Wild North America 1846

Chapter 516
Among the four canal-digging schemes in Central America, the Panama Canal and Nicaragua Canal schemes are the most outstanding and have always been the focus of consideration.

Originally, the reason why the Panama Canal plan was chosen in history was that the Panama Canal was only 61 kilometers long, the shortest distance, the smallest amount of earthwork excavated, and the construction difficulty and project cost were relatively low, so it was more economical.

The disadvantage is that it is the same as the Suez Canal

The channel of the canal dug on land is narrow, and it is difficult for ships traveling in the opposite direction to meet, which seriously limits the traffic capacity of the canal, and it is difficult to pass large-tonnage ocean-going ships.

If a cargo ship breaks down in the canal, the entire canal will be paralyzed.

The battleships of the United States decades later will be limited by the width of the Panama Canal, and it will be difficult to build larger and wider ships, which is extremely unfavorable for the transoceanic mobilization of maritime military forces.

The Nicaragua Canal is different. Although its excavation distance is not long, it is difficult to construct in an isthmus environment, requiring a large number of rock blasting operations, and it has to pass through the famous Momo Tombo Volcanic Zone. At that time, it was also considered a negative factor affecting the project. one.

Mount Motobo is an active volcano in Nicaragua. Although it has erupted twice in the next 150 years, each time it has brought a large number of tourists and higher popularity, with little impact on the surrounding environment. It is very likely to become an expanded canal Influential beautiful scenery.

The Nicaragua Canal can take advantage of the natural Nicaragua Lake and the wide San Juan River, which has a crucial impact on improving the two-way traffic capacity of the canal area, which is almost 5 to 6 times that of the Panama Canal, and is especially suitable for super giant ship navigation. The economic benefits are more significant.

Emperor Richard once personally inspected Lake Nicaragua and stayed in the manor by the lake for three days. He was very impressed with this huge lake. It is simply an excellent base for the Royal Navy fleet and the best transit base for transoceanic trade.

The lake is the largest lake in Central America, located in the southwest of Nicaragua, and is the 21st largest lake in the world.

The surface of the lake is oval, 177 kilometers long and 58 kilometers wide on average. The lake covers an area of ​​8157 square kilometers. There are more than 300 islands scattered in the lake. Standing on the shore of the lake, the sky is high and the clouds are vast and the mist is vast. It is as wide as the ocean.

Ships passing through the canal can berth, supply, and distribute goods here, and people who come and go can go ashore for leisure and accommodation, and visit the beautiful scenery of the lake and the ancient Indian temples on the shore, thus developing into a famous tourist and transit resort city in Central America.

Tens of thousands of giant ships can be parked in the vast lake without being crowded, and it can also become the home port of the Royal Navy's Central American Fleet. The natural conditions are so good!
The lake flows into the Caribbean Sea through the 180-kilometer-long San Juan River. The water depth is about 18 meters, and the deepest part reaches 60 meters. Such a superior water depth condition can pass large ships of more than 10 tons without any dredging. From now to the future 100 years are not behind.

Ships passing through the Nicaragua Canal can enter the wide Nicaragua Lake by themselves as long as they pass through the 19-kilometer-long isthmus, and enter the San Juan River, which is more than 180 kilometers long, along the waterway in the lake.

The most critical project of the Nicaragua Canal is the 19-kilometer isthmus between the Pacific Ocean and Lake Nicaragua. The water depth in the isthmus varies from 23 to 70 meters. The key is that the two banks need to be widened, and some narrow and winding rivers need to be cut and bent. Take it straight, and according to the water level difference between the Pacific Ocean and the lake, install a three-stage ship lock, which is the key to the canal project.

With so many benefits, it is not difficult to understand that Emperor Richard chose the Nicaragua canal plan.

The labor force in this era basically doesn’t need to spend any money, just don’t go hungry if you stutter, and there is no such thing as an 8-hour work system, as long as you don’t die from exhaustion, you can work like an animal.

Whether it is Nicaragua or Panama, they are all one of the provinces of the empire. Of course, the best engineering plan must be selected for implementation.

In the warm pavilion of Qinzheng Palace

Royal Minister Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Earl Dong Jie is reporting to His Majesty the results of the clean government storm that has been set off over the past two years. He is about to end his term of office and devote himself to the important affairs of leading a political party to run for prime minister, and has no time to distract him.

As the next prime minister appointed by His Majesty the Emperor, and inspired by the huge influence of the royal family, although the possibility of a reversal in the election of Earl Dong Jie's empire is extremely small, he should not take it lightly.

The "Integrity Storm" campaign in the past two years has made the Imperial Independent Commission Against Corruption truly famous and established the authority of the law enforcement department as an official audit and discipline enforcement department, which has simply changed the color of domestic officials.

During this time
Earl Dong Jie cooperated with the Police Headquarters, the ICAC and the Audit Office to deal with a total of 12715 officials, of which 4729 were submitted for criminal arrest, 2611 were convicted by the court, and the rest are still in the judicial process.

Another 5293 people received various administrative sanctions, including but not limited to administrative warnings, administrative demerits, administrative demerits, administrative dismissal and financial fines, etc.The above measures have effectively deterred the spread of corruption in various administrative departments of the empire, clarified the discipline system, implemented effective reforms and supervision of the administrative system, and cleared up the entire administration of officials.

The remaining 2707 people were sentenced to be removed from public office, detained pending investigation or in-depth review, and the final specific implementation of arrest or disciplinary action is yet to be followed up. It is certainly impossible to return to the imperial bureaucracy in the future.

In the administration of officials in the Tang Empire, there is no such thing as "officials recovering".

Once audited, the Police Office or the Independent Commission Against Corruption finds that they have committed a crime, and they are subject to disciplinary or criminal penalties beyond dismissal from public office, basically saying goodbye to their official career.

Three-legged toads are hard to find, but two-legged ones are plentiful.

Earl Dong Jie has been under tremendous pressure during the past two years of presiding over the "clean government storm", and he has offended the imperial aristocracy almost all over the place. There are as many as 270 cases in which the nobles' titles were deprived of their titles, the highest. Six Lord Earls were involved.

In the tide of His Majesty's ruthless purge of officials, it is almost a certainty that these six earls will be deprived of their titles of nobility and fiefdoms.

Emperor Li Cha once publicly denounced;
"These soldiers who have made great contributions to the rise of the empire have enjoyed the glory and wealth given by the empire, but they have completely degenerated in their licentious lives. They are insatiable, regard the law as nothing, act recklessly, disregard human life, and betray loyalty and trustworthiness The knight motto of self-discipline will be severely punished by the law. Before the law, everyone is equal."

With His Majesty the Emperor's golden words speaking, who would dare to release the water from the members of the Imperial House of Nobles?

Earl Dong Jie's drastic "clean government storm" in the past two years has achieved outstanding results. He played a sharp blade to break the bad habit of protecting each other between officials and officials.

The rewards are also generous, and he was appointed by His Majesty the Emperor as the candidate for the next Prime Minister of the Cabinet.

"Dong Aiqing, you have worked so hard these years, I feel very relieved in my eyes!" Emperor Li Cha's warm words of relief almost drew Earl Dong Jie's tears.

Just this, the eye sockets are already moist.

It's not easy to walk step by step in these years, especially in the past two years, it has caused widespread dissatisfaction among the upper class nobles of the empire. I don't know how many public ugly words and sarcasms have been heard, like a poisonous thorn in my heart, in the dead of night. Tossing and turning.

Earl Dong Jie gave a deep salute and said in a trembling voice; "

Play Your Majesty;

I have nothing to fear in my body, as a minister loyal to the empire, and a minister loyal to His Majesty, I don’t have to worry about rumors and rumors from the outside world slandering me, slandering me, or hurting me. A warm word from your majesty is enough to comfort my life!
Weichen is fortunate to be able to join the tail and show his strengths in the historical process of the grand plan of the Great Tang Empire.

A little bit of credit is not worth mentioning.

I have the heart to serve the country, eat three catties of beef a day, and my body is healthy and free from disease and disaster. I only hope that your majesty will live up to what you have learned in your life. "

"Well said, Dong Aiqing, I wish you stand out in the general election and help me steer the big ship of the empire to a more prosperous future."

"As long as you want, I dare not ask for your ears."

"Ha ha ha ha……"

The two monarchs and ministers looked at each other and laughed, and the atmosphere in the hall became more harmonious. Emperor Li Cha took this opportunity to say a few words of kindness, and then let Earl Dong Jie, whose bones were lightened several times, retire.

In the warm pavilion, it was quiet again.

When Li Cha was excited, he flipped through the "Summary of World Situation" edited by the Royal Secretariat. Various newspapers in the imperial public opinion circle were criticizing the bloody suppression of the Cuban uprising by the Spanish colonists, showing a gesture of righteous indignation, and calling on the empire to stop it The atrocities of the Spanish colonists.

watched for a while
Li Cha couldn't help laughing, his mood seemed extraordinarily relaxed.

This kind of public opinion preparation for the Spaniards is reasonable. Who made the Tang Empire the boss of the entire America?
The Kingdom of Spain dispatched tens of thousands of expeditionary troops to Havana, Cuba without warning, and then carried out bloody suppression of civil uprisings surging in Cuba and Puerto Rico. This is obviously an atrocity that is unjust and goes against the current trend of civilized society.

If you don't blame him, who will you blame?
To be honest, the Tang Empire learned this from the British. It adopts double standards for itself and others, that is, I can do what I do, but you can’t do what you do.

Therefore, the mainstream newspapers from Madrid, Spain were simply mad, denouncing the Tang Empire government as "the largest imperialist occupying the entire American region" and "pretending to be just while slaughtering the conquered indigenous Indians and Argentines in blood." His awe-inspiring appearance brazenly interferes in the sovereign affairs of the Kingdom of Spain." "The ugly face of imperialism" "is the biggest cancer in the entire Americas" and so on.

Fortunately, the public opinion in the Spanish newspapers is still a bit sane, and they did not dare to attack the imperial family.

Otherwise, just one charge of "contempt of imperial power" would be enough for the Tang Empire to go to war with Spain, and no one could say no to it?

Recognized taboos must never be touched, this is the bottom line of all feudal kingship countries.

The relationship between the Tang Empire and the Spanish royal family can be described as bad. Spain is also one of the few hostile countries in Europe that does not trade with the Tang Empire at all. That is naturally the old colonialist country Portugal.

fun to say
Most of the territory of the Tang Empire was the former Spanish American colony. This may be a fateful coincidence, and it may be the only way for the rise of the Tang Empire.

In any case, the entry of the Tang Empire like a storm, and then wiped out the colonial influence that the Spaniards had operated for hundreds of years, made the Spaniards crazy.

It is not allowed to speak Spanish in the empire, it is not allowed to open Spanish schools, it is not allowed to spread the Catholic faith, it is not allowed to hold ethnic activities with Spanish characteristics, it advocates the intermarriage between native Hispanic whites and Chinese, and the constant exclusion of traditional Hispanic whites Suppress...

All these, how can the Kingdom of Spain be happy?

The 20-odd years of the rapid expansion of the Tang Empire was the 20-odd years in which the Spanish colonial influence declined sharply. This vast land of North America, Central America, and South America still has the same scenery, but things have changed.

Therefore, the Spaniards hated the Tang Empire so much!

During the Cuban riots, the Tang Empire blatantly sent old-fashioned muskets, swords and spears, and a large amount of black powder to the rebels, encouraging black slaves in the plantations to riot and participate in the uprising, which caused a lot of trouble for the Spanish army.

Not only that, the diplomatic envoys of the Tang Empire in Cuba also frequently put pressure on the Spanish Expeditionary Force, ordering their restraint troops not to infringe on the property of Chinese businessmen, sugar factories and sugar plantations.

Otherwise, the Tang Empire would go crazy and intervene militarily at any time.

People have to bow their heads when they are under the eaves!

The Tang Empire army, which fought smoothly in the South American War, was obviously a world power that the Spanish expeditionary force could not afford to offend, and the threat was not groundless.

Therefore, even if these Chinese manors and planters openly sheltered the Cuban rebels and hid guns and ammunition, General Pierre de Santos of the Cuban Governor's Palace did not dare to neglect. Interests.

Even if action is to be taken, it will have to wait until the Cubans leave the Chinese manor.

With the secret support of the Tang Empire, the Cuban uprising developed even more turbulently, with a larger scale, more participants, and much stronger combat effectiveness than in the original history, repeatedly hitting the Spanish colonial army.

And this directly led to the rampage of the Spanish army, bloody massacres of residents in entire villages and towns, and an astonishing number of Cubans were thrown into concentration camps. Whether they were native whites or people of color, they were all suppressed by cruel means.

Nov. 1869, 4

The Cuban insurgents held a constitutional assembly in Guimaro, Camagüey Province, declared the establishment of the Republic of Cuba, formed a parliament, elected de Cespedes as president, and adopted Cuba's first republican constitution.

This was the climax of the uprising. After the Spanish colonists learned that the Republic of Cuba had been established, they again dispatched 2.2 fully armed expeditionary troops from the Kingdom of Spain. They arrived in Havana and other ports one month later and launched a campaign against the Cuban rebels. Crazy massacres, the scale is much larger than the original history.

This Central American island country fell into an unprecedented bloody storm.

(End of this chapter)