Chapter 1100: Preparations Before Proclaiming Emperor
Steam trains appeared in England in the early 19th century, more than three hundred years before steam engines were commercialized in Europe.
Europeans never imagined that the American continent had begun an industrial revolution that they could not imagine. With the putting into use of steam trains, Panama, as an interactive hub in the Americas, became a signature presence in the New World.
Not only the local indigenous people, but also many white immigrants from Europe who migrated to the Americas also wanted to settle in Panama and Cologne.
But Zhu Hao did not grant them national status, and even those merchants did not obtain the right to settle. Even their trade still had to be completed through indigenous middlemen on the Caribbean islands.
In the blink of an eye, it is August of the sixth year of Jiajing.
At this time, the overseas territory that Zhu Hao had created from scratch was already quite large.
Lu Bing led his troops to achieve initial results in the North American continent. He established a long offshore corridor along the west coast, developed some mineral deposits in California, and built the first city there.
All were completed without Zhu Hao's personal participation.
The Indians in North America are obviously more sturdy than the natives of Central and South America, similar to the Jurchens who lived in the deep mountains and old forests of the northeast of the Ming Dynasty. However, after all, the troops led by Lu Bing included well-trained Ming officers and soldiers, equipped with
Muskets, artillery, especially rapid-fire rifles with front-loading rifles and using cylindrical lead bullets are semi-modern products.
After several battles, the Indians were defeated, and many tribes fled the west coast of North America. As for Lu Bing's construction of the city in the Los Angeles area, he mainly relied on the Aztecs and some "defectors" from the North American natives.
conduct.
Compared with the Aztecs who suffered a devastating blow from the white race, these primitive tribes in North America have lived a relatively stable life in the past decades or even centuries. In their eyes, the Ming army sent by Zhu Hao was the first
A group of invaders that pose a real threat to them.
The North American continent is vast and sparsely populated, and many places are uninhabited wilderness. Maybe European colonists have not discovered anything valuable in the central and western regions of North America before, and the indigenous people of North America are much smaller than the indigenous people of Central America.
The folk customs have become more robust, and it is only now that these native Indians have truly understood what it means to be crushed by advanced civilization.
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The North American continent begins to develop slowly. Next, Zhu Hao will ask Lu Bing to lead troops to sweep the Coast Mountains and Rocky Mountains, then enter central North America, and finally march to the Great Lakes and the East Coast, seizing the opportunity to control the situation before the Mayflower arrives on the North American continent.
Stabilize.
Zhu Hao had no intention of letting Lu Song and his son participate in the military plan of sending troops to the Ming Dynasty. They wanted to devote more energy to the great cause of conquering unknown territories.
On both sides of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans in Central America, the west coast is supported by new cities and bridgeheads, which mainly provide various high-quality timber and stone materials, and bring resources from the west coast to the east coast through Chang'an City.
Three cities have been built on the east coast by Su Xigui's command, namely Shangcheng, Zhongcheng and Xiacheng... When Zhu Hao named the name, he tried his best to make it easy for people with low cultural level to remember it quickly, so it is easy to understand.
And very vivid.
These cities in Mexico have become shelters for the Aztecs and the remaining tribes of Central America. They were the first to obtain the status of imperial residents granted by Zhu Hao, and enjoyed the preferential treatment that only the Ming Dynasty could have.
The Aztecs were already scattered throughout Central America, and many small tribes struggled to survive in the cracks of the colonists. However, with the establishment of the new empire, their lives regained hope.
At first, there were less than 100,000 Aztec and Central American tribes living in Xincheng and other places. However, after several years of development, the population of the area north of Panama in Central America has reached about 1.5 million, and almost all tribes have voluntarily joined.
Come to the imperial family.
To the south of Mexico, it is supported by the two trading port cities of Panama and Colon.
There are actually several cities in the middle. After all, the land from Mexico to Panama is relatively long and narrow. There are many small towns that serve as transfer stations. Among them, based on the "lower city" managed by Su Xigui, extending downward, they are the "River River".
"City", "Haicheng" and "Jinling City", the geographical location of these three cities is roughly equivalent to the cities of Mexico City, Guatemala and San Jose in later generations.
At this time, the scale of the three cities was relatively small, so Zhu Hao handed them over to the second-class tribal leaders of Jingjing to take care of them. They organized the Indian tribes to settle down and engage in production, and paid taxes to Zhu Hao's government.
When the first three cities were established, the population was only a few thousand. However, in less than a year, the population of each of the three cities exceeded 20,000. Especially the population of "River City" grew the fastest, almost 30,000.
Well, after all, it is the core area of Central America and has unique advantages in attracting population.
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As Central American trade port cities, Panama City and Colon City bear the important task of transferring goods between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Panama City was mainly built by immigrants from the Inca Empire who migrated from the south, and the population is also mainly Inca.
The two cities have a population of nearly 800,000. The government granted land grants to the Incas to reclaim wasteland and build towns between the two large port cities.
Initially, SF City in South America was undoubtedly the most advanced industrialized city in the world, but as Zhu Hao focused more on Panama, it developed very rapidly, even in a situation where resources were almost entirely transported from outside.
Next, through trade with Caribbean middlemen, this place was transformed into a new city with a degree of industrialization second only to SF City.
At first, Caribbean middlemen only transported horses, cattle, sheep and other livestock from Europe and Africa in exchange for large amounts of gold and silver.
But then the Europeans discovered that the Ming Dynasty officials seemed to have no intention of actively doing business with Europeans. The almost unlimited gold and silver in the Americas did not flow into Europe on a large scale, which allowed them to see huge business opportunities.
European gold and silver did not depreciate due to excessive currency issuance, and the gold and silver prices were stable at a very high level, which meant that their profits from trade with the New World Empire would be very considerable.
Subsequently, a large number of pirate ships transported food, minerals, livestock, people, etc. from Africa and Europe to islands such as Haiti and Cuba. They then sent these items to Cologne through Caribbean middlemen and exchanged them for gold and silver.
For Zhu Hao, this was a costless transaction for the time being. After all, most of the gold and silver in his hands came from tributes from the Inca Empire and plundered from European colonists. The amount was huge and he didn't have to worry about spending it all in a short time.
He did not take the initiative to send ships to Europe and Africa for trade, and tried his best to show his "not enterprising" side, making Europeans think that Ming Dynasty just wanted to take ownership of the unowned American land and did not covet their territory and wealth.
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As the situation in Central America has stabilized, Zhu Hao has sent people to resume mining of silver and gold mines. Because agriculture and industry alone cannot afford the rapid economic development of the entire empire, Zhu Hao is preparing to use the resources on his hands at some point in the future.
Gold and silver had a devastating impact on the European economy...
Everything will happen before he officially invades the European continent.
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To the south of Panama is the Colombian region that later became home to many indigenous tribes and city-states. Zhu Hao began to prepare for oil exploration.
With the rapid development of science and technology and the continuous advancement of industrial construction, the internal combustion engine represented by petroleum will one day be born. However, Zhu Hao can still drive steam civilization by himself. If he wants to take technology a big step forward,
, it is necessary to cultivate a large number of high-quality craftsmen.
This requires opening schools to popularize physics and chemistry knowledge to flexible-minded craftsmen from the Ming Dynasty, and selecting people with high comprehension from the indigenous people, gradually taking on the task of skillfully using and promoting steam engines, and concentrating all efforts on scientific and technological problems.
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The principle of the internal combustion engine is actually not complicated. It just converts the steam generated by burning coal into petroleum as fuel. The energy generated by the internal combustion of the machine drives the reciprocating motion of the piston, and then converts this motion into kinetic energy through gears to drive the machine or
Turbine running.
Whether it is a steam engine or an internal combustion engine, the core is a "force", which generates force and transmits this force, so that it can replace human and animal power.
But no matter what kind of force is used, a complete industrial device is needed to match the steam engine and internal combustion engine. This is something Zhu Hao cannot do at present, so he can only overcome the difficulties step by step.
In the northern part of South America, Zhu Hao comprehensively promoted the construction of plantations. At first, not many people from the Inca Empire immigrated here. However, as Zhu Hao sent troops to occupy almost all of Colombia and Venezuela, large tracts of fertile land were left uninhabited.
Farming had to be accomplished through forced immigration.
Mainly local indigenous people, supplemented by immigrants from the Inca Empire, plus a small number of African immigrants, the three have rapidly expanded to one million people in the south of Panama, Brazil, Peru and Ecuador, and the population is still expanding rapidly.
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The main reason is that this area is vast, wider than the traditional farming area of the Inca Empire. In addition, it is located in the tropics, with abundant rain, dense rivers, and the Ming army provides shelter. As long as you work a little harder in life, you can live a good life.
There is nothing wrong with living without going hungry.
Of course, the bigger reason why people of all ethnic groups are willing to migrate here is the policies provided by Zhu Hao.
Anyone who moves here will be given enough land to cultivate, and iron farm tools will be distributed, and troops will be stationed to ensure good public security. The government will also have a special yamen to purchase the agricultural products they grow, and not all of them will be food crops.
, even cotton, linen, rubber, medicinal materials and other cash crops will be purchased at high prices.
With the continuous influx of livestock from Europe and Africa, cattle, horses, etc. gradually became popular, helping people of all ethnic groups complete farming and transport goods.
This has fundamentally improved the traditional farming conditions that the Indians had experienced before.
The most important thing is that in addition to having enough to eat, people of all ethnic groups can also get conveniences in food, clothing, housing and transportation... In fact, Zhu Hao forcibly brought a group of people in primitive society to the era of the Industrial Revolution. For the indigenous people,
, the quality of life has almost undergone earth-shaking changes.
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From later Venezuela, Guyana, and Suriname to the south is Brazil, which is mainly composed of the Amazon Plain, Paraguay Basin, and Brazilian Plateau. The Amazon Plain is the largest alluvial plain in the world, and almost the entire territory is covered by virgin rainforest. Zhu Hao did not send troops to cross.
On the contrary, places such as Ecuador and Peru, as territories of the Inca Empire, are increasingly affected by SF City and are rapidly developing from primitive agricultural civilization to industrial civilization.
The population of the Inca Empire did not decrease sharply because of this, but increased rapidly due to improved medical conditions and extended life span.
The current Inca Empire is no longer an independent empire in the strict sense and is completely under Zhu Hao's new empire.
Zhu Hao knew that the conditions for him to become emperor had been initially met.