Wild North America 1846

From June to September 1918

Although no large-scale battles broke out on the entire Western Front battlefield, small-scale battles continued. The sound of guns and artillery continued on the hundreds of kilometers long front, and scenes of repeated battles were staged every day.

it's here

A grove that had been completely destroyed long ago, or a certain protruding highland, would be repeatedly fought over and changed hands by the enemy and ourselves dozens or hundreds of times, which had become the norm on the Western Front battlefield.

The three world's top powers, Britain, France and Tang Dynasty, surrounded Germany with superior firepower and troops on the Western Front battlefield.

The Germans responded with tenacious resistance and generally maintained the basic situation on the Western Front battlefield, without allowing the Allied military group to take much advantage.

North America
Xianshou Palace

After Richard, whose temples were turning gray, returned to China, he lived in seclusion in the Xianshou Palace in Chaoge, the imperial capital, and lived a leisurely life. He occasionally went out for a walk incognito to relax.

Nearing the end of summer
The rockery garden by the lake is beautiful. His tall figure is wandering in the garden, accompanied by several docile lions and tigers.

After Richard stops, the beast next to him will take the opportunity to lie prone, willingly becoming the owner's soft seat, which is extremely spiritual.

The beloved concubine Servilia often brings the youngest prince Tang Li You, who is only three years old, to accompany His Majesty the Holy Emperor, looking like a happy scene.

The 82nd Prince Tang-His Royal Highness Li You has not yet been awarded a title. Although he is only three years old, he is the younger uncle of the current Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, one generation higher than Tang Yezong.

The Tang Dynasty governed the country with filial piety and righteousness, and the traditional royal etiquette was even stricter and could not be messed up at all.

Richard dispensed with Tang Yezong's daily morning and dusk greetings to the Holy Emperor, but once a week, Tang Yezong would always bring the princes, uncles and a group of royal brothers into the palace to pay respects to the Holy Emperor Taizu.

When you see the little emperor's uncle, you must pay homage first according to the etiquette.

nothing else
Just because the little imperial uncle can always be by the side of the Holy Emperor and Taizu, he can see that the Holy Family is so good. It is a great honor that other princes and grandsons cannot even imagine.

The royal family of the Tang Dynasty had many heirs. Until Tang Yezong came of age, he followed his father and only met His Majesty the Holy Emperor Taizu a few times. It was unthinkable to live next to him.

The last time Tang Yezong led a group of royal disciples to the palace to pay their respects, they reported bad news;

The former King of Cuba, Don Lee, died of illness in Havana at the age of 72. The 49-year-old Crown Prince Don Lee was allowed to inherit the throne and became the second King of Cuba.

This news made Richard silent for a long time. In recent years, news of the death of the prince came almost every few months.

Under the baptism of ruthless years, less than half of the 82 princes are left.

Many royal families have been passed down to the second and third generations, and a very few have been passed down to the fourth generation.

Nowadays, the Tang Empire has no hereditary royal dukes, and the three emperor brothers of Tang Yezong have also been granted vassal titles in Brazil. This has increased the number of vassal states directly under the Datang Empire to 35.

Other royal bloodlines were hereditary and downgraded, and now most of them belong to the aristocratic families of earls and marquises.

In another half century, it will almost be reduced to the lowest title of Royal Baronet, and it will remain so.

This policy of inheriting titles for the royal children ensures that the imperial royal family will not be too large, the financial burden will not be too heavy, and a large amount of money will not be used to support a group of noble idlers.

Not every emperor in the Tang Empire had such vigorous energy as Richard. The second emperor Tang Qianzong only had four sons, and he was considered one of the emperors with fewer heirs.

The third emperor Tang Yezong still only has seven princes, two of whom are still underage.

He is now faced with numerous government affairs, and as he is over fifty years old, it is no longer possible for him to have a new prince.

Seeing so many princes and grandchildren made Richard feel that he was really old.

He plans to live in Xianshou Palace until next spring, and Yujiaxi will return to Chang'an (San Francisco), the western capital, to start his old life.

After more than ten years of rapid development, today's imperial capital Chaoge (Philadelphia) has a total population of more than 227.6 million, making it the fourth largest city in North America, second only to the three major cosmopolitan cities of Chang'an, Los Angeles and New York.

Today's imperial capital, Chaoge, has many dozens of high-rise buildings rising from the ground. Elevated highways and subway line [-] have been completed and opened. There are many high-rise buildings. The bustling and noisy metropolitan scene is the same as it was more than a hundred years later.

Well-dressed urban beauties and white-collar workers from big companies rush to and fro on the streets, and cars of all kinds flow continuously. At night, it becomes a city that never sleeps with bright lights.

Compared with the stagnant development of New York in recent years, the imperial capital Chaoge (Philadelphia), as the capital of the Tang Empire with a population of more than 2 million, has been making rapid progress. The city's territory has continued to expand outwards, and it has become the core metropolis of the East Coast.

The extreme material demand brought about by the First World War stimulated the in-depth development of the Tang Empire's industrialization and attracted a large number of well-known scholars from European countries to join. The level of science and technology, culture and education has reached the top level in the world.

The war also contributed to the transfer of European wealth to North America. A large number of European upper classes and nobles immigrated to North America to escape war-torn Europe.

This contributed to the further integration of Eastern and Western cultures and evolved into a characteristic culture unique to the Tang Empire. The rise of movies, cars, telephones, miniskirts, underwear and bikinis also carried the rich Tang hedonistic culture and was also a European desire. of luxury life.

Positivity, freedom, equality and tolerance have become the characteristics of Datang culture and are deeply affecting the world.

In this regard, Hughes-Passage, a well-known figure in the British cultural circle, commented: "When the British and their allies united to compete with the Germans for a small farm worth 600 pounds, they spent several years and millions of pounds and sacrificed Thousands of people fought over and over again.

The Tang Empire used the same money to build dozens of factories, creating several times as much wealth.

One is destroying while the other is creating. This is the difference between the two.

Sadly, there was nothing we could do to stop this from happening..."

Of course

In order to maintain its rule, the Tang Empire brutally persecuted and suppressed democrats who called for open democracy and anti-imperialism.

Several liners departed from the east and west coasts of North America every month, traveling to remote Pacific islands to exile criminals.

People with similar dangerous speeches and tendencies, regardless of whether they are citizens of the empire, will be severely suppressed. After arrest and confirmed to be correct, all will be punished with exile.

Once you reach an isolated island in the Pacific, you will never be able to return again in your lifetime.

In addition, there are some robbers, thieves and criminals. Those whose crimes do not lead to death are generally sentenced to exile. This greatly reduces the prison pressure in the empire and has a huge deterrent effect.

No one wants to leave the prosperous world of North America and have their whole life ruined.

From the era of comprehensive prosperity that began in 1914, it almost reached its peak in 1918. Millions of factories across the country were operating at full capacity to supply the almost endless urgent needs of the European war.

And at this time

Richard already knew that the Great Depression after the war was inevitable. He ordered the Royal Household Office to shrink investment from various countries in exchange for hard currency such as gold and jewelry to return to North America.

The eight major funds owned by the Royal Family and a series of holding companies have all begun to shrink their production scale and accumulate cash flow to prepare for the cold winter.

At the same time, the move was to sell off a large number of properties, commercial buildings and store ownership throughout the empire, gradually sell off unnecessary corporate equity, and increase the gold reserves of the holding banks.

The remaining holdings of the Royal Group are concentrated in large monopoly companies, such as petrochemicals, emerging pharmaceuticals, precision machinery, gold, silver, iron and coal mines and raw material processing, seaports and terminals, and the automotive industry, implementing a comprehensive contraction strategy.

This process will last for 2 to 3 years. In addition, the gold reserves held by Royal Holding Bank will more than double and will reach an astonishing total reserve of more than 8000 tons.

As long as you have money in your hands, whether it is stimulating the economy or investing in basic industries, it can play a positive role in helping the national economy during the Great Depression and stabilize public morale.

From the current point of view

Since the economy of the Tang Empire was obviously overheated and prosperous, the domestic assets that accounted for the majority were sold off quite smoothly, and they were able to obtain higher premiums.

Since the end of 1918, the eight major funds affiliated to the Royal Household Office have implemented the strategy of comprehensive contraction quite smoothly, and are selling off non-core assets in a step-by-step and planned manner.

Richard knows very well
The First World War will eventually end, and the reconstruction of Europe and the restoration of industry and agriculture will quickly be put on the agenda. The current prosperous days will soon come to an end.

When tens of millions of European soldiers return home, Europe's urgent demand for imported goods will plummet, and hundreds of thousands of factories and farmers and ranchers in the Tang Empire will fall into the dilemma of blind expansion, which is capitalism. The system cannot solve its problems.

The upsurge of economic development is followed by troughs. The public makes the same mistakes again and again, and the role of government guidance is not obvious.

now in newspaper broadcasts
Warning remarks from experts and scholars often appeared, in response to the overheating of the empire's economy, reminding business owners of all sizes not to expand blindly and to beware of the risk of economic crisis.

As the saying goes, good words are hard to persuade a damned ghost.

Many business owners and investors who were dazzled by the huge wealth simply failed to listen to the repeated warnings issued by the government and invested desperately.

According to the third quarter economic operation report of Datang Empire;

During this quarter, fixed assets increased by 14.32%, and the cost of purchasing equipment and other industrial products increased by 19.07%, which is in the overheating stage.

This indicates

Business owners of all sizes in the Tang Empire were enthusiastic about investment and were willing to spend more to purchase equipment and expand production in order to increase exports and earn more excess wealth.

But can the world war last forever?
the answer is negative.

The huge demand stimulated by the war will be suddenly cut in half by an armistice treaty.

By then, the huge risks caused by over-investment will overwhelm these blindly optimistic business owners and businessmen.

The current world war is in full swing. Richard saw the crisis early and widely warned through newspapers and public opinion.

In fact

Early warnings do not play a big role. Five consecutive years of comprehensive economic prosperity have made people ignore the possible economic crisis, and optimism has taken over the mainstream.