Reborn South Africa as a police officer

Chapter 291 For World War I

At the end of 1902, perhaps only Bigwig Township in the world generally lived a life of "upstairs and downstairs, electric lights and telephones".

Note that it is "universal", not the first one. 20 years ago, home power supply systems appeared in London and New York, but because of the high price, electricity was not popular at that time.

In 1897, the world-renowned Niagara Hydropower Station was completed, with an installed capacity of 10 horsepower. Two years later, in 1899, the Niagara Hydropower Station began to provide electricity to Buffalo, New York, 35 kilometers away, but Buffalo at that time also There is no luxury to provide public lighting (street lights) with electricity.

Thanks to the relationship between Rock and Crocodile Bay Reservoir, Crocodile Bay Reservoir provides electricity to Bigwig Town at a low price, so the Bigwig Town government is able to install street lights for the church square and the main road in the town.

"Installing street lights is definitely worth it. The daily cost of street lights is only about 500 pounds. Since the installation of street lights, in order to buy a house in Bigwig Town, someone has raised the price to 20 pounds. In this city, no one is willing to sell their house. The cost of a standard residential land used to be only 200 pounds, but now it has exceeded 5000 pounds. As such, the supply is still in short supply. It is estimated that by the end of the year, the resident population of Bigwei Town will exceed [-]. , our taxes will at least quadruple—” As mayor, Buck was ecstatic about the situation.

In fact, when there were no street lights installed, the housing prices in Bigwig Township had already started to soar. With Bigwig Public School and Bigwig Hospital as the foundation, not too many people want to settle in Bigwig Township. Some Capetonians just come here because of the reputation. Traveling to Bigwig Town, and then being attracted by Bigwig Town, wanting to settle down in Bigwig Town, and those parents who want to send their children to Bigwig Public School, they jointly pushed up the housing prices in Bigwig Town.

Compared with the beginning of the year, the scale of Bigwig Town has now expanded by more than three times. Half a year ago, Bigwig Public School was still located on the edge of Bigwig Town, but now Bigwig Public School is surrounded by residential areas.

The increase in population has brought economic prosperity. In the past, there was only one Oak Bar and one Russell Café in Bigwig Town. Now there are more than ten bars and cafes in Bigwig Town. Restaurants are everywhere, not only Western-style restaurants , there is also an authentic oriental restaurant. Rock originally positioned Bigwig Town as a residential property, but now Bigwig Town is developing more and more in the direction of a tourist city.

"The increase in population is a good thing, Dunn. We must ensure the stability of the law and order in Bigwig Town." Rock is most worried about law and order. Other aspects are easy to say. Law and order is really a serious concern for Rock.

Johannesburg is the crime capital of the future. Although there are no Africans in Bigwei Town, Roque must take precautions. These days, the quality of white people is not much better than that of Africans, and even the quality of Chinese is not much better. We cannot place public order on the improvement of the quality of residents, we can only solve the problem from the strength of the police.

"The branch has expanded twice since the beginning of the year. At the beginning of the year we were still a police station, and there were only 12 people including me, the sheriff. Now our branch has more than 80 police officers. It is near Ziwei Public School and Ziwei Hospital. A new police station has been set up, and the streets are always patrolled by police and mounted police. The residents of the whole town are militiamen. They can take up arms at any time as long as they need it. No matter if there is a police situation in any corner of the town, we can Arrived within 5 minutes, last month a couple from Cape Town lost their luggage in Church Square, and two hours later, the luggage was still there, and our patrolman didn't even notice- "Dun En is full of confidence. The current Big Via Town does not say that the roads are not picked up and the house is not closed at night. The security situation is second to none among all cities in southern Africa.

The good law and order is due to the harsh punishment in Bigwig Town. In Bigwig Town, even if you pick up other people's property and fail to hand it over to the police in time, you will be punished severely.

The Bigwig Police Station still retains the barbed whip used by the Cape Town Police Department, which is similar to picking up other people’s property and failing to hand it over to the police in time, except that a fine of three times the value of the property itself will be imposed In addition, they have to receive ten lashes in the street. If the suspect is a minor, then the guardian must accept the punishment. Ever since a Pretorian who sent his children to Bigwig Public School received this punishment Since then, in the four months that have passed, no one has been punished for this regulation.

This is also due to the promotion of the law popularization by the Purple Via Town Police Sub-bureau. The Purple Via Town Police Sub-bureau employs more than a dozen family members of the police as internal staff. Each of these internal staff is in charge of a different block. , telling them what they can and cannot do.

Bigwig Public School has also played a huge role in this aspect. Every child must be familiar with these security provisions, and after returning home, publicize them to their families. It is precisely because of these measures that the good security of Bigwig Town can be guaranteed. .

As for the militia, this is one of the original regulations of Bigwig Town, so residents of Bigwig Town, even housewives, must go to the police station to receive a certain degree of weapon training within the specified time, at least to be able to use Weapons, dare to use weapons.

In the entire Bigwig Town, almost all families have self-defense weapons. Many families have one pistol per person, and every family is used to feeding large dogs such as South African mastiffs, so the law and order in Bigwig Town is not very good, because Everyone knows that even old people and women have the ability to cause fatal attacks on strong men.

This is how people get along harmoniously. Just like two big countries that both have nuclear weapons, there will basically be no war between them, because they are both wary of each other.

"Don't be proud. After the rainy season, we will start building the road between Bigwig and Johannesburg. From now on, we must be prepared. At that time, many Africans will come to Bigwig. Make sure they don't It will affect the law and order of Bigwig Town." Rock's requirements are high, and it is probably unrealistic to build the railway to Bigwig Town, but the road is OK, cheap, and the construction speed is very fast.

Instead of cement roads, Bigwig Town will build asphalt roads. The asphalt is bought from far away South America, first crossed the ocean to Cape Town, and then transported from Cape Town to Johannesburg by rail.

It’s amazing, although the distance is far away and the freight has been added layer after layer, but in calculation, asphalt is still cheaper than cement.

Although the cement plant in Fawart has been increasing production, it is impossible for one cement plant to meet the needs of Transvaal, Rhodesia, and Nyasaland, so Henry built two more cement plants in Fawart plant to ensure the huge demand for cement in the surrounding areas.

Only then did Henry realize that it was reasonable for Rock not to put the cement plant in Johannesburg and Pretoria. The cement plant has been in operation for less than a year now, but some workers have already become seriously ill due to severe pollution.

This money is not very bright, because the sick workers do not know the relationship between disease and serious pollution, so there are still a steady stream of Zulu people leave Zululand, and go to Fawalt to earn a salary of one shilling per day.

A shilling a day is only £1.5 a month, but the price paid is serious physical effects.

Don't think it's cruel, that is, Rock can't pass his own psychological barriers and don't make this money. In fact, this situation is very normal these days. Remember those watches that use "radium"?

Many women workers in the United States who are less than 20 years old do this job, because they need to use a brush to brush "radium" on the dial, so they often put the brush in their mouths to adjust the tip of the brush. A large amount of "radium" is Entering their bodies in this way, they generally do not live to be 25 years old.

Because their bodies contain a lot of radium, even if they die, their bodies will glow.

"Is it still Christian's company—no problem, I will have a good chat with Christian about this issue, and make sure that all Africans cannot leave their camps during the construction of the road." Dunn was full of confidence, and Rock But very guilty.

Roque also insisted that as long as African labor is not used, then Roque does not need to pity those Africans.

Now Rock finds himself wrong. Africans are really easy to use. They are cheap and plentiful. They are tireless and will not resist. Crocodile Bay Company uses Chinese labor to build reservoirs. The cost is high, and the monthly cost is [-]. Shareholders complained that Stoudemire used Africans to build the railway as if he didn’t spend any money. Stoudemire didn’t even have to pay the salaries of those Africans who died during the construction of the railway. The contrast between the two sides is really sharp.

So in desperation, Rock is also reducing the number of Chinese laborers. Many Chinese laborers from the Crocodile Bay Reservoir were sent to Nyasaland to reclaim farmland. On the Crocodile Bay Reservoir, the most dangerous and arduous work was also taken over by the Zulus. Everyone was content now, even the Zulus, because they got jobs.

When deciding to build the road between Bigwig Town and Johannesburg, Rock's first reaction was to hand over the project to Christian. In this era and in this environment, it is really not easy to be alone Perhaps, Rock can only ask Christian to treat those Zulu people as well as possible, at least let them have enough food and get full salary in time.

Christian didn't actually want to do that, but out of fear of Rock, Christian still tried to do it.

Unexpectedly, because of this, it brought Christian a huge reputation among the Zulu people. Now Christian has tens of thousands of Zulu people working for him. If Christian is willing, the number of workers under him can even be as large as After expanding to 10 people, Christian himself gained a huge wealth. In Christian's words, the Zulu people are an inexhaustible gold mine.

Even Rock didn't expect this.

"What happened to Bobby's factory?" Rock was also concerned about Bobby Holt's motorcycle factory. The construction of roads was to prepare for future mechanization.

Although it seems that motorcycles still have many deficiencies, it is undeniable that in the future, motorcycles and automobiles will definitely replace the current horse and ox cart. Leaving aside automobiles, automobiles will have serious defects within ten years. It is estimated that Johannesburg will not be able to set up its own car factory, but the era of motorcycles may come at any time. Rock hopes that in the future, Bobby's motorcycle factory will bring more job opportunities and business tax revenue to Bigwig Town.

"Everything is normal. Last month, Bobby went to Germany. He not only brought back the blueprint of the engine, but also brought back a dozen technicians. Now Bobby and the others are busy improving the engine, hoping that the engine will be more powerful. It is more reliable, and the construction of the factory is also in progress. When the construction of the factory building is completed, Bobby and the others will start trial production.” Buck also pays attention to the motorcycle factory. Rock has repeatedly emphasized the importance of industry in front of Buck. Industrial interest is also growing.

Revitalizing the economy is actually very simple. Without agriculture, there is no stability, without work, there is no wealth, and without business, there is no vitality. If you can achieve these three points, basically you can’t do without development.

The same is true of Johannesburg that Rock hopes. Relying on the farms around Johannesburg can at least ensure the stability of Johannesburg. There is no need to purchase food from outside. Food processing will become the economic growth point of Johannesburg in the future. No matter how you look at it, it is very cost-effective. thing.

It’s even easier to get rich without work. The gold mines in Johannesburg are not actually industries. Even the jewelry processing in the Locke Gold Mine is not strictly speaking an industry. The woolen textile factory in Johannesburg, the wood processing factory in Oak Town, and the Big Veda Town A motorcycle factory that has not yet started production is a serious industry.

That is to say, Johannesburg’s gold reserves are too rich, and it has been dug for more than 100 years, so Johannesburg actually has its own particularity. If it is replaced by other cities, industry should be the economic pillar of the city. Without industry, there will be no The continuous creation of wealth cannot guarantee sustained economic growth, nor can it absorb the surplus labor population, so the importance of industry cannot be overemphasized.

In Rock's vision, even if Johannesburg has a large amount of gold, Johannesburg will persist in developing industry for 100 years. In a dozen years, the First World War will break out in Europe. Johannesburg is a thousand miles away from Europe. It will not be involved in the war at all. At that time, European countries will generally reduce their industrial production due to the war. At that time, if the industry in Johannesburg becomes large-scale, can it replace the United States and become the ultimate beneficiary of the First World War?

It may be possible, or it may not be possible, Rock is not sure.

But if you put effort into it, then there is a possibility of success, if you don't do anything, then it will never be possible, this is still very clear to Rock.

At the very least, let's take away part of the profits of the United States.

(End of this chapter)