The Northern Railway is basically in a state of semi-stop work.

Since the end of the war with the Portuguese, both the Executive Committee and the Army Department have greatly reduced their investment in this railway. Even after barely building the Shengyun-Xingguo section in 1665, direct investment has been completely terminated. Obviously, the focus of the State Railway Administration has shifted to other aspects: for example, sending engineering and technical personnel and machinery to the Nanci area to help the Nanchi Railway Company build the double line of the Liangyang Railway and some small branch lines (of course, the Southern Railway will pay); for example, sending construction teams to build the Yinan Railway to connect the middle and lower reaches of the Parana River to better utilize the transportation capacity of this golden waterway; for example, sending teams to finish the 125-kilometer mileage of Fu'an-Xintang section (Northwest Railway Branch) to avoid the Daxing Waterfall and connect the middle and lower reaches of the Wujiang River, etc.

In short, there are still many projects. Although the northern railway directly to the plateau is also extremely important, at present, there is not much need to be opened to traffic. Therefore, it has quietly stopped, which has made the people on both sides of the upper reaches of the Wujiang River within the railway's radiation range, because they obviously have lost their precious few years of development and are destined to lag behind many counties in the south in the future. But what can I do?

Of course, the reason why Northern Railway is so miserable is actually related to the significant reduction of railway investment by the current fiscal outlet. Because the railway technology on the east coast has been updated rapidly in recent years, and the railway mileage has increased rapidly in the early years, this has led to a large number of railway lines being lagging behind as soon as they were repaired. In addition, the quality of railway tracks has emerged one after another, and the cost of daily maintenance and maintenance is high. More than 1,000 kilometers of railways under the State Administration of Railways have gradually become a heavy burden. Hundreds of thousands of yuan in funds are invested every year for maintenance, maintenance and transformation. However, only the so-called "golden line" of Qingmei Railway is a so-called "golden line" that can balance income and expenditure. Therefore, the railway system suffers a huge loss every year (even if the superiors hand over the relatively huge profitable wire and telegraph business to the State Administration of Railways, it cannot make up for the deficit), which is becoming increasingly difficult to tolerate.

Under such circumstances, it would be normal for the government to order the suspension of the construction of Northern Railways. After all, no one is willing to spend money on this bottomless pit for a long time. Unless the State Railway Administration can greatly improve its financial situation, the government will not invest in the new railway mileage for about a period of time after the construction of the Iranian Railway and the Fuxin Railway's remaining mileage of less than 100 kilometers. In their opinion, how to maintain the existing railway mileage of one or two thousand kilometers is already a headache. The annual loss of hundreds of thousands of yuan is really scary. Although part of the losses are borne by the local government (the construction of railways is often in response to the "strong request" of the local government), for the State Railway Administration, this noose tied around their necks still makes them feel a little breathless.

What the railway system should do now is to find ways to control costs and increase prices (this is very necessary. In history, the total operating mileage of the country increased rapidly to about 2,000 kilometers in more than 20 years after the invention of the railway, but it was not profitable and appropriate pricing was essential), cut all unnecessary expenses, reduce the amount of losses, and then wait for the gradual increase of immigrants along the railway (the Ministry of Immigration and the State Administration for Development have been doing this consciously), the gradual activity of the commodity economy further reduced the amount of losses, and then rely on government subsidies and investments to slowly find ways to turn things around. There is no other way.

The suspension of the Northern Railway has undoubtedly made the residents of several counties along the route feel a deep pain. Dingjun County, established in January this year, has four townships, Dingjun Town, Potou Township, Xiufeng Township, and Khahu Township (Zequan Township is under the jurisdiction of Yiling County), with about 17,600 people. As the leading county in this area, I feel it particularly deep, because the more developed handicraft production industry here can no longer extend northward to a further place with the help of the railway, and can only "fight" the nearby market together with Baode County, which is as developed in handicrafts, which is also very sad.

In addition, the Jishan County, which was just established last month (February), Shenglong County may feel slightly better than Dingjun County, because they are basically agricultural counties and produce timber and agricultural products, unlike Baode, and Dingjun County has relatively developed industries. However, they cannot use the Northern Railway to sell their agricultural products north to the farther Brazilian plateau (which is under development to a certain extent). This economic loss is also real. Therefore, I feel a little regretful about the suspension of this railway, but the degree is not as serious as Dingjun County.

By the way, Jishan County currently has five townships, including Jishan Town, Guishan Township, Zhaoyang Township, Jinxian Township and Chengzhang Township, with a population of more than 13,700, making it the 59th county-level administrative unit in the country; Shenglong County is the 60th county-level administrative unit in the country, with five townships, Shenglong Town, Shengxing Township, Longxi Township, Shengyun Township and Cuiyun Township (located near the Kalajinou Small Town in later generations), with a total of more than 15,300 people. Similar to Jishan County, it is mainly based on wood logging and processing and agricultural production, and is lukewarm. A typical backward agricultural county cannot be compared with the East Coast Grassland area with developed industry and commerce.

If these two counties can take advantage of the railway and the people will not be too desperate, then the people who have newly set settlements such as Xingjiang Township (near the town of Balacang), Gaogang Township (near the town of Sananduwa in later generations), Chongxian Township (near the town of Sarandi in later generations) and Shaxi Township (near the town of Nonoayi in later generations), they have almost fallen into the "eighteen-layer hell"! This is not to say that their agricultural products cannot be sold, they

It is a newly set up settlement, with limited output and difficulty in self-sufficiency. It is too far away for them to export agricultural products. They are desperate, mainly because if the railway cannot be built nearby, they will encounter great difficulties when purchasing goods such as seeds, fertilizers, livestock, agricultural tools, daily necessities, medicines, building materials, etc. There is almost certain material shortage, and even if they can buy them, the cost is higher than that of the railway. This undoubtedly greatly increases their production and living costs. Who can be satisfied?

However, the Executive Committee's determination to reduce most railway investment is unshakable, and has also obtained the support of most people within the government. After all, this railway is not only expensive to build, but also has a high annual maintenance and transformation cost, so it has to be postponed. After all, not everyone can endure huge losses for a long time, which is a matter of hundreds of thousands of yuan a year. It can be said that even if the Re*naya people run over and say that they are willing to advance their funds.

Helping the people of the East Coast build a railway and pay after the construction is completed, I guess the Executive Committee will not agree. It’s no different, the financial burden is too great! Therefore, the residents who are eager to see the railway in the townships north of Xingguo Station of the Northern Railway and even some newly set settlements on the north bank of the Wujiang River are destined to spend many years in disappointment, and their lives are destined to be difficult over the years - fortunately, the local output is still pretty good, so if you are poor, you will not starve to death, right?

"If the Baoding area (temporary jurisdiction of Baode County, Dingjun County, Jishan County, Shenglong County and some trusteeship townships) wants to develop, railways are really important, but now the superiors have clearly stopped the construction of new railways, which is actually extremely unfavorable for the development of the region. Deputy Commissioner Shao, Baode County was established by you. Now that you have been promoted to the regional administration, you cannot forget the elders and fellow villagers in the county!"

The speaker was a group of officials from Baode County, including the newly appointed chief and deputy county magistrate and some bureau leaders. It was rare that Shao Yaoguang, who had been promoted to the executive deputy commissioner of Baoding area (the commissioner was temporarily missing), returned to Baode County for inspection, so they all rushed to play emotional cards and build relationships, wanting to get some benefits from the regional administration. The breakthrough they chose was naturally the already broken Northern Railway, but it seemed that the effect was not great, because their county was not next to the railway, and the channel for exporting goods from their county was mainly to go through the Baoan River to Yazi Lake.

Speaking of this, I have to mention that Shao Yaoguang, an active-duty army officer and the military management committee member of Baode County, had officially retired from the army system after being persuaded by his family, and then naturally transferred the county magistrate of Baode County. Last year, the Executive Committee established the Baoding Regional Administration in Dingjun County. After a series of fierce games and exchanges of interests, Shao Yaoguang was promoted to the position of executive deputy commissioner of Baoding under the active operation of his father Shao Shude, and also served as the county magistrate of Dingjun County. As for the county magistrate of Baode County, he was changed from an official from the Northwest Reclamation Bureau (the four counties under the jurisdiction of Yuexi, Tieling, Chengshan and Meilo under the jurisdiction of the bureau to be directly under the government. So far, there are as many as seven counties directly under the government). At present, this man is on a business trip to Ping'an County to discuss the export of industrial products in Baode County.

Compared with Shao Yaoguang, Lan Fei, Nanjiro and others who also serve as military management committee member and director of the Military Control Office still choose to continue their development within the military system. Last year, they had already handed over, and then resigned from Shenglong Prefecture, Dingjun Prefecture and returned to the army. The next step seems to be assigned to overseas colonies for training, gilding, and a good future.

"You guys are still like before, talking lies all day long!" Shao Yaoguang looked at the middle-aged people following him and said with a smile: "The suspension of the Northern Railway will have some impact on you, but how big it is, I think it's just a big deal! More than 70% of the goods in Baode County are transported to Ping'an County through the Baoan River for shipment and sale. Don't tell me about anything!"

Baode County was established by Shao Yaoguang, and most of its officials were promoted and appointed during his reign. Unlike other counties, the county's officials generally have low cultural levels. They include veterans, outstanding mud legs, and old immigrants from the colonial era of Portugal. In short, the components are very complicated. However, these people's enthusiasm for work is very high, and they have rich experience in handling grassroots government affairs, especially in urging tax collections, with very few defaults, which is also a unique one. I don't know what methods these gangsters used. Anyway, Shao Yaoguang still appreciates them very much because they can do things.

Moreover, as Shao Yaoguang said, the export of goods in Baode County is mainly transported outward through the Baoan River, a river that is dredged every year, and then loaded at Ping'an Port Wharf and sold to all parts of the country (in fact, it is mainly the Yazi Lake Basin). This medium-sized county with a population of 29,000 (10,000 to 30,000 people are medium-sized counties), in Portugal, had a very developed handicraft foundation. After the East Coast people took over, they even made drastic transformations, which gradually began to develop semi-mechanized and fully mechanized. Through preferential credit, new investors were introduced, which also expanded its industrial production scale, and the economy of Baode County naturally rose.

Of course, we all know that if the scale of production is expanded but cannot find enough markets to digest its output, it will naturally be a big blow to Baode County's industrial economy. However, the Eastern Portuguese War that lasted for four years brought good news to all business owners in the county. The profits brought by the production of military supplies greatly nourished the newly expanded Baode County economy, allowing it to go through the most difficult initial stage, and eventually stabilized its production to a certain scale. Subsequently, the development of major settlements along the Northern Railway and the development of newly occupied land in Brazil also brought considerable market demand. Although there were strong competition from Dingjun County workshop owners and factory owners, the business owners of Baode County could also share a little market share, which to some extent maintained the scale of the county's industrial economy.

"You guys, all of you only know how to focus your attention in the region. But there are only a few people in the Baoding area, more than 80,000 people, and most of them are suffering. Only a few people who have the ability to consume?" Shao Yaoguang looked at the former subordinates who were scratching their heads with dissatisfaction, and then said in an inconvenient tone: "A bunch of fools, can't they broaden their thinking and turn their eyes from the west, the south to the east? Theoretically, our Baode County is also a Linhai County.

Although the narrow and long coastal plains are separated by the Mar Mountains, Linhai is Linhai! I heard that the State Administration for Development and the Immigration Department have been setting up settlements along the Atlantic coast. Do you all know the newly set settlements in the north? Yes, it is actually not far from our Baode County! And we will soon set up some new settlements in the northeast of our Baode County (a area of ​​Krissiuma City in the later generations), and migrate a large number of immigrants to reclaim land. Isn’t this the market? What is the market?”
Chapter completed!