Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

In addition to stocks, the largest component of the securities market is bonds.

The Ming Dynasty had issued something similar to bonds before, which was the salt permits classified in the fifth year of Zhengtong when the Kaizhong Law was implemented:

The salt deposit voucher "is based on the accumulated salt, and can be paid out as soon as the person arrives, which is called deposit", similar to the "bond payable on demand" in later generations.

The regular salt permits are "given to the merchants in order at the end of the year, which are called regular salt permits" and can be regarded as "irregularly paid bonds".

Both played a huge role in the Ming Dynasty's finances, and were the reason why the Ming Dynasty was able to use military forces everywhere despite constant natural disasters during the Chenghua period.

However, after the abolition of the Kaizhong Law during the Hongzhi period, the laws of accumulation and regular shares were basically abolished.

Even though efforts were made to restore it during the Jiajing period, the old system was ultimately not restored and the bond function of the salt permits could not be unearthed.

After Yuan Shizhen implemented the Gang Law in Lianghuai, the bond function of the salt permits could be said to have completely disappeared.

This is also the reason why Zhu Youjian was not very interested in the Gangfa and only planned to use it in the south.

In the north, he directly lifted restrictions and issued salt permits based on the amount of salt produced, thus increasing salt tax revenue by expanding the scale.

But bonds also had to be issued, and he planned to sell two types of bonds at the same time as issuing stocks.

The first type was highway bonds. He planned to build a highway between the two capitals and set up post stations and communication stations along the highway.

This will strengthen the connection between the two capitals, and when the canal freezes in winter, supplies can still be transported conveniently.

The establishment of a communication station can speed up the transmission of information and strengthen the court's control over the south. It can more conveniently transport the southern finances and taxes, and at the same time spread the northern public opinion controlled by the royal family to the south more quickly.

This is the reason why Zhu Youjian sent Lu Tunan to Nanjing and appointed this confidant as the Nanjing Minister of War.

However, in comparison, building the highway between the two capitals was not an urgent task and was far less pressing than the Jianlu Rebellion.

Zhu Youjian did not intend to spend much money on it. He chose to issue public bonds for construction, using tolls, communication fees, and post station income as collateral.

He had already handed this matter over to Taibusi and asked Chen Qiuyu to survey the route and draw up a budget.

As the stock issuance date approached, he summoned Chen Qiyu to the warm room of the Yangxin Palace and asked:

"Have you calculated the cost of the Liangjing Highway? How much will it cost?"

"And the charging standards, have they been finalized?"

Chen Qiyu has been busy with this matter for a while, and he quickly replied:

"If it is built according to the highest standards that Your Majesty has mentioned, and without conscripting labor, it will cost about 30 million taels of silver."

"If the standards are lowered and the victims are used for labor relief, based on the cost of the Triangle Highway, it would cost about three million to build the Liangjing Highway."

"Both are extremely expensive and the court can hardly afford them."

The cost of 30 million taels of silver really shocked Zhu Youjian, because the annual fiscal revenue of the Ming Dynasty did not reach this figure.

If the government issued bonds with this amount, people would think it was crazy. It would be impossible to sell such bonds.

So he asked Chen Qiyu:
"Why is there such a big difference in cost between the two?"

"What's the difference between thirty million taels and three million taels?"

Chen Qiyu replied:

"First of all, it's wages. The victims only need to be fed, which costs very little."

"The second is bridges. We can temporarily not repair the bridges that are more difficult to repair and use boats to ferry across them."

“Finally, the lanes can be reduced from eight lanes to four lanes, like the current Triangle Highway.”

"It doesn't even need to be that straight. It can just follow the route of the post road. That way, there's no need to requisition land."

"Finally, bamboo bars will be used to build roads instead of steel bars. The cement standard can also be lowered, and wood ash can be collected along the way for burning."

With such a reduction, the cost of roads will be greatly reduced to only one-tenth of the highest standard or even lower.

But Zhu Youjian was almost speechless after hearing this, because he was worried that if Chen Qiyu continued to talk, the simple concrete highway he envisioned would become a rural cement road.

Moreover, because the formula of cement and concrete was far inferior to that of later generations, even the cement road standards connecting every village could not be met. If there were too many vehicles on the road, it would be easily damaged.

One reason cement roads were replaced by asphalt roads is that they are inconvenient to repair. If a road is repaired but needs to be repaired frequently, how can it continue to be used?
Chen Qiyu also had this concern, so after the Imperial Household Department surveyed the route and estimated the budget, they felt that building a highway was not feasible. He proposed to the emperor:

"I think building a highway is not as good as building a railway. The cost of the railway between the two capitals is lower than that of the highway between the two capitals."

“And we can also build communication stations to assist railway communications.”

This made Zhu Youjian wonder:
"Railways cost less than roads. Can you be sure of that?"

Chen Qiyu said affirmatively:
"The cost of railways is lower than that of roads. Two double-track railways only need to occupy an area eight meters wide."

"Even if space is reserved on the sides and in the middle for safety reasons, it would only take up 16 meters at most, equivalent to four lanes of highway."

"And it doesn't require concrete on the ground, just gravel and wood to lay the track."

"It has a strong carrying capacity and saves more horsepower. People in Taipusi think it is more cost-effective to build a railway."

Listening to Chen Qiyu's explanation, Zhu Youjian gradually understood that the Taipu Temple was also planning to build a simple version of the railway, or a wooden track.

And because horse-drawn rail vehicles are not fast enough and there are not enough carriages, there is no need to reserve dozens of meters of space on both sides of the railway to avoid injuries in the event of an accident. Therefore, it occupies less space than roads.

At the same time, because horses pull carts on tracks with less effort, they can also carry more goods. Compared with the still very expensive roads at that time, it is naturally more cost-effective.

In order to strengthen his persuasiveness, Chen Qiyu added:

"Places like Jiangling Principality and Ningyuan Earldom are rich in timber. The timber for building the tracks is not a problem at all."

"In addition, the Vehicle Research Institute also imitated the rickshaw and covered the wooden wheels and rails with iron, which greatly reduced wear and tear."

"We are now using iron rails, and their carrying capacity is no less than that of railway tracks."

This is the improvement brought about by the construction of the Beijing-West Railway.

The Vehicle Research Institute found that some rickshaw drivers covered the wheels of their rickshaws with iron sheets in imitation of iron-tile carts in order to reduce wear on wheels and axles.

Although this makes the car noisier, it also greatly reduces the damage rate of the wheels.

This inspired them to also cover rail vehicles that are prone to wear and tear with iron sheets, and suggested to the Road Research Institute to cover wooden rails with iron sheets.

(Iron tile wheel)
(Iron and wooden rails)
The Road Research Institute was inspired by this idea and installed an iron bar on the wooden track. And after installing a narrower wooden bar under the iron bar, the I-shaped track envisioned by the emperor was also realized on the iron track.

This kind of iron-bar wooden track is not as easy to damage as the wooden track processed into the "I" shape, and it is also more convenient to assemble and process. Now the wooden tracks of the Jingxi Railway are equipped with iron bars, making the railway worthy of its name, and no one will doubt the origin of the name.

At the same time, they also realized the structures drawn by the emperor, such as conical wheels and switches, which facilitate the turning of rail vehicles.

The Vehicle Research Institute even developed a suspension for rail vehicles based on the carriage suspension, which greatly improved the comfort of railway passenger cars, and many students in university towns were willing to ride them.

The students also made many suggestions to improve the railways and railcars more quickly.

What attracted the most attention was that Fang Yizhi invented the human-powered rail car.

This was the result of his hard work after he was rewarded for "inventing" the rickshaw and was criticized by some people for treating humans as animals.

This was to show that he did not agree with treating humans as animals, and that he wanted to use vehicles that people could sit in instead of rickshaws that people had to run on foot.

Chen Qiyu introduced to the emperor:
"Fang Yizhi's human-powered rail vehicle was inspired by your Majesty's human-powered tricycle."

"He thinks the reason why rickshaws are not practical now is that they are too tiring to ride."

“So he chose to use it on the track, which is lighter to ride.”

This was an idea that Fang Yizhi came up with on a whim while riding on a railway carriage.

In his opinion, the reason why human-powered tricycles with front-wheel pedals are not practical is that they are too strenuous to ride.

But if it is placed on tracks, this disadvantage is much smaller. Vehicles on tracks are easier to move.

So he did not study the chain-driven tricycle proposed by the emperor, but instead used a front-wheel pedal tricycle on the railway.

Initially he also requested an additional rail to be added to the railway to carry the middle wheel of the tricycle.

The Road Research Institute in charge of the Jingxi Railway was of course not happy and thought that he should add a wheel to make a fourth wheel.

Fang Yizhi had no choice but to ask the Vehicle Research Institute to do research together. What they finally developed was a human-powered rail vehicle based on a four-wheeled flatbed vehicle that could be pedaled or cranked by hand.

This type of rail car can be operated by pedaling a pedal on one wheel, but this is still very laborious and unsafe on one side.

After moving to the middle, I still used wheels at first, connecting the two front wheels with gears. It was still very laborious to pedal, but it was much safer.

However, a person riding this kind of track vehicle still can't go far. And the gears are too loud and too laborious, so it's still not practical enough.

This problem was eventually solved by a craftsman who was involved in the development of the steam engine. He used the crank connecting rod that connected the piston on the rail car. Then he used the crank handle instead of the pedal wheel, and only needed to shake it back and forth to move the rail car like steam pushing the piston connecting rod.

This kind of crank can be cranked by up to four people at the same time. With mutual cooperation, it is easy and labor-saving.

Its top speed can reach over 40 miles per hour. Four people can travel 200 to 300 miles in a day.

Railway workers like this kind of vehicle very much, because it makes their patrol and maintenance very simple. Only four people are needed to drive the rail car to check the road.

The frequency of thefts of wooden rails and iron bars also dropped rapidly after the emergence of this human-powered railcar.

This is also the reason why Chen Qiyu suggested building a railway without worrying about being destroyed along the way.

However, Fang Yizhi's idea of ​​replacing rickshaws could not be realized because private vehicles were not allowed on the railways.

The people who used human-powered railcars were mainly railway workers, and even they would prefer horse-drawn carriages when there were horses available.

This type of human-powered rail vehicle is only used for short-distance patrols and maintenance.

But even so, Zhu Youjian was very happy. He didn't expect Fang Yizhi and the people from the Vehicle Research Institute to have come up with this, which made him very happy.

"It looks like we need to secure a spot for this year's student Yuanshi."

"Fang Yizhi's achievements in the human-powered railcar are enough to make him a Yuanshi."

Unlike the two-wheeled rickshaws that were previously "invented" based on an idea, this human-powered rail vehicle is much more complicated and can be called a real invention.

In order to encourage him to continue inventing and creating instead of wasting his energy on the imperial examinations, Zhu Youjian has decided to grant Fang the status of Zhiyuanshi so that he can focus on these.

Chen Qiyu was also proud of hearing this, because the Vehicle Research Institute also contributed to this matter.

He had already decided in his mind to reward the craftsmen who participated in the project handsomely and to bring Fang Yizhi to the Taipusi Research Institute and have him work in the Taipusi.

Then, speaking of railways, Zhu Youjian still had doubts about the construction of the railway between the two capitals. He asked:
“Is the bridge-building technology mature now?”

“Can a railway bridge pass through the Yellow River and the Grand Canal without affecting shipping?”

Chen Qiyu hesitated for a moment and said:

"If the bridge opening is made larger, it should not affect shipping."

"As for the Yellow River Bridge, I think we can use ships to transport supplies."

"Moreover, the area south of the Huai River does not freeze in winter. I think we can avoid repairing the canal across the Yellow River and just repair it to the area around Xuzhou and Huai'an Prefecture."

This is his opinion, and also the opinion of many people in Taipu Temple.

Compared to shipping, railways that only use horse-drawn carriages are far inferior to canals.

Since the canals south of the Huai River can be used in winter, we should continue to use the canals, and only use railways for transportation when ice forms further north.

This completely puts railway transportation in a subordinate position to shipping. Not to mention that the Imperial Household Department was somewhat unwilling to do so, Zhu Youjian also felt that it was useless.

Because after the sea transportation route is figured out, when the canal freezes in winter, sea transportation can be used. It is more economical to build ports and ships than to spend so much money on railways.

So after thinking about it, he decided:
"Let's build the Beijing-Tianjin railway first!"

“After we complete this railway, we will decide whether to extend it to Nanjing.”

"The volume of goods transported between Beijing and Tianjin is huge, and there are calls to build another highway."

“Compare a double-track railway with a four-lane highway of the same width.”

This made Chen Qiuyu a little disappointed, but at the same time he was secretly relieved.

Because he also felt that the cost of building the Two Beijings Highway or the Two Beijings Railway was too high and the bonds might not be sold.

The Beijing-Tianjin Railway is much simpler. For such a short distance, the cost will be very cheap.

At the same time, due to the huge demand for cargo transportation between Beijing and Tianjin, this railway will quickly recover its costs.

So, at the emperor's request, he quickly changed the previously formulated two-Beijing highway and two-Beijing railway plans into the Beijing-Tianjin railway bond plan.

Let’s test the waters of the bond market with this short-distance railway. (End of this chapter)