Rise of the Argentine Empire

Saint Hesser arranged his work for the next few weeks and prepared to travel alone to the University of Buenos Aires.

He packed his luggage, took his identification documents and review materials, and booked a train ticket.

Saint Hesser, carrying a leather briefcase, went to the central train station as a passenger. This was his first time leaving Cordoba by train, and the experienced Kloss reminded Saint Hesser to be careful.

Sitting in the waiting hall of the central train station, he felt a sense of distorted time and space. Although Argentina now has over 32,000 kilometers of railways, due to its population and industrial economy, and having just spent a lot of money nationalizing the railways, rail transport has begun to decline.

The high cost of nationalizing the railways after buying them back from the British also depleted Argentina's treasury. High tariffs stifled the vitality of international exports. World trade had only just begun to take off after World War II, and it felt like so many bad moves had been made.

"What an excellent matching mechanism," Saint Hesser almost laughed out loud.

There weren't many people in the hall, which was completely different from the feeling of taking a train in later generations. It was sparse, and the experience was not bad, just a little lacking in popularity.

The train was scheduled to depart at 9:30 PM and arrive in Buenos Aires the next morning.

Saint Hesser bought a second-class ticket, with a seat in the ninth carriage.

It was an old-fashioned steam train, painted in light green, with huge white-gray plumes of steam. With a 'toot' of the whistle, the steam train entered the station. He counted and found only eleven carriages, with a line of small print engraved under the carriages.

Saint Hesser leaned closer to see, "Made in America." Ha, it was still American-made. The railway was previously invested in by the British, and the train was made by the Americans.

From the central train station to the capital, it was more than 430 miles, about 700 kilometers, passing through towns such as Maria Town, Rosario, and Zarate, eventually arriving in the capital, Buenos Aires.

If there were no delays, it would take nine hours to arrive, and he could enjoy the natural scenery of Argentina along the way.

Saint Hesser entered the train carriage, found his seat among the old seats, and sat down.

Feeling a little sleepy, he put down his briefcase and fell into a deep sleep. He had originally wanted to see the scenery, but it was all dark, and he had been thinking too much. Outside the train station, it was all dark night.

He hid the pesos in his underwear, and the items and books in the briefcase were all worthless. This was a habit he had developed in his previous life.

Everything was uneventful along the way. Some people got on the train, some people got off, and Saint Hesser gradually relaxed his vigilance.

People on the train spoke in all sorts of accents and languages: Spanish, Portuguese, English, German, Indigenous languages, Persian, Arabic, Italian, French. It was indeed a country of immigrants.

The next day, at six o'clock in the morning, the train was delayed and arrived at the capital's train station. Little Knicks came to pick him up, hailed a taxi, and in about ten minutes, they arrived at the booked hotel near Plaza de Mayo. There weren't many people in the morning, so it was quick to get here from the train station.

Buenos Aires is one of the largest cities in South America, the capital of Argentina, and a super metropolis second only to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. Currently, it has a population of over three million, located on the south bank of the Rio de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of South America. Across the river is Uruguay.

However, the estuary of the Rio de la Plata is too wide, a bit like the Pearl River estuary of New China, the feeling of Xin'an City looking at Xiangshan City, even wider, two hundred kilometers of endless expanse.

Perhaps the river hasn't silted up enough yet, like the primitive version of the Yangtze River estuary five thousand years ago. It's not right to call it a bay, as it's still freshwater here, but it's too large to be just an estuary. This place has great potential.

Uruguay can be considered Argentina's brotherly country, born of the same mother, but they have gradually drifted apart since independence.

The Buenos Aires metropolitan area now has more than five million people and is still in a phase of rapid expansion, accounting for one-third of Argentina. This is the essence of Argentina, comparable to London in England, Paris in France, Berlin in Germany, and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. The current capital is not Brasilia in the Brazilian Highlands. Judging from the relocation of the capital, Brazilians are still quite imaginative.

The urban construction of Buenos Aires is indeed good, and Cordoba cannot compare at all. Of course, for someone who has seen the infrastructure prowess of New China in later generations, this level of infrastructure can only be equivalent to the urban construction of a quasi-second-tier city, but the scenery is quite good, and the climate is also very good. However, due to the many industrialized factories located nearby, the weather in Buenos Aires is at its worst in history.

Fifty-year-old versions of high-rise buildings stand in rows, and there are obviously more pedestrians on the streets than in Cordoba. Occasionally, you can see some Spanish-style buildings left over from the colonial period.

When reading newspapers in Cordoba, I always saw the local newspapers praising Greater Buenos Aires, similar to the feeling of people in a county town looking at Shanghai, always feeling like they are country bumpkins.

However, the gap between the two cities is indeed large, not only because Buenos Aires is an international metropolis, prosperous and affluent, but also the political, economic, industrial, and cultural center of Argentina, influencing all aspects of the country.

Little Knicks took the room card, pressed the elevator, and took Saint Hesser to the booked room.

"Boss, this is the room I booked. Please rest first, and I will come over in the afternoon to report on the work situation," Little Knicks was not very old, only two years older than Saint Hesser, and dropped out of the University of La Plata midway.

He is doing well in the capital, which is a must-win place. It is currently the largest market in the country, and he works cleanly and efficiently, in an orderly manner.

"Okay, thank you. Come over at three o'clock," Saint Hesser was quite satisfied. He had taken a nap on the train, but he hadn't slept deeply, and he hadn't slept well, so now was a good time to catch up on some sleep.

The big hotels in the capital are much more luxurious than those in Cordoba. The blonde, blue-eyed receptionist was graceful and polite.

Saint Hesser put down his luggage. Two hundred-peso bills were missing from his suitcase. Sure enough, there were still thieves. He took a shower, changed his clothes, and took out the five thousand pesos from his inner pocket.

He looked at his watch, and it was exactly eight o'clock in the morning. He dried his hair with the towel provided by the hotel. It was a hassle not having a hair dryer; it seemed like hair dryers wouldn't be available until ten years later. But the most awesome thing was that there was actually a TV here. You should know that hotels in Cordoba didn't even have TVs.

But it should just be a decoration. Saint Hesser pressed it a few times, but it didn't turn on. He didn't know anything about this stuff. It was still a black and white TV. It seemed like color TVs wouldn't be available for a few more years, otherwise Saint Hesser would have liked to see if there were any programs to watch.

After waiting for more than half an hour, my hair finally dried. Luckily, everyone at the General Staff headquarters has short hair, otherwise it would have been a real hassle.

I slept until after one o'clock in the afternoon, waking up from hunger. Saint Hilaire got up and washed up.

At half past two, Saint Hilaire went out and found Little Nicks waiting downstairs.

"Have you eaten, Little Nicks?"

"I had some lunch."

"How about we check out a restaurant in the city?"

"Okay, boss. I'm a little hungry too. I know a restaurant in the city that's pretty good, about half an hour away by taxi."

"Okay, then we'll get there around three, order some dishes, and it'll be four by the time the food comes, just right for a leisurely dinner."

"That's right, boss, I'm going to treat myself!" Little Nicks said with a smile, his handsome expression making it clear he was a good salesman.

Although Buenos Aires has a large population and fierce competition, it's no small feat to capture the company's largest sales market in just a few months.

The two slowly took a car, enjoying the scenery of the capital, and... a traffic jam. That's right, there really was a traffic jam. The people of Buenos Aires are really rich. You couldn't even see a few cars on the roads of Corrientes. In the 1950s, besides the United States and Britain, Argentina actually had traffic jams.

Saint Hilaire wasn't in a hurry. The traffic jam only lasted a few minutes before they arrived at a Western restaurant in the city.

From a distance, the decoration looked pretty good. After going inside, he found that the decoration was even better than the Accra Hotel. No need to make a reservation, since it was only a little before four o'clock in the afternoon.

Saint Hilaire ordered several dishes and opened a bottle of wine, slowly starting to eat.

"Boss, should I give you a report now?"

"Sure, go ahead."

"Okay, our monthly sales in Buenos Aires have reached 5 million pesos a month, capturing five percent of the capital's market share. There's great potential. Recently, some small factories have started producing soda. We need more unique sodas."

"Okay, that's not a problem. Next, we'll consider setting up a modern factory here and officially establishing a research institute to develop more flavors of soda. Once the plastic bottle factory is in production, we'll not only sell soda and canned goods, but also bottled water, iced tea, flavored beer, and so on."

Saint Hilaire bragged to his heart's content, listing a bunch of delicious drinks from later generations. After he finished speaking, he took a sip of red wine, which still didn't taste good, and cut a piece of beef, eating it with a fork. The texture was not bad.

"That would be great. I'm confident that I can lead this team to capture more than ten percent of the market share this year," Little Nicks said, a little excited, and took several sips of red wine.

"Boss, it's more satisfying to drink beer and soda. Although the food is good here, there's not much atmosphere. I always hear people say how good this hotel is," Little Nicks seemed not very used to this place.

"How about we change places later?" Summer was coming, and it was more enjoyable to eat barbecue and drink beer, but since the dishes were already ordered, they couldn't be wasted. Saint Hilaire quickly finished eating. The wine that hadn't been opened could be returned later.

"Okay, boss. I still prefer to eat skewers, lamb skewers, grilled pork belly, grilled chicken legs, and stuff like that."

"Actually, grilled mushrooms are also good, but I don't know if they have that here. And enoki mushrooms, chives, grilled hot dogs, grilled chicken wings..." Saint Hilaire listed several barbecued items, and he also felt like eating some.

"Boss, stop talking, I'm getting a little hungry," Little Nicks quickly finished the beef and also ate the foie gras and caviar on the table.

"Boss, some people have started to make soda in the capital, and their equipment is more advanced. How should we deal with it?"

"We need to invest in advertising, following in the footsteps of Coca-Cola, and develop into a world-class food and beverage company," he continued to brag.

"We need to advertise and bring in Coca-Cola to increase the exposure of our products."

"We need to set up outdoor banners and advertising signs first. Although the company's current profit is relatively low, we can only do some cheap promotions. We need to have our own slogans."

"At the same time, we need to increase cooperation with restaurants, small shops, and large supermarkets. When the plastic bottles are in production, I will design some more exquisite packaging."

Several classic packaging designs already appeared in his mind. How good it would be to be a plagiarist, like the "fresh, delicious, and satisfying" of Mirinda, all these things that would only appear decades later, he would put together a whole set.

To seize a larger market.

"Nicks, are you interested in developing the Uruguayan market? This is also a big market, although the population is only less than three million. We can also enter the Brazilian market through Uruguay. The overseas market is also very important."

Saint Hilaire had long coveted the neighboring Brazilian market, with seventy or eighty million people. Even if only one-fifth of them were customers, it would be a larger market than Argentina.

"Boss, can I do it?" Little Nicks seemed somewhat doubtful, appearing not very confident, after all, this was an overseas market.

"No problem. Uruguay also speaks Spanish. I will also stay there for a while. We need to recruit more business department colleagues. I think with your ability, you can serve as the sales manager there. The base salary will be increased to 15,000 pesos next month."

After some communication, Saint Hilaire felt that Little Nicks was indeed doing well. He had both the rigor of a traditional German descendant and the smoothness of a new Argentine. He was a talent. The results he had achieved in the past few months were also very good. He quickly raised his salary to win him over, increasing the base salary from four thousand to fifteen thousand.

"Thank you, boss. I will definitely work hard to develop a larger market for the company."

Little Nicks suddenly stood up, causing some diners nearby to be surprised. To be recognized by the boss and have his base salary increased so much, plus commissions, a salary of thirty or forty thousand pesos a month could be said to be very considerable.

"Yes, I have always been very optimistic about you," Saint Hilaire also stood up, patted Little Nicks on the shoulder, and gave him an encouraging look.

The two hurriedly finished eating, settled the bill at the restaurant, and then ran to a roadside stall near another hotel to eat barbecue and drink beer, eating until after eleven o'clock in the evening before returning, having finished off two cases of beer.

After an in-depth exchange, he found that this Little Nicks was indeed a talent, with a lot of ideas and the drive of a young man, even more promising than his uncle, Manager Klose.