Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2425 Pampa (48)

"Get up, work harder, and don't let the people in the shopping mall on the other side look down on you!" On April 1701, 4, by the pier of Shanghai Port, a dark and thin man was holding a construction design drawing in his hand. shouted at the top of his voice.

What they are busy with is a communication line, a communication line with a length of no more than 50 kilometers.But don't underestimate it, because this is the first communication line across the seabed/river bottom on the entire east coast, connecting the telegraph room between Shangcheng Port and Shanghai Port.If this line proves to be safe for long-term use, it will bring new opportunities for the development of the east coast communication industry.

In fact, people on the east coast have tried many times about submarine communication cables.The first line they pulled up was actually on the side of Milin Lake. As a result, the submarine cable was damaged after three years of use, and the result was not ideal.Later, they set up a special technical research team, and the Engineering Technology Research Institute also participated in it, and received a large amount of funding from the "Science Spring" plan to continuously study and improve submarine communication cables, and then pull up in the Duck Lake Basin. the second line.The results this time are very good, and it took more than nine years of use before problems occurred.

The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, which is leading the project, has been encouraged by the limited success of the experiment in the Duck Lake basin.They once again organized experts to tackle key problems, improved some problems that had arisen before, and then started the third challenge with confidence: this time it was the seabed—considering that the upper layer of the Song River is fresh water and the lower layer is sea water, let’s count it as Let's cross the sea.

Needless to say, all experts agree that the project has a "high chance of failure" in deep water, because of the tricky topography of the ocean floor and the risks faced by insulated-sheathed copper wire in deep-water ooze.In the history of later generations, the English laid submarine cables between Dublin-Holyhead, Dover-Calais, Genoa-Corsica in the early 19s, because the installation locations were shallow and offshore , these telegraph lines were running for a considerable period of time before problems arose.However, after trying the deep-sea cable in the Atlantic Ocean in 50, it failed to make any sound after only less than a month of operation. The cable broke and the attempt failed.

Since the 19s, the English have made many attempts, from Norway to the coast of Africa, from Nova Scotia in North America to the Gulf of Mexico, from London to Constantinople, etc., many attempts failed many times Of the more than 60 miles of submarine lines laid, at least 1000 miles are available.Fortunately, the English were not discouraged, and they fished out and repaired wherever it was broken. In addition, the Indian mutiny later led the London government to give a large amount of financial subsidies to the submarine telegraph company, which made this technology develop by leaps and bounds, and eventually became It has to be practical slowly.

Of course, the people on the east coast at this time did not have such things as the mutiny in India that could shake the foundation of their rule, and their demand for submarine cables was not as urgent as that of the English.But this is not to say that they have no demand. In fact, the existence of a submarine communication cable between the mainland and South Africa is still necessary, which can solve a lot of troubles.Most importantly, it can stabilize the rule of the people on the east coast!

The experiment at the bottom of the deep Song River was only the first step.If it can be successful here—to be honest, the criteria for success are a bit vague, but it will take more than ten or twenty years without large-scale fractures—then the next step is to summarize experience and lessons and make further improvements.After the improvement, the new product can almost be tested between Xingnan-Madao, or even between Qingdao-Hezhong.

The East Coast Executive Committee still pays more attention to this.They understand that this is an epoch-making technology, something that can change the distance of the world.Once the mainland is connected to South Africa, New China and other places by cable telegraph, not only can various orders be implemented in the shortest time, but the local market can also be better connected with the mainland——Qingdao Port should be a good candidate for this technology. I am very much looking forward to it. As the financial center of the country, the large road goods transactions between South Africa and New China have been scratching my head. If there are submarine cables, everything will become easier.

Faster information and commodity transmission speed is the technology that can most change the distance between people and countries. There is no such thing. People on the East Coast have long had a very deep understanding of this.

"After the cable is connected, you can go to the river in that small boat and see if there is any trouble with the Halibut." The black and thin man turned around and returned to the original place. said the young man who followed him.

The "Halibut" is an engineering ship affiliated to the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications. It was specially set up to lay and overhaul submarine cables. The standard displacement exceeds 15 tons. It's a heartache.But there is no way, who makes this kind of ship not a general-purpose ship? The Hyundai Special Shipyard, the contractor, still feels that it has lost money. It has been chasing and asking the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications when it will build a second ship, so that they can share the research and development costs.

After hearing this, the young man responded loudly. After handing over some work to others, he immediately carried his briefcase and boarded a small steamer of tens of tons that also belonged to the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, and headed towards the center of the Song River.As for the black and thin man, he turned around and went to a nearby teahouse to rest, where he met an "old friend" who had met once.

"George Montgomery?" The thin black man said uncertainly, "I remember seeing you at a regular investor meeting of the Ministry of Railways, and you were praised at that time."

"Director You, it's me. Your memory is very good." George Montgomery nodded and said with a smile: "It was the investor meeting of the Luoshang Railway, and as a representative of investors in England, I was verbally praised by Mr. Chen ,My pleasure."

"Hey, let me just say, it looks so familiar." Director You subconsciously put the briefcase by his side, and then asked, "Why? Came to see Luo on the railway? I advise you not to worry about it. There will be no play within the year, and the money you invested will be returned to you, and you don’t know the year of the monkey.”

"Hehe, in fact, there is no rush to invest. I came to Shanghai Port mainly to feel the business atmosphere here. I wandered around the pier just now, and a row of more than a dozen sailboats were lined up there to unload, most of which were filled with Timber, it’s amazing, the trade volume of those timber alone may exceed 30 yuan, right?” George Montgomery said in an envious tone.

Because of the prairie, the south of the east coast has always needed to import timber, and Shanghai Port and Yancheng Port are the two major import ports.As for the importing places of timber, due to policy reasons, there are some places in various places, that is, not only from their own land, but also from the Free State, Portuguese Brazil, New Courland and even New Huaxia Island.This is a means of economic regulation, but also a disguised form of influence.According to a statistic last year (1700), by weight, about 40% of the timber consumption on the east coast comes from imports, almost all of which are transported by sailboats. After entering several large ports, they are scattered into civil buildings and mine columns. , railway construction and industrial applications and other markets.

Similar to timber is the cotton market.Although the native Hexi area already has a large-scale cotton-producing area—mostly state-run farms, and a large number of Indians and mestizos are used in the picking season—more than two-thirds of the cotton on the East Bank is still imported from abroad. , Shanghai, Ping'an, Dongfang and Mingfu are the four main import ports.Among these cottons, 40% came from Xinhua Island, 25% from Free State, 20% from Mobile Estuary (Air Canada Plantation), and 10% from Caribbean islands. It accounts for 5%, and the remaining [-]% comes from different sources and is not fixed.

For the import of bulk materials such as timber and cotton, the two major ports in Shanghai County (Shanghai Port and Nancun Port) are the main import places, which also reflects the prosperity and prosperity of this seaport city from the side.The existence of enterprises such as Songhe Group, BMW, Mashi Foods, Modern Shipbuilding, Shanghai Iron and Steel, etc. has accelerated the economic development of the city, and then slowly absorbed the resources of the upper reaches of the Bianhe River and neighboring counties and townships in the hinterland. A relatively complete economic region began to be formed.

In this area, there are three counties of Xinbian, Xincao, and Hening, which undertake the division of labor in the industrial chain—these three counties are responsible for processing upstream processes such as mechanical parts, chemical intermediate products, and semi-finished grain products—and also provide resources, manpower, and resources. Market towns along the Yanshang Railway, such as Jiaocheng, Gaoyuan, Baita, Jiacheng, Sanjue and other counties.

Jiacheng and Sanjue counties were newly established at the end of last year, and are currently under the jurisdiction of the Luxi (west of the Yanshang Railway) area with Shanghai County as its administrative county.Among them, Jiacheng County is the 203rd county-level administrative unit in the country. It has jurisdiction over Jiacheng Town, Huangxu Township, Zhongxing Township (located near the 204th July City of the later generations), Sanhe Township (located near the small village of Hale in the later generations), There are four settlements in total, with a population of more than 3000, and the output of agriculture and animal husbandry is relatively stable; Sanjue County is the 8th county-level administrative unit in the country, and it governs Sanjue Town (located near the later Chivelkoy City ), Shungeng Township (located near the later city of Chakabuco), Mingyi Township (located near the later city of Bragado), Shanhou Township (located near the later town of Saladillo), and the same four settlements , currently has a population of more than [-], with equal emphasis on agriculture, animal husbandry and commerce, and its development is not bad.In addition, the newly established Yinghe Township (located near the later Lobos Township) is under the jurisdiction of Shanghai County. The number of townships under the jurisdiction of this county has also reached ten, and the total population has reached [-] to [-]. The development speed is still quite fast of.

And just as Qingdao County to the north of the Song River has Shangcheng, Guangling, Minghe, Taoyuan, Luoqia and other counties as "little brothers", Shanghai also has several supporting industrial cluster counties.I believe that for a long time to come, Qingdao and Shanghai, the two pearl cities on the north and south sides of the Song River, will also use the group army combat model to lead the entire hinterland to develop and get rich together, setting an example for other regions.

(End of this chapter)