Clanging, clanging......

The train to Dagukou roared and spewed smoke in the direction of Dagu, this blue steel express train was specially prepared by the China Railway Company for the governor of Zhili, a total of nine carriages, of which three were used as living rooms, dining rooms and study bedrooms for the exclusive use of the governor, and the rest were divided into guards and relatives. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

According to the idea of the railway company, in the future, the railway of Zhili, Shandong, Henan and other places will be connected, and the Governor General will rarely take the train to and from the provinces, and then he will naturally be able to use this can be called the "line" of the train, although now the railway has not yet come out of Zhili, but everyone knows that Jiaoao is building a railway to Jinan, and in a few years, not to mention anything else, this Jiaoao will always be connected to Zhili by the railway.

However, as a governor, it is naturally impossible for his carriage to be as luxurious as the palace, and Li Hongzhang, who is the governor of Zhili, is not so much luxurious, this carriage is not so much elaborately decorated, but rather in accordance with the standard of the first-class luxury carriage in the West, so that this carriage is full of strong Western style.

Whether it is a Western-style sofa or a thick carpet, there are Western-style places everywhere, but Li Hongzhang himself does not feel that it is not suitable, in fact, compared to the armrest hoop chair, he is already old and likes to make Western-style soft chairs or Western-style sofas, especially in this winter.

"Xingsun, when will this Jiaoji railway be completed?"

After inspecting the entire train, Li Hongzhang, who was full of interest, asked Sheng Xuanhuai, who was accompanying him, who was the general office of the railway company, and the railways directly under the three provinces were naturally operated by him.

"Back to Quanshuai, three years, at most next year, the Jiaoao Railway will be opened to traffic. Now the eastern section has been repaired to Gaomi, and the western section has also been repaired to Zibo, just waiting for the locomotive imported from the United States to Jiaoao, these two sections can be opened to traffic! ”

Sheng Xuanhuai hurriedly replied that in the past year, the China Railway Company, which has been dragging its feet in building the railway. Thanks to sufficient funds, it is necessary to build the railway "vigorously and resolutely", and the Jiaoao Railway is to implement the construction of both sides in order to speed up the construction period.

Of course, the reason for speeding up the construction was not only due to the fact that the funds were sufficient, but more importantly, the delay in the construction not only led to the decline of the railway company's stocks and bonds, but more importantly, it would lead to the dissatisfaction of Li Zhongtang and the presence of the shogunate. As Li Hongzhang's most trusted economic staff, Sheng Xuanhuai didn't know the plans of Lord Zhongtang.

"This railway must not only be repaired, but also built quickly and well......"

Looking at the snowflakes outside the carriage, Li Hongzhang said with emotion.

"I heard that in a few months, after the completion of the Yalu River Bridge, the railway in the northeast will be connected to North Korea, and then Ziran will be able to connect several railways in one. On the other hand, let's look at it, Xingsun. You say, in two years, can we connect the whole Zhili by rail? ”

As the Minister of Beiyang Commerce, as early as several decades ago, Li Hongzhang learned about the convenience of the railway from foreigners, and tried to promote the railway in every possible way. It is a pity that it was not until a few years ago that the imperial court agreed to build a railway, but it was "intercepted" by Zhang Zhidong in the middle, although later in the name of "worrying about the east", the road money from Hubei had to be returned to Beiyang. However, the real overhaul of the railway was not until after the "Nine Governors' Deliberations", imitating the example of the Northeast and relying on the issuance of stocks and bonds to build the railway.

And whenever the railway is mentioned, Li Hongzhang can not turn a blind eye to the railway in the Northeast, in fact, the railway construction speed in the Northeast is twice that of Zhili, how can this not make Li Hongzhang vigilant.

"Quan Shuai, most of the northeast is flatland, and it is naturally convenient to build a railway, and the northeast is vast and sparsely populated, and there is no worry about land acquisition, so this railway is naturally faster than ours......"

Without waiting for Sheng Xuanhuai to explain, Zhang Peilun on the side took the lead to explain for him, this is not because now Beiyang is one, and the big guys who share honor and disgrace have tied their bodies to Lord Zhongtang, and more importantly, Sheng Xuanhuai is more capable of being a person than others, after the Western technicians from Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom can set the route, they will invite the people in the house to the company successively, and point out a few pieces of land at will, hinting that they bought it, of course, those lands are not road construction land, and it is impossible to raise land prices for public and private purposes.

But those plots are all near the railway station without exception, with the opening of the location of the railway station, the price of the adjacent land will naturally increase dozens or even hundreds of times, not to mention Zhang Peilun's investment in Tianjin, Baoding, Jinan and Jiaoao near the big station of the western-style buildings, the future profits, just in the past year or so, just to sell the land, that is, hundreds of thousands of taels of silver.

In this way, Zhang Peilun wouldn't have said a word or two for him in front of Li Hongzhang, and for Zhang Peilun's kind words, Li Hongzhang just nodded slightly, and then smiled disappreciatively.

"It's the old man who is too anxious, just blame those foreigners for what they said, when the Franco-Prussian War was won, Prussia was better than the railway, so the old man looked at the railway in the northeast and built it so fast, so he was so anxious!"

Li Hongzhang, who took the responsibility back to himself, actually pretended to be confused, and he didn't know that everyone in the house and the railway company joined forces to speculate on the land of the station for profit, but sometimes, people always have to turn a blind eye, after all, if you want the horse to run, you have to let the horse graze.

And at this time, Li Hongzhang always couldn't help but think about another person, thinking of Tang Haoran in the Northeast, thinking about how he would deal with this matter? In fact, it is no secret that the Northeast has a lot of money for station land -- it is completely purchased by the railway company, and then it is profitable to build houses and sell them separately and sublease them, and a large station like Shenyang can make a profit of up to one million taels just by selling buildings and shops.

In fact, it is not said that it is a railway station, but in the construction of new cities in places such as Dalian and Shenyang, it will also be in accordance with the land leveling regulations after the land acquisition, and the basic installation of water and sewerage, electricity, and gas will be configured. Subsequently, in accordance with the "Relevant Regulations on the Sale and Lease of Land and Buildings" promulgated by the Governor's Office, detailed and strict regulations have been made on the construction period, transfer principles, land use, area size, and bidding methods of a certain status, which are no different from the current relevant requirements. Except for public land such as government offices, government schools, roads, and parks, the rest of the land is listed and traded. Seaside new towns like Dalian will start selling in the main urban area, which is relatively close to the port, and then gradually expand westward, and start bidding for sale in October last year. According to the newspaper, by October this year, a total of 289 hectares of land had been sold, and the profit was 4.96 million yuan, which was dozens of times higher.

Tang Ziran!

Thinking that kid always has a way to make money. Li Hongzhang couldn't help but smile bitterly in his heart, and then said with a smile on his face.

"Now let's repair in Zhili first, and when the three provinces are connected, let's build the railway to the south......"

Looking at the land flying outside the carriage, Li Hongzhang's heart instantly surged with unprecedented ambition.

"When the railway is repaired, our influence will be there, even if it is not good, with the railway in the future, we will ......"

It's easy to transfer troops! But the words are on the lips. Li Hongzhang still changed the conversation.

"What we produce here, can also be shipped over!"

There are some things that can be done, but they can't be said, and Li Hongzhang, who has been up and down all his life, doesn't know that today he said that "it is convenient to transfer troops", and if he can't keep it in order, someone will really send troops out tomorrow.

What Quan Shuai said is that now Shandong sells foreign goods from the Northeast everywhere, if the railway is built. The foreign goods produced in Tianjin can also be directly transported to Shandong. When the railway is repaired to Henan, it can be transported to Henan, and this cargo profit naturally cannot be fully occupied by Tang Ziran! ”

Although Tang Haoran is now the governor of the three eastern provinces, logically speaking, Sheng Xuanhuai should be called "Ran Shuai", but whether it is Sheng Xuanhuai or Zhang Peilun. Everyone in the Beiyang Mansion regards Tang Haoran as a "late-born junior", and it is naturally impossible to respect him as "handsome", and Li Hongzhang did not deliberately remind him that as the "first governor of the world", intentionally or unintentionally. He will also regard Tang Haoran as a "junior".

"But no, now the hand in the Northeast has grown a little, I heard people say, this time, what kind of "agricultural experimental field" they got is sprinkled with silver all over the ground, persuading the people to plant American cotton seeds, saying that it is high yield, in my opinion, this Tang Ziran must be harboring evil intentions, and my uncle has to guard against it! ”

When he spoke, Zhang Shiheng paid attention to his uncle's expression, and saw that his brows were slightly furrowed, and there seemed to be some unhappiness between his eyebrows, so he knew that he had won the bet, because of the illegal sale of ordnance by the Ordnance Bureau, he was "dismissed", and he finally returned to the house, so he naturally wanted to show something.

"Mimian? I also said here in Shandong, said that it is a subsidy of one yuan silver dollar for planting ten acres, but this American cotton is indeed better than the national cotton, it can be described as high yield and high quality, it is especially suitable for machine factory textile, Huguang's Zhang Nanpi last year in the lake to promote American cotton, this year is no exception, want to come to the Northeast to do this is also because of the yarn factory raw materials, this promotion of American cotton, one to benefit the people, two to protect the yarn factory with cotton, think about it is also a good thing......

As a businessman, Sheng Xuanhuai certainly knew what American cotton was, but at this point, he followed Zhang Shiheng's words.

"However, even so, Quan Shuai, there are some things that have to be guarded against! After all, this is Zhili, not the Northeast ......"

Just when Sheng Xuanhuai's words fell, the train had begun to slow down and began to slowly enter the train station, and when the train slowly slowed down, Li Hongzhang, who was frowning, nodded silently and said.

"Got it! Got it! ”

Li Hongzhang, who repeated "I know" one after another, no longer had a trace of lightness on his face, and his eyes became more solemn......

The reason why it is so dignified is that it couldn't be simpler, the hand of the Northeast is indeed too long, closing his eyes, recalling the excitement and movement of the Northeast in the past two years, Li Hongzhang can even feel the Northeast at this time, like an octopus stretching out his tentacles in the Guan, the seemingly harmless octopus legs, maybe that day, will slam up, and then strangle the big guys to death.

By then, it's too late to say anything!

Despite this illusion, Li Hongzhang couldn't understand the step-by-step chess played by Tang Haoran in the pass, whether he played these chess, whether he looked at it in reverse, vertically, it was Zhili who benefited, although the Northeast may also benefit from it, but it was Zhili who benefited the most.

Just like the Tongwen School, one or two thousand people graduate every year, but most of the graduates are recruited by Beiyang, and not everyone is willing to go to Kanto. Even together with this beautiful cotton, it will be promoted in the future, and the people who will benefit from it are also the people of Zhili, who only have money to pay taxes after selling cotton, and the people have more silver, so when they donate more, they will not be so resistant.

On the other hand, what does the Northeast get?

Students in the same literature hall? They got some, but they were just some students, not to mention, even if there was no Tongwen Hall, they recruited fewer foreign students? It is nothing more than setting up the Tongwen halls in Tianjin, Baoding, Jinan, and other places in the northeast and in the DPRK.

As for the United States cotton and the test field, it is a farming business, and it will benefit the people of the whole world at that time, so it stands to reason that he Tang Ziran needs to consider the people of Zhili? But people did think about it! That's where the real confusion comes in.

He Tang Haoran is so selfless?

If he is dozens of years old, maybe Li Hongzhang will feel that this is indeed possible, but the experience of the ups and downs of the sea for decades, coupled with his understanding of Tang Haoran, he knows that these things are by no means so simple, maybe others don't know him Tang Haoran, but Li Hongzhang, who has been "pitted" by him many times, doesn't he know that the kid is shrewd to take ten steps one step at a time, he seems to be suffering, but sometimes, this loss is taking advantage!

But, where is this cheaper?

"Xingsun, how is our Beiyang Yarn Factory now?"

Because of the United States, Li Hongzhang thought of the Beiyang Yarn Factory in Tianjin, and the result of the inquiry was naturally good, indeed good, to be precise, there was a precedent in the Northeast there, driven by the basic strategy of "foreign yarn and homespun", the Beiyang Yarn Factory was naturally prosperous, and even began to consider setting up a second factory.

"This new factory is naturally going to be done,"

After listening to Sheng Huaixuan's words, Li Hongzhang stroked his beard again and again, just for the prosperity of the business of the Beiyang Yarn Factory.

"Xingsun, then our yarn factory, do you also use American cotton?"

This question made Sheng Xuanhuai stunned, and then he hurriedly replied.

"It is true that some of it has been used, but although the quality of this cotton is high, the price is also high, in contrast, the national cotton is cheaper, counting, if this cotton can be promoted in Zhili, when the time comes, we can also benefit, which is also a good thing!"

Meddlesome......

Sheng Huaixuan's words made Li Hongzhang's brows furrow, is it really that simple in this world? What kind of calculation did he Tang Ziran make?

In this confusion, the train has already arrived at Dagu Station...... (To be continued.) )