Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 234 The Ottomans in Dongfang Port ([-])

Hassan and the others quickly boarded several large four-wheeled passenger carriages, and then left the pier hotel under the escort of eight cavalrymen, heading for the executive building.The carriage drove very smoothly along the way, and it could be seen that the road surface was smooth and smooth, which surprised Hassan a little.

Perhaps, all the mysteries lie in that dark substance on the road?Hassan secretly guessed.

The road from the pier hotel to the city was very empty. After driving at high speed for a while, the carriage approached the city wall, and the speed of the carriage slowed down accordingly.Hassan sat up straight calmly, carefully looking at the city in front of him through the gap above the small door at the front of the carriage.

What came into view was a huge city tower, er... Maybe it is more appropriate to call it a gun tower.I saw more than eight cannons placed above the small city tower. The black muzzle and the strong artillery bunker told people that it was not just for viewing.Hassan quickly noticed that there seemed to be more than one tower on this side of the city wall. At least a few hundred meters to the left and right of this tower, he also saw a tower protruding from the city wall. On each tower were placed 6- 8 cannons.

The farther places are limited to the perspective relationship, because the city wall is not straight.In fact, this wall is presented in a sharp, prismatic shape. Hassan is very clear about this construction method.This kind of city wall with a large number of sharp protrusions can effectively reduce the nest area, which greatly reduces the destructive power of artillery on the city wall.The Austrians built many such forts on the border, which made the Ottoman army suffer a lot.

Standing at the gate of the city were eight policemen from the Ministry of Internal Affairs in black uniforms. They wore breastplates, carried rifles, and carried sabers.Hassan noticed that after the policemen let go, the dozen or so policemen on the gate tower who were also armed with rifles turned their attention away from them.

What a strict security system!Hassan lamented that the Ottoman Empire used to be so disciplined and meticulous, but the bureaucratic style such as weak sense of responsibility and overstaffing began to erode the fighting spirit that the Ottomans were once proud of. Slide down.

Recalling the glory of the past, and looking at the corruption and weakness of the Ottoman army today, as an authentic Turk, Hassan couldn't help but feel a little sad.Today's Ottoman Empire can only rely on new armies formed on the basis of foreign races and pagans. After more than a hundred years of development, these new armies are now showing a certain decline. ambition.Many officers and soldiers of the New Army were attacked by fathers and sons, their combat effectiveness declined rapidly, and the troops became warlords. There was even a rebellion when the Empress Dowager was in power.Today's Ottoman Empire, although it still looks as strong as flowers blooming brocade and fire cooking oil from the outside, but Hassan, who has been in the Ottoman army for several generations, knows in his heart that the frequent chaos in the country is actually It's gone downhill.Moreover, judging from the current chaotic political situation in the country, it seems that there is no hope of this trend being reversed.

The carriage passed through the long door opening, and many Tibetan soldier holes were set up in the walls on both sides of the door opening. This was a measure set up to strengthen the guarding force of the city gate.The area 100 meters behind the door opening is empty, with only a few parapets standing alone, forming a sharp contrast with the bustling market more than [-] meters away.As a professional military officer, Hassan understood that the purpose of setting up a separation zone near the city wall was to facilitate the deployment and deployment of troops, so as to better use the city wall for defense.

The street is wide enough for two such large carriages to run side by side.But what is strange is that the bustling crowds on the side of the road do not walk on the wide street, but walk crowdedly on the gravel road outside the white line on both sides of the street.After asking the accompanying diplomats of the East Coast Republic, I learned that the asphalt road within the white line is reserved for carriages, ox carts, and horses, and pedestrians should go outside the white line.Of course, the troops and police in mobilization can also use the asphalt road within the white line.

There were many buildings lined up on both sides of the road, and Hassan noticed that most of them were shops.The people from the east bank told him before that the southern city of Dongfanggang is a commercial area, with most commercial buildings.The shops on the roadside include state-run stores selling agricultural tools, knives, seeds, refined salt, grain, etc., and private stores selling consumer goods such as coffee, cocoa, tofu, cooking oil, and fruits. The thick style of stone and red bricks, the windows are opened very small, and the houses generally have only one floor.Hassan was a little surprised. He heard that this port city is the capital of the people on the east coast, but why are the houses and city walls almost all in the thick, cumbersome, and sturdy style?Such a solid building, even if the enemies on the outskirts of the city use mortars to throw shells into the city, it may have a limited effect.Terrible people from the East Coast, isn't this city and this country completely a military machine?

Boiling voices from both sides of the street drifted into the carriage from time to time.Hassan observed silently. Many people on both sides of the road were wearing blue jackets with four pockets, walking on both sides of the road without rushing.The diplomats on the east coast told Hassan that these were factory workers who had left their jobs. They came to the commercial area to buy some daily consumer goods such as tobacco, alcohol, cane sugar, cocoa, coffee, and fruits.This surprised Hassan. Can these ordinary citizens afford these "luxury goods"?

Facing Hassan’s question, the accompanying diplomats from the East Bank patiently explained to him that those who often come to the business district for shopping are usually mid-level technicians, teachers, military officers and above, government staff, The annual income of businessmen and wealthy farmers in the vicinity is generally between 60-100 yuan.

And now the liquor produced in South Africa - Hezhong Daqu, the cheap one costs only three cents a bottle, and the expensive one is only one yuan.Local self-produced bulk liquor is even cheaper, rarely more than a dime a catty.Liquor is like this, and others are similar.Spending one or two yuan or even three or four yuan a month on these consumer goods is not a big problem at all for the middle class on the east coast who earn tens of hundreds of yuan a year.

Hassan was silent about this. Compared with the east coast, the consumption power of the people of the Ottoman Empire was much lower.Even if you are a Turk, if you don't get a position in the government or the army, and you don't have any land or shops at home, it is unimaginable to live like ordinary people on the east coast.Of course, some people may say that these people are the middle class of the East Coast Republic, and the high standard of living is taken for granted.But only Hassan himself knows how big the gap between rich and poor was in the Ottoman Empire, and how miserable the lives of ordinary farmers are.Just now people from the east bank also said that in their country, even an ordinary farmer, as long as he works hard, his annual income will never be less than 30 yuan, and it may be as high as 40-50 yuan.According to the price level on the east coast, their standard of living will be much higher than that of ordinary farmers in the Ottoman Empire, which is beyond doubt.

What is the reason that makes the country on the east coast so rich that the standard of living of their people is comparable to that of the middle and upper classes of the Ottoman Empire?Hassan was puzzled and puzzled.Because now he would not understand at all the difference in the efficiency of wealth creation between an industrial country and an agricultural country.Even though the East China Republic is not yet a complete and thoroughly industrialized country, its efficiency and speed of wealth creation are far from what a traditional agricultural country like the Ottoman Empire can match.

What's more, the Ottoman Empire was still a backward feudal country with prominent domestic ethnic contradictions and retained a large amount of slavery, so its production efficiency was even lower.Industrial countries and agricultural countries are completely different in terms of production efficiency and organizational systems, which is proved by the history of human development.

Passing through this street about 200 meters long, the carriage crossed a stone bridge and entered the Beicheng area.As the industrial area and administrative area of ​​Dongfang Port, Beicheng can be said to be the core area of ​​Dongfang Port.Along the bank of the Dayu River, there are many chimneys in machine textile factories, mints, arsenals and other factory areas. Billowing thick smoke rises from the chimneys with a height ranging from a few meters to more than ten meters, which is so eye-catching under the blue sky.

As the Government Council vigorously promotes a new generation of power - steam engines across the country to replace the hydraulic machinery used in large quantities in the past, many factories have built boiler rooms and used a large amount of coal mined and transported in the north as fuel, which caused This is the scene of many chimneys in the North City Industrial Zone of Dongfang Port.In fact, it’s not a big deal here. If you have time to go to the heavy industrial zone in Ping’an County in the north, you will have a deeper understanding of what is called thick smoke and what is called soot.Ping'an Town, which gathers heavy industrial factories such as Ping'an Iron and Steel Plant, Coking Plant, First Machinery Plant, Northern Arsenal, and Dyestuff Factory, is the number one industrial center in the Eastern China Republic.In comparison, these chimneys in Dongfang Port are trivial, and the air quality is much better than that in Ping'an Town.

Looking at the strange scenes in front of him that he had never seen before, Hassan's heart was greatly shocked.He is not an uninformed person. The Ottoman Empire also had many workshops that used coal as fuel, but they never built huge chimneys like the people on the east coast.In his simple understanding, the larger and taller the chimney, the larger the scale of the workshop, the more people it employs, and the greater its production capacity.

Thinking of this, Hassan couldn't help feeling even more disappointed. Is the production capacity of the Ottoman Empire not even as good as these people from the east coast?How big is the gap with the Western world?

(End of this chapter)