Wild North America 1846

Chapter 663 Six Years Later

Author: Portuguese toothless

Chapter 663 Six Years Later

Time flies by, and six years have passed in the blink of an eye.

After the New Year's Court Meeting in 1885, all the courtiers were talking excitedly about the 40th anniversary celebration of the Holy Emperor's accession to the throne to be held next year, and then they left the Ming Dynasty Palace one after another, came to Danfengmen Square and left by car.

Chang'an, the imperial capital, has experienced 39 years of rapid development and is now the world's second largest city with a population of 3.17 million. It is firmly ranked as the largest city in America and is famous for its architectural landscape and prosperous economy.

The Tang Empire was a country that led the second wave of industrialization revolution. It was especially famous for its cutting-edge technologies in chemical industry and electrification, and enjoyed a high reputation around the world.

The imperial capital Chang'an and large industrial cities with a population of one million such as Los Angeles, Chicago, Taoyuan, Salem, Seattle, and Detroit, together with more small and medium-sized cities, have formed the most complete industrial system in the world today, ranking first in output among more than 170 industrial categories. First.

If coupled with the strong agricultural and animal husbandry production capacity, the Tang Empire can be said to be an economic top student with both good morals and academics. Industry, agriculture, animal husbandry, and foreign trade are all in good standing, and they are all among the advanced ranks in the world.

Six years in a blink of an eye

The Tang Empire has been galloping along the road of economic development, and has surpassed the second-ranked United Kingdom by more than half. Its economic aggregate is about 1.36 times that of the United Kingdom, which is the sum of the economic aggregate of the United Kingdom and France.

If we talk about the changes in the past six years, the biggest one is in the little-known Germany.

After the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, the economy of the German Empire soared with the help of huge franc indemnities. Since then, it has made rapid progress on the road to industrialization, ranking first in the world in terms of industrial economic growth for 14 consecutive years.

As early as 1870, Germany's economic aggregate had surpassed France and ranked third in the world. Now it is approaching the United Kingdom. In 1884, it had reached more than 70% of the British economic aggregate. It is obviously another economic top student.

From 1870, the size of the German economy was about one-third that of the United Kingdom. By 1884, Germany's economic aggregate had increased by one and a half times, reaching more than 70% of the British economic aggregate, showing a rapid catching-up momentum.

In these six years, many major events have happened in the world.

On September 16, 1883, the Pacific Railway, which runs through the entire North American continent, was finally officially completed, with a total length of 18,900 kilometers. The southern end started from Tierra del Fuego, a province in South America, and the northern end ended in the town of Snow, 371 kilometers north of Vancouver.

This railway is also known as the railway project of the century. Together with the Nicaragua Canal, it has been shortlisted as one of the top ten historic projects in the empire and will be forever recorded in history.

Since the launch of the South American Desert Expedition in 1862, which lasted 22 years, the total population under the jurisdiction of the Andean Governorate has grown to more than 4.6 million, and the plan has finally come to fruition.

On January 1, 1884, His Majesty the Emperor issued an edict to create 11 new imperial provinces in the former Andean Governorate. The Province of Tempest was the southernmost province of the empire.

These 11 imperial provinces were transferred from the jurisdiction of the former Colonial Department to the direct jurisdiction of the imperial government. From then on, they got rid of their colonial status and became part of the official territory of the empire.

The colonial institution of the Andean Viceroyalty was thus abolished and became a historical term.

In 1884, the French colonial army occupied the Kingdom of Cambodia and launched a war against the Qing Dynasty, and the Sino-French War broke out.

The Manchu Qing army fought bravely to defeat the French invaders and defended half of the southern Qing Dynasty, making the French taste defeat.

The official "World Daily" of the Tang Empire commented on this;

The French have rotten teeth but an incredibly good appetite. As a result, they suffered a shameful defeat in the most populous Qing Empire. This must have made them sober up a little.

This kind of sarcastic satire instantly became popular in Europe, making the British and Germans extremely happy.

At the mention of this biting sarcasm, everyone burst into laughter and slapped their thighs. "French people with bad teeth" became a popular term in the upper class of Europe, and the group became happy for a while.

The bitter ridicule of the Tang Empire made the French furious, but facing the powerful Tang Empire on the other side of the Atlantic, they were just helpless and furious.

After the news of the defeat of the French army reached Paris, the French Parliament voted 306 to 149 to reject the additional military spending bill without hesitation. Prime Minister Jules Ferry was forced to resign and took the blame. He was thrown wildly by the French people on the Champs Elysées.

Rotten Egg and Melon Peel drove off in a carriage in embarrassment.

Reluctant, France immediately proposed;

An additional 50 million francs were spent on the French army stationed in Indochina. Domestic public opinion aroused the desire to declare war on the Qing Dynasty. The French, stimulated by high patriotic sentiments, could not sit still at all.

At this time, the cunning British came out again, and London issued a statement;

France's irresponsible expansion of the war caused deep concern in London. After consultation with senior officials of the Tang government, it was believed that this reckless invasion should be brought to an end and the situation in East Asia should be restored to a peaceful and stable environment.

In a word, stop fighting.

France is a veteran poker player on the world poker table. He disappears with just a glance. This is his cleverness.

Thinking back to the battle in 1853, Tsar Nicholas I confidently said to the British envoy: "Don't threaten me, I still have Prussian and Austrian allies to rely on."

The results of it?

Tsarist Russia was besieged by the British, French, Don O, and the Kingdom of Sardinia, and was beaten until it was bruised and swollen. Good brother and ally Austrian Emperor Joseph was busy marrying Princess Sissi, and Prussia just pretended not to see it.

Tsar Nicholas I was severely beaten by the cruel international reality, and finally died of exhaustion...

This was a smart move by the French. He couldn't afford to offend the Yingtang pair. Even if he was unwilling to do so, he still had to give up and admit defeat.

Speaking of France, we have to mention the Triple Alliance.

After the Franco-Prussian War, Germany and France developed an insatiable hatred that would never end.

German Prime Minister Bismarck was worried about French retaliation, so he adopted an alliance policy to contain France, which led to the formation of the "Three Emperors Alliance" between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Russia.

However, later, Tsarist Russia had a conflict of interest with the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the Balkans, and war eventually broke out. In the Treaty of Berlin that followed the participation of the great powers, it was almost deprived of most of the fruits of victory.

This left a deep gap in the hearts of Tsarist Russia. In addition, Russia did not want Germany to become stronger, which made the Three Emperors Alliance a mere name.

Tsarist Russia could not help but ask himself;

The Alliance of Three Emperors gave Germany two allies, Austria one and a half allies, and Tsarist Russia only half an ally. What is the value of such an alliance?

If a war in Europe really breaks out, no one knows what choice Tsarist Russia will make?

In the final U.S. presidential election held in September 1881, the Liberal Party presidential candidate and former president Zhang Zongliang defeated his opponent for re-election with a slim advantage of 11 electoral votes.

This presidential election has been wildly criticized by the Republican Party and the Democratic Party, believing that there are many unfair and shady circumstances, but the election results cannot be changed.

In 1881, France invaded Tunisia from Algeria and turned it into its own protectorate, which made the Kingdom of Italy crazy with jealousy.

Italy had long coveted Tunisia, but due to lack of strength, it could not fight France alone. After careful consideration, it turned to Germany and Austria, the German brothers.

German Prime Minister Bismarck was keenly aware of the opportunity for an alliance, so after negotiations, Germany, Austria, and Italy signed an alliance treaty in Vienna on May 20, 1882. This was the Triple Alliance.

The Alliance of Three Emperors and the Triple Alliance existed at the same time. It was German Prime Minister Bismarck who placed two iron chains around France's neck to limit its military expansion on the European continent and add double insurance to Germany's security.

On January 9, 1885, the Fuso Kingdom invaded the Korean Peninsula and signed the Treaty of Seoul with the Kingdom of Korea. From then on, Korea became a dual colony of the Qing Dynasty and the Fuso Kingdom.

The Fusang people originally participated in the Jiashen coup, but were defeated by the Qing army stationed in North Korea, and their colonial ambitions suffered a heavy setback.

Afterwards, Fuso used the excuse of "the embassy was burned" and "the overseas Chinese were killed" to demand North Korea to apologize, punish the perpetrators and pay compensation, and sent Foreign Minister Kaoru Inoue as ambassador to North Korea to force North Korea to sign the "Seoul Treaty".

This treaty not only allowed Fuso to recover its losses in the Kashin coup, but also pushed the aggressive forces further into North Korea.

This led to the outbreak of sharp conflicts between the Qing and Japan, sowing the seeds of hatred.

Starting from March 15, 1885, the 12th World Expo was held in Los Angeles. It will be the largest, most grand and richest world's fair in history.

At this expo, many factories and enterprises in the Tang Dynasty launched countless new inventions, including the world's first motorcycle, the world's first pickup truck, and the world's first wireless transmitter invented by the Chinese Mr. Zheng Zongshen.

Industrial mother engine, a single 5000-horsepower marine triple-expansion steam turbine, new steam locomotives, a full range of industrial generators, a dazzling array of chemical products, etc.

Los Angeles National Heavy Machinery Plant No. 2 even moved the production and assembly workshop of the "Fukang" gasoline-powered sedan produced by the factory directly to the expo site to show visitors how to produce a family car.

at the exhibition site

An old man with white hair and a tall middle-aged man were enjoying the visit, surrounded by a circle of people dressed in different clothes, intentionally or unintentionally separating these two people from other visitors.

Standing tall and tall is the emperor Richard in disguise. His majesty is now restrained and reserved. He wears a pair of gold-rimmed glasses on his face, making him look gentle and gentle.

Next to him was Chen Cailiang, the current Prime Minister. He also put on a disguise, wearing a bowler hat on his head and a thick woolen plaid scarf covering half of his face. It was difficult for outsiders to see his true appearance.

The two of them were watching and chatting, but the topic they talked about had nothing to do with the on-site automobile assembly workshop.

"Sir, the northern separatist independence movement encouraged by the British is still difficult to eradicate despite repeated heavy suppression by the government. Instead, it has become more and more influential. President Zhang Zongliang is deeply worried about this!"

"What the people want, no one wants to move forward with heavy debts. The heavy tax policy implemented by the United States is undoubtedly the first among the major powers. It is reasonable for the people to be resentful and dissociated. This is a country of immigrants.

Natural evil."

"Sir, our country has never been like this!"

"This is because our country has always been on the road to victory, expanding after victory, and winning again after expansion. The industrial and agricultural economy has been rising step by step, which has concealed the internal contradictions and differences in the immigrant country, bridged racial differences, and conflicts have not always erupted.

That's all. The most important thing... is that we have a mainstream ethnic group, mainly Chinese, which is the ballast of society."

"My master is truly insightful, and I admire him for that. But it seems that the leaky big ship of the United States can no longer be blocked. The momentum of independence and separatism is getting stronger and stronger. What should we do?"

"Why panic? Only the French suffered the biggest loss when the Yankees became independent. Over the years, they have concentrated immigration to places such as Pittsburgh and New York, Philadelphia, in the north, which has greatly changed the local population structure. Seeing that it is not long since 1887,

We are not in a hurry now, the French are in a hurry."

"Then...Master, we won't really withdraw our troops by then, right?"

"Even if we want to withdraw our troops, the French will cry and yell at us not to leave, and the French will definitely send more troops to North America."

"This... Master, after all, North America is our home ground. How can we allow the French to send troops to invade? Ryu Hyun-jun's doctrine emphasizes that America is the America of Americans. Doesn't this make the empire look good?"

"Hahaha... This is called caring and chaos!" Richard chuckled, walked to a carriage assembly site, and saw the workers skillfully assembling car components, so he stood aside and watched, but said in his mouth

;

"We really don't want world powers to interfere in American affairs, but in fact we can't do that. In South America there are Dutch Suriname, Britain, France, and Belgian Guiana, in North America there is British Canada, and the European powers have more or less garrisons.

It's just that the distance is far and everyone doesn't feel it deeply.

It would be impossible to completely eliminate the garrison of foreign powers throughout the Americas even in another 100 years.

Because America is not a whole, but a big family composed of 16 countries (note, the southern part of the United States is divided into five, plus Canada). Each country has its own independent thoughts. How to stop it?

The essence of Ryu Hyun-jun's doctrine is

There is a huge difference between always taking the initiative on the American issue rather than excluding all world powers from the Americas.

Just like the current problem in the United States, the British invested more than 2 million pounds a year. With the Republic of Carolina and Canada as the two fulcrums, they accommodated a large number of independent civil rights activists who wanted to split the United States, and tried their best to separate the North.

The purpose of the British is to use this to weaken and attack Tang and France, because we also have bank loans of up to 300 million Tang yuan in the above-mentioned countries.

Oh...by the way, are there still so many now?"

"Master, there are not so many anymore. In the past few years, major imperial consortiums have been restricting the issuance of loans to the United States. After recovering the principal and interest of 1 million loans, they basically issued another 300,000 to 400,000. The total amount of existing loans is about 240 million yuan.

Around 1,000 yuan. On the contrary, franc loans have increased again.”

"Haha... The kingdom of usury pays attention to food but not to shooting. Remember, it will issue an internal policy later. It will only accept loans but not lend out existing loan balances. It will try to reduce financial risk exposure and reduce the total loan amount to less than 200 million yuan.

, relying on innate convenience, you can recover most of it."

"Uh... the old servant knows."

“Nip problems in the bud.”

Speaking of which

Richard looked at the skilled assembly of the car workers and said in his mouth;

"When it comes to being naughty, the French are no match for the British anyway, and I'm afraid they will suffer another big setback this time.

But I guess

Before 1887, the British were not completely sure that they would not launch a comprehensive movement to split the United States because they were afraid of our existence.

There are two prerequisites for the British to take action;

The first is that the Anglo-Saxons win the next presidential election, which I am afraid will be achieved this year.

After suffering losses in two consecutive presidential elections, the Republican and Democratic parties in the United States are now keeping their eyes on the election ballot boxes. The British have also sent election supervision committee members to prevent us from doing evil things.

Due to various unfavorable conditions, it is no longer possible to think about "changing the civet cat for the prince" this year. The new presidential candidate of the Liberal Party, Chen Huichuan, is also ineffective, and defeat is a high probability event.

The second condition is that the "North American Post-War Treaty" expires and war reparations are paid off in full, eliminating the excuse for the Tang Empire to interfere in American affairs again.

When these two prerequisites are fully met, the British dare to take action.

After all, he is the overlord of the world, so he acts somewhat without scruples."

Richard explained to the British guy calmly, looking somewhat helpless.

The invasion of the Tang Empire was indeed powerful, but the British Empire was not weak either!

After experiencing the glory of the Victorian period, now at the end of Victoria's reign, the British Empire has shown signs of faltering. Economic development has been sluggish for more than ten consecutive years, and the overall economic growth has hovered around 1%, showing little stamina.

But after all, it has hundreds of years of profound accumulation, a vast colony of more than 30 million square kilometers, a strong confidence that "the British Empire will not fail until the blood of Asan in India is shed," a world-invincible Royal Navy, and a European

With so many countries following, London can indeed be unscrupulous.

There’s also bad news this year;

That is, after seven years of reintegration of the Liberal Party, former Colonial Secretary William Cecil led the Liberal Party all the way through this year's prime ministerial election. Unsurprisingly, it will win the final election.

If all goes well, the new British Prime Minister will be inaugurated on June 23, 1885. This is an old rival.

If many people have forgotten, please remind me;

This man served as the important Colonial Secretary during Lord William Ewart Gladstone's term as Prime Minister. He was a political veteran with far-reaching plans. More than ten years ago, he came up with many bad ideas in order to restrict the Tang Empire.

But Richard is not afraid of him at all, because the Tang Empire is no longer what it was more than ten years ago. The empire has a population of 121 million, with Chinese residents firmly accounting for 86.4%. It is prosperous and developing from the inside out.

The swallowed new colony of Colombia, as well as Cuba, Luzon Islands, Zhongzhou Province, and Fuyuan Province have been roughly digested, forming a basic social structure dominated by Chinese, and becoming one of the overseas provinces with considerable strength in the empire.

It is expected that by the end of this century, these overseas provinces temporarily affiliated with the Colonial Department will be completely reborn and truly integrated into the empire's domestic territory to achieve long-term strategic goals.

With such a strong foundation, even if it faces the British Empire, it will not be afraid at all.

In turn, the British Empire was not afraid of the Tang State at all, because although the Tang State was strong, it was impossible to project such strength into Europe and thus change the situation in Europe.

As long as the British Royal Navy does not allow it, the vast Atlantic Ocean is a forbidden land.

(End of chapter)