Wild North America 1846

September 21, 1856

After multiple rounds of negotiations, the United Kingdom and the United States reached the Newport Trade Treaty. Many of the trade terms in it took care of the urgent needs of the United Kingdom and significantly reduced tariffs, allowing goods from the United Kingdom to enter the U.S. market more unimpeded.

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As the world's factory, the UK has been committed to promoting trade liberalization policies, striving to break the trade shackles of various countries and win more opportunities for British industrial goods to enter the market.

After the treaty was signed, The Times of London reported excitedly; “This is a trade arrangement that is in line with the fundamental interests of Britain and the United States. It is crucial to closer transatlantic relations and expanding London’s influence in North America.

effect……"

This was a clear signal that attracted great attention from the Tang Kingdom.

Count Juan Carlos, the Kingdom’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, commented on the Newport Trade Treaty in response to reporters’ questions;

"The signing of this treaty is of great significance.

We are pleased to see that the United States has taken a step in the right direction, which will play a strong role in easing conflicts in the transatlantic and North American regions.

The Kingdom of Datang will pay close attention to the development of the situation, and will be committed to the normalization of relations between Tang and the United States in the future, and make tireless efforts for the bright prospects of peaceful development in North America..."

In public, the Tang Dynasty responded to the general public's concerns with diplomatic rhetoric. It is difficult to see the hidden meaning just from the words.

actually

The Tang Kingdom attaches great importance to the close interaction between Britain and the United States. The Newport Trade Treaty is by no means a bilateral trade arrangement that can be ignored, but a landmark event that deserves great attention.

The signing of the treaty showed a 180-degree change in London's policy towards the United States. It also showed London's intention to strike a balance in North America, which will definitely affect the situation in the region.

before that

London's meddling policy caused great headaches for the Americans. The biggest backers of the separatist forces in the south were the British. Among the 10 white cotton plantations, at least seven or eight were from England or Scotland, or at least they were Irish. The rest

Two of them are of French descent, and only one may be of German or other European descent.

In the United States in the mid-19th century, in the developed coastal areas on the east coast, led by New York and Philadelphia, the upper class was basically dominated by the British. Politicians, financiers, lawyers, business owners and white plantation owners were mostly British-Americans.

, German businessmen and Americans account for the absolute majority as workers and small business owners, while most of the bakery owners and idle vagrants are Italian-Americans.

The thirteen states of British North America are the foundation of American independence and are still the core part today. If London is compared to a strict and judgmental old father, the United States should be a rebellious and self-improving son.

It is difficult to explain clearly the grudge between the two, but for the Tang Dynasty, it is not a good thing for Britain and the United States to be close, and it will definitely harm the interests of the Tang Dynasty.

The Royal Government has dispatched specialized experts to conduct in-depth analysis of the current political and economic situation in North America and is fully prepared to respond.

September 27

His Majesty the King of the Tang Dynasty personally attended the commissioning ceremony of the 7th "Cold Wave" and the 8th "Bitter Winter" of the "Cold Wind Class" Type II steam ironclad frigates held in the San Francisco Bay Area, amid the majestic military music of the Navy.

Among them, these two 1880-ton steam ironclad ships, which represent the world's advanced level, officially joined the Navy of the Kingdom of Tang Dynasty.

It is expected that in the next 1857 and 1858, the following four battleships, "Ice", "Han Dew", "Han Ye", and "Frost", will be completed and put into service at a rate of two per year.

So far, the Navy of the Kingdom of the Tang Dynasty has been equipped with six 1,550-ton type-one ships including the "Hanfeng", "Leng", "Hanqi", "Hanmei", "Hanshan", and "Hanchun", and the seventh "Hanwave"

The two 1,880-ton Type II ships, No. 1 and the 8th "Bitter Winter", are one step closer to the goal of an all-steel fleet.

according to plan;

The seven existing main sail warships of the Tang Kingdom Navy will be retired one after another in 10 years. By then, all warships equipped by the navy will be steam powered and armored. This is one of the main signs of the advancement of the world's navy.

October 6th

His Majesty the King's special train heading west has begun this year's inspection tour of border provinces. It is expected to visit 14 provinces on the northern and southern borders, lasting more than two months.

November 21

Good news came from the railway construction site from the Colorado Plateau westward to Salt Lake City. The most difficult Sierra Ridge Tunnel in the continuous Sierra Nevada Mountains was opened, and the railway project made a breakthrough.

The Central Railway is the Tianzi No. 1 project of the Ministry of Transportation. It is the nearest railway artery starting from Chang'an and going west via Salt Lake City to the Colorado Plateau. It connects the largest city Chang'an and the fourth largest city Taoyuan. It needs to be crossed.

The vast Sierra Nevada Mountains make construction extremely difficult.

This railway trunk line is of decisive significance for maintaining the military security of the Tang Dynasty, opening up traffic obstructions between the coastal inland provinces and the northern provinces, realizing smooth connections between people and goods, and promoting the economic development of the northern border provinces.

Viscount Huang Yuanjia, Minister of the Ministry of Transport, personally took charge and allocated all human, material and financial resources to overcome difficulties and forge ahead, creating one engineering miracle after another.

In front of them is the Sierra Nevada Mountains at an altitude of 2,100 meters. The first 40 miles are passed through high mountains and ridges. 50 bridges and more than 10 tunnels must be built along the entire railway line. The construction conditions are extremely difficult.

Not long after the construction started, during a sudden heavy rain in summer, a flash flood broke out, and hundreds of convicts were washed off the cliff. Many people were swept into the river, causing a major accident that killed and injured dozens of people.

As a result, the project was suspended for a month and a half. More than 10 project supervisors and an on-site senior engineer were severely held accountable for this, and were punished and had their salaries deducted for 3 to 6 months.

From the start of construction to the present, it has lasted three years and months. Overcoming numerous difficulties, fighting wind and snow, and fearing the harsh natural conditions in mountainous areas, the railway builders have successively dug more than 10 tunnels and built more than 40 bridges.

The prototype of a railway artery was opened in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

Among them, the more than 70-mile-long Sierra Ridge area is the most difficult construction area with the most complex geological conditions and the harshest environment, making it daunting.

The convicts needed to carve out a passage large enough for two trains to cross on a steep cliff more than 300 meters high. They tied themselves with ropes and cut out blast holes in mid-air.

It is common for people to lose control of ropes and fall off cliffs after being exhausted, claiming the lives of thousands of people.

In the winter of 1855 and 1856, the Sierra Nevada Mountains were bone-chillingly cold, with the lowest temperature dropping to minus 23 degrees. Snowstorms lasted for more than three months, making the thickest snow in the mountains more than 10 meters high.

At the construction site, countless lives were buried in the cold blizzard.

During the construction of the Central Railway, the longest tunnel is the Donner Tunnel, which is 1,600 feet long and is the longest tunnel in the world today. The difficulty of construction can be imagined.

During the construction of the Tangner Tunnel, there were 73 roof collapses, nine rock falls, four mud backflows and hundreds of warnings of varying degrees. An accident occurred almost every once in a while. Expensive fees were paid during the construction of the project.

tuition fee.

In the setbacks one after another, hundreds of young Chinese engineers grew from youth to maturity. From the design demonstration stage to the construction stage of the Central Railway Project, which lasted more than eight years, many Chinese engineers grew up through tempering and made progress through setbacks.

, possessing the world’s top engineering planning and construction capabilities.

The official opening of the Sierra Ridge Tunnel marks that the most difficult construction node of the Central Railway has been overcome. After the completion of more than 10 large bridges, the entire line will be able to lay tracks.

It is estimated that in another year and a half, by April to May 1858, the Central Railway, also known as the "Nevada Railway", which has been under construction for more than five years, is expected to be fully opened to traffic, shortening the length of Chang'an City, Sacramento and the cities on the Colorado Plateau by more than 2,300 kilometers.

distance, no need to transit south to Los Angeles.

By then

The Tang Kingdom will build a national backbone railway network with two vertical and two horizontal lines, supplemented by dozens of railway branch lines, forming a dense railway network that can reach towns with a population of more than 50,000 in the Kingdom, which will greatly promote regional economic construction and lay a solid foundation for the advancement of an industrialized country.

Base.

The completion of the Central Railway has an impact not only on economy and trade, but its military role is particularly important.

After the opening of the railway, it only takes a day and a half to travel from important inland cities such as Chang'an (San Francisco) and Sacramento to the fortress cities of Phoenix and Taoyuan on the Colorado Plateau (trains through mountainous areas are slow, generally more than 20 kilometers per hour), which is much faster than before.

The 6-7 days are often shortened by an unknown amount.

Many important strategic reserves are established in the rich central plains, and transportation from here to Phoenix Fortress and Omaha Fortress is convenient.

After a large number of reserve forces are mobilized, it is also very convenient to provide reinforcements to the front line. It is of great significance that cannot be ignored in consolidating national defense and resisting U.S. aggression.

Many times, it can determine the success or failure of a battle.

It is precisely because of the extremely high military value contained in the Central Railway (Nevada Railway) that the Army Staff Headquarters of the Datang Kingdom spared no effort in cooperating with the Ministry of Transportation. It dispatched more than 3,000 officers and soldiers to cooperate with the control of convicts, and established an army in the Sacramento area.

Multiple cavalry teams were used to hunt down escaped Indian convicts in the mountains.

Once discovered, they will be hanged immediately.

The construction progress of the Central Railway has greatly inspired the provinces in the northern region. A railway construction plan jointly proposed by Oregon and the Northern Province is to build another main railway line in the north over the Rocky Mountains from west to east.

, passing through Montana and finally arriving in the oil-rich North Dakota province.

This railway line is called the "Northern Railway" and it also has to cross many mountains in the Rocky Mountains. Because it is located in the high latitudes of the north, the climate is colder and the geological conditions are more complex. The construction difficulty is no less than that of the Central Railway (Nevada).

railway).

This is a new challenge for the railway engineers of the Tang Dynasty.

For those native Indian slave laborers who cheered to escape from the fate of death, it would be the beginning of another suffering, and the future hope would be even slimmer.