Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 396 Development
The towering Taihua (Andes) Mountains divide South America into two relatively independent regions. In the eastern part of the Taihua Mountains, in Chang'an New City, which is 550 meters above sea level, the cool monsoon blowing from the side of Taihua Mountain brings comfortable coolness to the citizens in the midsummer.

In early January 1889, from Zhenzhou and Linzhou in the northernmost part of the empire to Gyeonggi-do and Chang'an in the central part, and Anzhou in the southernmost part, no matter whether the local climate was scorching hot or freezing cold, the approaching annual traditional New Year made the people in all parts of the country truly feel the atmosphere of joy and happiness.

Spring Festival couplets and peach charms have been replaced year after year. In the long and unintentional time, many Chinese immigrants have lived in South America for more than ten years. Their spouses, children and familiar neighbors were all born and met here.

People from all over the world gather together. During the Chinese New Year, the whole family sits together and calculates the earnings of the past year. Amid the wives' careful budgeting advice and the children's innocent and carefree laughter, the men may taste a hint of homesickness from their wives' Jinling dialect with a local accent.

More than 70% of the local people come from the southern region. The three most commonly used local languages ​​are the * language, the * Nan dialect, and the Jinling dialect with a southern accent.

The semantics and pronunciation of * and *Nan dialects are quite different from those of northern dialects, and it is relatively difficult for people from other regions to learn them. The pronunciation of Jinling dialect is close to that of northern dialects, and its spread also covers the Jianghuai and Liangjiang regions. It was once used as the official language in the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, considering the language audience and the difficulty of promotion, the central government designated Jinling Mandarin as the common language.

The determination of the local official language heralds further deepening of reforms in the field.

In February 1881, according to the instructions of Li Mingyuan and the central court, the Ministry of Education convened nearly a thousand scholars to begin specialized research and efforts in the field of writing.

In late March 1887, after six years and four large-scale deletions and revisions, the standard Chinese characters were officially released. As a result, Jinling dialect became the common language for court officials, teachers, students, the military and other functional groups. At the same time, local dialects such as * dialect, Minnan dialect, Jiangsu and Zhejiang dialect, etc., were also given corresponding attention and protection as part of the traditional culture of the Han Dynasty.

Taihua Gate on the north side of Chang'an New City has a natural climate that is very different from that of the Central Plains, but this cannot offset the people's inheritance and expectations for traditional festivals.

Inside and outside the tall and wide city gate, people of different ages, dressed in various clothes, with festive smiles on their faces, crowded back and forth to and from Chang'an City, the political center of the empire.

The majestic and magnificent city walls, the broad and flat cement and gravel official roads, the prosperous and bustling streets, the scenes revealed in any corner of Chang'an City all convey the vitality and hope of this new country.

The construction of the Chang'an Imperial Palace and the new city was completed around 1888. On June 1888, 6, after the completion of the first phase of the capital city construction, the built-up area of ​​Chang'an reached 21 square kilometers. In the middle of the next month, considering that the built-up area had more than doubled compared to before, the Chang'an government announced the relaxation of restrictions and raised the upper limit of the number of permanent residents in the city to 180.

Once the decree was announced, it caused a huge response in the local area. The first to take action were merchants and people in Gyeonggi Province. Relying on the advantage of being close to Chang'an New City, they were the first to take action, either taking out the urgent needs they had prepared for many years, or temporarily borrowing money from relatives and friends. They tried every possible way, and the purpose of doing so was to buy a house in the imperial capital and become a citizen of the imperial capital in the eyes of people from other parts of the local area. Buying a house in Chang'an and becoming a commoner under the feet of the emperor has a great appeal to Chinese people in any era.

With great expectations for the capital, batches of common people and businessmen spent their considerable savings and rushed towards the capital. However, just like the great expectations, becoming a permanent resident of the capital is not something that can be achieved simply by having money.

Continuing the regulations at the beginning of the capital's relocation, those who have made great contributions to the country can obtain a house of about 1000 square meters in the capital for free, and will also have the opportunity to own up to three additional houses in the capital. For ordinary people and businessmen, military dependents, high-tech industry workers, and college students will have priority in becoming residents of the capital. Some families with insufficient assets but middle and lower-level officers who have won merits in major foreign wars and grassroots officials with outstanding performance can also receive varying amounts of financial relief and obtain a small or medium-sized house provided by the state.

With the halo of the country's leadership and a mild climate all year round, the population of Chang'an New City increased from 42 to 60 in less than half a year, reaching the upper limit set by the government. The people who achieved their wishes happily bought New Year's goods and prepared to spend the first festive Spring Festival in the capital with their families, while those who did not get the right to live in the capital could only return home disappointed with the deposit certificates of their belongings.

The sight of people rushing to enter Chang'an New City is not only the influence of the special environment, but also a general microcosm of the rapid industrialization of the South American Han Kingdom. In Songjiang City, Songzhou, merchant ships traveling back and forth across the Atlantic Ocean continuously send all kinds of goods to all parts of the world through the large port of Songjiang.

In Xing'an County (Passo Fundo) in Yangzhou, the abundant coal resources are used nearby (Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina are rare coal resource reserve areas in southern South America. The coal resource reserves of the two states are about 350 billion tons, accounting for about 500% of the proven coal reserves in Brazil. It can be mined for more than years. Although South America has fewer coal resources than the northern hemisphere, it is not without. The proven coal reserves of Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina alone are enough for the local industrial revolution. In the total reserves, the proportion of anthracite is low and the proportion of sub-bituminous coal is high, so some anthracite needs to be imported.)
) and iron ore resources,

The Hanguo Iron and Steel United Group, located here, refines hundreds of tons of metal ore every day into steel raw materials that are urgently needed for local industrial development.

The three cities, located in different regions and with different development paths established based on their local advantages, have gradually developed into local political, economic and industrial centers.

Like Chang'an New City, the economic and industrial center effects of Songjiang and Xing'an counties also attracted a large number of people to move there. By the beginning of 1889, the population of the two places had exceeded 20, reaching 57 and 24 respectively.

As one of the three local prefecture-level administrative regions, Songjiang's rapid population growth was in line with the local government's expectations. However, as an industrial city, Xing'an County's rapidly gathering population has caused the local county's built-up area to continue to expand. The overall built-up area has reached 70 square kilometers, which has exceeded the size of many city-level cities that serve as state capitals. Therefore, after listening to the advice of the Yangzhou (Rio Grande do Sul) state government, the central government decided to upgrade Xing'an County to Xing'an Prefecture in 1890, and its administration was designated as a sub-state level, half a level higher than an ordinary state capital.

(End of this chapter)