"Everyone, everyone already knows the importance of Donghua to us. Supporting Donghua and allowing the Chinese to gain a foothold there is a responsible thing for our future generations."
"If we want to create a great country, we cannot just look at the temporary development situation. If we focus all our resources on domestic development now, we can increase the speed a lot."
"But, in the future, as long as the Western barbarians unite to block us, we will be helpless. Because we need external resources and external markets. Instead of letting the Western barbarians slowly erode and occupy those places, it is better to let the Chinese occupy them themselves
There."
"And we also have an advantage, that is, we have a large population base, which can guarantee large-scale immigration. In addition, we also have a long history and perfect cultural heritage."
"Don't underestimate the seemingly empty condition of culture. Without the guarantee of culture, our immigrant people are likely to be assimilated by others. After being assimilated by others, how much affinity can these people have with us? Not only do we
If we want to immigrate, we must also allow these people to maintain Chinese cultural traditions. In this way, even if they establish a country in the future, they will maintain good relations with us."
…
Dong Shuheng spoke to everyone in the conference room.
Before, few of them thought about South America, which is thousands of miles away. Speaking of which, the Renaissance Army can't even take care of its own affairs!
Many people are wondering whether Dong Shuheng has the entire earth in his heart.
"Qingbei, you came back from a visit to South America. Let's talk to everyone about the situation there. I hope that everyone who is doing this will have an intuitive understanding of it." Dong Shuheng said looking at Liu Qingbei who had just returned from a global visit.
Obviously, people in the cabinet and the military have not learned world geography well.
They have not yet learned to look at the world from the perspective of an official from a big country.
The officials of the Great Empire did a very good job in this regard. They did not only keep their eyes on their own affairs.
He also has to take care of the affairs of other countries. Regardless of whether I have the power or not, I just have to take care of it first.
After hearing what Dong Shuheng said, Liu Qingbei began to introduce.
"Please see, the American continent is divided into two parts, north and south, connected by a long and narrow isthmus. We usually divide it into South America and North America."
"I won't talk about North America. Everyone knows it better, because we already control a large area of land in the western part of North America. There are relatively close connections with the country through routes along the west coast and the southern coast of Alaska."
"Relatively speaking, South America is further away from China. At first, we only noticed this place through labor trade."
"Most of the countries here became independent from the Spanish decades ago. Before that, most of them were colonies of the Spanish and Portuguese."
"The Indians are the local aborigines. They belong to the yellow race. There is a saying that these Indians migrated from East Asia along the Bering Strait."
"The largest country in the Americas is now the Brazilian Empire in the northeast. Its king is Pedro II, but the power of the country is mainly in the hands of the parliament, and the power of the emperor is strictly limited. This country occupies the middle and lower reaches of the Amazon River and
The Brazilian Plateau of the South.”
"Judging from the visits abroad, this country's attitude towards us is average. They have a closer relationship with the British. It is said that when their emperor Pedro I declared Brazil's independence, he received secret support from the British. Later in Portugal
In the crusade, the British also mediated the war."
"The Brazilian Empire has its own industrial base. Its sugar industry, cotton, tobacco, cocoa beans, rubber, etc. are all quite developed. These are also its main export products. Most of them are exported to Europe. They obviously don't care about us at all.
I don’t know or care. The trade between us is almost negligible.”
"But I found that we are still very complementary to Brazil's economy. Most of the country's places are in hot areas, and residents have the habit of consuming silk. There are also many Chinese products there. But most of them are
It was re-exported by the British."
"The upper Amazon region in the west of the Brazilian Empire borders Donghua in the northeast, and there is a possibility of conflict between the two sides. However, the area in the upper reaches of the Amazon rainforest is sparsely populated, with only some sporadic settlements along the river. So I think they are interested in Donghua.
The threat is not too great.”
Dong Shuheng tapped his fingers on the top of the conference table. Listening to Liu Qingbei's explanation, he knew many situations.
Brazil wants to dominate South America, but his new owner, the Great Empire, just wants him to be their follower.
Portugal, its mother country, is too weak to be a voice in Europe.
Moreover, Brazil has always had conflicts with Argentina in the south. Argentina has always wanted to annex Uruguay, but Uruguay split from Brazil.
In the end, Brazil had to recognize the independence of Uruguay, but it could not be annexed by Argentina anyway.
As a result, many wars broke out between the two sides.
"Except for Brazil, the remaining countries such as the Argentine Federation, the State of Buenos Aires, Chile, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela were all former Spanish colonies." Liu Qingbei continued.
"Now they are all independent. Their domestic political models are mostly democratic. But they are actually controlled by large and small warlords, capitalists and manor owners. European countries still have a great influence here."
"I won't introduce these countries one by one. I will only talk about a few countries around Donghua. The country with the most borders with Donghua is Bolivia, which is also called Upper Peru. It was originally under the same governorship with Peru. Now after independence, it still follows
Peru is an alliance. Its domestic politics are mired in dictatorships and warlords, and are extremely unstable. Another thing to note is that this was formerly the main area controlled by the Inca Empire. The proportion of Indians in the country is higher than that in Peru. But this country is also the most
There is a possibility of conflict with Donghua, because Donghua has a great influence on Bolivia under the banner of Indian independence."
"Then there are Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela and other countries in the north. These countries used to be a federation, but later they split. There are some minor conflicts between them. But if they are facing Donghua, these countries have many conflicts.
Great possibilities unite."
"Although Chile in the south is only a small country with a long and narrow territory, its military strength is not weak, especially its navy, which is one of the best among South American countries."
"Although Argentina in the east does not directly border Donghua, this country has always regarded itself as the leader among the Hispanic countries. Moreover, the combat effectiveness of Argentina's army is not weak."
"The State of Buenos Aires had just broken away from the Argentine Federation."
…
…
"President, there is nothing to say. If these countries unite to attack Donghua, then we will destroy them all. Their hometown, Spain, is defeated by us. Are you still afraid of these small South American countries?" Seeing myself
After the eldest brother introduced the situation, the loud-voiced Liu Qingnan spoke first.
"It's not as simple as you think." The eldest brother Liu Qingbei glared at his younger brother and said.
"According to what I have seen in Europe and South America, these countries have close relations with Europe, especially under the great influence of the British. The British can even indirectly control many South American countries. British warships have bases in many ports in South America.
.”
"If our Renaissance Army personally participates in the war, then the Europeans are very likely to send an expeditionary force to participate in the war. Our distance to South America is further than that of Europe. If it becomes such a large-scale war, it will be very detrimental to us. Then we will not even be able to fight.
The good situation created in the Pacific may be destroyed."
"I would like to remind you here that before the Greater China Circle mentioned by the president is established, if we go to war with Europe, we are likely to be besieged by the entire world."
"Look at this world map. Europe, America, Africa, Australia, except for the eastern half of Asia, almost all other places are under the control or indirect influence of white Europeans."
Dong Shuheng signaled Wei Yuxiang to change the world situation map.
The situation is exactly as Liu Qingbei said.
This world has been divided up by the Westerners without even realizing it.
Especially Zuo Jigao, who is sitting second on the left. Only after he returned to the center did he truly integrate into the Fuxing Army's system.
He was an old official of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. Although he was proficient in practical knowledge, he still felt in his heart that China was the center of the world and the kingdom of heaven.
Only now did he discover that while we ourselves were sitting around dreaming about the heavenly kingdom, others were busy carving up the world.
And when we woke up from our dream of heaven, we found that we were already surrounded by powerful enemies.
"I support aid to Donghua, but this aid should not be borne entirely by the government. Isn't it rich in minerals? We can also encourage private businessmen to invest in Donghua. This will allow Donghua to accumulate a lot of wealth at once.
Approval of funds can also bring more people." Zuo Jigao took the initiative to express his support this time.
What Donghua lacks now is money and people, but they have mineral resources that the Renaissance Army lacks.
Especially saltpeter mines and guano mines have no worries about sales.
There are no chemical fertilizers at present, and Dong Shuheng is not planning to study this stuff for the time being. In the short term, guano fertilizer will be the main source of fertilizer comparable to chemical fertilizers.
Nowadays, there is a large amount of private capital with nowhere to go. The Renaissance Army also has a restrictive attitude towards the stock market.
After the Renaissance, the people's willingness to invest was very high, attracted by the mercantilist policies of the Renaissance Army.
Previously, after the Shanghai Stock Exchange opened, stocks were basically priced but not marketed.
This is related to the fact that the Renaissance Army wiped out the Manchu Qing Dynasty as quickly as possible without damaging the economy.
It is also related to the land and financial policies of the Renaissance Army.
The compulsory circulation of silver coins and the promotion of paper money allowed the wealthy landlords who originally liked to store their silver in cellars to take out their silver.
The expansion of land, the large-scale development of new cultivated land, and the reduction of food prices have led to a large-scale reduction in land income.
The immigration policy has given ordinary tenant farmers more choices. Coupled with the government's policy of reducing rents and interest rates, more and more landlords and gentry have realized that annexing land is no longer a good option.
The high rate of return on investment in industry and commerce has attracted these capitals that were originally buried underground.
Now under the rule of the Fuxing Army, investing in factories and making money overseas has become a trend.
The shipping industry is developing particularly rapidly. Private shipyards have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain.
In order to promote the development of the entire industry, the Fuxing Army invested in and opened a large-scale river port in Yangzhou.
In Shanghai, businessmen from all over the country are also vying to invest in the construction of shipyards. If there are no talents, they will spend a lot of money to hire foreign technicians.
Countries have also spotted business opportunities and increased investment here.
The development of the shipbuilding industry is behind the growing demand for shipping.
The trade exchanges between the Far East and Nanyang regions of the Renaissance Army and the mainland have become more and more frequent. The demand for ships is very strong.
Coupled with the development of the Americas in recent years, the demand for large ocean-going ships has increased exponentially.
China's total ship tonnage used to be among the top five in the world.
"Lao Zuo's suggestion is OK. Guiding private power can not only save government expenditures and save a lot of resources, but also find more channels for private capital."
The Qing Dynasty that Dong Shuheng took over was still relatively wealthy. The Second Opium War had not happened yet, and maybe it never would.
The loss of silver among the people is not very serious yet. China is still the richest country in the world.
If Dong Shuheng had not deliberately suppressed and prevented inflation, private development would have been faster.
The previous issuance of treasury bonds and the opening of the stock market made Dong Shuheng feel the power of the surging capital.
So he quickly introduced a policy to restrict stocks and set strict issuance restrictions to prevent all social funds from running into the stock market and affecting the development of industry.
In addition, it is to set up some large-scale state-owned enterprises to go public for financing and guide the direction of funds through government agencies.
Those domestic landlords with old wealth are too blind when investing.
In the past, when they invested in land, the returns were very slow.
But stocks are different. They can generate profits in minutes, which can easily stimulate people's gambler mentality.
Now Dong Shuheng is promoting industrialization in an orderly manner and does not want so much funds to enter the capital market.
Industrialization is not just as simple as investing in setting up factories.
It is necessary to establish a complete upstream and downstream industrial chain.
Upstream must have its own independent research and development capabilities, otherwise it will not be able to participate in international competition.
There must be a circulating market downstream. Since it is necessary to circulate, transportation must be developed.
Those official roads established during the Manchu Dynasty that could only run two-wheeled carriages were definitely not enough.
The Ministry of Transport has been planning and building national highways connecting the country. Each province is also establishing its own provincial highways.
Local prefectures and counties are also establishing the following county roads and village roads.
In this way, the efficiency of simultaneous construction at one level is much higher.
The large-scale application of cement and asphalt derived from the oil refining industry also greatly promoted highway construction.
Highways only meet the most basic travel requirements.
Railways are the main artery of industrialization. Currently, there is no road that can surpass the efficiency of railways.
By the third year of the Renaissance, the railway mileage had reached 15,000 kilometers. It was almost increasing at a rate of 5,000 kilometers per year.
Even so, the length of this railway is far from enough. The current mileage of American railways has exceeded 30,000 miles.
With a territory as vast as that of the Renaissance Army, at least hundreds of thousands of kilometers of railways are needed to meet the most basic needs.
Dong Shuheng knew very well that the significance of the railway was not only economic. Its military and political role was even greater.
Only territory connected by railways can be considered stable territory.
Nowadays, the Fuxing Army's railway construction mainly extends to the north and west.
Because the north and west lack necessary river channels, large-scale transportation can only rely on railways.
On the contrary, in the south, where there are many rivers and rivers, it is difficult to build railways, and stable river transportation can make up for the transportation needs.
The railway from Chang'an to Lanzhou will be opened to traffic in the first half of this year.
The railway from Yili to Kashgar in the Western Region will also be opened to traffic.
Next, the railway will go from Lanzhou to Hami, connecting Luntai and Yili. In this way, the entire Western Region will be connected with the inland.
From Xinjing to the north, the railway connecting to the grassland has also been built to the Gobi Desert.
Soon Mobei will be connected to the interior.
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