Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 641 Observations Along the Way

When the train stopped briefly in Tai'an to refill water, Jia Lian, who got off the train to smoke, looked around but couldn't see Mount Tai. He casually remarked, "A leaf can block the view of Mount Tai!"

The accompanying railway official, a vice minister, laughed and said, "Tai'an is a good place!"

A few place names suddenly popped into Jia Lian's mind, and he casually joked, "Is what you're saying good? Is it legitimate?"

The railway official didn't understand at first and asked curiously, "What do you mean, sir?"

Before Jia Lian could answer, Zhu Zi, who wore the rank of adjutant, said, "Back when I followed Second Master to Yangzhou, he said it was a good place. Later, when we went to Datong, he still said it was a good place, except that some parts were not very proper. Now that we've arrived in Tai'an, Second Master is mentioning proper and improper again. I suppose there's a reason for this."

Upon hearing this, Jia Lian interrupted him, saying, "It's just a joke, just a joke between you and me, but for others, it's all about the blood and tears of survival."

One sentence ruined the conversation. Zhu Zi chuckled twice and stepped back in silence. The Railway Vice Minister also didn't know how to respond, so he pointed to the railway and said, "There are many rivers along the way, and we suffered a lot during construction."

Jia Lian laughed and said, "The North is relatively easy; building railways in the South is truly difficult. The road and bridge experience accumulated in the North will have to be tested in the South."

The Railway Vice Minister sighed in admiration, his expression immediately turning serious. He nodded and said, “What you say is absolutely right, sir. Building bridges is no simple matter. A solution that works in the north may not be suitable for the south due to the different geological conditions. Last month, Governor Xiong of Liangjiang wrote to inquire whether the existing technology could support the construction of a railway from Songjiang to Jinling. He also stated that if this railway were built, it would greatly benefit the people’s livelihood along the entire line. At that time, connecting Tai and Xuan prefectures by railway would surely create a wonderful situation.”

These words made Jia Lian think highly of Xiong Youfang, the Governor-General of Liangjiang. This wasn't just idle talk; it was genuinely insightful. The so-called Taiping and Xuanzhou prefectures refer to Taiping Prefecture and Xuanzhou Prefecture, respectively. Taiping Prefecture included Dangtu, Ma'anshan, and Wuhu, while Xuanzhou Prefecture governed Xuanzhou, Ningguo, and other counties. In modern society, there really is a slow train that runs from Nanjing to Sunjiabu Town, a place under Xuancheng.

The reason why such slow branch lines could be built was entirely due to economic benefits.

There are many factors to consider when planning railway routes, the most important of which are economic issues and engineering difficulties. Unless these are insurmountable, they are not the most important factors.

"What the gentry of Jiangnan want is a railway that is completely privately owned and under their control. They want it built from scratch without contributing a single penny or a single bit of effort, yet they complain about the cook's skills after receiving something for nothing. Where in the world is there such a good thing? If you ask me, these bad habits are all due to being spoiled. Hmph, they enjoy the peace and tranquility brought by this country, but are unwilling to pay the price for it. They talk about fairness all day long, but never mention the unfairness brought about by Jiangnan's geographical advantages."

Jia Lian made his point very clear: the railway must be controlled by the imperial court and cannot fall into the hands of private individuals.

It can be said that as coastal areas gradually begin industrialization, inland provinces are destined to become resource suppliers and markets for coastal provinces.

The speed of development is determined by geographical environment, which is beyond Jia Lian's control. With the railways under the control of the imperial court, the interests of the inland areas can be guaranteed to the greatest extent possible.

As for the discontent of the coastal capitalists, it was never a big deal to Jia Lian. Capitalists and landlords were not good people in essence.

No matter how bad state capital is, profits can still be redistributed through state regulation.

As for the problem of bureaucratic corruption, the imperial court had a legitimate reason to deal with bureaucrats, which was much easier than dealing with local gentry.

In Jia Lian's view, the emperor and centralized power were not the most important things at the moment. As long as the economy was developed, if the emperor lost the support of the people, someone in the country would stand up and overthrow the imperial power.

After refilling the water tank, the train continued its journey. When it arrived in Xuzhou, it was just dawn. Those who had been waiting on the platform in advance greeted Jia Lian, who had just disembarked, with a smile and clasped their hands, saying, "Brother Jia, it's been a long time!"

Jia Lian laughed heartily, stepped forward and gave him a warm hug, his generous gesture unlike that of a civil official: "Brother Li, you've been promoted very quickly these past few years."

Li Dong smiled slightly, took two steps back, and said, "I dare not compare myself to Brother Jia. I received a letter from Lin Ping a few days ago. He is doing well in Wuchang. Speaking of which, it has been ten years since the three of us have met."

Jia Lian was deeply moved upon hearing this. When he was expelled from Qingyun Academy, only Li Dong remained a constant friend. Later, by chance, Lin Ping also became a close friend. It was precisely because of this that young officials from Qingyun Academy felt an innate sense of identification with Jia Lian. Those officials who had the good fortune to be Jia Lian's classmates during their time at Qingyun Academy naturally identified themselves as part of Jia's faction.

However, the reputation of Qingyun Academy has not been as prominent since Jia Lian rose to prominence. The reasons are complex, partly due to Fang Baiyi and partly due to Li Qing.

Thinking of this, Jia Lian couldn't help but sigh, "This year's special imperial examination had not a single person with the experience of studying at Qingyun Academy, which is truly regrettable."

Li Dong accompanied Jia Lian on a walk on the platform, chatting as they went: "Prime Minister Li will probably never be able to shake off the reputation of being 'unable to recognize Jia' in his entire life."

This was the first time Jia Lian had ever heard of this, and he couldn't help but ask curiously, "Is that so? How come I didn't know?"

Li Dong laughed and said, "This saying has only emerged in recent years. We wouldn't have dared to say it before. It's only after Brother Jia was promoted to the rank of First-Rank Candidate Grand Secretary and concurrently Minister of Works that he pioneered the practical learning movement and established a faction within the imperial family. Only then did those who call themselves disciples of the practical learning movement put forward this idea. And you know what? This idea spread very quickly after it was put forward."

Upon hearing this, Jia Lian couldn't help but burst into laughter, saying, "Of course! Good news doesn't travel far, but bad news travels fast. Besides, this is a joke about the Second Grand Secretary. Who wouldn't enjoy watching it?"

Li Dong sighed, "In his early years, Prime Minister Li was a loyal and devoted official; otherwise, he wouldn't have been sent to teach at the academy. In the end, Prime Minister Li was too concerned with personal gain and loss and failed to maintain consistency."

Jia Lian smiled but did not comment on Li Dong's opinion. He simply said, "When the Duke of Zhou feared rumors, Wang Mang was humble before his usurpation."

Who can guarantee that Li Qing's early actions were driven by the so-called pure intentions of a loyal minister, and not by political opportunism? At least in retrospect, Jia Lian cannot accept this view.

Of course, it's not fair to deny it. After all, in life, many people hold onto their initial aspirations, encounter setbacks everywhere, and ultimately give up on changing the world, choosing instead to change themselves.

It can only be said that the power of the environment is too great. Few people can remain unchanged forever, because as long as they make a slight change, they can live comfortably. Why not stay the same?
Li Dong listened to Jia Lian's words thoughtfully, then shook his head and laughed, "Judging by actions, not intentions, and no one is perfect in their heart. Let's not talk about that. Last month when I went to Jinling to report on my work, Governor Xiong mentioned my relationship with Brother Jia and asked specifically why the railway passed through Xuzhou but didn't go through Huaiyin and Yangzhou, instead going through Suxian and Pukou. I replied to him, how would I know? I don't know anything about building railways."

Jia Lian laughed and said, "Perhaps Governor Xiong knows the answer, but is just pretending not to know and asking you."

Li Dong nodded: "He must understand. With grain from Jiangnan now transported by sea, the Grand Canal is indeed less busy than before, but it still plays a vital role." Jia Lian said: "Most likely, he wants to use some pretext to exert pressure and fight for control of the railways in Jiangnan. Jiangnan is wealthy and produces many talented people, so it has a great influence on the court. The previous changes in the Ministry of Personnel were not a matter of the proportion of officials from different places of origin, but rather His Majesty's dissatisfaction with the Jiangnan gentry reaching into the capital. Some minor matters are one thing, but to dare to covet important officials of the court. As long as His Majesty is alive, when it comes to the promotion of officials of the third rank and above, officials from Jiangnan and Shanxi will mostly have to fend for themselves."

These words greatly surprised Li Dong, who exclaimed in a low voice, "Is it that serious?"

Jia Lian nodded: "You don't understand His Majesty. Every ruler is most wary of this kind of thing. If local gentry dared to secretly plot the removal or dismissal of a high-ranking official of the first rank, and His Majesty didn't unleash a massacre, you're already showing your benevolence. Remember, officials of the third rank and above cannot take office without His Majesty's approval. Financial power, military power, and personnel power are the most important powers to His Majesty. Some people think they can manipulate the rules, but they forget that His Majesty is the only one who can transcend and be above the rules."

When old classmates reunited, the others tactfully kept their distance, allowing the two to speak freely.

Seeing the two walking back, Zhu Zi stepped forward and said, "The water and coal are ready. May I ask if we can depart?"

Jia Lian hugged Li Dong and said, "Alright, I'm going to continue my journey. When you get back, write a report requesting the establishment of an engineering college and a railway school in Xuzhou. As for the coal mines in Jiawang, find a way to take them back under government control. If there is strong resistance from the locals, write directly to the capital."

Li Dong nodded and said, "Don't worry, I may not be able to do much else, but it's not difficult to cause some trouble for the coal mines and make them stop operating. Besides, the imperial court has relevant regulations, and we're just acting according to the law. However, the coal mines in Xuzhou have a huge influence on the steel industry in Jiangnan. The interests involved are enormous, and even for you, the Minister of Works, taking back the state-owned mines will be quite difficult. You'll have to deal not only with the Jiangbei Governor of Xuzhou, but also with the Governor-General of Liangjiang and the Jiangnan Governor."

The steel industry in Jiangnan refers to the Suzhou steel industry, which flourished from the mid-Ming Dynasty. Although Zhou was a large country, it lacked high-quality iron ore, and the iron ore in Jiangnan was considered to be of good quality within the country.

There is a rich iron ore deposit in Shilu, Hainan, but it hasn't been discovered yet. With current industrial capabilities, even if it were discovered, mining it would be extremely costly.

In response, Jia Lian once considered opening a steel plant in Australia and shipping the finished steel products back to China. However, after much deliberation, he decided against it, believing it was better to let Australia continue selling ore, so as not to disrupt the pace of technological upgrading for domestic steel companies.

Steel is crucial for a large country, especially one aspiring to industrialization. The current poor quality of domestically produced steel is forcing Chinese steel companies to focus on technological upgrades.

In a few decades, once the technology research and development system is established, finding iron ore in Australia will have a much smaller impact on domestic technological upgrades.

Of course, by then Jia Lian might have been very old, or he might have already died.

Who knows!

He boarded the train, waved goodbye to Li Dong, the prefect of Xuzhou, and continued south to Pukou.

The accompanying railway official mentioned that the biggest obstacle to the construction of this section of the railway was land acquisition. Local officials along the route, knowing the gravity of the situation, made some landowners suffer greatly in order to acquire their land. In some cases, the local officials were ineffective, and the railway bureau's security forces had to resort to force, drawing blood before they could finally subdue the landowners.

Of course, in keeping with Jia Lian's consistent style, the road protection team conducted thorough investigations beforehand, targeting only local tyrants and bullies.

After a few such incidents, even if the landlords along the way were unwilling to cooperate, they had no choice but to comply.

For the local officials and landlords along the railway line, the most hateful thing about the railway bureau was that it never targeted the common people. On several occasions when the railway was sabotaged, the scapegoats that the government put forward were not accepted by the railway bureau. On the contrary, the railway protection teams were ruthless, and cases of bandits wiping out entire families occurred frequently, which terrified local officials. At the same time, due to the poor handling of these cases, many officials were dismissed.

The construction of the Jinpu Road and Jinghan Road, these two main roads, left the road maintenance teams with the blood of corrupt officials on their hands.

Unfortunately, the local authorities lacked evidence, leaving them with no choice but to confront the situation and also unwilling to offend them.

These things wouldn't appear in official reports, but the railway bureau would definitely report them to Jia Lian privately.

Jia Lian was truly delighted that road construction caused hardship for the gentry. He resolutely protected his own, and no matter how much the lower-level officials protested, they could not shake the authority of the railway bureau officials.

Officials north of the Yangtze River have now reached a consensus: anyone who obstructs the railway bureau's construction will be punished, and anyone who dares to retaliate will face even harsher punishment.

The usual approach is to first try persuasion and then resort to force, using official channels. If collusion with officials and gentry fails, then physical channels are used.

An obtuse local official is likely to be implicated and dismissed because of the tragic massacre of a local gentry family by bandits.

When it really comes to this, there's nowhere to reason with them.

Of course, such cases are extremely rare, and there are very few gentry who are stubborn to the end.

As for whether anyone hates you, isn't that normal? Everyone has a few enemies in this world.

After a series of stops and starts, it was ten days later when we finally arrived in Pukou.

Nevertheless, the speed is already quite astonishing. If there are no stops or delays along the way, the entire journey can be completed within three days.

During this trip, Jia Lian deeply felt the backwardness of communication methods, which severely limited the efficiency of railway transportation. Current railway scheduling relies on fixed train schedules, with temporary stops used to avoid disruptions.

As the train slowly pulled into the station, someone came in to report as soon as it came to a stop: "Governor Xiong of Liangjiang is at the station to greet you, sir."

The news couldn't be kept secret, so Jia Lian wasn't surprised. He simply went through Xiong Fang's resume in his mind.

This person was an official promoted by Sun Huazhen. He had previously served as the Governor of Jiangxi and the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice. Five years ago, he was transferred to the position of Governor-General of Liangjiang.

(End of this chapter)