The third day of the sea voyage

On the blue sea, two large passenger ships, one in front of the other and one behind, cleaved the waves, the speed of the passenger ship was much faster than the freighter, and at this time it had arrived in a certain sea area in the south of Shangri-La Island, leaving the fleet of seven freighters nowhere to be seen.

On the second deck of the passenger liner ahead

There are more than a dozen luxury suites on the second floor of the passenger ship, a total of such a big place, and the small restaurants are also together, so there are many opportunities to meet every day, have a meal, take a walk or something, and you can chat a few words, and you will soon become familiar with it.

After a few days of contact, Li Xiaozu and Duan Changjiang finally got into Duke Wright's small circle, and finally lived up to the family's painstaking arrangement.

Duke Wright is from His Majesty's favorite concubine Fiona, who is tall and tall, with well-defined facial features, especially a pair of big black eyes that are deep and charming, and is simply handsome, and is the most handsome of the princes.

He is proficient in English, French and Chinese, German is also good, and he is not as proud as the Grand Prince, and after getting acquainted, he found that he is a very good person, with a gentle personality, but a little less talk.

The other end of the deck of a passenger ship

Several noble sons were deliberately currying favor with the Duke of Palawan, sitting under the white parasol and drinking afternoon tea, chatting lively.

The two sides are distinct, each playing its own small circle.

After His Majesty knighted the adult princes, there were many speculations among the nobles in the empire;

Although Duke Wright is the fifth in line to the throne, he has obviously lost hope of competition, and there is not even a 1% possibility, but he is obviously more favored than several other princes.

First, Duke Wright has a relatively mild temper and no arrogance. Second, the imperial concubine Nicole who is in charge of the West Palace is his aunt, plus the biological maternal favorite concubine Fiona, His Majesty loves the house and Wu.

The evidence for this judgment is the ducal fiefdom, which is located next to Cebu Island, where the Spaniards have operated for more than 200 years, and which is one of the more developed islands, with many mature castles, churches and villages, as well as large areas of fertile land.

The Duke of Wright's fiefdom is located in the south-central part of the Luzon Islands, with a pleasant climate and a long history of development, which is much stronger than the elongated Palawan Island.

Geographical importance aside, it seems to be much better than the Hawaiian Islands, which are more than 8,000 kilometers away.

Sit under a white parasol

Duan Changjiang was talking at the moment, and said with a smile; "Your Highness, let's pass by your duke's fiefdom and get off the boat for a tour together, just to open our eyes, it is said that there is a blue sea and silver sand, and the scenery is pleasant, not inferior to Cebu Island."

"Forget it, what's the point of seeing the sea view, the Duke of Palawan and I are on an errand this trip, it's better to be diligent and don't make more troubles." Duke Li Sihan waved his hand and responded in a gentle tone.

He wasn't polite, but he really thought so.

With more than 27,000 islands, the Ocean Empire is truly a country of 10,000 islands, and it is not unusual to say that the invincible scenery of the blue sea and silver sand is almost everywhere.

Tasmania, the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Darwin, Cebu Island, and Samarinda are from the coast of Mozambique, which are all world-famous coasts, with coconut breezes blowing, blue sea and silver sand, as beautiful as a paradise on earth.

What's so strange about one more Leyte Gulf?

What you don't have is precious, and if you don't have it, it's not a good thing.

"What Your Highness said is very true, thinking about the errand that the Holy God has given to me today is not without the meaning of examination and tempering, and the colonization of Somali companies in the Luzon Islands has universal reference significance for the rest of the archipelago." Li Xiaozu could only help analyze and sort out the limited information in front of him, and continued thoughtfully;

"We, the sons of the nobility who will attack the lord in the future, shoulder the responsibility of the prosperity of the family, which one is not put in the government ministries to experience?

For what?

It's just that he can't be raised like the children of the Eight Banners, and he walks around the eagle and fights the dog all day long, lingers in the Qinglou, and is blind to the thousands of miles of rivers and mountains that his parents have beaten down.

From this point to this, the errand of this trip must not be neglected! ”

Duke Wright Li Sihan nodded approvingly and said; "What Xiaozu said is very much in line with my heart, and with the current momentum of the empire, we cannot afford to slack off."

"Your Highness is wise, and the Yangtze River is ashamed."

"Hehehe...... You and I are the same age, like-minded, and there are no taboos in casual chat. Duke Li Sihan smiled gently, his eyes seemed to inadvertently glance at the great prince not far away, and he turned around and continued; Speaking of a thousand ways and ten thousand, I am also an idle duke, and it is impossible for me to inherit the throne. I am a layman, without the pride of my father who swallowed thousands of miles like a tiger, and I hope that in the years to come, if I am fortunate enough to have the help of three or five friends, I will build Leyte Island more prosperous and beautiful. ”

His expression was sincere, and it could be seen that it came from the heart.

Although Duke Kate is quite popular with His Majesty, but after all, the blood is mixed, this is a hard wound that he can never overcome, if the eldest prince still has 1% chance to succeed to the throne, he really has no hope at all.

Therefore, Duke Wright's marriage was led by the Imperial Concubine Nicole of the West Palace, and Count Conrad-Adenauer facilitated the marriage of Princess Catherine, daughter of Ludwig III of the Duchy of Bavaria.

Investigate its original meaning

still wants to compensate this gentle and favored prince through a satisfactory aristocratic marriage.

On the other hand, isn't it a kind of sadness?

Li Xiaozu's eyes touched Duan Changjiang, and they both saluted; "If Your Highness does not give up, we are willing to follow the work of dogs and horses."

"Hehehe...... I don't dare to ask for it. Li Sihan laughed happily.

Manila

After three years, this big city in the Nanyang region has undergone great changes, a large area of low shacks have been knocked down and leveled, and one building after another has been erected, most of which are mainly 3~4 floors, and sometimes there are some high-rise buildings with more than 10 floors, and the outer wall is still under construction.

About 20% of the city is renovated, and deep construction trenches have been opened in the streets, which is the construction of permanent urban sewerage facilities.

Since it was not long after the rain, the construction trench was half flooded and turned into a muddy river, which looked very dirty.

The diesel engines at the intersection of the street are roaring, pumping out a large stream of mud water and discharging it into the river so that the construction trench can be cleared and the sewer ditch construction can be resumed as soon as possible.

Due to the limitations of the times, there is no qualified cast iron pipe for sewers, and the super-large diameter composite rubber pipe can greatly save the difficulty of construction.

Therefore, today's sewer facilities adopt the large-scale open construction method, using bricks to build the road, then covering it with a reinforced concrete surface layer, and finally backfilling the muck, compacting layer by layer, adding a gravel layer, a fly ash layer, and pouring concrete asphalt......

A set of construction is time-consuming and laborious, especially in a large city like Manila, where there are many streets and alleys, so it must be combined with urban transformation step by step, with more than 10 years to improve the construction of the city's sewer network facilities, with an estimated total investment of 17 million gold oceans.

In the area ruled by the empire, Manila was positioned as a first-tier central city, which means that it will be a metropolis with a population of more than one million in the future, and the construction standards are all in accordance with the first-tier central city planning, and this huge investment cannot be saved.

In particular, Manila is located in the subtropical region, which is a typical marine subtropical climate, with heavy rainfall in the rainy season, frequent concentrated rainfall, and no high standard of unobstructed urban sewer facilities, which is a disaster in the rainy season.

In the past, the Spaniards had turned a blind eye to the passable attitude, and for more than 200 years no urban sewer networks had been built, and the debt for urban construction was now to be paid by the Empire.

Specifically

It was paid by the Imperial Cabinet, because it was a direct domain of the Imperial Family, and the Cabinet of the Ocean Empire did not have a public construction expenditure plan.

Since it is the territory of the royal family, it is naturally under the construction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and it is difficult for the government to interfere.

Therefore, although the Imperial Household Office collects huge taxes and land transfer fees every year, the expenses are also huge, and the surplus is extremely limited.

Urban construction is no joke and requires years of continuous investment.

Crack your fingers and do the math

Since the moment Li Fushou set foot in Australia in 1876, he has been in a cycle of construction, expansion, reconstruction, and expansion.

It's not ......

Australia's local construction is on the right track, entering a long-term and lucrative period of income, the development of the Qingshui River Basin on Shangri-La Island has basically ended, and the development of the Jinshui River Basin is also nearing the end, gradually having the ability of financial independence.

With local fiscal revenue, it can basically meet most of the city's development and construction needs, and a small subsidy is sufficient.

In 1898, the Western War was launched, and the Luzon Islands, which covered an area of 300,000 square kilometers, began, and a new round of large-scale construction began.

In the overall plan, although there is only one first-tier central city in the Luzon Islands, Manila, and only one quasi-first-tier city, Quezon is the only one, but there are 11 second-tier cities, and Davao, Kalo Ocan, Zamboanga and other regional important cities are among them.

These cities also need to be renovated and built, with an annual investment of tens of millions of dollars, which has lasted for three years, and will continue to be invested in the future.

Don't say anything else

Quezon City, which is very close to Manila, is a prosperous city that is not inferior to Manila, with an area four times the size of Manila, and its economic status is very important.

If Manila is the North of the Luzon Islands, then Quezon is the Shanghai Sea on the Luzon Islands, can such a city not be built?

By imperial standards

The first-tier central city refers to the first-tier city with a population of more than 800,000 and a long-term plan of more than 1.5 million people within 5~10 years, and the construction standard is the highest.

Quasi-first-tier cities refer to large cities with a population of more than 600,000 and a long-term planned population of more than 1 million within 5~10 years.

In a high standard of construction, there is really not enough money to spend.

Fortunately, the Luzon Islands have an abundant supply of free labor, which can save a lot of money for urban construction, which is the only good news.

Enter the city

Everywhere, you can see barebacked, wearing only a crotch short, aboriginal laborers working under the scorching sun, clearing the bulldozed rubble of the city, leveling the land, digging ditches, building roads, doing the hardest and most tiring work, and changing the face of the city like ants moving.

Throughout the Luzon Islands, countless indigenous slaves were building roads and bridges, railroads, irrigation ditches, cutting down forests, splitting rocks, and stretching wide and smooth avenues.

After three years of construction

The construction of public facilities in the Luzon Islands has begun to take shape, with wide avenues reaching the township level, several railways about to be completed and opened to traffic, bridges and ditches along the way basically completed, and more than 8,000 kilometers of irrigation trunk canals and branch canals have been built.

According to the new immigration policy implemented in 1899, immigrants to mainland Australia and the South Seas states, including Shangri-La, Borneo, Luzon, Somalia and other places, will no longer be allocated free land for immigrants.

Migrants who need land can go to the open market for land circulation to buy and sell, and the price of land is based on the open market, and the government collects a certain proportion of land sale and purchase deed tax.

The new policy excludes the Sulawesi Islands, the Pacific Islands and the Hawaiian Islands, and does not include the African islands of Madagascar and Mozambique.

The reason for this regulation is that there are more and more Chinese immigrants in the north, and the government has less and less undeveloped land in its hands, which is gradually unable to make ends meet, and it is imperative to change the policy.

The change in immigration policy has not reduced the enthusiasm of Chinese immigrants.

After the immigration population exceeded 1.8 million in 1899, the immigrant population reached 211 in January ~ November 1900, and the annual population is expected to exceed 2.35 million, a sharp increase of three percent compared with the previous year.

This was mainly a factor of the Northern War, and the armies of various powers entered Beiping City, which caused a huge shock in Chinese society and produced obvious spillover effects.

The government has guided the government to send more migrants to the Pacific islands, Sulawesi Islands and Africa to make up for the lack of population in these backward and remote areas.

……

After a long journey, the Duke of Palawan and Duke Wright arrived in Manila and saw a lively scene under construction.

The fly in the ointment was that the streets were muddy, building materials were piled up everywhere, and the indigenous slaves under the scorching sun watched the convoy pass by with a sluggish expression, and then continued their work under the whip of the leather whip.

The whole city is in the throes of childbirth, and it will take time before it can reveal a new and beautiful face.

Soon after the convoy moved forward, it entered the renovated urban area.

On both sides of the wide, smooth asphalt road, tall subtropical street trees, flowers bloom in the bushes, and street lamps stretch out into the distance, looking neat and clean, like two worlds.

Some of the buildings on both sides of the road have been built, and the shops on the ground floor have opened, and there are many people coming and going, most of whom are Chinese, and there are also a few whites.

Compared with the urban dwellers in the metropolises of the Red River Valley in Australia, most of the men wear elaborate woolen suits or youth clothes, and the women wear expensive Western-style dresses and umbrellas to swagger through the market, exuding a prosperous and wealthy modern atmosphere.

There are not many people wearing suits and dresses here, mainly cloth clothes, many people wear bamboo hats on their heads to block the hot sun, and women like to wear ankle-length wide trousers, which are cool and neat.

There are very few cars on the streets, mainly ox carts, mule carts, and many manpower rubber wheel carts, but there are many people and quite lively.

The overall look is unpretentious, and compared with the appearance of local Australian cities, it is more than 20 years behind.