Constantine de Owando stood in the steeple attic of the Cathedral of Santa Maria, and used a monocular telescope produced by the Henan Glass Factory to observe carefully on the land of the people on the east bank opposite the Parana River. An amazing construction activity was underway, and it had been going on for a long time. Owando estimated that the people on the east bank had mobilized at least 5,000 people to work, a number that the Spanish could not imagine.

Five thousand people, not to mention the expenses and maintenance costs of their work, even if they transport 5,000 people here from the old 6, it costs an extremely huge amount of money, at least one.5 million riyals. Many people cannot afford the funds of millions of riyals, but only purely spending and no profitable work, can fools do it! From this perspective, aren’t East Coast people just fools! It is said that the expenses spent for immigration every year are 20 to 30 million riyals, which is really scary. Because this is not a year’s expenditure, it is a huge expenditure that has lasted for many years. It is a bit difficult for the East Coast people to spend so much money on immigration.

However, it was their government that persistently spent money to immigrate, so that they could quickly build towns, workshops, roads on their own territory, and maintain the not-so-large but very elite Naval Army. Of course, the monarchs of the Old Great Six could not be able to immigrate to this level. For example, the Spanish Habsburg royal family may have a palace cost of more than 30 million riyals each year, which is higher than the total immigration expenditure of the East Coast people, but do you want them to take out all the money to organize immigration to the New Great Coast people on the Peninsula? There is basically no possibility, because there is no need for this, and His Majesty the King's foundation is still in the Old Great Coast people, not Mexico, Lima, Charcas or Buenos Aires, which is essentially different from the East Coast people who are rooted in the New Great Coast people.

Okay, Rao Yuan. Let's take a look at the scene of the working of the people on the east bank. Most of the 5,000 people were immigrants. To be precise, they were immigrants from the Qing Dynasty Huaian Prefecture, who had just arrived on the east bank in the first half of this year. At this time, the Weirong County Government obviously exercised the power of corvee labor and used a lot of manpower and material resources to start building flood control and water control projects on the left bank of the Parana River. This project should also be part of the "50-year 1.50 million central water conservancy investment", mainly including reservoirs, river embankment, waterway dredging, land opening, etc. The local government should have also invested a lot of manpower, material resources and money, which will make the total expenditure on water conservancy construction in the inland river area reach an astonishing 20 to 30 million yuan in the past 50 years!

Such a level of expenditure and such a great determination, comparing the wild scene here in the Spanish era, can it be said that the East Coast people are more qualified to occupy this place than those lazy and idiots from the peninsula? They only know how to ask for the New Coast 6, but rarely have decent construction and rewards. Shouldn’t such people be driven out of the New Coast 6? Of course, that’s all the future, but at least many East Coast people, especially the second-generation citizens, have such an idea.

Ovando quickly turned his attention to the sparkling Parana River. On the river near the settlement called Jiacheng Town by the people on the east bank, a strange ship was carrying out river dredging operations. It was not dredging the majestic Parana River, but dredging a small tributary on the left bank of the big river. It was also very useful in the eyes of people on the east bank and must be broadened and dredged.

In Ovando's view, the displacement of this ship is less than a thousand tons, and it can no longer be considered a small boat in the Parana River Basin (of course, it is not a small boat on the sea), not to mention some ships that seem to have special uses. This ship that is dredging the river channel has attracted Ovando's attention for a while. There are some hammer heads with chisel tips on both sides of the ship. The hammer heads look like steel. This will be driven by a steam engine and are almost knocking on the bottom of the river. Many sections of the river are filled with rocks, which brings great inconvenience to the work of the dredger. The emergence of this engineering ship can be said to have solved the urgent problem. The hammer head hits the rock very quickly, and it can hammer about 200 times per hour. At this level, even the hard rock may not be able to withstand it for too long. Ovando thinks this kind of machinery is really great.

The rocks that were broken by steel hammers will be grabbed by some steel grabs (which are similar to those on dredgers), and then thrown into the open-air cabin in the middle of the ship and thrown to the barge berthed beside them to extend the time of working outside. Owen counted the number. There were three hammers on both sides of the ship, and the hammers could be lifted up to the second floor of the deck, which means that the strong hammering force when falling down is no wonder that it can break the rocks.

It is not clear how much horsepower is for this kind of ship, but judging by his limited understanding of the steam engine, it is likely to be less than 250 horsepower, perhaps even higher. This level of steam engine is not small for the East Coast people. It is actually used on a dredger, which is a dredger with the function of breaking the rocks at the bottom of the river. It is indeed a bit surprising, and it also shows that the East Coast people are becoming more and more skillful in the design of special ships.

"The gap in Castilla is getting bigger and bigger." Ovando sighed and put down the telescope in his hand, then subconsciously touched a 50,000-riyal bill of exchange from the La Plata Bank on his chest, and slowly went downstairs to the attic.

Today the church was empty, and except for some clergy who were praying, there was no one else. Ovando looked at it firmly for a while and felt a little relieved. Although his faith had not been very stable, the benefits of collecting the East Coast people several times were no less than 100,000 Rials. He did a lot of things that were sorry for Spain and even God. Therefore, he did not dare to stay in the Cathedral of St. Mary at this time. He greeted the followers and went outside the door.

There is a large livestock market nearby, with an astonishing number of donkeys and mules and other livestock being kept in captivity, all for export to the east bank people on the other side. The Hejian area has been open for a long time, and there is a huge demand for livestock, especially for livestock. Therefore, places with abundant livestock such as Cordoba, Jujuy, Tucumman, and La Rioja have ushered in a rare prosperous cycle. A large number of gray donkeys and mules were exported to the east bank, exchanged for a lot of cash and industrial products, and vigorously prospered the local economy. The city of Santa Fe, located on the west bank of the Parana River, is such a distribution market for livestock sales. All the livestock on the west bank are concentrated here for merchants on the other side to choose at will.

As the top chief of the newly appointed prosecutor's court district of Buenos Aires, many cities including Putrajaya, Rosario, Santa Fe, Correntes, and Asuncion are under his jurisdiction. Therefore, no matter what the purpose is, it is necessary for him to visit these places. He has been staying in Santa Fe for almost a week and has gained a lot of benefits. This is not the point. The point is that he has formed a tacit understanding with the people of the East Coast on the other side and reached some economic complementarity agreements.

An official who was born into an aristocratic illegitimate son, actually has a very clear mind. He knows very well why he was able to defeat many competitors who were eyeing him and successfully entered the district of Buenos Aires, such a large prosecution court. It is not because many people think he is familiar with East Coast affairs and has a good relationship with East Coast people.

As early as when he was in the city of Maolin and Santiago, Mr. Constantine de Owando was a well-known "pro-East Coast" bureaucrat, who was once suppressed by conservative aristocracy and church forces. However, in recent years, with the drastic changes in the international situation, the Kingdom of Spain and the East Coast Republic of China have a tendency to become closer ties, and the relationship between the two countries has also risen to a new level. Therefore, the Kingdom of Spain has gradually adjusted its policies and decided to build the East Coast significantly to help. Therefore, people like Owando have been operating in time and generally have risen faster.

As a smart man, Ovando certainly understood that Madrid and Lima needed him, a pro-East sent to take charge of the Buenos Aires trial court district on the east coast, and used the relatively good relationship between the two sides to engage in trade with the east coast, prosper the local economy, and eliminate the threat of war. Therefore, even though some nobles or religious forces in the jurisdiction opposed him, he still did his own thing and fully opened up the economy of La Plata, and abolished all previous policy obstacles that restricted trade. Of course, this may not be without the role of the silver bullet offensive of the East Coast people.

Perhaps some people will find it difficult to understand why the Spanish royal family turned like this, which is actually easy to understand, because the Spanish royal family has once again seen who they want and the most deadly enemy: there is no doubt that it is the Kingdom of France of Louis XIV. This kingdom is Spain's evil neighbor, and is always trying to seize Spain's land and even the crown (this thing that bullies the orphans and widows of the Habsburg royal family is particularly unbearable). In comparison, what the people on the East Coast coveted was nothing more than the colonies of the Spanish Kingdom in the New Great 6, and the threat was far smaller than that of France.

Therefore, the two evils are the least. The Spanish are very clear about what interests can be abandoned at the last moment (a nice saying can be exchanged) and which ones cannot be abandoned. France is close at hand, and what they are seeking to seize are the core territory of Spain, and these cannot be retreated. The people on the east coast are far away in the sky, and they are seeking to seize the wild land that is deserted and uninhabited. When the situation is critical, they can be used to trade, so it is clear how to choose.

What's more, the East Coast people were really righteous this time. In the peace negotiations held in Aachen, their representatives repeatedly pointed out that the "natural rights and interests" of the Kingdom of Spain in the Caribbean should be protected, because this is the promise of the Pope and is sacred. Any country should stop illegally occupying Spanish territory in the Caribbean, and establish a timetable for the return of the land already occupied to safeguard the interests of the Kingdom of Spain.

This term was naturally greatly ridiculed by the representatives of the French Kingdom, and clamoring to let the Spaniards take it themselves. The mediated officials of the United Provincial Department were also quite embarrassed because their country had also occupied some islands here. The people on the East Coast said so, and they were beaten down with one blow.

Faced with the arrogant attitude of the French envoy, the East Coast representative pointed out that the French navy hid in Toulon and Dunkirk fortresses "as shy as women". Their largest base in the Caribbean Sea was under the control of the 6th Army of the East Coast Sea. If necessary, the powerful 6th Army of the East Coast Sea would not mind the Second Battle and completely occupy all the French strongholds in the Caribbean. At that time, I don't know what kind of expression King Louis would have.

The East Coast people's justice attitude has won great favor from the Spanish royal family. The Spanish royal family is really too isolated and helpless now. There are many people in the country who are eyeing orphans and widows. The former king's illegitimate son still holds great power, and Austrian relatives have betrayed them. If it weren't for the support and tradition of some great nobles loyal to the late King Philip, Madrid would have changed?

Therefore, they resolutely ended the war with the Portuguese, recognized their independence, and established closer relations with the East Coast, temporarily "forgot" the betrayal of Austrian relatives, and flirted with them to put pressure on France, because this powerful neighbor was their desired enemy. In this context, it is not difficult to understand that people like Constantine de Ovando have taken power, they are all routines.

In the livestock market with a odor, Ovando couldn't stand it after staying for a few minutes, and then hid at the dock beside him and breathed fresh air. At this time, another East Coast fleet was sailing from the surface of the Parana River. Two of them looked quite strange, probably their new dredging ships were newly developed by their modern special ship factory.

In fact, Owando guessed correctly. These two ships were indeed something that modern factories recently tinkered with. They came to the Parana River Basin to clean the dirt and had experimental properties. This type of ship is called "erosion dredger". Simply put, the ship is equipped with a rotating conical cutter with many cutting edges. The rotation degree of the cutter is about tens of rotations per minute, and is driven by a marine steam engine. The cutter cuts the material on the riverbed and produces centrifugal flow to help the river water take away the chopped particles. It sounds quite good, but I don't know how it is actually used. I hope the effect is good.
Chapter completed!