Rise of the Argentine Empire

Saint Hérse finally breathed a sigh of relief. The city's stores and hotels had ordered a total of eight thousand cases of goods. Each case contained six cans, making it 48,000 cans in total.

The wholesale price was 300 pesos per case, with a comprehensive cost of 200 pesos per case. With future economies of scale, the cost could be further reduced. These eight thousand cases meant a profit of 800,000 pesos, equivalent to 16,000 US dollars.

This was quite a profit, and because the payment was made in cash upon delivery, the deposit for the entire batch of goods reached 400,000 pesos. The 800,000 pesos available in the short term could be used to do many things.

This was the output of one production line in 24 days. Now, they could produce 2,000 cans a day, and the workers' wages could be paid half a month later. It seemed like expansion was on the horizon.

With an initial victory, doing business was indeed more profitable, even if it was just opening a small cannery, with a little bit of timing and luck.

He contacted someone to have the middleman order goods, and to smuggle in the second and third packaging production lines, as well as supporting materials, so that he could continue to expand production in the future.

Recently, besides socializing with other colleagues (drinking, boasting, and eating barbecue), Saint Hérse would run to the cannery as soon as he got off work.

However, by the time he got there after work, it was already seven or eight o'clock, and the factory was about to get off work as well. He had to resort to other methods, such as taking leave.

At first, the leave approval officer at the headquarters said that he was fair and just, and that Saint Hérse's leave application did not meet the requirements. Saint Hérse almost believed this little fatty who was full of alcohol and looked so upright.

Saint Hérse once said to people in his later years about this history,

"At that time, I didn't want to go to work. That little fatty originally didn't agree with me taking leave at all, until one time he pointed to the tequila in his office, and then I understood. So I tried to get a case of tequila, and then I could take leave at will, but I still didn't dare to be too arrogant."

.....

This year, Argentina's drought has continued to worsen due to the weather. In previous years, rainfall was concentrated from November to March of the following year, but this year, the country's rainfall was significantly less than usual, resulting in poor harvests of wheat and other grain crops, as well as fruit crops. Some people used groundwater irrigation to save themselves.

As the world's granary, Argentina was even preparing to import wheat from Brazil. The prices of agricultural and sideline products have risen. In later generations' terms, the Engel's coefficient was very high.

The price of Prari's canned fruit was relatively not particularly expensive, and even quite conscientious, as a substitute for daily fruit.

The second production line has been arranged in place. The simple production line is currently implementing a two-shift work system, increasing the output per hour.

On average, 200 cans can now be produced per hour. With 16 hours of production per day, there will be an output of 4,800 cans per day. The increase in canned goods is very fast, four to five times larger than before.

It can basically meet the sudden surge in demand in the city. After all, the scheduled orders have now exceeded 25,000 cases, and some middlemen have already begun to transfer them to other provinces to seek profit. Considering that the current population of the city of Córdoba is less than 700,000, it is equivalent to one case of canned goods being purchased for every 28 people, which is quite astonishing.

The sales in high-end stores are the fastest. Wealthy people take goods in batches of ten cases for gifts, and even have extra packaging done. Ordinary people will also buy one or two cans, while some people will grit their teeth and take a case for gifts, achieving canned food freedom.

The explosive sales volume made Saint Hérse even consider a three-shift production method, but after some consideration, he eventually gave up.

Córdoba's union organization is relatively weak, and unemployed people are eager to work. It would not be good to re-expand the recruitment in the short term, in case the canned goods are no longer popular, and let these people become unemployed. His conscience would not allow it. Saint Hérse felt that he was not a black-hearted person.

This small canned food whirlwind has spread to the surrounding suburban towns. Everyone likes this "American product" that looks high-end but is actually not luxuriously priced.

The entire market is relatively blank now, due to the country's strong trade protection, commonly known as closing the country to international intercourse.

In Western Europe, production is recovering after World War II. The Marshall Plan is powerful. The prices of products coming from international trade are too expensive.

Due to the Perón government's "Third Way," it has been impossible to obtain new production equipment from the United States at the official level in recent years. This is what allowed Saint Hérse to take advantage of the opportunity. More importantly,

Due to import substitution industrialization and protectionism, the domestic "infant industry" has a continuous downward trend, coupled with structural defects in the industry, its competitiveness is very poor. Saint Hérse, through a simple trick, pursuing the cost-effectiveness of production and sales, is enough to gain super competitiveness.

The remaining three production lines have been smuggled in from the border, entering the country from the city of Salto, Uruguay, to Concordia in the country. Saint Hérse chartered two carriages, which will arrive at the Córdoba Central Railway Station in about three days.

Now protectionism is rampant in Argentina, and tariffs are particularly high. If you go through normal channels, you will have to triple the existing price at least, and Argentina is located in South America. Only Western Europe and the United States have developed food industries, but they are actually very far away.

The country has stopped foreign investment in factories. Córdoba is located inland, and most of the factories are opened by locals and state-owned factories. Other occasional local joint ventures do not produce canned goods.

Relations with Western Europe, especially the United Kingdom, have some small contradictions due to nationalization. Spain's Franco dictatorship is recovering poorly after the war. France, Italy, and the Federal Republic of Germany are working hard to restore domestic production, and even have to import equipment from the United States, so the export is a bit tight.

Uruguay, as a country with the same ancestry as Argentina, has relatively good relations, and most border transportation is done with a blind eye.

Recently, the cannery has recruited another 100 workers. After all, these so-called production lines are only semi-automatic packaging production lines, and most of the processes still require manual operation.

Saint Hérse also recruited 10 security personnel to form a security team. The number of people in the entire factory has reached as many as 170, and one-third of the entire 3,000 square meters of the factory is filled with production processes.

These past two days he purchased materials in the market. He originally wanted to recruit a few electricians to train and customize a simple assembly line, but it turned out that there was no electrician occupation in the entire Córdoba, and even carpenters were hard to find.

This made Saint Hérse very nostalgic for that country with demographic dividend and talent dividend. There are only a few vocational schools in the entire Córdoba, and they are basically commercial schools. There are only a few universities, which are all for cultivating high-end professions such as doctors and lawyers.

Currently, only a little over half of the people in Córdoba can attend middle school, except for the Gauchos. National high schools, although the people of the entire country are relatively wealthy, the population is still too small. Currently, only eight percent of the people in the entire country have attended university.

It may be better in a few years, but with such a small population, it is not easy to engage in scaled industries. Thinking about the fast-developing major countries in the world, they are all populous countries.

Japan currently has seventy to eighty million people, and it's poised for rapid development in the coming years. Although Germany is divided into two, West Germany still has over forty million people, and even the smaller East Germany has nearly twenty million, surpassing Argentina's current population. It seems a bit challenging to develop with that kind of competition.

Oh right, South Korea, which rose to prominence after World War II, also has over twenty million people. Saint Hesser is now considering issues with a grander vision.

Without a sufficient population, there isn't a large enough domestic market or enough labor. It's better to have more people; there's strength in numbers. The great man was indeed great. It seems I need to go there and seriously study his works. Even learning a bit of his dragon-slaying skills might lead to significant progress.

Saint Hesser was lost in thought, suddenly understanding why the Republic of Argentina had developed so slowly and even regressed.

Carefully examining the history after World War II, the newly emerging industrialized countries and regions, the 'Four Asian Tigers,' were all populous nations, except for the special cases of Hong Kong and Singapore, which were cities.

Even Hong Kong later had seven million people with the mainland as its support. Singapore is at the core of Indonesia and Malaysia, possessing the crucial Strait of Malacca, attracting a large number of talents, a fully internationalized metropolis.

Argentina also has the broadest Spanish-speaking system. Besides Brazil, its neighbors like Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Peru are currently relatively weak. If it could develop rapidly, it might attract more immigrants like the United States.

Encouraging domestic births, the population could rapidly increase, perhaps becoming a nation with nearly a hundred million people, instead of just over forty million in the twenty-first century of another timeline.

Looking at Iran, Egypt, Nigeria, and even Pakistan and Bangladesh, these countries have so many people. Except for Bangladesh being weaker in later years, they are all quite powerful nations.

For a moment, Saint Hesser had an ambition. If these military governments can hold power, why can't I, Saint Hesser?

Are kings, lords, generals, and ministers born with a special privilege?

…

Most skilled workers come from various vocational schools, but because the industry is average, talent is very scarce.

Of course, university talents disdain doing these jobs, preferring to go to government public units or become doctors or lawyers, which not only have high status but also earn money.

This is a bit embarrassing. In the end, they could only find a few clever dropouts for simple training, hire an electrician and a carpenter at high salaries to provide apprentice education, and, through installation and using modern knowledge to set up a simple assembly line, finally expand the production speed to 4,000 units a day.

Finally, he breathed a sigh of relief. It seems he will soon have to set up an office in the capital. The market in the entire Cordoba is almost occupied. Small countries are like this. Currently, it is almost closed off. He can't engage in exports or anything; he can only make a little money for fun.

If the policy doesn't change, this cannery can only reach the scale of five production lines at most. Subsequently, he can only expand the categories and then get involved in other industries, such as meat canning.

But there is a difficult problem to solve, which is steel production. Currently, the entire vast country of Argentina has an annual steel production of less than 300,000 tons, which is a bit dumbfounding.

Steel also requires quotas, which is a bit like a skilled housewife unable to cook without rice.

It should be known that in later generations, a certain city concealed a steel production of 30 million tons, but it seems that the country's iron ore reserves are also a bit low.

It's also time to consider what to do next. The goal of going to university is still the top priority.

Currently, the cannery can only be small-scale, earning some extra money to provide some activity funds.

To develop the cannery, talent is still very lacking. Recently, a factory director will also need to be recruited. The foundation has been basically laid.

The next step is to get into the university in the capital. Saint Hesser's goal is the largest university in the country, the University of Buenos Aires.

Moreover, a small-scale Saint Hesser study group has also begun to recruit some core members.

People from his hometown are more familiar and reliable, a bond of kinship.

However, because Saint Hesser currently only has a high school education, he even plans to bring some dropouts from the village to carry out 'village school' education, but he gave up considering the difficulty of implementation.

Currently, domestic education is not completely free, and the Gaucho people's ideological awareness is a bit lacking, so there are many Gaucho dropouts. Saint Hesser is considered to be doing particularly well and has more influence.

He plans to go to the village in a few days during the holidays to see if there are any talents that can be recruited.

Lack of people, a severe lack, and an even greater lack of talent.

Just a couple of cats and dogs.

Nothing can be carried out. He can only lie low and secretly develop. As for the Gaucho military progress organization, it is also planned to be formally established tonight to carry out a fellowship activity and conduct some defense and counter-infiltration.

It's time to unite so that they can fight for some benefits in this chaotic battle between the National Defense Force, the City Guard, local families, and government departments.

Although the Gaucho people are not considered a particularly reliable group, who made Saint Hesser only have this group to rely on? It is impossible for Saint Hesser to be a lapdog.

Therefore, Saint Hesser hasn't accepted much of the recruitment from the other forces, and the recent down payments received and the cannery's funds have given Saint Hesser some confidence.

After all, money makes the world go round, and heroes are helpless without it. Even if Saint Hesser brags, drinks, and connects with people, it's still not as effective as some pesos.

If you think of them as too stupid, you will be tricked miserably sooner or later. Of course, they will unite around him somewhat in consideration of Saint Hesser's face, which is actually under the money offensive. After all, few people believe in ideals before their wings are fully formed.

Moreover, the City Guard and even the Gaucho people have been mostly corrupted, but considering the cannery and other things, this backing is still necessary.

Unless Saint Hesser plans to break away from this quagmire of Cordoba, but in that case, these vampires will not let Saint Hesser have a good time.

According to reports from his subordinates, some people have been investigating around the cannery recently. The cannery's profits may have to be given up somewhat.

Saint Hesser brought his confidants, riding in a three-wheeled motorcycle, wearing a slightly flamboyant military coat, preparing to go to the Aclara Grand Hotel. Several colleagues followed behind, enviously watching the cars in the city. There are probably not even a thousand cars in Cordoba city now. The roads are still filled with horse-drawn carriages, bicycles, and some motorcycles.

The cold wind whistled, although it wasn't particularly cold. There weren't many pedestrians on the road. Half of the shops were closed, and half were open, a bit desolate. Occasionally, there were gang fights. Seeing this three-wheeled motorcycle with military license plates, they immediately retreated. What's more impressive is that there were no beggars on the entire main road, which is considered good.

"When I have money, I must buy a small car to sit in first. Sitting in this three-wheeled motorcycle feels a bit like a puppet soldier…," Saint Hesser thought, then wrapped his coat tighter and held onto the hat on his head to prevent it from being blown away by the wind.