When the results of the Nanzhao domestic war reached Chang'an, Xu Tianxiang hurriedly went to find Li Xuanqing, but was told that he had already set off for Fengzhou. As the oldest industrial base of the Tang Empire, Fengzhou naturally bears a benchmarking role. Thinking of this, he turned around and went to the cabinet building on the side to find Prime Minister Cen Tianshi.

Cen Tianshi and Xu Tianxiang thought the same, his emperor's vision of economic development has a superhuman forward-looking, this western expedition was originally a war of attrition, but it seems that Li Xuanqing's posture, eighty percent of the consumption should be regarded as a huge driving force for economic development, and consumption will drive economic development, especially industrial development.

"Big brother, the first phase of the industrial group project has been implemented in Fengzhou, and the large-scale coal chemical plant has begun to be put into operation. Since there is no railway in Fengzhou at present, after getting off the train in Yanzhou, Li Xuanqing still rode a horse with Qiaoxi, and along the way, Qiaoxi began to give a rough introduction to the development achievements of Fengzhou in the past six months.

"The Fengzhou River is wide, but I am afraid that the plan to build a railway to the south will be shelved, and the only thing that can be put on the agenda at present is to connect with Lingzhou to the west, and there is simply the most cutting-edge heavy industry base in our empire gathered in Guanzhong, and most of the headquarters of heavy industry enterprises are in Guanzhong, if the railway is connected to Lingzhou, it is also an option." Li Xuanqing nodded and smiled: "But in the long run, this is not a good choice, and the way out for Fengzhou's development should be to the south or east." Therefore, the purpose of the next stage of the industrial group should be to build a comprehensive steelmaking base on the side of Dongshoucheng, so that it can use the results of the nearby Fengzhou coal chemical base to support the development of the entire empire's steel industry. ”

"There's no problem, as long as there is a road, Dongshou City is basically the Datong of the future, but it is not only close to the coal base, but also water and iron ore resources, everything is good." Qiaoxi snuggled in Li Xuanqing's arms and said with a smile: "Why don't you let the Ministry of Communications build a complete railway line along the northern line of the Yellow River?" It's much easier to build roads on the grassland than in other places, isn't it? ”

Qiaoxi's words made Li Xuanqing couldn't help but touch his nose and said with a wry smile: "I'm afraid that this railway will be delayed, and after this year's preparations for the Western Expedition, all the money that can be freed up by the cabinet will be taken over to build this railway." After a pause, he suddenly nodded and said thoughtfully: "Xu Xingxia has been going to Japan for a month or two, and he should be able to come back before August, maybe the navy will be able to help us solve this problem by then." If Guo Chongtao, this kid, saw that Xu Xingxia and his party had grabbed too many gold and silver treasures, it was estimated that he would drive the warship directly over to grab it. ”

"I think it's better to use Japan as a dumping base for industrial products, and next time we can relax the restrictions, including bicycles, bone china, glass, ironware, and even ships, which they can't produce, plus cotton and clothing, I think we can bring back a lot of money without robbing." Qiaoxi didn't have much interest in grabbing money, but was very interested in selling things, and said with a smile: "If you use all those means in the future, it is estimated that Japan alone can be looted for more than ten years, plus the Sanhan area, it will be more than that, let alone a railway, even if we have the money to build the railway to Anxi." ”

Along the way, the couple kept discussing the various methods used by the capitalist countries in later generations to occupy the colonies during the primitive accumulation of capital, and felt that if this set was used in this era, the effect should not be bad. Qiao Xi would record the results of the discussions every day and hand them to the Ministry of Industry and Commerce when he returned to Chang'an, so that they could study and apply them to formulate foreign trade regulations to guide the subsequent extensive cross-border trade.

After arriving in Fengzhou, Li Xuanqing did not alarm the Fengzhou political envoy, but went directly to the industrial group's base in Fengzhou under the leadership of Zhang Qiang. Today's Fengzhou is no longer the appearance of Li Xuanqing when he first came, the urban area alone has expanded several times, driven by the latest concept, there is already the shadow of the industrial city of later generations, in addition to the commercial area and residential area in the city, several special industrial parks and commercial centers have been expanded outside the city, it can be said that Fengzhou is the highest achievement of industrialization that Li Xuanqing painstakingly promoted. There are basically high-rise buildings with more than three floors, and even after the promotion of new cement, several wealthy businessmen have begun to build high-rise buildings with more than ten floors in Fengzhou.

The roads in and out of the city are also all cement pavement, and Fengzhou has set up a special traffic command department in advance of Chang'an to guide pedestrians in and out. When Li Xuanqing learned of this news, he immediately instructed the Ministry of Transportation and the Ministry of Security to let them conduct a pilot project in Fengzhou, in order to find out the preliminary traffic rules before the interview of the real power vehicle.

"Big brother, we haven't been to Fengzhou for more than a year, right? This change is really big, presumably the Fengzhou political envoy has spent a lot of thought, big brother, you see that many businessmen from the grassland have come to Fengzhou to trade, which is equivalent to relying on Fengzhou alone to radiate the entire Yinshan grassland area. Qiaoxi saw Li Xuanqing standing at the door of the Fengzhou Coal Chemical Base of the Industrial Group looking into the distance, and walked over and smiled.

"With such a grand scene, we can be considered worthy of it." Qiaoxi took Li Xuanqing's hand and said with a smile: "Big brother, let me tell you this time, I am going to build a tourist base on the side of Wuliang Suhai, which is estimated to bring a lot of income every year." The current income level of the people in our old area is no worse than that of Hangzhou, which has been prosperous for a long time, and we have generally improved. ”

"Let's go, let's go over there for a few days when we have something to do in Fengzhou, this time I was in too much hurry and forgot to bring my baby son, so that he can also feel the vastness of the Tang Empire." Li Xuanqing followed Zhang Qiang into this vast chemical base as he walked.

"Your Majesty, please look at the east, the three blast furnaces there can now produce more than 10,000 tons of coke per day, and we plan to build nine blast furnaces in the second phase, and strive to have daily conversations without 10,000 tons, so that we can meet the needs of the steel base in Shenzhou, if you add the blast furnace in Bingzhou, it can basically meet the needs of the whole country, but the transportation in Fengzhou is a big problem, so the progress of the second phase of the project has been slowed down." Zhang Qiang said with a little regret.

"What's your approach now?" Li Xuanqing also scratched his head and asked about this question.

"Because the water surface of the Yellow River in Fengzhou is gentle, it is also more convenient to sail, so we rented 20 free-powered cargo ships from the Guanzhong Canal Shipping Company of the Xu family, and used water transportation to transport coke and other products to the Nanyuan ferry port on the other side, and then entrusted the transportation company of the Fengjia family of Dang Xiang to be responsible for transporting them to other places. In fact, this method is relatively expensive and not too desirable. Zhang Qiang continued: "In winter, ice is used for transportation, and the transportation volume is relatively small. We are now actively exploring other modes of road transportation, and we are preparing to take advantage of the rising water volume of the Yellow River in summer to transport coke to Yanzhou, and then transport it to Guanzhong by railway, this road is much more convenient, and the iron and steel enterprises in Guanzhong are along the railway, and we are still profitable if this road is calculated. ”

"It looks like we're going to start building a railroad to connect Toyosu with other places." Li Xuanqing nodded, there is a way to solve the problem of consumption, but if the coke produced cannot be transported to the iron and steel enterprises in time, it will inevitably lead to the risk of Li Xuanqing's plan for a new round of steel smelting technology innovation being shelved. So Li Xuanqing turned his head and asked, "Qiaoxi, how much money does our industrial group have?" ”

"What do you mean by big brother, are we going to build the railway ourselves?" Qiaoxi was a little shocked and said: "In addition to the construction costs of these two coal chemical bases, the industrial group has millions of Tang dollars, but no matter whether the railway goes east or west, I am afraid that it will be useless." ”

"When the time comes, we will use our income this year as collateral for the Ministry of Communications' loan from Qianzhuang, so it is estimated that we can borrow 30 or 40 million, and I will immediately send a message to the Fengzhou Political Embassy to ask them to immediately prepare with the Ministry of Communications to explore the railway route from Fengzhou to other places, and strive to build an energy railway in a short period of time to transport Fengzhou products into the national market." Li Xuanqing said: "If you are lucky, after a few months when the fleet returns, the Ministry of Finance will have the money to make up for this loan, so that it will not be delayed for three or four months." ”

Li Xuanqing's method made Qiaoxi nodded, this kind of method that was very commonly used in later generations was not strange to the couple of them, but for the Ministry of Communications and the Ministry of Finance, which are seriously overspending this year, I am afraid that the risk is not ordinarily small, especially the Ministry of Communications There is still a long gold line to be built, and I am afraid that the Minister of Transportation, Wu Zuodong, will have gray hair.

After saying this, Li Xuanqing continued to visit the coal chemical enterprises, in addition to coke, the industrial group in Fengzhou this time put into production of other coal chemical products, another important product is sulfide, but can only be put into production to make matches and fireworks products and fuel products. Speaking of which, the chemical level of the laboratory of the industrial group has been ahead of the entire empire under the tireless words and deeds of Li Xuanqing and his wife, including the chemical knowledge learned in the School of Chemical Engineering is summarized from the laboratory. Under the intervention of Li Xuanqing and Qiaoxi, the early chemistry has gradually groped to the real threshold and entered the development stage on the right track. However, according to Zhang Qiang and Mu Chen's plan, large-scale fertilizer factories and tar factories will continue to be built in the later stage. These basically do not require large-scale transportation, so if it were not for Li Xuanqing's request that the first phase of the coke production base must be built, these projects would definitely be on the agenda of the industrial group.

These factories and equipment are basically designed and produced by the industrial group itself, and many machines and equipment are appearing on the market for the first time, and these things alone have been used by all the researchers in Muchen's laboratory over the years, and there are many problems encountered in the production process, which have been repeatedly modified and produced after being transmitted back to the laboratory.

However, Li Xuanqing was very surprised that Mu Chen and Zhang Qiang could actually think of using sulfide products to produce matches, which took a long time to perfect in later generations, and they also experienced many times of raw material replacement before they found out the experience. However, Li Xuanqing did not ask in detail about this point, industrial development, especially the development of the chemical industry, was originally a very wonderful and accidental process, and the industrial revolution implemented by himself in this world was originally an accident, so the process it experienced could not be the same as recorded in later history.

After reading this, Li Xuanqing was very satisfied, and Qiaoxi wrote down the problems that Zhang Qiang and Muchen could not solve, and then asked the guards to quickly summon Chang'an the next day, and at the same time notified the political envoy of Fengzhou to go to Nashi Town in Wuliang Suhai, which is the location of Qiaoxi's planned tourist base.

Today's Fengzhou political envoy has been replaced by the first batch of graduates of Chang'an School of Administration, Gao Chongmin, the first graduate of the year has an extraordinary obsession with industrial development, after seeing Li Xuanqing in Nashi Town, he heard that he was going to build a railway to connect Fengzhou with other places, and he was so excited that he couldn't be more excited, Fengzhou because it was the starting place of the empire, so policy, resources and financial resources were not a problem, but the traffic made him worry about Hino, so he heard that Li Xuanqing was going to build a railway, and immediately said, He will definitely do his best to complete the task, and even expressed his willingness to donate all his savings, and swore that he was ready to go to the industrial and commercial circles of Fengzhou to help the Ministry of Communications solve the financial problem.

Gao Chongmin's move made Li Xuanqing feel a burst of relief, and the new-style government officials he had cultivated were finally able to keep up with his pace, and when they grew up, they would inevitably pass on this tradition, so as to completely change the previous style and deeds of officials, and lay the foundation for industrial development in advance.

At the beginning of June of the second year of the Apocalypse, when most of the empire entered the hot summer, Cen Tianshi rushed to Nashi Town with Wu Zuodong of the Ministry of Communications and Qi Hong of the Ministry of Finance, but they all shook their heads after hearing Li Xuanqing's plan, and they all felt that this plan was too risky, and the financial pressure of the Ministry of Communications and the cabinet was too great, and the expected source of repayment was placed on the gold and silver brought back by the expedition fleet, once the fleet did not bring back or did not bring back so much money, it would inevitably lead to systemic risks in the entire empire's finances.

"Sir, your idea is too conservative, even if the voyage fleet does not bring back enough income by then, just by mortgaging the income of the industrial group for one year, it will be able to complete the repayment, and there will be no risk." Li Xuanqing shook his head and said: "And I believe that when Xu Xingxia comes back, it will definitely open your eyes, and what you should worry about at that time is to let Murong restrain other businessmen, don't go to Japan or overseas in a swarm, and forget about the development of the country." ”

"Sir, don't worry, Qiaoxi won't let Qianzhuang not be able to recover the loan. Moreover, the industrial group will choose to repay the principal and interest on a regular basis to ensure that the financial risk of the Ministry of Finance and the bank is minimized. Qiaoxi's words completely suppressed the objections of the three people, the annual income of the industrial group is tens of millions, driven by Qiaoxi's endless ways of making money, as long as there is nothing she is going to do without making money, even the media group that has been losing money before can ensure that it breaks even this year.

"Prime Minister, two ministers, Fengzhou's industrial and commercial circles have completed the railway construction to Fengzhou, I believe that as long as the railway is repaired to Fengzhou, the development of Fengzhou will inevitably go to a higher level, I am willing to make a military order, if the railway is repaired to Fengzhou, if the industry and commerce of Fengzhou cannot reach the first level of the empire within three years, I resign from the government to build a road, and build a road for the empire for a lifetime." Gao Chongmin stood up and said: "And I will drive the entire Fengzhou business community to donate money and materials, all the officials under the Fengzhou Buzheng Embassy will personally go into battle, no compensation, and they will definitely complete the task." ”

"Your Majesty, I didn't mean that, I'm worried that this year's transportation construction is too big, and the Changjin Line was originally overbuilt, and if we build a railway again, will we slow down the speed of the empire's development." Cen Tianshi hurriedly pressed Gao Chongmin down and sat in his position with a wry smile: "Now we are still engaged in the war of reunification, and the annual military expenditure will rise sharply, I am afraid that there will not be so much financial expenditure to build roads in the coming year." ”

"Rest assured, transportation has always been the growth rate of economic development, as Chongmin said, as long as the railway is built, with the geographical conditions and advantageous policy conditions of Fengzhou, Fengzhou will surpass other places called the country's largest industrial city, there is no one." Li Xuanqing's words set the final tone for the railway, and no one knew better than him how much Fengzhou, which had both coal and iron ore resources at the time of the first industrial revolution, had an advantage.