I want to be emperor

After Luo Zhixue got off the boat, local civil and military officials also came to greet him. Luo Zhixue smiled and greeted several governors in a kind tone. He said a few words briefly and performed a harmonious scene between the emperor and his ministers before sitting on the boat. The royal carriage, which had been prepared for disembarking in advance, slowly left the pier, accompanied by a group of accompanying courtiers, escorted by the imperial guards and soldiers from the surrounding Guards.

Sitting on the carriage, Luo Zhixue looked outside through the relatively narrow window on the carriage. Although the view of this specially made bulletproof carriage was not very good, for safety reasons, it was not suitable for such public outings. Ride on some ordinary royal carriages.

Luo Zhixue went out for inspection this time, and many ministers were worried about his safety... Even the ship he took was the specially built and modified Royal Princess, and the special train was also an armored train.

This carriage is no exception!

This special bulletproof carriage was designed and built by Jinling Carriage Company specifically for this overseas inspection.

In addition to highlighting the royal luxury and the dignity of the Ninth Five-Year Plan, the overall design most importantly refers to the armored carriage recently adopted by the Army...

This Army's armored carriage is actually a gun rack installed on the carriage, and then an eight-millimeter Type 42 water-cooled heavy machine gun. Later, it was discovered that the wooden carriage was easily penetrated by the indigenous muskets, so they simply built one Steel armored carriage.

Use steel as the main load-bearing structure of the vehicle, use solid rubber tires, and install steel plates on the tail and both sides... Although this armored carriage is relatively heavy, it requires at least four horses to pull it on the battlefield.

But the tactical effect is still very good. It allows infantry or simple cavalry to carry heavy firepower such as heavy machine guns on the battlefield for rapid short-distance maneuvering operations. After quickly arriving at the predetermined position, the 42 water-cooled heavy machine guns attack the enemy's weak areas. Continuous intensive strafing... is much easier to use than infantry artillery and mortars.

If faced with an enemy cavalry attack, you can drive away directly and shoot at the back while running.

The only flaw is that the horses are not bulletproof... At the same time, the target of the horses is relatively large, so the horses pulling the carts are easily hit. For this reason, the soldiers who operate the armored carriages will carry a small ax with them. If there are horse casualties, they will be the first to do so. Time cuts the reins to get rid of the casualty horses, then lets the remaining horses continue to pull.

(The Russians made armored carriages during World War I...a very strange thing)

The armored carriages in the Army of the Dachu Empire cannot be said to be good or bad. They are just one of the countless strange new weapons in the Army. They were not manufactured in large quantities, and only a few were sent to Europe for testing. Combat... But it didn't take long for the Army to lose interest in this thing, and instead focused on building a car version of the armored vehicle.

But this thing inspired the designers of the Jinling Carriage Company. They designed a bulletproof carriage based on this armored carriage.

The frame of its main load-bearing structure is made of high-performance steel, and armor plates are laid around the carriage. These armor plates have not yet been applied to naval warships. Nickel steel carburizing is still in laboratory testing. Armor…

The reason why carburized armor has not yet been used in the military is not a question of whether it is expensive or not, but the current basic industrial level of the Dachu Empire, and there is currently no way to carry out large-scale mass production.

However, it is still possible to produce a small amount in a laboratory at any cost and then use it in bulletproof carriages and special train carriages.

This type of carburized nickel steel armor has twice the protective power of iron armor... This means that to achieve armor with the same protective capabilities, the new carburized armor only needs half the weight.

Only then can the bulletproof carriage become a reality... Otherwise the carriage will be significantly overweight, even if the Emperor's carriage uses six horses, and they are carefully selected top-notch Fengzhou horses, with an average shoulder height of One meter sixty-five meters, according to the draft horse traction standards set by the Army, the traction force of this top-notch Toyoshu horse can reach 500 kilograms.

But when the six horses are added together, the total traction force is only 3,000 kilograms. And the royal carriage is inherently large and heavy. Many of the previous royal carriages basically weighed at least three or four tons, and some were even heavier than five or six tons... ...So the royal carriage looks domineering, but in fact its maneuverability is very poor!

Not to mention the bulletproof version of the carriage... That's a thing with a lot of armored steel installed.

Therefore, when the traction force of the horses is limited, it is impossible to increase the number of horses without limit. After all, the more horses are added, the greater the uncontrollable factors. The draft horse is not an engine, and only needs to simply control the throttle.

Although the draft horses have been specially trained, it is still very common for the horses to suddenly lose control... Countless traffic accidents occur every day in the contemporary Chu Empire... The annual number of traffic fatalities and injuries in big cities is higher than that of cities with the same population in later generations. Much more!

Many of these traffic accidents are caused by the horse pulling the cart losing control.

Therefore, designers can only reduce the weight of the royal carriage as much as possible, but no matter how much weight reduction is done, there is a limit... Therefore, the final bulletproof carriage still reached a terrifying weight of more than seven tons...

Using six top-notch Fengzhou horses with a shoulder height of 1.65 meters, they can barely pull it, but they can't hold on for long, and they need to change horses after walking a certain distance.

The Jinling Carriage Company has made a total of three such special bulletproof carriages. The specifications of the three carriages are exactly the same. When traveling, the three carriages also travel together. This is to confuse potential assassins and the like.

These three carriages and the matching top-grade Fengzhou horses were also shipped together and were available for Luo Zhixue's use after arriving at the inspection site.

In fact, Luo Zhixue originally thought about traveling by car... Unfortunately, although gasoline engines have been available for some time, Tianjin Tangshan Machinery Company has used their gasoline engines to create the first four-wheel carriage, but in all aspects It's still very immature... The thing can only be said to run, but other things are very immature and cannot be used at all.

If the Dachu Empire wants to enter the real era of automobiles, it must make efforts in many other aspects, such as matching automobile chassis, transmission systems, steering systems, braking systems, etc.

A car doesn't just have an engine, it also has many other supporting systems. When combined together, it is a car that can truly be controlled by humans and ensure safety.

The automobile industry in the Dachu Empire was still in its infancy, and was far from mature and commercially available on a large scale.

Therefore, even if Luo Zhixue wants to travel by car, there is no mature car available for him to sit in... As for even those simple so-called car prototypes... Luo Zhixue dares to do these things, but other manufacturers dare not let him sit in them!

Three imperial bulletproof carriages moved forward in the procession. In front of and behind them were dozens of armed guards on horseback and on the left and right sides.

In front were the cavalrymen of the First Cavalry Regiment, as well as the carriages of some accompanying officials.

Behind the chariot were a large number of carriages accompanying senior officials and cavalrymen of the First Cavalry Regiment.

On both sides of the team, there were many soldiers from the First Division of the Guards accompanying them on foot.

The number of people in the entire team is very large, reaching thousands... Of course, most of them are Guards soldiers and imperial guards responsible for security tasks. There are actually not many accompanying officials in the team, only more than 200 people.

As for the more ordinary accompanying officials, they all have their own jobs and tasks. Some of them went ashore in advance to make various arrangements, some are still on the ship to handle various matters, and some will disembark later.

The team walked all the way through the main road of the port area, and then arrived at the most famous luxury hotel in Singapore, the Imperial Hotel.

The Royal Family Assets Division had prepared places for Luo Zhixue to stay in various places in advance according to the inspection plan a few years ago. However, Luo Zhixue personally instructed that there should be no extravagance and waste, let alone the large-scale construction of numerous palaces. After the inspection, Then these actions become waste.

Luo Zhixue personally instructed not to build temporary palaces. When arriving at various places to stay, the original local buildings should be used as much as possible according to local conditions, and no extravagant and wasteful new palaces should be built.

Therefore, when preparing for temporary operations, the Royal Assets Division also combines many aspects. If there is a suitable manor in the local area, it may be sold or rented. In some places, because there are luxurious hotels that meet the conditions, they will also temporarily rent hotels. And where there is an Imperial Hotel, use the Imperial Hotel directly...

The Imperial Hotel is a large-scale hotel chain invested and operated by the Royal Assets Division. Its Imperial Hotel is the most famous, and can even be said to be the only high-end hotel brand in the Empire. The company has invested in, built and operated Imperial Hotels in all major cities. There are more than one hundred Imperial Hotels in various places... Each Imperial Hotel is a representative of luxury hotels or even a landmark building in the local area.

As for the Imperial Hotel, it was actually built and operated by the Royal Family Assets Department in some major cities in the country at the beginning. It was built and operated as a hotel for the convenience of royal family members...but later this kind of luxury hotel was sought after by other rich and powerful people. , has gradually become a high-end hotel chain brand with a stronger commercial atmosphere, but it is mainly located in the hinterland of East Asia. Overseas, there are only a few in Nanyang and North America.

In other places, it would be difficult to support the huge construction and operating expenses of a luxury hotel like the Imperial Hotel.

Singapore, as an economically developed port city with a large number of business people, can naturally support the operation of a luxury hotel like the Imperial Hotel. Therefore, the Imperial Hotel Company, a subsidiary of the Royal Assets Department, also invested in the construction of an Imperial Hotel here. .

In addition to the Imperial Hotel or other commercial hotels, some government-owned or private manors can also be used if they are more suitable.

If there are no suitable manors or hotels in some places, and the local government buildings are relatively reliable, then you can simply use the local official Yamen buildings, such as the Governor's Yamen, the Magistrate's Yamen, etc.

If even the official Yamen is not suitable, then it will simply be arranged to be in a local military base... If you go ashore and take a train, you may also spend the night directly on the special train or even use it as a meeting place to meet local officials.

In short, it is used for whatever it is, and it is not allowed to be specially built...

This is very necessary, because Luo Zhixue's inspection is not the traditional emperor's trip to the south of the Yangtze River, which only goes to a few places... Luo Zhixue's overseas inspection this time is a global inspection... The inspection is planned to visit more places. , it is impossible to say that every time you go to a place, you build a new palace just to sleep for a night. This would cost too much... Moreover, the construction specifications and decoration of the special palace are all decorated according to royal standards. Except for Luo Zhixue and a few princes, no one dares to live in this kind of building, and even misappropriates it for other purposes. It's not easy to use.

In this case, these palaces will easily become disposable buildings... You can't burn them like this even if you have money!

It's okay if you go to a few places to do this, but you can't do this kind of global inspection.

According to the itinerary, Luo Zhixue will first go to Southeast Asia, then to the Island of Ceylon in the Indian Ocean, and then continue westward to North Africa. He will go to a port in the Red Sea to resupply, then go south along the African coastline, arrive at Maputo House, and go around the Cape of Good Hope. Arrive in South Africa, and finally head north to Cadiz in Europe for rest, maintenance and supplies.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Luo Zhixue will simply take a stroll around the Mediterranean Sea, experience the Mediterranean climate, and then cross the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas.

Finally, he will cross the Atlantic Ocean and arrive at the east coast of North America for inspection. Here, Luo Zhixue will take an armored train all the way across North America to Jinshan Mansion.

The fleet then rounded Cape Horn and arrived at the west coast of America to pick up Luo Zhixue in Jinshan Prefecture. Finally, it returned across the Pacific to Fusang Province, and finally returned to Wusong Naval Base to end the trip.

The entire trip is actually a circle around the earth.

There are many places passed along the way, although the focus of the inspection trip is actually the Americas, North America to be precise... Here Luo Zhixue will disembark and take an armored train all the way west, across the North American continent, focusing on inspections Various situations in North America!

After all, America, especially North America, has become the most important overseas territory of the Chu Empire. Its tens of millions of people have also become the most populous overseas territory of the Chu Empire. Coupled with its geographical environment and abundant resources, Luo Zhixue We have always attached great importance to the expansion and development of North America.

He wants to turn this place into the eternal home of the Chu people, and also connect North America and East Asia to avoid future divisions.

Therefore, the focus of this overseas inspection is actually North America. As for the rest, everything else is on the way... Anyway, if he goes directly to Jinshan Prefecture via the Pacific Ocean, Luo Zhixue will still take the train in Jinshan Prefecture across the North American continent, and then arrive at the east coast of North America. If you want to come back, you can either continue to take the train back to Jinshanfu, or take a boat to make a big circle back to the mainland.

So Luo Zhixue simply took the westward route, taking the route of the Southeast Asia, the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean, and taking a brief look at the Southeast Asia, India, West Asia, Africa and Europe.

If there is enough time, he also plans to take the time to go to South America for inspection for a few days... Although there are not many immigrants from the Chu Kingdom in South America and its development is not mature, it is still a territory under direct jurisdiction, and the local indigenous population has long been killed by European immigrants. It is almost there. There are not many obstacles to immigration. At the same time, it is also rich in various resources and has huge potential for future development.

This kind of global inspection takes many places... It's not a question of whether Luo Zhixue wants to go, but that fleet navigation requires continuous supplies.

The coal and fresh water needed for the ship's voyage need to be replenished, as well as the food supply for the more than 10,000 people in the huge fleet.

Even if there are a large number of supply ships in the fleet, they also carry a large amount of coal, fresh water, food and even ammunition. However, the existence of supply ships is to avoid accidental emergency supplies. There is no way to truly supply a fleet of more than a hundred ships. A round-the-world voyage!

Under such circumstances, Luo Zhixue will plan to inspect many places... At the same time, for the sake of confidentiality and safety, the specific inspection route will not be announced. Ordinary officials only know a general route. In this case, it will also be used to arrange the place to stay. A lot of trouble.

Therefore, temporary requisition on site becomes the best option.

This time I inspected Singapore. Because Singapore has a large population and a good economy. It is also an extremely important shipping port with many business people coming and going. The high-end hotel industry is developing well.

The Singapore Imperial Hotel invested and built here by the Royal Assets Department is built on the beach shore. It has seven floors on the ground and a total height of more than 30 meters. It has large business conference rooms, banquet halls, theater halls and other supporting facilities... In addition, installation In addition to basic electrical facilities, they installed elevators, electric lights, and independent steam engine generators.

Its equipment and level of luxury are basically similar to those of first-tier luxury hotels in big cities in the hinterland of East Asia.

Of course, it can only be said that it is similar to most luxury hotels, but it still cannot be compared with a few truly top hotels.

After all, the Imperial Hotel Singapore is only a luxury hotel in the Nanyang region, and its potential customer base and spending power are still limited... It is impossible for the Imperial Hotel Company to invest huge amounts here and build a truly ultra-luxury luxury hotel.

That thing can only be supported by construction and operation in Songjiang, Guangzhou, Jinling City, Tianjin and other places.

For example, the Songjiang Imperial Hotel, its level of luxury and consumption will definitely make the so-called high-income group with an annual income of several thousand yuan not even have the courage to enter...

As the biggest competitor of Songjiang Imperial Hotel, Suzhou River Hotel, known as the two heroes of Songjiang Hotel... well, it is the hotel named by the wife of the soft-rice man Wang Liqing.

In order to completely overpower the Songjiang Imperial Hotel and show that it is the leader in the Songjiang hotel industry and the industry standard, the parent company of Suzhou River Hotel, Wangli Asset Management Company, spent huge sums of money in the 42nd year of Chengshun. The original old building was demolished and a brand new steel frame structure was built on the original site. It only took more than three years to complete all construction!

A total of twenty floors were built. The height is more than 90 meters not counting the spire, but it reaches 103 meters including the spire.

This is also the first commercial building in the Dachu Empire with a height of more than 100 meters, and it still holds the record for the tallest building!

In the forty-sixth year of Chengshun, all the renovations of the new main building were completed and the Suzhou River Hotel was officially opened to the public. It instantly became the most popular hotel in Songjiang City and even the entire empire!

As the name of Suzhou River Hotel spread throughout the country, even overseas territories in the Americas, many people in Europe learned through newspapers that a 100-meter-tall building had appeared in Songjiang City.

Of course, outsiders didn't know that Wang Li's Asset Management Company soon discovered that the investment cost of this crap was too high, and the operating expenses were also high. The daily operating expenses of those elevators alone were very high.

Moreover, the hotel charges high fees and mainly caters to the most high-end customers, so the customer base is not as large as expected. If you want to lower the consumption level, the customer base can be expanded instantly, but the spending power of ordinary customers is also poor, and the gross profit is not high. Lower consumption levels and welcome a group of ordinary customers.

Those who are real profit providers reserve rooms all year round just to stay there when they are on vacation. High-end customers who usually spend all kinds of money in the hotel and never look at the price will turn to the Imperial Hotel in minutes!

So the current Suzhou River Hotel seems to be of high quality, with the reputation of being the most luxurious hotel in the Chu Empire, and a place where celebrities aspire to go... But in fact, this place has been losing money from its opening to the present.

Not to mention recovering the huge construction and decoration investment costs, even the daily operations are losing money... Wang Lishi, the big boss of Wanglishi Asset Management Company and Wang Liqing's wife, regretted this very much, but there was nothing she could do... because This project was initiated by her husband.

Well, a few years ago Wang Liqing said that he had accumulated a lot of experience in doing business. The textile business was also doing well, and the money he earned could already support his family...

The fees for professional managers in my family’s asset management company are too high, and each of them gets a share... It’s better to let me manage it, and save the cost of the share.

After enduring his harassment for a year, Mrs. Wang finally gave in and gave her man a chance to become the general manager of an asset management company.

Then Wang Liqing persuaded her, saying that he would build the tallest building in the empire and the most luxurious hotel in the empire... She softened her heart and agreed again!

And then...he turned out to be such a loser!

She, Ms. Wang Li, has been engaged in the real estate business and hotel business for decades, and has never suffered a loss before... This time, her husband blew her away, and the Suzhou River Hotel changed from a hen that can lay golden eggs to a Phoenix, who looks glamorous but is actually a loser...

As a result, the Wang Li family fired Wang Liqing... If Wang Liqing continues to struggle like this, no matter how much the family property is, it will not be enough for him.

Let him go into the small textile business. It doesn't matter if he loses money, she can afford it...

But real estate and restaurants, the former is related to his own wealth, and the latter is related to social status, he cannot let him mess around.

No matter what the Wang family may be like internally, the new building of the Suzhou River Hotel built by the Wang family is the first 100-meter-high commercial building in the Chu Empire. This alone is enough to make it a part of history!

The development history of Suzhou River Hotel is to some extent a microcosm of the economic development in the Chu Empire. The urban population is increasing, and the urban land is becoming less and less. These high-rise buildings, which are tens of meters or even hundreds of meters in size, have appeared. This is because in big cities such as Songjiang Prefecture, the core plots are very expensive, so in order to obtain more space, they can only be built higher.

This is also reflected in the Imperial Hotel here in Singapore!