Wild North America 1846

Chapter 774 Patrol
The end of March
The emperor of the Tang Dynasty publicly announced his southern tour, taking the [-]-ton luxury cruise ship "Royal Envoy" to the south, accompanied by a mixed fleet consisting of two prince-class main battleships and four [-]-ton fast freighters of the Royal Navy along the way.

Among the four [-]-ton fast freighters, one is a coal ship, one is an oil, water and food supply ship, and the other two are freighters, fully loaded with factory machinery and other goods, for His Majesty's rewards to the various vassal states.

April 10

The fleet arrived at the most important city of Lake Bay along the canal in Nicaragua. Hundreds of thousands of people from the city poured out and held a grand welcome ceremony.

Early 20th Century'

The total population of Lake Bay City has grown to 77.26, making it the most populous metropolis in Central America, with a population larger than that of Panama City, and the largest metropolis along the Nicaragua Canal.

With the opening of the Nicaragua Canal, the city's prosperity grew irresistibly, in stark contrast to the depression of Panama City.

The whole city is located on the shore of the endless Nicaragua Lake, with low hills on the east side, where there are ancient indigenous temples, and the royal palace is also located here.

From here, overlooking the whole city, there are many buildings with Spanish characteristics, spreading far away, which contrast with the lake and mountains here, and the scenery is so beautiful.

There are more than a dozen piers lined up along the lakeside, and there are many giant ships, and in the anchorage area in the distance, there are more large seagoing ships scattered on the river.

This scene is full of modern large-scale industrial atmosphere, which makes people feel a sense of pride in their hearts.

Emperor Li Cha leaned on the railing and looked into the distance. This beautiful lakeside city was in full view, with a look of nostalgia on his face.

He witnessed the slow development of Lake Bay City from scratch. At first, it was just a small town of hundreds of people with an Aztec temple, surrounded by wilderness.

More than [-] years have passed in a blink of an eye. With the help of the massive flow of people and logistics brought by the Nicaragua Grand Canal, which is called the miracle of water conservancy engineering in the world, the city has developed rapidly.

This is the main water traffic artery connecting the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean, and it is of great strategic significance.

Once the Great Tang Empire has mastered this place, it has mastered the gate facing the Pacific Ocean.

In peacetime, a large amount of goods from the north and west coast can be easily transported to Europe through the Nicaragua Canal.It communicated the east and west coasts of North America and Central America of the Tang Empire, which greatly promoted economic prosperity.

During the war

The Nicaragua Canal further highlighted its important strategic value, making it easier for the Royal Army and Navy of the Tang Empire to mobilize troops and supplies across oceans and defeat the enemy with all their might.

However, the enemy cannot take advantage of this strategic water channel connecting the two oceans, so the enemy's battlefield from the Atlantic Ocean will be limited to the Atlantic Ocean.

For enemies from the Pacific, the battlefield will be limited to the Pacific.Then the imperial cities along the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea will become a stable rear area, capable of continuously transporting troops and supplies to the front line.

Such an extremely favorable strategic situation has made the British envious.

Bismarck, the former German Prime Minister who just passed away, once said: "Tang is the country with the best geostrategic environment among all the world's major powers. In the next 1000 years, no country can threaten its homeland."

Although this statement is a bit exaggerated, it must be admitted that it makes sense.

In Alaska, Beihai Province, Kingdom of Amami, Kingdom of Luzon, Kingdom of Cebu, Kingdom of Mindanao, Paradise Province and the newly occupied East Indies in the western Pacific Ocean, the Tang Empire has formed a clear Western Pacific Rim, which will The safety margin of the Tang Empire has advanced to the edge of the Eurasian continent, more than 12 kilometers forward.

Unless these areas are occupied one by one, it is impossible to threaten the American mainland.

Whenever he thinks of these things, Emperor Li Cha is full of joy in his heart, enjoying it like drinking ice water in the dog days.

The coconut trees sway gently and the breeze blows gently.

Lake Nicaragua is the largest freshwater lake in Central America, with a water area of ​​8264 square kilometers and the 21st largest lake in the world. It is connected to the Caribbean Sea through the San Juan River.

The endless lake is full of smoke and waves, and the evening wind blows the cool water vapor instead of the salty smell of the sea breeze.

For seagoing ships traveling between the two oceans, this is a natural safe haven, where they must pass through to replenish supplies and fuel, and they always stop for a few days when passing through the canal.

While Emperor Li Cha was leaning on the railing to watch, Liang Bojun, deputy director of the secretariat, quietly walked behind him, bowed down respectfully and asked for instructions; "Your Majesty, the local military and political officials are already waiting in the outer hall, and I respectfully request the hadith."

"Well, I'll come later."

"I obey the order." Liang Bojun took two steps back, then turned and left.

Only then did Emperor Li Cha look away. He was quite satisfied with the development of Huwan City, which has great potential to develop into a metropolis with a population of one million in the future.

Compared with this place, the prosperous Panama City in the past is lonely.

He tidied up a bit, then walked calmly towards the outer hall...

In addition to inspection
Meet these local military and political chiefs and encourage them, which is the meaning of the title.

Emperor Richard's southern tour plan will take more than half a year. He will travel all over Central America and South America.

How about the local economic and social development under the governance of the vassal state?

The current system of the Tang Empire is similar to that of the German Empire. Within the territory of the empire, there are directly subordinate provinces and overseas provinces, as well as vassal states and territories directly under the royal family.

There are princely kingdoms and grand duchies in the vassal states, which uniformly implement the laws and regulations and various policies of the empire. Diplomatic, military, and administrative powers belong to the empire. They are only fiefs and fiefs, just like local nobles.

The South American desert expedition that started in 1862 has captured almost half of South America in the past 38 years and achieved great success.

Emperor Li Cha has never set foot on this land, and this time he wants to make up for this regret and bring the glory of the imperial family to all the vassal states. This is the supreme honor.

In the second half of next year, Emperor Richard also plans to tour the imperial territories in the Western Pacific, visiting every vassal state and province of the Tang Empire, except Yunzhong Province.

Countless citizens of the empire are eagerly looking forward to the visit of the emperor, which allows the local people to deeply feel the glory of the empire and the happiness of being a part of the empire, which is of great significance.

If Emperor Li Cha hadn't retreated behind the scenes, he might not have been able to spare so much time to inspect the vast empire.

The territory is too large, which is also a kind of distress!

The Royal Patrol Fleet stayed in Lake Bay for three days and set sail again on October 10. The next stop was the Prince of Colombia.

The fleet sailed unimpeded along the San Juan River, and the vast rice fields along the coast lined up, and the edge could not be seen at a glance.

The Nicaragua region is located in the tropics and is extremely rich in water resources. It is an excellent rice field producing area in the empire. Rice is grown three times a year, with large yields and good quality.

The high-quality rice produced here is very popular in North America and is a well-known signature agricultural product. Several provinces in Central America send millions of tons of rice to North America every year to meet the consumption needs of the Chinese community.

The Chinese are accustomed to eating rice noodles, but not tortillas and potatoes. They can be used as a dish, but not a staple food.This is the fundamental reason why rice is widely grown in Central America and Colombia.

In the original history, here are large areas of corn production.

on the banks of the canal

You can see the rock revetment built with whole stones. The original winding channel of the San Juan River has undergone large-scale reconstruction by cutting and straightening. The entire channel is straight and wide.

There are high-grade asphalt roads along both sides of the river, and there are one after another low dirt hills, which are all piled up of soil and gravel dug out of the river, with a height ranging from a dozen meters to tens of meters.

Both sides of the river are covered with lush tall trees, green as far as the eye can see, and colorful wild flowers bloom.

The high-value trees planted by these canal companies also have the functions of preventing wind and fixing soil, improving the environment, and taking into account the beauty, which can be said to serve multiple purposes.

The royal fleet passed the San Juan River smoothly all the way, and sailed into the Caribbean Sea after half a day.

The salty sea breeze and the sapphire-like blue sea all indicate that the fleet has entered this legendary sea area.

After entering the Caribbean Sea, the royal fleet adjusted its direction and sailed south along the coastline of Central America.

Two days later

Then they arrived at Port San Onofre in Darien Bay. Prince Tang-Li Kun of Guangnan had already led a group of high-level military and political officials of the Kingdom of Colombia and members of the royal family to wait here, waiting for the emperor to visit.

Port San Onofre is a port city with a population of more than 7. From here, you can take a train for more than 430 kilometers to reach Medellin, the capital of the Kingdom of Colombia.

Tang-Li Kun, Prince of Guangnan, is the direct son of Empress Lin. His vassal state is the highest-ranking vassal state, with the largest area among all vassal states and a population of 537 million.

The economic strength of the Kingdom of Columbia is not bad, and it is on par with the Kingdom of Ohio in North America, ranking among the top three among the vassal states.

Regardless of the area or the size of the Kingdom of Columbia, it is enough to entrust three or four vassals. From this alone, we can see the preference of His Majesty the Emperor.

The train galloped all the way in the wilderness of Colombia, crossed the jungle mountains and rivers, and crossed large tracts of rice-growing farmland villages and towns, all the way to the southwest.

After more than 20 years of being included in the royal line, the proportion of Chinese population in the Kingdom of Colombia has reached 68.2%, white descendants account for 8.9%, and the population of various Indian tribes accounts for about 22.86%, living at the bottom of society.

From the scenery along the way, we can see that the construction of roads and bridges in urban and rural areas of Colombia is still good, and the farmland water conservancy facilities are relatively complete, which are the results of the large-scale construction at the beginning.

Relying on the solid foundation established at the beginning, the Kingdom of Colombia has developed very well in recent years. The local area is rich in coffee, cocoa, rice, sugar and natural rubber. There are densely populated Chinese plantations, large and small, and a leisurely rural landscape.

(End of this chapter)