Chapter 213 He who wins the hearts of the people wins the world
Chapter 213 He who wins the hearts of the people wins the world
After thinking for a long time, I still had no idea. 50 million was really a daunting number. Unless the Qing government was willing to invest with national power, it would be impossible to raise the money.
The imperial court had just borrowed 30 million taels for the Western Expedition, and it certainly could not come up with this money.
Oh, forget it. I'll just have to postpone this matter for now until I have made up my mind. This is not something that can be accomplished in the short term.
The Russians spent 1.46 billion rubles and more than ten years to build the Siberian Railway, which was equivalent to more than 200 million taels of silver, more than the military expenditure during the same period. Shao also had the courage to build the Western Railway and control the vast territory.
Ordinary people always feel that they don’t have enough money to spend on daily necessities. They imagine that if they become high-ranking officials or wealthy people, they will have enough money to spend. This is not the case at all.
The actual funds in the hands of every super-rich person are very limited, and they only look good on the surface. Most of them have more loans than assets, and once the capital chain is broken, they will be finished immediately.
A big snake has a big hole. When you have money, you want to do bigger things, but the hole can never be filled.
Shao Quanzhong fell asleep in the worry of lack of money and did not sleep well that night. The cold wind was howling outside, and soon heavy snow fell. It was the first snow in Suzhou City in the fifth year of Tongzhi.
When Shao Quanzhong got up the next day, he found that the outside was covered with white snow.
The heavy snow could not stop Shao Quanzhong from going out, and he immediately called out, "Sixth Lady, prepare the horses, let's go back to Hailing."
Suzhou has been handed over to Shao Hengzhong. Shao Quanzhong is preparing to return to Hailing to visit his parents, accompany Ronghui, and most importantly, meet Nobel and Thomson.
The quality of today's steam tractors is too poor. They need to be repaired after running 300 to 400 miles. The wheels are also not good. They have to take a detour to reach any city, and engineers have to be sent to remove obstacles on the road. Otherwise, the big iron wheels will damage the road surface when entering the city.
This is where Thomson, a master of both steam power and pneumatic tires, came in.
TNT and electric detonators are even more important. You must take care of this matter yourself and no mistakes can be made.
Shao Quanzhong led his guard platoon and rode out of the city on horseback.
The soldiers in the city were given holidays in batches and had no chance to go home, but they could rest and no longer had to conduct drills and training.
The soldiers on the street were standing in rows of two or three. The crunching sounds of their boots on the snow were very uniform. It was obvious that the habits they had developed from their usual training were quite good. Shao Quanzhong nodded in satisfaction.
Many soldiers were heading towards the city gate. It was snowing heavily in this winter. Could there be anything good outside the city?
When Shao Quanzhong left the city, he saw that it was really lively.
Outside the moat, a bustling market has formed along both sides of the city gate. There are all kinds of small vendors, pushing carts and calling out to attract customers from the city. Most of the cotton hats and carts are still covered with snow.
The original residents of Suzhou City are gone, and now it has become a military camp, but the outside of the city has suddenly become lively. This temporary military city has a castle-town structure, which is very Japanese pirate-like.
Shao Quanzhong dismounted and walked towards a candy-blowing stand with a big smile, "Old man, why are you here in the cold and snow instead of staying at home to enjoy the New Year?"
Shao Quanzhong was wearing a woolen coat, without revealing the shoulder straps on his military uniform. Even if he had, the old man might not have understood.
The military camp was on holiday, and there were many officers wearing woolen coats and strolling out of the city. The old man didn't know Shao Quanzhong's identity.
"Sir, we poor people lack money, not wind and snow. With the opportunity to make money, why would we stay at home? The Huai Army here are all wealthy, even the soldiers earn as much as the county magistrate. I heard that Lord Shao just gave them a reward, and merchants from hundreds of miles away came, not to mention the old man who is nearby."
"Old man, aren't you afraid that the soldiers will take your things without paying?"
The old man immediately quit and glared.
"Sir, you are also an officer of the Huai Army. How dare you say that about the Huai Army? Everyone knows that the soldiers led by Lord Shao have strict military discipline. When they entered Guazhou on a snowy night, the common people didn't know about it. No one picked up things on the road and no one locked their doors at night. This is a good official that is hard to find in thousands of years. It's a pity that Lord Shao is just a passing officer. After the battle, he went back to serve as the governor of Shaanxi. We, the common people of Gansu, don't have this blessing."
Shao Quanzhong's eyes were a little wet. Seeing an old man, whom he had never met, defending his reputation so well, it must have been worth it for him to be an official in this life.
Hu Liuniang, who was standing behind him, was very proud of this. She smiled and talked to the old man, "If Lord Shao succeeds in the Western Expedition, the court will definitely promote him. I'm afraid Shaanxi won't be able to keep him."
The old man was happy. "The higher the rank of Lord Shao, the better. It would be best if he could become the Prime Minister and govern the country. Then the people of our Qing Dynasty would all enjoy the happiness. This female military officer, you don't know that now the people of Shaanxi and Gansu have a long-lasting tablet for Lord Shao in every household. They all say that if Lord Shao could rule the world--"
The old woman who was helping him grabbed the old man and said, "Are you going to die? Aren't you afraid that your whole family will be executed?"
The old man stiffened his neck and said, "Since this general is an officer of the Huai Army, he must be a subordinate of Lord Shao. How can he rebel against Lord Shao? Women don't understand this, so don't get involved."
Shao Quanzhong left the stall with a smile and turned back to instruct the guards behind him, "See what it means that he who wins the hearts of the people will win the world? The people know very well who is good to them." The guards were all die-hard fans of the Shao family from Jiangyan, and most of them even came from Luzhuang and Panjiawei.
Shao Quanzhong made anti-traitor remarks, not to mention just in front of the guards, even if he traveled all over Shaanxi and Gansu, no one would report him. Anyone who dared to have such thoughts would be beaten to death by the people.
Holding the horse, Shao Quanzhong walked slowly among the bustling crowd. Suddenly, he found that as he was about to leave the market, the business ahead had changed.
There were rows of tents with hundreds of pink lanterns hanging at the entrances.
There were more than a dozen soldiers lined up at the door of each tent.
Seeing the tents swaying, Shao Quanzhong laughed, "Sixth Lady, did you see that? My soldiers are very disciplined when visiting brothels. Look at this team, how well organized is it?"
Hu Liuniang glanced at Shao Quanzhong with dissatisfaction on her face, "Your soldiers know how to take care of the half-opened business, and I don't know how you, the leader, can be a monk for more than a year?"
Shao Quanzhong smiled without saying anything, he knew what Hu Liuniang was thinking.
But I always do things in a legitimate way. If I don't become a prince, how can I give Hu Liuniang the status of a concubine? I am a serious person, and I have never-
Ahem, I seem to be lacking in confidence.
But I only made a mistake once. Who can blame Hu Liuniang for being a heroic woman who doesn't know how to be charming? If she really took the initiative to seduce me, Master Shao might not be able to resist.
There are fewer and fewer people ahead, so I can ride my horse at a gallop.
Shao Quanzhong got on his horse and suddenly heard a stiff Chinese voice behind him shouting, "General Shao, wait for me!"
Mark Twain was panting, pulling two horses in his hands, and chasing after them.
"Mark, I'm going back to Hailing. It's thousands of miles away, and I won't stay there for more than a few days. Can't you just stay in Suzhou? It's too much trouble to follow me."
"No, no, no, Shao, only by following you can we get news. Reporters are not afraid of trouble."
Soon, Mark Twain discovered that he had exaggerated.
Shao Quanzhong was an expert rider, and Hu Liuniang and the guards were also experts in riding. The distance from Suzhou to Lanzhou was 1,300 miles, but Shao Quanzhong arrived there in ten days.
Riding a horse in the snow, faster than Subutai's speed during the Mongol westward expedition, was no problem at all for Shao Quanzhong.
This is because there is enough time, otherwise his team can run at an accelerated speed of 400 miles.
Mark Twain suffered a lot, and his thigh lining was worn out. This travel experience was published in the newspaper with the title "The Travels of a Fool".
Shao Quanzhong passed through Lanzhou without going to see his adoptive father, and went directly to Baoji via Longxi and Tianshui.
As Shao Quanzhong galloped on his horse, he wondered, "Didn't Wenxiu say that the railway would soon reach Lanzhou? Where is the railway? Why can't I see it?"
When the team arrived in Tianshui, they finally met Charles Crocker, the American railway construction supervisor who had come to see them not long ago.
This guy is with a survey team and is surveying the hydrogeological conditions along the planned railway.
"General Shao, it's not that we don't work hard. The board of directors wants to complete the railway as soon as possible so that we can start making money. But the section from Baoji to Tianshui passes through the Longxi Mountains on the Loess Plateau, and the railway also crosses the Wei River and the Yellow River. It is very difficult to determine the most economical route. It is too difficult to find a route with a stable geological structure and few detours. The current technical conditions are not enough to split the mountains and cut the rocks..."
Shao Quanzhong scratched his head. "Is that so? Charles, just take the straight route and don't worry about the difficulty of splitting the mountain and cutting the rocks. It's easy for me to get rid of those big rocks blocking the road. I have a way."
"Shao, you don't understand the technology. You should respect me as a professional. The workload is huge. No matter how many slaves you send, it will be useless. There is no shortcut here."
"I said yes!"
(End of this chapter)