The sudden news of the alliance between the Kuomintang and the Kuomintang shook the entire Chinese political circle like a bomb, but Yang Qiu didn't seem to feel any difference, and still silently sketched the blueprint in his heart step by step.

The morning in Shanghai was noisy and busy, groups of workers gathered from all sides of the city to the Huangpu River, and the security teams and guards at the entrance of the Jiangnan Industrial Company, who usually laughed with everyone, were all in high spirits today, and as the only unit of the Wehrmacht that was not deployed in the control area at present, their task here was to protect the safety of the country's largest shipbuilding enterprise.

The extraordinarily strict inspections gave the workers a sense that something important might be happening today. Sure enough, after entering the factory, I saw that hundreds of soldiers had blocked all the inside, and a team of young people walked towards the factory dock while carrying boxes, and there were even more than a dozen girls, like students who were going to go far away.

In the dock area next to the wharf, Wang Guangxiong was introducing Yang Qiu to the two destroyers Yongji and Yongjian, which had almost completed the construction of the slipway. Since Yang Qiu exchanged arms from Chen Qimei back to Jiangnan a year ago, the two original river gunboats were completely overturned by him, and he asked German engineers to redesign them according to destroyer standards, not only increasing the displacement to 1050 tons, but also installing three 120 mm rapid-fire naval guns, four 37 mm rapid-fire machine guns, and three 18-inch torpedo tubes, and using a steam turbine for the first time, with a design speed of 28 knots.

Informed of the news and led the fleet to be stationed thereafter (). Wang Guangxiong ran here almost every day to see the progress, and Yang Qiu was also very happy when he learned that it could be delivered for testing in half a year at the latest, but he was still not satisfied with the Fujian gang in these fleets, but at present, he had no one in his hands, and he had to wait for the three training cruisers he paid for to come back. Then these two destroyers will be organized together with them into a new training fleet, and little by little these disobedient old naval forces will be stripped away.

After walking out of the dock, the renovated factory area was completely presented in front of you. The guns and artillery equipment were moved to Chongqing, and after another year of expansion and transformation, the Jiangnan factory has been transformed from a small shipyard with only three docks. It became a dock with six ships. Among them, there are two of them of 10,000 tons and two of them of 5,000 tons, and the remaining two large enterprises that will also be renovated after the construction of destroyers in the old dockyard. And Yang Qiu, who usually looks at the data machine, already knows that the 10,000-ton dock can actually build a 20,000-ton dreadnought, because the tonnage of slipway construction and the actual tonnage are not the same thing, so the scale alone is already one of the few large shipyards in Asia, but under the glamorous coat that cost more than 2 million US dollars to build, there is a serious shortage of workers and technology, not to mention the design ability.

Therefore, in addition to the destroyers under construction in the old docks, the three new docks are all under construction for 3,000-ton civilian river vessels that have placed their own orders and are provided by the United States free of charge with old drawings and technical support. In addition to software. In terms of hardware, it is simply not enough to meet the needs here, especially the heavy hydraulic and hydraulic forging equipment, which can now be bought openly at the 3,000-ton level, even in Hanyang and Chongqing, which means that only naval guns with a maximum caliber of 155 mm can be built, or steel plates for cruisers of the 3,000-ton class can be forged, and it is impossible to achieve it for larger cruisers or battleships.

If Yang Qiu's happiness is pretended, then the accompanying American Commercial Counselor Hangel is really happy, this big man with a full face and beard walks quickly, and seems to have endless energy. He was highly praised for helping domestic companies get contracts worth tens of millions. In addition, the construction of the two special zones of Hankou and Chongqing has prompted a sharp increase in the volume of US trade in the upper reaches of the Yangzi River, which was originally dominated by the British, and in the last month alone, 17 American companies in China have settled in the two places, and the trade volume has begun to grow rapidly as a result of these efforts.

With the news of the three southwestern provinces, the supermarket equivalent to the population of the whole United States has been presented in front of you! After the news reached Wall Street, he had recently sent ten times more telegrams to the Far East asking him to contact the Southwest on his behalf.

"Dear Yang." Hanger used a more affectionate title: "You have achieved a great victory." ”

Yang Qiu understood what he was talking about, and deliberately pointed to the shipyard: "Are you talking about this?" ”

"No, I'm talking about elections." Hanger shook his finger, like a cowboy in a movie, and laughed, "Maybe I should congratulate you in advance, through this ingenious combination, I think you can have a greater say in this country." ”

"You can sign more commercial contracts, right?" Yang Qiu blinked his eyes and said tentatively: "Perhaps, Your Excellency can use this to persuade me to sell 6000-level water pressure equipment." ”

Hanger laughed and skillfully avoided this topic, more than 5,000 tons of hydraulic equipment are of the strategic level, and the United States does not want to offend Britain, which is already very dissatisfied, by selling such high-grade equipment to the Far East at this time, and said with a smile: "Yes, I am convincing Congress." ”

He deliberately dragged the word Congress, Yang Qiu knew that it was another set of things with mud, anyway, he already knew that it would not be possible to obtain it through normal means before World War I, so he didn't care: "That's great, I think I should take the responsibility and persuade them to open more markets to your country after the Congress officially operates." ”

The two smiled tacitly, and walked towards the factory dock together, and after a while, two cars flying the German flag drove in, and they were a little jealous when they saw the German flag Hangel: "His Excellency Traun is here, I heard that he has been appointed as the head of the German Southwest China region because of his excellent work, and I also heard that the German minister is likely to be transferred to Europe to deal with relations with the United Kingdom, so everyone thinks that he will become the most popular candidate for the new minister to China." ”

"Oh?" This news made Yang Qiu raise his eyebrows, Traun's rising tide was of course a good thing for him, and when it came to dealing with the tone of the words Britain, it made people clearly feel that the United States was worried about the tension in Europe, and deliberately asked: "I heard that war is very likely to break out in Europe, is it true?" Will Chinese students be in danger? ”

Hanger nodded worriedly, but quickly shook his head: "You can rest assured of their safety, the United States pursues a policy of glorious isolation." We will not get involved in the war, and as for the students who go to Europe, I think even if it breaks out, it will be a short time. ”

Yang Qiu pretended to breathe a sigh of relief, but in fact this is the general idea of the entire Western world at present, and at the beginning of World War I, everyone from generals to soldiers thought that they would go home before Christmas. But it turned out to be a couple of Christmases in the trenches. But now he did not have the strength to influence Europe, and not even think about an alliance with anyone until the end of 1915. Because until the moment of mud and anxiety, it was impossible for Britain and France to come to a semi-colony to negotiate an alliance outside of Germany.

Traun was much warmer than Hangel, and immediately greeted the two of them: "I'm very sorry. Something was delayed. ”

"That would be a pity. Just now, Yang wanted to do a big business with you. Han Ge deliberately squeezed his eyes, and Yang Qiu also smiled: "Yes, a big business." ”

The two of them sang and sang to make the rigid Traun believe it, and pulled Yang Qiu to ask what kind of business it was, and swore that he would definitely do it for him, but when he heard that he was going to buy a few 6,000-ton hydraulic presses, his head shook faster than Hangel, and Germany was competing with Britain to build warships, how could it be possible to sell such important equipment.

The appearance of the three caused a stir at the dock, especially when Yang Qiu appeared in everyone's field of vision. The onlookers rubbed their eyes vigorously and suddenly burst into cheers after seeing clearly!

"Commander Yang! It's Commander Yang. ”

"I see Commander Yang."

The heartfelt cheers of the workers crowded together, and they wanted to take a closer look at the front, because this young man not only did not lose his job, but his wages were more than doubled, and the apprenticeship was more than three times higher than normal. The shipyard has at least doubled in size, and the shipbuilding equipment that is being shipped from the United States has made it more prosperous than ever.

The loud cheers startled Miao Luo, but soon his cheeks were full of smiles, looking at him and waving to everyone, the pride and sweetness in his heart were indescribable. In addition to inspecting the shipyard, she and Yang Qiu came here today to see off the international students who were going to Germany and the United States. Due to delays in selection and various factors, it was not until today that all the first batch of officers and students to study abroad arrived.

"Stand upright! The whole team (). ”

Bingwen, who led the team, had a loud voice, and 635 students and officers formed a small phalanx, each of them wearing a badge of the Kuomintang Youth Officers Corps pinned to their chests.

In addition to Bingwen and Dong Yongwei, including Ming Zhao and Long Yun, who are rising stars who have begun to emerge in the army, as well as Lu Yuguang and Ma Ji, who are transferred students, they will be divided into two groups and go to the United States and Germany respectively.

Under the guidance of Yang Qiu, the vast majority of the 251 students who went to the United States chose engineering design, shipbuilding, machinery and other majors that the country needs more, according to the agreement reached with the United States, 57 of them will enter the famous Massachusetts Institute of Technology after a one-year adaptation period, and most of the rest also choose science and engineering, chemistry, medicine and other majors, and after the end of their studies, each of them will also get a one-year internship opportunity in a related company in the United States.

Most of those who went to Germany were soldiers, including Bingwen, 141 people entered the Naval Academy, 53 people studied flight and aeronautical design, and 110 people went to the Army Academy, of which 9 people, including Ming Zhao and Long Yun, will be sent directly to the Royal Prussian Army Academy, which produced Hindenburg, Ludendorff and Mackensen, who were famous generals in later generations.

After condolences to everyone with Hanger and Traun, Yang Qiu stopped in front of the phalanx, looking at the young faces that were ruddy because of excitement, he was both happy and worried, these are good seedlings of the country's future, sending them out can absorb the cash technology and ideas of Europe and the United States, but at the same time, going to other places will also bring all kinds of troubles and troubles, especially the officers who stayed in Germany, due to the tense situation in Europe, they all signed a voluntary statement before studying abroad, that is, once a war breaks out in Germany** They can be unconditionally conscripted to serve in the army to fight for Germany! When you think of the tens of millions of post-war dead lists, you know how great the threat they will face.

In the surprised eyes of everyone, Lei Meng asked the soldiers to push a small cart, and when he opened the oilcloth was a box the size of a baby's fist, Yang Qiu picked up one of them and said loudly: "This is a small gift, inside is the soil I asked the soldiers to take from each of your hometowns, Wuchang, Xiangyang, Chongqing, Chengdu, Changsha, etc.!" Mixed together, it's the land! May it bless you with peace wherever you are! I also hope that you will remember the land ()! I hope that you can work hard to gain knowledge and experience for the sake of national self-improvement and national prosperity! Like your loved ones, I look forward to your return. ”

A small box, but it contains more than a thousand pounds of land! Even Hanger and Traun were a little hot by this unique send-off gift, and by the time Miao Luo personally distributed the box to everyone's palms, the dozen or so girls who had studied abroad at public expense for the first time in history had already cried into tears, and everyone clutched the box tightly.

"Let's get on board." Yang Qiu and Bingwen hugged fiercely: "Remember my words, no matter when and where, the most important thing is to come back safely!" ”

"All stand up and salute!"

In the solemn and solemn military salute, one by one the students stepped on the deck, they leaned on the railing, stared at the whining whistle, and embarked on the road of study with the dream of serving the country.

With the disappearance of three ships at the end of the Huangpu River, the five-year 3,000 study abroad program was officially launched, and in the next five years, a total of 3,000 selected students set foot on the soil of the United States and Europe, and 394 of them never returned to their homeland because of disease, war and the flu of the century.

After sending off the students, Yang Qiu rushed back to the headquarters of the Kuomintang in Shanghai, that is, the house he rented when he first came, and when he took Miao Luo's hand and walked into the hall, a shout suddenly came from the telegraph room next door, and Wang Zhengting and Chen Guofu ran over excitedly waving the telegram.

"The chairman sent statistics from Beijing!" Wang Zhengting said excitedly: "The Kuomintang got 283 seats, and we got 221 seats!" More than half of the legal number! ”

Will more than half of them really be able to form a government when Congress opens in March? Yang Qiu was much calmer than them, and after encouraging the two of them a few words, he walked upstairs, and just when he reached the staircase, Jiang Fangzhen blocked him and brought a piece of news that was not good or bad.

Yuan Shikai was sick