Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 84 Undercurrent
ps: Thanks to Nanyang Empire and Bawangyingshanggong12 for the reward support.

The Bolivian Indians originally carried out agricultural production in a collective cooperative community.

In the early days of independence, the new generation of leader Bolivar respected the production customs of the Indians. In terms of national policy, he implemented a policy of protecting the Indians and prohibited white people from plundering Indian land.

However, after Bolivar's death, caudillo leaders representing the large estate owners and mining owners came to power. They directed their struggle against the Indians and began the process of brutally plundering Indian land.

After the brutal and violent Melgarejo's coup succeeded, he intensified his plunder of the Indians in order to gain the support of the Bolivian landowners.

In March 1866, he issued a decree stipulating that all land belonged to the state. If Indians wanted to legally occupy state land, they had to register within two months of the decree and pay a considerable fee to redeem private land. Those who failed to register and did not have land certificates would have their land confiscated and auctioned publicly.

The Indians' production was backward, and the property they earned from agricultural labor was not enough to pay for the land. Therefore, many Indians lost their land because they could not afford the land fees.

According to statistics, within one year of the promulgation of the decree, the land of 109 communes in La Paz province alone was auctioned by the government. The Melgarejo regime earned a total of pounds from this land auction.

This blatant plunder of the Indians aroused fierce resistance from the Indians. In 1866, when the decree was promulgated, Indians rioted in La Paz Province. Although the uprising was eventually suppressed, Melgarejo's cruel treatment of the Indians divided the ruling class.

In Bolivia, a large number of military and political figures who believed in Bolivar's political ideas were dissatisfied with Melgarejo's rule. They believed that Melgarejo had abandoned the political principles of equality and freedom of all ethnic groups established when Bolivar founded the country, and that his actions would push Bolivia into the abyss.

There were undercurrents in Bolivia, and the arrival of the Chinese independence army was like a boiling stone thrown into boiling water, exacerbating the situation.

"General Adolfo, we can't let Melgarejo do whatever he wants. If he continues like this, Bolivia will be finished," said Bolivian political veteran Frias excitedly.

The middle-aged man in front of him frowned, and beads of sweat appeared on his forehead under the tall military cap because of the fierce battle between two thoughts in his brain.

The middle-aged man was probably in his fifties, tall and thin, with a pair of glasses on his eyes. If he were not wearing a military uniform, it would be hard to associate him with the majestic Bolivian general.

"The Chinese rebels have invaded Bolivia. At this critical juncture, we must consider national affairs and cannot fall out with Melgarejo."

Adolfo thought for a long time, and finally his consideration for national interests prevailed, and he spoke.

Adolfo was in poor health. Frias originally wanted to tell him some secret things after he overthrew Melgarejo. However, seeing his current attitude, Frias decided not to hide it anymore and said, "General Adolfo, many things are not as glamorous as Melgarejo claimed. He did too many shameful things behind our backs and the Bolivian people. I was afraid of hurting you by telling you these things before, but now I have to tell you."

Adolfo only learned about the decree to confiscate Indian land after it was issued by the government. In order to make up for the mistake made by Melgarejo, he and other generals forced Melgarejo to stop suppressing the Indians and rescued a large number of Indians. Because of this incident, Adolfo enjoyed a high prestige among the Indians.

However, Adolfo's intervention caused extreme dissatisfaction to Melgarejo. He used the excuse that Adolfo was unwell to transfer him out of the army and sent him back to Sucre to serve as an idle general without real power.

Adolfo didn't care much about being transferred from the army. He believed that as long as he could do something beneficial to the country, personal honor and disgrace were not important.

But from what Frias said, it was clear that Melgarejo had done more bad things than just confiscating Indian land.

"Tell me everything that Melgarejo did behind my back," Adolfo said anxiously.

"According to the Independence Congress of August 1825, the territorial boundaries of Bolivia are: in the north, from the source of the Yabari River to the confluence of the Madeira River; in the south, from Tordos to Central Chaco to Salta; in the east, the Madeira River, Itene River and Paraguay River are the boundaries; in the west, it reaches the Pacific Ocean, with a total area of ​​8 million square kilometers."

Adolfo looked at Frias, wondering why he was introducing the area of ​​Bolivia to him.

Frias tried to slow down his speech to avoid appearing too excited. "In 1863, new saltpeter and guano were discovered in Atacama. Chile claimed that Atacama belonged to Chile and then sent troops to occupy Atacama.

At that time, President De Acha sent people to negotiate with Chile in order to resolve the dispute peacefully. On the other hand, he was actively preparing for war, ready to resolve the dispute by force if the negotiations failed.

But after President de Acha stepped down, the matter was delayed, and then Melgarejo came to power, and he ordered his men to sign a treaty with the Chileans, abandoning the tough stance of defending the territory, drawing a vague line, and tacitly acknowledging Chile's actual control over the Atacama. "

"Didn't Melgarejo claim to take back the sovereignty of Atacama and that the mining rights of the two countries would be shared?"

"He claimed to have taken back sovereignty, but did the Chileans admit it? Moreover, the Atacama is controlled by the Chileans. Even if the Bolivians have the mining rights, they cannot reach the Chilean land!" Frias answered Adolfo's questions with two consecutive answers.

Melgarejo acquiesced to the Chilean occupation of Atacama and signed a treaty that favored the Chileans. Is it possible for Bolivia to take back the territory in the future? Adolfo couldn't help but reflect in his heart.

"Last year, Melgarejo signed a treaty with Argentina, giving the Argentines 170,000 square kilometers of disputed land in the south. Then the Brazilians threatened Melgarejo with force and forced him to sign a treaty, ceding a total of 100,000 square kilometers of rubber-rich land in the eastern Mato Grosso region and the northwestern Acre region to Brazil.

In order to deceive the people at home, Melgarejo claimed that the Brazilians exchanged the ceded land for the right of navigation on the Corumba and Amazon rivers.

Through the three treaties, Bolivia lost at least 370,000 square kilometers of land. Adding the land it actually controls, does Bolivia’s total territory have to be 2 million square kilometers? "

After talking about Melgarejo's traitorous treaty, Frias asked back.

Adolfo's eyes were dazed. He had never thought that Bolivia would lose so much territory after Melgarejo came to power. Frias would not lie to him. Adolfo could use his connections to verify what he said.

Melgarejo had played himself into a mess, and Adolfo's cheeks flushed as he recalled the time last year when he and other generals agreed to award him the Grand Cross of the Order of the Empire.

"Melgarejo is a Bolivian criminal and he should be judged by all Bolivian people."

Adolfo excitedly threw off his military cap, his hands shaking constantly.

"Adolfo, I sent someone to investigate. The Chinese army is not coming to invade Bolivia. They just want to pass through Bolivia."

Frias calmed Adolfo down a bit and continued, "After the Chinese army entered Bolivia, they maintained strict military discipline and did not plunder civilians at all. Moreover, we learned from the Indians in La Paz that the Chinese army also helped them defeat the attack of Balivian's men."

"Balivia, like his brother, only knows how to exploit civilians to satisfy his own selfish desires. It is irresponsible to the country to allow such a person to become the military and political leader of La Paz Province."

Adolfo said bitterly when mentioning Balivian.

"Adolfo, Melgarejo is keeping a close eye on us. We can't act rashly these days. After he leads his troops out of the city, we will reveal the fact that he signed the traitorous treaty, and then join forces with the Chinese army to overthrow his rule."

Adolfo wanted to bring Melgarejo down to trial right now, but after listening to Frias' analysis, he gradually calmed down and said, "You are responsible for contacting the Chinese army, but you must maintain the military discipline of the Chinese army and not let them plunder Bolivian cities."

Without an army, Adolfo would not be able to overthrow Melgarejo even if he exposed his traitorous nature. If it were really that easy, Frias would have done it long ago.

Therefore, although it would be bad to use foreign troops to deal with Melgarejo, Adolfo had no choice but to accept this option. …

The first batch of troops to reinforce Cabas has arrived in La Paz. Melgarejo dealt with some aftermath matters in Sucre and prepared to lead a large force to resist the attack of the Chinese Independence Army.

"How is the situation in Sucre these days?"

Melgarejo asked as he lay down on his chair after finishing his work on the troop mobilization.

"The president announced that he would personally lead the troops to fight against the invading Chinese army. The people in the city responded enthusiastically and all supported the president's decision."

the attendant flattered.

"What has Adolfo been doing lately?"

"General Adolfo has been staying at home recently. Apart from inviting a few generals and politicians with no real power to write poetry and discuss music, he has done nothing else."

"Haha, a dignified Bolivian general studies poetry and music all day long. I think he should change his career and become a poet." Melgarejo said disdainfully.

Although Adolfo was a Bolivian general, he considered himself a poet and musician and did not attach much importance to power. According to original history, after serving as the President of Bolivia for a year, he resigned from the presidency on the pretext of illness and devoted himself to the study of poetry and music.

"The president is magnanimous. Not only did he not mind General Adolfo's rebuttal, he also placed him in a comfortable position. I believe General Adolfo will definitely thank the president."

Melgarejo was in a good mood, and the servants took the opportunity to flatter him.

"Forget it, let's not talk about him. After we are ready, we will set off tomorrow." Melgarejo said easily.

(End of this chapter)