Since Cai Ji came to the study, Cao Shu has been discussing the investment cost of railway tracks with Guo Jia.

Guo Jia believes that railway tracks consume too much steel. In the context of today's scarcity of steel, it is indeed not cost-effective to invest so much on railway tracks.

In fact, Cao Shu had also considered Guo Jia’s concerns.

The times today are different from those he once lived in.

In the era when he lived, the steel industry had reached its peak. As long as there was demand, enough steel could be transported from the factory at all times.

However, with the current era background, the iron smelting industry is still very backward, and investing a lot of steel on the railway tracks is likely to cause insufficient supply of steel between the army and the private.

"The railway needs to be repaired." Cao Shuo frowned slightly, thought for a moment and said to Guo Jia: "What we need to consider is how to repair it."

"How does Your Majesty plan to repair it?" Guo Jia asked.

"Although there is not much steel left every year, it will be rusted in the warehouse." Cao Shuo said: "I think it's better to put them on the railway and they can also play a role."

"What Your Majesty said makes sense, but there is actually not much steel left every year." Guo Jia replied: "If you take out the remaining steel from the entire Wei Dynasty, it will not be too wide to spread a hundred miles..."

"Not to mention a hundred miles, it is good to have to pave one mile." Cao Shuo said: "The transportation capacity of the railway is indeed not comparable to that of the roads today. As long as we have enough vehicles, supplies and soldiers from hundreds of miles away, we can quickly transport them to another place. Whether it is used for military or for people's livelihood, railways are extremely important."

"Steel is expensive. Have you ever thought that after the railway is laid, someone will secretly steal the railway tracks?" Guo Jia said: "Even if there are too many laying, it is not enough for those people to steal."

"Stolen railways will inevitably cause transportation paralysis." Cao Shu replied: "I can issue an order. Anyone who steals railways will confiscate all their property and will be killed without mercy. If the family members do not report it, they will be punished by the same crime."

"It is indeed a way to stop the unruly people from stealing with harsh punishments." Guo Jia nodded, and then said to Cao Shu: "But in this way, your Majesty will definitely kill many people..."

"Many times, if you invest new things, you always have to have some life to pay tribute." Cao Shu said: "Killing some people can make the whole world understand that the railway is a bottom line that must not be touched, so killing is worth it."

Looking at Cai Ji, Cao Shu asked, "What do you think?"

"Report to your Majesty, we have calculated it." Cai Ji replied: "The investment in railways is actually similar to that of ordinary roads. The labor and road construction materials are also consuming a lot of labor and road construction materials. Compared with ordinary roads, the investment cost of railways is not high. What really makes people feel that it is difficult is what the Prime Minister said, steel is expensive, and once it is paved, there are likely some people who are greedy for small profits to steal the railway tracks on the road..."

"In the Great Wei Dynasty, theft is like robbery, which is a death penalty." Cao Shu said: "Those who dare to steal railway tracks should have made plans to die long ago. When the railway is built, a post will be arranged at any distance. A special person will patrol and maintain the railway tracks. When the railway is found to be stolen, he will be ordered to investigate the railway. The local government will be ordered to investigate within a time limit. If the investigation is not made, the government will be questioned. Those who dare to collect railway tracks are the same as those who dare to steal railway tracks. If you want to cut off the roots, you must first make the railway tracks unable to be sold. Secondly, the cost of stealing railway tracks is too high and cannot be sold. Except for a few who dare to take risks, others must not dare to do anything about the railway tracks."

"Your Majesty is saying." Cai Ji responded.

Guo Jia asked Cao Shuo: "You dare to ask Your Majesty, when will you start building the railway?"

"If you think there is nothing wrong with it, I will discuss this matter with all officials tomorrow morning." After responding to Guo Jia first, Cao Shu asked Cai Ji again: "Are you ready?"

"Report to Your Majesty, all preparations for building the railway are ready." Cai Ji replied: "As long as your Majesty gives an order, we can start construction at any time."

Cao Shu nodded: "Tomorrow morning court, I will discuss this matter with all officials. You should not go anywhere in the past two days, just wait for news in Chang'an."

Cai Ji agreed, and then said to Cao Shu: "If there is nothing else, I will not delay Your Majesty's discussion with the Prime Minister."

"You go first, and I will talk to you later." Cao Shuo signaled him to leave first.

Waiting for Cai Ji to leave, Guo Jia asked Cao Shu: "I remember General Cai was by His Majesty and was a accompanying general."

"That's all from many years ago." When talking about Cai Ji and Wei Tu staying by their side, Cao Shu smiled slightly and said to Guo Jia: "If you want to talk about Cai Ji, you were very flattering back then. Nowadays, people are more mature and persistent than before."

"At the time, His Majesty was responsible for everything." Guo Jia replied: "General Cai didn't have anything to worry about. Now it's different. He is responsible for the construction of the entire Great Wei road. Speaking of the Great Wei road, it is much smoother now than it was back then."

"The road is smooth, and it is most likely that we have abandoned the dirt roads we used to choose to build roads with bluestone." Cao Shuo said: "The roads built by bluestone will not become muddy, whether it is rainy or snow, wind and frost. Walking on such a road will not feel particularly difficult even on rainy days."

"Before the Great Wei Dynasty, bluestone was used to build roads, mostly in the city." Guo Jia said: "Only Your Majesty was willing to invest so much, turning the entire roads of the Great Wei Dynasty into bluestone pavement."

"The investment in Qingshi Road is quite large." Cao Shuo said to Guo Jia with a smile: "Just like I plan to build a railway now, only when the railway is built can people feel its convenience."

"I still don't quite understand why the railway is smoother than the bluestone road." Guo Jia replied: "Just like these two rails, you can't take a carriage on it. Just relying on manpower to push the vehicle forward, how can it be faster than the carriage?"

"Railway and bluestone road are not the same concept." Cao Shu said: "When Cai Ji was there, I had already said that vehicles walking on the railway would certainly be faster if there is less friction. Although I have unified the world, you also know that the Central Plains have been fighting for years, and the Great Wei rebuilt various places under the devastation. Many places have lacked materials for reconstruction. In order to avoid foreign races invading the Central Plains, I issued an order to let the army go out to conquer. Whether it is military or civilian, the cost is extremely huge. Just relying on horse and ox carts, so what if you do it?

The materials needed by various places and the army may be allocated in time. In fact, more importantly, the army is allocated for several months. Often when the army goes to the battlefield, our enemies have taken the initiative. Although the soldiers have achieved success in a hundred battles, Feng Xiao should also understand that the Great Wei army can travel invincible on the battlefield. After all, our soldiers are brave and the generals are good at fighting. If we lose these advantages, we lose the initiative again, can we always maintain our advantages on the battlefield?"

Cao Shu's words were actually something Guo Jia has been worried about for a long time.

He frowned slightly, thought for a moment, and asked Cao Shu: "You dare to ask Your Majesty, if you build a railway, where will you go first?"

"The road to the clouds." Cao Shu said: "Now that the Central Plains are stable, and there is nothing we need to worry about in the south. What really needs to invest a large number of soldiers and supplies is precisely outside the pass."

"Your Majesty plans to build the railway all the way outside the pass?" Guo Jia asked in confusion.

Cao Shu nodded and said to Guo Jia: "When I defeated the Gobe, I plan to let the soldiers come back and rest for a year or two. During the days when the soldiers were resting, the railway should be almost built. When the army headed north again, we can use the railway to transport troops. Only by investing more troops on the battlefield, transporting the soldiers there faster, and then sending the seriously injured soldiers back to the Central Plains with a shorter schedule, can we ensure that there is no disadvantage outside the pass."

"I already understand what Your Majesty means." Guo Jia nodded: "Although I don't know how fast the railway transports supplies, Your Majesty thinks it will be much faster, and it must be quick. I will join Your Majesty in convincing all the officials tomorrow morning."

After convinced Guo Jia, Cao Shu sighed and said, "What I worry most now is not that Cai Ji and the road construction soldiers led by him are not competent. What I really don't worry about is that the treasury allocates money. Those who don't understand the situation will think that the Great Wei is rich and has too much money to use. Only we understand that the Great Wei does not have that much money. After years of war, our treasury is mostly empty. Now we have to build railways. Before the railway is fully put into use, the court will probably be even poorer."

Guo Jia nodded: "Fortunately, Your Majesty chose Wei Yu earlier and asked him to take charge of Wangyue Tower. Now the money paid by Wangyue Tower every year is not much different from Lingyun Pavilion."

"Think about the same?" Cao Shuo asked, "How much is that?"

"The profits paid by Wangyue Tower to the government every month are 60% of that of Lingyun Pavilion." Guo Jia replied: "Now Wei Yu has sent someone to control ferries in various places. Merchants need to pay fees to stop at the ferry. Some merchants do not have ships and need to transport goods by water. They can even transport goods to places where they need to be delivered without their employer."

"Logistics?" Cao Shuo was stunned for a moment and blurted out this sentence.

"Dare to ask Your Majesty, what is logistics?" Guo Jia certainly had never heard of this term, and asked Cao Shu with a look of surprise.

"The so-called logistics is what you said." Cao Shuo said: "You can transport the goods to the place without the owner following you, as long as someone on the other side receives the goods."

"The nouns spoken by Your Majesty is unheard of." Guo Jia replied: "But after thinking about it carefully, Your Majesty did use two words to describe the business of the Moon Tower in place."

"When the railway is built, the logistics of Wangyue Tower will be larger than before." Cao Shuo asked Guo Jia again: "How is Lingyun Pavilion now?"

"Lingyun Pavilion is still steady as before." Guo Jia replied: "Although their business has not made many breakthroughs, they have been stable. Most of the shops in the cities in various places are still in the hands of Lingyun Pavilion."

"Fengxiao reminded me of something." Cao Shuo smiled slightly and said to Guo Jia: "As the people are rich, shops are increasingly unable to meet the needs of shopping. We have to build shopping malls and supermarkets in the city. With these places, it will be easier to encourage the people to increase their shopping desire. As long as the people spend money, the court can get more benefits from it."

"And." He changed his tone: "The carriage can be more than just the exclusive ones of officials in the future. It can be used for purchases, no matter the people, no matter the rich or poor, no matter the wealth."

Looking at Cao Shu in surprise, Guo Jia said, "If the carriage can be used by the people, those merchants can..."

"The Han Dynasty court needed merchants to obtain benefits for them, and at the same time restricted merchants from using carriages." Cao Shuo smiled slightly and asked Guo Jia: "Don't Fengxiao think that this practice is really funny?"

"I didn't feel anything." I've long been used to the exclusive means of transportation for the privileged class. Guo Jia said: "If the people can buy carriages, the road will definitely be very congested."

"That's right." Cao Shuo said: "We not only want the people to be able to buy carriages, but also divide the carriages into different levels. Different carriages vary in price. Whether high-end carriages or ordinary carriages, they are all operated by Lingyun Pavilion or Wangyue Tower. The two companies compare each other and make brands. When life is good, the people of course hope to have better transportation. Although Lingyun Pavilion and Wangyue Tower are both industries of the court, there is a competitive relationship between the two companies. What we need to do is to let them understand at any time that as long as one of them has a problem, the other company may eat them."

"In this way, the relationship between Lingyun Pavilion and Wangyue Tower is just..." Guo Jia frowned slightly and asked Cao Shuo: "If you really do this, will it be really beneficial?"

"The benefits will only be more, absolutely not less." Cao Shu replied: "The best way to encourage Lingyun Pavilion and Wangyue Tower to continue to operate is to give them a competitor. Feng Xiao can see, in this world, which merchant can compete with them except for them?"

Cao Shu asked this, and Guo Jia muttered in his heart.

Lingyun Pavilion and Wangyue Tower have always been supported by the Wei court. It would be strange if other merchants could compete with their two families.

"Since the two companies have the strength to compete with each other, we must make their competition more intense." Cao Shuo said: "Only when facing competition can they have the desire to grow and develop. Lingyun Pavilion has been dominant for so many years, and this pattern should be broken since it took over Wangyue Tower."
Chapter completed!