"Big brother, the Southwest Straight Road Plan Transportation Department has sent it, I took a look and felt that it was too difficult. They're a little bit in a hurry. "On the fifteenth day of the seventh month of the third year of the Apocalypse, it was supposed to be the Midyear Festival today, and the cabinet organized some sacrificial activities, but basically Li Xuanqing handed them over to Cui Lian and their royal etiquette department to deal with. For Li Xuanqing and Qiaoxi, there is still no need to pay too much attention to the matter of sacrificing ghosts and gods, although there is no worldview of later generations in this era, but now that technology has entered the right track, it should not cause too much backlash. It's just that the Midyear Festival is also a traditional festival, let the Etiquette Department arrange it by itself. Therefore, Li Xuanqing still began to ponder the Western trade plan sent by the previous cabinet.

In fact, according to the development of the Silk Road in the past, the Nanyang route has been opened and there are still many trade routes that can be widened after the navy sends warships to it. Although the level of the Angkor Dynasty, the Sanban and the Queen's Kingdom on the Southeast Peninsula is not high, they are basically related to the Central Plains Dynasty, after the Tang caravan and warships sailed over, these countries are willing to take out their native products in exchange for the Tang Dynasty's goods and goods, and with their respective stores of gold and silver goods and South China Sea specialties, the benefits of the Nanyang trade have faintly caught up with the Xu family's Oriental trade. If it weren't for the navy's transfer of the main fleet to Fuzhou and Shantou, and the third and second battalions to carry out sea-crossing combat training, preparing to go to Liuqiu to defeat Qian Biao, I am afraid that the Datang caravan would have to drive to Srivijaya and its surroundings in the later generations. Compared to other places, there are still large-scale regimes in these places.

Li Xuanqing did not stop the navy's plan, but asked the General Staff to transfer the second battalion and the third battalion stationed in the southwest, preparing to take Qian Biao in one fell swoop. After Liuqiu, you can basically go to the Philippines along the Bass Strait and the Balintang Strait. It's just that the big islands in this era are basically in a primitive society, and there are no other places at all, because they are close to the Central Plains cultural radiation circle, and have come to the ranks of civilization.

"Eager for quick success? Let me see. Li Xuanqing took the plan in Qiaoxi's hand and looked at it while thinking about the navy's next move, but then began to frown. According to the plan of the Ministry of Communications, they will build the straight road from Qiqi to Nanzhao and Yunnan on the basis of the original straight road to Ganpu City and Mino Kingdom, and at the same time start from Chengdu, Sichuan, and widen the straight road from Guanzhong to Hanzhong and then to Chengdu, and then go south through Luzhou to reach Mazhou in Qiqi. In this way, the main road of the entire southwest is basically completed.

"Do these guys think they don't need money for explosives? Or do you think that the landslide on the southwest side has not buried them enough? Li Xuanqing put down the plan and smiled bitterly. According to the idea of this plan, it is very good, once the main road is completed, the remaining roads will be gradually completed in a few years by relying on the annual plans of the provincial and regional government offices. But we also have to look at the terrain, the straight road that so many captives built into the Qiqi at the beginning took more than half a year, and it was connected from the original road in Jingzhou, and it cost a lot. This rash construction of such a high-grade road and thousands of miles long, is it possible that the treasury still has money this year?

"Qiaoxi, let's go, let's go to the cabinet building. I'm afraid that those guys from the Ministry of Communications are already waiting for us at Mr. Cen's. This time, we can't issue government bonds anymore. Li Xuanqing pulled Qiaoxi and said with a wry smile as he walked.

Qiaoxi is also a little helpless, after the country's economic situation is very good, coupled with the stimulation of overseas trade, several people at the helm of the cabinet are a little anxious for quick success, thinking about things will ignore a lot of things. Not to mention how much raw material is needed for such a huge road construction project. Even if there is, the economic foundation of the southwest region is weak, except for Sichuan, there is only one cement factory in Qiqi, and the output is barely enough for the internal needs of Qiqi Province. If it takes a lot of money to mobilize cement from other places, plus the cost required in the middle of the way, Qiaoxi is a little afraid to think about where the cabinet has the courage to do this. You must know that the empire is still at war now, and the northwest side still needs a steady stream of materials to enter, and the last section of the railway from Fengzhou to Tianjin is stuck in the Yanshan Mountains, and Yang Hu has already brought people over to personally command the tunnel. Is the Cabinet sure that there is still money now? Or has the South Seas Trade recently dug up a gold mine?

"Big brother, could it be that the Zhang family dug up gold on which island in the South Sea?" Seeing Li Xuanqing's solemn face, Qiaoxi couldn't help but shake his arm, and said with a soft smile: "I guess Mr. Cen and the reason why they changed their temperament is only because of the profits of overseas trade. ”

Li Xuanqing smiled reluctantly, and without saying much, he walked into the cabinet building and came to Cen Tianshi's prime minister's office. Sure enough, several people from the Ministry of Communications were there, even with Murong Hanhai, Qi Hong from the Ministry of Finance, and even Yin Hongfeng from Qianzhuang.

"Looks like everyone is here, just wait for me. Tell me how you got this proposal? Li Xuanqing ignored the crowd and got up to salute him, walked to the conference room next to him with Qiaoxi, sat down, waved his hand, and said, "The Ministry of Finance said first, how much money do you have now?" ”

Li Xuanqing's tone made Qi Hong a little embarrassed, but Cen Tianshi, who was on the side, got up and said: "Your Majesty, the Southwest Straight Road plan was put forward by the minister, but after the Ministry of Communications did it, it was found that the biggest obstacle to the economic development of the southwest region was the road problem, and the materials and commodities from all over the country could not be transported out, and the goods from other places could not be transported in, resulting in the southwest region lagging behind the Central Plains region for a long time. So I thought that since I made a plan, this is a good thing for the benefit of the country and the people, and it will be done in one step. ”

"Okay, big brother, Mr. Cen, they are also kind to the country and the people. It's just that the actual situation is not taken into account. Qiaoxi got up when he saw Cen Tian and explained the situation, and immediately understood that the cabinet was afraid that he had already realized the problem, although the temptation was huge, and finally decided to shake it in front of Li Xuanqing with an attitude of trying. So Qiaoxi continued: "Although the plan of the Ministry of Communications is perfect, the problem is that our current manpower, technical conditions and building materials cannot meet the demand, there are too many mountains in the southwest region, and the road construction conditions are poor, even if all the machinery that can be used at present is transferred, you will not be able to repair this road in a short period of time, and it can even be said that you will not be able to complete such a huge straight road construction plan within five years." Therefore, instead of saying this, it is better to focus on the road network of the provinces and regions proposed by the previous gentleman, and connect it little by little, maybe this way can be faster. ”

"What if more than 200,000 people are put into the work? Once the southwest road is connected to the West Sea, we can trade with Western countries, and the income brought by it is enough to make up for the financial pressure caused by the construction of the road, and the southwest will also develop rapidly by relying on this straight road. Wu Zuodong was a little unwilling after listening to Qiaoxi's words, stood up and said: "We also know what Qiaoxi Niangniang means, but the sooner the transportation construction is completed, the sooner it can drive the development of the local economy." Especially in Sichuan, the road out of Sichuan was originally a problem that plagued all dynasties, and if it could be built, it would also be of great benefit to the governance and stability of the empire. ”

Wu Zuodong's words reminded Li Xuanqing of the construction of the Guangdong-Han line in later generations, and in the Republic of China era, he could only repair it from Wuhan to Guangzhou, with the help of the strength and technology of various powers. Li Xuanqing didn't feel at all that the technology he had painstakingly maintained could reach the level of the powers of later generations. When he thought of the undulating mountains in the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau in southern Sichuan, Li Xuanqing's mind exploded. He had long understood how the road leading to Qiqi had been built, and that kind of quality road was honestly not for the timely arrival of pre-military materials, Li Xuanqing would not have planned to repair it, and a flash flood would directly wash away a large section of the road, and it would not be enough to repair it.

However, seeing Wu Chokdong's indomitable expression and the fact that several ministers around him were looking at him with a kind of hope, these people in the upper echelons of the empire who had been driven by the domestic economic development in the past two years understood the importance of economic development and began to embrace the new style of governance brought by Li Xuanqing, which made him really unable to veto this proposal. Even Li Xuanqing himself understands that if he has seized the outlet to the Indian Ocean in this life, it is indeed a bit undesirable to take the previous ocean route that detoured to the southeast peninsula if he does not take advantage of it. So Li Xuanqing thought for a while and said: "This plan is to send people to explore along the way, plan the route, and then use southern Yunnan and Nanzhao and the three provinces of Guangdong as the benchmark to build a road network café in the south in advance." As for Sichuan, it is still to take the Hanzhong line, or send people to repair the waterway of the Yangtze River, and use explosives to blow up all the tidal flats, reefs, reefs, and other things that can be blown up on those sections of the road that are not easy to walk, and try to open up the waterway. Wait until the roads in the three southern provinces are repaired before extending to the north. As for the shipyard on the West Sea side, you can arrange for the Zhang family's shipyard to open a point over there, don't think about iron-hulled ships in the early stage, just build wooden ships directly. Anyway, there is not much problem with the wooden sailing ships on the West Sea side, and when the navy finishes the flow of demand, a detachment will be sent over to carry out the task of escorting ships and opening up new routes. ”

Li Xuanqing's words made everyone a little disappointed, but they also understood that this should be the best way. At least after the completion of the link between Nanzhao and Guangdong, it will actually open up the land passage between Nanzhao and even the West Sea and Nanyang, and a large number of materials and commodities accumulated in the southern economic center will be able to connect the east and west along this road. In this way, Guangzhou's status is bound to rise again, and it will gain greater development opportunities and speed. As for the shipyards on the Western Sea, they can only build wooden sailing ships, well, according to the description of the merchants who came back from the South Seas, even if they come from the Western Ocean, their ships are not as good as the sailing ships that have been eliminated in China. At least Datang's previous technology accumulation on wooden ocean-going ships was much more advanced than those ships that came from the West.

In fact, the merchants who appeared in Nanyang at this time and were mistaken for the West were the prototypes of Arab merchants, and the footprints of these missionaries and merchants who went to the surrounding areas with the expansion of the Arab Empire had far exceeded the scope of Arab Empire rule. These fanatical believers even led some Uighur Khanate rulers into the lure of it.

On the sea route, as the Arab Empire crossed the Iranian Plateau, they also appeared in the Ganges Valley east of the Iranian Plateau, some of them went south to compete with the Hindus for territory, and some of them floated to the South Seas and other places. The Sultanate and the Celestial Sect that emerged in the Nanyang region in later generations actually began at this time.

"What is the current trade situation between the East and South Seas? What about customs revenues? Li Xuanqing thought for a while and continued to ask. Since the cabinet dared to put forward such a huge plan, it must have found a source of expenditure in advance, at least during the war in the northwest, and several internal railways also had additional revenue when the construction period began.

"Oriental trade has actually penetrated the whole territory of Japan, and according to the instructions of the General Staff, they have not participated in the disputes in Japan, but the goods of my Datang are very sought after in Japan. They originally produced gold and silver, so the customs revenue brought by each overseas trip was basically more than one or two million taels of silver, not counting other tax revenues in the country. At present, because the Xu family has announced all the Oriental routes, there are already four or five qualified ocean shipping companies and export companies ready to participate in the Oriental trade, and the Xu family has organized four fleets to Japan in the first half of this year. The second is that the Marines have conquered the Japanese inhabitants of Shikoku Island, established a military overseas province there, and several silver mines inside it will bring back more than one million taels of silver every quarter. Speaking of this, Cen Tianshi had a rare smile on his face, and continued: "The industries supported by Oriental trade are basically enough funds for the economic development of several provinces in the Central Plains. As for the Nanyang side, although it is newly opened, but because there are many routes originally, the Zhang family is the leader, plus the local Liu family and the Lu family and the Ma family in Guangzhou, and the income of each time they go to sea is gradually catching up with the Xu family, and the latest June income of the customs in Guangzhou and other places shows that they have a net inflow of 7 million Tang dollars in June, and the others are various Nanyang specialties, including pearls and spices. ”

"If we add the seizures of the Northwest War, the revenue of the Ministry of Finance in the first half of this year will be able to equal the income of the whole of last year. As for the expenditure, except for the large increase in military spending, everything else is within the plan, and there is no excess expenditure. Qi Hong continued with Cen Tianshi's words. To be honest, after Wan Yi confiscated the treasury of the Long family and the Uighurs in Ganzhou, after a large amount of gold was transported back to Chang'an, Qi Hong even had an urge to let the military continue to send troops to fight as much as possible. Only then did the gold and silver seized in Suzhou catch up with the northeast. In other words, the northwest is really rich, and the northwest region is rich in gold and silver, and a large part of the coins traded there are gold and silver coins, which are much more luxurious than the Central Plains. Therefore, the Ministry of Finance, which almost did not hesitate, was the first to rush out of Hexi and set up branches and money houses in Ganzhou, just to rely on military management to exchange all the gold and silver from the locals.

"In this case, let's start building a straight road from Guangzhou to southern Yunnan, and after repairing it, continue to build it to Dali City, and then go straight to the West Sea." With so much money, Li Xuanqing suddenly found that there was nothing to say, but he still advised: "It's not enough to build roads, the building materials factories along the line should start construction as soon as possible, so that the political envoys of Guangdong and southern Yunnan can build various facilities as soon as possible according to your plan, and ensure that the major enterprises that are anxious by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce will settle in them." Li Xuanqing knew that Murong Hanhai must have prepared these things for the meeting, and he had been doing the gradual expansion of industry from the north to the south.

"Your Majesty, Mr. Cen, you are all here, the envoy of the Guiyi Army has arrived in Chang'an." Before Li Xuanqing finished speaking, Xu Tianxiang hurriedly rushed in outside the door, and seeing that everyone was speaking directly, this sentence made Li Xuanqing's face change suddenly.