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

The Southern Cone Railway Company was a large newly established colonial institution with the privilege granted by the state to build railways throughout Patagonia, as well as to exploit mineral resources along the railway lines and to fish inshorely, with a registered capital of 500,000 yuan (the first 200,000 yuan was allocated from a loan from the Republic of Genoa).

The establishment of this heavily colonial company was mainly due to the joint promotion of the army and navy, who were not too interested in the resources of the inhospitable Patagonian region, but were very interested in extending the eastern coast to the Pacific coast to obtain immigration facilities, so they were very enthusiastic about promoting the colonization of Southern Patagonia, and the early exploration of the area was a prelude to such colonization activities.

Although the news of the end of the war with Spain on the East Coast had not yet reached the mainland, and although the rights and interests of Southern Patagonia were still in the hands of the Spaniards, this did not prevent the arrogant East Coasters from taking care of the land to the ends of the earth for the benefit of their own country. They didn't care what the Spaniards thought of their defeated men, and no one could do anything with them anyway, and the Spaniards didn't even have a military post here.

Of course, although the army and navy are in agreement on the development of the Patagonia region, there are still considerable differences between the two sides, mainly because the navy is more interested in acquiring Pacific ports alone. Their goal is to first control the sea supremacy in the southeast Pacific. Then gradually to the north. Extended its sphere of influence to Central and South America, the core area of Spanish rule.

As Wang Qinian, a retired navy veteran and another vice president of the Southern Cone Railway Company, said in a speech at the port of Qingdao to publicize the bond issuance of the Southern Railway Company: "The war between the Republic of China on the east coast of China and the Kingdom of Spain may not be over once or twice. Even if we make peace with them this time, it may only be a brief truce, and the next war will come to us again. ”

"The advance of the Pacific Provisional Task Force on the west coast, the destruction of the Peruvian fleet, and the blockade of Callao gave the Spaniards a great shock. If the Kingdom of Spain is willing to negotiate peace, this will be the first contribution! However, there are still considerable deficiencies in the Pacific combat operations throughout this year. That is, our army lacks a supply base there, and after the combat materials stored in the early stage are exhausted, the navy and army must suspend the war for several months and wait for the supply to be complete before carrying out the next stage of operation. This undoubtedly gave the enemy a great opportunity to breathe, and at the same time, it also greatly hindered the expansion of our army's successes. Imagine if our country had a complete industrial and agricultural production base in southern Patagonia, and a large port and shipyard in the Pacific Ocean, then we would be in an advantageous position to wait for work here. ”

"Once we are in a position of being at ease here, our naval fleet can reach Peru at any time with the currents and monsoons, and such a strategic advantage from a high vantage point cannot be underestimated. The Spaniards will be in the shadow of our navy at any time in the core of the Americas, and they will never be able to stand tall before us. We will have a great strategic initiative. When the international form shì is favorable, he will beat his mother hard, and strike first; If the international shape shì is not ideal. Then we wait patiently for the right time; Even if our army is unfavorable in battle, you can still return to this base to lick your wounds. ”

"The most important thing in the development of Southern Patagonia is the construction of railways, that is, the construction of a two-ocean railway between the Pacific and the Atlantic. The key railway of Tongguò will combine the influx of immigrants from the South Pacific with machinery, ships, technology, capital and talent from the homeland, so that this cold and wild land can be developed; In addition to the construction of the railway, the second most important thing was the opening of a coal mine. This coal mine is extremely critical to the development of industry and agriculture in this region, it can be said to be the blood of the industrial arteries of this region, of course, the coal produced here can be pulled out by train, and can also be loaded and transported back to China at the mouth of the Gallegos River, which is also of great significance for maintaining the energy security of our country. ”

Wang Qinian's words profoundly reveal the motives for the development of Southern Patagonia on the East Coast, and also explain 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, were respectively the second-in-command and first-in-command of the Southern Railway, which also showed the military department's ardent desire to open up this area. On behalf of the Army, Peng Zhicheng even proposed to the Executive Committee that since the call for reducing the Army after the war was so high, if the state finances were really in difficulty, the Army would be willing to dismantle some of the second-line troops and integrate these laid-off personnel into the road guard team of the Southern Railway Company, whose salaries would be borne by the Southern Railway Company, and that the State Railway Company would not spend a penny on the state treasury as much as possible.

Naturally, the Executive Committee was "inexplicably surprised" by Peng Zhicheng's suggestion, because they believed that the Southern Railway Company, a colonial institution, could not make a profit in the early days, or if it was unlucky, it might never be profitable, and how could it feed the army? However, considering that they could force the army to change its mind and be willing to disarm, the executive committee and the government affairs yuan were quite satisfied, so they hurriedly approved the establishment of the Southern Railway Company, so as to prevent the army from reversing again.

"This time, the Southern Railway Company was established, and the first batch of 200,000 funds have been transferred to the account of Qingdao Commercial Clearing Bank. However, you don't have too much hope for the next 300,000 yuan in the short term, the government now has a lot of money, and it will not be very rich in at least one or two years. So, I think you're still counting on the issuance of bonds to raise funds. Liu Weimin walked down the corridor with his hands behind his back, and said while sending Peng Zhicheng off.

"Hehe, I'm worried, I'm also a front stop for Mo Ming, after all, he is the president of the Southern Railway Company officially appointed by the state. As soon as he returns, I'll go back to the northwest to build my railroad. Now that the capital that has been cultivated in China has basically been locked into infrastructure, farms and overseas colonial developers, the hot money has been greatly reduced, and the sales of this bond are afraid that it will not be good. But Mo Ming is a local tyrant, and he also knows some rich people, so he will have a headache about fundraising in the future, what kind of heart do I have for 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 migration route is opened, the Southern Railway Company may not be profitable." At that time, I think not only will I turn a profit, but the investment prospects will be very positive. Hehe, I can't say that one day, the old man, I will also take out the coffin book and invest in the Southern Railway Company. ”

"In this armistice negotiations, the Spaniards are likely to cede their interests in Southern Patagonia to our country, which we have also bought at a cost of more than a million dollars (Article 2 of the peace treaty, 'The return of Spanish materials kept in the war is in essence a disguised indemnity for arms'). The Spaniards, though they have sold some of their interests here to our country, must not want to see us set up a government office there in a grand manner. Therefore, it is necessary to set up a large-scale comprehensive enterprise integrating agriculture, commerce, and transportation, without a sanctimonious political and military system, and to practice colonial rule in the name of commercial development. If tens of thousands of people can be immigrated in ten years, then even if the Spaniards find out that something is wrong, as Wang Qinian said, the momentum of the building has been achieved, how can they bear me? Even if foreign interference is invited, we will be able to deal with it calmly. 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 essence of the Southern Railway Company. Although this was the product of a compromise between the civilian government and the military government, as a neutral person, he was able to agree to the establishment of this company for all the reasons he said. In the final analysis, he is one of the few people in this country who has fewer selfish distractions, and not everyone puts the interests of the family before the interests of the country.

"The Southern Railroad Company cannot govern Southern Patagonia by plunder and bloody rule alone, nor can it pursue commercial interests alone - of course I am completely relieved on this point." Liu Weimin continued, "There are two things in the Southern Railway Company, one is development, and the other is immigration, as long as these things are done well, then the Southern Railway Company will be the hero of the country, and it will be indispensable in the history books in the future." In fact, I have been thinking about the future of these existing colonies in our country for many years, because there is now a lack of a clear idea of how to run the colonies in the upper echelons of the whole country. People only regard the colonies as their own raw material markets, blood transfusion stations, and flood gates to alleviate various crises in the country, and basically think of where to do it, and lack a clear idea and plan, which is very bad and not conducive to strengthening the centripetal force of the colonies on the mainland. I don't want to be independent years from now, when our vast overseas colonies have prospered. Although I know that this is a historical trend and it is difficult to change it alone, I still want to slow down the process as much as possible. ”

"The ......fruit that falls from the tree of the suzerainty 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 difficult for a country like ours to bear." (To be continued......)