In the early morning, the windows of the CBC building in Nanjing were illuminated by the morning sun, but there was only an endless stream of electric lights in the grave-like broadcast studios -- in the corridors and small rooms of the CBC's news department, although it was still early, it was already crowded with people.

Gu Pengqi, who had a scruffy beard, sat in front of the old writing desk, smoking a long cigar cigarette and scratching it in a yellow notepad. Despite the popularity of the show in his spare time, he did not give up on the show "Celebrity Updates in the City". He often said that after the boom in his spare time was over, news radio was still his way of making a living. A pocket radio on his desk came the loud, even harsh, voice of an announcer.

Gu Pengqi was very disgusted by those extremely exaggerated advertisements, but he had to choose to accept them, because all the income of the broadcaster comes from advertisements, and the criteria for evaluating the success of an announcer and the success of a program are very simple - that is, the price of the program advertisement, the higher the price of the program advertisement, the more it proves the success of an announcer.

As an announcer of a news radio program, Gu Pengqi is undoubtedly successful, it should be said that he is very successful, and the advertising price of his program ranks among the top three in the country, but he doesn't like advertising very much, especially those that he knows are fake, but for the company, they never care, what they care about is income, advertising revenue, and ......

Just then, the phone rang. He tried to ignore it, but he grabbed it again, and roared:

"Hey, who's it, I'm writing...... Yes! I'm sorry, Yatsen. Any urgent news? ”

Hearing that it was a call from a reporter from a reporter stationed in Wuhan, he immediately leaned back in his swivel chair, listening to the call with one ear and recording it with a pen in the other. In the past two or three years, through the huge investment of the Imperial Telegraph and Telephone Company, China has initially established a "long-distance telephone" system, in the past, telephones were only limited to one city, only users in the city, can call each other, but since last year, except for Tibet, the telephone lines between provinces have been connected, of course, this is probably still out of military needs, otherwise the telephone bill of five cents a minute is not something that ordinary people can afford, but for journalists, The use of long-distance telephones means a revolution, they can call the newspaper or broadcaster in the shortest possible time, within a few minutes of the outbreak of the incident, but even so, the high telephone bills are not affordable for the broadcaster, they usually have a rule, only big news, emergency, can use long-distance telephone. Knowing that the phone bill was very expensive, Gu Pengqi did not delay the other party's time.

"In these fires, in these storms, there is a handful of people who have designed and organized this terrible rainstorm to pour down on all mankind......"

Listening to the angry roar on the other end of the phone came into Gu Pengqi's ears, only made him stunned, in his impression Wang Yichen is a very "quiet" reporter, most of the time, he will calmly tell the news, and now, what is wrong with him.

"Hey, Yichen, what's going on? Calm down! ”

"Calm down, how do you make me calm, but any person, he can still calm down, now my body is full of blood, the streets are full of wounded, thousands of wounded, on the river, there are dead bodies everywhere, many are children......"

What the...... Gu Pengqi's whole person was stunned, this, what's going on.

"What the hell is going on?"

"Explosion, someone attacked the" Jianglun 13 "......" with bombs " "

"Jianglun 13......"...,

Hearing this name, Gu Pengqi only felt familiar for a while, and he hurriedly covered the phone and yelled loudly outside the door.

"Who knows about Jianglun No. 13, I want his information!"

"Why did you attack this ship?"

The Dean of the House of Lords is on board!

After hearing the voice on the other end of the phone, Gu Pengqi only felt that the sweat drops the size of beans were dripping from his forehead, and even if there was no evidence, he could guess who did it - it was a republican.

His assistant burst into the office and gestured desperately to her boss.

"Wait a minute, my assistant is here."

As soon as he finished speaking, Gu Pengqi covered his headphones with his hand and asked for help,

"Any news?"

"Jiangchuan No. 13 is a 1,562-ton luxury Yangtze River cruise ship from Shanghai, with 482 passengers on board, Yuan Shikai, the president of the House of Nobles, and his entourage are on this ship, as well as 315 students from Tongcheng Third National Middle School and No. 1 Girls' High School, they are going to visit ......"

Next, what the assistant said again, Gu Pengqi was no longer clear, he only felt dizzy, it's over, it's all over, while a sense of sadness rose in his heart, his mood was shrouded in unprecedented anger, he listened to the voice on the other end of the phone, and kept making notes on the pen, he would not doubt Wang Yichen's report, in fact, no one dared to fake this kind of news.

Finally, he hung up the phone, and at this time, Gu Pengqi had tears on his face, and he looked at the assistant who was a little dazed and said.

"Now listen, I'm going to see the director, preparing our show, there's big news!"

As he spoke, Gu Pengqi raised some heavy steps and walked towards the door, holding the news events in his hand.

“…… In short, if we are securing the supply of 300,000 Japanese troops and more than 10 million Russian troops, as well as supplies within Russia, we must not only help the Russians to rebuild the Trans-Siberian Railway, but also help them to rebuild the Central Asian Railway, and we must also take into account the construction of the Persian Railway, which is expected to invest ......."

In the office in the Qinzheng Building in Nanjing, Guan Mingtang, sitting in front of His Majesty's desk, once again listed the numbers one by one, because now China is burdened with supplies to Russia, so it must take into account the transportation problem.

"Wait, Zheqin, what I want to know is, right now, our exports to Russia, does Russia pay us cash? I mean gold or silver, not rubles! ”

Decisively interrupting Guan Ming's words, Chen Moran asked seriously, although the most important thing for China in this war is to make war money, in order to increase exports and even reduce the supply to the domestic market, since the outbreak of the war, the treasury, to be precise, the country's gold reserves have increased rapidly.

In 1914, when the war broke out, China's gold reserves were only 1,238.5 tons, but only 2.5 billion Chinese dollars, and now, a year after the outbreak of the war, gold reserves have increased to 4.8 billion Chinese dollars, and at this rate, by the end of the war, China's gold reserves can increase to at least 10 billion Chinese yuan or more.

Although 95% of Russia's supplies are now imported from China, considering the drastic changes in Russia next year, Chen Moran does not want to let China's banknotes go to waste.

"The export of military materials to Russia is paid by the military loans of Britain and France to Russia, and the British and French pay on behalf of them, and the exports of non-military materials to Russia are directly settled in gold, and Russia also exports no less than 3.5 million tons of oil and other minerals to us every year.

"Oh, that's right,"

Taking a sip of tea, Chen Moran nodded.

"Then we can consider further increasing exports to Russia."

Seeing His Majesty say this, Guan Mingtang mentioned his previous suggestion: ...,

"There is no problem at all with further increasing exports, the Russian market is much larger than initially expected, Russia is a backward non-industrial country, they rely on imports for everything, from weapons and ammunition, medicines, military uniforms and clothing, to ordinary cotton cloth, they all need to import, but capacity, capacity limits our exports to Russia."

Hearing Guan Mingtang mention the capacity again, Chen Moran said directly:

"Didn't we build a railway in Persia? If the railway is built, the capacity should be able to meet the needs. ”

But Guan Mingtang shook his head and said:

"Your Majesty, what we have to consider is long-term interests, now the Persian railway is jointly built by the Sino-Russian railway company, and Russia owes us 50 million Chinese dollars for this railway alone. And the transformation of the Trans-Siberian Railway requires an investment of 2.4 Chinese dollars, the transformation of the Central Asian Railway requires 100 million Chinese dollars, three railways, Russia owes us 300 million Chinese dollars, on the one hand, they can certainly use oil to repay the loan, but on the other hand, we can take the opportunity to intervene in the Trans-Siberian Railway and the Central Asian Railway, take a stake in them, and thus seek to gain a voice in post-war Russia, and. ”

When Guan Mingtang said his "railway theory" with some pride, Chen Moran only felt that a duck boiled duck flew away, 300 million, 300 million is enough to build a few capital ships, and now he let himself take 300 million to fight for water, yes, the Persian railway is his own consent, and the reason why he agreed to that request is very simple, on the one hand, it is to turn China's attention from Arabia to Persia, on the other hand, it is to be able to "quickly and decisively" send troops to Turkestan next year, Before other powers intervened, they first occupied it in order to expand China's ...... Well, colonies!

Suddenly, Guan Mingtang's words paused slightly, and his pair of small eyes looked at His Majesty expectantly.

"Your Majesty, if we have these three railways, then we will be able to master the Russian Far East and Turkestan, and if necessary, of course, I mean in the event of a conflict between China and Russia, our troops will be able to march into Russia along these three railways without fear of sabotage of the railways......"

Chen Moran, who was about to interrupt Guan Mingtang's words, immediately became interested when he heard him say this.

"Zheqin, tell me what you think."

"Your Majesty, if a joint-stock company is formed, then we have the right to send our staff to the railway, and our staff can indirectly control the railway station and the railway bridge, of course, this requires a series of operations."

Aware of the grim gaze cast upon him by His Majesty.

"Of course, this kind of thing, it's hard to guarantee his effectiveness, but ......"

Guan Mingtang said hesitantly.

"It's better to be prepared than not to be prepared, and if we rebuild it, we can know more about the railway, so that when the army makes plans, it can use the train schedules of the three railways, make corresponding plans, and put in the corresponding troops according to the capacity of the three railways, and I have consulted with the General Staff, and they are in favor of intervening in the management and construction of the three railways, and they have said that if necessary, they can consider sending military contractors to undertake the construction of this railway."

Suddenly Guan Mingtang came up with a new word, and the person who invented the word happened to sit in front of him, the word military contractor happened to Chen Moran, and it was also invented for Russia, and now the trains, staff and crew members of merchant ships bound for Russia are mostly "military contractors", and the reason why they have this identity is that they are all reservists of the army or navy, and the principle was formulated to take into account the needs of next year, so that at least the train, Merchant ships were not to be destroyed or requisitioned by revolutionaries. …,

"Military Contractor ......"

Whispering this word on his lips, Chen Moran had a smile on his face, and he seemed to be able to imagine that if tens of thousands of Chinese "workers" were scattered on thousands of kilometers of railways, once a revolution broke out in Russia, what effect would it be, they could quickly control the railway, and no one would try to take back the railway from their hands, they would become the vanguard of China's intervention in Russia.

But...... Thinking about it in his heart, Li Zicheng hesitated, the reason is very simple, because his purpose is not just to appear red in this world, if it is just that simple, he only needs to send some agents, a little poison, and dozens of bullets to end everything.

But......

At this moment, the thick steel-clad wooden door was pushed open, and a chamberlain walked in with a pale face, even ignoring the normal court etiquette.

"Your Majesty!"

The attendant was not aware of his transgression at all, and his expression was extremely sad and indignant, and even tears were hanging from the corners of his eyes.

"What's going on? Captain Liu. ”

Looking at the young attendant officer, Chen Moran didn't pursue his faux pas, but just kindly asked, could it be that something happened to his family? If that's the case, he should ask the chief attendant for leave.

"Your Majesty, Wuhan, Wuhan Garrison District called."

The attendant officer's voice was a little whimpering, as a Wuchang person, when he received that call, his mind was blank, and he even forgot that this kind of thing should be reported to the chief attendant first.

"Dean Yuan of the House of Lords was bombed by terrorists at the dock...... Terrorists used no less than five tons of explosives...... The casualties from the attack, estimated at more than a thousand and possibly more......"

Then, in the report of the attendant officer, Chen Moran fell into a long silence from the initial surprise, at this time Guan Mingtang, as a Christian, recited a prayer softly, and then he looked at the attendant officer and asked.

"Did you send a rescuer? What does Hubei need? ”

Then he turned to face His Majesty again and said.

"Your Majesty, I need to call the governor of Hubei Province immediately!"

"Your Excellency the Prime Minister, the Governor of Hubei Province and a large number of parliamentarians also ......"

"Who did that?"

Without waiting for the attendant to finish speaking, Chen Moran stretched out his trembling fingers and asked in a cold voice. Now we must find out who did it, no matter who it is, even if you flee to the ends of the earth, don't even think about escaping.

At this time, Guan Mingtang's face, which had become a little pale after hearing this incident, showed a dignified look slightly.

"How so? If the officials of the provincial government and the members of the parliament are dead, then ......"

After thinking for a moment, he looked at His Majesty and said.

"Your Majesty, if this is really the case, please give your Majesty an order to immediately impose military control on Hubei Province and maintain social order by the army for the time being. Moreover, during this period, the General Staff and the Ministry of Internal Affairs ordered the troops to be put on alert throughout the country in order to prevent the recurrence of similar incidents. ”

Nodding his head, Chen Moran knew that if the news was accurate, I was afraid it would be the only way.

"Your Majesty, I hope to go to Wuchang immediately, and if I can, I can take a plane to the best!"

After Guan Mingtang made a request, Chen Moran just nodded silently, and then said.

"Pay attention to safety, you personally go to Wuhan to comfort the local people and comfort the wounded, if ...... I'll be over in the near future! ”

After Guan Mingtang left the office, Chen Moran, whose face was full of anger, shouted loudly outside the door.

"Call Cha Zhiqing to me!"

When he returned from a horseback ride and walk in a horse farm in the suburbs, Cha Zhiqing learned the bad news of Yuan Shikai's death. He was stunned for a moment, and then muttered: ...,

"How is that possible? How so? Why ......"

In the Governor's palace, it is not clear to anyone who exactly is the murderer.

It was completely out of his plans, especially with so many casualties, which were supposed to be just ...... However, the report of his subordinates gave him a blow to the head.

The subordinates in front of him were suddenly silent, and Zha Zhiqing also stopped.

"Crazy, those damned republicans are crazy, are the people their enemies? These goddamn bastards ......"

Suddenly, Cha Zhiqing shouted loudly, he even smashed his fist against the wall with hatred, that group of goddamn bastards used this big incident to force him into a corner, although he has not yet received a summons from His Majesty, but he can still think of what kind of thunderous anger His Majesty will show after learning the news, and at that time...... Perhaps, His Majesty's wrath is what he needs, but it does not mean that it is beneficial to him.

"Director, there is a call from the palace, and His Majesty wants you to enter the palace immediately!"

Like everyone else, those present were in the same anxious mood, and one of his subordinates immediately made a suggestion to him.

"It is strictly forbidden to immediately broadcast the news of the explosion at the Wuchang Wharf and continue to broadcast normal programs -- ......"

At this moment, someone rushed in again.

"Listen to the radio!"

#c