Wild North America 1846

Chapter 524 Night Market Economy
The imperial special train used by the emperor of the Tang Dynasty was not one train, but a total of four trains. In front of the royal patent, there were two fully armed special trains of the Royal Guards. .

The Royal Guards special train at the front is called the "Firepower Pioneer Car". This train special train consists of seven carriages. The front car is equipped with a sharp bucket, which can remove all obstacles on the train track and avoid affecting the passage of the train.

In the two carriages of the firepower pilot train, one front and one rear, each is equipped with six 6-pound Colt cannons, a total of 24 cannons.

The carriages in the middle are also equipped with a whole battalion of heavy machine guns, with a total of 64 heavy machine guns, of which 16 are on duty daily, and another 48 are in reserve, which can form suppressive intensive firepower against incoming enemies.

Located behind the "firepower pilot car" is the "support train". This special train consists of 11 carriages. Except for a dining car, the remaining ten carriages are all fully loaded with soldiers with live ammunition, a total of more than 640 royal guards. Army officers and soldiers.

Behind these two special trains is the real royal patent. From the outside, it is no different from the first two special trains, but the interior decoration is extremely luxurious and elegant.Moreover, the important carriages are all equipped with Harvey bulletproof steel plates, which are as thick as three fingers stacked together. Even if they stop there and let the artillery bombard them, the artillery below 12 pounds will not be able to break through the defense.

The last special train is a logistics vehicle, loaded with logistics personnel, soldiers of the Royal Guards, horses and entourage, as well as some food and supplies specially provided by the royal family.

During the emperor's tour, the railway was very closely guarded. All bridges, culverts and important areas were guarded by soldiers, and no one else was allowed to approach.

approaching evening
When the royal train entered Taoyuan Station with its long whistle, the officers and soldiers of the closely guarded Royal Guards raised their hands in salute, and then the orchestra played the passionate "March of the Cavalry Regiment". The music echoed on the platform.

Emperor Li Cha didn't stop at the train station, and hurriedly boarded the royal convoy that had been waiting here for a long time, and galloped towards the Jinghu Palace under the escort of the cavalry of the Royal Guards.

As the sixth metropolis with a population of one million in the empire, Taoyuan City is one of the core cities in the central region. It is a transportation hub city connecting east to west and north to south, and its geographical advantages are very obvious.

The scale of the city is no longer limited to the Taoyuan Valley. A large area of ​​new urban areas has been opened outside the valley. Buildings with 4 to 5 floors have sprung up along the street, and some high-rise buildings with 10, [-], or even [-] floors are dotted among them. The walls are decorated with gorgeous marble, showing extraordinary taste.

when night comes

The kerosene street lamps along the street are lit up one by one, and some shops have already used bright electric lights. The bustling flow of people is very lively, and the streets are filled with the smell of various delicacies, which makes people linger.

This is a city that developed earlier in the empire, along the Cherry Creek all the way to the east and connects to Phoenix City. It is a dazzling twin city on the Colorado Plateau. It is famous for its pleasant climate and rich products.

His Majesty the Emperor brought a group of concubines and princes to Jinghu Palace for vacation. It was a great honor for the entire Taoyuan City. additional business opportunities and prosperity.

The use of kerosene lamps and electric lights lit up the metropolis at night, and the law and order in the empire was in good condition. Many city residents went out for a stroll with their families at night.Firstly, to eliminate food, secondly, to enjoy the beautiful night view of the city, and feel comfortable.

Some vendors with a keen sense of smell sensed business opportunities and set up a night market with wonton stalls, and the business turned out to be very prosperous.

One passed on to ten, ten to a hundred, and one after another followed suit.

Over time

There are many mobile vendors with kerosene lamps in the city, and the snacks and snacks they sell are also various, with both northern and southern flavors, forming a roadside night market.

Most of the night markets are concentrated in some restaurants, teahouses, and streets with many taverns and brothels. Gradually, relatively large-scale night market stalls have formed, and even some larger businesses have also participated.

"Guest officer, please go upstairs..."

"Excuse me, please raise your feet, the three guest officials are upstairs in the private room, and make tea!"

Under the warm welcome of Dr. Tea, Li Cha and his party, dressed in disguise, walked into an antique tea house, sat down at the window seat on the second floor, and observed the bustling people on the street with great interest. Lively scene.

The smoky aroma drifted in, and the gluttons in the hooked people's stomachs were just about to move. .

Dr. Tea quickly brought up four kinds of refreshments and four kinds of dried fruits, made a pot of good tea and brought it to the table. After apologizing, he said, "Guest officer, take your time." Then he went down.

Although the tall Li Cha is in his forties, he does not look old.There is not a trace of wrinkle on his fair and handsome face, and his elegant demeanor is like that of a nobleman. After disguise, he is a completely different young man.

He was sitting on a chair by the window, enjoying refreshments leisurely, but he kept looking at the bustling street outside, and there was a street scene full of fireworks.

Among the two people sitting around the table, a middle-aged man was Viscount Yao Guangyi who had just been transferred to the center from a high-ranking official directly under the Royal Paradise Province. He was one of the new deputy directors of the Royal Secretariat.

He is considered a new face in the empire, and he doesn't need to disguise himself at all. Not many people know him.

This person had served as the mayor of the new Xi'an for many years, and under his hands he had developed the only metropolis with a population of one million in overseas provinces.

Another companion with a vigorous look was also a middle-aged man, Colonel Zheng Yong, who belonged to the royal aide-de-camp room.This person was born in a folk family of Tongbei boxing in Yizhou. He has been in the military for nearly 20 years, and spent most of his time in the Royal Guards. He is a true master who has always been taciturn.

At this table, two middle-aged people and a young man are not an eyesore.

The quaint teahouses are elegantly furnished and well-decorated, obviously not a mid-to-low-end public place.

Those who can go to the elegant seats of teahouses are either rich or expensive, and a table of refreshments can easily cost more than ten or even tens of yuan, which ordinary people cannot afford.

But there is an expensive truth.

The second floor of this tea house is full of elegant rooms, decorated with precious wood, carved beams and painted buildings, and the tea cups used are also famous Jingdezhen official kiln porcelain, which is unique.

The calligraphy and paintings hanging in the private room are also from the hands of famous masters. Under the illumination of bamboo charcoal silk lamps, they are delicate and magnificent, exuding a strong fragrance of calligraphy and ink.

These things will be antiques for more than 100 years, and they are the kind of high-quality goods that are valuable.

nothing else
The ability to use electric lights in this teahouse is a demonstration of strength in itself.

When the lights first came on, the private rooms on the second floor of the teahouse were already full. Obviously, the wealthy businessmen and celebrities in Taoyuan City were not short of money, and their spending power was considerable.

From other private rooms, the faint sound of orchestral strings and bamboo playing, as well as the melodious tunes of singers, together with the bustling fireworks outside the window, together constitute a vivid picture of life.

Emperor Li Cha carefully looked at the vendors and customers on the street, in his eyes;
The vendors along the street are obviously managed by someone. Some sell wontons, tofu nao, fried buns, and candied haws, with a wide variety of categories.

There are cold noodles, roast goose, roast duck in the south, oil cakes in spicy soup in the north, jelly noodles, tea eggs, and rice noodles. There are almost everything you need.

Here you can also see tacos, barbecue, kielbasa and beer, pasta, French cheese and more.There is even poppy seed bread full of the nostalgia of the gold diggers. The freshly baked bread is full of fragrance, and many people buy it.

Such a scene made him smile, and his heart was filled with warmth.

What is the way of governing the country?
Isn't it the peace of the world, so that ordinary people can live a happy life?
Because the Tang Empire itself is the world's most important oil mining and refining production country, the domestic supply of kerosene for lighting, diesel and gasoline for agricultural machinery, and heavy oil for ships are relatively cheap, and ordinary people can use afford.

In addition, the Datang Empire was the first country to start the second industrial revolution represented by the new wave of electric power and chemical industries, and it was at the forefront of the world in the construction of thermal power stations and hydropower stations.

Large and medium-sized cities have successively built a series of thermal power stations, and some hydropower stations have begun to operate to provide urban lighting and electricity for factories.

This makes the city light up at night and lays the foundation for the development of the night market economy.

don't underestimate this

In today's world, including Britain, which has the strongest economy, no other country can develop a night market economy, because they cannot light up the night, and that is too extravagant.

Since several major oil companies headed by the Datang Empire monopolized the supply of oil products in the world, there was no situation in which the price of oil fell sharply in the original history, and the price was still high. The strong demand in Europe was far greater than the supply.

And all of this is undoubtedly faster than stealing money for the Tang Empire.

The Datang Empire imposed heavy taxes on the oil industry. The resource tax alone accounted for more than half of the mining cost, plus special fuel production taxes, dangerous goods surcharges, provincial and municipal surcharges, and customs export taxes. Almost [-]% of the oil company's profits were swallowed up.

Even so, the major oil giants in the empire are still alive and well, able to invest a lot in Texas oil fields, and the annual equity dividends are huge, which shows how big the huge profits of the oil industry are?

in the original history
The Texas oil field has been in full swing since the beginning of development. Investors flocked in, and hundreds of oil wells were erected where oil was found, which looked like dense forests from a distance.

Since the discovery of Texas oil in 1859, in less than 10 years, the oil production in the United States has soared from the initial 2000 barrels to 400 million barrels, and later even developed to 6000 million barrels. All this happened in less than 10 years. within a year's time.

Oil wells with high production can pump out more than 3000 barrels of oil a day, which is simply crazy.

At a price of $1859 a barrel in 10, this well generated a gross profit of more than $3 a day, with almost negligible costs.

The uncontrolled frenzied increase in production combined with numerous competitions has caused the prices of petroleum products to fall sharply.

The price plummeted from $1859 per barrel in 10 to 1869 cents in 10, turning the huge profits of the oil industry into meager profits. Many oil fields even suffered large-scale losses.

this age
Several major oil giants are controlled by the monopoly class dominated by royal capital and aristocratic capital. They develop and maintain a steady increase in production through tacit understanding, and always keep the price of oil fluctuating between 10 and 8 Tang yuan to maintain long-term amazing profits.

This alone brings huge income worth hundreds of millions of dollars every year.

The Tang Empire used heavy taxes to control the price of oil so high that the royal family and the imperial government accumulated a huge amount of money, which was simply fat.

This once aroused extreme dissatisfaction among the Great Powers such as Britain and France, and demanded that the Tang Empire reform heavy taxes on the oil industry and introduce healthy competition from foreign capital to maintain the long-term stable development of the oil market and meet Europe's strong demand for kerosene and other oil products.

The Tang Empire basically listened with one ear and spoke with the other, and didn't take it to heart at all.

On such an important issue involving self-interest, wouldn't it be a fool to give up monopoly interests?

Human beings have an irreplaceable pursuit of light at night, and no one wants to live in the dark night, which is nature.

Kerosene, as a high-quality and cheap fossil fuel, is more suitable for lighting than olive oil and soybean oil. Gasoline and diesel are irreplaceable as chemical fuels for driving internal combustion machinery.

Not to mention lubricating oil, which is an indispensable lubricant for the machinery industry, without which the entire industrial system will be paralyzed.

Britain and France, the first countries to enter industrialization, are always inseparable from petroleum products. They have worked hard to colonize the world and squeeze the huge profits from the colonies. Like a flood that opened the floodgates, it flowed into the Tang Empire through the oil trade. Can't live.

This situation is really maddening, but there is nothing you can do about it.

The Tang Empire's superior geographical location on the brink of two oceans, its strong military power and strong industrial economy, almost unified the regional hegemony of the American countries, coupled with the tough and dictatorial Emperor Richard, made it a very difficult to mess with. Master.

Even with the strength and hegemony of Britain, France and other countries, they can only discuss with the Tang Empire on the oil industry policy, but cannot implement the idea of ​​forceful invasion, which is completely unrealistic.

How many troops does it take to conquer the Tang Empire?
100 or 200?
The world powers such as Britain and France discovered that what they were facing was the hell-level difficulty of a transoceanic expedition. Except for a foothold in northern Canada, there was no place to borrow their strength.

Any difficulty in front of us is hopeless, and it is obviously unrealistic to resort to force, so we can only talk about it with both soft and hard measures...

Talk shit!
Emperor Li Cha's attitude towards this issue is perfunctory. Even if the royal family is rich all over the world, it is difficult to give up the amazingly profitable oil trade dividends every year. That is simply cutting flesh!

The royal family and the imperial government have an unprecedented unanimous position, always responding with constant Tai Chi push hands, and whenever a train derails on the Texas oil railway line or an oil tanker sinks in the Atlantic Ocean, it will always cause large fluctuations in the international oil market. Prices soared.

"It's really good to see people living and working in peace and contentment!" Li Cha looked at the bustling street scene happily, with a warm smile on his face.

At this time, a sudden noise attracted his attention. After listening for a while, his expression immediately turned cold...

(End of this chapter)