The hillside where the body was placed was filled with cries for several days.

Faced with the tragic situation of their loved ones being separated, the family members of the deceased cried heartbreakingly and their voices became hoarse.

The guards of the Schaller Guard Company stood at a distance with their guns in hand, like clay and wood sculptures.

If anyone dares to get excited and cause trouble, the butt of a gun will be used as a weapon. If he doesn't obey, he will be shot.

Fortunately, these people knew about Shaler's evil reputation and were warned by the upper echelon of Zhongyi Hall when they came.

Until the body was identified, no bigger incident occurred. The family members claimed the body, attached the head, took it back and buried it.

As for those who yelled and cursed, the guards pretended not to hear them.

Anyone who dies has this reaction.

…

By the end of February and the beginning of March, the roadbed for the section from Meishan Town to Changxing was ready and had passed the tests of Chinese and foreign experts. Sleepers had been placed and rails had been laid.

Most of the railway tracks in the late Qing Dynasty were imported foreign goods, but Chen Tianhua and his team used Changniu railway tracks produced by Hanyang Iron Works.

On the surface, the price of this 30-foot-long, 85-pound/meter international standard rail is the same as that of foreign goods, but the Hanyang Iron Works did not make any money, and it was losing money while making a fuss.

The reason is that the finished product qualification rate of Hanyang Iron Works is low, there is a lot of scrap steel, and the overall production cost is high.

There are many factors involved, including steelmaking blast furnaces, steelmaking coke, skilled workers, and various subjective and objective factors.

But at the end of the day, we have to bite the bullet and support domestic products. This is a matter of face.

Changniu Railway is designed as a narrow gauge railway.

Chen Tianhua was not very clear at first, but after the design experts explained it, he finally understood the meaning.

At present, the international standard gauge is 1.435 meters. If the gauge is wider than the standard gauge, it is called broad gauge. Modern railways, high-speed railways, etc. in later generations all use wide gauge or ultra-broad gauge railways.

Internationally standardized railways, the advantages and disadvantages between narrow gauge and wide gauge railways are obvious. Factors such as train traction, safety and stability should be fully taken into consideration during design.

The reasons given by experts for the use of narrow gauge on the Changniu Railway are:

Narrow-gauge vehicles are small, have small turning space, low overall construction costs, and high traction power of train locomotives, making them suitable for branch railways in mountainous areas.

The Changniu section of the railway is mainly for transporting coal, which does not require much transport capacity and train speed. There are many tunnels along the way, with large gradient changes and many curves.

Therefore, it is very scientific to design and use narrow-gauge railways.

The rails and rolling stock of the entire railway are produced independently in my country and provided by Hanyang Iron Works and its affiliated rolling stock factories.

Only the locomotive, that is, the locomotive unit, passed the bidding, and the steam engine locomotive manufactured by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, USA, won the bid, defeating the British-made locomotive.

The steam engine locomotive was first invented and manufactured by the British, but American products came later. Their locomotives were of high quality and low price. Their power system, traction and other aspects were superior to those made in the UK, and the price was also lower.

After shopping around, Chen Tianhua naturally chose a steam locomotive from Philadelphia, USA, which made the British very unhappy.

The special railway line from Meishan Town to Changxing Grand Canal Terminal must be laid and tested before the end of June.

Starting from July, this section of the railway will be put into trial operation.

Now, the construction headquarters is more nervous than ever before. There are a lot of construction materials at the paving site, in addition to sleepers, rails, a large number of iron nails, willow caps, etc. These materials are safe and need to be protected.

The mountain people along the way were poor, and bandits made theft rampant.

In addition to stealing, we also need to prevent deliberate sabotage. The Taihu Gang of Hongmen and his masters are all watching with eager eyes and are determined to be thieves.

Chen Tianhua really couldn't praise the ability of Peng Zuo's two squadrons to protect the road. He discussed with Li Xinghong and transferred a reinforced company from the mixed tender of the New Army, with a total of 200 men and guns, to strengthen the protection of important facilities.

In addition to track laying and safety protection, the planning and construction of stopping points along the way, that is, station construction, and loading and unloading points, have become the focus of the headquarters and the road construction company.

As the commander, I not only have to ensure that road construction is completed on time and quality, but also pay attention to construction costs to increase revenue and reduce expenditure.

These are enough for Chen Tianhua to rack his brains.

In the late Qing Dynasty, people's comprehensive quality and ability, working environment and conditions were naturally not comparable to those of later generations. Chen Tianhua was very meticulous and had to take care of everything.

Moreover, organizational departments and personnel cannot be easily increased, otherwise costs will rise.

Construction costs are the focus of attention of all investors, involving the interests of China, the UK and other parties.

No matter which party says that the construction cost exceeds expectations, it is okay to say that the amount is small, but if it is too much, everyone will look bad.

If you think about it, you will understand that no one is happy to have more than a dozen investment shareholders dig into their pockets again and again. Even between father and son, brothers will have conflicts, not to mention that everyone is in an ordinary cooperative relationship.

The total cost of Changniu Railway construction will definitely exceed the budget because many things were completely unforeseen when the feasibility study report was done more than a year ago.

For example, the anti-bandit work of the winter offensive is completely out of the budget, and there are still troops stationed all year round.

Suppressing bandits was originally a matter for the government agencies, but now it has become the responsibility of the Road Construction Corporation. It is unbelievable.

The cost of stationing and setting up troops, military salaries for more than a thousand troops, firearms and ammunition, logistical support, disability and death pensions, etc. This is a huge expense.

Is there no upfront budget at all?

Who would have thought that Jin Tianlong would escape from prison, defect to the Japanese people, and then compete with the Road Construction Corporation?

…

No. 48, Hefang Street, Hangzhou, where the head office of Fengzhong Bank is located.

Small conference room on the third floor of the bank.

The place was crowded with bank directors, representatives of various investment funds, and major railroad bond buyers who had arrived to attend the investment meeting upon notification.

They argued fiercely in the conference room over the issue of additional investment funds for the Changniu Railway.

More than a year and a half ago, Fengzhong Bank invested almost all its savings in Niutoushan Mining and became the majority shareholder of the mining company.

Later, in order to build the Changniu Railway project, Fengzhong Bank, as a strong supporter of Chen Tianhua, naturally went all out.

But after all, Fengzhong is a small bank that just opened a few years ago, a savings bank with limited reserves. For this reason, Fengzhong Bank issued railway construction bonds to the public.

Now, the construction of the Changniu Railway has exceeded the budget and requires huge additional investment. Naturally, shareholders including Chinese and British have strong opinions.

All kinds of suspicions and rumors come one after another, and audits are inevitable.

As the leader of Chen Tianhua's wallet-Fengzhong Bank, it must have a high profile in this additional investment in order to convince many shareholders.
Chapter completed!