In addition to the country's strategic railway deployment, Zuo Mengeng also needs to meet with people who are also eager for railways.
That is the business representative from Jiangnan.
"Your Majesty, I haven't seen you for many years. You are still as healthy as ever. You are truly a blessing to all people in the world."
With the change of dynasties, Xu Wenjue no longer had the hereditary position of Duke. However, after abandoning politics and pursuing business, he made a lot of money relying on his strong family background and good relations with the government.
Just looking at his rich figure and silk and satin clothes, you can tell that this guy has become a mature businessman.
"Your Majesty, I am Li Daguang, chairman of Nandu Trading Group."
"I am Qian Weichang, chairman of Zhejiang Commerce and Trade Group."
"I am Su Qizhe, chairman of Jiangnan Shipping Company."
After being introduced one by one, they are all wealthy and spiritual people in the land of Jiangnan. It can be said that the pockets of these people are shaking, and the economy of Jiangnan will be affected.
But now these people's eyes are all red.
Just because they all took the train and saw the extremely broad future of this new type of transportation.
If you can get involved in the industry at the beginning, it will definitely be a great benefit to Fukuzawa Bandai.
"King Ji has already reported your thoughts to me. As a businessman, he has the courage to participate in state affairs and wants to contribute to the country. This is worthy of encouragement."
As soon as he came up, Zuo Mengeng got straight to the point and set the tone for the matter.
Since ancient times, the status of merchants has been very humble, and they have often been treated as fat sheep in the eyes of the government.
This also caused businessmen to either seek refuge with officials in search of backers, or to fear the officials like tigers and avoid them like snakes and scorpions.
Even if the empire has entered a new era, changes in people's thinking and social environment will still require long-term efforts.
Now that he is the emperor's golden words, as expected, all the businessmen present are smiling and eager to try.
"You have already seen the benefits of railways. As long as you operate it carefully, you can naturally make a lot of money. But there is one thing I want to say up front..."
Seeing that Zuo Menggeng was extremely solemn, Xu Wenjue and others were cautious and did not dare to neglect.
"In addition to creating huge benefits, the railway is also an important weapon of the country and is related to national security. Therefore, the country can allow you to participate in operation and investment, but the country must have decision-making power over the railway. In normal times, it can be operated by you. Once there is
When a major event occurs, the state will requisition it unconditionally. Also, the state must hold a certain proportion of shares in the railway company and have the power to review and supervise operations. At the same time, the railways you build and operate must maintain the same specifications as their counterparts elsewhere.
.Only in this way can the railways be connected into a network in the future and travel all over the world. Can you meet these requirements?"
The businessmen were silent and thought carefully, knowing that this was a major matter related to their wealth and life.
Qian Weichang asked cautiously: "I wonder what the scope of the country's unconditional requisition is? I'm afraid that the government will occupy the railway regardless of big or small matters. In that case..."
Zuo Mengeng understood his worries very well.
After all, the government is in a strong position and may find any reason to seize the right of passage of the railway. This is undoubtedly very detrimental to business.
"The state's requisition of railways is basically concentrated in a few limited areas such as troop mobilization and disaster relief. Other than that, it will never affect the daily operation of the railway."
Zuo Mengeng gave a limited range.
When everyone heard this, they were all very happy.
Because these areas mentioned by Zuo Menggeng are top-level affairs in any dynasty. Let alone the requisition of railways, even the requisition of people and materials is common.
"That being the case, we are relieved."
Regarding private participation in railway construction and operation, the terms and details are obviously not something that can be determined in a few words.
Zuo Menggeng is just setting the tone here. After returning home, the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Railways will have to hold repeated discussions with these businessmen and finally come up with a mutually acceptable plan.
Zuo Mengeng is more concerned about...
"To build a railway, a large amount of steel is needed. If it is transported from various places, it will probably be very expensive. Have you considered this issue?"
Businessmen are really meticulous in their work.
Xu Wenjue said: "Your Majesty is unaware that iron ore has been discovered in Dangtu, not far from Nandu. We are going to invest part of the money to build a new steel smelting plant here in conjunction with the Ministry of Mineral Resources, specifically responsible for the construction of railway tracks and trains.
.In this way, transportation cost issues can be avoided.”
Zuo Mengeng suddenly realized, and then he remembered that Ma'anshan in later generations was originally famous for its iron ore.
"The land and water network in the south of the Yangtze River is densely covered. Can you solve this problem?"
Although Jiangnan is flat, it is definitely not friendly to transportation construction.
The dense water network always cuts the roads intermittently, especially the construction of railways is really troublesome.
However, when it comes to this, the businessmen in Jiangnan are full of ambitions.
"We have reached an agreement with the business group of Songjiang Prefecture to build the railway all the way to the east bank of the Huangpu River. We plan to build a cross-river railway bridge on the Huangpu River. If successful, we will go one step further and build a bridge on the Yangtze River.
"
Good guy, is the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge going to be launched more than 300 years in advance?
Through this incident, Zuo Mengeng also discovered that human subjective initiative can indeed create unlimited value.
Of course, he would fully support the businessmen's proactive attitude.
"The technical difficulty of building a cross-river bridge is very high. You can cooperate with the Academy of Engineering Sciences. If you encounter any technical difficulties, the state and government will come forward to help you."
The cross-river bridge also has important strategic significance. Once realized, the natural chasm will be transformed into a road, which will enhance the country's control just like the railway.
In addition, once a cross-river bridge can be built, it means that with the current accumulation of technology in the empire, high-rise buildings can also be built.
This undoubtedly has important significance in promoting the development of the city.
Seeing that Zuo Mengeng did not take them for their nonsense, but encouraged them enthusiastically, this made all the merchants in Jiangnan feel relaxed and happy.
They all experienced the evolution from the Ming Dynasty to the Empire, and they had a stronger sense of the differences between the two periods.
Although many of them were top dignitaries and superiors in the old era, from a business perspective, the empire era was definitely more comfortable.
After a conversation with Jiangnan businessmen representatives, Zuo Mengeng also realized that under the influence of him and the empire, the trend of the times had changed dramatically.
The Chinese nation, which had gone in the wrong direction at the crossroads of history, has obviously become full of vitality.
He was eager to feel this change, so he went to the Academy of Engineering Sciences to see what kind of surprises the scientific and technological workers of this era would bring him.