Xiao Lao Wu, behind the vast majority of people in Shaanxi, called Xiao Xinren, the commander of the First Army of the Liberation Army, "Xiao Lao Wu", not because he was the fifth in the family, but just because his methods were as ruthless as "Yan Wuye".

"It's hard!"

In the former infantry yamen in the inner city of Xi'an, a long sigh in the current First Army Commander's Office, although it did not come out, it also expressed the thoughts of the people in the room.

In the chief's room, a young man wearing military trousers and a white shirt stood in front of the map, shaking his head and sighing softly from time to time.

Xiao Lao Wu also has times when he is worried, Xiao Xinren is not worried about anything else now, it is because his front is getting longer and longer, the First Army is the only army-level unit in the Guangfu Army, Henan, Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Xinjiang Province, Suiyuan, these are the front lines of the First Army.

"Riding a division through Dunhuang, out of Yumen Pass, it is almost to Xinjiang Province, this supply line is getting longer and longer, it's difficult!"

If we talk about logistics, whether it is the northeast, south China, east China, north China, or even the southwest, the conditions are better than those in the northwest, and when he came to Xi'an, Xiao Xinren finally saw what the barrenness of the northwest is, and it is difficult to buy military rations in this place, and the more the troops go to the northwest, the more extensive and sparsely populated, and the more barren and poor the people are.

"We still have to build a railroad first!"

Staring at Zheng County on the map, where there is the Pinghan Railway, the repossession of the right of way allows the ruling axe to stop thinking about what is not allowed to spend the line, and then stare at Dihua at the other end of the map.

"3,000 kilometers of railway!"

Just thinking about this distance, Xiao Xinren felt that his head was big for a while, after all, this kind of railway is different from any other profitable railway, he once asked the Ministry of Communications, and the answer given by the Ministry of Communications is to build such a railway, which is not realistic in the short term.

The reason is unprofitable, the cost of 3,000 kilometers of railway projects needs at least 60 million yuan, but after Lanzhou, there is a shortage of people and goods in the northwest, no one takes the car, there is no goods to pull, even if the railway is completed, it will be ironclad to lose money.

The Ministry of Communications' capital to build railways almost entirely relies on foreign loans or private bonds, that is, business, compared with the Northwest Railway, which does not have a good return, the railway route with quick results and large returns is undoubtedly the best choice, and the 6.5% interest on railway bonds is a burden for the Ministry of Communications, and they must take into account the problem of returns, and in the next five years, the Ministry of Communications is unlikely to start construction of the railway west of Lanzhou.

He also asked the merchants of Shaanxi and Gansu provinces through others whether they were interested in raising funds to build roads, even if they were to build them to Lanzhou first, but the problem was that the current Shaanxi merchants had long since lost their glory after the Tongzhi Rebellion.

That bit of money is simply not enough, and according to the meaning of the ruling party, there is no need for the railway to consume private capital, and what the ruling is now holding means borrowing a large amount of money to build roads, build ports, and set up factories, and as for the private capital, it is necessary to guide them to industry as much as possible, and there is no need to let them spend their small financial resources on the railway with a short return period in the name of patriotism.

"If those old rich people see that investing in industry is better than farming to make money, and they all invest in industry, then within ten years, the country will be greatly improved!"

"It's difficult!"

Shaking his head helplessly, Xiao Xinren took a sip of tea with an unwilling face, if it was other generals, if Xu didn't need to think about this railway matter at all, at least after knowing that the Ministry of Communications had no money to invest in this railway for the time being, he would dispel this thought, and then, like he is now, send sappers and levies to build simple roads.

But Xiao Xinren is different from others, the most important thing is trust, and the ruling government trusts him, so he needs to repay this trust.

"There's no money!"

Shaking his head helplessly, Xiao Xinren looked at the telegram he drafted, the telegram was sent to the ruling government, that is, to build a railway. A 3,000-kilometer-long railway from Zheng County to Dihua.

An autumn rain and a cool, after a few autumn rains, Nanjing has entered the late autumn, at midnight Nanjing streets can not see many pedestrians, after all, now Nanjing is still an industry, even if it is planned in the Guangfu Avenue, now it is just in the finishing works, as for the buildings on both sides do not know when it will be put into use.

In the meeting room of Nanjing's ruling axe, Chen Moran was concentrating on the study of China's railway route planning and fundraising with Zhan Tianyou and several other people from the Ministry of Communications.

"In short, the priority is given to relatively wealthy areas, and the construction of railways must take into account the time to recover the investment!"

Zhan Tianyou ended his speech with one sentence. Twenty-six years ago, when he studied railway engineering in the Department of Civil Engineering at Yale University, he was responsible for the construction of the Huainan Coal Mine Railway, and it was this cooperation that enabled him to become the deputy minister of the Ministry of Communications, and the role he played during the negotiations on the right of way made the Chinese people know about the deputy minister of the Ministry of Communications, who was a railway engineer.

It was he who was responsible for China's railway planning, and it was a consensus in society that if you want to strengthen the country, you must build railways, and the detailed railway planning is the first time in Chinese history.

Facing the planned railway route map hanging on the board, Chen Moran frowned from time to time, this is an ambitious railway plan. Ten years of 80,000 kilometers and the famous 100,000 kilometers of railways have to fight, when Zhan Tianyou sat down, Chen Moran did not put forward any views on the priority of the route, just looked at the railway planning map and pondered there.

"The Chengkun line and the Tibetan line can be changed! At least in the next ten years, there is no need to think about building the Kun line! ”

Seeing that they were a little puzzled, Chen Moran opened his mouth to explain.

"The terrain there is too complicated, our technical conditions are limited, before accumulating enough technology in the future, we will venture to the Chengdu-Kunming line and the Tibet line, which is technically immature, and it is also very difficult in terms of funds, and soon the War Department will hand over the latest military map to you, and then you will understand! Investigate before you decide! ”

"Yes, Govern!"

Zhan Tianyou did not reject the proposal of the government, and the railway in the southwest is not easy to build, such as the Yunnan-Vietnam railway, which is almost a sleeper and a life.

"Good steel should be used on the blade, in addition to the southern railway, I think the Pingsui railway branch line Zhangku railway and the northwest railway, must be included in next year's plan! The construction of railways should not only take into account economic returns, but also take into account strategic significance, if there is no railway, the defense of the country is empty talk! ”

"The government, the Zhangku branch line, and the Northwest Railway are of course strategically important, but they are ......"

Hesitating, Zhan Tianyou pondered for a while and walked to the planning map.

"Taking the Northwest Railway from Zhengxian to Dihua as an example, the mileage is at least 3,000 kilometers, and the Zhangku Railway is more than 1,000 kilometers, the two are combined, 4,000 kilometers of railway, according to the cost of 50,000 yuan per kilometer, the need for funds is as much as 20,000 yuan!"

Zhan Tianyou has not thought about the significance of these two railways, General Xiao in Xi'an has sent many telegrams before and after, the need for national security in power and General Xiao's consideration, but as the direct planner of the railway, what he needs to face is the huge amount of money needed to build the railway, which is not millions, or even tens of millions, but tens of thousands of yuan as soon as the construction starts! Although the ruling government has said that it is possible to borrow money boldly, there must always be a place to borrow this money.

Perhaps because they were at a loss, Chen Moran, Zhan Tianyou and others looked at the planned railway route map and fell silent.

Chen Moran broke the stiff silence first.

"Lend it! The only way to do this is to borrow money to build the railway. However, this time we borrowed money, we did not go to foreign companies to contract, nor did we ask Chinese people to borrow, but we had to go out directly and go to London, Paris, and New York to borrow money......"

Before Chen Moran finished speaking, Zhan Tianyou smiled bitterly.

"Alas! In power, do you still want to borrow? The old debts have not been repaid, and new funds have been borrowed, and these railways have started construction at the same time, and the start-up capital alone needs at least 10,000 yuan! Borrowing so many foreign debts at once, I am afraid that the common people will find it difficult to accept it for a while! ”

"The borrowing now is different from the past, the borrowing is for the construction of our Chinese railways, and we can't be like the Manchus, at the cost of selling the right of way......"

"So, it's harder to borrow now!"

Zhan Tianyou interrupted Chen Moran again.

"In the past, foreign banks were willing to lend money to the Manchus. That's because of their interests, and the Manchu Qing promised them a day and a place when they borrowed money, but now not only did not fulfill it, but it was taken back by us, although we guaranteed the repayment of the loan. But now, you have to borrow money from foreigners, and if there is no benefit, they will not borrow a penny if you blow it up. Do you know why? Foreigners only have money in their eyes! If there is no huge interest to be shared, they will not borrow a penny at all! ”

Zhan Tianyou's words just made Chen Moran laugh.

"Actually, not necessarily, Vice Chief Zhan, we are now borrowing money directly to foreign exchanges to issue bonds, using railways as guarantees, and also using railway proceeds to repay loans, for those banks in China, they are using loans as a threat to induce the Manchus to sell their national power, but in the end they are only underwriting bonds, and those bonds are finally sold on exchanges in New York, London and other countries, I said, why don't we borrow in China, because we need the people to invest money in industryIn the past, the Manchu Qing Dynasty issued bonds of hundreds of pounds and tens of thousands of pounds, let's go out this time and issue small bonds! A large foreign bank can claim benefits, but what about hundreds of thousands or even millions of ordinary people? What benefits can they want? It's nothing more than a reward! ”

At this time, facing these officials of the Ministry of Communications, Chen Moran had a person in his mind, and it was really a bit condescending to let such a God of Wealth go away.

(To be continued)