Zhao Jiaren abdicated, Zhao Qian ascended the throne, and Emperor Taishang was in charge of the society. The shock caused by this great change in the Great Song Dynasty court dissipated in less than three months, especially after a few blind guys were pushed to the end for their nonsense, no one talked about it anymore. It's just that some officials suddenly love the phrase 'humility ~ benefit, full of losses', especially when reading the first word, there should be a little pause.

Xiao Meimei was very happy that her husband was back to normal, and she was not happy to learn that someone used words like this. found Zhao Qian to talk about this, and Zhao Qian replied indifferently: "I will be the same as the Emperor, no secret." ”

"Something is bound to happen in the future."

"Since something has to happen, wouldn't it be good to punish the violation if something happens." Zhao Qian was very calm.

"Official, this is ...... Why bother. ”

"I'm not angry. It's just a way to put it in your heart. ”

"Those people are expressing their dissatisfaction with the officials."

"It's normal. My mother was also very dissatisfied when she mentioned my father. ”

Xiao Meimei remembered her mother-in-law's cynicism towards her father-in-law, and her heart was amused and angry. This is the case with the family, but Zhao Qian is a little too indulgent to officials. However, her husband has made a decision, Xiao Meimei doesn't want to interfere in politics.

If he said that there was no mustard in his heart, Zhao Qian knew that it would definitely not be able to talk about it. But it doesn't matter, at least not at all. After talking to his father, Zhao Qian sorted out his thoughts these days and determined what he thought was the key. So much so that Zhao Qian even suspected that the backlash of these people might be sensing something.

Continuing his work with a calm mood, Zhao Qian suddenly received a report from Jia Weixin, a senior official in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Jia Weixin said in the report that Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces are willing to raise funds to build railways in the province on their own. The early plan will connect Songjiang Fucheng, Ningbo Fucheng, Hangzhou City, and Gusu City.

Before the establishment of the province, several governments had discussed the matter of raising funds to build railways, Zhao Qian had heard of it, and some governments even sent people to ask Zhao Qian what the imperial court would think. In the end, the matter did not work out not because everyone did not support the railway, but because each prefecture was not large, and their own financial resources were limited, and they did not want their own prefectures to bear the lion's share.

After the establishment of the province, the situation is different, there are many famous cities in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, and Songjiang Mansion is also known as the rich world. It is completely conceivable that the provinces should build intra-provincial railways. Just seeing that the interest on railway bonds was as high as 15% per year, Zhao Qian frowned. The imperial court relied on financial appropriations to build railways on its own, and financial appropriations did not need to consider the issue of interest.

Looking at the plan again, there is no shortage of food in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, and there is no pressure on 100,000 Japanese laborers. The railroad soldiers were the departments of the imperial court, and their salaries were paid by the imperial treasury. The money is used to purchase various railway equipment, and the production cycle and laying cycle of railway equipment can be calculated. This cycle is less than two years, and Jia Weixin believes that after two years, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces can repay the money through various fiscal and tax revenues.

Zhao Qian thought about it and felt that something was not right, so he called a meeting. After hearing about this plan, the Ministry of Railways came up and asked, "Who will belong to this railway after it is completed?" ”

This question was well asked, and the other ministers all looked at Zhao Qian. Zhao Qian responded: "If you have any opinions, you can put them forward, don't worry about the feasibility of this." If the combination of opinions proves that this is not feasible, it would be nice to reject the matter. ”

At this point, the finance minister pondered and said, "I think this is feasible." It's just that I don't know if the Ministry of Railways has extra manpower to build the railway. ”

The Minister of Railways replied: "The railway soldiers are a turnip and a pit, and they have been arranged. ”

"That's what I think, it's just that I think so. I think the current progress of the construction of the railway is that the roadbed and ballast are laid first, and the rails are installed while they are laid. Can this laying be done separately from the installation? ”

"Definitely not!" The Minister of Railways simply denied it, "Hundreds of tons of things don't need to be transported by train, so what do you want to use to transport them?" ”

"What I mean is that there are many rivers in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and many sections of the railway can be built together, and the speed of building the railway will be much faster. The transfer of some railroad soldiers from the northern railways will not slow down the construction of the northern railways a lot, but these people can build a large number of railways in Jiangnan at a very fast speed. ”

These words made the eyes of the important ministers fall on Zhao Qian again. Zhao Qian did not expect that someone would propose to adjust the railway construction plan that had been set before. This courage...... Can it be regarded as courageous to do anything? After thinking about it, I think this view is very reasonable. Using ten parts of power, the total yield is ten. Splitting the 10 parts of power into 1 and 9 parts, and the total output becomes twelve, which means that the efficiency is increased by 20%. Such a change is perfectly acceptable.

So Zhao Qian asked the other ministers, "Do you have any opinions?" ”

I thought it would be a feasibility discussion, but after more than an hour, I actually talked about three main points. First, the question is whether the progress of the Northern Railway can be carried out at a normal pace rather than at the highest pace. The second is the ownership of the railways built by local fundraising. The third is whether bonds can be issued for railway construction.

Zhao Qian thought that the Ministry of Railways would be the most radical, but he did not expect that the Ministry of Finance would be more radical than the Ministry of Railways. Zhao Qian asked why the Ministry of Finance insisted so much on the construction of railways, and the Minister of Finance replied: "Railways are not only a means of transportation, but also have unimaginable power to pull the economy." The volume of freight from Kaifeng to Haizhou (Lianyungang) has increased fivefold. Haizhou's population has doubled in the last three years, and there is a steady influx of people. Haizhou City is being built five times the area of the previous city, and although it owes a lot of money, the tax revenue has also increased greatly. ”

These words made Zhao Qian frown slightly, and he felt that the finance minister's unusual enthusiasm for bonds seemed to have a reason.

The Minister of Finance put it to the point, "Official, the current situation is that production and sales are booming. The only question is who pays for the infrastructure. ”

"You want to use Japanese laborers?" Zhao Qian asked.

"No, the Japanese laborers are used to do the hard work that the Great Song laborers are not willing to do. If the railroad is opened to traffic, and the asphalt official road is added, many farmers around the city will be willing to go to the city to work. ”

Zhao Qian's eyes lit up, and his dissatisfaction with the finance minister quickly turned into appreciation. The so-called 'light people's power' means that the people do not give money after they work, or give very little money. The Minister of Finance's view is very serious, it is not that the rural population of the Great Song Dynasty is unwilling to do manual work, but they are not willing to do manual work that is too hard or too far from home. Now that the Wa people have perfectly filled this gap, the work that the rural population of the Great Song Dynasty is willing to do requires good transportation.

"The official family, the Emperor Taishang devoted himself to laying a very good financial foundation for the Great Song Dynasty. If there were no railways and so many infrastructures, the balance of our Great Song Dynasty would be very healthy. The construction of the railway and the official asphalt road of the Emperor Taishang had great benefits to the country, but there was a lack of money for these investments. It is better to issue bonds and raise funds for construction. These gaps can be filled. ”

The Minister of Railways couldn't listen to it and asked loudly, "I still have to pay back the money I borrowed." You have to pay interest. Who is this interest for? In my words, the emperor can make it clear that the purpose of railway construction is to facilitate everyone's travel, so the price of tickets and freight will not be high. ”

This obviously did not hit the Minister of Finance, who replied: "The country's economy is active, and tax revenues will naturally increase." These cannot make up for such a large gap in a short period of time. Therefore, the loss in the embankment has to be compensated for by the embankment. I've heard that people have already found gold placers in North Fuso Province. In addition, there seems to be a gold mine in Hojo Island in the south. ”

"Gold mines?" Zhao Qian was shocked. He found that he only thought he had learned all kinds of information, but in fact there were many gaps between what he learned and what he actually did.

"In addition to the gold mines, olive oil products from the Eastern Mediterranean alone are also a big benefit, and we can also take full advantage of the trade in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Tianzhu Peninsula. As long as the scale is large enough, the profit is high enough. In the long run, the benefit of borrowing now is much greater than the interest. Nowadays, everywhere the railway goes, everyone goes to take the train, and the canal is full of cargo ships. On the contrary, the canal's freight volume has doubled. ”

When Zhao Qian heard this, he only felt that the content of the discussion was beyond the scope of this meeting, so he said: "I'll talk about that later, what do you think about this matter." ”

"The interest cannot exceed 10%, otherwise we will not recognize it from the Ministry of Railways. And the railroad must be owned by us. "The Minister of Railways has definitively determined the ceiling.

Without waiting for Zhao Qian to speak, the Minister of Finance smiled and said: "I don't want the provinces to issue bonds on their own, and the issuance of bonds must be decided by the Ministry of Finance." However, the Ministry of Finance's railway bond can be issued in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. ”

The meeting was over, and Zhao Qian only felt that his thoughts were complicated. Thinking about it carefully, Zhao Qian felt as if he hadn't noticed how his father had made the first pot of gold. He sent people to the islands near the Wa Kingdom to mine gold and silver mines, which was the first pot of gold in real life. If the Great Song Dynasty had more gold and silver reserves, it would naturally be able to issue more banknotes, which could be explicitly invested in infrastructure construction.

Thinking that the asphalt official road was considered his own credit, Zhao Qian felt great joy in his heart. Without his father's instructions, Zhao Qian would not have thought of paving the road with asphalt anyway. But Dad gave an order, and the result of Zhao Qian's execution was that he found that the asphalt quality of Fusang Island was really good, and it was too suitable for roads. The road is still brand new after nearly a year, and last year Zhao Qian personally presided over the meeting to form a huge fleet, and this year more than 300,000 tons of asphalt were brought back. Major cities in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces have begun to pave asphalt roads, and the response has been very good. The fleet has also made a lot of money from this commodity. All these credits are attributed to Zhao Qian's name. Before that, Zhao Qian was probably the only one who was most famous for 'Looking for the Nine-Tailed Fox'. But that time it came and went so fast that there was no discussion about it. Unexpectedly, because of this large-scale trade, the matter of 'getting the nine-tailed fox' was mentioned again. Let Zhao Qian's prestige be blessed a little.

The impact of any economic activity is not limited to the event itself, and then the asphalt trade, there are already people who want to set up factories in the settlements of Fusang Province in the north of the Great Song Dynasty. More bitumen was mined before the fleet reached Fusochau. If the news that there are placer gold mines in the northern part of Fusang Island is true, Zhao Qian can already see the rapid growth of North Fusang Province.

After thinking about it, Zhao Qian decided to agree to issue railway bonds. Do you cross the river by feeling the stones, if you can't go down, just stop. If it can be operated well, wouldn't it open up a new path?

After three months of preparation, the Ministry of Finance released the first batch of bonds. The bond amount is 50 million yuan, with an annual interest rate of 14%. Although the Ministry of Railways firmly objected, the Ministry of Finance still used this interest. The official loan interest of the Great Song Dynasty used to be 50%, and the interest on the loan of Wang Anshi of the Northern Song Dynasty was considered a 'true conscience', and there was also an interest of 20%. In recent years, the money supply of the Great Song Dynasty has been sufficient, and the interest rate is also above 10%, and the interest rate of 14% is an attractive bottom line in the eyes of the Ministry of Finance.

Fifty million is nothing in the Great Song Dynasty, but it is not a small number. Zhao Qian felt that it would take about half a year to sell out after the release, but he didn't expect that it would be released for two weeks, and he would buy a fine light within eleven days. Originally, Zhao Qian didn't want to investigate who bought it, but at this time, he had to send someone to investigate. Who has so much money in his hands, if he can't figure it out, Zhao Qian feels uneasy.

At this time, it was already the year 341 of the Great Song Dynasty, and Zhao Qian's 40th birthday was approaching. After the Spring Festival, the Lantern Festival, and the second dragon raised its head in February, and finally submitted a report. The main purchasers of the 50 million railway bonds were Song officials.

After reading the report, Zhao Qian didn't know what to say or what to think for a while. It stands to reason that it is a good thing that the officials of the Great Song Dynasty supported the policies of the imperial court so much, the imperial court needed money, and the officials had money in their hands. The officials were naturally relieved that they had purchased such high-quality bonds, and the imperial court was equally satisfied that it had raised enough money. However, no matter how you think about it, it feels weird. Zhao Qian really wanted to solve the unhappiness in his heart by himself, but he couldn't do it. In the end, Zhao Qian could only go to his father's side.

Zhao Jiaren listened to Zhao Qian's story and asked, "Do you want to recover this batch of bonds?" ”

"I'm not going to take it back!" Zhao Qian's tone was firm, and there was a little anger in it.

"Why are you angry?"

"I think the Treasury Department knows that officials will rush to buy, so that's why it's raising the interest rate. It's like they're scheming on me. ”

"Do you have proof?"

"Nope. Just because there is none, I get angry. ”

"Haha." Looking at his son's expression, Zhao Jiaren couldn't help laughing.

Zhao Qian was a little embarrassed by his father's laughter, and he asked: "Official, I just want to ask how the official family eliminated the unhappiness when they encountered such things." ”

"When I was young, I was in charge of assets worth billions of yuan, and the billions at that time are worth tens of billions now. So this money doesn't seem to me to be a problem at all. In the future, after you have decided to make billions or tens of billions of dollars, you naturally don't care about this matter. ”

When Zhao Qian heard this, he felt that what his father said might be reasonable, but it was only maybe. The feeling of being calculated still can't be eliminated immediately. Then I heard my father say: "Zhao Qian, if something is legal, reasonable, and reasonable, you have to admit it." This is the age of man, and times have changed. You know that times have changed, that's why you decided to issue bonds. Then you have to respect people's choices, and if you don't, it means that you are not acknowledging that times have changed. ”

Coming out of his father's place, Zhao Qian still felt uncomfortable in his heart. But the feeling is fading. It was Daddy's words that occupied his thoughts. Yes, times have changed. The age of God is over. Zhao Qian knows. But I'm still a little unaccustomed.

When he returned to his office, the negative emotions in Zhao Qian's heart had already dissipated. A thought filled his chest, 'In this era, I can deal with it!' ’