Chapter 509: Survival of the Fittest (Third update, please subscribe)

1870 was not a good year for many Argentines.

This year, the South China Army that occupied Buenos Aires Province launched an attack on other provinces. Bad news came one after another and those colonels and officers all surrendered.

Although life is a bit difficult and although death has cast a shadow on almost every family, for ordinary people, life must go on.

After all, they are still alive!

Although for them, Argentina has disappeared from the world since that time, and at most exists only in their hearts.

But eventually they will forget it all, after all, people always forget.

San Juan Province is a remote province. Despite its remoteness, it was one of the first provinces to surrender. In return, the high officials and generals were able to keep their power and wealth, and the same was true for government officials. It seemed that the war did not affect them much.

For those powerful people, the change of dynasties did not seem to have much impact on them. After all, their wealth did not decrease. In fact, their wealth might even increase further because of this social unrest.

Like all landowners, although Smith was a British expatriate, it did not prevent him from becoming a major in the local militia. Only the largest local landowner could become a major in the militia. This was a tradition for many years.

As the largest landlord in the town, after the senior officials surrendered, he also rationally chose to surrender!

Surrender, it's no big deal. There is no need for him to sacrifice his life and wealth for Argentina.

For him, it makes no difference who is the ruler of this land. What matters most?

Of course it is personal wealth!

As usual, while enjoying breakfast, Smith unfolded the newspaper, which was the San Juan Daily in the province, which was delivered from San Juan City every other week. With just a quick glance, he saw a big news.

"Oh my God! How could this happen!"

"Dad, what's wrong?"

Murphy asked while having breakfast.

“Buenos Aires has changed its name!”

"What?"

Murphy put down the glass of milk and said in surprise.

"Changed name, what name did you change it to?"

"Yingtian!"

Smith sighed.

"Well, I guess we will change our name soon. After all, the South Chinese have conquered this place now."

The change of place names is normal and reasonable. If Britain occupied Argentina, Buenos Aires might have become an Anglicized place name.

This was what any conqueror had to do, and even in Smith's opinion, they were doing it a little too late.

"Change the name? To what name? Will it affect us?"

Murphy said with concern.

"It shouldn't have any impact. When the senior officials signed the surrender agreement, it was clearly written that they would guarantee the safety of our property. This was the condition of the surrender at the time."

If you surrender, life can go on. What will be the result if you resist?

The property of the resisters would be confiscated. In order to save their own property, they would surrender, which was certainly a matter of course.

"The most important wealth in Argentina is land, and no matter how the regime changes, it will not change this."

Looking out the window, Smith smiled.

"Our tenants will continue to work for us and create wealth for us on our farms, but of course, we have to actively adapt to these changes..."

Every smart person will adapt to the various changes in society and change their direction with the wind.

Only those who are foolish would resist the irresistible. In that resistance, what have they lost?

Everything!

Looking at his sixteen-year-old daughter, Smith thought for a moment and then said.

"Merphy, I'm going to send you to Bu... Yes, it should be called Yingtian now. You have to remember this place name. From now on, that city is called Yingtian. You will go there to study, and of course you have to learn Chinese. After all, they are the rulers of this land now."

As a British immigrant, Smith knew very well what choice was the most advantageous. Sending his daughter to Yingtian to study, learn Chinese, and eventually integrate into Yingtian's social circle, or even his daughter marrying a South China military officer, were all possible.

Just last year, Smith had even considered finding an Argentinian officer as her daughter's fiancé. Now that Argentina no longer exists, those officers are certainly out of the question.

Of course, he also had new candidates, those Nanhua officers. This was no big deal. As an immigrant, he had to take the initiative to make friends with the local dignitaries and use all means.

Just as Smith had speculated, half a month later, with the arrival of an order, the city of San Juan was renamed Jeju, and the provinces of San Juan, La Rio, and Cabacca were merged and renamed "Shandong".

Finally, it's time for change!

At the end of 1870, with the issuance of an imperial edict, the provinces of Buenos Aires and Entreos were renamed Nanzhili. After the merger of provinces, the Ming Dynasty established Shanxi (Chile), Shandong, Youzhou, Bingzhou, Jizhou, Qingzhou, Yuzhou, Yanzhou and Liangzhou (Nanhua) from north to south.

Faced with sudden changes, reactions from all over the world were both expected and unexpected.

It was common for the occupiers to change the names of places, but this change caused a stir in the Ming Dynasty. In almost every city, people gathered on the sidewalks and even in the middle of the streets, huddled together, and discussed the changes in place names.

At the same time, they comforted each other, knowing that this was an inevitable change. However, rumors were still circulating that they were required to "naturalize their surnames", and the list of "naturalized people" seemed to prove the truth of this rumor.

Crowds of people gathered on the streets, trying to confirm the rumors from the official side, but the official response was simple - it was just a rumor. People were obviously not reassured by such an answer, and for a time, all kinds of rumors were circulating everywhere.

Undercurrent surges!

When all kinds of rumors were flying and undercurrents were surging, some people were also connecting with each other. Those landowners who relied on surrender to preserve their wealth were also paying attention to the changes in the situation. They once not only possessed wealth, but also power.

Some of them were high officials, some were colonels, some were parliamentarians, and now, they were just landlords, because the conquerors did not need their services. In fact, compared to those who resisted to the end, they were undoubtedly lucky, at least their wealth was preserved, and they just handed over their troops.

But how can anyone who has enjoyed the aphrodisiac of power forget the beauty of power?

“This is our chance!”

In the smoking room of the manor, amid the smoke, a dozen well-dressed manor owners gathered in a room, and Forrest looked at them and said.

"Whether it's the merger of other provinces or the change of the provincial name, it has brought unprecedented shocks to everyone. Through the spread of rumors, everyone is now in a state of panic. This is our last chance!"

"Opportunity? Since we have seized this opportunity, what can we do? Even if the people launched an uprising, can they resist the suppression of the army?"

Mendoza's tone was filled with doubt.

As one of the largest landowners in Buenos Aires... no, in Southern Zhili, he never thought that this conspiracy would have any effect. After all, the combat effectiveness of the Ming army was extremely strong, even in Europe.

"Mendoza, my friend, they can't resist the army's attack, and their uprising will be suppressed. But, gentlemen, there are many things we can do when the people riot. We can turn to the government. We must make the officials realize that they need us as intermediaries in their future rule. With our support, their rule will be more stable."

Standing up, Forrest looked at his friends sitting there and said.

"Just like when we ruled the Indians in the past, we also need a middle class to buffer the hostility of the Indians towards us. We must take advantage of this opportunity to let those people stand up and oppose Nanhua's rule. Only in this way will they realize our importance! Realize that we are an indispensable party in their rule over this land!"

(End of this chapter)