The sun never sets

Taiyuan, the new capital, was full of people from Shanxi and Hebei, and there were also many from the south, such as Qiu Jin, Yang Du, Wang Kaiyun, Lu Zhengxiang, etc., all from the south. Even if Wu Tingfang had never met those people, they must have heard of each other's names.

As the saying goes, when fellow villagers meet, they will talk behind their backs... cough, tears well up in their eyes. People from the south naturally have a gap with their Shanxi cousins and Hebei guys in the people's government. They have different political inclinations, different knowledge, and different accents. Sometimes comrades from the south have to write with cursive when talking to officials from the north, which makes communication very difficult.

Under such circumstances, those people from the south naturally came together.

After Wu Tingfang arrived, these southern comrades wanted to inquire about the situation in their hometown, and none of them refused his visit. Qiu Jin also took the initiative to book several banquets in the best restaurant in Taiyuan and invited some like-minded friends to have a meal together.

Chapter 169 During the Banquet

"Brother Zhiyong!"

"Wu Cai!"

"Brother Wen Jue!"

At that time, Chinese people had names, nicknames, and characters. One person could have many names. Of course, this was limited to big shots and people with status. The poor couldn't even get enough food, so how could they have the leisure to do these things?

Wu Tingfang was born in Singapore. At the age of 3, he returned to Fangcun, Guangzhou with his father to settle down. He entered St. Paul's College in Hong Kong in his early years. In 1874, he went to study in the UK at his own expense and entered University College London to study law. He obtained a doctorate degree and barrister qualification, becoming the first doctor of law in modern China. Later, he returned to Hong Kong to work as a lawyer and became the first Chinese member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong.

In 1882, he entered the court of Li Hongzhang, the Minister of Beiyang, and served as a legal adviser. He built railways, handled negotiations, changed the legal system, and fought for national sovereignty. During this period, he participated in the Sino-French negotiations and the Shimonoseki negotiations. In 1896, he was appointed by the Qing government as the minister to the United States, Spain, and Peru, and signed the first equal treaty in modern China, the Sino-Mexican Treaty of Commerce.

There is no doubt that Wu Tingfang is a big shot with ability, talent and background. Even in Taiyuan, he can still thrive. He greeted everyone in the room with a smile on his face, and after a round of greetings, he sat in the second seat, "The Jianhu Lady is the host today, we must have a good feast!"

The People's Party was carrying out the "Three Antis" and "Five Antis" campaigns. It was wrong to eat and drink lavishly, and it was easy to be targeted by the disciplinary committee. However, Qiu Jin didn't care at all. She took off the saber she carried with her and put it aside. She looked around and said, "Let's eat first. After we've eaten and drunk well, we can talk about business!"

Wu Tingfang and the others knew Qiu Jin's personality and style of doing things, so they didn't take it seriously and talked about some anecdotes and changes in their hometown during the meal. Wang Tingjun didn't have a strong opinion, but he was competent in eating and drinking. He drank with everyone and the atmosphere soon became lively. Night raid group: ⑥九四⑨,３六①３⑤

Qiu Jin drank a few cups of Shaoxing rice wine, turned around and saw Yang Du slowly eating carp from the Yellow River, so she asked, "Xizi, why don't you drink again?"

Others followed suit, "Yang Du wants to abide by the party's principles and disciplines, and he said he would stop drinking!"

"If you don't drink, what's the point?"

Qiu Jin poured a glass for Yang Du, "I toast to you!"

Yang Du took a sip helplessly and said, "I am weak and want to live a few more years, so I can't drink."

"Nonsense! Seven years ago in Beijing, you drank all night long, Huchan. It's only been a few years and you can't drink anymore?"

Someone said sarcastically: "He is now a favorite of the president, so of course he has to set an example!"

Qiu Jin raised her eyebrows, "What are you talking about? So what if Xizi is valued by the President? He has his own ability!"

Lin Yongchang's attitude towards intellectuals is that they should be used, but also transformed. He would not blindly follow experts. "If the line is wrong, the more knowledge they have, the more reactionary they are!" This is not empty talk, but the truth!

However, many people wanted to be Zhuge Liang and Liu Bowen, pointing fingers at the government's work all day long, criticizing this and that, and speaking in a condescending manner, as if the Central People's Republic Government would be finished in an instant if they were not listened to. Lin Yongchang tried to persuade the other party at first, but later found that it was necessary to combine systematic learning and labor reform to change a person's concept, and this process often took a long time and might not succeed, so he gave up.

Most of those who came from the south were assigned jobs because of their higher level of knowledge and culture. But President Lin Biao obviously preferred those who studied science and engineering, and was not very interested in liberal arts and those who wanted to join the army and lead troops in battle. Even a heroine like Qiu Jin was assigned to the Women's Department to be in charge of the women's liberation movement.

The only exception was Yang Du, and Lu Zhengxiang. Lin Yongchang not only often brought Yang Du with him, but sometimes he would discuss things with Yang Huchan. It is said that some policies and regulations came from Yang Du, and others were naturally envious and jealous of this. However, Qiu Jin was not among those who were envious and jealous. Although the Jianhu Heroine wanted to do something more spectacular, she was not dissatisfied with the work arrangement.

Now someone was being sarcastic towards Yang Du, and Qiu Jin got angry on the spot.

While Qiu Jin was angry, Wu Tingfang and Lu Zhengxiang were whispering. The two had similar educational backgrounds and shared many common ideas. "Zhiyong, stay in Taiyuan. This is where you can display your talents." Lu Zhengxiang whispered, "The division between the north and the south will not last long."

Wu Tingfang pondered for a moment and asked, "But the President intends to march south?"

He came to ask for reinforcements, but he didn't want to see the People's Party's army marching south. Regardless of whether the Northern Army could fight, the size of an army of 500,000 was scary. Moreover, Marshal Lin was a fierce man who could defeat the Eight-Nation Alliance. The princes in the south were all respectful to the foreigners and did not dare to attack. In contrast, you can tell what the battle will be like without even starting a war.

Lu Zhengxiang shook his head and said, "I only take care of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and have not heard any news about this.

Even if there is, I can't tell you. I'm just talking about it from the perspective of strength comparison. Not only do I see this, but many people have seen it. Those people over there are obviously very dissatisfied with the president, so why do they want to stay? Because in today's China, only the president has the strength and ambition to unify the world!"

Wu Tingfang disagreed with this opinion, saying, "Marshal Huang Xing and President Sun Yat-sen also have strength and ambition."

But then he asked in a low voice: "Brother Lu, why do you say that only President Lin can unify China?"

"Brother Zhiyong, don't you read newspapers? Taiyuan Iron and Steel Plant can now produce more than 20,000 tons of steel per month, and there is almost the same amount of iron! Although I don't know much about economics and military affairs, I also know that steel is the standard for measuring a country's strength. How much steel does the South have? How many railways? There is a huge gap!"

"We can buy weapons from foreign countries..." Wu Tingfang argued, and then said: "When the war is over, we will also build steel mills and railways!"

"One step slow, every step slow..."

"Zhiyong, Zixin, what are you talking about? Let's have a drink together!"

The atmosphere at the table had already relaxed. Qiu Jin held up her wine glass and said cheerfully, "Xizi doesn't drink alcohol, so you two won't drink boiled water too, right?"

Wu Tingfang and Lu Zhengxiang smiled at each other and raised their glasses together.

The atmosphere in the room was warm and lively. Everyone was eating and drinking and talking. They were lucky to have become government officials. Although most of them were still in the middle level, they were confident that they could move faster and better in the future!

Chapter 170 Calmness

After three rounds of wine and five dishes, the waiter cleared the dishes and the table and served tea. Everyone drank tea and started talking about business. The business was Wu Tingfang's request for help. As cadres from the south, Qiu Jin and her friends certainly wanted to fight back to their hometown.

Wealth and honor do not return home, just like walking in brocade at night!

Many of these people joined the People's Party and were conscious, but it was hard to say to what extent. Regardless of whether they had achieved "serving the people" as Chairman Lin required, certain human instincts and habits cultivated by the social environment were not so easy to change.

Wu Tingfang, and Huang Xing, Sun Yat-sen and others behind him needed the People's Army to launch an attack on the National Government in order to relieve the pressure on the Hunan battlefield. But they did not want the People's Army to march south in large numbers. If the wolf is rejected at the front door, and the tiger comes in at the back door, it will be a loss.

Sun Yat-sen, Huang Xing, Chen Jiongming, Zheng Shiliang and others had always wanted to defeat Li Hongzhang and Zhang Zhidong by their own strength, but the problem was that the military government was not strong enough and was almost overthrown. If Huang Xing had not thrown one army after another into the battlefield and personally boosted morale on one battlefield after another, even Changsha would not have been able to be defended.

If it wasn't because we really couldn't win, who would think of asking for foreign aid?

Wu Tingfang did a good job of covering up the difficulties the military government was facing, saying only that he wanted to overthrow the corrupt Nationalist government and create a republic where the two parties would take turns in power. Sun Yat-sen, Wu Tingfang and others had either been to the United States, Britain and its colony Hong Kong, or both. Their way of thinking and behavioral goals were naturally influenced by Europe and the United States.

Although the People's Party said that it would take the "worker-peasant alliance" as the main body, slogans are just for show. So many slogans have been shouted in the past dynasties, but how many of them have been truly implemented? In times of chaos, military men and strongmen came to power, and when the world was peaceful, it was the turn of the literati to govern the country. When has there ever been a relationship between farmers and workers?

Even the emperors and generals who came from peasant families quickly changed their identities and became no different from before.

Qiu Jin, Lu Zhengxiang, and many others thought so. Only Yang Du did not think so. The longer he stayed with Chairman Lin, the more he knew that Chairman Lin attached great importance to party affairs. A country must always have a ruling class. Who are the rulers, where do they come from, and what do they rely on? These are all key issues.

Yang Du was not optimistic about Lin Yongchang's theory, but at least it seemed self-consistent and good on the surface. The most important thing was that Chairman Lin had a firm will and flexible skills to transform the theory into policy and implement it. Yang Du once told Qiu Jin and others about the People's Party theory, but no one took it seriously, so he stopped talking about it.

Talking to a smart person is like playing the lute to a cow; talking to a stupid person is like playing the lute to a cow.

Lin Yongchang thought he was not very smart, but Yang Du was different. He knew he was very smart since he was a child, so he was too lazy to explain to others. He only said good things once and didn't say them a second time. He mixed with people like Qiu Jin and Lu Zhengxiang just to make more friends and fewer enemies. Deep down, he didn't think he was in the same group with the people present.

The two parties take turns in power? It's a joke. Let's not talk about what will happen to Chairman Lin, but Sun Yat-sen, can he really hand over power? He has been in the north for the past year, and he has paid attention to the things in the south. He often communicates with relatives and friends in his hometown, and he is very clear about the open and covert struggles between Guangdong and Hunan.

Sun Yat-sen could inspire people, but he had no ability to control the army. Huang Xing could lead troops, but he had no money. The military leaders in Guangdong did not even listen to Sun Yat-sen, so how could they possibly obey Huang Xing?

He is just an elected leader, and the only people he can command are a guard of several hundred people. The others all have their own ideas.

Once you have power, you can decide life and death. The feeling of unlimited freedom is too good, and no one likes to be constrained. When picking peaches, everyone is a brother, but when it comes to fighting, of course, preserving strength is the most important thing. It doesn't matter if you lose the battle, as long as you still have the strength in your hands, you can still find a place to tyrannize. If you lose your strength, you can only go to Shanghai to live as a private official.

Yang Du smiled and dealt with everyone appropriately, but he never made any promises. At most, he agreed to mention it in front of President Lin. During the dinner, Wu Tingfang spoke a lot, and his words were passionate, which made many people excited as well, as if nothing in the world was worth mentioning.

The handsome Wang Zhaoming was particularly excited. He threatened to lead everyone to write a letter to the President, asking the People's Government to send troops to Hubei. Finally, he said to Yang Du: "Xizi, come and sign with me!"

Yang Du just wanted to laugh at Wang Jingwei's performance. Using him as a ladder? Wang Jingwei was still too young. He dared to play such a trick in front of him. "You should sign together. I am now specialized in theoretical research. It is not easy for me to interfere in diplomatic and military affairs."

"Alas, Huchan, you are too modest. Who doesn't know that the President thinks differently of you?"

Yang Du just smiled and shook his head. Although he was not very old, he had experienced a lot and had been tempered. It could even be said that none of the people present could fight him. The laws of the People's Party were becoming more and more stringent, and more and more legal provisions were being formulated. It was not possible to continue as before.

But it seems that no one else present is aware of this problem. Even Qiu Jin is the same, not realizing the seriousness of the problem at all. The various movements have not fallen on them now, but what about in the future? Chairman Lin has criticized even the old team in the past, will he make an exception for them, the intellectuals?

The Central People's Republic is based on the "worker-peasant alliance". They will absorb intellectuals, but they will not really trust intellectuals. Instead, they want to train workers and peasants to learn knowledge themselves. Perhaps things will change in the future. No matter how powerful Chairman Lin is, he is just a person. He will eventually grow old and die. The People's Party will gradually change in the future.

But that will happen at least several decades later. Qiu Jin or Lu Zhengxiang, if they continue to call their friends, jump up and down, and make comments, they will eventually get into trouble. Yang Du smiled, and had already made up his mind to cut ties with these people. Yang Huchan was such a smart man, how could he be led into such a ditch by a kid like Wang Jingwei?

It's going to rain, let those who love to commit suicide do so, it's a pity for Qiu Jin.

Qiu Jin noticed Yang Du's gaze towards her, and her eyebrows raised in doubt. Yang Du smiled slightly, acting decent and calm.

Chapter 171 Fellow Villager

"If we want to expand the production of non-ferrous metals and manufacture inorganic chemical fertilizers, we must expand the production of sulfuric acid. The handicraft workshop production method of 10,000 is only a substitute in a last resort. We still need to carry out industrialized large-scale production!"

Lin Yongchang, wearing a helmet, was mobilizing the students of the Department of Chemistry. "This batch of American equipment is behind the times, but it is better to have it than not. You must not only master the use of these equipment, but also understand the principles behind them. Only then can you design our own, better equipment in the future!"

"Yes!"

The students ranged in age from fifteen to over forty, and so did the teachers, some very young and some older. Their expressions were all very serious, and everyone wore a helmet, coarse cloth, and held pencils and exercise books in their hands. The Department of Chemistry and Metallurgy were the two largest majors at Taiyuan University, while the other majors only had a few people, but these two majors had hundreds of people, and each had a training center.

After the students and teachers saluted and left, Yang Du came over and said, "Mr. President."

"Oh, it's Yang Du, what's the emergency?"

Yang Du was a talented person, but his talents were not focused on industry, chemistry, physics, etc. Instead, he was more interested in traditional agriculture and economics. However, Lin Yongchang mainly asked him to do theoretical research. Military and economic issues were important, but political issues were the root of all problems.

Lin Yongchang has his own set of theories and values, as well as familiar laws and rules, which need to be combined with the current specific environment in China. In order to make the vast majority of people in this era accept it, certain localization changes need to be made. There are not many people who can do this, and Yang Du is one of them. Moreover, Yang Du has experienced the "historical test", so Yang Du was chosen to do this.

"Sun Yat-sen's special envoy Wu Tingfang requested an audience with the President."

"Wu Tingfang? It's him."

Lin Yongchang remembered this person. He had sent people to Guangdong several times to invite him, but was rejected by Wu Tingfang. At that time, the Guangdong Military Government had just been established. Sun Yat-sen and Chen Jiongming thought that they could take advantage of the situation to attack Nanjing and Shanghai, and maybe even cross the Yangtze River and occupy the whole of China. Wu Tingfang thought that Sun Yat-sen would soon sweep the south, so of course he was unwilling to come to the north.

Beijing had been the capital for five or six hundred years, but Lin Yongchang moved the capital to Taiyuan.

Wu Tingfang thought that Lin was a monkey in human form and was worried that the foreigners would take revenge, but he was wrong. After being beaten, the foreigners became much kinder.

Well, they only extorted more money from the People's Government in the north and the Nationalist and Military Governments in the south. The British are now using the "Seven Wounds Fist" to beat the Boers and make them cry out, and they themselves are also vomiting blood. The military expenditure is burning hundreds of thousands of pounds every day, which is simply too outrageous. During the Franco-Prussian War, Prussia and France did not spend so much money.

By the time the world war comes a dozen years later, the British will find that the Boer War is just a piece of cake. With the advancement of technology, war will become an increasingly expensive game. The prices of various military equipment will become more and more expensive, and the number of troops will become larger and larger. The previous practice of using nobles as officers will become increasingly inappropriate. Only by mobilizing a larger army can we survive in this cruel and brutal world.

History is a circle. In the beginning, war was a game for the nobles. Later, civilians also got involved, and the organization of the army changed from quality to quantity. With the advancement of military technology, when a small number of elite troops could suppress dozens or hundreds of times more miscellaneous troops, elite tactics such as the knight system were revived, and war once again became a game between emperors, kings, and nobles.

Today, countries such as Britain and Germany use aristocrats to control their armies, but with the further improvement of military technology, the people's army has regained the upper hand, while the British, Germans, and other powers have not yet reacted. Before the First World War in another time and space, the German General Staff discovered in a sandbox simulation that they did not have enough troops. In the face of a two-front war, facing the French and Russian armies at the same time, the "Schlieffen Plan" was likely to fail to be implemented smoothly.

Someone proposed to expand the army and increase the upper limit of the army by one million, so that the shortage of troops would be solved. However, this proposal was rejected by the Junker nobles who controlled the army. Because there were not so many Junkers to be officers, expanding the army would give civilians the opportunity to control the army. Compared with letting ordinary people control the military power, the Junkers would rather take a gamble and bet that they could defeat France first with the existing military strength at that time.

After the war broke out, the German army made relatively smooth progress in the early stages and successfully brought the war into France. However, just when they were about to defeat the French and occupy Paris again, the Russian army invaded East Prussia. Under such circumstances, the staff of the General Staff could only withdraw hundreds of thousands of troops from the Western Front to the East to deal with the Russians.

This gave the French a chance to catch their breath, and the British gritted their teeth and sent out more troops, and the battle then entered a long and brutal trench warfare. From the perspective of later generations, if the Germans had not built so many battleships, and allocated resources to the army, and armed an extra million soldiers, or reduced the number by half and armed an extra 500,000 soldiers, and blocked the Russian army's three axes at the beginning of the war, the outcome of World War I might have been a win.

But even if Germany did not build so many naval toys, the Germans would not form more armies. The Junker officer corps would not allow it. Anyone who dared to do so would be the enemy of all Junkers and the enemy of the army. Even William II did not dare to fight against the entire army.

Later, the war failed, and the Junkers pushed William II out as a scapegoat. In the era of Sander, the Junkers still controlled the army, and the open and secret struggles with the mustaches ran through the entire Third Reich. When Sander was also finished, Manstein wrote a book "The Lost Victory".

It is true that the Führer had many problems, but were the Junkers really innocent? Not necessarily. It was simply because the Führer failed that all the dirty water was thrown on him. The ancient Chinese said long ago: A gentleman hates to live in a low place, and all the evil in the world will be attributed to him.

Yang Du waited for a while, and seeing that Lin Yongchang was lost in thought, he did not dare to urge him, and just stood there waiting. Not long after, President Lin came to his senses, "Since he is here, you should go and entertain him first. After all, you are from the same hometown."

"Wu Tingfang is from Guangzhou and I am from Hunan. We can't be called fellow villagers." Yang Du was a little amused.

"It's not too far. There's only Jiangxi in between. We can be considered fellow countrymen. Li Dayan, a native of Handan, still calls himself a Central Plains person, haha!"

Chapter 172 Faith

Yang Du talked about Wu Tingfang and Qiu Jin's dinner with Lu Zhengxiang, Wang Jingwei and Wu Tingfang in Dongcheng. Lin Yongchang didn't say anything, but just said, "Leave him alone for a few days. It's just right that you're here, Yang Du. I'll talk to you tonight and ask you to write and publish an article."

"Yes, what's the topic?"

“It’s called seeking truth from facts.”

The pen name "Chu Kuangren" has never been abandoned. After writing about Britain and Germany, he wrote about France and Russia, and introduced the contradictions between Germany and France and the political ecology of Europe, and compared the current world situation to the Warring States period. In addition to these things, Lin Yongchang also published some articles in the People's Daily under his real name, which can be regarded as an interpretation of policies.

"I'll put the article aside for now. Let's take a look at our chemical plant first. It cost $3.2 million to buy these things and the supporting facilities. It cost more than $1 million to ship them back, install and debug them. This year's budget is definitely over budget!"

Lin Yongchang asked: "Do you think such a factory is worth five hundred

Ten thousand dollars?"

Yang Du smiled and said, "It must be worth it, otherwise the president wouldn't have spent so much money to buy it back."

"Alas, the Ministry of Finance will be out of money next year. Although the steel mills have made money, the money has only circulated in the bank. The Ministry of Railways owes a lot of money. We will go to the railway line next month to see that Zhan Tianyou has done a good job, but we still have to give him more responsibility. The line from Taiyuan to Beijing must be completed before April next year, and the sections in Zhangjiakou and Guihuacheng must also be completed by the end of the year!"

Foreign engineers estimated that the "Triangle Railway" project would take four years to build, but Lin Yongchang could not wait that long, so he put more than a dozen engineering corps into the project, and the steel mills, timber mills, coal mills and other enterprises also provided various materials to the railway. Supplies and people alone were not enough, and they had to keep an eye on the railway project at all times.

In the [The Sun Never Sets in the Celestial Empire] system, railways, like the Grand Canal, or the Forbidden City, the Pagoda of Gratitude, and other buildings, are all considered "great projects" that can be accelerated by investing more money or manpower. Lin Yongchang formed so many unarmed artillery units and put them into the construction of railways.

The investment in building a railway may not seem to be more than that of a chemical plant, but it is easier to make money from it. With so much money flowing through it, can the people involved really resist? Under the supervision of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, most people dare not take any money, but there are always a few people, or a few people, who cannot resist the temptation.

In order to ensure the progress and quality of the railway, those rats must be caught!

The problem of corruption is everywhere, and it is something that needs to be eradicated over a long period of time. However, the government has limited manpower and funds, and it is impossible to focus on every aspect. We can only prioritize manpower and funds on the most important things.

The most important things now are the chemical plant and the railway, and everything else has to take a back seat.

That night, Lin Yongchang dictated and Yang Du wrote the article "People's Party members should seek truth from facts". The content of the article was roughly the same as what Comrade Li Desheng wrote, except that the relevant nouns and corresponding environments were changed. However, this was just what Lin Yongchang had read from memory, and Yang Du still needed to revise it and convert it into plain language that ordinary people could understand.

During this era, there was a debate between vernacular and classical Chinese. Many cultural figures debated whether to use classical Chinese or vernacular. Some people also called for the abolition of Chinese characters and the full use of Latin letters. There were also many discussions within the People's Government. Lin Yongchang didn't care what others said and just implemented it according to his own habits.

The country he came from may have many bad things, but it is undeniably much better than this fucked up world! He would rather see the newspapers discussing the invariance of the speed of light and vacuum fluctuations, rather than the different ways to write the word "fennel" in fennel beans. Many people saw the idea of saving the country through industry, the idea of saving the country through Westernization, and the idea of militarism. Most of the statements are one-sided, even absurd nonsense, but there are also some that are worthy of praise, which is good, much better than working behind closed doors and picking out sentences.