On February 26 of the first year of Tiansheng, the official road from Tokyo to Nanyang was completed and opened to traffic, and the great significance of the cement official road was seen, if the official road was extended to the south to the Jinghu area, it would be greatly developed, and the transportation was convenient, and the densely populated Jingxi Road and Jingbei Road immigrants could be enriched to the sparsely populated Jinghu North Road and Jinghu South Road. Therefore, the importance of official morality is highlighted. The planning of the official road is on the agenda. Four official roads are planned, and now Tokyo will be the axis, and one will go east through Yingtian to Qingzhou. 1,300 li; to the west through Henan to Jingzhaofu, 900 li; 1,300 miles south through Nanyang to Gangneung; To the north to the Daimyo, five hundred and fifty li.

It was mentioned that it was also possible to allow each road to build its own official roads in its jurisdiction, and the construction of railways was also discussed. The construction of railways is high, costly, long and difficult. Kou Zhun and other ministers also saw that the significance of the railway was more important than the official road, and they also reluctantly shelved it first. At this time, Chen Yaozuo, the squire of the military department, proposed that the railway could be built at the border pass, and the army materials could be transported, and the railway from the daimyo to Zhengding was a total of 400 li.

At this time, Meng Ming also came to the court, Meng Ming participated in the design and construction of 8 official roads and railways, and was regarded as a technical official. Meng Ming listened to the discussions of the ministers, and Meng Ming felt that he should come up with a plan, a plan for the imperial court to spend less or even no money, relying on the participation of private capital, Meng Ming actually had an idea. After thinking about it, Meng Ming came out of the queue and said: "Ladies and gentlemen, listen to me, Meng Ming has a plan to explain" So he said the idea of introducing private capital, for the construction of the railway, you can bid for the right to operate the railway, such as the construction of a railway from Tokyo to Yangzhou, 1,300 miles, a single line costs 13 million guan, and a double line costs 26 million guan. It can be undertaken by a wealthy businessman, and the court will not pay a penny. However, the contractor must be given the right to operate for 20 years, which will be managed by the contractor, and freight must be levied on the freight, including materials transported by the state; Passenger transport can be ticketed. So that the contractor can recover the cost and also make a profit. Twenty years later, the imperial court took back the state-owned railways. In fact, this example can also be used as a reference for official roads.

After Meng Ming finished speaking, he stood back in his place, and all the ministers weighed it, and finally agreed to this plan, after all, it was the most beneficial to the imperial court, and the key was that it didn't cost money. Twenty years later, the state was granted a railway, and finally Kou Zhun proposed to build a department under the direct management of the government affairs hall, which was responsible for the construction of official roads and railways, and was responsible for bidding and supervising the operators. And named the department the Ministry of Transport, and nominated Lu Yijian as the squire and Meng Ming as the langzhong. In the end, the government hall approved Kou Zhun's proposal.

The Ministry of Transport was tied with the other six ministries, and the six ministries became seven. Meng Ming, Langzhong, is a fourth-rank official in real positions. Since Lu Yijian is the deputy prime minister and needs to be on duty in the political affairs hall, the position of the squire is really nominal, and he will not manage the specific affairs of the ministry, so Meng Ming is the real chief official in the ministry. Since the Ministry of Transport is a start-up, it can only cross the river by feeling the stones, the appointment of officials, the establishment of the system, and the training of personnel. Meng Ming came by himself, he really grabbed his hair and beard, Meng Ming asked Lu Yijian to give a right-hand man to help straighten out the affairs in the yamen, just like the housekeeper in Meng Ming's mansion, and finally Lu Yijian sent Yan Shu. Yan Shu is now thirty-one years old, and he is a member of the fourth rank. Meng Ming and Yan Shu have a clear division of labor, Meng Ming is in charge of all matters in the department, but mainly focuses on the business, the construction of official roads and railways, line planning, topographic surveying and mapping and other technical business, as well as the bidding of official roads and railways and the supervision of contractors. Yan Shu is in charge of logistics management, personnel management and other businesses.

After getting off duty, he and Yan Shu called Chen Zhizhong to Fanlou for a meal. Then go home.

After Meng Ming arrived home, he called Cao Ning and asked him to make an appointment with other meritorious children, and meet in Fan Lou in the evening, Meng Ming wrote a plan for the construction of the railway from Tokyo to Yangzhou, a bidding agreement, a contractor's operating fees, and a standard guidance book. Meng Ming also compiled a technical guide and personnel training book for the construction of the railway; The planning of stations along the railway line is to set up five first-class stations in Tokyo, Shundefu, Xuzhou, Sizhou, and Yangzhou, and eight second-class stations between each first-class stations and in the prosperous prefectures and counties, with a total of 13 stations. Meng Ming transferred 400 students from the first and second sessions of the science department at the University of Tokyo, and 40 students with excellent grades were awarded official positions, of course, most of them were of the eighth grade or ninth grade, while Chen Qinian was awarded the sixth grade of the real job, and the other six who participated in the construction of the railway were awarded the seventh grade of the real job, and these 40 students were all overjoyed, after all, with the official status, the other students were also envious, and they also secretly cheered themselves up, and decided to take these 40 people as an example to study hard, improve themselves, and obtain official positions as soon as possible. Chen Qinian, who participated in the construction of the railway, began to receive training, especially in geological exploration, topographic exploration, bridge design of rivers and canals crossed, and other professional topics.

In the evening, Meng Ming prepared nearly 20 copies of the promotional materials, planning documents, operational limits, prospect forecasts and other texts about the railway. Meng Ming waited in the private room of Fan Lou, and from time to time everyone arrived, including Cao Ning, Gao Wenhuanwai, Shi Yanbin (Shi Shouxin's great-grandson), Murong Junyi (great-grandson of Murong Yanzhao, King of Henan County), Wang Kexu (great-grandson of King Xianqi of Qin), Yang Wenguang (Yang family of Tianbo Mansion), Chong Yu (son of Chong Shiheng), Pan Liangzuo (great-grandson of Pan Mei, Duke of Korea). Unexpectedly, Cao Ning's fifth grandfather also came, and his news was quite well-informed. All the teenagers looked at Cao Ning with resentment, and secretly said in their hearts that Cao Ning was not particular, Cao Ning also looked bitter, and the fifth grandfather Cao Xi insisted on coming, and he couldn't help it. Everyone ate this meal relatively dullly, and because Cao Xi was there, all the teenagers couldn't let go, and finally everyone dispersed, and Meng Ming gave each a text. But Cao Xi didn't leave, but looked at the documents carefully, asking while reading, and Meng Ming also answered them in detail one by one, and it took half an hour to finish.

After reading and listening, Cao Yu said: "Master Meng, I have spoken in detail, I also understand it, don't sing high-profile, my Cao family participated in the construction of this railway, but the investment is too big, and my Cao family can't eat it." I summoned a few of my Cao family's friends to participate together, but "I readily agreed, and he wanted to send a few Cao family children to participate in study and training, and I also agreed."

The next day, Meng Ming found the Yangzhou Chamber of Commerce in Tokyo and returned to see the president, whose surname was Liang and his name was Yingyuan, who was a big salt merchant and a maritime merchant. Meng Ming explained the railway to him in detail, especially the policies of the imperial court, construction costs, operating profits, etc. I also talked in detail about the occupation plan along the railway, all of which were answered by numbers, and the businessman just likes to settle accounts, and instead of saying some empty official words like "benefiting the country and the people", it is better to tell him how much money he can earn on this railway project. So Meng Ming's words had already moved him, and he was also ready to invite a few close friends to participate.

During Meng Ming Farm, I saw a goose catcher carrying a goose that was shot dead and sighed, Meng Ming inquired after seeing it, only to hear the goose catcher say that there is a pair of winged geese flying in the sky, and after the one in his hand was killed, another wild goose fell from the sky and died of martyrdom. Said that he would never shoot geese again. I bought this pair of geese, buried them together next to Fenshui, and built a small tomb called "Wild Goose Hill".

On the tenth day of March in the first year of Tiansheng, the railway from Tokyo to Yangzhou was officially tendered, and on this day in the Ministry of Transport, the propaganda column in the ministry was full of knowledge about the railway, which was detailed and comprehensive, and it was easy to understand at a glance. The billboard was crowded with people, all of whom were heads of meritorious families and giant businessmen in various states and counties, all watching in detail. Meng Ming sent the tender that had already been printed, and there was no need to explain too much. Finally, Meng Ming announced the merchants who entered the bidding list. Among them, the Tokyo side is the meritorious family headed by the Cao family, specifically: the Cao family, the Gao family, the Shi family, the Murong family, the Wang family, the Yang family of Tianbo Mansion, the Chong family, and the Pan family, of which the Cao family invested 2 million guan, several other families invested 1 million guan, and Meng Ming asked Uncle Xiang to invest 2 million guan; Yangzhou is a big grain merchant, a big salt merchant, a silk merchant, specifically the salt merchant Liang family invested 3 million guan, the grain merchant Yuan family 3 million guan, and the silk merchant Lin family 3 million guan; Xuzhou is a Cao gang, with an investment of 2 million; The grain and oil merchants of Shunde Prefecture have two million families; The Li family, a tea merchant in Sizhou, has two million guan. So far, the bidding has been completed, according to the amount of investment, the proportion of equity and dividends is determined, the contract is signed, and the signature is signed and sealed by the official. Each party shall keep an original copy of the text, and then leave a copy of the Ministry of Transport for archiving, and the contract shall take effect immediately.

Meng Ming sent people to build a large steel-making plant and a cement factory in Xuzhou, Sizhou, and Yangzhou, each of which had three seven-meter blast furnaces to ensure that the output could keep up with the progress of railroad tracking; Each cement plant has also increased its capacity to produce cement sleepers. The rails were laid in sections, so the fastest speed of the railway entered the state of construction, and the four hundred students sent by Meng Ming also played a key role, once again impressing the court and merchants. Now Meng Ming breathed a sigh of relief, as soon as the railway business was on the right track, Meng Ming didn't have to do it personally, once the Bianyang Railway was opened, he could get out, Meng Ming really didn't want to mix in the officialdom. Time passed quickly, and soon winter began, but the construction of the railroad remained unaffected, and because of the winter, the number of people who came to work doubled, so the speed more than doubled. Meng Ming is more idle now, and Meng Ming's wedding date is approaching, on the sixth day of the lunar month.