On November 13, the 30th year of Chengshun, the Shenghua passenger ship owned by Jiangnan Shipping Company finally arrived at Xiayang City, the second largest city in North America in the Chu Empire, after more than two months of sailing.
Xiayang City was located in the Seattle area of North America in the original time and space. It was a place on the west coast of North America that was more suitable for settlement and trade development. It was clearly named after the Xia Yang, the flagship of the Chu Empire's exploration fleet that was among the first to arrive there that year.
At that time, the exploratory fleet sent by the Chu Empire to North America was still a pure sailing fleet. When sailing eastward, it needed to make use of monsoons and ocean currents, and took the North Pacific route.
Well, the Spaniards followed the same path. The Chu people actually followed the Spanish to explore eastward and set foot on the American lands.
In the age of sailing, the North Pacific route always started in the summer, passed through the Fuso Islands, and took advantage of the southwest monsoon.
After crossing the North Pacific, it sailed south along the west coast of northern North America, passing what would become Alaska and the west coast of Canada along the way.
However, these places are located in the north and are too cold. The Chu Empire simply set up a few supply bases along the way here. When they were exhausted, they set up a trading base to do business with the local indigenous people, mainly to purchase the goods from the indigenous people. fur.
It would be difficult to establish truly large settlements in these places, let alone cities. The only option was to continue south and arrive at the coastal area later known as Puget Sound. The climate here was relatively better. In winter, it was about minus 5 degrees Celsius, and in summer, it was almost 20 degrees Celsius. Spend.
The temperature difference between winter and summer here is relatively small, the climate is mild, the air is very humid, and the annual rainfall is large. It is a very typical temperate maritime climate.
Although this kind of place cannot be said to be very good, it is still pretty good. Therefore, when the Chu Empire first started, it established a stronghold here, organized early immigrants to colonize it, and conducted trade with nearby indigenous people.
The subsequent exploration fleet continued south along the west coast of North America, arrived in the San Francisco area, and finally reached the coast of Mexico and came into contact with Spain.
During this process, Xiayang City became the bridgehead for the Chu Empire's colonial expansion in North America due to its relatively superior geographical and transportation status. The city and surrounding areas successively established Xiayang County, and then expanded to Xiayang Mansion.
This government is only an overseas territory directly under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China. The area under its jurisdiction is extremely large, covering the entire surrounding area of Xiayang Bay, including Beiyang County in the northern area of Xiayang Bay.
When the governor of North America was established a few years ago, Xia Yang City once became the residence of the governor of North America. However, the residence of the governor of North America was later changed to Jinshan City\b in order to more conveniently manage the affairs of the huge jurisdiction.
It is worth mentioning that the jurisdiction of the North American Governor is very large. Basically all North American areas from the east of the Bering Strait are under the jurisdiction of the North American Governor. At the same time, the affairs of South America are also under the jurisdiction of the North American Governor.
It is said that he is the governor of North America, but in fact it is more appropriate to say he is the governor of the Americas. The governor of North America, like the governor of India, not only manages the affairs of the Chu Empire's directly administered territories, colonies, vassal states, and puppet states within its jurisdiction, but is also responsible for managing vassal affairs in the region, and has the authority to declare war and negotiate peace.
\bThis is also the reason why the North American governor's residence was originally moved from Xiayang to Jinshan City further south. After all, Xiayang City was still too far north, and there was also a lack of sufficient agricultural land in the surrounding area, so it was not as good as Jinshan Prefecture in terms of agricultural development.
When the Chu people first arrived in the Jinshan area, they found that there was a good port and a very good climate. There was also land that could be cultivated. It was also relatively close to Mexico where Spain was located, so they could trade with the Spanish nearby.
Therefore, Jinshan City was built here. However, in the early years, Jinshan City was actually just a port trading city used to trade with indigenous people and Spanish people. It was not large in scale, and it was not the early business focus of the Chu people.
Later, after a small amount of gold was discovered here, the scale of immigration and development gradually increased. The large number of people who arrived with the gold rush dispersed to surrounding areas, and began to immigrate to the inland Golden Valley. Finally, it was finalized The good situation of Jinshan Mansion was achieved.
Here, gold and the Golden Valley play a huge role. Let’s not talk about gold, let’s talk about the Golden Valley. In the early years, the Chu people discovered that after passing through the Jinshan East Mountains along the coastline, there was a large area of flat and fertile land, extending eastward to what the Chu people called the Jinxi Mountains.
Between the east and west mountains of Jinshan, there is a broad and flat valley, which is tens of kilometers wide from east to west and five to six hundred kilometers long from north to south.
There are also two rivers in the north and south, and their outlets are both located in Jinshan City. Such terrain and river transportation conditions are very suitable for immigrant settlement and development. Therefore, the Chu Empire continued to immigrate and develop this area for many years, and continued to go deep inland along the river, into the Jinshan Valley, and established immigrant settlements along the river. Point, fortress.
However, the number of immigrants in the early stage was small, so the scale of local resettlement and development has never increased. Only more than ten settlements were established along the river, and each settlement was sold to only one or two thousand people. The total number of immigrants The number of people is just over 10,000.
These more than 10,000 people were nothing to the tens of thousands of square kilometers of the Golden Valley. Even because the number was so small, early immigrants from Chu State were often attacked by local indigenous people.
Until a large amount of gold was discovered in Shuanghe Town, about a hundred kilometers east of Jinshan City, and Dongyang Trading Company began to organize manpower to mine gold here.
After the news spread to other places, a large number of people came to pan for gold. The news even spread back to China, attracting a large number of immigrants to come to Shuanghe Town to pan for gold.
After all, only a few of these gold diggers broke out overnight. Most of them could only earn some hard-earned money. In the process, many people also settled in surrounding areas.
To put it simply, the gold rush attracted a large number of people to flock here, and the excellent natural conditions of the Golden Valley can accommodate these gold seekers who traveled thousands of miles to find gold.
The two combined eventually created Jinshan City, the largest city in North America, and Jinshan Mansion, the largest palace of the Chu Empire.
The population within the jurisdiction of Jinshan Prefecture has exceeded 100,000, which is a very large population for an overseas colony.
What's more important is that the local population continues to increase at a rapid rate... Because the news of gold production in the Jinshan Prefecture area has only spread in the country for a long time, and a large number of people continue to take ships to the area.
Optimistic estimates suggest that when the gold rush ends, the local population will probably be hundreds of thousands! And you don’t have to worry about whether these hundreds of thousands of people will survive... because the Golden Valley they are in is the best agricultural developable area on the west coast of North America, with a large amount of land that can accommodate a sufficient agricultural population.
Under such a situation, it was logical that Jinshan City became the residence of the governor of North America. However, although Jinshan City continues to develop, the importance of Xiayang City to the north has not declined, and has even further increased.
If nothing else, its important role as a maritime port is irreplaceable. After all, this is an important port for the North Pacific route. Except for a few spare small supply ports along the way, the first North American port city that most ships arrive at is Xiayang City.
The same was true for the Shenghua. The ship traveled eastward and arrived at Xiayang City first. Many passengers disembarked here, but more of them continued on the boat to prepare for Jinshan Prefecture. Many immigrants who came to North America went for the gold and fine land of Jinshan Prefecture. It was slightly cold and humid. The rainy Xiayang Mansion area was not their first choice.
\bAfter the Shenghua replenished coal, water and food in Xiayang Port, it also brought a group of passengers from Xiayang City to Jinshan City, and even to the Sandalwood Islands and even back home along the coastline. Go south.
It didn't take long for them to arrive at Anhe City, a port city south of Xiayang City. Anhe City is a very typical small port city. It is not large in scale, with only more than 2,000 people. It is mainly used as a place for some large coastal ships. After docking, the personnel and materials were transferred to river boats and headed eastward along the Anhe River deep into the hinterland of North America, including Land River City, which was about 150 kilometers away from the city.
Luhe City is the third largest city in the Chu Empire in North America, and it has the tendency to surpass Xiayang City and become the largest city in Chu State in North America. Its urban resident population has reached more than 7,000 people. At the same time, the city It is the administrative seat of Luhe Prefecture. The entire Luhe Prefecture has a population of more than 40,000 people, distributed in colonial settlements along the lower reaches of the Luhe River.
There are also many passengers getting on and off the ship here. After completing the boarding and disembarkation of passengers, the Shenghua continued southward. At this time, the ship did not stop, but went all the way south.
Although there are some small port cities in the Chu Empire along the way, they are not large in scale and the number of passengers is not large. The most important thing is that it takes a lot of time.
The Shenghua is not an ordinary passenger ship, but a transoceanic passenger ship. It will not berth in small ports to pick up and disembark passengers. Besides, some small ports do not berth the Shenghua, which is fully loaded with 4,600 tons. Port facility conditions for ocean liners by tonnage.
The Shenghua continued to go south along the coast, and it didn't take long to reach Jinshan Mansion. The first thing it sailed into was Jinshan Bay.
When entering Jinshan Bay, a large group of tourists found that this place was really lively. There were many ships passing by in the bay, several of which were large ships of several thousand tons.
Among them was the ocean liner Mercury of Jiangnan Shipping Company's main competitor, Donghai Shipping Company.
This is an ocean liner with a full load displacement of more than 3,000 tons. It was completed and put into service in the 24th year of Chengshun. It is a relatively typical early sailing ocean liner. The ship departs from Tianjin and its destination is also Jinshan, and then departs from Jinshan City. Return to China via the Honolulu Islands and across the Central Pacific.
\bThe ship's route is actually similar to that of the Shenghua. It basically takes the North Pacific route when going there and the Central Pacific route when returning, thus forming a circum-Pacific route.
This route is also the main route between the Chu Empire and North America. It is convenient, fast, and close to the distance. If the season is good, you can also take advantage of the monsoon.
The Shenghua passed by not far from the Mercury. Although the two sides were competitors, they still blew their horns to greet each other.
After passing the Mercury, the Shenghua continued to move forward, and soon a guide ship guided the Shenghua into the bay and headed towards the Dongcheng Pier of Jinshan Port.
The Dongcheng Wharf of Jinshan City is located to the east of Jinshan City, facing Jinshan Bay. It is also the middle area of Jinshan Bay. It is not only calm and calm, but also has relatively good natural port conditions. Very early on, immigrants from the Great Chu Empire A dock was built here.
After several years of continuous construction, the Dongcheng Wharf here has relatively complete wharf facilities, which can be used to berth large-tonnage ships, and has complete port hoisting equipment, which can load and unload large amounts of cargo.
In addition, the terminal not only serves ocean liners, but also inland river vessels. Many inland river and offshore vessels use this place as the center to go to several other towns in Jinshan Bay, such as Jinshan City opposite Jinshan City, which is only six or seven kilometers away from the bay. Xijin Town.
Beijin Town is located in the north of Jinshan Bay and at the mouth of Jinshan River. There are also inland river boats that will go all the way east along the Jinshan River, crossing the Jinshan West Mountains and entering the Jinshan Valley.
Large-tonnage ocean-going ships pass through the Pacific route, transporting a large number of immigrants and commodities from the mainland to the three major port cities in North America: Xiayang, Anhe, and Jinshan. They are then distributed through these three major coastal cities using offshore and inland river vessels. .
On the contrary, many specialty goods from North America, such as furs, precious metals, precious wood, grain, cotton, tobacco, cocoa, etc., were produced or purchased by local Chu immigrants, or goods from the Spanish were concentrated in these three major cities from various places. port, and then transported back to the mainland via ocean-going ships.
This is also the operating route of the Shenghua! Under the guidance of the guide boat, the Shenghua arrived at the dock area. Then, driven by the steam tugboat and its own steam power, the huge ship began to slowly approach the dock, and finally berthed securely on the dock.
After the ship docked, after a moment of safety inspection and preparations, passengers on the Shenghua began to disembark one after another.
There are many more passengers disembarking here than at Xiayang City and Anhe Port, almost a thousand people.
Among the more than 1,200 passengers coming from China, 1,000 people chose Jinshan Prefecture as their destination. This shows the current attractiveness of Jinshan Prefecture to new immigrants from the country.
Among the large group of passengers disembarking, there was also a young man carrying a rucksack and wearing old-style work clothes. He boarded the ship from Songjiang, preparing to go to North America to compete for the future Song Erniu.
Song Erniu did not stay in Jinshan City for too long, and soon boarded a river ship heading to Shuanghe County under the guidance of local officials.
Shuanghe County is where gold was discovered, and it is also where gold prospectors go... Not only do gold prospectors go there, in fact Shuanghe County and the surrounding areas are located in the center of the Jinshan Valley, and there are inland rivers connecting Jinshan City , so the area was also the main area for settlement and immigration by the Chu Empire.
Song Erniu also chose to go to Shuanghe County. In the future, he could either go gold mining or farming. Song Erniu, who had just arrived in America, looked at this strange place and felt a little uneasy to be honest!
However, amid the anxiety, he had greater hope for the future. Because when he was still on the boat, he saw a large amount of flat land on the nearby shore, but there was no sign of settlement and development... In his opinion, the terrain of these places was very flat, and when developed, it would be good farmland.
But it is a wasteland, and no one is cultivating it at all. I heard from local officials that although these areas can be farmed, the conditions are still worse. If they settle down to cultivate, the government will have better land to accommodate them. .
Hearing this, Song Erniu couldn't help but sigh that no one had developed such good land for planting, and it was just left uncultivated. This kind of situation would never happen in China, especially in the Jiangnan area where his hometown is located.
No wonder the government here will give away a lot of land for free as long as you come here to immigrate and settle down. There is really a lot of arable land here!
\bSong Erniu, together with other new immigrants, first arrived at the county seat of Shuanghe County by river boat.
At this time, the county seat of Shuanghe County has turned into a large gold prospector camp, but there are many gold prospectors, and there are even a steady stream of gold prospectors joining, but there are only a few who can actually make a fortune.
Song Erniu also ran to try to pan for gold. As a result, several days passed. Although he also got some gold sand, the money exchanged for this little gold sand was not even enough for food and accommodation.
So he thought about it and instead of following others to go gold mining, he ran back to Shuanghe County, bought a batch of canvases from local businessmen, and then asked a few peasant women to help make these canvases. clothing.
He plans to take these canvas clothes to the mining area and sell them to the gold diggers! Because he found that the food, drink, and sleeping items in this poor place were extremely expensive, and they were consumed very quickly. The cotton coat he wore was only used for gold mining and mining, but holes appeared within a few days... and then he saw it. Your own rucksack.
I thought that clothes made of canvas would be more practical and wear-resistant if used for gold mining, so I used the canvas fabric from the canvas bag to patch a few patches on my cotton pants and found that the effect was quite good.
So I ran out to buy some canvas and made myself some pants! As a result, several people he knew nearby came to ask him where he could buy canvas pants like this?
And willing to pay for it. When Song Erniu saw it, he simply stopped looking for gold and went to Shuanghe County to buy another batch of canvas. He also invited several peasant women to make trousers and then sold them in the gold mining area.
Instead of working so hard to dig for gold yourself, it is better to sell some daily necessities to the gold diggers and earn gold from the gold diggers.
