Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 401 Transoceanic Railway
What Your Majesty is talking about now is still the focus on the indirect colonial rule in the south, and he has given many instructions, which shows that he is very concerned.

If there really is a recurrence, no one will be able to laugh anymore.

The total area of ​​the former Dutch-occupied areas in East and South Kalimantan is about 50 square kilometers. This is the territory planned by King Zheng Guohui of Chu as the homeland of the kingdom. It is also the main part of Kalimantan, the third largest island in the world. Its importance can be imagined.

Although the former Dutch-occupied area is less developed and has a smaller population, the island's interior is full of pristine tropical jungles with towering ancient trees, swamps and rivers, but this does not affect its importance.

The development of the coastal areas alone is enough to accommodate hundreds of millions of people, and we absolutely cannot afford to lose anything.

Today's Kalimantan

The three northern states of Sarawak, Brunei and Sabah have a population of about 166 million, Lan Fang has a population of about 152 million, and the Dutch-occupied area in the south will have a population of one million by the end of the year, with Chinese settlers accounting for about %.

The total population of the island is about 400 million, a little over million, and this is roughly the situation.

After the initial large-scale influx of Chinese immigrants into the north and south, the country entered a period of stability, with new Chinese immigrants mainly flowing into the southern region, which was mainly controlled by the Office of Colonies.

After about a year of digestion, the northern part of the island will have enhanced its ability to absorb immigrants, and will start a new round of immigrant resettlement and expansion work, and this process will be repeated.

Just like the successive waves of Chinese immigrants, the area of ​​influence has been continuously expanded, and the ability to cultivate and colonize Kalimantan has been enhanced.

This is the "wave-type immigration and reclamation method" that has been gradually explored in the long-term immigration resettlement process. It has the best reclamation efficiency and immigration resettlement.

After settling and cultivating the land, the early immigrants stockpiled a certain amount of food, livestock, cattle, horses, poultry and other supplies by paying taxes, which could effectively supply the consumption of later immigrants during the pioneering and reclamation period, forming a snowball-like growth pattern.

In Hawaii, Central America and South America, a similar "wave immigration and colonization method" is adopted, and the effect is very obvious.

After discussing a few more matters, Governor Zheng Guoguang reported on the situation of the envoys from northern Vietnam. King Zheng Guohui of Chu did not ask any further questions, but just responded, and there was no further news.

This kind of cloth does not require much investment, consumes very little, and has little influence. Let's wait until it slowly ferments and grows.

Now, he still cannot catch the eye of King Zheng Guohui of Chu.

Finally, after drinking tea and chatting for a while, the breakfast ended and the ministers left one after another.

The Secretary of State for the Colonies, Wu Qingfeng, had something to report, so he stayed behind and would go to the Imperial Study for a while to meet the emperor.

In the Imperial Study

Wu Qingfeng, Minister of the Colonial Department, submitted a plan to set up a prefecture. After reaching a boundary treaty with Chile, the original southern Chile of approximately 31.67 square kilometers was divided into three prefectures.

One is the Chieno Prefecture with the Chieno Island area as its core, and the narrow area bordering the Pacific Ocean is divided into two, namely the Pacific Prefecture in the middle and the Nanzhou Prefecture in the southernmost part.

That is, Chieno Prefecture, Pacific Prefecture and Nanzhou Prefecture.

The area south of Argentina has a total area of ​​about 92 square kilometers. From north to south, there are five prefectures: Blanca, Atlântica, Central, Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego.

The areas of these five prefectures are very large. The average area of ​​the first four is more than 5 square kilometers, and the smallest prefecture, Tierra del Fuego, has an area of ​​4 square kilometers.

Among them, the largest number of Chinese adventurers immigrated to Blanca Province, which is adjacent to Argentina's most developed Buenos Aires Province in the north, with a population of approximately 23.2.

Among the other prefectures, the largest has a population of over 4, while the smallest is the southernmost prefecture of Tierra del Fuego, with a population of less than 2600. It is truly a sparsely populated area.

The above 8 provinces are collectively known as the Eight Provinces of South America.

The eight prefectures in South America have an area of ​​more than 8.32 square kilometers, which is a vast territory, second only to the two prefectures on Shangri-La Island, namely New Xi'an Prefecture and Donggang Prefecture.

The two provinces occupy Shangri-La Island (note: Guinea Island), the second largest island in the world, and the surrounding islands, with an area of ​​approximately 88 square kilometers, which is divided into two.

The average area of ​​the two prefectures exceeded 40 square kilometers, among which the territory of Xinxi Prefecture reached 47.2 square kilometers, making it the largest prefecture in the Chu State.

In the imperial study, King Zheng Guohui of Chu carefully reviewed the "Proposal on the Administrative Division of the Patagonia Governorate" passed by the Prime Minister's Office, and asked about the relevant situation from time to time.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu asked, "Lord Wu, since the population of Tierra del Fuego is so small, is it necessary to establish a prefecture?"

Wu Qingfeng replied:
"Your Majesty, Tierra del Fuego is separated from South America by the Strait of Magellan. The environment within the strait is extremely complex, the geological and hydrological conditions are harsh, and the navigation conditions are extremely poor.

Tierra del Fuego has a total area of ​​48700 square kilometers, including hundreds of surrounding islands and reefs, totaling about 7.3 square kilometers. Its geographical range is vast and its islands are scattered all over the place.

The natural climate is unique, with a long freezing period each year and great difficulty in management, which is no less difficult than that of ordinary prefectures.

This demarcation of Tierra del Fuego includes the entire 2 square kilometer cape area at the southernmost tip of the South American continent, giving the Tierra del Fuego government the convenience of full management of the Strait of Magellan.

All merits, demerits, right and wrong are borne by one person.

The fees collected from large merchant ships passing through the Strait of Magellan each year are enough to operate the entire prefecture, and the amount of government subsidies required is not much.

In the next few years
The Colonial Office planned to settle Chinese immigrants in an orderly manner, with the total number preferably not exceeding 30,000. They would farm, fish, produce and sell their own food, with the goal of maintaining the autonomous operation of the southernmost prefecture.

The establishment of this prefecture is very beneficial to the Royal Navy's transoceanic voyages, especially the port of Ushuaia, where the prefecture of Tierra del Fuego is located. It has a port that can support the supply of the Royal Navy fleet's long voyages, and it is of great strategic significance.

In all these matters, I pray for your Majesty's judgment."

"You have considered it very comprehensively. I am very pleased." King Zheng Guohui of Chu nodded with satisfaction. Wu Qingfeng had been training with him for two and a half years and had developed a very profound strategic vision.

When considering issues, we often stand at the perspective of international events, which is not easy.

After flipping through two pages of the memorial, King Zheng Guohui of Chu asked again without even looking up, "How did you consider the distribution of immigrants to these eight prefectures and the order of colonization?"

The population of the eight provinces in South America is seriously uneven. The population of Bahia Blanca exceeds 23.2, and the population of Zieno Province reaches 14.77, making them the first and second most populous provinces.

However, the Pacific Prefecture, which ranks third in population, has only 4.1 people, the Atlantic Prefecture, which ranks fourth in population, has only 1.63 people, and the Central Plains Prefecture, which ranks fifth, has only more than 8500 people, and the rest have even fewer people.

It should be noted that the above population does not include local indigenous Indian convicts and the unconquered Indian tribes in the south.

Two copper smelters have been built in the Cienfuegos Province in southern Chile, and now a copper smelter has also been built in the Pacific Province. Eleven copper mines of various sizes have been developed. Copper, iron and coal mines are the local economic pillars.

The main industry of Blanca Province is animal husbandry. It has thousands of ranches of all sizes, including hundreds of large ranches covering an area of ​​more than 10,000 acres. It mainly produces wool, high-quality beef, milk and other livestock products.

Four wool spinning mills and seven large and medium-sized leather factories have been established in Bahia Blanca. The high-quality coarse wool and combed wool tops, and various cattle and sheep leathers produced are mainly exported to Europe.

Next Step

More than a dozen slaughterhouses and more canning factories will be built in Bahia Blanca to produce canned meat products for sale in Europe in exchange for various supplies.

The distance from Bahia Blanca to Buenos Aires, Argentina, is about 24 kilometers. The transatlantic route connecting London, England and Paris, France, takes about 26 to days, with a stopover in Brazil.

The territory of Argentina today has been determined to be 186 million square kilometers, which is 278 square kilometers less than the original historical territory of 92.3 million square kilometers.

After the signing of the boundary treaty between Chu and Argentina, the mutually beneficial preferential tariff treaties signed by Chu with Britain, France and other countries also applied to the Viceroyalty of Patagonia.

This attracted a large number of Chinese and British and French capital investments. They opened ranches and built factories on this vast land, creating a continuous and large demand for labor and promoting further upgrading of Chinese immigration resettlement.

Its core area is around Bahia Blanca, which is now undergoing massive port construction, including deep-water berths capable of berthing cargo ships of 2 to 5 tons, and a world-class deep-water port.

Three 1.2-ton refrigerated freighters ordered in the UK have also been delivered one after another, providing a solid foundation for promoting transatlantic meat trade and allowing the vast number of ranchers in Blanca Palace to see a steady stream of money.

Based on the current social situation
Wu Qingfeng, Secretary of the Colonial Office, replied respectfully:
“Your Majesty:
There are three major projects currently under construction in the Viceroyalty of Patagonia. The immigration process will be carried out in an orderly and in-depth manner based on these three major projects.

The first major project was the construction of the 7-ton Port of Bahia Blanca, which planned to build seven deep-water docks and five bulk cargo docks. The construction period was about three and a half years, and it would consume more than 5 slave laborers.

The second major project was to lay the Transoceanic Railway, which would stretch from Pacific City across the Andes Mountains to Bahia Blanca, with a total length of more than 1320 kilometers.

The third major project is to develop the Dayang Copper Mine in Dayang Prefecture, and build an ore railway, a new large-scale copper smelter and a town based on the copper mine to achieve deep-seated development.

The immigrant population arranged by the Colonial Office will be based on these three major projects, especially along the Transoceanic Railway project in the north, where a series of new towns and ranches will be set up based on geographical and hydrological conditions.

Your Majesty, the relevant plan is on the next few dozen pages... Um, Your Majesty, please turn a few more pages..."

Wu Qingfeng stood close and saw His Majesty looking through the memorial. This was a heavyweight memorial that had been painstakingly compiled by officials from the Colonial Office over several months and had been revised five times. Many parts were rewritten by Wu Qingfeng himself.

It was a thick stack, about as thick as three fingers put together, so he knew them all by heart.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu followed his instructions and flipped through a few more pages. He finally saw this part, which was a very detailed plan.

The reason why he focused on this part was because he was worried that the construction of the Transoceanic Railway would be too difficult, mainly because it would cross the longest section of the Andes Mountains in the world.

In his impression, the construction difficulty was no less than that of the western section of the Pacific Railway in the United States.

Sure enough, the part about the Transoceanic Railway and the establishment of towns was the result of many planning surveyors measuring the Andes Mountains and the Patagonian Glacier on foot and going through untold hardships.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu looked carefully for about 40 minutes. After gaining a general understanding of the relevant situation, he realized that the technical problem was not as serious as he had imagined.

The vast Patagonian Plain, with a total area of ​​about 78 square kilometers, occupies more than 85% of the Patagonian ethnic region and is mostly composed of vast semi-arid plains.

In its western

That is, the southern section of the Andes Mountains, which has the world's second largest continental ice field, known as the "Patagonia Ice Field". It is a plateau with an average altitude of about 1500 meters, with snow-capped peaks and howling winds all year round.

The Patagonian Ice Field is not a single entity, but is divided into two parts, north and south, with a gap of about 77 kilometers in the middle consisting of low mountains and seasonal rivers.

The total area of ​​the northern ice field is 4200 square kilometers, stretching about 200 kilometers from north to south. The southern ice field is even larger, totaling about 1.4 square kilometers and about 350 kilometers long.

The site of the Transoceanic Railway is to pass through the high altitude of the low mountains and seasonal rivers in the central part. The highest altitude is about 420 meters, and the lowest altitude is about tens of meters.

from this angle

The difficulty of building the Transoceanic Railway was not that high. The average temperature in the cold season was about 4 to 16 degrees Celsius above zero. The only problem was that the wind in the mountains was a bit too strong, with wind speeds of level 13 to all year round, and the strongest wind speed reached level .

What's going on with such strong winds?
That means even people can be blown away. The long Andes Mountains block the humid and cold Pacific storms and water vapor, making the Patagonian Plain in a semi-arid climate all year round with less precipitation.

See here
An idea flashed through the mind of King Zheng Guohui of Chu: if a 5-kilometer-long gap was opened in this low mountain area in the central part, allowing the humid Pacific storms to sweep across the inland of the Patagonian plains, would it create a "Jiangnan of South America"?
This unreliable idea flashed through his mind in a flash, and he did not speak it out loud. Instead, he carefully examined the Chinese immigration plan of the Colonial Office.

Because South America is geographically extremely remote, it spans almost half of the globe.

The immigration journey is more than 2.3 kilometers and the cost is extremely high. Therefore, the number of immigrants arranged each year is very limited and is mostly carried out in a relay manner.

It is unrealistic to want to reach South America in one go.

Today's immigration transit point is Hawaii Island. After several years of immigration, the total population of Hawaii Island has exceeded 175 million, making it a springboard for the Chu State to import immigrants to Central America and South America.

Many Chinese families who immigrated to Hawaii, after several years of starting a family and having basically paid off their immigration debts, still do not have their own land.

If you want to buy land through redemption or slowly saving money, it will take at least 10 years to become a small or medium-sized landowner in Hawaii.

As more Chinese immigrants arrived, competition became increasingly fierce.

So there are many Chinese immigrant families considering the possibility of immigrating to South America.

The government offers preferential immigration loans, with boat tickets priced in half, and it only costs 120 nautical miles per person to reach Chieno Island. There, no matter which carriage team crosses the Andes Mountains into the plains, or stays in the government office on the Pacific coast, you can get 100 acres of land for free.

If you want more, you will need to buy it with money, but the price of the purchased land is also very cheap.

This is equivalent to using 120 Guangyang to buy 100 acres of land and getting a free immigration ticket. If there are two people in the family, that is 200 acres of land, three people is 300 acres of land, and so on.

Of course, the boat ticket price is also for two or three people.

Basically, once you arrive in South America, you can realize your dream of becoming a small farmer. This is undoubtedly a fatal attraction for Chinese people who have a deep-rooted love for land.

Therefore

There are now more than 100,000 Chinese immigrating to South America from Hawaii every year, accounting for almost one-tenth of the island's population, and the mobility is quite high.

However, the fields that these departing Chinese had rented were soon divided up by subsequent Chinese immigrants, resulting in a constant supply of leeks.

In addition to the hundreds of thousands of Chinese immigrants each year, there are also tens of thousands of adventurers every year. Most of these Chinese adventurer teams have some economic strength and armed forces, and the majority are retired officers and soldiers from the four mainland islands.

After a brief stop in Hawaii or Central America, their journey headed south to Zieno Island, which is also a gathering place for Chinese immigrants in South America and has a complete and abundant supply of materials.

After turning a few more pages, the King of Chu saw the immigration plan for the next few years.

The Colonial Office's immigration plan is quite stable, with an average of about 2 people per month. Judging from the current capacity of large immigration ships, this is the capacity of a large immigration fleet consisting of five or six -ton immigration ships.

From Hawaii to Zieno Island, a round trip can be made every month.

The plan is to increase the population of the Viceroyalty of Patagonia to one million within two years, which is more in line with the current actual situation.

The investment is not large, the burden is not heavy, and the Southern Governor's District will be built step by step.

Driven by the three major projects, the resettlement of these Chinese immigrants is not a problem at all, especially since Blanca Province has a strong development momentum and a bright future.

If the Transoceanic Railway can be built, the copper mining resources in southern Chile will no longer need to be transported south to Panama, but can be directly transported to Porto Blanca via the Transoceanic Railway, and from there to Europe by sea.

The entire economic cycle can be completed internally, which means eating from the head to the tail of the fish, which is of course more cost-effective.

Regarding this voluminous memorial that embodied the hard work of the Ministry of Colonial Affairs, King Zheng Guohui of Chu asked many questions, and Wu Qingfeng answered them one by one.

Even though he had done a lot of preparation before coming, Wu Qingfeng was still sweating profusely on his back when asked by His Majesty the King of Chu. He kept wiping the sweat from his forehead with his sleeves, and his attitude became more and more respectful.

Until near noon
King Zheng Guohui of Chu was now relatively satisfied. He gently tapped the important memorial with his hand and said with approval, "My dear Lord Wu, I have received your information. I will leave the memorial here for now until I have carefully reviewed it. You may now take your leave."

"Your Majesty's sacred order is obeyed by your humble servant. I will take my leave." Wu Qingfeng felt as if he had met a great monk. After bowing respectfully, he took a few steps back before turning around and leaving.

(End of this chapter)