Wild North America 1846

Chapter 179 Border Trade
Omaha was originally just an agricultural town with a population of more than 3600 residents in the northern part of the United States. After the United States and Tang Dynasty signed the "Ottawa Treaty", a large number of original white American residents left. The town was settled by the Longkou Cavalry Regiment and became a frontier military fortress.

Due to the importance of its geographical location, the resolution to build Omaha into a plain fortress city that can be attacked and defended was passed after a full evaluation by the Army Staff Headquarters and submitted to His Majesty the King before the case.

This is an 8-year construction plan. It is planned to build a plain fortress-type city standing on the riverside on the high ground of the original site of Omaha, with a planned population of 10.

Fort Omaha is a large-scale fortress-style building that draws on the advantages of eastern and western fortress cities. In the first three years, it only built city walls, city gates and other facilities, with initial defense capabilities.

The second phase of the project began to build bastions, riverside forts, and excavated moats to further strengthen and improve the defensive performance of the Omaha Fortress, and gradually build it into a plain city.

The third phase of the project is to improve the living and transportation facilities in the city, improve the sewers, culverts, commercial and living facilities, so that it has the ability to live in the city in peacetime and stand alone for a long time in wartime.Based in the northern part of the Americas, look at the Great Plains in the hinterland of the United States.

Li Cha personally reviewed the entire urban plan, and listed the construction of urban sewers and ditches as a priority goal. The division of functional areas was more optimized, and finally passed the large-scale construction project plan.

The project will use 9000 to 1 convicts, invest 200 to 300 million Tang Yuan each year, and plan to take seven to eight years to complete. It is a major national defense investment no less than Phoenix Castle.

In view of its important role as the "Northern Lock and Key", this money cannot be saved.

standing at the window
Li Cha stared at the snow-covered city, his thoughts escaped from the northern border city of Omaha and returned to his eyes.

The impact of the current immigration boom on cities on the west coast of North America is obvious. New Chang'an (San Francisco), Los Angeles, Sunshine City, Seattle and other coastal cities have a significant increase in population every month, much higher than that of the mainland.

After the US-Tang War was over, Richard no longer sat on the Colorado Plateau in person, but returned to the Maple Leaf Palace in New Chang'an (San Francisco), where he handled the kingdom's daily government affairs, received court officials, and returned to normal life.

this action
It actually had a major impact on the political and social life of the entire kingdom. In addition to the end of the war, the materials, personnel and financial resources of the Tang Kingdom no longer flowed to the plateau. The development of major cities along the coast showed a gratifying situation with each passing day.

Li Cha felt this deeply, and after careful consideration, he figured out the mystery of it.

The overall economy of the Tang Kingdom is too small, and there are not many pillar cities. During the war, all military struggles were the mainstay. Various resources and financial resources were gathered on the Colorado Plateau, which inevitably affected the normal development of other cities. This is a seesaw effect. .

peacetime
The kingdom's various resources, manpower, material resources and funds gather in the coastal cities, which have significantly boosted its development and made remarkable progress.

Generally speaking, the scale of the cities is relatively small, and the large cities along the coast can barely exceed the size of more than 10 residents. The annual increase of [-] residents is half, and one hundred thousand is doubled.

At this moment

When Li Cha heard footsteps behind him, he turned around and saw Gu Yan, Secretary-General of the Royal Family, and Chen Cailiang, Minister of Economy, coming hand in hand. He respectfully saluted as he entered the door;
"My minister bows to His Majesty, wishing His Majesty peace."

"Excuse me, why did Cai Liang come here?"

"Qi Zou, Your Majesty, there is indeed a matter of great importance, which must be ordered by the emperor." Earl Chen Cailiang respectfully submitted the report with both hands.

Li Cha glanced at it after receiving it, but did not open it to read, but waited quietly for the Minister of Economic Affairs Earl Chen Cailiang to explain in detail.

Since the end of last year, after the ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven and conferring titles, the court officials of the Tang royal family have abolished the temporary commissioner system and replaced it with a cabinet system.

Following the political tradition of the British system, the head of the cabinet is referred to as the "Cabinet Prime Minister", referred to as "Prime Minister".

In this way, it is consistent with the mainstream government settings of various countries today, and it is convenient for clarifying responsibilities, facilitating governance, and facilitating international exchanges.

The most important post of prime minister in the current royal government is vacant, and the secretary-general of the royal family, Gu Yan, is also in charge of his coordinating functions. The important bills of various ministries are finally submitted to the imperial court for decision, that is, the king monopolizes power.

A small country with a population of more than 150 million is like a whole in China, and there is absolutely no need for so many people to participate in decision-making.

Li Cha made a decision with one word, and other people just need to implement the decision. The administration is simple, rough and efficient, which is very suitable for the current situation of the Tang Kingdom.

"Well, tell me about it?"

"Regarding Your Majesty, Secretary of State Slim Love of the U.S. Federal Government has sent telegrams and personal letters many times, saying that after the normalization of relations between the United States and Tang Dynasty, they eagerly look forward to resuming trade and personnel exchanges between the two countries. The idea of ​​the U.S. side is Open the Red Rock Valley passage, as a gateway for trade and personnel exchanges between the two countries, exchange what is needed, enhance trade and mutual consensus..."

"Oh……"

Li Cha did not listen carefully to the explanation below, but responded with an "oh" with great interest, and waved his hands; "The relevant trade channels and methods between the two countries are yet to be discussed, and there is no rush. This matter is between the two governments." Communication at the same level. Even if the mutual market between the two sides is opened in the future, our opinion should be based on Omaha in the north, which can take into account the security concerns of both parties and is also conducive to the development of trade.”

Are you kidding me?
The Red Rock Valley is the core area of ​​the border defense of the Tang Kingdom. Its function is almost the same as the heart. In any case, it is impossible to use martial arts at its own expense. What kind of "border trade between the two countries" is being carried out in this place?
Such an important place should be listed as a military restricted area, and it is strictly forbidden for people and birds to fly across, completely cutting off the exchanges between the two sides, and violators will be killed without mercy.

Border personnel and businessmen are bustling with goods, who knows if there are any enemy spies with malicious intentions inside, who knows if there are guns and armed personnel?
The embankment of a thousand miles collapsed in the ant nest.

The border area is easily eroded by people with money and blinded by interests, so they relax their vigilance, which is a fatal threat to Phoenix Fortress.

Fortunately, the Yankees could come up with such an idea. Li Cha saw through the trick at a glance, but he didn't reject it outright. Instead, he ordered the Minister of Economics, Chen Cailiang, to talk to him slowly!
As for how long to talk about, that's not counted.

Perhaps five or six years later, the Omaha Fortress was built and possessed a strong defense capability.The United States agreed to build a bridge across the Missouri River. It is not impossible for the two countries to carry out trade between the two countries as long as various conditions permit.

Now, certainly not at this sensitive time.

Earl Chen Cailiang was aware of His Majesty's polite refusal, and immediately understood.Immediately afterwards, he reported a large amount of imported Mexican silver, minted silver coins and copper coins and counter-exported related trade in Mexico, which was very profitable.

Today, the Tang Kingdom mainly exports silver coins, copper coins, denim clothing, second-hand weapons and swords in stock, various dried fruits, flour and wine to Mexico, and imports mainly agricultural products, silver and aluminum-zinc ores. The scale of trade is small. But the heat is getting higher and higher.

The industrial products, clothing products and food of Datang Kingdom are very popular in Mexico, but the only things Mexico can sell are silver and aluminum zinc ore, and the trade between the two sides is not equal.

After a brief report on the relevant trade situation, Earl Chen Cailiang, Minister of Economy, resigned first.

Richard pondered for a moment, then asked, "Qing'an, do you think it is the will of the US federal government, or is it a personal attempt by Secretary of State Slim Love? What do they want to do?"

This question is not easy to answer, Gu Yan considered it for a while with a solemn expression, and then said;
"Show Your Majesty;
Based on my knowledge of senior US federal government officials and government operations over the past few years, I tend to think that it should be Secretary of State Slim Love's personal political ambitions.

To put it bluntly, he is a political speculator.

The reason is that today's US Polk government has lost its majority status in the Senate and House of Representatives after the disastrous defeat in the mid-term elections. In fact, it has become a lame government governed by a standard lame president.

The Polk administration was well aware;

At this stage, even if all the power of the whole country is devoted, it is still impossible to defeat the Tang Kingdom.Otherwise, there is no need to sign the "Ottawa Treaty" that humiliates the country and make substantive concessions to cede territory.

After that, the Polk government was strongly criticized by the public opinion of the country. The important aides, the finance minister, the interior minister, and the minister of economy, industry and commerce resigned one after another, just to avoid sinking with Polk's wrecked ship.

U.S. Secretary of State Slim Love obviously chose another path. He insisted on not resigning, and used the remaining term of his term to seek political assets for a comeback in the future. Proposing mutual trade between the United States and China may be one of them.

No matter whether the results are achieved or not, even if we can get a positive response from our side, that is something Slim Love can boast about.

From this perspective, this person should be a standard political speculator. "

"Well, it makes sense, but the relevant information is not enough to corroborate each other, and it is difficult to judge for the time being." Li Cha nodded cautiously.

If the U.S. government had a bad idea about Red Rock Valley, the situation would be much worse.

It is not impossible for the U.S. federal government to jump over the wall in a hurry. If the sharp domestic conflicts between the North and the South cannot be bridged, the Polk government may brazenly launch border provocations and lead the main conflicts to foreign wars to alleviate the urgent need.

Of course, all of this is speculation, and more intelligence support is needed.

"I ordered Earl Kahn, the commander of the Phoenix Fortress, to implement a three-level military mobilization in the near future. The outside is loose and the inside is tight. The focus is on guarding against the US military raids in the Hugo Fortress area. He is not good at provoking frontiers. Any challenge must be given a strong response. This order."

After Li Cha's cold and stern dictated orders, Gu Yan hastily recorded them, then bowed his fists and withdrew, and went to the secretariat to draw up an order and issue it.

For major military matters related to the security of the border, it is better to believe it than to believe it. Even if there is only a small possibility of 1%, it is always good to take more precautions. What he arranges is preventive measures.

(End of this chapter)