North America 1849, from Gold Rush to Warlord

Chapter 272 The True Invincible Fleet

In addition to having abundant funds, California also has a significant advantage in terms of its population structure.

The most obvious advantage is the youthfulness of the population structure!

Starting four years ago, California, which originally had a population of less than 100,000, has now swelled to more than 1.1 million.

Besides the more than 100,000 Native Americans included in the census, the number of new immigrants flocking in from all over the world is close to 900,000.

And almost all of these new immigrants are young adults under the age of forty.

There are indeed new immigrants over forty years old, but they make up a very small percentage of the population.

Moreover, the number of minors under the age of sixteen is not large.

Furthermore, among these new immigrants, more than 600,000 are Chinese, making up the majority.

Before boarding the ship, these immigrants from China had all passed the selection process of the Huamei Company. Those who were old, frail, disabled, or carrying infectious diseases were all rejected.

Therefore, the vast majority of these new immigrants are of working age and of high quality.

Do not underestimate the advantages of the age structure. It represents a very high labor participation rate in the whole society, while the social burden is very small, which has played a significant role in promoting the prosperity and development of the entire state of California.

……

By the end of 1853, the enrollment rate of school-age children in California had reached about 90%, basically achieving full coverage of six-year compulsory education.

California today has nearly 100 elementary schools, covering all towns and cities, with 40,000 children enrolled.

Twenty secondary schools have been established, with more than ten thousand students enrolled.

Currently, there is only one university, the University of California, which enrolls two classes of undergraduates, totaling 1,500 students.

Speaking of education, Azu recalled something: "In the first half of this year, after the Black Mountain campaign against the Indians ended, how many Indian children from all over the western Indian tribes were selected to study in our schools?"

Yuma, who was in charge of this matter, replied, "To date, more than fifty tribes, large and small, have selected more than 1,800 Native American children to study in our various primary schools...!"

At this point, Youma changed the subject: "However, these Native American children are wild and unruly, and conflicts with ordinary children in school are frequent and commonplace..."

Yuma suggested, "Boss, do you think we should build a school specifically for these Native American children? That way, we can reduce conflicts between them and other children."

“No need…!” Azu smiled: “Conflict and clash are also part of integration! No fight, no friendship. As we fight, we get to know each other.”

"Only in this way can Native American children integrate into modern society as soon as possible, into this multi-racial and multi-ethnic society."

“Building a separate school for them would isolate them and contradict our original intention.”

Upon hearing this, Youma felt it made sense, but still continued, "I understand, BOSS! However, the children from the other tribes are fine, but the more than one hundred children from the Su tribe and the Xiayan tribe are our blood enemies!"

"It's alright, the number of children selected by the various Indian tribes is still too small. Next year, we will set specific targets for each tribe, ensuring that the total number of children sent to school reaches at least five thousand!"

“No problem, I’ll make the arrangements…!” Youma replied in a deep voice.

……

Azu then changed the subject, continuing with education: "Our primary and secondary education is now basically on the right track and meets the basic needs; all that's left is to continue expanding its scale. However, university education is still quite weak…!"

Edgar Allan Poe couldn't help but interject, "Boss, our University of California has developed very well in just two years!"

"Our University of California now boasts more than a dozen world-renowned top professors, over eighty outstanding professors, and more than two hundred other faculty and staff."

"Although there are only 1,500 college students on campus at present, we will soon have around 5,000 college students in the next year or the year after."

"Our University of California has everything: science, engineering, agriculture, medicine, and all kinds of humanities majors. After the first graduating class graduates in two years, California will have a continuous stream of talent...!"

Azu nodded with a smile: "I'm not saying that the University of California's construction and development are not good enough, but that we don't have enough universities!"

"Simply talking about universities is far from meeting our future needs, and it is also not conducive to the competition and development of higher education in California."

"A single flower does not make a spring, but a hundred flowers blooming together make a garden full of spring!" Azu continued, "Therefore, we in California need to build more universities, as well as specialized colleges with unique characteristics."

"For example, we should build as many specialized medical universities, engineering universities, and universities specializing in humanities, history, law, and political science as possible, and build them well!"

"Furthermore, we need to establish specialized colleges for training skilled professionals, such as nursing, languages, law, engineering technology, civil engineering, and so on!"

"At the same time, our military academies should also expand their specializations, establishing institutions such as artillery academies, cavalry academies, engineering academies, infantry academies, signal corps academies, logistics academies, and most importantly, higher command academies, based on the existing National Guard and Coast Guard schools!"

Azu put forward specific requirements: "Next year, we must build at least one comprehensive research university of the same size and level as the University of California. The colleges and specialized schools I mentioned must also be completed next year."

"Gold will eventually be depleted, and penicillin will eventually cease to be exclusively produced by us."

"Only by continuously cultivating a large number of talents in all fields can California continue to lead the times in its future development."

Azu personally participated in the compilation of textbooks for primary and secondary schools, as well as university textbooks in California.

These systematic teaching materials draw heavily on advanced scientific and technological knowledge from later generations.

Many of its theories were far ahead of their time.

As waves of talented individuals with advanced knowledge graduate, California's prosperity and flourishing will no longer rely solely on Azu's knowledge system and foresight.

Everyone present was deeply shocked by their boss's grand vision for higher education.

They were shocked by both the sheer scale of their boss's ambition and the far-sightedness of his vision.

Azu continued, "Right now we only have one University of California, which uses its own entrance exams to recruit outstanding high school graduates."

"Once this series of universities and colleges is established, the California Department of Education will organize a unified higher education examination open to the entire society...!"

Then, Azu presented the entire system of the college entrance examination from later generations to everyone present.

The college entrance examination in later generations, although not a perfect education system, is at least a basically fair system for getting into higher education.

Regardless of race, ethnicity, class, family background, or personal experience, everyone is equal before scores.

To create the smoothest possible upward mobility for everyone, the most important thing is to achieve equality in education.

Therefore, after California had a certain population size and confidence, the first thing they did was to copy the college entrance examination system.

After discussing the college entrance examination system, Azu continued, "Besides military academies, some of our universities and colleges can be public schools run by the California government, especially colleges that train specialized skills personnel, most of which should be public."

"Our company, Huamei, primarily invests in private universities that cultivate top-notch research talent."

"However, even in private schools, we must ensure that every outstanding student who gets accepted will be able to attend school without being unable to afford the tuition fees!"

"Therefore, scholarship and interest-free student loan systems must be established immediately to ensure that children from impoverished families can also afford to study!"

Everyone present nodded in agreement, deeply agreeing.

……

After discussing education, Azu turned the conversation to pharmaceutical production.

"Currently, although our penicillin production and sales have increased this year compared to last year, the increase is not as large as in previous years."

"Therefore, we must accelerate the research and development of new drugs, such as aspirin under development, and other effective drugs. Only in this way can we maintain our leading position in the pharmaceutical field and maintain the rapid growth of the pharmaceutical industry."

Parker Parker nodded in agreement: "Boss, we are currently developing more than twenty kinds of special drugs, including aspirin and other medications."

"Most of them have already been tested on animals or even on humans."

"Next year and the year after, these drugs under development will be launched to the market one after another." "Once these drugs are available, our pharmaceutical industry will enter another period of explosive growth!"

Many of these twenty-odd special medicines were developed by Azu based on his experience from later generations, with ideas proposed and the pharmaceutical company's R&D team investing in their research.

In fact, many medicines developed in later generations are neither particularly difficult nor easy to make.

The difficulty lies in the approach, the pharmacology, and the underlying concepts.

As for drug synthesis and large-scale production, that is not the most difficult part.

Currently, Huamei Pharmaceutical Factory's R&D and production conditions, if not the best in the world, are at least among the most advanced and sophisticated.

As long as a special medicine meets the basic conditions of this era, Azu would try his best to propose it and let Parker Parker lead the team to realize it.

California's economy is growing so much that relying solely on penicillin and gold is far from enough to meet its development needs.

After listening to his father-in-law's report, Azu smiled and nodded: "Animal experiments and human experiments must be conducted scientifically and with caution. It doesn't matter if it's a little slow, but safety must be ensured."

"The medicines that come out of our Huamei Pharmaceutical Factory must be life-saving drugs, and absolutely must not become harmful poisons!"

"Don't worry, Boss!" Although Parker Parker was the father-in-law, he acted like a subordinate in this situation, without any airs of a father-in-law: "What you said is our highest principle, and we will absolutely not make a mistake on this issue!"

"That's good!"

……

After discussing pharmaceuticals, Azu steered the conversation toward military production.

"This year, our military industry has received several super orders in a row. With our current production capacity, we have almost filled our production capacity for this year and next year."

"However, in my opinion, the American Civil War, as well as the wars in Europe, will continue to drive up our arms business."

"Our arms business will only grow bigger and bigger for at least the next five years."

"So, Uncle Jiu, you have a heavy responsibility on your shoulders. The scale of the arsenal must continue to expand!"

Uncle Nine nodded and said, "Boss, I understand! But now, almost all the usable land on Angel Island has already been utilized."

"If we want to expand further, we need to find another piece of land and open a new factory."

Ah Zu pondered for a moment and said, "There are many islands in the bay area, most of which belong to our Huamei Industrial's private property. Uncle Jiu, take people to inspect the area, select a site for the new factory as soon as possible, and expand the factory as soon as possible."

"Our current normal production capacity can produce all the weapons and equipment needed for fifty divisions a year, which has fully reached the scale of the military industry of the great powers."

"If we work overtime and produce at full speed, it is possible to produce enough weapons and equipment for sixty or seventy divisions a year."

With the current purchasing power of the US dollar, it would cost approximately one million to one and a half million US dollars to arm a typical infantry division, including firearms, ammunition, artillery, and various military supplies.

Azu continued, "Such production capacity is more than enough, even more than sufficient, in peacetime."

"But the world today is in turmoil, and wars will only become more frequent and larger!"

"Therefore, the production capacity of the military factories must reach the scale of producing all the equipment needed for one hundred divisions within the next two years...!"

"Tsk tsk tsk...a hundred divisions...!"

Almost everyone present gasped in shock at the same time!
One hundred divisions, that's a million-strong army!
In this world, there are only a handful of countries that can afford to support an army of one million.

Even the British Empire and the United States, among others, do not have a million regular troops.

Perhaps only China and Tsarist Russia, on the other side of the ocean, could possibly have a conventional army of one million at most.

Edgar Allan Poe couldn't help but ask, "Boss, does the arsenal really need to be this large? If there isn't a massive, protracted war, won't our arsenal's production capacity just sit idle?"

Azu shook his head and said, "Believe me, at least for the next five years, our arsenal's production capacity will definitely not be idle!"

"Even if the world is calm five years from now, our arsenal can be completely transformed into a machine factory."

"Most of the machinery and equipment in the arsenal are interchangeable with those in the machine shop. Arsenal workers can produce machinery without any problem after simple training."

"So don't think the scale is too big. I even think that even if we produced all the weapons and equipment for a hundred divisions a year, it still wouldn't be enough!"

In Azu’s plan, there are not only the current Civil War and Crimean War, but also the Austro-Prussian War, the Franco-Prussian War, and instigating wars in the world’s colonies against colonial powers such as Britain and France…!
As long as Ah Zu is willing to be a troublemaker, the wars around the world will continue indefinitely and will never end.

Even California itself will continue to expand in the future, and there will be endless wars, so its own needs will take up a large part of the equation.

……

After discussing the arsenal, Azu then began outlining the future plans for the shipyard.

"We now have more than sixty docks. And almost all of them are operating at full capacity."

"Most of the ships under construction are merchant ships, but there are also small fleets being built for the Southern Army."

"After the completion of this batch of merchant ships, our fleet of ocean-going high-speed steam merchant ships will reach a size of about 260 ships."

"In addition to the existing ocean-going sailing fleet, the scale of the ocean-going fleet of more than 1,000 tons has reached about 400 ships."

Azu continued, "Our Huamei Shipping Company's fleet is now all over the world!"

“There are many ships from our Huamei Shipping Company on almost all ocean shipping routes.”

"Of course, we mainly operate on the Far East route right now! It is because of such a large merchant fleet that California's population has grown so rapidly; California's goods can sell well all over the world; and the raw materials we need can be transported to California in a continuous stream...!"

"My goal is to further expand our merchant fleet to more than 500 ships by the end of next year."

"With these five hundred ocean-going merchant ships, it will be basically enough for the foreseeable future."

"With this massive fleet, the number of immigrants transported from China each year can reach at least 500,000!"

"This kind of transportation capacity is basically enough!"

Edgar Allan Poe asked, "So, Boss, you mean the shipyard's size can remain as it is for now? There's no need for further expansion?"

"No!" Azu shook his head slightly: "The expansion of the shipyard must not be stopped!"

"But once our merchant fleet exceeds five hundred ships, we will vigorously build a powerful navy!"

"navy……!"

They've always referred to it as the Coast Guard, but now they don't even need to hide it anymore?
“Yes, Navy!” Azu said in a deep voice, “The current size of the Coast Guard is only sufficient to meet the operational objectives of near-shore defense, escorting ships and expelling pirates.”

"At most, they can only bully the navy of the Republic of New Grenada, a navy of such a weak country."

"Facing the navies of true superpowers, such as the British Empire...!"

"Gulp...!" Almost everyone swallowed hard.

Is your boss really that careless?

They're going to take on the world's strongest, invincible fleet right off the bat?

Looking at everyone's expressions, Azu smiled faintly and said, "Judging from your expressions, is the English Armada really that invincible?"

"Do you believe it or not, within ten years, we can build a truly invincible fleet, enough to defeat the Royal Navy of the British Empire...!"

(End of this chapter)