Tsaritsyn in January 1924, the sun was shining.

The traces of war have not yet been erased from the city, and Moscow is trying to shake off the gloom of famine and has no time to put in order the country destroyed by the war.

Walking on the streets, you can see hungry people in ragged clothes and yellow muscles, as well as disaster relief shelters set up by American charities. Thanks to the help of the United States, the harshest period of the famine finally passed, but many hungry people could still be seen carrying coffins to the suburbs, and these hungry people were frightened and quickened their pace as soon as they saw Qin Jian and the GPU squad behind him.

After the establishment of the Soviet Federation, the Cheka also underwent a major reshuffle and was officially renamed the State Political Security Bureau, abbreviated as GPU.

It is a terrible institution that fights against all passive sabotage and counter-revolutionaries, and has the right to shoot prisoners without trial. It is precisely because of the "prestige" that as long as the whole of Russia sees the symbol of the GPU, it will definitely flee and dare not stay.

Qin Jian is now the head of the GPU in the southwest, and the entire Caucasus and the Volga River basin are under his jurisdiction, because the white bandit forces here have not all been wiped out, the people are full of a lot of capitalist ideas, and Moscow is worried that the United States will take advantage of the disaster relief opportunity to cause sabotage, so the GPU has a heavy task during this time.

He personally came here this time to arrest a few "collaborators."

Funny to say, the collaborators were exposed thanks to the press statement made by the Vice President during his visit to Germany. Because the use of China's railway network to transport grain was originally a very confidential matter, but it was revealed by German newspapers, Moscow believed that someone was transmitting information to the United States, so it found out that several engineers of the former Tsarist Russian Railway Design Bureau set up in Tsaritsyn were responsible for repairing the Trans-Siberian Railway.

When Qin Jian led the soldiers into the design bureau, the engineers were having a meeting in the office on the second floor. The table was littered with railroad design drawings, and one could vaguely hear what lines were being argued. It can be seen that these engineers are indeed making suggestions for the construction of the country, but Qin Jian is ruthless. What Moscow needs now is not construction, but the eradication of traitors and "counter-revolutionaries" who "collaborated with the enemy".

The engineers were also startled when they saw the GPU rushing in. They shouted for the soldiers to leave. Qin Jian had seen too much of this kind of scene, and he didn't bother to explain what he ordered to arrest people directly, and he walked towards the drawings.

The wolf-like soldiers arrested all the engineers with three strikes and five divisions, shouting and cursing and shouting angrily had no effect on Qin Jian. On the contrary, it was a design drawing on the table that made him secretly frightened! This is a map of the railway network in the Turkestan region, and there is nothing near Kazakhstan and the Caspian Sea, but the railway marked as the southern route makes him suddenly vigilant! Because this line runs through the whole of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, and then connects Barnaul from the outside of the Chinese territory in Andijan to the north.

This means that it will be parallel to the current domestic construction of the Northwest Railway! Maybe others haven't seen the Tao yet, but he who has received rigorous training knows very well that if this southern line is repaired. It will be able to support at least hundreds of thousands of troops in the battle, plus the central line of Siberia, which will definitely be repaired, will form two arrows to the northwestern region of the motherland!

However, he didn't find a way to destroy these drawings, after all, there are too many eyes here to destroy them without authorization, and the current Russia can't afford to repair the southern front, and even the repair of the central line of Siberia is enough to choke, so he asked the soldiers to pack up and prepare to take them back to Moscow to be dealt with by Stalin, because this is a good opportunity for promotion and meritorious service.

By the time the soldiers had packed up their drawings and were ready to leave with the "criminals". An armored car suddenly stopped outside the design bureau, and the person who came hurriedly saluted Qin Jian and said hurriedly: "Comrade Mir, the chairman asked you to return to Moscow as soon as possible." The train is ready. ”

Right now? Qin Jian secretly scratched his head, why was he so anxious to go back to Moscow? Could it be that Dzerzhensky was not in good health and allowed himself to go back and take over as director? Or is something else happening? With a barrage of doubts, he rushed back to Moscow with the captured drawings and a few guardsmen and knocked on the door of Stalin's office.

"Comrade President, Mir Ivan reports to you." Qin Jian raised his head slightly.

Stalin, dressed in an ordinary military uniform and smoking a pipe, was reviewing documents. It seems that he is no different from before, but Qin Jian knows that after receiving the support of Bukharin and others, he finally sat on the throne of general secretary, and after holding unlimited power, he became more and more terrifying, and even violently insulted Lenin's wife. Of course, his current power is not stable. It was reported that Lenin had already begun to find a way to remove him from the post of general secretary and elect him for another meritocrat, and that Tonotsky had repeatedly accused him of being rude and abusing his power at Politburo meetings, and the conflict between the two men had become white-hot and would surely erupt in a short period of time.

Stalin raised his head, was very happy when he saw Qin Jian, and took the initiative to step forward to shake hands and said, "Comrade Mir." You've worked hard. I have heard that your work in the southwest is very good, and it has ensured the smooth implementation of the revolution. This is very good! At present, there are many people in the Central Committee who still have serious erroneous ideas, so I have proposed to the Politburo that you be transferred back to Moscow to assist Comrade Dzerzhinsky in his work. ”

Returning to work in the central government of Moscow from the southwest all of a sudden, Qin Jian was both happy and nervous, happy that he could get close to the core and provide valuable information for the motherland, and was worried that Stalin obviously put himself in front of him to help him do something, and the Russians had not used this trick of unloading the mill and killing the donkey. But he gladly accepted the appointment and put the drawings he brought back on the table: "Chairman, this is what I found in the railway design bureau. I think the design is very good! Now there are many counter-revolutionaries in the national labor camps, and they should be sent to the East to undergo labor reform and help the country repair the Trans-Siberian Railway. ”

Stalin was not interested in the plans of the railway, but he was very interested in sending the labor camps to Siberia to build the railway, and thought his idea was very good: "Let the people who designed them go and send the prisoners of the labor camps all over the country, and the Trans-Siberian railway must be repaired as soon as possible." ”

"Okay." Qin Jian nodded, and there was a burst of joy in his heart. It could be seen that Stalin was very satisfied with the idea of using prisoners from labor camps to build railways, and as long as he believed in himself, then the chances in the future would be greater, so he put away the drawings and asked: "Comrade Chairman, is there anything else to call me back?" ”

After Stalin re-finished it, he knocked on his pipe to pour out the ashes, and after refilling the tobacco, his eyebrows twisted sharply: "Recently, Comrade Lenin's health has become worse and worse, and some people can no longer sit still, so you are asked to come back to help me keep an eye on them and defend the revolutionary regime." ”

Although he said vaguely, Qin Jian knew very well who he was referring to, nodded and showed his loyalty before walking outside. But as soon as he opened the door, he saw Youngoda with a short beard and a French military coat walk in. Originally, Stalin wanted to recommend him to go to the GPU, but Qin Jian robbed him of the fat cha, so he was very dissatisfied with Qin Jian. After a cold sweep of his gaze, he walked towards Stalin: "Comrade Chairman, there was a call from the Gorky Hospital, and Comrade Lenin was unconscious. ”

Stalin was stunned for a moment, then got up and paced back and forth, seemingly with indescribable joy and nervousness, and after a moment put down his pipe and let Youngoda prepare the car. Qin Jian looked at his back and sighed secretly, Lenin is probably finished this time. Moscow is about to enter another eventful year.

*****

When Qin Jian tried his best to return to Stalin, Yang Du accompanied Li Yuanhong to Hankou.

Today's Hankou has changed dramatically, with the first two-way railway bridge on the Yangtze River running through the north and south like a rainbow across the two towns of Wuchang and Hankou, linking the southwest railway network with the northern part of the Central Plains, and also promoting the merger of the three towns on the Han River, and the administrative merger was completed in May last year, and the name was changed to Wuhan.

At the end of last year, he inspected the whole country to promote the railway. Li Yuanhong took him to Guangxi in person, and met with dozens of provincial governors such as Lu Rongting and Tan Yanmin, as well as hundreds of business scholars, journalists, and so on. Let's take a train from Wushengguan in the southwest corner to the temple street in the northeast corner of the motherland, the whole journey is 5,135 kilometers, and it takes 7 days and 7 nights. After that, it started from Temple Street, arrived in Almaty along the northern line of the Ring China Railway (formerly the East Siberian Line), and finally crossed Urumqi by car from Almaty to Jiayuguan, took the middle section of the Longhai Line (Xuchang to Jiayuguan) that had just been opened to traffic to Xuchang, and returned to Nanjing from Xuchang to Jinpu Line.

Counting only the transportation time, it took 22 days, the total inspection time was 56 days, and the total mileage was 14,353 kilometers. Of these, railways account for 11,399 kilometers.

This lap is full of excitement and emotion, as well as recognition and difficulty. Almost all newspapers across the country participated in the event, and the military opened its long-wave radio station to journalists around the clock. Through their pens, people living in the interior finally have a general understanding of the motherland's borders, and also know how many difficulties and obstacles there are on the road to national construction and strength.

After returning to Nanjing, Li Yuanhong's excitement had not yet passed, so he heard that the automated assembly line that Yang Qiu would rather get for nothing had arrived in Wuhan. simply dragged him to Hankou to continue to look at the "diorama". It just so happened that Yang Qiu was compiling the book "National War" at Hanyang National Defense University during this time, and he took this opportunity to personally explain the importance of the new military revolution and analyze strategy and tactics to the senior staff officers and officers who were transferred back, so Yang Du also wanted to take the opportunity to see what could keep Yang Qiu busy for so long.

At this time, Wuhan is undoubtedly the most concerned city in the Yangtze River Basin, and after the bridge is opened to traffic, it is more convenient for people to come and go, and the degree of prosperity is comparable to that of Shanghai. As one of the earliest industrial cities in China, Wuhan has several super-large conglomerates including Hanyang Industrial Group and Hubei Iron and Steel Company, 73 joint ventures such as Britain and the United States, 1,131 domestic private enterprises, and 17 technical schools of various universities. From high-end military industry, engine, automobile manufacturing to low-end textile and garment, the annual output value is as high as 2.5 billion yuan, accounting for more than half of the province's national output value. According to the 1923 fiscal analysis, Hubei Province was the first province in the country to basically get rid of agriculture as the pillar of the financial structure, and together with the two municipalities directly under the central government, Shanghai and Chongqing, got rid of the big hat of agricultural society.

Two of the five automated engine block lines sent by Jacob were left in Wuhan, one in the mechanical laboratory of Hubei Provincial University of Technology, and one was handed over to the Hankou Tractor Factory to increase the production of walk-behind tractors.

When Jacob asked the Jewish technicians to operate the production line, almost every Chinese mechanical expert present was extremely shocked.

Now is not 12 years ago China, from the southwest to the unification of the country, every year 2,000 public students are sent to Europe and the United States, even if the European war has not stopped, this is not counting the spontaneous formation of the tide of studying in Europe and the United States. Moreover, the international students of this era are not the gilded families of later generations, they are all real talents selected from the whole country, and they are very hard working after going abroad, and even the British and American Ministries of Education have sent letters to praise them many times. Among them, 40% have received invitations from European and American companies after graduation. Among them, there are not big things like General Motors, Merlin, Boeing and Pratt & Whitney, but the vast majority of people still firmly choose to return to China after the internship and devote themselves to the vigorous national construction.

In this kind of accumulation, many master-level talents have finally appeared in China. But now even they feel incredible, which shows how valuable this automatic assembly line is, and it also makes everyone finally understand why Yang Qiuningshe's hundreds of millions of oilfield shares have to be exchanged for it, and they all secretly admire Yang Qiu's eyes like torches.

The next thing was simple, and the remaining three lines were sent to Anqing, Shenyang and Zhengzhou. The technical team with Longmeng as the core began to concentrate on the research of electrification and automation technology, and successfully imitated the first assembly line of the same model at the end of that year. By mid-1925, there were already 15 such assembly lines in the country used to manufacture tractors, automobiles, aero engines and other fields.

"Or vice president, you're amazing, this set of things is too valuable." In the small courtyard of Wuchang, Yang Du, who came to visit, was still reminiscing about the incredible scene of a walk-behind tractor engine for 4 minutes with a teacup. With this set of things, the annual output of 100,000 tractors in the country is not a problem at all. The price can also be overwhelming about 100 yuan, and it is really popular. In addition, the production of chemical fertilizers is also expanding year by year, the development of land in the northwest and northeast is accelerating, and most of the population and food problems that have been a headache in all dynasties have been solved, which made him really admire Yang Qiu for the first time.

Yang Qiu is also very happy that the new military theory has been done well, and the seedlings of the second industrial revolution with automation and electrification as the core have also been supported. The rest is the water mill thing. So he can also free up his hands to solve another big thing that always haunts his mind.

"Brother Huizi, what do you think of Nanjing?"

Yang Du was slightly stunned, he didn't expect Yang Qiu to suddenly jump to this topic, and he actually had the idea of moving the capital. After thinking about it, he said, "Why does the vice president think like this?" But then again, in fact, the matter of moving the capital has been discussed for a long time. Du feels that although Nanjing is known as the tiger and the dragon, it has no tendency to dominate the world. In the words of the army. That is, there is no risk to be collected near the coastal river. What's more, the Jiangsu government is still working in Nanjing, which does not conform to the identity of the central government. It is better to go back to Beijing and learn from the United States to connect Beijing and Tianjin. Make it the capital region. ”

Yang Qiu nodded slightly, it wasn't a day or two that he wanted to move the capital. In the past, it was because he did not officially become president, but as Li Yuanhong was about to enter his third term, there were still six years left to run for president, and the matter of moving the capital was put on the table. In addition to the relocation of the capital, there is also the most important institutional reform! To be fair, he didn't like the parliamentary system, but before Song Jiaoren's death, he promised in public not to use the parliamentary system, and if he turned his face, it would leave people with a capricious pretext. I wanted to borrow Li Yuanhong's hand to complete this matter, so I asked Yang Du to help with the staff.

After hearing all the meaning, Yang Du also frowned. The parliamentary system and the presidential system are actually republicans, not considered to change the national system, but the problem is that Yang Qiu took over the Republic of China after all, not a new country, and at that time, the stable internal government also agreed to accept all the laws of the Republic of China. Now that the Covenant has become a constitution, it is necessary to revise the constitution if it is to be changed to a presidential system. I'm afraid it's going to make a lot of waves.

However, he welcomed Yang Qiu's return to the presidential system, because it can be seen from these years that China still needs a strong man to lead, at least for the time being, the country needs a person who can lead everyone, and he must hold great power to concentrate on big things. Yang Qiu is now holding the Congress hostage with his party and prestige, and he has not become president, which is tantamount to exploiting the loopholes of the Constitution. But after becoming president, it is different, although the national society controls the Congress, but who can be selfless in the hearts of the people? For the good end of the right to be taken back by the president, it must be a hundred reluctance.

To put it mildly, it is estimated that there are as many people in the country who are afraid of Yang Qiu as they like Yang Qiu, so if he can't get power after becoming president, he may really get into a battle between the government and the court. In fact, I am not afraid of ripping the skin, and it is a big deal to order a new general election until the parliament is elected that is willing to amend the constitution, but now that every second counts in national construction, internal friction can only waste time.

So Yang Du thought about it and said: "It's not difficult to say that this matter is not difficult, the key is still in the president!" Even if you run the election in five years, there will be no one to compete with in the whole country, but if you amend the constitution and change back to the presidential system by yourself, it is inevitable that some people will chew their tongues, so it is better to let President Li handle this matter and handle things well in his hands. ”

Yang Qiu also had this idea. He did not directly serve as president at the beginning, firstly, because he had a constitutional term limit, and secondly, because he had promised Song Jiaoren not to change the parliamentary system, he could only fall into the dispute between the government and the court when he became president in a hurry. But Li Yuanhong is not among them, he still has one last term in office, if he can change back to the presidential system at the last moment, he can avoid the struggle for power in the government after he comes to power.

But how to talk to Li Yuanhong about this matter?

"Don't worry, vice president, the bad guys will let the degree do a good job." Yang Du saw his thoughts, and continued with a smile: "But if this matter is to succeed, you and President Li still need to act in a scene. ”

"What's the play?"

"You forgot? Aren't you looking to move the capital? Disagreements and quarrels. Yang Du rolled his eyes and laughed: "If you quarrel with President Li, he can pretend to be angry and find an excuse to take back his power, and then you will resign as vice president and concentrate on waiting for the election." It's not a few years ago, and as long as you acquiesce, they will have to cooperate obediently in the end. As for the Kuomintang and the Republican Party, there is no need to worry, didn't you just say that Hu Hanmin and the poor party colluded together? If they jump out, they will beat this matter hard, and the crime of colluding with foreign criminals is not small, see what else they have to say! ”

Yang Du is worthy of being exquisite, and he even thought about how to force the Kuomintang to bow his head so quickly. Having said that, if Hu Hanmin's matter was shaken out, Zhang Shizhao and Wang Zhaoming could only bow their heads and acquiesce. But this matter cannot be rushed, and said: "You should first blow the wind to the president on this matter and see what his opinion is." Now is the key to the sprint of the second five-year plan, and we must not get caught up in the dispute between the government and the court, and we should wait for his third term to do it. ”

Yang Du understood that he wanted to stabilize and ensure the completion of the second five-year plan, nodded and was about to leave, but Rui Yao hurriedly walked in with a telegram: "Chenhua, Yuqiu asked me to give it to you, saying that Lenin is dead." ”…… (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendation and monthly passes, and your support is my biggest motivation. )