This is the freight car from Guangzhou to Yanping, full of goods, lathes, steel, cloth, etc., the maximum speed that the train can reach today is about 80 kilometers per hour, but because of the full load of goods and the relationship between the line, even on the flattest section, the train can only maintain a speed of fifty or sixty kilometers per hour.

From Shaozhou, Guangdong to Yanping railway nearly 1,000 kilometers, plus along the way to stop coal and water, each station to divert cargo passengers, from Shaozhou to Yanping, about a long time, although in Ye Zhao's view as slow as an ox cart, but in this era, its efficiency can not but be said to be high scary.

Rong'er of the Shaozhou-Yanping Railway is the largest shareholder, accounting for 40% of the shares, 30% of the Shijia, and the remaining 30% is divided by other small shareholders.

Even when the Shi family was most hesitant, the construction of this railway never stopped, and it was finally opened to traffic after the end of this year.

Looking at the trees and crops that were rapidly receding outside the car window, Ye Zhao had no joy in his heart, to say that the development of China today, the best reference is the United States, and the contribution to the economic development of the United States is naturally the first to promote the railway network extending in all directions, if the United States is a giant, then the railway line is the blood vessels of this giant, providing the greatest horsepower support for its rise.

And what is the state of the development of railroads in the United States? From the appearance of trains to next year, that is, in 1860, the railway lines of the United States reached more than 50,000 kilometers, in fact, most of them were built in the fifties when the railway technology became more and more mature, that is, tens of thousands of kilometers of railways were built in the present few years, and Guangdong and Jiangxi, from the very beginning of the construction of the railway to the present more than three years, and now the railway construction technology is more and more mature, the machinery is more efficient, more than three years, less than 2,000 kilometers of railways have been built.

Although it is an incomparably brilliant achievement compared with the old China, he cannot always use the old China as a reference, and the comparison is naturally compared with the United States, but it is far from the truth.

Speaking of steel, the United States went from producing 2,000 tons of Bessemer steel a year in the 60s, that is, high-quality steel made in steel mills, to 30 years later, by the 90s of this century, the output reached more than 7 million tons, more than the combined output of Britain and Germany.

The speed of its development is simply amazing, considering that in the past 30 years, the United States did not participate in World War I or World War II, and it is obviously a big mistake to attribute its development only to war money.

By the beginning of the next century, Carnegie alone had produced more steel than Britain, and Carnegie's famous phrase "The country that can produce the cheapest steel will trample other countries under its feet", which weighed heavily on Ye Zhao's heart, Ye Zhao only hoped that whether it was a monopoly on Guangfu steel, it would be better to develop into a monster group like Carnegie Steel.

In the next few years, the civil war between the north and the south of the United States is an excellent opportunity for Guangfu silver capital to enter the United States, of course, it will not invest in helping it build a railway iron plant, just to speculate, otherwise even if it is like Carnegie to seize the American economic panic a few years later to buy all its iron and steel enterprises, but in the final analysis, in the end, it is to help the United States revitalize the steel industry, and there is no war. Therefore, taking advantage of the civil war between the north and the south and the subsequent economic crisis to speculate and loot some wealth is the right way, to invest, or to invest in one's own homeland. Because I am not a businessman, I can't just think about financial interests.

pondering, Ye Zhao picked up the coffee and took a sip gently.

This carriage is used by the regent, and there are nearly 100 officials and personal guards who went to Fujian with the regent to inspect, and Xiao Fujin and Lord Su are sitting on the left side of the aisle, Ye Zhao turned his head, and he could see that they were whispering something, Ye Zhao was a little helpless, why did Rong'er talk a lot with the matchmaker?

Sitting beside Ye Zhao is the governor of Guangdong, Bai Gui, accompanying the regent to inspect Fujian, which is a shot in the arm for him, in recent months, the officialdom of Guangdong and Jiangxi, are rumored that Bai Gui has lost the trust of the regent, and the position of the governor of Guangdong is most likely not guaranteed, and now the regent named him to accompany him to set things right, and after a few days, the report of the regent's inspection of Fujian appeared in the "China Times", and these boiling rumors will disappear.

"China Times" is run by the Silent Hall of the Rite Room, which is the official newspaper of the Southern Dynasties, mainly with political surnames, and it is also a newspaper that must be subscribed to by all yamen all the way to the village office, and the celebrities and businessmen of Guangdong and Jiangxi are also flocking to it, because they have gradually discovered that the "China Times" represents the vane of the political arena in Guangdong and Jiangxi, and most of the latest policies will be first briefed through the "China Times" to examine the reactions of all strata.

The reporters accompanying the "China Times" were all at the end of the carriage, and at the door of the carriage, the soldiers in green uniforms and bayonets stood straight, and several reporters were extremely excited, and it was an extremely honorable political task to accompany the regent on the tour.

Bai Gui, now I only hope that when the photo regent's inspection of Fujian is published, he can stand beside the prince and show a small face, so those small actions against himself can be stopped.

This is the first time that Ye Zhao has gone out on patrol to bring reporters, because Ye Zhao found that in this era, it is still very important to express his intentions through newspapers, for example, now he is inspecting the rural areas of Fujian, and in later generations, he may lead the newspaper to be considered a show by the people, but in this era, it will undoubtedly make the farmers rejoice, I am afraid that when the village offices read this report, the farmers are also excited and tearful, just kidding, for thousands of years, how can there be a true dragon son at the level of emperor regent to care about the farmers' crop planting? Declare the world with greater fanfare, and now the regent is a precedent.

Ye Zhao also hoped that after this article was published, all yamen, township offices, and village offices would be more concerned about the interests of farmers.

And the regent palace began to set up the township office and the village office, which is the first time in Chinese history that the political axe has infiltrated the tentacles into the village, all the time, the Chinese dynasties, in fact, the most basic rule for the county, to say that it has never really ruled the country, because in the people really have the right to speak, are the local gentry, and now the establishment of the township and village grassroots officials and magistrates, so that the Southern Dynasty political axe will rule the country strongly.

As for traveling with Bai Gui, Ye Zhao hoped that some of the later parties would stop the movement to overthrow Bai Gui, Bai Gui was indeed slightly insufficient, but now he was the most important governor of Guangdong among the seven provinces of the Southern Dynasty, and he was inevitably remembered for his position.

Among them, the highest voice is naturally Yuan Jiasan, the former governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, highly respected, leading officials of all sizes to vote, and the Southern Dynasty did not set up a governor, Yuan Jiasan was appointed as the governor of Guizhou, obviously many people in the party were not satisfied with such an arrangement, and now the Southern Dynasty is gradually becoming stronger, and the Battle of Changsha can be said to have established the stable status of the Southern Dynasty as a rock in one fell swoop, and the Northern Dynasty took the initiative to beg for peace, and the officials and people of the Southern Dynasty were determined, and truly regarded the Southern Dynasty as their own country.

The ensuing self is also surging, the struggle for power, is almost an inevitable by-product, the change of the bandit Tianjing is a lesson from the past, but now the Taiping army has been pressed out of breath, and the contradiction has not intensified. The regime of the Southern Dynasties is stable, and the struggle for power is about to begin.

Thinking about it, Ye Zhao shook his head, Bai Gui may not be as good as Yuan Jiasan, but he is a recognized regent, how can such an important position of governor of Guangdong be handed over to Yuan Jiasan?

Looking back at Bai Gui, who was sitting carefully beside him, Ye Zhao smiled and said, "I've been sitting for a few hours, are you tired?" Do you want to take a walk? ”

Bai Gui was excited, and hurriedly bowed slightly: "Back to the prince's words, I am not tired of my humble duties." ”

When the regent was dressed in civilian clothes, he always disliked the bowing of officials at all levels, preferring to have discussions with officials at all levels, but the more this was the case, the more awe the officials became.

At present, there are seven governors of seven provinces in the Southern Dynasty, namely Bai Gui, the governor of Guangdong, Li Hongzhang, the governor of Jiangxi, Liu Denghuan, the governor of Fujian, Cen Tianhua, the governor of Guangxi, Guo Jingzhi, the governor of Hunan, Yuan Jiasan, the governor of Guizhou, and Lao Chongguang, the governor of Yunnan.

Among the seven governors, Yuan Jiasan and Lao Chongguang are out-and-out queen of the party, Cen Tianhua is regarded as a matchmaker, Liu Denghuan and Zhao Sanbao are good friends, and Guo Jingzhi, the former prefect of Guangzhou, are all promoted by the regent, Bai Gui and Li Hongzhang needless to say, each has its own opportunities.

Bai Gui now also knows that with the stability of the political and military situation in the Southern Dynasties, the honeymoon period between the regent and the empress dowager of the two palaces has passed, and he is afraid that the power struggle will gradually break out.

And on his head, naturally engraved with the mark of the regent party, sitting on the throne of the first province headed by the seven provinces, plus he made some mistakes in dealing with foreigners back then, a few days ago when the regent went to North Korea, the queen mother of the two palaces summoned him, and the Queen Mother had words in his words, and he didn't pick up much, and he was thrown to the forefront with the brunt of the blow.

Regent, what do you think?

Bai Guiping often pondered this question, but no matter what the regent thought, it was right to follow his old man's footsteps closely.

Yuan Jiasan and others, unclear, afraid of chewing their tongues in front of the queen mother of the two palaces, this made the queen mother of the two palaces gradually have a different mind, and now the regent has returned to Guangzhou, see how you still jump.

Ye Zhao sipped his coffee and asked lightly, "Bai Gui, what do you think of Lao Chongguang?" ”

Bai Gui's heart moved, pondered for a moment, and said: "The desire for profit is extremely unpopular in southern Xinjiang, and the Miao people are all because of their tyranny. ”

Ye Zhao frowned slightly: "His face is still loyal, is it really so bad?" ”

Bai Gui sighed and said: "The evaluation of the humble position is quite polite, and I don't dare to say some things to the prince, for fear of angering the prince." ”

Ye Zhao smiled and nodded, and said: "Anyway, the minister of the southern return, we can't thin him, so as not to make the minister of the Northern Dynasty think of the return cold, I am going to switch it with Cen Tianhua, what do you think?" ”

Bai Gui listened to the word "we" from the prince, and his spirit immediately perked up, and he bowed down and said: "The prince is magnanimous, I just hope that he will repent and live up to the prince's favor." ”

(To be continued)