Wild North America 1846

Chapter 376 Acquisition of Manhattan and New York Harbor

March 23, 1862

Under the auspices of an international mediation team composed of European diplomatic envoys from Britain, France, Italy, Russia, Prussia, Austria, the Netherlands, Spain, and Norway, the victors of the North American War, the Tang Empire and the Confederate States of America (South), and the loser, the United States of America,

(North) officially signed the "North American Peace Treaty", "North American Agricultural Unified Market Agreement", "North American Customs Union Agreement", "United States of America Garrison Act", "United States of America Post-War Financial Arrangement Act", "New York, Portland, Campton Lease"

Act" and more than a dozen international treaties, and will oversee the formal promulgation and implementation of the "American Peace Constitution."

The above-mentioned unequal treaties imposed have completely reduced the United States of America to a semi-colonial and semi-capitalist country, a happy playground for European and American powers, and a country that has lost much of its independence and sovereignty.

The American Peace Constitution completely emasculates the country's armed forces. The United States of America guarantees that it will not have military-type armed forces, and will only retain national defense corps for the maintenance of domestic security, coastal anti-smuggling, fishery protection and other tasks.

The country's security is jointly maintained by Tang and Britain. The Tang Empire has 117 military bases in the United States of America and leases New York (Eastern District), Portland and Compton, with a total of 430,000 troops stationed.

The UK has 6 military bases with more than 4,700 officers and soldiers stationed there.

After the "North American Peace Treaty" was officially signed, the Confederate States of America couldn't wait to withdraw their troops. The main male labor force in their country was in the army. To resume the production of cotton plantations, a large number of officers and soldiers would be required to retire.

The annual cotton planting period begins in April. After April, the weather will gradually warm up, which is conducive to the growth of cotton seedlings. Therefore, there is not much time left for these white cotton plantation owners. The army will be disbanded immediately after returning to Richmond.

.

If we miss the farming season, we will really have to suffer from the northwest wind this year.

As of the end of June, the South will only retain no more than 60,000 troops, which means that about 720,000 troops will be retired.

The Tang Empire's garrison totaled more than 430,000 people, mainly composed of the Northern Corps and the Colorado Corps. The Chang'an Cavalry Corps and the Southern Corps gradually withdrew to the mainland of the empire after completing their corresponding tasks.

Starting in July, the Tang Empire's army will also carry out a large-scale decommissioning and demobilization process, which will last this year and next, reducing the total number of military personnel from the current more than 800,000 to no more than 450,000.

The number of troops stationed in the United States will also be reduced. It is impossible to maintain the huge size of 430,000 people. In two years, the permanent size will be reduced to between 190,000 and 200,000 people.

If you describe in detail the unequal treaties signed by the defeated country, the United States of America (North), you will find that the intentions are very deep, and almost every method that Richard could think of was used. It is really well-intentioned!

Apart from anything else, anyone who knows anything about the "American Peace Constitution" will know that throughout the ages, only the Grand Fuso Nation has a share, and it has indeed firmly restrained the little devils.

Now when applied to the United States of America, the same thing happens.

Let’s look at the North American Agricultural Unified Market Agreement. This is a special agreement aimed at eliminating agricultural tariffs within North America and granting zero-tariff preferential treatment to agricultural products with the intention of creating a unified North American agricultural market.

So let’s take a look, who is the strongest in agriculture?

That is of course the Tang Empire!

In the early 1860s

The potential of agricultural development in the Tang Empire has just been stimulated by less than 10%, and more than 1.2 million square kilometers of fertile black land in the central Great Plains of North America have been harvested. There is no doubt that it has great potential in grain, oil, cotton, rice, wheat, meat, eggs, milk, etc.

Occupying an absolutely dominant position, we can sell products to North and South America at relatively low prices, jointly creating a large North American market with a total population of 50 million.

in this case

The United States of America (North) cannot develop a decent agricultural and animal husbandry industry at all, and the same is true for the Confederate States of America (South). However, the advantage of the South is the cotton industry, which can form a complementary situation with the Tang Empire, which is beneficial to both parties.

Bigger and stronger.

The Confederate States of America (the South) had almost no industry and was a de facto large rural area. The largest city, Richmond, only had a population of 2.78 million.

Before the outbreak of the Civil War, there were only about 90,000 workers, most of whom were in the relatively primitive stage of handicraft workshops, mainly repairing farm machinery and horse-drawn carriages. All industrial products needed to be imported.

After the raw cotton from the south was exported to the Tang Empire, it was processed, dyed and woven into cotton cloth. Compared with British cotton cloth, it had a more cost-effective advantage and could be profitably exported to the nearby South American market.

The North American Agricultural Unified Market Agreement will create a unified North American agricultural market for the Tang Empire. This is the private territory of the Tang Empire and can well exclude agricultural products from Europe and South America.

Apart from anything else, customs duties and long-distance trafficking costs alone deprive bulk agricultural products from Europe and South America of any competitive advantage.

The British have also seen the huge advantages of the North American Agricultural Unified Market Agreement, but are somewhat greedy but hesitant to decide.

why?

The contracting parties, headed by the Tang Empire, have made it clear that they welcome British Canada to join as an independent customs territory, and that the contracting parties will exempt each other from tariffs on agricultural products and promote the development of trade in North America.

What troubles the British is that Canada is located in an alpine zone and has many shortcomings in agricultural and animal husbandry products.

Once it is truly liberalized, a massive amount of agricultural and animal husbandry products will hit the Canadian market, which will inevitably wipe out its local farms and pastures. That would be terrible.

Due to climate factors, Canada mainly produces wheat, barley, oats and soybeans, which are produced only once a year. The yield is not high, and the unit price is not competitive.

Compared with the fertile black soil Great Plains in central North America, the yield per acre is only one-third of that, completely unable to compete.

After careful consideration, the British had to give up their plan to join the North American Agricultural Unified Market Agreement. They still needed to use tariffs to protect the Canadian potato, onion, beef, red wine, dairy products, dried fruits, vegetables and fruit markets to avoid being completely overwhelmed.

.

Emperor Richard of the Tang Dynasty made a high-profile announcement;

British Canada is always welcome to join the "North American Agricultural Unified Market Decision" and will be given unique treatment, that is, it does not need to commit to a package of tariff preferences, but will mature one by one and join one with no time limit.

That is to say

British Canada feels that it is competitive enough in fields such as barley, wheat and oats, and is willing to join the North American Agricultural Unified Market without mutual tariffs, so it will join in the form of individual review, and so on for others.

All I can say is that this unique preferential treatment is very sincere.

However, after careful consideration, the wily British guy still rejected the goodwill of the Tang Empire and felt that it would be better to play alone.

The "North American Customs Union Agreement" is even more powerful. It not only involves agriculture, but also covers industry, finance, technology, trade, services and education. Its template is the later "European Community Steel Union", but

The content is more extensive and is a highly exclusive customs union treaty.

Its core content is to set a preferential tax rate of no more than 5% of the total tax in the above-mentioned fields among the contracting countries. Compared with the current era of strict tariff barriers, with industrial product tax rates of 70, 80 or even more than 100%, it is simply the same as

Mutual exemption from tariffs makes no difference.

The Tang Empire has become an industrialized country, and its industrial products can flow into the United States and the North and South without any hindrance. It doesn't matter in the South, since there is no decent industry anyway.

Under the impact of the industrial wave of the Tang Empire, the existing industrial strength in the north quickly disappeared like ice and snow.

Logically speaking

The Tang Empire has obvious advantages in the industrial field, but it does not have an overwhelming advantage in the financial services field. Moreover, the United States of America is not weak in the financial and trade field and is still quite competitive. Is the Datang Empire a bit too big?

actually not

The secret lies in the "Post-War Financial Arrangement Act of the United States of America", which is an international bill held in trust by international creditors that comprehensively kidnaps the economic and financial autonomy of the United States of America (North), giving the Tang Empire full opportunities to exert its influence.

During the six-year North American War, the United States of America (North) borrowed a total of huge loans worth NT$1.375 billion from international lenders, and had to bear NT$500 million in war compensation after the war, totaling NT$1.875 billion.

This does not include the war bonds issued to domestic investors, which totaled more than 1.15 billion Tang Yuan, but this part must have been a loss. Because the domestic bonds denominated in US dollars have depreciated worse than waste paper, and it takes up to 1.7 million US dollars to redeem them.

1 Tang Yuan.

The international banking syndicate will pay domestic investors in high-inflation US dollars in the near future. Basically, the original investment of more than 100,000 US dollar bonds can be exchanged for a piece of bread, which can be spent with dozens of tons of grain.

What remains is the highlight, regarding the repayment plan for a huge loan worth 1.375 billion Tang Yuan (including pound, franc, and mark loan discounts), which will be further discussed between the international banking consortium and the government of the United States of America (Northern United States) on debt arrangements.

It is estimated that this is a time-consuming and laborious debt competition. The difficulty lies in the repayment period and unified bank interest.

Judging from the current and greatly weakened capabilities of the United States of America (North), it is definitely not possible to pay as high an interest rate as during the war, often more than ten percent. It would be impossible to pay back the United States of America (North) even if it was sold.

But how reasonable the interest rate should be is a matter of opinion. The international loan sharks definitely hope to maintain a higher level of interest rates, but the government of the United States of America (North) can only give in, which is pitiful.

Talking about the difficulties is a lot of wrangling, and it will probably take more than a year and a half to finish.

The other item is about the war reparations worth 500 million yuan in the Tang Dynasty, which are guaranteed by the customs tax revenue of the United States of America (North). There is no problem with this. The customs has already been jointly managed by personnel from the Tang Empire, Britain and France.

According to the original allocated share;

The Confederate States of America (South) enjoys 75% of the war compensation share, which is 375 million Tang Yuan. This part has essentially been transferred in full to the allies of the Tang Empire to be used to offset part of the huge debt owed previously.

In other words, the Tang Empire was the actual beneficiary of the 500 million Tang Yuan war compensation. The annual interest was 5.5%, and it would be repaid in a total of 25 years. A total of 921.1 million Tang Yuan including the principal and interest had to be repaid, that is, a total of 921.1 million Tang Yuan was needed every year.

Repay 36.844 million Tang Yuan or goods of equivalent value.

On the basis of the comprehensive military occupation of the United States of America (North), the Tang Empire had sufficient means to squeeze out this part of the war compensation and use it to repay its own losses first.

This is not...

In order to ease the debt repayment pressure on the United States of America (Northern) government, the Imperial Household Office of the Tang Empire announced;

It intends to invest 56 million Tang Yuan to purchase all the land properties in Manhattan Island, New York, in one go. If the investment plan is included in the New York Harbor, the one-time acquisition amount can be increased to 82 million Tang Yuan.

This is also the largest investment project by the Imperial Household Office of the Tang Empire to date, with a total amount approaching hundreds of millions, which is extremely astonishing.

Today's Manhattan Island in New York does not have as many high-rise buildings as in later generations, but it is generally 6 to 7-story European-style street-facing buildings. It is also the most prosperous urban area in New York, with a population of more than 360,000 residents.

Due to the drag of the defeat of the war, more than 60% of the house owners in Manhattan Island went bankrupt, and more than 90% of the financial institutions and banks on Wall Street in Lower Manhattan collapsed. It was the hardest-hit area in need of food relief.

Due to the large-scale collapse of financial institutions and trading companies, as well as the alarming inflation of the US dollar, high-income people who originally lived in Manhattan have been without jobs and income for several years, and it has become a luxury to keep their families alive.

The food crisis has reached an extremely serious level. Hundreds of people die of hunger in New York every day, and many more people die of chaos and shooting. The entire city is as if it is sitting on a pack of dynamite and can be blown to pieces by urban riots at any time.

In the face of survival and enjoyment, the choice is simple.

With just a few bags of wheat flour, you can trade into a luxurious apartment with four bathrooms in upper Manhattan. This is really not an exaggeration.

At this time, the Royal Household proposed a plan to acquire Manhattan. Although the price offered was quite considerable, it was actually suspected of taking advantage of the situation.

How much will the government of the United States of America get from the total 82 million Tang Yuan plan to purchase Manhattan and New York Harbor?

First of all, the Tang Empire needs to repay the Tang and Yuan war compensation worth 36.844 million yuan a year, and the remaining funds are injected into the government account guaranteed by the international syndicate to purchase a large amount of grain, dairy products and various agricultural and animal husbandry products needed to alleviate the famine.

To achieve a quantity that can be maintained until mid-to-late July, at least 13 million to 14 million Tang Yuan will be spent.

Adding the two items together, 50 million Tang Yuan has been removed.

The remaining money is still being watched closely by international loan sharks, and the funds that can be used by the government to restore production and urban operations are extremely limited.

But no matter what, this is a life-saving medicine in times of urgency!

After more than 10 days of difficult decisions, the Government of the United States of America (Northern) finally signed this large-scale land sales contract to sell Manhattan, New York Harbor and all attached land properties to the Imperial Household Office of the Tang Empire in one go

, in exchange for 83.5 million Tang Yuan funds (note; additional after discussion) to alleviate urgent needs.

The Royal Household Office of the Tang Empire actually paid 33.5 million Tang Yuan funds, and the remaining part was offset by one year's war compensation principal and interest and agricultural and animal husbandry products worth 14 million Tang Yuan. This part of the output was allocated from the output of the imperial village and directly realized.

No one knows

The Imperial Household Office of the Tang Empire was the largest producer of agricultural and animal husbandry products in the world. All Chinese who immigrated to North America through loans were required to work in the imperial estates for 4 to 5 years to offset the immigration costs.

The California territory directly under the imperial family of the Tang Dynasty is the most fully developed area. The royal estates and pastures directly under the imperial family cover the Northern Province, Oregon, Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota, covering an area of ​​hundreds of thousands of hectares. Agricultural tractors are widely used, etc.

Mechanized operations produce an astonishing amount of agricultural and animal husbandry products every year.

The price of agricultural and animal husbandry products exported to the United States of America (North) has doubled, and the profits are astonishing. Of course, this big fat piece of meat is exclusive to the Imperial Household Office.

Not only that

Huangzhuang Ranch also accounts for a large share of the agricultural and animal husbandry products exported to the Confederate States of America (South). After all, large farms and ranches have obvious advantages and a high degree of industrialization. Coupled with the high unit output of chemical fertilizer products, they are in a leading position in the competition.

Strong position.

April 16, 1862

When Emperor Richard of the Tang Dynasty visited Boston, a sad news came from Washington. Andrew Johnson, the current president of the United States of America, committed suicide by swallowing a gun at home. Before his death, he left a 37-page suicide note in which he listed numerous names.

Suffering from the defeat and humiliation of being bullied by the Tang Empire, there is also an infinite desire for the people of the United States of America to become self-reliant and get rid of the semi-colonial state in the future.

However, what President Andrew Johnson did not expect was;

His residence was closely monitored by the Special Operations Division. After he committed suicide, his wife at home screamed in terror. The Special Operations Division agents arrived immediately and helped him put away the document.

A 37-page suicide note.

Therefore, this suicide note, which embodies President Andrew Johnson’s infinite unwillingness and all his literary talents, is now quietly lying in the secret safe of the Royal Secretariat. No more than three people have read its contents.

One of them is Zheng Yuan, the director of the Secretariat, the other is Hu Baili, the director of operations, and the third one is the senior agent team leader who first discovered the suicide note and immediately collected it to prevent the influence from expanding.

"Well done. Although Mr. Andrew Johnson committed suicide by drinking a gun, he finally fulfilled his duties as president and did not hand over a series of bad things to the next president. He is very responsible."

Richard just came out of the palace in his pajamas. Behind the heavy curtains between the bed and the boudoir, he caught a glimpse of the snow-white and graceful figure inside. It was obvious that he had just escaped from the great cause of conquest. He didn't know how long the battle was.

He waved his hand, indicating that Director Zheng Yuan, who was cautiously lowering his head, did not need to say anything more and continued to give instructions;

"I won't read the stuff, and keep it in the royal secret files. Well... it should be classified as top secret.

It wouldn't do anything good for this kind of thing to be exposed. The personnel of the Special Operations Division can be promoted to senior positions by themselves, and they can jointly and verbally commend Hu Baili once, and the secretariat can convey it on their behalf.

By the way, the successor is President Nick Jones Marmont, right?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"What is this person's character like?"

"Your Majesty, I have just checked the resume file of this person kept by the Secretariat. It shows that this person is an Irish-American and is the fourth generation to come to North America. He has some scheming and methods, but his political power is relatively weak.

, little influence in the political arena.”

"Irish-Americans are not bad. Fundamentally, they are not in the same pot as the British. Even if some of them are just taking advantage of each other, we will find an opportunity to win over them."

"The humble minister obeys the decree."

"That's it. If you don't have anything important to do, don't disturb Lian's rest. Go ahead."

"The sin of a humble minister deserves to be punished by death, so I am resigning."

(End of chapter)