The sun never sets in America

Chapter 152 Population and Bicycles
In the fourth year of Longwu, Xihai, Hanzhou Province...

(original time and space 1844)
The West Sea is actually most of the west coast of the United States in later generations, but because it includes the inland sea between Xihai Province and Guangling Province, all of Han Dynasty is the West Sea and is divided into the Great West Sea and the Little West Sea. (The Great Western Sea is the area on the front of California in the original time and space, and the Little Western Sea is the crab-claw-shaped inland sea between the Baja California Peninsula and Sinaloa)

On the Western Sea, more than a dozen immigrant ships flying the Han national flag are heading towards Jinshan Port, the largest immigration distribution center in Han Dynasty...

Some of these immigrant ships were large and small, with the largest weighing more than 2000 tons and the smallest weighing about [-] tons. Compared with the several hundred-ton immigrant ships originally designed by Han a few years ago, they were no longer the same.

It is now the fourth year since the founding of the Han State. In these four years, the national strength of the Han State has been turned upside down, which is no exaggeration.

According to the statistics at the end of the second year of Longwu, the total population of Han at the end of that year was 330. (3000 population data)
And this year, the fourth year of Longwu, according to statistics at the beginning of this year, it has reached 460 million, a total increase of 120 million from three years ago. According to Han estimates, the population of Han will exceed 500 by the end of this year. The 500 mark has become another country in human history with a total population exceeding [-] million.

After many adjustments, the Han immigration ratio was officially revised to five to three to two.

The so-called five means Chinese, regardless of gender.

The so-called three are female immigrants from Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and even Southeast Asia, who are specially matched with Chinese men who immigrated from Han.

The remaining two are male immigrants from Japan, Vietnam, and Korea. Among them, the majority are Japanese, followed by Koreans, and then Vietnamese.

Among these Japanese, the majority were samurai, and the rest were Japanese farmers and traders who voluntarily immigrated to Han.

Among them, Japanese samurai are mostly assigned to the army and frontiers, euphemistically known as protecting their families and the country. (Actually, it’s just to guard the border with the Japanese)

In order to better manage these Japanese warriors, the Han Army even formed an army composed of Japanese soldiers and Chinese officers...1 Mixed Regiment.

Those Japanese farmers were dispersed and distributed among the Chinese immigrants in Han. Within 20 years, these Japanese immigrants disappeared.

Because of this period, Japanese people in this era generally did not have surnames, so the names were very strange. The era when Japanese people actually had surnames would not come until the Meiji Restoration period a few decades later.

(Of course, in this era, due to the Han Dynasty and the Meiji Restoration, there must be no more)
Precisely because they do not have surnames, these Japanese immigrants mostly adopt Chinese surnames, but they have made many jokes because of this.

Since the current King of Han's surname is Liu, you can see a bunch of Japanese people running to take the surname Liu, so that the population of the Han Dynasty with the Liu surname has soared, so much so that Liu Peng himself can no longer stand it.

Non-Chinese immigrants were strictly ordered to have the surname Liu, and at the same time, unpopular surnames were selected from hundreds of surnames for these Japanese immigrants.

Such as Zhao, Ting, Shan, Zhan, Chao, Xu, Mi, Fan, Hu, etc.

Anyway, as long as it is an unpopular surname, these Japanese people can take it. The surnames that were originally given, except Liu, will be retained.

This was done to standardize the population composition of Han and to distinguish who were Chinese and who were Japanese immigrants.

Otherwise, if the Japanese are allowed to act like this, wouldn't it mean that they say they are Chinese and that's what they are? Then the so-called honorary Chinese system in Han China will become a joke under the impact of this group of Japanese.

You must know that honoring the Chinese is an important means for the Han Dynasty to screen and expand the Chinese and Japanese groups, and it must not lose its authority.

If it were lost, the Han State would be much slower to integrate the country, and it would even leave consequences for future generations.

This is the current situation in Han Dynasty. It seems that they are embarking on a drastic immigration process, but in fact they are also taking a path that is likely to cause trouble.

So the only way to avoid danger is to avoid it before it arrives! !

…………

Outside Jinshan Port, more than a dozen immigrant ships are slowly docking. Jinshan Port, which has been expanded many times, has now surpassed Xijing Port and become the largest trading port in Han Dynasty.

The annual trade throughput ranks among the top five in all of North America, and above Jinshan Port are four American port cities.

It can also be seen from this that even though the national power of Han has increased a lot, it is still far away from the United States. This can be seen from a port.

But it must also be seen that the Han Kingdom is making progress. After all, Jinshan Port has already achieved such results in its fourth year. Although this achievement is piled up by the entire Han Kingdom, the achievements are achievements, not any All countries can do it! !

In addition to immigration ships, the largest number of ships in Jinshan Port are export and import ships.

Among them, most of the export ships flew the Chinese flag and the British flag, and most of the ships flying the Chinese flag were Han's exported goods.

What hangs the British flag is the cotton purchased by the British from Han, as well as the industrial products and agricultural products they are interested in.

Among them, the industrial products are mainly Han's processed foods. In fact, there are the famous Fortress series of wine and beverages, and then there are Han's flagship products exported to the outside world, Han's canned food.

Due to the continuous development of the canned industry, canned food in Han China has changed from the original single package to hundreds of packages and flavored ingredients.

Among them, large cans are the most popular among ordinary European families, because such cans are large enough for a family to eat, and they can even be eaten for several days if they are well preserved.

Small cans and medium cans are aimed at wealthy families in Europe. The packaging of these cans is more exquisite and the ingredients are more high-end.

Such as canned shark's fin, canned tuna, canned abalone, canned lobster, etc., mostly high-end seafood, which also catered to the mentality of wealthy people in inland Europe during this period who wanted to eat seafood but could not.

In addition to these, there are also some industrial products of Han Dynasty. These products are mainly rubber products of Han Dynasty.

As the birthplace of rubber, Han State used the rubber resources in the Americas to develop and improve tires and developed a rubber production line. This is definitely an epoch-making invention in today's world.

The birth of rubber tires also heralded the beginning of an era.

After some suggestions from well-intentioned people, the bicycle wrapped in rubber and added with a chain was born. Although there are different opinions about the birth of the bicycle, some people say that it was invented by the French in 1790, while others say that it was invented by the ancients in the Qing Dynasty or even thousands of years ago. But there is no doubt that the first human being to come close to the modern bicycle must have been invented by the Han Dynasty. Liu Peng can testify to this...

Also because of the development of the rubber industry, the entire Han Dynasty, from horse-drawn carriages to mechanical belts on factory assembly lines, was covered in rubber.

So much so that some people say that the development of the rubber industry is like putting a coat on Han's industry.

And bicycles have undoubtedly become the largest single export product of Han Dynasty after cotton and canned goods.

In overseas markets, especially in some remote places such as West Asia and northern Africa, a Han bicycle can even be exchanged for a complete pair of ivory and an Arab woman.

Bicycles and rubber, these two things that are somewhat novel to the whole world, helped Han China embark on the road of becoming an industrial power with independent innovation.

In the local market of Han, the emergence of bicycle lanes has also led to a transportation revolution.

In Xijing City, even Jinshan City and other Han Chinese cities, the original horse-drawn carriages were gradually replaced by two-wheeled bicycles and three-wheeled bicycles, and a new profession was born... rickshaw pullers.

These rickshaw pullers were different from the rickshaw pullers of later generations who relied on their legs. Instead, they rode modified tricycles and roamed the streets and alleys of the city, making money by pulling people's heads.

But not many people do this kind of profession, not because it’s not profitable, but because of the explosion of the bicycle industry.

No one knows when the bicycle industry in Han Dynasty broke out. Some say it was after Han Dynasty fully implemented the assembly line production method. Others say it started when the Imperial Bank provided loans to Feichi Bicycle Company and other bicycle companies.

But everyone has forgotten that two years ago, the cabinet issued a proposal to improve the steel industry.

Without this plan for improving technology and even production in the steel industry, Han's bicycle industry and even related industries would not have been able to develop so fast.

It is impossible for the bicycle industry to go from obscurity at the beginning to an annual output of 600 units in just a few years, with an output value exceeding [-] million Chinese yuan, driving upstream and downstream industrial chains exceeding tens of millions of Chinese yuan.Moreover, according to estimates from the Han Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Han's future annual bicycle output is likely to reach [-] or even more than [-] units next year, and eventually reach an annual output of hundreds of thousands or even millions of units.

If the United States in later generations is a country built on cars, then Han is a country built on bicycles.

It is no exaggeration to say that a small bicycle represents the progress of many industries in Han Dynasty, including metallurgy, parts, steel, rubber, tires, assembly, and even final sales.

In the current Han State, although there is one bicycle for every thirty people due to increased production capacity, this is completely inconsistent with Han State's ultimate bicycle popularization plan.

The reason is that bicycles in this period were too expensive. A bicycle, even after discounts, costs [-] Chinese yuan, and the export price is basically more than [-] Chinese yuan.

Maybe it’s not that high according to the British exchange rate. The arrival price of a bicycle exported to London, England, is no more than twenty pounds.

But for the working-class people in Han, whose salary levels are not as high as those in the UK, buying a bicycle will cost about a year's salary, even after so many years of development.

This is definitely very expensive for ordinary people in the Han country. After all, at this period, a family of seven or eight people belongs to the normal Han country.

There are too many people for a couple to support. After all, there are no family planning products for sale in Han. (Rubber: Aren’t I the one??)

Therefore, for the bicycle industry, according to the plan of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, it is necessary to both increase production and reduce prices.

Increasing production is the first step. After all, any product can only have a price effect if it reaches a certain quantity scale.

It's like you invested 100 million to build a multi-functional toilet, but you only produced one. How much is this toilet worth? ?
In addition, we need to find ways to improve the manufacturing process and raw materials.

Among them, manufacturing is to accelerate the scale effect of the bicycle parts industry. Dozens of parts of a bicycle lane are divided into dozens of assembly lines for production, forming standardization and modularization to reduce losses and costs in production.

The above is easy to say, but the most troublesome thing is the raw material, which refers to rubber.

Han's native rubber is mainly grown on the west coast, from Hanzhou Province to Xihai Province.

The weather and climate in this area are relatively warm, which is very suitable for rubber growth.

But there is a problem with this, and that is the growth cycle of rubber trees. Even if the Han Dynasty can plant rubber in the second year of Longwu, it has only been three years now. In other words, there are still four years to mature, and it will not mature until the ninth year of Longwu. , that is, 1848 AD.

But what to do with Han's rubber industry? We can't wait. Then Han has set its sights on natural rubber from Central America and even northern South America to Brazil.

In recent years, Han has gained the right to enter local markets by establishing diplomatic relations with Central and even South American countries.

In Brazil, 50.00% of the local rubber was bought and contracted by the Han people, and the rest was divided up by the United Kingdom, France and other countries.

As for the original rubber forests in Central America, except for New Granada, which has taken advantage of its geographical environment, other countries are either like Venezuela, which has private relations with the Han, or countries like Nicaragua and Honduras that have defected to the Han. small country.

In the entire world, natural rubber resources are actually controlled by Han, but there are many loopholes left, such as Brazil and New Granada. Han is unable to control Atlantic countries.

Among them, Brazil worries Han the most, because Brazilian rubber accounts for one-third of the entire rubber of Han, even reaching 50.00% in one year.

According to urban estimates in Han State, the number of people engaged in rubber and rubber derivatives industries in Han State will exceed 100 million in the future, and even more in the future. Then rubber has truly become the new economy of Han State. Growth points and industry breakthrough points.

But because of this, the Han Dynasty was even more afraid of losing control of rubber, a natural material given by God.

Every year, the first stop of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ visit to neighboring countries, besides Mexico, is Brazil.

Speaking of the country Brazil, it originally had no connection with the Han Kingdom, but because of rubber, Brazil and the Han Kingdom have since become close...

In later history, mankind's first rubber tree was also discovered in Brazil. Although the so-called discovery was basically a discovery by the Japanese in the West and had nothing to do with the locals, throughout the 40s and 50s...

This can be seen from the fact that at the beginning of this year, the Han Dynasty suddenly increased its naval military expenditure by 30.00% and discussed the formation of a marine corps.

Han will fight for wealth and rubber when necessary! !
Just like the later Han military historian Yao Xiuqing said in the book Longwu: Towards Glory: "The annual budget meeting in the fourth year of Longwu, a large-scale increase in naval military expenditures, actually heralded the arrival of the later era of Han overseas intervention, just like General Luo Shaowu in the 60s said, we fight for the interests of the Han Dynasty!!"

Interest is the eternal theme of human society, and it is also the fate that human beings have been unable to escape from since their birth.

He has nothing to do with morality, he is just in everyone's heart! !

.............................................

"The budget is not enough at the end of this month..." In the Jinshan City Government, the new Jinshan City Mayor Zhou Yongxiang looked at the annual plan in his hand and said with a frown.

He has not had a good night's sleep since he took over as mayor of Witwatersrand late last year.

The previous mayor of Jinshan City left him a huge mess.

This guy not only repaired hundreds of kilometers of metro lines, but also overhauled Jinshan City and surrounding areas.

The Jinshan Bridge was built (the later San Francisco Bridge was made of steel with stones added due to backward engineering technology) and the so-called Jinshan Temple, which was also euphemistically called to promote Buddhism.

"Damn it, why doesn't this bastard donate money to Buddha for repair? Maybe Buddha saw this guy's filial piety and gave him an early bliss..."

This was Zhou Yongxiang's first thought when he saw the magnificent Jinshan Temple.

And the most bastard thing is that when this guy was in office, he also engaged in municipal construction and built Jinshan City like Xijing.

There are four areas in Xijing City, and he will build four of them. There are polo teams in Xijing, and he will build them too. He also built four polo fields in one go.

And they also plan to join forces with other polo teams in Han to form some kind of polo league.

It is said to develop the sports industry, and there is also some concept of promoting masculinity and righteousness in it.

Forget it, he also exempted a large number of companies from taxes. Although there was an agreement to increase production and expand employment, in Zhou Yongxiang's view, this was naked market selling behavior.

When Zhou Yongxiang took over, the final payment for the railway had not yet been paid, and the polo ground was already halfway completed. Although a private person was finally hired to take over the project, which prevented the polo ground, a key project in Jinshan, from being unfinished.

But it also brought untold harm to Jinshan City’s finances.

Until now, Zhou Yongxiang has said at Jinshan City Government meetings that we must increase revenue and reduce expenditures and live a hard life.

In fact, there is another sentence that Zhou Yongxiang did not say, which is to pay off the debts incurred by the previous administration and then re-collect certain taxes.

This is the biggest thing for Zhou Yongxiang at present. Compared with these, the development of Jinshan City is secondary, because the former mayor of Jinshan City, Hao Donglai, has already implemented the development plan of Jinshan City for 20 years. , that is, 1860 AD...

In Zhou Yongxiang’s words:
"What kind of plan do you want to make? If you don't see it, I can't even make a plan!"

　Please order the full version and give me a reward. This book is too difficult at the moment.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)