After three hours and nine minutes of stalemate, the Chicago Conquerors defeated the Chang'an Eastern Light Cavalry by a narrow margin, lifted the championship trophy symbolizing glory, and dedicated a bloody and classic game.

The victorious Chicago Conquerors team members ran around the court, many of the team members burst into tears of excitement, and then high-fived their teammates who rushed to celebrate, waving their fists and roaring to the sky, dedicating explosive hormonal enthusiasm.

The Eastern Hussars, who lost the game, seemed to have their souls drained, and silently walked out of the field with their heads down, giving up the stage to the winner.

Inside

Listening to the cheers of the Royal Red Oak Stadium, His Highness Tang Li Xin and Deputy Minister of Sports Zhu Baocheng were still immersed in the decadence of losing, they couldn't believe it;

The Eastern Light Cavalry, which led most of the game, suffered a comeback at the last moment, and the right fielder "Four-armed King Kong" Tang Tieniu copied the good show of outfield assistance to kill home plate in the semifinals and staged a shocking reversal.

It was too late for the Eastern Hussars to catch up and lost the championship.

"The game is full of possibilities, and the Eastern Hussars are still one of the top teams in the North American baseball league despite the defeat in this battle, but this time luck is on the side of the Conquerors." Vice Minister Zhu Baocheng made a regretful evaluation, and then added; "Fortunately, the team that won in the end also belongs to my Tang Empire, and standing at the height of the overall situation, we should congratulate the conqueror team."

"It's a little frustrating, but it's not unacceptable." His Royal Highness Tang Li Xin sighed, took a sip of the wine glass, and then said with some regret; "This good shot from the Eastern Light Cavalry with a strong stick, how can this four-armed King Kong judge the direction so accurately? If there is a slight error, or even a little hesitation, you can't catch this ball, it's incredible? ”

"Maybe sometimes, the players on the field will play at a high level, like this time the home plate is just a stroke of genius."

"Okay...... The result of the competition cannot be changed, let's go and award the trophy to the winner, this is the honor they deserve. ”

"That's right, Your Highness, please ......"

Zhu Baocheng, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Sports, respectfully asked His Highness Eleventh to go ahead, although he is the leader of the Ministry of Culture and Sports, but His Royal Highness's distinguished status and the title of Duke of the North make the so-called leader meaningless, and must remain in awe and humility.

There was nothing to be humble, Don Leeshin stood up and walked out first, the athletic department and league organizers huddled around and went outside, and now was the ceremony to present the trophy to the North American baseball league champion.

The North American Baseball League is a benchmark sport promoted by the Ministry of Culture and Sports, and is the most successful and commercially mature league, with a wide range of fans who like the sport and growing influence, and can be called the No. 1 sport in North America.

The North American baseball league earns almost as much as the other leagues combined.

Because of this

While the Ministry of Culture and Sports has set out to foster more commercial and formalized league operations, it has also made great efforts to promote baseball, not only in remote towns in North America, but also in South American countries and the Andean Governor's Palace.

Compared with the North American baseball industry with a mature market and many strong teams, the development of baseball in Central and South American countries is much more tortuous and lagging behind.

Brazil, Bolivia, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Chile, Argentina and other South American countries are economically backward due to their vigilance against foreign affairs and environmental isolation. Many countries are still struggling to feed and wear, and they are not interested in developing Rausch baseball at all.

A baseball, a glove, it's a valuable investment.

Not to mention a full set of sportswear, shoes and hats, which is a large expense, and I can't afford it without a considerable financial foundation.

In the provinces of the Andean Viceroyalty, baseball has only improved slightly, with a small number of amateur-level teams appearing in cities and large towns and villages, and the level is still two orders of magnitude short of participating in the North American league.

There is still a long way to go before the Ministry of Culture and Sports hopes that South America will send no less than 6~8 baseball teams to form a more powerful American baseball league, and it will take at least ten or twenty years of hard work.

On the contrary, soccer is being promoted quite smoothly in South America, and as long as there is a ball, a large number of young children can play together, which is the biggest advantage.

Gradually......

Officials from the Ministry of Cultural Industries also found that the real reason why baseball in South America is not developing smoothly, the promotion is difficult, and the audience is small.

A few wealthy countries with better economies, such as Bolivia, Peru, Chile and Argentina, are typical agricultural countries, with scattered villages and towns, small urban populations, and small scales, most of which are small cities with tens of thousands of people, or even only a few thousand people, and are not equipped to develop baseball.

Baseball requires twenty or thirty people per team, more than 40 people, and at least 15 people, and the investment in sports equipment is expensive. In some small and remote cities, not even a team can be formed.

The Ministry of Culture and Sports could not solve this dilemma, and the original eagerness to promote it was also weakened.

Fortunately, soccer is very popular in South America and is gaining popularity.

It is often seen that on the muddy dirt roads in the streets and alleys, groups of teenagers are playing football with great interest, and they are never tired of it, as if the east is not bright and the west is bright, which makes the officials of the Ministry of Culture and Sports cry and laugh.

After the championship of the North American Professional League Baseball League was decided, the grand event of the No. 1 sport in North America finally came to an end.

News of the victory reached Chicago, and the million-dollar metropolis was engulfed in an all-night revelry.

Listening to the live commentary from the cable radio station speaker, baseball fans in Chicago and surrounding cities who were not able to attend the scene also enjoyed the joy of competitive sports.

Tang Tieniu, the right fielder of the Conquerors team who turned the tide of the battle, became popular overnight, and was even favored by the famous bone-setting and pain-relieving plaster manufacturer "Lin Ji Aphrodisiac Tiger Bone Cream", and spent 2,000 yuan to print it on the wrapping paper as a brand spokesperson.

The propaganda slogan is; "No matter how much pain I go through, I can turn it around."

The development of the commodity economy is mature, so that manufacturers pay more attention to publicity, and Liushen Flower Water chooses the traditional image of the mother printed on the wrapping paper, which is intended to protect the family from mosquitoes.

The old oil company chose the middle-aged and calm gentleman as the image representative, and they bought kerosene lamps to go home and light the warm lights for the family.

While the traditional bruising medicine and the emerging beverage are more favored by strong and energetic athletes, it invisibly brings additional income to sports stars and increases their popularity, which is a win-win situation for enterprises and clubs.

Just a few days after the end of the North American baseball league, good news came from the Fuso Islands on the other side of the Pacific Ocean;

After difficult negotiations, the two sides finally reached a consensus on a peace agreement, and the Boshin War officially ended.

In peace agreements

The shogunate made substantial concessions, and the shogun, Tokugawa Yoshiki, announced his abdication, and the Edo shogunate period officially ended. After his abdication, Tokugawa Yoshiki became the prime minister of the reform government, respecting Emperor Meiji as the main officer, and implementing a series of reforms to the decadent and backward society.

The "Sacho Alliance" made a big concession to its original stance of overthrowing the shogunate, continued to accept the reform government dominated by the former shogunate as the sole legitimate power, did not support separatism, abandoned the demand for armed confrontation and autonomy, and sent representatives of the reformists to the new policy to start the transformation of the old society.

The two sides agreed to accept the joint supervision of Datang and the United Kingdom, promote domestic peace and restore production, and promised to abandon the use of force and other radical means to change the status quo.

All in all

The history of the Fuso archipelago was changed here, and the Emperor faction did not achieve a complete victory, nor did the Shogunate faction completely defeat, and two rivals who had different opinions but had to live together with their noses pinched were able to achieve peace under the mediation of foreign powers.

Since then, the Fuso archipelago has begun to carry out social reforms in shackles, stumbling step by step.

No way

The shogunate, which had been completely eliminated in its original history, still controlled the government, and there was no possibility of complete westernization or thorough reform in the Fuso Islands, so they could only maintain the status quo and find a balance between tradition and change.

The British were satisfied with this situation, the Tang Empire was satisfied, but the shogunate and the emperor faction were not satisfied, and they had to pinch their noses and live under one roof.

This is like two couples who are not in harmony with each other, not only quarreled before, but also broke their heads and bleed, and were scarred, but under the strong intervention and reconciliation of elders and outsiders, they continued their married life with grievances.

The awkwardness and pain in this heart are unknown to others, and I only feel that I have maintained another marriage, and my heart is full of pride and a sense of accomplishment.

Soon after the good news of the peace agreement reached in the Fuso Islands, the situation in Europe suddenly changed, and the French Emperor Napoleon III angrily declared war on the Kingdom of Prussia, which shocked the European continent and shocked the world......

Good ...... What's the trouble?

The vast majority of the subjects of the Tang Empire were not interested in what happened on the other side of the Atlantic, nor could they make any sense of it, let alone feel it personally, and they paid more attention to their own happy life.

Because of the great panic caused by the Franco-Prussian War in Europe, countries on the European continent have increased their efforts to import materials, especially grain, and the first beneficiary country is the Tang Empire, the world's largest grain exporter.

On this background

Beginning in July 1870, the world grain price and bulk rice, flour and oil prices have risen, in just one and a half months, the price has risen by more than 50%, of which flour has risen by 56.3%, oats have risen by 44.5%, soybean oil has risen by 62.4%, the price of kerosene has more than doubled, and the price of various meats has also risen by more than 30%~40%, forming a large wave of price increases.

Leather, cotton, bristles, blankets and daily necessities have risen, along with the prices of steel, machinery and chemicals, and demand has skyrocketed with a staggering number of large orders.

The Tang Empire is like a chicken blood, domestic industry and agriculture have been working overtime to produce at full speed, shipyard ship orders have broken the head, and the domestic economy has risen sharply under the pull of strong demand and began to run at high speed.

(End of chapter)