Seeing Mu Moo, Bendeman said a little unconvinced: "This is the industrial age, war, especially naval warfare, is backed by strong industrial strength, the industrial base of the Qing country is weak, and the industrial areas are concentrated in several coastal cities, as long as the industrial areas of the Qing country are destroyed, the war potential of the Qing country will be reduced to nothing." ”

"The general doesn't know much about the actual situation in the Qing Kingdom." Mu Mo immediately refuted: "In recent years, the Qing State has taken advantage of the great drought in the northern provinces to build factories and mines on a large scale in the inland provinces, and vigorously develop transportation.

As for destroying several industrial zones along the coast of the Qing Kingdom, this is simply impossible, because the railway transportation of the Qing State is very developed, even if we can control the sea power, it will be difficult to destroy it, and it will not be able to defend it, and the Qing State can still demolish and relocate inland through the railway. ”

"I don't think the industrial base of the Qing Kingdom is as weak as we think." Frederick. Karl glanced at the two of them and said coldly: "At least the shipbuilding industry in the Qing Kingdom should be very developed, otherwise it would not have sold so many captured ironclad ships to our country without hesitation." ”

Speaking of this, he looked at Mu Mo, "The various consulates in the Qing Dynasty should collect as much information as possible on all aspects of the Qing Dynasty, once our country becomes a first-class power in the world, the Qing State will become our country's biggest enemy." ”

Hearing this, Mu Mo explained with a wry smile: "The mainland provinces of the Qing Dynasty are basically not open to the outside world, even missionaries are not allowed to enter, and it is quite difficult to collect intelligence through the Qing people. ”

"If it is difficult, we must find a way to find out all aspects of the Qing Kingdom." Frederick. Karl said, "Why are you here?" But what are the instructions in the country? ”

"Yulin Port is a military port, and it is impossible to communicate normally by telegram or telephone." Mu Mo quickly explained: "I'll come over to see if there is anything that needs help. ”

"Yes." Bendman said unceremoniously: "Since our country has purchased a large number of torpedoes, those main warships and cruisers in the harbor must be renovated and installed with torpedo tubes, and this matter cannot be delayed." ”

Frederick. "I need a copy of The Art of War, there is no German translation, but an English translation is fine, and I hope to meet the Qing generals who commanded the First Battle of Stedton, and I also hope to have a meaningful military exchange with the Qing Army," Carr said. ”

"Woo——。" A passenger train with more than 10 long cars running through the field with white smoke, marked Shanghai-Xi'an, the last three carriages of the train look no different from ordinary sleeper cars, but the curtains on the windows are mostly covered solid, and it is difficult to see the situation inside from the outside.

In fact, these three carriages are indeed different, with luxuriously decorated and spacious bedrooms and large desks, as well as spacious living rooms or activity rooms, and the front and rear carriages are occupied by guards, secretaries, medical personnel, etc., which are special carriages for which only a very few people are qualified to ride.

Yi Zhixiang travels by train, rarely uses special trains, not to save money, but for safety reasons, it is difficult to keep secret by taking special trains, and now that assassinations are common in countries around the world, he doesn't want to be the second Zhang Dashuai.

On the wide single sofa, Huang Dianyuan looked at the rapidly reversing field outside the car window, and said with emotion: "The speed of this train is getting faster and faster, how fast is it now?" ”

Yi Zhicontent, who was reading the newspaper, put down the newspaper, looked at Zhao Liewen, and said with some uncertainty: "The speed used to be forty kilometers per hour, should I have mentioned the speed once?" ”

"It's speeding, and now the main line is going at 50 kilometers per hour." Zhao Liewen said: "However, the average speed is still about forty. After a pause, he added: "It takes two days and two nights to travel more than 1,400 kilometers from Shanghai to Xi'an. ”

"Arriving in Xi'an for two days and two nights, in the past, this was something that I didn't dare to imagine." Huang Dianyuan said with a smile, and as he spoke, he asked casually: "How many kilometers of railways do you have in my country?" ”

"More than 53,000 kilometers." Zhao Liewen had long expected that Yi Zhishu might ask, so he did some homework in advance, but he didn't expect that it was Huang Dianyuan who asked first.

Huang Dianyuan was amazed when he heard this, "But for more than 30 years, it has built more than 50,000 kilometers, surpassing the United States?" ”

"Nope." Yi Zhizhi said: "The railroad construction speed in the United States is faster than that of China, from the completion of the first railroad in 1830 to 1860, the total length of the railroad in the United States has reached 50,000 kilometers.

After 1860, the United States experienced two more upsurges in railroad construction, and the total length of railroads should now be close to or exceed 100,000 kilometers. ”

Huang Dianyuan had been to the United States, and when he heard this, he was a little puzzled: "The territory of the United States is far less vast than that of our country, why are you so keen on building railways?" ”

Hitting a child on a rainy day - idle is also idle, Yi Zhishu took a sip of hot tea from a thermos cup, and then said slowly: "There are three main reasons, one is that the United States attaches great importance to the construction of infrastructure, especially transportation facilities, railways, highways, water transportation, and railways are the most important.

The United States believes that it is beneficial to build more railroads, so it has adopted many incentive policies, such as that for every kilometer of railroad built by the railway company, a certain area of land along the railway line can be obtained; Stipulates that railway companies can obtain different loans from the government, depending on the length and terrain of the railway.

The second reason is the need for the westward movement. Since its independence, the United States has been unremittingly promoting the expansion of migration to the west, and building railroads to the west is naturally the best choice. Before 1860, most of the railways were built in the west, which greatly accelerated the speed of westward expansion and greatly promoted the economic development of the west.

The third reason is the impetus of capital, because the return on the construction of railroads is huge, the return on stocks in other industries in the United States is generally only 5%, while the average return rate of railroad companies is as high as 8%, which prompts the spontaneous flow of capital to the construction of railroads, creating a continuous prosperity of railroad construction in the United States. ”

Huang Dianyuan was very surprised, he didn't expect Yi Zhishu to be so familiar with the construction of the railroad in the United States, and he didn't expect that the railroad in the United States had exceeded 50,000 kilometers twenty years ago. ”

"I can't do it." Yi Zhishu said indifferently: "The situation of each country is different, and we must start from our own actual situation, and we can't make comparisons, nor do we compete for the length of a while." ”

There is no comparison, and there is no competition for the length of the moment. Zhao Liewen didn't say a word, he pondered this sentence, the railway construction of the Qing Dynasty was different from that of the United States, from the very beginning, the railway construction was in the planning of easy contentment, and he had seen the four horizontal and five vertical route maps outlined by the other party.

After pondering for a while, he spoke: "Does the big shopkeeper plan to go hand in hand with railways and highways, improve and complement each other?" ”

"Not bad." Yi Zhixiang glanced at him approvingly, "With the development of industry, especially the promotion and widespread use of internal combustion engines, automobiles will develop rapidly, and highways will inevitably become the most important land transportation routes."

Of course, in terms of traffic volumes, roads may not be able to catch up with railways for a long time, but sooner or later they will, and my idea is simple, if the territory of our country is compared to a person, then the railways should be skeletons, and roads are blood vessels.

Railways that are too dense can lead to disorderly competition in the transportation market, leading to lower revenues, and in addition, once the road and aviation industries are developed, they can also cause fearless waste.

The most important thing is that China is now in the initial stage of rapid industrial development, there is no need to waste funds on railway construction, the construction of railways should maintain continuous and uninterrupted development, which is also conducive to the continuous improvement of railway construction technology.

With the continuous improvement of railway construction technology, the speed of the railway will also continue to increase, the current railway speed you think is very fast, but in my opinion, it is far from enough, the speed of 50 per hour is just the beginning, 80, 100, 14, 200, or even more than 300, it is possible. ”

Huang Dianyuan and Zhao Liewen couldn't help but look at each other, as if they were listening to the Arabian Nights, at a speed of 300 kilometers per hour? That can't fly? If you want to say eighty, one hundred is credible, but these three hundred are not too exaggerated.

Zhao Liewen consciously changed the topic, "What does the aviation industry mean by aircraft?" Will it also be the main mode of transportation in the future? ”

They secretly traveled to the northwest this time, and the first stop was Xi'an, the purpose was to inspect the development of the aircraft, although Huang Dianyuan had heard about the plane from Zhao Liewen's mouth, but he had always been suspicious, and when he heard this, he quickly cheered up.

"Yes." Yi Zhizhi nodded, "The speed of the plane is far from being comparable to the train and the car, and flying in the sky is only subject to the weather, so it will naturally be very popular, however, the cost of the plane is too high, so it is difficult to compete with the two, the only advantage is fast, just imagine, from Shanghai to Groba, it only takes a few hours, not bad money, do you choose to take a boat or do a plane?"

How many hours does it take to get from Shanghai to Groba by plane? Huang Dianyuan, who lives in Groba, asked eagerly: "When will the plane be put into operation?" ”

It's still early. When the words came to his lips, thinking that the other party might not live for a few years, Yi Zhishu changed his words and said: "After this visit to Xi'an, it should be roughly estimated." ”

"The world is changing so fast, so fast that it's dizzying." Huang Dianyuan sighed with emotion, and sighed again, "Railways, airplanes, telegraphs, telephones, even the most vast territory, can be effectively governed. ”

Yi Zhizhi smiled contentedly, "This is true in theory, but in practice it is not, my country's land territory should be the extreme." ”

Is this going to continue expanding? Huang Dianyuan was a little surprised, "Are you really going to stop?" ”

"If you fight down, you have to be able to hold it for a long time." Yi Zhizu said slowly, and as he spoke, he lit a cigarette, "For the territory that you are not sure to be able to hold for a long time, there is no need to waste energy, after all, it takes a lot of energy and financial resources to operate and develop, if you can't keep it, it is to make a wedding dress for others." ”

Huang Dianyuan said: "European countries mainly plunder overseas colonies. ”

Zhao Liewen nodded and agreed: "If the big treasurer disdains the bloody and violent primitive plundering methods, he can follow the example of England in India, and turn the colony into a supply base for cheap resources, an export base for cheap labor, and a dumping base for cheap commodities through direct and indirect control. ”

"Where are there such good colonies today?" Yi Zhizhi said with a smile: "Except for Africa, the whole world has been carved up, and the current Africa has also become the target of further partition by the world powers."

Rather than expanding overseas and competing for colonies with the world powers, it is better to calm down and run the country well in a down-to-earth manner, which is fundamental, China is different from European countries, it has a vast territory and a large population, and it has rich natural resources and a broad market.

The plundering of the colonial model, after all, can not last long, the real long-term plunder, is the plundering method of financial hegemony, let's take a long-term view, don't just stare at the small profits in front of us, sink down to lay a solid foundation, and gradually strive for financial hegemony is the king. ”

"Fighting for financial supremacy with England?" Huang Dianyuan hesitated and said: "England has established the hegemony of the pound all over the world, and I am afraid it will be difficult to shake it, unless England collapses." ”

"England may not collapse, but decline is inevitable." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "China's ultimate opponent to achieve financial hegemony is not England, but the United States, but with geographical advantages and resource advantages, China's victory is more likely to be greater." ”

Even Zhao Liewen heard this remark for the first time, and immediately asked: "England will inevitably decline?" Because of Europe itself? Or is it because of the collapse of the overseas colonies? ”

"It's both!" Yi Zhi's content said firmly: "The colonies will not last long, and with the awakening of nationalism, the British colonies overseas will inevitably get rid of control and become independent, whether it is India, Australia or African countries."

Moreover, the European powers are juxtaposed, sooner or later they will fall into war, even if we don't provoke, the result will be the same, England will inevitably fall into the war in Europe, decline is also doomed, and it is also important that neither our country nor the United States will give England a chance to breathe. ”

After a deep groan, Zhao Liewen said: "Is there a chance for reunification in Europe?" ”

"Nope! It can't be! Yi Zhizhi affirmed: "Britain does not have the ability to unify Europe, nor will it tolerate European unity, and the same is true for Russia, with the existence of the two major military powers, England and Russia, it is impossible for Europe to be unified, and this is the biggest tragedy and the greatest resistance to European unity." ”

Zhao Liewen said: "Didn't Napoleon try to unify Europe? ”

"Didn't you fail in the end?"

Zhao Liewen said: "What about Germany? ”