Next, after Dong Qichang finished reading, he went to the warm pavilion next to him to draw a picture.

The rest of the civil and military officials, as long as they want to see it, have a chance to go up and watch it.

Su Baiyi was helping them on the side, explaining while constantly adjusting the direction of the telescope.

No way, Jupiter is moving all the time thanks to Earth's autobiography.

After all the officials took a fresh look, Su Baiyi put away the binoculars, and stretched out his left hand to Tang Ruowang, who was looking at the sky in a daze and doubting the meaning of life, and said, "Lord Tang, silver, ten thousand taels of silver!" ”

"Ah......h ”

The attitude of this product to admit his mistake was not bad, and he took out a stack of thick silver tickets from his arms and handed them to Su Baiyi: "Su counts!" ”

Su Baiyi waved his hand: "No need, I believe in Master Tang's character." ”

But John Tang insisted that he count, not counting!

O Germans!

Really, some are serious and serious, and sometimes they are too stubborn......

Do you know why you're delaying your time?

There was no way, and he carefully counted the silver tickets under the moonlight. At this time, Dong Qichang's painting had been completed and taken out for the emperor to see.

Su Baiyi also came up to take a look, and couldn't help but exclaim: Dong Qichang's kung fu is also first-class, no wonder he was able to climb to such a high position as the secretary of the Ministry of Rites.

In addition to depicting Jupiter and its four surrounding moons, this painting also contains a passage detailing the discovery of Jupiter's moons today, which can be described as a great praise for the emperor.

The name of the picture is called "The Star Map of the Emperor Gongdi of the Han Dynasty"

Awesome, my Lord Dong!

Zhu Youzhen nodded, put the picture away quietly, did not evaluate the picture itself, looked at the surrounding ministers, and said: "The matter is over, let's go back, tomorrow morning as usual!" ”

Ordering the Han general to send all the courtiers away, Zhu Youzhen personally pulled Su Baiyi, who looked flattered, all the way over the three major halls, and then went straight to the platform and sat down in the warm pavilion on the right.

It was still the same as that day in Zhang's mansion, the two shared a long table, each sat on one side, and began to talk face to face.

To put it bluntly, what Jupiter Emperor Star, what Han General Satellite, what telescope geocentric theory, heliocentric theory. These are all floating clouds for Chongzhen, he may be interested in it for a while, but he doesn't care.

What really cares about him is the Ming Dynasty, the people of the world and the upcoming ten-year drought!

"Sir!" Zhu Youzhen arched his hand to Su Baiyi very sincerely, and said: "The previous time I talked to the first one, I talked about the wine and talked happily, and I was empowered by a few words." I have a few questions about the railway, and I hope that Mr. will clear up. ”

"Don't dare to bear it!" Su Baiyi hurriedly gave up his hand and made a look of sincere fear: "Your Majesty just asks, Weichen knows everything and says everything!" ”

The Chongzhen in front of him involuntarily coincided with the brutal and suspicious emperor in history. But Su Baiyi only saw Zhu Youzhen's ambition and heart, and then there was sincerity and a heart that cared about the people of the world.

In any case, this young man has nothing to do with the words "self-righteousness" and "indiscriminate killing".

Could it be that you have changed your mind under the pressure of work?

It's also possible!

After all, a person's personality often behaves differently at different times of life.

"Mr. Su, I wonder how long it will take to build this road?"

This is Chongzhen's first question.

Su Baiyi sighed, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart: A leader is a leader, no matter in the past or present life, as a leader, there is always only one question that he is most concerned about: when can he finish it?

Construction period, progress!

"If there are no obstacles, it will take four to five years!"

Actually, this is a conservative estimate!

In the direction and line of the Longhai Railway in later generations, except for Shaanxi and Sanmenxia, the rest is basically all plains, if the workers are enough, the roadbed construction is only one and a half years at most, plus the time of stone and track paving, three years can definitely be done.

A very good principle of Su Baiyi is that he can do ten points and only say eight points!

Otherwise, if you can't finish it, it doesn't matter if you have a braggart reputation, if you fool the emperor like Yuan Chonghuan and Sun Chuanting and are discovered, the consequences will be very serious!

Moreover, there are accidents that can happen in everything, and no one can avoid them.

"It's going to take so long!" Zhu Youzhen's brows furrowed slightly, but then he relaxed.

How long the construction period is, is not up to him.

"I wonder how long this railway will last after it is built?"

This is a matter of benefits and returns.

Investing 20 million taels of silver to build a railway, although not allowing the court to pay silver, but after all, it is a matter of labor and money, if it takes five years to build the railway, but the railway will be broken in five years, then the gains outweigh the losses.

"If it's well maintained, this railway can last forever!" Su Baiyi explained to the emperor the principle and structural form of the entire railway.

If there are fewer stones, you can add them, and if the sleepers are broken, you can replace them!

If the rails are crushed...... Well, let's talk about the crushing of the railroad tracks in a hundred years.

Therefore, theoretically speaking, as long as a railway is repaired and maintained at all times, it can be used until the end of the world.

After listening to Su Baiyi's explanation, Chongzhen was excited, and he silently calculated it in his heart.

You can make a profit of three million taels of silver in one year, thirty million taels in ten years, and thirty thousand taels in one hundred years. Doesn't that mean that there will be no shortage of money in the future?

Su Baiyi naturally knew what Chongzhen was thinking, and said with a slight smile: "Your Majesty, three million taels of silver is only the initial value of the minister's conservative estimate, if you wait for this railway transportation to become a habit, it is also possible to have five or six million taels of silver per year." ”

"Five......" Chongzhen almost screamed in shock.

You must know that the tax revenue at the end of next year was only four million taels.

This railroad is equivalent to the tax revenue of the whole country.

What is the concept?

"Alas......" Zhu Youzhen sighed deeply again, and said with some hatred: "Those ministers are too old-fashioned, and they all think that Mr. is lying to confuse the public. Speaking of this, he suddenly looked up at Su Baiyi: "What if the ministers collectively oppose it and don't agree?" ”

"Easy to do!" Su Baiyi smiled and said: "If the ministers don't agree, the ministers will return to the Defu immediately, and then pack up their things and go to Jiangnan, the farther away the better!" ”

"Why?" Zhu Youzhen wondered.

"The catastrophe is coming in a blink of an eye, the court is powerless to shelter the people, and the ministers can only be left alone!"

"Hey ......" Chongzhen heard the irony in Su Baiyi's words, and said curtly: "I will try my best to persuade them, there should still be a few who can be reasonable!" ”

Su Baiyi felt a burst of contempt in his heart, and said secretly: If this matter is left on Zhu Baba, Zhu Di or Zhu Houxi, it will not be a problem at all, who is not obedient and will be pulled outside the noon gate to crackle and beat for a while, and if you still don't believe it, it can't be done?

"However, in case Your Majesty can't convince those old stubborns, the minister has a bad idea!"

"What's the idea?" When Chongzhen heard this, he suddenly came to his senses, as if this thing was naturally particularly interested in bad ideas.

"It's strong!" Su Baiyi said in a low voice: "If we raise funds from the people, the household department will not be able to be stuck, if you take Your Majesty as your head, the celebrant as your body, and the Jinyi Guard as your minions, who else in the world can stop you?" Whoever dares to stop will be invited to the edict and drink tea! ”

"......Forehead" Zhu Youzhen touched his head with some embarrassment, but soon the interests prevailed over his face, he knocked lightly on the table a few times, and said: "What you said is also right, if anyone is against it, let him go to the edict to drink tea first!" ”

"Are you done with Your Majesty's questions?"

"That's it!"

"Well, it's your turn!"

"You have a problem too?"

"It's not that there is a problem, but there are a few things that must be approved by His Majesty, otherwise the construction of the railway is still an empty word!" Su Baiyi picked up the pen and wrote the word "iron" on the white rice paper.

"First of all, there must be enough iron to build a railway, and I beg Your Majesty to open the mountain to get iron, and to grant the minister the right to make iron!" The Ming Dynasty generally did not prohibit the circulation of iron tools.

But if you don't have the consent of the imperial court, you dare to try to make a lot of iron. Keep it for your whole family to drink tea together!

"That's right!" Zhu Youzhen slapped the table: "Last time, you said that the entire railway should use at least 10,000 catties of iron, how can there be so much iron?" Where is the Iron Mountain in our Daming? ”

"Naturally!" Su Baiyi said with a smile: "We have a lot of resources, and there is an iron mountain." ”

"Where?"

Su Baiyi pointed his finger to the south, "Nanzhili, Taiping Mansion, Dangtu County!" ”

This iron ore mine in Dangtu County is actually the main raw material production area of Ma'anshan Iron and Steel Plant in the early stage of the later generations, located in the Dahuang Mountain 20 miles northeast of Dangtu County, which is an open-pit iron mine and is very easy to mine!

The most important thing is that this iron mine is close to the Yangtze River, and it is only 20 miles away from the nearest Yangtze River, so it is convenient to transport.

As long as there are large ships, the mined iron ore can be transported from the Yangtze River to the East China Sea, and from the East China Sea to the Yellow River.

"Okay, I can promise you!" Zhu Youzhen gritted his teeth: "I will let Cao Huachun send eunuchs to live in Dangtu, who will be responsible for mining matters, and the Jinyi Guards of the East Factory can open the way for you." ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Su Baiyi struck while the iron was hot and put forward the second request: "Please give an order to Your Majesty, wherever the railway passes, no matter whose land is involved, it will be unconditionally expropriated, and no one shall stop it." Of course, no matter whose land the railway occupies, the minister will compensate according to the number of acres and the market price. ”

"That's fine!" Chongzhen made a decision on the spot: "Who dares to obstruct the construction of the railway, and be punished for rebellion!" Does Mr. Su have any other requests? ”

"Yes!" Su Baiyi arched his hand: "First, Your Majesty will distribute the equity of the railway to the minister as soon as possible, and the minister must collect funds from the people as soon as possible." Second, please ask Your Majesty to issue a ban on the sea, and the Quasi-Minister will go to sea this year to travel and explore the countries of the South China Sea, and be a pioneer in the trade of grain and minerals in the future tomorrow! ”