Railway construction is a very complex project, but it is very simple. The most difficult part is probably the preliminary survey and survey, as well as railway bridges and culverts, including flattening some mounds, leveling some swamps, etc.!
The preliminary preparation work is too tedious, but once these things are ready and start laying the roadbed and laying the rails, it will be much faster.
For such a large project, the Chinese have marked out the most difficult projects separately, and then set up different engineering teams to plan in advance!
The final construction of the railway is much simpler. As long as you are willing to pile on the labor, the progress will not be slowed down!
For China, there are many plains and hills in the eastern region, which are suitable for building railways. However, in the Sichuan Basin, Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, and even the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Xiao Letian is not so arrogant and wants to use current technology to open up the mountains.
Don’t eat a fat man in one bite, revitalize the economy of the plains first, and lay a solid industrial foundation first! After all, it is only the end of the 19th century. The gap between China and the West is not that big yet, and it can still be recovered.
Zai Chun became anxious immediately after seeing the master's plan. He understood the efficiency of the Chinese people very well. The head of state had already framed a picture in his study with the words, time is life, efficiency is money!
He knows that once the Chinese start working on a certain project, it means that all the preliminary preparations have been completed long ago, and the master's generous work is very fast!
The Chinese people and the Qing Dynasty suddenly entered the peak period of production and construction. Emperor Tongzhi urged all ministries almost every day, strictly ordering all ministries to complete all preparations for the listing by the end of March, and all accounts and budgets must be calculated clearly!
The six departments of the Qing Dynasty, which were backward in efficiency, could not meet such high efficiency requirements. People were extremely slack just after the Spring Festival. When the little emperor urged them, they immediately became in a hurry.
People really underestimated the determination of Emperor Tongzhi. In early March, Zaichun even called in all military ministers such as Baojun, Yinggui, Fuqing, Prince Dun, etc., and gave him a severe reprimand!
"Is it all for free? The head of state has provided all the geological information, and even the earthworks company has helped you calculate half of it. How long will it take you to calculate the remaining half of the budget?"
"I don't care about the budget of the Yellow River Iron Bridge. One million silver, let the British, Germans and Chinese bid for it. It must not exceed this amount!"
"Do you care whether they can do it or not? Is that something you can even think about? We are the money spenders, we are the uncles!"
"Pull out all your flower feathers and press them in the Hall of Cultivation of the Heart! When will the stock be successfully listed and when will you come back to redeem it... Get out of here and go work for me!"
After swearing, these military ministers came out of the Yangxin Hall in disgrace. Each of them had no feathers on the back of their official hats, and they all looked like bald-tailed chickens.
Baojun handed over to everyone, "Brothers, there's nothing more to say, let's just live in Liubu! Long live the stock market at the end of March, and long live the start of construction in April!"
Zai Chun watched these military ministers leave angrily. Xiao Sixi hurriedly came over to pour tea and said, "Your Majesty, don't be impatient. Your Excellencies will not waste time. Our Qing Dynasty is rich. The railway will be built one month earlier or one month later." There is no difference if you succeed!"
"You know what the heck! Time is all taken away. The master once told me that with the efficiency of the Qing Dynasty, it would take at least seven years to build the Beijing-Hankow Railway... and if the Chinese people were to build it, it would be four years guaranteed. It can be repaired!"
"I'm not convinced, I'm not convinced in my heart. Why are we in the Qing Dynasty inferior to others? You said, isn't the most difficult part of this railway the production of rails? Now the Capital Iron Works can produce high-quality rails!"
"The railway bridge is more difficult. We can ask the Chinese and foreigners to repair it... What else is difficult? Isn't it just to mobilize the people to fill in the earth, smash the stones, and then level it and lay the rails?"
"These are the strengths of our Qing Dynasty. We lack everything but people!"
"If we use manpower to pile up the project, if we lose again, how can we have the face to see others!"
What Zai Chun said was correct, and what Xiao Letian said before was a way to provoke generals, because Xiao Letian clearly remembered that in real history, the Beijing-Hankou Railway was only built after the defeat of the Sino-Japanese War of 1884-1895.
Construction started at the end of 1898 and it was not completed until 1905 when the Yellow River Zhengzhou Bridge was opened to traffic! It took a total of seven years. Among them, the Yellow River Zhengzhou Bridge was delayed a little more. Otherwise, the Qing Dynasty should have completed its opening to traffic in about five or six years.
Xiao Letian used a trick to provoke the generals, just to let the Beijing-Hankou Railway be completed as soon as possible. If it can be connected with the Jiangnan Railway Network in four years, this project will be awesome!
Zai Chun stood up, "People are bitter insects, they can't survive without fighting! If I don't crush them, these slaves will untie themselves, and everyone will be lazy!"
"Let's go... I'm bored in the palace. Let's go out for a walk and go to Master Sai's house!"
Zai Chun was already close to Sai Shishi at this moment. Sai Shishi was indeed the heir to Li Shishi as his name suggested. Zai Chun had long been familiar with the small courtyard he lived in in Beicheng.
Saishishi bought a courtyard house by himself. In addition to receiving guests, he also carefully selected a dozen young girls and trained them bit by bit.
When Zai Chun came here, he really felt like a fish in water. Sai Shishi served him in different ways. More than a dozen girls were also the playthings of the little emperor. Moreover, Sai Shishi knew the virtues of men and would often exchange them with Jasmine Mama Sang. Breaking down some chicks.
Emperor Tongzhi could find new tricks and faces almost every time he went to Saishishi. This place became a rare place for him to relieve his fatigue after handling government affairs!
Nowadays, Master Sai no longer sells himself. Although he still accepts guests through his half-open door, he always greets them with private dishes.
She has successfully transformed into the number one socialite in the capital, and many secret transactions among officials were completed at her drinking table!
And these officials and merchants also heard about the relationship between Sai Shishi and the emperor, and each of them even started to flatter him!
Nowadays, when you come to Saishishi, even a cup of tea costs three hundred silver dollars, and listening to a little song costs six to seven hundred silver dollars!
If you want a whole table of Western noodles, there are three grades, one thousand, one thousand five hundred, and two thousand silver dollars, you can choose whatever you want! Of course, after paying two thousand silver dollars for a table, this Master Sai can still have a few more drinks with you!
As for the one thousand banquet, we can only have tea instead of wine!
Don't be too expensive, there are many people who want to send money, and many officials hope to open up the door to Sai Shishi. If you say a few kind words to the little emperor, your promotion will really be a rocket!
But Master Sai is very measured. As long as you reveal that you are looking for an important official, you will immediately serve tea to see off the guests!
It is because Master Sai is so measured that Zai Chun comes here with more and more confidence!
Emperor Tongzhi, who was dressed in casual clothes, slipped into Sai Shishi's house. He never expected that someone would stop behind him!
Prince Dun's sedan stopped far away on the roadside, and Prince Dun watched it for a long time through the gap in the sedan curtain.
"Hey... let's go back home! We really can't come here anymore!"
