Section 425 Small Countries in the Great Era (1)
Objectively speaking, the development of the United States is mainly self-sustaining, population growth mainly depends on the introduction of immigrants, industrial development mainly depends on tariff protection, and agricultural development has unique conditions.
But compared with the development of China's American territory in recent years, the United States is still dwarfed. Before the war, China's territory in the Americas was on par with the United States, or even weaker than the United States. Both sides have a population of about 18 million, and the territory is comparable, but China America, which is mainly an agricultural immigration, has a weak industrial base, and through the export of raw materials, with a certain scale of gold mines and other precious metal industries, the standard of living is not inferior to that of the United States, but its industrial strength is much inferior.
During the war, China's economy was affected, and immigration increased rapidly, and during the four years of the war, five million people emigrated, four million of whom came to the Americas. Coupled with natural breeding, the number of Chinese in the Americas has rapidly increased to 23 million, while the United States, although the growth rate is still very high, due to the impact of the war, the import of immigrants has stagnated, and the population has only increased from more than 18 million to 20 million in four years.
The gap between the population of 3 million has tilted the balance of power between China and the United States in the Americas. Moreover, after the war, Huang Qiuwei replaced the crown prince and began to rule the Americas, and he began to build railways and open mines as the leading ideas. Construction began during the war, and it took a total of five years to build a railroad across the Great Plains of North America, starting in Winnipeg in the north and connecting to the shores of Lake Superior in the east. To the south, it runs along the Reed River Valley and the James River Valley, between the two major arteries of the Mississippi River and the Missouri River, creating a new north-south artery.
It connects Kansas City and Little Rock to the south, and continues south not into Louisiana in the United States, but to the west, finally to Houston. The railroad connected important rivers such as the Kansas and Arkansas rivers, and there were also some branch lines that connected important cities on the banks of the Mississippi River, such as Sancai City at the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers, and St. Louis at the confluence of the Kansas and Mississippi rivers that were taken from the Americans. But the river mainly communicates the north and the south, especially opening up a channel to the sea that is fully controlled by the Chinese, and will not be subject to the United States. It is of great strategic importance.
The construction of the railroad allowed Houston to quickly seize the business of New Orleans, and the development speed is much faster than New Orleans, and it is obvious that it will surpass this American city in the future.
However, China's development in the Americas is more of a promotion significance for the United States. For example, St. Louis was seized from the United States, but East St. Louis, which the Americans built on the other side of the river, became extraordinarily prosperous, and the Americans also built railroads here, but for the time being, neither side could afford to build a bridge over the Mississippi River, and could only communicate by ferry. Through this railway, the two St. Louis in the east and west quickly became the center of the transportation of New England machinery products in the northeast of the United States to the Chinese territory, and China and North America became the largest export destination for American machinery products, which greatly promoted the development of the American machinery industry.
In North America, China exports only special goods such as Arkansas nanking cloth and California silk, and there are few manufactured goods, and the trade between North America and the United States is in a deficit. The trade relationship with China is also a surplus of the United States, and there is no market for machinery products in the northeast of the United States in China, but when the war is not over, the United States re-exports cotton to China, and quickly resumed the role of China's first supplier of cotton after the war. It is one of the few countries that can make money from the Chinese.
It is precisely because of China's local demand for U.S. cotton and China's North American territory for insufficient machinery that the U.S. economy has developed more vigorously than it has historically. With a population of 20 million, it has surpassed France in industrial output and become the third largest industrial country in the world, and its agriculture is second only to China.
The gold earned from China, coupled with the transformation of the developed financial market in the United States, as well as investment from Europe, made the United States very sufficient commercial capital, and before the Yili Railway was opened, more than a dozen new railway companies had been opened, and the Americans began to build the railroad desperately, and most of the railway companies aimed to build to China.
Of course, their railroad cannot cross the sea, but now China is on the other side of the Mississippi River, and to build the railway to the Mississippi River is to build it to the doorstep of the Chinese. Every railroad company is bullish, and states are vying for support, all hoping to connect themselves with China and gain access to a large market.
China's expansion in the Americas has brought the greatest losses to the United States, but it has also brought the greatest economic benefits to the United States.
It is precisely because of this force that the United States is growing even stronger than it has historically.
The United States has also benefited greatly from China's mineral development in the Americas.
Huang Qiuyou has successively licensed five large mining companies to develop minerals in Jinshan Province (California), Goe River Province (Columbia River Basin), Sand Province (Western Canada), Central South Province (Colorado River and Central Great Plains south of the Kansas River), and North Central Province (Colorado River and Central Great Plains north of the Kansas River). Mainly concentrated in the Rocky Mountain region, these five provinces are basically bordered by the Rocky Mountains, and each province has a part of the Rocky Mountain region, and all have a large amount of minerals that can be developed.
In addition to the five major commercial companies, which can finance the development of large-scale minerals in the financial market, there are also some wealthy people who apply to open mines, and the mining industry is very prosperous. In particular, the salt and copper mines in the Great Salt Lake area, and the gold mines in the Colorado River Basin, in addition to the large amount of gold flowing into the United States, the largest exporter of copper ore is the United States. It can be said that the resources developed by China are also supporting the development of the United States.
Relying on close trade with China is equivalent to allowing the Americans to have a deeper market hinterland than in history, and in the past, American industrial products could only supply their own market, but now they can supply the whole of North America, the market is twice as thick as the original history, and the economic situation is naturally better than in history.
However, the rapid development has brought not only benefits, but also hidden dangers, and the North and South of the United States are developing at the same time, and the paths are completely different, and the rift is getting deeper and deeper. The South has been trying to lower tariffs, the North has been trying to raise them, the South has been calling for the liberalization of slavery, and the North has wanted to limit slavery.
In this history, the outbreak of the American Civil War is also a matter of time, and possibly even earlier. Because the American South is gradually falling behind in development. Failure to take territories such as Texas from Mexico, as historically has been, has led to fewer slave states than free states.
In the north, Michigan and Wisconsin met the population requirements for statehood by developing the upper Mississippi River, and two states made up of white immigrants voted to become free states and reject slavery. This has brought the number of free states in the United States to three more than the slave states.
The United States is an Electoral College system, and each state can be regarded as an independent legal person, and the number of free states and slave states affects the victory or defeat of the North and the South in congressional and presidential elections, and affects the division of interests between the North and the South in this country. Sooner or later, the North will absolutely overtake the South, and then begin to pursue a policy in favor of the North, and the South will inevitably rebound, and then war will break out.
Historically, it was the emergence of Lincoln, the president of the North, that caused the South to withdraw from the Union and establish a confederation, which ignited the war. The same crisis could be caused at any time by a congressional or presidential election, even years earlier than in history.
China's expansion in the Americas has also had a huge impact on Mexico.
First of all, white Mexican forces suffered a heavy blow. Dolores's voice was more successful than in history, Hidalgo succeeded in establishing power instead of being killed by the Spanish government as in history, but he was too sympathetic to the idealism of the Indians, and instead allowed the Indian army to carry out a massacre of whites, after which the Indians broke with the native white forces, forcing the native whites to defect to the Spanish government.
After a series of events, the native whites of Mexico merged with the native whites and continued to hold power in Mexico. With the support of China, Carlos took control of Mexico, and he was a conservative who united with the conservative forces in Mexico, the Catholic Church, to enforce Catholicism in Mexico. With the support of native whites, firmly controlled the country.
But at the same time, he used his religion to gain the support of a large number of naturalized Catholic Indians, and he formed a Mexican army with white men as officers and Indians as soldiers, although he still called himself the Spanish army and considered himself the legitimate king of Spain. This army was used to repeatedly compete with the Spanish government forces in the New Granada area, but unfortunately neither of them could achieve a decisive advantage.
However, thanks to a large Mexican army, Carlos managed to control Peru, Chile, and Bolivia.
In the history of these three Andean countries, there was an Inca Empire founded by an Indian, and the Aztec Empire in Mexico, which was the two most powerful regimes established by the American Indians at that time.
Some high-ranking officials, tired of competing with Spain, suddenly began lobbying Carlos to abandon the fight with the Spanish government for the legitimacy of New Granada and the throne, and instead rebuild the Aztec Empire in Mexico, negotiating recognition with the Spanish government and other countries.
The idea of rebuilding the Aztec Empire is not a new proposition, but it has a long history and is quite popular among native whites in the Americas. Miranda, a pioneer of American independence, touted this plan to the British government. The programme proposes the establishment of an independent government over a wide area from the source of the Mississippi River to Cape Horn. The form of government is similar to the British form of government, and the executive power is held by the Inca, who holds the title of emperor, and is bicameral.
Now Carlos's white bureaucracy is recalling the Aztec Empire project, but it is just a rehash of the old thing. It is similar to Miranda's Inca Empire plan. It's no different from Gran Colombia that Bolivar seeks to establish. It was to establish a unified independent state based on the Spanish American colonies.
But Carlos refused, and perhaps in his mind, the Spanish throne was more attractive.