Li Xiao had no time to think about the war taking place on the distant Black Sea because he was going to cut the ribbon on the just-completed railway from Hami to Ili.

This section of railway runs through almost the entire Western Region, connecting thousands of kilometers between Hami and Ili.

The entire project took six years, during which time countless money, food and lives were spent.

Finally, this railway was integrated, allowing the distant Yili to truly connect with the Ming Dynasty.

Stanay!

A distant descendant of the Shi family, his face was red with black, and black with red. His face was full of wrinkles, and his skin was chapped. When they first met, Li Xiao thought he had been poisoned.

"This is what the Western Regions are like. People spend time outdoors all year round, and over time people become like this." Stewie looked at his nephew with great pride.

Although they are distant relatives, Shi Danai has indeed given the Shi family a solid face.

"It's rare! It took six years to build such a unique project in this barbaric land. It's rare! It's rare!

It’s your historians, poetry, etiquette, and family who produce talents!” Li Xiao nodded.

Among the big families in the capital, the differences between the children are getting bigger and bigger. The Zheng family produces noble children and dandies, while the Chen family's children are like sluts one after another.

Several of them were picked up by Luzhu before they were even eighteen years old, and Li Xiao didn't even know where they went.

The poor Li family is very underdeveloped.

Li Xiao has only one son, Li Lin, until now.

Li Xiu did have two sons, and the deceased Li Hu left behind two daughters. Two years after Li Hao got married, his wife finally became pregnant.

It is historians who are truly talented.

Li Hao has several sons of the historians under his command, and now all the political achievements of the hunting and animal husbandry side are given to Chang Xiren.

The twenty-year-old kid in front of me, who has just emerged, is a living example.

In the vast sea, it is definitely a very difficult thing to find a road and build a railway on it.

During this period, you have to dig holes in the mountains and build bridges over rivers.

Thousands of kilometers of railway, this is an extremely complex system engineering. Who would have thought that thousands of kilometers of two-lane railway track was built by this boy and his workers.

"Commander, you are ridiculous. My father often said that the children of the Shi family must endure hardships in order to enjoy blessings.

Although they are children of a side branch, they are still children of my historian family after all. They still remember and understand their father's lessons.

If Shi Danai manages this job well, not only will the imperial court reuse him, but his family's status in the historian family will also improve."

Stevie also looked at Stanay with a smug look on his face, as if Stanay was his son.

"The road to Shu is difficult, and it is difficult to reach the sky. In his early years, Li Hao once looked for a way to enter Shu by railway, but the road to Shu was difficult. It was not easy to find such a road.

Since this kid has made great achievements in the Western Regions, let him make contributions in Shu again.

When you historians took over the railway job, you not only had to enjoy the blessings, but you also had to endure hardships.

Just like Mr. Shi Ke Pharaoh said, you can't enjoy happiness without enduring hardship. If you don't have your share of peace and honor, getting it is not necessarily a good thing."

Hearing Li Xiao's words, Shi Dewei felt nervous.

After that incident happened to the Zheng family, their status in the court was getting worse day by day. Many of the children who were originally placed in various yamen by the Zheng family were all dismissed during the Beijing investigation at the end of last year.

Zheng Zhilong was so angry that he was lying on the bed, the difference between him and a dead person was only one breath.

There is nothing that can be done about it, the Zheng family is really not clean. As a family with a pirate background, playing politics is not their strong point.

Sometimes I get cheated and I can't solve the problem with my fists like before.

After all, this is the imperial court, not the gathering hall of the Zheng family.

"Commander, the road to Shu is difficult, and it is even harder to build a railway. It is much more difficult to bring a railway to the middle of Shu than to build a railway in the Western Regions.

Although it is difficult, Shi Danai is willing to take on this task. Let Shu be connected with the Central Plains as soon as possible. Also, let the land of Bashu no longer be filled with clans and no longer submit to the imperial court."

Shi Dewei hadn't spoken yet, but Shi Dewei was so excited that he couldn't help himself.

This is an ambitious person!

This was Li Xiao's first instinct. When those dandies in the capital were eating, drinking and having fun all day long. This boy was willing to eat sand in the Western Regions for six years, which is enough to show that he has great revenge in his heart.

"Okay! If you build the Shuzhong Railway, I, Li Xiao, will not be stingy about wearing a peacock official robe.

If it took ten years to build the Shuzhong Railway, you would be considered an anomaly if only thirty people could achieve this."

"Peacock...!" Stanai's eyes flashed with excitement.

There is a peacock embroidered on the chest, which is the uniform of a third-rank official. As the chief of the General Staff, my uncle is only a third-rank military attache.

After the Sichuan Railway is built, he will become a third-rank official in the imperial court. If he is in the imperial court, he will at least be a minister.

For example, at the local level, he was at least a frontier official from the hunting and herding side.

"Ten years is too long. A lower-ranking official will only seize the day." Shi Danai was so excited that he started to show off.

"Even if you complete the cultivation in one day, my words will still count." Li Xiao looked at the official fan in front of him with a smile!

Some people become officials and hold power just for food, drink and fun. If such people grasp the power and become officials, it will definitely be a disaster for the people, and their own end will often be very miserable.

"Thank you, Marshal!" Shi Danai knelt down on the ground excitedly, his body shaking.

"Get up! Take me to see your achievements!" Stewie patted Stane on the shoulder.

Now that they have been put in high regard by Li Xiao, the status of Shi Danai's family in the historians must also be reconsidered.

"No!" Shi Danai took the lead and walked onto the train. This was a train delivering supplies to the Yili Reclamation Group. In the meantime, two luxury carriages for Li Xiao were hung up.

The train station is very elegantly built, and the ground is all made of solid hemp stones.

In terms of the Central Plains, Hami is at most a town, with several horizontal and vertical streets, three horizontal and three vertical.

But in the Western Region, this is already considered a city.

After the train started, it quickly disappeared from the streets. The desolate yellow color filled the eyes.

"The Western Region is still populated but sparse!" Li Xiao shook his head helplessly.

"The living conditions in places like the Western Regions are far worse than those in the mainland. In addition, we Han people have been relocating to their homeland. The court has formulated many policies in recent years, but the number of people who come to the Western Regions to reclaim wasteland is still very rare.

Hami is a pretty good place, but it becomes more desolate as you go forward. The population of a town is actually smaller than that of a village in Liaodong.

But there is no way, the train always needs to be replenished. Water and coal are added. As a last resort, the official has to set up a station there." Shi Danai has stayed in the Western Regions for six years and knows the situation here better than Li Xiao.

"Haha! As long as there is a train station, no matter how small a village is, it will become densely populated. Think about it, with a train station, people will get on and off the train.

Within a radius of a hundred miles, this place is very popular.

Once it becomes popular, people will buy land and set up shops. After that, more and more people will make money and make a living there.

Don’t underestimate a train station, if it’s well done, it can drive a city. When you build a train station in the future, you must take these things into consideration.” Shi Dewei smiled and taught this honest nephew.

"Thank you uncle for your teaching!"

"What is that?" Li Xiao pointed to a large, densely packed patch of dirt not far from the train track.

The earthbags are very dense, some like the cemeteries in the Central Plains. But in the dialect of the Central Plains, some families may not have such a large cemetery for more than ten generations.

"That's...!" Shi Danai felt a little guilty and glanced at Shi Dewei secretly.

"Look at what I'm doing. When the marshal asks you, answer truthfully without any concealment." Seeing Stanai's look, Stewie immediately darkened his face.

He is completely different from the elder who was just a teacher.

"I bought more than 20,000 people in Jiaofangsi, and now I still have...!" Shi Danai took a sneak peek at Li Xiao's expression.

Li Xiao understood in an instant that there was no such thing as officials having their homes confiscated and exterminated. Naturally, there was no official family members being sold or used as official prostitutes.

What Jiaofangsi is selling now are entirely foreign slaves.

As for the origin of these foreigners...! Nowadays, the most common ones are Egyptians, Indians, and Bengalis.

The relatively rare ones are the Koreans and the Japanese, except of course women. Korean maids are a hot commodity in Dengzhou.

Generally, they will be sold immediately after landing.

If you have a slave from the Ming Dynasty, congratulations. According to the latest laws of the Ming Dynasty, you will be imprisoned for three years for free accommodation, and food will be provided by the court.

Of course! This is the starting price. If you traffic a lot of people, or if you mutilate and traffic children, then your life is over.

Take him to the execution ground and kill him with one knife!

Slaves sold to the Ming Dynasty from abroad must be sold to Jiaofangsi. This was a monopoly state-owned enterprise during the Ming Dynasty!

Because of the monopoly, profits are huge.

The Jiaofangsi has become a proper income-generating unit, belonging to a wealthy yamen that can even make a fool of itself.

Currently there are branches in Guangzhou, Quanzhou, Dengzhou, and Tianjin Health.

Because of their previous relationship with maritime merchants and their familiarity with the slave traders, the current Jiaofang Division is controlled by the Zheng family.

Half of the officials inside are from the Zheng family or people recommended by the Zheng family.

"How many are left?" Seeing Li Xiao not speaking, Shi Dewei asked in a deep voice.

"More than 3,000 people, less than 4,000!" Stanai said in a trembling voice.
To be continued...