Chapter 2629

After walking around the city for a while, Zhu Zian noticed that it was not only the road traffic conditions that were superior here, but also that almost all the infrastructure facilities visible to the naked eye were better than those in the cities he had been to before, making the entire city look tidy.

And orderly.

But there is no doubt that the construction of these infrastructure facilities will require a lot of manpower, material and financial resources. For example, the drainage ditches on the streets are all made into culverts, and tall cast iron lampposts are erected at every intersection.

There are fixed trash cans for waste, and you can also see that there are dedicated people responsible for cleaning the streets, but cities under the Meiji rule rarely seem to have such complete planning.

Tao Hongfang readily stated part of the reasons for this difference: "It does cost a lot of money to build these facilities. It's not that Ming Dynasty couldn't afford the money, it just spent it on other places. And we believe that for the people

Providing a good living environment is more conducive to the development of the city, so this has been chosen as the focus of urban construction."

Zhu Zian suddenly said: "What Brother Tao said should be referring to the city fortifications, right? Zhoushan is located on the sea and has its own natural barriers. In addition, there is a navy stationed locally, so there is indeed no need to build a city to defend against foreign enemies. In this way, it can indeed save a lot of money.

Big money.”

Although Zhu Zian thought of this, the actual situation was not that simple. Before Haihan took over Zhoushan, it had been occupied by various pirates and armed maritime merchants for a long time. It was difficult for the government to intervene in management, and there was no security.

Yan. Haihan spent several years clearing out the armed forces in the Zhoushan Islands and even the entire East China Sea. He also established a close relationship of interest with the nearby local government of the Ming Dynasty. Coupled with the deterrence brought by the long-term garrison, he finally

This gave Zhoushan a safe trading environment.

The various resources required to build fortifications can be saved, and the officials can implement urban infrastructure projects to improve living conditions. Although Zhoushan's urban construction level is not as good as Sanya, it is already ahead of the cities under the Ming Dynasty.

There are so many that even a newcomer like Zhu Zian can quickly feel the difference in this aspect.

Of course, what interests Zhu Zian even more is the unique international atmosphere here. The various architectural styles in the city, the various unheard-of foreign products in the street shops, and the foreign people who can be seen everywhere on the streets and whose appearance and clothing are easily distinguishable all make him...

Zhu Zian felt very novel.

"There are so many foreigners in the local area, how do they communicate and how do they settle trade?" Zhu Zian immediately thought of two thorny questions.

Tao Hongfang answered this: "Most of the businessmen who can come here to do business have had long-term contact with our country, and there are many people who can speak Haihan Mandarin. There are also local institutions that serve foreign businessmen and can provide

Translators who are proficient in foreign languages. As for trade settlement, most merchants will exchange the gold and silver they bring into our country's banknotes, and then use banknotes with a unified currency value for settlement."

Zhu Zian frowned and said, "This sounds like there is some trouble."

Tao Hongfang smiled and said: "As long as there is money to be made, this little trouble is nothing!"

Zhu Zian then thought about it, these foreign businessmen had traveled long distances across the sea. Compared with the dangerous and arduous sea voyage and the huge profits they could get after returning home, these troubles during the transaction were indeed nothing but trivial.

It's a small thing, and I feel relieved immediately.

At the same time, Shi Chengwu and Wang Anguo were not as leisurely as they were. This dispatch of the combined fleet, which also included envoys and immigration missions, was already a large-scale event for the East China Sea Region in recent years.

It was a military operation, so the related preparations were intricate and complicated. But this time Shi Diwen did not personally direct these matters, and deliberately handed them over to the two Stone Kings, also intending to train their ability to act alone.

After Wang Anguo arrived in Zhoushan, he dived into the port warehouse. The supplies he purchased during his return to China were far more than the cargo fleet brought back from Hangzhou. There were also many supplies that had arrived in Zhoushan in advance and were stored in

In the warehouse, wait for him to arrive and inspect the goods for shipment.

There are currently more than 3,000 soldiers and civilians settled in the colonial areas of North America. If you add in some of the indigenous people conquered locally and the immigrants recruited domestically this time, the total population will be about 5,000.

Through nearly three years of hard work, the North American colonial areas have basically achieved self-sufficiency in food, and have begun to plant commercial crops suitable for the local environment on a large scale. Among the materials purchased this time, the proportion of food has increased compared with three years ago.

There was a significant drop at the beginning, mainly due to some deep-processed products that cannot be produced locally.

Before Wang Anguo returned to China, he ordered a batch of specialized food processing equipment in China, which can be used in brewing, sugar refining, sun-salted salt, flue-cured tobacco, oil extraction and other industries. By then, the agricultural product processing capacity of the North American colonial areas can reach a new level.

A big step up. Most of these utensils were produced in Hainan Island and only recently arrived in Zhoushan. Wang Anguo knew their importance, so he had to inspect them one by one in person.

In addition, there is a batch of important supplies from Hainan Island, which are the arms that the North American advance fleet urgently needs. Due to various objective reasons, the North American colonial areas currently do not have the ability to produce arms on their own. At most, they need to

Make some repairs, and basically rely on domestic supplies for ammunition consumption.

In addition to ammunition, the arms purchased from China this time include nearly a hundred artillery pieces, a thousand rifles, and a number of warships previously ordered at the Zhoushan Shipyard to supplement the weapons and equipment of the local garrison. These purchases

Part of the arms costs are military expenses allocated by the Department of Defense, and part is borne by the North American Advance Fleet itself.

The reason why there is a self-imposed part is mainly because the budget allocated by the Ministry of National Defense is limited and cannot meet Wang Tom's military needs, so he simply pays for it out of his own pocket and increases the purchase of some equipment. Especially those customized in Zhoushan.

For the warship, Shi Diwen was able to give him far more favorable conditions than Sanya in terms of construction period and cost, so Wang Tom placed all the relevant construction orders in Zhoushan. Only some of the key parts that Zhoushan could not complete were from Sanya.

Order and then ship to Zhoushan for assembly.

Although this process is troublesome, it does help Wang Tom save a lot of money. However, the disadvantages arising from it are also obvious. This construction method of off-site assembly is likely to be less reliable than the quality of the entire construction process completed in Sanya.

, so Wang Anguo also needs to spend more time and energy during the acceptance period to avoid hidden performance risks in the new ship.
Chapter completed!