Soon after the founding ceremony, the time soon entered mid-October. When the cold wind was raging, Sheng Huaixuan's figure appeared in Zhengzhou.

According to the recent railway proposed by the national government, the railway from Beijing to Zhengzhou was first laid. Due to the railways from Nanjing to Xuzhou and Xuzhou to Zhengzhou, roadbeds and bridges began to be laid before the war, and after the outbreak of the war, the Qing court stopped road construction.

However, this railway was originally advocated by Zuo Zongtang and personally supervised by Hu Xueyan, so the road construction speed was very fast. To be precise, the railway line from Nanjing to Zhengzhou, the roadbed and bridges along the way are basically completed, and the rails and other facilities are almost laid.

Before the war, the railway from Nanjing to Xuzhou had been laid, and the roadbed and bridge from Xuzhou to Zhengzhou were basically completed. After the Northern Expeditionary Army completed the occupation of northern Xinjiang, the railway construction team quickly entered the line and began to lay tracks on a large scale. It is expected that in April next year, the railways from Nanjing to Xuzhou and Xuzhou to Zhengzhou will be opened to traffic. At present, the earliest French prisoner of war engineering unit is going all out to lay tracks, and this French railway construction team, after eight years of experience, has completely become an expert.

At present, about 1,000 people of this French prisoner of war construction team have left the construction team, and most of the people who left are skilled people, so they have been hired from all sides.

No matter what kind of person they are, they will find a way out of difficult situations, and the same is true for French prisoners of war. Eight years have passed, and these French prisoners of war seem to have reluctantly adapted to life here. The point is that the war seems to be far away, and if we wait until the war is over, we don't know what year or month.

After the founding ceremony, Sheng Huaixuan went all out to devote himself to road construction. First of all, it is a top priority to open up the railway into Beijing, and at that time, the north-south artery from Beijing to Guangzhou will be opened to traffic. will play a huge role. Although the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway bypasses Nanjing through Wuhan to Guangzhou, the distance is more than 3,000 kilometers, but it can be opened to traffic is the goal, and there are conditions in the future, and then the railway from Zhengzhou to Wuhan will be laid straight.

According to the overall planning of the national government, 20,000 French prisoners of war were recruited to fight on the Beijing-Zhengzhou railway line, and the whole line should be blossomed. According to Deng Zixuan's proposal. And personally finalized the route of the Beijing-Zhengzhou Railway, the purpose is to save exploration time, and strive to have track-laying conditions by the end of next year.

Autumn is fading and early winter is emerging. Only a small amount of green can be seen in the field. Laying the railway line is the top priority of the current national government, so Sheng Huaixuan must do it himself, so he braves the cold wind. Came to Zhengzhou.

The negative was to manage 20,000 French prisoners of war. It was the commander of the French army who laid down his arms and surrendered in Zhengzhou, Bergony. At first, this guy did not agree, and threatened that the soldiers could only stay in the prisoner of war camp and would never live for hard labor, which seemed a bit righteous and awe-inspiring.

As the saying goes: people have to bow their heads under the eaves, let alone prisoners. Bergoni was reluctant to do it, but some of his subordinate generals were willing to do it. The government clearly stipulated that French prisoners of war and French generals participated in road construction and were well paid. If you refuse to participate in road construction. They were confined to prisoner of war camps and forced to perform heavy hard labor. This is not the case with road construction. French prisoners of war were self-governing and relatively free. After Bergni understood the situation, he had no choice but to put down his body and give in.

At this moment, the fire was in full swing in the road construction headquarters of the French prisoners of war in Zhengzhou, and Bergoni looked at the railway construction drawings, frowning, not knowing what he was thinking. An adjutant hurriedly walked in and said, "Your Excellency General, the Minister of Industry of the Chinese Empire has come to inspect and has arrived at the door. Hearing this, Bergni hurriedly arranged his clothes, buttoned his collar, put on his military cap, and then led his subordinates out to meet him.

"Your Excellency, I am the commander of the French prisoners of war, Bergny, who is currently the commander of the construction team of the Beijing-Zhengzhou railway line, and it is a great honor for you to be here." Berg: You get into the role completely. Sheng Huaixuan politely shook hands with Bergni and said, "I am Sheng Huaixuan, Minister of Industry of the Chinese Empire, and I have come to inspect the road construction. The whole line is about to start work on all fronts, and I hope that General Bergoni will be able to do his duty and that no unpleasant things will happen. ”

While inviting Sheng Huaixuan into the house, Bergoni said reverently: "Please rest assured, you can rest assured that we will fulfill the agreement between the two parties and complete the construction period with quality and quantity." After Sheng Huaixuan entered the house, a French officer hurriedly picked up a cup of tea and saluted it, and Sheng Huaixuan glanced at the inferior tea leaves in the bowl and did not drink it. He glanced up at the map of the French army's road construction. Bergni understood and hurriedly introduced it. The arrogant Bergoni completely underneath the head of the Gallic rooster and was completely disarmed psychologically.

Bergoni introduced it in detail, a bit like commanding an operation, dividing the construction progress into several stages. After listening to Bergeni's introduction, Sheng Huaixuan was not very satisfied and said: "The measures you have formulated are not perfect, and I require that the whole line have the conditions for laying tracks by the end of next year, and you must complete it unconditionally." In this regard, I promise to provide you with the daily necessities you need in full, but there are prerequisites. "Bergoni is confused.

Sheng Huaixuan continued: "For the progress of road construction, we will issue targets every month, and if it is not completed, the daily necessities of the month will be reduced by 10 percent, and so on. Bergni's head immediately grew when he heard this, and a cold sweat suddenly broke out. Sheng Huaixuan's tone became softer and said, "Let me give you a suggestion?" "Your Excellency, please!" Bergani immediately came to the spirit.

Sheng Huaixuan said clearly: "According to the indicators provided by us every month, you can break down the indicators into each week, and limit them to 7 days. If the target is not completed, the daily necessities will be deducted, and the daily necessities and related benefits will be issued in full if the target is completed in advance, in addition to the full distribution of daily necessities, the person who completes it will be allowed to rest for a few days in advance. In this way, it can not only mobilize the soldiers' enthusiasm for labor, but also improve labor efficiency and successfully complete the construction period. ”

This idea was come up with Deng Zixuan, foreigners care most about interests, and at the moment money is not a luxury for them at all, and the daily necessities provided have become their biggest desire. The implication is that the target is not met, which means that there is no haode food, daily necessities are reduced, and even food is not full. This kind of benefit is simply terrible, Bergoni heard that his face twitched and said: "Your Excellency, I will implement it according to your measures!" He knew in his heart that this trick was too damaging.

Sheng Huaixuan smiled and said, "General Bailey, you know!" Bergni said: "Yes, he was captured in Annan eight years ago. Sheng Huaxuan continued: "General Bailey has done a very good job since he led his subordinates to build roads, and has accumulated a lot of experience. At present, they have their own dairy farm, pig farm, chicken farm, bread workshop, and they are doing it well. At present, General Bailey is sitting in Xuzhou, and the command post is laying the steel rails from Xuzhou to Zhengzhou. ”

"We can only meet your basic needs. If you want to improve your life, you have to do it yourself, if you want to drink milk, you can raise your own cows, if you want to eat more meat, you can raise your own pigs and chickens, and you can even make your own wine. You can go to Xuzhou and have a discussion with General So-and-so, as for whether you want to do it or not, it's entirely up to you. If you think the food we offer can be satisfied, we don't force it. However, I suggest you go and check it out, because General Bailey and his men are doing well. ”

On Sheng Huaixuan's return trip, it was already November. Seeing the road construction of the French army in full swing along the line, Sheng Huaixuan knew that Bergeny had implemented exactly what he said, otherwise the French prisoners of war would not have been so energetic. According to the construction period, calculated according to one week, the French prisoners of war were basically completed in 6 days, and they naturally rested for one day on Sunday. Sheng Huaixuan was secretly surprised, and once again bowed to Deng Zixuan's plan.

Since the Beijing-Zhengzhou railway line is located in the Great Plain of North China, and there are no major rivers along the line, the construction is relatively easy. Along the ancient official road, Sheng Huaxuan sat in the Peng car, looking at the figure of the French prisoners of war working hard, and sighed again in his heart, what does it mean to be strong and prosperous, and what is the law of the jungle?

From a distance, many local people in the vicinity drove their own mules and horses to work for the railway line. They all took advantage of the winter leisure and were employed by the national railway company.

Deng Zixuan instructed that the construction of a railway line should benefit the people along the line and drive one side to become richer. The stations and small river bridges along the way are all constructed by private construction teams. And the folk stone factories along the way also prospered. Using French prisoners of war to build roads, labor costs alone can save half of the money, and the budget for laying a railroad can now lay two railways of the same distance.

In terms of funds, Hu Xueyan is definitely the God of Wealth. In just one month, the Beijing Mint was put into operation, and he used the silver taels from the Qing court's treasury to mint silver dollars day and night. Hu Xueyan once vowed to preach that only by looting the silver taels of the Manchu prince Baylor in the capital, he could lay three Beijing-Zhengzhou railways, which can be imagined how rich the capital is, and it can be said that the Qing Dynasty was very rich in the 80s of the 19th century.

However, money must be circulated in order to play a huge role, and most of the wealthy people hide their money in the bottom of their own boxes and sleep. To this end, Hu Xueyan took advantage of the founding of the People's Republic of China to mint a large number of gold coins commemorating the first year of China. The collectible value of this gold coin is immeasurable. The capital is the richest place, and it is also the most popular place for collecting and antiques. On the day the gold coins were issued, they began to be snapped up in the capital, so there was a surplus of funds for road construction. As the Minister of Finance, Hu Xueyan is a rare talent, and he is definitely a titan in the financial field.

Sheng Huaixuan suddenly remembered Hu Xueyan's eyes that were fans of wealth, and couldn't help laughing, feeling that those eyes were too attractive. "My lord, when we came, this place was still deserted, I didn't expect that in less than a month, a long roadbed appeared, and the French were full of energy!" The captain of the guard, who was riding on a horse next to the car, was full of praise. Sheng Huaxuan said with a smile: "At this rate, it is possible to complete the road construction ahead of schedule next year." ”

A city appeared in front of him, and the captain of the guard said, "My lord, Baoding has arrived!" But when Sheng Huaixuan arrived in Baoding, he encountered a troublesome thing. (To be continued......)

PS: The railway line means a lifeline, and in the interval between the wars, the new Chinese empire, a new round of road construction projects will be launched.