Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 436 Population and Industrial Economy in June 1879
Within a few days
Mo Xingli, the seventh son of the Mo family, left a note saying that he had signed up to go to East Africa and promised to live a decent life in the future and send money back to honor his father.

This time

But Mo Shoucai was very upset. He felt a breath stuck in his chest, his eyes rolled back and he fainted. Everyone in his family panicked and rushed to treat him.

After finally calming down, I looked at my sons, daughters-in-law, grandsons and granddaughters, big and small, crying and busying themselves around, making the family a mess.

Mo Shoucai's beard trembled with anger as he cursed loudly, "Now that this rebellious son is gone, I'll just pretend I never gave birth to him. Even after he dies, he won't be allowed to be buried in the ancestral tomb. It truly brings shame to our Mo family that we gave birth to such a rebellious person."

Although he was cursing, Mo Shoucai still felt distressed because he was his eldest son after all.

He was the only one allowed to curse, and none of his sons or daughters-in-law were allowed to say anything bad about the "older son". It still hurt inside, but there was nothing he could do.

My heart is scattered and I can't hold it together.

In Manila

There were many people who cursed the East African Company and the Congo River Company. One was given 100 acres of land when it arrived at the place, and the other was given 200 acres of land directly when it arrived at the place. The conditions were better than the other, which attracted many Chinese who were not doing well in their lives to go there.

Long time
Many people have found that more people go to East African companies because the wealth-making effect there is more obvious. Many new Chinese immigrants who go to East African companies have quickly become rich.

In comparison, not many people go to Congo and work in companies to make a fortune. How can you make money faster by just farming honestly?

Just when the State of Chu was settling down to develop, Chile, Peru and Bolivia in South America became arguable over the guano resources in the Atacama Desert and even launched a war to seize them.

For a time, the international community was in an uproar.

After the 19th century, a vigorous steam industrial revolution broke out in Europe, led by Britain, which greatly promoted the scientific and technological progress of various countries.

But even European and American countries with rapidly developing technology have to face an extremely difficult problem:

Due to the rapid increase in population, the demand for food has also increased significantly. In Europe, excessive cultivation of land has led to a significant decline in soil fertility, and many countries are facing the possibility of a food crisis.

In the first half of the 19th century, international demand for agricultural products soared, and chemical fertilizers had not yet been invented.

In order to solve the problem of declining soil fertility, Europeans are accustomed to importing livestock bones from Argentina and Australia as fertilizer, but the effect is not obvious.

Some French farmers even went to the ancient battlefields of the Napoleonic era to look for human bones as fertilizer, which shows the urgent need for fertilizer in European countries.

Against this background, in 1832, a German chemist von Liebig claimed in his book "The Application of Chemistry in Agriculture and Physiology" that bird droppings had important effects in curbing the decline of soil fertility, which attracted widespread attention in European countries.

Guano itself contains extremely high levels of nitrogen, phosphorus and other organic matter, and crops need nitrogen, phosphorus and other organic matter to grow, making it the best crop fertilizer.

The discovery of the value of guano sparked a "guano fever" in European countries. Because of its high value, guano is also called "white gold", as opposed to crude oil, which is "black gold".

A flourishing crop depends on manure.

In agricultural production, guano, as an excellent organic fertilizer, plays an extremely important role.

At the junction of Bolivia, Peru, and Chile lies the Atacama Desert, one of the driest regions in the world, with very little rainfall. It's known as the world's "dry pole."

This place is barren and desolate, with no grass growing. It is located at the junction of Bolivia, Peru and Chile, and was originally a place that no one cared about.

Many years later, after the discovery of rich guano resources and saltpeter deposits in the central and northern parts of the Atacama Desert, the three countries became sensitive due to their vested interests.

The mining of guano resources is relatively simple and requires low technology. It can be mined directly without much cost and can bring huge profits.

In addition, the Atacama Desert also has rich saltpeter resources. Saltpeter deposits can be used to make gunpowder and have extremely high strategic value.

Guano and saltpeter deposits are both valuable and can be exported to earn foreign exchange. Therefore, all three countries are eyeing this desert and have declared their sovereignty over it.

At this time, Chile and Britain had a good relationship, and the two countries formed the Saltpeter Company to mine saltpeter in the Atacama Desert.

To secure more resources, Chile and Bolivia reached an agreement under which Bolivia would allow saltpeter companies to enter its Antofagasta region for mining, while Chile renounced all rights to the area north of the 24th parallel. Bolivia also agreed not to raise taxes on saltpeter companies for 25 years.

This was a win-win agreement: Chile and Britain gained mineral resources, and Bolivia received stable tax revenue.

However, in 1878, in order to raise military funds, Bolivia unilaterally tore up the agreement and raised the tax rate of the saltpeter company.

Of course the British-Chilean joint venture saltpeter company was not going to continue. The British had always taken advantage of the whole world, so when had they ever suffered such a loss?

The joint venture refused to pay taxes, so Bolivia simply confiscated all of the saltpeter company's assets, auctioned them off, and used the proceeds as taxes.

Faced with the aggressive Bolivia, Chile decided to fight back.

So, with the support of Britain, on February 1879, 2, Chile sent troops to occupy Antofagasta, the largest port city in Bolivia, which led to the outbreak of war.

Before this, because Bolivia and Peru signed an agreement and established an alliance, Peru was soon drawn into the war.

On April 1879, 4, Chile declared a state of war against Bolivia and Peru, and the Guano Wars broke out.

Pontianak

At the opening ceremony of the Kunjiang Bridge, which is extremely important to Pontianak City, colorful flags were flying everywhere, and there were crowds of people, with everyone's face showing joy.

The completion and opening of Kunjiang Bridge marked the first time that the Chu State built a steel frame bridge on a river more than a kilometer wide. This marked a major breakthrough in engineering history and also meant that the State would be able to continue building bridges on major rivers in the future, a major advancement in bridge infrastructure capabilities.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu led his people to the completion and opening site of Kunjiang Bridge, personally cut the ribbon for the bridge, paid tribute to the river gods and mountain spirits, and held a grand ritual to comfort heaven and earth.

Besides the ribbon-cutting ceremony
King Zheng Guohui of Chu and a group of ministers were resting in a colorful tent, which was located at one end of the bridge. From here, they could look down at the scenery on both sides of the river, which presented a prosperous scene.

On the river bank close to the city, there are frequent boat trips and numerous buildings along the shore. Various warehouses and commercial warehouses are lined up in rows. There are more than a dozen inland docks along the shore, as well as numerous shipyards and ship repair yards.

On the north bank of the river, further from the city, there is a pristine landscape of mountains and forests, with vast expanses of undeveloped land stretching as far as the eye can see. The completion of the Kunjiang Bridge has seamlessly connected the two banks.

This will make the large undeveloped north bank area of ​​Pontianak a hotbed for construction in the future, greatly expanding the city's future development space and injecting new vitality into Pontianak.

It not only has geographical significance, but also has important significance for economic and urban sustainable development.

It can be said

A cross-river bridge has completely opened up a new prospect for the future development of the Pontianak area and injected vitality into the development on both sides of the Kunming River. It can be said that one move will bring new life to the whole situation.

A small steam train, one of the most advanced in the world, runs through the middle of the Kunjiang Bridge, with carriageways and pedestrian walkways on both sides. Anyone crossing the bridge must pay a fee, as it is a toll bridge.

Compared to crossing the river by boat at the dock, crossing the bridge is much easier. There is no need to wait for a long time and you can cross the bridge at any time.

Regardless of how long it will take for this bridge to pay back its cost?
The completion and opening of this bridge itself indicates that the level of bridge infrastructure construction in the Chu State has reached a very high level, and it is even capable of starting to build some cross-strait bridges.

Indeed, the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Transport has planned ten major bridge projects, three of which are cross-strait bridges, and their spans are all at the kilometer level.

There are two large bridges in Manila that cross the Pasig River. Together with the second river tunnel under construction, they will become an important transportation hub connecting the two sides of the Pasig River in Manila, greatly facilitating travel for urban residents.

Standing by the bridge, overlooking the scenery on both sides of the Kunjiang River, King Zheng Guohui of Chu said with emotion:
"My dear ministers, since the steam industrial revolution, world science and technology have advanced rapidly. The steam trains that now run across this bridge, facilitating the passage of people and goods, are undoubtedly a microcosm of the technological progress of our time."

Minister of Industry Baron Fang Weishan smiled and said, "Your Majesty, this steam engine is a new product from our Manila Steam Airport. It's lightweight and powerful. It can tow 12 carriages at a time and transport hundreds of passengers, making it very suitable for urban transportation."

"That's great! We should actively encourage all kinds of scientific and technological innovation, give generous rewards to scientific and technological talents, and encourage invention and creation."

"Your Majesty, our Chu State has now developed steam cars, steam tractors, and steam motorcycles. Although these are only a few pilot products, their future application prospects are quite bright."

"How's the development of the internal combustion engine going?"

"Your Majesty, trials are underway to replace steam engines with internal combustion engines. Two gasoline-powered internal combustion engines have already passed approval and are undergoing durability and fatigue testing. The current situation looks promising, and there are broad prospects for application."

"Well, that's right. This kind of major technological innovation should be financially supported. It could be allocated from the Royal Fund to focus on supporting its development."

"Your Majesty, the internal combustion engine project is a scientific and technological project led by the royal family with a 20 yuan grant. We are currently continuing to invest in it, with dozens of experts and researchers working day and night to produce results as soon as possible."

"Well, keep a close eye on it."

"I will obey Your Majesty's command and will not slack off. Upon our return, we will continue to increase investment in scientific research personnel, encourage more experts and researchers to participate in the research, and achieve practical application as soon as possible."

"Very good. We must not slack off in the research and development of diesel internal combustion engines. A large amount of gasoline and diesel is wasted every year. We must make full use of them. They are precious resources."

"We, the ministers, will obey the Holy Order and do our utmost."

As they chatted along the way, King Zheng Guohui of Chu and his ministers felt very relaxed. With the country's current booming strength, no force could threaten the Chu State.

The population of Chu State continued to grow significantly in the past two years. From a total population of more than 1876 million at the end of 2866, two and a half years later, at the end of June 1879, the total population had rapidly increased to more than 6 million, an astonishing increase.

The current population size of the Chu State is only slightly smaller than Germany's 4370 million people and slightly smaller than France's 3880 million people, but larger than the United Kingdom's population.

With the current reality of the rapid population growth in the State of Chu, the number of newly born children in the new generation is increasing, forming a large-scale baby boom, which is one of the important factors contributing to the rapid growth of the population.

Coupled with the continuous influx of new Chinese immigrants from northern China, the total number of new immigrants reached more than 1879 million in the first half of 139.6, maintaining a steady and rapid growth trend.

The combination of these two factors caused the population of Chu State to continue to grow rapidly.

It is expected that by the end of the year, the total population will reach 3800 million, which is comparable to that of France.

By the end of next year

There is no doubt that the total population will exceed 4000 million, surpassing the total population of France in one fell swoop. It is likely to be a foregone conclusion.

Along with the rapid population growth, the Chu State has always insisted on deepening the development of industrialization. The country has entered the ranks of industrialized countries and has a high level of industrial development.

From various mechanical machine tools to small steamers with a displacement of tens to dozens of tons, coastal cargo ships of hundreds of tons, ocean-going cargo ships of thousands of tons and immigration ships of tens of thousands of tons, as well as various steam locomotives and mining machinery, the Chu State industry can manufacture all of them, forming a relatively complete range of industries.

Today, the State of Chu is an industrial country recognized by the European and American powers in the world, and it is also the only industrial country in the south.

In the world's bulk commodities

The State of Chu contributed 23% of the world's crude oil, 17.7% of its copper, produced 6.1% of the world's steel, 14.3% of its ocean-going ships, 19% of its sugar, 36.5% of its natural rubber, 11.2% of its tobacco, 25.6% of its woolen and worsted tops, and exported 30.6% of the value of canned goods, including canned fruit, canned fish, and various canned meats. It was an undoubted industrial country.

On the Europe-Asia route
The ocean-going cargo fleet that flies the flag of Chu State all year round is mainly composed of large iron-hulled ships of over 10,000 tons. Its carrying capacity is quite amazing, and it has effectively supported the backbone of ocean trade with Europe.

The prosperous foreign exports have also driven the rapid development of the domestic economy and deepened the industrialized economy, which has brought many benefits.

Focusing on economic development, the benefits to the Chu economy became increasingly obvious.

The national treasury had more money, the funds and industrial enterprises under the royal capital made a lot of money, the residents had more job opportunities, and the whole society became generally prosperous.

After arriving in the State of Chu, ordinary Chinese immigrants found that making money was easy, they could have enough to eat, and they could eat well without spending much money.

Life has become easier and more promising. The miserable days when we often couldn't feed ourselves seem to be gone forever, and we often feel like we are dreaming.

The vast majority of Chinese immigrants believe that going to Southeast Asia was the right move. If they had not come to this land full of hope, they might still be suffering in their hometown!

They had no food to eat and their life was extremely hard.

(End of this chapter)