This is not only true for Gu Tiancheng, but also for other ministers.
For a moment, Xuanzheng Hall fell into silence.
Seeing this scene, Emperor Qianwu finally felt better.
It's not just him who can't understand it, everyone can't understand it.
But he believed in Li Changfeng and said: "Since there is no objection to this matter, let's set up the Ministry of Electric Power and build that...hydropower station. The matter has been decided and Li Changfeng will be fully responsible."
As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Dingyuan, the Minister of Household Affairs, stood up, and Emperor Qianwu's face suddenly turned ugly.
Chen Dingyuan quickly explained: "Your Majesty, how dare I object to what you have decided? I just want to ask, how much money will it cost to build this hydropower station?"
Upon hearing this, Emperor Qianwu relaxed and looked at Li Changfeng.
Li Changfeng thought for a while and said: "Because the location has not yet been decided, the specific number is hard to say, but it is probably estimated to be around three million taels."
Hearing this number, Chen Dingyuan sighed, cupped his hands and said, "Sorry, Your Majesty, there is no money in the treasury."
Emperor Qianwu stared: "How could it be? As far as I know, Li Changfeng's industries have to pay a large amount of tax every month. When he came back from the Japanese pirates, he paid one million taels, and he paid more than one million for foreign trade. How could it be possible? No money?"
Chen Dingyuan called out to Qu: "Your Majesty, His Highness the Ninth Prince has made us a lot of money, but he also spends a lot of money! Artillery and muskets are constantly being purchased, and they are very expensive! There are also various ammunition and grenades, and, by the way, there are Who doesn’t spend money on the newly formed Air Force?”
Speaking of this, Chen Dingyuan glanced at Li Changfeng subconsciously.
Most of the money was given to Li Changfeng.
Li Changfeng paid a lot of taxes and money, but took away even more.
He didn't dare to rely on anyone's debt, and he didn't dare to rely on Li Changfeng's debt. Every transaction was clear of money and goods.
But he still held back, because there was nothing wrong with the money Li Changfeng earned.
He continued: "The other thing is that railway construction is too expensive. Although it is built first and paid later, the first bid section plus two stations cost more than two million taels. The second bid section is about to be completed." It’s over one million silver, so we can’t help but pay them, right?”
Hearing this, Emperor Qianwu felt a little dizzy, and all the officials also frowned.
It is a well-known fact that the army costs money, especially the army with thermal weapons.
As for railway construction, apart from anything else, just the massive amount of steel and the large amount of manpower used means that it is also very expensive.
A matter related to national security and military morale stability, money must not be defaulted.
The other is related to the country's credit, which cannot be defaulted.
It is indeed inappropriate to launch another hydropower station project now.
Chen Dingyuan turned around and bowed to Li Changfeng: "Your Highness, it's not that I want to oppose your plan, I also want to use electric lights at home, but it's hard for a clever woman to make a meal without rice, and the treasury really has no money!"
Li Changfeng smiled and nodded: "What Mr. Chen said is not unreasonable."
After saying that, he fell into deep thought.
Lack of money is indeed a problem.
You can’t just use the money to build it yourself, right?
In fact, it's not impossible. He can easily take out millions of taels of silver, and he will definitely make a fortune selling electricity in the future.
But he didn't want to start it.
The privatization of things related to the national economy and people's livelihood will be very terrible, just like in a previous life, a country suffered a snowstorm in winter and the electricity price once rose to dozens of yuan.
He doesn't need to use this unscrupulous way to make money, but it's hard for others to tell.
This is inconsistent with his ideal of doing something great.
Li Changfeng immediately rejected the idea.
So, what should we do?
Emperor Qianwu had no choice but to say helplessly: "My dear friends, is there anything you can do?"
There was another moment of silence.
After a while, Feng Quji sighed and said: "I am also looking forward to the hydropower station, but we cannot directly empty out the treasury. Let's forget about it for now."
In fact, most people think this way.
Feng Quji made this move, and other ministers also stood up to express their stance.
"What the Prime Minister said is absolutely true."
"We can understand that His Majesty and His Highness are eager to develop my work, but everything must be done steadily. Please think about it carefully."
"I thought it was better to forget about the hydropower station project."
"I second the proposal!"
"..."
Upon hearing this, Emperor Qianwu sighed secretly.
He wanted Daqian to develop quickly, but without money, he could only stare blankly.
Emperor Qianwu said in a low tone: "Changfeng, why don't we put this project on hold for the time being and continue when there is money in the treasury."
Li Changfeng had already noticed it in his mind and smiled slightly: "Why put it on hold? I have a way to get money."
As soon as this statement came out, the officials were stunned.
This is three million taels of silver, not thirty thousand. How can it be obtained so easily?
Emperor Qianwu looked at Li Changfeng and said in surprise: "Changfeng, you don't want to use the money to build it yourself and let the treasury return it to you in the future? I tell you, this is absolutely impossible!"
This is the only thing Emperor Qianwu can think of now.
He knew that Li Changfeng could definitely come up with so much money.
But he cannot accept an empire and borrow money from an individual, even if that person is his own son.
This is about Da Gan’s face, and also about his face.
Hearing what Emperor Qianwu said, the expressions of the officials all became a little strange, and they all looked at Li Changfeng.
Li Changfeng laughed dumbly: "Father, are you kidding? You don't know how much the research institute has invested. How can I have so much money?"
Emperor Qianwu twitched his face and said nothing.
He doesn't believe this nonsense.
Li Changfeng has many properties and he is participating in dividends. No one knows better than him how much money he can make.
The scientific research institute was worthless money, but Li Changfeng couldn't be so poor that he couldn't even afford three million taels of silver.
However, he also understood the principle of keeping wealth secret, so he did not expose this point and asked doubtfully: "Then how do you make money?"
All the officials also looked puzzled.
Li Changfeng smiled slightly and said: "It's very simple. Transform the Ministry of Railways into a joint-stock system, use the expected future income of the railway to attract wealthy businessmen to invest, and transfer part of the shares in exchange for funds."
Emperor Qianwu was dumbfounded on the spot.
Not only Emperor Qianwu, but also all the ministers in the Xuanzheng Palace were dumbfounded.
They don't understand the concept of shareholding system at all.
Emperor Qianwu was stunned for three breaths before he came back to his senses and asked: "What on earth are you talking about? Can't you explain it more clearly?"
Li Changfeng pondered for a moment and began to explain in the most understandable language.
"The joint-stock system can be understood as many people doing business together. Those who contribute more money will have more shares, and when the money is divided, they will get more shares."
"Everyone knows that the longer the railway mileage, the more profitable it will be. In the past, all the investment income of the state belonged to the state. After the state sold a part of the shares to individuals, these people could also participate in the dividends. This is probably what it means."