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Volume 3: Wind in the South Chapter 106 Railway

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    While the Marquess of Salisbury and Councilor Balfour were discussing how to manage the overall situation of East Asia thousands of miles away, the people in Mandalay were immersed in joy.  Those who were still worried about their choice to join the new king have begun to rejoice in their foresight. Many nobles and monks have begun to find ways to establish relationships with the people around the two majesties. Everyone knows that according to Myanmar  It is an ancient tradition that after every struggle for the throne, a group of unlucky people who join the losing side will lose their manors and village communities, and part of this huge wealth will be confiscated by the king and become the king's property.  Wealth, and the remaining part will be distributed to ministers who have made achievements in the struggle or the king's favorites.  Although these nobles and monks did not make any achievements in the war against rebellion, this did not hinder their greedy appetite for wealth.  But what disappoints them is that the gates of the palaces of their two majesties are always closed these days. Except for the few monks and officials who teach for them, all other seekers are refused entry. If it were in the past, these statuses would  The noble nobles can always come up with some solutions. After all, even the king cannot do without the support of the nobles.  However, this rebellion changed the old situation. His two majesty's restoration nobles did not contribute much, and naturally they had no say. More importantly, the newly established new army was almost completely independent.  It was trained by the shun officer for him, so it was difficult for the nobles to intervene like in the past, so naturally the nobles had no say.  Therefore, the more sensitive nobles in Mandalay City all have a strange feeling, as if the Myanmar they were familiar with no longer exists.  In the palace, after these days of renovation, the traces left by the mutiny nine months ago have disappeared. The teak floor on the ground is bright and discernible. Luo Lin is sitting on the throne, and the gorgeous golden crown reflects dazzling light under the light.  , like a god.  It is hard to imagine that just ** months ago, the girl on the throne was still a captive who lived in fear all day long, which made people lament the ever-changing nature of the world.  "Foreign Minister Chen Zaixing pays homage to Her Majesty the Princess Regent!" Chen Zaixing was dressed in a long robe and stood six or seven steps away from the throne.  Chen Zaixing returned to Mandalay with the second batch of troops entering Myanmar. Now the total number of Myanmar troops has increased to about 8,000, and the road from Mandalay to Lashio has been completely built.  , so that there would be no situation like in the past when the roads on both sides were cut off during the rainy season. "Show me your seat, Mr. Chen!" Luo Lin on the throne ordered. An attendant brought a brocade pier. After Chen Zaixing thanked him, he sat down.  This time I asked to see Luo Lin as soon as I returned to Myanmar, but it was for an important matter.  "Your Majesty, the eldest princess, the foreign minister came here this time, but there is one thing that he wants to ask your majesty for permission!" "Master Chen, please tell me!" "Did your majesty, the eldest princess, know that after the British were frustrated in Bagan, the wolf  The emperor's heart is still strong, and the country's leader has dismissed the prime minister, issued debts, and marched to prepare for another battle. " "I have heard about it!" Luo Lin's expression was very calm: "The country's soldiers are weak, and the country has to send troops to suppress it.  "That's natural. It's just that the roads between the two countries are rugged and the movement of military resources is not as convenient as the British ships. If the two countries fight, it will be very disadvantageous for the foreign ministers in Dashun.  I dare you to grant your Majesty the authority to build the road." "Road?" Luo Lin asked doubtfully: "Isn't there already a road from Larong to Shangguo?  Let me discuss it, is there anyone who objects? " "Your Majesty, I'm not talking about ordinary roads, but railways!" "Railway?" Luo Lin had a confused look on her face. It was obvious that she didn't understand Chen Zaixing.  What is said in the mouth.  "Yes, it's the railway," Chen Zaixing said, turning back and clapped his hands twice, and two attendants carrying wooden boxes walked in from outside the hall.  The two followers put down the wooden box and opened it. Inside, there was a small section of miniature railway track. There was a train model on the track. Chen Zaixing pushed the train model with his hands and explained: "This is the railway track. The front of the train is powered by a steam engine."  It can drive dozens of carriages at a time, load tens of thousands of stones of goods, and travel hundreds of miles a day, which is ten thousand times better than oxen and horses. Weichen plans to build a railway from Kunming to Mandalay to connect the mountains and rivers between the two countries.  , No more barrier!" Luo Lin was stunned by Chen Zaixing's words. She hesitantly reached out and touched the train model and the rails. The cold and hard touch of steel left a deep impression on her.  After a while, Luo Lin asked in disbelief: "Mr. Chen, is this railway really made of fine iron? How much iron does it take to go from Mandalay to Kunming?" "Yes, although not  All are made of fine iron, but it¡¯s almost enough!¡± Chen Zaixing nodded slightly: ¡°It will naturally cost a lot, but the use is also great. If this is done, it will have a hundred-year effect. If the British have a plan, follow it.Tomorrow we will reach Mandalay in just a few days' journey, and your Majesty will be at peace with Mount Tai.  " Luo Lin was stunned by Chen Zaixing's grand plan. She stammered and replied, "Master Chen, with so much fine iron, even if the empire is rich, it may not be able to afford it in a short while, right?  " "Your Majesty doesn't know something. Although this railway costs a lot, it is not just about spending money.  "Chen Zaixing said with a smile: "Dashun already has railways between Hanjing and Jinling Prefecture, Jinling Prefecture and Youzhou Prefecture, and there are also several railways under construction in other places.  The railways that have been built make a huge profit every year, after deducting the cost from the fares for transporting freighters.  Myanmar is rich in products. There are hundreds of thousands of business travelers traveling between Mandalay and Kunming, Myitkyina and Tengchong every year. If the railway is built, it will be of great benefit to the people!  " When Luo Lin heard this, he couldn't help but become interested, and asked: "How much money does it cost to build a railway from Kunming to Mandalay?  " "The foreign minister has not calculated it yet, but it should be no less than five million taels of silver!  "    "so much?  Luo Lin was immediately frightened by this astonishing figure: "How can we use so much money? Mr. Chen is joking, right?"  "She is now considered half the head of Myanmar, and is no longer as ignorant of the national economy and people's livelihood as she was in the past. Now the financial and tax revenue of the Royal Government of Myanmar is almost zero. It is not enough to use all the income from the king's territory to support the new army.  Where is there such a huge amount of money left to build the railway? ¡°Of course I¡¯m not kidding!  What the Foreign Minister means is to ask His Majesty to give the Foreign Minister the right to build the Myanmar Railway, so that the Foreign Minister can use this as a basis to return to Dashun to raise capital and build this railway with private capital.  Your Majesty can also convert the road construction rights into equity and obtain income from future railway operations. Wouldn't it be a double benefit?  "Chen Zaixing finally revealed his real purpose at this time. Although he now owns 20% of the shares of Shunhua Company in his name, he is also the chairman of the board of directors with the exclusive right to trade between Shunhua and Myanmar.  , but all this is just a castle in the air. After all, the war in Myanmar has not subsided for a day, and no one will do business for a day, so the natural monopoly is of no use; not to mention that if the war is lost in the future, Myanmar will become a British colony.  I'm afraid that even Chen Zaixing's property in Myanmar will be confiscated, and this exclusive right will be a piece of waste paper. And if the threat from the British no longer exists, the eldest princess may not be as harsh on herself as she is now.  It will be much more troublesome to do anything at that time, so it is better to take advantage of all the benefits now to avoid the other party regretting it in the future. "Sir, I am afraid that I cannot make the decision alone.  You have to go through the elders of the Privy Council!  Luo Lin had a hesitant expression on his face. Seeing this, Chen Zaixing hurriedly struck the railway while it was hot: "Your Majesty, everything is not going well for you now. The biggest trouble is that you have no money and cannot raise troops. If you are willing to give the power of the railway to foreign ministers,  , the foreign minister is willing to let Shunhua Company pay 200,000 taels of silver to serve His Majesty!  " "Shunhua Company?  Two hundred thousand taels of silver?  " Luo Lin was stunned when he heard this. Upon seeing this, Chen Zaixing hurriedly told Luo Lin that Shunhua Company had obtained the exclusive right to trade with Myanmar and that he was its major shareholder. After hearing this, Luo Lin laughed and said: "I would say  Why does Mr. Chen care so much about the railway? I see, so be it, the two hundred thousand taels of silver will be waived. As long as there is no problem with the Privy Council, there will naturally be no problem with me.  " Chen Zaixing was overjoyed when he heard this. Most of the people in the Privy Council had chosen to go in before. As long as he used coercion and inducement, there should be no problem. His hard work these days has finally been paid off. He was about to leave and leave.  In the morning, Guo Quan and Liu Zhixing had laid out all aspects of the railway construction rights. However, they heard a burst of noisy voices from outside. It seemed that there were hundreds of people outside. Chen Zaixing couldn't help being stunned and asked: "Your Majesty  ,How is this going?  " "It must be that group of nobles who are petitioning again!  Luo Lin blushed slightly: "Master Chen doesn't know. Since the British were repulsed, many nobles and monks have fled to Mandalay, saying that their manors were attacked by bandits and the peasants have fled. Asking  The royal government issued a proclamation to arrest the fleeing peasants. Some even said that their slaves had fled to serve as soldiers in the new army, and demanded compensation for their losses.  "    "I see!  "Chen Zaixing nodded. It turns out that at that time, most farmers in Myanmar did not have complete personal freedom, and there was still a certain degree of personal dependence between them and the lords. When the king awarded land to the nobles, he often rewarded it together with the village communities on the land.  , and when the nobles received land and peasants, they were also obliged to lead their own military retinues to join the king's army. However, by the second half of the nineteenth century, this old system had gradually collapsed, and in the commodity economies such as Mandalay and Yangon.  The more enlightened nobles and monasteries in the more prosperous cities have begun to divide the land into small plots for free farmers to cultivate in order to obtain real land rent. However, in most underdeveloped areas, semi-serf village communities still have an absolute advantage.Especially during this civil war, a large number of farmers fled from the village communities, and the old aristocratic manor economy, which lost its labor force, fell into bankruptcy.  Seeing Chen Zaixing lost in his thoughts, Luo Lin asked in a low voice: "Mr. Chen, how do you think this matter should be handled?" "Your Majesty, among foreign ministers, this is a good thing!" "A good thing?" Luo Lin  Lin opened his eyes wide and asked: "How is this a good thing? The nobles are the cornerstone of the kingdom. Without the farmers on their manor, who will cultivate it? No one will cultivate it, and where will the food come from?" "Your Majesty, the eldest princess, are you here?  I Dashun, a saint once said, 'The way to govern is to follow the general trend and never go against the trend!' Looking at the situation in Myanmar today, if I want to capture all the peasants who have fled the village and bring them back to the manor, let them become nobles!  Farming is difficult and difficult, and you get half the result with twice the effort. It¡¯s better to just go with the flow!¡± Luo Lin¡¯s eyes widened in surprise: ¡°Go with the flow, Mr. Chen, do you want to recognize the free status of farmers?  How can this be done? " "What's wrong with this? Princess, you have also been to Dashun. You should know that farmers in Dashun can own their own land and do not need permission from the master to leave their hometown!" "Dashun is!  Dashun, Burma is Burma. If I really issue this announcement, all the nobles and monasteries will turn against me within three days!¡± ¡°Of course I am not asking you to directly declare that all farmers are free.  It can be announced that peasants can use a sum of money to buy the land they farm from their lords, so that peasants can be free and nobles can be compensated. Isn't it the best of both worlds? For example, for the peasants in the new army, you can use the king's name  In order to compensate the nobles, the money can be deducted from the salary of the new army soldiers!" "I have never thought of this method, but what are the benefits?" "Your Majesty, think about it, if you  Issue a notice in accordance with the requirements of the nobles and force the peasants to return to their lord's manor. I am afraid that most of the peasants will flee into the woods and become thieves. The nobles' land will still be uncultivated. Instead, you will have to eliminate many soldiers to capture these thieves.  It means there is no benefit to either side. If you announce that farmers can use money to redeem their land, then the land will be cultivated, the nobles will be compensated accordingly, and there will be fewer thieves on the road. Wouldn't this be the best of both worlds? " Luo  Lin frowned and asked: "But will the nobles agree to this? Land and farmers have belonged to the nobles for thousands of years. Will they agree to let farmers use money to buy land? Besides, those farmers are extremely poor.  Where is the money to buy land? " "Of course there are nobles who are unwilling, but the current situation is like this. You also know who helped General Batu defeat the British in Bagan. Now  There are already thousands of free peasants in Central Myanmar attacking the nobles' estates and using force to divide the nobles' land and wealth. They have guns and are organized. They cannot be solved by force alone. Your new law is not that.  To declare that the peasants are free is only to admit a reality that has already happened. If the nobles must reject your proposal, it will be to drive all the thousands of peasants under the banner of Song Can and leave them to themselves.  Go deal with Song Shen and his team.  As for the farmers who have no money, they can ask the royal government or the nobles to lend money to the farmers, so that the nobles can also get an interest income.  I believe there are sensible people among the nobles. As long as you make a little comparison, they will support your decision!  " Luo Lin became silent after hearing this. Chen Zaixing's suggestion was completely beyond her imagination. Seeing her appearance, Chen Zaixing couldn't help but sigh secretly. Compared with the burden on his shoulders, this girl's  The shoulders are really too immature, but now Myanmar can no longer be closed to a corner of the Southeast Asian peninsula as it was in the past thousands of years. Various forces from the sea and the mainland are competing on her land. If this ancient  If the kingdom cannot be reborn in the change, a very tragic fate awaits her. ¡°Your Majesty, Princess!  The foreign minister had to go to see Mr. Zao, so he resigned first!  "Chen Zaixing stood up and bowed slightly to Luo Lin. After a moment of hesitation, he whispered: "For a king, millions of self-sufficient farmers are more suitable to be the cornerstone of the kingdom than thousands of powerful nobles!  " "Master Chen!  "Luo Lin stood up in surprise, looked at Chen Zaixing's leaving back, and chewed on the last words Chen Zaixing said to him, with mixed feelings in his heart. Compared to this man, how shallow and naive he is.  ! Chen Zaixing was sitting in a sedan chair. Outside were groups of pedestrians in different colors. Monks passed by from time to time. Ordinary citizens on the roadside hurriedly knelt on the ground to salute. At this time, his thoughts were like the ups and downs of the sedan chair beneath him.  The coup that happened here in April this year was like a slap in the face of this ancient country of Myanmar.The whip on his chest made him run wildly like a frightened elephant, and everything that had been stagnant for thousands of years began to flow. As an outsider, Chen Zaixing vaguely felt all this, but the vast majority of people in this country  People may not feel it. They just follow their own instincts and habits and move along the old path ignorantly, wanting to return to their past position and continue their past life.  But an unknown and powerful force is constantly pushing the wheel of fate. In the face of this powerful and ruthless force, whether it is the power of the king, the arrogant nobles, the devout monks, or the numerous people, they all appear to be so.  It is so weak that any person or organization that stands in its path will be shattered into pieces.  "Alas!" Chen Zaixing sighed. At this time, he suddenly felt a kind of fear. Will everything he pursues be in vain in the end?  "After all, compared to that kind of hidden power, a person's power is so weak. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but bow his head humbly. India, Calcutta. This city founded by British colonists is located in the Indian subcontinent.  Calcutta has a history of 185 years since the colonists established Fort William in 1700. After gradually conquering the entire Indian subcontinent, Calcutta has a history of 185 years.  The Viceroyalty of India was located here, and Calcutta became the fortress, political and trade center and paradise of the British in the subcontinent. ¡°Turn left!  " With the loud voice of the chief mate, the second-class cruiser "Southampton", a behemoth with a displacement of 7,300 tons, turned its bow and sailed into the Hooghly River at a slow speed of five knots. Calcutta is located on this tributary of the Ganges.  On the east bank of the river, from the towering bridge of the "Southampton", you can clearly see a towering mid-eighteenth-century style castle overlooking the river bank. That is New Fort William - the British Empire's control of India.  Symbol. Robert Clive, the conqueror of Bengal, built this castle in the evening, and the afterglow of the sun that was about to set on the horizon shone on the white surface of Fort William.  The marble is dyed pink, making it even more dazzling. ¡°Captain Alexander, this is such a beautiful city, it can be compared with Paris!  "On the bridge of the "Southampton", a British officer about thirty-five years old pointed in the direction of Fort William and praised loudly. His skin had been tanned by the hot African sun and turned into a Numidian marble.  His face is sallow, but his strong nose and sunken eyes, especially the perseverance and arrogance between his eyebrows, tell people that this is a real John Bull. He is Huo who has just been appointed and sent to command the war in Burma.  Colonel Rayshaw Herbert Kitchener, future Field Marshal, Earl of Khartoum and founder of the concentration camp system, certainly had not yet achieved the fame or notoriety he would later gain from the Sudan and South Africa (depending on the situation).  (from a British or Boer perspective), but at that time he had served in the Imperial Army for more than fifteen years, but he was different from his fellow officers who spent their main energy on horse racing and dancing.  , although Colonel Kitchener comes from a family of military officers, he majored in military engineering. Since joining the French army as a volunteer to participate in the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, he has traveled all over Africa and Asia in the past fifteen years, showing his outstanding performance.  Just a year ago, as an intelligence adjutant, he participated in Garnett Joseph Wolseley's military operation to rescue Charles George Gordon who was surrounded by the Sudanese rebels.  By then, Gordon had already died, but his outstanding performance also won unanimous recognition from his superiors. After Grayston came to power, he appointed him as the supreme commander of the Burma Expeditionary Force. "Your Majesty, Colonel, what you are seeing is only Calcutta.  On the one hand, that is the 'White City'. If you wait another five minutes until the boat rounds the bend in the front and sees the 'Black City' behind it, I think you might take back what you just said.  " " Black city?  " "Yes, those are Indian settlements!  how to say?  Those Indians live like mice and die like mice!  "The captain of the "Southampton" saw his guest showing a puzzled expression, and carefully explained to him that it turned out that the urban area near Fort William they just saw on the ship was a British settlement.  Commonly known as the "White City" to distinguish it from the "Black City" where Indians live, this small city is located on high ground and has a good drainage system, which is great for Kolkata, which has a tropical monsoon climate and is flat and low-lying.  Crucially, there are a large number of public buildings, which naturally look very spectacular. However, the "black city" where Indians live is far less wonderful. A large number of people live in temporary shacks with no corresponding public facilities at all.  Once it rains heavily, the low-lying "black city" will be flooded in large areas, and the lack of drainage facilities will lead to large areas of water accumulation in tropical climates.Calcutta at this time is naturally a hotspot for various tropical infectious diseases, so the average life expectancy and death rate in the Indian inhabited areas of Calcutta range from alarmingly low to alarmingly high, without a large number of bankrupt Indian farmers from the surrounding areas moving in to supplement the situation.  , it is difficult to imagine the rapid growth of the local population.
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