Chapter 1548 The time to develop the Americas is ripe
When Li Xuan talked about the development of American immigrants in Shanghai, he did not just say it casually out of sudden interest, but he was laying the groundwork for the empire's development of American immigrants.
Since the empire won a series of wars in the Indian Ocean and finally signed an armistice agreement with the Portuguese, agreeing that the two sides would use the Cape of Good Hope as the center line to delineate their sphere of influence, this meant that the entire Indian Ocean coastal area, including the huge eastern coast of Africa, West Asia
The coast, the coast of India, the coast of Burma, and the South China Sea all belong to the empire's sphere of influence.
Although the Tang Empire currently only occupies colonies in a few places in the above-mentioned areas, no one can deny that the empire has already occupied strategic advantages in the above-mentioned areas. Although there are many follow-up affairs, they are all colonization in a step-by-step manner.
Then gradually expand the empire's colonial rule in the above-mentioned areas.
Under such circumstances, it is basically impossible for the empire to have any large-scale overseas operations in the Indian Ocean. Even if it fights, it will be with those indigenous countries. And those indigenous countries basically do not have any navy, and it is impossible to cause any harm to the empire.
What a threat.
In addition, in the Americas, the situation has changed to some extent.
This change was not brought about by the Spanish, but was caused by the actions of the empire itself.
Last year, the empire launched a relatively large-scale immigration operation on the western coast of North America.
What is the immigration operation? It is to organize immigrants to march inland, but they encountered great resistance.
The local indigenous people seemed to be aware of the threat posed by the empire's continuous invasion, so they also started armed resistance.
Although the fighting ability of the indigenous people is not very good, the empire's population and military strength in the western part of North America are not large.
Today, the empire's total number of immigrants and troops in North America is only over 30,000. It seems like a large number, but compared with the huge North America and the large indigenous population there, it is still too few.
Not to mention the indigenous people, even the Spanish immigrant population and army in Mexico are more than this mere 30,000!
Most of the more than 30,000 people are ordinary immigrants. In terms of the army, including the Xinjinshan Garrison of the Army and a Marine Battalion of the Navy, there are only about 2,000 people in total.
These two thousand people were also dispersed to garrison in five large colonial sites. If there were not a certain number of militiamen to assist in the battle, I am afraid that the imperial side would have suffered a shameful defeat in last year's immigration war.
Even so, their plan to advance eastward also failed, and they were unable to advance it in detail on a large scale.
After several months of this news being sent back to the empire across the Pacific, it made the empire pay attention to the situation in North America and decided to send more immigrants and troops to North America.
What made the empire's top officials make this decision was not just the threat from the North American natives. In fact, they were not a threat. If they were to hold on, they would only slightly hinder the empire's progress in developing North America.
The real reason that prompted the empire to pay attention to North America was mainly because the war along the Indian Ocean coast was generally over. Today's military, or more accurately, the navy urgently needs to find a new strategic direction that can reflect the naval presence.
strategic direction.
The Army has a northwest strategy, and if nothing unexpected happens, it will be implemented this fall. Next year, the Army may start a large-scale war in the Western Region.
Even the navy knows that the empire's expansion focus in the next few years will be in the Western Regions and Central Asia, not overseas.
But the navy was not willing to give in.
The army is fighting in the Western Regions and Central Asia. It is majestic, but what about the navy?
Is it possible that I have to remain anonymous for several years?
How is it possible? The navy won't agree!
The Portuguese could not fight, they could not fight in Africa, and there was nothing to fight on the Indian Ocean coast, so the navy naturally surrendered its sights to the Americas.
There is extremely fertile land there. It is generally believed that North America is very difficult to live in. Its overall climate environment is similar to that of the mainland of the empire. It is simply the second China, much better than India, Southeast Asia, and Africa.
Such a treasure land must be captured and become the second home of the Chinese people.
In addition to being important to North America, it is also related to the local Spaniards. Although the empire currently has a good relationship with the Spanish, Spain occupies a large amount of fertile American land. Isn't it that they occupy such a good place in Mexico?
And because of the presence of the Spanish, the empire has never been able to expand towards Mexico. It can only march eastward. As for South America, it has not even set foot in it now.
Therefore, the navy actually hopes to provoke the Spaniards so that they can have an excuse to kill them.
As for the navy, there are too many reasons to hope to enter North America.
At the same time, China is also very interested in North America. At least most people are not opposed to immigrating to America because they know where it is a good place.
For the same immigrants, if you ask them to go to Southeast Asia, India or Africa, they will not be happy, but when they go to America, they are very welcome.
There are political reasons, and the empire's current steam ship technology is already very mature. Passenger ships of several thousand tons have been built, not to mention ones of one or two thousand tons. The shipping capacity, especially across oceans,
Maritime transport capacity has been greatly increased.
In this way, navigation technology that restricted large-scale immigration to the Americas was no longer an obstacle.
With mature politics, naval support, and no big restrictions on navigation technology, it was logical for large-scale immigration to develop North America.
For this reason, at the end of last year, Li Xuan made a preliminary decision at a small court meeting. In the next few years, the empire will organize at least 200,000 immigrants to live in North America. In addition, it will also
The number of troops stationed in North America increased from 2,000 to 5,000.
The reason why more troops are not added is because if too many troops are added, the local area cannot support so many troops.
Ammunition and the like can still be transported thousands of miles from the mainland, but if bulk materials such as food need to be transported from the mainland, the cost will be too great and the empire cannot afford it for the time being.
Therefore, this is also the reason why immigrants and the army marched at the same time. These immigrants actually went to the local area to reclaim land and grow food to feed the army.
Once the supply difficulties in the first few years have been overcome and the number of local Empire subjects has increased, the follow-up will be much simpler. The Empire will step by step turn North America into the Empire's second home.
Of course, the premise is to get rid of the Spanish Fever first, then get rid of several other countries that have occupied colonies on the eastern coast of North America, and then get rid of the local indigenous people.
North America will be, and can only be, imperial North America.
On this point, the empire's senior officials attach great importance to it. They don't even plan to establish colonial rule in North America, but plan to do it in one step and directly localize it.
The empire's presence in India, Africa and other regions was mostly based on colonial rule, supplemented by immigration and development.
In North America, especially in the Xinjinshan State area, the empire was directly localized.
What is localization? Generally speaking, the proportion of the imperial subjects in the local population has an absolute advantage, which must be at least 90% or more.
Only in this way can we be sure that a hundred years from now, a thousand years from now, North America will still be the North America of the Chinese people. Even if the Tang Dynasty no longer exists by that time, North America will still be the North America of the Chinese people.
In order to achieve localization, it is impossible without enough immigrants, so there is an immigration development plan.
When Li Xuan mentioned the development of the Americas at the state banquet, he was setting the tone for the American immigration development plan that was about to start this year, but he didn't say too much. After all, although Li Xuan took this matter seriously, it was not for the huge local population.
As far as the empire is concerned, it is still just a small matter.
At least, it is definitely not as important as the Western Region Strategy that will be launched this fall.
It is even less important than the industrialization that the empire has been promoting in recent years.
The next day, Li Xuan continued to inspect Shanghai. The main subjects of the inspection were still enterprises. Most of them were large enterprises from the royal family or the Ministry of State-owned Enterprises. However, there were still a few private enterprises that were qualified to be inspected, including some that were very famous in the country.
of Fung Shipping Company.
When I went to inspect this company, it was not someone else’s recommendation, but Li Xuan’s initiative.
Because this Feng Shipping Company can be regarded as an iconic domestic private industrial enterprise.
The company is one of the two major domestic shipping companies, on par with the Yangtze River Shipping Company. The two companies have always competed for the title of the largest domestic shipping company. At the same time, Feng Shipping Company designs shipping and builds ships at the same time.
, port services, machinery manufacturing and other fields, so its overall volume is much greater than that of the Yangtze River Shipping Company.
It's just that Feng's Shipping Company's main business and most famous business is shipping, so the outside world has always regarded this company as a pure shipping company. In fact, this is incorrect.
Shipping business accounts for only 60% of Fung Shipping Company's annual revenue, while the remaining 40% is contributed by shipbuilding, port services, machinery manufacturing and other fields.
To be honest, Feng's Shipping Company is an outlier among the large number of private enterprises in the country. It is only a private enterprise that can achieve this level in heavy industry.
Most of the private enterprises in the empire are engaged in light industry or trade. Although heavy industry is also involved, to be honest, there are not many, and they cannot form the main body of a certain heavy industry.
But there is an exception in shipping and shipbuilding. The reason for this exception is because of Feng Shipping Company.