Chapter 240 Take-off 2

And the port construction is also proceeding at the same time. Sheng Xuanhuai has expanded the existing ports in Taiwan and North Korea. Among them, the key ports are five ports, including West Port, Keelung, Changhua, Incheon and Yuanshan. These ports were originally natural good ports. After further expansion and the introduction of Western port technology, they quickly became As the gateway to foreign trade between Taiwan and North Korea, coal, steel, gold, brass, jade and timber from Taiwan and North Korea are sold to all over the world, including mainland China, through these ports.

After the energy, steel and transportation system was formed, the manufacturing industry began to develop rapidly. Sheng Xuanhuai introduced the rolling mill produced in Germany, which is the mother machine of the manufacturing industry, and steel needs to forge various molds and equipment through the rolling mill. In 1896, the first rolling mill settled in Taipei. With the start of the rolling mill, various manufacturing industries sprung up in the two places. By the beginning of 1897, the Taiwan Dynasty had produced a series of industrial products such as rails, cables, motors and textile machinery.

In the following three years, Zhou Charter had his first arsenal - the Taipei Arsenal, and Taiwan-made rifles, cannons and heavy machine guns began to be equipped with Zhang Jun in Taiwan and North Korea. The shipyard in Westport can produce small merchant ships and gunboats. Although large cruisers cannot be built yet, it can provide maintenance services for large cruisers. Zhangjun Navy can independently maintain its own warships.

At the same time, the two places have their own power plants. The two major cities, Taipei, Tainan, Changhua, Taichung, Keelung, Seoul, Pyongyang, Incheon, Anzhou, Yizhou, Yuanshan and other places, have entered the era of electric lights. In addition, Taiwan has built four textile factories, and the fabrics and veils made in Taiwan have occupied the Japanese market.

While developing the industrial and mining industry, Sheng Xuanhuai relied on his status as the Postal Minister of the Qing Dynasty to vigorously develop the postal industry in Taiwan and North Korea.

Opening postal communications is an established national policy of the Qing court. During the First Sino-Japanese War, the Qing Dynasty suffered from poor communication. Originally, Li Hongzhang, Zhang Zhidong and others had long realized the importance of communication to a country and had long reported to the court to build a telegraph system. However, it was resisted by the imperial court and the people. The old guard of the imperial court believed that the telegram was a Western ** technique, while the civilian people thought that the wires disturbed the dead of their ancestors. The cables that were not easy to set up were soon cut to the point of the people. Therefore, until the war broke out, there was no telegraph line in the Qing Dynasty, so that the rapidly changing war situation on the front line would take several days to reach the court, and the court's decision-making greatly lagged behind the war.

Now, the Qing court finally decided to allocate a huge amount of money to appoint Sheng Xuanhuai as the Minister of Post and build a postal telegram.

Sheng Xuanhuai held the postal funds of the Qing court in his hand, but it was first used in Taiwan and North Korea. Everyone in the Qing Dynasty knows that Taiwan and North Korea are ostensibly the territory of the Qing Dynasty, but in fact they are the territory of Zhou Charter. The court paid Zhou Charter to open post and telegrams, which is completely to make wedding clothes for others. But Sheng Xuanhuai deliberately pretended to be confused and declared that both Taiwan and North Korea were from the Qing Dynasty. In fact, they were all for the Qing Dynasty. As a result, Sheng Xuanhuai spent more than half of the post and telecommunications funds given to him by the imperial court in the two places. As a result, the total length of the telegraph lines in the two places of the Taiwan and the two places was three times more than that of the Qing Dynasty. The court obviously suffered a dumb loss, but it had to stare dryly.

In the year of Wuxu, Taiwan directly established telegraph contacts with Japan, Shanghai, Fujian, Beijing, Shandong, Seoul and Pyongyang, and telegraph communications were also realized between major cities within Taiwan. The improvement of communication conditions has greatly consolidated Zhou Charter's control of Taiwan and North Korea.

The rapid industrialization process has not only brought huge benefits to urban residents in the two places, but also brought huge profits to farmers in the two places. Zhou Charter also followed the Western powers and learned to open the road of commerce with strong ships and cannons. Under the escort of Zhang's gunship, agricultural products and seafood from the two places were exported to Japan, the Qing Dynasty and Southeast Asian islands. Taiwan's merchant ships even entered the Indian Ocean and transported agricultural products from Taiwan and North Korea to India. Under the threat of cannon ships, Malaya, the Philippines, Annan and Indonesia had to open their domestic markets to Taiwan. These countries are all colonies of Western powers. However, the Western powers could not compete with Asia's largest fleet and had to recognize the existence of Zhang Jun!

In just three years, the living standards of the people of Taiwan and North Korea exceeded that of Japan before the First Sino-Japanese War. It is far higher than the Qing Dynasty.

Japan is both envious, jealous and worried about the economic take-off between Taiwan and North Korea, but it has to be comforted. Because when the industrial products and agricultural products of Taiwan and North Korea were dumped to Southeast Asian countries, Japan also got a share. Zhou Charter regarded Japan as its own vassal state. Japanese products can also enter the Southeast Asian market under the escort of Zhang warships. Before the war, this was a dream of the Japanese but could not do. Things.

The people's living standards have been greatly improved, forming a huge centripetal force. The people of Taiwan and North Korea are more supportive of the Zhou Charter, and even the Japanese people have begun to rely on the Zhou Charter. The most obvious one is Ryukyu. Zhang Jun's 41 bases in Ryukyu, more than 10,000 officers and soldiers want to eat and drink, providing huge business opportunities for the people of Ryukyu. Zhang's warships also provide escort services for Ryukyu merchant ships. Even in order to expand the market, they do not hesitate to confront Western ships. As a result of confrontation, Western ships often have to make concessions - the world is a world of the strong! This makes the Japanese, who have always been in awe of the strong, admire Zhang Jun even more. They are willing to be the Shunmin of Zhang Jun.

Economic and military are complementary. Economic development has brought huge profits to Taiwan and North Korea, and these profits can be transformed into military achievements. Zhou Charter can use the money earned to buy warships, cannons and heavy machine guns to improve Zhang Jun's combat ability. At the same time, the strength of military power provides Zhou Charter with a strong voice in international trade.

The strength of the Taiwan and North Korea forced the Western powers to admit the existence of Zhang Jun. Western powers such as the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands set up consulates in Taipei despite the opposition of the Qing court. Of course, in order to give face to the Qing Dynasty, there is no embassy. However, the consular of these countries in Taipei, in fact, has exactly the same level of authority as the minister, and has the full power to negotiate with the Zhou Charter and sign the agreement. The reason is very simple. The foreign devils are very practical. They know that any agreement reached with the Qing court on Taiwan and North Korea, whether military or commercial, is a dead letter.

With the rapid development of Taiwan's economy, the life of Zhang Jun brothers is much better. At the beginning, when the brothers Zhang Jun were in Pyongyang, in order to earn some military expenses, the brothers started a service industry and rubbed their feet and backs for the people of Pyongyang. It is not only humiliating, but also not doing decent work. Today's Zhangjun has sufficient military expenditure. The officers and soldiers have a full amount of silver money, and no longer have to worry about silver. They can concentrate on training, and the food is also good. They can also eat seafood every day. Moreover, they no longer need to be angry with the court. Everyone believes that it is right to follow the eldest brother to Taiwan. Many officers and soldiers married locals in Taiwan, married and had children. They lived a prosperous life. Luo Mingfang even married a Japanese wife and stayed at home all day long. She said something that everyone couldn't understand, but her attitude was extremely obedient and much gentler than a woman in the Qing Dynasty.

Yao Xi married Dan Cai home, and his family has been peaceful for at least half a year. The female tiger Cuihua often showed her power at home, but Dancai, the sharpshooter, was not a vegetarian. She didn't eat Cuihua at all. She was annoyed, pulled out her gun, shot off the silver hairpin on Cuihua's head, and then blew the muzzle and went away. Cuihua was taught several times by Dancai and no longer dared to splash in front of Dancai. She was angry with Yao Xi. He often beat Yao Xi with a black nose and a swollen face, and then drove Yao Xi out of the house. Unexpectedly, Yao Xi has a second room now. I don't want a big room, and the second room just followed. Yao Xi ran to Dancai and did not enter Cuihua's door for ten days and a half months. Later, Cuihua had to recognize the situation, lowered her eyebrows, and ran to apologize to Yao Xi. Yao Xi is also a lowly bone. As long as he sees Cuihua, his bones will be soft. He forgets all about the previous beating and follows Cuihua back. As a result, he will inevitably be beaten again.

Finally, Dancai was annoyed. When Cuihua drove Yao Xi out of the door again, Dancai locked Yao Xi in her room and forced Cuihua to swear that she would never carry out domestic violence again. Otherwise, she would force Yao Xi to write a book with a gun!

Cuihua finally lost the battle. From then on, she no longer dared to splash at home, and the family got along well.

The days of Zhou Charter are also pleasant. The four women in the family are at peace, and the red flag of Zhao Qiaoer in the big house does not fall down. That is the original wife of Zhou Charter. This position is unshakable. As long as the red flag does not fall and the colorful flag floats no matter how much it is, it is also normal. Unlike Yao Xi's family, the big house is not like a big house, and the second room is not like the second room. It is strange that nothing happens.

Four women are rushing to have children. Merry Creek gave birth to a girl for him first. Zhao Qiaoer did not show weakness, and then gave birth to a fat boy for him, further consolidating the position of the big house. A year later, Jin Shu gave birth to a pair of two sons, and later came to the top. Only Liu Yingshu was not very competitive. In the third year, she became pregnant and was born as a girl. She thought she could at least be on an equal footing with Mei Lixi. Unexpectedly, Mei Lixi gave birth to a son. Liu Yingshu was so angry that she couldn't speak. Liu Yingshu was originally a second wife, but she was ranked fourth in the matter of giving birth to a child.

Of course, it's fate to have a baby. It's a small matter for four women to compare. Generally speaking, the four wives get along well. Zhou Charter's family life is rich and colorful, but it is also calm.