The Rise of the European Emperor

In fact, the discovery of Panama is much more than that. After owning Panama, you can not only use it as a base to sail to China and Japan on the other side, but also use it as a center to attack the Aztec Empire in Mexico in the north, or the Inca Empire in Peru in the south.

It can be said that Panama is a transportation hub in the Western Hemisphere. It can not only open routes to Asia, but also become a transit point for control of Peru and Mexico. In particular, Peru, historically, the gold and silver plundered by the Spaniards from Peru were all transported to the Caribbean side by land via the Isthmus of Panama, and then shipped back to Spain.

Now, Panama is about to fall into Marin's hands, Peru's gold and silver... Well, Marin intends to "reluctantly" accept...

As for digging the Panama Canal, Marin never thought about it. As for why? Of course, the water level difference between the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea!

The water level difference between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean on the other side of the Isthmus of Panama is as high as 20 meters. Such terrain is completely unsuitable for building ordinary canals, and must be supplemented by large mechanized locks. This kind of huge ship lock requires high-power machines to lift extra-large gates weighing dozens or hundreds of tons, which is completely impossible with the current technology.

Even if Ada had developed a steam engine, Marin would not have chosen to build a Panama Canal that would require large locks. Because Ada's early steam engine was not up to such an important task. Moreover, the residual heat of the steam engine is very long, and the steam boilers of many battleships need to be ignited an hour in advance, otherwise they will not be able to run. If the steam engine controls the gate, it is estimated that the ship will wait to die, and the cost is also very high, and the safety is not guaranteed.

Therefore, Marin still intends to learn from the Spaniards and directly open up a land route. Anyway, the isthmus of Panama is only a few tens of kilometers wide. If the gold and silver from Peru are transported to the Pacific side, it is entirely possible for people to use a horse-drawn cart to load the gold and silver, transport it from the land to the Caribbean side, and then change the ship. Similarly, trade with Huaxia can also refer to this example.

In the future, Marin intends to build a concrete road across the isthmus near the Panama Canal. The cement road is smooth, not afraid of rainy weather, but also convenient for land transportation.

You know, Panama has a tropical rainforest climate with a lot of rainfall. If it is an ordinary dirt road, once it rains, the carriage carrying gold and silver can easily get stuck on the road and cannot move. With the cement road, it is much easier, not only can it continue to be transported when it rains, but also the resistance of the carriage is greatly reduced, which can greatly improve the speed of the carriage.

In the more distant future, if steam engines and trains are successfully developed, Marin also plans to build a railroad track in the Isthmus of Panama, and use small trains to transport goods, which is faster and more convenient.

Of course, the terrifying Panama is far more difficult than this. What is even more terrifying in the Panama area is that there are many poisonous insects and mosquitoes in the area, and it is easy to infect a very terrifying disease-yellow fever.

Yellow fever has a high mortality rate, and even in later generations, there is no "magic bullet" like cinchona for malaria. Therefore, in the development of Panama, yellow fever is the biggest threat.

This is why Marin chose Grenada as the first tropical colony, because Grenada does not have these poisonous insects and mosquitoes, and people will not die easily.

At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, when the Panama Canal was built, more than 30,000 people died because of yellow fever and malaria (only a small number of people died of malaria because of the anti-malarial cinchona).

However, Marin also has a way to deal with this. That is——Marin intends to cut down all the trees around the land road through the isthmus, even the taller shrubs!

That's because, Marin knew, yellow fever was mainly spread through mosquito bites. And mosquitoes have a big feature - that is, they have to hide in the shade during the day. If exposed to the sun, it will also die.

Therefore, during the day, mosquitoes generally hide in shady and damp woods, or in bushes near water. Don't dare to come out and bite until the sun goes down.

Marlin lets you cut down surrounding trees and tall shrubs, especially those near water. That way, there will be fewer mosquitoes without a place to hide.

When there are fewer mosquitoes, build roads, and then engage in transportation, it will be much safer.

...

Moreover, Marin not only planned to cut down those big trees and shrubs, but also planned to replace the weeds on the roadside with a magical herb that can naturally repel mosquitoes - wormwood...

Wormwood is a kind of traditional Chinese medicine with many effects. Mo Zhigen and Bartle brought some wormwood seeds and successfully cultivated them in the glass greenhouse in Marin.

In a previous life, in Marin's hometown, people liked to use wormwood, and they would pick wormwood and put it at home during the Dragon Boat Festival. Moreover, in summer, you can also light the dried wormwood as a natural mosquito coil. Such natural mosquito coils can not only repel mosquitoes, but also non-toxic and do not affect health. In later generations, many families with small babies will choose to go to the countryside to pick wormwood by themselves in order to prevent mosquito coils from poisoning their babies, and they will order dried wormwood in summer as a healthy version of mosquito coils. It can repel mosquitoes and does not harm the baby.

In the past few years, the few wormwood seeds that Mo Zhigen and Battelle brought have been cultivated into large wormwood meadows. The viability of wormwood is extremely strong, whether it is temperate or tropical (not in cold zone), it can be planted. Mosquitoes are not willing to approach where there is wormwood.

Marin's plan was to build a concrete road in the Isthmus of Panama. Then, in a wide area on both sides of the cement road, all wormwood is planted.

The smell of wormwood can keep mosquitoes away. In the concrete road area surrounded by wormwood, mosquitoes will naturally decrease. At that time, transportation in Panama will be safer...

Thinking of this, Marin patted his head regretfully - Columbus should bring some wormwood seeds and scatter them directly in Panama.

However, that's okay. It won't be too late to sow wormwood seeds when someone is sent to colonize Panama next time.

In order to obtain enough wormwood seeds, Marin decided to send enough people this fall to collect as many wormwood seeds as possible on the wormwood meadow for planting in Panama.

Even Marin intends that, no matter which tropical colony is opened up, wormwood will become a standard must-have plant for the colonists. He intends to use a decree to force the colonists' houses to be filled with wormwood before and after, so that mosquitoes are reluctant to approach. After the picked leaves are dried, they can also be lit at night and used as mosquito coils, which can be said to serve multiple purposes.

In the future, Marin relied on a variety of wormwood and the use of wormwood mosquitoes, so that when Marin's colonists developed tropical colonies, very few people died of diseases, which became a miracle in colonial history. ...