"Woo-" The steamer's whistle sounded, and as the sun set west, the Hankou cross-river ferry sailed from the north bank to the south bank. And Guangxu stood on the bow of this ferry and watched the "rolling Yangtze River east passing water". Guangxu, who was dressed in civilian clothes, took the ferry, it was because it was getting late, if the ferry was requisitioned at this time to cross the southern patrol across the river, then these people waiting in Jiangbei might not be able to go home today, Guangxu wanted to see the life of the people in Hankou for a real time, and he did not want to disturb the people so much. So in the end, he could only charter an independent cabin on the upper floor like an ordinary rich boy and cross the river in casual clothes.

That's right, Guangxu is now on the ship, and his special train stops on the north bank of the Yangtze River, except for the train palace to stop and wait for the emperor to end the southbound and then return to the capital, the other carriages will be dismantled into ordinary cars and converted to railway use. It's not that the emperor has a demon moth again, but the train really can't go.

China's Beijing-Guangzhou Railway, from planning to completion and opening to traffic, although it is only a single line, was completed in just four years, which is unique in the world. When the railway was completed and opened, the newspapers of the Western powers simultaneously carried the headline "Wonder of the World". It must have been a nearly 2,400-kilometre railway that crossed the plains of the north and the swamps and mountains of the south. In the era when there were no large-scale models, China Leng used almost unlimited manpower to pave this railway. In terms of manpower alone, according to the statistics of some boring people in Britain, the railway has more than 1.5 million people working at the same time at its peak. And that's just on the construction site. It does not include workers in supporting facilities such as steel mills. This alone left the Western powers dumbfounded, because they and Ben could not solve the problem of food and shelter for so many people at the same time. But this is China, with a population of 400 million, this is less than 5 out of 1,000. And there are builders who provide sufficient funds. It's really not a big deal to have the whole country to supply supplies.

The Chinese people, especially the Han people, are the hardest and hardest people in the world, and there is a tarpaulin that can shelter from the wind and rain, three meals a day, and three taels of silver a month. Every day, there are enough oil splashes, an egg can make a large bucket of soup, and every five days there is enough meat to eat. This is the life of the gods. There is no deduction of wages, no malicious beatings, and what can be dissatisfied. Every time it comes to spring ploughing, summer harvest, autumn planting, and winter storage. The engineering team will also take holidays to let the workers go home to farm the land, so that the land will not be barren. At this time, it is also the time when they return home with a good salary. Bring some filial piety to your parents, bring some snacks to your children, and pull a few feet of floral cloth for your daughter-in-law. Chop three taels of meat and go home, this is the atmosphere of the New Year. Later, they heard that the foreign steward did not agree to give the workers a holiday, because it would delay the progress of railway construction, but the emperor did not agree. Because the purpose of building this railway is to give the people a job to subsidize their families during the slack time, because the emperor just wants to make the people live a better life. Now the image of the emperor has suddenly become tall among the people, and if he can manage the people to eat and drink, he must be a good emperor, and such a good emperor must be offered.

When the common people are satisfied, the local officials are not. Because they don't have a place to make money. All the construction costs were settled by the Daqing Bank, and even the wages of the workers were escorted by the Daqing Bank to the construction site for distribution. Even the materials used are settled by the material supplier and the Daqing Bank, and do not go through the local accounts. The local government has no money to make money, and it has to supply grain, rape and meat on the construction site. Localities can use these supplies to offset their taxes. The people responsible for receiving the goods on the construction site are all foreigners, and the unspoken rules in China are not used, and there is no way to be shoddy, and those who do not do well will be punished. But this kind of trouble disappeared as soon as it appeared, because the first governor of Henan, who deliberately defaulted on the grain and rice on the construction site, was now farming for the emperor in the Huangzhuang in the northeast. All local officials know about it. This governor is finished. Because it is the imperial village, he will never be able to get out without the emperor's will.

Finance: Daqing Bank direct settlement. The materials were distributed by foreigners, and then those imperial historians who only read the books of the sages were stationed at each construction site. Although corruption still occurs from time to time, it must be the personal behavior of petty officials, at least it does not involve collective corruption. In this way, Guangxu is already very satisfied.

The feudal dynasty is good at this, especially in the Qing Dynasty, a dynasty where imperial power is extremely concentrated, what the emperor really wants to do, he only needs a will, and he can mobilize the power of the world to complete it. In this way, in the past four years, countless people have drilled into the mountains to measure, countless workers have started work day and night, and even Zhan Tianyou has fallen ill several times. In order to strengthen the control of the central government in the north over the south, Guangxu stopped the construction of the railway through Harbin, the railway from Jiaozhou to Xi'an, and even interrupted the construction of the Beijing-Shanghai railway for a time. Not only did they transfer road repair teams from other places to this line, but they also almost emptied the Daqing prison. Prisoners from all over the country, as long as they are not prisoners on death row, will be requisitioned to build roads. This was the "miracle" that amazed the Western powers. However, even so, the opening of the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway is still only in the sense of words. Just because this railway is still divided into two by the Yangtze River.

The Yangtze River, a large river with abundant water, made it too difficult to build a railway bridge over it. The Germans succeeded in building a bridge over the Yellow River, but they still sighed in the face of the surging Yangtze River. So Guangxu still has to take a boat to cross the river.

must not be separated by a river separating China, Guangxu patted the guardrail hatefully, turned around: "Yang Du, pass on my will to Li Hongzhang." Let him negotiate with the British in the name of the imperial court, and if the British cannot come up with a way to allow the train to pass directly through the Yangtze River within three months, I will make it clear to the world to solicit builders from all over the world who can complete it. At that time, don't say that the Qing Dynasty did not give the British a chance. ”

"Tsk. As soon as Jiang Weichen passed, he immediately sent a report to the prime minister. ”

While Yang Du knelt down to receive the order, the guards also took off their coats at the signal of the battalion commander Yang Dongzi, revealing the yellow vest they wore inside, and began to guard and empty the deck. Both sighed in their hearts at the same time. Our emperor, always doesn't play cards according to common sense, this is an ordinary civilian ferry. It's okay to give the order and go back to the cabin again. In this way, the identity of the emperor was exposed.

The people, who were still close together, suddenly found that this rich son had suddenly become the emperor, and they immediately knelt down and shouted three times. Even the shipyard knelt on the side in fear, not knowing whether he was going to come forward to ask for peace or hurry back to command the ship.

"It's me Menglang. I'll pay attention next time. After speaking, Guangxu walked into the cabin.

It is still possible for three or five emperors who pretend to be micro-servers to make a private visit, but this group of yellow jacket guards put on such a big battle, plus the real emperor has arrived in Jiangbei, no one dares to pretend at this time. Some people whispered excitedly and said that they could sit in the same boat with the emperor, which was because they had accumulated great virtue in their previous lives. Not to mention a glimpse of the sky. But there are also some people who have cried out for injustice.

The ferry was only halfway across the river, and a woman's wail sounded on the boat: "Wronged--Your Majesty." The people's daughter has been wronged-please ask the emperor to avenge the people's daughter-"

The shout was so loud, and the grievances of that voice were heartbreaking. Guangxu waved his hand, and Li Lianying, who was waiting on the side, immediately ordered to bring the woman who shouted grievances to come. The foredeck was soon filled with a crowd of people watching the excitement, because the emperor decreed that the people should be allowed to comment on this grievance together. The guards blocked a passage for the emperor to come out. A seat was placed on the deck, and in front of it knelt a woman in tattered clothes.

"Raise your head and tell me about your grievances." Guangxu sat down and spoke.

Young, good-looking, considered a beauty, but haggard. This is Guangxu's first impression of this woman, but the grievances he said are not ordinary. The woman's name is Zhang Wang, and her family is a fisherman by the river. His husband's name was Zhang Cheng, who was a member of the army and one of the first soldiers to join the new army, and later fought the Japanese in Tianzhuangtai with the emperor and died in the battle in Tianzhuangtai. A wail came. The orphans and widows in the family suddenly seemed to fall into the sky, but fortunately, there was a pension of 20 taels of silver issued by the imperial court, so that the orphans and widows were not allowed to live on the streets.

Hearing this, Guangxu frowned. Because the bereavement pensions of ordinary soldiers who died in the battle are not at this price, but the more I listen to it, the more wrong it becomes. Originally, with the imperial court pension and doing some pulp washing work, the life of the family could go on. But later, when I heard the literate gentleman in the village read the newspaper, I realized that the pension given to him was less than half, and even his husband, who had no merit, could get at least fifty taels of pension. So she followed her husband's advice to the county government to complain, but she didn't expect that not only did her appeal fail, but she was beaten by the officials. She was unwilling to be humiliated, so she went to the provincial capital to sue her. I didn't think that the governor was even more of a pervert, not only could he not make a statement. On the contrary, it was the governor who coveted her appearance and insulted her. Zhang Wang's family was unwilling to commit suicide by throwing himself into the river, but was rescued by fishermen, thinking of the young children and elderly in-laws at home, they had to endure the humiliation and steal their lives. Hearing that the emperor's southern tour would pass through Hankou, she would definitely transfer to a ferry here, so she crossed the river to sue the emperor. It's just that when it gets late, the emperor still hasn't come out of the camp, so he has to cross the river and go home first, because he has to prepare dinner for the children and elderly in-laws at home. But she didn't expect to meet the emperor on the ferry home, so she shouted here.

Since it is a grievance, it is natural that it will be tried for the first trial. When asked about Zhang Cheng's military status, he didn't expect Zhang Wang's family letter to be sent back by her husband. Guangxu took the letter, and after seeing that the letter said that Zhang Cheng belonged to the Central Reconnaissance Battalion, he handed the letter to Yang Dongzi. Yang Dongzi's face changed greatly after reading the letter, and he began to ask Zhang Wang in detail about his husband's appearance and some details.

"Emperor Qi, Weichen can confirm that Zhang Wang's husband Zhang Cheng is indeed subordinate to the Central Reconnaissance Company and serves as the leader of the third platoon and one squad. In the first year of the First Wu Dynasty, Zhang Cheng disguised himself as a herald of the 9th Brigade of Oshima Yoshimasa of Japan and entered the Japanese headquarters in Tianzhuangtai, and after being discovered, he detonated the bomb he carried, killing and wounding many high-ranking Japanese generals, temporarily interrupting the Japanese attack on the village of Da Ranfang, where the emperor was located. Yang Dongzi's face was furious when he said this, his brother died fighting for his country, and his wife was not only not rewarded but was insulted. The reason why he wanted to mention Da Nianfang Village was to remind the emperor of Zhang Cheng's contributions.

Guangxu asked expressionlessly: "This is a great achievement, how about the reward after the war?" ”

After the war, Zhang Cheng was posthumously awarded the first-class Medal of Valor, the Tianzhuangtai Medal of Bloody Battle, according to which he was awarded a bonus of 150 taels of silver, and the first-class Medal of Valor also had ten years of tax exemption. Because he died in battle, there is a one-time pension of 50 taels, and a child support of 3 taels of silver will be paid every year if there is a young son in the family, until he reaches the age of 16. After Yang Dongzi finished speaking, he fell to his knees and cried: "Your Majesty, it is the duty of the soldiers to die on the battlefield for the country. However, the meritorious service that the soldier deserved after his death in battle was swallowed up by corrupt officials and corrupt officials, and his wife and daughter were even more humiliated. Please ask the emperor to severely punish this governor, and to reassure the army's heart......"

"Crying for what? Stand up, without losing the dignity of a soldier. After Guangxu reprimanded Yang Dongzi, he turned to ask Zhang Wang if he could have a medal. When Zhang Wangshi said with a confused face that he had never seen any medals, Guangxu was completely angry: "After docking, all the personnel of this ship will be isolated to prevent anyone from ventilating and reporting the news." Another decree was sent to the governor of Hubei to see the driver. I want to ask who is so bold that he dares to embezzle even the Military Merit Medal. ”

In fact, the governor of Huguang, the governor of Hubei, and Liang Huadian, the commander of the independent division stationed in Hankou, were already waiting on the south bank, waiting to cross the river by ferry to greet the emperor. They could have requisitioned ferries, and the reason why they had to take civilian ferries like ordinary people was only because they had something good to do with it, and they would have to imitate it. The emperor is always reluctant to disturb the people, so they will naturally follow suit. Otherwise, even if the imperial historian does not deal with it, it will always be a stain on the political performance, and it will not be conducive to future promotion. Unlike the common people, who have to queue up, as officials, there is still priority. When the ferry docked in Jiangbei, it was the royal guards who came down first, so the three people who were about to cross the river hurriedly went up to pick it up.

"Governor of Hubei, do you know this woman standing behind me?" After the three of them finished saluting, Guangxu asked.

The governor of Hubei was still confused, but when he looked up, he saw that the woman's face changed suddenly. Zhang Zhidong was transferred to the governor of Zhili, and the two provinces of Huguang became the place where the emperor distributed party officials, and this is how he was transferred from the rich Liangjiang. He had never thought of what would happen to bullying an ordinary woman, and he also accepted a share of the Governor's family. Unexpectedly, the woman was standing behind the emperor.

Seeing that the face of the governor of Hubei changed color, Guangxu understood the true situation of the matter, but Guangxu still said: "This woman sued me on the ship, accusing you of embezzling her husband's pension and insulting her. How do you explain it? ”

"She is making false accusations, and the emperor must not listen to his side of the story."

"That's nature. But I've heard her side, and I've heard it in front of all the people on board. Now, too, I will listen to you in front of all the people. Guangxu pointed to his feet: "It's here, I'm here, Cen Chunxuan, the Zhengqing of Dali Temple, is also here, plus your top boss, Governor Huguang, let's be judged in these three halls." Liang Huadian don't leave, this matter involves the army, you can listen to it on the sidelines. Let's try it openly in front of all the people, whether it is a false accusation or a real crime. (To be continued)