Wild North America 1846

Chapter 268 Troubles of the Colonial Ministry

Datang Kingdom's industrial products can easily reach important cities in the southern United States from coastal ports through the Gulf of Mexico Railway. The transportation is convenient, convenient and efficient.

The point is, it is irreplaceable.

The silver and brass produced in the Tang Kingdom were imported in large quantities by the northern and southern states of the United States, and were used to manufacture copper and silver coins with a huge circulation. They were also one of the important minerals exported to Europe.

Therefore, at this stage, Richard does not need to consider the trade constraints of the southern United States. What has attracted his attention is the summit of large estate owners to be held in New Orleans, Louisiana in April.

Due to the inconsistency of interests, the United States Federation was actually divided into two parties, the North and the South, and their policies towards the Tang Kingdom were also different.

In the north, vigilance, estrangement, and hostility are the mainstream, while in the south, the political situation is cold and the economy is hot, and there are frequent trade exchanges between each other. However, the high-level officials of the southern states are quite wary of the Datang Kingdom, and their opinions are quite different.

The southerners do not have a fuel-efficient lamp. This is the original birthplace of white supremacy. Conservative, xenophobic, closed, and self-contained small circles are the distinctive characteristics of the southerners.

Li Cha wanted to provoke the conflict between the north and the south to break out early. Under the condition of supporting the independence of the south, he would unite the strength of the south and fight the north decisively. Then the Datang Kingdom would be in the most favorable strategic position.

It is now more than three years before the outbreak of the Civil War in history. At the end of 1860, the American South took a substantive act of secession, which eventually led to the outbreak of the Civil War.

It is undoubtedly difficult to detonate this point in advance.

If President James Buchanan is allowed to join forces and take the lead in provoking a war against the Tang Kingdom, it will undoubtedly be the worst outcome.

In the end, it is very likely that the South of the United States will also be involved in the war, and all the forces of the United States Federation will be brought together to invest in the war between the two countries. Datang Kingdom will bear the greatest pressure.

And this is undoubtedly the result that President James Buchanan of the United States most hopes to see. Using the hands of the Tang Kingdom to weaken the separatist forces and war potential of the Southerners in a disguised form will help suppress domestic dissidents and attack and weaken the southern big estate owners. , liberated 400 million black slave labor, and realized the great development of American industry and the real unification of the country.

After Li Cha inquired about the situation, he instructed the Special Operations Division to intensify its infiltration of high-level officials in the southern United States, try to grasp a certain right to speak, and prepare for the next move. Then he waved him away.

Back to the royal study

Li Cha beckoned to call in Liu Xianjun, head of the royal secretariat, and ordered him to get in touch with Jefferson Davis, a famous social activist in the south, through secret channels, revealing that the kingdom was willing to support the southern independence tendency, and was ready to provide a batch of substantive help.

After finishing these things, Li Cha just stopped and carefully considered whether there were any mistakes or omissions in these actions?
Jefferson Davis was the former president of the Confederate States of America in history. His social activities and influence are beyond doubt in the South. What is missing now?
What is lacking is strong funds, materials and clear political support. Now that Richard has made up for all of these, I believe it will be enough to promote the rapid expansion of Jefferson-Davis's political ambitions, and encourage the high-level officials of the southern states and the white manor owners to embark on the road of independent nation-building. no return.

Richard's political and military support to the South of the United States has a clear deadline, that is, before September this year, it will not wait.

So the pressure was all on the Southerners.

As a master at manipulating people's hearts, Li Cha understands the entanglement of the southerners at this time, and prescribes targeted drugs, not afraid that they will not submit.

At this stage

The separatism in the American South desperately needs substantial support from the outside world, whether it comes from the British or the Tang Kingdom, they are extremely precious.

in the game

The southern separatist forces headed by Jefferson Davis are clearly aware of;

An enemy of an enemy is an ally.

If it can get the substantial support of the Tang Kingdom, or even conclude a covenant, then the independence of the south will no longer be a slogan, but has a great possibility of success.

The temptation was unmatched. Southern white slaveholders were fed up with Northern liberals stealing their property, fed up with the endless fights in Congress and Kansas, and fed up with the hypocrisy of the Yankees.

Datang Kingdom's promise is a reassurance, enough to prompt them to make a decision.

This is a conspiracy. The southerners are very aware of the wishful thinking of the Tang Kingdom, but so what?
from their perspective

The interests of fighting the enemy together will make the future alliance more stable. The south can realize its dream of independent nation building, and it will not suffer from the exchange of interests. It is enough to have these.

Paradise Island

After more than two years of comprehensive development, Paradise Island has now shown a different prosperous situation. The two cities headed by Donggang and New Xi'an are booming, and a series of small and medium-sized towns have been established in the surrounding area.

to late 1856
The island has a total population of 108.85, 117.3 acres of fertile land (note; 1 acre = 6 ares), 8.9 acres of orchards, 2.46 acres of rubber forests, and 0.62 acres of spice plantations. main economic structure.

The industry on the island is mainly food processing, with dozens of rice mills, flour mills, oil mills, canning factories (mainly canned fruit), and a large number of salting workshops, pickled salted fish, salted Meat, salted chicken and salted duck, pickled mustard, etc., are mainly supplied to the migrant ships and island residents who have been replenishing in the port.

After experiencing the initial stage of rapid development, today's Paradise Island has entered a relatively stable period of consolidation under the condition of reduced financial support from the kingdom.

New Xi'an
Among the prosperous urban buildings, there are everywhere the unique charm of Ming and Qing architecture, blue tiles and white walls, numerous pavilions, cornices and arches, just like Gusu City in the Pacific Ocean, showing the unique charm of Chinese culture.

The only difference is the city roads, the wide roads are paved with asphalt, and the median strip is surrounded by lush trees and flowers, which look neat and beautiful.

When carriages and people flow on the road, keep to the right. Patrolmen in groups of two loiter on the street, maintaining traffic order, urging the street to be tidy, investigating violations of laws and regulations, people and animals defecating, spitting, and almost everything on the street. We have to take care of it.

On one side of the municipal square in the bustling city center, there is a three-story classical city council building. On the other side of the square is the city hall, which is a four-story Chinese pavilion with cornices, with a simple and atmospheric shape.

Today's Paradise Island belongs to the exclusive territory of the Tang royal family, and has not established an independent province. Urban construction and immigration loans are paid or guaranteed by the Royal Household Office, and do not go through the royal budget.

Correspondingly, the pier, city and developed farmland of Paradise Island belong to the royal family property, except for personal purchases, which is a huge wealth.

In the large meeting room on the second floor of the city hall, a heavyweight meeting is being held that can affect the development of Paradise Island in the next few decades. More than 100 officials from New Xi'an and Donggang City are attending the meeting, all of whom are engrossed in learning and understanding the summit. Spirit.

The speaker at the meeting was Lesotho Carlos, Deputy Minister of the Colonial Department. He is a talented man of action from the Carlos family. He can speak fluent Chinese and is the cousin of Foreign Minister Juan Carlos. .

Sitting at the head of the conference table was Baron Dong Jie, Minister of Colonial Affairs. He looked much darker and thinner than two years ago, but he was also more energetic, with sharp eyesight.

On the rostrum, next to Baron Dong Jie were the mayors, speakers, deputy mayors and a group of bigwigs from Xin'an and Donggang cities, all of whom were prominent figures in the development and construction of Paradise Island.

Picking up the cup and taking a sip of water, Lesotho-Carlos continued;
"...

Well known
Thanks to His Majesty's mercy, most of the Chinese who were able to immigrate to Paradise Island had nothing. They were guaranteed by the Royal Department of the Interior, and bank loans were used to pay for the boat tickets, food and clothing, and all expenses after the arrival of the immigrants.

Correspondingly, the Chinese who immigrated to Paradise Island signed a two-year bonded labor contract, and only provided board and lodging during this period to repay the immigration expenses advanced.

Now two years have passed

Through hard work and sweat, the first immigrants built a beautiful city, a wharf with access to all corners of the country, vast fertile fields and pastures, which established the great situation of Paradise Island today, and also obtained the coveted resident ID card.

Now, the time has come to fulfill the promise.

Every Chinese immigrant who gets a resident ID card will get more than ten acres of land for free. Many people have performed well in the past two years, and they can get 15 acres or more of land.

According to the statistics;
In the next four months, 37.78 immigrants will receive their resident ID cards one after another, and they will be assigned to farm land with legal property rights. This will be an exciting moment.

In order to resettle these immigrants, the Paradise Island Construction Headquarters will build a series of immigrant new towns near the new Xi'an and the big cities of Donggang.

Now that the convenient roads have been built, a new round of land reclamation and construction boom is about to start, which heralds the beginning of a new round of great development of Paradise Island.

We would like to express our warm congratulations to these Chinese immigrants who obtained their own land. The Royal Government will introduce supporting measures to support the immigrants to reclaim their own wasteland.

The Royal Red Oak Bank has specially launched a "Special Loan to Support Immigrant Preferences" for immigrants. It provides each immigrant with a basic loan of 120 yuan without collateral, and the loan can reach up to 200 yuan.

This money is used to purchase agricultural machinery, seeds, cattle, building houses, etc. The annual interest is as low as 6.5%, and the preferential repayment period is seven years.

According to the principle of voluntariness, the government departments will organize the production groups that originally worked together to open up wasteland collectively, settle down collectively, and implement mutual assistance in production, building, farming, and public security, so as to solve many difficulties in the initial stage of pioneering and help immigrant households take root.

This is the focus of recent government and bank work. We must implement His Majesty's preferential policies to support immigrants, so that every Chinese immigrant can be bathed in the glory of the royal family and enjoy His Majesty's benevolence and the kingdom's blessing.

While we are delighted to see these 37.78 new immigrants settle down and open up wasteland, we must realize that immigration should be further promoted to make up for the huge labor gap.

We have millions of acres of royal land to cultivate, and many factories and docks need labor. It is urgent to further increase the introduction of new immigrants.

Calculated;

It needs to double from the current monthly scale of 14000 to 15500 people to no less than 3 people per month in order to maintain the current development enthusiasm.

On this basis, an increase of 30% to 40% will be able to set off a new round of development boom.

these two years
The development and construction of Paradise Island quickly entered a virtuous cycle. From 1855 to the end of 1857, it achieved five consecutive bumper harvests, expanded the planting area, enriched agricultural and animal husbandry products, and greatly enhanced the financial strength of Paradise Island.

to the second half of 1857
Paradise Island has achieved full financial self-sufficiency and a slight surplus, which is a good start.

Since the beginning of this year, the first quarter has continued to maintain a high-speed development trend, and tax revenue has increased by 37.7% compared with the same period last year. This gives our government sufficient confidence in finance to guarantee banks and further increase the intensity of introducing new immigrants.

Looking to the future..."

Lesotho-Carlos, Deputy Minister of the Colonial Department, gave an enthusiastic speech, which was interrupted by warm applause again and again, and the atmosphere in the conference room was very high.

This series of figures is the hard work of everyone here, which proves that the arduous journey of pioneering the wilderness along the way is not easy.

The group of graduates from the Taoyuan School of Administration who followed Baron Dong Jie, Minister of the Colonial Department, to Paradise Island at the beginning, after more than two years of training at the grassroots level, have rapidly grown into experienced grassroots officials, and are no longer scrambling youngsters.

They will now loudly reprimand those unruly immigrants, take decisive measures against some thorns, suppress and punish them at their fingertips, and will never soften their hearts because of sympathy.

In the face of all kinds of intercession and trivial troubles, these young grassroots officials will decisively do everything according to the rules, without any discretion, and completely follow the rules.

Each of these young officials has hundreds of immigrants and more than a dozen work teams. If one is tolerant, the other is also forgiven.

It is precisely because of these capable assistants that many outstanding talents can stand on their own, and now the efficiency of pioneering wasteland has been greatly enhanced.

After several years of experience in Paradise Island, these grassroots officials with outstanding executive ability were transferred back to the mainland of the kingdom, and they could play an important role in promoting local construction.

Now there are signs that a group of more than 60 outstanding local grassroots officials have been transferred away by the Royal Government.

This made Baron Dong Jie so distressed that he directly sent a telegram to Prime Minister Earl Gu Yan, expressing his serious dissatisfaction with the Kingdom's actions. Doing so would seriously affect the development process of Paradise Island.

Prime Minister Gu Yan knew that he was wrong, and promised to arrange no less than 120 Taoyuan School of Administration graduates for Paradise Island every year, so as to further consolidate and strengthen the pioneering achievements.

Baron Dong Jie knew in his heart, how could the royal government focus on strengthening the grassroots construction of Paradise Island?
This is clearly treating Paradise Island as a training ground for grassroots officials, through actual grassroots work to temper newcomers, forming a steady stream of talent echelons, and then continuously replenishing them into the administrative agencies of the kingdom's provinces to further enhance administrative efficiency.

Who would not rush to acquire the talents tempered in such a complex and difficult environment as Paradise Island?

It's a pity that his arms can't twist his thighs. Baron Dong Jie can only hide some of the outstanding talents he values ​​most, or transfer them to a three-acre area in the colony, so as to cut off the death of the above.

This has also resulted in the Colonial Department being full of talents, strong troops and horses, and its scale has been repeatedly expanded. At present, it is almost at the forefront of the cabinet ministries, second only to the Ministry of War.

(End of this chapter)