It was confirmed that Long Qian would go to Beijing, and he also telegraphed Shandong and Beijing. But Long Qian didn't just leave if he wanted to. There are still a lot of things to do in Wuchang, especially the situation of using troops in the southeast involves a lot of energy, everyone knows that the battle is almost over, but the southeast still cannot be defeated, and a defeat will inevitably induce many variables.

Long Qian decided to keep Situ Jun in Wuchang, and the General Staff also in Wuchang, and continued to command and coordinate the advance in the southeast and southwest. The 7th Brigade had already advanced eastward, and Long Qian decided that the Wuchang side would be responsible for the supply of the 1st Division of Feng Guozhu, and the Guangdong side would be responsible for the supply of weapons and ammunition for Wang Mingyuan's 3rd Division and the 2nd Division of Lanxinzhi that had marched to the southwest. The two major logistics experts of the Mengshan Army, Song Jinguo, were already on their way to Wuchang, and Lian Shupeng had already returned to Guangdong.

Hubei and Hunan are extremely important, and when the southwest and southeast are not peaceful, the two lakes will be absolutely chaotic. Long Qian pondered for a day, had an idea, and did not discuss it with others, and ordered Wang Zhifeng to invite Tang Hualong, the chairman of the Hubei Advisory Bureau, for an interview.

Tang Hualong, the word Jiwu, a native of Hubei, is Chinese New Year's Eve five years old, his ancestors have been in business for several generations, his family is wealthy, in 1904, he was a Jinshi, the director of the Law Department, he studied law in Japan in 1906, returned to China in 1908 to participate in local autonomy activities, and was elected as the speaker of the first Hubei Provincial Advisory Bureau. Wuchang mutiny continuously, people were panicked, his family had advised him to avoid it, but Tang Hualong refused, I was in Wuhan, I will not go anywhere. The Mengshan Army broke through Wuchang, Tang Hualong hid at home, and was invited to the Mengshan Army Headquarters by the Military Intelligence Bureau.

"Mr. Jiwu," Long Qian greeted warmly, "I was supposed to visit the mansion." But there were too many things, so Mr. Lao had to come in person. Long Qian beckoned Ouyang Zhong to serve tea to Tanghua Long, "Mr. Jiwu, I invited Mr. to come this time, just for one thing, that is, the government affairs of Wuchang and even Hubei, Mr. is the chairman of the Hubei Advisory Bureau, and he should be benevolent to the governance of the place." Long Qian got straight to the point.

"Don't dare. I don't know what the general wants Tang to do? "Tang Hualong is a social elite who is politically inclined to be constitutional, but he has some influence in the local area, which is fundamentally different from Song Jiaoren and Tan Renfeng. He did not have a fundamental conflict with the Mengshan Army led by Long Qian. Long Qian sent someone to invite him. He knew that he couldn't hide. Only cooperation.

"That's the case, the situation in the two lakes has basically stabilized, with the pacification of Henan and Zhili. There will be no major war in Wuchang, and the top priority is to quickly stabilize the place. Restore order. At this time. Mr. Jiwu can't be idle at home. I want to entrust the government affairs of Wuchang to Mr., what do you think? ”

"Ah," Tang Hualong snorted softly. He didn't expect that Long Qian would invite him to come out of the mountain as an official, and he was a big official. Listening to Long Qian's tone, Long Qian actually wanted him to take care of Wuchang! Hold positions similar to those of the Wuchang prefect.

"Mr. Jiwu is in his prime, and he has studied and studied law, and since the local government has elected Mr. as the chairman of the Advisory Bureau, he must have enough prestige. The Hubei Military Government has been established in Wuchang, and I have taken the governor, but it is only temporary. The military government set up a civil affairs chief, and this position was given to Mr., who was specifically responsible for managing the civil affairs of Hubei, even if it was a political envoy during the Manchu Qing Dynasty. There is no need to worry about military affairs, my chief of general staff, General Situ Jun, will temporarily stay in Wuchang to preside over the southern military, the army will march eastward, and the part of the grain, grass, baggage, and ammunition will depend on Hubei, and I have ordered the transfer of the Song and Jin kingdoms to Hubei, he is the head of the joint logistics department of the Mengshan Army, and he is my big steward, and he has been staying in Shandong. When he comes, he will act as your deputy and will be mainly responsible for the supply of the army. As for you, it is to grasp your civil affairs, stabilize the localities, and do not change the old system first, so as not to make the people uneasy. Don't worry, Situ Jun and Song Jinguo will respect you, you let it go, I don't make restrictions on personnel, the Manchu Qing Dynasty has collapsed, there can be no vacuum of power, Mr. will first set up the bench of the Wuchang Municipal Government, you are the civil governor of Hubei and the mayor of Wuhan, how about it? No problem, right? ”

"The general is so loving, he should be effective. However, this position is too high, Tang is afraid that he will not be able to do it, in case of delaying the general's major affairs, Tang will be a sinner. Tang Hualong was overjoyed, but he always had to excuse himself.

"Mr. Tang, we have never met, and it is really difficult to give you such a burden as soon as we meet. However, Mr. Tang, let me tell you something from my heart, Long raised an army to overthrow the Manchu Qing Dynasty and establish a new country dominated by the Han people, not to be an emperor himself, but to benefit hundreds of millions of people. If Mr. Tang loves the land where my ancestors thrived and your hometown, don't shirk it! I know that you advocate constitutionalism, but the constitution cannot be completed, and the Manchus themselves missed the opportunity, so no one else is to blame. The republic is the only outcome, and if the gentleman likes to have a parliament, and in the future a parliament will be formed, the gentleman can bear a heavier burden. But right now, Mr. has to reluctantly make it difficult for him to govern Hubei for Long first. With that, Long Qian stood up and bowed deeply to Tang Hualong, "Even if Long has asked Mr. ”

"How dare you do that? Killed Tang. Tang Hualong didn't expect Long Qian to be so polite and virtuous, so he agreed to Long Qian's request.

"The most important thing in civil affairs is money," Long Qian was very happy when he saw Tang Hualong's interest, "Originally, the Wuchang Domain had a lot of silver in stock, but the new army made trouble and squandered the money. You can't do it when you first take office and you don't have any money in your hands. You don't need to worry about the salary of the Mengshan Army, there is another way. This time, General Song Jinguo will bring a sum of money as the opening of your new government, the money is from Shandong, it is the blood and sweat of the elders of Shandong, it is lent to Hubei, and it will be returned after the Hubei government affairs are on the road. So, you have to save flowers. The formation of municipal institutions, the recruitment of policemen, the relief of the needy, and the restoration of social order will of course be spent. When the whole country is pacified and the economic order is rectified, everything will be fine. ”

It has always been the army that asks for places, Tang Hualong really didn't expect Long Qian to financially support the place, he was very excited and deeply moved when he heard it, "The general is so sympathetic to the place, it is really a blessing for the country." ”

"Don't say that, we're a family now. In the future, we will work together for a long time, and this governor's palace is the yamen of your administration. I will ask Chief Situ to move the headquarters out of Lu. As for you, hurry up and think about a list and invite all the local elites to come out. Officials who originally worked for the Manchu Qing Dynasty could also go out of the mountains, but they should choose people who were willing to serve the Mengshan Army and had good conduct and ability, and first managed the three towns of Wuhan, and then talked about other state capitals. ”

There is no way to choose Tang Hualong. The biggest problem of the Mengshan Army is that it does not have a sufficient contingent of civilian officials, and since the implementation of rural autonomy in Shandong, it can be regarded as secretly reserving a number of talented people who are engaged in politics, and they are all backbone elements who support the Mengshan Army and actively promote rural autonomy. Long Qian instructed Chen Chao to create a file for him to use in the future. Most of those people actually didn't know that they had entered Long Qian's "talent pool", and Chen Chao had wondered about it. Enough is thought to be loyal to that group. But it's not going to be useful. Long Qian did not explain his thoughts to Chen Chao in detail, he believes that to change China lies in changing the countryside, and the key to changing the countryside lies in the grassroots, that is, the county and township governments. It is okay for those people to serve as county and township officials. With them. It can be used after the Mengshan Army takes power in the country. As for the upper echelons. For example, the provincial government, Long Qian didn't care, he had already thought about it. Once the anti-Qing campaign was successful, military control was a must, the military would dominate local government affairs, and generals could also serve as provincial governors.

But at the moment, it is impossible to transfer people from Shandong. The reason why he doesn't use his own generals to manage civil affairs is that Long Qian doesn't have a suitable person at hand, and secondly, he wants to give it a try first to see if he can use the so-called celebrities and wise men to govern the place, at least, he is ready to do a pilot in the two lakes.

Once the regime is established, it can only enable celebrities.

"By the way, Mr. Tan Yanmin from Hunan is the chairman of the Hunan Provincial Advisory Bureau, right?" Long Qian remembered a celebrity.

"Yes."

"It's a pity he escaped. If you can contact Mr. Tan, please bring a message for me and ask him to come back, and the affairs of Hunan Province will be handled by people from Hunan Province. ”

"Okay, Tang will do his best."

Ouyang Zhong only brought ears and no mouth on this occasion. But he remembered the conversation between Long Qian and Tan Renfeng. Tan Renfeng is from Hunan, but what did Long Qian mention Tan Yanmin, what kind of mystery is this?

"The last thing, is Mr. Tang familiar with the Hanyang Iron Works and the Arsenal?"

"Not very familiar."

"Sir, would you like to accompany Long to Hanyang?"

"Of course I do."

So, Long Qian called Ouyang Zhong, Xu Si and Wang Zhifeng, and immediately set off to Hanyang to inspect.

Originally, I didn't want to call Xu Si, because on the way from Changsha to Wuchang, Xu Si looked a little sluggish, Long Qian thought she was sick, she said no, just a little tired. Long Qian, who was busy with military affairs, didn't have time to think deeply, and made a joke, don't just serve me, you will be sick again.

But when Xu Si heard that he was going out, he took the initiative to ask to go. Long Qian said that Hanyang has no scenery, it is an industrial area, I am going to see the Hanyang Iron Works and Arsenal, you don't go, the weather is still hot, you are tired and have no energy, wait for me to free my hands, accompany you to climb the Yellow Crane Tower.

"With you, you're in good spirits." Xu Si smiled.

"Let's go. If you can't walk, find a place to rest. ”

Long Qian, escorted by a company of guards, went to Hanyang with Tang Hualong.

The three towns of Wuhan are known as the thoroughfare of nine provinces, and a city is divided into three places by the Yangtze River and Hanshui, with the political center in Wuchang on the south bank and the commercial center in Hankou, but the industrial center of gravity is in Hanyang on the west bank of the Han River.

Thanks to Zhang Zhidong, an outstanding leader of the Westernization Movement in the late Qing Dynasty, after more than ten years of hard work and countless silver taels, Hanyang Town was finally built into an important industrial town in China.

Long Qian, who knew better than anyone the importance of heavy industry, had to inspect the factories in Hanyang since he occupied Wuchang.

"Brother Jiwu, the seizure of the world by the Mengshan Army lies in the rise of Shandong, and the rise of Shandong depends on the rise of the two major industrial groups of Huayuan and Zhongxing. Brother Jiwu, I appoint you to govern Hubei, no matter what, you have to do a good job of Hanyang's factory for me, you have to think about the sentence "no work, no wealth", and when Hanyang's industry is revitalized, Wuchang or Hubei, there will be no shortage of money. "Long Qian did not ride a horse, but rode in the same carriage with Tang Hualong.

"I have heard for a long time that Huayuan and ZTE are the first to lead the trend, and even cars can be built, but I have no chance to see them. If you have the opportunity, you must go to Shandong. Tang Hualong really admires the factory in Shandong, and the two-seater carriage he is sitting in now is still a product of Huayuan Vehicle Factory.

"That's as it should be. Magistrates are incompetent if they don't understand economics. When the situation stabilizes a bit, you organize the person in charge of the Hanyang factory to go to Shandong to have a look. Shandong should also send people to investigate. The two places should exchange ideas and learn from each other. "Long Qian has already calculated. The industrial base he has in his hands is currently two, and Hanyang will definitely be vigorously built.

After more than ten years of operation. There are more than 10 factories in Hanyang, and the core ones are the Hanyang Iron Works and the Hanyang Arsenal.

Long Qian went to the Hanyang Iron Works first.

When Zhang Zhidong was still in Liangguang, he had plans to set up a steel mill and entrusted Liu Ruifen, the minister to Britain at that time, to purchase relevant machinery and equipment. Zhang Zhidong was transferred to Lianghu, and the planned steel plant followed Zhang Zhidong to Wuhan. Zhang Zhidong set it up in Hanyang, and began to build the factory in November of the 15th year of Guangxu (1895), which took three years, and there were ten branches of various sizes, two iron-making blast furnaces, two steel-making converters, and one open-hearth. There is also equipment for rolling rails.

Zhang Zhidong has good connections in the court. He also received the support of Cixi's brother-in-law, Prince Alcohol. A total of five or six million taels of silver were spent to build the Hanyang Iron Works. Guangxu began to produce iron in the 20th year, which was officially put into production. It is estimated that the full capacity of the factory has been brought into play. It can produce 30,000 tons of steel per year.

This is, of course, just a calculation. In fact, he sent a military plane to Beijing to take up his post. Hanyang Steel Mill produces more than 10,000 tons of steel. And. Its main product, steel rails, could not be marketed, and the factory could not continue after two years, so Zhang Zhidong had to mortgage the Hanyang Iron Works and Daye Iron Mine, which supplied iron ore to Sheng Xuanhuai. Sheng Xuanhuai didn't have a huge amount of money in his hands. It was nothing more than misappropriation of funds from the telegraph office and China Merchants Bureau, as well as borrowing from foreign banks. By the last years of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the Hanyang Iron Works was effectively in a state of semi-shutdown. Long Qian was very sad when he saw the dilapidated situation in the factory.

"It's a pity, it's a pity. lived up to Zhang Xiangshuai's hard work. Fortunately, Wuchang is already owned by me, and China's once largest steel company needs to be brought back to life as soon as possible. Long Qian said to several people in charge of the factory.

Long Qian got the news that Zhang Zhidong had passed away. I wanted to meet the celebrity, but I couldn't.

What was once the largest steel mill is telling the truth. Because Yizhou Iron and Steel has already surpassed Hanyang, Long Qian led the army to the south, has been paying attention to Shandong's industry, after the three phases of construction led by the Americans, Yizhou Iron and Steel has been able to produce 150,000 tons of iron and 120,000 tons of crude steel annually, and can roll section steel. It is said that this production has surpassed that of Japan's Hachiman Steel.

The fourth phase of the expansion project of Yizhou Iron and Steel was vetoed by Long Qian, who was in Guangzhou at the time, and Long Qian believed that due to the restrictions of upstream raw materials and transportation problems, Yizhou should not expand the scale anymore. At that time, he had his eyes on Hanyang and was determined to build Hanyang into a steel base beyond Yizhou. Realizing the industrialization of the country is Long Qian's set goal, and steel is the foundation of heavy industry, so the layout of the steel industry must be considered holistically.

"You guys write me a report, as soon as possible." After spending more than two hours looking at the main factories, Long Qian said to Tang Hualong and the remaining staff of the Hanyang Iron Works, "We must find out the difficulties existing in the iron works, not only in terms of funds, but also in terms of talents, technology, equipment, raw materials, and other problems." Yizhou can help you, but except for the funds, you have to solve the rest by yourself. ”

Lin Huaiqing is the director of the iron factory appointed by Sheng Xuanhuai, a native of Fujian, who studied in the United Kingdom. Lin Huaiqing, who was hired by Sheng Xuanhuai with a high salary, was deeply admired, and on the way to inspect just now, Long Qian asked about the production and operation of each branch, so that the branch directors who were responsible for the introduction sweated, not that this Mengshan army marshal who was already the first person in China was so strict, but that Long Qian's attitude was too professional, and the questions asked were not what a military commander should manage, such as the assets and liabilities of the factory, the supply of raw materials, the market of products, the number of technical personnel, the treatment of workers, etc., so that Lin Huaiqing was extremely impressed. I feel that there is hope for the revitalization of the iron plant. After listening to Long Qian's words, he agreed one after another.

"The staff in the factory have had a hard time these months, and it can't go on like this. When General Song came, he made up everyone's salaries first. Jiwu, this matter cannot be discounted. Director Lin, you have to take some effort to get all the lost staff back, they are all treasures. ”

This care moved Lin Huaiqing even more, "Please rest assured, I will definitely handle this matter." ”

"I just told Mr. Tang that when the situation is more stable, you can go to Shandong to see the production and management of the Yizhou Steel Mill. I'll ask them to help you get back to production as soon as possible. Tang Jiwu is already a parent official in Hubei, and if he has difficulties, look for him. Long Qian smiled and pointed at Tang Hualong.

"It's great. I have long wanted to visit my colleagues in Shandong, but I didn't have the opportunity. Lin Huaiqing rubbed his hands excitedly.

"With the care of the handsome, the Hanyang Iron Works will definitely be able to rejuvenate." Tang Hualong is not badly informed, and thinks that Long Qian is very knowledgeable when he takes care of Hanyang's factory first.

Coming out of the iron factory, Long Qian didn't eat and went directly to the arsenal.

The construction of the Hanyang Arsenal was later than that of the Iron Factory, and Jang Zhidong put a lot of effort into it. At present, the Hanyang Arsenal mainly produces imitation German Mauser rifles and bullets, and the output is also low. Artillery can also be produced, but the production capacity is extremely low, since the opening of the factory, a total of less than 50 artillery pieces below 75mm have been produced, and the powerful 75mm mountain guns have only produced eight, all equipped with the fourth town of Beiyang. The rest are small mountain guns of 50mm caliber.

The person in charge of the arsenal is called Meng Fan, who is also an expert. reported the situation of the arsenal to Long Qian, and Long Qian listened very carefully and basically did not interrupt Meng Fan's report.

From the reports of his subordinates, he can basically understand this person's ability, and Long Qian feels that Lin Huaiqing and Meng Fan are really talents left by God.

There are still many problems, the main one is the lack of funds, and the other is the lack of technology. After Long Qian had a simple dinner at the factory headquarters, he convened a meeting with the main person in charge of the arsenal and decided several things.

The first is to announce that the control of the arsenal belongs to Huayuan Company, and its board of directors is reorganized, with Zhou Xuexi concurrently serving as chairman, the control of the iron factory being under Zhongxing Company, Zhang Lianfen concurrently serving as chairman, Lin Huaiqing as the director of the Hanyang Iron and Steel Plant, and Meng Fan as the director of the Hanyang Ordnance General Factory. The former staff of the iron works and the arsenal shall be retained in their original posts, and the decision on the retention of personnel shall be made after a two-month inspection period.

Regarding the merger of Hanyang Enterprise by Shandong Industrial, Long Qian explained that Huayuan and ZTE will be responsible for financial and technical support. For this article, Hanyang has no objection, some people manage the source of money and technology, but leave the management right, it is simply a dream thing.

Second, the management of iron works and arsenals must be managed in accordance with the methods of enterprises, and they must straighten out their finances, strengthen management, and assume responsibility for their own profits and losses. The military junta's yamen were not allowed to interfere in the specific affairs of the factory.

The third is that the junta is responsible for cashing in the unpaid salaries of management and employees in the arsenal.

As soon as Article 3 was announced, there was thunderous applause. Actually, nothing is more motivating than the third.

The meeting lasted until midnight. Long Qian said emotionally to the main members of the two factories in Hanyang, "The war of the Mengshan army to seize the world is about to be won. Even our enemies will not deny this. The Mengshan Army is about to build an independent, prosperous, strong, and democratic new China, and political issues aside, our new country will vigorously develop the economy and improve the people's livelihood! To develop the economy, it is necessary to establish a complete industrial system, and heavy industry and transportation are the forerunners and must be at the forefront. Everyone has worked hard in Hanyang all these years, not for the Manchu Qing Dynasty, nor for Zhang Zhidong, not for my Long Qian, but for this poor and white country. So, I would like to thank you all for your efforts to lay the foundation for China's modern industry. Everyone must have ambition and ambition, and with the strong support of the state, Hanyang will be built into a heavy industry base in New China! In 20 or 30 years, we will catch up with and surpass the powers that have always bullied and looked down on us! The country will not forget you, and the country will not treat you badly. Let's work together. (To be continued......)