On February 15, 1681, Peng Yuanzhi, who had completely ended his military campaign on the shores of Lake Alautra, returned to Tacheng Port on the east coast in a row. Here, Ma Xiaoling, the daughter of Ma Wanpeng, president of the New China Railway Company and former member of the executive committee, is waiting for him to discuss everything about the Tadong Railway.

In other words, as the only enterprise involved in the construction, maintenance, maintenance and operation of the railway, the new Huaxia Railway Company is now playing an increasingly important role in the economic pattern of the whole island. Especially after the stable commercial operation of the Daqing Railway, it is simply decisive for the economy of Mianhe and Xindeng counties along the way!

Xindeng County - established in the middle of last year, under the jurisdiction of Xindeng Township, Xinlai Township, Sesame Township, Hump Township, Xinxing Township, Laiqu Township, Manzha Township seven townships, the population has exceeded 29,000 people - mainly agricultural economy, because the climate is dry, the sun is strong, and the temperature is very high, so similar to Mianhe County in the south, there are large cotton planting areas in the county, and a large amount of lint is produced every year.

In addition, Xindeng County has actively developed dry farming in recent years, and the output of sesame, peanut, sorghum and other crops in the territory is also quite large, and the number of irrigated orchards built along the river is even more numerous, and a large number of commodities, including watermelons, are exported to Mianhe Port every year for consumption by a large number of industrial workers, officials, soldiers, and businessmen living there.

Therefore, the economic quality of Xindeng County is really closely related to the Daqing Railway. Without this railway, all kinds of agricultural products in Xindeng County could only be rotten in their hands, melons and fruits could not be transported, hump cattle could not be transported, peanuts and sesame seeds could not be transported, and cotton could not be transported. It should be known that in the central and southern parts of the west coast of Xinhuaxia Island, because of the dense coral reefs and shallow silting of the water, only one place near the mouth of the Mian River is suitable for the construction of a large port (but it also needs to be desilted from time to time) for large ships to enter and exit. Therefore, all kinds of products in many counties and townships on the west coast of the entire central and southern regions can basically only be transported out of Mianhe Port, and at the same time, all kinds of daily necessities, labor tools, machinery and equipment, weapons and ammunition and other items imported from the outside world can only be imported through Mianhe Port, so from here we can see the importance of the Daqing Railway and the dependence of the residents of the entire Daqing Basin on this traffic artery.

To the north of Xindeng County, two counties of Qingyang and Zhongwu will be set up this year. Among them, the former has jurisdiction over Qingyang Township, Beiping Township, Manda Township (located near the later Mandabe Town), Leiwu Township (located near the later Beileiwu Town), Tongyuan Township five townships, the population is also quite a lot, close to 13,000 people, most of them are engaged in dry farming, of course, near the river, there are also many cotton fields, rice fields or orchards, but the scale is not as large as Xindeng County.

A little further north, Chungmu County, there are five settlements under its jurisdiction: Chungmu Township, Ancha Township (near the later Anchaluwa Town), Binda Township (near the later Anbinda Town), Numakou Township (near the later Tanbuhulanu Town), and Honghe Township (near the later Besarampi Town), with a population of less than 10,000 people.

If you count the huge population of nearly 40,000 in Mianhe County, the population density of the four counties in the Daqing Basin is definitely very high in New Huaxia Island, no wonder almost half of the population of the whole island was concentrated many years ago, which is really powerful. This is naturally due to the fact that the local agricultural conditions are more suitable for cotton cultivation, but also because it is drier, mosquitoes do not breed easily, and there is less damage to malaria, which has always been an important consideration in the tropics. After all, the officials don't want a large number of people who have worked so hard to get them to get sick of malaria and die, just like the situation in which the Dutch were "slaughtered" by malaria in Batavia and the Fujian people in Taiwan, and the people on the east coast are absolutely unacceptable. Therefore, all aspects are considered, the Daqing Basin has been the first choice for resettlement for many years, until the arrival of the sugar bull market and the large-scale development of the east coast, it slowly came to an end.

But even if the current policy has changed, the richness and development of the West Coast have become a fact, which gives the Daqing Railway a great profit margin. Coupled with the income from the cable telegraph business along the way, this railway has continued to operate all the way under the disapproval of many people, and has maintained a certain degree of profitability, which makes Ma Xiaoling, who actually dominates the operation of this railway, won praise from many people.

And now, Ma Xiaoling, a strong woman, has turned her goal to the Tadong Railway, preparing to start building the second railway trunk line of Xinhuaxia Island. And when it comes to the Tadong Railway, this is actually not unfamiliar to many people. Once upon a time, this route almost became the first railway of Xinhuaxia Island, when Xinhuaxia Island has investigated the feasibility of building a railway in the Daqing Basin and Tacheng Port, but later found that the benefits of Daqing Railway are too much, so Tadong Railway was not chosen. Now the Daqing Railway has been operating normally for many years, the debt burden of the new Huaxia Railway Company has been reduced, and the income of the government of the New Huaxia Pioneer Team has also increased greatly with the export boom of various tropical products, so the conditions for the construction of the Tadong Railway have been ripe, and it is a big deal to borrow some money from the bank, of course, this first needs to convene a general meeting of shareholders.

When it comes to the shareholding structure of the new Huaxia Railway Company, it is definitely very complicated. At present, after several capital increases, private placements and the so-called introduction of strategic investors, none of the companies that are in charge of the railway transportation business of Huaxia Island have an absolute controlling stake. Among them, the State Administration of Railways accounts for the largest shares, accounting for about 30% of the shares, followed by the government of the New China Development Team, accounting for 25% of the shares, then the East Coast Company 20%, the Southern Railway Company 10%, and the remaining about 15% are scattered in the hands of a large number of ordinary natural person investors. Among them, Ma Xiaoling, the president of the company, holds 5% of the shares, and it is said that she is also trying to raise funds and eat 10% of the shares in the hands of the Southern Railway Company, because the Southern Railway now wants to concentrate on the railway business in the Far East, and does not want to be too distracted, and it is also to raise enough cash.

So, you can understand now why Ma Xiaoling, a woman, is so enthusiastic about building the Tadong Railway, this is to expand the strength of the New China Railway Company, of course, as the president and shareholder of the New Railway Company, the stronger the strength of the New Railway Company, the greater her Ma Xiaoling's influence.

"The conditions for the Tadong Railway are indeed there." After seeing Ma Xiaoling on the outskirts of Tacheng County, Peng Yuanzhi immediately said: "Whether it was Captain Huang Yihuang before or Captain Qiu Haiyang Qiu, who took office later, they all agreed to the official construction of this railway. In particular, Captain Qiu, although his term of office was short, he focused on promoting the progress of the Tadong Railway, approving a batch of sleepers, food, medicine and labor tools as subsidies, and also renovating the highways in Tacheng County, which can be said to have made substantial preparations for the construction of the Tadong Railway. ”

"The construction of the Tadong Railway is the strong demand of more than 200,000 people on Xinhuaxia Island and the common wish of everyone. Therefore, after Captain Shao arrives in the future, he should also be good and take this matter as the main job. Peng Yuanzhi finally said.

"Captain Peng, you said so, I naturally believe it. All I care about now is when I can start working. This railway, embodies the hard work of the new railway company, we have spent more than 100,000 yuan in order to explore in the early stage, but also paid a huge price of nearly 100 people who died for various reasons, if we can't break ground soon, how can we comfort the souls in heaven who sacrificed all the kings. Ma Xiaoling breathed a sigh of relief and said: "Now, our company has begun to transfer technicians and equipment, and we are coming to the east coast, and all kinds of materials are also gathering here. ”

"I'm sorry, I'm not a 'boss', I can't be the master yet, and I'm not suitable to be the master. The matter of the Tadong Railway, you still have to wait for Captain Shao to come and get an idea, don't worry, it's probably within a month. Peng Yuanzhi said: "But President Ma, you are right, the new railway company has paid such a big price for the Tadong Railway, and the government cannot help but express this." In this way, Captain Qiu has given you a batch of materials as a subsidy, and while I still have a little role now, I will approve you with a cash subsidy of 50,000 yuan and a material subsidy of 50,000 yuan to support your work in building the railway. I have been working on the East Coast for so many years, and I also have feelings for this place, and I also hope to see the construction of the Tadong Railway completed as soon as possible, so as to benefit the people of the East Coast and even the entire New China Island as soon as possible, so that I can go to the Australian Pioneer Team with peace of mind. Peng Yuanzhi thought about it and made this decision, which undoubtedly made Ma Xiaoling even more overjoyed.

"Thank you so much Captain Peng, you really have the well-being of more than 200,000 people on the island in mind. This subsidy of 100,000 yuan is enough to do a lot of things, and at the same time, it can also make the new railway company's finances more comfortable, which will naturally speed up the construction progress of the entire railway. Moreover, the Battle of Lake Alautra, which you presided over this time, Captain Peng, broke the enemy's courage in one battle and won twenty years of peace. In a way, the battle you launched is decisive for the future of the Tadong Railway. Otherwise, the lack of clarity in the security situation would have caused the construction and maintenance costs of the railway to skyrocket. At this point, we Xintie Company want to accept your love, and the people of Xinhuaxia Island must also accept your love. Ma Xiaoling said with a smile. This woman will always tie up the Xintie Company and the people of Xinhuaxia Island intentionally or unintentionally when she speaks, as if this company represents the interests of the people of the whole island, but at this time, Peng Yuanzhi is too lazy to worry about it, and plans to talk about the seizure in two days. A batch of loot grain was handed over to the office of the New Railway Company in Tacheng County. Anyway, I'm leaving, and it's the right way to make more good connections, so what's the rest?

After finishing his conversation with Ma Xiaoling, president of Xintie, Peng Yuanzhi went to the countryside of Tacheng County and inspected the cultivation of cash crops in the eastern coastal slope area for the last time. Between this large expanse and the Central Plateau lies a "gloomy, long, hard barrier" of coastal plains and swamps, which still look barren even after decades of exploitation on the east coast.

You see, even in an old county like Tacheng County, the countryside is still a large area of forests, meadows, and swamps, and there are many crocodiles hidden in the swamps, and the forests are inhabited by scattered natives full of malice, and the grasslands are endless, but the villages of the people on the east coast are not very many, and they are relatively scattered.

It can be said that the first thing people on the east coast did when they came to develop the east coast was to cut down forests and build a system of swamps and canals (in order to drain the swamps). This work was in full swing in the south, and in Tacheng County in the north, it was even more intensive, and there had been countless battles with the Bezimisaraka, Bezzalozaro and Tanara people who inhabited this ancient land, and only then did some idyllic sandbanks appear in the wilderness that seemed very beautiful to the people of the east bank, and the forests were slowly degraded into the lowlands of the river valleys, but it was only a matter of time before they were bulldozed by the people of the east bank.

The coastal swamps, which are also very extensive, have received huge investments in the last decade, with the construction of many small reservoirs and the dredging and widening of the rivers that had previously overflowed, so that the swamps are slowly drained and fertile fields are revealed—of course, this requires the east coasters to first kill the large number of Nile crocodile subspecies in the swamps, although this does not seem too difficult.

The swamps that drain the stagnant water are generally used to grow cash crops such as vanilla, pepper and pepper, and of course, the "oil palm movement" in recent years has greatly increased the area of oil palm cultivation, but in any case there is not much food. According to the local magazine "Tropical Agriculture" published on New Huaxia Island, "the re-fragmentation of the land, the spread of water conservancy, mechanization and rational cultivation techniques have greatly increased the production of herbs, peppers, peppers, oilseeds and sisal on the east coast." On the frontier of colonial activity, except for a few state-owned ones, privately invested farms were unreasonably scarce, and the fragmentation of the natural environment was not suitable for the management of large concessions. In its place, there are enthusiastic small-scale yeoman farmers who live in the center of cash crops in the form of small forests, so that they can be cared for and cared for nearby, and gradually change the face of this ancient land that has been dormant for thousands of years. But food crops have been greatly sacrificed here, and the shortage of rice is particularly significant. Population growth, the proliferation of cash crops, and the lack of livestock to use the fields have greatly limited rice production, even though it is a good land that can be harvested twice a year. ”

Therefore, after seeing the coconut, pepper, sisal, oil and even honey produced in the countryside of Tacheng County year by year, Peng Yuanzhi also felt more clearly how scarce the food here is. So, what else is there to say? The state farms on the shores of Lake Alautra probably have to be opened, and the Tadong Railway must also be launched, otherwise the next development of the east coast will be greatly restricted.