In Yanjing, Wang Jundao is discussing with Zhan Tianyou to build a railway network in Zhili Province, Shandong Province, and Henan Province.

Since Wang Jundao took control of Yanjing and cleaned the Manchu Qing Dynasty, he appointed Zhan Tianyou as the left waiter of the Ministry of Industry and the director of the Railway Engineering Bureau, and after the recovery of Tianjin, the Beijing-Tianjin Railway and the Jinhai Railway (Tianjin to Shanhaiguan) that were destroyed a lot were repaired under the leadership of Zhan Tianyou.

Today, the Gangcheng Iron and Steel Industry Group invested and built by Wang Jundao's New Deal Axe has been on the right track, with a monthly output of 5,000 tons of steel, including 500 tons of 'piercing' steel, and the scale of the Gangcheng Iron and Steel Industry Group is gradually expanding.

The Jining Iron and Steel Group, which was invested and constructed by the Yanhuang Group, and the Qian'an Iron and Steel Group, which was jointly invested and constructed by the Yanhuang Group and the New Deal, also began to be officially put into operation, and the scale was also increased in the number of units, coupled with the successive production of many non-ferrous metals, with the steel foundation, Wang Jundao planned to build a railway network.

Wangjundao currently plans to build three main railways.

From Yanjing to Zhangjiakou.

From Yanjing to Henan, this railway has actually started construction as early as two years ago, because at that time it was the Jinghan Railway, that is, the railway from Yanjing to Hankou, and now this railway has been half of Zhili Province from north to south, but due to the invasion of China by the Eight-Nation Alliance, the construction of this railway has been suspended, as long as it is repaired to the south as soon as possible, it will not be long before it can reach Henan, and if the Yellow River Bridge is built again, it will be able to reach the south of Henan.

It is the railway from Yanjing to Shandong, and this railway only needs to repair the section from Tianjin to Shandong, because the railway from Yanjing to Tianjin has already been repaired.

Although the total amount of steel produced by the three iron and steel groups that Wang Jundao has established is simply not in short supply, he still made up his mind to build a railway.

Because Wang Jundao knows that it is not easy to build a railway, at least after a few months of route exploration, actual investigation, data calculation and other processes, to determine the railway line construction plan, before starting construction, and a few months, the various steel groups must also be put into large-scale production, and the new steel group will also begin to invest in construction, and then it will be barely able to supply.

After finalizing the important areas to be passed along the three main railway lines, Wang Jundao told Zhan Tianyou about many precautions and construction methods for building railways, as well as solutions to difficult problems.

Although railways have been born for nearly 100 years, many methods of building railways are still outdated, and Wang Jundao happens to have mastered a lot of advanced railway and engineering technologies, which are naturally displayed without reservation.

After listening to this, Zhan Tianyou was in awe: "I didn't expect the commander to be so good at railway and engineering construction, after listening to the commander's suggestions, Zhan Mou suddenly felt that he was suddenly open, and many things that he couldn't figure out and problems that were difficult to solve were easily solved." ”

Wang Jundao said with a smile: "I just have some ideas, they are just talk on paper, and the real practice depends on Mr. and the masters and workers of the Railway Engineering Bureau." ”

Zhan Tianyou said disapprenously: "Where is the commander, with these suggestions and methods of the commander, the construction period will be shortened a lot, the construction cost will be reduced a lot, and there will be more guarantees in terms of safety." ”

Wang Jundao nodded and said, "If you want to get rich, build the road first, and I hope that Mr. can lead everyone to complete the exploration and start construction as soon as possible." ”

Zhan Tianyou looked straight and said: "Arrange the preliminary affairs, prepare all kinds of tools, use the original railway workers, and you can start exploration in just three days, and as for the railway to Henan, you can start construction directly on the original basis." ”

Wang Jundao nodded and said: "Sir, although you can do it with confidence, no matter how much the funds, materials, etc., I will let the cabinet give full support, as for the laborers, how many and how many are free, I only need one result, that is, to build these lifelines as soon as possible." ”

Zhan Tianyou didn't expect Wang Jundao to trust him so much, he said in a deep voice: "Commander, rest assured, Zhan will definitely do his best to build the best railway in the shortest time." ”

Wang Jundao's idea is that the main railway will be built by the government, and the branch railway can be built by the official through financing, after listening to Zhan Tianyou's words, he nodded and said: "I believe sir." ”

Without waiting for Zhan Tianyou to say thank you, Cui Jingluo came in, he can enter and leave the cabinet at will without reporting, this is specially approved by Wang Jundao, after all, he is the chief minister of the cabinet, which is equivalent to the prime minister of the cabinet, if even he can't move around at will in the cabinet, then who can walk around in the cabinet at will?

Seeing Wang Jundao, Cui Jingluo said directly: "Commander, Director Fan asks to see you, Tianjin is in an emergency." ”

Director Fan is Fan Zong, who is currently the director of the Communications Division under the General Staff of the Dragon and Tiger Army Headquarters.

Knowing that there was an emergency military situation at the headquarters, Wang Jundao naturally could not continue to discuss with Zhan Tianyou at the headquarters of the Railway Engineering Bureau of the Cabinet, and after explaining a few words to Zhan Tianyou, he left the Railway Engineering Bureau with Cui Jing.

Seeing Fan Zong, Fan Zong first saluted a standard military salute, and without saying a word, he handed the telegram to Wang Jundao, and the content of the telegram was naturally the news that the Beiyang Fleet had arrived at Tianjin Port.

After reading the telegram, Wang Jundao couldn't help but smile: "I thought that the Beiyang Fleet would resist the order and be unwilling to go north, but I didn't expect it to come, it's been more than a month, and I have to wait for it." ”

Cui Jingluo and Fan Zong glanced at each other when they heard this, looked at each other, and waited for the flowers to thank them? It seems to be a good analogy, but since the defeat of this Beiyang Fleet, its reputation has plummeted, is it worth Wang Jundao's attention?

Cui Jingluo did not have particularly high attainments in military affairs, and said suspiciously: "The Beiyang Fleet has been in a slump since the First Sino-Japanese Naval War, and now although it has recovered some vitality, but in the face of the foreigners' fleet, it can only be beaten or escaped, which is worthy of your attention, commander?" ”

Although Cui Jingluo is not good at military affairs, and he does not belong to the army, he can be regarded as Wang Jundao's right-hand man, for him, Wang Jundao has absolute trust, so there is nothing to hide, and said patiently: "The defeat of the First Sino-Japanese Naval Battle was not lost in the Beiyang Fleet itself, but in the Manchu rulers, if it were not for Cixi's deduction and misappropriation of the military funds of the Beiyang Fleet, which led to the disrepair of the ships, the lack of shells, and the poor quality of the shells, if it were not for the Qing court to use Ding Ruchang, a general who was originally an army, to command the navy, If Ding Ruchang hadn't listened to Deng Shichang's advice, how could the Beiyang Fleet be defeated by the Yueben Fleet?

In fact, in terms of the quality of officers and soldiers, the Beiyang Navy is stronger than the Beiyang Navy, although today's Beiyang Fleet is much inferior to the Beiyang Fleet before the First Sino-Japanese Naval War, but the Beiyang Fleet is struggling with the shame of losing to Yue himself, and the whole fleet is full of indignation, to put it bluntly, the Beiyang Fleet is holding its breath, as long as we use it well, the Beiyang Fleet can become a seed, and we will build a powerful navy with it. ”

Cui Jingluo also understood a lot after listening to Wang Jundao's explanation, but he still had some doubts: "Commander, with all due respect, is the navy really that important?" ”

Wang Jundao knows that China has a special affection for the land since ancient times due to factors such as its vast territory and vast land and abundant resources, so it has never attached importance to the sea or the navy.

Wang Jundao thought that Cui Jingluo would be his prime minister's candidate in the future, it should be necessary to change his view of the navy, after thinking about it slightly, Wang Jundao said vividly: "Let me give you an analogy, if the army is the right hand of a person, then the navy is the left hand of a person, if a person lacks a left hand, then this person is not normal, he will be a disabled person, it is no exaggeration to say that in the world today and even in the future world, the navy is as important as the army, any sea war between countries, will change the fate of the two countries, such as the First Sino-Japanese Naval War six years ago, the victory of the Benben, the rise from then on, the defeat of China, the surpassing of the Ben, think about the Northeast that is still occupied by the Ben, you can understand. ”

Cui Jingluo fell into deep thought when he heard this, and thought about it carefully, it is indeed as Wang Jundao said, in the past few years, the Qing State has been worse every year, and even to the point that tens of thousands of foreign soldiers can defeat the Manchu Qing Dynasty.

Wang Jundao looked at Cui Jingluo, and then said: "Think about it, if a country wants to develop, it is not feasible to close the country, this is the best lesson for the Manchu Qing Dynasty, if it is not for the Manchu Qing Dynasty to close the country, it will not lead to falling behind the West, there will be no Opium War, and it will not be reduced to a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society, so if you want to develop, if you want to be rich, if you want not to be surpassed by other countries, you must open the country, communicate and trade with other countries, and if you want to open the country, if you want not to be suppressed by other countries, If one day China's navy can unscrupulously sail to the coastal waters of Japan, the United States, and the United Kingdom, threatening them and bombing them, who will dare to bully China? At that point, it's up to us to make the conditions. On the other hand, if we do not have a strong navy, we will be restricted by the navy of foreigners, who can sail warships to our coastal waters, blockade our coastline, and restrict the development of our coastal economy. If China can't develop its economy, how can China be rich? If you are not rich, how can you be powerful? ”

Cui Jingluo sighed when he heard this, and suddenly realized: "I see, listening to the commander's words is better than reading books for ten years and doing things for ten years." ”

Wang Jundao laughed and said: "You don't have to praise me, I just want to tell you that in the future, I will invest a lot of manpower, material resources, financial resources, and technology to vigorously develop the navy just like the development of the army." ”

Cui Jingluo nodded and said, "I will make the entire cabinet willingly support the commander." ”

"That's for the best."

Wang Jundao nodded at Cui Jingluo, and said to Fan Zong on the side: "Let's go, let's go back to the headquarters now, it's time for Sa Zhenbing and Ye Zuqi to enter Beijing." (To be continued.) )