Rise of the Argentine Empire

Time slowly moved towards high summer. With the increase in rainfall on the southern Pampas grasslands, lush water plants grew everywhere. With the large increase in population, markets and settlements sprung up, creating a thriving scene.

This year, Argentina could be said to have enjoyed favorable weather. Rainfall was significantly higher than in previous years, creating a scene reminiscent of 'wind blowing through the grass, revealing cattle and sheep'.

Some areas in western La Pampa Province are not suitable for agricultural development, so San Jose did not force the issue. Respecting the laws of nature, he only built irrigation systems and implemented mechanized farming in areas with relatively abundant water resources, such as the Colorado River and the Rio Negro River.

While the economy of Bahia Blanca was developing rapidly, some of San Jose's political enemies were also vaguely emerging, but most of them were insignificant. He had cultivated Bahia Blanca for more than two and a half, almost three years, and it had completely become his rear base. Most of the so-called wealthy families also had deep relationships with him and benefited from his favor.

But there are too many people here, and unstable factors have also increased.

Unlike San Martin, where there are relatively few people and development is peaceful.

San Jose must borrow strength to develop Bahia Blanca.

But borrowing strength will attract more ambitious people.

This is also something that cannot be avoided.

More talent can be found where there are more people.

The drawbacks of rapid development can only be solved slowly.

Moreover, when San Jose formed the defense force, he became a thorn in the side of many people.

With an unstable foundation, many people wanted San Jose to have an accident.

San Jose's enormous wealth was also slowly revealed, which also made many people jealous.

No one is a fool.

December 20th,

San Jose led a group of people from the City Hall to inspect the Tres Mares Shipyard in Puerto Gil in the Alta district and attended today's ship launching ceremony.

People from the Spanish National Shipyard also accompanied him, which greatly helped the development of Tres Mares Shipyard.

San Jose was surrounded by a bunch of bodyguards and agents to ensure his safety and prevent danger.

In recent months, several groups of people had tried to assassinate him, most of which were nipped in the bud by the Falcon Bureau, and the storm was showing a tendency to intensify.

Although a few small fries were seized, and some were colluding with municipal officials, the real big fish did not appear.

His enemies are more patient.

In addition to the relocation of the City Hall, San Jose also released news that he was preparing to continue to run for the next mayoral election in the second half of next year, which made some people start to sit still.

Now Bahia Blanca is a sweet pastry.

Argentina's second largest city and the capital of a major province have made many people wonder if they can get a share of the pie.

Compared to assassination, this is child's play.

Various public opinions and hidden arrows.

Now many places in Argentina are quite fanatical.

If you can't beat them in the open, come at them from the shadows.

In fact, it is also a smokescreen. He actually wants to clear some obstacles for the development of Bahia Blanca again.

Puerto Gil is a large port that has been newly built in Bahia Blanca in the past two years. It is huge in area and is one of the three large ports in Bahia Blanca.

It is only 6 kilometers away from the most prosperous coastal industrial zone in the eastern district, and it is also very close to Puerto Belgrano.

It used to be a huge wasteland. After Tres Mares Shipyard settled in, it developed rapidly.

A large number of supporting factories for shipbuilding, as well as some new small shipyards, have also settled in.

The current Puerto Gil port area is crowded with people, and you can see shops everywhere. The houses and streets are extremely prosperous, and the planning is quite in place.

People come and go on the streets, and all kinds of shops have been opened. In addition to the shipyards, there are a large number of small factories with front shops and back factories, mechanical processing, sheet metal processing, parts production, and diesel engine factories have all settled here.

Behind the port area is a huge industrial city, with nearly 80,000 people, half of whom work in factories related to shipbuilding.

And the most important factory here is the Tres Mares Shipyard Bahia Blanca Factory, which has nearly 5,000 shipbuilding workers and is one of the largest super-large factories in Bahia Blanca. Docks have begun to be built in large numbers, and there are many orders.

Many trading ships are sailing on the sea near the port, and the scene is busy everywhere. At this time, the two large ships preparing to be launched on the sea attracted everyone's attention. These are real 50,000-ton giant ships, ready to be delivered to the Pularri fleet.

San Jose has been waiting for this ship for almost three years. Although these two ships were not independently developed by Tres Mares Shipyard, but were more authorized by the Spanish Shipyard, they are also the first 50,000-ton ships independently manufactured by Argentina.

Looking at this giant ship, it looks quite oppressive, even larger than the warships in Puerto Belgrano, but warships often represent war defense, while this black giant ship represents peaceful trade.

"Tres Mares Shipyard is really amazing. I didn't expect that we in Argentina can also build such large ships. Although we can't be regarded as a major shipbuilding country, it is also a major historical step forward…"

San Jose spoke from the viewing platform, seeing not far away the giant dock of the Tres Mares Shipyard Bahia Blanca Shipyard, slowly sending the ship into the sea.

He had only seen the data and photos of the Spanish Shipyard, and had not seen this model of ship. He placed an order for 5 ships from the Spanish Shipyard.

In fact, there are not many companies ordering this ship, only from within San Jose. Everyone is not very relieved about Spain, which used to be able to produce the Invincible Armada. Even the Spanish themselves do not have much confidence. San Jose is not willing to be a fool. The price sold by the Spanish is 4 million US dollars per ship, which is more expensive than the United States.

Of course, this price also includes design fees, so the cost performance is not high.

Therefore, the Spanish Shipyard generously sold all the technology and equipment to Tres Mares Shipyard, and San Jose spent an extra sum of money.

Now it has basically been transferred to Bahia Blanca. The scale of the shipyard here is already larger than the La Plata Shipyard, which can only produce fishing boats and 10,000-ton ships.

The 5 freighters of the Spanish Shipyard are used to transport various raw materials from the La Plata Steel Plant, and safety can still be guaranteed.

This ship is larger than all the ships on the surface of the Bahia Blanca Bay and can rank among the top in the world.

San Jose not only requires Tres Mares Shipyard to build dry bulk carriers specifically for loading goods and minerals, but also began to build oil tankers, with the goal of independently designing 100,000-ton oil tankers and bulk carriers. This is also the future development trend of the shipbuilding industry. He has poached many shipbuilding experts from abroad, and the goal is to make a development plan around the 1960s, designing while thoroughly understanding the existing technology.

To this end, Tres Mares Shipyard, jointly with the National University of the South, the University of Buenos Aires, and the University of La Plata, established the Buenos Aires Ship Design Institute to prepare for building domestic super freighters.

Through cooperation with the Spanish National Shipbuilding Company, San Jose acquired shipbuilding technology from Germany, Italy, and the United States. The technical research level of Sanhai Shipbuilding has advanced by leaps and bounds. He plans to establish a shipbuilding and maritime college in Blanca City to train more ship design talents.

Meanwhile, the Argentine Diesel Engine Factory has also begun designing large diesel engines, striving to further reduce shipbuilding costs.

After all, in the 1950s, oil tankers of 30,000 to 40,000 tons were already considered "super tankers," and the scale of world trade was growing rapidly. Small ships under 50,000 tons could no longer meet the needs. The demand from the Prari fleet alone was 2 million to 5 million tons. These two 50,000-ton freighters were also ordered by the Prari fleet, and ore carriers and bulk carriers customized by other companies such as Thunder Mining and La Plata Steel were also being prepared in the dock.

Two hours later, both ships safely entered the sea and were securely berthed in the port, ready to load cargo directly.

One of them was named "Prari Mining," costing 2 million US dollars, with an external selling price of 3 million US dollars. The price was quite affordable, more than 500,000 US dollars cheaper than similar American freighters. The construction period was 6 months, which was very fast, and it has entered a mature construction cycle, and the construction period can be shortened a lot.

The Spanish shipyard helped with the design and construction. Now, it only needs to build a large number of docks and then produce according to orders. Sanhai Shipbuilding has already received orders for 31 new ships, mostly from domestic and foreign sources, and the production cost can also be reduced a lot. The required ship materials have begun to be continuously transported.

These freighters are mainly designed and manufactured for transporting Australian coal, about 200 meters long, 32 meters wide, with a draft depth of 11 meters, and a design speed of 12 knots.

Blanca Bay is not a large deep-water harbor, but after deep excavation and widening, it can fully berth such giant ships, as is the case with Belgrano Port.

These two freighters are about the size of a football field and can transport coal, ore, wood, livestock, grain, etc., mainly for ocean voyages and trade with the Nanyang region and Australia.

They have basically withstood the test. As long as 10 more ships are launched without problems, many Argentine trading fleets and Nanyang fleets will be interested in purchasing them.

After all, if navigation safety can be guaranteed, then it is definitely better to buy cheaper ones.

But the safety of freighters is the top priority.

The foundation of the Argentine shipbuilding industry is weak, and most people have no confidence in building 50,000-ton ships all at once.

Only the San Jose Group can guarantee this initial order problem.

Even some foreign business groups closely related to San Jose do not have much confidence.

San Jose is actually afraid of taking too big a step and getting hurt, but this is necessary.

The two ships were loaded with goods at the dock and slowly sailed out to transport 100,000 tons of steel to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

San Jose finally breathed a sigh of relief. This time, he also had to transport back 100,000 tons of iron ore from Vale, and then transport it to ports in Nanyang and Australia.

"This is a small step in the development of the shipbuilding industry in Blanca City, but a big step in the development of the Argentine shipbuilding industry. Our city hall will fully guarantee the development of the shipbuilding industry in Blanca City."

He delivered a speech at the ceremony, which aroused huge cheers from the people.

The whole audience was shouting San Jose's name.

Those who didn't know thought they were at a concert.

Fortunately, there were no assassinations or anything like that at this ceremony.

The Falcon Bureau's preparations were quite in place.

At San Jose's request,

Sanhai Shipbuilding sold the mature shipbuilding technology of 2200-ton fishing boats and 550-ton fishing boats at low prices and began to specialize in the manufacture of large ships, which was also a diversification.

Blanca City Commercial Bank and Baron Bank specially provided credit funds to support the development of the shipbuilding industry.

The Martinez family, the Anderson family, and the Grey family all expressed their interest in joining the shipbuilding industry to San Jose, and each obtained a large loan from the bank to build their own shipyard.

… …

Late December,

San Jose was also formally nominated by the Radical Party of the La Pampa Provincial Assembly as a candidate for the second Governor of La Pampa Province.

Such news caused an uproar.

Many people in the La Pampa Provincial Government were a little uneasy.

The doors of Governor Lata's office were almost knocked down.

A group of people in the Blanca City Hall were also uneasy.

After all, San Jose actually wanted to be younger, and most people thought he might serve three or four terms.

But the nomination for Governor of La Pampa was a situation that caught many political enemies off guard.

The preparations they made were wrong. San Jose was not only not an enemy, but an object to be pleased.

They only had remorse in their hearts.

It's just that San Jose has collected enough evidence.

He plans to wipe them all out.

Blanca City is still in his hands.

He just needs to replace it with someone he can trust.

Such as some confidants of the Radical Party.

As long as he releases a word to support someone.

It's basically a sure thing.

His prestige in Blanca City is too high.

La Pampa Province is actually Eva Peron Province. It was officially renamed back in June this year, as is Chaco Province. It was changed back from Juan Peron Province. It is quite special for the Peron couple to use their names to name two provinces.

In fact, La Pampa has not been a province for a long time. After merging Patagonia in 1878 and establishing an administrative region, the La Pampa administrative region was established in 1884. It was not until 1951 that it became a province, and the new Governor was elected in 1952. Now it is only the second term.

La Pampa Province is a very young province, and it was not until last year that it merged Blanca City and the three coastal towns, and moved the provincial capital, and after rapid development, La Pampa Province gained a place in Argentina.

Like the neighboring Rio Negro, Neuquén, and Chubut, they were not originally provinces, but only administrative regions. They have all been changed to provinces in the past two or three years. Of course, administrative regions also enjoy the status of provinces, and the heads of administrative regions are also called Governors.

Before the administrative region was changed to a province, the head of the administrative region was generally appointed by the Presidential Palace, and the Argentine capital, like the city of Buenos Aires, has always been appointed by the Presidential Palace, not elected. The City Council is elected, and the number of councilors in Buenos Aires is relatively large, with more than 300, and the status will be higher.

The game between local provinces and the Presidential Palace is completely dominated by local warlords, families, and wealthy families in provinces such as Cordoba. Tax payment is a big problem. The authority of the Argentine Presidential Palace is very weak, and it has only improved in recent years.

And with the step-by-step cleaning, the support for the relocation of the Blanca City Hall is getting higher and higher. The City Council and the City Hall jointly applied to La Pampa Province and obtained approval.

The Blanca City Hall will complete the relocation within 3 months, and the La Pampa Provincial Government team election will be held in 4 months.