Rise of the Argentine Empire

Under the leadership of José, the new La Pampa Province government began to demonstrate a powerful market integration capability.

First, it acquired some scattered, bankrupt small local enterprises. Those with little use were turned into subordinate branches of the State Assets Committee, while those with great potential for business development were taken over, invested in, and expanded.

By incorporating these miscellaneous forces and injecting his management philosophy, even some places far from Bahía Blanca now had state-owned companies.

Of course, this was a deal that required continuous investment. José wanted to connect the integrated "large free markets." These "large cities" newly merged through administrative means actually lacked many things.

And the best way to connect a city was to build roads. The railway system in La Pampa Province was not well-developed. Originally, there were only three or four simple railway lines, all radiating from Bahía Blanca.

Fiscal expenditure was severely insufficient.

The current military government was already feeling the pressure. They didn't understand economics, but they knew how to make money, and the printing press was about to start up again.

The essence of urgency is urgency.

And José predicted that food prices in Argentina were likely to skyrocket within six months.

José also had Felipe Industries acquire the only remaining train locomotive company in Buenos Aires, preserving a spark for Argentina's remaining railway locomotive industry.

There were still many steam trains running on Argentine railways. José almost always rode steam trains.

Argentina built its first railway line in 1857, and now operates nearly 30,000 kilometers of railways.

Including broad gauge (1,676 mm), standard gauge (1,435 mm), and narrow gauge (1,000 mm) three kinds of gauges.

Now, the major countries in the world that produce steam locomotives have stopped the production and development of steam locomotives, and the figure of steam locomotives will gradually disappear from the railway trunk lines of various countries.

The future is the era of internal combustion locomotives and electrified railways, not to mention that Argentina itself lacks coal.

Using coal for power generation is actually quite extravagant.

But there was no way around it. Building hydroelectric power stations was too expensive and time-consuming, and besides, central Argentina did not have abundant hydropower resources, and water resources were relatively scarce.

Now Argentina not only lacked time, but also money.

José needed the oil in southern Argentina, and the minerals, cotton, timber, and various raw materials in the west.

Before the era of large-scale maritime container transport arrived, railway transport was quite economical and very practical.

......

In addition to the Ministry of Finance and the Defense Forces, the third area that José wanted to integrate was the newly established State Assets Committee.

This was an agency that belonged only to senior officials and was parallel to other major departments.

At the end of December, the four major state-owned companies of La Pampa Province successfully opened. At the inauguration ceremony, he arranged four powerful management teams that could be described as luxurious.

José and his colleagues and subordinates attended the meeting together, including Javier Olivera, Secretary-General of the La Pampa House of Representatives, Councilor Julio Cobos, senior officials, and a group of officials from the Bahía Blanca City Hall.

Javier was also the top leader of the first La Pampa State Assets Committee.

Oben Kittel, head of Medanos Steel Plant, general manager of the No. 1 Steel Plant of La Plata Steel Company, now the No. 3 person in La Plata Steel, was responsible for the main management tasks of the steel plant. In three years, he was promoted from the head of the steelmaking workshop to be fully responsible for the business of the steel plant.

Oben was estimated to be one of the youngest steel experts in Argentina. He was only 31 years old this year and can be said to be a genius among geniuses.

He single-handedly promoted La Plata Steel Plant to become a world-class steel plant. Under his leadership, he developed a variety of new blast furnaces. The 2,000 cubic meter giant blast furnace in Bahía Blanca Steel Plant was developed by his team in conjunction with Austrian United Steel, and has reached the world's advanced level.

Originally, José intended to let Oben be in charge of Bahía Blanca Steel Plant.

But Bahía Blanca Steel Plant was actually operating in a completely mature manner, and an internal management team was promoted. Medanos Steel Plant, as a newly established factory, needed someone who could steer the ship.

He was very relieved to let Oben be in charge of Medanos Steel Plant and coordinate matters with Bahía Blanca Steel Plant.

The head of La Pampa Petrochemical Company was Gustavo Sáenz, also an old subordinate who had followed José for several years. He had been the second-in-command of Southern Oil, and together with Juan Nilsson, the head of Southern Oil, he had made great contributions to Southern Oil's development from a regional small oil company to a national oil company. He was a pragmatic talent.

Juan was an airborne soldier dug up from Argentina National Petroleum, while Gustavo was an old man who had been following José since the plastic factory era. José was very relieved of him.

Juan proved his ability and loyalty over time, and Gustavo also needed a new platform.

The head of La Pampa Mining Company, Rudolfo Zamora, came from the core company of the Cohen Consortium—Thunder Mining. He was an old subordinate of Saint Hesser, having served as a staff officer in the Cordoba City Garrison and later as a staff member in the Maria Town Militia. He was a key strategist for the Potassium Triangle Thunder Cross and later oversaw the preparation of Thunder Mining. It could be said that he was one of the big shots in the Potassium Triangle region and someone who used to guard against the Thunder Cross.

Later, after Guerrero left, Bill Byrd became the overall head of Thunder Cross, Thunder Mining, and Andes Tobacco, while Zamora continued to serve as the head of Thunder Mining.

Bill Byrd was more pragmatic, more talented, and more ambitious, but he never had any intention of betraying Saint Hesser. He was a smart man, and Saint Hesser's other confidants always controlled the personnel and financial power in the Potassium Triangle region.

The Potassium Triangle was Saint Hesser's important core area, especially the Jujuy and Salta provinces.

Every transaction of the three major companies in the Potassium Triangle was basically handled by the Cohen Consortium's finance department. After the Thunder Cross was effectively disbanded, Bill Byrd became even more obedient. The Oran City Hall had many people supported by Saint Hesser, and Guerrero still maintained some connections with Bolivia.

Thunder Mining developed very well, from metal to non-metal mines, from exploration to development, both domestically and internationally. However, Oran was, after all, a small city in a remote area, so Saint Hesser moved the headquarters of Thunder Mining to Blanca City, leaving only a subsidiary, greatly reducing its importance.

Blanca City had a large population and many talents. If Thunder Mining wanted to develop further, it had to move to a more prosperous city.

Several core cities in Argentina were potential headquarters locations: Blanca City, Maria City, Cordoba, Rosario, and Buenos Aires.

The focus remained on mining and energy. However, La Pampa Province did not have many mineral resources. Fortunately, relations with the southern provinces continued to improve, something that had been attempted since the Blanca City era.

La Pampa Electric Power Company directly had Southern Electric send its best team. The original La Pampa Hydropower Station was one of the foundations of the power company.

With these four major companies, the framework of the entire La Pampa State-Owned Assets Committee was established.

The general economic data for the entire year had already been released. La Pampa's economy grew by 37% compared to last year, ranking first in Argentina, with 81% of the contribution coming from Blanca City.

Other cities in La Pampa Province were also developing rapidly, but because they started late and were small in scale, they did not appear to be doing very well.

Fiscal revenue increased threefold in the second half of the year, while fiscal expenditure increased 4.1 times, and debt increased by US$120 million in one go.

However, many people were full of confidence in the new provincial government's plan.

Saint Hesser copied his original approach, establishing some non-civil service units and splitting and streamlining the provincial government's administrative team, reducing the burden on the provincial government.

These new units were called "Civil Service Institutions," including some universities and some municipal engineering projects.

The overall finances were still controlled by the provincial government, but they no longer enjoyed permanent employment. If the unit's performance was good and the craftsmanship was not bad, most people, except for a few top leaders, could not be promoted in the civil service system.

Some were also diverted to companies affiliated with the State-Owned Assets Committee.

This greatly improved the specialization of the provincial government, and because of the increased status, the entire team was revitalized.

Two thorny issues in the relationship between La Pampa Province and its cities were placed on the table, especially in the context of financial difficulties: transferring funds to the cities and implementing public works projects. This was also one of the agreements originally signed for the direct control of the Finance Department to achieve provincial centralization.

Rights and obligations are equal.

Mid-January of next year would be the first time he would hold a working meeting with the mayors of various cities.

They would discuss the five-year economic development plan, as well as aspects such as industrial, agricultural, and public infrastructure construction.

Economic plan targets would be set for each city and achieved as soon as possible, and the provincial government would provide various assistance.

……

Saint Hesser inspected the La Pampa Defense Force again and met "Firecracker," the future of Argentina's nuclear weapons, at a secret military base.

He had now gained the support of many small families in La Pampa Province. They bet on Saint Hesser during the election, hoping to obtain greater development.

Saint Hesser also happened to need talent. Blanca City was not lacking in talent now, but overall, it still lacked a little seasoning.

Because there were many officers from these small families in the army.

He selected a group to go with him.

This secret military base was built very early, about a year and a half ago, and was the real core of the Institute of Nuclear Physics. The senior physicists he recruited were arranged here to research purification equipment and uranium enrichment.

This was a very low-key place, and very few people knew about it. The construction company that built it was Cohen Construction, and it was built underground.

Secret nuclear weapons tests will be conducted in the Patagonian Plateau or Salta Province in 10 months.

Nuclear weapons are like underwear to Argentinians: you can't be without them, but you can't tell others you have them.

……

Italy is a good place. The team going to Rome this time was also quite luxurious, still led by people from Southern Petroleum and New Cohen Heavy Industries.

Italy's economic development has been quite rapid in the past two years, and Blanca City has caught a ride on the bandwagon. Leiden Motors' annual car production has exceeded 60,000 vehicles, three times the original amount.

This time, in addition to hoping to establish a consulate in Blanca City, they were also here to discuss new projects.