At the end of 1902, perhaps only Ziwei Town in the world was living a life of "upstairs and downstairs, electric lights and telephones".
The idea is "universal", but not the first. Twenty years ago, home power supply systems had appeared in London and New York, but because of the high price, electricity could not be popularized at that time.
In 1897, the world-famous Niagara Hydropower Station was built. The installed capacity of the hydropower station reached 100,000 horsepower. Two years later, in 1899, the Niagara Hydropower Station began to provide power supply to Buffalo, New York State, 35 kilometers away. However, Buffalo at that time was also
There is no luxury to the extent of using electricity to provide public lighting (street lights).
Thanks to the relationship between Luoke and Crocowan Reservoir, Crocowan Reservoir provides low-cost electricity to Ziwei Town, so the Ziwei Town Government has the ability to install street lights in the church square and the main roads in the town.
"Installing street lights is definitely worth it. The daily cost for street lights is only about one hundred pounds. Since the street lights were installed, some people have raised the price to 500 pounds to buy a house in Ziwei Town. It is still worthless.
In the city, no one is willing to sell their houses. A standard piece of residential land used to cost only 20 pounds, but now it has exceeded 200 pounds. The supply is still in short supply. It is estimated that by the end of the year, the permanent population of Ziwei Town will exceed 5,000.
Man, our taxes will at least quadruple." As mayor, Buck was ecstatic about the situation.
In fact, before street lights were installed, housing prices in Ziwei Town had already started to soar. With Ziwei Public School and Ziwei Hospital as the base, not many people want to settle in Ziwei Town. Some Capetonians just come because of its reputation.
I traveled to Ziwei Town, and then I was attracted by Ziwei Town. I wanted to settle in Ziwei Town, and there were also parents who wanted to send their children to Ziwei Public School. They joined forces to push up the housing prices in Ziwei Town.
Compared with the beginning of the year, the size of Ziwei Town has more than tripled. Six months ago, Ziwei Public School was located on the edge of Ziwei Town. Now Ziwei Public School is surrounded by residential areas.
The increase in population has brought economic prosperity. In the past, there was only one Oak Bar and Russell Cafe in Ziwei Town. Now there are more than ten bars and cafes in Ziwei Town, and restaurants are everywhere, not only Western-style restaurants.
, there is also an authentic Oriental Restaurant. Luo Ke originally positioned Ziwei Town as a residential property, but now Ziwei Town is increasingly developing into a tourist city.
"Population increase is a good thing, Dunn, we must ensure the stability of public security in Ziwei Town." What Rock is most worried about is public security. It is easy to say that in other aspects, public security is really Rock's major concern.
Johannesburg is the future capital of crime. Although there are no Africans in Ziwei Town, Roque still needs to take precautions. These days, the quality of white people is not much better than that of Africans. Even the quality of Chinese people is not much better. Roque
We cannot rely on the improvement of residents' quality level for public security. We can only solve the problem through police force.
"The branch has been expanded twice since the beginning of the year. At the beginning of the year, we were still a police station, and there were only 12 people including me, the police chief. Now our branch has more than 80 police officers. It is located near Ziwei Public School and Ziwei Hospital.
A new police station has been set up, and there are patrol police and mounted police patrolling the streets at all times. The residents of the whole town are militiamen. They can take up arms at any time if necessary. No matter if there is a police situation in any corner of the town, we can do it.
We arrived at the scene within five minutes. Last month, a couple from Cape Town lost their luggage in Church Square. Two hours later, the luggage was still there, and even our patrol officers did not notice it." Deng
En is full of confidence. Now Ziwei Town does not talk about the street, does not pick up leftovers, and does not close the door at night. The public security situation is second to none among all cities in southern Africa.
The good public security is due to the harsh punishment implemented in Ziwei Town. In Ziwei Town, even if you pick up other people's property and fail to hand it over to the police in time, you will be severely punished.
The Ziwei Town Police Station still retains the kind of barbed whip used by the Cape Town Police Department. Similar to picking up other people's property and failing to hand it over to the police in time, in addition to being fined three times the value of the property itself,
In addition, they must also receive ten lashes in the street. If the suspect is a minor, then the guardian must accept the punishment. Ever since a Pretorian who sent his child to Ziwei Public School received this punishment
Since then, in the past four months, no one has been punished for this provision.
This is also thanks to the Ziwei Town Police Station's legal education and publicity. The Ziwei Town Police Station has hired more than ten family members of police officers as internal staff. Each of these internal staff are responsible for different blocks. They have to regularly carry out legal education and publicity to the residents in their jurisdiction.
, tell them what they can and cannot do.
Ziwei Public School also plays a huge role in this regard. Every child must be familiar with these security provisions and publicize them to their families after returning home. It is precisely because of these measures that good public security in Ziwei Town can be ensured.
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As for the militia, this is one of the original regulations of Ziwei Town. Therefore, residents of Ziwei Town, even housewives, must go to the police station within the specified time to receive a certain degree of weapons training. At the very least, they must be able to use it.
Weapons, only if you dare to use them.
In the entire Ziwei Town, almost all families have self-defense weapons. Many families have one handgun per person. Each family is also accustomed to feeding large dogs such as South African mastiffs. Therefore, the security in Ziwei Town is not very good, because
Everyone knows that even old people and women are capable of causing fatal attacks on strong men.
This is how harmonious coexistence between people comes about. Just like two big countries that both possess nuclear weapons, there will basically be no war between them because they are afraid of each other.
"Don't be proud. After the rainy season, we will start building the road from Ziwei Town to Johannesburg. From now on, we must be prepared. When the time comes, many Africans will come to Ziwei Town. We must ensure that they will not
It will affect the security of Ziwei Town." Luo Ke's demands are high. It is probably unrealistic to build a railway to Ziwei Town. Highways are possible, cheap, and can be built very quickly.
What Ziwei Town wants to build is not a cement road, but an asphalt road. The asphalt is bought from distant South America, first traveled across the ocean to Cape Town, and then transported by rail from Cape Town to Johannesburg.
It's amazing. Although the journey is long and the freight costs are increased layer by layer, asphalt is still cheaper than cement.
Although the cement factory in Fawalt has been increasing production, it is impossible for one cement plant to meet the needs of the Transvaal, Rhodesia, and Nyasaland, so Henry built two new cement plants in Fawalt.
plant to ensure the huge demand for cement in surrounding areas.
Only then did Henry discover that it made sense for Rock not to place the cement plant in Johannesburg and Pretoria. The cement plant had been put into operation less than a year ago, but some workers were already seriously ill due to severe pollution.
The money is not bright, because the sick workers do not know that the disease is related to severe pollution, so there is still a steady stream of Zulu people leaving Zululand to earn a salary of one shilling a day in Fawalt.
A shilling a day is only £1.50 a month, but the price paid is serious consequences on the body.
Don't think this is cruel, that is, Roque can't pass his own psychological barrier and can't make this money. In fact, this situation is very common these days. Do you remember those watches that used "radium"?
Many female workers in the United States who are less than 20 years old do this job, because they have to use brushes to brush "radium" onto the dial, so they often put the brush in their mouths to sort out the brush tip, which creates a lot of "radium"
If it enters their bodies like this, they generally won't live past the age of twenty-five.
Because their bodies contain a large amount of radium, their bodies will glow even if they die.
"Is it still Christian's company? No problem. I will have a good talk with Christian about this issue and ensure that during the construction of the road, all Africans will not be able to leave their camps." Dunn was confident, but Rock felt guilty.
Very.
Rock once insisted that as long as African labor was not used, Rock did not need to pity those Africans.
Now Rock discovered that he was wrong. Africans are really useful. They are cheap and plentiful. They are tireless and will not resist. Crocodile Bay Company's use of Chinese workers to build reservoirs is very expensive. The monthly cost is 100,000 yuan.
The shareholders complained that Stoudemire's use of Africans to build the railway was like spending nothing. Stoudemire did not even have to pay the salaries of the Africans who died during the construction of the railway. The contrast between the two sides is really sharp.
Therefore, out of desperation, Roque is also reducing the number of Chinese workers. Many Chinese workers in the Crocoa Bay Reservoir have been sent to Nyasaland to reclaim farmland. The most dangerous and arduous work at the Crocoa Bay Reservoir has also been taken over by the Zulus.
Now everyone was satisfied, even the Zulu people were satisfied because they got jobs.
When he decided to build the road between Ziwei Town and Johannesburg, Rock's first reaction was to hand over the project to Christian. In this era and in this environment, it is really difficult to be alone.
Perhaps, Rock can only ask Christian to treat those Zulus as kindly as possible, at least let them have enough to eat and get full salary in time.
Christian actually didn't want to do that, but out of fear of Rock, Christian still tried his best to do it.
Unexpectedly, this would bring Christian a huge reputation among the Zulus. Now Christian has tens of thousands of Zulus working for him. If Christian is willing, the number of workers under him can even be increased at any time.
Expanding to 100,000 people, Christian himself also gained huge wealth. In Christian's words, the Zulu people are an inexhaustible gold mine.
Even Rock didn't expect this.
"How is Bobby's factory?" Rock is also concerned about Bobby Holt's motorcycle factory. The purpose of building roads is to prepare for future mechanization.
Although it seems that motorcycles still have many shortcomings, it is undeniable that in the future, transportation led by motorcycles and cars will definitely replace the current horses and ox carts. Let’s not talk about cars. Within ten years, cars will have great shortcomings.
It is estimated that Johannesburg will not be able to establish its own automobile factory, but the era of motorcycles may come at any time. Rock hopes that Bobby's motorcycle factory will bring more job opportunities and business tax revenue to Ziwei Town in the future.
"Everything is normal. Last month, Bobby went to Germany and brought back not only the drawings of the engine, but also more than a dozen technicians. Now Bobby and the others are busy improving the engine, hoping that the engine will be more powerful.
It is more reliable, and the construction of the factory is also in progress. When the factory construction is completed, Bobby and the others will start trial production." Buck also paid great attention to the motorcycle factory. Rock emphasized the importance of industry in front of Buck countless times. Buck was deeply influenced by it.
Industrial interest is also increasing.
In fact, it is very simple to revitalize the economy. Without agriculture, there will be no stability, without workers, there will be no wealth, and without business, there will be no life. If you can do these three things, you will basically not be able to develop.
The same is true for the Johannesburg that Rock hopes for. Relying on the farms around Johannesburg can at least ensure the stability of Johannesburg. There is no need to purchase food from outside. Food processing will become Johannesburg's economic growth point in the future. No matter how you look at it, it is a very cost-effective thing.
thing.
It is even simpler to not be rich without work. The gold mines in Johannesburg are not actually industries. Even the jewelry processing in Locke Gold Mine is not strictly an industry. The wool textile factory in Johannesburg, the wood processing factory in Oak Town, and the Ziwei Town
A motorcycle factory that has not yet started production is a serious industry.
In other words, Johannesburg's gold mine reserves are so rich that it has been mined for more than a hundred years. Therefore, Johannesburg actually has its own uniqueness. If it were another city, industry should be the city's economic pillar. Without industry,
If we cannot continuously create wealth, we cannot ensure sustained economic growth, and we cannot absorb the surplus labor force. Therefore, the importance of industry cannot be overemphasized.
In Rock's vision, even if Johannesburg has a huge amount of gold, Johannesburg must persist in developing industry for a hundred years. In a dozen years, the First World War will break out in Europe. Johannesburg is hundreds of thousands of miles away from Europe.
, will not be involved in the war at all. By then, European countries will generally reduce industrial production due to war. If Johannesburg's industry reaches a large scale by then, can it replace the United States and become the ultimate profiteer of World War I?
It might be possible, it might not be possible, and Rock wasn't sure.
But if you work hard for it, then there is a possibility of success. If you do nothing, then it will never be possible. Rock is still very clear about this.
At the very least, we should steal some of the profits from the United States.
