The day after Luo Bingzhang committed suicide, the Manchu government in Chengdu surrendered. Officials of all sizes with different flower feathers knelt at the city gate one by one, and the Guangfu Army wearing grass-green military uniforms sang military songs, and drove through the city gate into the splendid city of Chengdu.

Luo Bingzhang's head was cut off for public display, the surrendered Han officials were pardoned, and the bannermen and their families were gathered and dragged out for public shooting. Within a month, the cities of Sichuan surrendered one after another. The Liberation Army completely occupied half of the south.

On March 5, 1867, Zuo Zongtang followed Wei Ze down the river from Nanjing to Wuchang. At this time, Wuchang was full of lights, and slogans were posted everywhere, "Congratulations on the opening of the Guangdong-Hanzhou Railway". The railway from Wuchang to Guangdong was finally completed. Beginning in 1857, the Guangfu Army began to hire engineers to do survey work, and in 1859, the construction of the Guangdong section of the railway began.

After the liberation of Jiangnan, the Guangdong-Hanzhou Railway was included in the national key project and entered a period of comprehensive acceleration. From the beginning of the planning to the completion, it took a full ten years.

Cut the ribbon and take a group photo surrounded by everyone. Wei Ze and others took a special train from Wuchang to Guangzhou. It was not the first time Zuo Zongtang had taken a train, the railway from Nanjing to Jiujiang had been completed at this time, and he specially asked for leave to take the whole family to take the train. The scenery speeding by the roadside made Zuo Zongtang feel like a dream. After taking the train, Zuo Zongtang officially applied to Wei Ze to join the Liberation Party. This impact of modern technology made Zuo Zongtang completely lose interest in the old era.

Taking the train from Wuchang to Guangzhou is far more psychologically impactful than the actual distance. What used to take months to trek can now be completed in a matter of days. Walking requires indescribable physical exertion, as well as facing scorching sun, torrential rain, strong winds, and disease. Now you just need to sit in the carriage that can shelter you from the wind and rain, and wait leisurely for such a long steel dragon to arrive at its destination. Even if he experienced it himself, Zuo Zongtang found it unbelievable.

The news of countries around the world is no longer unheard of for China, Zuo Zongtang has seen exhibitions organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and European powers such as Britain, France, the United States, and Prussia have their own railway systems. Looking at a large number of photos, Zuo Zongtang understood why the British were able to defeat the Manchu court after reaching the gates of China thousands of miles away. Why is the Liberation Army now invincible, and wherever the troops go, the enemy is looking at the wind and surrendering. The great powers have their own strength, and this is not at all something that the "agrarian countries" can withstand.

Zuo Zongtang has strong expectations for Guangzhou, the destination of this trip, he has long heard that the city of Guangzhou led by Wei Ze is already an indescribably advanced city, but he has only heard how advanced and magnificent that city is. Arriving in that fabled city by train is a fantastic journey.

This trip was not a simple trip, and there were several important officials in the same car with Wei Ze. In addition to Shen Xin, the commander and political commissar of the army and navy were all with him, and Premier Bi Qingshan was also with everyone. It can be said that the core representatives of the new government are on this train.

"Daddy, my brother bullied me!" Wei Ze's daughter, Wei Wensu, crashed into Wei Ze's arms and denounced her brother to her dear father. Wei Wenrui, the eldest son who rushed in with his sister, immediately distinguished himself: "Dad, my sister has to climb to the window, I don't let her climb, she still doesn't listen!" ”

Wei Ze hugged his daughter and said, "Well, it's dangerous to climb on the window, if you are injured, your brother will be sad, your father will be sad, and your mother will be sad." You don't want to upset us. ”

"Well...... but do I want to see it!" Wei Wensu said with a snort.

"If you want to see it, you can say to your brother, brother, I want to see it, can you help me move a stool? You're afraid that I'm in danger, so it's okay for you to hold me. Well, tell your brother now. Weeser educated his daughter.

Wei Wensu snorted for a moment, and suddenly ran up to her brother with the characteristic cheerfulness of a child, repeating her father's words. Wei Wenrui also said to his sister with the peculiar seriousness of a child: "Dad said you can't stick your head out, I pull you, you can't stick your head out, do you hear?" ”

"Good!" Wei Wensu replied very simply.

"Then you must not cry!" Wei Wenrui continued to talk to his sister about the conditions.

"Good!" Wei Wensu replied loudly.

"Then let's go." Wei Wenrui took his sister's hand, and the two of them ran away.

Army Commander Hu Chenghe said with a smile: "Wen Rui speaks clearly, and he really has the qualifications to be a soldier." ”

"Your daughter with her younger brothers and sisters is much better than my kid, I think it's much better than my kid." Weser also said what his parents should say.

The group of dads exchanged experiences with children and then turned the conversation back to what they were most accustomed to.

The Northern Expedition was unexpectedly less intense, and the Manchus owed too many debts related to infrastructure construction for more than 100 years. Embankments, roads, irrigation, education, this dynasty adhered to nothing more than a policy of treating the head and feet in all the public spheres, turning a blind eye to all dangers when nothing happened, and "mobilizing the gentry" to help the disaster when something happened. The Manchu government did not lead any large-scale nation-building operations, and in order for the Manchus to remain in power, they never cared about the death of their people or the well-being of the country.

The Liberation Army is faced with such a situation, except for various plunder-based national tax systems, the Liberation Army really cannot find any national production system that can take over. These must be established and perfected by the Liberation Army itself. The army is now the largest state-run force, and they have to build roads, open mines, build docks, and suppress lawlessness.

This is not the 21st century, the northeast and the Huanghuai region in the 21st century are the main grain producing areas. In 1867, China's main grain-producing area was the Yangtze River valley, and all the elite areas in this area fell into the hands of the Liberation Army. In order to revive and improve production here, the new government has used all the labour at its disposal at this stage.

After all, soldiers are soldiers, and they think that since there is no resistance to the Northern Expedition now, it is better to take Hebei, Henan, Shandong, and Shanxi together. After all, these four provinces are the elite areas, and it will still be beneficial to the new government after taking them.

The opposing opinion is Premier Bi Qingshan, who thinks that if he waits for another two years, as long as there are two years, including railways and shipping, there will be new breakthroughs, and then it will be not only these four provinces that will directly recover the outside of the Guan.

Zuo Zongtang has gradually become accustomed to this way of thinking about the Liberation Army, creating wealth for the country, laying a solid foundation for the country, so that these wealth can benefit the people. In fact, Bi Qingshan is not a new name, but he has been implementing the policy of opening up plantations, national immigration, and the state to undertake the supply of basic grain and oil, and at most adding the policies that Wei Ze has been implementing to build railways, build ports, and increase investment in infrastructure and transportation construction.

As soon as these simple policies were implemented, the new government immediately became energetic. Zuo Zongtang took a train to Jiujiang, and it is said that after the Hunan army conquered Jiujiang, all the people in Jiujiang City were slaughtered. Jiujiang City that Zuo Zongtang saw had a stable market and a large population, and it is not an exaggeration to describe it as living and working in peace and contentment. If it weren't for being a secretary at the top level, Zuo Zongtang wouldn't even be able to feel that there is a fierce and brutal war going on outside the liberated areas. Inside the liberated areas is a calm world.

"I think it's not without benefit to capture the four provinces now." Wei Ze finally spoke, and as soon as he spoke, Bi Qingshan's face was a little ugly.

Wei Ze said slowly: "In the end, we still have to completely solve the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and this solution includes physical extermination. Russia in the north is eyeing the Chinese lands, and sooner or later we will have to clean them up. At this time, it was not bad to drive the Manchus out of the border. In a few years, when we go out of the customs, we will not only have to solve the Manchu Qing Dynasty, but also solve the border issue. ”

"To go to war with Russia?" Not only Bi Qingshan was surprised, but the members of the Central Military Commission were also shocked.

Wei Ze frowned and said: "War with Russia is inevitable, and we are reluctant to go north, because the north is too bitter and cold. But that bitter cold is a warmer south for Russia. Russia is a country that sits on an ice sheet, and their desire to seize warm land is simply unimaginable. It's a very difficult thing to do. ”

"No matter how difficult it is, we are willing to serve our country!" There is a war to be fought, and the members of the Military Commission are naturally happy.

"Will this budget not be able to bear it, we are investing too much in the south." Bi Qingshan immediately put forward his own opinion.

Weezer reassured: "But don't worry about the budget, no matter what, our war with Russia will not start immediately." Let's liberate the four provinces first. ”

Everyone is at the top, starting from the aspect of troops and budget, and there is a result in two days. At this time, the train finally entered Guangzhou Station.

In Wei Ze's view, Guangzhou City University has a taste of the 80s, with six- and seven-story buildings everywhere, both on the outside and on the inside, it is the neat and uniform taste of big industry. There is no eye-catching design, no unique beauty. All of them are designed to be able to be produced in large quantities.

But in the eyes of Zuo Zongtang and others, this is completely different, and the building of more than 20 meters is absolutely unusual in China in 1867. But in the city of Guangzhou, such buildings are built one after another. There are also tall water towers that appear from time to time, and when you look up, even the sky has been obscured a lot.

What shocked Zuo Zongtang the most was that there was a tower in the distance, which looked as if it was hollowed out, and you could see the blue sky and white clouds behind the tower through the gaps. The six- and seven-story buildings were already very tall, but they were nothing compared to the tower. It was not only Zuo Zongtang who was surprised, but Wei Ze's entourage was also extremely surprised.

Only Weeser didn't care at all, this was the iron tower he designed in imitation of the Eiffel Tower, an all-steel structure, with a height of about 80 meters. In Wei Ze's vision, when the national strength is stronger in the future, he will build a higher iron tower. R1058