I want to be emperor

Chapter 981 Suez Canal Construction Begins

The Suez area has been a convenient passage connecting the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea since ancient times. This canal was built and used several times during the ancient Egyptian period. The most recent time was probably 1000 years ago.

However, the Suez Canal in ancient times was limited by factors such as technical capabilities, manpower and material resources at the time.Its canal is small in size and has extremely poor navigation capacity. It can only navigate small flat-bottomed ships with a very shallow draft.

Probably... similar to the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal in China during the pre-Ming Dynasty?
No one knows the specific data, and future generations can only make a rough guess. But what is certain is that it is definitely not as good as the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, which was built and deepened many times by the contemporary Chu Empire.

In the decades since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Chu Empire has organized a large number of manpower and material resources to dredge the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal on several occasions, and opened up multiple passages. Especially after the artificial diversion of the Yellow River, the dredging project of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal was further accelerated.

Up to now, the water depth of the main channel of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal can reach three meters, and some canal sections can reach four or five meters. The entire line can navigate hundreds or even thousands of tons of flat-bottomed inland river vessels, which are important and cheap freight connecting the north and the south. waterways.

According to the empire's long-term plan, the water depth of the main channel of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal will be increased to more than four meters in the future.

This is because although there are railways and cheaper shipping, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal is not accessible to inland areas.Mainly in Jiangbei, Shandong, Hebei, Jiangnan and other places, low-cost transportation of long-distance goods still plays an irreplaceable role.

The ancient Egyptians definitely did not have as strong manpower, material resources, especially technical capabilities as the Chu Empire... You must know that the Chu Empire is currently carrying out various major projects and has widely used mechanical equipment with steam engine power as its core.

For example, to transport earthwork or materials on a construction site, a small construction site railway is directly used... This thing is very simple. It is just like the small railway in the mining area. Just lay a section of rails and then get a steam engine locomotive to pull the carriage. This thing is comparable to Who would choose the horse-drawn carriage?

In addition, there are even more critical excavators powered by steam engines... This greatly increased the Chu Empire's ability to carry out large-scale project construction.

Excavators are nothing new in the Dachu Empire. In fact, in the [-]s, during the era of low-pressure steam engines, some people had already used low-pressure steam engines as power to carry out various excavation work on behalf of manpower.

However, it was still very primitive at that time, and low-pressure steam engines were not available, so the scope of use was very small, and most people in the world did not know that this thing existed.

But after the high-pressure steam engine came out, the high-pressure steam engine with smaller size and weight and greater power not only became the power for ships and trains, but also became the power for various mechanical equipment.

In the 20s, steam harvesters, plows and other steam agricultural equipment were invented and then used on a large scale.

During this period, various engineering equipment powered by steam engines also appeared one after another and began to be used on a large scale.

Chengshun 36, the main developer and manufacturer of steam excavators, Anton Machinery Company, launched the first crawler steam excavator, and pioneered the use of a bucket that can rotate 360°, combined with the previously applied Wire rope winch.

The Anton 153 excavator of this period was actually almost functionally similar to the excavators that people would be familiar with in later generations...

If you replace the steam engine power with a diesel engine, and then replace the wire rope cross with a hydraulic device, then it will be a modern excavator.

In the original time and space, similar excavators were gradually matured and used in the mid-to-late 80th century. They became very mature after the [-]s and were widely used in various major engineering fields.

The excavation work of the Panama Canal and Suez Canal in the original time and space involved a large number of steam engine engineering machinery, including this steam excavator.

Otherwise, it would be too difficult to dig these two super canals manually.

The Da Chu Empire also decided to open these two grand canals after weighing its own construction capabilities and feeling that it could carry out such a huge project.

However, according to estimates, even if various types of mechanical equipment powered by steam engines are used on a large scale, and a railway is even laid in advance as a material transportation channel, there will still be a lot of labor required.

At least one hundred thousand level.

The funds required for construction will also be very huge. For example, the initial estimate of starting construction of the Suez Canal is at least 3000 million yuan. (The history took 11 years and cost more than 800 million pounds)
This 3000 million Chu Yuan is still a base figure, and the exact amount needed to be spent will have to be calculated later.

Because the project costs too much, and the empire cannot spend money to build this canal in vain, the funds for this canal, and even the Panama Canal, and subsequent operations will follow the railway model, establishing government-run enterprises, passing loans, and issuing corporate bonds. After completion, the canal will be repaid by charging navigable ships to repay the loan and maintain the operation of the canal.

According to this policy, the Chu Empire formally established the Suez Canal Company directly under the Ministry of Industry in the first month of the 44th year of Chengshun, after the New Year, and issued corporate bonds to the capital market, while also seeking loans and financing from banks, investment funds and other institutions. .

The feedback from the capital market to this canal company is also very good... because everyone can see the convenience and great market prospects of the Suez Canal... As long as the canal is opened, ships traveling to Europe will not have to detour through Africa and can go directly through This canal runs between the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.

Its coverage includes not only Europe, but also the Black Sea coast and even the hinterland of Eastern Europe through the Black Sea.

The volume of ship traffic will certainly not be small in the future.

After the canal was opened, it was a business of sitting back and collecting money, making sure profits without losing money.

Under such circumstances, the Suez Canal Company quickly raised the first batch of 500 million yuan in funds for the preliminary detailed survey of the canal, small-scale construction and other work.

Just three months later, the Ministry of Industry established the Panama Canal Company to open a canal connecting the Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean in the Panama region of Central America. Its model of raising funds and subsequent operations is similar to that of the Suez Canal.

However, although the two canal companies have been established and have carried out preliminary surveys and large-scale construction preparations, this kind of super project cannot be completed in a day or two.

If the Suez Canal is to be dug, even with the powerful construction capabilities of the Chu Empire, it will take at least ten years.

Because the Suez Canal that the Chu Empire wanted to build was not a small inland canal that was only three or four meters deep and could be used by flat-bottomed ships.

Instead, we need to dig a super canal that can navigate ships of [-] tons or more.

After all, the purpose of the Suez Canal is to connect the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, and its navigation targets are all large-tonnage ocean-going ships, and the large-scale ocean-going cargo ships of the contemporary Dachu Empire have reached more than 30 tons. In the [-]s, due to the constraints of technology, cost, port and other conditions, most of the ocean-going freighters or passenger ships in the Dachu Empire had a registered tonnage of several thousand tons.

However, after entering the 40s, with the further improvement of shipbuilding technology and the further improvement of port facilities in various places, major shipping companies have gradually begun to order and use [-]-ton cargo ships.

This is just the current cargo ship... and the tonnage of the ocean luxury liner is even greater!

In the contemporary Dachu Empire, the largest ships are not warships or cargo ships, but ocean-going luxury liners... In order to compete with each other, major shipping companies have spared no effort to build and operate flagships with larger tonnage in the past 20 years.

In the late 30s, the registered tonnage of the Su Song luxury liner had reached 2 tons, and its actual operating full-load displacement reached an astonishing more than [-] tons.

Entering the 40s, in Chengshun 42, the Pacific Shipping Company put into service another even more exaggerated version of the Sun... which directly used the sun as the name of the ship. You can imagine how big this thing was.

The registered tonnage alone has reached [-] tons, and the full-load displacement can even reach [-] tons... It is truly a behemoth. In order to propel this huge luxury liner, two ultra-large triple-expansion reciprocating steam engines are crammed into it. , this steam engine is also the largest and most powerful steam engine in the contemporary Chu Empire. Two units working in parallel can reach an astonishing [-] horsepower, which is enough to propel this huge luxury liner to a speed of [-] knots. During the test, the maximum speed could reach nineteen knots.

This thing is currently the largest ship in the Chu Empire...including warships.

However, the Sun is not the fastest among luxury liners, and it cannot even enter the top twenty... The Jiangnan Shipping Company next door commissioned a Huangpu River in 37... This ship has a registered tonnage of 22 The ton ocean liner has a terrifying [-] horsepower, a designed speed of [-] knots, and a maximum speed of [-] knots.

The most important thing is that this thing can sail at a consistently high speed. On its maiden voyage across the Pacific, the ship even achieved an average speed of [-] knots, which is simply terrifying!

Compared with it, the speed of the Sun is quite a bit lower... But this is also related to the development strategy of Pacific Shipping Company. After research, their company came to the conclusion that after the maximum speed reaches about [-] knots, In fact, passengers, especially mid- to high-end passengers, don’t care much about the speed difference of one or two knots!

What they pay more attention to is the comfort and safety of sailing, and the quality of on-board services...

Therefore, in the design and construction of the Sun tanker, Pacific Shipping Company gave up the competition on speed and chose to invest more funds in improving safety and comfort.

This has also resulted in the fact that although the speed of the Sun luxury liner is slightly ordinary, the hull is extremely large, with many watertight cabins, and the decoration is extremely luxurious... The door handles of the guest rooms in the first class cabin are all gold-plated, which also leads to this The cost of the thing is extremely expensive, reaching more than 200 million yuan, which is equivalent to the price of the most expensive Jinling-class [-]-ton battleship in the navy.

In terms of service, it is said to have learned from the Palace Affairs Office and introduced the royal service concept... What stands out is the most extreme luxury service.

Of course, such luxury and luxury, as well as the pursuit of a royal service concept, also made the ticket price of this ship extremely expensive, especially the price of a first-class ticket, which can easily cost several thousand yuan.

Even if you can afford the money, if your status is not high enough, the shipping company will not sell you a first-class ticket... To the shipping company, a few thousand yuan is nothing, the important thing is to maintain First class style!
But second-class and third-class cabins are open to all comers... but they are not cheap either.

Even the cheapest third-class ticket is dozens of dollars more expensive!

Ferry tickets are expensive, and the facilities on board are even more expensive...

Since the Sun was put into operation last year, the main focus has been one word: expensive!

But don’t tell me, many Chu people really do this. The Sun is put into operation. Every time it sails across the ocean, the first-class cabin is full every time, and the lowest third-class ticket is often full...

Because of the huge space and excellent services on the Sun, even the third-class cabin, its living space, supporting facilities and even catering standards are equivalent to the second-class cabins of other ordinary ocean liners.

Moreover, the ships are larger and more stable to sail, and people feel safer.

Therefore, many people would rather take the third class cabin of the Sun than the second class cabin of other ordinary passenger ships, although the prices of the two are actually similar.

The other shipping companies were dumbfounded and resentful... These passengers are all fools, why are they all being cheated by Pacific Ocean Shipping Company?

They are all passenger ships of [-] tons. Our ships are not bad either. The tickets are cheaper and the speed is faster. We can maintain an average high speed of [-] knots when sailing across the ocean...Why don't they come? Instead of taking our ship, you have to go to the Sun and be taken advantage of.

The passengers will naturally not explain anything, but every first-class passenger, when they board the Sun and come to the main banquet hall and see the super-large crystal chandelier in the banquet hall worth tens of thousands of dollars, all Everyone will find it worth their money!
Pacific Shipping Company has always liked to make these external things very bluffing, but if you think about it carefully, you will find that the average power per ton of this ship is not as good as the old ship of Jiangnan Shipping Company a few years ago. !

However, this business strategy has allowed Pacific Shipping Company to successfully suppress several other old competitors and become the most popular shipping company in the shipping industry in recent years. The company's stock price has been rising!
However, other shipping companies are not willing to give up. Instead, they are actively building new flagships one by one to regain the high-end shipping market and build the company's high-end brand.

Therefore, in the past two years, large-tonnage flagship luxury passenger ships are still under construction. Jiangnan Shipping Company’s 200-ton luxury cruise ship New Jiangnan is already under construction. This thing is even bigger than the Sun, with a length of more than 20 meters and a width of [-] Duomi, there are four huge pieces of smoke!
And it is said that the interior decoration will be more luxurious than that of the Sun... Probably the Sun uses gold-plated door handles, while we directly use pure gold door handles...

Other shipping companies have limited financial resources, so they have not yet followed the trend of 1-ton luxury cruise ships. However, they have built many luxury cruise ships of more than [-] tons. In fact, Jiangnan Shipping Company and Pacific Shipping Company have ocean-going large-scale luxury cruise ships. , in fact, they are mainly cruise ships with over [-] tons.

A [-]-ton ultra-large luxury cruise ship, that's the name of the game... very few in number.

However, although the registered tonnage of these luxury cruise ships is more than 1 tons, in fact, many of them have a full load displacement of more than [-] or even [-] tons, and the draft can easily be six or seven meters.

Considering the draft level of existing ships and the draft level of future ships, especially large ocean-going cargo ships, the water depth of the main channel of the Suez Canal cannot be too shallow. Four or five meters is not enough, and it must be at least seven or eight meters. It would be better if it is more than ten meters.

However, the higher the water depth of the channel, the greater the amount of work, the higher the cost, and the longer it will take.

So how to choose the water depth of the channel will be a choice with great impact!

But no matter what the choice is, the detailed preliminary survey and preliminary construction preparations have already begun.

In early May of the 40th year of Chengshun, the first batch of technical teams from the Chu State Suez Canal Company came to the Suez area to conduct preliminary surveys and technical preparations. At the same time, the first batch of West Asian dispatched laborers also began to station for preliminary construction!
Construction of the Suez Canal officially begins!
(End of this chapter)