1924 is a leap year, the year of Jiazi in the lunar calendar. This Year of the Rat is destined to be a small watershed in history.

First of all, in the far north, an old man who has reached the end of his life has handed over the power of the Red Soviet Union, and in order to fight for the right to control this evil polar bear, a bearded man begins to twist his body desperately to squeeze towards the center of power.

At home, the situation is even worse. The situation between the north and the south has not yet been fundamentally eased, and the direct Beiyang warlords led by Cao Kun and Wu Peifu and the Feng warlords headed by Zhang Zuolin have been preparing for war after the first Zhifeng war, with the support of the imperialist forces behind their respective countries.

The north is lively, and the south has not stopped. The claws of the red polar bear bypassed the Saihonto forces occupying the northeastern Kanto Prefecture and the Beiyang forces with the presence of European and American powers, and went directly to the south. Feeling the current chaotic situation and the needs of the revolution, Sun Yat-sen was determined to set up a military school to train a group of new soldiers who would obey the command of the revolution.

As for Yunnan, after more than a year of licking his wounds, Tang Jiyao finally embarked on the journey of expansion again, first gaining control of Guizhou Province in disguise, and then began to buy and sell military fire on a large scale, reorganizing the army, and the signs were directly directed at Zhang Shusheng's forces entrenched in northern Yunnan and Lu Rongting's forces in Guangxi.

The warlords were fighting, the people were struggling to make a living, and 1924 was another chaotic war.

It's just over the New Year, and it's almost March.

In the New Year of 1923, Zhang Shusheng had a very good life, first He Ning came to Lishuping, as his assistant, and entered the Dongchuan District Mayor's Office to work, and the secretariat where Lu Yunyan worked was separated by a room.

As a man who has been acquiesced by both parties, Zhang Shusheng can always enjoy a comfortable shoulder massage or a chance to steal incense from the observation deck on the roof of the building that lasts for a few minutes. He deeply realized what it means to work with men and women without getting tired, especially with two women who are going to be eaten by themselves sooner or later. No matter how busy he is with military and political affairs and scientific research projects, he can't be crushed.

At the end of 1923, the two biggest events in science and technology were:

The first automobile factory under Shusheng Company was officially completed and put into production of A-type cars.

2. With the joint efforts of a group of scientists and researchers at home and abroad, a 7,000-ton hydraulic press was successfully manufactured.

In terms of automobiles, because the initial production volume could not be increased, after taking into account the cost and sales volume, the more affordable ordinary version of the Model A car will be sold in the southwest region first, and the surplus production will be sold to the southeast and other places through Guangxi. The mid-to-high-end A-type cars were only produced as the main spare parts, which were boarded in Fangcheng County, Guangdong, and shipped to the West. Finally, through Pan American Ken's International and Pan Eurasia Trading Company, two major international trading companies registered in Europe and the United States, they assembled the whole vehicle in the country and sold it.

Because it is expected that after such advanced cars are put on the market, there will be a market lag effect that will last for a period of time. Therefore, Zhang Shusheng did not prepare to put it into the European and American markets in large quantities at the beginning, but asked the second heavy machinery factory to urgently produce the equipment for the second production line, and at the same time prepared to put some less important parts into the factory in Hong Kong for production.

There is a car factory run by Shusheng Company in the name of the Pan Eurasian Trading Company and Pan American Ken's International Trading Company. The First Automobile Factory in Ishu Ping will concentrate on the production of engines, chassis and body parts that incorporate new technologies and design ideas.

It can be said that the reason why he did not launch his own blockbuster car brand until 1924 was also forced by Zhang Shusheng. The R&D and manufacturing of automobiles is completely from scratch, although Shusheng company is not very lacking in advanced machine tools and machinery, but it is still difficult, even beyond everyone's imagination. After all, a place that couldn't even produce screws and wrenches eight years ago, but eight years later has begun to produce old-fashioned cars, this rapid development process is actually a history of scientific research and manufacturing.

With huge capital investment and technical investment, even with the technical support provided by DreamMachine, the R&D and design of the car took five years to complete. Many of these technologies are much higher than the Ford Model T that is still in production.

Taking the regular version of the Model A as an example, not to mention the appearance, the overall level of the car is much better than the latest model of the Ford Model T, which will be discontinued in three years. The mid-to-high-end version of the Model A is aimed at big brands such as Lincoln City.

Although the sales volume will not be satisfactory at the beginning, Zhang Shusheng believes that these A-type cars with advanced designs and some key technologies are more advanced will create a pyramid-shaped market route from commercial cars to luxury cars in Europe and the United States.

In order to replace the Hong Kong manufacturing plant, the idea of setting up a car factory on the coast of Guangxi has also been put on the agenda. In the future, all grades of A-type cars will go global from here.

Generally speaking, the output of engines will be the biggest factor restricting the production scale of Shusheng's automobiles in a short period of time. Zhang Shusheng's plan was to increase the production capacity of this engine from the current 500 units per month to 50,000 units in early 1928 during the second five-year period. It may seem like a huge 100-fold gap, but as long as the existing production line is expanded and more workers with a certain level of knowledge are recruited, this goal is actually not unachievable.

While many automotive researchers celebrated their successes, they did not forget who provided the seemingly unattainable technologies, and it was with these technologies, together with the overseas Chinese researchers recruited from abroad, and the small number of foreign researchers who were destitute in the West but found new life in the East, that the automobile industry in Dongchuan District was able to make a breakthrough in 1924.

The First Auto Manufacturer, which took five full years to succeed, didn't get any chance to show off its fame, and they just set off a string of firecrackers to celebrate after the first Model A rolled off the production line. And the person who drove the first Model A car was none other than Lei Minshan, the chief automotive engineer of the automobile factory.

The warlords, who were fighting vigorously between the north and the south, would never have imagined that in the southwest, they would have produced a commodity that would always bear the mark of foreign goods in their eyes -- automobiles. Because Zhang Shusheng was too low-key during this time, although the entire Dongchuan District is not small, it is still a very inconspicuous place on the map compared to China.

However, this seemingly small Dongchuan District did not hinder Zhang Shusheng's development.

Just imagine, the entire book is only more than 370,000 square kilometers, which is more than 20,000 square kilometers smaller than Yunnan. By the beginning of 1924, Zhang Shusheng's nominal and actual sphere of influence, including several counties in Dongchuan, had covered almost the entire northern Yunnan region, with more resources, more convenient transportation, more students, more schools, more abundant soldiers, more junior workers, and more factories, which were enough for him to develop a considerable industrial cluster.

Staring at the report in his hand, Zhang Shusheng's brows couldn't help frowning slightly, and he said to Lu Ziming, director of the Transportation Planning Bureau in front of him, "Ziming, your railway construction plan is not very feasible, not to mention the difficulty of construction and financial problems, we are still facing some obstacles that are difficult to overcome for the time being." ”

Walking in front of the huge map of China hanging in his office, Zhang Shusheng pointed to several places in the southwest and said, "You see, your idea is to let the railway start from Xiaoqingshan County, pass through Huize, then Xuanwei, Qujing, and finally enter Guangxi." Even if we don't consider the difficulty of construction and the large investment, just this junction of Yunnan, Guizhou and Guizhou is not a railway that can pass through. We may not even have the opportunity to build a railroad with peace of mind. ”

Lu Ziming, a descendant of a Chinese in San Francisco, is now in his 30s and has worked on the design of a railroad in the western United States. After being hired by Zhang Shusheng, he refused a high salary, just asked for an ordinary salary, and resolutely returned to China.

"District Chief, when Zhan Tianyou's predecessors built the railway, it was more difficult than now, and I am still very confident in my own level. I also know the situation in the area around the border of Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi, and if I can convince Tang Jiyao, I think this plan is feasible. If there is a railway that can lead to the mouth of the sea in Guangxi, it will bring great benefits to the industrial development and economic development of Dongchuan. ”

Because of his experience in designing railways in the United States, Lu Ziming is quite aware of the significant impact of railway transportation on economic development, and seeing that the industrial cluster in Dongchuan District will form a considerable scale in the second five-year plan, the construction of a railway is absolutely necessary.

Zhang Shusheng nodded, he didn't know the huge role of the railway, otherwise he wouldn't have let the researchers of the Third Heavy Machinery Plant start developing the locomotive of the internal combustion engine. "Overall, the time is not ripe to start construction of this line. I propose to divide the railway development into three steps. ”

"What does the mayor mean?"

"The first step was to build the experimental surname railway between Xiaoqingshan County and Huize County. The second step is to extend the railway line to Xuanwei to lay the foundation for the construction of the Yunnan-Guizhou Railway when the conditions are right in the future. ”

"That's a good way to avoid big risks and build up technology. As for the locomotive, I don't know if the mayor means to make it himself or buy it? Lu Ziming also learned about the current industrial strength of the Dongchuan area, especially the Xiaoqingshan industrial cluster, and in his opinion, as long as there is a preliminary locomotive technology, the heavy machinery factory is fully capable of developing a locomotive.

"Look at the progress of construction, if the development plan is slow, buy it first, and if the development work can catch up with the completion period of the first phase of the railway plan, use your own. At present, the Third Heavy Machinery Plant is mainly responsible for the pre-research of locomotives, mainly by several professors from Southwestern University and the Higher Technical School, including several German specialists. ”

Although Southwest University and several middle and senior technical schools carried out a large-scale expansion in the second half of 1923, and the total number of students in the school exceeded 15,000, Zhang Shusheng still felt that there was not enough talent. Especially after the start of the second five-year plan, various projects were launched, and the already small number of technical talents immediately became overstretched. Therefore, whether the Third Heavy Machinery Manufacturing Plant can complete the development and manufacture of the locomotive on time, he has no bottom in his heart.

Lu Ziming had just gone out, and Zhang Shusheng was about to deal with another plan for the construction of a highway from Zhaotong to Xiaoqingshan when there was a knock on the door.

"Come in!"

Pushing the door in was Zhang Shusheng's confidential secretary Mao Yunxian. "District Chief, Vice Minister Zhao of the Ministry of Intelligence has special information to report to you immediately."

After Zhang Shusheng nodded, the knock on the door soon sounded, and it was indeed Zhao Ziyun.

"District Chief, at seven o'clock this morning, Shen Hongying of the Gui Army intended to lead his troops into Guilin, but after being rejected by Lu Rongting, he led four divisions of more than 20,000 people to besiege Guilin. After Lu Rongting was caught off guard and suffered a small defeat, after retreating to the city, he is currently building fortifications. ”

Zhao Ziyun, as one of the two deputy ministers of the special intelligence department of the militia group, has always been Zhang Shusheng's right-hand man, in the eyes of others, this Zhao Ziyun is a real smiling tiger, and he may also push the cup with you in the morning, talking and laughing. In the afternoon, I may personally lead someone to arrest you. He is different from Luo Feng, another deputy minister of secret arrangement, and the two are completely opposite roles.

"What is the result of the analysis of the Ministry of Intelligence, and how long can Lu Rongting hold on?" Shen Hongying's siege of Guilin, he knew, but in the original history, Lu Rongting, who was in a very poor situation, deceived Shen Hongying, who had already entered the city, out of Guilin, and returned to Guilin to build fortifications and wait for foreign aid.

With the existence of his own factor that changed history, Lu Rongting relied on the first phase of 3,000 rifles and ammunition to train an elite brigade, and relied on it to reorganize several other troops, not counting other cronies stationed in the western Guizhou area, Lu Rongting is no longer as down-and-out as he was back then.

However, the situation is still not optimistic, because there is a more powerful new Gui role in the southern Guizhou region: Li Zongren "Ziyun" ordered the intelligence personnel of the four provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou, Guizhou and Hunan to strengthen the spying on the movements of all sides, pay special attention to the movement of troops, and report to the headquarters at any time. ”

"Yes!"

After Zhao Ziyun went out, Zhang Shusheng picked up the phone and called Mao Yunxian, "Inform the liaison representative of the district political axe in Guilin, and ask him to meet Lu Rongting in the name of the Dongchuan district political axe to test his reaction." ”

"Yes!" ――

(To be continued)