Taking advantage of the supervisor's busy salute, a shabby road repairman rushed to Wang Zhenyu's face in one step, and this sudden change made everyone jump.

  Time waits for no man, Captain Zhao Dongsheng of the Imperial Guard was the first to react, his tall stature and agile movements allowing him to take a step forward and kick the newcomer flying two or three meters away. The newcomer tried to struggle to get up, but several guards pounced on him like starving tigers, pinning him to the ground.

  That man struggled but loudly shouted: "I am called Weng Wenhao, I'm an overseas student, not a bandit, uh..."

  The words had not been spoken yet when several large hands covered his mouth, and it was only then that the crowd came to their senses. The officer in charge of supervising the laborers excitedly used his gun to strike at the other workers, shouting loudly "Kneel down, kneel down, or you will be killed."

  "Overseas student?" Wang Zhenyu heard these three words and looked at the young man who was pinned to the ground by the guards in great surprise.

  "Relax a bit, don't be so tense, I don't even have anything in my hand," Wang Zhenyu calmly ordered: "What did you just say you were? What's your name?"

  It turned out that this young man who suddenly ran wildly was the same young man who had advocated for an audience with Wang Zhenyu last night. As soon as Wei Shi let him go, he shouted loudly: "The student is called Weng Wenhao, returned from studying in Belgium, and was mistakenly taken by your department as a bandit to repair roads. The student asks the commander to clearly discern."

  Wang Zhenyu narrowed his eyes and took a glance at the young man who claimed to be Weng Wenhao: "Why would a foreign student like you be here, and what makes me believe your words?"

  Weng Wenhao was taken aback by the question, and as he regained his composure, he took a closer look at Commander Wang, who turned out to be just as young as himself.

  "I returned to the country two months ago, originally planning to work in Beijing. I coincidentally met my former classmate Ding Wenjiang and ended up coming to the southwest to conduct a survey. Unexpectedly, we encountered bandits, and our group of over 20 people became their laborers. We thought that after your army defeated the bandits, we would be free, but instead, your soldiers mistakenly thought we were bandits and sent us to repair roads. Not only did we not have enough food, but the work was also heavy. We do have proof documents, but they were all thrown away by the bandits. How can you expect us to prove ourselves?" Weng Wenhao said, growing somewhat anxious towards the end.

  At this time, Ding Wenjiang, with only one foot on his glasses, struggled to get up and said: "Commander Wang, Commander Wang, we are really the overseas students who were kidnapped by bandits. I and Liu Xiansheng, the governor of Guizhou, have met before and are familiar with each other."

  Actually, as soon as Wang Zhenyu heard Weng Wenhao's words, he already believed 80%, and now that Ding Wenjiang has said this, Wang Zhenyu is even more convinced.

  He signaled everyone to continue working, then let Song Haomin lead the two of them to rest on one side.

  "What major are you studying?" Wang Zhenyu gestured for Song Haomin to pour tea first, then asked softly.

  "Geology," they chimed in unison.

  Then Weng Wen-hao continued: "I studied mineral resources, and Wen Jiang studied geological exploration and fuel. Specifically..."

  Wang Zhenyu suddenly got a headache, such professional things don't need to be said specifically to oneself.

  "Geology" Wang Zhenyu suddenly lit up in front of his eyes, didn't he need talent in this area himself?

  He hastily stood up and said: "I've figured it out, I'm really sorry to trouble the two of you, so, Zhao Dongsheng!"

  Zhao Dongsheng heard the commander calling him and hastily responded before running over.

  "You take these two gentlemen away and bring out all their followers. The person in charge of identifying them will be rewarded with ten military clubs, what's going on?!"

  Zhao Dongsheng took orders, Weng Wenhao and Ding Wenjiang hurriedly thanked him, then followed Zhao Dongsheng away.

  At dinner time, Wang Zhenyu specially set up a banquet to entertain these twenty or so young talents. These guys are all very professional talents.

  To be honest, whether it's political or military reform, Wang Zhenyu has already had a general direction and relatively professional executors, so he doesn't have to worry too much.

  However, in terms of economy, after all the twists and turns, so far, there is only one project that my future father-in-law is still working on, which is the cement factory. Apart from this, everything else is blank.

  Without industry as a foundation, relying solely on collecting land rent to unify China, do you think this is the Three Kingdoms era?

  So Wang Zhenyu attaches great importance to these geological talents. He clearly knows that whether it is mining or road construction, they cannot be separated from these professional personnel. The most developed industry needs rich raw materials and convenient transportation, and both of these two points are closely related to geology. Although Wang Zhenyu comes from a later generation, he understands the truth that "it's easy to get soldiers, but hard to find generals". Especially in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China, when basic education was still very weak, experts at this time were not like those shameless bricklayers in later generations. They all had real skills.

  Wang Zhenyu politely toasted these young scholars, the oldest of whom was Ding Wenjiang at 27 years old, and Weng Wenhao who was 25 years old. They were in their prime, just starting out on their careers.

  After three rounds of drinks, Wang Zhenyu brought out the bad habit that Chinese people are used to talking business at the dinner table: "Mr. Ding, Mr. Weng, this time it was indeed a reckless move by one of King's officers, causing you gentlemen trouble, please don't blame him, consider it on my face."

  Everyone said it was not his fault, not his fault.

  Wang Zhenyu smiled and asked, "In terms of age, I'm actually younger than all of you, but due to the twists and turns of fate, I'm now sitting in this official position. To be honest, it's quite intimidating! Let's skip the polite talk about being young and promising. As you've seen, from Jingzhou Prefecture to Yunnan and Guizhou, the mountains stretch on endlessly, and the land is poor and barren. Transportation is also inconvenient, making life very difficult for the people here. That's why we have such notorious bandits; the root cause is still the poverty and desperation of the common people."

  Everyone listened and thought it made sense, nodding in agreement.

  "Today, Wang certain relied on his subordinates to risk their lives and rid this place of bandits in one fell swoop. However, if there is no way to bring prosperity, allowing the common people to live and work in peace, these bandits will be like the grass on the distant plains - no matter how much wildfire burns it, the wind will blow and it will grow again!"

  Ding Wenjiang, being the oldest, naturally stood up and raised his cup to toast: "Commander Wang is indeed a man of great integrity, the people of Jingzhou are truly fortunate to have you as their leader!"

  Wang Zhenyu waved his hand repeatedly: "Don't laugh at me, I'm just a martial artist. To be blunt, apart from killing people and destroying civilization, I can do nothing else. If we really want to talk about industry saving the country, we still have to rely on local merchants and you cultured technical talents!"

  With a mouthful of wine, Wang Zhenyu said very sincerely: "Mr. Ding, Mr. Weng, I, Wang, have been wanting to ask you two gentlemen, how can this place in Jingzhou be developed?"

  Ding Wenjiang hastily and politely said: "We are all poor scholars who dig mines, how dare we speak recklessly about national affairs and the people's livelihood."

  Weng Wenhao didn't have Ding Wenjiang's courtesy, he said directly: "Repair the railway and solve the transportation problem. Actually, I've been wandering around here for over a month, and the local products are not as scarce as Commander Wang said, but rather extremely rich. Various wild game and flavors are no less than those in Northeast China. However, the transportation is really too poor, the mountain roads are rugged and difficult to travel, cargo transport relies on horse teams. Just look at how many villages have food that can't be eaten and goods that can't be used up every year, rotting away in the villages. If this could make us rich, that would be strange."

  Wang Zhenyu raised an eyebrow and immediately leaned in to listen.

  Ding Wenjiang saw that Weng Wenhao had spoken bluntly, and he himself could no longer be polite. He continued: "Actually, the western Hunan region is not completely inaccessible by transportation. The Hongjiang area, which relies on the Yuanjiang River, has extremely developed transportation. Moreover, to develop the economy, the key still lies in industry. I, Ding, have been investigating this region of Hunan, Guizhou and Guangxi for several years, and I do have some data. For example, Liuzhou produces iron, Laibin produces coal, and Jingzhou produces limestone. These are all essential raw materials for the steel and cement industries. If we really want to develop industry, western Hunan may not be inferior to the plains."

  Wang Zhenyu immediately became interested in Ding Wenjiang's materials: "Mr. Ding, where are these materials now?"

  "I'm afraid they've all been used as toilet paper by those bandits in the mountains." Ding Wenjiang replied with a bitter smile, not without regret.

  Wang Zhenyu was furious after listening, this group of uncultured beasts, what kind of ass they are, just used popular science materials to wipe, simply bastard.

  Wang Zhenyu's expression wasn't good, so Ding Wenjiang hurriedly comforted him: "However, Commander Wang doesn't need to worry, actually these data are all stored in our minds, as long as we go on the ground again, they will all come out."

  Wang Zhenyu finally let out a sigh of relief and had his deputy, Song Haomin, inform the kitchen to add more dishes, making sure everyone ate their fill.

  Honestly, Ding Wenjiang and more than 20 others really suffered on this day. Suddenly, there were so many delicious foods, and they all opened their stomachs to eat. The accompanying military officers of the Hu Ben Army looked stunned.

  Everyone had a great time at this dinner party. After asking a few questions, Wang Zhenyu arranged for someone to take everyone to their accommodations, where they could take a bath and change into new military uniforms, replacing the tattered clothes on their bodies.

  Next, on a map of Xiangxi drawn by Weng Wenhe, Wang Zhenyu began to formulate his development plan for Xiangxi.

  "Mr. Ding, are you sure there are coal and copper mines in Yuanzhou?"

  "Mr. Ding, are you sure there is a gold mine right here in Jingzhou Prefecture?..."

  "Mr. Weng, is it true that there really are no iron mines in western Hunan?"

  Facing Wang Zhenyu's sincere inquiry, Ding Wenjiang and Weng Wenhao answered one by one like teachers teaching students.

  The focus of the last discussion was on the issue raised by Weng Wen-hao yesterday, which is the railway problem.

  Weng Wenhao didn't dare to speak recklessly at this time. He looked seriously at the map and thought for a moment before saying, "Actually, in the area of Jingzhou Prefecture, there are not many high mountains, mostly hills, so it seems very difficult to build railways. In fact, there are not many tunnels to be dug, and they are not long either. I personally think that building a railway from Liuzhou to Chenzhou here is feasible."

  Wang Zhenyu looked at the map without saying a word, roughly understanding Weng Wenhao's idea. He shook his head in his heart, and now he can only control Jingzhou Prefecture, which means that this railway is unlikely to be built so long.

  However, Wang Zhenyu knew a man's story, that was Shen Hongying. If he didn't remember wrong, this bandit-turned-official rose to prominence during the Second Revolution. Liuzhou and Guilin were this guy's turf, so in this regard, he could still take charge.

  As for the northern end, it is better to go to Hongjiang, and once you arrive here, you can basically exchange cargo ships.

  With the transportation guarantee, I should be able to build a large industrial base in Western Hunan, and can build steel mills, textile mills, and many other things. As long as we act quickly, we can catch up with the last train of World War I, and these industries will earn us a lot of money, and our power will further expand.

  The plan for developing Xiangxi was becoming clearer and clearer in Wang Zhenyu's mind.