"This Tuohu Dixia," Cao Yuying asked, "isn't that old?" ”

"It's not big," Guan Zhuofan said, "it's in your early twenties." Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info"

"It's just in her early twenties," Cao Yuying said slowly, "the first to erect the banner of righteousness, and then respond to it, this ...... Well, the future is terrifying, and the future is immeasurable! ”

Speaking of this, he smiled faintly, "I think that such a talent, not a local official, comes out to see the world, it is better to go to a bigger place." ”

Several listeners, including Guan Zhuofan, were moved in their hearts.

Cao Yuying's words, the focus is not on the "place to enter, bigger" in the back, but in the front "such talents, not as local officials".

The deep meaning of the words is that several listeners have implicit metaphors -- however, they can only be implicitly metaphorical, and they cannot be broken down.

"That's what Zhuoru said!" Guo Songtao pretended not to grasp the point, and smiled, "Outside...... The sky is wide! This Tuohu Dixia took the initiative to say that he was willing to leave his hometown, although it is the man's ambition in all directions, but it can also be seen that he admires the sincerity of sanctification! ”

"That's right," Cao Yuying also said fairly, "Xinjiang is far away, and if Uyghurs serve in the mainland, I don't know how many teenagers can return to their hometowns once?" It's really hard for him! ”

Wen Xiang and Xu Gengshen both nodded yes, "It's really not easy!" ”

However, Prince Xuan has a different tune.

"Now," Guan Zhuofan said with a smile, "It's really not easy, but in a few years, when the railway is built to Urumqi, it won't be a big deal to go back and forth between the mainland and Xinjiang." ”

"How many years will it take" ...... "the railway has been repaired to Urumqi"?

Wen, Cao, Xu, and Guo all thought that Prince Xuan had made a mistake, or that he had heard it wrong.

Seeing the puzzled expressions of his subordinates, Guan Zhuofan added seriously, "You didn't hear it wrong, what I said, well, is 'in a few years, wait until the railway is repaired to Urumqi'——"

As soon as these words came out, the expression of the "princes" was not "puzzled", some people opened their eyes wide, and some people opened their mouths slightly, well, this is called "jaw-dropping".

In the minds of the "princes", they all jumped out of the grand plan of the "first phase of the project" of the Chinese railway hand-painted by Prince Xuan:

Two vertical, two horizontal.

With Beijing as the center, there are four in total, and two in the south road, which are "two verticals"; There are two north roads, which are "two horizontal".

The east line of the South Road is the "Beijing-Shanghai Line", which runs from Beijing to Tianjin, enters Shandong and Jinan, and then enters Jiangsu and Xuzhou, and Jinling and Shanghai.

Jiangnan is the source of China's wealth, and the "Beijing-Shanghai Line" connects Beijing and Jiangnan, which is the key to the imperial court's grasp of the world's wealth.

The middle line of the South Road is the "Jinghan Line", which runs from Beijing to Baoding, enters Henan and Zhengzhou, and then enters Hubei and Hankou.

Hankou is the thoroughfare of nine provinces, and the "Beijing-Han line" is the key to the imperial court to grasp the center of the world.

This is the "two verticals".

The eastern line of the North Road is the "Jingfeng Line", which runs from Beijing to Tianjin - this section overlaps with the Beijing-Shanghai Line, and then goes north from Tianjin to Shanhaiguan and finally Fengtian.

The Northeast is the land of the Longxing Dynasty of the country, and the "Jingfeng Line" is the key to the development, operation and consolidation of the Northeast.

The west line of the North Road is the "Shitai Line", the west end is Taiyuan, and the east end is in a place called "Shijiazhuang Village" in Zhili, which intersects with the Jinghan Line.

The "Shitai Line" has two major functions: first, to build a front station for further operation in the northwest in the future; Second, Shanxi Fuji Coal Mine, this line, is the key to the export of Shanxi coal.

This is the "two horizontals".

At present, there are two railways that have been truly completed, one is the "Tangjin Railway" and the other is the "Beijing-Tianjin Railway".

The "Tangjin Railway" ends in Dagu in the south, and the "Beijing-Tianjin Railway" starts in Dagu in the east, and the two are connected here, which is the southern section of the "Jingfeng Line" in the future.

How long is this "Jingtang Railway"?

The total length of the "Tangjin Railway" is one hundred and eighty-six miles, and the length of the "Beijing-Tianjin Railway" is just twice that of the former, with a total length of three hundred and sixty-five miles.

Right now, all the "family foundations" of the railway are here.

The other lines of "two vertical and two horizontal" have either just started construction or are still in the stage of survey and mapping.

At this time, what did Prince Xuan say, "After a few years, wait until the railway is repaired to Urumqi"?!

Beijing to Urumqi

The eyes of several big military planes, involuntarily, all fell on the unfolded map.

Beijing to Urumqi, visual inspection - almost 5,000 miles away!

That is to say, the "family foundation" at hand is put together, but this ...... Uh, the "Jingwu Line" -- or the "Jingdi Line"? -- Eleven.

No, it can't be counted like that.

Whether it is the "Beijing-Wuhan Line" or the "Jingdi Line", it is impossible to go straight from Beijing to Urumqi, and along the way, it must be turning around, and the total mileage of this railway is by no means more than 5,000 miles!

Everyone's eyes are on the map: Beijing, Datong, Taiyuan, Xi'an, Lanzhou...... Finally arrived at Dihua in Urumqi -

Good fellow, there are not 10,000 miles, there are 8000 miles!

Think about the "two vertical and two horizontal" --

The Beijing-Shanghai line is 1,463 kilometers, the Jinghan line is 1,214 kilometers, the Jingfeng line is 842 kilometers, and the Shitai line is 242 kilometers, adding up to 3,761 kilometers.

Among them, the Beijing-Shanghai line and the Beijing-Feng line of the Beijing-Tianjin section are overlapped, that is, the Beijing-Tianjin urban part of the "Beijing-Tianjin Railway", which is about 160 kilometers, so that the "two vertical and two horizontal" are added together, with a total length of 3,600 kilometers.

3,600 kilometers -- that's 7,200 miles.

I'm a god!

A "Beijing-Wu Line" or "Jingdi Line" is as long as the entire "two vertical and two horizontal" railway network!

This does not take into account the difficulty of the project -- the difficulty of building a railway in the Gobi and the desert in the northwest is not comparable to that of the plains in the interior, right?!

Could it be that Prince Xuan changed his mind, regardless of his "several vertical and horizontal lines", he put all his strength on this "Beijing-Wuhan line"?

This-

Something is wrong!

There was silence in the room.

Silence itself is an attitude -- Prince Xuan's plan for the "Beijing-Wuhan Line" is not approved of by any big military aircraft.

However, Guan Zhuofan's expression was calm.

"Originally," he broke his silence, "when I was planning the 'first phase of the railway', I didn't even think about building the railway to Urumqi." At that time, the chaos in the northwest only pacified one province of Shaanxi, Gansu returned to chaos, not to mention Xinjiang, and there was no way to build any railways. ”

After a pause, "It's different now!" Shaanxi and Gansu provinces have not only been settled, but also have roughly returned to Qi'er, Xinjiang, will soon be returned to the territory, Shaanxi, Gansu, and Xin, seeing that it is a 'game of chess'! So, well, the construction of this railway can be put on the agenda! ”

"There are two major benefits to building this railway—"

"First, for the long-term peace and stability of the northwest."

"If there were no railways, Xinjiang and the interior would always have difficulties in transportation -- you see, Tohudixia is a good example, Xinjiang people come out to be soldiers, and they can't go home once for many years, and they can't visit their relatives once! If so, Xinjiang and the mainland have always been separated by one layer, and they cannot become a real family! ”

"In fact, even if it is a family, you have to come and go often, otherwise, the relationship will definitely be sparse! This, as the saying goes, 'if you don't come to the door for three years, you won't kiss or kiss'! ”

"The same is true for personnel, and the same is true for materials! There is no railway, everything has to be dragged by horse-drawn people, Xinjiang, the mainland, the world is far away, along the way in the Gobi yellow sand, the transportation of materials, it is too difficult! Without railways, materials from the interior would not be able to enter and Xinjiang would not be able to get out -- what can go in and out will only be a little bit, and in fact, it will have no substantive effect on each other's economic development! ”

"It can be said that without the railway, Xinjiang's economy will never be developed!"

"At this level, this time I am so touched by the planning of heavy grain for the Western Expeditionary Army!"

"At that time, I thought, if there is a railway that connects Xinjiang with the mainland, I don't know how much silver can be saved in this war? -- It costs money to build railways, but there are so many savings in these places!"

"Also, it's time saved! -- If there had been a railway, the chaos in Xinjiang would have been put over a few months ago! ”

"No, it should be said that - if there is a railway, the chaos in Xinjiang will not be able to rise at all! The first fire was lit, and in ten days and half a month, the army of the imperial court entered, how could it be that there were beacons everywhere, helpless, in vain, and finally out of control? ”

"Therefore, if there is a railway from Beijing to Urumqi, it is equivalent to the hand of the imperial court, which has reached out from Beijing and stretched thousands of miles away at once, holding Xinjiang tightly in its hands, and everything is under control!"

Sounds good......

"Second," Guan Zhuofan continued to talk eloquently, "If there is such a railway, the war against Russia in the future will be victorious!" ”

Several large military planes were slightly shocked.

"Right now," Guan Zhuofan said, "Russia has no railways in Central Asia, and what they have used is a trick of a 'fortress line' -- building fortresses along the way, thinking that they can rely on it, and advancing step by step, encroaching on the Central Asian countries, piece by piece." ”

"Although this move is relatively solid, in a short period of time, there are not many troops that can be mobilized -- if nothing else, the baggage and grain will not be able to keep up!" The hand of the fortress line is enough to deal with opponents such as Kokand, but it may not be enough to deal with us -- if we have a railway connecting the interior and Xinjiang, Russia's trick will not be 100% enough! ”

"So, we're going to build a railroad like this!"

"Also, in a few years, Russia may also build a railway in Central Asia, and when he repairs the railway, this battle will not be easy to fight!"

"So, we're going to get ahead of him—even if it's just a year ahead of him!"

In the end, Guan Zhuofan said word by word, "The day the railway reaches Urumqi is the time when we start a war against Russia!" ”

Prince Xuan's "two major benefits" of the lotus flower, Wen, Cao, Xu, and Guo, the four great military machines, there is nothing that is not moved, but-

It costs money to build a railway!

No matter what the benefits of repairing the "Beijing-Wu Line" are, before repairing it, you can't see it for a tael of silver, and what you can see is the silver that you spend.

This...... But heaps of silver!

This "silver mountain", its weight geometry, at the moment, is simply impossible to calculate, or even unimaginable!

Where is this money?

*(To be continued.) )