1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 2629
After wandering around the city for a while, Zhu Zian noticed that the leading here is not only the road traffic conditions, but almost all the infrastructure facilities visible to the naked eye are better than the cities he has been to before, making the whole city look tidy And orderly.

But there is no doubt that the construction of these infrastructure facilities must consume a lot of manpower, material and financial resources. For example, all the drainage ditches on the street have been made into culverts, and tall cast railway lampposts are erected at every intersection. There are fixed trash cans for waste, and you can also see that there are special people responsible for cleaning the streets. However, cities under the Ming Dynasty rarely have such perfect planning.

Tao Hongfang readily explained part of the reasons for this difference: "It is true that building these facilities cost a lot of money. It's not that Daming couldn't afford the money, but spent it in other places. We believe that for the people Providing a good living environment is more conducive to the development of the city, so this is chosen as the focus of urban construction.”

Zhu Zi'an suddenly said: "Brother Tao, it should be referring to the fortifications of the city? Zhoushan is located on the sea, with its own natural barriers, and there is a navy stationed there, so there is really no need to build a city to defend against foreign enemies. In this way, it can indeed save the next Big money."

Although Zhu Zian thought of this, the actual situation is not that simple.Before Haihan took over Zhoushan, it was occupied by various pirates and armed maritime merchants for a long time, and it was difficult for the government to intervene in management, let alone security.It took Haihan several years to wipe out the armed forces in the Zhoushan Islands and even the entire East China Sea one by one, and established a close interest relationship with the nearby Daming local government. Coupled with the deterrence brought by the long-term garrison, he finally let Zhoushan got a safe trading environment.

The various resources needed to build fortifications were thus saved, and officials were able to implement urban infrastructure projects that improved living conditions.Although the urban construction level of Zhoushan is not as good as that of Sanya, it is far ahead of the cities under the Ming Dynasty. Even a newcomer like Zhu Zian can quickly feel the difference in this respect.

Of course, what interests Zhu Zian even more is the unique international atmosphere here, the various architectural styles in the city, all kinds of foreign goods that you have never heard of in the shops on the street, and the foreign people who can be seen everywhere on the street and whose appearance and clothes are easy to distinguish. Zhu Zian felt very novel.

"There are so many foreigners here, how do they communicate, and how do they settle the trade?" Zhu Zian immediately thought of two difficult questions.

Tao Hongfang gave an answer to this: "Most of the businessmen who can come here to do business have long-term contact with our country, and there are quite a few who can speak Haihan Mandarin. There are also local agencies that serve foreign businessmen, which can provide Translators who are proficient in foreign languages. As for trade settlement, most merchants will exchange the gold and silver they bring into Chinese banknotes, and then use the banknotes with the same currency value for settlement.”

Zhu Zian frowned and said, "This sounds a bit troublesome."

Tao Hongfang smiled and said, "As long as there is money to be made, this little trouble is nothing!"

Zhu Zian thought about it again, these foreign businessmen have traveled long distances across the sea, compared to the dangerous and difficult sea voyage, and the huge profits they can get after returning home, these troubles in the transaction process can only be regarded as trivial The little things are relieved now.

At the same time, Shi Chengwu and Wang Anguo were not as leisurely as they were.This dispatch of the combined fleet, together with missions and emigration missions, is already a large-scale military operation in recent years for the East China Sea region, so the relevant preparations are intricate and complicated.But this time, Shi Diwen didn't personally direct these matters, and deliberately handed them over to Shi Wang and Shi Wang, also intending to exercise their ability to be independent.

After Wang Anguo arrived in Zhoushan, he plunged into the warehouse in the port area.The materials he purchased during his return to China this time are far more than the freight fleet brought back from Hangzhou. Many materials have already arrived in Zhoushan in advance and are stored in the warehouse. They will be inspected and shipped when he arrives.

At present, there are more than [-] military and civilian populations settled in the colonial areas of North America. If you add some indigenous populations taken in locally and the immigrants recruited in the country this time, the total population will be about [-].

Through nearly three years of hard work, the North American colonial area has basically achieved food self-sufficiency, and has begun to plant some economic crops suitable for the local environment on a large scale.Among the materials purchased this time, the proportion of food has dropped significantly compared with when we set off three years ago, mainly some deep-processed products that cannot be produced locally.

Before Wang Anguo returned to China, he ordered a batch of special food processing equipment in China, which can be used in industries such as wine making, sugar refining, salt drying, flue-cured tobacco, and oil extraction. A big step up.These appliances were basically produced in Hainan Island and had only recently arrived in Zhoushan. Wang Anguo knew the importance of them, so he had to personally inspect them one by one.

In addition, there is a batch of important materials from Hainan Island, which are the urgently needed munitions of the North American advance fleet.Due to various objective reasons, the North American colonial area currently does not have the ability to produce its own arms. At most, it can make some repairs to existing equipment, and the consumption of ammunition can only rely on domestic supplies.

In addition to ammunition, the arms purchased from China this time also include nearly a hundred artillery pieces, a thousand rifles, and a number of warships previously ordered at the Zhoushan Shipyard to supplement the weapons and equipment of the local garrison.Part of the cost of purchasing these arms belongs to the military expenses allocated by the Ministry of Defense, and part of it is borne by the North American Advance Fleet itself.

The reason why there is a part to be borne by himself is mainly because the budget allocated by the Ministry of National Defense is limited and it is difficult to meet Wang Tom's military needs, so he simply paid for it out of his own pocket and increased the purchase of some equipment.Especially for the warships ordered in Zhoushan, Shi Diwen was able to give him much more favorable conditions than Sanya in terms of construction period and cost. Wang Tom placed all the relevant construction orders in Zhoushan, and only a part of Zhoushan The key components that cannot be completed are ordered from Sanya and then shipped to Zhoushan for assembly.

Although this process was cumbersome, it did save Tom Wang a lot of money.However, the resulting disadvantages are also obvious. This construction method of off-site assembly may not be as reliable as the quality of the entire construction process completed in Sanya. Therefore, Wang Anguo also needs to spend more time and energy during the acceptance period to avoid new The boat leaves performance concerns.

(End of this chapter)