The Rise of the European Emperor

Of course, the so-called "Panamanian land road opened up" does not mean that the road connecting the two oceans in Panama has been repaired, but that the colonial team under the command of Gollard finally cleared the way in the tropical rainforest of Panama by cutting down trees and opening up Just an empty dirt road.

Mr. Lu Xun once said - "There is no road in the world, and when more people walk, it becomes a road"... But this refers to grassland areas, and in tropical rain forests, the process is much more difficult...

First, you have to cut down the tree that is in the way. Otherwise, there are big trees in the way, how to build the road? The trees in Panama are tropical rain forests. They have grown naturally for thousands of years, and they are by no means comparable to the small trees in front of the village and behind the house. Most of the trees here are tall and large, and many people can only wrap around the trunk when they hug each other.

Therefore, cutting down the trees here is very laborious. What's more, the equally huge tree roots have to be dug up...

It would be better if there were only so many problems, after all, it was just a little labor. However, the situation in Panama is special. There are various poisonous mosquitoes and insects in the tropical rain forest here, and the spread of malaria, yellow fever and other tropical diseases. You know, because of the malaria and yellow fever transmitted by these poisonous mosquitoes, the Panama Canal was dug in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and as a result, 22,000 laborers died...

Fortunately, Marin is a traveler, and he knows the horrors of the Panama rainforest. Therefore, he made preparations in advance - got a lot of anti-mosquito toilet water for the colonial team to use to avoid death.

But despite this, in the past few years, dozens of colonists in Panama have died...

In the end, Marin had to make a big move - buy black slaves from the Portuguese...

The living environment of black people, especially black people in West Africa, is very similar to that of the tropical rain forest in Panama. Therefore, black people in West Africa who can grow to adulthood generally have some antibodies against viruses carried by tropical poisonous mosquitoes in their bodies. If they didn't, they wouldn't have lived to adulthood either.

Therefore, it was a very correct decision to introduce black slaves from West Africa to cut trees in the tropical rainforest of Panama. To this end, Malin specifically contacted the illegitimate son of the previous King of Portugal, Joao II, Jorge de Lencastre, Duke of Coimbra, to buy slaves from him.

Jorge de Rencastre, Duke of Coimbra, happens to have big interests in Africa - Madeira (which is Ronaldo's hometown) and Sao Tome (Portugal's early days off the coast of West Africa) colonies), are its territory. The slaves Marin bought from him were actually exported from Sao Tome. Because the merchant ships under the Duke of Coimbra, based on the island of Sao Tome, can contact the black tribes on the nearby African coast, and can use worthless commodities to buy prisoners of war obtained in tribal wars from those black tribes. slave……

Relying on several batches of more than 6,000 black slaves purchased from Jorge de Rencastre, Duke of Coimbra, Portugal,

Gollard has struggled to complete the tree-cutting plan for the tropical rainforest on the Isthmus of Panama. These West African blacks are also in good health. Gollard didn't give them the toilet water to prevent mosquitoes. In the end, the death toll of the more than 6,000 people was only a few dozen, and the death toll of the thousands of colonists sent by Marin. almost like...

However, don't think that once the trees are chopped down, a dirt road is enough. It's still early, the dirt road is out, it can only be regarded as the beginning...

Why? Because of the heavy rain in Panama...

Once the rainy season comes, the tropical rainforests in Panama are definitely pouring rain. If it rains heavily, this dirt road is bound to be muddy.

It's okay if you leave, but your shoes get dirty and wet. However, the original intention of this road is for transportation... So, a dirt road is absolutely not acceptable.

According to the plan, Marin intends to build a concrete road here. Not too wide, as long as there is a concrete road in the countryside, three or four meters wide. Anyway, the width of the carriage is only 1.414 meters.

However, considering that the Panama region is a tropical rainforest climate, it is easy to accumulate water in large areas. The roadbed can be soaked in water for a long time, and it is easy to be damaged. If the vehicle rolls over again, the road surface will be crooked.

Therefore, Marin told Gaullard before that he must choose a route with good drainage...

Therefore, the isthmus of Panama, which is only 65 kilometers wide, has a total length of 80 kilometers. The reason for the extra 15 kilometers is to avoid low-lying areas and go to higher areas, mainly for drainage and to prevent the subgrade from being soaked.

Of course, even if some low-lying areas are avoided, there are some connecting areas where low-lying areas are still unavoidable. Therefore, after the dirt road is opened, while building the cement road, it is also necessary to dig drainage ditches on the edge of the low-lying areas that cannot be avoided, and try to send the accumulated water to the nearby rivers and lakes...

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So, this overland road across the Isthmus of Panama, the dirt road is just the beginning. Next, is the main event...

First, Marin will mobilize a large amount of cement and bricks from Newfoundland and transport them to Panama on a new schooner to provide the construction team with cement roads. Corner Brook in western Newfoundland is now the most important cement producing area under Marin because of its limestone mines. Limestone and clay are available here, and high-quality fly ash cement can be produced on a large scale by transporting coal and fly ash from Cape Breton Island and fluorspar from the mainland. If fly ash is not added, it is ordinary Portland cement. However, Cape Breton Island produces a large amount of fly ash every day from the salt cooking base and paper mill, which is not used and wasted.

Secondly, the excavation of drainage ditches in low-lying areas needs to be carried out at the same time as the construction of cement roads. After all, if the drainage work is not done well, it will be difficult to do if the subgrade is damaged by soaking in the rainy season. This era is not the future. There are so many road and bridge companies that can repair roads at any time. Once the road is broken, maintenance is very troublesome. Moreover, special cement that needs to be quickly air-dried for road construction, and Marin does not have it either...

In addition, Marin will also send people to plant a large number of pyrethrum and wormwood on both sides of the cement road while building roads and digging trenches...

Pyrethrum and wormwood are both mosquito nemesis plants, especially pyrethrum, mosquitoes are immediately poisoned when they smell it, which is very powerful. In this way, as long as the roadside is full of pyrethrum and the smell of pyrethrin is constantly emitted, the poisonous mosquitoes and insects in the tropical rainforest of Panama will shy away and dare not approach the cement road. Then, the driver of the transport vehicle on the cement road is safer, and will not suffer from terminal diseases such as malaria and yellow fever after being bitten by mosquitoes...

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After learning that the overland road in Panama was open, Marin was very excited. After all, Panama City will be an important transit point for trade with Daming in the future, as well as a transit point for Chilean saltpeter transportation.

So, in order to start the construction of the cement road in Panama as soon as possible, Marin signed an order - ordering the local cement road craftsmen to immediately go to Panama to guide the local colonial team in the construction of the cement road. In addition, pyrethrum collected locally will also be sent to Panama to be planted on both sides of the road...