The head of the Li family was also qualified to participate in the welcome dinner held that evening, and on the same night, the banquet was attended by important officials from both the military and the government, in addition to local officials from Nanjing and Anhui and southern Anhui, as well as the person in charge of the Jiangnan Mining Company, and so on.

Even when his wife went to see Fang Defei, she was rewarded by Fang Defei with a pair of calligraphy that was said to be a certain master of the former Ming Dynasty.

After resting for one night that day, the next day Lin Zhe went to the Tu Industrial Zone by himself and those ministers, this kind of simple official itinerary, and there was nothing to see in the industrial zone, except for the billowing smoke, which was rumbling, so he didn't bring the concubine.

Fang Defei was accompanied by the guards to hang out separately, and it was inevitable that she would be accompanied by a large number of family members of military and political dignitaries.

Lin Zhe likes to take Fang Deconcubine with him when he goes out, and when those ministers always have to worry about the existence of Fang Deconcubine, they don't know who started, when many ministers accompany Lin Zhe and Fang Deconcubine when they go out, they usually bring a small number of female dependents to accompany Fang Deconcubine to talk or something.

When Lin Zhe arrived in the industrial zone, he had not yet entered the industrial zone, but he saw the tall chimneys outside, and the chimneys were billowing with thick smoke at this time, and he could smell a smell of coal ash when he entered the industrial zone.

If this kind of environment is placed in the future generations, if that official dares to let such a super polluting enterprise settle, he will immediately be reported and lose his official hat, but today in 1859.

The rumbling noise coming from this huge factory, the billowing smoke from the tall chimneys, and the pungent smell in the air represent the heavy industry that Lin Zhe dreamed of.

Therefore, such a heavily polluted industrial zone was built, and Bi Xuanxi did not lose his official hat. Instead, he became a star-level official in the imperial officialdom to set up industry.

Many people are speculating that with the rapid development of Dangtu Industrial Zone. Bi Xuanxi, who is responsible for the preparation at this time, will inevitably be further promoted, and with Bi Xuanxi's current qualifications and His Majesty's attention to him. Subsequently, he will either be transferred to the cabinet or will be promoted to a certain province as governor.

"It seems that you have worked hard in the past two years!" Lin Zhe turned his head and said this to Bi Xuanxi, which made Bi Xuanxi's face immediately overcome: "Weichen was able to build this industrial zone thanks to His Majesty's teaching!" ”

This is not entirely a compliment, although Lin Zhe has not been to Dangtu Industrial Zone before, but in fact, the development of this Dangtu Industrial Zone is the same as the development of the industrial zone in Shanghai, and the rhythm is firmly controlled by Lin Zhe.

Why? It is because Lin Zhe knows that there is a super-large iron mine in the area of Ma'anshan in Dangtu!

In this year, the core of heavy industry is steelmaking and iron production!

Steel is the foundation of an industrial country, and an agricultural country must do well in order to complete the industrial revolution. Supplemented by the chemical industry, then it can basically lay the industrial foundation of a country.

On the basis of steel and chemical industry, there is the development of machinery manufacturing, and after all kinds of machine tools and other machinery and equipment manufactured by machinery, we can build well-known industrialization benchmark achievements, such as railways and ships.

In the nineteenth century, in order to complete the industrial revolution, light industries such as textiles were used to accumulate raw capital, and heavy industries represented by steel and chemicals were used to lay the industrial foundation.

As a descendant. Lin Zhe is very aware of the importance of the steel industry to the development of a country, so even if China has not yet been completely unified, he is already preparing relevant development plans.

Under the conditions of contemporary technology, there are not many iron ores that can be easily mined on a large scale in the Chinese Empire. Considering factors such as coal supply, transportation and market, there are not many options left for Lin Zhe, only Hubei Daye Iron Mine, Maanshan Iron Mine in southern Anhui, and Anshan Iron Mine in the northeast are worth investing heavily in large-scale development.

And in the first two years. Hubei and Northeast China were not under the control of the Chinese army, and the only large-scale iron ore mine under Lin Zhe's control at that time was the Ma'anshan iron mine in southern Anhui. So at that time, Lin Zhe actually had no choice but to develop the iron ore in Ma'anshan.

Of course. Now that he has controlled Hubei and Hunan, and the Northeast has also fallen into the control of the empire, Lin Zhe is also planning to develop the coal and iron resources in the Huguang region and the Northeast, but the investment required for the development of coal and iron is too great, and it must be cautious and cautious, such as considering many aspects to pass, and it is not that Lin Zhe can do it in one sentence.

Today's Dangtu Industrial Zone has the support provided by the local government in southern Anhui, the tax incentives given by the central government, and the most important funds, technology and talent support provided by the enterprises under the Finance Department of the Palace Affairs Department.

But Rao is so, it took two or three years to achieve initial results, and now the second phase of the plant has been built!

In addition to the behemoth of Jiangnan Mining Company, there are more than 20 other small and medium-sized enterprises in this industrial zone, most of which are related to steel and chemical enterprises, some are engaged in machinery manufacturing, and some are engaged in steam engine maintenance.

Most of them are some enterprises that support Jiangnan Mining Company!

In addition, there is a new arsenal invested by the Finance Department of the Palace Affairs Department, namely the Dangtu Arsenal, which is mainly used to produce medium and large-caliber artillery, which is expected to complement the Jinling Arsenal, which produces small arms and small and medium-caliber artillery, but the factory is still under construction and will have to wait a year before it can be put into production.

After visiting this slightly larger industrial zone, Lin Zhe led a group of people to preside over the commissioning ceremony of the second phase of Jiangnan Iron and Steel Plant, a subsidiary of Jiangnan Mining Company.

After completing this ceremony, Lin Zhe did not stay in the Dangtu Industrial Zone for long, after all, the environment in this industrial zone was really not good, and the pungent smell in the air made Lin Zhe a little unbearable.

After returning to the temporary palace, Lin Zhe brought Fang Deconcubine to the dinner in public that evening and made a short speech at the dinner.

The theme of the speech was very clear, that is, the development of industry is an important foundation for the rise of the empire, and encouraged the people and businessmen of the empire to actively participate in the wave of industry, and promised that the empire would give major policy support to industrial development, especially some heavy industries that are urgently needed by the defense industry of the empire.

The biggest purpose of his visit this time is to show the outside world his support for industrial development!

Three days later, Lin Zhe and Fang Defei returned to Nanjing on the Navy Suzhou!

At the same time, in Qutang Pass, the capital of Kuizhou, Sichuan, more than 30 small and medium-sized inland river ships of the Chinese Army were carrying out fierce artillery bombardment on Qutang Pass in front!

On the north shore of the land, a large number of army soldiers with breech-loading rifles are climbing between the steep mountains and mountains, and then launching a fierce attack on the Taiping soldiers on Qutang Pass!

Although the Taiping army had the geographical advantage, they could not resist the overwhelming naval artillery fire and dense and accurate rifle fire of the Chinese army.

These Taiping soldiers stationed at Qutang Pass are also elite veterans of the Taiping Army, but these soldiers who are still armed with swords are brave, but they are often knocked to the ground without even seeing the face of the Chinese army.

The continuous shelling lasted for more than two days, and by the time the shelling of the Chinese army stopped, the entire Qutang Pass had been reduced to ruins, and this pass, which had once blocked the enemy for thousands of years, did not play much role in the face of modern artillery and rifles.

In order to conquer this important pass on the Yangtze River and obtain the gate to enter the land of Bashu, the Chinese army that advanced westward attached great importance to it, and although it was already facing the dry period of autumn and winter, the navy still took the risk to transfer nearly 20 river gunboats, and there were still more than 10 transport ships equipped with naval guns, forming a naval artillery support fleet.

On the army side, the 13th Infantry Division, equipped with 1858 rear-loading rifles, was the attacking force, and the army soldiers first arrived on naval ships and then landed on foot, because the terrain was quite harsh, and could not carry heavy artillery, so the army's operations could only rely on rifles, and artillery support mainly relied on naval guns.

After a fierce battle, the Fifth Army, which had advanced westward, finally took the pass and annihilated at least 5,000 Taiping soldiers, and of course more Taiping soldiers fled.

The Chinese army itself also suffered losses, the 13th Division, which was responsible for attacking the fortified positions, suffered about 500 casualties, and the navy was also burned by the Taiping Army's use of fireboat attack tactics, resulting in the burning of a gunboat and the death of four sailors.

But despite the slight losses, after taking this pass, it means that the Badong area of Ruoda is already exposed to the guns of the Chinese army like a beautiful woman who has taken off her clothes!

After taking Qutang Pass, Lin Chengfei did not pause at all, but led the 13th Division and the 2nd Guards Mixed Brigade of the Fifth Army to quickly enter the Kuizhou Mansion in the Badong region, and defeated more than 60,000 Taiping troops in Yunyang and Wanxian.

In the first battle after the Fifth Army entered Sichuan, although the Fifth Army's combat effectiveness was not very good due to factors such as terrain and long-distance supply, it was even better when it fought in Jiujiang, Hubei and other places.

The most important factor is that the Zhenhu Army and Hunan Army fought by the Chinese Army in Jiangxi and Huguang were all new army units, but although there were a small number of new troops in the Taiping Army, they were still dominated by a large number of cold weapons and old armies.

These cold weapons of the old army could not defeat the Chinese army, which was only equipped with Mini rifles and cartridges, and now it is even more impossible to defeat the Fifth Army, which has been fully equipped with rear-loading rifles.

The Fifth Army took advantage of its absolute infantry firepower superiority to defeat all the Taiping troops in the Padang area with a sweeping posture!

After occupying Badong, Chongqing, an important town in Sichuan, was exposed to the threat of the Chinese army!

When Lin Chengfei led the Fifth Army into Sichuan, on the other side, Shi Langyi also led more than 40,000 troops into Yunnan. (To be continued.) )