Three heavy-haul railways.

Haichuan Railway, starting from the harbor city, passing through Yangzhou, Nanjing, Hefei, Wuchang, Jingzhou, Yiling, Zhongzhou, Chongqing and finally to the terminal Chengdu, with a total length of about 2,000 kilometers, the average construction cost per kilometer is expected to be 100,000 silver dollars, and Xujiazhuang bears half of the construction costs, so it issued 100 million silver dollars of Haichuan Railway investment bonds.

Haijing Railway, starting from the harbor city, passing through Xinghua, Baoying, Huai'an, Xuzhou, Jinan, Hejian, Tianjin, Tangshan to the terminal station of Beijing, with a total length of about 1,500 kilometers, most of the terrain along the way is flat, the construction cost per kilometer is about 60,000 silver dollars, and Xujiazhuang bears half of it, so it issues 45 million silver dollars of Haijing railway bonds.

Haishan Railway, starting from the harbor city, passing through Taizhou, Fengyang, Bozhou, Xuchang, Kaifeng, Luoyang, Zezhou, Taiyuan to the terminal Datong City, with a total length of about 1,800 kilometers, passing through the plains, only the terrain in Shanxi is rugged, the construction cost per kilometer is expected to be 80,000 silver dollars, so the issuance of 72 million silver dollars of Haishan railway bonds.

And these railway investment bonds were launched.

Snapped.

It was really a very crazy rush to buy.

Because after the completion of the railway depicted by Xujiazhuang, the prospect of commercial benefits brought by it is really good, the minimum annual investment dividend of 10%, as long as the bond is held in hand, this dividend can be taken every year, 30 years, 50 years, 100 years, the bond will be held for as long as the dividend is long, and it is really not possible to sell the bond, or even sell it at a higher price, which can be said to be a steady profit and no loss, and the risk is zero.

Take the 'Haijing Railway' with the greatest investment potential as an example, although this railway plan is almost parallel to the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal, there is a serious competitive relationship between the two, and the opposition is actually very large, saying that it is necessary to stop the completion of this railway at all costs, but after the official issuance of the 'Haijing Railway Bond', in just three days, it sold more than 30 million silver dollars, which is about to be sold out, which will lead to a stampede purchase, for fear of missing this investment opportunity.

……

February 20th.

The capital, in the imperial palace.

Emperor Zhu Youzhen, who has received a lot of news in the past few days, can't sit still.

In fact, when Xujiazhuang's heavy-haul railway plan first came out, above the court, Zhu Youzhen discussed with the civil and military officials how to deal with it.

At the beginning, the attitude of the officials was naturally one of opposition, shouting and killing.

There are proposals that must be stopped by strong measures.

Some people believe that once the Haijing Railway is completed, the annual logistics and transportation capacity of one billion tons will exceed the sum of the ten Beijing-Hangzhou Canals, and the transportation cost will be lower.

Some officials believe that the Haishan Railway passes through Fengyang Mansion, which is likely to disturb the imperial tomb and destroy the dragon vein, and think that Xujiazhuang has ill intentions and must have a conspiracy.

There are also some generals who believe that the kind of steam train introduced by Xu Jiazhuang can run 320 miles per hour, and if it is used to dispatch troops, I am afraid that within two days, tens of thousands of elite troops can be gathered under the capital, and perhaps there is no reaction at all, and the capital will be taken down, and the Ming Dynasty will change hands...... So the railroad must not be repaired!

Zhu Youzhen suddenly felt a huge anxiety, thinking that what these ministers said was very reasonable.

We must stop the construction of these railways at all costs.

However, it was time to further discuss specific countermeasures with civilian and military officials.

On the morning of the next day, Zhu Youzhen found that the number of ministers who expressed concern about this topic today and thought that it was necessary to stop it forcefully had been reduced by more than half.

"Your Majesty, if Xujiazhuang wants to build a railway, he must discuss it with the imperial court in advance, but Xujiazhuang ignores the imperial court and always unilaterally declares, we should express strong dissatisfaction with this matter."

"Yes, what Xu Jiazhuang has done, there is no court in his eyes, it is extremely disrespectful, and we also have opinions on how to repair the railway line and how to plan, unless the two sides reach an agreement, the railway can start."

"Xujiazhuang issued bonds, and in just a few days, it received tens of millions of silver dollars of private funds, did this money pay taxes to the imperial court? Can Xu Jiazhuang keep so much money? I think that only by handing over this money to the imperial court can we ensure that the special funds will be used exclusively and will not be embezzled by corruption. ”

"In addition, the railway has to bypass the Fengyang Imperial Mausoleum, and must not destroy the dragon vein feng shui, and then hand over a deposit of 50 million silver dollars to the national treasury to ensure that the interests of the people who have been expropriated are not seriously damaged.

Hear these words.

Zhu Youzhen was a little stunned, yesterday the civil and military officials were shouting and shouting and killing, and their attitudes were extremely tough, today's meaning, it seems that as long as Xu Jiazhuang agrees to some conditions, the railway will be allowed to be repaired, the question is that I said the word agree?

On the third day of the court meeting, the atmosphere in the court hall was even more weird, and the ministers seemed to have collective amnesia, and none of them opened their mouths to mention the issue of building the railway in Xujiazhuang, but discussed some miscellaneous things.

At the end of the court meeting, Zhu Youzhen couldn't help but ask: "Ladies and gentlemen, Aiqing, can you have a better way to deal with the railway in Xujiazhuang?" ”

"Nothing, nothing."

"Your Majesty, it's just a few roads, no different from the roads built by Xujiazhuang before, we don't have to worry too much about it."

"Xu Jiazhuang is rich and has a strong attitude, the court can't help it at present, and let him be arrogant for a few more years, and there will be retribution in the future."

"Yes, for a force like Xujiazhuang, it is unwise to fight hard, you can only sit and watch its decline, fall into the state of rebellion and separation, and then destroy it in one fell swoop."

"Daming is vast, there are many important things, we can't spend too much time on a few roads, this matter should be over."

"Your Majesty, the old minister is tired, so he will go down to the court first, and I will talk about something important tomorrow."

The minister simply found an excuse to leave work, and led more ministers to follow him.

"Y-you-"

Zhu Youzhen was shocked, what's going on? Why did the attitude of the ministers change so much, where did they go when they were still shouting and shouting to kill two days ago, and they vowed to stop it at any cost? It's only been two days, and they don't even want to talk about it.

What the hell is going on?

Zhu Youzhen, who was extremely puzzled, had no choice but to send Jinyi Guards to secretly conduct an investigation, wanting to know the reason for the change in the attitude of the civil and military officials.

Soon.

Jin Yiwei completed the task and handed a form to Zhu Youzhen's hand.

When he saw the contents of the form, he trembled and almost vomited blood.

Shoufu Wen Tiren purchased 1.55 million silver dollars in railway investment bonds.

The second assistant Zhang Zhifa purchased 730,000 silver dollars in railway bonds.

Cheng Guoxiang, the head of the household department, purchased 500,000 silver dollars in railway bonds.

Yang Sichang, the secretary of the military department, purchased 330,000 silver dollars in railway bonds.

Officials of the Ministry of Shangshu Xie Chen......

And so on and so forth.

There were hundreds of names of ministers and ministers on the form, and the total amount of railway bonds they purchased together exceeded 10 million silver dollars.

"No wonder none of them object to Xujiazhuang building roads, good courtiers, they are all good courtiers of me......"

Zhu Youzhen gritted his teeth hatefully, and understood everything in an instant.

He immediately issued a decree to dismiss Wen Tiren, Zhang Zhifa, and Cheng Guoxiang, several important ministers with high investment amounts, including Wen Tiren, who served as the first assistant for more than three years, which immediately caused a violent shock in the court pattern, but there was no way, although Wen Tiren often obeyed the imperial power and was very easy to use, but this time he really stepped on his Zhu Youzhen's bottom line, this person can no longer be used, tell the old man to return to the field, and be his investor!

After cleaning the court.

What's next?

Do you want to continue to let the officials express their stance and unify their position against Xujiazhuang's railway plan?

Shook his head.

It's useless.

The sales of Xujiazhuang's railway investment bonds are booming, and I am afraid that every official in the DPRK and China has bought them, and it is impossible for them to sincerely oppose it for their own interests, even if new officials are promoted to higher positions.

In the face of such a surging trend, even if he is the emperor, it is impossible to stop it!

I also think that the investment value of railway bonds is indeed very high.

Since I can't oppose it, I can only join.

So he sent someone to find Qi Chunnian, summoned him into the palace, and negotiated with him in the Dongnuan Pavilion.

Sitting on the soft chair, Zhu Youjian took a sip of tea, and said vigorously: "Xujiazhuang wants to build a railway, I have known for a long time, originally I and the hundred officials were resolutely opposed, but the royal family and Xujiazhuang are allies, and I owe Xu Yuan two favors, it is precisely because of these that I did not express my objection, and suppressed the opinions of the hundred officials, so that they no longer oppose the construction of the road in Xujiazhuang...... I tried my best to support Xu Jiazhuang in this way, which can offset Xu Yuan's favor, and I only owe one now. ”

"In addition, I still have 3 million silver dollars of idle funds, which I plan to use to buy railway bonds, I wonder if I can buy them?"

Burst~

Qi Chunnian couldn't help but snort, almost squirting out a mouthful of tea, and let out a puff of laughter.

"Representative Qi, what do you mean by this? Do you want to ridicule me? Zhu Youzhen put the cup in his hand on the coffee table in his hand, and asked with a pale face.

"No, I didn't mean that, I just thought of something interesting, don't blame your majesty." Qi Chunnian waved his hand again and again.

"Humph! You bastard, I don't know you yet? Anyway, I gave in this time, offset a favor, and buy another 3 million bonds, if Xu Jiazhuang wants to maintain a good relationship with the royal family, he will agree to these two small conditions. Zhu Youzhen said with a dark face.

"Your Majesty, it's no problem to buy 3 million silver dollars of railway bonds, there are still a lot of Haichuan railway bonds, but if you offset favors, I really can't be the master, I have to ask the opinion of the owner, he said that if he can offset it, he can offset it, if he says he can't, then I can't help it." Qi Chun Nian stall hand.

"Hehe, aren't you very good in front of me, you can't even do this, it seems that you are nothing more than that!" Zhu Youzhen scoffed.

"Your Majesty is right, in front of the owner and his old man, I am just a small role and a little minion, my status is not so high, I only dare to jump out in front of Your Majesty." Qi Chunnian said with a smile.

"You-"

Zhu Youzhen was so angry that he had to say: "Forget it, I'm too lazy to quarrel with you, first sell the railway bonds to me to offset the favor, and then you report to Na Xu Yuan." ”

"Okay, no problem."

Qi Chunnian nodded.

……

February 25.

Sichuan, Shizhu Xuanfu Division, Mafu.

Large living room.

Placed in a large box on the ground.

Some of them were packed with bundles of silver dollars and silver ingots.

Some of them were loaded with pieces of gold ingots.

Some were filled with copper dollars worth 100 Wen.

There is also a box full of large bills of exchange issued by Tianxia Tong Bank.

A total of 182 boxes.

The total monetary value is 21,887,550 silver dollars.

The above gold and silver money is the total sales that Shizhu Tusi has harvested in the past ten days by issuing investment bonds for Xujiazhuang's 'Haichuan Railway'.

And the railway bonds in the hands of Shizhu Ma's family have less than 3.12 million silver dollars left, and it is estimated that they will be sold out soon - even if they can't be sold, they can hold them themselves, and they will not lose money anyway.

Qin Liangyu looked at the gold and silver belongings in this treasure chest.

I also remembered that in the past few days, I learned that in Sichuan, only in Shizhu could buy railway investment bonds, so the merchants in Chongqing, Chengdu, and all over Sichuan rushed to Shizhu non-stop and sent a lot of gold and silver property, just to buy railway bonds.

Even many ordinary people who did not have much money left over also emptied their families, or several households pooled together 50 silver dollars, just to buy even one share of bonds (50 silver dollars per share).

It can be said that it is extremely enthusiastic, for fear that I will not be able to buy it and miss this opportunity to make a fortune.

In the end, it's the results that lie ahead.

"Help, help me, the old body feels dizzy."

Perhaps it was the light from the gold and silver that was a little dazzling, Qin Liangyu felt dizzy, lightheaded, trembling hands and feet, as if he was about to fall.

"Mother, are you alright?!"

Ma Xianglin and Zhang Fengyi, who were next to him, were startled, and hurriedly supported her left and right, Ma Xianglin was even more nervous: "Mother, can something happen to you, the 20 million people in Sichuan are counting on you to build the railway." ”

"Mother, don't get excited, this money is not important, your body is the most important." Zhang Fengyi said.

"No, I'm fine."

Qin Liangyu stood firm, settled down, shook his head and said: "Seeing so many belongings, the old body just feels that the burden on his shoulders is too heavy, and the trust of the Sichuan businessmen in me Qin Liangyu is too great, I can't let them down, so before the railway is repaired and completed, the old body must not fall!" She looked determined.

Qin Yiming walked over and said, "Auntie, how can the railway be as important as your body...... But I think the money is enough, don't sell the rest of the bonds, we will pay for it ourselves, and when the railway is opened in the future, the dividends we can get are not a few, that is, the task of selling bonds and raising funds is completed, and we can start recruiting a large number of workers and start building roads immediately. ”

Qin Gongming nodded and said: "That's right, let's start recruiting people quickly, give priority to recruiting young and strong laborers in Shizhu, and send at least 5,000 white pole soldiers out to maintain law and order on the construction site, and receive an extra salary...... The recruitment quota allocated to us by Xujiazhuang is as many as 100,000 people, which means that every family in Shizhu can send a strong laborer to participate in the construction of the railway, and get a high salary of six or seven silver dollars per month. ”

"No, I only plan to recruit 10,000 laborers from Shizhu, and another 90,000 laborers from all over Sichuan.

Qin Liangyu said with a straight face: "The 20 million businessmen in Sichuan are looking at me, how can the old man do things that harm the public and private interests, he must be fair and just, and have a clear conscience!" ”

"This ...... All right. ”

"My aunt is right, it is indeed necessary to be fair, otherwise it will be difficult to convince the public."

"My aunt is open-minded and admirable."

"Anyway, if the road is built earlier, our clothing company will be able to develop without restrictions and have a better future."

Everyone nodded one after another, in fact, they didn't think so, as long as they did their jobs well, what was wrong with recruiting more stone pillar workers? But Qin Liangyu's will, how dare they oppose and disobey, they can only approve and support it one after another.