[6,000-word chapter, the plot that continues will not be separated]

As twilight approached, the meeting continued in the small hall of the inner east gate.

The summary of the achievements of the last five years has not yet been completed, and the next policy policy is also being discussed.

Kumamoto took the wat board and went out to play: "For example, Henan, Jingzhao, Daimyo, Taiyuan and other prefectures, all of them have more than 50,000 or even 100,000 households, and tens of nearly one million acres of fields, which is enough to raise the army. At the beginning of Yunnan Road, the number of Han households was only 1,807 households, more than 4,000 ding. Its cultivation and grazing are only enough for its own use, not enough to supplement military supplies. The use of troops is only to protect a city, and it is difficult to defeat the enemy. ”

"Hmm." Xiang answered the Queen Mother and motioned for Kumamoto to continue.

"According to the minister's calculations, at least 2,000 households in Kunming and Li Prefecture have moved in to achieve a balance between tax revenue and daily expenditure, and if you want to meet the needs of soldiers and horses along the road in Yunnan, you must reach at least 10,000 households. The counties along the road to Yunnan also need at least 500 Han households per county on average to ensure the daily supply of passing cars and horses, and more than 1,000 households can ensure the stability of the county and avoid thieves. ”

"Xiong Qing." Empress Dowager Xiang was a little impatient, "All the way to Yunnan, how many Han households do you want in total?" ”

Kumamoto said: "At least 8,000 households are needed at the bottom, 30,000 households are needed at the middle, and the more the better." ”

"Eight thousand households...... That's a lot. ”

If it was when she first started to take power, the Empress Dowager would probably say, '8,000 households, not too much, 20 households in a military state, and 8,000 households in 400 military prefectures.' But now she knew it was impossible.

"But 8,000 hukou is indispensable for stabilizing Yunnan Road. The minister heard that Han Xianggong followed Wang Xiangmin to open up the river in the past, and the first thing he did was not to exterminate the Tibetan people, but to try to plant cotton in the local tuntian. Only when the Han people can live and reproduce in the local area can this land truly belong to China. ”

The local finances have been unable to make ends meet for a long time, and under the impetus of well-intentioned people, it is easy for the court to pass a resolution to give up that land.

"I understand this. This matter will be handed over to Huang Sheng to arrange, as for the household registration to move in, Xianggong, and what happened to the nursing homes in various places. ”

Han Gang said: "All the relief homes in various places have been reported for repair, and the Chinese book has also been issued. ”

"With the Prime Minister presiding over this matter, I am relieved. This is a good thing, it concerns the people, and it has to be done properly. ”

"It will not cause His Majesty to worry."

Orphanages are only about beggars and homeless people. For the government, as long as there are no dead people, how to arrange it can be, and the Queen Mother only mentioned it in passing, and did not attach much importance to it.

Stretched, took another sip of tea, and asked the Queen Mother, "The things in the northwest and southwest have been said, what's next?" ”

"It's about iron smelting." Han Gang said: "This matter is entrusted by Deng Runfu to His Majesty. ”

"Deng Qing, let's talk about it."

Deng Runfu went out as he said, "Steel production continues to grow this year. At the Tokyo Iron Yard, pig iron production totaled 2.3 million stone last year, and the amount of steel produced by improving the steelmaking method the previous year also reached more than 55,000 stone. Xuzhou Iron Yard, 800,000 stone of pig iron. Cizhou Iron Field, 300,000 stone of pig iron, 50,000 stone of steel......"

"Why is there so much steel in Cizhou?" Empress Dowager Xiang interrupted Deng Runfu's speech.

The pig iron production of Tokyo Iron Works is 2.3 million stones, and the steel is only more than 50,000 stones, while the pig iron output of Cizhou is 300,000 stones, and the steel is also 50,000 stones. That's a huge disparity.

Deng Runfu said: "The steelmaking method that has just been improved today was created by Gao Hu, an ironworker in Cizhou Iron Field, which was first implemented in Cizhou, also known as Gao's steelmaking method. ”

This is similar to the nomenclature of animals and plants that is commonly used today, and it is tempting to attract newcomers with fame and fortune. Half of the reason why the Compendium of Materia Medica has not yet been completed is to identify more and more newly discovered plants and animals from all over the world.

"Gao's ......" Empress Dowager Xiang obviously doesn't like this surname.

The Queen Mother's whispers came from behind the screen on Her Majesty, and the courtiers present were speechless for a while. Who doesn't know this knot in Queen Mother's heart, but this is also a little too sensitive.

Han Gang said: "Gao Hu's ancestor and grandson III are engaged in iron smelting, and I have been an ironworker for a long time, and the Cizhou Iron Yard has been supervising it for three years, and the steel output has increased significantly every year. In the middle of the year, there was a table on the table, showing him as an official, in order to reward his merits, and His Majesty Xià promised him. ”

Empress Dowager Xiang thought about it carefully, and her impression seemed to have heard of this incident, "I see, I do remember it." If this Gao's steelmaking method exists, it is a good thing to have more iron, and it is even better if there is more steel. ”

Su Song and Han Gang led Zai Fu to praise the wisdom of the Queen Mother, and Deng Runfu continued to list the achievements of this year's steel industry, and finally concluded, "...... It is difficult to calculate the private iron smelting, and the output of the government-run iron yard last year totaled 5.83 million stones. Compared with the previous year, it increased by 420,000 stones, an increase of 9 percentage points. ”

"Doesn't seem to have a high growth rate like last year?" Empress Dowager Xiang has been listening carefully, and when she heard the last sentence, she immediately asked: "Remember last year it was eleven percent, right?" ”

"Your Majesty, that's because the Taipingzhou [Ma'anshan] Iron Yard on Jiangnan East Road was completed at the beginning of last year and began to produce iron."

"That's right." The Queen Mother suddenly said, "Without the new iron yard, it can increase by 9% last year, which is really commendable." ”

Zhang Dian watched the conversation between the Queen Mother and the Governor of the Council, and suddenly felt a little strange feeling in his heart.

If it was ten years ago, Deng Runfu and the Queen Mother had a conversation in the court, I'm afraid few people would understand, what is an increase of nine percentage points? What does it mean to not have a high growth rate like last year?

Those who know arithmetic can't understand it, and those who don't know arithmetic can't understand it. This choice of words and sentences is too peculiar, even if he is proficient in arithmetic, at first glance I don't know why. Just like those application questions, if you can't understand the true meaning of the Chinese characters in the question, no matter how good the arithmetic is, you will only get a wrong answer.

And the source of this qiē is naturally Han Gang, who is standing opposite.

This method of using words first came from "Nature", and over time, it has gradually changed the style of people in the court. Even the Queen Mother is accustomed to such a number ratio, which is simple and intuitive.

Judging from this little thing alone, Han Gang's influence on the world is getting deeper and deeper. Whether inside or outside the government, just the way he speaks and does things has been imperceptibly influenced by him.

Zhang Dian remembered that the last time, Han Gang also asked people to draw a drawing according to the expenditure of the imperial court, and there was only a circle on the drawing, and the straight lines leading from the center of the circle divided this circular pattern into fans of different sizes. Han Gang used this fan shape and used different colors to indicate the specific object of financial expenditure. It's like a piece of baked cake, it's clear who has how much.

The army accounted for the largest piece of the pie, and the subsidies of the clan and the salaries of the officials were also huge expenditures. In addition to redundant soldiers, redundant officers, and redundant expenses, other expenses are pitiful. Even the Ministry of Health and Welfare, which has made great achievements and benefited for generations, cannot even guarantee investment in medicine with the money distributed from the imperial court, and it still has to rely on the income of the hospital and the Bureau of Protecting the Red Army.

So when the Queen Mother understood the picture, she immediately increased her support for the Department of Health and Welfare, but she secretly complained about the military spending.

After Deng Runfu summed up, Han Gang went out to work: "Five years ago, the world's steel output was only comparable to today's Tokyo Iron Yard, and compared with five years ago, the world's steel production more than doubled. If it is five years later, it should be doubled. ”

The annual output of the Tokyo Iron Works is not as good as that of the village-level steel mills a thousand years later. But in the eyes of the world, this is already a jaw-dropping leap, this is a few years ago, the world's annual iron production, if placed before Emperor Xizong ascended the throne, not even half of it. The great development of the iron and steel industry is naturally the credit of several people who have mastered the court in the past five years.

"The growth rate in the past two years has been around 10%, and if it is another five or seven years, it will double again." Xiang asked the Queen Mother, "The imperial court still uses so much iron?" Previously, the Mint also said that the new iron money planned to be minted this year is still 2.1 million yuan, and the increased iron material can still be used? ”

In the first two years of the currency reform, the annual output of iron money was 4 million yuan, which almost accounted for half of the iron production of the government-run iron yards.

"Hui Majesty." Han Gang said: "Although the consumption of iron money is much less than before, the wrought iron cannon has gone through a lot of real yàn and finally finalized. In the future, cast guns of the Firearms Bureau, three-inch and four-inch caliber guns, can use cast iron instead of bronze in the past. Copper can save a lot, but the consumption of iron is greatly increased. Just to meet the needs of the army, a lot of steel is also needed. This matter is best known to the Privy Counsellor of Zhang. ”

"Cangzhou Nigu Village, Sannu Village has just been rebuilt recently, including four six-inch howitzers, 22 four-inch howitzers, six three-inch fast guns, and 37 tiger squat guns. The number of six-inch and four-inch howitzer city defense guns in Sannuzhai is the same as that of Nigu Village, with eight fast guns and 30 tiger squat guns. Including the Daimyo's Mansion, Hebei Road, there were 73 cities and forts equipped with artillery, not counting the tiger squat cannons, and the number of artillery pieces of three inches and above totaled 1,194. ”

"Twelve hundred." The Queen Mother's rounding up questions were done quickly, "It's a lot." ”

"No, Your Majesty, it's too little."

"On average, there are less than 20 gates for each walled fort. Because some of the forts had too many artillery, some prefectures and counties had only four or five guns to defend the city walls. There are 100,000 households in the Daimyo's mansion, more than 100,000 people in the city, and nearly 20,000 soldiers are garrisoned. In such an important place, there are only more than 80 light and heavy artillery, and there are only three on average of one mile of city wall, how can it be defended? ”

The Empress Dowager was silent.

Han Gang suddenly raised his head and glanced at the faintly visible figure behind the screen, and could faintly feel the unhappiness in her heart now.

A few days ago, when I saw a foreigner at home, I wore an idle robe and came out, which was obviously disrespectful to people. When this matter came out, there was a lot of discussion in Shilin.

Although he clearly respected the Queen Mother, the tone of his words also seemed to be teaching people.

"Your Majesty." Han Gang came forward to ease the atmosphere, "There is a natural danger in the east of the river, but there is no danger in Hebei, if you want to make the Liao people dare not take half a step in the border, you must use artillery to turn Hebei into a Jincheng soup pool." ”

"Hmm." The Queen Mother sounded very reluctant to respond.

"There is also a need for more artillery and muskets in the armies everywhere. Is it possible to increase the output of the ordnance supervisor a little more? The 600,000 forbidden troops are all looking forward to receiving new equipment, and they can't be allowed to wait all the time. Jack cannons, 10,000 guns, but 10 million stones. ”

Jack cannons, 10,000 guns. This shocked the Queen Mother.

However, in Han Gang's opinion, although the figure of 10,000 guns is a little exaggerated, there are no twenty or thirty guns of more than 1,000 catties on the sea ships, and it is not enough to fill a new cruiser. And the Great Song Sailor will only be afraid of fewer ships now.

"And the first sea ship to use a steel keel has been manufactured in Jiangning Shipyard. This also requires a lot of steel. Folk spatulas and knives, as well as all kinds of farm tools, are also indispensable to steel. Han Gang carefully analyzed the Empress Dowager, "In addition, the railway is like an iron-eating beast, and every time it is laid, the iron consumed is calculated in thousands of stones. Now that more and more states and counties are applying to build railways, even if today's steel production increases by five or ten times, it will still be unable to make ends meet. Calculated carefully, today's steel production is far from enough to meet the future development. ”

Xiang Empress Dowager sighed slightly, "How many families are going to build branch railways now?" ”

"Every county in Sijing has people who have applied to build roads, and all the state capitals where the main railway lines pass have at least one county to apply for road repairs. If the mileage is calculated, the total length is already several times that of the existing trunk railway. ”

Once the feeder railway is built, the amount of steel required is astronomical. If steel production does not increase, the cost of building railways will rise dramatically. This is the nightmare of all the rich and noble families who are ready to build the railway. If the road builders are short on the railroad tracks, it is inevitable that accidents will be frequent in the future, and it will be honest to the people.

There is no need to bother Hangang about trivial matters related to the regional railway, but if you want to prepare for the regional railway, you must pass the Hangang pass. Conversely, the railway itself also affected Hangang's prestige.

For a long time, the Lingshou Han family, who was running for the branch railway, had already set the route at home, sorted out the land along the way, and even prepared sleepers, cinders, and stones, just waiting for the imperial court to allow them to start building the track.

The reason why Han Gang has been hanging his appetite is, on the one hand, hoping that all participants can calm down and make preliminary preparations, such as route exploration, capital raising, etc., instead of a momentary brain fever, on the other hand, he also hopes that more people can see the benefits of the railway and be able to take advantage in the exchange of benefits. Finally, I also hope that there will be time to train more talents, so that those laymen who only see the money will build the railway into a mess.

Because of Han Jiang, the Lingshou Han family is Han Gang's most powerful supporter, and Han Gang also needs the support of the Lingshou Han family. The interests of the family are far higher than those of ordinary people, and the influence of the Lingshou Han family in the court is much stronger than that of hundreds of thousands of ordinary people.

Including the Lingshou Han family, the clan, the old one, and other wealthy families in Beijing, there is no one who is not interested in the railway. It's not just the railways that make money, but so does the real estate that the railways drive. The prosperity around the stations in Kaifeng, Luoyang and other places is seen by many people. Han Gang's increasingly stable position in the court is also related to his grace like the God of Wealth.

If the price of steel rises sharply, then why not make a fuss? Han Gang will also lose a good ally who has done a good job. Moreover, the reduction of the cost of railway construction also has an immediate effect on the development of the railway.

"According to Xianggong, is it time to repair the regional railway?"

"In the past five years, the Beijing-Si, Jingluo, Jingbao and other railways have been opened to traffic one after another, and the Daipu Railway is also about to be opened to traffic, and the country's financial plan has become increasingly rich." "But the railway track, there is only one way, how many counties can not enjoy its benefits, the imperial court is unable to build for a while, if the people can be built on behalf of the imperial court, commerce and trade are prosperous, the imperial court can sit back and enjoy its benefits."

"The cost of road repair is not small, if it is private fundraising, how many can build it?"

Han Gang immediately said: "Your Majesty asks you to allow the establishment of railway trading companies in various places, and the railways will be operated by joint shares. ”

Overseas businessmen, there are very few people who have the financial resources to directly build and buy ships, and the number of people who can charter a ship to transport goods is not very large, most of them are three or five people, seven or eight people's goods, sharing a boat.

There are two ways to do this, one is to buy a cabin. On a sea ship, one or several cabins are chartered to carry their own cargo, but this carries great risks and gives the sailors on board the opportunity to get their hands on it. When the ship is sailing at sea, the ship will more or less get some water, some seep in through the cracks, and some will have a gap in the ship's gang, but each compartment is isolated from each other, and one of the cabins will enter the water, while the other cabins will not necessarily enter the water. In the event of bad luck, or if someone else is dipped in water and the others are unharmed, the owner of the cargo will still go bankrupt even if the ship returns smoothly.

So another good way is to raise shares. A joint venture of multiple people to contract a sea vessel, and purchase a ship of goods, each of them owns the corresponding shares according to the proportion of the money. If you earn, you will be distributed proportionally, and if you lose, you will also be distributed proportionally, and the more shares you have, the more you lose.

The joint-stock system similar to this appeared very early, and this is what each family intends to do, and there is no need for Han Gang to bother with words. But after all, it was only a joint stock operation, and what Han Gang secretly wanted to see was not the joint-stock system, but the next step of the joint-stock system - the trading of shares is also available today, but it has not yet developed to the point of establishing a professional exchange for stock trading.

Han Gang once envisioned that the stock market would appear early in the world—perhaps the first stock exchange market in the East—but he didn't know exactly when the stock market in the West appeared, or maybe it had already appeared—and then give the wealthy and eunuchs another means to profit from the small people.

With Han Gang's understanding of the eunuch families around him, once the stock market appeared in this era, it would immediately be in the hands of the powerful, and it would be used as a tool to defraud the small people of money, and no means could restrain them.

Not to mention the stock market, as long as the imperial court allows the public issuance of shares, the problem is big. In the name of building a certain railway, a railway trading company was established, listed to raise funds, and then a few miles of roads were built to fill the façade, and then the trading company was simply closed, and the raised shares naturally fell into the hands of the family who controlled the trading company.

In the middle, as long as the local officials are bribed, and finally a scapegoat is pushed up, those crocodiles can easily swallow all the money without worrying about any consequences. And they can do the same thing once, twice, three times, or even a dozen times, and there will always be a stupid fish with greed and lack of judgment who will take the bait.

However, if the stock market is used properly, it is also an opportunity to gather people's strength and develop industry, and it is also a good way to change the people's atmosphere.

To be honest, Han Gang couldn't be sure what the situation would become when this bomb was dropped. But if you don't get a bomb to blow up the silt for thousands of years, I don't know what year the silt will melt away. Moreover, there are government-run railways as benchmarks here, and what becomes of private railways will not affect the status of railways too much.

"This matter can be presented tomorrow, and I should take a closer look."

"Obey." Han Gang received the order, and said: "The minister will ask His Majesty to recall Shen Kuo again, it is a matter of the railway, and this matter should be presided over by him." ”

"Hmm. Xuan Shen Kuo returned to Beijing. The Queen Mother said.

"陛xià." Deng Runfu suddenly came out of class, "The minister has a word." ”

"Deng Qing, please speak." Said to the Queen Mother.

"The railway was originally a royal road, and its branch lines were built by private individuals, and there was no precedent to follow, and there was no precedent to prove, so it could not be carried out in the world. In accordance with the old laws and regulations of green seedlings and exemption from military service, it should be tried in one or two places first, and if there is no hindrance, it will be promoted to the whole world. Deng Runfu said: "In the humble opinion of the ministers, Hebei faces the enemy, and the Beijing division is the richest, one of the two places urgently needs a railway, and the other does not have to worry about the lack of capital, which is the most suitable among the roads." He asked His Majesty to allow Hebei and Gyeonggi to start building branch railways. ”

"Han Xianggong, what do you think?"

What Deng Runfu said is what Han Gang is ready to do. There are so many talents who can build roads, if the stalls are spread too wide, how can the quality be guaranteed? Moreover, there will be no shortage of things in the middle of road construction, and there will be a charter to solve it after the trial.

But he didn't have any communication with Deng Runfu beforehand, Zhang Dian and others knew that the railway was his territory, and he wouldn't even interject when he was idle, Deng Runfu stood up at this time, didn't he just plan to do something?

Han Gang thought only for a moment, then threw it aside, and said, "The minister has no objection, this is Lao Cheng's move to seek the country." ”

"Okay. It's decided first, "Xiang Xiang said to the Queen Mother," wait for Shen Kuo to go to Beijing and then discuss the charter. ”

The monarch and the ministers discussed for a long time, and the Empress Dowager Xiang was also tired, drank tea, changed her posture, and asked tiredly: "Hukou, steel, railway, what else do you have to say?" ”

Han Gang hesitated for a moment, unable to decide whether to stop here or talk about other things.

I saw an attendant, who came over in a panic at this time. Only said two words in the ears of the Queen Mother, there was a snap behind the screen, I don't know what fell to the ground, and the little emperor in front jumped up,

"陛xià."

Several Zaisuke exclaimed together.

"Su Xianggong, Han Xianggong, all the Qing families, the Empress Dowager ......" the Empress Dowager pondered her words, "I have just become immortal." ”