Wild North America 1846

Chapter 443 Competition for city rankings intensifies

Compared with the booming development of the Great Lakes industrial areas in the north, led by Chicago and Detroit, the light industry and food processing industry centered on Mexico City has formed in the south, where the tequila and rum produced there are very famous.

After the Empire won the North American War and opened up export channels to Europe via the Great Lakes and North American east coast ports, the status of Panama as a transshipment trade center in Central America was significantly reduced.

After the North American War

After the signing of the North American Unified Market Treaty, the United States of America (North) and the Confederate States of America (South) successively launched cross-border railway transportation services. The entire North American railway network was connected unobstructed, which greatly facilitated the transportation of goods and personnel.

European immigrants heading to the Tang Empire no longer need to transit through Panama, and can easily reach the empire's provinces by train.

When the Tang Empire went to Europe to study or do business, it no longer needed to travel all the way south to Panama, Central America. Instead, it could directly reach the ports on the east coast of North America by rail, saving time, effort, and a lot of money.

The number of goods and personnel re-exported to Europe through this place has dropped by 80%, which has had a great impact on the development of Panama City.

At its peak in 1859, Panama City had a population of 634,000, more than half of whom were engaged in entrepot trade. There were more than 1,300 large and small trading houses. In the following years, they fell into a large-scale collapse.

By early 1865

There are only more than 200 trading houses still operating in Panama City. Most of them are the best ones with port terminals and warehouses and the ability to operate waterways and railways. Only the best can survive in the brutal business competition.

Salem, a northern heavy industrial city strongly supported by the empire, has developed rapidly in its chemical, steel and shipbuilding industries and has replaced Seattle as the northern shipbuilding industry center. After also becoming a big city with a population of one million, its dazzling light even overshadowed Seattle. This is not good news.

But compared with other cities in the empire that are more fierce, Seattle has far fewer highlights.

Its population surged from 671,000 in 1858 to 1,072,200 in 1864, magnificently surpassing the level of a metropolis with a population of one million, and continues to show a trend of prosperity and rapid growth in all industries.

In the food industry category, especially the canned industry in this region has formed a considerable scale. A wide variety of canned flavors are sold throughout North America and Europe. Taoyuan cheese, gin and Colorado brand pure ale are all famous products well-known in North America.

The addition of Chicago, the third largest city, and Mexico City, the fourth largest city, to the imperial territory made the distribution of the economic territory of the Tang Empire more balanced, no longer focusing on the first-tier cities of Chang'an, Los Angeles, Salem, Portland, and Seattle on the west coast of North America. It presents a pattern of even distribution of a series of metropolitan areas along the southern, northern, central and west coast coasts.

There are also a small number of radical Chinese businessmen who went to Cuba to invest in sugar plantations. Backed by the powerful Tang Empire, at least in the entire Americas, no one dared to bully Chinese businessmen.

The railway network of the Tang Empire was seamlessly connected with the United States of America and the Confederate States of America, forming the most developed, densest and most prosperous railway transportation network in the world today, bringing endless sources of wealth.

Seattle is the capital of the Northern Province and the northernmost metropolis with a population of one million in the Tang Empire. To the north is the Vancouver area.

The "Nevada Railway" across the Rocky Mountains in the Tang Empire has now become part of the East-West Continental Bridge across North America. The western starting point of the railway originates from Chang'an, passes through Salt Lake City, enters the Rocky Mountains among the lofty mountains, and extends eastward to Taoyuan.

City, Phoenix City and other important cities in central China.

The biggest beneficiary group was the first batch of local veterans. After the original meritorious land was converted into commercial land, they received generous compensation of tens of thousands of yuan or more according to the market value, and then purchased a large number of building property rights and enjoyed it.

The happy life of a charterer.

This was simply unimaginable before.

Taoyuan City, ranked the sixth largest city in the empire, is located on the Colorado Plateau and is a core hub city connecting the important north-south metropolises of one million people, Chicago and Mexico City.

Thanks to being one of the destination ports of the trans-Pacific Northern Golden Route, Seattle has always had smooth development in its early stages and once ranked among the top three major cities in the Empire. That was its most glorious moment.

In recent years, it has been squeezed out of the top four cities by Chicago and Mexico. As an important city in the north of the Pacific coast, Seattle has strong enemies in front and pursuers behind it, and it has endured tremendous development pressure.

The other two institutions of higher learning have been under review, and it is unclear when they will be approved.

Among other things, there are three institutions of higher learning in Seattle that have been under preparation: Northern Institute of Technology, Northern Administrative College, and the Royal Naval Academy in Seattle. Only the Royal Naval Academy in Seattle has been approved and officially started enrolling students in 1864.

Countless industrial products, agricultural products and specialty products are transported by rail to all parts of North America and even Europe. The railway station 16 kilometers away from Taoyuan Valley has developed into the largest train marshalling yard in the empire, with 26 railway tracks.

And all this

Each has its own focus, greater potential, and promising future development prospects.

To the east you can reach New York, Philadelphia and Washington, to the northeast you can reach Cleveland, the capital of Ohio, to the southeast you can reach Richmond, the capital of the Confederate States of America, to the Atlantic port city of Charleston in the south, and to the south directly to Miami.

It stands to reason that this development speed is not slow.

Then it continues eastward to Kansas City, and continues eastward until it reaches Louisville, Indiana, on the border of the empire, and from here it is connected to the railway network of the United States of America that extends in all directions.

After the signing of the North American Economic Integration Agreement, it led to the complete completion of the North American railway transportation channel.

With the rapid decline of port trade, the population of Panama City rarely declined. Some Chinese businessmen who made their first pot of gold in the re-export trade took their families to Costa Rica, Channel Province or Zhennan Province to purchase manor land.

He lived a relatively stable life as a manor owner.

By early 1865, Panama City's population had dropped to 549,000, losing nearly 100,000 urban residents. It was the only city in the entire empire to experience a population decline.

This is also a large central city with relatively comprehensive industrial categories and profound development heritage. It is also a railway transportation hub in the central part of the empire, playing an important role in connecting the north, south, and east.

Among the industrial economic components of Taoyuan City, the steel, cement, building materials, brewing and food processing industries occupy a dominant position.

The budget and allocation of the Empire's Ministry of Science and Education is limited. Nowadays, it is focusing on Chicago in the north and Mexico City in the south. It also has to take into account big cities such as Taoyuan in the center. Naturally, there are fewer educational resources left for Seattle.

There is only a population gap of 63,500 between Mexico City, which ranks fourth, and Taoyuan City, which ranks sixth behind it. The population gap is only 41,300. If you relax a little, you will be surpassed. This is a headache that the Northern Provincial Government has to face.

Today, the only bulk transshipment cargoes remaining in Panama City are kerosene and cane sugar. Most of the kerosene is transshipped to countries along the Caribbean coast, while cane sugar from Hawaii is still transshipped to Europe through Panama ports.

However, as Chicago and Mexico City, which were included in the empire's territory, regained their former glory, the attention of the upper levels of government was inevitably attracted, leaving less and less attention for Seattle, and fewer and fewer resources allocated.

After talking about Taoyuan City, which ranked sixth in the empire, let’s look back at the slightly lonely Seattle. Its population increased from 739,800 at the end of June 1858 to 1,113,500 at the end of 1864, ranking it the fifth largest city in the empire.

In the new round of construction boom in cities across the empire, Taoyuan's pillar steel building materials and cement industries have flourished, creating huge labor demand and becoming a powerful booster for urban expansion.

Compared with the ranking of the fourth city in 1858, Taoyuan City fell two places in 1865 and ranked sixth. It was squeezed behind by Chicago and Mexico City, two former million-dollar metropolises, but this did not damage Taoyuan City at all.

of dazzling light.

As the third largest industrial city in the north in the empire, Seattle has had its glory days and its downturns. It was once famous as the center of the northern shipbuilding industry and the center of marine fishing. It was also a major northern animal husbandry province, famous for its production of high-quality horses and beef.

In addition to direct trains, freight trains traveling from south to north need to be reorganized here, and the new urban areas outside the Taoyuan Valley have flourished. Capital has poured in crazily, and high-rise buildings have risen from the ground, causing land prices to skyrocket.

It also surged more than 10 times.

The decline of Panama City in the south led to the rise of Taoyuan, a large city in central North America. As a railway hub city in the central part of the Tang Empire, Taoyuan City ushered in an opportunity for rapid rise after the North American War.

Relying on local high-quality limestone and clay resources, Taoyuan City's cement and building materials companies have grown to hundreds, forming more than a dozen well-known cement brands. Their products are supplied to surrounding provinces and major cities such as Chicago and Chang'an, and have formed categories.

Complete pottery and porcelain industry.

Salem Mayor Tang Qiyong once said proudly at a provincial economic meeting: "Salem's goal is not to replace Seattle as the largest metropolis in the north, but to impact Mexico City's status and replace it, becoming the third largest city in the empire.

Four major cities.”

He was not arrogant when he said this. Salem was the eighth largest city in the empire, and its population was only 173,000 people behind Mexico City, the fourth largest city in the empire. It was not an unreachable target.

If we maintain the current rapid growth industrial economic development trend, we can indeed overtake the big brothers in front and achieve magnificent transcendence.

From the fourth to eighth largest cities in the empire with a population of one million, there is not much difference between them. Now the competition has become fierce, and everyone is striving to catch up with the former, creating a strong competitive atmosphere.

(End of chapter)