Crimson Dawn

In 1918, the roar of machines was not a description but an exposition.Factory production needs power, and Russia uses steam power. As a source of power, large boilers are erected high and rumbled to drive various transmission devices.The centralized supply of steam power is already considered a very advanced technology, and almost every large and medium-sized equipment in an enterprise with backward technology needs an independent steam drive device.

In the earth-shattering roar, in the humid environment full of scorching steam, and with all kinds of fires everywhere, it is extremely difficult to maintain normal mental and physical conditions, let alone concentrate on work.Industrial workers are faced with an extremely harsh working environment, as well as the crazily squeezed by capitalists. If there is no other way to make a living, who would be willing to be a worker.

So after entering the People's Party's factory, Belkov clearly felt that the machines in the People's Party's factory were also roaring, but compared with the Russian factory, it was nothing.Comrade Berkov was surprised to find that most of the factories of the People's Party used electricity as a source of power.Even for heavy industrial enterprises like Wuhan Iron and Steel Plant, the trains that pull ore from the river to the factory are driven by steam, and some large-scale equipment is also powered by steam, but small and medium-sized equipment has been switched to motor drive.

Compared with heavy steam-powered equipment, electric-driven equipment is significantly smaller in size and weight.The direct result of the reduction in self-weight is that the operating speed of the equipment is greatly improved.For example, if a crane in a steel factory is powered by steam, it is impossible to be so light and light, but it has enough powerful power.The crane can easily lift bundles of steel bars, several stacked steel plates, and rolls of rolled steel sheets, and then use the rotation of its own boom to move.The movements that Berkov saw in Russian steel mills were basically carried out by rail vehicles.

Originally, Berkov believed that the strength displayed by the People's Party should be large-scale enterprise clusters stretching for several kilometers or even tens of kilometers. Even such enterprise clusters are not completely absent in Russia.Such business clusters exist in Moscow, St. Petersburg.After seeing the production of the People's Party's enterprises, even though Berkov did not understand its inherent technology, he still intuitively understood that it was a powerful force beyond Russia's current industrial level.

It's not just enterprises like steel factories, military factories that produce guns and bullets, and enterprises that produce various civilian equipment.The BJP has electrified almost across the board.Of course, the result of electrification is that various failures occur frequently. In a few days, the large-scale production interruptions caused by the power failures that Belkov saw with his own eyes occurred more than a dozen times.There were so many small problems that Belkov didn't even bother to make statistics.

The intelligence of the Bolsheviks of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union records that China has a population of [-] million. If there are hundreds of cities like Wuhan, China will have an industrial strength that can almost completely overwhelm Russia.Reaching such a conclusion requires only simple arithmetic ability, not even a high level of politics.

After visiting the People's Party's Wuhan Industrial Zone, Berkov visited the four-story Wuhan New City residential area.There are civil express railways and buses between residential areas and industrial areas, and a large number of Chinese workers ride bicycles to work.Inside the residential area are kindergartens, schools, hospitals, post offices, gardens and green spaces, squares, and entertainment facilities.During the daytime, the residential buildings in the community are deserted and deserted, while the kindergarten in the school becomes very lively every once in a while.In particular, kindergarten teachers often take their children to play in the green area. A large group of little ones follow behind the male and female teachers. Some are screaming, some are smiling happily, and some are crying inexplicably.

Berkov is not married yet, let alone have children.Seeing such a large group of little dolls, he just couldn't help but smile.

After the day shift is over, the community becomes lively.People come and go, the sound of cooking comes from the windows of every kitchen, and the aroma of various meals wafts out.The shops selling steamed buns are always crowded with the most people.After dinner, adults and children all went for a walk outside.Many people gathered around the radio in front of the store to listen to the radio, chat and play cards.

It was later in the day, and the windows of every house were lit up. The children running wild outside went home one by one under the yelling of their parents, and the street gradually became quiet.Later, the lights of the whole city gradually went out.The workers who get off work in three shifts can be regarded as a little noisy when they go to and from work. Most of the workers who come back late will eat something at the supper stand before going back to sleep.In addition, the night in Wuhan is shrouded in the silence of dreamland, and it will not be active again until dawn with the crowds going to work and school.

During the visit, Berkov noticed one thing. There are no rich or poor areas in this bustling city of Wuhan.The living environment is almost exactly the same, and all shops provide services to everyone equally.Even the few foreigners in Wuhan buy all kinds of goods in the shops opened by the Chinese.Of course, there are also a small number of rather exotic shops run by foreigners, which are also open to Chinese.

There are no soliciting prostitutes or beggars. This Chinese city in 1918 looks very ordinary. This sense of equality and ordinaryness surprised Berkov the most.The style of this city is very similar to the feeling given to Belkov by the People's Party. It is very calm, very calm, and at the same time full of vitality.In this city, people will involuntarily have a desire to live a happy and stable life.

After the visit, Comrade Berkov also had a wish that the People's Party, which can build such a city, might be able to live in peace with Russia.Chen Ke also gave enough respect to Comrade Berkov's sincere request, "Comrade Berkov, I think peace based on the Nerchinsk Treaty is a good choice for both China and Russia. We are willing to On the basis of the Nerchinsk Treaty, we have established a complete good-neighborly and friendly relationship with Russia." After saying this, Chen Ke sincerely wished the Bolsheviks of the Soviet Union headed by Comrade Lenin to win an early and comprehensive victory in the Russian War of Liberation.Then Zhang Yu was asked to send Comrade Belkov away.

Comrade Berkov understood that Chen Ke finally showed his true colors as a nationalist in the face of the Communist party, the Bolsheviks.According to Berkov's judgment, Zhang Yu, who was in charge of receiving the representatives of the Bolsheviks of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, should be an important figure in the People's Party.Therefore, Comrade Berkov and Zhang Yu discussed the nationalist tendencies of the People's Party, and even the imperialist tendencies.

Zhang Yu replied quite simply, "Comrade Berkov, as far as we know, the Bolsheviks of the Soviet Communist Party are also negotiating an armistice with Germany, and they are likely to accept the extremely harsh armistice conditions from the German side. Then I have to ask One question, why did you adopt such an approach to Germany. This is really puzzling."

Hearing Zhang Yu's threatening words, Berkov felt that continuing negotiations with the People's Party at this stage is pure nonsense. The People's Party seems to have made up its mind to attack Russia.This approach of adding insult to injury made Comrade Berkov feel a strong patriotic righteous anger and a deep hatred for the reactionary ideology of the People's Party.

After seeing off Berkov, Zhang Yu unexpectedly received an invitation from the British Consulate. As the de facto Minister of Foreign Affairs, Zhang Yu could only bring her secretary to the diplomatic ball of the British Consulate.At the meeting, the British Minister to China asked whether the People's Party wanted to establish its capital in Wuhan.

This is also something that has been discussed within the People's Party. The model of the mobile central government created by Chen Ke a few years ago has largely solved the troubles that the provinces encountered at that time.The troubles of the time were solved, and this brought new troubles.The People's Party is arguing about where it is.The construction of Wuhan is very good now, but comrades have found that Chen Ke has not shown any intention of establishing Wuhan as the capital.Zhang Yu didn't want to worry about this leisure either, he smiled and said, "Mr. Minister, isn't he used to the climate in Wuhan?"

"Not really," the British minister laughed, "but building an embassy in the capital of your country is also something we need to do."

"Can we wait for a while after we complete the domestic reunification?" Zhang Yu said with a smile, "Or does Mr. Minister not trust us?"

Of course, the British Minister knew that Zhang Yu was joking. Although he was really looking forward to the failure of the People's Party's unification war, the British Minister still laughed and said, "Minister Zhang's words are really interesting."

After talking about the recent trade issues for a while, the British envoy introduced the one who walked up to the two, "I think Minister Zhang must have met the Russian envoy."

Of course Zhang Yu has met the Russian Minister, but now the Minister feels a bit misnamed.After the February Revolution in Russia, the Romanov dynasty collapsed.The October Revolution overthrew the Kerensky provisional government that came to power after the February Revolution.However, the Russian envoy in front of him is still the envoy to China appointed by Tsar Nicholas II who does not know where he is now.It was only because of the ambiguous attitudes of China, Britain and France among the Allied Powers, and the fact that the collapsed Russian Kerensky provisional government had no time to deal with China's issues when it was in power, that this gentleman could continue to be called the "Russian Minister".

Now that the introduction task was completed, the British envoy left Zhang Yu and the "Russian envoy" aside on the pretext that he wanted to talk to the Belgian envoy.

Zhang Yu's foreign language is not very good, and she basically relies on translation.The Russian envoy also knew that Russian was not the main language of foreign communication in China, so when the two of them and their entourage went to a secluded place, the Russian envoy simply spoke French.Zhang Yu's interpreter listened carefully to the words of the Russian minister and carried out the translation work in a timely manner, "I heard that your country provided some medicines to Britain and France. I wonder if your country is willing to uphold the obligations of the members of the Allied Powers and provide us with these medicines. "

It is entirely within the scope of Zhang Yu's acceptance to use unscrupulous means to win, but Zhang Yu, like the comrades of the People's Party, believes that the scope of application of "unscrupulous means" should be "cultivation of internal strength", not some drugs of unknown origin Eat it, and then burst into "combat power" under the action of the drug.

In fact, the People's Party paid attention to the "Shengong Hutiwan" after Chen Ke recommended this medicine to Britain and France.However, this drug is as expected, as Chen Ke "predicted", it is highly addictive.The comrades who volunteered to experiment with these drugs were all determined comrades, and they still encountered great difficulties when quitting.The prisoners who tested the drug almost used the methods of treating mental illness, binding plates and even electric shocks to achieve abstinence, and they still encountered great problems in terms of psychological dependence.

Of course, the effect of this drug is indeed terrible.The comrades who tried it created the work of continuously copying, exercising, and even calculating a large amount of data without sleeping for three consecutive days.Zhang Yu can fully understand that foreign devils are flocking to this drug.If the side effects of the drug were not considered, every time Zhang Yu imagined the scene of millions of foreign devils who had taken the drug entering China, he would indeed feel a little terrified.Facing such a terrifying demonic medicine, Zhang Yu felt more of a heartfelt fear of Chen Ke's "chemical genius".

"Do you want to use this medicine?" Zhang Yu asked.

"I hope to use Russia's property in China as collateral to purchase part of this drug." The Russian envoy said eagerly.

Zhang Yu was a little stunned by this. The "Russian Minister" actually did not have the right to dispose of Russian property in China. He offered such completely unrealistic conditions, which really did not meet the status of a minister.However, Zhang Yu quickly figured out that if the "Russian Minister" could send the drug back to the country as quickly as possible to please the Russian forces who are at war with the Bolshevik government of the Soviet Union, it is very likely that he will continue to be the "Russian Minister". ".

However, this idea was quickly overturned by Zhang Yu himself. If this drug is needed, Britain and France can actually recommend it to Russia.Russia is notoriously poor, and it is not a heavy burden for Britain and France to distribute some medicines to Russia.But why did the British envoy take a detour to let Zhang Yu contact the "Russian envoy" who knows how long he can last?

Therefore, after "in principle" expressed his agreement to reach a sales intention, Zhang Yu left the Russian envoy and found the British envoy.The British envoy was talking with the Dutch envoy at this time. When Zhang Yu seemed to be acting nonchalantly and asked what the Allies thought about the current Russian governments, the British envoy said with satisfaction: "Do you know the Moscow government?" Negotiating with Germany?"

"Eh?" Zhang Yu knew that Chen Ke had predicted this, and when the British envoy provided more accurate information, Zhang Yu could only pretend to be stupid and said, "I don't know yet."

"Then you know now." The British minister said seriously, "The Allies absolutely do not accept this action taken by the Moscow government, let alone the choice of the Moscow government to withdraw from the Allies."

"That means the Allies do not recognize the Moscow government?" Zhang Yu asked.

"Yes, the Allies do not recognize the Moscow government, and it is impossible to establish diplomatic relations with the Moscow government." The British minister said very seriously.

Although I don't know if the British side has heard any rumors, the first thought in Zhang Yu's mind now is that even if he joins the Allied Powers, the Chinese government of the People's Party is a second-rate role that needs to be guarded against in the eyes of Britain and France.The next idea is to see if anyone inside has leaked the news to the Allied Powers.

Thinking of this, Zhang Yu nodded slightly, and said to the British Minister, "I see."