Rise of the Argentine Empire

The car drove slowly towards the restaurant. Moderna Restaurant was located near Columbus Avenue, passing through the Third and Fourth Districts, a relatively remote area.

Durant, sitting next to him, was still a bit restrained. They chatted casually for a moment, and then the air fell silent.

Saint-Hesse didn't speak again, turning his head to look at the streets outside the car window. The early spring climate wasn't hot, with a slight cool breeze, making it a good time to start construction. The citizens were also gradually getting busy, giving a sense of prosperity.

There were more people on the streets today than in the previous few days. Recruitment advertisements for the portside industrial zone were all over Blanca Port. Stimulated by the advertisements, many citizens left their homes, wanting to find jobs that suited them. Saint-Hesse was beginning to fulfill his campaign promises.

Under the strict requirements and crackdown by the City Hall and the Police Department, a group was beaten, a group was arrested, and a group was imprisoned. Public security had greatly improved. Plus, with work to keep them busy, there were fewer troublemakers. After all, this was a small city.

Columbus Avenue, where Southern University was located, wasn't a wealthy area, but the road was quite spacious.

The portside industrial zone officially began large-scale construction. Construction requires construction teams and construction workers. Training a local batch from scratch would be too slow, so it mainly relied on several construction companies from Maria City. In the future, the number of local hires wouldn't be small either.

Increasing the employment rate was also Saint-Hesse's guarantee, ensuring new jobs. In addition to this, Saint-Hesse was also supporting some new construction companies locally.

Moderna Restaurant was said to be a French restaurant. The location was quite unique. The surrounding area wasn't bustling, and there were many trees. It seemed that because the owner, Monard, was French, he had spent a considerable amount of time in several major European cities such as London, Paris, and Berlin. After World War II, because the Pétain government surrendered, he felt the future wasn't too bright.

He simply immigrated to Argentina, and even stayed in Buenos Aires for more than a year. Later, he came to Blanca Port, saying it was because it was very similar to his hometown of Lyon. Overall, it looked relatively clean and tidy.

Monard also bragged about many things, such as how he killed Germans in the Battle of Verdun during World War I, killing them miserably. He also resisted the Germans on the Maginot Line. After being surrounded, he followed other troops to break through and escape to Paris.

He preserved the vital forces for France and also participated in the Dunkirk evacuation. However, Saint-Hesse saw that he was only forty years old. Joining the army at six or seven years old? He felt the bragging was quite outrageous. Saint-Hesse listened politely.

But the more he listened, the more he felt that at least some of what he said was quite true, and he told it quite interestingly, at least from the Maginot Line onwards, it seemed quite real.

Today's meeting took a lot of thought, and Professor Durant didn't seem to particularly care about Monard's bragging. Anyway, the dishes at this restaurant were good, and as for the habit of bragging, the French seemed to be quite good at it.

Monard opened a bottle of high-end wine that was said to be from a French winery, priced at $2, before slowly retreating. This price made Durant feel a sharp pang of pain.

"The next course is French-produced Gillardeau oysters, which are especially great raw, and the last course, foie gras, will be served soon."

Before leaving, Monard said this sentence and then walked with small steps, quickly heading towards the kitchen.

Saint-Hesse and Durant also slowly talked about urban development, and they also talked a lot about the situation in Maria City. Blanca Port wasn't exactly a backwater, but there was indeed a big gap in economic development compared to the capital and the provincial capital.

For example, the main force in building the portside industrial zone now comes from three construction companies in Maria City.

In the past two years, with Saint-Hesse's deliberate support, Maria City's construction industry has advanced by leaps and bounds, with the emergence of Cohen Construction, Harris Road Construction, Qingyun Construction, and Yuhua Construction, four construction companies with a scale of more than a thousand people, responsible for most of Maria City's expansion and construction, as well as Oran City in the north, and they have begun to expand to other places.

The boss of Qingyun Construction is Chen Qingyun, Saint-Hesse's former employee. Chen Qingyun was initially supported by Saint-Hesse. Being a construction worker isn't that simple, and even requires some retraining.

Therefore, construction schools and the like were established. At the very least, a primary school diploma is required to become a construction worker, and most of the construction workers in Maria City come from Bolivia, Paraguay, and northern Argentina, and their education level is indeed generally low.

The boss of Yuhua Construction is also someone named Lin Yuhua from the Chinatown of Cordoba, which was quite unexpected. During the Maria Town development period, he was a construction worker. Later, starting from contracting small projects, he slowly became a large contractor, and finally established his own construction company. He has a good relationship with Klose now, and his methods are quite clever. Moreover, with Saint-Hesse's approval, he obtained a lot of loans.

Cohen Construction is Saint-Hesse's own company, intentionally controlling its scale. After all, the construction industry and the real estate industry are not very suitable for Saint-Hesse. He acts more as the man behind the scenes, and now it has become a training school-like position. Some of the team leaders who come out of here slowly become small contractors and the like. Harris Road Construction is mainly responsible for building cement roads and was also supported by Saint-Hesse.

Thinking back to when he came to Blanca Port two months ago to run for councilor, the Radical Party headquarters wasn't wealthy either. Apart from the official notification, it didn't give Saint-Hesse too many resources. The Radical Party here was also severely suppressed.

Fortunately, the Radical Party was able to maintain the scale of two candidates. Plus, with Saint-Hesse's series of operations, he was elected as a councilor without any danger. It wasn't until after taking office and proposing the construction of the portside industrial zone, and establishing a relationship with the City Hall, that Saint-Hesse was completely rooted here. With this, he united most of the Radical Party members.

Now the scale of the Blanca branch has expanded a lot, with several new departments established, and a new headquarters. A group of young and energetic members have been recruited and screened, trained, and his own people have been placed, and he has finally taken control of this branch.

Maria City, as the first city in Saint-Hesse's hands, its construction industry has been expanding faster and faster with urban infrastructure construction. Plus, with administrative reforms, the integrated development process of the city and county has accelerated, merging and developing with San Martin General County. The city's area has directly expanded from 20 square kilometers to 5006 square kilometers.

The resident population has also jumped from 158,000 to over 200,000. The original suburbs of San Martin General County also have more than 50,000 people. Now the new city has 220,000 people, becoming a veritable medium-sized city in Argentina and the second largest city in Cordoba Province.

The next step of expansion and construction can be carried out. The only problem is that Cordoba Province is arguing with Maria City over whether the newly merged city should be called San Martin City or Maria City. Klose has also sent a telegram, asking Saint-Hesse to make a decision.

Saint-Hesse actually prefers San Martin City. After all, San Martin is Argentina's national hero, with greater fame, which is also conducive to attracting more people. The original Maria City can be used as the Maria District. Just expand the Maria District by more than ten times. Subdivide a few towns in the suburbs. The reply brief has been sent back to Klose.

Moreover, the commissioning of the La Plata Steel Plant has solved the problem of rebar. The expansion speed of the Sedek Cement Plant has also accelerated. Argentina has no shortage of raw materials for cement production, and with French technology, the price of cement production will be greatly reduced as the scale expands.

With cheap rebar and cement, the construction cost will also be reduced a lot.

What surprised San Jose was the rapid growth of the Chinese population in Cordoba Province, including Maria City and Cordoba City, which had increased from a few hundred in previous years to tens of thousands, including some unregistered individuals. San Jose instructed the Maria City Police Department to provide them with shelter and assistance to integrate into the local society.

Most of these Chinese people came from the Nanyang region. Now, the national independence movements and frequent wars in Nanyang, especially in places like Indonesia and Malaya, had caused many people who sought advantages and avoided disadvantages to flee. Argentina had become one of the new destinations, second only to the United States.

As an international new arms dealer, excluding French arms sales, San Jose sold over 10 million US dollars worth of arms in Nanyang this year, earning substantial profits, a large part of which was through cooperation with local warlords, and even some Chinese organizations.

Initially, it was pistols, rifles, firearms, and ammunition, military shoes, and military socks, but later it also included light artillery such as mortars. If he wasn't afraid of being too blatant here, he would even want to sell tanks.

According to military factory arms experts, these batches of arms could at least arm a light infantry force of 30,000 people, which was already very astonishing. San Jose had already become the world's largest new arms dealer through this method, and the quality was so good that it had gained the recognition of the French.

The two ate and chatted, talking for most of the day before getting to the main topic.

"Senator, the main purpose of my visit this time is to seek sponsorship,"

"You can't skimp on education, no matter how poor you are. I am willing to help Southern University raise some sponsorship. I will personally donate another 10,000 US dollars. This money can be used freely. At the same time, I hope that Southern University can establish a Normal College,"

"Establish a medical department, and then establish an affiliated hospital, as well as affiliated middle and primary schools. I can have people donate special funds that will not be less than 500,000 US dollars, and I can even have the bank provide a low-interest loan to accelerate the development of the university."

San Jose tapped the table, found a comfortable position, leaned back in his chair, stated his requirements, and then stopped talking, looking at Durant seriously.

Starting in the second half of this year, the depreciation speed of the Argentine peso continued to accelerate, and there was also a black market for foreign currency exchange. The exchange rate for US dollars on the black market was becoming increasingly outrageous, as well as some valuable currencies such as pounds and francs. Gold was the most sought-after.

And 10,000 US dollars in Argentina could already build a 6-story teaching building, and 500,000 US dollars could do even more. As for low-interest loans, Barron Commercial Bank will be ready to open in Port Blanca at the end of November, where he will invest 20 million US dollars to boost the economy of Port Blanca.

"I think we can accept these conditions. Our Southern University needs to save itself."

Durant thought seriously for more than ten minutes, and finally stood up and said to San Jose seriously. After speaking, he took out a cooperation agreement from his bag, intending to sign an agreement with San Jose first.

San Jose was a little surprised to see Durant conjuring up a stack of cooperation agreements. He also stood up and extended his hand with a smile.

"Then, happy cooperation."

To be honest, Southern University was still some distance away from being a formal university. He did not see the possibility of solving it in the short term, and San Jose also needed a university to strengthen the scientific research capabilities of Port Blanca, including medical, biotechnology, etc. The two had a basis for cooperation.

The two signed a preliminary agreement, and San Jose also signed a Barron Bank check for 10,000 US dollars. Others would have to operate, such as establishing affiliated hospitals, affiliated middle schools, affiliated primary schools, and building teaching buildings. These could all be cooperated on, even nuclear physics research institutes. This was the benefit of being far away from the political forces of the capital.

After signing the agreement, Durant breathed a sigh of relief, and San Jose also took a sip of a drink, which was Coca-Cola produced by Prari Foods.

"Actually, Principal Durant, have you joined any political parties now?"

San Jose asked with interest. Even though National Southern University was still very weak now, with the progress of the construction of Port Blanca, the development of this university would not be too bad.

And Durant would definitely rise with the tide in the future. To be honest, there were not many talents in the education system in his camp. Durant was a very good target to win over.

If the Radical Party wanted to progress, it also had to win over some suitable progressive targets, especially in the political, military, and academic fields. Durant, a principal with good potential, was very suitable to be brought into his camp.

In a while, he planned to go to the naval barracks in Port Blanca to take a look. The Argentine Navy was also a very good target for infiltration. As the second largest naval port in Argentina, it was stationed by a considerable naval force.

"Well, I seem to have joined some Republican Party, a long time ago, and I didn't pay much attention to it. They just signed an organization application form."

"Have you heard of the Radical Civic Union?"

......

Coming out of the restaurant, San Jose and Durant walked to Southern University, less than twenty minutes, the road became more and more remote.

It was indeed very small, and it was organized well. Although it looked a bit dilapidated, it was not as good as the middle school buildings in his previous life.

Some buildings that seemed to be in the colonial era style, the highest floor of the entire school was only four floors, and you could see the entire campus at a glance. There were only some simple fences around the campus, and you could even see the distant farms. Some sheep ran happily outside the fences, and some cows were butting against the fences.

There were also some students, but their mental state didn't seem to be very good. They even felt that they were "scammed", like the feeling of going to a diploma mill. Fortunately, Southern University was not a diploma mill.

"Cohen, it is indeed a bit rudimentary here, but with your funding help, the school buildings can be expanded soon."

Durant didn't feel embarrassed, and enthusiastically greeted the students, and the students responded one by one, but they were not very interested.

"Well, it is indeed beyond my imagination. Let's buy the surrounding land first. It won't be easy to build when the land price is expensive in the future."

As San Jose, who had seen campuses of thousands of acres starting in later generations, said, this campus of only a few dozen acres that could be seen at a glance was really too small and completely impossible to display. Reserve land was very important.

"Okay, Cohen, I'll listen to you."

Durant had just agreed to join the Radical Party, and the relationship between the two was considered to have taken a step forward.

Next, it was time to plan to expand Southern University.