Rise of the Argentine Empire

In Morador Town, the town center still adheres to Saint Hérissé's original plan, featuring a small hospital, a school, and well-developed community facilities.

However, venturing outside the central district reveals a scene of squalor and disarray, where newcomers unable to afford housing in the center have settled. If they are fortunate enough to be hired, they become true members of the community, enjoying a secure life, with even mine workers receiving good benefits.

Bill traveled by car from Morador Town back to Orán, heading east along the winding mountain road.

A 20-man team is still stationed in the Silver Valley, forming a small village of 700 people.

The driver didn't stop, continuing down the mountain.

Both sides of the riverbank in Orán were flatlands. Judging by the number of houses, the population east of the river was much smaller than that west of the river.

The city streets were filled with indigenous people. As a prominent figure in Orán, Bill was shown respect by many who stopped to greet him.

Present-day Orán was noticeably more crowded than it had been two years prior.

The city was under immense pressure due to its formerly underdeveloped education, infrastructure, and healthcare, and improvements had been minimal.

Orán's economy only began to develop rapidly after the construction of the Andes Cigarette Factory.

In addition to the cigarette factory, a brick factory, a cement factory, two construction companies, four food processing plants, a yerba mate factory, a brewery, a furniture factory, five mines, two cardboard factories, a lumber mill, and three agricultural cooperatives had been newly built.

Apart from the cement factory and the cigarette factory, most of the others were small and medium-sized factories started by locals themselves. They didn't employ many people, but private enterprise was quite active.

The city's foreign population gradually increased, with many people from other towns coming here to work, leading to the construction of a new street on the east side.

This street was very wide, located on the west bank of the river. The river in Orán was not wide, only twenty-some meters, and was a headstream river.

Not far from the river was the wide wasteland east of the city. Yes, wasteland.

No one lived here; the nearest houses were more than 500 meters away. The wasteland was originally uninhabited, with barren soil consisting of about thirty to forty centimeters of fine sand.

This area was very large, about 1500 acres. Some people used to grow miscellaneous crops on this land, but since the city's factories were established, few people farmed. The soil was infertile, and the locals didn't bother with basic fertilization techniques; even slash-and-burn agriculture was quite common here.

This time, the Orán City Hall decided to develop a new street, about 1 kilometer long from north to south, with three-story buildings on both sides for residential and commercial use. It would be named Andes New Street.

This was also Orán City Hall's first investment activity.

As a special elite who succeeded Guerrero, Bill's development differed greatly from that of other Falcon Bureau members.

In Orán, Bill was almost more reliable than the mayor. After all, he not only controlled the cigarette factory, the largest and most profitable factory, but also the largest security company, and countless riches.

At least, that's what everyone thought.

Thunder Cross, as one of Saint Hérissé's two major security forces, had developed very rapidly here. In fact, most of the security personnel came from here. The Thunder Cross in San Martín had transformed into a regular security force, and the two had separated in their development.

It could be said that the Thunder Cross in San Martín had transformed into the police department, completely out of Saint Hérissé's control, and the militia had become the city defense force.

However, the Thunder Cross in Orán had not broken free from control. Even though Orán had grown to a significant size, it could still be considered a private army-type security company.

In the remote Orán, Bill Bernard could truly be called a warlord-like figure.

Bill's reputation had spread throughout the Potassium Triangle region, and his influence had reached the Chilean border and Bolivia. He was also known in Paraguay.

Rumors claimed he had close ties with the current president of Bolivia and held a high position there, and that he had close relationships with generals in Paraguay.

The rumors were quite outrageous.

After all, tobacco planting and production is a naturally monopolistic industry, almost as lucrative as flour.

Due to financial considerations, Saint Hérissé had not invested much here, offering mostly guidance, but the wealth he gained from here each year was substantial.

Because Saint Hérissé had virtually monopolized the most profitable businesses in these two provinces: mining and tobacco.

Through two companies, Thunder Mining and Andes Tobacco, he earned over 20 million US dollars annually, more than the entire province's economy. After all, tobacco was not taxed, and minerals were resold at low prices.

The original salt production in the Potassium Triangle region had also increased seven or eightfold, sold at a fair price to Maya Chemical, along with cheap coal, and the copper and iron mines ready for exploitation were basically not included in local production, or only symbolically taxed.

The Barrosa family of Ukanaka was dealt a fatal blow by Bill, and their industries were acquired.

Several major families in Salta indirectly acknowledged Bill's rule under his pressure.

As for the smaller families in Salta and Jujuy, their strength was weak.

Bill's car stopped in the garage of a villa.

Two bodyguards followed behind, both burly men, 1.8 meters tall, seemingly bursting with power, with bulging waist pouches, thick eyebrows, large eyes, sharp, eagle-like gazes, and an imposing aura of toughness. They had all seen blood, a stark contrast to Bill's refined temperament.

"Welcome back, sir."

A young, beautiful blonde girl came out to greet him, hugging Bill tightly, burying her head in his chest.

"Yes, I'm back."

Bill nodded wearily, saying a few words.

One would never guess that this man had eliminated and suppressed several major families and wiped out a bunch of gangsters in a few months, a figure whose slightest movement could shake the Potassium Triangle.

Morador Town wasn't just about employment issues; a small warlord had emerged in the north, and senior officials in Salta Province were also seeking his help to suppress them.

"This operation went smoothly enough."

To ensure the operation's success, he secretly dispatched 200 security guards, along with heavy weaponry.

Salta Province can be said to be one of Argentina's water towers, with many rivers originating here. It covers an area of 155,500 square kilometers and has a population of only 750,000. In sparsely populated Argentina, this is considered relatively high, even slightly more than the current combined populations of La Pampa and Río Negro Provinces.

However, such a small population is still insufficient, only allowing for the development of some basic processing industries. Not to mention Salta Province's pitiful literacy rate, a situation that persisted well into the 21st century.

With such a small population scattered across an area roughly the size of Jiangxi Province in New China, compared to Jiangxi's later population of nearly 45 million, 750,000 people are not even comparable to a large county.

This makes things seem very unreliable, hindering any development. Of course, Salta Province's overall weather and natural conditions are neither too good nor too bad, and its population capacity is actually several million at a minimum.

The most densely populated area of Salta Province is the Lerma Valley, where the city of Salta is located. Here database

The provincial capital, Salta, is the largest city in Salta Province, with a population of over 100,000. The second largest city is now Orán, with a population of over 60,000 and growing, with a large number of Bolivian and Paraguayan immigrants.

Utilizing the abundant hydroelectric power resources here to develop non-ferrous metal processing is a very feasible plan.

But this requires a huge amount of capital.

Although Orán's population has doubled, it is a truly wild growth, completely different from San Martín and Blanca.

The arrangements are quite chaotic; Saint Hérissé only cares about the output here, rarely investing money into it, like a greedy landlord.

The leader of Orán is Nick Callaway, a person very friendly with the Falcon Bureau.

… …

When Saint Hérissé returned to the City Hall, he found the atmosphere somewhat strange.