Wild North America 1846

Chapter 602 Sudden idea?

His Majesty the Emperor arrived in the Central Plains Province (formerly Nicaragua) on a patented royal train, stopping and inspecting along the way, and it took more than two months to arrive here.

The straight-line distance from Chang'an, the imperial capital on the west coast, to Lake Nicaragua in Central America is more than 5000 kilometers, and the railway mileage is as long as 6763 kilometers.It was not fully connected until the first half of last year.

This railway is called the Pacific Intercontinental Railway, and it is the longest railway line in the world.

After passing through the Central Plains Province, the Pacific Intercontinental Railway continued southward through Costa Rica and arrived at the terminal in Panama City, running through most of the Pacific Ocean provinces of the Tang Empire from south to north.

The other end goes north from Chang'an, the imperial capital, through Portland to Seattle, and the northernmost terminal is located in Vancouver, which has now become a medium-sized prosperous city with a population of more than 30.

The entire Pacific Intercontinental Railway has a total length of 8988 kilometers, which is by far the longest railway line in human history, reflecting the brilliant achievements of the Tang Empire's economic construction from one side.

During this journey, Emperor Richard inspected several provinces in the central and southern parts of the empire along the way, and arrived at the Nicaragua canal construction site in Central Plains Province after more than two months.

What seems to be a routine emperor's inspection actually contains profound meanings.

Lake Bay

Lake Bay City is located on the shore of Lake Nicaragua, only 23.6 kilometers away from the double-line three-level ship lock. It was originally a place full of many temples and historic sites full of Astec style, and it flourished with the construction of the canal project and developed into a thriving city. boomtown.

Lake Bay City is only a few kilometers away from the straight line of the canal. It is located on the shore of the vast and misty Lake Nicaragua. From here, you can overlook Ometepe Island, the largest island in the lake.

There are two tall volcanic cones on the island, the tallest one reaches 1610 meters, like a giant pillar in the mythology, and the scenery is magnificent.

The royal palace is located on the gentle hills more than 170 meters high on the shore of the lake. It is a newly built Aztec temple-style building with a very ancient and vicissitudes style, solemn and grand.

Under the eaves of the tall temple
Putting on a crisp moon-white robe, the emperor Li Cha strolled over. Two old men with white hair were already waiting here. Seeing His Majesty's arrival, he immediately stood up and saluted, and said respectfully; install."

"Excuse me, sit down and talk."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for the seat."

These two old people, one is the first and second prime ministers of the empire, the first-class An Guogong Gu Yan, whose name is "Qing'an", and is currently the speaker of the House of Nobles.

The other old man is the 3rd and 4th prime ministers of the empire, first-class Pingguo Gong Liu Xianjun, with the word "Dao Gong", the current vice speaker of the House of Nobles, concurrently the chairman of the Development Fund of the Tang Empire Government, and the leader of the Finance and Economics Group of the House of Nobles. He is a big shot in the political arena of the empire.

According to the ruling rules set by His Majesty the Emperor, the Prime Minister of the Cabinet can be re-elected for two terms, each term is five years, a total of 10 years.

You can also run for office separately, and serve as the Prime Minister of the Cabinet for two non-consecutive terms, for a total of 10 years, and you cannot continue to run for a third term.

This regulation is different from that of the United Kingdom. In the United Kingdom, there is no restriction on the sector in which the prime minister can be elected. The party leader who wins the election can serve as the prime minister of the government for three or four terms, but the short-lived prime minister can only be in power for a few days or a few months.

On the contrary, it is similar to the United States of America, but the presidential term of the United States of America is 4 years, which is the biggest difference.

Today's imperial aristocracy plays more of a role as a senate that participates in and discusses state affairs, and also plays a role in checking and balancing the power of the lower house, which is the cornerstone of balance in imperial politics.

After Emperor Li Cha sat down, Gu Yan and Liu Xianjun sat down across the round table.They are all sitting on the bench with half of their buttocks, their upper bodies are straight and respectful, and they don't dare to be sloppy in terms of etiquette.

After the court attendant served tea, he quietly withdrew.

Zheng Yuan, Director of the Royal Secretariat, and Yao Guangyi, Minister of the Colonial Department, stood by. Such a high-end forum did not have the two of them, so they could only stand by and serve.

Emperor Li Cha picked up the jade cup and drank two sips of green tea. Looking at the beautiful scenery of lakes and mountains in the distance, he said leisurely; The huge project of the century is almost the limit of the empire, it is not easy!"

"Your Majesty, Qing'an secretly believes that this project will be beneficial for a hundred years, especially to closely connect the major cities and provinces on the west coast of the empire's economic development and prosperity with Europe through canals. This is of great significance. This bet By the way, it will definitely greatly enhance the stamina of the empire's economic development." Gu Yan said first, he looked at Liu Xianjun sitting beside him, and said excitedly;
"Mr. Dao, the preliminary preparations and official start of this project are all within your tenure. If you want to know more about it, don't you show your cowardice in front of His Majesty?"

"Since Mr. Qing'an has pointed to me, Mr. Dao is absolutely responsible." Liu Xianjun smiled brightly and said with cupped hands;
"For this century project, the current cabinet has indeed repeatedly discussed, especially the choice of two locations, Nicaragua and Panama, each has its own advantages and disadvantages, and Daogong knows it very well.

The advantage of the Isthmus of Panama is that the amount of work is small, the narrowest point is only more than 60 kilometers, and the terrain is flat and easy to construct.

The disadvantage is that the river runoff to maintain the water level of the river channel is small, and the river channel is shallow and narrow, and almost all of it needs to be excavated.

Moreover, the geology of the two-line three-level sluice is not good, and there is a relatively large engineering risk.

The advantage is less investment and quick results.

In contrast to the Nicaragua canal plan, the two-line three-level sluice can be built on a solid granite foundation. Although the blasting workload is a bit larger, it can be guaranteed for hundreds of years without worry.

Once the project is completed, the traffic capacity will be several times that of the Panama plan, and it will be able to pass hundreds of thousands of tons of giant ships, and it will not lag behind for 100 years or even longer.

The Nicaragua Canal is closer to the core area of ​​the empire, which can greatly shorten the voyage between the east and west coasts, which is more beneficial in the long run.

After the completion of the canal, the voyage between the east and west sides of the empire will be shortened by at least 12600 kilometers, and the voyage from Asia to Europe will be reduced by 7800 kilometers.

This will play an irreplaceable and important role in connecting the bulk logistics transportation between the east and west coasts of the empire, opening a smooth channel to Europe for the cities on the west coast, and prospering the imperial economy.

Of course, there are also disadvantages, that is, the investment is relatively large, and the burden on the empire's finances is quite heavy!
If there is no royal fund to participate in the investment, it will be very difficult to promote the implementation of such a huge project. "

Emperor Li Cha nodded in agreement and said;

"As long as it is beneficial to the century-old project of the empire, we must grit our teeth and implement it to the end, instead of focusing only on immediate interests and short-sightedness.

For this century project, we must continue to strengthen supervision, ensure the supply of project funds and materials, strive for high-quality completion on schedule, and lay a solid foundation for the imperial economic take-off and the two-ocean military strategy.

This Lake Nicaragua can be built as the base camp of the Royal Navy. It communicates with the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean.

Just like a person's belly button, the location advantage is extremely superior.

Similarly, I have asked the Imperial Royal Army to move its strategic focus to the south and establish large military bases centered on the Central Plains and Panama provinces to prepare for the southward radiation of the imperial power.

You have also seen the situation this year, the economic situation is not as good as before.

European countries have erected high tariff barriers one after another, and imperial exporters have suffered serious setbacks, which has dragged down the overall domestic economy. Many factories have closed down and workers have been greatly reduced.

Among them are the factors that France went against the trend, as well as the hidden dangers buried by the high economic growth in the past few years, all of which broke out all at once.

Looking forward to the second half of the second quarter, the situation is not optimistic! "

When His Majesty mentioned this rather heavy question, Gu Yan and Liu Xianjun looked at each other and fell silent for a moment.

Liu Xianjun hurriedly stood up first, cupped his fists and saluted; "Your Majesty is a saint with a benevolent heart. The humble ministers and others can only admire him sincerely. I am grateful for the great grace of the emperor and care about the suffering of all people. It is really difficult for us to reach.

Weichen secretly thought

The moon waxes and wanes, the tide rises and falls, and so does the economic development of a country. This is normal in the world.

I beg your Majesty not to overwork and hinder the holy bow, then we and other officials will not be able to atone for our sins even if we die a hundred times. "

"The old minister seconded, please take care of the dragon's body, Your Majesty." Gu Yan also got up and said with fists clasped.

Li Cha gave a relieved smile, waved and said, "Don't just stand up and salute, sit down and talk.

The so-called husband and wife are originally birds in the same forest, and when disaster strikes, they fly separately.

Is it not the case with the relationship between countries?
During the period of international economic downturn, the European countries that had a harmonious relationship changed their faces one after another, scrambling to raise tariffs and erect high trade barriers.

This situation
Even though my Great Tang Empire has three heads and six arms, what can I do in vain?
Now it seems that it is better to rely on oneself than to rely on others.

The empire is based in the Americas, and the management of the Americas into a weather-proof back garden is the main policy goal in the next 20 years.

Only in this way can a stable Tang and Yuan trade circle be built.

Coupled with the empire's sphere of influence in East Asia and the west coast of the Pacific Ocean, it will have a stronger ability to resist risks.

The empire is bound to win the huge market of 5000 million people in South America, and will not allow any South American country to be outside the Andean Customs Union. "

At the end of the words, the words were already sonorous and powerful, and the strong killing intent was revealed spontaneously. The emperor's eyes flickered coldly, which made the two old ministers in front of him immediately understand what was going on.

Your Majesty is going to attack South American countries?

But... which unlucky ghost is it?

hesitated

Gu Yan still had to bite the bullet and asked, saying;

"Show Your Majesty;
Please forgive the old minister for being fatuous and incompetent, for not being able to appreciate the Holy Will, and I ask Your Majesty to forgive me.

The Holy One has always been advocating the development of the domestic economy, strengthening the foundation of the empire, exchanging time for space, digesting the achievements of previous colonization, and transforming it into a real imperial power.

Several submissions from the Ministry of War were sent back. The most recent one should have been in September last year, less than half a year ago.

Is it...

Your Majesty is not referring to Cuba, but another country?

The old minister is dull, please show your Majesty clearly! "

Liu Xianjun, who was standing by the side, was also a little puzzled, and he didn't reveal the slightest hint in advance. Could it be that the Holy Majesty improvised it?

(End of this chapter)