Chapter 1655, the Yangtze River Bridge stock listing
Upstairs at Wangyue Tower, Liu Jin naturally didn't know that Zhu Yunming was frustrated and preparing to become a minor official. At this time, he was discussing with Wang Shouren about the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge.
"Lao Wang, what is the approximate budget for the Yangtze River Bridge?"
Liu Jin looked at Wang Shouren's plan carefully.
The Yangtze River Bridge to be built this time is a double-decker bridge, with a cement road on the top and a train on the bottom floor. It costs a lot, but the construction method used is a relatively simple and reliable construction method. A large number of piers need to be built, but
This also results in its construction cost being much higher.
"It takes about 40 million taels of silver."
Wang Shouren replied.
"Forty million taels of silver~"
"This is really not a small number."
Hearing this number, Liu Jin couldn't help but sigh.
In this era of relatively backward technology and industry, the construction cost of building a bridge across the Yangtze River is simply too expensive.
Forty million taels of silver, in the past, would have been unthinkable.
That is to say, the current Ming Dynasty is very wealthy. Both the court and the people have huge wealth. Only then can they dare to invest 40 million taels of silver.
Of course, the value of silver in the Ming Dynasty is now much lower than before, because the amount of silver flowing into the Ming Dynasty from all over the world is so huge.
Colonizing the world and trading globally, the amount of gold and silver flowing into the Ming Dynasty every year was an astronomical figure, and the value of silver was much lower than before.
In the past, when Liu Jin first traveled through time, ordinary people may have never seen silver in their lives, and all they used were copper coins.
But now, as long as every household goes to work, a person can easily earn dozens of taels of silver a year. Every household has money, and the value is naturally incomparable.
That is to say, the Ming Dynasty was rich in land and resources, and could plunder huge colonies around the world and develop capital industries to a certain extent. Therefore, the price of goods in the Ming Dynasty did not rise significantly, but labor prices continued to rise.
But no matter how you calculate it, these 40 million taels of silver are still an extremely huge number and wealth.
Spending such a huge amount of wealth to build a bridge is still risky. The key is that after it is built, it may take a long time to recover the cost.
"Yes, this is indeed a very huge number, so it requires strong support from the court."
Due to Jinling's arrears in wages, development in Nanjing has been extremely slow. A large number of factories in Nanjing have closed down. Workers cannot be found and have to go to Songhu, Wuchang, Nanchang and other places.
This made Wang Shouren very anxious. As the chief envoy of Southern Zhili, he hoped to promote the development of Nanjing by building the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge, so that Nanjing and Southern Zhili could slowly regain their vitality.
As long as this bridge is repaired, business travelers traveling from north to south will still have to pass through Nanjing. Coupled with the railway and Yangtze River water transportation, Nanjing's transportation can be said to be extending in all directions.
With such conditions, development can occur naturally.
Now, they have tasted the pain.
Everyone doesn’t want to come to Nanjing to work, and they don’t want people from Nanjing to work. Many times they leave directly when they hear that they are Nanjing bosses.
In this era, credibility and reputation are extremely important. If your reputation is ruined, other people will be implicated as well.
Originally, the Ming Dynasty was prosperous in various forms. Capitalism was developing rapidly, and industry was also developing rapidly. Anyone who invests in and builds factories can get good returns.
But because no one is willing to work for you, you can't even recruit workers, so naturally you can't start the business.
"Forty million taels of silver. Even if the imperial court can allocate half of it, it still needs to raise 20 million taels of silver from society. This investment is more than the Egyptian canal."
"I'm worried that the Yangtze River Bridge's shares will be hard to sell and no one will subscribe, so I won't be able to raise enough funds."
Liu Jin thought about it and said worriedly.
The strategic value and shipping value of the Egyptian canal are irreplaceable, so even though the investment is huge, everyone is willing to invest.
Now the Egyptian canal can bring good returns and profits to investors every year, which also proves the value of the Egyptian canal.
But the Yangtze River Bridge is different. If the toll is too expensive, people may rather take a boat to cross the river. In addition, you can build the bridge in Nanjing and other places.
And it is unique. There are too many alternative ways. This is doomed. Even if the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge is built, the returns it can bring to investors will not be too high, and it will take a long time to recover.
Book.
"It's only 20 million taels of silver. Lao Liu, you still lack this little silver and can't raise enough silver. When the time comes, Lao Liu, just come and invest."
Zhu Houzhao on the side curled his lips and said.
For others, 20 million taels of silver is an astronomical figure, but for Liu Jin, the God of Wealth, 20 million taels is really nothing. Even Liu Jin himself can invest in building this bridge by himself, and it is very easy.
.
Others may not know how huge Liu Jin's property and wealth is, but he, Zhu Houzhao, may not know. Zhu Houzhao has a share in all the properties under Liu Jin's command, and he is also the major shareholder.
Zhu Houzhao knew very well how much money he could get every year.
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"Your Highness, all my money has been spent on running schools. However, Your Highness has too much money and no place to use it. Why don't you invest some money?"
Liu Jin was immediately speechless. I made a lot of money a year, but most of it was invested in education. In addition, there were various new investments every year. I really didn’t have a lot of money on hand.
"Okay, let's raise funds publicly first. If it's not enough, it'll all be mine."
"Old Liu, you like to invest in education. As a prince, I have to build bridges and pave roads."
Upon hearing this, Zhu Houzhao readily agreed.
Think about this long bridge. In the final analysis, it is for the infrastructure construction of the Ming Dynasty and to facilitate the travel between the north and the south of the Ming Dynasty. It is a good thing that is good for the Ming Dynasty and has no harm.
He has no reason not to do it, not to mention, he really has so much money that he has no place to spend it. These industries under his command are like gold mines, continuously earning huge wealth for himself.
Liu Jin spends all his money on education. Primary schools, middle schools, and colleges are everywhere. Tens of millions of taels of silver are spent on them every year. The burden and pressure are getting bigger and bigger.
That is to say, Liu Jin is good at management and has a huge industry under his command, otherwise it would be really difficult to persevere.
"I feel relieved if His Highness says this."
When Wang Shouren heard this, he immediately laughed.
Now I don't have to worry about money. I have found the right person.
The two people in front of them are the gods of wealth in the Ming Dynasty. They have huge wealth. As long as they are willing to invest, no matter how big the money is, it is not a problem.
"What is the design height of this bridge?"
Liu Jin smiled. It would be best if Zhu Houzhao was willing to invest. His money might be more than that of Emperor Hongzhi.
Then he looked carefully at the plan and design drawings of the bridge, thought about it and asked.
"According to your original request, the bottom of the bridge is 40 meters high from the river. In the future, even larger ships can pass. For this reason, many people have strongly opposed it, thinking that there is no need to design it so high.
And there is no need to design the bridge deck to be so wide.”
Wang Shouren immediately replied that he had clearly remembered all the data about the bridge and could get back to it in no time.
"Of course it needs to be built higher. If it is built too low, it will cut off the lake view and water transportation in Jiangxi. That will be poked in the back. Building the bridge deck wider is also for future considerations. Our vision cannot be
We should only limit ourselves to the present and take a longer-term view.”
"It doesn't matter if you spend more money now, but don't affect future development and potential because of unreasonable design. Then the gain will really outweigh the loss."
Liu Jin smiled and replied that the Yangtze River Bridge in later generations was too short when it was designed, so that the value of the Yangtze River's gold shipping could not be fully realized. It could only pass small ships of several thousand tons, and giant ships of ten thousand tons could not pass, which resulted in
Without Huguang, Jiangxi has completely become an inland area.
Otherwise, if the Yangtze River is a golden river and cruise ships of 10,000 tons can pass through easily, there will not be much difference with coastal areas, and river transportation can still be developed.
"I can't see it now, but you are definitely right. It is always better to build taller and wider."
Wang Shouren thought about it and nodded. To be honest, he didn't understand why Liu Jin had to build it so high and wide. If it had been built lower and narrower, there would be no need to spend 40 million taels of silver.
Maybe thirty million taels of silver would be enough.
Soon, the Ming court approved the memorial submitted by Nanzhili regarding the construction of the Nanjing Changqiao Bridge and agreed to the construction of the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge by Nanzhili.
The Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge was built in the same way as the railways built in various parts of the Ming Dynasty. Part of the funds were raised from the imperial court, and the remaining part of the funds were raised publicly from the entire Ming Dynasty on the Tianjin Stock Exchange.
After the bridge is built, the income brought by the bridge will be distributed as dividends according to the investment ratio and returned to investors.
"Sell newspapers~ sell newspapers!"
"The imperial court has launched another major project, and the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge has passed the review."
"The Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge has a total investment of 40 million taels of silver. The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development has allocated 20 million taels of silver. The remaining 20 million will be listed on the Tianjin Stock Exchange to raise funds publicly."
Soon, as soon as the news was announced, newspapers quickly published it, and suddenly young and old men in the entire Beijing and Tianjin areas started discussing the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge.