The war on the European continent caused many people to want to escape the continent and go to the Americas or other places to live. Among them, South America was basically controlled by the Spanish or Portuguese. Naturally, other countries could not come, so before the Tang Dynasty came here,
, people from other countries often choose the east coast of North America.
Since the Tang Dynasty occupied North America, it was naturally unwilling for other countries to set foot in North America, especially since there were many damn slave traders transporting Africans to the Americas.
This was strictly prohibited by the Tang Dynasty Navy. For this reason, a fleet was stationed on the east coast of North America to patrol and intercept illegal ships. The east coast of North America was far away from the mainland and even too far from South Africa.
There were many steam merchant ships in the Tang Dynasty. In order to maintain warships and some important large merchant ships, the navy also established a naval base in Xinnan, which was smaller but capable of repairing warships.
However, whether it is New South Port, South Africa Port, Ceylon Port and many other large naval bases affiliated with the navy, their internal facilities and equipment can only perform moderate maintenance at best, and cannot provide overhaul or equipment upgrades.
Work.
Because this kind of work can generally only be carried out in shipyards, the technical level required is very high, and only domestic modern shipyards can do it.
Therefore, after the Empire's ships have been continuously on duty overseas for a certain number of times, they will return to the Empire's home shipyards for mid-term overhaul at the end of their service life. Of course, this time interval only occurs once every many years.
Because warships require maintenance, overhaul, etc., it is impossible to say that all warships can be on duty at the same time. There will always be some warships on duty, some undergoing routine maintenance, and some undergoing overhaul or upgrade locally.
For example, after the Navy decided to equip breech-loading cannons, many main warships in active service needed to upgrade their naval guns to breech-loading cannons. However, this upgrade time does not mean that they all rush back to the mainland to upgrade, but it is time for overhaul.
Only then will you return to your home country to upgrade, otherwise it will be a waste of time.
The particularity of this kind of battleship also causes the Imperial Navy to have squadron numbers and organization, but the specific battleships under each fleet are actually not fixed. You can only use the battleships you are assigned to.
Navy senior leaders will flexibly assign warships to join a certain squadron for duty based on the maintenance status of the warships and regional mission needs.
Therefore, the officers and soldiers of the Tang Navy, especially the officers and soldiers of the ocean-going battleships, were basically likely to travel to all sea areas around the world during their entire service career.
Therefore, they come to Europe for normal duty, which is different from permanent officers. The officers and soldiers of various ships in the European fleet are still here, and maybe they will return to South Africa in a few months, or even return directly to China.
The officers and soldiers on these ocean-going capital ships came to Europe for duty, which was not a relegation.
However, European military attachés like Colonel Kong Jiaming were seriously relegated. They could not go to the battlefield, could not win military honors, and were still in a barren overseas.
Not to mention how uncomfortable it was.
Not only Kong Jiaming, but also many other officials or military officers were actually sent to work in Europe after committing crimes.
Kong Jiaming wants to make some achievements, and then be appreciated by Ren Zian, and then get the opportunity to leave this hellish place.
Most other people have almost the same mentality.
Nowadays, the construction of Ceuta is taken very seriously by the top brass of the Navy, especially the Seventh Fleet, which is already planning to build Ceuta into a large naval base for the Navy in Europe.
Not only must it be able to provide supplies and berth warships, but it must also have certain warship maintenance capabilities to support the navy's main fleet stationing and maintain combat capabilities.
Provide solid support for the Tang Navy's operations in European waters.
This capability is something that the embassy district port in Cadiz cannot provide.
Cadiz's port in the Embassy District of Europe actually only provides berths and supplies at most. It has no maintenance capabilities at all. It even cannot berth too many ships because of the limited berths.
Sometimes, domestic merchant ships have to berth at Spanish-controlled docks.
The Navy plans to build Ceuta into a large military base and strategic support point, so the construction of Ceuta City naturally attaches great importance to it.
As long as you make achievements, you don't have to worry about not being able to record them in your credit book.
Kong Jiaming had expectations, so he looked very carefully during the inspection, and even asked the construction workers here many times. Even Jon was asked a few questions about the construction situation.
In Jon's opinion, Kong Jiaming, the naval colonel, was undoubtedly a big shot, and it was also the first time in his life that he had real contact with the upper-level military and political officials of the Tang Dynasty.
But what made him a little strange was that Colonel Kong Jiaming was very kind. Not only him, but also several other important officials were kind to him.
When he answered the question, his tongue was tied because of nervousness. Kong Jiaming smiled and comforted him: "Don't be anxious, speak slowly!"
They treat themselves not as servants, but as equals.
But Jon obviously doesn't understand the politics of Datang yet.
Not to mention Kong Jiaming, even Li Xuan, the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, was very kind to people when he went out for inspections. He would talk cordially with workers and peasants, and sometimes even pat his shoulder badges to encourage him.
Li Xuan, the boss of the Tang Dynasty, did this, and the officials below naturally followed suit, usually when they were outside, especially when inspecting factories, construction sites and other places.
No one dares to put on any official airs, and all of them behave like good officials who love their children as much as the people.
Regardless of whether it is true or false, this kind of political atmosphere has made people feel much better about officials.
Traditionally, ordinary people were mainly afraid of officials, but now, many people generally have better feelings towards high-ranking officials.
They believe that some policies of the government that are not in line with their interests are not made by the senior officials at the top, but by the officials below.
Officials of the Tang Dynasty loved to show off, both at home and in Europe.
It's a pity that not many people know that they are just putting on a show.
Even they themselves don't think they are putting on a show. After all, the entire Tang Dynasty does this, and they do it this way. Instead, they have been doing this for twenty or thirty years, and they have long been used to it.
But being kind to people and people does not mean that these Tang Dynasty officials really treated Qiaoen as an equal.
This kind of harmony between them is actually, to put it bluntly, the kindness between the superior and the inferior.
If you observe a little more carefully, you can actually find that Kong Jiaming still has that superior feeling when talking to them.
Jon was not a fool. He was quite excited at first, but after talking with Kong Jiaming, when he looked back and thought about it carefully, he felt that this high-ranking official of the Tang Dynasty was not as kind as he appeared.
But this didn't make Jon feel ashamed or anything. He was a high-ranking official and he was just a temporary resident. What capital did he have to allow those in higher positions to treat him equally?
His current idea is that he must work harder and strive for further progress.
Even if you can never become a true Tang Dynasty person, as long as you continue to work hard, sooner or later, you will still be able to be treated equally by these superior people.
Jon has been working hard in the past few years.
He worked hard and insisted on learning Chinese. He only heard a little Chinese in his early years. Now he can converse in Chinese proficiently and write a few simple Chinese characters. Only in this way can he successfully pass the temporary residence application and become a temporary resident.
residents.
Like many temporary residents, he took the Chinese name "Qiaoen" as his own name.
In addition, the dressing style is also closer to that of the Tang Dynasty people.
To be honest, apart from his natural appearance such as the color of his hair, eyes and skin, he has changed everything else he can.
This positive and approachable attitude also earned him the appreciation of the Tang Dynasty people. Otherwise, how could he have transformed from a small construction worker in the past to one of the current construction team managers.
But he is still not satisfied, he wants to go further!
We both work for Datang People, but the jobs are very different.
He knew that in many overseas territories, many high-status temporary residents were often prominent figures in the local area, and could even be appreciated by high-ranking officials of the Tang Dynasty.
There are about two hundred temporary residents like him in Cadiz and Ciudadir, but he wants to be the best among them.
Perhaps, I can be transferred to South Africa or even Malacca in the future.
Malacca is already very close to the mainland, and Malacca is a state directly under the imperial jurisdiction, which is much better than places like South Africa.
Jon has pursuits and ambitions, and so do Kong Jiaming and others. Even other temporary residents in Ceuta actually have ambitions.
In this era, not everyone has the courage to work for the Tang Dynasty and become a temporary resident.
Although the benefits for temporary residents of the Tang Dynasty are very generous, the requirements are also not low.
Let’s not talk about health problems. Before applying for temporary residence, these people have often worked for the Tang Dynasty people for a long time. To work for the Tang Dynasty people, they must first wash themselves clean, white and tender, and then shave their hair.
It requires undergoing a series of health checks that many people find stigmatizing.
When applying for a temporary residence permit, they also needed to declare allegiance to the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty.
More importantly, they have to abandon their original religion and convert to Taoism, Buddhism and other domestic legal religions
These two items also mean that they have completely betrayed their original country, nation, and beliefs.
Even though there is no concept of modern country and nation these days, there is still the concept of loyalty to the emperor.
Among them, abandoning the original religion and converting to Taoism or Buddhism is more serious.
For people in many areas, religion is life, and it is not easy to convert them.
Only those who have accomplished all of this can become temporary residents.
As a temporary resident, you can freely enter and leave the overseas territories of the Tang Dynasty, accept employment from the Tang Dynasty people, and earn a living without any problem.
But there are many people like Jon who want to go further!
They are also ambitious!
Maybe one day in the future, like the Gerdes family, they can become people of the Tang Dynasty, and even obtain the title of the Tang Dynasty and become a noble lord.
Gerdes's success is the example and goal for all the foreign temporary residents who worked hard for the Tang Dynasty!