Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 729 Southern Railway Company ([-])

In November 1648, the East Coast itself was already a busy scene of spring.In the administrative building of the Capital Executive Committee, the most powerful heart institution on the east coast, Peng Zhicheng, the new executive vice president of the Southern Cone Railway Company, is saying goodbye to his old friend and chairman of the executive committee, Liu Weimin.

The Southern Cone Railway Company is a newly established large-scale colonial organization. This organization has the privileges granted by the state to build railways throughout the Patagonia region, as well as exploit mineral resources along the railways and offshore fishing. The registered capital is 50 yuan ( The first batch of 20 yuan was allocated from a loan from the Republic of Genoa), which can be described as rich and powerful.

The establishment of this company with a strong colonial color was mainly due to the joint promotion of the army and navy. They were not very interested in the resources of the desolate Patagonia region, but they were interested in extending the power of the east coast to the Pacific coast. They are very interested in obtaining immigration convenience, so they are very keen on promoting the colonization of the southern Patagonia region, and the previous exploration of the region is the prelude to such colonization activities.

Although the news of the end of the war between the East Coast and Spain has not yet returned to the mainland, and although the rights and interests of the Southern Patagonia region are still in the hands of the Spaniards, this does not prevent the arrogant East Coast people from developing for the benefit of their own country. This land of the ends of the earth.They don't care what the Spaniards think of the defeated generals. Anyway, no one can do anything to them. The Spaniards don't even have a military outpost here.

Of course, although the army and the navy agree on the development of the Patagonia region, there are still considerable differences between the two sides. The main reason is that the navy is only interested in acquiring Pacific ports. Their goal is to first control the sea control in the southeast Pacific. , and then gradually moved northward, expanding its sphere of influence to the core area ruled by the Spaniards—Central and South America.

Just as Wang Qinian, a retired naval veteran and currently another vice president of the Southern Cone Railway Company, said in a speech at Qingdao Port to promote the bond issuance work of the Southern Railway Company: "The war between the Eastern Republic of China and the Kingdom of Spain may not be a one-time war." , Twice will be enough. Even if we make peace with them this time, maybe it is just a short truce, and the next war will come to us again at some point."

"The Pacific Temporary Task Force marched into the west coast, wiped out the Peruvian fleet, and blocked Callao, which greatly shocked the Spaniards. If the Kingdom of Spain is willing to negotiate peace this time, it must be the first contribution! But this year's Pacific operations throughout the year There are still considerable shortcomings in the operation, that is, our army lacks a supply base there. After the combat materials stored in the previous period are exhausted, the navy and army must rest for several months and wait for the supply to be complete before proceeding to the next stage of operations. It is a huge respite, but it also greatly hinders our army from expanding its achievements. Imagine that if our country has a complete industrial and agricultural production base in the southern Patagonia region, and a large port and a large shipyard with complete facilities in the Pacific Ocean, Then we're in an advantageous position here to wait for work."

"Once we are in the advantageous position of waiting for work here, our naval fleet can follow the ocean currents and monsoons to reach Peru at any time. Such a strategic advantage from a strategic location and condescending command cannot be underestimated. The Spaniards in the core area of ​​America will be at any time. In the shadow of my navy, they will never stand up before us, and we will have a huge strategic initiative. When the international situation is favorable, hit the fuck hard and pre-emptively strike; if the international situation is not ideal , then we will patiently wait for the opportunity; even if our army loses in the battle, we can still return to this base to lick our wounds."

"The most important thing to develop the southern Patagonia region is to build a railway, that is, to build a railway between the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. Through this critical railway, the immigrants from the South Pacific Combined with machinery, ships, technology, capital and talents from the mainland, this cold and wild land can be developed; in addition to building railways, the second most important thing is to open coal mines. This coal mine is very important to The development of industry and agriculture in this area is extremely critical. It can be said that it is the blood of the industrial artery in this area. Of course, the coal produced here can be shipped back to the country at the mouth of the Gallegos River after being pulled out by train. This is very important for the maintenance of our country. Energy security is also very important.”

These words of Wang Qinian profoundly revealed the motivation of the East Coast to develop the Southern Patagonia region, and at the same time revealed the origin of the Southern Railway Company, a colonial institution similar to the East India Company.He and Peng Zhicheng, two veterans of the navy and army, served as the second in command and the first in command of the Southern Railway, which also showed the military's eagerness to develop this area.On behalf of the Army, Peng Zhicheng proposed to the Executive Committee that since the calls for reducing the Army after the war were so loud, if the country’s finances were indeed in difficulty, the Army would be willing to abolish some of the second-line troops and incorporate these abolished personnel into the Southern Railway Company. The salaries of the road guard team are borne by the Southern Railway Company, and try not to spend a penny of the state's finances.

Naturally, the executive committee was "surprised" by Peng Zhicheng's proposal, because they believed that the colonial organization of the Southern Railway Company could not make a profit in the early stage, or if it was unlucky, it might never be able to make a profit. How could it support the army?However, a group of white shirts from the Executive Committee and the Government Affairs Council were quite satisfied considering that the army could be forced to change its mind and be willing to disarm, so they hastily approved the establishment of the Southern Railway Company to prevent the army from going back on its word.

"This time when the Southern Railway Company was established, the first batch of 20 yuan of funds has been transferred to the account of Qingdao Commercial Clearing Bank. However, in the short term, you should not have too much hope for the follow-up 30 yuan of funds. The government now has a lot of places to spend money , you won’t be well off for at least one or two years. So, I think you’d better hope to raise funds by issuing bonds.” Liu Weimin said as he walked down the corridor with his hands behind his back, sending Peng Zhicheng off.

"Hehe, I'm so worried. I'm also standing up for Mo Ming. After all, he is the president of the Southern Railway Company officially appointed by the state. When he comes back, I'll go back to the northwest to repair my railway. Now the domestic The capital that has been cultivated with great difficulty has basically been locked in infrastructure, farms, and developers of overseas colonies, and the hot money has been greatly reduced. The sales of this bond may not be very good. But Mo Ming is a local tyrant and knows some rich people , Let him have a headache about fundraising in the future, what kind of trouble am I, a retired old man?" Peng Zhicheng smiled and said nonchalantly: "Besides, as long as the railway is repaired, the coal mine is developed, and the South Pacific immigration route is opened, The Southern Railway Company may not be able to make a profit. At that time, I think not only will it turn losses into profits, but also the investment prospects are still very promising. Hehe, maybe someday, old man, I will take out my coffin and invest in the Southern Railway Company.”

"In this armistice negotiation, the Spaniards are very likely to transfer the rights and interests of the southern Patagonia region to our country. This is also a sum of money that we spent more than 100 million (Article [-] of the peace treaty, "issued The Spanish materials kept during the war were actually bought with compensation in disguised form of arms'). Although the Spaniards have sold some rights and interests here to our country, they must not want to see us setting up government agencies there in a grand manner. Therefore , set up a large-scale comprehensive enterprise integrating agriculture, commerce, transportation, etc., do not set up a sanctimonious political and military system, and practice colonial rule in the name of commercial development. If tens of thousands of people can immigrate within ten years, then Even if the Spaniards find out that something is wrong, as Wang Qinian said, the trend of building a strategic position has already been achieved, what can they do to me? Even if foreign interference is incurred, we can deal with it calmly at that time. This is a century-old plan, and the Southern Railway Company has a long way to go!" Liu Weimin is still very clear about the nature of the Southern Railway Company.Although this was a product of a political compromise between the civil service and the military, as a neutral, he was able to agree to the establishment of this company, perhaps without the reasons he mentioned above.After all, he is one of the few people in this country who has less selfish distractions. Not everyone puts family interests before national interests.

"Southern Railway Corporation cannot govern Southern Patagonia solely by plunder and bloody rule, nor can it only pursue commercial interests - of course I am completely relieved on this point." Liu Weimin went on to say, "The two cases of Southern Railway Corporation The first is development, and the second is immigration. As long as these things are done well, then the Southern Railway Company will be the country’s hero, and it will be an important stroke in the history books in the future. In fact, I have been thinking about these existing colonies in our country for these years The future of the country, because now the upper echelons of the entire country lack a clear idea of ​​​​running the colonies. Everyone just regards the colonies as their own raw material markets, blood transfusion stations, and flood gates to alleviate various domestic crises. Basically, they think of where to do it. , the lack of a clear idea and plan is very bad, and it is not conducive to strengthening the centripetal force of the colony to the mainland. I do not hope that after many years, when our vast overseas colonies have gradually prospered, there will be An independent mind. Although I know this is a historical trend and it is difficult to change it alone, I still want to delay this process as much as possible.”

"The fruit that falls from the tree of the suzerain country as soon as it is ripe..." Liu Weimin said in a slow but powerful voice, "Such a colony is not what we need, and the consequences are also unbearable for a country like ours. of."

(End of this chapter)