Chapter 5 Entering the Liangguang Iron and Steel Mill and putting it into operation

It was not until mid-February that the training of officers who had been transferred and promoted at all levels after the expansion of the army ended. After giving them three days off and shopping and having fun in Yaogang, Ouyang He ordered them to rush back to their team immediately. After the expansion, officers and soldiers need some run-in time.

After the officers left, the cadres and police officers who had taken over Liangguang also marched south.

Qin Peng was in charge of the march into Liangguang, and in order to study the Liangguang issue, Qin Peng did not return to Yaogang during the Spring Festival. I've been collecting information from Liangguang on the Lingqu side.

The problem Qin Peng faced was not how many battles to fight, but how to deal with the court officials there. In many places in Guangxi, due to Zhang Xianzhong's constant incursions, many local officials have run out. Although Guangzhou has also cut off contact with the imperial court in the past two years, the officials are still in power. Yaogang made up his mind that no matter how Emperor Chongzhen reacted, Qin Peng would take over these places this time. Without a complete takeover of these places, the South is not stable.

In particular, Guangzhou is also a very important foreign trade port, and the people of Yaogang have prepared a lot of cadres and personnel for this point. Lu Chengxiang had already led many of his men to Fuzhou, and these people were going to go directly to Guangzhou with the army.

In mid-March, Qin Peng commanded the army to march from two directions, Fujian and Lingqu, to Liangguang at the same time.

There was no report on their march on the Yaogang side, but the main leaders of the Yaogang came to Baotou and the steel base on the Baiyun side. Because the steel is tapping here, the ceremony of rolling the first steel rail is held. This is a very, very important thing for the kiln. Because steel production has always been a bottleneck restricting the development and construction of the kiln industry. The steel output of the Baotou Iron and Steel Plant is several times larger than that of the smelter.

Now the industrial base of Baotou is in place, with two megawatt generators generating electricity, and the power grid is completely connected to the entire power grid in Shanxi, and the security of the power grid has been greatly improved. A rotary kiln cement plant has also been put into operation, a paper mill is also being built on the Wuliangsuhai side, and a milk powder factory and canning factory are already in production. At the request of Zhou Yuji, a woolen mill is also being designed, and the address has been selected, and it can start construction immediately.

Zhang Zhimu and Huang Yukun arrived in Baotou a few days in advance, visited the construction of Baotou, and visited the workers and migrants in the reclamation area.

After several years of construction, the Hetao reclamation area has changed too much. The smooth roads are basically networked, and all kinds of infrastructure construction are also very good, and the roadsides are full of telephone poles and telephone poles. It means that many places have been connected to electricity and telephone.

Zhou Yuji moved the strength of a division north to the north of the Baiyun mine, which not only could ensure the safety of the steel plant here in Baiyun, but also advanced a lot of the distance to the north at once, providing a great depth for the defense of the Hetao reclamation area.

Although in March, the grass here is a little green, but in Baotou City, the streets are already very lively.

Zhou Yuji and his wife, who accompanied Zhang Zhimu and Huang Yukun, walked around the street in plain clothes and were also very happy. Zhou Yuji pointed to the crowd on the street and said: "Since we built a hospital, a school, a cultural palace and a big shopping mall in Baotou, there have been people here constantly. There were merchants from the north and south, as well as our immigrants, and herders from the steppes. Baotou is now definitely the center of the grasslands in this area. Even Prince Torrey's naturalization is too much worse than ours. ”

"Yes! General Zhou, your hard work in the past few years has not been in vain. Zhang Zhimu said sincerely.

Zhou Yuji was a little embarrassed and said, "What can I do alone?" The officers and men at all levels of our army are incredible, they have culture and ideas. If I don't do it, they'll push me to do it. ”

"I see that the team building the Baotou Yellow River Bridge is already gathering here. If the Yellow River Bridge is built, it will be more convenient for the Yellow River to travel from north to south. Zhang Zhimu said.

"Yes, yes! It's our number one priority here, and everybody's talking about it. I just don't know when we can start building a railway along the Qin Straight Road? "Zhou Yuji is already thinking about the Qin Straight Railway.

"Huh! To be honest, I would have liked to have built it sooner, but there are too many places where we need to build a railway. Zhang Zhimu said, "When will you start building waterways along both sides of the Qinzhi Road?" ”

"Since the beginning of this year, we have built a lot of cement pipes at the cement plant, and they are all piled up there. As soon as the weather warmed up, the construction of the canal began. In addition to taking water from the Yellow River, we also have several water points on the way. Zhou Yuji hurriedly introduced, "Our canal adopts the method of adding a shaft and a cement pipe culvert. The cement pipe is buried in the sand to reduce the evaporation of water, and the shaft can adjust the height of the terrain to cause the problem of uneven water level, and it is also conducive to lifting water from the shaft to the outside for irrigation. ”

Seeing Zhang Zhimu nodding, Zhou Yuji said again: "With the canal, we want to plant trees on both sides of the Qin Straight Road, and we want a combination of poplars and wicker shrubs. When the green flowers on both sides of the road were finished, we expanded along the road to both sides. In short, it is easy to do with water. ”

Zhang Zhimu was very satisfied with Zhou Yuji's work in the Hetao area, "You guys have good ideas. Our personnel who manage the Mu Us Desert must absolutely ensure that their determination is firm. Strive to make some changes in the desert in our lifetimes. ”

"Yes," Zhou said, "we also covered some of the desert on the western side of the desert with flood sedimentation, and we quickly planted shrubs on top of the desert with a layer of mud covering the sand." The effect is also good. ”

"That's right! It's about thinking more about it. Zhang Zhimu very much appreciated their use of their brains.

Baotou Iron and Steel Plant, because it is a newly built factory, has made detailed planning and design, and the layout of the plant is very standardized and reasonable. Although the factory was not completed, the wide road was already built.

As soon as he entered the factory, Zhang Zhimu understood Li Dong's intentions. Many auxiliary facilities are in the assumption, obviously behind the progress of production facilities, such conditions are not easy to make steel. Li Dong did his best to ensure that the steel plant could see benefits as soon as possible. He knew that as long as the steel plant could produce steel, there would be no problem when other facilities would be completed.

Without seeing Li Dong, Zhang Zhimu could imagine how tired Li Dong would be. Li Dong knew that he and Huang Yukun were coming, but they didn't come out to greet him, indicating that he had something urgent in his hands.

Sure enough, as Zhang Zhimu expected, Li Dong was tackling key problems with everyone in the rail rolling workshop. Originally, the debugged production line will hold an on-site meeting tomorrow to tie out the first rail in front of the guests, but at this time, there was a sudden problem, and Li Dong couldn't help but be anxious. In fact, it is normal for something to go wrong with the new production line, because everything is done in too much of a hurry. With such a complex production line, it is inevitable that some problems will arise.

Fortunately, the problem was cleared before dark. Zhang Zhimu saw that Li Dong's eyes were already bloodshot, and he went over to hold Li Dong's hand and said, "Don't say anything, hurry up and eat something, take a bath and sleep." It's a big deal, I'll talk about it when I wake up. ”

Li Dong was not polite and said, "No, I really have to sleep for a while." Mr. Zhang, you can do it yourself! ”

Zhang Zhimu really feels sorry for Li Dong. Li Dong knows too well what the production of steel here means to the kiln. He knows that many engineering projects in Yaogang have to wait for the production here before they can be carried out, so he is really desperate here.

The commissioning ceremony was very lively, the main leaders of the kiln gang arrived, the two professional households of the ceremony of King Zhou and the acting king also came, and the ten thousand households and thousands of households in Ordos in the kiln gang were also invited. Prince Tori also came with some of the leading men of their tribe.

Fortunately, Li Dong and they built a hotel here in advance, and there was no big problem with the reception work.

The ceremony was also very well organized, and after Zhang Zhimu cut the ribbon, the first rail was pierced. For a while, gongs, drums, Xuantian and firecrackers rang out in unison, which made Zhang Zhimu sound the scene in his previous life. Looks like I've brought all of this here. After the ceremony, Li Dongna sent people to lead the guests to visit the steel plant. After a brief lunch at noon, we had a discussion in the small conference room in the afternoon. Of course, everyone talks more about the New Year. Prince Tori didn't gossip, and kept asking when the construction of our naturalized railroad would begin.

Zhang Zhimu knew that Prince Tori was a straight man, and said with a smile: "Your Royal Highness the prince doesn't need to worry, the weather is a little warmer, and we will send someone to work on this railway design immediately." Construction started as soon as the design was completed, and as you can see, the rails we have here are also coming out. After the construction of this railway embankment, you can directly lay the tracks, and connect it to Baotou. ”

The ten thousand households in Ordos also asked Zhang Zhimu: "Mr. Zhang! I heard that the Baotou Yellow River Bridge is about to be built, and it is still the same as the Tongguan Bridge, which is a double-decker bridge that can be connected to trains. When will the railway to the north of the Yellow River be built? ”

It seems that Ordos Wanhu is still very concerned about the affairs of Ordos, Zhang Zhimu replied with a smile: "General Zhou Yuji is also asking me about this matter, and my answer is that I also hope to build a railway to there as soon as possible." But there are too many places where we need to build the railway. I'm afraid I'll have to wait a little here, there is no way. ”

The 10,000 and 1,000 households in Ordos were obviously disappointed. Prince Tory saw all this, and they now knew that the Ordos Wanhu were not imprisoned in the kiln, and they could still participate in the activities and discuss the construction of the kiln. The people who came with Prince Tori also saw it.

There was a break before the banquet in the evening, and Chen Yufeng and Ouyang He came to Zhang Zhimu's suite.

Sitting down, the three of them drank the tea sent by Huang Yukun, and Ouyang He said: "Before we came, we received a telegram from Zhang Xianzhong. Some people in Sichuan wanted to rebel, and some of them were killed by him, and they were all suppressed. Zhao Jinli: Their team is ready to enter Sichuan. Zhang Xianzhong is also urging them. Because the Yi people in the southwest were making a bit of a fuss, Zhang Xianzhong sent a telegram saying that they were providing an opportunity for themselves. Zhang Xianzhong was ready to go over and kill. I think the idea of the Eight Kings is also correct. He said that if these Yi people in the mountains don't kill the honest, it will be very troublesome in the future, and he will do such evil things. Then we will send someone to use the gentle method, and the combination of grace and power can receive miraculous results. ”

Zhang Zhimu knew the complexity of the southwest issue, and it turned out that Wu Sangui used a policy of genocide to suppress the resistance of ethnic minorities in the southwest. Without the use of force, it is indeed difficult for them to give in. In this regard, although Zhang Zhimu is unwilling to kill too many people, there is no other way, "I think it has to be like this." However, we have not many cadres for Sichuan. In the matter of the southwest, Zhao Jinli and his own army officers and soldiers are all cadres. ”

"I think there are some troubles in the southwest, but there will be no major problems. There are hundreds of thousands of horses and horses of the Eight Kings over there. Zhao Jinli can bring someone over again, and he can ensure that nothing goes wrong. If not, if you make any more trouble, you will kill them. Our focus is still on the side of Liaodong. Chen Yufeng said.

By the way, Mu Yi telegraphed. They're already getting ready to come back. Ouyang He said, "Li Zicheng and the others listened to our suggestion and used the Annan people who took refuge to find the hiding place of Li Li's family. Our gunboats cooperated, and Li Laiheng personally led people to capture them all alive. Now Li Li has agreed to cooperate with Li Zicheng and them. It turned out that in the place under the jurisdiction of Li Li, there were no more people who resisted. Only in the area north of the Red River are there still resistance. Now, Li Zicheng has assembled an army composed of many Annamite people. Mu Yi and they sent ships to cover the landing of Li Zicheng's army from the sea, and surrounded and eliminated the Annamite people who were still resisting. Li Zicheng's cadres also took over the administration of the area north of the Red River. Li Zicheng's army can basically attack south. The main thing is that they are already familiar with the climatic conditions of Annam, and then they have an interpreter as a guide. Their march was very smooth, and there were basically no major battles to be fought. I think Annan should be completely pacified this year. ”

"Great! Annan's heart disease can finally be removed. I don't think Li Li's family should stay in Annam, just send them to Yaogang and leave them in Annam. Zhang Zhimu said.

"That's a great idea!" Ouyang He said, "In this way, Li Li will listen to Li Zicheng's arrangement with all his heart." When Annan is more stable, Li Li will also be sent to Yaogang. ”

The news that the Baotou Iron and Steel Plant had pierced out the rails was broadcast on the radio. As a result, the next day, General Ningde sent a telegram to Baotou, demanding that the rails be transported to Hexi as soon as possible.

Zhang Zhimu took the telegram and said to Lu Bingyi: "Mr. Lu, General Ningde is in a hurry. I see that the rails that are coming out now can be transported by boat for them. ”

"The question now is how the locomotive will transport it for them." Lu Bingyi said, "At present, the ship leading to Lanzhou is far from being able to carry a locomotive. A locomotive that large can't be transported by land. ”

"Oh! That's really a problem. Zhang Zhimu said, "I think I have to remove everything that can be removed from the locomotive." It was dismantled until it could be transported by boat. After being transported to Lanzhou, it was lifted ashore, and then personnel were sent to assemble it on the wharf. ”

"That's the only way to do it." Lu Bingyi said, "Li Yunhe has already measured this matter in the locomotive manufacturer. I think Li Yunhe, they can come up with a good solution. However, the rails can be transported first. Otherwise, Ningde didn't rush over? Huh!"

"It would be nice if the railroad on the west side of the river was opened. In that way, many things in the northwest will be easier to do. We must also speed up the construction of the Tianshui-Lanzhou railway. When the Tongguan Bridge is opened, our railway network will be connected. Zhang Zhimu said.

"I'm about to discuss with you about the Tianshui-Lanzhou railway." "The best way for us to take the railway from Tianshui to Lanzhou is to go west along the Wei River and then turn to Lanzhou," Lu said. "What's wrong with that?"

"There's a problem!" Lu Bingyi said, "Isn't the next step for us to divert water from the Tao River to the Wei River?" ”

"That's right!" Zhang Zhimu patted his head and said, "We want to build a barrage dam in the valley west of Tianshui, so that the water level will be raised." will flood our railways. This is a matter that really needs to be considered as a whole. ”

"That's right! As a result, the difficulty and amount of work we need to build railways will increase. It's a lot more to think about. My opinion is to complete the design of the dam on the western section of the Wei River and then proceed with the construction of this section of the railway. Lu Bingyi suggested.

"Hmmm! It is better to build this section of the railway later than to consider it comprehensively. "However, I agree to design the dam first." I think it will take a long time for us to complete the project of transferring water from the south of the Qinling Mountains. It is better for us to have food now, and at the same time start the construction of a project to divert water from the Tao River. You're done with the design first. ”

"Good! We can just have the manpower to do it right away. Lu Bingyi said, "Another convenience is that we have already surveyed the terrain on this side of Tianshui." We just need to go to the upper reaches of the Wei River and the Tao River to make measurements. ”

Since it was not easy for Huang Yukun to come out once, they stayed in Baotou for a day and let Huang Yukun go shopping to buy some things. Of course, with Mrs. Zhou Yuji by her side, without Zhang Zhimu accompanying her, Zhang Zhimu can be regarded as liberated. Huang Yukun bought some here and some there, and ended up getting a lot of them. Fortunately, no one cares about them getting on the train, otherwise these things would not have gotten on the train. Zhang Zhimu joked: "Actually, these things you buy can be bought in the kiln." ”

Huang Yukun said: "With such a long road, the price of these things is much worse. Besides, it's also a wish for me to bring them back. Otherwise, I'll be embarrassed if I go back empty-handed. ”

Zhang Zhimu felt that Huang Yukun's words were true.

The 10,000 households and 1,000 households in Ordos also stopped in Baotou for a day, they didn't expect Baotou to change so quickly, and they all had to take a good look. Chen Yufeng and Ouyang He did not stop in Baotou, they wanted to go to Datong to see the situation there. Because during the Eastern Crusade, the land all the way had to start from Datong.

When Zhang Zhimu and the others returned to Yaogang, Yang Yulin took Xiaoqing and Xiaohu to the station to pick them up. What Zhang Zhimu didn't expect was that Li Yunhe also came to the station to pick him up.

Li Yunhe helped Huang Yukun and them move their things into the car driven by Yang Yulin, and said to Zhang Zhimu: "Mr. Zhang, you can go with me!" ”

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New progress in "Memories of the Southern Song Dynasty": the Battle of Yashan, the defeat of the Yuan army, the counterattack of the Song army, and the landing in Fuzhou.