Wild North America 1846

Chapter 267

Chang'an Daming Palace

"Hmph...Pursue greatness?" Li Cha snorted coldly, dropped the domestic and foreign news bulletins in his hand, walked to the large hand-painted map, and examined it carefully.

His gaze roamed the states of the Great Plains in the central part of the United States, and he couldn't help showing a fiery light. This is the real black land, fertile and high-yield, and it will be the location of the world-renowned granary of the American Federation for more than 150 years.

Almost 120% of this vast black land with an area of ​​9 million square kilometers is within the territory of the United States. Only Peel City and Omaha in the north of the Datang Kingdom occupy a long and narrow side.

The areas rich in wheat near Peel City belong to the black soil. In this age without chemical fertilizers, the high-yield black soil is naturally open, and the yield is [-]% to [-]% higher than that of ordinary good farmland, with an output of [-] to [-] pounds of wheat per mu. That's a very normal thing.

Only sufficient food production can feed a larger population.

On the Colorado plateau, the yield of the best mature field wheat is only 200 pounds, and the higher one is about [-] pounds, which is already sky-high.

However, on the fertile black soil around Peel City, the yield is 100 to 10 pounds per mu, which is more than 50 pounds per mu. What about 500 mu? What about [-] mu? What about [-] million mu?
Thinking about it makes people excited, this is the magical charm of the black land.

With the rapid growth of the population of the Tang Kingdom, food pressure has gradually emerged. Originally, it only needed to maintain the food production of three to four million or even five to six million people. While they were rich, they could also sell or reserve large quantities.

But when the population grew to a huge number of more than 1100 million, although fertile land was constantly being developed, real pressure was still felt.

This is because the Tang Kingdom strives to develop industrialization, and the urban population accounts for more than half of the total population of the kingdom. The remaining cotton planting, animal husbandry, and specialty planting divert a large number of people. Less than 27% of the population engaged in agricultural planting is about 28%. ~[-]%.

Such an industrial structure has led to a bumper harvest of grain every year, but the total grain output cannot keep up with the rapid growth of the population.

Right now, it is still able to survive because Datang Kingdom has stepped up efforts to open up wasteland, and new products such as small walk-behind tractors have entered the field of farming, which has greatly improved production efficiency.

"His Majesty, the Chief of Special Operations, Colonel McJackson, is waiting to see you."

"Well, go to the outer hall to meet."

"The minister obeys the order."

After giving the order, Richard's gaze stayed for a while on the Great Lakes region of the United States, especially the urban dense area centered on Chicago, his eyes were full of fire.

outer hall
Colonel McJackson, who was wearing a straight tuxedo, wandered around nervously. Both the Ministry of the Interior and the military intervened in the Kansas Civil War in the United States. However, due to the deliberate suppression of the political leaders of the North and the South, the flames of the civil war were still sluggish. .

The Yankee is not an idiot, and he knows very well the truth of fighting without breaking.

The expansion and spread of the civil war did not conform to the fundamental interests of both the North and the South. They just competed for the right to speak on the battlefield of Kansas, and did not want to escalate the conflict and eventually lead to an unmanageable end.

Once the civil war shows signs of expansion and overheating, it will attract suppression from the upper echelon, and even temporarily cut off military reinforcements and material supplies. This is an unsolvable problem.

Therefore, in the past few years, the Kansas Civil War has been going on tepidly, which is difficult to satisfy His Majesty.

As for some internal and external operations, such as cracking down on the Colt Arms Company espionage case, assassinating Lincoln, instigating and developing hidden stakes in the eastern United States, etc., they were just routine tasks of the Special Operations Division, and there was nothing special about them.

Since Ming Jinyiwei, Eastern countries have developed a tradition of secret stakes and spies. It seems that the development from domestic to foreign countries in North America is smooth and natural, and there is no violation at all.

The Special Operations Division has also enjoyed the great benefits of developing secret piles abroad. For example, the secret piles developed by the Washington Telegraph Office can get access to a large amount of internal confidential information, involving military, political, and economic aspects. The ability to clearly and completely restore the financial strength of the U.S. federal government is crucial to upper-level decision-making.

The military has done a better job in this regard. Among the prisoners of war in the early years, the military has developed a lot of spies and nails, some of which were directly released secretly, and some were returned after the war.

Nowadays, many people are important officials of one party or have entered important departments, and they can often obtain very sensitive and confidential military information.

This is something that the Special Operations Division cannot envy.

Colonel Mai Jicheng was thinking in his heart, when he heard the voice of "Your Majesty is coming", he quickly adjusted his clothes, and when he saw His Majesty striding in, he knelt down and saluted.

The Tang Kingdom abolished kneeling and worshiping, and "curts kneeling" is the most solemn etiquette.

This kind of etiquette is similar to the hand kissing ceremony in the West or Daqianer in the East, squatting on both knees, bowing the head respectfully with both hands in the shape of holding a heart, which is called "curtsy".

"Exemption."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your kindness." Colonel McJackson stood up after thanking him, his hands drooping naturally, and he respectfully stood by his side.

Li Cha came to the main hall, stood with his hands behind his back, and asked in a low voice with his back turned; "How is the civil war situation in Kansas?"

Colonel McJackson didn't dare to neglect, he took a step forward and replied respectfully;
"Show Your Majesty;
The forces behind the North and the South in the Kansas Civil War in the United States have completely cut off the channels for volunteers to enter, and the supply of materials has also been greatly reduced. It should be to limit the civil war to the current scope and try to end this dispute as soon as possible.

The parties involved in the Kansas Civil War had to rely on the existing forces and resources to fight to the death, and I am afraid it would be difficult to get foreign aid.

The current situation is that the situation in the north is slightly dominant. They have about 4700 volunteer soldiers, while the south has less than 3000. The only advantage of the south is that there are more red necks in Texas. Yes, the combat power is stronger than the average level in the north.

At this stage, it is too obvious for us to continue to intervene, and it is easy to arouse the vigilance of both parties and the forces behind them. "

"Then put it away for now. This civil war won't end for a while, but it won't be incited either. After all, it's just a joke."

"The minister obeys the order."

Colonel McJackson could feel a trace of dissatisfaction in His Majesty's tone, a layer of white sweat appeared on his back out of thin air, and his expression became more respectful.

Li Cha walked back and forth a few steps, and asked thoughtfully; "What's the recent trend of the southern high-level?"

Colonel MacJackson bowed and replied;

"Show Your Majesty;
Recently, the white cotton plantation owners in the south have been in frequent contact with senior political officials in the southern states, and they will gather in New Orleans, Louisiana in April to discuss the current situation.

According to our investigation, there are 5 main topics;
First, the South will adopt a common position and speak with one voice, mainly aimed at the aggressive tendencies shown by the new Democratic President James Buchanan. It is estimated that a series of new policies will be introduced in the future. Should change.

Second, the southern forces will work together to promote the passage of the "National Legalization of Slavery" proposal in Congress. The major white manor owners and cotton plantation owners will take a unified position, regard it as a key political battle, and continue to promote it persistently.

Third, in response to the powerful British textile industry alliance's cotton price reduction, explore various ways to strive for its own legitimate interests.

This is an old-fashioned question. In the face of the powerful British Textile Industry Federation, American cotton planters have suffered from being squeezed. Cotton prices have been suppressed every year, and this year is not new.

As the main supplier of British cotton, the United States accounts for 72.1% of the demand of British factories (accounting for 1846), which is higher than that of Egypt and India, and close to 3/4 of the cotton demand.

Cotton exports account for more than 92% of the economic exports of the southern United States, which shows its importance and irreplaceability;

In 1790, before cotton became an important cash crop, 50.00% of slaves were concentrated in Maryland and Virginia.In the 1790s, there were fewer than 70 slaves in the South and fewer than 3000 in the Mississippi.

By 1830, there were 66000 slaves in Mississippi, and in 1850, the slave population in the entire southern United States had reached 400 million. They became the main labor force in American cotton plantations and supported most of the southern economy.

To put it bluntly, slavery was the lifeblood of southern white manor owners.

The output of raw cotton in the United States jumped from 1820 bundles in 33.4 to 1840 million bundles in 135, to 1850 million bundles in 240, and to 1856 million bundles in 400. Horses, Mississippi, and Louisiana account for more than half of the production.

cannot be ignored
Between American cotton planters and British factories, there is an export agency organization called the British Textile Industry Federation. They extract 5% to 12% of the value of cotton every year, worth tens of millions of pounds.

Without their permission, not a pound of cotton could be sold in British mills, a large group of vested interests made up of families of British aristocrats, monopoly merchants and politicians.

The American cotton planters who have been squeezed by the British can only continue to squeeze the black slaves, and spread the cost as low as possible in exchange for profits. This is the current reality.

Fourth, in view of the current situation in North America, the south should conduct in-depth discussions and deal with it cautiously. This is a major topic in the gathering.

Fifth, discuss the trade situation between the American South and the Tang Kingdom.

At present, the trade between the southern United States and the Datang Kingdom is in a serious deficit. The kerosene, heavy oil, various canned foods (mainly canned seafood and fruit), sophisticated guns, steel and chemical products produced by the Datang Kingdom , are very popular in the south of the United States, especially the small agricultural machinery that has recently begun to be exported, which has attracted frenzied rush, and the sales situation is extremely promising.

However, the raw cotton that is the most available in the southern United States is not attractive to the Tang Kingdom. Chihuahua Province and New Mexico Province in the south of the Datang Kingdom are prosperous cotton-producing areas. The cotton textile industry is booming, and it is itself a machine-made cotton cloth export country.

A large number of cheap woven fabrics produced by the Tang Kingdom are sold overseas. The mainland of China, the Korean Peninsula, Fusang, the Indochina Peninsula, and Central and South America are all vast markets for the Tang Kingdom.

Thus

The South of the United States has a huge trade deficit of 3500-4000 million pounds per year. This is an urgent problem that needs to be resolved, and the meeting will focus on it. "

This is a bit far!

The corner of Li Cha’s mouth twitched slightly. He was not worried that the South of the United States would restrict bilateral trade. This was because the kerosene, heavy oil, canned food, and agricultural machinery products produced by the Datang Kingdom were irreplaceable and unique. The kingdom imports, where does it come from?
After years of development

Datang Kingdom's petrochemical industry has already ranked among the top in the world, accounting for more than 9% of the world's share with its advanced refining and chemical capabilities. The only company that can compete is estimated to be Russia's Baku Petroleum. The distance is too far and there is no way.

mid 19th century
The petroleum refining and chemical industry in countries such as Britain, France and the United States is still in its infancy, but it was strangled in the bud by the rapidly developing Datang Kingdom Oilfield, and it never developed at all.

In terms of cost, output, and market share, Texaco Petroleum Company, Chevron Petroleum Company, Royal Bright Petroleum Company, and Changan Petroleum Company in Datang Kingdom are known as leaders in the petroleum refining industry. The "Four Heavenly Kings" rule more than 9% of the world's market share.

Not to mention the South of the United States, even the North of the United States has to import a large amount of kerosene, lubricating oil and heavy oil. There is no way to import agricultural machinery. This is the restriction and suppression of the Datang Kingdom on the North of the United States.

Oil fields rich in resources have been discovered in Texas in the south of the United States, but unfortunately they are unable to develop them, because the developed crude oil has no refining capacity, even if it is refined by primitive means, the cost is so high that it will make people collapse.

The Datang Kingdom strictly forbids the export of oil refining equipment and technology, even the British cannot get it. This is the bottom line.

Fortunately, in the vast colony of the British, basically no oil fields rich in resources have been found, and the demand for this is not urgent, so the food is not so ugly, and the Datang Kingdom's market dominance in this field is acquiesced.

After all, he is a younger brother, so he should give him some benefits.

Another item prohibited by the Datang Kingdom for export is the canning machine. The canning machine has ensured that the canned food industry of the Datang Kingdom will sweep the European and American markets with an unstoppable momentum. A British or German housewife with poor cooking skills instantly turns into a gourmet expert and wins praise.

As long as you have a variety of canned food, you can cook a large table of delicacies at a glance. After all, heating food or cutting some potatoes and radishes into the broth is an easy operation.

In 1856, the canned food of the Tang Kingdom was worth as much as 2300 million pounds. Although the war was over, it did not affect the frantic pursuit of canned food by European countries.

Mr. Darwin, an academician of the Royal Academy of Sciences, said with emotion; "The happiest thing for me is to see the canned food in the storage room full of the whole shelf."

Mr. Darwin's words resonated strongly with the British, especially the Royal Navy, which has a high status in the UK, and they all praised the canned food produced in the Tang Kingdom.

Many flavors, rich variety, fair price, large output and easy storage are the labels of Datang Kingdom's canned food industry, which has become popular all over the world.

Such a good product, are you afraid that the southerners will not want it?
(End of this chapter)