Chengdu's harvest is huge, all the major powerful people in Sichuan are all wiped out, under the strength of the six major forces, Liu Cunhou's representative did not dare to object, Liu Xiang Lao annihilated the cunning, immediately ordered to stop the minting of coins by the army, all the machinery and equipment were transported back to Chengdu, and in the future, we will find out who minted the coin, how much was minted, how much was deducted from the dividends, and Zhuang Jihua also proposed to build the province's highway network, the existing highway was renovated, and all funds were provided by the Southwest Development Task Force.

The most exciting thing is the Chengdu-Chongqing railway, although Zhuang Jihua proposed to build this railway when he came to Chengdu last time, but everyone still didn't think that Zhuang Jihua really wanted to build the railway, and just do it, put forward a two-year plan, set up a railway committee, by Liu Xiang personally as the director, by Zhuang Jihua and Sichuan University President Mr. Zhang Lan, Zhuang Jihua is not in Chengdu office, by the provincial party propaganda section chief Fang Xiao is responsible for liaison work, Zhang Lan is responsible for specific affairs.

Zhuang Jihua has never seen Zhang Lan, he happened to go back to Nanchong when he came last time, and it is even more regrettable that there is no such person in his poor historical memory. However, when Liu Xiang proposed this candidate, none of the Chuanzhong Qunhao present objected, indicating that this person has a high prestige.

Zhuang Jihua talked to Lu Zuofu about this person in Yucheng, Lu Zuofu has always recommended this person to him, and Lu Zuofu told him that if he can pull this person in, it is estimated that all the intellectuals in Sichuan will be pulled over, and the powerful faction will also be affected.

Zhang Lan gladly accepted the appointment, the people of Sichuan had been looking forward to this railway for more than 20 years, and the road protection movement that permeated Sichuan 20 years ago contributed to the downfall of the Qing Dynasty in disguise, and he Zhang Lan himself was one of the prominent figures in this movement.

Zhang Lan not only joined in himself, but also recommended Sappho to be the chief engineer of the railway, which made Zhuang Jihua a little embarrassed, he explained to Zhang Lan that the railway planning team brought from Nanjing, the planning team has already begun to work, and there is also a person in charge, if Sappho is appointed as the chief engineer now, it will inevitably cause unnecessary trouble.

Zhang Lan was not unaware of the fact that the entry of the Southwest Development Task Force into Sichuan was a major event, but he did not believe that the central government would develop Sichuan on a large scale at this time, and he and his friends also discussed this matter in private, believing that this was a move by Chiang Kai-shek to divert the attention of domestic public opinion. But the recent news from Yucheng made him shaken, he sent a letter to Zhou Zhihong, Lu Zuofu and others to ask about the specific situation of the Southwest Development Team and Yucheng, Lu Zuofu's reply to Zhuang Jihua praised Zhuang Jihua, thinking that he was sincere to develop Sichuan, not to deceive the world and steal fame; Zhou Zhihong's reply was vague, but he only told him that the development of the southwest is beneficial to the country and the people, and it is by no means to fool the people, and he hopes to help mobilize the people of Sichuan to give support.

Now that he had heard that even the railway planning team had been set up, and that experts from Beiping, Nanjing, had already begun to work, he believed that his friend's words were true. So he immediately said that he didn't need to be the chief engineer, but Sappho was a railway expert, had participated in the construction of the Guangdong-Hanzhou Railway and the Sichuan-Han Railway, and knew very well about the construction of the railway in Sichuan, so he could be invited to be the deputy commander-in-chief, but at present, he was following Du Zhenyuan to build the Hangjiang Railway.

For Du Zhenyuan, Zhuang Jihua knows, before entering Sichuan, Du Zhenyuan once participated in the meeting of the Resources Committee, he is very much in favor of building a railway in Sichuan, and Ye Yuanliang, the leader of the railway team of the current development team, is recommended by him. However, Ye Yuanliang also made it clear to him that once the project is launched, the current manpower is definitely insufficient, there are many mountains in Sichuan, and there are many bridges and tunnels along the way.

"It seems that all the heroes should enter Sichuan," Zhuang Jihua said to Zhang Lan with a smile: "Mr. Zhang, I won't tell you, before entering Sichuan, I had walked around in Beiping, Tianjin, Nanjing, Shanghai, and Hangzhou, and had contact with professors and experts from major universities, many of them promised to enter Sichuan to assist, but at the beginning of the Sichuan Bureau was unpredictable, so they did not enter Sichuan immediately, and now the Sichuan Bureau has been decided, I will send a letter to invite them to enter Sichuan, Mr. Zhang, please also invite some experts and scholars to go out of the mountain, Sichuan needs a large number of talents in the next few years, not only railway talents, We need people in all other areas, whether it's economists, engineers, educators, teachers, engineers. And the more the better. ”

Zhuang Jihua thought about the social transformation plan to be adopted after returning to Yucheng, and put forward a special proposal: "Teacher, Tie Bei is a teacher, Mr. Zhang, the compulsory education plan will be implemented in the Yucheng area, and a large number of teachers are urgently needed. ”

"Compulsory education?" Zhang Lan asked suspiciously.

"Yes, compulsory education," Zhuang Jihua nodded affirmatively: "Our plan is to set up one or several schools in each town, and all minors under the age of sixteen must enter the school, otherwise their parents will be punished, the school system is nine years, or the student will be eighteen years old." ”

"I know what compulsory education is," Zhang Lan interrupted, "I just want to ask, how is this education system implemented?" Can it be implemented? Many families in rural areas are poor and simply cannot afford to pay for all their children's school fees. ”

"Oh, I didn't make it clear," Zhuang Jihua hurriedly added: "There is no charge for all students, no tuition fees, book fees, no fees, as long as you come to study, and scholarships are also provided, and those with excellent academic performance can get scholarships." ”

"Oh!" Zhang Lan was surprised, as a person who has devoted his life to education, of course he supports such a policy, but how much money is needed for this, and who will pay for such a huge fee. But before he could continue, Zhuang Jihua continued:

"Mr. Zhang, there are currently more than 400 students in the development team, and there are only more than 700 students in Yucheng University, and these students have not yet graduated, and most of them have to stay to participate in the construction of factories, mines, and roads, and the teachers are simply not enough."

"Wait, Cultural Revolution," Zhang Lan stopped Zhuang Jihua's words, he still couldn't believe what he said, Zhuang Jihua stopped, looked at him puzzled, didn't know that he didn't say it clearly: "Cultural Revolution, what you said is a good thing, and it is what I have always hoped for, but this requires a lot of funds, a large amount of funds, and the chairman will make this comparison?" ”

"The funds have been allocated," Zhuang Jihua said quietly, "and the only thing that is lacking now is the teachers, as well as the administrative agency to implement this policy." Said and sighed: "Some people don't understand the importance of reading, and would rather let their children play more pigweed and go to the field more, rather than let their children go to school, especially girls, so compulsory measures must be taken, but this requires the cooperation of the administrative organs. ”

"How much money did the chairman allot?" Zhang Lan was still skeptical, after 918, the people of the country demanded the War of Resistance, but Chiang Kai-shek insisted that the outside must first be at home, Zhang Lan resolutely opposed this policy, so he did not believe that Chiang Kai-shek would allocate such a large amount of money to develop education.

Before leaving Yucheng, he sent a telegram to the United States, asking them to transfer another 100 million US dollars, and at the same time mobilize some funds to HSBC in Hong Kong. Roosevelt was about to come to power, and as far as he knew, the United States was going to adopt strict financial regulation, and it would be more troublesome to mobilize funds in the future: "You don't have to doubt that the funds are absolutely sufficient, and now I need your help to find enough teachers for me." ”

Zhang Lan looked at Zhuang Jihua cautiously, but the latter looked at him with a calm expression, and finally he nodded: "Okay, the old man will do his best." ”

When the two spoke, Liu Xiang didn't speak, he just listened silently, watched silently, and thought silently, he was not Zhang Lan, although Zhang Lan was very famous, he did not have rich political experience and government affairs experience, and it was the first time he dealt with Zhuang Jihua. He is not like this, Zhuang Jihua has left him with a deep and painful memory, his means of seizing Yucheng are bold and cunning, and almost do not leave him the slightest room to dodge. He is now dealing with Zhuang Jihua carefully step by step, thinking about every step repeatedly, seeking verification left and right, for fear of stepping into the trap again. But what is being discussed now is different, and no matter what he says, it seems that there is no harm.

But Liu Xiang fell into deep thought, Zhuang Jihua said that the central appropriation, he did not believe at all, if the southwest development team can be the central appropriation, Yucheng's 16 million tax can be the transfer of Yucheng's tax revenue, factories and mines can be private investment, then what about this school? Whoever will pay for it, the central government will not be able to pay this money, and there will be no such money. Thinking of all the things that happened before, he couldn't help but have doubts about Zhuang Jihua's motives for entering Sichuan.

Before leaving Chengdu, Zhuang Jihua found Zeng Kuanqing again and assigned him a task to monitor the people in Sichuan, including the commercial institutions in Sichuan, but don't touch them for the time being.

After returning to Yucheng, the new mayor of Yucheng City, He Guoguang, also arrived, and there were several people who came with him, one of whom was Zhuang Jihua's acquaintance, Sun Yuanliang, the former commander of the Second Regiment of the First Division, and another person who made Zhuang Jihua a little disgusting, Li Haoyi.

(To be continued)