Chapter 340 Huaihai Economic Zone

It is said that the economic zones planned by the four Heixingen consortiums in the Far East, namely southern Shandong, northern Jiangsu, eastern Henan and northern Anhui, are economic depressions. In fact, they are the result of a combination of natural and man-made disasters over the years.

Man-made disasters must be the main factor. After all, since the Yellow River changed its course in the Song Dynasty, its mouth has always been in northern Jiangsu, and the impact of floods has always existed. However, thanks to the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, this area has always been one of the most economically prosperous areas from the Ming Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty.

In the early Qing Dynasty, like all unified dynasties, it had the ability to control the Yellow River. Now it chose to neglect it, and with the rise of shipping, the decline of this place became inevitable.

But by the time the Heixingen Consortium landed here, it had been twenty years since the Yellow River had changed its course, the floods had receded, and the Taiping Rebellion and the Nian Army had been quelled. It was considered a good window for development, and the Heixingen Consortium was considered a good window for development. Picked up the leak.

If there had not been successive natural and man-made disasters, it would have been difficult for the Hexingen Consortium to enter this place. Floods and military disasters not only caused huge damage to this place, but also destroyed the local feudal economic system.

For example, Huai'an Prefecture was originally an important territory for Huizhou merchants after Yangzhou during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It was snatched away by the Heixinggen Consortium. In fact, it is not a robbery. The focus of Hui'an merchants is currently shifting to Songjiang Prefecture, and the Yellow River is changing its course. , the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal was abandoned, and Huai'an lost its function as a north-south water transport hub. Coupled with the rise of sea transportation, foreign cheap goods entered from the sea. It was inevitable that Huizhou merchants would abandon it. The Heixinggen Consortium only played a supplementary role, allowing Huizhou merchants completely abandoned this place, and the same fate as Huai'an included Haizhou Prefecture, Xuzhou Prefecture, Jining Prefecture, Yanzhou Prefecture, Sizhou Prefecture, Fengyang Prefecture...

It basically overlapped with the scope of activities of the Nian Army. In 1855, the Yellow River burst (east of Kaifeng), and a large number of victims in southern Shandong, northern Anhui, and northern Jiangsu were displaced and entered the Nian army one after another, reaching a climax. There are Nian everywhere in the north and south of the Huaihe River, and the reason why the Nian army is active is because the local economy was destroyed and the people lost their source of income.

Ernst himself was previously enthusiastic about East African immigration, and did not notice that the area covered by the Hechingen Consortium was the "Huaihai Province" conceived by netizens on the Internet media in his previous life. It was only this time that the Hechingen Consortium was preparing to invest heavily in the Far East to cope with the economic crisis.

When Ernst invests in an area, he likes to plan the area. Typical examples include the Northern Industrial Belt of East Africa and the Lake Malawi Industrial Zone. Atypical ones include investments centered on the three cities of Berlin, Vienna and Trieste. area. As for the United States, it is all about money. Wherever profits are high, funds will flow. Naturally, investment in the Far East cannot be purely for economic interests, mixed with Ernst's personal emotions, without violating interests. , it’s okay if you can help. Anyway, it’s a win-win cooperation, and neither party loses.

…

Yanzhou Prefecture, Zaozhuang.

At this time, Zaozhuang belonged to a village in Yi County under the control of Yanzhou Prefecture. Yi County has a long history. Although Yi County may be unfamiliar, the name Lanling is relatively famous.

Although in the previous life, Zaozhuang City, Yixian County, and Lanling were not equated among the local population, their approximate locations were in this area.

"Your Excellency Chen, I hope your government will make it easier for our bank to invest here in the future," said Mark, the president of the Yanzhou branch of Hechingen Bank.

"Haha, don't worry about your bank. Your bank has traveled thousands of miles to invest in the Far East. The so-called visitors are guests. We, a big country in China, have a certain tolerance and will not let villains delay your bank's actions!" Chen Shijie, the Shandong inspector who represented the Qing government, laughed. responded.

But I don't think so in my heart. If it weren't for the Heixinggen Consortium, who would have come here to deal with these foreigners.

Of course, the Hechingen Consortium cannot bypass the local government when investing in the Far East. The virtue of the Qing government is to accept the hard and not the soft. Therefore, the East African government came forward and only started large-scale development in the Far East after the capital obtained the "Sword of Shangfang". .

Naturally, the East African government did not have such a big face. In fact, it united with German and Austro-Hungarian business groups to ask the Qing government to relax restrictions in the name of East Africa, Germany, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Both Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire are represented. This matter is mainly led by the East African government. Germany is very busy now and has no time to care about overseas. It is studying how to prevent France from turning around forever. The Minister of the Austro-Hungarian Empire is working in Japan. Not resident in the Far East.

The Hechingen Consortium is a German consortium, and together with other German businessmen doing business in the Far East, they naturally represent the interests of Germany, so this time the Prussian minister was invited out by the Hechingen Consortium again.

An East African ambassador, a German minister and a group of German businessmen represented the entire German businessmen in the Far East (including the Austro-Hungarian Empire) and put pressure on the Qing government. This matter was naturally resolved. There were two major powers in the world, and the Qing Dynasty Naturally, the government did not dare to neglect. The psychological shadow caused by Britain and France last time was especially in their hearts. Not to mention Britain and France, Tsarist Russia in the north alone was a great power that made it difficult for the Qing government to deal with.

In addition, this economic cooperation led by East Africa, although there was an element of coercion, gave the Qing government enough face to allow it to invest 50% of the shares and collect taxes. Although it had no management authority, it was indispensable for him to share the profits and taxes.

As for how much the court is willing to invest, it all depends on its level of financial resources. In the end, the Qing court did not contribute the capital. Instead, it allowed Hui merchants with semi-official business status to invest 30% of the shares, and the remaining 20% ​​was funded by Shanxi merchants for joint development. "Huaihai Economic Zone".

The Huaihai Economic Zone spans four provinces and is rich in coal resources. Especially in southwestern Shandong and northern Anhui, there are large coal mines. Now the whole world is in the steam age, and the Far East market is huge, so the development of coal mines is stable. A profitable business.

Zaozhuang is the first place Heixinggen wants to invest. The textile industry, the easiest industry to start with, has been determined to be Jiaozhou. The Huaihai area is rich in coal resources. At present, the Heixingen consortium plans to develop in Zaozhuang first. its coal resources.

It is not far from Weishan Lake and is relatively convenient for transportation. The remaining start-up capital was provided by Hechingen Bank, but the construction was taken over by an Austrian coal mining company, and equipment was introduced from Germany. In this way, East Africa, Germany, and Austria All interests are taken care of.

However, the name Zaozhuang is a bit stingy. Now Zaozhuang is only a small town the size of a village (due to the local population loss caused by East African immigrants). So we simply took the ancient name Lanling as the name of the new city. As for the Lanling that already existed Town, then all I can do is say sorry.

The planned Lanling City will replace the original Zaozhuang Town and become an emerging industrial city relying on the development of the coal mining industry.

The importance of the coal mining industry to industrialization in this era is self-evident. After the development of the Lanling City coal mine, relying on Weishan Lake and river transportation, it can radiate to the entire Huaihai Economic Zone.

Lanling City is just a starting point. In the future, coal mines in Jining, Linyi, Huaibei, Zibo, Heze... and as far away as the Huainan region of Anhui may be developed.

At the same time, the Qing government organized manpower to organize and dredge the road traffic and canals in the Huaihai Economic Zone. The grain required for these projects was provided to the Qing government at cost price by East Africa, and both parties shared future profits.

The tax system in the Huaihai Economic Zone has also been requested by East Africa to unify, modeled on the German Customs Union, cancel some exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes, reduce local protectionism, and ensure the free and smooth flow of people and logistics throughout the Huaihai Economic Zone.

The central government of the Qing government was happy to see this. The local tax system had long been corrupted, but as a ruler it was difficult for him to make any big changes. It would be good to let the East African Kingdom be the villain.

Of course, the Qing government also had to be on guard against East Africa. This was why Chen Shijie, the Shandong Inspector General, came forward in person. He was originally Zeng Guofan's staff and participated in the suppression of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement and the Nian Army Uprising. Therefore, he was responsible for monitoring East Africa at the request of the central government. Kingdom, both sides cooperate in an atmosphere of mutual distrust.