The train travels through the mountains and mountains, the speed is very slow, and the rhythmic sound makes people feel drowsy. Ge Yunfei and his wife took a first-class box, and the four guards lived in the next box, and the guards changed shifts in pairs and stayed outside the box 24 hours a day. Hanoi is more than 800 kilometers away from Kunming, and the speed of the train is only more than 30 kilometers per hour, and it takes 3 days to reach Kunming.

After consultation and negotiation between China and France, the Chinese side took back the Yunnan-An'an Railway and gave reasonable compensation. But Fang's staff on the railway remained, so the conductor was still French.

At a slow speed, Ge Yunfei was drowsy, Wen Qing was full of interest, and his eyes looked out. Outside, the green water and green mountains, subtropical topography and vegetation, can be seen at a glance. After a long time, Wen Qing's vision was tired and she retracted her eyes, and saw her husband dozing off and said, "Yunfei, how good the scenery is here, didn't you sleep well last night?" Ge Yunfei opened his eyes and said, "The speed of the train is too slow, and the rhythmic sound is like a lullaby." "The speed of the train is really slow, and I found that the locomotives and carriages here are much smaller than the inland trains, what is going on?"

"The Yunnan-Vietnam Railway is a meter-gauge railway, and the rules are only 1 meter, so the front and carriage are small." "Yunfei, why did the French build a meter-gauge railway?" Ge Yunfei cheered up and thought for a while: "Since the beginning of the last century, the British and French colonists have invaded Yunnan, China by force, competing with each other for their own interests. Since the invasion, France has been pressing forward step by step, trying to turn Yunnan into a colony. In the 11th year of Guangxu, France forced the Qing government to sign the Sino-French Treaty of Annam through the Sino-French War, and France obtained the right to protect Annam and trade and build railways in the southwestern provinces of China. ”

"At that time, the corrupt Qing Dynasty was incapable of fighting against the foreign powers. In the 21st year of Guangxu, France forced the Qing government to sign the "Sino-French Renewal of Boundary Affairs and Commerce" under the pretext that the three countries had interfered with Japan to return the merits to Liao, and obtained the right to build a railway to extend the Annam Railway into China. In the 29th year of Guangxu, China and France signed the "Sino-French Conference Statute of Yunnan-An'an Railway", and then France sent people to survey the line, draw a blueprint, and establish the French Company of Yunnan-An'an Railway. ”

"The Qing Dynasty is too incompetent, and it is intolerable if it does not perish," Wen Qing said angrily. "The Yunnan-An'an Railway is called the An section from the south defense of Anhai, and from the estuary of Yunnan Province to Kunming in China, it is called the Yunnan section. Since the twenty-seventh year of Guangxu, it was first cast into an section. The Yunnan section was full of twists and turns, at first the French planned to connect the prosperous towns and densely populated villages in Yunnan, and the surveyed routes were: Hekou, Xinjie, Xinxian, Jijie and other western routes to Kunming. Due to the strong opposition of the people along the route, the French were forced to abandon the western front and take the eastern front with rugged mountain roads. ”

"The east line passes through the estuary to Da Bise Village to Kaiyuan, Kaiyuan to the north of the Beipan River, and arrives in Kunming through Chenggong. In the 29th year of Guangxu, the French government approved the eastern line plan, and the construction began the following year, and the whole line was completed on April 1 of the second year of Xuantong. The total length of the Yunnan-An'an railway line is 855 kilometers, 394 kilometers in the original Annan and 465 kilometers in Yunnan. Due to the difficulty of road construction, the meter-gauge railway was built to save costs. In addition, the French built the meter-gauge railway in order to be self-contained and avoid the involvement of the British. ”

Ge Yunfei continued: "The difficulty of the French building the Yunnan section is comparable to that of the Suez Canal and the Panama Canal. About 300,000 Chinese laborers participated in the construction of the road, and the death toll reached 80,000. "The French are too hateful," Wen Qing's eyes turned a little red when he heard this. There are poems as evidence: blood stains the Nanxi River, corpses pave the Yunnan Road, thousands of mountains are full of white bones, and thousands of ravines are full of blood and tears. When the government negotiated with the French to take back the Yunnan-An'an Railway, it demanded that we take back the full amount. ”

"The French were naïve enough to think that we would gladly accept it. At that time, many people in the government thought that the French side had put forward an acceptable condition, but I rejected the French request against all odds. I calculated an account for the French, how much is the life of the construction of the Yunnan-An'an Railway worth? How much money will be recovered from the operation in the year after the completion of the railway? At that time, I was very tough, and if the French government did not agree, I forcibly took it back. France had no choice but to reconcile with the Americans. ”

"The result of the reconciliation was to give the French government reasonable compensation, and all the French railway employees were retained. The agreement between China and France to return the management of the Yunnan-An'an Railway to China was directly related to China's rapid rise in military power, and it was also due to the interests of Annam, as well as Shanghai's commercial interests, which were more important to France. The reason why France has received such courtesy during this visit is that France attaches great importance to the fact that China is rising, and second, that France's interests in East Asia need China's support. ”

Ge Yunfei's narration of the Yunnan-An'an Railway made Wen Qing feel very heavy, and he was not interested in looking at the scenery anymore. In the evening, Ge Yunfei and his wife Wenqing went to the dining compartment for dinner. Nowadays, dining cars are mainly open to guests in the first class, and people in ordinary cars are not entitled to dine. In addition, the guests who can sit in the first-class carriage are all wealthy people, and the food and beverage are very expensive, and the guests in the ordinary carriage will not come to dine here.

While the couple were eating, a conversation between a group of couples at the next table caught their attention. "The changes in the motherland are exciting and exciting, do you remember the situation when we visited Kunming a few years ago?" The man asked. "How do you not remember that as soon as we got on the train from Haiphong, we were abused and harassed by the French railway police in every way, and our luggage was carefully checked, as if we had done something bad." The woman's memory is still fresh and indignant. "I originally wanted to come to Kunming to do business, but I just took a look at it and went home."

Ge Yunfei observed the middle-aged couple, who were around 40 years old. Men wear suits and leather shoes, and hair wax on their heads, while women wear Western-style underwear. Judging by the couple's attire and accent, Ge Yunfei judged that they were merchants from Nanyang. The man continued: "I heard that the Yunnan-An'an Railway was taken back by the Chinese government, so I couldn't help but want to come back and have a look." Sure enough, the police in the car were replaced by Chinese, and the French became well-behaved and polite. China has become stronger, and the status of our overseas Chinese in Nanyang has also improved. ”

"Sir is right, a strong country is the well-being of the people, and it is also a strong backing for overseas Chinese," Ge Yunfei blurted out. The man's eyes lit up and he said happily: "This gentleman is reasonable, the contemptible person is an overseas Chinese from Nanyang, and this time he made a special trip to Kunming to investigate, and prepared to set up a company in Kunming to do local specialty trade." "Contemptible Ge, I'm from the capital, and I'm disturbed by the smell." "Contemptible Lin Jiaxiang, visit!" "Mr. Lin, the journey is lonely. Why don't we dine together? ”

"It's better to be respectful than to obey! You're welcome! It was probably the handsome appearance and distinctive temperament of Ge Yunfei and his wife that attracted this couple from Nanyang. The two sides gathered at a table and introduced their respective wives. Ge Yunfei gave the other party a glass of wine, and Mr. Lin asked, "Mr. Ge is also here to investigate?" "Come and see, Mr. Lin! At present, Guangzhou and Shanghai are the most prosperous and active areas of commerce and trade, why do you want to come to this closed southwest? ”

"Mr. Ge didn't know that my strength was too weak to compete in Guangzhou, Shanghai and other places. Although Kunming is located in the southwest and isolated, the Yunnan-An'an railway connects to the sea channel, which is a greater business opportunity for me. "Mr. Lin is very discerning, but it may not be wise to trade local products!" "How do you say this, please Mr. Ge for some guidance?" "At present, the automobile industry of the Republic of China is in the ascendant, and the power of automobiles comes from oil, and the demand for oil in the future is very large. As far as I know, Kalimantan is rich in oil, why doesn't the gentleman do oil trading? ”

Lin Yifan said: "I do oil trade, but I don't know anything about oil!" "Mr. Lin, as far as I know, the Beijing Automobile Factory already produces cars, and the automobile factories in Nanjing, Shanghai, Wuhan and Xi'an will also produce cars. At present, the southwest is still virgin land, and you can take a closer look at it this time. "Mr. Ge must be very good at oil, and the prospect of oil trading is considerable, why is he so compromised?" "Mr. Lin, my business is in the coastal zone, and this time I came to the southwest to accompany my wife to play."

"I see, borrowing Mr. Ge's auspicious words, I will take a closer look." "Mr. Lin, as long as you transport the oil to Kunming, I will use my personality to vouch for it, and I will definitely make a lot of money. At present, the government has formulated a medium- and long-term plan for transportation, which is the top priority of the government. Not only should the laying of railways and roads be accelerated, but preferential policies should also be promulgated to encourage the private sector to pave roads, so the prospects for oil trading are limitless. "Mr. Ge is worthy of being well-informed from the capital, and I was moved by what you said."

Back in the box, Wen Qing said angrily: "Such a good deal, why don't you hand it over to Chen Shouting to do?" "With the rapid development of transportation, the domestic demand for oil is increasing. Mr. Lin is an overseas Chinese in Nanyang, and the oil in Nanyang is controlled by the British, and if the Dahua Group is allowed to participate in the oil trade, it will arouse the vigilance of the British, and if Mr. Lin is allowed to do it, he will avoid trouble. How to make clever use of external resources for my use, to be clever layout. ”

Ge Yunfei continued: "Let Mr. Lin transport the oil to Kunming, which will play a role in promoting the transportation of the southwest, killing two birds with one stone." It is beneficial to the development of the country and the long-term development of the country. "Why don't you let the exploration team look for oil in the southwest?" "As far as I know, there is a theoretical basis for not finding oil in the Jiangnan provinces. How to skillfully use foreign resources to speed up economic development is a university question, and our wisdom is considered behind it. ”

Ge Yunfei knew in his heart that the European and American powers still think that China is a piece of fat, and in a few years they will wake up and use economic and trade means to jointly contain it. Ge Yunfei suddenly had the idea to let American oil companies enter China to build factories and minimize the risk of trade barriers. He had all the locations in mind, asking the American oil company to build a smelter on Hainan Island, and offering the most favorable policies.