It is really difficult to build railways in Southwest China.
At the national level, investment and costs can be ignored. In order to consolidate the development and rule of the country, no matter how much money is invested, it must be poured in.
But now the Ming Dynasty is transforming into capitalism. Under capital, capital is all about profit. Railway investment is huge. Without enough profits, no one will invest. What's more, the investment in building railways in the southwest is simply a bottomless pit.
Furthermore, the Ming Dynasty now has many lands, such as Australia, Golden Island, and Liaodong, where immigrants can immigrate, and there are also a large number of overseas colonies and vassal states.
Rather than spending a huge amount of money to build railways, it would be better to relocate all the people in these places. The cost of relocating people may not require that much money investment.
"It is the best choice to go through Jiangxi, which is low-cost and can also connect with wealthy places such as South Zhili, Zhejiang, and Fujian."
"The best choice is to go to Huguang, the hub of the city and the thoroughfare of nine provinces. You have to go to Huguang to go south to north and east to west. How can Huguang not have railways?"
"It's okay to build the railway. How much money can you raise by yourself?"
"With this dense network of rivers and lakes, no matter how many ducks you sell in Huguang, you can't raise the funds to build the railway, right?"
"This doesn't need to be taken care of by Mr. Gao."
"Of course I have to take care of it. The imperial court's funds are taxes paid by the emperor's people. Naturally, they cannot be thrown into places where they shouldn't be thrown away like this."
"What is the wrong place to throw it?"
"It seems that you Jiangxi must invest."
"At least we have raised 20 million taels of silver ourselves. Even if there are no funds from the court, we Jiangxi people will still use the efforts of the entire province to build the railway."
Wei Ying and Gao Jiang went back and forth with each other, arguing with each other red in the face and refusing to give in to each other.
"Okay, you two adults, don't argue anymore. There are some things where it's useless to argue."
Seeing them arguing, Liu Jin also spoke out.
If they continue to fight like this, there will never be any results.
"Mr. Liu, you have seen our determination to build the railway in Jiangxi. Even if we tighten our belts, we still have to build schools and build railways. It is best if the court can support us, but even if the court does not support it, we will not
I will build the railway with my own strength."
Gao Jiang looked at Liu Jin with a smile on his face and said very firmly.
He knew that the young man in front of him had huge abilities, which not only had huge influence on the government and the opposition, but also had huge influence on the capital world.
If Liu Jin is willing to help, plus Jiangxi's many officials in the court, the railway construction is a sure thing. Even if the court contributes, with Liu Jin's huge influence, it will be difficult to raise enough funds to build a railway.
Very relaxing thing.
"Mr. Liu, the same is true for us in Huguang. The railway must be built, no matter what, it must be built."
Wei Ying also quickly expressed his stance, at least in a decisive manner.
Liu Jin looked at the two of them. Wei Ying and Gao Jiang were both hard-working officials, but there were differences.
Wei Ying pays more attention to promoting the development of a place in small aspects, such as promoting mechanized farming, rice field duck raising technology, etc. He is also one of the rare officials in this era who is willing to take action in a blink of an eye, and he is also quite capable of action.
Huguang has developed rapidly in recent years and its economy has grown rapidly, which is inseparable from many of his policies.
Gao Jiang does not pay much attention to these specific details. Relatively speaking, he pays more attention to the long term, starting from two aspects: education and transportation.
The investment in education is huge and long-term, and it is not possible to see the effects in a short while, but after ten, twenty, or decades, the returns on investment in education will emerge.
The investment effect in transportation was very obvious, and he immediately targeted railways to keep up with the development of the times.
He is a rare official with far-sightedness, and he is also a practical official.
"Wei Ying, Gao Jiang, are not very famous in history, and Zhong Fan, the governor of Guangdong, are all hard-working officials. The more such officials, the better."
Liu Jin was quite happy inside.
The role of self-formulated official evaluation system has gradually become apparent. Officials at all levels are increasingly implementing imperial decrees. From feudal officials to local officials, they want to live their lives drinking tea and reviewing cases as before.
It doesn't work anymore.
You must be like officials like Gao Jiang, Wei Ying, and Zhong Fan, and try every means to develop a local economy, transportation, education, etc.
"I can't make the final decision regarding the railway. It's useless for you to argue with me. If there's nothing to do, you should just go back."
Liu Jin helplessly replied that Liu Jin had no intention of intervening in this matter. The railway can be built no matter how it is built. As long as it is built, it will be the same no matter where you go. Anyway, there will be railways in both places sooner or later, and it will not be earlier or later.
It's just a difference.
"This~"
When the two heard this, they looked at each other and saw helplessness in each other's eyes.
This is not the first time that Liu Jin has been lobbied, but Liu Jin is in the middle. No one knows, and he does not favor any party. This is still the case. It seems that the only way to run this is to contact officials from the DPRK and China with local origins.
It's over.
"Mr. Liu, we have discovered a large iron ore here in Pingxiang, Jiangxi. I know that the Miyun Iron Works under Mr. Liu has the most advanced iron-making technology. I wonder if Mr. Liu can start a branch factory here in Jiangxi."
"Nowadays, everything is inseparable from steel and cement. We don't have any large-scale steel plants in Jiangxi, and the output is low. We need to purchase them from foreign enemies, which greatly limits the development of our Jiangxi."
"If we in Jiangxi have our own large-scale steel plant, at least we won't have to worry about steel."
Gao Jiang looked at Wei Ying who was about to get up and leave, rolled his eyes and said with a smile.
"Oh, a large iron ore was discovered in Pingxiang?"
"Building a steel plant in Jiangxi is a good idea. Well, I'll go back and ask people to investigate. If possible, I don't mind building a steel plant here in Jiangxi."
When Liu Jin heard this, he immediately laughed. This Gao Jiang is really an old fox, and he is also a very capable person. Liu Jin will naturally not refuse this kind of thing.
Miyun Iron Works now has branches in various major iron ore-producing places in the Ming Dynasty. The iron ore used in Songhu comes from Ma'anshan and Daye in Huguang; the iron ore used by Qiongzhou Iron Works comes from Shilu above Qiongzhou Island.
iron ore.
In addition, there are branch factories in Australia, Golden Island, Nanyang, Henan and other places. They basically use local iron ore to smelt steel. The production of steel has soared every year and is supplied to various parts of the Ming Dynasty.
Steel is the cornerstone of industry and an important material for infrastructure. Nowadays, urbanization in Ming Dynasty has begun to develop rapidly, and at the same time, large-scale infrastructure construction is underway. No amount of steel is enough. The steel industry is also one of the hottest industries now.
"Haha, great~"
"With the advanced technology of Miyun Iron Works, I will no longer have to worry about using iron in Jiangxi."
When Gao Jiang heard this, he immediately became happy.
I'm not afraid that you, Liu Jin, won't go into the water. This steel factory with huge investment has settled in Pingxiang. Don't you hope that a railway will pass by?
When the time comes for the steel from this steel plant to be exported, it will be so convenient to have railways.
Moreover, the establishment of a large-scale steel plant in Pingxiang will definitely drive the development of a large number of industries and create employment for hundreds of thousands of people.
When steel is needed for infrastructure construction in Jiangxi, cheap steel can be purchased, especially for railway construction. If the steel can be solved locally, the cost can be greatly reduced.
This is a complete conspiracy and there is no solution.
Wei Ying on the side was immediately dumbfounded, why didn't he think of such a method?
It’s not like there is no iron ore in Huguang. The Daye iron ore not only has large reserves, but also is of very high quality and is easy to mine. If Liu Jin had been invited earlier to invest in building a steel plant in Huguang, I’m afraid the railway would have been built by now.
Now, we can only sell iron ore. The steel plants are all in Songhu and have nothing to do with Huguang. Not to mention not much taxes are collected, and this doesn't even create much employment.
"I'm so stupid~"
"Why don't you think about this? Invite those big commercial banks and factories to open factories in Huguang. This factory has hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of people at least. The taxes paid casually in a year are
Tens of thousands taels, hundreds of thousands taels of silver, plus other things, this is much better than raising ducks."
Wei Ying felt regretful and suddenly saw a new development path in his heart.
It is certainly a good choice to engage in agriculture, and raising ducks can also increase farmers' income. However, compared with industry, the output value of agriculture is much lower, and its role in driving the economy is incomparable.
"Oh, I have something to remind you~"
Seeing that the two were about to leave, Liu Jin remembered Wang Shouren's plan to build the Yangtze River Bridge and shouted quickly.
"Please give me your instructions, Mr. Liu~"
The two people said quickly.
"The Yangtze River is the main artery from east to west in the south of Ming Dynasty. I guess you have also thought about building a Yangtze River Bridge. South Zhili is also considering building a Yangtze River Bridge."
"So I would like to remind you that if you want to build a bridge over the Yangtze River, it must be built high so that it will not hinder the passage of ships on the Yangtze River. Especially with the emergence of steamships, ships will become bigger and bigger in the future. If the bridge is built
If it is not high enough, it will become a chain, locking up the water transport of the Yangtze River, which will be harmful to Huguang and Jiangxi."
Liu Jin said what Wang Shouren had said to the two of them again.
"Yeah, if big ships can't pass, Jiujiang and Poyang Lake will be ruined, and that's not okay."
When Gao Jiang heard this, he immediately opened his eyes wide and said quickly.
"Yes, yes, we must build higher. We in Huguang are counting on water transportation now."
When Wei Ying heard this, he felt as if he had been awakened by someone and said quickly.
"As long as you know, go back."
Liu Jin nodded and gave the order to expel the guests.
