Ming Zuo

In addition to the country's railway strategic deployment, Zuo Menggeng also needs to meet people who are also eager for railways.

That is the business representative from Jiangnan.

"Your Majesty, I haven't seen you for many years. You are still as healthy as ever. It is really a blessing for all people in the world."

With the change of dynasty, Xu Wenjue has long since lost the hereditary position of Duke.But after abandoning politics and going into business, relying on his strong family background and good relationship with the government, he really made a lot of money.

Just by looking at his handsome figure and silk and satin clothes, one can tell that this guy has become a mature businessman.

"Your Majesty, I am Li Daguang, chairman of Nandu Trading Group."

"I am Qian Weichang, Chairman of Zhejiang Commercial Group."

"I am Su Qizhe, Chairman of Jiangnan Shipping Company."

Introduced one by one, all of them are people with wealth and gods in the south of the Yangtze River.It can be said that these people's pockets are shaking three times, and Jiangnan's economy will be affected.

But now the eyeballs of these people are all red.

Just because they all took the train and saw the vast future of this new form of transportation.

It will definitely be in the great interest of Fukuzawa Bandai if we can get involved in the industry at the beginning.

"King Ji has already reported your thoughts to me. As a businessman, he has the courage to participate in state affairs and wants to contribute to the country. This is something to be encouraged."

As soon as he came up, Zuo Menggeng got straight to the point and set the tone for the matter.

Since ancient times, the status of merchants has been very humble, and they are often fat sheep in the eyes of the government.

This also caused businessmen to either turn to officials to find a backer, or fear the government like a tiger and avoid it like a snake.

Even if the empire has entered a new era, the changes in people's thinking and social environment will require long-term efforts.

Now that he has the emperor's golden words, all the businessmen present are all smiling and eager to try.

"You have already seen the benefits of the railway. As long as you work hard, you can make a lot of money. But there is one thing I want to say first..."

Seeing that Zuo Menggeng was extremely solemn, Xu Wenjue and the others became cautious and did not dare to neglect.

"In addition to creating huge benefits, the railway is also an important weapon of the country, which is related to the safety of the country. Therefore, the country can allow you to participate in operation and investment, but the country must have the right to make decisions on the railway. It can be handed over to you for normal operation, and once there is When a major event occurs, the state will unconditionally expropriate it. In addition, the state must hold a certain percentage of shares in the railway company and have the right to review and supervise operations. At the same time, the railways you build and operate must be consistent with the specifications of your counterparts in other places Only in this way can the railway be connected into a network in the future and pass through the world. Can you meet these requirements?"

All the businessmen were silent and thought carefully, knowing that this was a major matter related to their wealth and lives.

Qian Weichang asked cautiously: "I don't know what is the scope of the country's unconditional expropriation? I'm afraid that the government will occupy the railway regardless of the big or small things. In that case..."

Zuo Menggeng understood his worry very well.

After all, the government is in a strong position, and it may be able to occupy the right of passage of the railway for any reason, which is undoubtedly very detrimental to doing business.

"The state's expropriation of railways is basically concentrated in a few limited areas such as troop deployment and disaster relief. Other than that, it will definitely not affect the daily operation of the railway."

Zuo Menggeng gave a limited range.

When everyone heard it, they were all relieved.

Because the fields mentioned by Zuo Menggeng are the most important events in any dynasty.Not to mention just requisitioning railways, even requisitioning people and supplies is commonplace.

"That being the case, we are relieved."

With regard to private participation in railway construction and operation, the terms and details cannot be determined in a few words.

Zuo Menggeng is just setting the tone here. After returning home, the Ministry of Communications and the Ministry of Railways will have repeated discussions with these businessmen, and finally come up with a mutually acceptable plan.

Zuo Menggeng is more concerned about...

"If you want to build a railway, you need a lot of steel. If it is transported from various places, it may be expensive. Have you considered this issue?"

Businessmen are really fine in their work.

Xu Wenjue said: "Your Majesty doesn't know anything, but iron ore has been discovered in Dangtu, not far from the south. We plan to contribute part of the funds to the Ministry of Mineral Resources to build a new iron and steel smelting plant here, which is responsible for the construction of railway tracks and trains." .In this way, the transportation cost problem can be avoided."

Zuo Menggeng suddenly realized, and only then remembered that Ma'anshan in later generations was originally famous for its iron mines.

"The land in the south of the Yangtze River is densely covered with water networks. Can you solve this problem?"

Although Jiangnan is flat, it is definitely not friendly to traffic construction.

The dense water network always cuts the road intermittently, especially the construction of the railway is really troublesome.

However, when it comes to this, the merchants in Jiangnan are full of ambitions.

"We have reached an agreement with the business group in Songjiang Prefecture that we will build the railway all the way to the east bank of the Huangpu River. We plan to build a railway bridge across the Huangpu River. If successful, we will go further and build a bridge on the Yangtze River. "

Good guy, is the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge available more than 300 years in advance?

Through this incident, Zuo Menggeng also discovered that people's subjective initiative can really create unlimited value.

Of course, he must fully support the aggressive attitude of the businessmen.

"The technical difficulty of building a bridge across the river is very high. You can cooperate with the Academy of Engineering. If you encounter any technical difficulties, the country and the government will come forward to help you."

The cross-river bridge also has important strategic significance. Once realized, the natural moat will become a thoroughfare, which will enhance the country's control just like the railway.

In addition, once the cross-river bridge can be built, it means that with the current technology accumulation of the empire, high-rise buildings can also be built.

This undoubtedly plays an important role in promoting the development of the city.

Seeing that Zuo Menggeng didn't brag about them, but enthusiastically encouraged them, all the merchants in Jiangnan felt relieved.

They have all experienced the evolution from the Ming Dynasty to the Empire, and they feel more strongly about the differences between the two periods.

Although many of them were top dignitaries in the old era, they were aloof, but from the perspective of business, it must be more comfortable in the empire era.

After talking with the representatives of Jiangnan businessmen, Zuo Menggeng also realized that under the influence of him and the empire, the trend of the times has undergone tremendous changes.

The Chinese nation, which originally went in the wrong direction at the crossroads of history, has obviously glowed with surging vitality.

He eagerly wanted to experience this change, so he went to the Academy of Engineering to see what kind of surprises the scientific and technological workers of this era would bring him.

(Stomach hurts today, no more!)