Wild North America 1846

Chapter 292 Top Ten Cities and Populations in China in 1858
Entering the 12th year after the founding of the People's Republic of China

The urban development level of the Tang Kingdom has reached the first-class level in the world, and two metropolises with a population of one million, Chang'an (Chang'an) and Los Angeles, have emerged. At the end of June 1856, the national population reached 6 million (note; this statistic does not include Costa Rica) , showing a trend of rapid growth.

throughout North America

New York is still the largest metropolis with the largest population. Its population expanded rapidly from 1856 million at the end of June 6 to 131 million at the end of June 1858.

Different from the rapid development of New York, the development of Chang'an (San Francisco) has been more stable step by step. The population size has increased from 1856 million at the end of June 6 to 123.95 million at the end of June 1858, exceeding the population of 6 million. close.

but should also see
The expansion of Chang'an's city is far behind that of New York, and this is also the original intention of the Kingdom Government to vigorously promote a new round of large-scale development. The foundation is solid enough and has a considerable realistic foundation.

The degree of industrialization in the United States is only 38.6%, while the Tang Kingdom has reached 67%. The industrial scale is larger and the level of economic development is higher. Chang'an brings together the country's political, economic and educational resources, and has a stable and reliable source of Chinese immigrants. It makes no sense. Lost to New York.

Statistics at the end of June 1858 show;

The top ten cities in the Tang Kingdom are
Ranked first; Chang'an City (San Francisco).

No. [-]; City of Los Angeles

No. [-]; City of Seattle

Ranked fourth; Taoyuan City
No. [-]; City of Salem

No. [-]; City of Portland

Ranked seventh; New Xi'an City

No. [-]; Gallup City

Ranked ninth; Donggang City
Ranked tenth; Jinling City
Compared with the statistics of two years ago, the ranking of the top 6 cities remains unchanged, and 6 of these 5 major cities are coastal cities, highlighting the strong development of coastal cities.

The change occurred in the seventh city. The new Xi’an City of Paradise Island broke into the seventh place, pushing Gallup, a traditional mineral resource city, to the eighth place, and Donggang City also squeezed into the ninth place. It performed very well. excellent.

There is an old saying: those who are close to the water get the moon first.

Benefiting from the fact that it is the closest city in mainland China, the growth rate of the number of Chinese immigrants in Xi'an ranks first among all cities in the country. Many people in the southern coastal areas of the mainland who cannot survive have very low requirements. They only hope to have a piece of their own. Farmland, live in peace and joy.

Immigrants to Paradise Island can get 10 acres of land (note; 60 acres in metric system), which has an irresistible temptation for Chinese immigrants.

In addition, there is only a two-year bonded labor contract, and it takes a 5-day and 5-night voyage from the southeast coastal port to arrive at New Xi'an by immigrant boat, so the applicants are very enthusiastic.

Basically, out of 10 people, seven or eight choose to immigrate to New Xi'an.

Immigration officials even want to roughly close the application channel for immigration to Xin'an, and introduce excess immigrants to Donggang, Panama, Costa Rica and other places in North America, and divert them appropriately.

From this we can see how popular immigrant Xin'an is.

Donggang City also benefited from the favorable factors of proximity. The number of immigrant populations grew rapidly, and the ranking rose by two positions, thus ranking among the ninth largest cities in the kingdom.
Among the top ten cities in the kingdom, Chang'an is the capital of the kingdom, ranking first with a population of 157.37 million. It is the political, economic, military and educational center of the kingdom, the seat of the royal palace and the kingdom government, the best resources and the headquarters of large enterprises Most of them are located here, and the scale of the city is expanding rapidly, firmly occupying the first place in the ranking.

Los Angeles, which ranks second, ranks among the metropolises with a population of one million. Its population increased from 1856 at the end of June 6 to 92.55 at the end of June 1858. The total increased by more than 6%, and its development was quite rapid.

This is due to the fact that Los Angeles is an important economic center in the country, a core city of maritime and rail transportation, and it also has the four major oil giants in the kingdom that are making money every day. Most of the oil fields they develop are scattered in the towns around Los Angeles.

People in Los Angeles are rich. Wealth is a common impression among Chinese people, and other cities can't keep up with this.

The mayor of Los Angeles, Ke Huaien, once said triumphantly; "There is no way, so many oil fields can't be moved away, shareholders of oil companies eat meat, and wage earners can make their bellies round by drinking soup. It's not our fault in Los Angeles. ?”

Seattle, which ranks third, is the capital of the Northern Province. Its population has grown from 1856 at the end of June 6 to 58.22, and it performed equally well.

Seattle is the second landing point after Los Angeles on the North Pacific immigration route. The city has developed agriculture, animal husbandry, marine fishing and shipbuilding. It also has rich forest resources and exports a large amount of timber to the south. It is an important economic center in the north.

The proposed Northern Railway will start from Seattle, go west through Yakima City, and arrive at Spokane City at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. Then the railway project will cross more than 130 kilometers of mountains, using 23 tunnels and 119 bridges Together with the major traffic arteries, head west all the way to Helena, the capital of Montana.

The Northern Railway is divided into two parts in Helena, and one continues to be built in the northeast direction for more than 170 kilometers to Great Falls.

The other extends to the southeast and reaches Peel City, the capital of South Dakota, after about 1370 kilometers.

The "Northern Railway" project is a key project in the construction of Datang Kingdom since 1859. It is a northern railway trunk line from west to east, and it is one of the three main railway lines of Datang Kingdom.

The other two are the "Nevada Railway", which has just been completed, and the "Western Railway", which starts from Los Angeles and goes west to Rio Rancho.

nowadays

All the preliminary engineering survey plans for the "Northern Railway" have been completed. The Chinese engineers and 3.3 aboriginal Indian convicts who participated in the construction of the Nevada Railway are being transferred to new construction sites one after another, continuing to start a new round of construction boom.

In the construction plan of the Ministry of Communications, the "Southern Railway" is comparable to the "Northern Railway". This is also a railway line running from west to east, and it is under construction as a war preparation railway.

This railway line starts from Chihuahua City in the south and ends in Houston, Texas. It is the main railway line connecting the Tang Kingdom and the southern United States.

The U.S. Northern Army is doing its best to attack Kansas City, and it has fought bloody battles with the Southern Army. If Kansas City falls, the Southern Railway will be a life-saving straw. It will bear the heavy responsibility of transporting a large amount of supplies to the South of the United States and support them to continue fighting .

Ranked fourth in Taoyuan City, its population has grown from 1856 at the end of June 6 to 56.59 today, a relatively small increase in population.

Taoyuan City is the only inland city among the top six cities in the Tang Kingdom. Needless to say, its role is that it has a complete range of industries on the Colorado Plateau, and is an important military and educational center.

due to geographical factors
Taoyuan City is located at the crossroads of the Tang Kingdom from west to east and from south to north. It is not only a defensive outpost against American aggression, but also a crucial waistline of the kingdom. Its flexibility depends entirely on it, and its strategic significance is self-evident.

The fifth-ranked city Salem and the sixth-ranked city Portland are twin cities of industrial development. The population of both cities has exceeded 55. The urban population of Salem is 58.35, and the urban population of Portland It is 55.07, and there is not much difference between the two.

The iron and steel industry that Datang Kingdom will focus on developing in the next step, most of the new factories are located in these two cities. In addition to the business card of iron and steel, this is also the center of the agricultural machinery manufacturing industry, the northern shipbuilding center, and the chemical fertilizer industry that will be vigorously developed in the future. Located here, it is an out-and-out coastal heavy industrial zone with huge potential for future development.

Portland is the capital of Oregon Province. It is rich in coal and iron resources. Well, it is of high quality and convenient transportation. It is a blessed place for the development of heavy industry. Even if other cities are greedy, there is nothing they can do.

The only thing that bothers Portland is its urban population and economic aggregate, which is always under the pressure of Salem, which is not far away. Even the city size is one place behind, ranking sixth.

This made Portland feel so depressed that he wanted to vomit blood. Therefore, in the new round of great development, Portland must strive to land more large projects, introduce more immigrants, develop more urban construction, and strive to surpass in one fell swoop. The damn city of Salem has become the well-deserved leader of Oregon Province, so let it out.

Portland's abacus is indeed good, but Salem is not free, and it is reasonable to be able to win against the provincial capital.

The city of Salem is built on the coast of the Pacific Ocean and has world-class superior port conditions. The salt ore shipped from Chile is directly unloaded at the port terminal, and can directly enter the factory area through the warehouse railway.

The iron ore and high-quality coal mined from the mines near Oregon can be easily transported by sea to the steel plant built by the sea, which saves a lot of transportation costs.

Sea ships with extremely deep drafts cannot enter the inland river, and must be transshipped through the pier before finally reaching the inland city of Portland.

In comparison, from the perspective of the convenience of transportation, of course, Senam is far superior.

You know, these iron ore and coal can easily cost 10 tons, and if they are connected in a short distance of more than 100 kilometers, an extra layer of loading and unloading fees will be a huge amount.

As long as your head is not dizzy, you will know how to choose.

The same is true for the shipbuilding industry. If you only want to build some small and medium-sized ships with hundreds of tons to thousands of tons, but if you want to build large ocean-going passenger and cargo ships with tens of thousands of tons, their size is too large to pass the bridge of the inland river. To be built in a seaside shipyard.

Therefore, the battle between Salem and Portland, the industrial twin cities, will continue for a long time. From a rational point of view, Portland is lucky if it does not get opened up by a bigger gap.

Large-scale iron and steel enterprises and chemical enterprises are labor-intensive. Once put into operation, the number of employed people will not be small, and will strongly promote the development of urban services and commerce, and create tens of thousands of additional employment opportunities.

from this angle

Portland's ambition is very difficult to realize, and for a long time in the future, it may be suppressed by Senam.

Not only will it fail to achieve transcendence, but it will widen the distance between the two cities.

Needless to say, New Xi'an City ranked seventh and Donggang City ranked ninth. These two are immigrant cities mainly engaged in agriculture and planting. They have a large population but not strong economic strength.

This is also the result of the differentiation strategy of the kingdom's development. In the development blueprint personally arranged by Li Cha, no matter which overseas province or royal family's exclusive land, they will not focus on the development of industry, only to meet their own needs for processing agricultural and sideline products. host.

All industrial development is basically concentrated in the mainland of the Tang Kingdom. This is the strategy of "strong stems and weak branches". Everything is based on strengthening the strength of the Tang Kingdom. , All those that do not match will be cut off.

The exclusive land of the royal family and the overseas provinces are too far away. If one really wants to develop to be richer and stronger than the local ones, then the centrifugal force is an inevitable result, which cannot be shifted by anyone's will.

Some time in the future

If the Tang Kingdom successfully takes Mexico into its pocket, it will also not develop the industry in the region. It will still be dominated by the agricultural and animal husbandry economy, and Mexico will always be a marginal and backward area.

As a result, rich areas will form a strong attraction.

Among the top 10 big cities, Gallup is the only city with a total urban population of 45.48, ranking eighth in the country. It is a big city developed entirely on resources.

Relying on mountains to eat mountains, relying on water to eat water, we are talking about Gallup City.

Gallup is located in a large oasis east of the Grand Canyon of Colorado and west of Rio Nancho Fortress. It is located on the banks of the Holy King River, and the surrounding mountains contain world-class resources.

The largest Morenchi copper mine in the world today is located about 77 kilometers southwest of Gallup Town. It produces up to 3.2 tons of high-quality copper, more than 410 tons of silver and more than 3.7 tons of gold every year. Chicken with golden eggs.

The region is extremely rich in resources, and also has huge reserves of coal, zinc, aluminum, and lead ore resources, which can be called a treasure house of resources.

The newly discovered high-purity natural potassium deposits are also located in this area, and the purity can reach 80%. After a little refining, the extremely high-purity "pearl ash" can be obtained, which is the key raw material for the production of potassium fertilizer.

How rare are high-purity natural potassium deposits?

Let's put it this way, until more than 150 years later, the natural potassium deposits in the Gallup area are still the highest-purity potassium deposits that can be found in the world today. However, such natural potassium deposits are rare in the world, and their geographical living conditions are extremely harsh.

Generally speaking

Industrialized potassium is mostly extracted from salt potassium in salt lakes. Germany mines bittern through salt wells, and then uses a series of processes to extract potash, which costs a lot.

Britain extracts potash from plant ashes, which requires burning a lot of wood. In addition to burning forests during land reclamation, it would be too expensive to burn forests purely to obtain methine.

The ax of the Americans basically cut down the forests of the central Great Plains, and did not make potash cheap enough to be used as fertilizer in the land at will.

Cutting down forests to grow food sounds particularly weird.

It is precisely because of its unparalleled resource advantages that Gallup has grown into the eighth largest city in the Tang Kingdom, the city with the most mines, and the city that accepts the most convicts in the country.

If these convicts are included in the urban population, Gallup can rank fifth in the country. Of course, this is just a joke, and there is no possibility of realization.

(End of this chapter)