The sun shines brightly on the deck of the ship, and the sea breeze blows through, bringing the unique smell of the sea. Seagulls in the sky skim over the sea, and then spread their wings and fly high, making bursts of gull sounds.

Zhan Tianyou stood on the side of the boat, looking at the coast in the distance, but he seemed to be a little distracted, and he didn't even notice that Yang Yuxin came to his side.

Yang Yuxin said with a smile: "Mr. Zhan, there is something on the shore that can be seen so fascinatingly. ”

Zhan Tianyou came back to his senses and said, "Mr. Yang, I'm looking at the chimney on the shore?"

Yang Yuxin noticed that he saw that from a distance on the shore, there were indeed more than a dozen chimneys of varying heights, and they were spitting smoke of different shades, staining half of the blue sky into a gray color, and under the chimneys, some houses and buildings could be vaguely seen, so he couldn't help but be a little strange, and said, "Mr. Zhan, I don't know what this chimney is beautiful?"

Zhan Tianyou also smiled: "When I was studying in the United States, I could see chimneys everywhere, filled with black smoke, and having chimneys means that there are factories and machines, and the United States and European countries are so developed and prosperous, but since I returned from studying in the United States, I haven't seen such a scene for more than ten years, only occasionally I can see one or two chimneys, but I didn't expect to see it again in Qingdao." ”

In the eyes of modern people, chimneys and black smoke represent backwardness and pollution, but in this era, there is no concept of environmental protection and carbon emissions, because this era is based on steam engines as the main power, and energy is coal, and there must be smoke when burning coal, so the number of chimneys represents the industrialization level of a country and a region. Zhan Tianyou has studied in the United States for more than 10 years and is accustomed to the model of a modern industrial society with chimneys, smog and factories in modern American cities.

And Zhan Tianyou returned to China for nearly 20 years, although the Qing court experienced the development of the Westernization movement, but even in the most prosperous place of Westernization, the social structure has not changed much, the whole of China is closest to the modern society is the concession, but there is no factory in the concession, until today from the boat to see Qingdao, but you can see more than a dozen chimneys, to the rare bit of American-style industrial society mold, so Zhan Tianyou gave birth to infinite feelings.

Although Yang Yuxin couldn't understand Zhan Tianyou's mood, he still pointed to the coastline and introduced to Zhan Tianyou one by one, what kind of factory it was, what it looked like when he left Qingdao, etc., and talked about the development plan of the East China government. Although Zhan Tianyou had heard Liu Lantao talk about these things in Shanghai, he had seen them with his own eyes, and although he only looked at them from a distance on the ship, he could also see the industrial scale and development prospects of overseas Chinese.

And the two were talking on the side of the boat, and unconsciously gathered more than 20 students, around them to listen, some people also asked, and Yang Yuxin did not care, patiently explained to the students the development plan of the East China government, and also described a beautiful prospect for the students, which also made these students very excited.

Although these students have not been to the United States or Europe, they are studying in a new school after all, and they have heard of and seen some photos and images at the symposium of overseas Chinese, and the traveler has also told these students the concepts of industrial revolution, mechanization, and socialized mass production, so they also know that factories and machines represent modernity, civilization, development, Strong, and Yang Yuxin told them about the future of the East China government is such a bright picture, young people are full of passion and blood, how can they not be excited at this time?

While everyone was talking, the steamer had sailed into Qingdao Bay, anchored at the pier, and boarded the gangway. Yang Yuxin accompanied Zhan Tianyou and organized the students to get off the boat and come to the trestle.

At this time, there were already staff members of the East China government waiting here, and the vehicles were ready to meet them, and of course, they were also prepared to live, which was the newly built Hope School in Qingdao, while Yang Yuxin and Zhan Tianyou lived in the guest house of the East China government. Because Yang Yuxin had been working in Tianjin before, and later went to Shanghai, he did not arrange a fixed residence for him in Qingdao, and this time Yang Yuxin returned to Qingdao alone, Jiang Yi and the sisters stayed in Shanghai and lived in the guest house.

Pick up the students are all carriages, 8 people take one, and leave the dock in turn, and pick up Zhan Tianyou is a battery car, Yang Yuxin accompanied Zhan Tianyou to get on the car, and go to the guest house together, and along the road Zhan Tianyou saw are wide and flat roads, people and vehicles are separated, each in its own way, in good order, and the road is a multi-storey house with simple lines and neat windows, or under construction, as well as a forest of towering poles and electric lights. And Yang Yuxin also introduced the main street scenes to Zhan Tianyou one by one, those were left over from the previous German rule, and those were built after the traverser controlled Qingdao, of course, the latter is the majority. Yang Yuxin told Zhan Tianyou that there is a large power plant under construction in Qingdao, and once it is built, it can supply the electricity of the entire Qingdao urban area, but Yang Yuxin does not know what the power plant has been built now.

Although Zhan Tianyou is not an electrical engineer, he also knows that the popularization and development of electrification is high-tech even in the United States and Europe, and in China in this era, only a few buildings in the concession are equipped with small generators, or small-scale power plants, which can only supply electricity to a small number of buildings, and this power plant that has reached the city-level power supply capacity is the first. Although Qingdao is not a large city today, there are dozens of houses and even street lights, which is by no means enough for a power plant of ordinary size.

It didn't take long for the battery car to arrive at the guest house, which was actually a dormitory building, and it was temporarily used as a standby. After getting off the bus, Yang Yuxin commanded the staff of the guest house to arrange a room for Zhan Tianyou, and his own room was arranged next door to Zhan Tianyou. After Zhan Tianyou was settled, Yang Yuxin rushed to the administrative building and reported to the Executive Yuan.

After lunch, Qin Zheng, on behalf of the East China government, met Zhan Tianyou in a meeting room in the administrative building, because Qin Zheng was still the governor of Shandong of the Qing court, so Zhan Tianyou was still quite flattered. Although Zhan Tianyou had built several railways in China and was recognized as the best railway engineer in the Qing court, he had no status in the Qing court, because he was not born in the imperial examination, nor did he have an official rank, but only received some attention in the Westernization faction. In 1898, because Zhan Tianyou wanted to serve as the official assistant of the General Administration of Railways inside and outside the Guan, which was the official position of the Qing court, Zhan Tianyou could only follow the Qing government's method of donating officials and spend money to repay the official position of Congliupin, which was known by the state. But an official like the governor still looks high in front of Zhan Tianyou, and Zhan Tianyou must also make a respectful attitude.

But Qin Zheng is also a governor, but he is not official at all, nor is he high-minded, but he gets along with Zhan Tianyou on an equal footing, which also makes Zhan Tianyou feel that the bearing of overseas Chinese is really different.

Qin Zheng first praised Zhan Tianyou's achievements in building the railway, and pointed out the great role of the railway in modern industrial society, and then briefly introduced to Zhan Tianyou the railway plan of the East China government and the current construction of the Jiaoji Railway. And Zhan Tianyou also talked about the scenes he saw along the way, expressing his admiration for the East China government. And Qin Zheng proposed that he hoped that Zhan Tianyou could stay in Qingdao and help the East China government complete the planned railway construction, and considering that Zhan Tianyou still has the official position of Chunting, and there is currently the construction task of the Pingli Railway, Qin Zheng proposed another plan, Zhan Tianyou can not be resident in Shandong, but only provide necessary help, such as helping the East China government to formulate railway construction plans, plans, routes, technology and other decisions. Difficult construction sections, then come to the station for a few months to solve the site, when free Zhan Tianyou can also come to Shandong to inspect the construction of the railway.

Of course, Qin Zheng finally said very generously that he didn't need Zhan Tianyou to reply immediately, he could take a look in Qingdao first, and at the same time invited Zhan Tianyou to attend the celebration ceremony of the first molten iron of Qingdao Iron and Steel Plant tomorrow morning.

And Zhan Tianyou also breathed a sigh of relief, to be honest about Qin Zheng's invitation, Zhan Tianyou is difficult to answer, from Zhan Tianyou's feelings, he really wants to stay in Qingdao to work, because not only can he build a long-distance railway, but he can even participate in the planning of railway construction, although the area of Shandong Province is not large, but it is a medium-sized country in Europe, so the construction of the railway is planned, to build the railway to a higher level, as a railway engineer, this is of course very attractive. And through the contact in the past few days, Zhan Tianyou also clearly felt that overseas Chinese are indeed very different from the Qing court, their concept of modern country, their understanding of industrialization is far more than that of the Qing court, and of course, they also have an appetite for Zhan Tianyou, which is the working environment they hope for the most.

If Zhan Tianyou is still a young man who has just returned to China, he may have no hesitation to answer Qin Zheng, working in Qingdao, but Zhan Tianyou has returned to China for 20 years after all, although he does not care about politics, but he also knows some things, because before he left Shanghai, Sheng Xuanhuai had a long talk with Zhan Tianyou, explaining the complicated relationship between the traverser and the Qing court to Zhan Tianyou in detail, of course, Sheng Xuanhuai's goal is to prevent Zhan Tianyou from falling to the side of overseas Chinese.

However, this conversation did achieve Sheng Xuanhuai's goal, although Zhan Tianyou still decided to visit Qingdao, but he was somewhat vigilant in his heart, after all, Zhan Tianyou had no intention of being a politician, he did not want to participate in the political struggle between the Qing court and overseas Chinese, and just wanted to build a railway with peace of mind. Therefore, at this time, of course, Zhan Tianyou could not agree to Qin Zheng's invitation, but it was difficult to refuse, firstly, it was too rude to do so, and secondly, it was somewhat unwilling, but it was Qin Zheng's generosity that resolved Zhan Tianyou's embarrassment.

But Zhan Tianyou promised to attend the celebration ceremony of the first molten iron at the Qingdao Iron and Steel Plant tomorrow, after all, this has nothing to do with politics.