Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2421 Economic prosperity before the war ([-])

On February 1701, 2, Serginho arrived at the famous Qingdao Port by train.

As the largest metropolis on the East Coast and the most international city, the train station looks a bit dilapidated.However, considering that this is an "antique" designed decades ago, everything seems to be understandable.

In the past few decades, the east coast has developed too fast. Buildings of various styles and styles have sprung up from the ground. It has developed from a state of almost nothing to a prosperous and wealthy country today. It cannot but be said to be an economic Miracle.Qingdao Railway Station was built in the early days, and compared with the more modern buildings around it, it naturally looks a bit dilapidated.

However, it is said that the people on the east bank are planning to build a larger new railway station next to the original site of the old railway station, and after the new railway station is put into operation, the old railway station will be demolished as a whole and converted into commercial buildings such as hotels, restaurants, and shopping malls. facility.It is a pity that the original railway station paid too much attention to functionality, and the business was not well developed.

The owner of the station site is the Central Railway Company.The company is one of the three major railway companies on the east coast. It owns the transportation artery of the Great Northern Railway (the Ome Railway has been merged into it), and also operates such as the Grassland Railway and the Northwest Railway. It is also negotiating with the Forest Development Corporation The repurchase of the Forest Railway is a first-class large enterprise.

In comparison, the second largest railway company, the American Railroad Company, is inferior.Although the company operates the Shanghai-Yancheng Railway (Shanghai-Yancheng), the wool transportation line (one of which was opened to traffic), and the Southern Cone Liangyang Railway, but because they are not economically developed areas on the east coast, they are slightly different from China Railway. Not as good.However, after the Luoyan Railway and Luoshang Railway that it is building are completed, the strength of the two is estimated to be almost the same, although China Railway is currently vigorously promoting the construction of the Luoming Railway.

The third largest railway company, Southern Railway Company, is comparatively weak.Because this is a half-military, half-civilian enterprise controlled by the Army, it is difficult to get financial allocations.And its assets are mainly overseas, such as the Shangding Railway, the Jiaoyan Railway, and the Pingrong Railway that is under construction.But to be honest, the potential of this company should not be underestimated, because the economies of the Far East have developed rapidly in recent years, not only does not need central financial subsidies, but can also repay millions of dollars every year. This is an amazing achievement.The Southern Railway is rooted in densely populated areas such as Denglai and Ningshao. No one dares to predict what will happen in the future.

There are also local small enterprises in the East Coast such as the Forest Development Company and the New Huaxia Railway Company, but they are small in scale and limited in financial strength, making it difficult to compete with the above three companies.The future is either destined to be merged, or to operate independently and poorly, and it is difficult to have further development.

The Ministry of Railways on the East Coast raised the domestic railway freight standards seven years ago, including a 2.5% increase in the freight for whole wagons, and a 4% increase in the freight for small pieces (those that cannot fill the whole wagon).The above is the overall increased rate. In fact, in actual operation, it is often charged according to the different types of goods.At the same time, they also began to vigorously crack down on unethical behaviors, such as issuing false invoices of 120 yuan for a freight of [-] yuan, etc. China Railway and Amtrak both received inquiries from the Ministry of Railways for this, and had to do it.

The implementation of the new freight price list has greatly increased the income of the railway companies and reduced their heavy debt burden. The urban middle class who bought the shares of the railway companies are also grateful for this, because their dividends once again exceeded bank interest , the railroad workers were also very happy, because the bonus was a little more (although only a little), which may be beneficial to the development of the East Coast Railway.

However, in the railway work conference held at the beginning of this year, rumors spread that the railway freight rate may increase again after a lapse of seven years.Part of the reason for the price increase is that there are many railway construction projects, and major railway companies have borrowed from banks one after another, and the interest burden is heavy. Another part of the reason is obvious inflation and rising prices.

The operating expenses of the railway company continued to rise in this wave of price increases, and the workers were also dissatisfied with the daily changes in prices.To this end, the Ministry of Railways specially organized an investigation committee composed of railway experts, business people, workers' representatives and judicial practitioners to see if the railway company's joint application for price increase should be approved.

According to the current survey results that have come out intermittently, the Ministry of Railways may not quite agree with the railway company's request for a 5% and 8% increase in freight rates for large and small pieces (almost twice the price of seven years ago), but it is not too Possibly ignoring the plight of rail operators entirely.The final result may still allow a small price increase, which is the same as the standard seven years ago. At the same time, major railway companies are required to cut redundant staff, reduce unnecessary administrative expenses, and improve work efficiency and service attitude. These are used to soften public opinion. Dissatisfaction with the price increase of freight.

With the continuous increase of railway freight and the continuous increase of the mileage of first-class and second-class national highways in the east coast, the short-distance transportation of steam vehicles has begun to come into people's field of vision.Compared with traditional freight wagons, this means of transport has a larger transport volume and faster speed, does not need to feed horses, and will not pollute the road.But correspondingly, its purchase and maintenance costs are relatively high, which prevents its breakthrough development.

At the same time, those who oppose this kind of transportation also believe that the vehicle equipped with a small horsepower steam engine has a large weight and is easy to damage the road, so it should not be vigorously promoted as a main transportation method.Supporters say that this small-horsepower steam engine has been widely used in the agricultural field, and after years of technological development, its performance has been greatly improved. The self-weight of the steam engine has been greatly reduced under the condition of constant horsepower. Practical value.

But in any case, the high purchase and maintenance costs are there, and it is also a fact that the road is damaged, and the noise is relatively loud. For now, steam cars still cannot compete with horse-drawn carriages.Perhaps, we have to wait until the practical liquid fuel steam car turns out (which means less weight) before this kind of transportation can become popular.

"Sir, the ticket has been bought. The passenger and cargo ship of the Messenger Liner Company will depart from Pier No. [-] in a week and head to San Salvador." Just as Serginho was standing on the embankment of the pier watching the scenery, A follower with a leather briefcase came over and said, "Uh, we will stop at Changshun Port and Jiaohe Port for two days on the way."

"San Vicente and Seguro, the long-lost homeland." Serginho sighed, not knowing what he was thinking.

Next to the train station is the port.The existence of Qingdao Bay has made it possible for a large number of ships to dock. In addition, people on the east coast have spared no expense in building a large number of permanent breakwaters on the periphery to keep out the rough waves. Qingdao Bay has suddenly become an excellent safe haven.As far as Serginho is looking at it at this moment, he can draw the conclusion that there are hundreds of ships moored in the port without counting.

It has to be said that this is an astonishing number in the whole world. Even if there are many small boats such as fishing boats mixed in, it is still very powerful.As far as the European continent is concerned, I am afraid that only the port of Amsterdam with a forest of masts can firmly overwhelm it. The port of London may be comparable in number, but its tonnage is definitely not as good.

This is a prosperous commercial port, there is no doubt about it!

"That's a [-]-ton giant ship made by the East Coast, right?" The young attendant saw the legendary ship for the first time, and pointed to the ship slowly approaching the pier with the help of several small steam tugboats. Said the big ship.

Serginho turned his gaze away and nodded slightly.In fact, it was the first time he had seen such a stunning ship.At present, only the state-owned South China Sea Transportation Company has steam ships, and there are probably less than [-] of them, of which [-] have been put into operation, mainly used to travel to southern Chile, Australia, Rabaul, and the Far East. , Diu, Xinhua Island and the transoceanic routes of the Red Sea.

In other words, almost all of these new ships are currently used to take the internal routes of the East Coast system, mainly transporting commodities such as food, spices, wood, ammunition, cloth, minerals, and mechanical equipment. The transportation volume is huge and the transportation efficiency is also very high. .

The emergence of epoch-making shipping tools also greatly promoted the development of ocean trade.Taking cotton as an example, the cotton output of Xinhuaxia Island has always been large, but limited by the inefficiency of traditional transportation means, the annual transportation quota has always been limited in the past.However, after the emergence of safe, efficient, and fast steam-powered ships, a large amount of local cotton could be shipped out, which in turn stimulated local cotton planting.Another example is grain. The traditional sailing or motor-sailing transport of grain has a great disadvantage, that is, after experiencing strong winds and waves at sea, the grain is always in a wet state, which greatly affects its value.In addition, the transportation volume and speed are not enough, not to mention the safety, so the potential of food trade has not been completely liberated-Russia has so much food surplus, but the Dutch and the English can transport food in a year on the rough North Sea. how many boatsIs it comparable to the ships of the East Coasters?

According to the statistics of the Dongan people themselves, after the 4.5-ton ship was officially put into commercial use, the trade volume of Qingdao Port increased by 13.8% in the first year, increased by 21% in the second year, and directly increased by [-]% in the third year.The increase in trade volume means economic prosperity, people's income can increase, government taxes can increase, and the overall situation presents a very virtuous circle.

And in order to accommodate the docking of these ships.The Qingdao Port Authority has also renovated or built many new docks and docks. The largest one is said to be able to accommodate a 5000-ton ship. Unfortunately, there are no such large ships on the east coast, and Serginho can’t imagine the world. Who in the world would own such a big boat—maybe from the East Coast, they always do wonders, don't they?

"Such a big ship, so many ships..." Serginho didn't know what language to use to describe it: "How many export commodities pass through this port every year? 20 tons? 30 tons? Or 50 tons? [-] tons? Are there [-] tons of ships in Portugal? There are other ports on the east coast, although they are far inferior to Qingdao Port, but the overall sum is very scary. This is really a monster-like country."

In fact, as Serginho said, the throughput of Qingdao Port is already so huge, but there are other ports on the east coast.For example, the old-fashioned Zhenhai Port, as the only sea channel to enter the economically developed Duck Lake Basin, collects and distributes a large amount of timber, grain, coal, textiles, chemicals, hardware products, etc. every year, with a total throughput of more than 30 tons.Another example is Yancheng Port, a large grain export port. The local imports and exports more than 20 tons of wheat, seafood, salt, chemicals, timber building materials, wool, leather, cloth, etc. every year. It is also a very prosperous port.

The circulation and prosperity of the internal commodity economy on the east coast have far exceeded the imagination of outsiders, so that shipping companies such as the South China Sea Shipping Company and the Messenger Shipping Company (which belong to the same company as the Messenger Liner Company, namely the Messenger Ocean Group) Doing the domestic market is enough to eat a lot.

The huge profits provided by the domestic market have also prompted these companies to increase investment in fixed assets.After the South China Sea Shipping Company entered into service a large number of [-]-ton ocean-going ships, the second echelon of the Caribbean Shipping Company, the Messenger Shipping Company, and the East African Shipping Company will soon welcome their own all-steam ships.Next, they can go out to Europe, the Far East and other places like the national reserve grain depot, establish their own shipping empire, and grab the eternal benefits for the East Coast Republic of China.

(End of this chapter)