Zhou Chun will not refute the assessment of African companies, because African companies have a more authoritative understanding of this area than Zhou Chun.

The African Company established contact with the Manchus as early as the arrival of the Manchus in Persia, and even when the African Company provided military assistance, it was the Manchus who instigated the Manchus to conquer the area east of the Tigris River, and in return, the African Company maintained control of Abadan, an ancient trading town in the valley of the two rivers.

African companies have the most say in the state of business in this area, and if they say that such a coastal railway cannot be profitable, then it must not be profitable, and it is not that no country's coastal railway can rely on sufficient passenger transport to support the profit. At present, among all the major countries in the world, only China has built coastal railways, one is built by the National Railway Company on the east coast of China, from Tianjin to Songjiang, and the other is built by the American Company, the West Coast Railway of the Americas. These two railways, one connects the urban agglomeration of 50 million people in China's coastal areas, and the other connects the west coast of the Americas, which has the highest average wealth in the world.

However, on the edge of the Persian plateau, there is no population and no property, which makes African companies completely disbelieve that the railway can be profitable.

But the subsidy is really not subsidized, the cost of railway construction is quite high, China to build a railway, a kilometer in the plain area is more than 1,000 taels of gold, equivalent to 20,000 taels of silver, 5,000 pounds. The construction of railways in India will never be lower than this figure, although the cost of labor in India is lower, but when machinery and vehicles need to be imported, the cost is higher.

More than a thousand kilometers, the funds needed are calculated in tens of millions of pounds, which is not borne by the heavily indebted Urals and Russia.

"What should I do?"

The Tsaress asked.

"I can only fight local tyrants."

"Who is the local tyrant?"

"Whoever is rich is a local tyrant!"

"Speak human words!"

"You help me find out who is operating the goods that enter and leave the Russian customs and from India. After the railway was built, these people benefited the most. I'm looking for the Chinese customs and asking who has the most merchant ships from India to the Black Sea. I might have to go to the Black Sea. ”

Zhou Chun replied to his wife.

The information was quickly collected, and the merchant ships from India to the Black Sea, of course, were mostly African companies and European companies, the second was British, and then they were more scattered, because the commercial forces operating in India were basically subordinate to China or Britain.

It is impossible to get the British to intervene in this railway, at least the African company will not agree. But African companies, despite being the largest commercial force in the Black Sea for Indian goods, still don't think it's cost-effective to build a railroad just for them. Because the goods from India, mainly bulk commodities such as cotton, have low profit margins, and it is more cost-effective to use steamboats.

When I arrived at the Black Sea, I found that there was a commercial force, although the share is not large at the moment, but the turnover is very high, because the value of their products is high.

This is the Black Sea oil company, which was founded by Chinese businessmen who raised funds and invested in Baku, and in just three years, they dug hundreds of oil wells, built oil refineries, ports and oil tankers.

Zhou Chun thinks that this company is likely to come up with this money because their business is really profitable. Although the cost was also very high, they needed to raise funds to open up relations with the local government of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, rely on the local government to suppress various forces, and maintain high transportation costs, personnel costs, etc. But these are nothing compared to the huge sales, they now have annual sales of up to five million taels of gold, and they are still increasing rapidly, not worrying about not being able to sell, only not being able to produce.

Oil production here has reached 3 million tons, surpassing the 200,000 tons of Wallachia and becoming the world's largest oil producing region. This is not an achievement, because Baku's oil fields are so good, when the Wallachians exploited oil, most of them were still using the backward way of digging pits to collect oil, but some of Baku's oil fields, after drilling out, directly sprayed out, there is an oil well, pumping up to 6,000 tons of oil per day, spraying continuously for half a year, the output of this well alone, far exceeds the entire production of Wallachia.

Zhou Chun also inquired about a situation where there was a problem with the transportation of the oil company. Last summer, the train on which they were transporting kerosene exploded in Kazakhstan, overturning the entire train, not to mention, and blowing up the railroad tracks and rolling noodles, and the railway transportation was interrupted for half a month, and only the railway company refused to transport them to China. After suffering heavy losses, the oil companies made a deal with the railroad companies that they would only transport crude oil and refine it close to the sales market.

Oil company tankers, departing from Baku, transported through the Caspian Sea to Guriev (Atyrau), near the mouth of the Ural River, the earliest Kazakh city and almost the only city before the arrival of the Chinese. From here, oil is transported by rail to the Black Sea and China. Since the railway companies forbade them to transport kerosene by rail, there was no way to China, but the road to the Black Sea was not long, so the oil companies began to build their own railways. They started construction from Baku, along the northern foothills of the Caucasus Mountains, and planned to build it to the port of Silla.

They can transport oil to eastern China for refining, but if they build a refinery in every country, it is not cost-effective.

They might be interested if they were invited to invest in or take a stake in a railway that would lead directly to India and allow them to transport kerosene. But it may not be sure to impress them, because their railways will be built soon, and it will be cheaper to ship them to India. The construction of the railway is expensive and will have to wait a long time, and these businessmen may not have the patience.

There has to be something that impresses them. All Zhou Chun could give was trade privileges for Assam and the Urals. But in order to raise funds over the years, basically everything that can be given has been given to relevant interest groups, and even the power to print money has been given to the Shanxi Guild Hall. Various mines have been authorized to operate by various domestic mining companies. I really can't find anything that can win over the business forces.

Afraid to inquire about everything, Zhou Chun soon heard the news that this group of oil merchants negotiated with the oil merchants in Wallachia to buy each other's oil fields, but the other party refused.

Wallachia's oil fields, in terms of production costs and production, cannot be compared with Baku. But they have the advantage that the Proiesti oil field in Wallachia is just over fifty kilometers from Bucharest, from which it has easy access to the sea via the Danube.

Previously squeezed by the Black Sea oil fields, the Wallachian oil business was dismal, and the Black Sea oil company did not take them seriously.

However, due to the lack of explosions, the Black Sea Oil Company's kerosene could not be shipped out for a time, and the problem has not been completely solved until now, and some oil refineries were urgently built in China, but they have not been solved in Europe. Taking advantage of this opportunity, a large amount of business was stolen by the oil merchants of Proyesti.

The oil fields in Proyesti are nothing, but the point is that they are the only competitors, and if they can be bought and monopolized, the profit margins will be much higher. Moreover, the Austrian refinery is also an important asset that can be valued by the Black Sea oil company at present, and if they can buy the other party's refinery and process their oil here, the problem of not being able to use rail transportation will be solved for the time being.

After learning the news, Zhou Chun knew that he had the absolute certainty of convincing the Black Sea Oil Company to invest, provided that he had to discuss it with his uncle. He sent a shipload of wheat to Greece from the Black Sea, wrote a letter saying that it was donated to the Athenian refugees, and took a long telegram to the past.

So he quickly got what he wanted.

Only then did the head of the Chinese office be invited to negotiate.

I talked to the other party about building the railway, and I hope they will invest.

But the other party is a shrewd businessman, unprofitable things, not interested.

"Your Highness atonements. We and other businessmen have small profits and can't do such a big deal. That railway has to say the least, it has to say 3,000 miles, and the investment is more than 10 million. It's really more than enough to have more than enough strength! ”

"Shopkeeper Wei is too modest, and there is a business that you can't even do in Lixing?"

Lian Li Hong is the largest tea trading house in the Black Sea region, which ships directly from Wuyishan and is wholesaled here. The owner, Wei Lianli, is also one of the richest people in China.

"Your Highness Rong Bing, although Lian Lixing is big, but the villain can't be the master."

"Well, knowing that they can't afford to be early. That Wei Lianli is not a good thing, how much benefit he has deceived my family. I have another benefit here, I don't know if Shopkeeper Wei wants it? ”

The shopkeeper Wei didn't dare to answer, and there were too many rumors about the story of Wei Lianli and the emperor. The emperor followed the emperor's elders when he started, but he left the government early to do business, otherwise he would be a prince now. Despite this, the Wei family has a wide range of connections, and no one dares to say that it is the second in the business world. It is known as a veritable imperial merchant who befriends the Son of Heaven with cloth clothes, enters and exits the palace in the market, and helps the emperor purchase goods. But being told by the emperor and grandson about the benefits of deceiving the heavenly family is also said in the past. Because his owner is really that virtuous, anyone dares to make money.

"Oil fields and refineries in Wallachia!"

Zhou Chun directly threw out the bait.

Sure enough, Shopkeeper Wei's eyes lit up: "Your Highness isn't joking, right?" ”

Zhou Chun snorted: "What am I lying to you about!" ”

Shopkeeper Wei was puzzled: "But the oil field and oil refinery are all Austrians, and they have no reason to give them to His Highness." We've paid a lot of money, and they're not going to sell it. Behind it are several Bohemian nobles, all of whom have connections with the palace in Vienna. ”

Zhou Chun sneered: "Vienna? They're running out of there! ”

Shopkeeper Wei was stunned: "Russia wants to fight Austria?" ”

Zhou Chun said mysteriously: "Shopkeeper Wei really wants to know? ”

Shopkeeper Wei hurriedly shook his head: "The villain doesn't know anything, and he hasn't heard anything." ”

Zhou Chun asked: "Then did the shopkeeper Wei do this business?" ”

Shopkeeper Wei still shook his head: "We have to discuss it again, discuss it." ”

Zhou Chun said: "Hmph." Sure enough, I don't see a rabbit or an eagle, I'm not in a hurry. You can discuss it slowly, or you can wait for the news to see if what I said is true. But you have to hurry, maybe I'll change my mind when it's late. ”

After leaving the Black Sea, Zhou Chun put this matter aside for the time being, and it was impossible to get these merchants to pay real money if he could not take the oil franchise in Wallachia, and the war could not be delayed, because the Austrians were strengthening the military power in the Moldovan region.