The sun never sets in America

Chapter 188 Journey to Han Dynasty: Jiuyuan
Yunzhong City, Jiuyuan Province, Han State...

(Original time and space, Phoenix, Arizona, also called Phoenix)
The climate in this area is hot, and it is one of the few places in Han Dynasty where the climate is like summer all year round. The scorching sunshine reminds people of the coastal Hanzhou Province. (California)

However, compared with Hanzhou Province, which is close to the coast, Jiuyuan Province is drier and hotter because it is located inland and not close to the ocean. The temperature remains at more than 30 degrees all year round, and the highest temperature can even reach over [-] degrees. .

In later generations, there were a large number of American technology storage companies here. The main reason was that electronic products were easily damaged by moisture, and Phoenix had almost the best storage environment in North America because it was like this all year round. is in a dry state.

And Phoenix like this, if it continues as normal, will definitely become a no man's land, but by chance, it happens to be where the Colorado River passes.

The Colorado River is formed by melting snow water from the Rocky Mountains. The total drainage length reaches 330 kilometers, and it flows all the way to the current Xiaoxihai Sea. (The Gulf of California in later generations was the sea area between the two pincer-shaped countries)

Also because it is close to the Colorado River and relatively close, there are a large number of alluvial plains and oases around Yunzhong City.

The local economy is mainly based on irrigated agriculture and the processing industry, mainly processing minerals brought to Yunzhong City from Tongshan City.

They are reprocessed into semi-finished products and finished products, and transported to the Hanzhou area with developed coastal industries through the newly built Huanhan Railway.

Perform tertiary processing and even direct sales.

The relevant Central Han Railway was a project that had been decided in the fourth year of Longwu, that is, the year of the Han-American War, and was headed by the supervising minister, Wei Guogong Liu Ming.

Even in the years of financial difficulties after the war, the Ministry of Finance and the Hanguo Railway Company still allocated most of their funds to support the construction of this railway that spans the entire Han Dynasty and stretches for more than 1 kilometers.

And this railway is still being built in other newly acquired territories to connect other railways that have been repaired.

For example, Yimapingchuan, the Youzhou area with better terrain, is the main force currently under construction. It is said that it will be built all the way to Longjiang Port to link Han Dynasty with the Atlantic Ocean. (The location of the Port of Houston, Texas, in the Atlantic Ocean, close to the United States)
Throughout the Han Kingdom, railway construction has always been a hot topic. This can be seen from the fact that Penglai Province, an archipelago province, has to build its own coastal railway.

Railway, what does it mean in this era.

With railways, people can go further, and goods that are thousands of miles away or even thousands of miles away can even come to them like shipping.

People and capital in the two places will circulate with each other, and eventually new wealth will be created through exchange, and it will be greater than the original wealth in the pre-railway era, and the circulation of funds and goods will be faster.

Just like a current folk song from Han Dynasty sings: "After passing through the valley of Hanzhou, I came to the Great Gobi Desert, took a look at the boundless sea of ​​sand, and climbed the beautiful mountains..."

…………

Yunzhong City is a city with a total population of more than 30. This city mainly relies on irrigated agriculture from the Colorado River as a source of food and fruits.

There are a lot of wheat fields around the city. The wheat fields are so bright that it's time to harvest.

Due to the natural climate, the local wheat is basically harvested three times a year. Also due to the climate, the local wheat tastes stronger. Even in big cities in Han Dynasty such as Jinshan, Xijing, Yunzhong wheat is very good. famous.

Especially those old gourmets who only eat noodles made from Yunzhong flour.

Around these wheat fields, there are rows and rows of repaired canals. Their functions are similar to those in the mountainous areas of Lingnan Province, and they are all used to irrigate crops.

Because of this kind of irrigated agriculture and the naturally created climate, the local food can not even be eaten by oneself, but can also be exported.

In addition to these wheat fields, the most famous things in the cloud are watermelons and grapes.

There is the largest vineyard in Han Dynasty, and the wine produced here even exceeds that of Hanzhou Province.

So much so that Fortress Group, the largest alcoholic beverage brand in Han Dynasty, has the largest winery in Han Dynasty near Yunzhong City...

The wine produced by this winery accounts for one-third of the entire Fortress Group's wine brands, which shows how huge it is.

The local grape farmers have also become the local middle class by supplying grapes to the Fortress Group's local wineries.

Because rural areas are self-sufficient, the evaluation of the middle class is very different from that in cities.

The middle class in the city is mainly evaluated based on wages and other income.

And due to the consumption of food and housing, the money that can actually be saved is actually not as good as that of the rural middle class who stay on the land and orchards every day.

But it is not without its faults. The biggest fault is consumption and enjoyment. In terms of consumption, the rural middle class mainly consumes industrial products for daily life, and occasionally goes to nearby cities to purchase salt, soy sauce and other condiments, as well as other pots and pans. household items.

Then there are industrial products like bicycles that are used to follow fashion.

In terms of other urban expenditures and consumption, they are not as good as those of the urban middle class who were born to live in the city.

For this reason, Han Dynasty has repeatedly proposed to revitalize rural consumption.

Among them, the biggest resistance is to abolish the ban on [-] acres of farmland for one person and [-] acres for the whole family.

However, this request was opposed by many people as soon as it was proposed.

These people are mainly old immigrants. They believe that they and others worked hard for the establishment of the Han Dynasty, even risking their lives, in exchange for the title of fief. These immigrants did not pay anything and received twenty acres of land is considered a favor from His Majesty. (The nobles of the Han Dynasty basically have a certain proportion of fiefs, which is incomparable with the European feudal system. The main thing is to divide the land. The current highest marquis only has [-] acres, and he needs to hire people to cultivate it. The actual cost is still high. , earn little money, and the Duke mainly belongs to the royal family, and the royal family issues annuity)

It was precisely because of the opposition of the old immigrants and those nobles from Xijing that the bill to expand land for immigrants was not passed.

However, I still have one thing left, that is, immigrants can rent land from the Han royal family in addition to family or personal land. The rental price is moderate, which can not only increase the income of the royal family, but also effectively increase the per capita land area and increase the income of farmers. . (The Han royal family owns a large amount of land. For example, the money to purchase Colorado was half paid by the royal family and the Han government. Currently, half of the Colorado area can be regarded as the private property of the royal family)
And this plan was created by Liu Peng, and it may not have a more far-reaching purpose.

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

"Have you heard that it says to grow cotton? Do you think this can be done?"

"I think it's okay. Our place is located near the Colorado River. It has bright sunshine all year round. There is water and sunshine, which is perfect for growing cotton."

"I don't think so. Think about it, now that the best land is given to orchards, how can there be so much land for cotton cultivation??"

In a cafe in Yunzhong City, several men dressed in silk shorts and trousers, who looked like businessmen at first glance, were discussing a major event in the business community of Yunzhong City, growing cotton! !

This cotton planting was proposed by the new mayor of Yunzhong. The main reason is to develop the cotton planting industry by taking advantage of Yunzhong City's proximity to the Colorado River, as well as the sunshine and hot weather all year round.

Take a share of the increasingly prosperous cotton textile industry around the world.

According to last year's statistics, Longwu of the Han Dynasty exported cotton worth 300 million yuan in the entire seven years, most of which came from Beimen City, Hanzhou Province, which is also known as the cotton capital of the Han Dynasty. , most of which were exported to the British and the remainder to the French.

However, with the saturation of cotton planting in Hanzhou and the rise of the domestic textile industry in Han State, the demand for cotton raw materials has increased. New cotton planting areas are also being opened in Han State, including Yunzhong City in Jiuyuan, and already The Texas area, which was renamed Youzhou, is a key target for cotton cultivation promotion.

If Youzhou is like a vast plain, it is even a treasure rich in resources.

Well, Yunzhong City in Jiuyuan Province, because of its proximity to the Colorado River and the advantage of its own sunshine, is actually more like the Nile Delta in Egypt.

In later generations, Egypt was a major cotton producer.

And with a geographical environment like Yunzhong City, it is understandable that it was chosen as a new cotton production base.

"If you ask me, we might as well continue to build reservoirs and reclaim wasteland. I think there is a lot of land that can be developed on the other side of the river??"

In the cafe, someone suggested that they could reclaim wasteland and avoid the orchards and farms that have been built. "Reclamation, does the city finance have money??" A man with a big beard, whose brother-in-law was in charge of the city finance, retorted disdainfully.

"As far as the city's finances are concerned, Yunzhong City has been expanded recently and roads have to be repaired. Where can the money come from to reclaim wasteland? You must know how Yunzhong City was built in the first place. It was carried out by us people. It was done under the bright sun..." Big Beard continued, talking about what Yunzhong City looked like when it was founded.

At that time, we were really poor and had nothing. With thousands of immigrants and millions of dollars allocated from the government, we scrimped on food and clothing, built farmland with a complete irrigation system, and built Yunzhong, which is now famous throughout the Han Dynasty. Flour and Yunzhong watermelon, Yunzhong grapes, and even wine made from grapes produced in Yunzhong City.

It is basically impossible to imagine the same situation now, unless the government allocates money, or the money is obtained locally.

"Ugh……"

Hearing this, everyone at the table sighed.

At another table, the reserved Lin Yusheng drank the coffee in his hand while listening to the conversations of several traders next to him.

He had some understanding of what these people were talking about about cotton and planting, but he didn't understand why cotton should be grown here. Even if he wanted to plant it, he couldn't even get the money to open up wasteland, right? ?

In fact, Lin Yusheng didn't know that Yunzhong City's financial expenditure is mainly divided into three parts. One is the expansion of the city. After all, according to the latest plan, this place will be built into the Nile River of Han Dynasty, so the population distribution will naturally increase. big.

When there are more people, they naturally need a place to live. And as time goes by, immigrants have children, and their children need to go to school.

Do you need to repair school to go to school? ?

Moreover, the local medical and entertainment facilities must be expanded, otherwise they will not be able to retain people and they will go to more developed places.

The second is the maintenance and expansion of local reservoirs, and even the repair of roads. These are gold-swallowing behemoths.

The third is the annual salary of local officials and the maintenance of stable funds at the local level.

Which of these three items can be spent alone if it is not over one million Chinese dollars? In addition to the taxes paid to the Cabinet and the Central Committee, basically every year's fiscal budget is completely spent.

Otherwise, if we want to start a cotton industry this time, local officials will keep running to Tongshan City, not only because there is money from selling mines there, but they want to use some luck to make a fortune, and start the cotton industry no matter what.

As for the cabinet appropriation, I guess we have to wait until next year, because this year’s allocation was completed at the financial meeting at the beginning of the year. If we want to get it now, we will probably have to borrow national debt.

However, the cabinet is not really short of money. It just said that it has emergency funds worth tens of millions of Chinese dollars every year. Once part of this money is allocated, all problems will be solved.

But exactly, this money is not released, because it is money for disaster relief in various places just in case. You can't lie about the disaster situation so that you can ask the cabinet for money, right? ?
As for the war, based on the current fiscal revenue that has just paid off the national debt from the war in previous years, it is estimated that it will have to be borrowed again.

It wasn't until the people next to him finished talking that Lin Yusheng slowly tasted the cup of Chinese coffee.

The so-called Han-style coffee is actually coffee beans produced in Hanzhou and Xihai Province of Han Dynasty, ground, brewed and added with milk.

The only difference from ordinary Western coffee is the addition of two words, Chinese style! !

Lin Yusheng was sipping coffee while looking at the cafe. He saw that the decoration in the cafe did not look like a cafe, but more like a tavern.

Whether it's the dark tones or the skull-like pendants, it doesn't look like a cafe, but more like a beer hall.

But it could also be that this novel decoration attracted many people to come and drink coffee.

Speaking of coffee, in the Han Dynasty, it was actually consumed by white people at first. Traditional Chinese people do not drink this stuff. They describe coffee as similar to traditional Chinese medicine.

But after staying for a long time, and the old immigrants were influenced by Liu Peng, they gradually started to drink coffee, which also promoted the development of Han's coffee planting industry.

Lin Yusheng actually drinks coffee more for the foreignness.

Although he didn't know the word "foreign style", he just felt that this coffee was a different kind of culture.

Since it's a question, it's okay to give it a try.

Lin Yusheng drank coffee and looked at the farmer's oil painting on the wall, falling into memories.

It is said that since Lin Yusheng came to Han a few years ago, he has visited the three provinces of Hanzhou, Lingnan, and Xihai. It took more than a year to visit these three provinces alone.

During this period, he wrote a lot of records about the local area.

For example, he compared Hanzhou to a giant elephant with golden tusks, describing Hanzhou's wealth and power.

As for Lingnan, he described it as a wild leopard running among the mountains and forests, with a bold temperament and vigorous movements, expressing his appreciation for the local tea pickers.

As for Xihai, his evaluation was a beautiful goldfish, but this goldfish was raised by an elephant, to describe the relationship between Haixi and Hanzhou.

Later, he had a period of several years. First, because of the outbreak of the Sino-American War, he did not have the opportunity to travel to Han again. Instead, he stayed in Jinshan, the city where he first arrived in Han, and wrote letters to contact his family there.

It was not until the end of the war that he received the first reply.

In the letter, his wife scolded him bloody, and even said that she would sever ties with him and never have any contact with him again.

Then he urged him to go home quickly, saying that the Han Dynasty was a cruel country and that if he stayed there, there might be something unexpected. (If the Qing court’s official propaganda against the Han country had not taken into account the identity of the Han country, it would have been labeled a barbarian bandit.)
And he first replied to a letter saying that he was going home, and then waited until the war was over.

In fact, on the day the war ended, he was drinking tea and reading newspapers in a rented courtyard in Jinshan. This was one of the few things he enjoyed after coming to Han.

When he saw the news of the surrender of 11 American troops written in the newspaper, he was noisy by the crowd celebrating enthusiastically in the city before he could react.

Then when he walked out of the house, he saw a scene that he would never forget in his life.

The adults held the children, and I held the crutches, celebrating the victory in various ways.

Even many restaurants that day were offering half price and even free snacks.

Everyone is talking about this war, even the children on the roadside say that they want to be soldiers when they grow up.

Lin Yusheng squatted down and asked why? ?

The child replied, protect the family and the country, and expand the territory! !

Just eight characters hit Lin Yusheng's heart like a heavy hammer. Although his so-called Confucian belief had already collapsed during the journey, at that moment, he truly felt that he was a Han Chinese and a Han Chinese. ! !

Since then, he deleted the slander and ridicule of the Han Dynasty in the early Han Dynasty and used neutral words to view the Han Dynasty at that time.

It is said to be neutral, but the tone of admiration for Han in it cannot be changed, and it is difficult to change.

A Sino-American War changed the history of America, the history of the world, and everyone and everything in this era, including Lin Yusheng.

When Lin Yusheng left the cafe and walked on the street shrouded in the scorching sun, looking at the busy people, he understood for the first time the meaning of Han.

The country of Han, the country of the Han people, is also the country of China! !

　Ask for a reward, ask for a monthly ticket
　　
　
(End of this chapter)