In fact, the cost of transporting iron ore from the Western Regions and Xixia and other places is still too high, and the iron ore bought by Tianping Iron Works often changes hands several times, and the price is not too fair, it is better to find a way around, but because there are too many iron factories in various places now, the era of Taiping Iron Works as the industry hegemony has not yet arrived.

However, the quality of this era is the reputation of everything, the quality of the steel of the Taiping has always been the best of the same type, the orders from dealers all over the world are proof, others will naturally not master this desulfurization and destocking production method, coupled with the special blast furnace steelmaking technology of the Taiping Iron Plant, the scale of steel production has not yet posed any threat to the Taiping.

But the restriction of roads is really a constraint, the northern lakes and rivers are few areas are easy to manage, once in the south this traffic problem is very painful, so that the cost of the product is through the superposition of transportation costs to reach a very expensive price.

However, through continuous efforts in Taiping City over the years, the construction of the cement factory has been able to connect with the surrounding state capitals with roads in this part of the road, and the horse-drawn carriages that come from all over the country to transport goods and coal can be quickly sent to Taiping City, which is also the most satisfactory place for Xiao Ming to the construction of Taiping City.

Xiao Ming stayed in Taiping City for two days, and looked at the stationing and living conditions of Han Yanwen's army, to be honest, the wealth and high-quality lifestyle of the Great Song Dynasty have made these soldiers who have been used to staying in the bitter cold areas of the west for a long time very satisfied, and many people even regret why they were not born in the Great Song Dynasty.

The other two main businesses of Taiping City have been running well, compared to the glass industry, the cement plant is currently the largest, which is also the consequence of crazy development, but now the cement plant's own production can basically meet the needs of the use of all over the country and the surrounding area, so the craftsmen here are also the most comfortable to work, except for the dust is too large, fortunately, Xiao Ming insisted on letting them do a good job of mouth and nose protection early in the morning, and there are very few diseases.

Three days later, Xiao Ming was about to leave for Hangzhou, and Jie Zhicong asked him, "Are you going to leave by boat?" Xiao Ming was very strange, and Jie Zhicong smiled: "It's different now, I thought you knew something?" ”

Xiao Ming asked why? Jie Zhicong said: "At present, there are steamer cars in Xuzhou and Yanzhou Dengzhou that can pass, why don't you go to Weihai first, and then take a boat back to Hangzhou?" ”

"What steamers?" Xiao Ming was puzzled,

"You arranged this matter, haven't you forgotten?"

Xiao Ming frowned and thought suddenly, suddenly thought of it, and hurriedly pulled Jie Zhicong and said, "Take me to see it!" ”

Jie Zhicong took Xiao Ming to Xuzhou by car, in the northern suburbs of Xuzhou is a flat land, there is the station, Jie Zhicong to Xiao Ming continued to introduce, there are currently two steamer cars between Xuzhou and Yanzhou, both are used to pull goods, because there are only two heads, to and fro, yesterday just a car drove back.

The speed and volume of the steamer are very amazing, and it is also very convenient, the next step is to build the line directly to Taiping City, and the station was built in the northern suburbs of Xuzhou that was deserted, but also for fear of frightening the local people, who knows that these years have passed, and the people have no fear of this steamer! There are even people who watch the excitement every day.

Xiao Ming looked at the monster in front of him in surprise, saying that he was a train, he could only vaguely see a little from the appearance, the huge boiler and the huge wheels are the iconic structure of the train, but this appearance is indeed a little unacceptable, because this thing is like a huge running bull!

The outer layer of the train is wrapped in thin iron sheets, and the outside is painted with oil paint to look like a cow, and Jie Zhicong introduced next to him: "The common people call him: Running ox cart!" Xiao Ming could only shake his head and smile bitterly, seeing that the front of the locomotive was really not too big, it was simply incomparable with the kind of steam train in later generations, and the locomotive was about the same size, but this was already a mature means of transportation!

This steamer car can carry four or five carriages at a time, of course, there is a small car loaded with coal, the rails are still supervised by Xiao Ming in Hangzhou, the whole track laying is very simple, due to the existence of cement prefabricated parts, laying the track basically does not use sleepers.

Jie Zhicong introduced: "This car is powerful, and travels thousands of miles a day, it is really a great means of transportation, if it is built larger, it should be more powerful, pull more goods!" We now use coal from Yanzhou basically to pull it, and a few times a month is enough! ”

Xiao Ming asked: "In this case, it is better to lay more road tracks, wouldn't it be possible to reach more places?" ”

Jie Zhicong shook his head and said: "This thing is good, but it costs a lot of money, and I don't know how much money it cost to lay the track!" It also occupies farmland, and just buying the silver of heaven and earth is a big expense! ……”

In fact, he didn't need to talk about it, Xiao Ming also knew that laying a railway was extremely expensive, he looked at this guy who looked like a bull's head, he was very excited, and said to Ai Qili, who was looking at the car in a daze, "How is it a good thing to operate on a large scale!" What do you think? ”

Ai Qi immediately bowed and said: "I probably have some ideas, is it possible to carry goods and passengers through rail transportation?" And what can I charge for rent and fare? ”

Xiao Ming nodded and said, "Mr. Ai still has some brains!" Let me give you a rough explanation, this thing is the brainchild of the master of the Mo family, my father-in-law, Master Su Bi, of course, so that he can give full play to the application function."

Xiao Ming gave Ai Qili a rough talk, how to operate the cash cow of the railway, first of all, the carrying capacity of the train is far more than that, if the manufacturing of the locomotive is perfected, the locomotive of a train can probably hang more than ten or twenty carriages, and the goods transported can reach the scale of tens of thousands of tons and hundreds of thousands of tons.

The second is to transport passengers, if this kind of steamer can travel thousands of miles a day, plus the track runs, then it can also be exercised at night, as long as it drives slower, safety is not a problem, such a safe and efficient means of transport, then when ordinary people travel, who is willing to take a carriage and ox cart?

Since you can transport passengers, you can naturally charge, the turnover transportation of goods, and the transportation charges of passengers are very profitable transactions, but the premise is that you need to invest a lot of money to solve the problem of railway laying, how to solve this problem? It is obvious that we Taiping Iron Works alone can do this!

"You probably want to organize a large amount of money by issuing bonds, right?" ”

Xiao Ming said: "That's right, you're on the point!" It is precisely to issue bonds, and to issue railway bonds on a large scale! Used to build railways, with roads we can directly transport goods to all parts of the country, with roads, Taiping Iron Works can obtain better quality and cheaper iron ore, with roads can also bring us long-term wealth for many years to come! ”

Finally, he patted Edgery on the shoulder and said, "This is a cash cow, and we are going to make a fortune again!" ”

……

When they were on the train, Xiao Ming and Ai Qili had been studying the issue of railway bonds, and the two agreed that in order to achieve the best issuance effect, this kind of railway must find a way to build it to Bianliang, Tokyo, that is, it must make the entire Great Song Dynasty shocked and crazy by this invention! Only then can they achieve their goal of issuing bonds and collecting money.

Ai Qili is a genius in financial management, many things, Xiao Ming is just a little bit of him and he understands, if you want to say who Xiao Ming likes to stay with the most? Except for Ding Jianpeng, it was Ai Qili, thinking that he was a person closest to the modern people of later generations! Xiao Ming is very close to him in everything, and even he is interested in the operation of funds.

The whole carriage is made like a carriage, and the winter problem is not taken into account, the doors and windows are ventilated, and if it is not all surrounded by felt, this carriage has no thermal insulation effect at all. But the roof of the carriage is also open, and a large amount of cold air will pour in, and this kind of carriage for transporting people is temporary, because I didn't expect to be able to transport people at all.

Fortunately, Xiao Ming asked people to find a few pieces of glass and put them on the doors and windows before leaving, and sealed the roof of the car, which will definitely freeze to death in early spring weather! Even so, it was very cold, the steamer was staggering forward, Wu Song, Gu Xiaoliu, Qian Baguang and the others were still very fresh at first looking at the scenery outside the window, but after a while, they froze and shrunk into a ball.

Several people wrapped in blankets looked at Xiao Ming and Ai Qili very strangely, the two of them did not feel cold, nor were they interested in the scenery outside the car window, and they had been constantly discussing the details of the issuance of railway bonds, which made them feel incredible!

After the lane Yanzhou, it was necessary to add coal and water, Xiao Ming decided to rest for one night and have a good dinner, after all, at this time, it was not safe to drive at night, and everyone shook with the carriage, Gu Xiaoliu vomited again, it turned out that he was motion sickness! After getting off the bus, it's finally better to drink some water.

After resting for one night, everyone continued to hurry the next day, this time, Xiao Ming asked people to make a stove in the car, and sat on it with a basin of water for hot wine, and put all kinds of grilled chicken, elbows and all kinds of cold dishes and cold food on the car.

When I arrived in Dengzhou, it was not far from Weihai City, which has now become the most prosperous place of this generation, and it is also a military base, where not only the army of the Great Song Dynasty is stationed, but also Xiao Ming's Praetorian Guard New Army and 10,000 Xinfeng Army, and even the Tiger Guard Battalion of the Tiger Guard Training Base.

Less than five miles away from Weihai City, Han Shizhong led the men and horses to greet them, for these people, Xiao Ming is also the city lord of Weihai City, Wu Yong set up a formation in the city to welcome the return of the city lord!

Dengzhou Mansion Yin's "Yuyuan" also came to cheer, Xiao Ming's current identity is not ordinary, according to the system of the Ministry of Officials, Xiao Ming is a second-class member, and he is also a clean defense envoy of the Southeast Fifth Road who inspects the economic power of the southeast, and the local government has the responsibility of receiving and resettlement, but of course Xiao Ming does not need them to receive it.

Weihai City originally did not have the existence of government personnel, but in order to give face to the Great Song Dynasty, when Xiao Ming was there, he asked Zhang Shuye's son Zhang Fenbo to symbolically arrange a few signed messengers in Weihai City, mainly because of tax matters also need to be coordinated with the Great Song Dynasty government, but after Wu Yong, Xiao Gan and others came, these people were gone, and this Weihai City was in an independent state.

Weihai City is looking for the head of the reported permanent population, and symbolically pays a part of the silver to the government of Dengzhou Mansion every year, even if the local financial tax is paid, the "fish balls" of Dengzhou Mansion are naturally happy to turn a blind eye.

Xiao Ming attaches great importance to the military base in Weihai City, and when he wants to counterattack Liaodong for a period of time in the future, he must also use the entire naval port here, so he also wants to take this opportunity to inspect the construction results of the Weihai Naval Port.

Now the Weihai base, the port and the wharf have basically been formed, and the port is dual-use, but the information here is the same as the Hangzhou shipyard, and what ships built there can dock at the wharf in the Weihai base, and it has been calculated when it is built, and all the docks here themselves have two specifications of wharves of large tonnage and light tonnage.

Xiao Ming was very satisfied with this design, and when he saw the ship, he was even more satisfied, the latest style of the boat line immediately attracted the attention of him and everyone......