Rise of the Argentine Empire

Belgrano Naval Base,

San José and the new head of the naval base were chatting. This was Vice Admiral Harris Trey, only 46 years old, who had served for 10 years as captain of the Argentine Rivadavia-class battleship and the Admiral Brown-class heavy cruiser, witnessing the most glorious era of the Argentine Navy.

Harris was considered a "useless person" by many, simply extraordinarily lucky. The Trey family was a well-known business family in Buenos Aires, owning a series of industries including the famous Trey Food and Trey Meat factories, but Harris had no interest in business since he was a child, and graduated from high school with the lowest grades to enter the military university in Buenos Aires.

Later, he joined the navy as a sailor, and was promoted all the way due to his excellent professional skills, eventually becoming a captain. The Trey family was purged for supporting Perón, and Harris was originally going to be affected as well.

However, he had befriended San José early on, strongly supported the development of the Blanca Shipyard, and secretly relied on the small Mayor of Blanca at the time, gaining huge returns.

Although the Blanca Shipyard was not large in scale, it was directly supervised by San José. At first, it only engaged in warship maintenance, then it became independent to modify warships, and later it designed and manufactured coast guard ships, gaining San José's attention.

To put it bluntly, the current Argentine Navy is actually picking up scraps, with a large number of second-hand American warships in its ranks, some of which are decades old. The potential of the Blanca Shipyard has been valued by San José. Argentina has never produced its own warships before. This coast guard ship is at most equivalent to the technology of the 1930s, but it is still quite remarkable.

After producing the coast guard ship, San José allocated 10 million US dollars to the shipyard for military technology investment, to absorb the old American technology.

The Argentine Navy now purchases many old ships. Although the total tonnage of the navy is amazing, claiming to be the second largest navy in the Americas, it no longer has much combat power, training is neglected, and it owes the Blanca Shipyard as much as 3 million US dollars in maintenance fees.

San José is now both the creditor of the naval base and an important figure. He single-handedly orchestrated Harris's promotion, spending a lot of money and networking resources to open up Harris's path to advancement, taking care of everything. Now he also has his own agent in the Argentine Navy.

Now Belgrano belongs to San José. With the support of one of the three major naval districts, San José has obviously become an important hot figure in Buenos Aires.

Some prominent figures in Buenos Aires also went to Belgrano to meet with San José.

It's just that the city of Blanca is still a mess, which affects San José's mood.

… …

On Labor Day, May 1st, the "May Day Strike Action Alliance", composed of trade unions and social organizations from all walks of life in Buenos Aires, held a labor parade on July 9th Avenue in front of the Presidential Palace.

Santander Paris, the leader of the Republican Party who participated in the parade, told reporters from the New Argentina Daily that since the Radical Civic Union came to power, the socio-economic environment in Argentina has not improved much, and inflation continues, with workers and ordinary lower-class people suffering the most.

Sasso Taric of the "Argentine Labor Strike Action Alliance" said that he hopes that the Radical Civic Union authorities will face up to the voices of the majority of workers and put forward reform plans as soon as possible to improve the deteriorating labor environment.

A large-scale strike and demonstration of more than 100,000 people is also brewing in the city of Blanca, and the situation is getting worse and worse.

May 2nd, curfew in the city of Blanca,

Since the Labor Day strike, the entire urban area of Blanca has been under martial law, all shops have been closed, and permits are required for entry and exit. People from the police department are arresting people everywhere, and tanks have entered the urban area.

On ordinary nights in Blanca's urban area, there are people everywhere. Alcohol, football, tango, and women are the ways for the people of Blanca to release pressure, but they are also important channels for strike organization. The people's anger is growing.

Young people who lack entertainment are being instigated, and Bern Campbell, San José's new head of intelligence, is rapidly transmitting various intelligence reports.

The once bustling streets have become desolate. The motorcycles that used to run rampant everywhere are now replaced by armed police.

Soon, the La Pampa Defense Force took over the entire city's defense, only allowing entry and not allowing exit.

May 3rd,

David Rosenweig, the famous new gang leader of Blanca, was shot dead on the spot by the Blanca armed police, his millions of dollars in property were confiscated, and hundreds of people were sent to the largest prison in Blanca, the Blanca Bay Island Prison.

At the same time, more than 2,000 suspected criminals were arrested, including those accused of illegally selling flour, detaining women, and murder. With conclusive evidence, they were directly tried according to the new constitution of La Pampa Province and sentenced to shooting and hanging, while others were sent to labor camps.

May 4th, more than 100 ringleaders who organized illegal strikes were arrested and sentenced to 3-10 years in prison for sabotaging public facilities, robbery, and illegal injury, and more than 1,000 small leaders were sent to labor camps.

May 5th, more than 1,500 new immigrants who participated in the strike were deported, their Argentine citizenship revoked, and they were blacklisted on passports.

May 6th, after investigation by the La Pampa Tax Bureau, 26 companies were prosecuted for bribery and tax evasion, fined 100,000 to 1 million US dollars, and the responsible management teams were arrested. Among them, companies colluding with foreign provinces and the United States were charged with espionage and treason, their company assets were confiscated, and companies that opposed San José were also sealed up.

May 7th, a group of large and small civil servants in Blanca, La Pampa Province, were dismissed, most of whom colluded with San José's political enemies and possessed a large amount of illegal funds, which were confiscated into the national treasury. A large number of party leaders were arrested and imprisoned in Ushuaia Prison. San José's opponents suffered a severe blow and were unable to recover.

May 8th, the curfew in Blanca was lifted, and the social atmosphere improved without San José showing his face.

May 9th, Blanca returned to normal, and a large number of corrupt officials were purged.

San José easily solved his opponents before returning to Blanca.

Daily intelligence summaries were transmitted to San José's staff team at night, and San José made the final decisions.

The sound of typewriters echoed in San José's private office, transmitting his various orders.

The main troublemakers this time were the old factories in the urban area, but the masses who didn't know the truth were instigated to attack San José's prestige. A large number of young people and social groups also joined in.

Under San José's deliberate protection, most new immigrants were not treated unfairly. A large number of factories were also newly built in the suburbs. New immigrants only needed to learn simple Spanish and have job skills to be successfully hired. Therefore, in addition to the community, the popularity of many suburban factories also began to improve.

… …

In Blanca, which has returned to normal order, people have also become polite. Apart from cars, there are motorcycles and bicycles everywhere else.

Motorcycle gangs have disappeared, and public security has suddenly improved.

Previously, motorcycle gangs were everywhere in Blanca, cutting hands, snatching bags, and even robbing people. Under heavy blows, a large number of motorcycle gangs were either sent to labor camps or went to see God.

The predecessor of New Cohen Heavy Industry was a bicycle factory, which has now regained its glory. Cheap and easy-to-use German-blooded bicycles are very popular among ordinary workers. La Pampa Province's bicycle production has exceeded 170,000 units and is still growing rapidly.

Compared to spending two years' savings without eating or drinking to buy a motorcycle, buying a Pato brand bicycle for less than three months' salary is a better choice.

Even a motorcycle priced at more than 100 US dollars is not affordable for ordinary people. Motorcycles are a symbol of fashion, and only white-collar workers on Financial Street and highly paid technical blue-collar workers can afford them.

And domestic cars priced at more than 1,000 US dollars or imported small cars priced at more than 2,000 US dollars are a symbol of the wealthy company's senior management or business owner status.

In Blanca, San José regards the motorcycle industry as one of the basic industries as important as the automobile industry, and has received the support of the La Pampa Provincial Government. In addition to Rhein Motorcycle and the Layton Motorcycle brothers, Zanella Motorcycle, a large number of motorcycle production factories have also emerged.

This year, the production and sales of automobiles and motorcycles in La Pampa Province have increased significantly.

The province produces or modifies various types of vehicles, including tricycles, trucks, cars, special vehicles, modified vehicles, van semi-trailers, liquefied petroleum gas transportation vehicles, etc., totaling 22,900 units, which is 1.6 times the output of the same period last year.

Among them, the motorcycle and tricycle production of eight or nine brands under the Barron Consortium, including "Thor," "Leyton," "Wind God," and "Little Prince," reached 28,500 units, with an annual output value exceeding 30 million US dollars.

Adding the other 20-plus newly added motorcycle factories, the city produced a total of 55,200 motorcycles of various types, an increase of 70% compared to the previous year.

There were also various factories producing motorcycle engines, such as the Blanca City Power Machinery Factory and the Reinjal Motorcycle Engine Factory, producing 64,000 motorcycle engines of various types, an increase of 50% compared to the previous year.

Last year, the total output value of the province's automobile and motorcycle industry was 417 million US dollars, three times that of the previous year.

The overall trade sales of automobiles and motorcycles amounted to 472 million US dollars, twice the trade sales of the previous year.

At the beginning of this year, San Jose proposed the "Three-Year Industrial Doubling Plan" at the annual meeting of the Provincial Government, accelerating the overall industrialization process of La Pampa Province, accelerating industrial investment, and focusing on supporting the development of heavy chemical industry, steel industry, shipbuilding industry, automobile industry, motorcycle industry, and metallurgical machinery industry. Blanca City also proposed an industrial plan to catch up with Buenos Aires.

The Provincial Government proposed to focus on supporting 10-20 large state-owned industrial groups and newly established three provincial-level investment companies, namely La Pampa Provincial Investment Company, La Pampa Trust Investment Company, and La Pampa Construction Investment Company, and began to borrow heavily from overseas markets.

Starting in March, Barron Bank and Plarrie International and other financial institutions took the lead again, and successively signed loan agreements with 13 banks in France, the United States, Italy, the United Kingdom, and other countries, with a credit line exceeding 320 million US dollars for economic and industrial construction.

The scale of this loan directly increased the overall debt scale of La Pampa Province from less than 4 million US dollars to 700 million US dollars, excluding the debts of other private consortia.

Under the instruction of San Jose, the three major state-owned banks under La Pampa Province and Blanca Commercial Bank also began a crazy road of off-site expansion, setting up banking branches on a large scale, absorbing deposits through high interest rates and wealth management, and even faintly exceeding the speed of inflation.

Dicks Whitman, president of La Pampa Commercial Bank, pointed out in the first-quarter work report that the commercial bank's assets have exceeded 200 million US dollars, of which savings deposits exceed 110 million US dollars, with more than 500 branches and more than 8,000 employees, making it one of the top ten banks in Argentina.

The scale of La Pampa Agricultural Cooperative Bank is also close to that of Commercial Bank. Among them, Agricultural Investment Bank acquired more than 10 private banks such as Cordoba Agricultural Cooperative Bank and San Luis Democratic Development Bank, with 1,500 branches, the most among the five major banks. Agricultural Cooperative Bank cooperates with large agricultural companies such as Future Agriculture, and establishes financial cooperation with tens of thousands of farms in Argentina, and the scale expands rapidly.

Industrial Bank started from cooperating with factories in La Pampa Province, issuing a large number of loans to high-quality factories, opening a large number of accounts for workers, and recently began to expand. A large number of young customer managers are attracting deposits in factories, establishing various cooperation, endorsed by La Pampa Province, carrying out various high-intensity deposit competitions, and intercepting various customers.

The expansion of the five major banks in La Pampa Province, including Barron Bank and Blanca City Commercial Bank, has attracted the attention of the entire Argentine banking industry. Among them, the four major banks are listed on the Argentine National Securities Exchange and have sufficient financial ammunition.

The banking industry is known in later generations as: "the source of the industry", which plays a very positive and key positive role in the vigorous development of the national economy. Almost all industries can achieve healthier and faster development with the support of the banking industry.

The banking industry has always been the most influential industry in the Argentine market and the industry that San Jose values ​​most. Now San Jose has five major banks such as Barron Bank that can influence and value, and its tentacles extend into every corner of Argentina, absorbing funds from the entire Argentina and promoting the economic development of La Pampa Province.

It's just that the overall population of 4 million is difficult to meet the needs of industrialization. Among them, more than 3 million people live in Blanca City. Especially for an all-round industry like the automobile industry, the talents and workers needed for real development start at 100,000.

Blanca is already close to a population explosion and feels a bit overwhelmed. San Jose has also realized how difficult it is to manage a city with a population of 3 million in the non-information age, so population diversion and restrictions have been launched.

The three coastal cities must accommodate more people, and the population of Blanca City must be controlled within 4 million. The remote suburban counties need to be developed into satellite cities.

Other areas of La Pampa Province outside Blanca City are sparsely populated. After integration and merger into a broad city, the strength of the central urban area has increased, and the population has exploded in the past two years, becoming extremely prosperous, absorbing the excess spillover population from Blanca City.

It is now early winter, and the pasture grass on the prairie is gradually withering. In addition, there are large areas of cultivated fertile land on other parts of the Pampas prairie, which have just been harvested from wheat not long ago.

The prosperous trade in Blanca City makes it likely that this year's trade volume in integrating La Pampa Province will exceed the total economic volume. Important export materials from all over the country are transshipped in and out of the four port cities in La Pampa Province, and the total scale is approaching Buenos Aires.

This year, the number of food industrial enterprises in Blanca City has developed to more than 400, of which 140 new commercial entities have been established this year, with the number of employees reaching 35,000, which is an important industry and employment capacity in Blanca City.

At present, the city's food industry products include more than 700 varieties in 10 categories, including beverages, food, and condiments.

Like the textile industry and the construction industry, 30% of Blanca City's food industry and 45% of the catering industry are controlled by Chinese, mostly originating from Chinese families in Cordoba and new immigrants from Southeast Asia.

As the industrial zone closest to the port, the Lingang Industrial Zone has formed the largest Chinatown community in Argentina with the Alta area in the eastern district. The scale of the entire Chinese community in Blanca City has reached 66,000, and the population is still increasing.

Among the new immigrants from Asia, new immigrants from India have also exceeded 50,000, and others include Filipino immigrants from Southeast Asia and camel immigrants from West Asia, with a number of no more than 10,000.

A large number of food factories, textile factories, and leather factories have been opened here. Pig farms and chicken farms in the suburbs have quickly poured into the Chinese. The Indian community is conducting high-intensity competition with the Chinese, but it has obviously been defeated by the hardworking and intelligent Chinese.

Chinese culture can be seen everywhere in the newly built Chinatown. Hardworking and intelligent Chinese immigrants quickly supplemented the marginal market in Blanca. Many new Chinese immigrants initially engaged in low-end jobs, and only wealthy Chinese families lived in the city.

However, since the local wars in Southeast Asia, some wealthy Chinese immigrants have come to Blanca City.

However, some Chinese immigrants who hold together have mastered the skills of making money and have entered the department store, catering, and clothing textile industries. The successful Cordoba Chinatown wealthy families have become their role models.

Among the new immigrants, Chinese families with prestige and financial resources participate in the management of Chinatown and even began to build Taoist temples.

Some long-haired Taoists began to enrich the spiritual world of Argentines.

San Jose is full of goodwill towards the Pope who does not participate in or get involved in officialdom. In recent years, he has been committed to the secularization reform of the traditional church, and introducing competitors is an effective way to combat it, and it can also bring some positive social energy.

A newly built large Taoist temple has also been sought after by some new immigrants, and Fusheng Wuliang Tianzun has become a famous catchphrase, and well-trained Taoists participate in labor to obtain funds.

The lion dance performance in Chinatown to celebrate the Spring Festival has also attracted the participation of many new immigrants.

The Chinese cuisine in Chinatown is San Jose's favorite. Pork, as a meat that Western countries are not good at cooking, has a much lower status than beef and mutton. Originally, the main problem was breeding. Westerners don't understand pork at all. The Chinese brought techniques such as castrating boars and bleeding pigs to improve the deliciousness of pork.

Various pork cooking techniques have spread, and Peruvian Chinese and Southeast Asian Chinese have brought a large number of Chinese delicacies, enriching the immigrant food culture of La Pampa Province.

New Chinese immigrants have opened the largest restaurants in Blanca City, and highly skilled Chinese chefs have brought a wide variety of recipes, enriching the dining tables of the people of La Pampa Province.

Now Chinese restaurants can be said to be ubiquitous in Blanca City. Affordable and delicious Chinese cuisine, from pig's feet rice to spicy chicken, has conquered the stomachs of Argentines who eat roast beef every day, which makes the Chinese more popular than Indians in Blanca City.