The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 699 We must surpass Britain and the United States!
In the conference room of the Prime Minister's Office in Tianjing, the July heat hit us. Outside the window, the sound of steamship whistles was faint, mixed with the hustle and bustle of the increasingly prosperous Tianjing market. Luo Yaoguo, wearing a thin gauze robe, waved a palm-leaf fan while scanning the people at the table - Navy Minister Wang Yan, Armament Minister Xu Shou, Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau General Manager Hua Hengfang, Taiping University President Wang Libin, and a group of industrial, railway, and mining supervisors.

"Ladies and gentlemen, in the second five years (1861-1865), we must ensure that our country's industry ranks among the world's second tier." Luo Yaoguo tapped the steel production report on the table with his fingers. "Last year, Britain produced million tons of iron and tons of steel; the United States produced about million tons of iron and about tons of steel; and our country produced tons of iron and tons of steel last year - the gap is still very large."

Speaking of this gap, Luo Yaoguo frowned.

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was still too weak! Its steel production was only a fraction of that of Britain, far less than that of the United States, and even less than that of France and Prussia, which was about the same as Austria.
Hua Hengfang, the new general manager of Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau, pushed his glasses and suggested: "The first and second phases of the Xuzhou Iron and Steel Plant have been completed. After the third phase of expansion, the annual output of pig iron can reach one million tons, and the steel output can be doubled. If new plants are built in Kaiping and Daye, it will not be difficult to push the steel output to the second place in the world after Britain within five years. In another two or three five-year periods, it is possible for our steel and shipbuilding to surpass Britain. After all, we are not short of technology, raw materials, capital, or sales channels."

Luo Yaoguo nodded: "Time waits for no one! We must catch up in fifteen to twenty years and build our country into the world's number one industrial country! Only in this way can we feed a billion or even more people!"

Population is undoubtedly the biggest problem facing the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom!

The Taiping Rebellion and the subsequent Northwest Rebellion in history caused a population decrease of at least 100 million, but the serious land annexation at that time also suppressed the population growth rate.

However, large-scale international food trade and agricultural revolution are unlikely to break out within the next 20 to 30 years.

Because of the "equal distribution of land", many people who would have starved to death survived, and many poor people who could not afford to marry were able to marry and have children. Thirty years later, the population of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom would definitely have exceeded one billion!
How to feed a billion people? It seems that the only way is to catch up with the great powers!

"What about the railways?" After making up his mind, Luo Yaoguo looked at Yung Wing, the Inspector General of Railways.

"The Beijing-Shanghai line is now fully connected, the Jinpu line (Tianjin-Pukou) will be open to traffic by the end of the year, and the first phase of the Longhai line (Haizhou-Luoyang) will be completed next year. The Jintang (Tangshan-Tianjin) and Jingjin (Beijing-Tianjin) lines will also be connected soon." Yung Wing flipped through the map, "If the Jinghan line (Beijing-Hankou) and Yuehan line (Hankou-Guangzhou) are built and opened within five years, it will greatly facilitate north-south freight!"

Xu Shou, who was transferred from the General Manager of Jiangnan Arsenal to the Minister of Armaments, coughed and said, "Steel and railways are the foundation, but military equipment cannot lag behind. The British 70mm breech-loading gun copied by Jiangnan Arsenal has been successfully trial-produced. Its range and accuracy are better than the old muzzle-loading gun. If it can be mass-produced, the whole army can be equipped within five years."

"Having only 70mm breech-loaders is not enough," Luo Yaoguo said, "In the second five-year period, the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau must complete the development and mass production of 90mm and 120mm breech-loaders. In addition, it must also complete the introduction and mass production of rear-loaders!"

Wang Yan interrupted, "In terms of the navy, the 'Tianjing' class, an imitation of the French 'Glory' class ironclad ship, will be delivered at the end of this year! The design drawings of the second ship of the Tianjing class, the 'Beijing', have also been finalized. It will use domestically produced boilers and steam engines, and its keel will be laid next year. The third ship of the 'Tianjing' class will use 90mm breech-loading guns, and its keel will be laid the year after. In the 8th, 5000th, and th years of the Tianli calendar, it is planned to build two 'Tianjing' class three-type ironclad ships each year! By the th year of the Tianli calendar, our Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Navy will have -ton ironclad ships!"

Seeing Wang Yan's smug look, Luo Yaoguo lowered his voice and said, "The navy's armaments will surely advance by leaps and bounds in the next 30 years. With the current level of technological progress, in 30 years there will be giant ships with a displacement of nearly 2 tons, equipped with 12-inch giant breech-loading guns, and a maximum speed of more than 20 knots! Therefore, the research and development capabilities of the navy and shipbuilding must be improved. In the second five-year period, we will establish the Shanghai Ship Design Bureau, hire European shipbuilding experts as chief engineers, and bring engineers from the shipbuilding department of Shanghai University to design a new generation of ironclad ships. We must form four generations, that is, a complete cycle of military research and development and production manufacturing of exploration generation, pre-research generation, development generation, and production generation!"

Although it is said to be "four generations", in fact, Luo Yaoguo can handle the exploration of the first generation alone.

Don’t underestimate this “exploration” capability. If military research and development cannot follow the lead of others, it is easy to go astray in the technology tree.

Then, Luo Yaoguo suddenly changed the subject: "Principal Wang, Taiping University is going to add an 'Electrical Engineering Department'."

Wang Libin was stunned: "Your Highness, are you talking about... the kind of electricity that is sent by telegraph?"

"More than that." Luo Yaoguo said, "It's also hydroelectric generators, AC power transmission, and tungsten filament lamps."

Everyone knew that what Luo Yaoguo was talking about was "magic from heaven", but they just couldn't understand it. Wang Libin swallowed his saliva and said cautiously: "Your Highness, can this 'electric light'... really replace the gas lamp?"

"Not only can it replace it, but it can also illuminate the entire city of Tianjing." Luo Yaoguo said calmly, "Within five years, I want to see the electrical laboratory of Taiping University completed and the first practical water conservancy generator produced. As for the budget, there is no upper limit!"

When the meeting ended, it was almost noon. After everyone dispersed, Maria rushed in in patent leather boots and placed a telegram on the table: "Napoleon III has taken the bait! He also asked what should be paid attention to if France goes to war with Prussia in the future?"

Luo Yaoguo raised his lips slightly: "Sure enough, the emperor couldn't help but take a gamble in America."

In a study room in the Tuileries Palace, Napoleon III held a copy of the telegram handed over by Wu Chongyao, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's ambassador to France, with his fingers trembling slightly. In order to save words, the telegram was written in classical Chinese, and there was a French translation written by Rinko next to it.

The original text of the telegram was: The Franco-Prussian War will take place in the autumn of 1870. The Prussian army has a breech-loading needle gun, called Dreiser, which has a firing speed twice that of the French muzzle-loading gun; the Krupp breech-loading steel cannon has a range of ten miles, which is inferior to the French bronze cannon. Prussia has a large railway network and can gather troops on the border within ten days. If the French army is slow in dispatching, they will be taken advantage of...

Rinko stood aside, observing the emperor's expression - she was now sticking with Prince Napoleon, and certainly did not want the Second French Empire to last only until 1870. However, Prussia's industry had advanced by leaps and bounds in recent years, and was threatening to surpass France and the United States and advance to the second level in the world!
"Your Majesty," Wu Chongyao handed over another document at the right time, "Our country is willing to cooperate with France to develop breech-loading guns and naval vessels. Both sides will share the research and development costs, and the new equipment can also have the large markets of France and China, which can greatly spread the cost."

Napoleon III took a deep breath and looked at the map of Europe on the wall. Prussia's industrial efficiency is indeed superior to France's! It seems that if France wants to establish an advantage over Prussia before 1870, it must strengthen cooperation with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom!
"What else did Prince Luo say?" the emperor asked in a deep voice.

Wu Chongyao bowed slightly: "Your Highness suggests that if France wants to contain Prussia, the most urgent task is to transform the railway network and speed up the replacement of breech-loading guns. In addition..." He paused, "The Mexican issue should be dealt with sooner rather than later."

The emperor narrowed his eyes. Mexico's conservatives were already at a disadvantage in the civil war, and had formally asked France for help. But the United States, which adhered to the Monroe Doctrine, seemed difficult to deal with, so Napoleon III was reluctant to intervene in the Mexican Civil War. If the United States really fell into civil war as predicted, France's opportunity in America would be golden.

"Tell Prince Luo," Napoleon III said slowly, "France is willing to cooperate. But I want a more detailed analysis of the situation in the United States - especially, does the South have a chance of winning?"

British Canada, King City Pier.

In the misty drizzle, Hong Renzheng's bright yellow satin robe fluttered in the sea breeze. Behind him, the heads of three hundred Tuanjie Farms lined up neatly, waiting for the arrival of the new master.

The whistle blew long, and the Jixiang steamship slowly approached the shore. Hong Daquan helped the ten-year-old Hong Tiangui down the gangway, and the crowd on the dock immediately knelt down, splashing water on their coarse cloth trouser legs.

"Brother Renzheng, how are you?" Hong Daquan smiled kindly, as if he was very familiar with Hong Renzheng.

Hong Renzheng's face turned pale, and he reluctantly bowed: "Brother Daquan, you have come a long way, thank you for your hard work."

Hong Tiangui went up with a smile, and also bowed like an adult, saying: "Uncle Renzheng, the father in heaven ordered me to take over the North American teaching affairs in the future. I hope you can give me more guidance."

The corner of Hong Renzheng's mouth twitched - this little brat Hong Tiangui actually said that it was "Hong Xiuquan in Heaven" who asked him to take over the North American teaching affairs in the future!

Now he had no chance of resisting at all.

Hong Tiangui is the son of Hong Xiuquan. His father asked him to take over North America. Who could disagree?

Even if the west coast of North America decides to establish an independent country in the future, it would seem more legitimate for Hong Tiangui to be the king.

Hong Daquan was once the archbishop of Japan and had a high prestige among the Japanese in North America. In addition, Luo Dagang and Chen Yucheng's North American corps only obeyed Luo Yaoguo's orders. If he didn't want to leave in a dignified manner, he had to go see Hong Xiuquan!

But it is not so easy to be the Archbishop of Japan.
Nanmu Daozi is Yang Xiuqing's man!
"Brother Renzheng," Hong Daquan put his arm around his shoulders affectionately and whispered in his ear, "There are thousands of Japanese and Chinese in the Kingdom of Hawaii, all of whom are believers of the True Covenant. They have always been under the jurisdiction of the Japanese Archdiocese!"

Hong Renzheng was stunned and squinted at Hong Daquan.

"What the East King wants is the union of the Dawn and the Sun, but Hawaii will never be given to the East King." Hong Daquan whispered, "Once the union is completed, Hawaii will be the crossroads of the Pacific Ocean..."

(End of this chapter)