Li Xiaofei is teaching the apprentice sent by King Cao Li Dazhuang how to send and receive telegrams.
He saw that Zhang Tiantuo and Bai Huayun, who were relatively clever, had become proficient in operating telegraph machines after one month of study in the past two years.
Li Xiaofei admired the intelligence of these two people. He learned to send and receive telegraphs for half a year.
His two apprentices were much smarter than him, and they looked like talents carefully selected by King Cao Li Dazhuang.
Li Xiaofei received a telegram as usual.
He was very casual at first, but as his pen continued to record the contents of the telegram, his expression changed from relaxed to serious.
This telegram has nothing to do with King Cao Li Dazhuang, but is closely related to him.
Because of this achievement, he was promoted to a first-class official and was also responsible for the preparations for the Benniu Road Canal.
Li Xiaofei is very satisfied with his new position. He does not want to be a communications soldier for the rest of his life.
As his level increases, it is difficult to change his job. At most, he will be exposed to more things.
Now he is sent to King Cao Li Dazhuang. The contents of the telegram are completely open to the public, but there is already a lot of content that is not suitable for ordinary people to know.
As he comes into contact with more and more secrets, it will become impossible to transform.
Now the court is asking him to transform. As long as the Benniu Road Canal is prepared, his transformation will be complete.
After he returns to China, it is very likely that he will transfer to the Ministry of Industry and become a civil servant in the Water Resources Department of the Ministry of Industry.
Li Xiaofei's life path became broader after that.
He looked at Zhang Tiantuo and asked, "Have you written down the contents of the telegram just now?"
Zhang Tiantuo looked nervous and said seriously: "Master, I have memorized the contents of this telegram. You should be leaving Cao State."
"I'm very happy that you are here.
You have mastered this technique. As long as you practice more, you can teach this technique to others. I am no longer needed here. "
He stepped forward, patted Zhang Tiantuo on the shoulder, and said, "You have to believe in your own abilities. You are the smartest among the students I teach."
After a few words of encouragement from Li Xiaofei, he asked to see King Cao Li Dazhuang.
King Cao Li Dazhuang quickly met with Li Xiaofei.
"Give Mr. Li a seat."
When he saw Li Xiaofei sitting down, he said happily: "Mr. Li is very attentive in teaching his apprentices. I communicate with others. My people are the first to learn to send and receive telegrams.
This all depends on Mr. Li’s careful teaching.
Mr. Li should be leaving Cao State. I have tried to persuade him to stay in Cao State many times, but still cannot make Mr. Li stay in Cao State. I wish Mr. Li a safe journey.
Mr. Li has any request, but it doesn’t matter. "
After Cao Wang Li Dazhuang tested him, he knew that Li Xiaofei was a loyal person.
Such a person would never betray the empire and join Cao State just for some small gain.
He admires this kind of person, but also knows that this kind of person cannot be recruited.
King Cao Li Dazhuang also learned that Li Xiaofei was responsible for preparing the Bull Run Canal for the empire. This canal had a great impact on Cao State.
His friendship with Li Xiaofei will bring more benefits to Cao State.
Li Xiaofei was completely relieved when he heard King Cao Li Dazhuang say this.
What he fears most is that King Cao Li Dazhuang wants to force him to stay in Cao Kingdom.
Once this happens, he really has nothing to do.
The empire would not break with Cao State directly because of an insignificant person like him.
After receiving the telegram, he had been thinking about how to prepare for the canal excavation work and show his abilities before the arrival of imperial support.
The empire's presence in the Americas had previously been limited to the Sandalwood Islands, which were mainly used as naval bases and shipping transit points.
It will take at least several months for the relevant talents transported by the empire from the country to reach the Bull Run Trail.
This is also the reason why Li Xiaofei easily obtained this opportunity.
The empire alone cannot do much.
He must harness the power of the countries surrounding the Bull Run.
Li Xiaofei made up his mind in an instant, he immediately cupped his fists at King Cao Li Dazhuang and said: "I really have a merciless request.
During this time, I lived in Cao State and learned about the customs and customs of Cao State.
King Cao was full of martial virtue and conquered many indigenous tribes.
I heard that many indigenous tribes did not accept the rule of King Cao. These indigenous tribes who did not submit to the king's rule were only worthy of being slaves.
I need a lot of slaves to build the canal, so I beg King Cao to sell some slaves. "
When King Cao Li Dazhuang heard Li Xiaofei's request, he laughed and said: "This is a trivial matter, no problem at all.
Just a few slaves, but we in Cao State have many. "
When Li Xiaofei heard King Cao's promise, he immediately thanked him again.
This was as he expected. King Cao Li Dazhuang was not averse to selling slaves.
These slaves who disobey Cao State's management are like time bombs in Cao State.
These people cannot integrate into Cao State and will always oppose Cao State's rule.
However, Cao Guo could not use too harsh methods to deal with these natives.
Because most of the natives were very aware of current affairs and chose to join the Cao Kingdom.
At this time, Cao State used cruel methods to deal with the natives, which would make these surrendered natives feel sad.
Now that the empire is acquiring these natives, Cao Guo can also sell these hot potatoes at a good price.
As for how the empire uses these natives, King Cao Li Dazhuang doesn't care.
…………………………
Li Xiaofei took 20,000 indigenous slaves with him. He left Cao State and headed for the Bull Run Road.
Cao Guo was close to the Bull Run Road. He set off in the morning and returned to the Bull Run Road just after noon.
When Li Xiaofei saw the ship arriving at the shore, he felt completely relieved.
The telegraph machine has been left in Cao State. Once they are in danger, they will not even have a chance to ask for help.
Li Xiaofei immediately found his superior, General Shi Lang, and asked General Shi Lang to send troops to maintain order.
Cao King Li Dazhuang sent people to manage the slaves. They unloaded all the slaves and returned to Cao State.
General Shi Lang saw densely packed slave ships on the sea.
He said: "If you hadn't sent the report in advance, Xiao Li, I would have easily regarded them as enemies.
There are a total of 20,000 slaves, and the fleet cannot stay here forever and needs to go out on patrol.
Even if all the defenders of the Bull Run Road participated in the management, they would not be able to manage the 20,000 rebellious slaves. "
Li Xiaofei had already thought of a solution to General Shi Lang's problem.
He immediately said with a relaxed expression: "General, for this situation, I have already thought of a solution to the problem.
King Xiang Su Li once said that they would provide a group of rebel prisoners as slaves to build the canal.
These rebel prisoners, no matter what they did in Xiangguo, they all belong to the Han people.
As long as we show an attitude and let them see hope of survival.
And put these people in charge of the slaves, we just have to manage these people.
In this way, there will be no shortage of manpower, resulting in the inability to manage slaves more efficiently.
No matter how many slaves there are, they will not cause chaos and affect the canal's construction schedule. "
When General Shi Lang heard Li Xiaofei's arrangement, he gave a thumbs up and praised: "This is a very good method. We can control a large number of people with only a small amount of experience.
The current garrison of the soldiers is very simple and unprepared, and the canal cannot be dug. Let these people repair the garrison first and turn it into a small town.
Regarding King Xiang's support, I will contact King Xiang directly, so you don't need to make a trip to the Kingdom of Xiang. "
After Li Xiaofei heard this, he immediately bowed and saluted: "You have caused trouble to the general. I will definitely live up to the expectations of the general and the court in my humble position. I will repair this canal quickly and with high quality and quantity."
Shi Lang looked up at the seemingly calm sea.
“This canal is navigable and is also an important strategic pivot for the Imperial Navy.
After the canal is built, the Imperial Navy's rapid response fleet can reach any port in the Americas in just one or two days.
This will have a strong deterrent effect and deter those with evil intentions. "
Li Xiaofei didn't even have time to rest. From the next day, he immediately started working like a top, busy non-stop.
He directed the seconded naval personnel to arrange work for the slaves who were arriving one after another.
In this process, it was inevitable to use force to remove the thorns among the slaves and suppress the slaves' resistance.
However, the number of the navy was insufficient after all, and it was somewhat unable to manage 20,000 slaves.
Until the rebel prisoners promised by King Xiang Su Li were sent to Benniu Road.
Li Xiaofei immediately happily received these slaves. He slaughtered three big fat pigs bought from Wei State and gave these prisoners a meal of braised pork.
When they were grateful, Li Xiaofei immediately announced that as long as they managed their slaves well and completed the construction period on time, they would be freed and allowed to rejoin the empire.
Li Xiaofei released this pie, and the eyes of the already desperate prisoners immediately shone with hope.
When Li Xiaofei saw this situation, he could safely hand over the slaves to these people for management.
He wasn't worried at all, these people couldn't even control the efforts of the indigenous people.
These are all rebel prisoners. Most of them are soldiers of the Xiang State and dare to fight against the regular army of the Xiang State.
Managing defenseless prisoners was a very simple job for them.
Nearly a thousand prisoners were mobilized by Li Xiaofei, and they immediately distributed the indigenous slaves in small teams.
Each pair of prisoners was assigned an overseer to manage them. The team that worked up to standard would be well fed, while the team that didn't work up to standard would go hungry.
After this method of management, the originally scattered indigenous slaves immediately turned into a seemingly decent engineering team.
When Li Xiaofei was building a station and measuring parameters for the engineering team, he contacted the capital via telegraph.
He asked experts in the capital for advice on the problem of building the canal.
Li Xiaofei thought he had a clear understanding of the difficulties.
He cannot get the support of the empire now, but he can get the support of the three countries of Xiang, Cao, and Wei.
Especially Cao State and Wei State, these two countries have carried out preliminary industrialization, and iron tools such as shovels and pickaxes are in unlimited supply.
As long as the money is available, these technically simple items are easy to purchase.
Wei State can also provide a batch of steam engines whose quality is not very good.
This kind of steam engine has no problem at all as a power source for a simple crane.
Once the lifting problem is solved, many problems can be solved.
Li Xiaofei believes that the technology he has now is more advanced than what Fujian had when it dug the Suez Canal.
He believed that by the time imperial support arrived, he would have dug nearly half of the canal.
The number of slaves Li Xiaofei controlled was not large, so he chose to start from the center and follow the excavation route given by the empire's experts to start digging towards both sides of the ocean.
This can also facilitate the installation of ship locks and other necessary canal equipment in the river during excavation.
General Shi Lang came back from his visit to Wei. He came to the construction site and saw Li Xiaofei standing on a high place observing the excavation process of the canal.
He knew very little about these engineering matters and asked directly: "Xiao Li, after several months, how is the canal excavation going?
I'm counting the time. The cargo ship supported by the Empire is about to arrive at the Bull Run Road. "
Li Xiaofei said helplessly: "The canal excavation process went smoothly, but the mosquitoes here are too annoying.
There is a high incidence of malaria among the engineering teams. If it weren't for artemisinin, I don't know how many people would have died.
However, unknown diseases in the rainforest still caused serious attrition.
In the past few months, more than 500 people have fallen ill. Many people became very weak after getting sick and were unable to return to work. "
Shi Lang said helplessly: "Xiao Li, you may not understand that the military's non-combat attrition is also very serious.
This is the depth of the rainforest. Not only are mosquitoes too poisonous, but there are also many venomous insects, snakes and ants. We have never seen many things before. We can only wait and see if we are bitten.
But the canal must be opened. This time I went to Wei State and walked directly along the coast of South America in a large circle for several months.
After the canal is opened, it can be reached within one day, which greatly improves the fleet's deterrence capability. "
Shi Lang said a few words briefly, but he was not urging.
He knew that during this period, Li Xiaofei was already in dire straits.
As an ordinary soldier who has never been exposed to engineering, he can now arrange this project in an orderly manner, which is a miracle in itself.
Li Xiaofei's familiar whistle sounded at the port.
The empire's support has arrived at the Bull Run Road. Li Xiaofei saw that there were very few personnel sent by the empire, less than 200 people.
But there are a lot of huge steel equipment on the cargo ship.
After Li Xiaofei was introduced by the visitors, he knew that these were construction machinery, among which excavators were the most numerous.
This kind of machine uses a steam engine as power and hydraulically controls the steel shovel.
As soon as this kind of machine came off the construction site, with the roar of the machine, the huge steel shovel in front directly grabbed several meters of soil.
This efficiency shocked Li Xiaofei.
The working efficiency of an excavator is higher than that of a dozen indigenous slaves.
What a slave cannot do, an excavator can easily do.
When Li Xiaofei got an excavator, he immediately despised these indigenous slaves.
He chose to let indigenous slaves work on the diggers.
“The efficiency of machinery is so high, no wonder Emperor Su He has been promoting the development of industry.
Without these excavators, it would take at least three to four years for the canal to be officially opened.
With so many excavators, I am confident that we can dig this canal in about a year. "
Li Xiaofei is very happy now. After he builds this canal, he will be highly regarded in the country.
If he chooses to change his career to become a civil servant, he will inevitably be accepted by the Ministry of Industry, which is equivalent to the progress of civil servants from clerk to official.
This canal not only changed the fate of surrounding countries, but also changed the fate of Li Xiaofei. (End of chapter)
