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Baotou, May 1919.

The Baotou railway station is crowded with people, including herdsmen and traders from inside, soldiers stationed here, and industrial workers from all over the country who have even returned from their studies in France. They huddled together, their eyes fixed on the deer barricade that hung with ribbons but stood in the middle of the railway. A train locomotive heads north and stops south of Luqi. To the north of Luqi is the Baokou Railway, which was completed last year, and to the south is the Zhengzhou-Jiaozuo-Taiyuan-Baotou Railway, which was rebuilt and extended on the basis of the original Zhengtai Line. The two railways could have been merged last year, but because of the rush to transport Russian supplies, and later because of the delay in the construction of the steel mill, it has been delayed until now. "Chengcheng, don't be in a daze." Tang Shaoyi, who specially came to attend the merging ceremony, beckoned to Zhan Tianyou and handed him the red silk rope that controlled the train whistle.

Zhan Tianyou, who took the red silk, couldn't help but sigh. Since Yang Qiu inspected the area four years ago and located the Baiyun mining area, Baotou has been listed as a steel and coal base in the north of the Republic of China, where hundreds of thousands of people and builders have come to build railways, dam power plants, and lay telegraph lines. After four years of hard work, tens of millions of dollars were consumed, and more than 100 tons of explosives were used, not only Baotou, a small border city in the past, has become a medium-sized city, but also the railway has finally been determined to merge today! Although the two lines were still single-track, and the construction of the double line had to be slowed down a lot because of the priority given to other railways, their merger still meant that after the Eastern Railway left by Russia, there was finally a second main road to the north in China, and it also meant that it was possible to start from Hankou and reach Kulen directly without changing trains.

In addition, the first Wuchang Bridge across the Yangtze River in China is being built with the help of American engineers, and the merger of the main road of the Southwest Railway with the Jinghan Line is just around the corner. At that time, you will be able to take a train from Nanguan, the southernmost town of Guangxi, to Harbin and Kulun in the northernmost way! More than seven years of hard work cost nearly 1 billion people. With a total of more than 4 million laborers, including the half-army and half-civilian construction corps, and the use of thousands of kilometers of railway lines left behind by the Manchu Qing Dynasty, Tsarist Russia, and Japan, the country's three vertical and three horizontal main roads have finally begun to emerge on a large scale.

He remembered Yang Qiu, who was far away in Paris, and still remembered the expression on his face when he met him in Hankou and heard him say that he would complete the main railway line of the whole country within 20 years. At that time, he thought he had seen a madman, who was a crazy man like Sun Yat-sen, but now it seems that he is actually stupid.

The Jinghan Line and Jinpu Line began to be renovated in 13 years, and the main trunk line of the Southwest Railway was fully opened in 12 years. As long as the main roads of Jiangsu and Zhejiang are repaired, the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge is built and the Jinpu line is merged, the two vertical and two horizontal lines are preliminarily completed, and the rest is nothing more than the expansion of a single line into a double line, and the extension or construction of branch lines based on the main roads. The most arduous challenge is the Longhai line from Lianyungang to Ili Balkhash Lake, and the 3,000-kilometer northern Xinjiang artery from Jiamusi and Hailar and then across the prairie to Xinjiang. It was expected to open to traffic by 1925, and the latter was already on the government's agenda.

Three vertical and three horizontal!

Once completed, the north and south will be interconnected, the east and west will converge, and a mobile China will be displayed in front of the world! When 40,000,000 compatriots like Europe and the United States can go out of their homes and take the train, what a magnificent scene it is! Not to mention anything else, just the railway in front of me can allow Mongolian cattle and sheep to enter the hinterland in a steady stream, and can also quickly send salt and iron tea back to the Mongolian steppe, which can reduce the cost and time of manpower transportation! There is a railway. The number of trains has skyrocketed from scarcity to thousands! First the 2,200 modified trains brought back from Russia, and then the 4,500 trains that Europe received without even changing them, and the biggest problem of restricting railway transportation was solved in the blink of an eye. Of course, before the time to celebrate, Germany alone in Europe had 15,000 trains before the war, while a country as large as China had less than 10,000. And compared to the entire national railway network, this is the first step, but if the first step has been taken, why can't we imagine extending the railway to every city or even every village and town?

"Sincerity? Sincerely! Tang Shaoyi saw Zhan Tianyou pinching the red silk with tears in his eyes. Knowing that he was overexcited, he hurriedly patted him and smiled: "If you don't do it again, the auspicious time will pass." ”

Zhan Tianyou slapped his forehead and laughed: "Look at me, I forgot it." "After finishing speaking, pull the red silk with Tang Shaoyi." Woo. The melodious whistle fluttered along the wind in all directions, and the ancient Hetao land seemed to be awakened by this whistle. The sound of firecrackers and cheers suddenly exploded, and the golden lion danced wildly. The waist drum is noisy! The locomotive spewed steam under tens of thousands of eyes, smashed the deer, and rolled north.

Tang Shaoyi was also very excited when he looked at the train, but there was still a place waiting for him today, so as soon as he finished cutting here, he pulled Zhan Tianyou to run to the state-owned Baotou Steel Mill. Most of the coal mining and steelmaking equipment that was relocated from Yekaterinburg remained in Baotou. The Ministry of Industry organized the whole country to work together to prepare two years in advance and spend another year to build this steel mill, and the design capacity has reached 1.5 million tons of crude steel per year. Although the Ministry of Industry predicts that it will take at least a year to reach the design capacity, and it is unlikely to develop into a comprehensive large-scale industrial group such as Chongqing and Hanyang, mainly positioned in metal smelting and rough processing, with the ignition of steelmaking furnaces, the take-off of national steel production is just around the corner.

Seven years seems like a long time, but isn't a gunshot still ringing in my ears in the year of Xinhai? So this grand scene made Tang Shaoyi secretly wonder if he would do a few more terms, but he was much more sober than ordinary people, Li Yuanhong was able to keep his position because he held too little real power, and the three departments of military, finance and national development were pinched by Yang Qiu, but the prime minister needs to deal with daily domestic affairs, so he has more real power, and before Yang Qiu ascended the presidential throne, no one wants to occupy this position for a long time, so he can't help but sigh when he thinks of this.

Zhan Tianyou was in the midst of excitement, and was surprised when he heard the sigh: "Shaochuan, why is this, there is a change in Paris?" ”

Tang Shaoyi glanced at him, and actually really wanted to be like him, so he concentrated on building the railway and didn't care about other things. He said: "There is nothing big in Paris, although Britain and Japan have not yet made an official reply, but as long as the treaty is signed, the United States, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal and other countries will announce the cancellation of all unequal treaties with China." The general trend is that it is impossible for them to be alone. The fleet had also arrived in Chile ten days ago to rest, and the old man personally brought two Anhai-class ships to pick them up this time in the name of a training visit. Chenhua, before I came, I also sent a telegram to nag, saying that he is now watching quarrels every day, and when he has time, he will arrange to recruit experts from Austria-Hungary and other countries who are willing to come to our country, or simply sleep well. ”

"Haha." Zhan Tianyou heard that Yang Qiu was idle in Paris, and he was even more curious about why Tang Shaoyi sighed, and asked, "In this case, why is Shaochuan still sighing?" Do you dislike the crude and rudimentary steelworks? ”

Tang Shaoyi shook his head. Thinking that he was about to step down in one year, he couldn't help but say: "Chengcheng, we have been in the United States for more than 40 years, right?" Thinking of the past, Zhan Tianyou also looked autumnal, looking at the first prosperous scene of Baotou and sighed: "It's been almost fifty years!" I remember that when you and I first arrived in the United States, we had a fight with John because the whip was cut during class, and I was reprimanded for a long time when I came back. ”

"yes, it's half in the ground in a blink of an eye." Tang Shaoyi was also aroused. said: "At your and me's age, I can see everything." It's just that there is one thing that I have never been worried about, my generation will eventually grow old, and the future world will be Chenhua's generation. I have watched him for many years and found that his courage is not ordinary people, he has a unique vision, and he is young enough to ensure long-term policy stability, which is really a blessing for my country, but I always feel that I can't see through him. seems to be greedy for power, but it keeps the Kuomintang and the Republican Party from fighting, and is even very willing to see the two merge. Obviously, he would have been able to ascend to the throne of the presidency a long time ago. But he is willing to see Li Huangpi continue to stay in office, and then he will seize the three powers and not let go of his sincerity, do you say this is a good thing or a bad thing? ”

Zhan Tianyou didn't expect him to be worried about this matter, but he could also see that he had really risen and retired to the present, so some of the things he dyed on Beiyang in his early years gradually let go, as if he had returned to the era when he came back from the United States, which made him very happy in his heart. How many of the young children who studied in the United States back then can maintain their style at the moment? Society is a big dye vat, as the country was forcibly pinched and gradually transformed by Yang Qiu, the turbid officialdom and society of the Manchu Qing Dynasty gradually freshened, which made him feel like returning to the fiery era of the development of the western United States. People are starting to pursue their dreams, not just to get promoted. So not only was he not surprised, but said happily: "Shaochuan, why did you say we stayed in the United States in the first place?" ”

Tang Shaoyi was stunned for a moment, and thought about it: "Naturally, it is a rich country and a strong people, and learn from the advanced countries of Europe and the United States." ”

"Doesn't Shaochuan feel that the country has changed a little bit? Why should he care about his character? Zhan Tianyou turned his head and smiled, pointed to the billowing smoke from the chimney of the steel mill in the distance and said, "If it weren't for Chenhua's arbitrary action, would Shaochuan think these things would appear today?" Even if it can appear. Is the construction pace so fast? Why should those who achieve great things be rigid in means! The vice president knows much better than you and me, the dictatorship of imperial power is just a dream of Nan Ke, and in the end it is just raising a group of bureaucrats who can't get rid of it! But it is not in power, it is not oppressive, and it is impossible to be arbitrary. It is impossible to concentrate the power of the state to do great things, unless there is a willingness to see infighting drain the future of the country. ”

"Then why doesn't he become the president himself?" Tang Shaoyi asked.

Zhan Tianyou shook his head: "I don't know about this, I think it must be related to the longest term of the president in the constitution." ”

Tang Shaoyi was silent, but his eyes gradually brightened, and he suddenly laughed: "Chengcheng, you really shouldn't have gone to study Massachusetts at that time, you should have studied politics." After laughing, he seemed to be a teenager younger, took a breath and said, "Let's get down to business." Chen Hua called from Paris, asking us to mobilize grain and materials from Dihua (Urumqi) as soon as possible. I would also like to ask you if there is any way to get military supplies to Karakum as soon as possible. ”

This sudden question made Zhan Tianyou quickly put away his smile and said eagerly: "There is going to be a war in the northwest?" ”

"It's not about going to war, it's already going to be war." Tang Shaoyi said: "The Russian civil war is in full swing, Denikin's army is almost to Moscow (the capital has been moved) to the north, and Kolchak has also occupied Kazan from Ufa all the way west to try to make peace. Lenin had called on the country's sappers to defend Moscow, and each side had gathered more than two million troops, and it was heard that the casualties in the country were extremely heavy. We don't care about Europe, but recently the Poor Party Red Army has repeatedly invaded Xinjiang, Kazakhstan west of Lake Balkhash, and Almaty to the south. It is said that this person fought very well, and even Kolchak's general Dutov was defeated and defeated, so Chenhua and the Ministry of Defense decided to sweep there to ensure the safety of the northwest frontier. ”

Zhan Tianyou frowned, Karakum is located in the middle of Lake Balkhash and Zaisangbo, the latter two together with Issyk-Kul Lake are the three major lakes in the northwest that were cut off by Russia during the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and it happens that the three big lakes envelop East Kazakhstan and Almaty, so Karakum Fortress is a very important fortress in the northwest! However, due to the poor construction of the road, the construction was not smooth, and the materials needed to be transported to Barnaul, Russia through the Trans-Siberian Railway, and then transported by truck from there, not to mention the bumpy road, and the road was not easy to walk, so the Ministry of Industry considered transporting a set of small cement factories and small thermal power equipment from China to there to build a fortress with local materials. Originally, the plan was to be preliminarily completed by 1922 and completed in 1925, but I didn't expect it to be urgent now.

What to do?

After thinking about it, he said: "After the Japanese escaped, a lot of light steel rails were left behind, which was enough to ensure the need, if you can cut down the wood to make sleepers from local materials, increase the density of the sleepers and lay them directly on the flat surface, and then lay a 1-meter narrow track to calculate the distance, as long as the manpower on the flat ground is enough, the rails will arrive in time, and the traffic can be guaranteed within half a year!" It's just that this kind of improvised narrow-gauge railway is very easy to destroy. "Tang Shaoyi knew about the narrow gauge, and during the Russo-Japanese War, Japan used light narrow gauge to transport military supplies to build the Anbong Line. Three or four thousand people built 260 kilometers in less than half a year. Now there are three divisions rushing to Xinjiang, and it is absolutely certain that 10,000 people will be repaired within half a year, but it is not so easy to move in the northwest, since ancient times, the northwest has fought wars with money and grain! East Kazakhstan and Almaty are quite convenient, at least Dihua was repaired when the Manchu Qing Dynasty was in the past, and it was immediately passable all the way, but after Balkhash Lake was all mountainous, I don't know how much grain and materials would be consumed to fight.

But this war is now fought if it is not wanted to be fought, if the poor party guerrillas cut off the Kazakhs, I am afraid that Kolchak will be finished, and it will be a bubble to contain Russia and let the north rest for a few more years, so he hurriedly pulled Zhan Tianyou to the telegraph station and began to mobilize materials to raise materials for the northwest...... (To be continued)