Chapter 354 Telegram
The carriage was running on the smooth and wide road leading to the first town without any bumps. Through the car window, the construction level of East African roads opened the eyes of the Far East Aid Group members.
Li Ge asked Vilix, who was sent by the First Town Municipal Government to pick him up, "Mr. Vilix, what are those lines hanging on the wooden poles at intervals along the road?"
Since Viliks is Austrian, Aryan is needed to translate between the two.
Aryan: "That's the wire used for communication, it connects the city of Dar es Salaam to the city of First Town."
Li Ge: "Communication? Just rely on those two lines!"
Aryan: "Yes, this is the charm of science. If I explain it to you, you may not understand it, but you just need to know that with these cables, news from Europe can reach East Africa within a day."
Li Ge suspected that Aryan was questioning his IQ. If Aryan didn't explain the principle to him, how could he know the operating mechanism of these two lines?
Li Ge: "Mr. Aryan, I know that you Westerners have many innovations in technology. You can build large steamships, advanced guns and cannons, and industrial products for various purposes. This may be a little more advanced than our Far East, but we just didn't pay much attention to the research of science and technology before."
Aryan: "Of course I know this. Mr. Liger, I was once a Far Easterner, so I know this better. The Far East is indeed quite backward in this regard. Not to mention the general public's understanding of science, even many officials may find the existence of something like the telegraph incomprehensible."
It is certain that the education level in the Far East is now far behind that of the German region. After all, when it comes to universal compulsory education, Germany is the only region in the world that is relatively unique.
Aryan then explained to Li Ge the general operating principles of the telegraph, which left him stunned. This was indeed a bit brain-burning for Li Ge, who had only read the Four Books and Five Classics.
Liger: "You mean you created thunder and lightning and used it to deliver messages?"
Aryan: "That's not lightning, it's just ordinary electricity. With current science and technology, no one can control lightning. Its energy is too strong and uncontrollable."
Li Ge: "So what you said is that you can use a generator to create thunder...lightning!"
Aryan: "Electricity already exists in nature, and European scientists studied electricity itself and converted it into energy, which is the magnetic field."
"Magnetic field?" Li Geyou heard a new term, but still found it difficult to understand. In Li Ge's view, thunder and lightning were "the wrath of heaven", and it was simply treason for these foreigners to try to control thunder and lightning.
In fact, there have been countless talented people with a scientific spirit in the Far East since ancient times, and they are not as superstitious as Li Ge about the correspondence between heaven and man.
For example, the "Huainanzi" of the Han Dynasty believed that "the contact of yin and yang turns into thunder, and the excitement turns into lightning." Although there is no basis for the understanding of thunder and lightning in the "Huainanzi", it shows the dialectical thinking of the ancients about thunder and lightning, rather than superstition of the Confucian theory of the correspondence between heaven and man.
The book was written in the Warring States Period. An earlier record was made in Guliang Zhuan: When yin and yang come into contact, they become thunder, which in turn becomes lightning.
Yin and Yang correspond exactly to positive and negative charges, which is creepy to think about. After all, the ancients thousands of years ago when science and technology were so low could have such cognition. Even if it was just a coincidence, it would make people awe-inspiring. But, is it really just a coincidence!
Aryan: "Mr. Liger, you don't have to be surprised. Telegraphs are actually available in the Far East now, but you may not know it."
Li Ge: "There are also in the Far East?"
Aryan: "Yes, the telegraph lines from Hong Kong to Shanghai and from Nagasaki to Shanghai, which were laid by Britain, Norway, Tsarist Russia and Denmark at the beginning of this year, are expected to be completed soon. The Hechingen Electric Power Company is also planning a telegraph line from Shanghai to Jiaozhou."
The reason why Aryan knew about this was because he was the person in charge of coordinating this matter at the time. It was indeed not easy to find a German translator in the Far East, so the Hexingen Group often borrowed people from the East African Embassy.
When Aryan and the aid team left the Far East, the laying of the submarine cable from Shanghai to Jiaozhou had already begun. At that time, it would be directly connected to the telegraph line of the Danish Great Northern Telegraph Company, so that East Africa could contact the Far East through telegraph in the future.
It's just that the message has to be transferred through Europe, which adds an extra procedure, but it's not a big deal. The Great Northern Telegraph Company is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark. Although it has capital backgrounds from multiple countries, it is still a Danish company.
Only high-ranking officials of the Far East government and some local dignitaries knew about the laying of telegraph lines in the Far East. Small figures like Li Ge really didn't understand it.
In fact, the Far East government was still opposed to foreign companies laying telegraph lines in the Far East, but the situation was stronger than people, so they turned a blind eye. Among them, the Hexingen Consortium was the most excessive, directly pulling Austrian businessmen to invest in the telegraph network centered on Xuzhou in the Huaihai Economic Zone. At present, many countries and regions in Europe have not yet fully popularized the telegraph, so this practice is a bit ahead of its time.
If this network is built, it is still uncertain whether it can be profitable in the initial stage, because the Huaihai Economic Zone is currently considered an economically backward region in the Far East, with many poor people. Many of them cannot afford the cost of telegraphs, or have no concept of consumption. Unless the Huaihai Economic Zone develops and the new thing like telegraphs becomes known to people.
Although the Huaihai Economic Zone was proposed by East Africa, East Africa itself has not invested much in the local area. The majority of the investment comes from Austrian businessmen brought in by East Africa. Many of the factories they invested in and built can drive local development in the future, but no one knows how many years it will take for the economy here to develop.
However, the difficulty is not too great. After all, investment eliminates the factor of interference from local governments. As long as there are no foreigners making trouble, there will basically be no major problems. The Huaihai Economic Zone is represented by two world powers, Germany and Austria. Even Britain, France, Russia and others have to act within their means.
This is a business that is sure to make money, but it takes time. Whether it can be profitable in the early stages depends on whether Xuzhou, a strategic location, and the north-south transportation hub can assume the function of a hub city.
However, judging from the investment enthusiasm of Austrian businessmen, they are more optimistic about this project. With the development of the times, telegraphs will surely be popularized all over the world. Although the average consumption level in the Far East is not high, the volume is large enough, and Xuzhou is located in the center of the Central Plains, Zhili, Shandong, Anhui, and Jiangsu. The contact center of these regions is Xuzhou. Therefore, building a telegraph company in Xuzhou should, with a high probability, be profitable!
In this matter, the Heixingen Group is only taking the lead, and the specific measures will be decided by the German Far East Chamber of Commerce Alliance.
The focus of the Heixingen Consortium is on how to strengthen the connection between East Africa and the Far East. The Xuzhou Telegraph Company was initially conceived as only an inland information exchange node, and it also paid more attention to profitability. The external exchange node of the Huaihai Economic Zone is in Jiaozhou, and there is only one excellent port in the entire Huaihai Economic Zone. This is also the background for the laying of the telegraph line from Shanghai to Jiaozhou.
(End of this chapter)
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