Of course, the so-called "Panama land road opened" does not mean that the road connecting Panama to the two oceans has been repaired, but that the colonial team commanded by Ghoillard finally opened an empty dirt road in the tropical rainforest of the Panamanian region by cutting down trees.

Mr. Lu Xun once said - "There is no road in the world, and when there are more people walking, it becomes a road...... But this refers to meadow areas, and in tropical rainforests, the process is much tougher......

First, you'll have to cut down the trees that stand in your way. Otherwise, how can the road be repaired if there is a big tree in the way? Panama's trees are tropical rainforests that have grown naturally for thousands of years, and are by no means comparable to the small trees in front of and behind the houses in the villages. Most of the trees here are very tall, and many people can hug each other to circle the trunk.

So, cutting down the trees here is very laborious. What's more, to dig out the same huge tree roots......

It would be nice if there was only such a problem, after all, it was just a matter of labor. However, the situation in Panama is special, and the tropical rainforest here is full of all kinds of poisonous mosquitoes and insects, and there are tropical diseases such as malaria and yellow fever that are spreading wildly. You know, because of the malaria and yellow fever transmitted by these mosquitoes, the Panama Canal was dug in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, so as many as 22,000 laborers died......

Luckily, Marin is a traverser and knows how terrible the Panamanian rainforest can be. Therefore, he made preparations in advance - he made a lot of anti-mosquito toilet water and used it for the colonial team to avoid death.

But despite this, in a few years, dozens of Panama's thousands of colonists died......

In the end, Marin had to make a big move - buy black slaves from the Portuguese......

The living environment of black people, especially black people in West Africa, is very similar to the tropical rainforest area of Panama, so black West Africans who can generally grow to adulthood have some antibodies in their bodies against viruses carried by tropical mosquitoes and insects. If it weren't for that, they wouldn't have lived to adulthood.

Therefore, it was the right decision to bring in black slaves from West Africa to cut down trees in the Panamanian rainforest. To this end, Marin specially contacted Jorge, the Duke of Coimbra, the illegitimate son of the previous king of Portugal, João II. Morality. Lencastre, from whom he bought black slaves.

Duke Jorge of Coimbra. Morality. Lencastree happens to have big interests in Africa – Madeira (home of Cristiano Ronaldo) and São Tomé (Portugal's earlier colony off the coast of West Africa) are both its territory. The black slaves that Marin bought from him were actually exported from the island of São Tomé. This is because the merchant ships under the command of the Duke of Coimbra, based on the island of São Tomé, could contact the black tribes on the nearby African coast, and could buy prisoners of war obtained from those black tribes as slaves from those black tribes with worthless goods......

It is relied on from the Portuguese Duke of Coimbra Jorge. Morality. With several batches of more than 6,000 slaves purchased from Lencestre, Gaudard was able to complete the rainforest tree cutting program on the Isthmus of Panama with great difficulty. These black West Africans were also in good health, and Gaudard didn't give them much anti-mosquito toilet water, and in the end, more than 6,000 people died of illness, only a few dozen, which was about the same as the death toll of the thousands of colonists sent by Marin itself......

However, don't think that you're done with the trees cut down and a dirt road. It's still early, and getting out of the dirt road is only a start......

Why? Because of the heavy rain in Panama......

Once the rainy season arrives, the rainforests of the Panamanian region are absolutely rainstorming. Once it rains, the dirt road is bound to be muddy.

It's okay if you leave, but it's a big deal that your shoes get dirty and wet. However, the original intention of this road Marin was to be transported...... Therefore, dirt roads are absolutely not a no-no.

According to the plan, Marin planned to build a concrete road here. It doesn't need to be too wide, as long as it is three or four meters wide like a rural cement road. Anyway, the width of the carriage is only 1.414 meters.

But considering that the Panama region has a tropical rainforest climate, it is easy to accumulate water in large areas. But the roadbed has been soaked in water for a long time, and it is easy to soak and break. If the vehicle rolls again, the road surface will be crooked.

So, Marin had told Gaulard before that he had to choose a well-drained route......

As a result, the Isthmus of Panama, which is only 65 kilometers wide, has a total length of 80 kilometers on the roads chosen by Ghoillard. The reason for the extra 15 kilometers is to avoid low-lying areas and take higher sections, mainly to drain water and prevent the roadbed from being damaged.

Of course, even if some low-lying areas are avoided, there are some connecting areas where low-lying areas are still unavoidable. Therefore, after the dirt road is opened, while the concrete road is built, it is also necessary to dig drainage ditches on the edge of those low-lying areas that cannot be avoided, and try to send the stagnant water to nearby rivers and lakes......

……

So, this overland route across the Isthmus of Panama, the dirt road is just the beginning. Next, it's the main thing......

First, Marin would mobilize a large amount of cement and bricks from Newfoundland and transport them to Panama on a new schooner to provide the construction team with concrete roads. Conabrook, in western Newfoundland, was now the most important cement producer under Marin because of its limestone mines. There is limestone and clay here, and only coal and fly ash need to be brought in from Cape Breton Island, and fluorite from the mainland, so that high-quality fly ash cement can be produced on a large scale. If you don't add fly ash, it's just plain Portland cement. However, Cape Breton Island produces a lot of fly ash every day from its salt base and paper mills, which is not needed and wasted.

Secondly, the excavation of drainage ditches in low-lying areas also needs to be carried out at the same time as the construction of cement roads. After all, if you don't do a good job of drainage, it will be difficult to do it if the roadbed is soaked in the rainy season. This era is not a later generation, there are so many road and bridge companies, and they can build roads at any time. Once the road is broken, it is very troublesome to repair. Moreover, road construction requires special cement that dries quickly, and Marin does not have it......

In addition, Marin will also ask people to plant a large number of pyrethrums and wormwood on both sides of the cement road while building roads and digging ditches......

Pyrethrum and wormwood are both nemesis plants for mosquitoes, especially pyrethrum, mosquitoes are poisoned immediately when they smell it, which is very powerful. As a result, as long as the roadside is full of pyrethrums and the smell of pyrethroids is constantly emanating, the mosquitoes and insects in the Panamanian rainforest will retreat and dare not approach the concrete road. Then, the drivers of transport vehicles on the cement road will be safer and will not get terminal diseases such as malaria and yellow fever after being bitten by mosquitoes......

……

After learning about the opening of the land road on the Panamanian side, Marin was very excited. After all, Panama City will be an important transit point for trade with Daming in the future, and it will also be a transit point for Chilean saltpeter transportation.

Therefore, in order to start the construction of the Panamanian cement road as soon as possible, Marin signed an order - ordering the local cement road craftsmen to go to Panama immediately to guide the local colonial team to build the cement road. In addition, pyrethrums collected locally are also sent to Panama and planted along the roads......