Wild North America 1846

Chapter 416 Economic Demographic Profile 1863

On the vast Atlantic Ocean, a fleet led by the cutting-edge iron-clad cruisers "Storm" and "Shanfeng" is cutting through the waves all the way. The two iron-clad cruisers are protecting the 6800-ton high-speed cruise ship "Fubo Venerable". The Navy's 6200-ton high-speed coal carrier "Diligent", a total of 4 ships formed a small formation, and galloped eastward after leaving New York Harbor.

It has been three days since it left the port, and this small formation has been maintaining a high speed of 12 to 13.5 knots, driving about 550 kilometers per day. With such a high speed, it only takes 10 days to reach the port of London smoothly.

In the luxury cabin on the fifth floor of the high-speed cruise ship "Fubo Venerable", there are more than a dozen ligers or tigers standing on the outer deck, and there are five handsome beasts on the horizontal wooden pillars at the rear. The bald eagle firmly grasped the thick wooden pillar with its claws, and seemed to be resting with its eyes closed.

inside the cabin
Having just experienced fierce fighting and panting, the tall and muscular Li Cha grabbed a large robe and put it on his body, tied it around his waist casually, and walked out after parting the heavy velvet court-style curtain.

The moment the velvet curtain was lifted, a few graceful snow-white Dong bodies could be seen on the bed behind them lying powerlessly on their sides. There were faint traces of sweat and marks from the fierce battle on their bodies, and they could only lie down lazily.

Li Cha came out refreshed, and the pretty court maid brought tea, towels and cigars, he picked up the towel and wiped his face and threw it away, then took a sip of the tea, lit the cigar and waved , several pretty court maids quietly retreated.

On the thick carpet in the luxurious room, smoke curled up from the copper incense burner with a simple shape, and a refreshing dragon birthday fragrance lingered. The white-haired white tiger white skin and Fa Cai lazily lay on the ground, and did not want to talk to the owner when they saw the owner turned his head away.

"You two bastards, you still lose your temper with me!" Li Cha walked forward with a smile, and kicked the two huge white tigers one by one. Each kick weighed at least a few hundred catties the power of.

With a thick cigar in his mouth, Li Cha opened the door on one side and walked in. The two beasts, Bai Pi and Fa Cai, quickly followed in obediently, and rubbed against Li Cha's legs with their fluffy hair, full of excitement. To please.

Li Cha casually touched the white tiger's furry head, and then leaned over to the window to have a look.

Outside the window is still endless dark blue, the fleet has sailed to the deep sea area of ​​the Atlantic Ocean, the waves are about 3~4 meters, and the sun is shining brightly outside the window. This monotonous scenery is already boring.

The white lion "Red Middle" and several lions and tigers lay lazily at the entrance of the aisle outside to bask in the sun, and the refreshing sea breeze blowing in made them drowsy.

Holding a cigar in his hand and taking a strong puff, Li Cha turned around and walked to the desk and sat down. On the desk was a thick pile of memorials and official documents, all of which were important documents that he hadn't had time to review.

After taking two leisurely puffs, the room was filled with strong and mellow cigar smoke.

Li Cha sat up in a good mood, took a few memorials in front of him and briefly flipped through them, and took out a copy of "Summary and Prospects of the Economic Development of the Great Tang Empire in 1863", opened it and read it.

Looking back on 1863

It was a year when the Tang Empire reached a new level as a whole, and the industrial and agricultural economy continued to develop at a high speed. The annual economic growth reached 8.1%, which was higher than the British economic growth rate of 3.93%.

Referring to the United Kingdom, which has the most developed industrial economy in the world today, it has maintained a growth rate of more than 1850% in economic development for 13 consecutive years since 3.7. It is the golden period of Victoria's mid-term development. Demonstrate dominance.

In 1863, the total national economy of the United Kingdom reached 9.45 million pounds, equivalent to 47.26 billion Tang yuan. As the world's factory, it was far ahead of other countries in the world.

The Tang Empire's rapid economic development continued for many years, and after the North American War, it reached a new level, with a total economy of more than 20 billion Tang Yuan.

By the end of 1863, the total national economy had reached 23.77 billion Tang Yuan, which was close to half of that of the United Kingdom. During this period, the population of the empire had reached 4061 million, surpassing the level of the total population of France in the United Kingdom.

The results are impressive, but the gap remains.

It is undeniable that Britain's vast overseas colonies provide it with cheap sources of raw materials and a broader market. This is the world's first imperial territory that realizes global resource allocation, and it is more conducive to taking advantage of Britain's large-scale industrial production.

Due to the higher economic aggregate of the UK, even if it maintains a stable annual growth rate of 3.93%, its new economic aggregate is higher than that of the Tang Empire. It is a long way to go to catch up with the UK, and it will take 20 or even 30 years of hard work.

Of course, this requires the Tang Empire to maintain a high economic growth rate, which is not easy to achieve.

post american war

Thanks to the wider territory and continuous war dividends (the United States of America pays the principal and interest of war reparations every year, and the Confederate States of America repays the principal and interest of debts), the Datang Empire has abundant sources of funds, and the process of industrialization continues to advance.

The government has successively started many major infrastructure projects related to international people's livelihood, which has effectively stimulated the overall economic development and maintained a relatively high development speed.

if history doesn't change

The mid-term golden development stage of Victoria in the United Kingdom will last until about 1870, and then it will come to an abrupt end under the double blow of the severe economic crisis and the European turmoil. After that, the economic growth rate of 1.3% can only be maintained for several decades, staggering forward, and soon give up. ranked first in the world economy.

scrutinize
The 20-year golden development period of the United Kingdom stems from the correct foreign economic and trade policy. Since the abolition of the "Corn Law" in 1854 and the full advocacy of free trade, the British foreign tariff items have dropped sharply from 1774 to 1863 in 44. Comprehensive free trade policy.

Under the relentless promotion of the United Kingdom, the trade between the United Kingdom and Europe, North America, the Near and Far East, and the colonies of the Indian subcontinent showed an obvious upward trend, which was much higher than the growth level of the total economic volume during the same period, which contributed to the stable economic development at a relatively high speed. Provided strong support.

By the 19s
Great Britain, France, Tang, the United States, Pu, Austria, Holland, Qing, Brazil and other countries have mostly signed tariff reduction and exemption treaties, and the new thing "North American free market" has appeared, which has greatly promoted the development of international trade.

Countries such as Britain, Tang, and France with relatively deep industrial development are undoubtedly the biggest beneficiaries.

We have seen the dazzling achievements of economic development, but we should also see the worrying side.

In the Tang Empire

Due to the rapid expansion of the country's territory, it has also occupied a large area of ​​black land in the Great Plains of Central North America that is suitable for the development of agriculture and animal husbandry. Hundreds of thousands of retired soldiers have been disarmed and returned to the fields, releasing a huge labor force.

The output of agricultural and animal husbandry products in the Tang Empire has reached new highs. From the beginning of the war, the export of agricultural products has been completely stopped, and now there has been a lot of wealth, almost a roller coaster graph.

In the past two years, agricultural products such as rice, sorghum, wheat, corn, barley, and rapeseed have experienced high yields and poor harvests. Farmers cannot sell them, and the prices of agricultural products have fallen sharply. dampened enthusiasm for production.

Nowadays, the bad situation in the field of agricultural products may be transmitted to pastoral production. Many ranchers are worried that their cattle and sheep will not be sold, and they will end up in their own hands.

If you can't finish eating, it will be bad.

Speaking of which, this is a worry of happiness. In response to this situation, the imperial government has launched five major policies after research to ensure that the prices of agricultural and animal husbandry products do not fluctuate greatly and remain above the basic cost line.

First of all, the wealthy imperial government launched a grain protection price purchase and storage policy, involving major crops such as rice, wheat, soybeans, and rapeseed.The provinces of the empire have begun to build large grain reserves.

Based on the principle of giving priority to the production area, the nearest grain reserve system belonging to the imperial government will be established, and all efforts will be made to prepare for the climax of the summer harvest in July and August, so as to protect the interests of farmers.

to be frank

It’s not that a country with deep pockets can’t do this at all, but now that the empire’s finances are quite rich, it’s no problem to allocate special funds to build a grain reserve and form a stable grain reserve system.

The second item is to vigorously develop the wine industry.

The brewing industry, which consumes a huge amount of food, is one of the key development directions of the Tang Empire. Whether it is rice wine, sorghum wine, ale, beer, or wine, as long as the quality is guaranteed, it will not worry about being sold. .

The imperial government is establishing a number of large-scale wineries under the strategic reserve system to convert a large amount of grain into liquor, red wine or beer, and obtain certain profits while maintaining and increasing the value.

The third item is to vigorously develop the food manufacturing industry.

The development of the petrochemical industry enabled Datang Empire to manufacture film plastics on a large scale, and this new type of packaging material with low price and wide applicability can be widely used in the food manufacturing industry, providing a solid foundation for the development of the food manufacturing industry.

Baked food such as biscuits and cakes is an important development direction in the future. The empire will provide policies in terms of factory construction funds, loans, preferential tax rates, land and employees to guide the development of the food manufacturing industry.

The fourth item is export.

In 1863, domestic food production in the UK could only meet 76% of the demand, and the rest needed to be imported from the international market.

Thanks to the implementation of the British free trade policy after the "Corn Law", today's British market is almost completely free competition, a large amount of grain from the Tang Empire has been continuously transported to the port cities of the British and German Confederations, and has become the main overseas sales market.

France and Austria are traditional European agricultural and animal husbandry production countries, and the export of agricultural products is also the strength of these two countries. It is difficult for the agricultural products of the Datang Empire to penetrate, and the market is basically zero.

But the east is not bright and the west is bright. The agricultural products of Datang Empire have opened markets in the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, Italy, Greece and other countries. Although the total amount of exports is not much, it is a good start.

The fifth item is to advocate the new living habit of "eating meat and drinking milk", and publicizing "eating meat and drinking milk" through newspapers and public opinion for intelligence and fitness. If adults are not used to it, at least the nutrition of the child must be ensured to keep the child healthy Grow up free from all diseases.

But don't underestimate the power of propaganda. After the newspapers broadcast a series of propaganda, the total sales of grain, oil and meat products in the empire have increased significantly, which shows that the propaganda effect is very good.

Many new Chinese immigrants who have become rich are abandoning the traditional concept of "diligent and thrifty housekeeping". They really had no conditions before, but now they have conditions. Why not "eat meat and drink milk" for their children.

Generally speaking

A catty of meat consumes 3 to 4 catties of grain. If the habit of eating meat is generally formed in society, then the consumption of grain will increase by 2 to 3 times. This is of course what the imperial government would like to see.

The children are healthier and stronger, the quality of the people is generally improved, the output and value of agricultural and animal husbandry both increase, and the country can receive more taxes. Isn't it a happy situation for everyone?
Since the Tang Empire is a North American powerhouse that pays equal attention to the development of industry and agriculture, the agricultural output value accounts for 24.7% of the total economic output, which is less than 1/4, which is quite high.

Take Britain, which was the first to industrialize, as an example;
In 1863, agriculture in the UK only accounted for 7.3% of the overall economic output, while industry accounted for 76.2%.

The situation in France is different;

Although the pace of industrialization was later than that of the United Kingdom, France also basically realized industrialization in the 19s, but it also showed the characteristics of paying equal attention to industry and agriculture, which was very French.

In the history of France, there has never been an enclosure movement, and it has not implemented large-scale centralization of land to survive the soil. At the end of 1863, it still maintained a large rural population, accounting for about three-quarters of the total population.

French agriculture is a typical decentralized economic structure of small farmers. There are very few large and medium-sized farms above the designated size. Most of the land is owned by farmers and lower-level nobles. It is basically a social structure of one family, full of a large number of handicraftsmen.

Therefore, among the four industrialized countries in the world today, Britain has the highest degree of completion, followed by the Tang Empire, the United States of America ranks third, and the French Empire ranks fourth.

In this memorial, he put forward the idea of ​​focusing on the development of the financial industry, which attracted Richard's attention.

The financial industry of Datang Empire has developed quite rapidly. Chang'an has become the largest financial city in North America. Chinese capital has controlled the economic lifeline of Wall Street and New York, and has a leading force that cannot be ignored in various industries such as railways, ports, transportation and trade on both sides of the United States. .

However, Chang'an is still ranked behind London and Paris, regardless of the size and quantity of the financial industry, it is difficult to compare with the former two.

Needless to say, London is the capital of the most powerful country in the world, and it is also the settlement center of the entire pound trade circle, and it is the center of the most dazzling stage.

To put it in a bad way; London catches a cold and the whole world coughs.

The reason why Paris is firmly in the second place and keeps Chang'an firmly under is due to the prosperity of the usury industry in the French Empire. The annual dividend income accounts for 3% of the total economic volume of the entire French Empire. A rather large number.

In the entire French Empire, there are more than 230 million rentiers, which is the origin of the usury empire.

In wars and turmoil around the world, there are French usury vultures. The United States of America has to repay tens of millions of principal and interest every year, continuously nourishing Paris, a European metropolis.

In the era without inflation, usury is the biggest trick the financial industry can play.

Li Cha couldn't help laughing when he saw this memorial;
You are right, as long as you don't lend money to poor and reckless old men, basically there is not much risk in lending money to European countries, and it can be regarded as a stable channel for value preservation and appreciation.

How can French usury earn this money? Why can't the royal family of the Tang Empire do it?

(End of this chapter)