Chapter 1577: The Tycoon, Prince Qing, and War

In the history books of later generations, the founding of a state and proclamation of a khan by Steel Khan, chief of the Great Plains Indians, and his northward migration to the Great Lakes region was undoubtedly the greatest event to occur in the Americas at the beginning of the 18th century — even surpassing the soon-to-erupt "New Spain War"!

For it meant that the Indians, the true masters of the Americas, had found a development path suited to them, and by exploiting the confrontation between the two world empires of Great Ming and Rome, had secured a sufficiently vast and richly endowed territory in the New World upon which to establish a state of their own — the Great Soviet Khanate!

Moreover, a glance at the territory occupied by the Great Soviet Khanate shows just how great an impact this event would have on the later course of history.

The largest iron-ore region in North America lay within the borders of the Great Soviet Khanate, while the coalfields of the Appalachian Mountains, lying close to the United Kingdom of New England, would sooner or later be swallowed up by the latter.

In this way, the largest iron deposits and the largest coal deposits of North America were divided between the lands of two states that were bound to be mutually hostile. These two states did not even belong to the same civilizational sphere — the United Kingdom of New England was a typical state of the European Christian civilizational sphere, while the Great Soviet Khanate was a state blending indigenous American and Eastern nomadic civilizations, a most peculiar existence, and one which in later history would claim to be the aboriginal people of the American continent, regarding New England, New Rome, and the United States of New Continent all as foreign invaders.

In any case, the emergence of the Great Soviet Khanate, centered on the Great Lakes region and occupying the northern part of the Great Plains, had forever altered the configuration of the North American continent.

Yet this enormous transformation, occurring between late 1699 and early 1700, was overlooked by most of the figures who held great power — including the two titan-level figures of the Great Ming Empire in the New World, King of the United States Zhu Hehao and Prince Qing Zhu Cihuan. Zhu Cilang had never told them of the value of the Great Lakes region — and how could he have? Zhu Cilang was no immortal; how could he know that iron ore lay buried beneath some place tens of thousands of li away?

Besides, even if one knew, there was no way to develop it. The iron ore of the Great Lakes region and the coal of the Appalachian Mountains were linked by water transport, so even without railways completed, low-cost transshipment was possible.

But for the United States, centered on the West Coast, the iron ore of the Great Lakes region simply could not be transported to the Gulf of the Americas, and even with early railways, the transport costs would be unimaginably high. As for seizing the Great Lakes region and the Appalachian Mountains — that exceeded the limits of the military capability the United States currently possessed. The Appalachian Mountains in particular already belonged to the eastern part of North America, seven or eight thousand li from the Gulf of the Americas!

And the distance between the eastern Great Lakes region and the West Coast was likewise in the range of four to five thousand li — also beyond the effective operational radius of the United States Army.

Considering the population of the Great Soviet Khanate and the number of warriors it could mobilize, it was impossible for the United States Army to send an expedition there — too few troops and they could not possibly win; too many and logistics could not be sustained.

Moreover, there was nothing in the Great Lakes region that could attract the attention of the Tycoon King. There was no gold, no silver — only fertile land, and land was precisely the thing least lacking in the New World.

Although the population of the United States of New Continent had already reached more than two million, that population, frankly speaking, could not even fill the Gulf of the Americas, the Po River Valley, and the Flood River Valley on the West Coast. The Great River Basin and the other basins and valleys among the Great Stone Mountains were all, without exception, sparsely populated.

And on the vast Great Plains, it had reached the point of "how desolate the wilderness, a thousand li without human smoke" — no one would take the lands of the northern Great Lakes region seriously.

What truly made Zhu Hehao of the United States and Zhu Cihuan of the Qing State covetous was still the gold and silver of Mexico!

Gold and silver could not only bring their states solid revenue, but could also be used to attract immigrants from East Asia — according to the latest statistics, the national (East Asian race) population of the United States had already reached more than 2.4 million!

And the national population of the Qing State had also reached more than 600,000 — a remarkable achievement indeed!

The territory of the Qing State was not large, comprising only the seven provinces of Qing, Suo, Xi, Na, Ha, Ke, and A — essentially the strip along the western coast of Mexico, very long and narrow. Of these, Qing Province had been seized after the Battle of the Flood River Valley; the five provinces of Suo, Xi, Na, Ha, and Ke had been seized in the war of 1674. And A Province was the coastal zone centered on Acapulco, seized in the Silver War of 1679–1680. That war had broken out because of the death of Don Juan José; with New Spain leaderless, the United States and the Qing State had jointly launched an offensive against the silver mines of Zacatecas Province. Although the war ultimately failed to secure the silver mines, it had forced New Spain to cede the territory of A Province and open up trade.

The port of A Province (Acapulco), which had languished due to the antagonism between New Spain and the Qing State and United States, was thus able to flourish once more. And Zhu Cilang had conveniently enfeoffed a King of A, who had come from afar with a Chiliarchate (in reality only a few thousand households).

But what truly caused the rapid growth of the Qing State's national population was neither the three "Chiliarchate migrations" promoted by the Zhu Emperor, nor the prosperity of the port of A Province, but the discovery of gold mines in the mountains of Suo Province, which attracted large numbers of gold prospectors.

And the additional tax revenue brought by the gold mines also enabled Prince Qing Zhu Cihuan to construct his royal capital, Qingdu City, on the shores of Lake Chapala in the eastern part of Ha Province, near Zacatecas Province.

After many years of construction, this lakeside fortress was finally completed in the fifty-second year of Hongxing.

To celebrate the completion of the fortress and the formal relocation of the Qing court, Zhu Cihuan, now sixty-seven years of age, held a grand celebration in Qingdu, and invited several princes of the Great Ming dynasty residing on the West Coast of the New World — among them King of the United States Zhu Hehao.

And that King of the United States, who had been quietly competing with Zhu Cihuan for twenty or thirty years, did not refuse his uncle's face, and on the fifth day of the second month of the fifty-second year of Hongxing, arrived at the bastioned fortress of Qingdu City on the shores of Lake Chapala.

Moreover, Zhu Hehao brought Zhu Cihuan an exciting piece of good news: the Steel Chief of the Little Soviet Tribe was already preparing to break away from Rome's control and formally establish a state and proclaim himself khan.

"He really is going to proclaim himself khan?" asked Zhu Cihuan, now aged, his temples graying, but still appearing vigorous and full of spirit. "Will he come over to our side?"

Zhu Hehao was old now too, past fifty, and had become a somewhat portly middle-aged man. Hearing his uncle's question, he smiled and said: "There's no mistake about it. I've already sent Yamamoto Chōjō to meet with the Steel Chief. He has agreed to break away from Rome and ally with us! Even if he won't fight alongside us, he will certainly remain neutral in the future!"

"That's excellent!" Zhu Cihuan clapped his hands. "Then we can feign an attack on New Rome and tie down the Romans' American Legion, can't we?"

"Of course!" Zhu Hehao laughed. "The United States has four hundred thousand people on the Great Plains — mobilizing an army of tens of thousands is no problem!"

"Then it's settled!" Zhu Cihuan laughed. "As long as the Romans' American Legion cannot reinforce New Spain, we can take the silver mines of Zacatecas Province. Twenty years ago, if the Romans hadn't sent troops to the rescue, we would already have succeeded."

"This time we will certainly succeed!" Zhu Hehao laughed. "Sixth Uncle, this time you can go one step further and enter the Mexican capital!"

The Mexican capital was Mexico City, which Zhu Cihuan had coveted his entire life but had never been able to take.

"Heh heh," Zhu Cihuan laughed. "Worthy nephew, once I go to the Mexican capital, you can push straight down into South New Continent, can't you?"

Zhu Hehao did not deny it, and said with a smile: "What can I do? Your nephew has too many sons. Keeping them all in the United States would only make trouble for Yibu — it would be good to split some of them off."

"Well said!" Zhu Cihuan felt the same deeply. "A good man sets his ambitions on the four directions! If we hadn't come out here, what could we have accomplished back in Great Ming?"

(End of Chapter)