At the beginning of the 20th century, when the pace of industrial development in various countries around the world gradually accelerated, it seemed a little sluggish, except for some Western-style buildings, there was not much difference from hundreds of years ago, the endless flow of people, carrying bird cages, fighting crickets, flyovers, selling handles, and all kinds of craftsmen, in short, constituted a special picture.

There is a distance from the palace, is the lobby of the Ministry of Posts and Communications, this somewhat dilapidated lobby, was assigned to the Ministry of Posts and Communications a few years ago, the Ministry of Posts and Communications of this era, in a certain way, is not popular, if it is not for the construction of a few railways, the Ministry of Posts and Communications is an empty shelf, the official road naturally has an interpretation system management, as for Caoyun, it is a special transshipment department, and the Ministry of Posts and Communications has no dime to do so. In short, the important ones have been divided, and if it weren't for the railway, the only bright spot, there would be no need for the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications to save zài.

The repair of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou railway, so that Zhan Tianyou famous, especially the construction of the funds, in the already very small funds, can be reluctantly repaired, especially through the railway from Zhangjiakou to Beijing, a short stage of trial operation, it has harvested a lot of benefits, Beijing from the north line to Zhangjiakou, is a section of the repair, but the passenger flow has been a lot, especially after the breakthrough to Zhangjiakou, the daily profit is quite a lot, and even about to catch up with the railway. It can be said that among the railways directly controlled by the Qing government, the railway with the highest profit rate was the highest, and when the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway was built, a lot of funds were allocated from the railway, and if this was followed, the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway would be able to recover all the investment in a few years.

The railway was repaired, but Zhan Tianyou was useless, for the center of the Qing Dynasty, determined to build a railway, which took a long time, the Beijing-Zhangjiakou railway from the project to the beginning of construction, a total of more than five years, that is still Zhangjiakou and Beijing's status is relatively heavy, now, where to build the next railway, Beijing to Shandong, or Beijing to Shengjing, it seems that there is no necessity.

Every day in a row is a fixed day to go to work and get off work, there is no slightest thing, even trivial things, have been done by the following officials, fortunately, I recently heard from the ministry that the preparation for the construction of the Zhangsui Railway, the need for preliminary planning, but asked the boss, but got a negative answer, there is nothing at all.

Now China, with the prosperity of the railway, to say that there are a lot of things that need to be done, but really need him as an engineer to come forward, very few, only recently in December the Sichuan-Hanzhou Railway groundbreaking ceremony, has sent an invitation, he once asked to personally go over to supervise the construction, but unfortunately the Sichuan-Han Railway is the Sichuan people to raise funds to borrow from the bank group, people do not believe him, but hire foreign experts.

For this reason, Zhan Tianyou has always been very depressed, from studying in the United States as a child as a pen quge www.biquge.info, returned to China in 1881, and went through nearly 20 years of struggle, only then did he get the opportunity to build a railway, and now it is close to fifty years, is it possible to wait for another 20 years.

At present, China's investment is active, many industries have been invested, foreign fire, foreign ash, these things have been invested, but the ability to build a railway, there is a Sichuan-Han railway in the south, and only the Zhangsui railway in the north, relatively speaking, he has a greater sense of belonging to Zhang Sui, after all, the entire Beijing-Zhangjiakou railway is under his single-handed exploration and leadership, the completion of the railway.

"Your Excellency!" An attendant came in and reported: "There is a letter to you!" ”

"Bring it up!" Zhan Tianyou rarely receives letters, mostly some classmates or old friends, today seems to be another empty day, see who wrote it.

The name on the envelope is very unfamiliar, Yang Yuanzhao, Zhan Tianyou doesn't remember hearing this name, open it and take a look, Zhan Tianyou sat up almost instantly, the content of the letter was very simple, inviting him to build a railway, which coincided with his next goal, but it was longer, the Zhangjiakou to Baotou railway, with a total length of more than 300 kilometers.

The name of Baotou, he knows, single-handedly promoted and built the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway, Zhangjiakou is called the East Exit, some people who can't get through, go out through the Guò East Exit, or go to Mongolia, or go to the three eastern provinces, it is a road to jump out, and the West Exit, which is near Baotou, as a ferry on the bank of the Yellow River, connects the traders as far as Russia, which is a way out for people who can't go on in the mainland, although this road may not be smooth.

In the future, the extension of the Zhangsui Railway to Baotou is also planned, and even in Zhan Tianyou's plan, there is a direct connection to Taiyuan, so that the Zhengtai Line intersects with Beijing and Baotou, and further increases the contact between several northern provinces.

The letter is very short, after a sentence, it's over here, just a little bit, Zhan Tianyou is no longer the same as it was back then, the young student who stayed in the United States, after several times in the sea of eunuchs, came to this point, the basic human feelings are still known, glanced at Changsui, Changsui, who should have withdrawn, was lying there at this time, he didn't know what Changsui wanted to do, knocked on the table lightly, and asked indifferently: "What about the person who sent the letter?" ”

Chang Sui was happy in his heart, he received this letter this morning, along with this letter, there are 2 taels of silver, living in Beijing, it is not easy, although 2 taels is not a lot of money in the eyes of the official, but in the eyes of these slaves, it is really a lot, if there is this number every day, maybe, after a few years, you will be able to get a small house, and even find a home.

Chang Sui said boldly: "He said that he invited the master to the Quanxing Teahouse!" ”

Quanxing Tea House, Zhan Tianyou knows, just next to the Ministry of Posts and Communications, I heard that the background is profound, in the downtown street, there is a three-story old-fashioned small building, the decoration is simple, a pot of tea is also different from the ordinary tea shop, less than a few two, more than dozens of taels, is a well-known place for the rich.

Zhan Tianyou can also be regarded as in power, the total investment of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway exceeded 7 million taels, and the peak moment was almost like running water, but he was thrifty and frugal, and he could save money, even if the construction period dragged on for a few years, he did not spend more money, but saved an investment of 290,000 taels. Because of this, Zhan Tianyou can't be said to be poor, but he doesn't have enough money, he really hasn't been to this Quanxing Teahouse.

"Pretty rich, huh?" Zhan Tianyou smiled: "How much did you take!" ”

Chang Sui was familiar with Zhan Tianyou's temper, and compared a 2, Zhan Tianyou smiled: "Okay, you can get out, go and see, what kind of character is it, it's so atmospheric!" ”

Can it not be atmospheric, the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway is only 200 kilometers, starting from 1905, more than three years and four years, this is through, of course, because of the problem of funds, intermittent, but it is already in the history of China's railways, relatively fast, the preparation of the Zhangsui Railway, the central hall can only be selected in sections, the other party actually directly Zhang Bao, that is more than 300 kilometers, almost much farther than Zhang Sui, and the construction conditions are not very good, the passage of the place, the terrain is rugged, the total investment, will not be much cheaper than Beijing-Zhangzhou.

There was nothing to do in the morning, even if Zhan Tianyou was here, he was drinking tea and reading the newspaper, it was rare for something to arouse his interest, so he simply left, anyway, no one in the ministry cared about him.

Quanxing Teahouse, when Zhan Tianyou found a place, but walked for 10 minutes, compared to the rickshaw, Zhan Tianyou is more accustomed to walking, strong physique, but also Zhan Tianyou can design and direct the root of the construction in a difficult place, almost 50 people, once out of the door, immediately walk like flying.

After asking Dr. Tea, the other party left a Yang word, and asked Mr. Yang to set the place, sure enough, the person is there, and it is on the third floor, Zhan Tianyou is secretly surprised, the third floor seat, not a seat like the hall, nor a screen on the second floor, but a small room, the price is high, at least dozens of taels at a time, the other party has already opened whether he comes or not, obviously, the rich and rich, for a person who may not come, it cost dozens of taels. Could it be that he really wanted to build a railway, Zhan Tianyou flashed a trace of thought in his heart, and walked upstairs with his head held high.

The upstairs became more and more quiet, and under the leadership of the man, he entered the private room called Hollow Valley, which was very well furnished, all of which were built of original bamboo, and had not even been polished, a man in his forties, who looked like a businessman, had been waiting there for a long time, and when he came in, he said to Zhan Tianyou: "Lord Zhan! ”

"Shanxi people?" Zhan Tianyou raised his eyebrows and said, the dialect in the north, in fact, there is not much difference, not long-term residence, you can hear the difference, but I don't know where it is, the reason why Zhan Tianyou can hear it is that the construction of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway, the two ends of the 4 years, Zhangjiakou is very close to Shanxi, and it is the famous East Exit, there are many Shanxi people who make a living and do business here, and they are familiar with it and can distinguish it with one ear.

"Lord Zhan really knows everything, under Yang Shixun, a businessman in Shanxi!" Middle-aged businessman said.

Yang Shixun was promoted to the head of Gyeonggi Province by virtue of the results of the Wuhan Industry Association, Wuhan and Gyeonggi are two important towns, Wuhan is responsible for the divergence of six provinces, and Gyeonggi is responsible for Hebei and Northeast China, but relatively speaking, Gyeonggi is more important, after all, it is close to the center, whether it is the volume of transactions or the collection of news, it is more important than Wuhan.

can mention the point to the capital, that is to say, Yang Shixun's status in the Yang family has taken another step up, and then upward, that is, the person in charge of various projects, such as Yang Shitang's caravans and merchants, as well as the shareholders of Baotou enterprises that have only recently appeared, these are not thought of by Yang Shixun for the time being.

Yang Shixun smiled and let Zhan Tianyou sit down, Zhan Tianyou also looked at the businessman in front of him generously, there is not much difference from ordinary gentry and landlords, such a person, there are not one thousand but eight hundred in the capital, although he is rich, but it is relatively not much, what does he mean, the mystery has always hovered in his heart. R1152