Back to Ming Dynasty with Industrial Revolution System

Chapter 1242 Three-year operating right
"This month, Jianghuai Provincial Civil Affairs Officer Zhang Yandeng retired and returned to his hometown, and his adjutant Yu Sixun took over. The Huguang Provincial Court made personnel adjustments. The changes are as follows..."

At the monthly regular meeting of the six ministries, Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Officials reported the personnel adjustments this month, some of which were normal changes, and some were dismissed due to accidents.

Originally, after the Ministry of Officials reported, the Ministry of Households should report, but Chu Yun noticed that a group of senior officials, such as the Minister of the Ministry of Industry and the Minister of the Ministry of Industry, seemed to be unable to hold back.

"The Ministry of Industry seems to have important matters, so the Ministry of Industry should report first." Chu Yun also wanted to know what was going on with the Ministry of Industry.

"Yes!" Minister of the Ministry of Industry personally stood up and went to the reporting desk.

"Last month, the first railway was built in the Jiangnan area, from Nanjing City Construction to Suzhou via Zhenjiang and Changzhou. This matter has been reported last month. However, our Ministry of Industry has received three telegrams from Jiangnan one after another, which is very interesting. One is from In the Jianghuai Province, businessmen from Wuhu and some wealthy families wanted to extend the railway from Nanjing City to the west for three hundred miles to Wuhu,” said the Minister of Industry.

"Wuhu is in the upstream direction of Nanjing. If there is a railway between Wuhu and Nanjing, it will be equivalent to 800 miles of railway along the river." Many officials come from the Jianghuai area, and they know the location of Wuhu, which is also on the south bank of the Yangtze River. .

If the Ningwu Railway is built, the economy along the Yangtze River will be more prosperous.

Because Chu Yun quickly defeated the peasant army such as Li Zicheng, the war in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River was not greatly affected. Not only is the industry and commerce developed here, but also the agriculture of "Suhu is cooked, the world is full" is the treasure house of the empire, and taxation is distributed in various provinces Among them the proportion is very large.If it weren't for the balance of agriculture, forestry and fishery in the East and West Cochin Provinces, silver mines in the Dongying Province, spices and plantations in the Nanyang Province, and industries in Gyeonggi and Southern Liaoning, maybe Chu Yun would split the Jianghuai Province into two parts. provinces.

When the economic strength of the local area is too strong, one possible result is that the policies of the capital will be affected by the local area.

"If I remember correctly, the next section of the railway in Jianghuai Province should not be built westward, but should extend to Hangzhou?" Chu Yun asked.

The railway in the southern region will first connect Nanjing City and Suzhou City as a pilot project, and then connect Suzhou City and Hangzhou City to form a triangle to accelerate the development of the Yangtze River Delta.

Even before the sea ban was completely lifted, this place was already the most prosperous place, and with the large-scale overseas trade and the laying of railways, the Yangtze River Delta may be even more brilliant.

"Yes, according to the scheduled plan, the second section of the government-run railway should pass through Songjiang Prefecture, and then go from Jiaxing to Hangzhou. The Ningsu Railway will become the Nanjing-Hangzhou Railway. But they are the railway sections that private businessmen requested to build. I think Even if it is not in the same direction as our government-operated railway, it is still acceptable." said Minister of the Ministry of Industry.

"As long as the rails are built according to the same specifications and the steam locomotives can run on all the railways, it doesn't matter if private businessmen build and operate the railways."

Chu Yun personally announced to the outside world that private capital can enter the construction of roads and railways under certain conditions. He never thought that someone would have the courage to undertake the construction of the railway so soon.That is a 300-mile railway, and every kilometer of track requires a lot of silver, which occupies the main investment in railway construction.

"But the question is, are the businessmen in Wuhu capable of undertaking the investment for the 300-mile railway? Has Yu Sixun explained to them the cost of building the railway?" Chen Ting, Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, asked.

He has followed Chu Yun for more than ten years, and his biggest concern is money.

Building a railway is no joke. If it goes unfinished, it will not only waste money, but also undermine confidence in building railways everywhere.

"There are 112 people from Wuhu in the telegram claiming that they plan to establish the Wuhu Railway Company. They intend to subscribe 30 taels of silver as the initial capital for the construction of the Wuhu Railway. They want to hire railway engineers and railway workers from the government. Prepared 5 taels of silver, established Wuhu Telegraph Company, and wanted to lay wires along the railway, so that after the completion of the railway, Wuhu Railway Station can communicate with Nanjing Railway Station and coordinate train schedules. At the same time, Wuhu County can be connected to the telegraph network. To provide civil telegram service for the people of Wuhu County.” The Minister of the Ministry of Industry also personally explained the content of the telegram sent by Nanjing City.

Wired telegraph is the fastest way of railway communication now, it can quickly notify the train schedule and coordinate the operation between different steam locomotives.

"Since they are ready for the establishment of the telegraph company, it seems that they are fully prepared for the construction of the railway..."

Many senior officials of the empire saw that the people from Wuhu were serious and wanted to build a railway, so they started arguing.

The main point of debate is not whether private people can build railways, but how to determine the norms for private capital to build railways.

"For 30 years, they have the right to operate the railway they built spontaneously for 30 years, and it will be owned by the government after 30 years. The government can take back the railway in advance, but they need to give them enough compensation."

In the end, according to the reference provided by the Ministry of Household Affairs, everyone confirmed that the independent operation right of the privately built railway is 30 years after the railway is built, so that investors can recover costs and make profits.

"As for the telegraph company, the government-run factory can produce wires, lay circuits, and provide telegraphs for them." Chu Yun made the final decision.

Providing the telegraph to the private sector is likely to lead to the secrecy of the principle of the telegraph.

However, this doesn’t matter to Chu Yun. The principle of the telegraph is related to electromagnetism, and there is no such theoretical research in the West. It will be impossible for them to understand the principle in less than ten or twenty years.As for Chu Yun, who has a system in his body, it is estimated that wireless telegraphy will start to be widely used 20 years later.

"Not only did Wuhu put forward the plan to build the Ningwu Railway, but there are also two telegrams from my subordinates. One is that Wang Yehao, the Civil Affairs Officer of Zhejiang Province, wants to build a railway from Suzhou City to Ningbo Port via Hangzhou City. The method adopted is It is jointly organized by the government and businessmen. This railway will pass through Jiaxing, Hangzhou, Shaoxing, and Ningbo in Zhejiang Province." The Minister of the Ministry of Industry said again.

"A government-business partnership? It's interesting..." Chu Yun found that various places had their own ideas based on their actual conditions, and even thought of a government-business partnership to run a railway.

"The way they cooperate is to each contribute half of the capital to establish a railway company, and each year's income will be divided in half. Guangdong Province has also proposed a proposal to build the Pearl River Estuary Railway." Minister of the Ministry of Industry read out the contents of the third telegram.

Not only the Jiangnan area, but even the Guangzhou government in the south of the Lingnan wants to catch up with the railway wave.

(End of this chapter)