Chapter 1585: Becoming the Center of the World

Young Master Zhao almost fainted. What on earth was going on? He had spent a lot of money and used so much scientific technology to build the world's tallest wonder!

Let's not talk about anything else, just the structure of this building, that was all calculated over and over again by Hua Shuyang using his knowledge of mathematics and mechanics, and he even created a special course of structural mechanics for this purpose. And the tower is full of scientific and technological achievements! How did it become a Feng Shui tower? Just ask Xuelang to be the host, anyway, that guy has a round head...

Unfortunately, he didn't want to hit Lao Niu in the face, so he could only laugh dryly and keep silent.

Fortunately, the ceremony started at this time, and Niu Guancha and the two prefects, along with President Jiang and Director Lu, came on stage to cut the ribbon, ending Zhao Hao's depressed topic.

Young Master Zhao is just here to take a look, he will not go on stage.

Looking at Niu Mowang, who was beaming with joy on the stage, he whispered to Secretary Ma behind him:

"When you discuss the appointment of a governor of Annan, remember to remind me to recommend Niu Guanchao."

"Oh." Sister Ma smiled sweetly. In fact, she prefers being a secretary to being a mother.

~~

After the ribbon-cutting, firecrackers and speeches by leaders, it was time to visit the Oriental Pearl Tower.

Mr. Zhao is not so wealthy as to make dumplings for such a small amount of vinegar, so the world's tallest building is not a completely useless spectacle.

First of all, its base and the lower sphere together form a huge water tower that can supply water to 100,000 households.

The function of the water tower is to store water, which plays a role in regulating and supplementing when the water supply is insufficient. The second function is to use the high potential of the water tower to automatically deliver water, so that the tap water has a certain water pressure head.

With the current level of technology, the difficulty in ensuring that every household has access to tap water lies in the water tower.

The first is how to build a high-altitude water storage device that can withstand huge water pressure, and the second is how to lift the water up the tower.

The former has half the problem solved by reinforced concrete, and the other half is also solved by calculating the mechanical structure.

As for the second point, it no longer becomes a problem as the Zhang Jian steam engine matures.

In fact, before the Oriental Pearl Tower, Pudong had already built six 50-meter-high water towers, which could supply water to 400,000 households. Moreover, the water towers were very beautiful and had become the landmarks of each neighborhood.

With the water tower, laying pipes and delivering water to households is much simpler. my country has had underground water pipe systems made of pottery since the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. With the technical capabilities of Jiangnan Group, whether it is pottery or cast iron pipes, it is no problem at all.

The upper sphere of the Oriental Pearl Tower is divided into upper and lower parts. The lower part is a clock tower with dials on all four sides, providing accurate timekeeping services for the people living on both sides of the Huangpu River and on the river in the city.

The upper part is an aerial exhibition hall called "Yilan Hall", where various exhibitions can be held, and a telescope can be used to overlook the Jiangnan landscape. Of course, you can also watch the stars at night. If a war breaks out, it can also be used as an observation tower. But if this function comes in handy, it means that Mr. Zhao has failed miserably...

Today the 'Viewing Hall' was used for the most vulgar of functions - to hold a celebratory banquet.

Since the location of the "Overview Hall" is too high and there is no elevator... In fact, it is not difficult to design a steam-powered or hydraulic elevator, but the difficulty lies in safety and comfort. At least in the short term, people still have to climb up along the spiral staircases, and it is not wise to cook up there.

So we had to resort to a buffet.

Buffet banquets or buffets are not unique to the West. They have been popular in China since the Qin and Han dynasties. Nowadays, when scholars and officials meet with prostitutes to go outings in the garden or drink wine in the winding stream, they will adopt this form, so the guests will not feel abrupt.

Moreover, this form can get rid of the table rules of everyone praising one person, making everyone feel more comfortable during the New Year.

Although it was a buffet, the management committee's preparations were very thorough.

In the center of the banquet hall, under the huge crystal chandelier, there is a flower-shaped Oriental Pearl Tower. Outside the flower shape, there is a long dining table in the shape of a "mouth". It is covered with an expensive velvet tablecloth and filled with a wide variety of meat and vegetable cold cuts, fruit snacks, and dozens of wines and beverages. Both the plate layout and the tableware are beautiful and exquisite.

Guests do not need to take their own food, as there are well-dressed and pretty girls who do it for them. There are also well-trained waiters who carry drinks and walk among the guests, allowing them to take their own food, without making the gentlemen who are used to being served feel uncomfortable.

The full banquet is provided by the Weijixian Pudong flagship store. The only drawback is that it is expensive.

Accompanied by the soothing and pleasant piano music, the guests held their glasses and scattered in groups of three or five around the edge of the circular banquet hall, chatting while admiring the Huangpu River, which had turned into a winding yellow dragon, and the short and small buildings. Oh, it felt so good to be up there.

A true aristocrat feels comfortable only when he steps on others.

Therefore, Mr. Zhao, who always regarded himself as an ordinary person, would never become a noble, but he was very happy to be able to have a bird's eye view of the new district from a high place.

Seen from a high vantage point, the entire Pudong looks like an open fan, with Lujiazui at the end of the handle and the Oriental Pearl Tower just like the fan nail. No wonder Lao Niu is superstitious.

The entire new district is divided into several blocks by main roads that crisscross like a chessboard.

The area closest to Lujiazui is the commercial district. In order to save land, the buildings here are generally three or four stories high. The streets are lined with signs and busy with traffic.

Especially now that it is the Lantern Festival, merchants have hung up carefully crafted lanterns to attract customers, as if attracting all the people in Pudong here.

Outside the commercial area is a large residential area. Although these houses vary in size and layout, according to the regulations of the management committee, they must all conform to the new Jiangnan style with good lighting and ventilation. The white walls, black tiles and green trees are neatly arranged in a grid, which looks bright and traditional.

Outside the residential area is the factory area. Lu Yan introduced to Mr. Zhao that there are currently 779 factories and workshops of all sizes registered in the new area, covering more than 180 categories such as silk weaving and cotton spinning, paper making and leather making, iron making and brewing, clothing dyeing, slaughtering and oil pressing.

Although the industrial zone is a bit shabby and there are many buildings that are obviously illegal, it is the existence of these large and small handicraft workshops that support the population and prosperity of this city.

Further out from the factory area, to the north is the port area with thirty Popeye cranes installed, and the rest is vast tracts of farmland.

Zhao Hao estimated that farmland accounted for 90% of the entire Pudong New Area. If the 600,000 acres of land leased from Jinshanwei were included, the proportion of non-agricultural areas would be even lower.

But in just eight years, the city has grown to a size of more than 100,000 acres, which is absolutely a miracle.

You have to know that the area of ​​Suzhou city, including the prosperous areas outside the city, is less than 50,000 acres, and even the area of ​​Beijing city is only 100,000 acres.

Such a rapid expansion speed has brought about a sharp increase in the city's strength.

According to statistics from Jiangnan Bank, within eight years of Pudong’s opening as a port, its GDP had surpassed that of Kunshan, ranking third in Jiangnan, second only to the richest cities of Suzhou and Nanjing in the Ming Dynasty.

If it continues to double in size every two years, two years later, when Pudong celebrates its 10th anniversary, it will surpass Nanjing and become the second largest city in the south of the Yangtze River. Together with Suzhou, the center of the Taihu Lake Economic Belt, which is also developing rapidly, it will become the new twin stars of the south of the Yangtze River!

Of course, the reason why Pudong is so powerful, in addition to the right time, place and people, is also inseparable from the preference of Mr. Zhao.

Looking back eight years ago, Zhao Hao overcame all objections and decided to set this place as the starting port for sea transportation of grain, which led to the opening of Pudong.

Then he ordered people to build seawalls and divert the water of the Huangpu River to wash away the saline-alkali land along the Pudong coast, turning the once million mu of wasteland into a large cotton planting base. After defeating Xu Ge's family, he moved most of Huating's cotton textile industry here.

Stimulated by the group's massive orders and scientific management, this place became a textile industry center in just a few years.

Most of the grain produced by Jiangnan Group's tens of millions of acres of fertile land at home and abroad is collected and distributed here, half of which is used as grain for transport to the north, and the other half is used as food for the prefectures and counties in Jiangnan. Therefore, this place has long become a new rice market outside the four major rice markets, and its scale is already the largest.

Zhao Hao also placed his biggest money-eater, the logistics orders of the Coast Guard, in Pudong as much as possible...

In addition, the headquarters of Jiangnan Development Bank, a subsidiary of Jiangnan Bank, is also located here.

So why is Pudong so powerful and why is the residential land in Pudong so valuable? There are reasons for everything.

But the general public will not explore these preferences, they just think it is the magic of the city itself...

~~

“When you first said that Pudong would not build city walls, I couldn’t understand it. Now I understand that only cities without walls can grow freely like bamboo shoots after a spring rain, and their upper limit is far greater than that of cities with city walls.” Lu Yan said convinced.

"Hahaha, you still have to guard against arrogance and keep working hard." Zhao Hao said to Lu Yan unsatisfiedly, "The group has given you so many resources, it would be strange if you can't make progress. You must strive to surpass Suzhou as soon as possible and become the economic center of Daming, East Asia, and the world!"

"We will work harder." Lu Yan couldn't help sweating on his forehead. Before he could even breathe a sigh of relief, the young master gave him a new and more difficult task.

But he likes it - because turning this wasteland where his ancestors lived into the center of the world brings such a strong sense of accomplishment, so strong that at his age, just thinking about it makes his blood boil and he becomes so excited that he can't sleep at night!

Seeing that the two had almost finished their conversation, Secretary Ma leaned close to Zhao Hao's ear and whispered to him that someone named Liu Yishou wanted to talk to him.

Zhao Hao was stunned for a moment. After being reminded by Sister Ma, he remembered that this was another person who came into his sight because of the name of his ancestor.

But unlike Lu Shen’s good reputation, Liu Daxia has a bad reputation... at least in Young Master Zhao’s eyes, it is absolutely infamous.

Moreover, this person had caused trouble before the departure of the Liu Daxia, the eternal sinner. Although Zhao Hao easily dealt with it, it still left the bad influence of "the powerful suppressing the descendants of famous officials", which made Master Zhao even more unhappy with him.

However, Liu Daxia unexpectedly managed to complete the entire round-the-world voyage. It is said that his performance was outstanding. He also learned two foreign languages, took the initiative to serve as a translator, completed crew training courses on the ship, and obtained a sailor's certificate.

This made Master Zhao look at him with new eyes. He looked him up and down and asked, "What can I do for you?"

(End of this chapter)