Li Zhen made the final decision, and the agricultural matter was settled.
He took the pen and wrote down the arrangement just now, and then continued: "After agriculture, let's talk about transportation. Before, transportation matters have been discussed, and I explained the role of transportation at that time. Today , tell me in more detail."
Li Zhen's eyes turned to Zeng Guofan and asked: "Brother Bohan, what do you think of the transportation across the country?"
This question made Zeng Guofan stunned for a while.
Before, it was Li Zhen who spoke and they listened, but now it was Li Zhen who asked the questions.
Zeng Guofan thought for a while and said calmly: "I have been busy running the country these years. I am relatively familiar with people's livelihood. I don't know much about transportation. But I will tell you one thing. Everyone must be deeply touched. Knowing transportation The benefits of convenience. During the Manchu and Qing Dynasties, it took less than ten and a half days to travel from Beijing to Guangzhou in the south. Even in hot summer or rainy weather, the time would drag on even longer. Now with trains, it only takes a few days. Going south, you can make a round trip in ten days and a half. The construction of transportation will be of great help to the development of the country. I support continuing to expand the scale of railway construction."
Li Zhen asked again: "Minister Peng, what about you?"
Peng Yulin replied: "The establishment of the railway is extremely beneficial to the stability of the country. Taking the north and the south as an example, the opening of the train means that the army can go south at any time and easily control the south. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a national transportation hub. , I fully support it.”
Li Zhen asked again: "Principal Zuo, where are you?"
Zuo Zongtang shrugged and said: "Prime Minister Zeng and Minister Peng both said it, but I didn't say it."
Li Zhen turned to the rest of the people in the conference room and asked, "Where are you?"
Everyone shook their heads, expressionless.
Li Zhen sighed in his heart. Due to the limitations of this era, even though Zeng Guofan, Zuo Zongtang and others are outstanding figures in the world and the best talents in the country, they are still natives of this world, especially those who have suffered from feudalism. Due to the confinement of their thoughts, it is difficult to expand their thinking and reach the level of Li Zhen's ideas. In fact, it is impossible for them to think like inventors, so when talking about transportation, they only think of the newly opened railway.
Li Zhen did not blame, saying: "With the emergence of trains, railway tracks began to appear on the land of China, colluding with countless places, and increasing our control over the country. This is indeed good, but transportation is not just trains. The country's transportation should have More ways can form the national transportation hub. You have seen tanks, which are weapons that travel on land. You also know bicycles. Bicycles have replaced human-powered carriages or sedans. Next, there must be more More convenient transportation, like cars, is the key point in building a hub line."
"car,."
Zeng Guofan blinked, with a puzzled look on his face.
Zuo Zongtang asked: "President, what is a car?"
Shi Dakai, Zhao Liewen and others also had strange looks on their faces, not knowing what a car was.
Li Zhen smiled slightly and explained: "If you know more about foreign countries, you will know what a car is. It is actually a tool for transportation. Like a bicycle, you can move forward without walking. All it consumes is stored energy. More than two hundred years ago, Dutch physicists developed a wind turbine that could travel twenty-four kilometers an hour with the help of wind. Unfortunately, there was no wind, so it was impossible to move forward. It could only travel in windy places. Drive.”
"More than a hundred years ago, French scientists created a three-wheeled vehicle powered by steam. Unfortunately, the technology was too backward and it was difficult to mass-produce it."
"More than thirty years ago, the British scientist James invented a steam car that could travel 25 kilometers an hour. Such a steam car was already quite qualified, but the car needed to add coal frequently, and the sound was noisy when it started. It is so easy to control that accidents often occur and the car is forced to stop, and such a car disappears from sight.”
"No matter what, the car keeps moving forward."
"A few years ago, a French worker invented the internal combustion engine and began to improve cars. Up to now, cars have made great progress, but they have not yet been popularized. For now, the internal combustion engine is more in line with the structure of cars, but There is still room for improvement. China's science is very weak, but it can be done. As long as we are willing to do it and learn from foreign countries, we will be able to gradually build our own cars from scratch."
"The emergence of cars means that transportation will be more convenient. Transportation relies on cars and trains run in parallel, so transportation hubs across the country must be built. However, once transportation is available, roads must be built. If you want to connect in all directions, you must build roads. Build roads across the country.”
Li Zhen looked serious, with infinite expectations in his eyes.
Peng Yulin said: "The country is so big, it may be very difficult to build roads."
Li Zhen said: "I know it's difficult, but why don't you just do it if it's difficult? You have to do it and try every means to do it."
After a pause, Li Zhen said: "Minister Peng, the ultimate goal of transportation hubs is to develop the country, but for now, the first role of transportation is to stabilize the country, so I leave the road construction to you. You form a team to survey the topography of the country and draw up road construction sketches in each province. You are the country’s Minister of Defense and know how to build roads that are more beneficial to the country’s stability. The first step of construction starts from this goal. After the first goal is achieved, we will then find ways to build roads to help the people."
"President, I am not suitable. I know nothing."
Peng Yulin knew that what he received was a hot potato and did not want to agree.
Li Zhen frowned and said: "What don't you understand? Is it easy for Premier Zeng and Vice Premier Shi? We don't have professional talents, so we can only learn and do it at the same time. If you can find professional talents, I will replace you." Come down."
Peng Yulin naturally couldn't find it, so he said helplessly: "I'll just do it."
Li Zhen nodded and said: "The transportation matter is taken care of, and the next step is the final industry."
His voice became extremely deep and he said seriously: "It can be said that industrial development is necessary. If a country wants to develop, it must have industrial development. This is the only way to go. Even agriculture, transportation, population, etc. Such developments will lay a solid foundation for the development of industry. Once the country has a solid foundation, industrial development will have the conditions for development."
People present were even more confused when it came to industrial matters.
What is industry.
They all don't know anything about it.
Li Zhen looked serious and said: "Nearly a hundred years ago, Britain's industry began to sprout and develop. Today, nearly a hundred years later, it has already matured. It is because of this that Britain is so strong and develops so rapidly. The same was true for France, the United States and other countries, so they developed quite rapidly. Only the Manchu Qing closed its borders and was bullied."