Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2223 North Sea ([-])

September 1693, 9, Blackwater Port.Bai Yutang, director of the Black Water Management Committee, watched a ship full of building materials and coal leave, but his frown did not relax.

As the only heavy industry production center in the five feudal states of the Far East, the Heishui Management Committee has had a very good life in the past few decades.They exported textile machinery to Ningshao, food processing equipment to Denglai, smelting equipment to North Korea, military equipment to Shunguo, ships and related equipment to Zheng, copper coins and leather to Japan, and metal tools to Qingguo. And agricultural tools, exporting whale products to the Dutch East India Company, etc., the business is very prosperous, providing a large number of high-paying jobs for the local area, which greatly improves the living standards of the people.

It can be said that if the GDP is calculated in this era, then the per capita GDP of the Heishui Management Committee must be the highest, even surpassing the area of ​​the Southern Pioneering Team, which has the largest economic aggregate. After all, the population difference between the two is too great. big.The equipment manufacturing industry, seafood processing industry, wood processing industry, paper industry, leather processing industry, and coal industry of the Heishui Management Committee can be regarded as the six pillar industries of its economy. Massive funds are collected here every day, so that The East Coast government set up the only mint in the Far East in Dabo County, and used its iconic salmon as the pattern of silver coins passing through the Far East.

However, the good times have passed for decades, and now in 1693, the life of Heishui is not so good.The first is the collapse of their timber processing industry.Well, strictly speaking, it is not a complete collapse, but a decrease in product sales and a sharp decline in profitability.The cause of the landslide is the dog-like North Koreans. Although the land of those guys is not very large, their timber resources are also top-notch. Moreover, they have a large population and the price level is extremely low. Very headache.

What is even more frustrating is that many of the wood processing machine tools of the North Koreans were exported from Heishui County. Even the wood drying kiln was designed by people from the East Bank. It is quite hurt to think about it. a competitor.And considering the important position of the Kingdom of Korea in the Far East system on the east coast, it is inconvenient for the Heishui Management Committee to stop the export of its complete sets of equipment and parts, which is very troublesome.

A while ago, Bai Yutang had held a meeting of several main cadres of the Blackwater Management Committee. At the meeting, everyone discussed a solution, which was to communicate with Manmeng, Ningshao, Denglai and other places to let them implement a quota system for North Korean timber imports. , restrict the import of North Korean timber, and protect the interests of Heishui, Manmeng and Lianwu, which have considerable timber industries.

The second coal industry in the Heishui area faces fierce competition. The reason is similar to that of timber. Its own production costs are so high that North Korean coal and Keelung coal have a competitive advantage after paying tariffs. There is really no way.Moreover, this industry has not yet been helped by Fa Denglai and Ning Shao. They have already helped with timber once, and it is unlikely that they will continue to help with coal. After all, they have to consider their own interests.At present, Heishui coal can basically only stick to the two sparsely populated markets of Heishui and Manmeng. Sometimes it sells parts to Denglai and Ningshao with some relationships, but the quantity is much worse than before.

Bai Yutang, director of the management committee, also thought of many ways to do this, but in the end they were all unsatisfactory.In the end, he also became ruthless, that is, the management committee and the local government jointly allocated funds to research new coal mining machinery and technology, and rely on scientific and technological progress to improve competitiveness.In order to strengthen the feasibility of this road, he also wrote back to the mainland through his contacts, requesting the Ministry of Coal to give them the priority authorization of the latest technology and patents related to coal mining, and they can pay a certain fee to ensure that the Blackwater Coal Mine sustainable competitiveness.

Two of the six pillar industries fell, and the seafood processing industry and equipment manufacturing industry were also affected to a certain extent.Especially for the latter, many businessmen who have imported black water machinery and equipment are also trying to imitate them, and have achieved certain results.In this regard, the Changsha Gun Bureau in Shunguo is the most typical. Because of the trade embargo imposed by the people on the east coast, they are forced to make some key parts by themselves. Even if they are handmade, even if the cost is not low, they are still insisting on making .Having suffered the pain of getting stuck once, they really don't want to be stuck in the neck again by people from the east coast. Therefore, the national level (Ministry of Industry) directly invests huge sums of money, recruits skilled craftsmen and even Western technicians, and tries every means to tackle technical problems.At present, according to the investigation of the army intelligence department, they are already able to produce a considerable part of their own parts. Although the core parts still need to be imported, who knows if they will make a breakthrough in the future?After all, the industrial development of backward countries starts with these little things, doesn't it?

Bai Yutang has also seriously thought about the technological progress of various forces on the land of China today.In his opinion, their progress is a little fast, fast enough to make people a little vigilant.He considered imposing a technical blockade and a trade embargo on these forces, but it was difficult to give up the rich commercial interests, and at the same time, there were some difficulties in operation.Just like the Qing Dynasty, the trade on the east coast has been severely restricted, but people can still introduce technology and equipment, even steam engines, through the British, Dutch, and French. merchants from those European countries.

If it is only European businessmen competing, it is not that there is no solution, but it will cost a lot.The crux of the problem is that the thinking of people on the land of China has changed to a certain extent.Decades of separatist wars and the coexistence of multiple forces have made the competition in China unprecedentedly fierce, and it is very inclusive of various ideas.Even in the seemingly most ignorant and conservative Qing Dynasty, the ruling and opposition parties are constantly reflecting and searching, hoping to get rid of the embarrassing situation of being hanged and beaten by people from the east coast.

The influx of external weapons, ideas, and culture has reached a critical crossroads after 50 years of fermentation. Although various new theories and ideas are extremely suppressed, they still emerge uncontrollably. And has been valued and respected by many people.Especially the gang of warlords in Shunguo, because of their weak natural strength, they need higher productivity to maintain the normal operation of their military machinery, so they strongly support the capitalists, let them develop rapidly, and do not hesitate to redefine He adopted the Confucian classics, praised many scholars with ideological enlightenment in the late Ming Dynasty, and set off a turbulent wave in the ideological world.To be honest, these profound changes in the field of thought are not without influence. In the future, various forces in mainland China will embark on the road of industrialization more or less, more or less quickly or slowly.

In the face of such changes that had not occurred in 2000, the Far Eastern Five Families set up by the East Coast people seemed to lack sufficient resilience, or were too slow to respond, and did not make targeted plans in a timely manner.Of course, this plan does not mean to prevent the industrialization and capitalism of mainland China. That is unlikely. The disposal plan mentioned here is mainly how to better safeguard the interests of the East China Republic in this huge change.

Undoubtedly, this is a huge subject, involving culture, ideology, trade, finance, military and other fields. It is necessary to sit down with the five kingdoms of the Far East and several influential colonial trading companies (such as the Bank of Taiwan, etc.) Negotiation is possible.If necessary, it is best to include Japan, North Korea, and Mongolia to implement an overall strategy, so that we can act most efficiently.

Bai Yutang had already written a letter to the other feudal clans regarding this matter, and at the same time, after sorting it out, he sent it back to the mainland, and left it to the members of the executive committee to decide.All in all, after 50 years of baptism, it is no longer possible for the Chinese to continue to sleep, and the whole of China has reached a historical crossroads, and it is impossible to turn back. People on the east coast must come up with corresponding countermeasures.

Of course, Bai Yutang still has to face the indisputable fact of the economic downturn in the Heishui area and find a way to solve it before the local people come to a conclusion.In all fairness, Blackwater has a harsh climate, few people, and the port will be frozen for 4-5 months, which is not an ideal place for the development of large-scale industries.Back then, people on the East Coast built various heavy industrial facilities here, one for safety, and the other for confidentiality. However, after decades of development, it is clear that things have changed again.

Taking the Ningshao area as an example, this feudal town has a large population, almost two million, and its economy is also very developed.All kinds of light industry factories have sprung up and developed very well.With the rise of light industry, in order to ensure the smooth development of light industry, the demand for heavy industry will naturally arise. Therefore, the desire of Ningshao area to develop its own iron factory, machining center, and shipyard is very urgent, and it has even reached the point where it is difficult to suppress the point.

The only remaining property in the area under the jurisdiction of the Blackwater Management Committee are those heavy industry factories, which is also their biggest source of profit.They knew very well that if Ningshao and Denglai also developed their own heavy industries, it would be a devastating blow to their economy.Especially in the area under the jurisdiction of the Denglai Pioneering Team, they have slowly penetrated into the processing and manufacturing of railway machinery through the channel of the Southern Railway Company, opening a hole.If there is continuous inflow of funds in the future, it will be a breeze to use this as a fulcrum to enter other fields. This is not a good thing for the huge Blackwater area.

Bai Yutang was still a little worried about this.He felt that perhaps Heishui should change its development thinking.Because in the long run, the competitiveness of Heishui is definitely not as good as that of the warm south, so it is better to take advantage of the advantages now and simply invest heavily and take shares in the heavy industry factories in several major development areas in the south. Get huge capital gains in the future.It's just that, in this way, the government's profits (dividends) may be obtained, but the local jobs will inevitably be greatly reduced. No matter how you look at it, it is a dilemma.

I was paralyzed playing mahjong today, shit...

(End of this chapter)