Connecting Hubei with railway to transport grain!
Zhao Tianfeng's suggestion made Governor Li's eyes light up. After the loss of grain from Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi and other places in recent years, life in the capital was difficult, and they could only live on foreign rice.
If there is a railway, the grain roads in Huguang and other places can be reopened.
"I will report this matter to the court. You can tell me more about the road construction..."
"Sir, if you want to build roads, you have to build ironworks..."
Sitting up straight, Zhao Tianfeng started talking.
"Although the iron plant was built to make iron and make railway tracks, the Western-style steel produced by the iron plant is an indispensable raw material for making Western-style guns. In the West, there is a saying that "steel is the mother of all weapons." Without steel
We can neither build guns nor machines, how can we enrich the country and strengthen the army without steel?"
"What Ziqing said is true, what he said is true..."
Although it was just a simple remark, Governor Li couldn't help but sigh in Da Xian's heart. Why is this happening? Because there are no talents around him who are engaged in foreign affairs. Take Rong Hong as an example. He... is in the United States.
I studied literature, um, yes, the legendary liberal arts student. Such liberal arts students only have a little knowledge of engineering, but even such a person is a rare Westernization talent!
But Zhao Tianfeng was still an engineering student who graduated from Brooklyn Polytechnic. He was not very famous in another world, but in this era it was one of the most famous engineering schools in the United States. Many American engineers in the 19th century came from this school.
Engineering...this is my major!
Such talents, well, probably did not start sending overseas students to study until almost half a century later during the New Deal. As for before that, although young children studying in the United States had such studies, few of them graduated!
In the following time, Zhao Tianfeng talked from ironmaking to steel rolling, from steel rolling to cannon forging. Naturally, he also mentioned how to generate profits from the iron factory and how to use the profits from the steel factory to establish other factories.
In the end, when he heard Governor Li above him, he even put aside other official duties and sat there to listen attentively. The speaker became more and more excited, and the listener was also extremely attentive.
A few hours later, when the attendant came to light the oil lamp, Governor Li realized that it was getting late, looked at Zhao Tianfeng and apologized.
"Look at me, I just want to listen to you. Ziqing, you have just come back from overseas. You probably don't have a place to stay yet. Please stay here tonight. I will find a place for you in the city later."
Stay."
But after just half a day of talking, Governor Li took a new look at Zhao Tianfeng.
After all, talent is rare!
A few days later, Governor Li, as Governor of Zhili, went to the court with a memorial "please build the railway", listing the five major benefits of building a railway: "benefiting people's livelihood", "benefiting the suppression of bandits", "benefiting trade", and "benefiting relief".
Benefits, pointing out that building the railway will greatly benefit the country. Although this brochure caused an uproar and was strongly opposed by conservatives, the brochure mentioned the benefits of "connecting Hubei with a railway to transport grain" and "the railway will then facilitate the retreat of bandits".
But it made the court a little moved.
I have no choice but to continue to oppose Western things, but my belly is also a big deal!
After all, Changmao now has forts in Jiujiang and armored ships in the Yangtze River. Food cannot be transported from Huguang, Sichuan and other places! People in the capital are starving to death!
This railway needs to be repaired!
Moreover, "the bandits march forward and retreat" is also for the purpose of suppressing the bandits and for the sake of the Qing Dynasty!
As for feng shui and foreign stuff, they are thousands of miles away from the capital. If you want to break the feng shui, you must first break Fengyang and then Jinling.
If you put it this way, this is a good thing.
Well, after a few days of discussion, the railway job fell on Governor Li. But just like in the past, the money required Governor Li to find a way. After all, the court had no money!
Yes, I will give you an approval document and let you figure out the rest on your own.
Changes in history are always a little unexpected. Who would have thought that a foreign student who fled would actually flap the wings of a butterfly in China, and actually allow the railway to appear in this land more than ten years later. Although such changes
It was unexpected.
In fact, it is reasonable for there to be "loyal ministers and righteous men" like Zhao. You have to know that in history, the Song of Songs was recorded decades later. The Qing Dynasty has been dead for decades, and there are still countless survivors, old and young.
.
There are quite a few loyal slaves like him in history, and at this time, I don’t know how many people still think they are orthodox.
But these things are actually not a big deal at all. Not to mention it is true for Nanhua, which is tens of thousands of miles away across the ocean, but it is also true for Li Fugui who is in Hangzhou Bay.
In the past few years, although the entire province of Zhejiang has been occupied by the Kingdom of Heaven, Yangshan Island and Shengsi Island have always been under his control. Every day, hundreds of immigrants are transported by small boats from the Yangtze River Estuary.
On the island, even though the Kingdom of Heaven no longer trades people for guns since last year, immigration has never stopped.
"People in troubled times are worse than dogs!"
Li Fugui stood by the pier, leaning on a cane. He sighed, then turned to Liu Kunpeng and said,
"Brother Liu Xian, I'll leave the affairs here to you from now on."
"Hey, I really envy you, brother. You can finally go home."
Li Fugui laughed and smiled at Liu Kunpeng.
"Yes, I can go home. When you and I came back, we never imagined that this would be ten years later. Now, we can finally go home!"
"Brother Fugui, when you go back, when you see the young master, tell me that I also want to go back."
"Hey, dear brother, it's not that the young master doesn't want you to go back, it's that I really can't find the right person. Governor Li in the north believes in you, and King Li Ying in the south can't live without you. The young master wants to change someone, but there is no suitable person.
The person is not."
Liu Kunpeng said with a helpless face.
"Hey, you finished your errands with me, but you buried yourself in it. Look at the hole dug. I don't know when I can go home."
Home!
For Li Fugui and Liu Kunpeng, Nanhua has long been their home. As for here... China is the "Tangshan" in their hearts. Whether in Nanyang or Nanhua, the hometown of China is always called "Tangshan".
But what is different from the overseas Chinese in Nanyang is that Li Fugui and others have long regarded Nanhua as "home" for no other reason than that they do not suffer all kinds of bullying like the overseas Chinese in Nanyang. Instead, they are conquerors, conquering the land.
The owner and the owner.
As hosts, they are naturally homesick.
Finally going home!
A few hours later, Li Fugui finally stood on the deck of the "Great Eastern", standing next to the 150mm naval gun on the side to defend against pirates. When he saw the mainland of Tangshan, his eyes were full of reluctance.
Nanhua is home, and Tangshan is also hometown!
Once I go, I'm afraid I'll never come back again!
"Uncle, are we really going to Nanhua?"
Standing next to his uncle, Li Ziyue's eyes were full of curiosity. He had been with his uncle all these years. Of course he wanted to go back with him now.
"What does Nanhua look like? Is it really like you said, full of tall buildings? Those tall buildings can pick up the stars in the sky?"
This chapter has been completed!