This is an undoubted fact. What is the significance of this Pacific Railway to Nanhua? It is not just about connecting Shandong and Shanxi.
The most important thing is that it can speed up immigration - after all, the distance from the South China Sea to the Indian Ocean and then across the Atlantic to South China is too long, and the Pacific route is shortened by more than one-third, which is equivalent to saving three years.
In one-third of the time, the efficiency of the immigration ship can be increased by one-third, and the number of immigrants will naturally increase accordingly.
Once the railway is built, immigrants can continuously disembark from Linhai and then take trains to Nanhua.
The only problem is the railway, and what is the biggest problem hindering the railway?
It’s the Andes!
In order to build the railway through the Andes, a total of 42 tunnels and covered corridors and 144 viaducts and bridges are planned on the railway map. These are not the most difficult parts of the route. The most difficult part is that one section passes through the Andes.
It was built almost entirely on vertical cliffs. Engineers such as Gaiga called this section of the railway the "Devil's Nose".
"This winter, I plan to live on that devil's nose. I want to see if the nose of King Yama can stand up."
To get to the construction site of "Devil's Nose", you have to climb over mountains and ridges. Although he is the mayor, when he follows the mule team transporting supplies into the mountains, Wang Yingjiu is dressed no different from an ordinary road worker.
We climbed the mountain road strenuously for two hours. We all climbed up, up, up, until we reached the highest peak. The air became thinner as we went higher, and it became difficult for everyone to breathe. This climb took too long.
It made everyone exhausted, and it seemed that they could no longer hold on. At this time, it had snowed in the sky, and there was a vast sea of snow everywhere. The cold air that cracked the skin, the night shadows that gradually swallowed up the mountain peaks, and the fact that they could not be found
Wang Ying-jeou couldn't help but feel a little frightened about where to spend the night. Even where to live in such a barren mountain was a problem.
At this moment, the accompanying captain suddenly shouted excitedly:
"Look, there's a construction site ahead!"
Heavy snow has been falling for a long time, and the sky and the earth are covered in fog. Along the hillside, you can only hear the faint sound of explosions from cannons. Here, the strong wind carrying snow flakes surrounds people, making it really difficult for people to move!
However, the roars and explosions coming from the wind and snow reminded Wang Ying-jeou that there were people working in the wind and snow everywhere.
The deafening explosion echoed in the valley. Through the flying snowflakes, you can vaguely see the dim lights on the mountainside. They are the lanterns hanging on the construction site, where the workers are cutting rocks along the mountainside.
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In the past year, tens of thousands of workers have come here. They want to dig a 60-kilometer-long railway from the cliff, and build a small transportation road, horse-drawn carriages, and carriages next to the railway.
Pack mules, carts and pedestrians came and went on the sidewalk.
Finally, along the sidewalk, we came to a platform for meeting and giving way to vehicles. Sun Lin, the supervisor accompanying us, pointed to the opposite side of the mountain and said.
"Sir, look there, it's the "Devil's Nose"!"
Looking in the direction he pointed, through the falling snowflakes, one could vaguely see hundreds of workers clinging to the cliff. They were drilling holes there, as if they were digging a ladder to the sky.
"Sir, the entire sixty kilometers are dug out of such an almost vertical cliff. Foreigners call it the "Devil's Nose" because the railway is almost built on the tip of the devil's nose.
Be careful, people will fall from there. Even if the rope is tied by road workers, if the rope breaks, people may fall down. From the start of the construction to now, 276 road workers have died on this construction site..."
Sun Lin's words made Wang Yingjiu sigh.
"Not just 276. From Linhai to here, 1,324 road workers have died on the entire eastern section of the railway. This railway is basically built with our flesh and blood by the Chinese people. However, as long as this railway is connected, the east and west sides of the Taiwan Strait can be connected.
As a whole, whether it is Shanxi or Shandong, it will belong to us Chinese people from now on!"
In the past, Wang Ying-jeou did not know the importance of railways, but in the past year, after riding the railways many times, he has deeply realized the importance of railways. With such railways, not only will the mountains become accessible roads,
It has even reshaped time and space. Trains can shorten a journey that once lasted a month to two or three days.
With the railway, "traveling thousands of miles a day" is no longer a dream in novels.
Railways and telegraphs were all things that Wang Ying-jeou had never heard of or seen in the past. Although he was surprised, he also studied these with curiosity, and even started learning foreign languages and engineering.
Sometimes, officials in the late Qing Dynasty were conservative not because they were conservative, but because being conservative could gain political benefits. But deep down, they also harbored curiosity, especially when this curiosity would not only bring "nothing" to the individual.
After a political disaster such as Literary Inquisition, the pent-up enthusiasm will be quickly ignited.
"This looks like building a plank road on the mountain. It's not much different. I wonder if it can be like this. We use the method of building a plank road. We first build a work stack with wood in the air between each section. The workers can eat and live there.
There, we will dig blastholes at both ends along the work stack every day and blast out the road. What do you think?"
Although Wang Ying-jeou has no construction experience, as a governor of a province, he has certainly traveled through mountains and rivers. How were the suspended plank roads for literati and poets in famous mountains and rivers built? Isn't that how they were built?
There's just a slight change here.
Regarding Wang Yingjiu's suggestion, Sun Lin thought about it and found that it seemed to make some sense, so he nodded in agreement.
"Well, sir, it's your opinion. Otherwise, let's give it a try."
"Try it first. If it doesn't work, just follow the methods taught by foreign teachers and build railways. We are laymen. Since we are laymen, we must learn more."
After being reminded, Wang Yingjiu wrapped her coat tightly, pulled down the brim of her hat, and then continued to walk forward along the transportation path dug on the cliff.
This winter of this year, he has made up his mind to live and eat in this "Devil's Nose". There is no other reason. Since everyone is allowed to work during the winter, of course he, the mayor, must live and eat with them here.
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The wind in the valley is getting stronger. The snow is getting stronger...
