Rise of the Argentine Empire

The city of Blanca fell into a state of labor shortage in a short period. After all, there were too many factories to be repaired.

Saint Hesser's solution was simple: directly recruit people from nearby small towns. Compared to unemployment, this was the only option.

It was just a bit tough on the population growth rate. To solve the employment problem, a third of the workers in his factories were female, which was already a minimal number.

Because for jobs like those in clothing factories, most of the workers had to be female.

He mainly recruited people over 35 years old, under the guise of them being more reliable and stable, unlike young people who were immature and more likely to reduce the yield rate.

He had only one goal: to promote population growth and encourage young people here to have more children, and he used newspapers to bombard them with propaganda.

He told them that the golden age for childbearing was before 30, and that after 35, they would be high-risk pregnant women, easily leading to death for both mother and child.

He also planned to propose that the Municipal Council introduce legislation to lower the legal age for marriage and childbirth, encourage early marriage and childbearing, and encourage more births, and the most important department of the Southern University Affiliated Hospital was obstetrics and gynecology.

The experimental policy in San Martin showed that this approach was very effective: men worked outside the home, women worked inside the home, and the wages paid were enough to support four or five children.

Moreover, with sufficient municipal tax revenue, the city began to build mutual-aid nurseries and even pay salaries.

Furthermore, older female workers were more competitive in San Martin. Saint Hesser specifically requested his factories to recruit more older female workers, and those with more children at home had even more advantages.

San Martin was about to see a new baby boom, with many newborns expected to be born every month starting at the end of February this year, as these policies had been introduced gradually since the second half of last year.

With such strange policies appearing in San Martin, the people here were beginning to get used to it.

Several factories in San Martin were very large, with the Prari Food factories alone employing 6,000 workers, and Blue Cloud Textile employing more than 4,000.

In Blanca, Saint Hesser had already begun to export some new policies in reverse. Blanca was a city that Saint Hesser was optimistic about, while San Martin was not a city that he personally governed.

Although Kross would consult him on many matters, he would not interfere too much. Kross needed more training, and he had enough confidence.

He gave specific directions and asked Kross to make plans and arrangements for implementation.

As long as there were enough people, Argentina in 20 years would have a brand new situation and give birth to a completely new Argentina.

The cost of increasing the birth rate now was much cheaper than it would be in the future.

As for foreign-funded enterprises, they were using the old tricks of later generations, which was to use American Sequoia and Blackstone to acquire or register a number of companies in the United States, and then export capital to the Blanca Free Port Free Trade Zone in the form of investment, engaging in processing trade and other activities, and then exporting to other markets, forming joint ventures with domestic companies.

Prari International also found some ordinary Brazilian citizens in Brazil to register several companies, adding bricks and tiles to the construction of the free port.

Saint Hesser did not idle. He personally supervised the progress of the project in Blanca. Ships of imported equipment were cleared and entered the port directly in Blanca, and then put into the industrial zone, installed and tested for a few days, and then could start work.

The first thermal power plant in Blanca was also being prepared for construction, because he estimated that with so many factories put into operation, the electricity in Blanca would not be enough.

Hydropower required large investments and took a long time to be effective, while thermal power plants could quickly meet the needs, and many equipment were readily available.

Saint Hesser also received the steel plates sent from the special steel plant and conducted a series of violent tests. He was very satisfied with the strength, but stainless steel was difficult to process. With the current technical level, he could only make stamped parts and the like.

The San Martin Aircraft Factory also directly redesigned the Arrow 4 fighter prototype and planned to manufacture it again.

"It seems that an annual output of three to four million tons of steel is still not enough."

Saint Hesser looked at the sales reports sent by the steel plant every month. His own cities alone consumed a lot of steel, and the steel-swallowing beast of real estate had not yet been released. He still needed to build more steel plants. Ten million tons was not too much, and twenty million tons was not too little.

The monthly profits of the steel plant were expanding, and the room for maneuver was greater. Moreover, Saint Hesser was not very satisfied with the current steel plant technology.

Although the scale was good, it was still not comparable to the newly built steel blast furnaces in Japan. Although the converter also used the world's new technology, the La Plata steel research and development level was still a little behind. He wanted to build more advanced steel plants.

This time, the turmoil in Blanca had removed many councilors again. Saint Hesser reluctantly expanded the Radical Party and accelerated the pace of reform, passing a series of amendments.

Many of the laws, policies, and regulations in Blanca were limited to this, commonly known as getting on the bus first and then buying a ticket.

Many proposals were only submitted to the provincial council level and were not passed in the National Congress, but they did not violate the Constitution.

It was just in the gray area of violating and not violating. Anyway, the laws were breaking down everywhere in the country, and rebellions and uprisings were about to break out, so it was too normal to do something unconstitutional.

Many of the bills proposed by Saint Hesser were beneficial to the city's development and expansion, including a 2-year tax exemption and a 5-year tax reduction for new foreign factories, and expanding the city's infrastructure construction by means of borrowing.

During one of the meetings presided over by Mayor Otto, he coughed up blood and became seriously ill, and was admitted to the Blanca City Hospital.

Mayor Otto, on his sickbed, personally nominated Saint Hesser to serve as the Deputy Mayor of Blanca. This time, he did not decline again. Originally, there was no position of Deputy Mayor in Blanca, because the Speaker of the Blanca City Council was not the Deputy Mayor concurrently like in later generations.

Moreover, the status and development scale of Blanca were not large, so there was no Deputy Mayor. Cities like Cordoba, San Martin, and La Plata needed to have a Deputy Mayor, and there was only one, just like the President and Vice President of Argentina, high officials and high officials.

On February 6, the Blanca City Council held an emergency meeting, supplemented the vacant councilors, and officially nominated Saint Hesser for the position of Deputy Mayor of Blanca, to assist Mayor Otto in his work, which was approved by a unanimous vote of the council. During Mayor Otto's illness, Saint Hesser was fully in charge of the work of the City Hall.

Saint Hesser formally removed his identity as a councilor, and the Radical Party replaced him with two new councilors, including Saint Hesser's and a new one. So far, the Radical Party occupied almost one-third of the seats in the Blanca City Council.

Saint Hesser held the Bible and the Argentine Constitution in his left hand, and his right hand covered it. In front of him was a huge Argentine flag.

He took the oath and delivered his inaugural speech in the City Hall.

"Today, it is with a heavy heart that I inform all the citizens of Blanca that our great Mayor Otto is unable to resume work due to overwork and the deterioration of his condition.

It is with great honor that I take the position of the first Deputy Mayor of Blanca.

I will be loyal to Argentina, the Church, and will always strive for the happiness of the citizens of Blanca... I will do my best to serve the citizens of Blanca until Mayor Otto recovers his health..."

Saint Hesser carefully continued to maintain Otto's image, which made Saint Hesser even more popular throughout the city. Who wouldn't like such a kind and capable mayor who could also make cakes?

With immense enthusiasm, Saint Hessel threw himself into his work, tackling the backlog of old problems. He insisted on visiting every neighborhood, gradually covering the entirety of Blanca Harbor, and listening to a wide range of opinions.

Saint Hessel formally designated the Investment Promotion Department as one of the most important departments within City Hall. With the Radical Civic Union party's return to City Hall, some of its members joined the municipal government through formal recruitment.

Simultaneously, the Blanca Harbor City Hall once again secured a low-interest loan of $1 million USD from the Blanca Harbor branch of Barron's Bank, far exceeding the regulation that municipal loans should not exceed one-fifth of fiscal expenditure.

Saint Hessel used this substantial loan to initiate the next phase of urban construction. Sound infrastructure could promote urban development, accelerating the construction of the free port. The new industrial zone of the free port also began to attract some businesses, primarily chemical companies. Southern Energy formally established a headquarters, and with Saint Hessel's support, prepared to acquire channels for Argentine petrochemicals.

“Our city of Blanca Harbor should leverage its excellent port resources to develop oil refining, the chemical industry, shipbuilding, and various other industries to promote urban development.”

“We must formulate a five-year industrial development plan.”

Saint Hessel formulated Blanca Harbor's first five-year plan, aiming to expand the city's scale fivefold and its economy more than fourfold, given the low starting point.

At the same time, Blanca Harbor also introduced a population bill to encourage childbirth at the official level.

He propelled Blanca Harbor forward, accelerating its development once again, and expanding the port's advantages.

...

The expulsion of the church in San Martín clearly violated the Argentine Constitution, as the Roman Catholic Church was the state religion, and religious freedom was guaranteed in many places.

When Klose consulted with Saint Hessel that day, Saint Hessel, with a hint of testing the waters, agreed to let Klose do something big, and the Córdoba Provincial Council directly expressed its support.

“Clearly, Córdoba Province has a frighteningly strong centrifugal force. At the same time, Perón has a significant conflict with the Church, so they simply turned a blind eye. Moreover, local autonomy is not a joke; even the Presidential Palace cannot directly accuse the San Martín City Hall of violating the constitution, and this time, San Martín was indeed a blunder.”

The Presidential Palace expressed understanding of San Martín's actions. Perón publicly announced that the San Martín City Hall's actions did not violate the Argentine Constitution, while also requesting San Martín to partially revert its decision. Mayor Klose claimed to abide by the Argentine Constitution but did not support the evil, corrupt, and rule-breaking Church, while expressing his willingness to consider rejoining the Church, but demanded the punishment and removal of criminals.

Córdoba Archbishop Laffite issued a special statement and visited and addressed San Martín. He expelled the evil elements within the Church, relinquished the right to handle them, and handed them over to the local police department. He also expressed gratitude to Mayor Klose for his actions in purging the corrupt elements. Mayor Klose agreed to rejoin the Church, and the two sides shook hands and made peace. Klose was invited to join the "Heavenly Resident Church Association," formally entering the power core of Córdoba Province.

...

After more than a year of wrangling, Perón formally announced at the Casa Rosada that the Eva Perón Foundation would be fully managed by the government. As soon as the news was announced, the Church once again issued public statements condemning the Presidential Palace's dictatorship, but Perón did not respond.

The dispute caused by the charitable foundation was merely an excuse leading to a more serious division between the two sides.

On February 12, the Heavenly Resident Church openly announced the establishment of a political force, aiming to have this force replace the Justicialist Party and strengthen the ruling class's position under new conditions.

The conflict between the Presidential Palace and the Church intensified daily, and they had already torn off their masks.

Previously, intelligence indicated that the Church was planning to establish a Christian Democratic Party, but it was only done privately. Now, it was about to be completely public.

Saint Hessel had also been following this event. The handling of the San Martín incident showed that the Church was uniting all forces that could be united and actively launching activities, while the Presidential Palace, apart from empty rhetoric, had not taken any action.

Since the pacification incident at the end of last month, the Radical Civic Union branch building had ushered in great development. Whether in the three newly established districts or the old five districts, the Radical Civic Union had established branches and extended its reach to several nearby counties, establishing many organizational branches.

With Saint Hessel becoming the Deputy Mayor, they could now compete with the Justicialist Party, which was just a bunch of rabble without any fighting ability.

Saint Hessel was somewhat disappointed with Perón's reaction. He said to Tom of the Radical Civic Union branch,

“Since Evita's death, Perón has completely lost his ambition and is just engaging in empty rhetoric every day, blowing things out of proportion.”

“Mr. Mayor, this is actually also the Church's problem; they are moving too fast.”

Tom obviously also knew this intelligence. Saint Hessel intended to cultivate these young people, planning to arrange for all of them to enter City Hall and expand his base.

To be honest, Saint Hessel was also surprised by the Church's reaction speed. It seemed they were really anxious.

February 13,

Argentine Casa Rosada,

The "Heavenly Resident Church Association" began negotiating with the government regarding the permission to establish the Christian Democratic Party.

Perón and the three cardinals held a day-long negotiation, and the result was not optimistic. The two sides broke up unhappily, and the Casa Rosada was almost smashed because the three bishops brought tens of thousands of believers to sit in silence outside the Plaza de Mayo during the negotiation, but they could not restrain themselves and had a major conflict with the police department.

Long after, Saint Hessel published a commentary, vaguely pointing out the results and impact of this negotiation:

“This negotiation did not yield any direct results but caused great panic and unease in the Presidential Palace. After all, this is a political struggle, a life-and-death situation. It was greatly hindered. The Church cannot form its own political party alone, at least not in Argentina.

The Justicialist Party regards the establishment of a new political party as a serious threat because the new political party can not only gain the support of many factions but also the support of a large portion of women and uneducated and superstitious indebted farmers. It was under this situation that Perón decided to formally attack the Church.”

Compared to a half-baked political party like the Radical Civic Union, the political party that the Church wants to create will be very powerful. The power of **** can be foreseen by many, but it is not conducive to democracy and freedom. The most successful example in later generations is Persia in the Middle East.

In his latest speech, Perón said: “I have never had a conflict with Christ. In fact, what I have been trying to do is defend Christ's teachings, which have been tried to be destroyed by priests for a thousand years, but they have failed…”

Perón's speech showed that while he was defending Christ, he was belittling the Church and began to clear out many privileges exclusive to the Church.

This speech and other overstepping behavior by Perón evolved into a major conflict, and Peronists within the Church found themselves caught between two camps, in a difficult position.

In this dilemma, many people chose Peronism. After all, Perón still had a lot of personal charisma, just like the former US President in later generations, and he could bring them benefits.

This can be seen from this incident: the Heavenly Resident Church in downtown Buenos Aires was severely damaged.

However, the more people choose Perón, the closer the Church gets to others, especially in provincial areas far from Perón's rule. According to intelligence from the Falcon Bureau, the Church's ability to unite in these large provinces is too strong.

Twenty-four hours after Perón's latest speech, it once again aroused the Church's dissatisfaction. The two sides completely broke down and no longer maintained superficial peace.

The Church is preparing to use its trump card to deliver a fatal blow to Perón.