Wild North America 1846

Chapter 253 The Big Pie

The development plan of the "Cold Wind" class steam iron-clad frigate is part of the "Fixed Sea" plan proposed by the Navy. It originated in 1850, and after many revisions and demonstrations in the later period, it finally obtained His Majesty's permission in 1853 and entered the substantive construction stage. .

In addition to the navy's "Guhai" plan, a plan was proposed to develop a large-scale steam iron-clad frigate of 3500-4000 tons. As a result, the plan was rejected by His Majesty without hesitation as soon as it was proposed.

It just allocated special funds to repeatedly polish and demonstrate the design of this class of ships, so that it can develop a new design plan for the current situation of the navy's use of steam iron-clad warships.

To date
There are already 5 design schemes quietly lying in the Navy Budget Office. As time goes by, the Navy has accumulated experience in using steam ironclad warships, and new requirements and defects have emerged frequently, which greatly affect the design of new ships. Design.

Richard is not in a hurry. An excellent 3500-ton to 4000-ton steam ironclad ship, once the design is finalized, should be able to be used at least until the end of this century, that is, the service period of nearly 40 years.

It is not an exaggeration to say

This class of ships will serve as the main force of the Datang Kingdom's navy for quite a long time to come, so prudence and prudence, demonstration and demonstration, and optimization and optimization will become necessary links.

According to demand;
The new first-class steam ironclad ship must have a long voyage, that is, a voyage of no less than 5000 nautical miles. A single voyage can go directly from Panama to Paradise Island without refueling on the way.

As for the firepower and armor of naval guns, they all have to be subject to the needs of the largest voyage in the ranking. The main naval guns can be fewer and weaker in firepower, and the armor coverage can also be smaller and thinner. Everything makes way for the needs of long voyages.

at the same time
The seaworthiness and habitability of warships are also the focus of attention. Cruising and patrolling the vast Pacific Ocean and performing missions for a long time, the officers and soldiers of warships have a better living environment and can maintain a high level of combat for a long time. The actual needs of the Royal Navy.

A bit far...

With the current economic strength of the Tang Kingdom, there is not enough military budget to develop the army and navy at the same time.

The development of naval ships has always been a gold-swallowing beast. The cost of a "Cold Wind" class II iron-clad frigate has exceeded 10 yuan, which is almost equivalent to the weaponry cost of an entire infantry regiment. This is not a small amount of money.

3500~4000 tons of new steam ironclad battleship, the cost is close to the cost of weapons and equipment of an infantry division.

In 7 to 8 years, Li Cha will not consider developing a 3500-ton main steam iron-clad warship. The navy will most likely continue to improve on the iron-clad frigates of the "Cold Wind" Type III and "Cold Wind" Type IV.

The construction of two ships is started every year, and 1~2 ships are built and put into service, and that’s it if they die, thus freeing up more funds for strategic storage, militia training, and army equipment development.

At least until the end of the American Civil War, Datang Kingdom will not shift the focus of military development from the army to the navy.

These years, Fusang is still closed to the outside world, and the "black ship incident" in history did not occur. Richard has no intention of breaking this peaceful situation, so let Fusang Island continue to sit and watch the sky.

But this situation is unlikely to last long.

In this era, Li Cha has convenient information channels, and he clearly understands that before Fusang opened the country, the development trend of capitalism has actually appeared inside.

Countless Chinese immigrants set foot on North America to seek to realize their dreams of making a fortune. The Kingdom of Datang is known as the "Land of Hope", "Golden Country" and "Dream Country". All kinds of jealousy envy hate.

At this time, the voices calling for reform in Fuso country are getting louder and louder. Many Fuso people with a sense of crisis believe that reform is imminent, and the "Meiji Restoration" initiative is being conceived, and all they need is a tipping point.

in the original history
The black ship incident was just a catalyst, which could make the reform of Fuso go more smoothly, and the ensuing "Meiji Restoration" was also a natural thing.

The "Black Ship Incident" started the far-reaching "Meiji Restoration" movement. For the Fusang island country, this reform was very successful both politically and economically. , the Reform Movement of [-] or the constitutional reform in the late Qing Dynasty, they all ended in failure in the end.

History is like a mirror. The two positive and negative cases in East Asia reflect the different results of actively embracing reform and passively accepting reform.

At this stage

Li Cha will not take the initiative to lift the cover, but will allow Fusang to continue to close the country. As for when the active reform movement will be detonated, he does not know, let alone care.

back to the hall

Regarding the inspection situation in Hawaii Island in the past few days, the accompanying ministers expressed their opinions and expressed their opinions. The collision of opinions sparked many good ideas, which will be implemented one by one in the development of the region in the future.

In this imperial meeting, Li Cha listened more and spoke less, occasionally a few words of encouragement, the ministers discussed more vigorously, and wanted to show off their wits in front of His Majesty.

Gai Wangshan, Minister of the Ministry of the Interior, said: "Your Majesty, these days, I have followed Shengjia to inspect the towns on Hawaii Island and Oahu Island. It can be seen that the town construction and land reclamation have great effects. There are many buildings in the town. The planning is orderly, the fields outside the city are vast, the ditches are criss-cross, and the development is really organized. The indigenous population is basically invisible in the local towns, but as far as I know; many local indigenous populations are hidden in sugar cane plantations and remote pastures Among them, the number is as high as 10, and this hidden danger must be paid attention to!"

When he said this, the faces of several cabinet officials present turned dark.

You can play well if you don't tell the truth, this man is not a son of man.

After years of severe repression and the centralized hard labor camp system in the Tang Kingdom, the number of native Indians in the territory has been greatly reduced. Some large mines are even facing a shortage of manpower, so they have to use more machinery and mine rails, and recruit some Mexican laborers. Fill up.

Early years

In the mines where the working environment is harsh, the average annual death rate of indigenous Indian hard labor reaches 7.7%. Although there has been some improvement recently, the overall death rate has dropped to below 4%, but the number of indigenous Indians living in the hard labor camps is less than 27.

Today, across the mountains of the Rocky Mountains, the railway from Salt Lake City to Phoenix on the Colorado Plateau is under construction. Tunnels, bridges and harsh mountainous environments have slowed down the construction of the railway, and the death rate of convicts remains high.

And this Central Pacific Railway is crucial to the connection between the hinterland of the Datang Kingdom and the Colorado Plateau, saving more than 2600 kilometers of roads, so it is currently a key project of the Ministry of Communications.

The number of indigenous convicts will be reduced as much as possible, and the labor demand for the railway construction ahead will be fully guaranteed.

With such high-intensity use, it is estimated that there will be no indigenous Indians in the territory in a few years.

On Paradise Island, the expedition team has made great progress in encircling and clearing the island's primitive cannibals.

In the entire Datang Kingdom, there is no living environment for the aborigines and blacks. There were also southern whites who brought black slaves to the Datang Kingdom to do business. To heavy punishment.

according to a certain theory;

"The Tang Kingdom is a paradise for civilized races. Primitives and orangutans are not accepted. They will pollute the free air here."

Therefore, Gai Wangshan, the minister of the Ministry of the Interior, suddenly lifted the cover, especially in front of His Majesty, the faces of the cabinet ministers must be ugly, and a dereliction of duty will definitely not escape.

The prime minister, Earl Gu Yan, saw that the scene was cold, coughed twice, and signaled with his eyes to Chen Cailiang, the Minister of Economic Affairs, to save the situation, and don't just watch it, lest it will end badly at that time.

In these large plantations and ranches on Hawaii Island, it is inevitable that there are some nobles and Chinese high-society investments, free and cheap indigenous labor, isn’t it delicious?

Chen Cailiang stood up bravely and said with a salute;

"Show Your Majesty;
I have a little understanding of the situation Sir Gai said. The natives of Hawaii Island are divided into raw and cooked. The raw and remote islands are primitive tribes.

Most of them are the Big Island of Hawaii and Oahu. They are familiar with the characteristics of Western religion and life, accept and actively integrate into modern society, and behave friendly and easy to manage.

The glory of my Tang Kingdom shines on the Hawaiian Islands, bringing the etiquette and culture of the kingdom of heaven, which is widely loved by all people, including these local aborigines.

Generally speaking, the aborigines on the island live by farming and grazing. They are not as vicious and difficult to manage as the aboriginal Indians. They are generally more docile, and they are a rare labor force for sugarcane plantations and remote pastures.

As far as we know

Today, the sugarcane plantations and ranches in Hawaii are all Chinese businessmen and Chinese family members. There are more than a hundred people in their plantations, and as few as a dozen indigenous people on the island.

Once they are all disposed of, there will inevitably be a large vacancy in the labor force, which will affect the output of plantations and pastures.

This is also the concern of the local government, so it has adopted the policy of "slowly", and if it is not enough, please ask the Holy Order. "

"Hmph, what is the "sustainable policy", it's all about appeasement." Sir Gai Wangshan snorted coldly, and said with a look of disdain.

After he said this, Prime Minister Gu Yan couldn't sit still, he quickly stood up and saluted with both hands; "Sir Guy, be careful, how can you be so innocent?
Considering the difficulty of immigrant pioneering and home ownership, the government has given special grace to the "slow policy", which is a benevolent policy to help Chinese immigrants overcome the most difficult initial stage of entrepreneurship.

It makes sense in both emotion and reason, so how can we talk about the four characters of "tolerate and raise traitors"?
Even if the local aborigines are classified as hard labor camps and centralized management, there are no large-scale facilities to be built, and it would be a waste of manpower..."

Just as Gu Yan said this, Major General Pan Hengchen stood up excitedly and said loudly, "Your Majesty Qi Zou, I have something to do."

Gu Yan; "..."

Isn't it a coincidence that the Navy is worried that no one will build Pearl Harbor?
A big pie was smashed down, and it was really flattering.

The navy only needs to send more than a thousand marines to supervise the construction, open up large tracts of fertile land on Oahu Island, log and build houses, build docks and warehouses, and build fortresses.

Local materials were used as much as possible for construction. In just a few years, Pearl Harbor, the naval advance base, will look very decent.

Spending a small amount of money to do big things, the premise is that there is plenty of free labor available, isn't this ready-made?

(End of this chapter)