On the banks of the mighty Qiantang River, there are two rows of improvised shacks, where Mao Yisheng and Qian Changgan live.

"The conditions are simple, Mr. Zhou, don't be surprised." Mao Yisheng said with a smile.

Zhou Hexuan pushed the door in, and saw that it was dark inside, and the table was full of rolls of design drawings, and he admired: "The two gentlemen share weal and woe with the workers, which is really admirable!" ”

Mao Yisheng leaned over and took out a large suitcase from under the bed, found a stack of drawings and said, "Mr. Zhou, this is the design of the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge." According to this design plan, it is estimated that it will cost 10.6 million yuan, which is too expensive. ”

"Do you have the complete design of the Wuhan Bridge?" Zhou Hexuan was surprised.

Mao Yisheng said with a wry smile: "In fact, I participated in the design of the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge, before the design of the Qiantang River Bridge. However, for various reasons, the government abandoned the Wuhan Bridge plan and rebuilt the Qiantang River Bridge. ”

The construction of the bridge required huge sums of money, and the Jiangsu-Zhejiang consortium was the richest group during the Republic of China. As soon as the Qiantang River Bridge is built, it will be able to connect the Shanghai-Hangzhou and Zhejiang-Jiangxi railways, and businessmen in the entire coastal area can benefit, so the people actively participate in the construction of the bridge to raise funds. The financial resources of the businessmen in Wuhan are much worse, and the cost of the Wuhan Bridge is almost twice that of the Qiantang River Bridge, so it is difficult to build the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge.

Zhou Hexuan looked at the river in the distance and said with emotion: "Mr. Mao, aren't you afraid that once the Japanese come over, this Qiantang River Bridge will be blown up?" ”

Qian Changgan exclaimed: "The middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River are the sphere of influence of the British, and Japan may not dare to mess around." ”

"You two can think about the 128 incident." Zhou Hexuan said.

Mao Yisheng's face turned pale, and he smiled bitterly: "When the Japanese call, I will blow up the bridge myself." ”

Historically, Mao Yisheng did have this kind of awareness.

On the day of the "77 Incident," Mao Yisheng saw the news of the Japanese attack on Lugou Bridge in the newspaper, and immediately made an astonishing decision. He left a large rectangular hole on the No. 2 pier in the south of the bridge, and did not explain the reason to anyone at the time, until five months later, when the Japanese were about to capture Hangzhou, the big hole in the pier became the key point of the bombing of the bridge.

There is no doubt that the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge, which Zhou Hexuan invested and built, will inevitably encounter such a difficult choice.

Fortunately, after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the bridge can be repaired, which is much more convenient than building a bridge from scratch.

Zhou Hexuan asked: "Mr. Mao, according to these design drawings in my hand, can I directly build the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge?" ”

"That's just a preliminary design plan, and it needs to be further refined according to the specific situation," Mao explained, "The river in Wuhan is wider, the water is fast, the situation is much more complicated, and the actual construction will inevitably face all kinds of difficulties." ”

Qian Changgan then recommended himself: "I will improve the design drawings of the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge!" ”

Zhou Hexuan didn't know much about Qian Changgan, and looked at Mao Yisheng suspiciously, wanting to ask for his opinion.

Mao Yisheng said with a smile: "Mr. Qian is completely competent. ”

"Then the Qiantang River is ......," Zhou Hexuan said, pointing to the surging river.

Qian Changgan said: "The Qiantang River Bridge has Brother Tang Chen (Mao Yisheng) in charge, I don't need to worry about it, I can send others to watch the construction." ”

With Mao Yisheng's affirmation, Zhou Hexuan felt more reliable in his heart, and said with a smile: "Then it's decided, I agree to contract the bridge construction project to Far East Engineering Company, and hope that Mr. Qian can build a good bridge across the moat!" ”

"I will definitely do my best," Qian Changgan said quickly, and asked a series of questions, "Mr. Zhou, when will the project be established?" When will the funds be available? Who is responsible on the Ministry of Transport? These I want to know. ”

Zhou Hexuan smiled and replied, "I have some friendship with Mr. Zhu Jiahua, the Minister of Transportation, and he has already approved this project. Although the official person in charge of the project has not yet been decided, no matter who is sent, he will definitely fully cooperate, and Mr. Qian should not be afraid of being held back by the government. As for the funds, they can be received at any time, and I am a sole proprietorship to build them. ”

"Then I'll be relieved." Qian Changgan smiled happily.

Zhu Jiahua, the Minister of Transportation, has indeed done many things, such as the construction of the Guangdong-Hanzhou Railway, all with Zhu Jiahua's full support. He is also the chairman of the UK Geng Money Management Committee, a member of the National Economic Council, and is very strong in fundraising. If it weren't for Zhu Jiahua's transfer of British Geng and then actively contacting German Geng, the Guangdong-Hanzhou Line would not have been able to open to traffic until the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War.

Not only that, Zhu Jiahua also presided over the completion of the laying of the telephone network in nine provinces, which brought great convenience to the military command during the Anti-Japanese War.

With such a capable and practical guy, it is no wonder that he became an official vigorously cultivated by Lao Chiang, and finally handed over the power of the Executive Yuan to Zhu Jiahua, and even made him a nominal official in charge of the military and the central unification - although in name only.

In early May, Zhou Hexuan traveled to Wuchang, accompanied by Qian Changgan and Tao Qing, as well as their respective men.

Tao Qing is the official in charge of the Ministry of Communications sent by Zhu Jiahua, although the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge was invested and built by Zhou Hexuan, but it is certainly impossible to circumvent the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Communications. Tao Qing, who was only a section chief in the Ministry of Communications, is now the director of the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge Engineering Division, while Qian Changgan is the chief designer and general manager of construction.

Zhou Hexuan couldn't believe them unreservedly, so he contacted his father-in-law Zhang Mouzhi, transferred a group of Zhang's family from Jiangxi, and served as the manager of the bridge project. At the same time, Zhu Xiang also rushed from Tianjin to set up an accounting team to be responsible for the financial work of the project.

The Ministry of Communications, the Far East Engineering Company, the Zhang's Engineering Company, and finally Zhu Xiang's team, these four aspects cooperate with each other and supervise each other, and no one must be able to exploit loopholes to engage in corruption.

By the way, the father-in-law also specially took a telegram to call Zhou Hexuan's brother-in-law Zhang Yuandong back from Europe to serve as the deputy chief engineer of the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge, obviously to increase Zhang Yuandong's professional qualifications.

Qian Changgan is the kind of vigorous and resolute character, as soon as he arrived in Wuchang, he immediately led people to conduct on-site surveys and carried out the improvement of the design plan.

As for Zhou Hexuan, he naturally went to Zhang Xueliang for tea.

Now Zhang Shaoshuai is in Wuchang, and his post is the deputy commander of the three provinces of Henan, Hubei and Anhui and the director of the Wuchang camp. After returning from the European investigation, Zhang Xueliang stayed here for a whole year and a half, and the old Chiang was determined not to let him return to Beiping, so as to facilitate the Nanjing government to encroach on the military and political power in North China.

When Zhou Hexuan came to Wuchang Yangyuan (later renamed Yang Garden), he heard melodious and tactful waltz music.

In the mansion, the officers were dancing comfortably on the dance floor with gorgeous cheongsams in their arms. Zhang Xueliang sat alone in the corner, drinking and smoking a stuffy cigarette, which seemed incompatible with the lively atmosphere of the ball.