The construction of a railway line from Bangkok to Daming, not to mention the construction of the technical problem, is an astronomical amount of more than 1,000 kilometers of railway, according to the investment in the construction of the railway in Daming, each kilometer has at least 30,000 taels of silver, Zhang Bishi needs to invest about 40 million taels of funds, which is not what he can come up with now. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

Later generations rumored that Zhang Bishi had a wealth of 80 million taels of silver in 1869, which was obviously impossible, at that time it was only ten years since he arrived in Nanyang, how could he have such a huge wealth, and his wealth was mainly concentrated in land, although it was a very valuable fixed asset, but it was difficult to realize.

asked Zhang Bishi to take out 40 million taels of silver at one time, and he knew that he would not be able to take it out even if he was bankrupt.

But he couldn't take it out, the Nanyang Chinese did, and he quickly had an idea.

Tell Rama V his idea, saying that he wants to raise funds among the Nanyang Chinese, Rama V suggested that he can raise funds among the Siamese Chinese, telling him that the Siamese Chinese are the most wealthy people in Siam, obviously Rama V wants the Siamese Chinese to control more control of the railway, and he is more assured of the Siamese Chinese.

Zhang Bishi understood Rama V's thoughts, knew that the king still had concerns, since he planned to make a desperate bet on building the railway in Siam, then he must deal with the relationship with the Siamese royal family, and the support of the Siamese king can affect the success or failure of the railway to a large extent.

He took a fancy to the interests of the railway, and planned to go all out, so he could not afford to lose.

So he immediately said that he would give priority to raising funds among the Siamese Chinese, and hoped that the Siamese royal family would become a major shareholder of the railway company.

King Rama V immediately agreed that the Siamese royal family would invest 10 million taels of silver in the railway company, and also authorized the railway company to use the name of the Siamese royal family, that is, the railway company could be called the Royal Siam Railway Company.

After the arsenal took away the railway technicians who had worked in the Daming Railway Company, it immediately formed an ordnance construction company together with other civil engineering and construction personnel in the arsenal, specializing in the construction of various large-scale projects, from ports and wharves, high-rise buildings to railway bridges, they had a complete set of technical solutions, and they were willing to work as long as they were paid.

If you can use the banner of the Siamese royal family, I believe that the rich Chinese businessmen in Siam will enthusiastically join the shares and raise tens of millions of taels of silver, and they plan to invest all their financial resources, his land and mines cannot be sold, but they can be mortgaged to the banks of the Ming Dynasty for financing, and the Siamese royal family also intends to contribute 10 million taels, in fact, there are not many shares left for the Siamese Chinese businessmen, and they may not even be enough for them to share.

Zhang Bishi contacted the Ordnance Construction Company on the one hand, and the wealthy Chinese businessmen in Bangkok on the other, and played the banner of the preparatory office of the Royal Siam Railway Company, and published a prospectus, and the railway company made a price of 100,000 shares, at a price of 400 taels per share, sold a quarter of the shares, and raised 10 million taels from the Chinese businessmen.

At the same time, Zhang Bishi also set up a railway preparatory office in Singapore, raised shares from all Chinese businessmen in the Nanyang area, and also took measures to restrict purchases, so that as many Chinese businessmen as possible to buy shares, because he knew that in the future, most of the customers of this railway will be Chinese businessmen, and the more Chinese businessmen who become shareholders, the more stable the source of customers of the railway company. In the end, he sold a quarter of the shares of the railway company to more than 4,000 Chinese businessmen in Nanyang, and also raised 10 million taels.

After the funds were in place, King Rama V officially approved the establishment of the railway company and entrusted Zhang Bishi as the plenipotentiary representative of the Siamese royal family, and Zhang Bishi was also the agent of the Chinese businessmen in Nanyang, so that Zhang Bishi had 70% of the shares in his hands, firmly controlled the railway company, and became the undisputed president candidate.

Zhang Bishi completed the financing within 10 days, and this ability reassured Rama V, believing that Zhang Bishi could also solve the problems of the British, which solved the troubles in Rama V's heart.

Good news always likes to appear in a pile, the Chinese call it a big luck, Rama V's luck also collided, after Singapore successfully signed a peace treaty with France, the Ming and Siam military alliance treaty was finally signed.

After detailed discussions between the two sides, the military obligations of both sides were basically based on the Treaty of Brotherhood and Alliance between the Ming Dynasty and Vietnam, stipulating the military obligations of both sides.

The Ming promised that within ten years, when Siam was attacked by a third country, or when the Ming was attacked by a third country, both sides would support each other with all their forces; The Ming Dynasty should use no less than 2 million troops to aid Siam, and Siam should use no less than 500,000 troops to aid the Ming Dynasty. During the war, the Ming Dynasty would provide all the weapons and equipment, while Siam should ensure the entire supply of food and grass for the Ming army.

This treaty is obviously aimed at Britain and France, because only Britain and France are the most capable of attacking Siam on the Indochina Peninsula, France has just been defeated by the Ming Dynasty, they will definitely not risk another war with the Ming to invade Siam, Britain also needs to consider the risk of invading Siam, through this treaty, Siam is equivalent to buying ten years of peace for itself.

What Siam has paid is nothing more than some economic benefits, the largest is only half of the railway rights, and the other half is still in the hands of the Siamese royal family and the Siamese Chinese. Even if it is an economic benefit, Siam may not be able to suffer much, because once the railway is opened, it will be Siam who will benefit the most.

For the Ming Dynasty, by protecting Siam, they gained a stable base in the Gulf of Siam, ready to use Siam's ports. If Siam's rice production can reach the level of Vietnam, Siam's grain can feed at least 10 million Ming people, so that the Ming can once again obtain a stable grain base in neighboring countries.

Therefore, the Ming Dynasty was also satisfied with this treaty, and Xu Rongcun, the director of the Foreign Affairs Department, believed that Siam, like Vietnam, was firmly tied to the chariot of the Ming diplomatic strategy. From then on, the influence of the Ming Dynasty in the South China Peninsula will greatly exceed that of France, and it can keep pace with Britain, or even surpass Britain.

Zhu Jinglun is not as confident as Xu Rongcun, he knows too well the ingenuity of the Siamese, in history they can play between Britain and France, in the 21st century even between China and the West, always able to play a good balance in the home of the great powers, now they have signed a military treaty with the Ming, don't think that their diplomatic strategy is tied to the Ming, Zhu Jinglun is sure that this side has ceded interests to the Ming, and Siam will definitely strengthen relations with Britain and even France.

In terms of military power, Japan has historically been the best of the three East Asian countries, but when it comes to diplomatic balancing, Siam is the undisputed model.