The journey starts from the Titanic

"Yeah! The railway recruits workers at home. It's okay. If you go to Nanyang, you don't know if you will be sold piglets?" Someone worried.

"Yes, yes, I heard that the southerners can't survive, so they went abroad to find food! Being sold as piglets is not as good as a tenant."

Someone agreed.

Facing the unknown, people will always have many fears when they are curious.If it is the southern coastal area, people will not be unfamiliar, but in Sichuan, most people have not left a hundred kilometers away from their hometown in their lives. Even the most knowledgeable people in Chengdu will have a little knowledge of Nanhua if they did not visit Nanhua on the spot. , Or be suspicious of reports about South China.

The storyteller is not in a hurry, with a confident smile on his face, it seems that the question in front of him is not difficult for him at all.The most important thing is that the Meihua company paid him a good salary, which was much better than the storytelling in the teahouse, so the storyteller of the Chengdu teahouse suddenly became the propagator of the Meihua company.

The storyteller coughed and said, "Selling piglets? I'm willing to sell me. How can someone pay a lot of money? Don't talk about food and housing, if you work on the farm, maybe there will be more. What about the distribution of land? The wages will never be deducted harshly. The above said that once the medical examination is passed, 100 yuan will be paid to the family as a settlement allowance on board the ship, and workers can choose to send the wages directly to the home."

"The settlement fee is 100 yuan!? This is a lot!" Many people were moved, and there are not many poor relatives in the family?

"In the people's market outside the city, 100 yuan can buy two good maids."

"Yeah! I didn't pay as much as 100 yuan as a family allowance when I was a soldier on the battlefield these years. Isn't this a bit too generous?"

Mr. Storyteller shook his head: "Gentle? Look at it clearly. The recruiter is Meihua Company. Just like working on the railway, half of the salary is sent to the home. This time the recruitment is guaranteed by the government, and the government will regularly organize celebrities from Sichuan to visit Nanyang. Coworkers."

Nanhua's recruitment salary is not low, higher than that of local workers, which is quite attractive.Situ Nan listened to the discussion going downstairs, smiled, and secretly said: "The 100 yuan resettlement fee is indeed a lot, and it should be reassuring. On Friday, I was prepared to buy bones for a thousand dollars, and started the recruitment of Nanhua. In the real money and silver Under the stimulus, I believe Sichuanese will flock to it."

Walking out of the teahouse, the streets and alleys were talking about South China’s recruitment. The Meihua company sent a car with a big horn and shuttled through the streets. The "storyteller" in the car was pulling his throat and chanting exciting advertisements. It was more sensational than the scene in the teahouse.

"Many people signed up for Nanyang. Tsk, after the Zhi Gong Party came, Sichuan was very active!" In Chengdu Liu Mansion, the former Sichuan overlord Liu Wenhui was discussing with his brother, Liu Wencai, a famous landlord in Sichuan.

"Guwazi, repairing the railway, Zhi Gong Dang can do things that the Qing Dynasty and Beiyang couldn't do. Now they are recruiting Nanyang to find a way to survive the bitterness in Sichuan. Meihua Company is really rich!" Liu Wencai envied.

"Well, the revolutionary army is strong and strong, rising in Guangdong and Guangxi, defeating Wu Peifu's force, sweeping the Central Plains, and more than half of the world is in their hands. We are not unjustly defeated!" Liu Wenhui said with emotion.

As a Sichuanese, he is excited about the current soaring development, and at the same time is somewhat depressed by those who have lost power.Who would have thought that Liu Wenhui, Liu Xiang, Deng Xihou, Tian Songyao and others were all served by Li Zongren?Thinking of the enemy's fierce artillery fire and the weakness of his generals in the face of the enemy's silver bullets, Liu Wenhui sighed.However, this is also good. Since the chaotic Sichuan has been reunified with military and political affairs, the people will have less burdens, and they will no longer have to be levied taxes after more than a decade.

"I don't think you need to be discouraged. Wuhan can't keep a large number of Sichuan generals away, right? Even the superficial effort will be indispensable. If you go to Wuhan Military Academy for further study, there is no chance for Dongshan again in the future?" Liu Wencai comforted.

In addition, they also have a famous nephew, Liu Xiang. Unfortunately, Liu Xiang and them are at odds. Otherwise, the Liu family can dominate Sichuan without being easily defeated by Li Zongren and succumbing to the Wuhan Zhi Gong Dang.Now, the power of the Liu brothers is not as good as before. However, for Liu Wencai, who is skilled in business, the Zhi Gong Dang’s entry into Sichuan has helped him a lot in his career.

Liu's factory recently accepted orders from the railway company. Because the railway started, a group of people in central Sichuan began to risk their wealth, and Liu Wencai was undoubtedly the first one with the largest profit.Because - he is a partner of Meihua Company, Liu's frustrated in military and political, but in the economic aspect, he got huge benefits.

"Don't talk about me, I have to persuade you that there will be no need to grow opium in the future. Anyway, now that you can make a factory to make money, you don't need that kind of conscience money. After all, you don't need to raise soldiers now, and the burden is lighter. "Liu Wenhui suddenly persuaded his brother Liu Wencai.It is said that a big man from Wuhan entered Sichuan recently, and that person, although not well-known, is absolutely chilling by means.

"Hey. Don't worry about that, the smoke will not be planted in the future."

The tax police corps was able to check that hundreds of thousands of troops were staring. The road from south to east to north of Sichuan's smoke was blocked. The opium industry in central Sichuan suffered heavy losses. In addition, the government severely shut down cigarette halls, and the atmosphere in Sichuan Greatly improved.Some people are not convinced, especially the opium bosses, but they either bankrupt their families or are fined to work on the construction site.Liu Wencai had a better life, secretly selling the opium in her hands to Meihua Company, and then obtained the machinery, technology, and contract orders from Meihua Company.

As a big landlord, Liu Wenhui does not intend to give up food from the land easily. He has been invited by Meihua Company to send people to Nanhua to inspect the plantation. If it goes well, Liu will buy land in Nanhua and organize it from Sichuan. The workers went to Nanhua to cultivate.

Listening to Liu Wencai's answer, Liu Wenhui was relieved, he didn't want his brother to hit the guns of the spies of the MIB.

"Go, take me to see your factories." Liu Wenhui smiled.

"Exactly! The groundbreaking ceremony of the cement factory outside the city today. This is our third factory! It is also the second cement factory in Chengdu. It is big, with a daily output of 30 tons of cement and an income of over 10,000 yuan. ." Liu Wencai introduced somewhat proudly.The demand for cement in railway construction is almost infinite. Liu Wencai has already settled an account. In addition to cement, he also invests in quarries, brick factories, and grain industries. The scale of these industries is expanding rapidly. Liu Wencai predicts that according to the current situation Development, the railway will be completed in a few years, and he will get more than 100 million yuan from the railway construction!This is also the reason why he tried his best to please Meihua Company. Isn't it difficult to make ends meet with money?He is not so stupid.

...

"The construction of the cement plant in Liu's family was not small. Many big figures in Chengdu went there, including Liu Wenhui, Deng Xihou, Tian Songyao, and other generals in Sichuan, and Zhang Lan and other gentry in Sichuan. Spurred by the railway plan, Sichuanese The enthusiasm for investing in industry has been ignited, and all classes of society have increasingly recognized the new government to facilitate the government's next step of work.

However, there are also many problems. Social groups dominated by Brother Pao, opium, casinos, and evil-doing old bureaucrats will all be the objects of our next step.

There is also the Sichuan-Tibet border conflict. Tibetans eroded Kham Province with the support of the British, which should not be underestimated..."

"Okay, let's not talk about it, I believe you will do it well." Situ Nan waved his hand to stop Absinthe from continuing to say.

In order to rectify the new Sichuan, Absinthe, as the chief of military intelligence, spares no effort to investigate and work in Sichuan. Of course, Situ Nan is also one of the reasons.

After Situ Nan and Absinthe exchanged the situation in Sichuan, they were generally satisfied.Situ Nan is not a politician. He only knows that everything will not affect the railway construction.The Zhi Gong Party is a new political party, and the new political group has strong cohesion and will not degenerate for the time being. From the perspective of severely cracking down on opium gambling, improving social atmosphere, and dedicating to industrial construction, it is better than in history. At the same time, the Kuomintang was much stronger.

"Hehe, Director Ku is not merciless. With him, the generals in Sichuan are obedient even if they are two-minded! In addition, I suggest that the government organize an anti-bandit campaign. It is best to clean up all the buddies along the river to avoid anyone. Obstructing trade and commerce along the Yangtze River." Sitting aside Friday, interrupted.

Meihua Company has a lot of materials in his hands and has conducted investigations on the forces in central Sichuan. He wants to deliver these materials to the military intelligence bureau, and then the army and the government will come forward to organize suppression. I believe it will greatly improve the business environment in central Sichuan.

"Good talk, good talk." Absinthe nodded, approving Friday's suggestion.Although he won't come forward directly, but with him behind the scenes, even if it is Deng Xihou and other local tyrants who are inextricably related to Brother Pao, would he still dare not be a car?

Chapter 83

You must know that there is a revolutionary army of 20,000 people stationed around Chengdu. This man-made division is not only a warlord unit that will only harm Sichuan, but a powerful force that has piled up money and has been tested by the war with the Beiyang force.According to Wuhan’s plan, railway construction workers will be trained, and these people will be able to hold guns to cooperate with the regular army to suppress any rebellion in Sichuan.

"However, Liu Wencai is very fascinating. They have already tasted the sweetness after passing through the cement plant. Are they ready to form Chengdu Bank with the support of Meihua? Those generals have a lot of money." Friday added with a smile.

"Sure enough! Warlords and warlords turned out to be a business." Situ Nan curled his lips and secretly said: Using the market to conquer may be more profound than simply military conquest.

...

Situ Nan really went to the railway construction site to watch an expansive labor competition soon afterwards. The enthusiasm of the workers satisfied him.However, he cannot stay in Sichuan for long.Under a whim, he flew directly from Yucheng back to Wuhan, and landed once in Yichang.The results of the inspection are not optimistic. The road to Sichuan is full of ups and downs. I don't know how much manpower and material resources are needed.However, even in difficult situations, neither Situ Nan nor the Wuhan government will abandon the Sichuan-Han Railway.Because they have the world's cheapest, most persevering, and most obedient Chinese laborers, construction corps, conscientious Chinese railway engineers, and massive amounts of explosives, steel, cement and other building materials provided by the US-China Consortium.

One month later, Song Ziwen came again, and Situ Nan had a new friend beside him.

"The condition of the railway from Wuhan to Yichuan is not bad. I took a turn on the plane, and the construction site below was rumbling, and the dust from the explosion was a little bit of gunpowder smoke." Situ Nan exaggerated, tusk. , Hundreds of thousands of people gathered on the construction site, the scene is really spectacular, the fly in the ointment is that in Situ Nan’s view, many jobs rely on manpower, the level of mechanization is not high, and the hundreds of machines invested are far from enough.

"That is. The Construction Corps invested 50,000 to 60,000 people, plus the 100,000 young laborers recruited locally, hundreds of thousands of people rushed to the railway construction site. Within two years, Wuhan to Yichang and Chengdu to Yucheng were opened to traffic." Song Ziwen said optimistically, and pointed to a man in a suit with a smile, "If you don't believe me, ask him! Our Mr. Lu has been very active recently!"

"The people in central Sichuan have high expectations for the Zhi Gong Party government. If nothing else, they don't know how many years the Sichuan-Han Railway has been looking forward to. The sound of explosions on the railway construction site one after another, I took a boat down from the Yangtze River When I was excited, I was not excited? When I was excited, I couldn't help but buy a lot of Sichuan-Han railway bonds after arriving in Wuhan. I believe the government is really doing big things." Lu Zuofu said excitedly.

This entrepreneur and philanthropist is in his thirties. He has a beautiful appearance, simple and neat clothes, clear and peaceful big eyes, career ambition and benevolence. He is neither humble nor overbearing. He is the person Situ Nan admires.

"These are what the government should do. Otherwise, what is the difference between us and the Manchu Qing Dynasty?" Song Ziwen took it for granted. He smiled with Situ Nan and was naturally happy to hear others praise his career.And Situ Nan is pleased that with celebrities like Lu Zuofu taking the lead, the enthusiasm of the Chinese people to buy railway bonds will definitely be high, which will also stimulate the issuance of railway bonds overseas.When people invest in the Sichuan-Han Railway, their interests are linked to the Wuhan government. Through the railway project, the Wuhan government will gain more popular support and strengthen national cohesion. All participants will benefit, including political fame or economic benefits.

"The railway will not be completed in three to five years at the earliest. Now there is a way to speed up traffic in Sichuan. I suggest that the government widen the Yangtze River channel, especially the upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze River. After passing Yibin, the waterway is narrow and densely covered with reefs. In the upward direction, large ships cannot get on board, and even small steamers can hardly enter Sichuan. In some places, they even need to be pulled by manpower, and the navigation capacity is far inferior to the upper and lower reaches of Wuhan." At this point, Lu Zuofu looked at Song Ziwen expectantly. Seeing that he was a little moved and hesitated, he turned his head to look at Situ Nan, and said to his heart: For the newly established Minsheng Shipping Company, the government will undoubtedly usher in a rare opportunity to widen the Yangtze River Channel.

"Railway and waterway are both indispensable. Mr. Lu's suggestion is very good. The government should include it in the plan. Well, I think it is best to build a hydropower station in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and give you the best goal, the Three Gorges Dam." Situ Nan said to Lu Zuofu that this was actually addressed to Song Ziwen.

"Three Gorges? How is it possible? That place...Oh, I can't tell someone like you on paper!" Song Ziwen sighed and said that the government is under heavy financial pressure. With a sum of money, it can be difficult to clear the channel from Yucheng to Yichang. , But the construction of a large hydropower station will be avoided.

Lu Zuofu agreed, and nodded: "The place in the Three Gorges is really... Premier Song is right!... If it is possible, Minsheng Company is willing to contract the channel dredging project, and the price will not be too high. After all, this is a profit. A good thing for the country and the people."

Song Ziwen took a look at Lu Zuofu appreciatively, and thought: This person is indeed a bit responsible. If the project is called to him, the government should not suffer a loss. It is just that the Minsheng Shipping Company has just been established. I am afraid that it is not enough?Whether it is dredging the channel or building the railway, it can be done by the Construction Corps. They have the technology and sufficient manpower, are cheap and easy to use. Well, the Yangtze River Channel is a huge project, and the downstream areas need to be sorted out... …

Thinking of this, Song Ziwen smiled meaningfully and declined Lu Zuofu's kindness.

However, Lu Zuofu’s suggestion reminded Song Ziwen that the dredging of the Yangtze River Channel will be on the agenda, and it is best to set up a dedicated shipping management department to be responsible for several major shipping hubs such as Nanjing, Wuhan, Yichang, and Yucheng.Well, that should be done, but the specifics need to be considered for a long time.Song Ziwen thought to himself, because the Yangtze River Channel is the lifeblood of the Wuhan regime.

"In fact, the Three Gorges Dam is not necessarily whimsical, but this dream is a little far away." Situ Nan also thought to himself.In his view, as long as the Wuhan government does two things well-railways and the Yangtze River Waterway, it can promote the development of industries such as steel, shipbuilding, and chemical industries. China's industrialization will be more than half successful, let alone the economic take-off.

Song Ziwen was busy with official duties and left after a while, leaving Situ Nan and Lu Zuofu.Lu Zuofu looked at the back of Song Ziwen away and was a little unfamiliar. He didn't expect to meet this great god in the Situ Mansion. He still didn't fully understand the identity of Situ Nan. He only knew that Situ Nan was the senior of Meihua Company, mysterious and powerful.The most important thing is that Situ Nan can support him to start the Minsheng Shipping Company and compete with foreign companies for the Yangtze River shipping market.What surprised him was that when he was negotiating with Situ Nan about the Minsheng Shipping Company, it was a coincidence that he encountered Song Ziwen!Listening to the tone of Situ Nan and Song Ziwen just now, it seems that the two are very familiar. Between Situ Nan's words, there is no meaning to awe at Song Ziwen, a powerful man.Compared with them, Lu Zuofu felt that he was really a thorough commoner.

Seeing Lu Zuofu’s thoughts, Situ Nan smiled faintly, and explained: “I’ve known Ziwen ten years ago. He was a small businessman with a good knowledge and a little clumsy not long after graduation. In recent years, the Song family’s industry has developed well, and the scale is still small. Even if he can, he can devote himself to politics."

Over the years, Song Ziwen has led the development and growth of the China Zhi Gong Party. His official career seems to be smooth, and his back is exhausted, and his hair has become a lot gray.Hey, luckily I don't have a strong desire for power, and I live easily.Situ Nan was secretly contented.Affected by Situ Nan, the Song family’s wealth expanded rapidly while investing more and more in industrial manufacturing, such as machinery, matches, and petroleum, creating jobs and promoting domestic industrial development. They did make a lot of contributions. They are more familiar than Situ Nan. History is much better.

Ten years ago?Was Song Ziwen still in the United States at that time?The Song family is nothing more than a small merchant's house. I didn't expect this change to happen today after ten years!Lu Zuofu sighed that many people had studied the development of Song Ziwen and even the Song family. People began to think that the Song family was an Anglo-American school with overseas background. The Shanghai Commercial Machinery Company founded by Song Ziwen acted as an agent for importing machinery and equipment and sold them to China. The factory was in World War I at the time, and there was a steady stream of machinery and equipment imported from Shanghai Business Machines Corporation in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas of Shanghai, bringing huge profits to Song Ziwen.Later, with the rise of the Zhi Gong Party and the Meihua Consortium, people discovered that the original Song family's ally was the industrial consortium of Meihua Company.