Wild North America 1846

The development of the Royal Navy in the Tang Empire was a long-term process. The military budget was allocated on an annual basis, never compared with the wealthy and powerful British Royal Navy, and it was steadily advancing at its own pace;
In addition to the government's military budget, the Royal Home Office will also allocate special funds to help the Royal Navy pay part of the ship purchase bill.

In the three years of 1873, 1874 and 1875, the Royal Household Office successively allocated 220 million, 315 million and 356 million Tang Yuan special funds for the equipment renewal of a series of key enterprises such as Royal Salem Shipyard and Chang'an Heavy Industry. , as well as subsidies for the Royal Navy's purchase of ships.

After inspecting the cutting-edge warships, Emperor Li Cha was generally satisfied, but there was still some worry in his heart;

in the original history

More than ten years later, the Manchu Qing court ordered two iron-clad giant ships Dingyuan and Zhenyuan from Germany, which were born out of the German-made "Saxon" class iron-clad ships. They also had two 305mm double-door main guns, 150mm secondary guns and 76mm Secondary gun, the firepower configuration is basically the same as that of the "Zhenyang" class.

The only difference is that the main gun is installed in the iron armored gun room amidships, and the forward and backward shooting circles are relatively limited, and can only be fired sideways.

In the Sino-Japanese War
The two giant ships Dingyuan and Zhenyuan led the fleet to perform poorly, but lost to the Fusang fleet with faster speed and more powerful rapid-fire artillery, which eventually became the national memory of the Chinese nation.

Therefore, strong ships and guns are not the key factors for winning a decisive battle at sea. The level of ship manipulation, strong fighting spirit and commander's command of the commander of the Royal Navy will all be important factors affecting the decisive battle at sea.

"...

The Royal Navy is a highly specialized and highly technical military force, we must pay attention to regular military education, and select elites who are loyal and passionate about sailing to join the Royal Navy..." Emperor Richard said with a serious expression.

Standing aside, the royal personal secretary quickly took notes with a pen in hand, which will be compiled into guidance documents in the future and will be carried out by the Royal Navy as the main theme.

After asking a few words, Emperor Li Cha turned to Feng and asked, "How is the preparation work for the Royal Naval Academy in Salem going? Where is it going?"

Marshal Pan Hengchen, Minister of the Royal Navy, hurriedly stepped forward and replied after saluting respectfully;
"The Royal Navy would like to obey His Majesty's decree and reply to His Majesty's question. The preparations for the Royal Naval Academy in Salem have been completed, and the campus construction is basically ready. It will officially enroll students next month.

The college is built on the Gulf of Maine, about 27 kilometers north of Salem City. The campus covers an area of ​​about 377 acres, with beautiful scenery and an exclusive pier for the college.

The three-masted warship "Constitution" captured during the North American War is one of the teaching ships of the college today, equipped with strong teachers.

The command department, navigation department, communication department, torpedo department, gun finger department, engine department, electromechanical department, steam machinery department and other departments under the Naval Academy will continue to provide high-quality grassroots officers for the Royal Navy. This is full of confidence. "

"Oh... the Gulf of Maine, that's a good place." Emperor Richard suddenly realized.

He just thought of it temporarily and asked, the Royal Naval Academy of Salem is already the fourth naval academy.

Prior to this, the Ministry of the Navy has accumulated rich experience in running schools and has a considerable talent pool.As long as the financial allocation is in place and the construction of college facilities is in place, the preparation speed will be very fast.

do the math

The last time the emperor went to the north for inspection was more than ten years ago. Salem, Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, these big northern cities have not set foot in it for a long time, and now they see that they have changed a lot.

There is really no way, the territory of the empire is too vast, and His Majesty the Emperor's southern tour would take half a year, and that was already three years ago.

That is, in 1873, he traveled south to Panama and inspected the Nicaragua Canal project.

Be it the eastern provinces of the Tang Empire, the southeastern provinces, or the northern provinces, a round of inspections can take as little as two or three months, or as long as half a year or even longer.

After a lap, can't it be more than ten years?
As an important industrial center in the north of the Tang Empire, Salem is also a metropolis with a population of over one million. It is as famous as the central city of Chicago and the southern city of Los Angeles. They are collectively known as the "three strong industrial cities".

As soon as this is mentioned, Portland, the capital of Oregon, is a bit lonely. After decades of competition with Salem for industrial development, Portland finally lost.

Today, Portland is listed as a second-tier industrial city alongside Detroit, Taoyuan, Seattle, Houston, and Mexico City. It is far inferior to the top three in terms of industrial scale, category, and output value.

Salem's industrial development is not without cost. In the more than 40-kilometer-long coastal industrial zone, tall chimneys look like forests, and they spew thick black smoke day and night.

The entire city buildings and streets seem to be covered with a layer of smoky gray. Clean clothes become dirty after a day of wearing, and the rainwater that collects after it rains is gray and black.

Every winter
The snow layer is gray-black below and white above.It won't be long before the snow on it will turn gray and black.There is a clear distinction between one layer and one layer.

In this era, there is no awareness of environmental protection, and no awareness of worker protection. People will only be sincerely proud when they see the chimneys, and admire the great power of industry.

Emperor Li Cha is well aware of the dangers of environmental pollution, but there is no good solution to this. The only requirement is for workers to wear masks.

In the early stage of industrial development, limited by the level of science and technology, it was impossible to emphasize any environmental protection measures.

Petrochemical plants burn a large amount of separated useless gasoline or pour it into the sea. The thick black smoke from the chimney of the factory shows that the heat utilization efficiency is not high and the combustion is not sufficient.

This is not intentional, but limited by the current state of technology.

This is the case for Senam, is it not the case for major European cities such as London, Paris, and Berlin?

When the Salem Royal Navy inspected the shipyard, there were countless fly ash smoke and a pungent smell in the air.

This pungent strange smell came from the fertilizer factory of the nearby Coastal Chemical Industry Company, which was a heavily guarded factory area, and outsiders were strictly prohibited from entering.

The high yields of agriculture and animal husbandry in the Tang Empire are inseparable from the precious resources of chemical fertilizer factories and guano mines, but this strange smell is really fascinating!

After leaving the Salem Royal Navy Dockyard, Emperor Richard had no intention of staying any longer, and directly took the Royal Train Patent to the Portland Palace, where the emperor stayed.

On the train
After washing his face, Emperor Li Cha was also speechless when he saw half of the black water in the gold washbasin.

just for a while
The hair, face, ears, eyes, and nostrils are all black and gray. If you don't change all your clothes and wash them thoroughly from top to bottom, it will be difficult to get them clean.

After cleaning, he went to the luxurious royal box, and saw Liang Bojun and Lu Dawei, deputy directors of the Royal Secretariat, standing beside him, he hesitated, and ordered;

"The industrial chimneys in the city of Salem raise too much dust. Is it harmless to eat so much soot? Is there any way to solve it?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, this... I have no countermeasures for a while, can I allow this time to call some experts and scholars to discuss this issue and find a solution?"

"I have an idea..."

"Please make it clear, Your Majesty."

"The large amount of smoke and dust is obviously a disadvantage of insufficient combustion. If a sprinkler system is installed, that is, spraying water to form a water mist curtain, it should be able to greatly reduce the generation of dust. What do you think?"

"This... is wonderful, Your Majesty!" Liang Bojun was taken aback for a moment before showing surprise, and he flattered him without losing the opportunity.

"Your Majesty is wise, we are far inferior to ordinary people." Lu Dawei's compliment came from the heart.

The measures His Majesty speaks of are simple, inexpensive, and effective.

just think about it
As long as the water mist sprinkler system is installed at the appropriate position of the chimney, it is possible to intercept more than 9% of the smoke and dust, which is a wonderful idea!

Emperor Li Chahun waved his hand indifferently, and said, "That's it, Lu Aiqing will take the lead in supervising this matter. Once it is verified that it is feasible, it will be promoted to all major industrial areas in the empire."

"The minister obeys the order."

"Well, back off."

"I'm waiting to retire."

After seeing the two leave, Emperor Li Cha sat on a comfortable and luxurious seat, lit a cigar, and soon the thick cigar smoke filled the carriage.

The royal train rushed forward, and the scenery outside the window was constantly receding.

The cityscape of Salem outside the window is like the era of Crusu steam. In the gray and black tall city buildings, thick steam pipes can often be seen passing across the sky, and the chimneys make the sky dark.

The whole city is filled with the industrial power of the steam age, dark, dirty and rough, accompanied by the regular noise of mechanical operation, like a strong beating heart.

As the train accelerated, urban buildings and chimneys gradually became rare, and large fields appeared in the wilderness, as well as herds of cattle and sheep.

Unconsciously

The train has left the city of Salem, the dark clouds and mist in the sky have quietly passed away, and there are large swathes of blue sky and white clouds again, and the river is clear again...

Looking back at the gray cloud-shrouded city, Emperor Li Cha sighed sincerely; perhaps, this is the price that must be paid for the development of industry!

At the end of July this year, the national economic output of the Datang Empire surpassed that of the United Kingdom and ranked first in the world.

The severe world economic crisis that lasted two and a half years has finally come to an end. The foreign trade of Datang Empire rebounded strongly in the third quarter, driving the economic growth in the third quarter to 3%, showing a signal of strong recovery.

if nothing unexpected

The total annual economic output of the Tang Empire will surpass that of the United Kingdom, and it will secure its position as the world's largest economic power.

In this way, Emperor Li Cha finally breathed a sigh of relief. The worst days are over, so will the good days of prosperity be far behind?

Various indicators in the third quarter of this year showed clear signs of recovery, from international trade to domestic production and consumption.Residents are more willing to invest, more factories are operating, and even the prices of agricultural products are on the rise, which is undoubtedly a good sign.