Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 737: Arms Race
The development of productive forces destined the imperial power to be eroded.

The economic base determines the superstructure; while the efficiency brought about by a centralized system is high, it is also destined to cause backlash.

Jia Lian wasn't sure how long the imperial system could last. The current central empire was a monster because its development was extremely uneven.

In order to stabilize the frontier, the emperor would inevitably allocate more financial resources to the peripheral regions.

A country is a whole; if development is uneven, the distribution of resources must be adjusted.

Far across the ocean, Jia Zhi, after reading Jia Lian's "Dragon-Slaying Technique," was also considering this issue. Because of his mother's background, Jia Zhi's status in the Jia family was lower than Jia Quan's and Jia Yin's. However, also because his mother came from a merchant family, Jia Zhi dared to take risks and chose to develop in North America, creating a territory nominally belonging to the Donghua Kingdom, but actually controlled by the Jia family. To put it bluntly, this was Jia Zhi's territory.

Jia Zhi had been pondering how to govern this territory, and eventually came up with a vague idea: to ensure relative fairness.

Fairness is not absolute, it can only be relative.

The newly incorporated white immigrants into Jaggi territory were primarily from Italy and Ireland.

The two new groups quickly discovered that things were different here; gangs were not allowed to exist on the ground, at most in a gray area.

The Irish adapted quickly. They came from Europe and had always been at the bottom of the social ladder in North America, doing hard and tiring jobs.

After joining Donghua State, they still worked on construction sites, but as long as they actively registered, they would receive more wages. If they worked for five years without any criminal record, they would also be allocated land.

That's right, they can also divide the land.

Despite some misunderstanding, the newly arrived Italian and Irish immigrants have integrated relatively smoothly. At least they don't face discrimination in this land.

The laws of Donghua Kingdom clearly stipulate that all registered citizens have equal social status.

Of course, this is the law, but in practice, discrimination still exists. Those from the local population often look down on other immigrants.

Nevertheless, with clear laws in place, enforcement has a basis. Of course, Donghua still has its unspoken rules.

Well, in the southern part of Donghua Kingdom, it doesn't matter; anyone willing to join will be accepted.

Within the Kingdom of Donghua, the differences in policies between King Donghua and Jia Zhi during their governance led to disparities in development between the north and south.

Currently, there isn't a significant difference, but over time the impact will gradually increase, and the differences will widen.

In the United States, the industrial base of the Great Lakes region suffered a severe blow, and recovery will be a long and arduous process. Even so, capital is unwilling to flow into the Great Lakes region, which has had a significant impact on the development of emerging industrial capital in the United States. Unable to grow unchecked and recklessly overseas as it did in the past, it can only try to locate its industries in the East.

However, the Great Lakes region is the best place to develop industry. The water resources here are inexhaustible. Without sufficient water resources, how can we talk about industrial development?

Ironically, because industrial development in the Great Lakes region has been affected, the pollution problem of freshwater resources in the region has become less serious.

The cities of Chicago and Detroit, which would normally develop into massive industrial cities, have now become front lines, ready to face any potential attacks from the Donghua Army.

The United States' development space is severely constrained, and it cannot win a war against the US. Furthermore, millions of Native Americans harbor hatred towards Americans and are ready to retaliate at any time.

The difference in approach between the north and the south is also reflected in the treatment of indigenous peoples. The north integrates indigenous peoples into the resident system, providing them with all the social benefits they are entitled to. The south, however, takes a different approach. Indigenous peoples are left with only two paths: either farming or joining the military.

In the south, most of the indigenous people chose to join the army, taking up arms to seek revenge against the white people. In the north, it was about half and half. The key difference was that the north introduced compulsory education, where all children, regardless of gender, learned Chinese.

This move undoubtedly accelerated the integration process. Furthermore, the official stance has consistently been that all registered citizens are East Asian, regardless of race or ethnicity.

In the south, there is no compulsory education; children have to pay to attend private schools. From Donghua Wang's perspective, the purpose of this was simply to save money.

After entering the 1930s, the northern border was relatively peaceful, while the southern border remained turbulent. With the support of the Donghua King, the southern natives and Mexicans frequently crossed the border to harass and sabotage, resulting in a sharp decline in the American population within 50 kilometers of the ceasefire line. The Donghua State then filled the area with natives and continued to encroach upon the territory.

The seemingly calm north is actually a place of constant preparation beneath the surface. The Americans are continuously building strong fortifications, turning Chicago into a hedgehog.

This move made Jia Zhi laugh. If such a city were besieged, hundreds of thousands of people would starve to death sooner or later.

The key is to be able to win in open battle. Xiangyang City was extremely fortified, and it supported Fancheng. In the end, it was still captured by the Mongols.

A nation like the United States, with its pirate heritage, is destined for development problems once it can no longer plunder abroad. This is because it cannot resolve its internal contradictions; historically, whenever internal conflicts escalate, the US government resorts to war. This has become a path dependency, and the US in this particular timeline is no exception, unfortunately suffering a humiliating and devastating defeat.

The influx of Americans fleeing to the Great Lakes region further contributed to the decline in the American population.

After winter, a small number of Americans chose to return home, as they were not very comfortable with everything in Donghua.

The hardest thing to get used to is that the people here have a variety of beliefs. Some people have statues of Guan Gong, some have statues of Mazu, and some have lucky cats in their homes.

Another point is that the number of days off varies within government departments each month; people only get a day off when they pay ten. Religious people who want to attend church services must ask for leave.

Don't be fooled by the hard work and resilience of first-generation North American immigrants; they still paled in comparison to East Asian Chinese. In terms of sheer volume of material, the Chinese truly are number one in the world.

After the railway was built to São Paulo, Jacques began to look eastward; the Great Lakes region was simply too tempting.

These people, who are only grateful to a vague and ethereal god, do not deserve to possess this land. The northern part of Donghua Kingdom has developed to the point where there are about three million native inhabitants. Their younger generation, now grown up, is shouting the slogan "Return to our homeland," and they're even using Chinese!

The indigenous people were shouting to return to their homeland, and the Japanese-Americans in East Asia also joined in, shouting together that the Onsa devils should get out of North America.

The total population of the northern part of Donghua has reached 45 million after decades of development, with the largest number being native-born Chinese, reaching 30 million. The rest are all other immigrants and people of mixed race.

As the saying goes, "If you don't find the strange in the strange, it will disappear on its own." In the magical land of Donghua, you may encounter mixed-race people anywhere.

The school strictly prohibits discrimination against mixed-race children. If such discrimination is discovered, it is normal for the school to ask the parents to make the unfortunate child eat stir-fried bamboo shoots with meat.

There's no way around it, there are just too many mixed-race people. You can't really tell the difference between Chinese, Japanese, and Korean mixed-race children, but many poor men buy white wives, and their children are bound to have distinctive mixed-race features, aren't they?
Moreover, mixed-race children are quite special; some are truly beautiful, while others are truly ordinary. Crucially, the majority are ordinary, while the very few are truly beautiful.

By the mid-1930s, after the United States had recovered some of its strength, internal problems began to emerge. The differences in production models between the North and South intensified.

The reason why the conflict escalated ahead of schedule was entirely due to the existence of the Donghua State, which caused the United States to lose the possibility of outward expansion, and the internal conflict also intensified ahead of schedule.

Especially after expansion into the southwest became impossible, the loose internal structure of the United States, with its states resembling a feudal system, inevitably led to intensified conflicts between them and the central government.

The plantation owners in the southern states, naturally unwilling to compromise with the north due to rising cotton prices, were confident that with money and guns in hand, they had nothing to fear.

The industrial capital in the north was squeezed by the forces of Europe and Donghua, making it even more urgent for the domestic market to develop.

Despite the contradictions, a powerful external force was at play, causing the US government to hesitate and not dare to easily launch a civil war.

If the American Civil War hadn't occurred, true market integration between the North and South would have been impossible. Without a unified market, American industrial development would have been crippled.

Unable to expand outwards, they could only expand inwards. The brutal exploitation of workers by American capitalists reached its historical peak, even surpassing that of British capitalists.

Desperate for a living, American workers resorted to strikes and other protests, but these were met with brutal repression.

Large numbers of Americans, unable to survive, chose to flee westward. The US government therefore urgently increased security near the ceasefire line to prevent civilians from escaping.

However, the number of people fleeing was overwhelming. In 1833 alone, 200,000 people successfully escaped to the territory under the control of the Eastern Hua State. Many more were captured and died during their escape, leaving the escape route littered with bones. Even so, it could not stop the large-scale exodus of Americans. Ultimately, the US Congress passed a bill to build a border wall.

They spent a huge sum of money to build a five-meter-high wooden fence along the border.

This tactic was not very effective, as a large number of people continued to flee south.

The loss of workers infuriated American capitalists, and their representatives in Congress eventually introduced a bill that the South also agreed to: the Arms Production Act.

Simply put, it means the government funds the production of weapons and the expansion of the military. What if they run out of money? Borrow! Borrow money from Europe!

They do want to borrow money from the Eastern Hua Kingdom and the Central Empire, but they have to agree to lend it to them.

Under pressure from external forces and the intensification of internal contradictions, the United States has embarked on a path of prioritizing military power. As a result, the central bank, which has historically been difficult to establish, was unexpectedly born prematurely in this era.

In 1834, the First Federal Reserve Bank was established, following a public-private partnership model. The federal government held a 30% stake, which was truly remarkable.

To be honest, the birth of the First Federal Reserve Bank was thanks to the self-defense counterattack launched by the State of Donghua, which led to the bankruptcy of a large number of private banks. The severely damaged American financial industry had no choice but to compromise with the government. Nevertheless, the United States is still largely a loose federation. Various governments still cling tightly to their power and interests, including the state militias.

Thanks to the expansion of the national military, the US economy finally ushered in a period of growth. The US military, which had historically been small in size, saw its army reach 300,000 and its navy reach 200,000 by 1836 alone. With a total strength of 500,000, it was suddenly well-equipped and eager to fight.

The Americans' actions undoubtedly caused unease in Donghua. It has always been a case of "I've been the one holding you back, how can you expect me to fight back?"
The new King of Donghua personally came to the new Jinshan City to invite Jia Zhi for a secret meeting.

After a three-day meeting, the nominal King of Donghua issued a decree to reform the military.

The bill stipulated that Donghua Kingdom would establish twenty infantry divisions and five cavalry divisions, and invest heavily in expanding its navy, increasing the number of new warships to fifty, including ten battleships, twenty cruisers, and forty other smaller warships. Considering the insufficient funds, the King of Donghua sent envoys back to his homeland to borrow heavily.

The so-called loan was actually the issuance of national bonds. Donghua State issued 100 million silver dollars in foreign debt to its suzerain state, using shares in a Mexican silver mine as collateral.

At this time, the advantages of the silver standard were fully utilized, because the native suzerain country was still on the silver standard, and Donghua, which controlled 75% of the Mexican silver mines, could easily borrow money.

The five major private banks in China competed to buy Donghua State's government bonds, directly pushing up the price of Donghua State's government bonds by two percentage points.

It should be noted that the interest rate on these five-year government bonds issued by Donghua State is only five percentage points.

The financially powerful Sihai Bank took the lead in purchasing 50 million yuan worth of Donghua government bonds, which will be repaid by the northern and central provinces.

After receiving the money from these national bonds, Jia Zhi went on a large-scale purchase of machinery and equipment, followed by warships and new cannons that could not be produced in Donghua.

The Donghua Kingdom also offered a preferential price: the 75mm caliber cannons sold to the Ottoman Turks for 50,000 silver dollars, with each shell costing 300 dollars, were sold to the Donghua Kingdom for only 35,000 silver dollars. Each shell cost only 150 dollars. That was practically a drastic price cut.

Jia Zhi purchased two hundred gun mounts and a large quantity of seamless steel pipes in one go. For warships, he mainly purchased old cruisers that were about to be decommissioned and were still in service. Each cruiser cost only 300,000 silver dollars, and he purchased twenty new cruisers in one go, forming the Northern Fleet.

The essence of both sides preparing for war is that two tigers cannot share the same mountain. Neither male nor female will suffice; in North America, a fight to the death is inevitable.

(End of this chapter)