Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1754 Southern Railway Transformation ([-])

The arrival of this high-level delegation led by Xu Xiangdong made the Denglai Pioneering Team overjoyed.No, Liu Jianguo, the temporary agent of the captain of the Denglai Pioneering Team, personally hosted a banquet in Yantai City to entertain them and his party.

Liu Jianguo has a reason to do so, because he is still acting as the captain of the highest-ranking Denglai Pioneering Team in the San Francisco of the Far East.However, as everyone knows, he is still an "agent" and has not yet become a full-time member. If he is removed in the future, he does not need to go through any complicated procedures, just a notice.

Therefore, now Liu Jianguo needs to work hard for his own future.Acting as the captain of the Denley Pioneering Team is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for him. If he is dismissed because of some messed up things or mediocre performance, his competitors will probably laugh their ass off. This is absolutely intolerable to him.But now, the arrival of the high-level delegation from the Southern Railway Corporation created a very good opportunity for him, just like meeting a pillow while dozing off.

"The construction of the Jiaoyan Line and the Taorong Line is very important to more than 100 million people in Denglai. Once it is officially opened, the economy of the region will usher in a stage of great development." After the banquet, Liu Jianguo will Xu Xiangdong Please go to your own study, and have a long talk while drinking tea: "To be honest, the agricultural conditions in the east of Jiaolai Xinhe are not the best. When I gave up the four places of Changyi, Gaomi, Jiaoxian, and Lingshanwei in Hexi, I would It's a pity, because this is a good agricultural land, but it turned out to be a buffer zone between the Qing Dynasty and us because it is flat and there is no danger to defend. It is really a waste. Of course, the situation is still It's not too bad, because we have kept at least half of Laizhou Prefecture. Pingdu Prefecture has a vast territory, and the whole area is suitable for farming. The condition of Laiyang County in the east is also good, and there are a lot of cultivated land. But in comparison, other places in Terengganu are much worse, the land is relatively barren, lack of water, drought, and relatively little arable land. "

"Don't look at the size of Dengzhou Prefecture. At the beginning, we changed some guards into counties, such as Weihai County, Rongcheng County, Dasong County, and Jinghai County, plus the original Wendeng County, Fushan County, Penglai County, and Huang County. , Laiyang County, Zhaoyuan County, Qixia County, and Ninghai Prefecture, there are more than ten prefectures and counties, but few of them have great potential for food production, or it takes a lot of money to renovate the land and build water conservancy. Improve one or two. If we count Yantai County, a pure consumption city created by us, it will be even more amazing! It may not be obvious now, because the existing cultivated land reserve has not been exhausted, but it can be considered With the vigorous development of industry and commerce and the very high population growth momentum in the thirteen prefectures and counties of the prefecture, the demand for grain and non-staple food (which also requires grain to be transformed) will still be large in the future. Once local production is insufficient, it is still necessary to Grain adjustments in Duzhou, Laiyang and other places, so if there is a railway, it will be much more convenient." Liu Jianguo added.

Xu Xiangdong did a lot of homework about Denglai before he came. He even spent a lot of time studying all aspects of Shandong because of the boring sailing on the way here, so he can still understand what Liu Jianguo said: Denglai is currently the most important The grain production areas in China are mainly in the vast area between Pingdu Prefecture and Laiyang County. In addition, in Ye County and Jimo County, there are also some coastal plains that can be cultivated, and the grain output is not small.In addition, the grain output of other counties in Denglei is very limited, or the potential for future growth is limited. Once the population grows to 200 million or 300 million in the future, Terengganu, which is more mountainous and less land, will inevitably face a relative shortage of food. Therefore, the construction of railways is very necessary.

It’s just that this railway for transporting grain is also horizontal, that is, the Taorong Line that was originally discussed—now it seems that it is a bit rash to set one of the terminals of this horizontal railway in Taocun, Qixia County, and it should continue to It is more reliable to set up the west in Pingdu Prefecture, so as to collect and transport the local grain nearby—so Xu Xiangdong asked: "Commander Liu, I heard you say so, do you want to build the Taorong Line first? Because Only this way can maximize the advantages of grain transportation, and the plastic smoke line is actually lacking in this aspect. However, when our company President Mao talked with Liao Xiaoyao and Commander Liao before, it was not confirmed that the plastic smoke line Is it a priority to build?"

Liu Jianguo laughed as soon as he heard it, and then explained: "Vice President Xu, you are worrying too much. The attitude of our Denglai Pioneering Team has always been very clear. Both the Jiaoyan Line and the Taorong Line must be built, but there are also some The primary and secondary points, that is, when the two railways cannot be built at the same time, the priority is to build the rubber-smoke line. This is actually very easy to understand. The advantages of the rubber-smoke line are too great. Jiaozhou and Yantai They are the two centers of our rule in Denglai, where a large number of military and civilian officials are stationed. Some enterprises such as ship repair yards, repair shops, and building materials companies are also located in these two places, which can be said to be the core of the core. , so the population is large and the commerce is developed. At the same time, these two places are also the two most important ports of our country in Denglai. There are a large number of materials and personnel coming in and out here every year, and the throughput of the terminal is huge. Therefore, from these perspectives, rubber smoke It is almost inevitable to prioritize the construction of the line. What’s more, the Jiaoyan line passes through Laiyang and Jimo counties, and their grain output is not low, and they also produce a lot of fruits and vegetables, so the role of this railway is very huge.”

Xu Xiangdong nodded when he heard the words, expressing his understanding.In fact, Liu Jianguo only talked to him about the economic benefits just now. In fact, the construction of the Jiaoyan Line may have even more military uses. A large number of naval and army troops were hoarded to defend the southern section of the Jiaolai Xinhe defense line under construction; Yantai is the central point of Denglai, and it is a military fortress in itself. A large number of troops are also stationed in the nearby Ninghai Prefecture , ready to help everywhere at any time; therefore, with this Jiaoyan Railway, the troops on the east coast can quickly move back and forth between Yantai and Jiaozhou by train. An army of at least 2 men, possibly more.

"If that's the case, then our two sides have the same opinion. The priority of the construction of the rubber smoke line is higher than that of the Taorong line." Xu Xiangdong put down the teacup in his hand, and scribbled on a map of Denglai with his right hand, only listening to his final Pointing to a planned train station somewhere in the middle, he said: "Taocun is the middle node. In the future, where the two railways meet, the headquarters of a division of the Denglai New Army will be located here, and its status is also very important. Then, I It is proposed to build railways from Yantai, Taocun, and Jiaozhou at the same time to speed up the progress of the final completion of the Jiaoyan Line, how about it?"

"Your company is impatient, haha." Liu Jianguo smiled after hearing this, waved his hand, and said, "No problem, this is what we would like to see, and we are determined to do what we want, so we dare not ask for it! My father also I used to be the president of the Southern Railway Company, and I also worked in the Southern Railway Company. At that time, the Southern Chile region had not yet been handed over to the central government. I miss it when I think about it. Don’t worry, Vice President Xu, I still have a deep love for the Southern Railway Company. Emotional, I know the purpose of your visit this time, don’t worry, don’t worry, nothing will change. After all, the Jiaoyan Line and even the future Taorong Line Railway will be of great benefit to the development of Denglai itself. In terms of military It also has an extremely prominent use. It can be said to be a multiplier of our strength. If it is built together with the Jiaolai Xinhe Defense Line, they can also exert a chemical reaction and produce an effect of one plus one greater than two. I firmly believe that No doubt. Therefore, our pioneering team government is willing to allocate 30 yuan from the very tight budget as a subsidy for the construction of the railway. Uh, well, the 30 yuan is not all cash. It is useless for you to ask for cash, mainly Food, and another [-] mules, some fodder and medicinal materials, anyway, you are going to buy it, and it will save you trouble."

After expressing his position, Liu Jianguo talked with Xu Xiangdong in detail about the help Denglai pioneering team would give in the construction of the Jiaoyan Railway and the current status of the railway.The current survey of the Jiaoyan Line Railway has not yet been fully completed, but in some sections that have been completed and determined, the foundation leveling work has been carried out for a long time, which is mainly due to the exhortation of Liao Xiaoyao, the former commander of the Denglai Pioneering Team.Under his repeated attention, officials in Jiaozhou, Jimo, Yantai, Fushan, Qixia, Laiyang and other places had to conscript local people to work on the established route, and filled some ditches and puddles. The uneven ground It has also been rectified, in short, a lot of preliminary work has been done.

In addition, the last remaining part of the production and construction corps (originally the victims of the disaster in the four prefectures of the East and West, and later supplemented by many others) has long been sent to the construction site to work.In addition to leveling the foundation, they have to build a railway station, transport food, labor tools and building materials, and take care of livestock.

Liu Jianguo finally suggested that the funds prepared by the Southern Railway Company for the construction of the Jiaoyan Line and the Taorong Line should in principle be kept locally to purchase railway equipment, hire technical personnel, and purchase steam locomotives and carriages.For the expenses incurred in building the railway in Denglai (mainly hiring people and draft animals, purchasing food and tools), the Southern Railway Company can borrow from the Bank of Taiwan or the Northwest Reclamation Bank in the Far East San Francisco to avoid risks caused by the transfer of funds.For this reason, the Denglei Pioneering Team government will provide a certain degree of guarantee so that they can borrow enough funds - of course, maybe a big bank like the Northwest Reclamation Bank looks down on the Denglei Pioneering Team government's financial problems If they don't recognize their guarantee ability, then they can only pledge the railway itself in exchange for urgently needed road construction funds. Generally speaking, the problem is not big.

Xu Xiangdong carefully experienced all kinds of things Liu Jianguo said, and had a preliminary impression of the construction of the Jiaoyan Line.He estimates that the total length of the Jiaoyan Line Railway is about 220 kilometers (according to the latest survey data, it is about 225 kilometers). It is to build a railway in the Far East, and there are many additional expenses in other aspects. Therefore, the total cost of this railway construction is about 350-400 million yuan.Considering the huge risk of sea transportation (the shipwreck rate is not low) and the resulting high marine insurance costs, it is a high probability that the total cost of this railway construction will exceed 400 million yuan.

However, the Southern Railway Company has only prepared 200 million yuan in cash for the construction of this railway, and it is estimated that it will spend an additional 20 to 30 yuan a year in the future. Based on the five-year construction period, it will be more than three million yuan.The remaining gap needs to be sponsored by the Denglai Pioneering Team. It should be feasible to ask them to pay more than 20 yuan worth of food, livestock, tools, and even labor costs a year. The approval of Liu Jianguo, the acting captain of the Lai Kai Kai team.

In this way, the problem is not so big.The only trouble might be that Liu Jianguo felt that the five-year construction period was a bit long, especially since they had done a lot of preparatory work intermittently for the railway in the past two years, it was really slow to build [-] kilometers a year. Yes, it would be even better if it could be compressed to four years.For this point, Xu Xiangdong is still unable to give a clear answer, because there is only one way to shorten the construction period. One is to increase the number of road construction troops, and the other is to increase the frequency of using engineering equipment. The former will increase the cost of road construction, and the latter It is not easy to apply for export permits for sensitive machinery and equipment. Relatively speaking, the latter may be easier to handle. After all, Sakhalin Island has picked up a lot of good things from the mainland over the years. Not bad for this batch.

Finally, Xu Xiangdong brought up the question that he had thought about before, that is, whether the Taorong Line Railway should be extended to Pingdu Prefecture.As soon as he proposed, Liu Jianguo looked at the map and felt that it was very reasonable, because Pingdu Prefecture, which has a large grain output, could be included in the transportation line. In addition, various commodities produced by some workshop-style enterprises in Dengzhou could also pass The railway transportation to Laizhou Prefecture for sale is not small.

Of course, considering that it will take four or five years to complete the construction of the Jiaoyan Line Railway, and it will exhaust the South Railway Company and the Denglai Development Team, and will not be able to build new lines in the short term, Liu Jianguo did not give a clear answer. Just say you have to think about it.After all, what he wants is political achievements and credit so that he can secure his position as the captain of the Denglai Pioneering Team.With such achievements, one railway along the Jiaoyan Line is enough, and when both the Denglai Pioneering Team and the South Railway Company have the ability to build the Taorong Line and even the Pingrong Line, God knows whether Liu Jianguo is still there Denglai has done it, so there is really no need to worry about it now, let's finish the plastic cigarette thread in front of us first, and eat the food one bite at a time!

(End of this chapter)