The construction of railways has always been a very expensive project, and in order to maintain the 'Dilan Railway' that is currently underway, the national government has spent an unknown amount of money. Combined with the other railroad projects that were underway at the same time, the amount of spending by the government on railroad construction during this period was staggering.

If it weren't for the 100 million pounds bank loan that Rainstone Bank provided to the Nationalist Government some time ago, I am afraid that the Nationalist Government would not have been able to hold on to it for a long time. But even so, there is still deep criticism within the government for the construction of such a large railway project. In the eyes of many within the government, the railroad must be built, but it must be done step by step.

At present, the financial situation of the national government is not very good, but there are many places to use money.

For those railway projects, it is completely possible to build some more important sections first, as for large projects like the Dilan railway......... To tell the truth, for the current China, compared to the road sections of those prosperous provinces, the Xinjiang road section is not particularly important.

It can even be said that at least during this period, even if the railway is built in Xinjiang, the main purpose is to transport domestic troops to Xinjiang as quickly as possible to avoid territorial fall, or logistics problems after the outbreak of war...

The problem is that Russia is now mired in war in Europe, and according to the information obtained by the Special Affairs Bureau from Russia, Russia's losses on the Eastern Front are very serious, and even if the war is won, it may not be able to recover in ten years. And at China's current pace of development, ten years from now. No, it doesn't take ten years, even if it's just five years, and you don't have to worry about the Russian threat anymore.

And so it goes. Although the Dilan Railway needs to be repaired, it only needs to be repaired slowly, and there is no need to be in such a hurry, it is too eager, but it has put a lot of pressure on the government's finances.

In particular, the amount of money required to build the entire Dilan Railway is absolutely astronomical.

The historical Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway cost a total of 6.935 million taels of silver, saving 288,000 taels compared with the original budget.

There's a problem with that. That is, at the beginning, that is, when Zhan Tianyou was not in charge of the railway, the Qing court began to learn that the valuation was more than 5 million taels. This figure was provided by the Briton Kinda. Since he served as the chief engineer of the Tangxu Railway, Jinda has been engaged in railway construction work in China, and has a good relationship with many important ministers of the Qing government and Yuan Shikai, and he has privately measured the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway.

I don't know if Kingdom had ulterior motives or didn't intend to include the cost of rolling stock. After Zhan Tianyou's on-site survey, he proposed a budget of more than 7.29 million taels. It is the full cost of land purchase, engineering, wires, materials and rolling stock. Later, Jinda himself admitted. He did make a mistake, and Yuan Shikai compromised and reported Zhan Tianyou's survey report together. The difference between the two budgets is nearly 2 million taels.

According to Zhan Tianyou's careful estimates, there are 7 items, including surveying funds, digging holes in the earthwork per mu of land, building bridges and ditches, rail sleepers, station factories, wires, and transfer materials, with a total budget of more than 5.729 million taels.

As for the remaining part, the purchase of locomotives and rolling stock is estimated at more than 1.13 million taels, and the salary and miscellaneous expenses of the staff department within four years are more than 432,000 taels.

The cost of locomotives and salaries cannot be easily apportioned, so only the cost of building the railway itself is calculated here.

The Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway is 201 kilometers long, and the budget provided by Zhan Tianyou is 5.729 million taels.

After converting silver to silver dollars. The average cost of each kilometer of railway is around 40,000 silver dollars, and considering the cost of railways in this era, the main consideration is whether the construction terrain is complex. Therefore, it is still relatively good to estimate the cost of the railway at 50,000 yuan. As for the budget for locomotives, etc. This is really difficult to estimate, it is better to estimate it separately, anyway, although the number of locomotives is related to the length of the railway, it is also related to the frequency of traveling between the two places.

If there aren't many people at the destination, you won't need too many locomotives.

Although Xinjiang is very large, its population is not particularly large. Generally speaking, it is not necessary to have too many locomotives to meet the needs of both places. However, Yan Shao has another purpose for Xinjiang, so the demand is large, so it is naturally difficult to share it, and then a more average amount is obtained.

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The Dilan railway is very long, very long, with a total length of more than 1,000 kilometers or even close to 2,000 kilometers.

If Zhan Tianyou's experience in building the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway is used to calculate the Dilan Railway, then the cost of the entire Dilan Railway will reach nearly 80 million yuan—————— not including the budget for the purchase of locomotives.

And one point that needs to be explained is that the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway built by Zhan Tianyou is a single-track railway, if it is a double-track railway, then even if it is not as simple as one plus one, I am afraid it will be about 150 million, if it is a four-line railway, the total cost will probably reach the point of close to 300 million yuan...

Although Yan Shao wants to build a four-line railway, the cost of almost 300 million yuan is too much, which is equivalent to 30 million pounds, and Yan Shao's loan to the national government was only 100 million pounds.

Although Yan Shao can take out another 100 million pounds or 200 million pounds at any time if he wants, Liang Shiyi and Li Liang resolutely oppose this, after all, the Nationalist government has already owed Yan Shao a lot of money, and the interest that needs to be handed over to the bank every year is an astronomical amount, if they borrow another 120 million pounds from Yan Shao, they will not be able to live—————— Yan Shao has earned money over the years, and he really can't spend it if he wants to, after all, the automobile market is saturated at this time, and it doesn't cost much to buy some mines or anything from abroad. So except for a part of the investment, the rest is basically deposited in the bank.

Originally, Yan Shao's intention was to repair the Dylan Railway, so that when Russia collapsed, he might be able to take advantage of the opportunity to get some benefits from the Russians.

But this time the British came to the door, but he saw another opportunity...

To be honest, in fact, Yan Shao also knows that he is in such a hurry to repair the railway. It is true that the government's finances are not good, but he also knows very well that if Russia really collapses like it has historically. Then this is the best opportunity for China.

If we can grasp this opportunity, it doesn't matter if the burden on the finances is a little greater.

So although this chance is likely to be only half, Yan Shao is still willing to gamble.

But now...

Since a wronged boss took the initiative to come to the door, if Yan Shao didn't slaughter him well, then he would be too sorry for himself...

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"Mr. Peters—" shook his head, Yan Shao pretended to be very embarrassed. I am certainly aware of the importance of the Dyland Railway to my Government. The problem is the cost of the entire railway, and the threat of the Russians to our country..."

"In fact, our government has been discussing the construction of the Dilan Railway for a long time. And the cost was calculated, and the final result was that if you want to repair the Dilan Railway, you will need at least 80 million yuan. And it's still single-lined. If you want to meet the needs of your country and the Russians, then at least a four-line railway is needed............... As you said, time is not a problem, but if it is a four-line railway, the double-track railway itself already needs about 150 million yuan, and the four-line railway also needs at least 300 million yuan, and it also needs a large number of locomotives and some other expenses, even if the opening of the railway is indeed a good thing for our country. But to tell the truth, we really can't afford it. 30 million pounds, which is equivalent to nearly half of the revenue of our government last year..."

That's right, it was really last year, not this year...

This year, because most of the projects of the 'Seventh Five-Year Plan' have already been completed and put into operation, and because there is an increasing demand for various materials in Europe, and a large amount of arms has even been exported to Europe, the Ministry of Finance conservatively estimates that this year's fiscal revenue may reach 900 million yuan.

If you're lucky, you might be able to break the billion mark, or £100 million...

That's a crucial figure, with almost every global power now generating more than £100 million in revenue. In particular, Britain and France and other countries imposed a large amount of taxes during the war, and the growth of their fiscal revenues was quite amazing.

Naturally, after taking this free ride, China's fiscal revenue is now staggering.

And if it really reaches one billion yuan, then the current financial embarrassment of the government may also be eased somewhat.

But Peters certainly didn't know about it.

"In addition, your country should also know very well that the Russians have always been eyeing the territory in the north of our country, and the northeast, Outer Mongolia, and Xinjiang are all within the scope of the Russians' coveting, if you really build a railway connected to the Russian Central Asia Railway, it will not be a very big threat to our country's security, and if the Russians take advantage of the situation to start a war, and may even drive along the Dilan Railway, then our country's territorial security ......... Although it is a state of war, there is still a day when the war will be over, and we must think more about that time. ”

Hearing Yan Shao's words, Peters frowned.

"It's true that if you only build a double-track railway, the volume is too small, but the four-track railway is ......... The cost of 300 million yuan is definitely not something that China can afford on its own, and there is also the threat of the Russians, if Chinese concerns in this regard cannot be dispelled......... And if the Russians get Xinjiang, it will not be a good thing for our country either..."

Finances are a matter of urgency, and the threat of the Russians ......... Although the experience along the way has made Peters somewhat optimistic about China, he still does not believe that China has the ability to compete with Russia.

Yes, it is true that the Russians have lost consecutive battles on the Eastern Front, but only against the Germans, and against the Austrians or the Turks, the Russians still often win.

This, coupled with the fact that the Russians were now delaying a large number of German troops on the Eastern Front, was one of the reasons why Britain and France were willing to help Russia.

The Austrians are basically pig teammates and rarely win.

The Turks, although they fought beautifully in Gallipoli, often failed in the face of the Russians on the battlefield in the Caucasus.

In a way, if they hadn't shared part of the Germans' forces, the Germans would have resisted Russia almost alone on the Eastern Front.

Counting the Western Front, the Germans did not dare to say that they were fighting against Britain, France and Russia at the same time, but from a certain point of view—————— it was actually about the same and this did not include Italy, which was making trouble.

Although Italians have always been weird. But after counting more than a million troops, there is still some trouble.

And if the Germans defeat the Russians, then wait until the Germans have concentrated all their forces on the Western Front. Without strong reinforcements, it was really hard for Peters to imagine that Britain and France would be able to win this war...

Historically, if it had not been for the United States to enter the war, it would have been difficult to say the result...

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"The question of funding—" Peters said slowly, considering the wording. It has already been said that our government and the other Entente countries are willing to bear a part, as for the Russians......... I think the construction of the railway may be more conducive to your country's rule over Xinjiang. Even if something happens, it will be very convenient to transport troops..."

"But it is an indisputable fact that our country is a weak country compared to Russia," he said, saying a 'fact' that Peters himself admitted. Yan Shao continued to speak. "As for funding, I hope your government can give an exact amount, after all, this is a big project, if it can't get enough support......... Of course, our country will build the Dilan Railway. But I'm afraid it's going to need to slow down a bit. At least in the last two years, I'm afraid I don't have this ability, and even if I cultivate, I can only cultivate slowly..."

The purpose of Peters' visit this time is to let the Chinese build this railway. If the Chinese are unwilling, with the Trans-Siberian Railway alone and limited sea transportation, with the current bad state of Russia, Russia's defeat on the Eastern Front will almost become inevitable.

And if there is no Russians to pin down in the rear. Then Britain, France and other countries must face the main forces of the Central Powers on the Western Front, which is definitely not what any Entente country wants to see.

But £30 million is no small amount. It is also obviously impossible for the British to take it themselves.

So after a moment of silence, Peters quickly persuaded Yan Shaolai again.

The problem is that on the issue of money, Yan Shao gritted his teeth.

And he kept reiterating the threat that Russia might pose to China, and God assured that since the outbreak of the European war, Yan Shao has never cared about any Russian threat.

But at the moment, the card is still very useful.

Because everyone thinks that China's strength is weaker than Russia's, and Yan Shao's worries are also deserved. After all, the greed of polar bears is also a well-known fact.

So when Yan Shao took out this card and demanded that Britain not only bear most of the cost of building the railway, but also must propose another part of the cost to help the Nationalist government resist possible future Russian aggression, Peters could not even find an excuse to refute.

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Although both Peters and the British government want to get this matter done as soon as possible, the difference between the two sides is too much after all.

Because if Yan Shao's request is followed, Britain, France and other countries will not only have to bear 30 million pounds for the cost of repairing the railway, but also pay another 5 million pounds as the Chinese government's funds to guard against the Russians.

As for the Chinese? Although after the completion of this railway, the benefits they can get are not small, but according to Yan Shao, he only bears the salaries of personnel and locomotives for this cost...

And the locomotive needs to be purchased partly from the United States, and partly from the country...

If it was really done according to Yan Shao's request, then the British and French would suffer a big loss this time, so although the plan was put forward by the British. But at this time, the British did not dare to agree easily.

The problem is that the recent news coming out of Europe, especially from Russia, is almost all bad, and the good news is pitiful, and many people, including Peters, are anxious.

Fortunately, although the railroad did not pass, Peters still had something to do in China.

In fact, this is one of his tasks this time, but compared to the railway mission, this task is much more secondary.

And this task is to watch the preparations of the Chinese Expeditionary Force.

At present, the size of the expeditionary force is tentatively set at 300,000 people, but the number of people who set out in the first batch is only 50,000 or 60,000, that is, one division A and two division B as originally mentioned.

Division A was already ready and ready to go at any time, but those two Division B needed to be temporarily called up from the reserves.

This time, the troops of the two divisions were recruited from Hebei and the Beijing-Tianjin region, so they were recruited very quickly, and now they have entered the training stage. After watching the training of the two B divisions, Peters had to admit that the Chinese did have a hand in this regard.

In the course of the training, the training of all officers and men was very arduous and strict, and all the training methods were carried out according to the French style, which of course was mixed with some of the training methods of the Wehrmacht itself.

It's unclear how effective this East-meets-West approach is, but it doesn't seem to be inferior to the European one.

Especially in terms of equipment, although it is only a B division, it is not much different from some first-class troops in Europe in terms of equipment. If these troops go to Europe and can show their skills on the training ground, then their performance in Europe in the future is really worth looking forward to.

And these also made Peters's originally anxious mood a lot soothed, but whenever he thought that his mission had not been completed this time, Peters couldn't help but become anxious again...

Especially after the news came not so long ago that the Russians had suffered another defeat ...

And judging by everything Russia has gotten into, it seems that Russia is now somewhat unstable...

For the Entente, today's Russia is a very important corner, and this corner must not collapse... (To be continued......)