In addition to spending a lot of money on the introduction of British technology, as well as the establishment of the Ministry of Railways and the Railway Institute to do special research and personnel training, there is a "small breakthrough" in technical reasons, that is, the use of thermite.

Aluminum powder and ferric oxide are mixed and ignited with magnesium strips, and after a violent reaction, a very pure molten steel is formed. In this day and age, the effect of this welding is quite good. The track is short, and a lot of problems come out. The passage of train wheels through the interfaces of those rails has a significant impact on the rails and sleepers, which requires a number of targeted solutions, from reinforcement to tight docking. These measures raise costs and waste resources. The orbit is long enough, and a lot of problems are eliminated. The cost of making long rails is extremely high, and the cost of welding long rails is very low.

At this time, aluminum is a luxury product in Europe, and the market is very small, and China's aluminum can easily dominate the European market. The British could not have imagined welding with this "precious metal" in any case. In recent years, China's sense of secrecy and secrecy measures have become stronger and stronger, and although thermite is only a small technology, the British have not been able to figure it out.

But it didn't matter, the British cared about China's purpose in overhauling the railroad in the north. If the Chinese had sent tens of thousands of cavalry to the Far East to fight the Russians, the British would have been very happy. However, as soon as the Franco-Prussian War ended, all countries were commenting on why Prussia, which was considered to be weak, easily defeated France, the first army in Europe. The railway transport of troops was recognized as one of several major factors in Germany's victory.

The British Consulate staff took the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway and gave a report full of praise for the construction level of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway. Thousands of kilometers of tunnels, railway bridges with huge spans. The steep uphill route was solved by the Chinese using herringbone tracks to intersect and adopt two front and rear locomotives. This shows the high level of railway construction in China.

At present, the Russian Far East army still uses front-loading rifles, and with this kind of rifle against China's rear-loading metal-shelled rifles, no matter how you look at it, the Russians have no chance of winning. Could it be that China has colluded with Germany and vigorously built a railway to the north, so that China has paid such a huge cost to regain the Sino-Russian border demarcated by the Treaty of Nebuchu? The British will not believe it anyway.

Originally, the British hoped to talk to Weeser directly, but time did not allow it, and China's three sessions were held. During the three sessions, as long as there is no emergency, China will not communicate with foreign countries and make every effort to solve internal problems. The three sessions are also particularly important, as they involve comprehensive personnel changes.

The party is re-elected every five years, and the party re-election is followed by the re-election of the government. This time is put in the second year of the five-year plan, and Wei Ze also has his own opinion, that is, there is a kind of meaning of carrying forward the past and forging ahead into the future. Two years is enough to prove the previous one's ability to execute in two years, the level of awareness, if it is not suitable, quickly replaced. Whether the next term can conscientiously implement the plan left by the previous term is obviously also a big test. This can't be changed overnight after changing people, and it is absolutely inappropriate to do so.

The First Plenary Session of the Fourth CPC Central Committee was quite united, and the tasks of the provinces were not small, and the difficulty began to decrease. The improvement of the system and the enhancement of the scientific and technological team have allowed many things that have to be patted on the head by the leaders to find special departments. With the exception of two provincial-level cadres who are so powerful that they are trying to keep control of departments directly under the state, the other provincial party secretaries and governors have been appointed for the next term.

Each province has made some progress, and the southern provinces have a good foundation, and their progress is more reflected in the improvement of the system. Among the northern provinces, Liaoning's performance is the most prominent. Immigrants have been an unprecedented success. It is not without immigrants who commit adultery and criminals, and these people have been dealt with a stance of severe crackdown. The black sheep have been eradicated, and the average yield per mu of 10 million mu of farmland that has been reclaimed in Liaoning has exceeded 260 catties, an increase of almost 30 percent. Mechanized production is certainly very efficient in reclamation, but this is the efficiency of the input-output ratio. Because the technology is not up to par, the consumption of parts is too fast, and the internal combustion engine industry has fallen into a pause. Even without the support of the internal combustion engine on a day-to-day basis, the ability of Chinese farmers to carefully care for their crops has been brought into play, and the yield per acre of black soil has skyrocketed.

During the slack season, a large number of farmers invested in the construction of the railway, which started from Beijing and went straight to Shenyang through Shanhaiguan. and the two railways from Lushun to Shenyang were completed before the first snow fell in Liaoning in 1871. After these two railways are officially opened to traffic next year, the situation in the entire northeast will take on a completely new look.

In 1871, the Sanhui passed a decision to continue to emigrate 200,000 households to the northeast. From Shenyang to Changchun, Shenyang to Vladivostok, and from Zhangjiakou to Baotou, including these three important railways, China will also build a total length of more than 4,000 kilometers of railways in 1872. That's about the same mileage as in the United States.

Most provinces now have their own railways, and the impact of the railways on the economy has gradually become apparent. When a city is connected to a railway, the economy will naturally develop. Even a small county town can be a little lively. Cities in transportation hubs are even different. In some places, the original poor jingle sounded, the railway was opened, and cattle, sheep and pigs were raised, as long as they could be transported out, it was money. Don't look at the railway transportation is to pay money, but the money to drive cattle out for hundreds of miles is far more expensive than the railway fee. What's more, if you kick it out, people don't want it. That's a big loss.

4000 kilometers looks like a lot, but there are actually not many in various provinces. Many provinces know that it is unrealistic to ask the state to invest heavily in industry for the time being, and they all put forward bills that require the state to support technology and the provinces to invest in the construction of railways on their own.

Wei Ze vetoed it at that time, and the political significance of the Sichuan Road Protection Movement must not be said, but the essence of this movement is that the state and the local government jointly invest in the railway, and in the end, the money from the state to build the railway was swallowed up by the local government. When the state was ready to accept this mess, the local government began to oppose it. As far as the provinces' thirst for money is concerned, Wei Ze really doesn't dare to be discouraged. This is not a matter of Wei Ze picking up a group of people and punishing a group of people according to law after the incident was said. As soon as this kind of bad head opens, there will be endless disasters behind it.

Another important task is education, and Weeser made a public speech, "The work of eradicating illiteracy has been a great success, and in the next ten years, we will complete the work of universal compulsory education." This is the true foundation for a strong country, and the real foundation for a country to stand on its own feet in the world. This is the real foundation on which society can continue to move forward. Education is the right of the Chinese people, and it is the obligation of the Chinese people. There is only room for discussing how to do better in education, and there is no room for discussing whether or not to educate our great motherland! ”

The guys, who were enthusiastic about fighting for investment, heard this, and their interest was obviously limited. The investment in education has been very large over the years, and as for the output, everyone feels very bad. Compared with those who can see, touch, and make real contributions to political achievements, education is troublesome in addition to trouble.

After the conclusion of the three congresses in early 1872, the contents were published in the newspapers as was customary. Chinese don't really care much about the content of these meetings, and their understanding is very limited. However, the British upper echelons are extremely serious about these plans. The first reaction of railway stocks in London, England was to appreciate.

Historically, from 1865 to 1875, the world's railway lines increased from 146,000 kilometers to 296,000 kilometers, of which the United States accounted for more than half. From 1865 to 1873, about $2 billion was invested in American railroads, of which about half was raised in Britain. The construction of railways on such a large scale provided strong demand for heavy industry in the UK, which brought the British economy out of the last round of crisis.

Now the situation in Britain has changed a little compared to history. The East India Company's finances shrank considerably because of the severance of the tobacco trade. However, the situation of the heavy industry enterprises in Britain has changed a lot, China has joined the ranks of large-scale railways, and imported many British locomotives, which has caused the sales of British railway companies to soar. Government documents from China confirm that China will continue to build railways, which is absolutely positive news.

From the point of view of the East India Company, they were quite hostile to China. But in London, Birmingham, and Manchester, where heavy industry manufacturers all have deep influence in government, the overall hostility of Britain to China is relatively limited.

So when the British ambassador met with Weeser, he was talking about China's attitude towards Russia. In the past six months, Europe has been in a difficult situation. Not only the Franco-Prussian War, but Italy also finally completed its own unification.

The process of reunification of Italy was interesting, and although they themselves had a long struggle for unification, the closing action turned out to be incompatible with the war of German unification. Germany defeated Austria in the Austro-Prussian War, and Italy, which sided with the Germans, was defeated, but also gained Wells. When the Franco-Prussian War broke out, Napoleon III repatriated the troops stationed in Rome, allowing the troops of the Kingdom of Italy to enter Rome smoothly, and the unification of Italy was officially completed, and the Pope was forced to retreat to the Vatican Palace in the northwest corner of Rome. In the past, Wei Ze really did not know that there was such a process in the war of Italian unification, but now he finally supplemented his historical knowledge.

The British ambassador did not speak of Germany or Italy, but he made a suggestion, "Has the Chinese side considered letting Britain coordinate the territorial conflict between China and Russia?" ”

Hearing such a suggestion, Wei Ze couldn't help but blink, he didn't expect the British to be so straightforward. After a moment's thought, Weeser asked, "May I ask what the British side is preparing to get out of this negotiation?" ”

The British ambassador had seen Weser many times, and he knew that Weser was a very straightforward man, but the rate was a bit too difficult to deal with at this point. In these words, Weser showed his attitude, that is, he refused to give up the slightest bit of dominance.

Seeing that the British ambassador was silent for a while, Weeser said: "In our Chinese view, there is no possibility of discussing the issue of China's territory. We are working hard to prepare for war, and we are also beginning to regain some of China's territory. I wouldn't be surprised if the British wanted to get a free ride from the war. Given the friendly relations between China and the United Kingdom, I will not refuse a reasonable request. However, no matter how much other countries are free-riding, we will continue to recover our territory until we recover all of it. I think you can understand what I said, Mr. Ambassador. ”

After listening to Weese's words, the British ambassador was silent for a while. In fact, the British side hopes that China will find it too tricky to fight Russia, and that the British side will stir up a few sticks from the inside to reduce the pressure on the Chinese side, at least psychologically. I didn't expect Weeser's attitude to be so firm, which undoubtedly greatly reduced the space for Britain to stir up a few sticks.