Chapter 134: The Golden Age of Nanhua (First update, please subscribe)
"At least he can earn 2 million pounds!"
After stretching himself, Zhu Xianhai whistled proudly.
Investing less than 100,000 pounds in exchange for a return of 2 million pounds is definitely the most successful investment.
Unfortunately, there is only this one chance to make dozens of times the profit.
It’s a bit of a pity.
"Luckily I seized the opportunity, otherwise I wouldn't have had the chance to make this quick money in a few years!"
With this money, I will never have to worry about financial issues again!
In fact, in the past year, Zhu Xianhai has been worried about the problem of funds. If it were not for the gold mine robbery in Brazil and the high profits from selling medicine, the capital chain would have been broken long ago. But even so, the funds are very tight.
This was even the reason why Buffett proposed to mortgage Helen Company in exchange for a bank loan last time.
Hailun Company and its products, "Liqingsong" and "Aspirin", are Nanhua's cash cows! They can be easily mortgaged. Maybe once this company is mortgaged, the other company will become someone else's. What are those capitalist financiers best at? It is to use financial traps to seize other people's industries.
This is the case in the 21st century, and it was even more naked in the 19th century.
"Let's mortgage the telegraph company!"
The corners of Zhu Xianhai's lips curled up. In fact, he knew very well that mortgaging would also mean that he would lose control of the Atlantic Cable Company, but what was the big deal!
After all, Britain and the United States would never allow that line to be controlled by others.
"The French..."
Zhu Xianhai smiled proudly.
"Who says that only Britain can be a troublemaker?"
A dispute over the ownership of a telegraph line might not lead to a war, but it would definitely lead to a diplomatic conflict. As for what the consequences would be, he did not consider it.
For Zhu Xianhai, all he needs is to get as much economic rewards as possible from the conflict.
"If you want to profit from the British and French, you have to collect some interest from them first!"
2 million pounds is too little, less than 10 million taels of silver, which is just a little interest!
"Sooner or later, I will get my money back with interest."
Zhu Xianhai, who was in a good mood, opened the window of his office and looked at the Nanhua Bay outside. There were more than a dozen clipper ships anchored in the Nanhua Bay. After sending the immigrants to Nanhua, they did not return immediately. After all, after more than two months of sailing, even sailors needed to rest.
Nanhua on both sides of the Nanhua River has already shown the embryonic form of a city, and Nanhua is changing with each passing day.
Soon, it will change even faster as big money is destined to flow!
After pondering for a moment, Zhu Xianhai muttered to himself.
"It seems that it is time to conduct a long-term simulation."
After a long simulation, there are only a few chances left!
Precisely because of its preciousness, Zhu Xianhai will cherish the few remaining opportunities even more.
After thinking for a while, he took a deep breath and started a new simulation.
【Do you want to start the life simulation? 】
"yes,"
【Please select the simulation time. 】
"Long simulation!"
…
[Begin simulation...]
[February 17, 1862…]
The scenes in the life simulator are constantly changing.
The influx of the second batch of immigrants accelerated the construction of Nanhua.
In the following days, Nanhua developed at a speed visible to the naked eye. New buildings were completed every day and tens of thousands of acres of land were reclaimed every day.
Just as Zhu Xianhai had planned, after the Atlantic Telegraph Company successfully tested the telegraph, the company's market value soared. By selling and mortgaging the votes of the Atlantic Telegraph Company, Zhu Xianhai obtained a large amount of funds. With the benefit of sufficient financial support, Nanhua's development reached an astonishing speed.
While new factories were being built one after another, Nanhua, with its foresight of history, accumulated a lot of wealth by smuggling arms to the South and exporting cotton to Europe during the Civil War, completing the initial economic accumulation.
In the following years, not only a shipyard was built, but also a series of factories such as textile mills were established. While the arsenal was expanded, heavy industrial enterprises such as steel mills were also completed one after another. The dawn of industrialization appeared on this land.
[In October 1862, Nanhua University was established. During the same period, 13 technical schools were established at the same time as Nanhua.]
[In May 1863, South China immigrants clashed with Argentine immigrants on the banks of the Colorado River, and the relationship between the American Company and the Buenos Aires authorities became tense.]
[On October 15, 1863, the Buenos Aires authorities issued a statement "declaring" full sovereignty over the Pampas and Patagonia, and stated that they would never allow the "America Company" to invade "state-owned land" without authorization. ]
[In the same month, in response to Argentina’s sovereignty claim, you issued a statement announcing that the “America Company” had actual sovereignty over the Pampas and Patagonia, and the South Argentina conflict was imminent.]
[In March 1864, the Taiping Army lost Hangzhou. The loss of access to the sea prevented you from introducing large numbers of immigrants.]
[In 1864, the Paraguayan War broke out. Argentina was unable to look south, so you took the opportunity to expand further north and further expand the company's control over the Araucanía region.]
[In the same year, Zeng Guofan conquered Tianjing and the Taiping Rebellion failed.]
[The Civil War ended in 1865.]
…
Although the Civil War was over, Nanhua's golden age did not end. During the war, Nanhua's industry was fully developed.
After five years of development, Nanhua, the original small town, has turned into a city, a modern city with a population of more than 200,000 and developed industry. Thanks to the irrigation provided by the Negro River and the Colorado River, outside the city are farms stretching for hundreds of miles, where tens of thousands of immigrants live and work in peace and contentment.
But behind the prosperity there are hidden dangers.
Although Argentina was deeply involved in the "Paraguayan War" and was unable to stop the expansion of South China in the Pampas, it did not mean that they would do nothing. In fact, they had been resisting the rise of South China.
[In May 1866, the Argentine authorities sent an envoy to the Qing Dynasty and established an embassy in the capital.]
[In 1867, thanks to the efforts of the Argentine ambassador to Beijing, the Qing Dynasty issued an order "strictly prohibiting the export of coolies to South China", and the number of immigrants to South China dropped sharply...]
The sharp decline in immigration marked the real end of Nanhua’s golden age.
In fact, from the very beginning, Zhu Xianhai understood the importance of immigration better than anyone else. As early as the founding of Nanhua, he determined the "basic national policy" of introducing immigrants from the country.
However, this "basic national policy" suffered a series of setbacks. In 1862, the US President banned American ships from transporting Chinese workers, which directly hit the transportation of Chinese workers. And with the loss of Hangzhou by the Taiping Army, the number of Chinese immigrants further decreased.
Despite this, Zhu Xianhai still tried hard to attract as many immigrants as possible through various channels, such as disguising himself as Southeast Asia or even Australia, but the number was far from comparable to the past.
In 1868, only less than 30,000 Chinese immigrants arrived in South China. At the same time, the number of European immigrants arriving in South China exceeded 10,000 for the first time - most of them were experts and skilled workers in various fields and their families hired by South China from various European countries.
In the 1870s, Nanhua was even called "the most prosperous city in the southern part of the world."
This is not an exaggeration. It was the first city to have a power grid and electric lights. As early as 1870, Zhu Xianhai invented the electric light, and humans used electric lights nine years earlier than in history.
However, talent has always been Nanhua's weakest link.
In order to make up for the shortage of talents, Nanhua founded the first modern primary school as early as October 1861. In 1862, Nanhua founded the first secondary technical school to train technicians.
But cultivating talent takes time.
It was not one year, nor two years, but a long process... 1870 was a watershed year.
This year, the first batch of overseas students sent by Nanhua returned to Nanhua. They began to enter various industries and gradually played a role in various companies, replacing the position of foreign engineers. In the past eight years, Nanhua has trained tens of thousands of junior technicians and junior technical personnel.
In 1870, Nanhua entered another "golden age".
Nanhua speed is absolutely a miracle!
From the first iron-hulled ship to the first electric light, to the first bridge designed and supervised entirely by Chinese engineers from Nan Hua, the first railway designed by Chinese engineers, and even to the first Chinese captain and navigator piloting a merchant ship built by Nan Hua to Hong Kong.
Nanhua in 1870 was destined to shock the world.
It was also in this year that the railway from Nanhua to the Araucanía Bay, which was personally planned by Zhu Xianhai, was finally completed.
"Nanhua's land will stretch from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean!"
At the same time, South China's conflict with Argentina over the ownership of the Pampas and the Patagonia Plateau, as well as its differences with Chile over the Araucania issue, have become increasingly serious. The three parties have had many diplomatic frictions and relations have become increasingly tense.
Everything seems to be fine.
This way life is perfect.
Of course it is also pleasant.
As the actual owner of Nanhua, Zhu Xianhai has certainly achieved his wish and reached the peak of his life.
He married a beautiful, wealthy woman and moved into a big mansion. While the pharmaceutical, arms and other businesses brought him huge wealth, the prosperity of the city also brought him countless fortunes.
Moreover, his identity is dual: one is the king of Araucania and Patagonia, and the other is a capital tycoon - the owner of the America Company.
At the same time, South China had a conflict with Argentina - the ownership of the Pampas and the Patagonia Plateau, and had many diplomatic frictions and even military conflicts with Argentina and Chile. The relationship between the two sides became increasingly tense. However, South China's army and the fortress on the Colorado River protected South China from the invasion of Argentina.
Perhaps Nanhua was not a country, but in 1875, Nanhua had already established informal diplomatic relations with various countries as an independent city-state in South America, just like the merchant city-states such as Venice in history.
It seems that all this will last forever, but an undercurrent is brewing.
[On November 20, 1875, the founding anniversary of the city, a conflict broke out among the citizens gathered in the city square. European immigrants took the opportunity to vent their dissatisfaction with the Chinese people's control of South China's power. After you sent cavalry to quell the conflict, Argentina, Chile and other countries lodged diplomatic protests, demanding that South China should not discriminate against European immigrants.]
[On November 27, Argentina and Chile secretly signed an alliance treaty in Buenos Aires to jointly oppose South China and formed a two-nation coalition army.]
[On November 30, Argentina and Chile issued an ultimatum to South China, demanding that South China amend the law, protect the rights of European immigrants, reorganize the government, and appoint European immigrants as ministers. You immediately rejected it and mobilized the army.]
【On December 1, the war broke out.】
(End of this chapter)
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