Rise of the Argentine Empire

Córdoba's government, composed of the mayor and government councilors, is hailed as a "democratic government."

Recently, some chaos has begun within the city, with some wealthy families even fleeing to the distant suburbs, and the more extreme ones running to the capital. The most impressive ones, I heard, are immigrating to the United States.

The national defense troops from other places seem to have become the elite, creating major conflicts with the local forces. However, they are currently quite restrained, except for a few unlucky fellows causing trouble.

This has greatly annoyed Councilor Campos, who is eager to interfere in military affairs and even attempt to run for mayor. He invited San José to dinner at the Córdoba Grand Hotel several times, but San José refused, claiming to be ill. If he weren't drinking and eating roasted lamb at the camp, loudly making merry and acting crazy, Campos would almost have believed him!

"He, a gaucho, dares to despise me. I'll make him pay sooner or later," Campos muttered, holding a valuable vase. He was about to smash it to create some imposing presence, but seeing that it cost 20,000 pesos from the antique shop, he reluctantly put it down.

Councilor Campos can be considered ambitious. He graduated from the law school of the most prestigious university in Argentina, the University of Buenos Aires. He has Western-style handsome looks, typical of Italian descent.

Through his hard work, he latched onto the coattails of the current Mayor Pirán, becoming one of the 36 councilors in the Córdoba City Senate at the young age of 31. He's doing quite well, except that his wife is a 300-pound fatty, even though her father is a former Córdoba province official, now Mayor Pirán.

Pirán's position is still far inferior to Commander Patton Thompson, and Thompson is a significant figure in Argentina's famous Durant family.

The Thompson family history can be traced back to the era of the former Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. They were the top nobility of the former Uruguay province. After Uruguay's independence, they moved to Córdoba province and remain one of the most powerful families in Argentina.

Although Thompson doesn't have much talent, in this country, a noble bloodline is a major asset. Moreover, Pirán is almost sixty years old, and his energy is waning. He's only the number two figure in Córdoba.

Córdoba's four major local families are like local emperors. Recently, the national defense troops' attempt to seize power has given everyone a chance. They are starting to wait for the highest bidder, hoping to sell themselves for a good price and observing the situation.

However, these big events don't have much to do with San José. If he gets involved, even if any side takes power, the gauchos' situation won't improve, and they might even be forced out of the military.

Therefore, San José hasn't pledged allegiance to any family. He's just keeping in touch with other gaucho squad soldiers, contacting them frequently, and even looking for promising individuals to send to the "San José Squad" for training.

As for Campos, he's just a clown being pushed forward by others. San José doesn't delve too deeply into it.

He's making some bad plans, even thinking about buying some shops in the city, hoping to start a small business when the time comes.

The storm in the city is intensifying. Some small families are even selling houses and commercial shops at low prices, and San José, being a small local tyrant, is starting to amass wealth, lending at high interest rates, and even considering opening a small-scale commercial bank to absorb deposits and loans, but he has to give up due to insufficient capital.

After all, having experienced an era of great economic development, San José is working hard to think of opportunities to make money.

As for his main job of patrolling, he'll let the bald Aragon take care of that.

San José reads books and newspapers every day, including the International Financial News. One day, he saw a foreign news item.

"The São Paulo Stock Exchange is preparing to formally reform at the end of June and will establish an office in New York to welcome international and domestic clients to open accounts for investment…"

"The Buenos Aires Stock Exchange will open on July 1st, with three new companies listing for trading, including the Argentine National Railway Corporation… With over 90 years of rapid development, the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange will establish offices in London and New York, more than 30 years earlier than neighboring countries' stock exchanges…"

Good heavens, these two South American rivals! But now and in the future, Argentina is becoming increasingly weak. The country's strength is still no match for Brazil.

San José is very interested in stock speculation and even wants to invest some money to try it out, but after looking at his bank account balance, he decides against it. Moreover, he's not clear about the market trends at this point in time.

"Nine out of ten stock speculators lose," he still remembers losing almost everything in his previous life. Although money should be easy to make, his current capital isn't necessary, and it requires professionals. It's better to do some "small business" here.

Although Córdoba won't expand much in the future, with a population of only a million even in the 21st century, the shops are still quite valuable. He can buy some land and try to start a small factory, slowly expanding it.

Argentina is still lacking in light industrial development, and even food processing has huge opportunities. Except for state-owned enterprises, most of the processing factories are small or even nonexistent.

The entire country exports a lot of primary agricultural products, but very few processed products. This is a huge opportunity. Even starting a food processing plant has the opportunity to make big money. Nearby countries like Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile, and Peru are huge markets, and even Brazil can be included.

Getting some canning machines to process beef and mutton cans, fruit cans, all have certain business opportunities. Córdoba is backed by the Pampas grasslands, and these newly established state-owned enterprises won't develop much in the next few decades, and will be quickly swallowed by local tycoons and foreign capital during economic reforms. Although Argentina has a small population, there are many pseudo-middle class, with great consumption potential.

After much research, he decides to start in Córdoba, first looking for canning machines. After the war, the United States should have a lot of surplus food industry machinery. They are preparing for the Cold War, so importing a fruit canning machine shouldn't be too difficult. As for other disturbances, it's nothing. South America and North America are legendary chosen lands with very few wars.

Córdoba is one of the domestic transit stations. Local fruits available year-round include grapes, peaches, plums, apricots, cherries, grapefruits, sweet oranges, tangerines, apples, pears, etc., with abundant raw materials.

But this year, Argentina is experiencing a drought, and fruit production has been severely reduced. Retail prices are very expensive. Ordinary families rarely buy fruit unless necessary. This is a great opportunity.

Except for cherries, the others have the potential to make fruit cans. Domestic consumption is still very weak because the products are relatively simple. It's a state of having money but nothing to buy, and there's not much competition.

He asks Aragon and others to scout for shops and venues in the city, and even plans to personally go to Buenos Aires, where there are a group of American smugglers. He needs to find production equipment there.

American industries are currently severely oversupplied, but they can't open up the Argentine market. Opening up this market will be a matter of three or four years.