This line drawn by Wang Guojun once again surprised everyone. This canal runs through the entire Jizhou and connects to Ji County, the capital of Daqian. The total length is more than a thousand miles. Just looking at this line, you know that the amount of this project exceeds hundreds. 100 million yuan is simply not something they can afford with their wealth.
More importantly, this kind of infrastructure construction is not profitable at all, and we don’t know how long it will take to get back the money.
Just like the track that ran through Xiliang two years ago, they originally wanted to connect it to the Western Regions. In this way, the time from the Western Regions to Chang'an could be reduced several times, and the number of goods transported could be dozens of times greater.
At first, Zhen An and the others were eager to build this road, but when they started building it, they realized that they had underestimated the environment in Xiliang and the difficulty of construction. When one-third of the construction was completed, they would have to bear the burden of more than the tracks. After it was consumed, they had to rely on Da Qian to take over later, and then they were relieved.
However, this track has not yet achieved profitability, and it is basically impossible for them to recover their capital. It can be said that all the money Zhen An and the others have earned from the Western Regions in the past few years has been put into this track.
So as soon as Wang Guojun finished speaking, Zhen An and the others' expressions changed. They didn't want to build any more infrastructure such as tracks and canals.
This grand canal seems to cost more than the tracks in Xiliang. If they step into such a trap again, they are afraid that all the wealth they have earned over the years will be put into it!
But when Jizhou congressmen saw this canal, they were very happy and said: "Okay, if this canal is really built, our Jizhou will definitely become the best state in the world!"
The Handan congressman was even more excited and said: "These young and strong people are running to the coast. The development of our inland states and counties is not as good as that of the coastal states and counties because there are sea transport goods along the coast. If the canal is built, we can also buy goods from Handan." Went to Ji County! This canal is like a circle connecting Jizhou and Youzhou."
In recent years, not only has the development of different states in Daqian been unbalanced, but even the development of counties within the same state has been extremely unbalanced. The current Daqian and Bohai generation is the place with the fastest economic development. It can be said that everywhere in the entire Bohai Sea is Sea ships transport goods to various places, but places like Handan, Zhongshan Daijun, and Shanggu County are surrounded by mountains and have inconvenient transportation, so their development is naturally not as good as that of the coast. Councilors in these places have long wanted to change this situation, but they have They have been unable to think of a way, but now the canal of the Royal Army has given them hope.
"We should propose that the imperial court allocate funds to help us build this canal!" the Zhongshan State Councilor shouted.
It's a pity that Wang Guojun shook his head and said: "The last time he was in power, he said that the internal development of Daqian was unbalanced. From now on, the government's finances should try to take care of the poor states and counties. And our Jizhou is the second richest state among the Daqian states. Lian You The state can't compare with us. It's impossible for the government to spend so much money to help us build this canal, at least in the past few years. That's why I want to ask for help. Jizhou is everyone's hometown. Please Everyone, please help!”
The big merchants in Jizhou felt embarrassed. Everyone looked at Zhen An because Zhen An was their leader.
Zhen An could only helplessly say: "We are not afraid of the governor's jokes, but we are really afraid of such a large investment. A few years ago we invested in Xiliang Railroad and lost all our money. If it weren't for the help of the ruling party, we would not have the ability." Help the governor!"
Xiliang Railroad caused Zhen An and others to lose 3 billion, and their vitality was greatly damaged. Now they have been bitten by snakes once and have been afraid of well ropes for ten years. Not to mention that the canal of the Royal Army does not have tens of billions to repair. Come out? And if they really lost tens of billions, the merchants in Jizhou would just perish.
When Wang Guojun saw the frightened Jizhou merchants, he felt helpless. Zhen An and the others were frightened by the sudden change in power.
The Xiliang Railroad was started in his hands. He was still the governor of Xiliang at that time. He supported Zhen An and the others for their great ambition to build a rail track connecting the Western Regions, and helped Zhen An and the others resolve various policy issues. problem, so this private track was created.
And this track can really be constructed successfully. It only takes 10 days for news from the Western Regions to be transmitted to Chang'an, and the time for transporting ten thousand troops can be reduced by two-thirds. It can be said that the rule of Daqian and the Western Regions has been greatly strengthened.
After the track is built, both goods from Xiliang and Dahan can quickly reach the Western Regions. The time for goods from the Western Regions to reach Dahan will also be reduced several times, and the cargo transportation volume on the Silk Road will increase by dozens. times. And this is also the reason why Zhen An and the others want to build this road. The Silk Road is monopolized by them and they spent 1 billion in admission tickets. Of course they want to get back their money as quickly as possible, and what better way to build this road? A way to recover costs faster with shipping volume.
Of course, there is another thing that Zhen An and the others did not mention. After building this track, they can completely monopolize the Silk Road. If other merchants really want to trade with the Western Regions in the future, they must go through this track. Whatever they want to sell, They have the final say on the goods.
When the project plan reported that Xu Wei came here, he was shocked. Thousands of miles of track had to be built, and even wooden tracks were beyond the productivity of this era. Did Zhen An and the others think he was Qin Shihuang?
Even Qin Shihuang only connected the Great Wall. The main body of the Great Wall took the Chinese nation thousands of years to build. How many people do you have and how much money do you have? You dare to build a track of thousands of miles!
Xu Wei, who grew up in a commercial society, naturally saw Zhen An's idea of monopolizing the Silk Road at a glance, but he was laughing inside. The market profits outside the Western Regions are high, but the upper limit of the market is there. , the more goods you sell, the more money you make, but the price of the goods drops.
Xiliang has a population of only one million, and there is not enough goods to maintain this track. This is the same as building a subway in the west. Not to mention the cost of construction, even the cost of daily maintenance will not make up for it. You must know the ground The only ones laid are wooden rails. In a harsh environment like Xiliang, the consumption rate must be faster than that in the Central Plains. Zhen An and the others have several rail carriages running on it!
However, Zhen An and his team's construction of the track was indeed beneficial to Daqian's control of the Western Regions, so Xu Wei agreed with Zhen An and his team's idea, and the construction of Daqian's first private track was immediately started in Xiliang.
At the beginning, everyone was full of hope for this track. After all, connecting the Silk Road was the wish of all Daqian merchants. But Zhen An and the others found something wrong after two years of construction. The climate in Xiliang is extremely harsh, and the cost of building the track is too high. Not to mention three times more than in the Central Plains, and the wooden rails were being consumed very quickly, so it was obvious that not many rail carriages were passing by.
But in the Central Plains, the tracks that need to be replaced only more than three months, in Xiliang, they need to be replaced once a month. In addition, there are not many giant trees in Xiliang, so the trees they repair the wooden tracks actually have to come from thousands of miles away. Transported from Bingzhou, for such a long distance, the price of the cheapest wooden rails is sky-high.