Chapter 1027: Southeast

Departing from Lu City, Zhao Xu continued south by steam locomotive.

After passing through Ningzhou cities such as Peng City, Huai City, and Yang City, he finally arrived at Jinling.

Here, the railway was interrupted north of Jiujiang; the railway on the south bank was still being laid, and according to the plan, it would extend to Lincheng.

While passing through these important railway node cities, Zhao Xu took the opportunity to inspect the progress of industrial construction.

Overall, the workshop districts in some of these cities were as vibrant as those in Lu City.

There were also cities that, while not as good as Lu City, at least had the necessary workshops.

As for those that could not compare to cities like Lu City, it was not entirely due to their own shortcomings.

For instance, many officials complained to him that there were too few people proficient in workshop construction and management, and that the excellent personnel had all been taken by large cities like Lu City, Jincheng, and Jinling.

Regarding this, Zhao Xu did not blame them; after all, this was the current predicament of Great Song itself.

Because development was too rapid, it led to a shortage of talent with the corresponding qualifications.

Thus, development would inevitably become unbalanced.

Yet for Zhao Xu, this problem was also unsolvable.

Talent was currently limited; although he wanted Great Song to bloom everywhere, based on the actual situation, he could only prioritize the development of coastal areas with convenient transportation.

"Your Highness, what Mi Xuan can accomplish, this subject can also accomplish. If the Jinling Workshop District is even slightly inferior to the Lu City Workshop District, you may dismiss this subject now."

Jinling was the capital of Ningzhou, and the person responsible for Ningzhou's political affairs was also one of the seven County Magistrates of Yan Commandery, Cang Yichuan.

After he arrived in Jinling, Cang Yichuan led the Jinling officials to welcome him, then guided Zhao Xu to the workshop district outside Jinling City.

"This is what you said; don't cry injustice when the time comes." Cang Yichuan had a lively temperament and enjoyed joking.

Zhao Xu understood his temperament and began to joke with him.

"Crying injustice is not what this subject would do." Cang Yichuan remained very confident.

As the two chatted, they arrived at the workshop district.

At a glance, Zhao Xu revealed a satisfied smile.

Just as Cang Yichuan had said, the scale and planning of the Jinling Workshop District truly did not lose to Lu City.

Moreover, there were even twice as many carriages and horses on the roads as in Lu City.

The reason was that in Great Song's industrial planning, Jinling was the industrial center of Jiangnan.

Therefore, in terms of industrial construction, the Imperial Court's support for Jinling's industrial construction was much greater than that for Lu City.

Every day, steamships set sail from the Yancheng port to transport mechanical equipment to Jinling.

It could be said that whether in terms of industrial scale or the variety of workshops, Jinling was replicated according to Yancheng, and could be called complete in all categories.

He took such care of Jinling partly because Jinling was once the former capital of Great Song and was densely populated.

On the other hand, he was preparing to use the Jinling Workshop District as a base to provide support for the development of other prefectures and commanderies in Jiangnan.

In the future, Jiangnan cities needing industrial equipment and goods could purchase them directly from Jinling, while Jiangbei would be handled by Yancheng, reducing transportation difficulties.

However, compared to the present, Jinling's locational advantage was clearly not as good as Su City, that is, Suzhou, or Song City, which was contemporary Shanghai.

Alas, at this period, these two cities were simply not as good as Jinling.

Therefore, he next planned to build a large port in Song City, first letting it become a commercial transit hub.

Once its geographical advantage became apparent, merchants would naturally migrate their workshops to Song City and Su City.

By doing this, he was not favoring these two places.

If Great Song wanted to be wealthy, the only way was through overseas trade, exchanging industrial products for raw materials and money; thus, it was necessary to build several economic hubs along the eastern coast.

Besides the Jinling, Su City, and Song City triangle, he also planned to build an industrial economic circle in the Jin City area, that is, contemporary Guangzhou.

"Very good, it seems the official hat on your head does not need to be taken off." Zhao Xu felt relaxed and happy.

Immediately, he went to inspect various workshops under the guidance of Cang Yichuan.

Staying in Jinling for two days, Zhao Xu gained a comprehensive understanding of Jinling's industrial situation and was quite satisfied with this industrial center of Jiangnan.

Afterward, he left Jinling and went to Lincheng.

However, the industrial development here had a certain gap compared to Jinling.

After all, the time since recovering Jiangnan was too short; it was already good to be able to create one Jinling template, and the remaining cities would have to be taken slowly.

Having reached this point in his southern tour, Zhao Xu ordered the officials of the Industrial Department to continue inspecting the remaining cities, while he took a steamship directly to Jiaozhi.

At the same time.

While Zhao Xu was heading to Jiaozhi, the news that the Great Song army had swept through Jiaozhi and the Piaoman Kingdom had already reached the ears of the Western Lands Allied Forces.

This greatly shocked the Western Lands generals who had expected Jiaozhi and Piaoman to hold off the Great Song army for several months.

Everyone immediately gathered in Calcutta to discuss the next countermeasures.

"The Azure Dragon Army of Great Song has captured one Jiaozhi city after another and is approaching Jin'ou County where our Frank forces are stationed. The war is urgent; the Coalition can no longer sit and wait for death. We must take the initiative and change the current passive situation." In the Governor's Mansion conference room, the Coalition generals sat around a long table.

The Frank Army General Gaole'er was almost shouting while slapping the table.

He was very angry now, as if a ball of fire was burning in his stomach.

Jiaozhi, Piaoman, Nanzhang, and Funanguo constituted their Frank Southeast China.

But overnight, their Southeast China was about to be taken away from them; how could he not be anxious?

To save their Frank Southeast China, he had to make the Coalition send troops to drive the Great Song army out of their Southeast China.

Wesley's face was livid; this was not because he was annoyed by Gaole'er's speech.

Rather, it was because he was worried about the safety of Tianzhu.

The Piaoman Kingdom bordered Tianzhu, and it was only a thousand miles from the westernmost border of Piaoman to Calcutta.

This was equivalent to the Great Song army pointing their guns directly at their heads.

Furthermore, the territory of Piaoman extended to the north bank of the Malacca Strait, which meant the Malacca Strait was also facing danger.

At present, they regard Malacca as the key fortress for the Western Lands to resist Yan Wang, just like Yanguan in the North Territory of Great Song.

Once they lose Malacca, the Great Song Navy will be able to drive straight in.

Previously, all he lost were the sea areas east of Malacca, but from now on, they will lose even more.

"I understand the meaning of Admiral Gaole'er, but the Coalition cannot fight the Great Song army for the sake of Eastern Indochina right now; I have always believed that the best defensive strategy is to hold our positions and wait for reinforcements to arrive," Wesley said slowly, looking at Gaole'er.

Right now, he hates these indigenous troops to death.

They spent so many resources training and cultivating them.

Yet they could not even buy them half a year of time; they are simply trash.

Now, Southeast China is a complete mess, and the Frankish people are unhappy and want to change the established strategy of the Coalition, which puts him in a very difficult position.

However, since Southeast China has already fallen, he naturally cannot let Tianzhu face the same predicament as Southeast China.

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