Now the eastern section of the Longhai Railway has been completed in its entirety, from Haizhou in Jiangsu to Zhengzhou in Henan has been connected into a line, and, because of the completion of this railway, the Jinpu Railway and the Jinghan Railway can also be opened to traffic, according to the train schedule, any passenger, if he wants, can be very convenient to go around a big circle, from Wuhan, Hubei to Pukou by train to Pukou, Jiangsu, of course, the most convenient mode of transportation from Wuhan to Pukou is to take a ship.

With several railways in different directions intersecting in Zhengzhou, Zhengzhou has become the most important and busiest hub for railway traffic in China. Moreover, it is already the largest train marshalling station in China, and in the "Grand Cross Railway Project," Zhengzhou Railway Station will become the most modern railway station in the whole of China and the Far East. The number of rotary shunting platforms alone will reach five, all of which will be based on American technology.

As one of the proposers of the "Grand Cross Railway Project" and a direct participant, Mr. Stade, the US Minister to China, is now sitting in an office at the Zhengzhou Railway Station, and is having in-depth and detailed conversations with several American engineers and technicians, so as to accurately understand the current progress of the Longhai Railway Project and the construction of the Wuhan Yangtze River Railway Bridge, and to make a reference for the US Government to adjust relevant policies.

Compared with those high-spirited American engineering and technical experts, Mr. Stade's mood was a little low, because in his opinion, leaving Beijing at this time and leaving the center of political power in this country was not a wise choice in any case, but no matter how dissatisfied he was, he must also come to Zhengzhou, which was a task assigned to him by the US State Department, and he must complete it, and as for the affairs of the Beijing Legation, it can only be handed over to the consul charge d'affaires at present.

In recent days, at a time when the Chinese Congress was engaged in key consultations on China's alliance with Germany, Steder was keen to stay in Beijing in order to influence the future direction of the country's diplomacy, and perhaps some key turning point in history would go down in history because of his intervention, but Steder's dream was shattered by an order from the State Department, and the secretary of state ordered him to "go to Zhengzhou immediately" in a very stern tone.

Stade is not stupid, and he certainly understands that the reason why Mr. Secretary of State asked him to stay away from Beijing at this critical time is obvious, that is, he wants to keep him away from right and wrong, away from the rights and wrongs of the Sino-German alliance, because the US government does not want to get too involved in this matter. The US Government did not want to offend Britain and the Entente bloc, but at the same time it also did not want to offend the "pro-German faction" in China. ”

Of course, from the bottom of my heart, the US government does not want to see China form an alliance with Germany, because this will lead to a series of chain reactions that will directly affect US foreign policy, and may even cause the US government to abandon the isolationist foreign policy it currently adheres to, and seek to cooperate with certain powers to jointly suppress Germany's rise.

Germany is indeed a problem for the US government, a country no better than England, which is content with what it has gotten, but Germany is like a hungry wolf with red eyes, if this wolf goes crazy. Well, it will be a disaster for world peace. It would be a disaster for the wallets of American businessmen, so if German ambitions could be suppressed, the US government would not mind changing its current isolationist tendencies and seeking cooperation with the Entente in turn.

But the action to suppress Germany must be cautious. After all, the United States is a country of immigrants, there are a lot of immigrants in Germany, and now the German government is playing the nationalist card, and for American politicians, those German-American citizens who have votes also have a significant political position, and that is also a group that cannot be offended. If the U.S. government is too blatant to suppress Germany's rise, and at the same time there is not enough excuse, then the political balance in the United States will be changed, and it will be difficult to say which side will really benefit from it.

It is against this international and domestic background that the U.S. government's "four noes" policy came out, and the U.S. decided to maintain the Sino-German alliance turmoil, and the U.S. government also tactfully expressed to the Chinese side through the U.S. consul in China its concern about the Sino-German alliance issue, and put forward possible changes in world peace after the alliance.

The U.S. consul expressed the U.S. government's position through a letter of protest, and the letter was not sent directly to the central government department of China, but to Mr. Yan Xiu, who was in charge of the work of Chinese students, and Mr. Yan Xiu also understood the meaning of the Americans very smartly, so he forwarded the letter to Mr. Zhang Sai, vice president of the Republic of China, and finally presented the letter to Mr. President's desk through Mr. Zhang Yu, which not only expressed the United States' concern about the Sino-German alliance. At the same time, he also protested against China's "impolite" move of violating the relevant agreements between China and the United States and transferring some students who were originally scheduled to study in the United States to Germany.

Of course, at Stade's reminder, the consul gentleman paid attention to the wording, and the letter of protest was not enough to anger the Chinese. After all, for Americans, trade between China and the United States is the most important thing, and as for the policy of the U.S. government, it seems that it can be on the back burner.

In order to further develop trade between China and the United States, it is necessary to gain the favor of the Chinese, especially the president, which is certain, and Si Dai came to Zhengzhou this time, although it is indeed a little unhappy. However, when I thought of the smooth construction of the Longhai Railway. He was more or less proud in his heart. You know, this was the beginning. The "Grand Cross Railroad Project," which he strongly promoted, and the completion of this plan would bring him great fame and money, and even Mr. Secretary of State repeatedly mentioned it, so it seems that the rumors that Mr. President and Mr. Secretary of State intend to transfer Mr. Dade to the White House do not seem to be unfounded.

For the sake of his own future, the Longhai Railway must be completed as soon as possible, and since the Chinese intend to extend the railway westward to Jiayuguan, Steder must be stunned to do this, and now he is discussing this matter with several American and Cheng technical experts.

"Mr. Minister. In my opinion, extending the branch line to Jiayuguan is not a problem, the key is whether the funds can be in place as soon as possible, as far as I know, the Germans and Italians are trying to encourage the Chinese to hand over the Lanzhou-Jiayuguan section of the railway to the Germans and Italians to repair, the funds are also provided by them, and the loan terms are extremely attractive, whether the Chinese will agree to this. Suggestion, it is still unknown, although Mr. Zhan Tianyou insisted that the Chinese complete the construction of the railroad themselves, considering that he was only an engineering expert, not a government official. It is also unclear whether his views will be respected by China's central government. ”

An American engineering expert summed it up, but Stade was optimistic.

"Please rest assured. As far as I know, Mr. Zhan Tianyou has a lot of voice in China's Mr. President, and. I have heard that the President is now planning to resign from the post of Minister General of the Ministry of Railways, and that if Mr. President ceases to be the Minister General of the Ministry of Railways, then Mr. Zhan Tianwei will almost certainly say that he will take over the post of Minister General of the Ministry of Railways, and then he will have full authority to preside over all railway construction undertakings in China. Mr. Zhan Tianyou studied in the United States. He had a relatively good impression of the United States, and as far as I know, he still maintains correspondence with the American families where he was staying, and as long as we can grasp that, I think that American businessmen will have priority in the construction of railroads in China. ”

Stade nodded optimistically, to cheer up the American engineering experts, but more importantly, to build confidence in himself. After all, the competition between the great powers in China is very fierce now, and one more friend in the officialdom will give the war a better chance of winning the market, and American businessmen must do everything possible to win over potential allies if they want to maintain their current lead.

While Stade was pondering how to further cultivate friendship with Chinese officials, a few whistles sounded outside the office window, a train entered the station again, and an American technician standing by the window glanced over the railroad and whistled excitedly to the people in the office.

"Look! Armored trains! Chinese armored trains! ”

The people in the office walked to the window curiously, looked at the railway, and sure enough, they saw an armored train entering the station. The majestic momentum is truly impressive at the technology of the industrial age.

Holding up a monocular, Stade looked out over the armoured train, and on the platform of one of the carriages, he saw a familiar face.

"Hah! Who's that brigadier officer, guess who? "He is the commander of China's armored train force, named Bu Runjiao, the reason why the United Front was able to defeat the Beiyang group and become the master of this country last time, the role of General Gao Runjing's armored train unit is very crucial."

Stade's words gave the American engineering experts a glimpse of the background of the armored train commander, but they still had some questions to ask.

"Mr. Minister. You just said that this General Gao Runxian is the "commander of the armored train unit" I am curious. Could it be that his troops were made up entirely of armored trains? One of them asked.

Stade put away his binoculars and unabashedly flaunted his military thorns.

"Of course, is there any weapon other than an armored train that can wield such a big effect? China now has enough armored trains, and even has a dedicated armored train unit, in comparison. The U.S. 6th Army is so pitiful, with only tens of thousands of troops, lack of heavy equipment, and even those small European countries in the Balkans are not comparable, if Mexico attacks the United States, I think, in the early days of the war, the U.S. 6th Army may not be able to hold its ground, of course, I mean if. ”

"But how dare Mexico attack the United States?" An American technician shook his head disapprovingly.

"If the Confederates support Mexico, it's not out of the question, and in fact, some people in the U.S. government have been worried about it, fearing that Americans have enjoyed peace for so long that they forget about the threat on the ground."

Stade gave a hint of his concern, but to others, he was just worried.

A group of Americans chatted for more than half an hour in the office that Mr. Stationmaster had prepared for them, and they did not leave the office until the armored train had finished filling up the coal and left the train station.

Net out of the office. A foreign secretary hurried up to Stade and handed him a letter

Report.

Stade looked at the contents of the telegram, his tense face suddenly relaxed, and he flicked the telegram with his fingers, and showed off to the American engineering experts around him.

"Great! That's good news! Just half an hour earlier, the Chinese Parliament had held an important debate session, at which the MPs had finally reached a consensus that they had decided to put the matter of China's alliance with Germany aside for the time being, and that neither a bill nor any further consultations would be held on the issue, and that an alliance between China and Germany would be impossible, at least until the next Diet. ”

"Mr. Minister. Do you mind so much about China's alliance with Germany? An American technician asked Stade curiously.

"Of course! If China were to form an alliance with Germany, it would likely lead to a series of ripple effects, and we must be cautious about this. Efforts to maintain peace in the Far East are the current priorities of the US Government's diplomacy. ”

Stade put away the telegram in a happy mood, and then, walking to the window of the corridor, looked at the dark crowd in front of the train station, and sighed deeply.

"Although this country is weak, once the 400 million citizens of this country are included in the orbit of war, this country will inevitably burst out with strong combat effectiveness and will to fight, so, in my opinion, never be an enemy of this country, never despise this country, this country has an old saying. In my opinion, in this country now, whether it is the upper class people or the lower people, they are all lying on the salary and tasting the courage. If you want to know what will happen next, please log in to 6 one, more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!