1890 King of Southeast Asia

"Sun Zaizhi reported the information that the British Indian Army and the 13th Dalai Lama were in collusion. The 13th Dalai Lama provided a lot of serfs to the British Indian Army and built roads with the slaves captured by the British in India."

"We are still a little slow, and the troops entering Bashu are still far away. As a last resort, Sun Zaizhi used Zhao Erfeng, an old minister of the Qing Empire." Liu Yiming said helplessly.

After the barbecue meeting, he had already sent a telegram to Sun Zaizhi, asking him to recapture the plateau as soon as possible.

After all, the plateau was the only one that did not take the initiative to rebel after the revolutionary army captured the capital, so Sun Zaizhi also took it to heart.

But it's useless to just take it to heart. There are only a few ways to get to the plateau, and the Bashu road is the most mature.

But it's very troublesome to enter Bashu. The road to Shu is not just a saying. No matter how much he cares, he can only urge the troops to speed up.

He thought, no matter how arrogant the British Indian Army is, the Tibetan army can stop it, right? It won't take long, one or two months, and the troops will be in place.

Who knows, the 13th Dalai Lama rebelled.

As a last resort, after consulting Liu Yiming, Zhao Erfeng was used.

Yes, Liu Yiming agreed to this.

"Is Zhao Erfeng trustworthy? Will he betray me?" Xu Hui asked, lying on the map.

"He should be trustworthy in dealing with the British and suppressing the rebellion." Liu Yiming said uncertainly.

Zhao Erfeng made his fortune in the battle to suppress the rebellion of the plateau people. He was already over 60 years old when he made his fortune.

Not only did he always insist on suppressing the rebellion by force, but after suppressing the rebellion, he would also arrest all the rebellious chieftains, nobles and lamas, regardless of their identities, and behead them.

Not only that, he also personally operated the political reform of the Tibetan border and the reform of the chieftain system. The reform of the chieftain system weakened the power of the chieftains, and the chieftains would definitely not sit still and wait for death, so they fought.

He fought for a full six years, abolished the chieftains and living Buddhas in Sichuan, and recovered Mingzheng, Batang, Litang, Chamdo and other places.

The border areas he recovered were about 3,000 miles from east to west and about 4,000 miles from north to south, and more than 30 places were established.

The chieftains and lamas of the plateau called him "Zhao the Butcher".

(This nickname appeared during this period.)

In these six years, his military expenditures were all based on grants, except for spoils of war, and he had no tax sources of his own.

The annual grant was only one million, which was extremely low.

(I am not whitewashing him. This person has indeed received mixed praise and criticism in history, not all bad names, but at least he has the ability.)

"Should?" Xu Hui raised his head and looked at Liu Yiming in surprise.

"Zhao Erfeng was born in an official family, but he was a bannerman. After the fall of the Qing Empire, many places were clearing bannermen, and his foundation was basically gone."

"He has only been successful in the past few years. It is a lie to say how many confidants he has, so he urgently needs an opportunity to escape the liquidation."

"If he goes to the plateau and does his job honestly, he will be exempt from death regardless of victory or defeat."

"I believe he is smart." Liu Yiming picked up the cigarette and sniffed it under his nose.

"Why him?" Xu Hui tapped his fingers gently on the map.

"Because he is ruthless, the people in the plateau are afraid of him. The Qing Empire wanted to send him to Tibet as a minister, but the lama quickly wrote a letter to beg for mercy."

"Also because he has experience. I will reform the plateau later. What era is it? Tsarist Russia abolished serfdom, but China still has it."

Liu Yiming still didn't light the cigarette.

"After the military deployment is straightened out, I have some suggestions on the key construction direction of China." Xu Hui nodded, indicating that he understood.

"Tell me about it?" Liu Yiming asked curiously.

"We originally planned to carry out a large-scale military industrial construction, building a military industrial system along railways, rivers, and seaports."

"The purpose of this plan is to assist in the attack on the Qing Empire, but now that the Qing Empire has collapsed, the plan cannot keep up with the changes, and the military industry can be put aside for a while."

"I suggest that we build railways first. It is very difficult to travel in the Western Regions, Bashu, grasslands and other places. If we don't build railways, it will be difficult to support the movement of large armies."

"These places are related to territorial integrity, especially the Russians are right next to us. I can't sleep without a large army." Xu Hui said very straightforwardly.

In fact, Xu Hui is not particularly worried about the British.

In the plateau, many years of operation are not without effect. Most ordinary herdsmen are pro-Central Plains.

Moreover, at this time, Nanhua has not officially merged with Huaxia, otherwise the British would not do this stupidly.

Of course, it is not because of the friendship of allies, but strategically, Nanhua can send troops from Southeast Asia or Arabia to directly threaten Britain's core interests, and Britain will not act rashly.

Whether it is Suez, Malacca, or India, they are all indispensable for Britain's maritime hegemony.

And these are all within the threat range of South China, and Britain will at least not take the initiative to carry out military provocations.

On the contrary, there is nothing in South China that can threaten Tsarist Russia, even after the integration.

"This is not a conflict. The railway must be built anyway. Since you said so, let's put the railway on the priority list." Liu Yiming thought about it and nodded.

Liu Yiming's original plan was to invest in heavy industry first, mainly various machinery or military factories.

When these factories are put into production, they will just catch up with the war, but now the Ottomans seem to win the Balkan War, and he is not sure when the war will break out.

Besides, the railway investment is the same. To build a railway, you have to build a steel plant, a rolling mill, and even a machinery plant and a machinery repair plant.

Moreover, after the war, the price of steel has also risen sharply, and steel mills can make a fortune even if they sell crude steel.

Moreover, Arabia is already building various weapons factories, and they can export nearby when the time comes.

In this way, it doesn't matter what to build first.

"My plan is to build three horizontal and four vertical roads, seven main roads, with a total length of about 15,000 kilometers. Considering the complex terrain, the average cost per kilometer may be 25,000 yuan, and the total budget is 375 million." Xu Hui drew a few strokes on the map.

"Money is secondary. Have you considered the construction period?" Liu Yiming was stunned by Xu Hui.

The Pinghan Railway is only 1,200 kilometers, and it took three years to build. How long will it take for 15,000 kilometers? Thirty years?

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"Twenty years, it will definitely be repaired in twenty years. The Qing Empire has still built part of it. Simple transformation can save time."

"I think it's worth spending twenty years to build a railway." Xu Hui said.

"From a strategic point of view, you are right, but we are now..." Liu Yiming wanted to put more power in other places, and the railway would be done slowly.

He agreed, but only thinking about the two railways, the one from Bashu to the outside, and the one from the western region to the grassland and finally to the three provinces.

"Railways can also activate China. At present, China does not have much vitality, and most people are engaged in intensive farming, which is actually unnecessary."

"Using machines to replace manpower for agricultural labor and allowing more people to enter industrial production can make people rich and strong."

"Ordinary industry cannot accommodate so many people, but railways can, iron mines, steel mills, railway workers, extended machinery factories, daily necessities, etc."

"These industries will continue to extend outward and eventually form a virtuous circle."

"Even if there is no war, we can develop healthily and rapidly."

"It does not need to occupy too many resources. With an annual allocation of more than 10 million, the tax revenue generated will definitely be more than that."

"Manpower is directly cultivated from China's huge population." Xu Hui persuaded Liu Yiming.

"I understand. Okay, I accept. However, first, we need to build the railway from the Western Region to the grassland and the three provinces." Liu Yiming nodded.

This is the contradiction between the government and the emperor, but fortunately, the contradiction is small.

"I know that border defense is important. We have enough labor to build this railway, and the speed will be very fast." Xu Hui nodded and joked.

The labor force he mentioned is the tens of thousands of Japanese prisoners in Nanhua's hands. Except for the prisoners of the Eighth Division, the rest of the prisoners were sent to build roads and mines.

Its vanguard has passed Shanhaiguan and is rushing to Wucheng while building roads.

As for the prisoners of the Eighth Division, they are building reactors in the jungle of Thailand, and their lives are entering the countdown.