As the former [***] general, Zhang Zizhong, who was promoted to lieutenant general of the People's Army in advance and led the army into Xinjiang, was soon officially appointed by the Central Political Axe.

In response to a question raised by a reporter from the New China Daily, Major Zhang Jing, spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense, replied: "The northwest is an important place in our country, and it must have extremely outstanding military capabilities and a large army led by a person of high moral integrity. Chairman Zhang once said that stabilizing Xinjiang Province is a major national event. Throughout General Zhang Zizhong's life, he was famous and had a good performance in the War of Resistance against Japan, so he became the candidate for Xinjiang decided by the military department......"

Chen Yunli, a spokesman for the Government Council, said: "...... According to Chairman Zhang's instructions, the central authorities will intensify the economic construction and development of the northwestern provinces......"

After selecting Zhang Zizhong as the leader of Xinjiang, the war machine of New China made a small movement and began to pave the way for the troops entering Xinjiang.

Unlike the troops that are about to go north to liberate Northeast China, the People's Army in the northeast can take the Tianjin-Pudong Railway to the north, and it only takes two or three days to cross half of China and go north. At this time, the troops liberating the northeast had already been stationed north of Beiping, waiting only for heavy baggage, tanks, artillery and other heavy equipment, arriving in Jinzhou, returning to the division with Zhang Xueliang's troops, and then launching a counteroffensive on the whole line of the army, everything was only a matter of time.

On the other hand, when you look at the troops entering Xinjiang, it will be difficult.

Looking at today's northwest traffic, there are only some roads in Shaanxi and Gansu, and further north, it is a barren, although the troops entering Xinjiang can rely on the army to push all the way through, but time and supplies will be a big problem. Especially after entering the west of Gansu and even entering Xinjiang Province, the situation is even more serious.

If it is impassable, the road into Xinjiang is a flat river, if it is passable, the stone next door and the ancient silk road are all. Not to mention the big temperature difference between day and night, drinking water and food are all problems, even if you have gold bars, there is no place to buy food and drink for more than 100,000 people.

In the end, the marching method formulated by the General Staff Department was that the army still marched through a relatively large number of truck teams and horses of the former Northwest Cavalry Division, relying on a combination of car, horseback, and walking, and marched along the ancient road of the Silk Road until Yumen County.

And in Yumen County, a Yumen airport will be built. The old method was still the same, first ordering the troops in Gansu to level out a field airfield, and then using transport planes to transport engineering troops to build a better airfield to provide a medium-range landing point for the follow-up large-scale supply of troops into Xinjiang.

The original plan was to build some airfields in the direction of Xinjiang Province, and some staff officers even suggested that Sheng Shicai should be ordered to expand one or two airfields along the way after entering Xinjiang for transporting vanguard troops and baggage supplies. However, when the entire plan was submitted to Zhang Shusheng for review, a few small revisions were mentioned.

Others may not know, how can Zhang Shusheng not know the important surname of Yumen, this is the location of the super oil field for a long time in the future, and the location of the airport can be close to here, or even right here, which is naturally the best. In this way, after entering the Xinjiang army, the New Deal axe was also completely used in the construction of new oil fields. New China's need for oil has become very urgent, at least much more urgent than the original demand in the history of the founding of the People's Republic of China. Relying solely on the small oil fields in the south and the ultra-cheap oil loaded back by ships from abroad can no longer meet the industrial development of the entire southwest. Not to mention the upcoming five-year revolutionary industrial construction plan, Yumen and Daqing will become the first batch of key development oil fields.

The matter in the direction of Xinjiang Province, since the battle plan has been decided, he is not too worried, Zhang Zizhong and Wang Zheng are both very capable generals, not to mention entering Xinjiang with 120,000 troops, Sheng Shicai will definitely not dare to make any changes, the entire Xinjiang Province, whether it is the Uyghurs or other ethnic minorities, if anyone fights the central government alive or dead, the only result is to hit the stone with an egg.

The Twelve Great Armies, even if they push all the way through, can destroy all the enemies, not to mention that it is only a matter of time before they are strategized and stabilized in Xinjiang.

After all, on the issue of Xinjiang Province, Zhang Shusheng's tone is iron-blooded and Huairou, with iron-blooded as the mainstay, supplemented by Huairou differentiation, coupled with the super immigration plan that will start later, he doesn't believe that those who are famous for singing and dancing, terrorism and thieves in later generations can raise any big waves. In fact, most of those ethnic minorities are still good, and they all yearn for a stable and prosperous Taiping son, and a small number of careerists can be regarded as being spoiled by the policy from the beginning.

Therefore, what Zhang Shusheng formulated at the beginning was an iron-blooded policy, and as for the Huairou policy, it was to treat them equally with other ethnic groups in the interior, and on the premise of building a great Chinese nation and taking the ultimate Han nation as the common goal, on the basis of respecting its ethnic customs, there would be no abuse, let alone any additional preferential treatment.

120,000 troops, unless the Soviet Union came to fight, he believed that Zhang Zizhong and Wang Zheng would put Xinjiang Province in order.

In the case of Tibetan Province, there are more problems.

"Chairman!"

Han Jingshan, outside Zhang Shusheng's office, Zhuge Sheng and Tie Sanqian, who had been waiting for a long time, were finally called into the office by the secretary. The two of them stood up and saluted, the copycat strongman of the year is now the general of the Ming Cook Republic.

"Mingming, Sanqian, I asked you to come this time to assign you a task." In the face of these two henchmen who defected to him at the very beginning, Zhang Shusheng had no extra words, in fact, with his current position, these things can be handed over to the Ministry of Defense with an order. It only takes Wu Tiejun to come forward and make a little effort for the two of them.

However, the Tibetan issue is very crucial, and just like the Xinjiang issue, Zhang Shusheng really does not feel at ease about handing them over to the Ministry of Defense or the War Department under him. There are some things, the so-called can't be put on the table, and they need to be taught face-to-face.

"Chairman, give your order."

Zhuge Sheng saluted first, after the liberation of the country, most of his wishes for many years have been fulfilled, and he has worked hard for many years, and finally became a general of the republic from a cottage military division, which is a huge leap. He understands his potential, and he doesn't expect to climb a few more floors to the center, but hopes to lead his troops to the battle as soon as possible, and he can't be a great minister, so it is the same for him to engrave his military exploits in history.

Soon after the start of the Liberation War, Zhuge Sheng and his wife were ordered to lead their troops to be stationed at the junction of Sichuan and Tibet, nominally guarding the southwest, but in fact, they had a secret order from the military department at the beginning, and they were always vigilant about the situation in Tibetan Province.

After the two arrived in Hanjing by plane, they first watched the founding ceremony and military parade, and then were invited to Hanjing Mountain to meet Zhang Shusheng.

Zhang Shusheng took out two copies of the battle plan for entering Tibet, and asked the two of them to take a look at it first, the battle plan was just a draft, and it was also very simple, and the two of them looked at it for a while, and then nodded to Zhang Shusheng.

"This mission, that's basically it, the two of you will command a light infantry corps of three divisions to enter Tibet along the Tea Horse Ancient Road on the Sichuan-Tibet border. The issue of Tibetan Province is very complicated, and it is necessary not only to prevent Tibetans from being used by religious forces in Tibetan Province to incite rebellion, but also to be wary of the British and Indians who may cross the mountain to intervene at any time.

Tibet Province is different from Xinjiang Province, in Xinjiang Province, although Emperor Sheng Shicai is far like the prince of Saibei, he has always been a man of my Han Dynasty, and it is impossible to stand with some people who have bad intentions.

However, Tibet Province has always been in harmony with the central government, and there were many political problems in the late Qing Dynasty and the Kuomintang period, and now [***] is stranded in Qinghai Yushu and cannot return, because of his people's attitude of supporting the return of Tibetan Province to the central government, which has been greatly obstructed by the religious forces in Tibetan Province and the British.

What you need to do, in addition to taking [***] back, controlling him, and using his name in exchange for the sympathy and understanding of the broad masses of the common people in Tibetan Province, is to pacify the entire Tibetan Province. We must treat ordinary peace-loving civilians with courtesy, and I grant you the right to freely dispose of some religious forces and ignorant people with bad intentions. You should remember that the role of the armed forces will always be reflected in safeguarding and expanding national interests.

Abolishing serfdom, liberating the common people of Tibet, punishing ambitious traitors, and defending against the British will be your main mission. These things will be explained in detail in the plans given to you by the General Staff Department and the Second Section of the Propaganda Department, and the two departments will also send special personnel to accompany you into Tibet. ”

Zhang Shusheng briefly said the task of the two in one breath, the duo of Zhuge Sheng and Tie Sanqian was almost the most suitable candidate for Tibet he could think of. Zhuge Sheng is good at strategy, handling things properly, and has the style of an ancient general. Tie Sanqian, on the other hand, is iron-blooded and ruthless, and he can handle everything, and the two of them will be the most suitable to deal with the ambitionists in Tibetan Province, clean up the religious forces with bad intentions, and defend against the British. And both of them are graduates of the Huaxia Military Academy, during the graduation assessment, Zhuge Sheng's performance in defense was excellent, and Tie Sangan performed well in offensive subjects, and the two of them, who have been old partners for many years, have cooperated very closely. Coupled with more than ten years of experience in leading troops to fight, there is no problem for the two to enter Tibet.

As for sending light infantry divisions into Tibet, the problem was even smaller, for in the face of small religious armies with only hoes and ordinary breech-loading rifles, the troops of three divisions could crush them and crush them again, and the British could not climb the mountains in order to defend against the danger.

Originally, it should be enough to send one or two divisions of troops, but in order not to leave hidden dangers and eliminate all the main discordant contradictions at the very beginning, Zhang Shusheng still ordered three divisions to two people, but in terms of logistics and supply, even if it takes a lot of effort, it can only maintain the scale of light infantry, at best it is equipped with some artillery.

Zhuge Sheng was overjoyed when he heard this, but he had been thinking about the problem of entering Tibet for a long time. In this general with extremely strong traditional thinking, being able to lead Wang Shi into Tibet and pacify the chaos is a great credit for opening up the territory and Jingtu. Look at the immortal cause that Zuo Zongtang set up when he entered Xinjiang, even if the two of them are not as good as him, they can still make a great difference.

Those who are people are just famous, profit, right, and color, and it is precisely Zhuge Sheng who is the most famous, as for Tie Sanqian, he handed over his life back then, and the two are brothers-like partners. Moreover, for Zhang Shusheng trusting them so much and handing over the heavy task of completely hiding to them, the two were flattered and felt a huge sense of mission.

You must know that the two of them are considered to be outsiders joining the militia group, and they can go to this day and lead the three divisions into Tibet, what a glory it is.

"There is no faith." Zhang Shusheng smiled faintly.

"Report to the chairman, promise to complete the task, and if it fails, may the horse leather shroud be returned."

Zhuge Sheng and Tie Sanqian stood upright at the same time and saluted the most serious military salute.

"I wish you all the best. I once told Zhang Zizhong that he would go to Xinjiang Province to have a look when the time was right, and I would go and see it after you cooperated with the provincial government of Tibet Province to make Tibet Province famous. Zhang Shusheng nodded and said affirmatively.

"Yes, Chairman." The two said in unison.

After a busy time, after the founding of the People's Republic of China, Zhang Shusheng decided the two most important and urgent things.

In the afternoon, Wei Sancai of the Government Council, Liu Dengke, minister of commerce, and Liu Qi, minister of industry, came to the office to talk to Zhang Shusheng about comprehensive economic construction. As vice premier of the State Council, Wei Sancai is already presiding over the regular work, and because of his outstanding ability in the economic field, he is fully responsible for economic construction, which is also the most urgent matter in New China at present.

"Chairman, at present, our economic situation is polarized, and the whole southwest, including Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Hainan, is booming. But the other half of China is old and dilapidated, and there are many problems. "Wei Sancai, as vice premier of the Government Council, of course knows how big this mess is now," To put it simply, the remaining half of China is poor and white, except for Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and coastal areas with a certain industrial and commercial base, and other places, from peasants to small handicraftsmen, from workshop owners to small factory owners, are all on the verge of bankruptcy or about to go bankrupt.

As a result of our preparation months in advance, a new batch of seeds planted in the southwest was harvested this season and rolled out nationwide. At present, the seed reserves are only enough for the share of the three provinces. After the comprehensive assessment of the Ministry of Agriculture, this batch of seeds will be given priority to supply to Hunan, Hubei, Henan, Shandong and other places. The demand for pesticides and fertilizers is not huge at present, the consumption of farmland and cultivated land per unit area is very low, and the chemical strength of the southwest is enough to complete the task of agricultural material production. ”

After the liberation of the whole country, New China did not face diplomatic pressure, nor did it face external military pressure, but the biggest pressure was the problem of eating.

Just imagine, half of China can eat enough, but half of China will starve, this is no matter how difficult to convince the public, not to suffer from widowhood but to suffer from inequality is the common psychology of the Chinese people. Therefore, just after liberation, the political axe mobilized a large amount of grain from the southwest and went to the provinces to relieve the poor who were particularly in difficulty.

Of course, the central government did not adopt the most stupid method to distribute grain directly, but adopted a flexible method of exchanging work for grain. People over 55 years old and under 16 years old (the supply of young people is mainly based on the nine-year compulsory education that will be implemented by the new policy. ), can be rationed, and the rest of the population needs to participate in labor in exchange.

This kind of collective labor is unprecedented, and the pay is very low, but you can still get a certain amount of RMB issued by the New Deal as wages, and the most important thing is to have enough to eat.

There is no shortage of grain in the new political axe, and the new seeds for more than ten years are sown, and every year the southwest political axe is purchased on credit through agricultural taxes such as fertilizer tax and seed tax (farmers buy on credit, and then sell grain to the political axe by paying public grain. Hoarded a staggering amount of grain. After removing the annual consumption of food for industry, commerce and the army, there is also a staggering reserve. The number is large enough to ensure that within two or three years of the establishment of the New Deal Axe, it will be able to easily deal with any famine caused by a major natural disaster.

The New Deal Axe could not distribute food throughout the country, but it would ensure that no one would starve to death. You know, in these years, even if it rains for a few more days, a few more people may starve to death.

Land reform takes time, and it takes a considerable amount of time for the seeds to be planted in the fields after the fields are divided into households, and it will take a considerable amount of time to wait until they are ripe.

In at least a year, the difficulties facing the New Deal axe will be as high as a mountain.

"Since we had stored enough food before, in addition to providing relief to the elderly, the weak, the sick and the disabled, the rest of the food was mainly used for the 'work-for-food' program. According to your instructions, the peasant army will be mainly used for the construction of roads, power stations, dams, mountain ponds, railway foundations, and the construction of large and extra-large factories and mines......"

Listening to Wei Sancai's report, Zhang Shusheng couldn't help but nodded, the plan was better improved in his proposal, and the feasible surname and risk were much smaller.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, in the face of a lot of messes, Zhang Shusheng did not have the method of mobilizing tens of millions of people to work and contribute, but could only mobilize the enthusiasm of the people through this multiple stimulation method of patriotism + faith + food + micro wages.

Judging from the experience of later generations, the power of the people is indeed strong. In his memory, there used to be a very large reservoir in his hometown, and if it were built by the standards of the 21st century, it would take a huge amount of national financial resources to build it in two or three years.

However, in the red years of later generations, this huge reservoir was repaired in just over a year, if not because of anything else, but because of the order of the political axe, thousands of peasants carrying hoes and shovels to excavate.

Before the full adoption of construction machinery, it will play an unimaginable advantage in the large-scale construction of the country.

Imagine, when thousands of highways across the country start construction at the same time, thousands of small and medium-sized power stations are built at the same time, tens of thousands of reservoirs are excavated at the same time, dozens of railways are dug in sections, and dozens of airports, mines, and factories start advanced projects at the same time...... What a spectacle it would be.

Zhang Shusheng did not have time to wait for the engineering teams to do these things slowly, nor did he have such a large investment, and only by letting the people understand that these constructions are actions for the benefit of the localities and the country, and let the whole people take action, it is possible to lay the foundation for the entire country to take off in the shortest possible time.

Of course, there are still many problems in the implementation during this period, such as how to allocate technical instructors? How to mobilize the corresponding materials? How to sort the large-scale construction tasks of each province? Should the roads be built first or the water conservancy dug first? All these need to be carefully planned by the Government Council in conjunction with various departments and in light of the situation in all provinces across the country. In fact, it is impossible to start construction of all projects at the same time, but on the whole, it will be a large-scale national construction operation.

"The Red Soviet Union can build Komsomolsk on the ice field, and the Chinese will definitely complete a series of miracles with diligence and simplicity."

(To be continued)