Tuesday, October 9, 1641.

The celebration of the 20th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China is still being carried out in different ways throughout the country, and the autumn breeze from the north cannot dilute this joy. On the far-flung northwestern border of Songzhou, a Chinese and American Army unit has finally arrived on the shores of Lake Ontario and is about to erect a new landmark on the country's northwest frontier before winter.

Before the smoke and dust of the shells had cleared, the officers and men of the Chinese and American Civilian Guard Units, lined up in several long rows, held rifles and bayonets, and firmly advanced on the plain toward the northwest. On their other side, the Iroquois Indian Alliance's resistance had collapsed, and the battle had come to an end. The sparse Iroquois warriors were completely unable to stop the footsteps of the Chinese and American soldiers, and countless figures wrapped in tattered furs abandoned their weapons and fled in all directions with all kinds of despair.

It was a one-sided battle in terms of numbers and quality, and the sporadic resistance of the Iroquois Indians, already low morale, was reduced to corpses in the grass of the plains. Nearly 1,000 U.S. cavalry were divided into dozens of squads like hunting, galloping around the battlefield, cooperating with the main force of a National Guard to encircle the Iroquois soldiers who had already been defeated in the battle.

The battlefield ahead was still in the clearing stage, and the main follow-up force of the Chinese and US Army in the rear appeared on the southern horizon again. To the beat of marching drums, two Wehrmacht light infantry brigades were marching north, and a group of cavalry carrying a national flag rushed past the side of the marching column, and immediately there were people shouting vague slogans, causing the marching infantry to raise their rifles and cheer.

Brigadier General Tang Wei, the commander of the cavalry of the Chinese Army and the commander-in-chief of this campaign, rushed to the front of this cavalry with a smug smile on his face. Ahead of him, at the northern end of the river, the blue waters of the lake had never been more palpable than it was today.

Finally, the war horse raised its front hooves on the shore of the lake with clear water, and Tang Wei jumped off the war horse. He took the flag from the flag bearer behind him, took a few steps, and planted the flagpole on the shore of the lake.

"Haha, Lao Tzu's cavalry unit was the first to reach Lake Ontario!" Tang Wei laughed, and the cavalry around him cheered.

"General, I heard that a new town will be established here in the future, and perhaps we should choose a nice name in advance. You, as the first to arrive at the mouth of the river, have this qualification, and this is also the honor of our hussar brigade. Glancing at the wide estuary plain, an officer smiled and slapped his ass.

"Hmm...... Reasonable. How about calling it 'West Lake Town'? ”

Tang Wei touched his chin and thought about it for a while, and finally held back a name with a lack of imagination, and the young cavalry around him also coaxed, and then soon after, a wooden sign engraved with large characters landed on a small slope near the mouth of the river.

……

After more than 10 years of hard work, the footsteps of the officers and men of the Chinese and American Army finally reached the mouth of the Oswego River on the south bank of Lake Ontario today. In order to launch this all-out general offensive. The U.S. Army Command prepared for a whole year, mobilizing more than 5,500 officers and men from one light cavalry brigade, two light infantry brigades, and one national guard wing. Brigadier General Tang Wei, Director of Army Cavalry, served as the commander-in-chief.

To the east behind the main forces of the army. More than 100 kilometers away, the city of Yutika in later generations, a "Xufu Town" with a population of more than 3,000 is about to become the temporary capital of the new "Yunzhou".

Xu Fuzhen was founded as early as 1638 to commemorate the legendary figures in Chinese history who traveled overseas. The U.S. Army was able to fight on a large scale west of the White Horse Valley, far from the center of the country, and achieved today's victory, thanks to Xu Fuzhen's rear support.

But historically, the Mohok Valley was not well trafficked. In order to continue to adhere to the strategic guiding ideology of inland waterway expansion into the interior of North America, the construction of a canal through the White Horse Valley was necessary.

What can be used as a reference is the later Erie Canal project, which has become one of the core arteries of the development of the Midwest in the United States. Nowadays, one connects Baima Station and Xufu Town. The first phase of the canal, which connects the western part of the White Horse Valley with the Song River, is under construction in stages and has been going on for almost two years, with another year to be completed.

The first phase of the White Horse Canal is to build the White Horse Post to Xufu Town. In order to meet the navigation requirements of inland steam vessels, which are more demanding than those of the same period in history, the design indicators of the first phase of the White Horse Canal are higher than in history.

The first phase of the canal is 90 kilometers long, 20 meters wide and 3 meters deep, which can ensure that two large inland steamships can sail in opposite directions, and a drainage channel will be built in key areas to divert the Baima River during the high water period. There is also a service road along the main trunk of the canal that allows for the passage of heavy horse-drawn carriages, which facilitates overland traffic during the winter period when the canal is frozen.

The Road and Bridge Engineering Company, a subsidiary of the state-owned construction engineering group, used the most advanced technical means in China, and the first generation of faulty steam excavators also came to the forefront, leaving a joke that the repair time far exceeded the working time. The amount of earthwork excavated in the canal and the dredging of the Whitehorse River waterway far exceeded that of the same period in history, resulting in a significant reduction in the number of canal locks and a reduction in future operating and maintenance costs.

Once the first phase of the Baima River Canal is completed, the cost of transporting goods from Jiangkou Town or Porter City to Xufu Town will be reduced by at least 95%, and the agricultural irrigation along the canal will also be solved. But the total cost of the first phase also reached a staggering $3.4 million, with an average of nearly $40,000 per kilometer. Fortunately, the budget for such a major national project is allocated over three fiscal years, so it is still within the scope of the state's affordability.

In order to take care of the daily operation of more than a dozen canal locks, four small agricultural villages and towns have been set up from west to east between Xufu Town and Baimayi, namely "Junshui" (Yilin), "Flower Valley" (Littles Falls), "Huixi" (Kanayuhali) and "Huapu" (Fangda). The reinforced concrete canal locks are powered by a steam engine, and are all operated by the "State-owned Transportation Group Hakuba Canal Management Company" set up in Hakumayi. Once the canal is officially put into operation, the navigation fee can roll in, and it will not be difficult to recover the cost within ten years.

Most of the laborers involved in the White Horse Canal project were recent immigrants and some Iroquois prisoners of war. In order to encourage old immigrants to also move to Xufu Town and villages and towns along the canal, the Xufu town government has even introduced a rare ultra-cheap preferential policy of 50 cents per mu of land. Of course, this method of selling land to stimulate the relocation of the people also has a number of supporting restrictive policies to prevent the loophole that the people who buy the land on the front foot and the people on the back foot are not there.

The good news from the front was transmitted to the Xufu Town Government through the guò telegram as soon as possible, and was broadcast publicly through the Guò Town Government Square. It caused a stir among the townspeople. This meant that life on the remote frontiers of the country, which had long been tense, had finally entered a period of peace and tranquility, and the Iroquois who had been reluctant to die were completely expelled farther west or north.

……

The country's breakthrough in the north had not yet had time to be compiled by the news media and published nationwide, and in the capital, Manchester, another exciting gathering came to an end.

Admiral Wang Tiehammer, the commander of the Navy, is holding a full moon celebration banquet for his grandson at his manor. Although the 57-year-old admiral still looks strong and energetic, his slightly grayish temples still reveal the iron laws of nature.

The baby's father is Wang Tiezhu's eldest son Wang Xiaowen, who was born to Wang Xiaowen shortly after Xiang Wei's crossing of the catastrophe, and is the second generation of "locals" in the true sense of the local community. Although Wang Xiaowen is not Wang Tiezhu's own flesh and blood. But the boy, who knew nothing about his past life, grew up under the care of his parents and became a lieutenant in the navy.

Wang Xiaowen's wife is more interesting, Zhou Tiantian, who is three years older than Wang Xiaowen, the eldest daughter of Zhou Qifeng, the current cabinet finance minister, and Liu Fang, chairman of the board of directors of the UnionPay Fund, who is currently teaching at an Ivy League university.

Zhou Tiantian. It was the little girl "Tian Tian" who cried so much that Su Zining protected in the chaotic crowd after the catastrophe. For Su Zining's help back then. Mr. and Mrs. Zhou Qifeng are still grateful.

As a witness to Wang Xiaowen and Tian Tian's marriage last year. Su Zining is the most qualified person to be the first to pick up a full-moon baby. The baby boy was crying in Su Zining's arms, not knowing at all that he was the first true third generation of a certain group in this country. When Su Zining politely handed the child to Chen Changyuan and his wife, who were present to preside over the blessing, the audience applauded.

"Xiaowen, Tian Tian, this child is the hope of the country's future, and he must be educated well."

Former presidents who have reached the age of 80 have gray hair. It's a bit of a love to hold the baby. Looking at the liveliness of the child's teeth and claws, the old man Wang Suhong, who is two years younger than Chen Yuanyuan, has slightly red eyes, and her eyes reveal infinite tenderness.

The joy of life and the sadness of the passage of time. It constituted the main tone of the atmosphere of the full moon banquet of the royal family, looking at the room of elderly people, Su Zining, who had retreated to the corner, couldn't help but sigh softly. Because this year, the Supreme Judge Zhong Jinshan has also been hospitalized several times in a row, and Su Zining himself is 47 years old.

At the same time, at Ren Changle's house, another block not far away, a national re-administration activity that ended yesterday also ushered in a celebration.

"Mr. Chow, Mr. Chan, Mr. Chong, Mr. Adelaide, Mr. Adrian, Mr. John...... Congratulations on your entry into the Songzhou District Council! I heard that yesterday's election was very polling! ”

In the Ren family manor in Manchester City, the pot-bellied Ren Changle smiled and raised his glass to congratulate the upstarts of the first Songzhou local council who will take office in the spring of next year.

"Ah yes, everyone is doing their best to protect our interests, and those self-defeating guys almost caused us trouble...... Now I can't wait to contribute to the prosperity of Songzhou! Adelaide, who is the general manager of COSCO Mayflower Ocean Shipping Company, laughed and trembled at this time.

A group of state-level local council members attending Ren's banquet are all "insiders" elected by liberals this year. They are either small private entrepreneurs who are closely tied to the liberals, or they are top managers or high-level technicians in liberal enterprises. Almost everyone is a small rich man with a lot of status in this country.

Under the Citizenship Act of 1640, a national with an annual family tax of more than $500 or a senior title who had been granted permanent residence for more than 15 years could be recommended by a "current citizen" to obtain true Chinese citizenship. From this, the whole Huamei can theoretically give birth to more than 1,600 citizen families.

Upstart citizens with citizenship rights will be eligible to run for state councils, which will also serve a four-year term. The right to vote in local council elections is also limited to citizens with citizenship rights.

Unlike the bicameral system of Congress, which separates power between the upper and lower powers, the state legislature has a unicameral system with a quota of 17 members, 7 of whom have the right to vote, and the remaining 10 have only the right to discuss and build. The only state and local administrative powers they can exercise are to deliberate on the items of expenditure and local legislation of state and local governments, but they do not have the right to consult the cabinet or Congress to directly direct the local administration and legislative work.

The power of this kind of local council is much weaker than that of the Netherlands or the Republic of Venice at the same time, and from the perspective of the identity of the local council, the essence is still that of the rich, but it is an important milestone for the "ordinary people" to participate in politics. Its real duty is to submit at least one local development plan to the state government and Congress every year to prove the country's expectations of the state legislature, so it looks more like a local opinion tank.

In addition, according to the amendment to the Election Act of 1641, the local councils of each state, from 1646 onwards, will be eligible to elect representatives of state legislators to the House of Representatives, and the number of candidates will be temporarily limited to two per state. Regardless of whether he can become a member of the House of Representatives in the end, once this carrot and jujube is cashed in, it will be the most exciting.

The nouveau riche who have finally officially stepped into the gorgeous high society laughed heartily, stood up one by one, and clinked glasses with the crowd who came to congratulate them one by one with an elegant and reserved demeanor. Especially Adelaide, the 57-year-old captain of the ship, was extremely excited to discuss "national affairs" with several Song Prefecture local councilors at this time, and kept saying some words of encouragement to his eldest son, Conrad.

Speaking of which, Adelaide's eldest son, Conrad, seems to have entered the Chinese political circle before his father himself. Last year, Wu Yuanyi was re-elected as prime minister, and Conrad, who obtained a master's degree in finance and accounting from an Ivy League university, was finally appointed by the cabinet as the mayor of Huatian Town, Binzhou, after years of seniority, becoming the first local dignitary in the second generation of immigrants.

In addition to the liberals represented by Ren Changle who are cultivating local supporters, neutrals, progressives and even conservatives have elected many old nationals who belong to their own connections or interests this year, and then these upstarts have a scuffle in the first election of the local council, especially the election of the Songzhou local council is the most fierce.

Although this qiē is still 108,000 miles away from the partisan government, it is undeniable that a great drama that divides the political structure of the local councils of the states and the future House of Representatives of the Congress has been blatantly rolled out. (To be continued......)