Chapter 126 The Discovery of Petrograd

This is the first time that Feng Chengliang came to St. Petersburg, so when he stood on the roadside of Shelioivde Street, which was not too cold, and looked at the beautifully decorated carriages on the snow-covered streets passing by with bells, he still had a sense of surprise: because since the invention of the car at the end of the last century, especially in ten years. Previously, the large export of cheap "Mang" cars produced in China, and the subsequent competition of Ford, made cars, an emerging means of transportation, quickly begin to spread all over the world.

At present, there are basically no traces of carriages in European cities or Chinese cities, but now in St. Petersburg, the capital of Russia, there are not many carriages on the streets here. Most of the streets on the Neva River are still cars, although many cars are dilapidated. However, it can also be seen that most of those cars are made in China. Ford may be extremely cheap, but Chinese Mustang is an authentic famous brand, which is by no means comparable to Ford. Because of this, in Russia and Europe, where the roads are not perfect, Chinese Mustangs are more popular.

But just a few minutes after he stood on the street of Sheliofde Street, he saw at least four or five carriages running through the narrow street, and listening to the sound of horses' hoofs from time to time in his ear, he had a sense of time and space chaos, just like studying in Germany more than a decade ago. It's like.

Seeing this Chinese guest looking at the carriages on the street in a daze, accompanying him to Moscow, the deputy director of the Russian Railway Engineering Bureau, the sixth-class civilian Cherkov? Ivan? Ivanov looked a little unnatural and said to Feng Chengliang:

"Feng, the nobles here still like to raise horses and use carriages, especially in winter..."

"No, Director Ivanovich, when I saw these beautiful carriages, I felt that I had arrived at a great and unique Russia, just like the Russia described by Count Tolstoy in those touching stories."

Feng Chengliang hurriedly flattered. Russians are like this. Before coming to Russia, officials of the Ministry of Transport told him that the surname of the Russians are very similar to that of the Chinese: although they all day long talk about how backward their country is and how stupid the people are, as long as you praise the greatness of the so-called Russian culture, they will all have a fireplace. The cat next to him purred with satisfaction.

Sure enough, the 50-year-old Ivanovic showed a proud expression on his face. He patted Feng Chengliang's arm affectionately and said:

"Dear Dr. Feng, you can call me Ivan in the future. I think we should go to the department store before we officially work. There is everything there."

Looking at the very enthusiastic deputy director, Feng Chengliang remembered that he had another task when he came to Russia this time: to inspect the transportation potential of Russia's Siberian railway - although he was the least fond of shopping, he turned his face depressed and replied:

"Well, I'm about to buy some Russian handicrafts for my friends."

For every official who goes abroad, they always bring some gifts to their colleagues and friends, but Feng Chengliang does not have this hobby. In fact, as a doctor of railway engineering, he rarely wastes his time on such "interpersonal exchanges", but now he has to go to Spend your own time.

Only Feng Chengliang himself knows that the reason why the Chinese railway delegation came to St. Petersburg this time was, on the one hand, to inspect the Russian railway system in order to formulate an effective railway repair and railway transportation plan, which is their main task. It can be said that now The Russian senior officials are very much looking forward to the plan of the railway delegation. According to this plan, Russia will take out its own railway and set up the "Russian Railway Company", while China will invest 450 million rubles to repair the Russian railway. This investment will eventually be added to 1.2 billion rubles, thus giving China 6.5%. This is the first time that Russia has opened a railway to other countries.

If it hadn't been forced to have no choice, it might not be possible for Russia to take out its own railway as collateral, but even if it is only 6.5% of the equity, there are also provisions in the contract that the Russian railway company still maintains the "foreclosure right" of Russian railway shares held by Chinese railway companies, and it is unilateral. Foreclosure of noodles.

Nevertheless, through this cooperation, China still got what it needs - "mastering all the railway transportation systems of the entire Russian Empire". At this time, hundreds of tons of materials and drawings of the Russian railway company have been submitted to the Chinese railway delegation for review to "formulate repair and improvement plans".

Just as Feng Chengliang stood on the street, the delegation was copying the full set of information of the Russian railways that "some people" dreamed of in the past. It can be said that at most a month, the entire Russian railway system has opened its doors to China.

However, compared with this, Feng Chengliang is more concerned about the "transformation of Russian railways". Of course, the Russian side is not clear about this. The instructions he received is to fully study how to transform Russian railways and "reserve" the possibility of re-tracking, as a railway that has participated in the rail reconstruction of the Middle East Railway. Road experts naturally have rich experience in "rail width transformation", but with experience. Russia has tens of thousands of kilometers of railway lines. However, the adoption of standard rail standards involves not only the internal movement of the railway tracks on one side, but also involves too many renovation projects, not only the transformation of the tracks, but also the railway facilities. The transformation, and all this must be carried out in secret.

What is the cabinet going to do?

After receiving this task, for Feng Liangcheng, he has been guessing why the political axe issued this "secret task". Obviously, Russia would not agree to Russia's wide track to be replaced by China's international standard track. In fact, if it hadn't been for the different railway standards between China and Russia, Russia would not have faced the present. There are not enough materials, and every truck sent to Russia needs to be changed at the border. In the Sino-Russian Railway Transport Treaty, a very important one is that China invests in the establishment of wheel changing workshops in Manchuria, Chaktu and Alashankou to ensure the transportation of materials. It can be seen that Russia has considered more from the future. Change the railway standards.

Why did the political axe still make this decision?

Obviously, they have their considerations. If it is replaced with a standard rail, it is undoubtedly extremely beneficial to China. China's locomotives and vehicles can operate directly in Russia without the need to replace or change the wheel of locked vehicles. The railway transportation volume can be increased by at least 50%. The Russian side There is a need, but for Russia, what is more important is their national security. For the Russians, what they are most worried about is that the intruder's army is all the way to Russia along the railway line.

Just like this war, the German army, guided by the "train timetable", encountered transportation problems when attacking the Russian mainland. The impact of the railway system with different gauge on military operations is even as good as the damaged railways. The different gauge makes only The German party, which seized a small number of locomotives and vehicles, could not directly use the Russian railway system, thus affecting its military transportation and logistical support.

For any modern army, they must rely on railways to fight on the mainland. Even the guards with many trucks need to rely on railways. After all, not every country has a complete road network. In fact, even in China, which claims to have the most developed road traffic in the world, those The national defense highway built by "concentration camp" prisoners, the "national highway" connecting the capital with provinces, cities, economic centers, port hubs and strategic places, is only 154,000 kilometers, while the asphalt paved road built by the provinces is only more than 200,000 kilometers, but even so, China is the whole world. The only country with a perfect road traffic system. Even in the United States, except for urban roads, there are only a few paved roads between states. Although the United States has three million kilometers of roads, those roads are all paved roads.

Now, except for China's national highways, the land transportation in all countries in the world is nothing more than railways or rivers. As for highways, it will take at least 20 years for real road traffic to be popularized all over the world, and Russia does not need to be considered. After all, the pre-war Nanjing-Paris cars In the cross-country race, the first-placed Mustang team, after leaving China, the average speed was only 20 kilometers per hour, while the average speed of the truck team was only 8 kilometers, while in Russia it was only 5 kilometers.

Railway!

For any country that tries to attack Russia, the railway is an indispensable means of transportation, even the most important means of transportation.

Thinking of these things, Feng Chengliang couldn't help but be a little dazed. Ivanovic pulled Feng Chengliang's arm, who was in a daze. Only then did the doctor react, so he apologized to Ivan with a little apology.

Suddenly, Feng Chengliang heard someone shouting something in Russian. Listening to the excited words, he looked up as if he was shocked. In the fluttering colorful leaflets, two men shouted and jumped out of a small shop behind the car. One of them shot the head of the strong man standing next to the car with a double-barreled shotgun!

Another man threw the sparkling wine bottle into the car that had opened the door, and then raised a pistol. Feng Chengliang noticed that it was a bank's freight car. The freight car was a special freight car transformed by the "mustro horse medium-sized truck". The kind of car with steel plates can often be seen in China. .

Ivan and Feng Chengliang were stunned by the scene in front of them. When they were stunned, Feng Chengliang heard two shots of a pistol across the street. The pistol that could hold 16 bullets was a "world famous brand". While being liked by soldiers, he was also sought after by criminals. Using this kind of pistol, firepower Completely suppress those policemen. And compared with the submachine gun, which is the special equipment of the [***] team, the type one pistol is undoubtedly easier to get.

The horses parked in front of the two carriages began to scratch after hearing the sound of gunfire. The driver of one of the carriages strangled the reins, but the driver of the other carriage quickly jumped out of the car after the gun and joined the panicked people and ran away. The horse, who lost the driver's control, began to jump wildly, and at this time, Feng Chengliang had rolled and crawled to hide by the pig iron mailbox.

This posture is really embarrassing!

While this idea flashed in Feng Chengliang's mind, who was hiding behind the pig iron mailbox, he heard the sound of pistol shooting behind his head. Then, he heard a crisp impact from the pig iron mailbox behind him. Obviously, the bullet hit the mailbox. He had never had such an experience. He was scared that his legs were weak. Sit behind the mailbox.

At this time, the armored transport car opened the door under the threat of the gasoline bomb. After all, gasoline could detonate the car. The driver and the deliveryman were shot to death as soon as they came out, while a policeman in the distance held a Nagan pistol and shot two men, but his firepower obviously could not compete with those. Compared with the robbers, they were quickly suppressed by the robbers on the street corner.

When the man with a double-bonet shotgun saw a carriage passing by at the street, he quickly fired a shot at the horse pulling the carriage. The shot accurately hit the horse. While the horse was killed and fell, the carriage was also lifted up, and the corpse and carriage blocked the traffic at the street.

Ivan, who fell to the ground, instinctively crawled towards Feng Chengliang. His face, which was piled with too much fat, trembled from time to time because of the shock. Finally, when he was still a few meters away from the mailbox, Feng Chengliang quickly pulled him over.

"Thank you...thank you..."

After hiding in the mailbox, Ivan, who was so scared that he kept thanking him.

"Don't move, just wait for them to leave!"

To stop Ivan from trying to escape to the roadside shop, Feng Chengliang looked across the street again, but saw one of the robbers holding a pistol tightly against the forehead of a freighter.

Suddenly, there was a gunshot, and the freightman was executed!

In the scene in front of him, Feng Chengliang, who was only scared, quickly shrank his head and hid behind the mailbox again. At this time, a Mustang business car stopped beside the robber. The two robbers quickly jumped into the car with a cloth bag full of money in their hands. When the car drove away, the robber with a gasoline bomb still threw the gasoline bomb into the freight. In the car, the car was quickly swallowed up by the fire.

Feng Chengliang, who was hiding behind the mailbox, saw this scene and immediately realized that the burning car would soon explode. He shouted:

"Quick! Run, it's going to explode..."

Just as soon as they got to the street, the car exploded! A piece of metal that was blown up was hit on the street more than 1 meter away from them... At this time, the siren pulled by the police car rang, and the frightened two looked at the messy street. Feng Chengliang could hardly believe that he would encounter a "bank robbery" in Russia that only existed in the novel.

"Damn it, it must be those chaotic parties!"

And now, Ivanovic, who returned to his soul, shouted indignantly:

"They also scattered leaflets before rushing for the delivery car. It must be those mess!"

Then Ivanovic said to Feng Chengliang.

"If it weren't for me without a gun, I would have killed those robbers!"

At this time, Ivan obviously forgot that he was scared white and trembling, but Feng Guoliang immediately cooperated and said.

"Yes, I believe you will do that!"

Seeing that the other party understood him so much, Ivan said to Feng Chengliang in a grateful tone:

"Feng, thank you so much just now!"

When he spoke, Feng Chengliang looked at a messy street. Several policemen bent down to carry pistols, and behind them were about a dozen gendarmes with rifles, lined up in a line of scattered soldiers coming along the street tremblingly.

A police officer shouted something at the soldiers in Russian, and people were frantically grabbing the leaflets left by the robbers. At this time, Feng Chengliang looked at the smoky car wreckage that was still burning across the street, listening to the loud noise in Russian and the tragic hissing of the two injured horses. In front of him, One scene, especially Ivan's previous words, made him vigilant in his heart.

"The chaos!"

If these chaotic parties can be so rampant, then... Maybe the situation in this country is not as optimistic as he thought, or even as optimistic as all walks of life in China think. In the view of all walks of life in China, as long as the Guards send 50 divisions to support Russia, the war can be ended quickly. Fight.

But what about these chaotic parties?

Is it good for China for a Russia in turmoil?

Thinking about it, Feng Chengliang has no interest in other things. Now his heart is occupied by those scoundrels who rob banks. The most surprising scene is that those people seem to have no interest in the interrogation of the police, and they are more concerned about those scoundrels!

Everything next is naturally simple. The police station will definitely start to hold a big move and begin to arrest all suspicious people everywhere. After being questioned by the police, Feng Chengliang returned to the wine. When he had dinner in the small living room of the hotel's luxury suite, Ivan, who had just introduced the situation to Feng Chengliang, had not had time. After drinking the vegetable soup on the plate, he received a phone call. After answering the phone, he said to Feng Chengliang solemnly:

"Recently, some college students have been inciting railway workers to hold strikes everywhere. It seems that trouble is brewing. The director asked me to discuss with the police station how to solve this matter. How to solve this kind of problem? Do you force them to start work? ......"

"This is easy to do,"

Feng Chengliang said with a smile:

"It is illegal for public institutions to strike in China. Therefore, in general, it is impossible for public institutions to carry out a legal collective strike. Even if they go on strike, they must sign agreements and cannot affect public services."

"Oh? Is there such a thing?"

Ivan looked at Feng Chengliang curiously.

"Because the strike of the public transportation system will affect people's lives, this kind of general strike can be stopped!"

After a moment of hesitation, Ivan said:

"China's method may not be effective in Russia, and the current tsar is not like your emperor at all. Well, our tsar is now almost the same as abdication, and even in fact, he has abdicate, such a tsar..."

Ivan's sigh shocked Feng Chengliang. He was surprised to look at Ivan. It was hard to imagine that such words would come from such a senior political officer. Didn't he have patriotism? Even if there is no patriotism, how can Russian law allow him to accuse the Tsar so much?

"Feng, do you think it's funny?"

With a sigh, Ivanovic said helplessly.

"In the past, I was a person who absolutely had the tsar, even now, but you see, what has Russia become like since Nicholas became the Tsar? Now the Russian Empire is hopeless. Many people support the abolition of the Tsar and the establishment of a republic..."

Then Ivanovic's face showed sarcasm.

"The person who makes such advice is simply an idiot. Russia can't leave the Tsar, just like... Well, China can't leave Confucius!"

Although he doesn't even know about China, Ivanovic still knows that on Chinese banknotes, the printed head is not the head of the emperor, but the head of Confucius. Confucianism is also the state religion of China, and it is impossible for Chinese people to leave Confucius.

"Without Confucius, the Chinese will lose their way, and without the Tsar, Russia will also be lost, but..."

He smiled helplessly. At this time, Ivanovich's overly fat face showed a little worried about the country. After all, this scene made Feng Chengliang find a little "official" in his body.

"Many people don't realize this!"

"Well, in China, there are also many people who complain about Confucianism as the state religion. They ignore that China has no real religious foundation, so there is no moral foundation with religion as the core, while China's moral foundation is based on Confucianism. If a nation has no moral foundation and no cultural roots, then this The nation, even if it is powerful, is just a rootless duckweed!"

At this time, Feng Guoliang quoted His Majesty's remarks in his speech in the Congress when establishing Confucianism as the state religion. Unfortunately, not everyone can understand His Majesty's good intentions.

"Well, the tsar, like the Orthodox Church, is a part of Russia and an indispensable part. If the Tsar is overthrown today and the Russians choose like the Chinese, believe me, they will also choose a tsar, and they will also choose a member of the Romanov family as the tsar, maybe... "

Suddenly, Ivanovic laughed.

"Maybe, at that time, the future Crown Princess of China may have the opportunity to become the Tsar of Russia, haha..."

Listening to the laughter, Feng Chengliang was stunned by Ivanovic's words. He looked at Ivan in surprise and thought carefully in his heart - China's future crown princess, isn't that Princess Nasha who had just been engaged to the crown prince?

If there is civil strife in Russia and the Tsar is overthrown, will the royal family also be able to claim that "the Chinese imperial concubine enjoys the inheritance of the Russian Empire?" Suddenly, at this moment, all the things that had been figured out before were connected into a string in his mind in an instant, and Feng Chengliang was in his heart in an instant. He was stunned and couldn't even believe it, but...

(to be continued)