This big discussion about the northwest and setting up railway nodes, which has also become the focus of attention of most of the officers during the journey of several hours, itself, is only inadvertently leaked out by Wu Peifu, and circulated among the officers who are slightly lower in the lower position, and gradually, senior officers and some town-level officers are also involved, and finally, when Duan Qirui and others participated, this has become a big discussion under Yuan Shikai, all the cronies, the officers are divided into several camps, each has a support, Then, on the basis of the available information, rebuttals and quarrels begin.

Regarding the argument that Shijiazhuang is a node, with Wu Peifu's statement and the personal experience of some officers, it has been determined that Shijiazhuang is a very powerful fortress and node, but in the next discussion, there has been a deviation, some people agree with Yuan Shikai's statement, that the northwest is in the next big game of chess, the opportunity of Beiyang is almost impossible to have, and some people are noncommittal, there are more than 200 fortresses in the country, each of which has the level of Shijiazhuang, is this possible, this kind of person actually occupies most of the officers in the carriage, They do not recognize that the more than 200 node cities in the country are almost the same, and there must be strong and weak, and even between strong and weak.

Such an opinion, in many people there is a market, Shijiazhuang this node in front of Beiyang, in how to say, must be paid attention to, as for the rest, not everyone, have walked through most of China's railways, walked through most of the node cities, if not Yuan Shikai's point, even the scheming Wu Peifu, have ignored Shijiazhuang, a new city, behind the strategic role behind the prosperity, on this point. The Northwest has done well.

Both sides have their own opinions and argue endlessly. But on the surface, a lot of time has passed. When the discussion was hot, Feng Guozhang, who had never joined the battle circle, just looked at Feng Guozhang calmly, and suddenly said in amazement: "It's Zhangjiakou, this is Zhangjiakou?" Too soon, right? ”

It is to Zhangjiakou, one of the largest cities outside the Saiwai, where it used to be as famous as Shanxi's West Exit, and is a big city that relies on commercial development and the terminus of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway. Even if he has the shortest time to lead the troops, he also knows the distance between Zhangjiakou and Beijing, and it is normal to take an ordinary train for more than ten hours, which is only how long.

An officer took out his pocket watch, and when they set off, it was almost 2 o'clock, and at this time, it was evening. In early spring, the days are noticeably longer, but a little greyer than before. Through the window, you can clearly see the landmark building of Zhangjiakou Railway Station.

That's the train station, that's the telegraph building. There is also Zhangjiakou TV Tower, Zhangjiakou is a land belonging to the northwest. It is also directly bordered by the Beiyang, in the past few years. Beiyang and the northwest did not have a frontal fire, but the guard between each other is very deep, more than half of the people here, are stationed in Zhangjiakou, participate in the defense of the northwest, for this is very familiar, quickly recognized Zhangjiakou one by one landmark buildings, yes, not illusory, not fantastic, they have indeed arrived hundreds of kilometers away Zhangjiakou, it took less than 4 hours.

Duan Qirui didn't speak, Feng Guozhang didn't either, as the second of the three heroes of Beiyang, they know very well what a railway represents, even if it is a 60 kilometers per hour railway line, for an army's march, attack logistics and many other aspects, has a far-reaching impact, if you master this one, the strength of the army will definitely be doubled, this speed is increased to 120 kilometers?

The Northwest has the most dense railway network in the whole of China, and even in the world, once the war comes, with an average speed of 120 kilometers per hour, the Northwest can calmly move troops in the southeast and west, three aspects, maybe you are facing only a division today, but tomorrow you will face a heavy group army, how to fight such a battle, the preparations just made, may be overthrown and restarted all at once.

"Dog, it's really rich enough!" An officer shouted out everyone's voice, rich, strong economy, this is the generals of the Beiyang Army, the understanding of the unification of the northwest, rich, more than 200 nodes, 200 million yuan in rent per year, and almost the same amount of taxes, handed over to Beiyang and the revolutionary party without blinking the corner of his eyes, if there is less money, whether it is Beiyang or the revolutionary party, the speed of army expansion cannot be so fast, and those arms, how much money they bought arms in Beiyang before, some senior officers know that it has dropped by three-quarters now, Directly drove the arms dealers of the great powers out of the Chinese market, so that Beiyang and the revolutionary party, even if they were in a hostile relationship with the northwest, had to buy arms in the northwest, and the fundamental reason for him to make money was that the price was good and cheap, and what other choice was there for him?

For ordinary generals with troops, the northwest is famous not for his strong combat effectiveness, but for a million-level war with the Russian army on the Mongolian border, but just one of his many glories, and the real glory is his rich and local tyrant.

That's right, it's a local tyrant, building a city, or more than 200 at once, even if the officers of Beiyang don't recognize that every city has such a defense as Shijiazhuang, Shijiazhuang may just be a coincidence, but it is undeniable that those cities are relatively large, and a lot of materials are used and a large number of factories are built, but this one has invested a lot. There is also the expansion of the army, I heard that there are 4 million troops in the northwest, and there are also railways and cities built in various places.

I heard that in the northwest, children not only do not need money to go to school, but also solve a lunch every day, two bottles of milk and some pastries and the like, so that everyone wants to go to the northwest, which is also the fundamental reason why only a small part of the northwest belongs to the essence of China, but has more than 300 million residents.

Education is always the biggest investment, even if you are a senior officer of the Beiyang Army, everyone present is very clear, at that time, there was an old master clamoring, the northwest is obviously selling dog meat on the head of a sheep, it must be under the banner of free education, deceiving people, there are fewer people can also be supported, more people, it is impossible, such an argument, very marketable, thinking that so many people poured over, the policy of the northwest must not be bearable, but who would have thought that the northwest not only endured, but easily withdrew, Even because of the huge investment and personnel, it has become more and more developed.

This is something that all the political and military people in Beiyang do not understand, and there is a clear investment in education, with the current population and number of children in Beiyang, I made an analogy and summary, and I was stunned to find that in Beiyang, to be exact, just this place in Beijing, the place, according to the education in the northwest, free education, free lunch, the same standard, the annual cost of funds, enough to arm 12 towns.

This is not all the strength of Beiyang, but Beijing is not all the territory under the jurisdiction of Beiyang, the territory controlled by the northwest is larger, the population is larger, and the number of children may be as many as more than 100 million under the compulsory education of the whole people, which is dozens of times more than all the school-age in Beijing, that is to say, the northwest has actually invested the funds that can equip millions of people into compulsory education.

This is also incredible, what is the use of compulsory education, why does it cost so much money, with this investment, it is better to put it on the military, these teenagers over 14 years old, aren't they the best candidates for soldiers, the northwest actually set the age of being a soldier at 18 years old, and have the opportunity to go to a technical school, high school, or even college, can be exempted from being a soldier.

In fact, these political and military people in Beiyang, the calculation of the investment in education in the northwest is a little correct, but the amount is far behind, according to the current figure, equipment a town, 1.8 million to calculate, of which the investment in weapons is about 1.5 million, including 20,000 rifles, each 18 yuan, a part of light and heavy machine guns and artillery, bullets, etc., even if you add salary, food and appropriation fees, it is only this number, a hundred times, that is, 180 million.

In the Baotou era, just near Baotou, Shanxi, Mongolia and other parts of Mongolia, the education investment in the northwest has exceeded 100 million. At present, there are 118 million school-age children in the Northwest, with an average of 360 yuan per person per year, which has exceeded the income of many families outside the Northwest, as for night school education, university education, vocational education, and re-employment education, these add up, the total investment in education in the Northwest in 1913 was 81.9 billion Northwest Yuan, which is equivalent to more than 40 billion US dollars and more than 8 billion pounds, and only the Northwest has the strength to invest so much.

It's like a beggar who thinks about what the emperor eats, and only says that the emperor has meat to eat at once, or two white-flour steamed buns, and he won't go hungry or something. The emperor will also sigh that the victims are hungry and have no food to eat, so why don't they eat meat. From the very beginning, the Northwest is based on education, just like Germany, although it has not been preached, the victory of the Northwest is built on the desks of the school, but proceeding from reality, constantly increasing investment in education, it is this persistent investment, so that the development of the Northwest seems to be plugged in wings, flying like the courage to climb the peak, all aspects of scientific and technological achievements and technological innovation blowout, the strength of skilled workers and scientific research teams is also constantly catching up with the world's top trend.

After shouting out the local tyrants in the northwest, there was silence in the whole carriage, and then some people laughed, some people were wooden, some people were thoughtful, after a few hours of discussion, it seemed that there was no need to discuss it anymore, all the Beiyang officers thought of their current situation at this moment, they came to the northwest, not to show off their might, but under the leadership of Yuan Shikai, they signed the alliance under the city, although most people do not recognize this alliance under the city, but no one can change Yuan Shikai's mind, and with this big discussion, not only gradually clarified the strength of the northwest, but also said the root of the strength of the northwest, yes, money. (To be continued......)