Daming 1805

Chapter 364 The Fleet Goes to Taixi
The French mission headed by Charles only stayed in Long Island for one night after paying a special visit to Liu Weizhi.

The next morning, the group immediately took a ferry to the opposite island of Manhattan, New York.

Bridges connecting Manhattan to Long Island, and the island of Manhattan to the mainland, are still being built.

Both of these bridges are a combination of road bridge and railway bridge. Of course, the two bridges are directly connected to the railway and highway. These two roads cross the top of Manhattan Island.

The two bridges are in a way even one bridge, and the combined length of the two bridges over the river is longer than the length of the road and railroad in that part of Manhattan Island.

Because the terminus of these two railroads is not in Manhattan, but Lin County Pier on Long Island.

The location of the bridge between Long Island and Manhattan Island is almost the location of the historical Brooklyn Bridge.

After the railway line and the highway line entered Long Island, they were divided into east and west branches here.

The West Branch extends southwest into New York Bay and joins the main port in Lynn County.

The east branch continues to extend to the east, enters the interior of Long Island, and completely runs through the two axes of the entire Long Island.

The main reason is that now that the war has just ended, Britain and France are engaged in large-scale population transfers, and labor costs are the cheapest.

Therefore, a network of railways and highways throughout the island was quickly built.

Next to the bridge construction site between Long Island and Manhattan is the original traditional ferry terminal.

The French delegation headed by Charles took a ferry from here to the opposite Manhattan.

Along the way, they were observing the ships coming and going, as well as the conditions of the people on board.

Manhattan Island has also experienced war, but the situation looks good, even better than Norfolk, which has not experienced war.

The people who can be seen now are basically construction workers, or other workers who are hired.

Work on construction sites, transfer supplies on water, and move supplies on docks.

Almost no idle people can be seen.

At the same time, although the wages paid by manufacturers in Daming are much lower than those in local Daming, they are at a relatively high level for local workers.

With reasonable wages, the workers work harder, and they are not in a state of lifelessness.

The battle in Manhattan was originally not intense, and it ended relatively early and lasted for a short time.

Next to it is the Long Island of Ming Dynasty, so both sides are relatively restrained during the battle, and the damage is not very destructive.

After the battle, Britain moved its population from here to the south, and France filled it from the interior.

Norfolk was originally a small city, but now it is a transit point for the transferred population in the UK. The transferred people simply cannot live there, and it is impossible for the temporarily transferred population to build long-term housing.

Manhattan was originally a big city, but now it is the terminal point for the transfer of population from France. The population that France fills in cannot catch up with the original total population of the city. There are ready-made houses to live in when they come.

So there are no chaotic shantytowns in the urban areas of Manhattan.

Charles followed the railway and highway construction sites to the City Hall at the top of Manhattan Island.

The bureaucratic team that received Manhattan, New York, and the northern part of the United States is currently in the Manhattan City Hall.

The crown prince and governor of Canada, Charles, came over, and all the main officials were ready to welcome him at the city hall.

The French officials were a little surprised by Charles' habitual gorgeous dress, but not too surprised.

Just thinking secretly in my heart, should I change New York to New Normandy and use a feminine affix.

New York is actually New York, named after the Duke of York, the second son of the King of England.

Now here is the capital of French Canada, and the name should indeed be changed.

Just like the British changed "New Amsterdam" to "New York".

The first title after Charles was born was the Duke of Normandy.

Normandy seemed fitting for land acquired from the English.

If Normandie is used as a city name, it seems that it can be regarded as a feminine word, so there is no need to change it specially.

No matter how appropriate these officials think, the name change seems to be urgent.

The atmosphere at the meeting was quite harmonious. Charles briefly asked about the situation and said a lot of encouraging words.

Then the French mission headed by Charles temporarily settled down in Manhattan.

The next morning, colonial officials came to Shire to ask whether the name of New York should be changed.

He also placed the paper with "New Normandy" in front of Charles.

Charles didn't respond when he saw the word New Normandy. It was originally a prefix added to the original Normandy.

The name of New York should indeed be changed, and it seems that there is nothing inappropriate to use Normandy.

New York (New York) officially changed its name to New Normandy.

Charles stayed in New Normandy for more than half a month to learn about the situation in French Canada and New Normandy.

The biggest problem in French Canada is probably the integration of ethnic groups.

Although the UK is migrating south, locals, including those in New York, may not be willing to leave.

So there is still a large English-speaking population in and around New Normandy.

The royal family and court officials in mainland France are not going to forcibly drive them away.

At present, the French-speaking population can only be migrated from the inland areas that originally belonged to Canada in accordance with Zhu Jingyuan's original suggestion.

Dilute or even suppress the English-speaking population with the French-speaking population.

It is conceivable that in the future of southern French Canada, the use of three languages ​​for various documents will become the norm.

Ming Yayan, as well as French and British.

Because there are now a large number of Ming merchants investing in the local area, and Daming Yayan is also a natural intermediary language.

Shire has not changed the local situation, and the current implementation plan is basically safe, and there is no need to change it specifically.

While understanding the situation in French Canada, I also thought that Charles also selected and organized a 500-man guard here according to Zhu Jingyuan's suggestion.

They will accompany themselves back to their homeland and carry out their own cleanup plan.

…………

Charlotte, Queen of America, also began her duties in Richmond.

It takes half a day every day to listen to the report of the cabinet members headed by Monroe with the regent's uncle Frederick, or go to the parliament to listen to the meeting chaired by Jefferson.

Then sign and seal various new decrees and bills to announce their formal entry into force.

The rest of the day is for personal rest and entertainment.

In Charlotte's view, there is nothing interesting in Richmond except for the amusement park under construction.

The situation in Richmond is roughly somewhere between New Normandy (New York) and Norfolk.

Richmond is not a coastal port, but a river port, and there is no need for a large number of immigrants from the sea to transit.

But Richmond's location on the land is also very important, and it is also a place where immigrants from the land pass through.

Although there is no need to build a large number of shantytowns, and there is no large number of stranded immigrants, there are always a large number of people passing by here.

Meanwhile, much of Richmond's original urban area was destroyed in the war.

Now the whole city is being rebuilt.

Fortunately, there is a relatively abundant labor force that has migrated from the north.

Correspondingly, the whole city is a large construction site, and there is no place for entertainment.

The environment in Richmond made Charlotte obviously disappointed, and Charlotte stayed in the amusement park under construction most of the time.

The really busy people on the American side were Monroe and Jefferson.

The two rebuilt the American court and parliamentary institutions and made them function normally.

Maintain order in the United States, take over and preside over the subsequent construction plans of the United States.

This is not something that can be accomplished in a short period of time.

Half a month later, Charlotte received the news that it was time to return to London.

Although she is the Queen of America, she is also the only granddaughter of the King of England and the only daughter of the Prince Regent.

I haven't been home for more than three years. Now at least I have to go home first, and then I will consider whether to return to the United States.

As the king, Charlotte has recently signed a large number of documents and bills. Even if she leaves the United States for a period of time, it will not have much impact, after all, she has not yet been in charge of the government.

Charlotte was already a little disappointed in Richmond, and her anticipation of returning to London to see her grandfather and father grew stronger.

It's just a little regretful to give up the amusement park, but she is still regarded as a child and has no way to decide these things.

Charlotte followed her uncle and aunt, said goodbye to Monroe and Jefferson, and rushed to Norfolk by riverboat.

Gathered the British delegation headed by Grenville and took a large passenger ship to Dongyi Guolin County Wharf.

Charles, along with Talleyrand and other French representatives, boarded the ocean liner.

At the same time, Daming's high-speed fleet has also completed its reorganization, and once again accompanied the passenger ships of the representatives of Britain and France to visit the western continent.

Same as when they came, the entire fleet maintained a speed of [-] knots and headed north along the coastline of Beiyinzhou.

After sailing for more than 2000 kilometers, they came to Xinfadi (Newfoundland) Island, where the passenger ship refueled and then crossed the Atlantic Ocean.

On June 1809th of the fourth year of Ankang in the Ming Dynasty, July 7th, 27 in the Western calendar, the fleet arrived at Le Havre, a port in northern France.

The news of the end of the Yinzhou War has already spread throughout the middle and upper classes of France in the past half a year.

The news of the return of Crown Prince Charles and the visit of the Ming Fleet also appeared frequently in various newspapers in the past month.

The nobles headed by the French King Louis XVI and his wife, as well as some officials headed by the Duke of Richelieu, have already arrived in Le Havre from Paris in advance.

So when the fleet entered the port, there was a sea of ​​people on the pier, which was extremely lively.

The two "giant" battleships of Ming Dynasty aroused continuous cheers and discussions.

The most senior nobles headed by the French King Louis XVI and his wife, and the most senior officials headed by the Duke of Richelieu, watched the approaching warships at the place circled by the guards' pier.

Louis XVI's face was full of emotion:
"Looking at the pictures in the newspaper, looking at the estimates on paper, it doesn't really feel like it.

"Only when he actually came before his eyes could he intuitively feel that the battleship can be so huge."

The situation of Ming's two super warships had already been sent to Taixi by telegram and fax.

The royal families and high-level officials of various countries have already heard about it, and many of them have received professional assessments from their own navies.

The result is: invincible.

Queen Marie Antoinette followed suit:
"Is it our capital ship that greets us around? I thought it was quite big before, but it looks like a toy in front of them."

Louis XVI nodded instinctively, and then looked at Duke Richelieu beside him:

"Can France build such a large warship?"

The Duke of Richelieu replied with a complicated and dignified expression:

"Your Majesty... If you simply want to build a ship of the same size, it should be possible.

"However, even if we build a warship of the same size, it is basically impossible to achieve the same level of combat capability.

"The point is, with our financial situation, we cannot build too many warships of the same level on a large scale.

"And Daming's plan is at least 32 ships, and we are completely unable to compete with it at present."

Louis XVI immediately waved his hand and said:
"Armand, you misunderstood me, I don't want to directly compete with Daming.

"I just hope that we in France can also have warships of the same size, and the number does not need to be too many.

"We only need a few, maybe even one or two, as a symbol of our navy and our country.

"Then relying on this super-spec warship, we are fighting for a more favorable position in Taixi.

"Do you think France can afford to build a few warships of this kind?"

The Duke of Richelieu fell silent, thought carefully for a while and said:
"Your Majesty's thinking is correct. If we have a warship of this size, we can stabilize our position in Taixi.

"We don't need to build a large number, as long as there are warships of this size.

"As far as financial pressure is concerned, of course there is.

"However, we already have a shipbuilding budget and can reduce the number of planned small-scale warships.

"With the gradual recovery of the domestic industry and market, we should be able to afford to build three to four ships step by step."

Louis XVI nodded directly, and subconsciously ordered, but he forcibly stopped the words as soon as he uttered them:
"Then let's make a plan when we go back... No, don't worry...

"We'll discuss it with Charles when he comes back, and we'll make a decision after actually visiting Daming's battleship.

"Charles should know more about the situation..."

The Duke of Richelieu bowed slightly:

"Your will."

At the same time, among the aristocratic crowd not far away, the Duke of Orleans and his son were also discussing while looking at Daming's battleship.

It seems that the mood of the father and son is not very good.

The Duke of Orleans said harshly:

"After Ming's warships, these sea fortresses like steel fortresses, appeared on the docks of France, those timid guys dared not move even more..."

Philip, the eldest son of the Duke of Orleans, said dryly:

"Da Ming's help to France, and Prince Dashi's help to His Royal Highness Charles, can really be regarded as dedication.

"The Ming court gave loans with normal interest, and Prince Dashi gave low-interest loans, which helped the royal family close the deficit.

"There is still a large amount of investment from Daming in the market now, involving various industries and absorbing a large number of refugees.

"Refugees have a job, a source of income, and can live normally, so they will not pursue violence to change reality."

The Duke of Orleans sneered:
"Help? How can that be called help? It's just a means of controlling France.

"Da Ming's funds penetrated into every aspect of our France, competing with us French in all walks of life.

"This is encroaching on and seizing the interests that originally belonged to us, and we must find a way to stop all of this."

Philip subconsciously asked:
"How to stop it? His Majesty the King has obviously acquiesced. It is absolutely impossible for us to be enemies of Daming."

The Duke of Orleans looked at the huge battleship approaching with a straight face. After hesitating for a long time, he said:

"When I got back to Paris, I called the Rothschild family to see me."

(End of this chapter)