Twenty-fourth: Developing the Northwest

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  The north wind is blowing with a whoosh, making the clothes on my body flutter and make a rustling sound.

  In the distance, the undulating mountains still retain some white, and on the vast land, there are sparse forests dotted with dry branches standing stubbornly. Unlike the beautiful scenery of Jiangnan, the slightly dark land gives people who see it for the first time a sense of vastness and desolation.

  The early spring of 1907, Pongjiabao Iron Mine, Xuanhua Prefecture.

  The spring sunshine shines on a large newly-built playground next to the mining area, where over 1,000 young and strong men wearing dark blue military uniforms are divided into eight squads under the leadership of old soldiers transferred from Dongjun, conducting intense drills.

  "Left, right, left! Left, right, left!"

  As the officers gave orders, after more than two months of training in winter, these former peasant-born miners and railway workers marched in step, their formation already quite standardized, except for a lack of a stern atmosphere, indeed much stronger than the Green Camp and those flag-bearing soldiers. Those old soldiers holding military clubs stood aside, staring intently at these "greenhorns" in the formation, seeing anyone whose movements were not up to standard or made mistakes in their footsteps, the red-and-black striped clubs in their hands would immediately call out without exception.

  Under Yuan Shikai's recommendation, Lin Xue has been promoted to the national railway assistant, working under Tang Shaoyi, mainly responsible for the financial scheduling of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway.

  The Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway, presided over by Zhan Tianyou, has been extended to Xuanhua Prefecture. Lin Caiyuan took this opportunity to invest in the construction of Longyan Iron Mine and Xuanhua Ironworks, which have also started work. Unlike another world, tens of thousands of workers on the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway were organized, and the imperial court has approved the extension of the railway to Baotou.

  After the railway work stopped in winter, most of the migrant workers had been on holiday, while thousands of young and strong men selected from them were organized to receive military training at several gathering points.

  Three or four silver coins per month, and they also took care of food and lodging. In this era, for most farmers, it was not a small temptation. For these silver coins, the original farmers endured the torture of the old soldiers. Fortunately, the hard days are about to pass, as the weather warms up, everyone will return to the railway or the mine.

  Colonel Li Cheng-en, accompanied by several of his personal guards, watched the training exercises of this "militia" from a distance. The overall performance of these people was quite satisfactory to this old military veteran. After a while, he nodded and said to Zheng Yi-jing beside him: "Young Master instructed us to mobilize as many trained militiamen as possible to go to Mongolia with the recruited refugees. The Mongolian territory is not peaceful, and we cannot rely on General Kobdo's troops stationed in the border posts. We need our own armed forces to protect the safety of each reclamation area."

  Zheng Yijing said: "About 1,500 people have signed up to go to Mengdi. After all, they will be provided with food and accommodation, and there is still a monthly allowance of six taels of silver. I just wonder if it's worth spending so much money to settle refugees in Mengdi."

  Li Cheng'en glared at Zheng Yi-jin, "Whether it's worth it or not is Young Master's business, you just focus on getting the job done and that's it. If you keep spouting nonsense, watch out or I'll cut off your tongue!"

  Zheng Yijing smiled and nodded, "Yes, I guarantee this matter will be done to your satisfaction, young master!"

  After the Gengzi year, the Qing government had to abolish the immigration ban outside the pass in response to the increasingly severe border crisis and implement the "immigration and border" policy, encouraging landless migrants from inland areas to go to the outer pass for reclamation. In the 28th year of Guangxu, it was announced that Mongolia would be opened up, and a reclamation office was established in Suiyuan City to take charge of land reclamation and surveying in Mongolia.

  Lin Xiao's gaze fell on the river valley.

  The various kings and dukes of the Western Two Alliances had long coveted the "wild silver" received by Zhao Erxun. Lin Shuang borrowed the Tianyiyuan Traveling Merchant Company, which he controlled, to ask Liang Kui, the General of Suiyuan, about the matter of reclaiming land in Mongolia. This Manchu general, who was worried because he had no silver, agreed to this matter as soon as he received 50,000 taels of "wild silver".

  Large numbers of inland refugees were organized to be arranged on both sides of the Yellow River in the form of recruitment, and the initial scale was not large, with less than 10,000 refugees being arranged to enter Mengdi every year.

  Lin Zong adopted a militarized management approach similar to the later military colonies, setting up three reclamation bureaus in Wuyuan, Baotou and Dingyuan, each responsible for different large-scale reclamation areas. The recruited civilians were registered and assigned to various reclamation points after registration, with each person receiving 4 yuan in wages per month, food and necessary living materials were uniformly allocated by the reclamation area, but production materials belonged to the reclamation bureau.

  The initial recruitment of immigrants was quite difficult, and sometimes the various reclamation bureaus had to resort to some deceptive and coercive means. Lin Xue had to invest 500,000 to 600,000 silver coins each year to make up for the insufficient income of the reclamation bureaus. However, after three years, the various reclamation bureaus had basically achieved self-sufficiency, and many poor people in the north also knew that Mengdi was a place where they could still get enough food.

  At the end of the Qing dynasty, disasters occurred frequently in various places, and being able to eat a full meal became a luxury for many ordinary people.

  The legend of the Mongolian plateau is like a paradise for many people.

  Although it is not easy for the Chinese to abandon their homeland unless they are forced to, more and more refugees have begun to flock to Mengdi under the pressure of making a living. In the spring of 1907, various reclamation areas in Suiyang had already accepted nearly 20,000 households of refugees.

  Lian Kui was rewarded with a special imperial edict for his achievements in recruiting and cultivating land.

  With the help of Tunken, Lin Xue's Tianyiyuan business gradually controlled the trade routes from Kobdo to Ili, with annual trading profits exceeding 1 million yuan, and had a tendency to surpass Dashenggui as the number one business in Mongolia.

  This world, thanks to Lin Shou's financial support, the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway will be fully operational by October 1908, nearly a year ahead of schedule in another world. The imperial court has also approved the extension of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway to Mengtian and Ningxiatown to the west, and along the so-called "Zhangku Great Road" to Kulun to the north.

  Zhan Tianyou personally rushed to Zhangjiakou, arranging for the survey and preparation of the Mengdi Railway. Unexpectedly, he met Kuang Rongguang, Zeng Yu, Rong Shangqian and others. Several people were all children who had studied in the United States at that time. Kuang Rongguang and Zhan Tianyou had worked together at the Kaiping Mining Bureau, and it had been several years since they last saw each other. After returning to China, Zeng Yu went to Britain specifically to study mining, after which he was recruited by Lin Xiang to work at the Hanyang Ironworks, where he later oversaw the construction of iron mines in Fan Chang and Ma'anshan.

  Old friends met, and after a brief exchange of pleasantries, Zhan Tianyou wondered how Kuang Rongguang and others had arrived at Zhangyuan.

  Lin Xiang originally invested in Shanxi's Baojin Company through Tianyi Yuan Business Firm, planning to set up an iron smelting plant in Taiyuan. At this time, he was able to utilize the resources in Yuan Shikai's hands, and this time he sent Kuang Rongguang to lead a geological team to conduct a general survey of mineral resources in northern Shanxi. According to Lin Xiang's designated location, the geological team indeed discovered iron ore deposits with rich reserves in Dai County and Lankao County.

  Rong Shangqian then accepted Lin Xiang's appointment to become the manager of Tonghai Shipping Company, this time he was specially investigating road conditions for a batch of equipment transportation problems for the Xuanhua Iron Factory.

  Zhan Tianyou turned his head and asked Zeng Yu: "I heard that you are in charge of the construction of the iron factory in Wuhu, what is the current situation?"

  Zeng Yu shook his head and said, "Originally, the governor Enming was very concerned about the Wuhu Iron Factory. The land acquisition and procedures for the iron factory were all very smooth. However, just as the iron factory started construction, Enming was assassinated by the revolutionary party, and the new governor Zhu Jiabao was very conservative. As a result, the construction of the iron factory encountered many twists and turns. Originally, it was expected to be completed next year, but now it seems that it will take two or three more years to complete."

  "How come you've run to Shanxi again to build an iron factory, adding to the Xuanhua Iron Factory? Lin Anhua has built four iron factories, where can they sell so much domestically?"

  "Otherwise, we will continue to support you in building railways. The more railways you build, the better our lives will be." Rong Shangqian smiled and said, "Hanyang has just installed a new medium-thick plate rolling mill. In a year's time, domestic shipyards will be able to use domestically-made steel plates."

  "Oh, don't affect the supply of rails on the railroad. Now there is only one iron factory in the country, and every year we have to buy tens of thousands of tons of steel from foreigners." said Zhan Tianyou.

  Kuang Rongguang burst out laughing: "James, you were just worried that the steel we produced wouldn't sell, and now you're afraid that the rail supply won't keep up. Isn't this a contradiction?" The few people couldn't help but break into loud laughter.

  A few people were talking when they heard the sound of slogans coming from a distance, and when they turned their heads to look, it was more than 2,000 newly recruited railway workers undergoing military training. Several of them had studied at the Mawei Shipyard School and had received some military training, while Rong Shangqian had spent nearly ten years in the Beiyang Fleet. After watching for a while, they understood the intention behind it. These sturdy laborers who had undergone military training had a strong sense of foreign workers, and after receiving military training, they knew what was allowed and forbidden, had strong obedience and discipline, which greatly improved their efficiency compared to ordinary scattered labor teams.

  Rong Shangqian watched for a while and couldn't help but praise: "Well done, Da Chao! With this move, the migrant workers have turned into soldiers, and the construction progress of the Beijing-Suiyuan Railway has been greatly guaranteed."

  Zhan Tianyou smiled and said, "This is not my credit, the idea was Lin Anhua's, and the soldiers who were recruited to supplement the garrison in Ningxia Town were also from among these people who had received military training. He subsidized a portion of the training expenses, but had me support several thousand supplementary soldiers. Do you think his calculations are precise or not?"

  Rong Shangqian was taken aback, and the words "stationing troops among the people" immediately appeared in his mind. He thought that Lin Chao's factories and mines were also conducting military training when recruiting workers, and many people just laughed at it. Now it seems that this Lin boss has his own unique ideas. Once a chaotic situation like the Boxer Rebellion occurs domestically, he can immediately recruit tens of thousands of trained soldiers. Although such an army is not as good as the few Northern Expeditionary Forces under Yuan Shikai's command, it is absolutely much stronger than those hastily assembled patrol camp soldiers.

  But what does Lin Anhua want to do?

  Lin Xue himself didn't know what to do, after the Gengzi year, Empress Dowager Cixi was deeply regretful and had a change of heart, strongly supporting and promoting the so-called "New Deal", even more radical than the "Reform Movement" promoted by Emperor Guangxu in previous years. Now the court politics is unexpectedly open-minded, rewarding industry and commerce domestically, and private investment is gradually becoming active, the situation is somewhat similar to the early days of reform and opening up in the 1980s.

  At present, in the early stage of the second industrial revolution from steam engine to internal combustion engine and electric motor, if a country develops so steadily for twenty or thirty years, it is not impossible to achieve great economic achievements like the past thirty years of reform.

  At present, the imperial court is preparing to implement constitutional government. If this emperor were a Han Chinese emperor, there might still be a possibility of success for constitutional monarchy. Unfortunately, the ruling royal family in China today is an alien tribe and a small nation with only tens of millions of people. In this era when national consciousness is gradually awakening, tens of millions of Han people are extremely unwilling to accept a Manchu emperor who will last forever. This is a terrible fact.

  The idea of "opposing the Qing and restoring the Ming" has always been popular among the people, which is also why the revolutionaries' so-called "anti-Manchu revolution" gained more and more recognition from scholars and most party members. If the emperor were a Han Chinese, there might not have been so many problems.

  It's just that in a chaotic world, it's basically unavoidable, and Lin Shuo can only quietly accumulate strength to prepare for the turbulent times to come.