The railway from Tianjin to Beijing is full every day, and the flowing goods and crowds come and go between the two places, compared to the freight, the passengers who come and go between the two places are either rich or expensive, and the railway travel of this era still belongs to the consumption of high-end people.

A merchant disagreed, "The railway from Tianjin to Kailuan was originally intended to smoothly transport the coal mines of Luanping out of various places for sale, and there are coal mines here, not necessarily how many people take them, and Baoding to Tianjin and then to Beijing is just for Zeng Du's personal ideas, and the people who come and go, I am afraid that there are also a few, I look at the money invested in this railway, it is a loss." ”

"What do you mean?"

"Baoding was originally not a big place," the man said with a smile, "It's just a north-south road, now there are canals, shipping, and railways, and the land of Baoding doesn't matter, even if the railway from Baoding to Beijing is built, this is also the political achievement of Zeng Governor Xinzhi to Zhili, and the money of these two railways is far inferior to the railway from Suzhou to Shanghai Songjiangfu." ”

"This statement is a little biased," another white-haired man who swallowed melon seeds retorted, he dropped the melon seeds in his hand, clapped his hands, took the hot towel from the shopkeeper, wiped his face, and was in good spirits. ”

The gray-haired man smiled reservedly, "It's just a few pieces of tofu written in the newspaper, and I don't deserve the title of a great talent." ”

"How not? As soon as Ma Ye's article "The Disadvantages of Donating Officials" came out, the Daqing Daily was almost out of stock, but this is just that, just look at the Military Aircraft Department and then issued an edict, and the donors are not allowed to arrange real errands after 12 years of Tongzhi, which can be described as a word to prosper the country. Not at all! ”

"After writing this article, I have offended all the donors, and how many people regard me as a thorn in their side and want to put me to death," Ma Ye said with a smile, "Fortunately, they still take decency into account." I haven't used a knife or a gun yet, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to survive it with my small body. ”

"Ma Yefu's body, presumably it is fine, it must be a good fortune, you are the Queen Mother of the West Lafayette who knows the name before, what kind of tablet are they, how dare you use your crooked brain?" A person on the side praised Ma Ye, these people who played with the pen. If you don't like what they want, you can be written to death, and you will be offended easily, so you asked, "You said that this Zeng Governor wants to build the railway from Baoding to Beijing, not to show prestige, but for what?" ”

"It's not for the sake of pretension, naturally. Zeng Du cared most about his reputation in his life, and he was an official. For the benefit of one party, build a railway for the use of the military and civilians of Zhili, this master was not wrong," Ma Ye arched his hand towards the tea guest, and the tea guest was intercepted, and he was originally extremely angry. Seeing that Ma Ye was so polite, he calmed down and returned a salute to Ma Ye, and the Ma Ye continued, and everyone gathered around. Even the two young men who were studying at the Tongwen Pavilion pricked up their ears.

"The benefits of this railway, the big guys have also seen it, the speed is fast, and the throughput is large, and the ship is naturally respected at sea, this is on the road, the train is faster than the Western carriage. The newspaper said that when Germany launched a war against Austria-Hungary, tens of thousands of troops with railroad reinforcements quickly arrived at the front, and only then did they defeat Austria and achieve a great cause for Germany, which was military. ”

"Also, among the Beijing divisions, there are really a lot of things produced in Tianjin, and the prices are cheap, why is this? It is nothing more than the railway, the freight is cheaper, the price is naturally low, we buy things, we get the affordable, now this foreign cloth, than before when people pulled horses. It's cheap and tight. ”

After talking for a long time, it still didn't explain why the new railway to Baoding was built, everyone was impatient, but it was not easy to urge, Ma Ye squeaked and drank a sip of hot tea, shook his head, and then continued, "The Ministry of Communications means to build a railway from Beijing to Jinling!" ”

Everyone was in an uproar, the railway was originally a new thing that was only made up in the past few years, and the Ministry of Communications actually wanted to do such a big project, speaking of which, this is a more concerning thing than the establishment of a water division! "Is this true? Ma Ye, you can't talk about it! ”

Ma Ye sneered slightly, "Can this be false, you don't want to think about it, where did Baoding go south?" That is Jinan Mansion, and then down is Xuzhou Mansion, in Jiangsu, this way down, hehe, Mu Shangshu is very big-minded, ready to build a Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal on land! ”

"It's a great event!" When a boss Wang who was doing the business of southern goods heard the news, he applauded, "Fresh goods from the south, either by sea, or from the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, the freight on the way is nothing, but this time, it is inevitable that it will be a long time, many things in the season, such as anchovy, such as water chestnut and lettuce are not suitable for a long time, if there is such a train, I am afraid that it will be between one or two days, you can count all the Beijing division, and when the time comes, in the south goods shop, I am afraid that there will be some sold." ”

"Master Wang's business is prosperous," the two people on the side complimented, and Boss Wang arched his hand proudly, "Thanks to the blessing of the imperial court, the blessing of Tuomu Zhongtang." ”

"This matter is not a secret," Ma Ye continued, "It's just that the Ministry of Communications is reluctant to say more, for fear of publicizing it, and being impeached by the imperial history is so ambitious, so it is unrealistic, so slowly, the first to repair the railway from Beijing to Baoding, in the south, the opening of a government and a government, the railway from Suzhou to Shanghai has also started, presumably it will not take a few years, we can easily go to Jiangnan to take a look at the scenery over there." ”

A person on the side was amazed, "If the north-south railway is opened, but it is a profitable business, no wonder, there are rumors in Beijing that the largest wealthy businessman in Zhejiang, known as the silkworm god, Hu Da Boss, also personally went to Beijing to participate in the shares of the Baoding Railway, Ma Ye, you said that the nose of these businessmen is really smart!" ”

"No, can he be called a silkworm god?" Ma Ye said leisurely, "Nine times out of ten, he ran the business of selling silk to foreigners in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. ”

"This silkworm god, the history of making a fortune, but it is not ordinary," Mr. Wang sold southern goods, knew some stories of the south, so he sold it, "In the past, he was just an apprentice in the shop, and he seized the opportunity to make a career, of course, it can't be compared with the present, it's just a small achievement, but he has a good eye for heroes, and now he lives in eight majestic Zhejiang Futai, the past was embarrassed, and there was no money to enter Beijing to elect officials, when Boss Hu was still an apprentice, the two were familiar with each other, and he dared to help each other, Happily gave a few hundred taels of silver for Wang Futai to enter Beijing, but also Wang Futai came to run, a few years from the prefect all the way to the Senate, the political envoy, and then to the governor of Zhejiang, the ancients didn't say, the grace of dripping water, the spring reciprocates, the king has gained power, how can there be no reason not to reciprocate, this is gradually developed. ”

"It's not exactly Wang Futai's support," Ma Ye contributed in the newspaper and knew what was inside, "This God of Wealth is also his own fight, in the past to quell the rebellion of Long Mao, he tried his best to supply the army of grain and grass, not only to avoid Wang Futai's worries, even the Lord Zuo Governor is also very appreciative, he went to Xinjiang with the Zuo Governor, to make up the logistics of grain and grass, it is also a credit, this person, there is an opportunity, it is more to see their own practice, such a few major things to do, who doesn't know, this Hu Boss means well, does things neatly, and does not bully people, In this way, the reputation suddenly opened. ”

"So this God of Wealth took a fancy to the doorway of the railway, so he came to Jingshi?" That Boss Wang was surprised, "It's really amazing." ”

A few people were talking and laughing, there was a lot of uproar on the street, and the shopkeeper took advantage of the shopkeeper's inattention, sneaked out to inquire, and after a while, he ran in with an excited face, "The queen mother and her old man have returned to China!" ”

"Really? It was a great event. ”

"Not to mention," the shopkeeper was elated, "There are even more powerful," the shopkeeper also put down his abacus and pricked up his ears to look over, "The Beiyang Sailor has gone to Taiwan!" (To be continued.) )