Yang Du was in a calm mood, and even deep in his heart, he was full of interest in Baotou. A land of China was just a distant border town, but in just a few years, it had developed to the point where even the powerful Beiyang Army had to go to the side. What a magical development, it was almost a earth-shaking change.—{2}{3}{w}{x}]

Yang Du knew the prosperity of Beiyang very well. He inherited some of the old foundation of Beiyang from Li Zhongtang. With the help of small stations to train troops, Yuan Shikai spent 20 years to accumulate the Beiyang army of 70,000. He thought that China was invincible, but he did not expect that after encountering Baotou, the alternative, after several years of dedicated development, it was almost the same as Beiyang. Whether it was its true strength or bluff, it would always take a look to know.

After leaving Yuan Shikai's mansion, Yang Du did not stay too much. He was Yuan Shikai's aide and only had to act according to Yuan Shikai's orders. Since Yuan Shikai assigned him to Baotou, then go. For the time being, in terms of Baotou's performance, there was not much malice towards Beiyang. Otherwise, in Zhangjiakou, he would have the strength to severely damage Beiyang. As long as the entire army takes action, there are more than 150,000 troops in terms of the numbers currently displayed in Shanxi and Shaanxi.

How did Baotou support so many armies? It was behind the great powers. Yang Du heard that Baotou's development was inseparable from Germany's support. But is Germany really capable of arming more than 150,000 troops? And those steel mills, did Baotou put in some strength to build an army? It is not difficult to fight or be at ease. These all need to go to the northwest and experience them personally.

After leaving Beijing, travel in China changed in the 20th century. Even Yang Du, a traditional literati, could also do train travel. The train was indeed much more convenient. In the past, it took at least one or two months to walk from Beijing to Shanxi, but now, with the help of the train, it may be possible to arrive in a few days.

In Shijiazhuang, he drove from the Zhengtai Line to Taiyuan, and then transferred to Baotou. Baotou became independent. He fought with the Beiyang Army. The nearest Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway was unable to enter because of Zhangjiakou's confrontation. Even if Yang Dugui was Yuan Shikai's aide, he knew that a gentleman would not stand under a dangerous wall and rashly cross the war zone, unless he was disdainful of his life. The Northern Line was completely rejected.

Yang Du asked himself that he was not ignoring his life. He chose to detour Taiyuan and also see what changes have happened to Taiyuan he had been to a few years ago. Beiyang and Baotou. Both sides are in a hostile state, and the main line has been operating normally. This is a tacit matter between each other. Beiyang side is afraid that after blocking the main line, it will touch Baotou's bottom line. It attacks Henan, Hebei, and Baotou. Of course, it does not want the main line to be broken. Although there are other means, even horse gangs and merchants, to transport and export Baotou's products, in the era of industrialization, the quantity of goods produced by large industrial production is huge. If there is no main line, the efficiency will be reduced. This is something that Baotou cannot tolerate.

Since becoming Yuan Shikai's aide, Yang Du has never been to the northwest or taken the Zhengtai Line. He did not find that compared with other China Railways, the speed of the Zhengtai Line is slightly faster. Shanxi is the province that is most affected by Baotou. Even if Baotou adopts a low-key style, the secret transformation of the Zhengtai Line, especially the Zhengtai Line on Shanxi, is also underway. Although there is no big fight, the speed of the Zhengtai Line has been increased by 5 kilometers and the driving density has increased by about 3 times.

You should know that the original average speed of the Zhengtai Line is about 20 kilometers or 5 kilometers, which is equivalent to an increase of about 25%. In addition, the control and command methods of some Baotou are adopted, and the overall capacity of the Zhengtai Line is more than 3 times higher than before, and is one of the important channels for Baotou products to go to the south.

After Baotou's independence and Mongolia and Shanxi belonged to the northwest, Guangming Zhengda began a series of transformations, including the railway itself and the command system, but the time was still short. In particular, in order to avoid the overall changes of the Zhengtai Line, another parallel railway in Shanxi was chosen. Therefore, Yang Du could not understand the ultra-high-speed railway of more than 80 kilometers in Baotou, and at least there was no way out now.

Following the main line, Yang Du spent almost 2 days and arrived in Taiyuan along Shijiazhuang, and was shocked by the scene of Taiyuan. Is this Taiyuan? Why did you feel like you have arrived in Shanghai? To be precise, it was the feeling of going to the Shanghai Concession. There were high-rise buildings under construction everywhere, and the roads were flat gray roads.

Yang Du learned the imperial mind skills, in order to assist a hero or even an emperor. Yang Du had traveled to the more important cities in the north. Taiyuan was considered an important city in the north, but not a relatively developed city. Yang Du visited him more than ten years ago. Even as the capital of a province, Taiyuan was much worse than other capitals.

The importance of Taiyuan is that it is an important road connecting Zhili and Mongolia, and it is an important place where the central government checks and balances Mongolia. Shanxi is relatively tough and relatively barren. This is clearly shown in Taiyuan. Yang Du visited Taiyuan more than ten years ago, and even before 1908, Taiyuan was like this. But now, with the development of Shanxi, especially the development of Baotou, the cities directly driven are Datong, Zhangjiakou, Suiyuan and Taiyuan. These are the cities that Baotou has focused on developing in addition to satellite cities. In the future, they will form a huge urban belt to drive the development of the entire northwest.

Among them, Taiyuan is the farthest from Baotou. As the old nest of Shanxi merchants, there are still some necessary constructions on the Baotai Expressway, first of all, the Baotai Expressway ends here. After the occupation of Taiyuan North, Taiyuan was built with great fanfare, and the highway was the first to be affected.

Then there are various municipal facilities. Because Baotou focuses on sanitation, the overall urban planning is very perfect, and the same is true for Taiyuan. Long before the Baotou New Army occupied Taiyuan, Taiyuan's urban management was no longer the final say of the Qing government, and it almost completely copied the Baotou model.

Modern urban management extends to almost every corner of the city, which is completely different from the management method of the Qing Dynasty. Even old residents in Taiyuan will find that Taiyuan has undergone rapid changes, not to mention that Yang Du has not been here for several years, and even in the past few months, Taiyuan has changed even more.

After overthrowing the Qing government, Taiyuan was embraced by the Northwest government. The Northwest government invested huge amounts of money. The main investment direction was the construction of cities and municipalities. A large area was specially designated in the new district. As industrial and light industry construction, a large number of light industry factories were distributed here, becoming a new highlight of Taiyuan. In the past, Taiyuan cities were only renovated in the central area, maintaining the original flavor of Taiyuan as much as possible.

In later generations, in order to develop, some ancient buildings and historical significance were destroyed. These are exactly the most proud and precious things in China. Compared with later generations, China was one century earlier and embarked on the road of development. Because Yang Yuanzhao and the all-in-one machine can develop faster than abroad, there is no need to develop through such destruction. Can a new city be built in wastelands or insignificant small cities?

In fact, this is also the main method for the development of Baotou and the northwest. It expands outward along the central urban area. Rows of tall buildings have replaced the dilapidated houses in the past. Not only has the number of people accommodated, but the structure of the entire city has become increasingly reasonable. The original streets of Taiyuan have now become gray roads, neat and flat. In the city of Taiyuan, in addition to the numerous carriages, one or two cars and trucks have also been seen. These are new products from Baotou. Following the footsteps of Shanxi merchants and merchants, they have entered Taiyuan.

These things that are very rare even in foreign countries are now driving on the streets of Taiyuan. Yang Du is not without knowledge. Beijing is also one of the most prosperous cities in China and with the most new things. He would not think that cars and trucks are monsters, but so many numbers really surprised Yang Du.

This is Taiyuan, which belongs to the northwest. Yang Du knew from the changes in Taiyuan that the northwest would be very different under the changes in Baotou. He never expected it to be like this. If he did not come to the northwest in person, he would never know what changes had happened in the northwest. Only by observing this in person did he discover transformative changes.

If it is simply a change in wealth and the city itself, it would be fine. Beiyang devoted all his strength to make a small city rich and prosperous with the support of the great powers. But what surprised him even more was the mental state of people. Walking on the streets, everyone's mental state was not insensitive or domineering elsewhere. Everyone's face was full of hope, and even his pace was much faster. It seemed that someone was chasing them behind him and urging them to leave quickly.

Occasionally, I saw some students on the streets, promoting the public. The democratic movement, which made the Qing court a little bit scared, was carried out normally in Taiyuan. Some idle people were watching the fun, and more people were in a hurry. When passing a factory, they happened to encounter factory shifts, dark blue uniforms, and laughing teams of workers. They were so happy whether they were at work or after get off work, which was enough to illustrate the problem.

Yang Du's destination is Baotou, so he didn't stay for too long. It was easier to go from Taiyuan to Baotou. The Zhengtai Line is close to Shanxi, and the construction of a new line is underway. When the new line is completed, the line will be changed and it will be completely merged with Taiyuan Station.

After Yang Du asked some people, he knew that the fastest way to go to Taiyuan was to take the train, and the fast trains were several times a day, which was a little more expensive, but they were faster and could reach Baotou in almost half a day. He was surprised and went to the newly built train station to buy a train ticket to Baotou. (To be continued, please search for Astronomy, novels are better, updated and faster!
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