End of September

The Emperor of the Tang Dynasty publicly announced his southern tour, taking the 10,000-ton luxury cruise ship "Royal Messenger" to the south, escorted by a mixed fleet composed of two prince-class capital warships of the Royal Navy and four 10,000-ton fast freighters along the way.

Of the four 10,000-ton fast freighters, one was a coal carrier, one was a supply ship for oil and water, and the other two were freighters, loaded with factory machinery and equipment and other goods for His Majesty's reward to the vassal states.

October 11th

The flotilla arrived in the city, the most important city along the Nicaragua Canal, where 100,000 people poured out to greet the city with a grand ceremony.

Early 20th century′

With a total population of 772,600, Lakebay City has become the most populous metropolis in Central America, surpassing Panama City and becoming the largest metropolis along the Nicaragua Canal.

With the opening of the Nicaragua Canal, the city's prosperity grew unstoppably, in stark contrast to the depression of Panama City.

The city sits on the shores of Lake Nicaragua, with low rolling hills to the east and ancient indigenous temples and royal residences.

From here, you can look down on the whole city, and the buildings with Spanish characteristics spread out in the distance, and the scenery is breathtaking.

More than a dozen wharves line along the lakeside, and huge ships gather, and in the distant anchorage mooring area, there are more large sea ships scattered on the river.

This scene is full of modern industrial atmosphere, which makes people feel a sense of pride in their hearts.

Emperor Richard leaned on the railing and looked into the distance, and this beautiful lakeside city was in full view, and a look of remembrance appeared on his face.

He watched the city grow from scratch to a small town of hundreds with an Aztec temple and a wilderness.

More than 30 years have passed in a flash, and with the help of the massive flow of people and logistics brought by the Grand Canal of Nicaragua, which can be called the world's water conservancy miracle, the city has developed rapidly.

It is a strategically important artery connecting the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

Once the Tang Empire has mastered this, it has mastered the gate facing the Pacific Ocean.

In peacetime, large quantities of goods from the north and west coasts could be easily transported to Europe via the Nicaragua Canal. It communicated the east and west coasts of North America and the Central American territories of the Tang Empire, which greatly promoted economic prosperity.

In times of war

The Nicaragua Canal has further highlighted its important strategic value, facilitating the mobilization of troops and materials across the ocean by the Royal Army and Navy of the Tang Empire, and defeating the enemy with all the strength of the country.

The enemy will not be able to take advantage of this strategic passage connecting the two oceans, and the enemy's battlefield from the Atlantic will be confined to the Atlantic.

If the enemy comes from the Pacific, the battlefield will be limited to the Pacific. Then the imperial cities along the Atlantic and Caribbean coasts will become a stable rear, capable of sending a steady stream of troops and supplies to the front line.

Such an extremely favorable strategic situation made the British covetous.

Bismarck, the former German Chancellor who died not long ago, once said; "Tang is the country with the best geostrategic environment among all the world powers, and in the next thousand years, no country will be able to threaten its homeland."

Although this statement is a bit exaggerated, it must be admitted that it has a lot of truth.

The Tang Empire in the western Pacific Ocean, in Alaska, North Sea Province, Amami Kingdom, Luzon Kingdom, Cebu Kingdom, Mindanao Kingdom, Paradise Province and the newly occupied East Indies, has formed a clear western Pacific rim, pushing the Tang Empire's mainland margin of safety to the edge of the Eurasian continent, more than 12,000 kilometers ahead.

Unless these areas were taken one by one, it was impossible to threaten the Empire in the Americas.

Whenever he thought of this, Emperor Richard's heart was full of joy, just like drinking ice water on dog days.

The coconut trees are gently swaying and the breeze is gentle.

Lake Nicaragua is the largest freshwater lake in Central America, with a water area of 8,264 square kilometers, and the 21st largest lake in the world, connected to the Caribbean Sea by the San Juan River.

The endless surface of the lake is vast, and the evening breeze blows the cool water vapor, not the salty smell of the sea breeze.

It was a natural haven for ships travelling between the two oceans, a necessary place to replenish supplies and fuel, and always docked for several days when passing through the canal.

Just when Emperor Richard was looking over the railing, Liang Bojun, deputy director of the Secretariat, quietly walked behind him, bent down respectfully and asked for instructions; "Your Majesty, the local military and political officials are already waiting in the outer hall, respectfully asking for the Hadith."

"Well, I'll be here then."

"Wechen obeys." Liang Bojun took two steps back, then turned around and left.

Emperor Richard then withdrew his gaze, he was quite satisfied with the development of Huwan City, which has great potential to develop into a metropolis with a population of one million in the future.

Compared to here, Panama City, which was once prosperous, is lonely.

He tidied up a little, and then walked calmly in the direction of the outer hall......

After the inspection

Receiving these local military and political chiefs and encouraging them is what the topic originally meant.

Emperor Richard planned to visit the south for more than half a year, and he would visit Central America and various vassal states and provinces in South America.

See how the local economy and society developed under the rule of the feudal state?

Today, the system of the Tang Empire is similar to that of the German Empire, with provinces directly under the empire and overseas provinces, as well as vassal states and territories directly under the imperial family.

Among the vassal states, there were both pro-kingdoms and grand duchies, which uniformly implemented the laws and regulations and policies of the empire, and the diplomatic, military, and administrative powers were unified under the empire, and they were only fiefdoms and fiefdoms, just like the local nobles.

The South American Desert Expedition, which began in 1862, has been a great success for 38 years and has captured almost half of South America.

Emperor Richard had never set foot on this land before, and it was a great honor to make up for this regret and bring the glory of the imperial family to the vassal states.

In the second half of next year, Emperor Richard also plans to tour the imperial territories in the Western Pacific, visiting every vassal state and province under the Tang Empire, except for Yunzhong Province.

Countless citizens of the empire eagerly awaited the visit of the Holy Driver, which allowed the local people to deeply feel the glory of the empire and feel the happiness of being a part of the empire, which was of great significance.

If Emperor Richard hadn't retreated into the background, he might not have found so much time to patrol the vast empire.

The territory is too big, and it's also a kind of distress!

After a three-day stop in the city of Lagoon, the Royal Patrol set sail again on 15 October, with its next destination being the Kingdom of Colombia.

The fleet sailed unimpeded along the San Juan River, with vast rice paddies stretching as far as the eye could see.

The Nicaraguan region is located in the tropics, with extremely abundant water resources, and is an excellent rice production area in the empire, with three crops a year, large yields and good quality.

The high-quality rice produced here is widely popular in North America and is a well-known signature agricultural product, and several provinces in Central America send millions of tons of rice to North America every year to meet the consumption needs of the Chinese community.

Chinese people are accustomed to eating rice noodles and do not like tortillas and potatoes, which can be used as a dish, but not as a staple food. This is also the fundamental reason for the widespread cultivation of rice in Central America and Colombia.

Historically, it was a large corn-producing area.

On both sides of the canal

You can see the rock slope protection with whole stones, and the original meandering course of the San Juan River has been extensively remodeled to make the entire channel straight and wide.

Along both sides of the river are high-grade asphalt roads, as well as low dirt hills, all of which are piled up of mud and gravel dug out of the river, ranging in height from tens of meters to tens of meters.

Both sides of the river are covered in lush tall trees, and as far as the eye can see, there is a patch of green, and colorful wildflowers are in bloom.

These canal companies have planted high-value trees, as well as windbreak and soil protection, which improve the environment and are aesthetically pleasing.

The royal fleet sailed smoothly through the San Juan River and into the Caribbean Sea half a day later.

The salty sea breeze and the sapphire-blue sea heralded the fleet's entry into this legendary sea.

Once in the Caribbean, the royal fleet shifted its course and headed south along the Central American coastline.

Two days later

They arrived at the port of San Onofre in the Gulf of Darien, where the Prince of Quang Nam, Don Li Kun, had already led a high-ranking military and political dignitaries and members of the royal family of the Kingdom of Colombia to wait for the emperor's arrival.

Puerto Santo Onofre is a port city of more than 70,000 people, and it is more than 430 kilometers by train from here to Medellín, the capital of the Kingdom of Colombia.

The prince of Quang Nam, Tang Li Kunnai, was the concubine of Empress Lin, and his vassal state was the highest-ranking princely kingdom, with the largest area among all vassal states, and the population of 5.37 million was also the first.

The economic strength of the Kingdom of Colombia is also good, and it is among the top three vassal states in the middle of the North American kingdom of Ohio.

The Kingdom of Colombia was large enough to divide three or four vassal kings in terms of size and size, and this alone shows the preference of His Majesty the Emperor.

The train sped through the Colombian wilderness, over jungles and mountains, over vast tracts of rice-growing farmland and towns, all the way to the southwest.

More than 20 years after its inclusion in the imperial rule, the proportion of the Chinese population in the Kingdom of Colombia has reached 68.2%, 8.9% is of white descent, and the population of the indigenous Indian tribes accounts for about 22.86%, living at the lowest level of society.

The scenery along the way can be seen that the construction of roads and bridges in Colombia's urban and rural areas is still good, and the farmland water conservancy facilities are relatively perfect, which are the results of large-scale construction at the beginning.

Relying on the solid foundation established at the beginning, the Kingdom of Colombia has developed very well in recent years, with coffee, cocoa, rice, cane sugar and natural rubber in the local area, and large and small Chinese plantations are densely packed, a leisurely pastoral landscape.

(End of chapter)