suitable for rice cultivation. As the southern edge of the Pampas grassland, the lightning here was not as dense as in the north. This was a small surprise for him. He planned to have Sunshine Agriculture develop it and give it a try. Rice has a high yield,

capable of feeding a large population. As long as there is enough fertilizer, the weather conditions in Puerto Blanca are also good. It is indeed a pity to use all the surrounding areas for livestock farming, especially the great plains between the Colorado River and the Negro River, which have enormous agricultural potential.

According to the estimates of Sunshine Agriculture's chief agricultural expert, Pietro Eisenke, at least 50,000 square kilometers of land in the southern plains could be used for rice cultivation, which is 5 million hectares. Assuming a low yield of 3 to 4 million tons of rice per 1 million hectares,

this area has the potential for 15 million tons of rice, or even 20 million tons, which is more than the annual output of the Philippines last year. It is enough to feed the entire Argentina now and more, which is extremely important for population growth. This requires the media to change customs and habits and can even be exported as food diplomacy.

Of course, the investment required to fully develop it into farmland is also enormous. He can make some preliminary attempts. As the saying goes, 'With grain in hand, there's no need to panic.'

The conditions in southern Argentina are actually slightly inferior to those in the north in terms of water and heat, but developing intensive farming with two crops a year is entirely possible.

.....

Eva Perón City (formerly La Plata),

Inside the La Plata Steel Plant,

Krupp from the Belgian Steel Plant, Jelinek from the Austrian United Steel Plant, and Ian from the La Plata Steel Plant were excited. They were witnessing the birth of Argentina's first single steel plant with a capacity of over one million tons.

With the injection of large amounts of funds from Saint-Hesse, many European technicians were dispatched during the economic crisis last year and the first half of this year to provide technical assistance to the La Plata Steel Plant, accelerating the construction speed.

In particular, the technicians from the Austrian steel plant were known for their diligent work due to the economic difficulties. Ian also lived up to Saint-Hesse's expectations, living on the construction site. His presence was everywhere in the construction of the steel plant, training a large number of qualified steel plant workers and implementing quasi-military management.

Under the heavy lure of high salaries, the La Plata Steel Plant had the most combat-effective worker group in Argentina. It was also Saint-Hesse's first factory built with militarization and standardization, with wages 50% higher than other Argentine factories, and various benefits.

The construction of the steel plant area was getting faster and faster. Blast Furnace No. 1 was nearing completion, and the 120-ton converter had also been basically completed, taking a year and a half.

Once completed, it can basically achieve an annual output of 1.5 million tons of iron and 1.5 million tons of steel.

This directly made Argentina a medium-sized steel country, which basically met Saint-Hesse's initial needs. Now, it is also necessary to start transporting and storing iron ore and coal with all efforts.

Thunder Mining has also reached cooperation with coal and iron ore companies in British South Africa, and transportation is relatively fast. Thunder Australia's early iron ore has not yet been mined.

"Ian, this cooperation has been very pleasant." Krupp was planning to return to his country at the end of the year. Belgium has gradually emerged from the economic crisis and started a new round of economic construction.

The cooperation with the La Plata Steel Plant has also basically ended. The remaining two batches of construction work are basically handed over to the La Plata Steel Plant, except for the converter aspect, where cooperation with Austrian Steel is still needed.

"Krupp, the steel plant was built so quickly this time thanks to your help. Our factory will continue to cooperate in the future."

Belgium, as the second largest of the Benelux countries, was not deeply affected by the economic crisis and has joined the European Coal and Steel Community. The steel industry continues to develop, and there is a lot of construction going on in the country now.

"It's also sad that Jelinek is leaving. The help that Austrians and Belgians have given to Argentines will always be remembered in my heart."

Ian has completely regarded himself as an Argentine, humble and polite.

"Yes, now Europe is gradually emerging from the economic crisis, and Germany is also developing very rapidly. We also have to work hard."

After the economic recovery after the war, Western Europe has entered a true golden age. The Federal Republic of Germany, France, the Benelux countries, and Italy are all developing rapidly. Argentina is no longer their destination for immigration, and decline seems inevitable.

"Ian, you are actually quite capable. If possible, I invite you to work in Belgium, with wages only higher, not lower."

Krupp was very optimistic about Ian, and they had a pleasant time together for more than a year.

"I haven't considered it yet."

"That's a pity. Speaking of which, Argentina doesn't have its own iron ore and coal mines, so developing the steel industry in the future will be relatively troublesome, especially since it has to be imported from very far away, which is too expensive."

Jelinek also said.

"Yes, but things are being worked on to solve. If Argentina doesn't build its own steel industry, the future will be even more miserable."

Ian strongly agreed with Saint-Hesse's industrial argument, and the benefits provided by Saint-Hesse were not just this seemingly decent salary. His ability to make promises was also getting stronger and stronger, and he also had hidden income. Working in Europe was not that great.

"Hopefully."

After sending the two away, Ian looked at the towering blast furnace in the distance, and the thermal power plant even further away. The ground was covered with a layer of coal ash, and he suddenly coughed.

"The dust pollution is a bit serious."

Ian frowned. Due to technical problems, the thermal power plant was working on solutions, but it hasn't been resolved very well.

It is said that citizens are protesting about pollution and environmental protection issues, but the electricity brought by this thermal power plant has also made the economy of the entire Eva Perón City flourish. Many factories with large electricity demands have moved from Buenos Aires, and this has become one of the cities with the highest employment rate in Argentina.

"Hopefully the boss can solve it."

It was indeed a bit tricky. The city council was considering whether to restrict the power generation of the thermal power plant.

The pollution problem was a bit serious, especially the treatment of some coal. If iron is smelted, the pollution will be even more serious.

"Although it is far from the city, it is indeed a problem."

Saint-Hesse had considered the pollution problem of the steel plant and thermal power plant at the beginning. The La Plata Steel Plant was actually quite far from the city, but it couldn't withstand some people with ulterior motives, and indeed, for some reasons, the dust was now a bit serious.