C2489 Horses and donkeys (1/2)
”More than 3,400?” William I could not believe his ears. Of course, he could not remember every single figure in the national economic report, but from what he could remember, there should not be so many steam trains in Prussia right now.
The first time Industrial Revolution was represented by railways and trains. At that time, the number of locomotives in every country was related to the size of their national economy.
In just 30 years, the number of trains in Prussia increased by more than 3000. This number surprised William I.
What was even more shocking was that, as Xiao Letian explained continuously, a brand-new Prussia appeared in front of William I.
At the peak of Prussian economic development, Prussia's gross national product more than doubled in the 1850s and 1960s alone.
And within twenty years, Prussia was rapidly transforming its economy from light industry to heavy industry, a well-known example of heavy industry.
Prussia itself was rich in coal and iron, two of the most important strategic resources. In 1850, Prussia produced only 210 thousand tons of pig iron, and after 20 years of development, Prussia produced 1.4 million tons of pig iron, seven times more.
In the last 20 years, the output of steel has increased from over 5000 tons to 170 thousand tons, which is a whole 30 times increase.
The plentiful supply of raw materials directly contributed to the prosperity of the manufacturing industry. In 1840 there were less than a hundred machinery factories in Prussia, but by 1860 there were more than 300 in Prussia.
It is worth mentioning that the famous Krupp group was developed during this period.
Prussia's first railway line was completed in 1835, when it was only 16 kilometers long. By 1848, it had reached a total of 2500 kilometers, and by this year, all the railways in Prussia had a total mileage of 21,000km, far exceeding that of the Southern France.
There are many numbers like this, many of them I can't even lift up. His Majesty the King, may I ask, do you know how many numbers you have seen?
William I's expression froze, he suddenly felt like his face was on fire, the economic figures of his own country was actually coming out from the mouth of a Chinese, this was simply disgraceful!
Fortunately, there was no one around, if there was anyone around, William I would probably have to find a mouse hole and burrow into it!
”Bismark told you all of this?” The king could not contain his anger.
”My dear King, please don't be angry. The Prime Minister certainly didn't tell me about this data on his own accord. I found something fishy in the Prussian government's report!”
”Later on, I will beat around the bush and force Bismark little by little. These numbers were actually created by me!”
”In the end, Prime Minister Bismark did not want to deceive you on purpose, he wanted to deceive the entire world! But I am the more cunning one, I found a little clue and did not fall for it! ”
Hearing Xiao Letian's words, William I's expression became slightly better. ”This guy is really too rude, I, I …”
Even after a long time, the king still didn't come up with a countermeasure, and he still didn't say how he wanted to punish Bismark.