Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1061 Southwest (V)

On the evening of April 1655, 4, Fort Minghe.

Panting, Peng Zhicheng climbed up a small slope, and looked at the Southwest Railway that had been built to Qianjin Farm with satisfaction.From 1653 to March 1655, the more than 3-kilometer railway from Guangrong Township to Qianjin Farm was finally opened to traffic. So far, the total mileage of the Southwest Railway has exceeded [-] kilometers (the western section near Jingjiang Port is also partially opened to traffic. mileage), it can be regarded as a remarkable railway in the east coast.

At the foot of the hillside is a rural town where smoke is gradually rising. This month, it gets darker and earlier. At this time, some impetuous farmers have already lit the lights, and the whole family is sitting in the yard to eat and chat.Meals are nothing more than salted fish (benefits after the opening of the train), bacon, noodles, and some fruits and vegetables, which are relatively plentiful. This is the case in inland rural areas. Although the income of farmers is relatively low, they still have enough food and clothing No problem, spending on necessities is much lower than that of urban workers.

Minghe Fort, an inland settlement with a population of more than 2000 that was established two or three years ago, has now been officially renamed Minghe Town, because the Executive Committee has just instructed the Government Affairs Council to approve the establishment of Minghe County, which governs Minghe Town, Xikou Township, Qianjin Township (formerly Qianjin Farm, about 1500 people), Shengli Township (formerly Shengli Farm, about [-] people), a total of one town and three townships, with a total population of just over [-]. Inland counties to watch.

After the establishment of Minghe County, the No. 19 county-level administrative unit in the country, there are already three counties in the area where the Southwest Railway runs through, namely Taoyuan County, Minghe County, and Jingjiang County in the westernmost section.Among the three counties, except for Jingjiang County, which is mainly based on papermaking and construction industries, supplemented by agriculture and animal husbandry, the other two counties are typical agricultural counties. There are only 6 yuan and 7 yuan respectively—with such a small amount of money, there is not enough medical care, and there is a huge gap in education, and even some deep processing of agricultural and sideline products is not enough. It is difficult to meet other needs other than full food.

Since the economic activity of these agricultural counties is very low, it is difficult to say the profit prospects of the Southwest Railway, which is under construction, and this undoubtedly dampens the confidence of quite a few Genoese investors.Although the current profitability of this railway seems to be okay due to the transportation of a large amount of construction materials (people on the east coast build settlements in the interior), but don't forget that the construction of settlements will always be completed one day. At that time, what was this railway used to transport?Is it just some merchandise?Then, according to the degree of sparse population in the area, it is likely that there will not be much transported. In this way, the Southwest Railway may fall into the quagmire of losses.

A while ago, Peng Zhicheng met Alessandro and his party from the Doria family who came from Europe in Jingjiang port. The Genoese said that they had invested in this railway for nearly three years, and had already spent more than 500 million yuan in the bank. Lira, and now it seems that they were too optimistic about the cost of this railway (at that time, they thought that 4000 million lire could be won), and it seems that this railway will cost more than 5000 million lire. Going on, the Genoese naturally want to see benefits, so they are eager to know whether the people on the east coast have a new profit model to ensure the future profits of the Prairie Railway Company.You know, the company's operating income last year was only 3.4 yuan, which is too low, so low that it is completely unacceptable.

Naturally, Peng Zhicheng has no good solution to the questioning of the Genoese. He can only say that the East Bank Executive Committee will continue to immigrate here this year and next, and build more settlements to lay the foundation for the future development of the Grassland Railway Company.To be honest, this answer is tantamount to no answer, which disappointed Alessandro and others.However, Peng Zhicheng also reminded the Italians that according to the agreement, they can sell the railway to the east coast government at a price of 6000 million lire within one year after the completion of the railway. If the final cost of the railway is 5000 million lire and the completion period is five years If that is the case, then the annual rate of return of the Genoese investment still reaches 4%, which is three to four times the rate of return of their investment in domestic government bonds or annuities, and the return is already quite good.

Of course, people on the east coast are not all unreasonable. In view of the rising domestic prices on the east coast (almost all materials and food during the construction of the Southwest Railway were purchased locally on the east coast), and the complexity of the railway construction (There are many railway bridges), the East Bank government will give the company an annual subsidy of about 10 yuan at its discretion—in the form of construction materials and railway equipment—in addition, on the day when the railway line is fully completed, the China East Bank Republic National Railway The General Administration will also give the Genoese a one-time "project completion award" of 50 yuan as encouragement—this time it will be distributed with the relatively surplus grain, textiles and leather in the east coast.

Counting these miscellaneous subsidies and rewards, it is estimated that the annual rate of return of the Genoese's long-term investment will reach about 6%, which cannot be considered high, but it must not be considered low either!After all, how can they find such a good investment opportunity in Europe - if there is one, they won't be swarming domestically to invest in public bonds (even the annual inflation can't escape).

After careful consideration, Alessandro reluctantly agreed to Peng Zhicheng's proposal, and now he realized that the railway might not be profitable in the short term.Fortunately, every cooperation with the people on the east bank has a sell-out clause. This key clause guarantees them a decent rate of return. It is a method acceptable to both parties.

However, in the future, cooperation with people on the east coast will be more thoughtful. The construction of the Southwest Railway this time is an example-this is what Alessandro learned from this trip, because you can’t expect to rely on the east every time. The "conscience discovery" of the shore people will send you some subsidies and rewards (these things are still mainly material, and you have to find a way to digest them, of course it is not too difficult) to increase your rate of return.You have to rely on yourself in everything. When discussing cooperation with Dongan people in the future, you must pay more attention to the rate of return on your own investment. Only with this foundation can the cooperation between the two parties last for a long time.

"There are many reasons for the soaring cost of building the Southwest Railway in Genoa, but a large number of laborers cheated from Italy fleeing is one of the important factors." Feeling the cool evening breeze on the hillside, Peng Zhicheng suddenly said: "Because the discovery of cost It is much higher than expected, so instructing the front-line foremen to extend the working hours of workers, increase their work intensity, reduce their living conditions, and deduct their due wages. So far, the Genoese have transported more than [-] Italian laborers and [-] Congolese slaves to repair the railway in three years), but it also greatly intensified the dissatisfaction of the laborers. Therefore, on a night of a wise man After escaping, the people who fled followed one after another, and it became a trend over time, which made people speechless."

What Peng Zhicheng said is indeed true.The capitalists in Genoa have the urge to cut costs, and the way the workers resist is to flee. So far, there are more than a thousand of these workers who have fled. Let them fend for themselves—later, according to statistics, these escaped Italian laborers basically changed their names and surnames, and joined the construction work of the East Bank in the Wujiang area and the Northwest Reclamation Bureau under the new identity. Open one eye and close one eye.

After the laborers fled in large numbers, the Genoese capitalists could only recruit new laborers in Italy, Germany and other regions in the form of "swindling and abducting", and then sent them to the east coast to repair the railway.The average cost per person was as high as one hundred lire, which undoubtedly further exacerbated their already high costs. In order to cut costs, the front line could only further squeeze the workers, which caused the workers to flee, and the vicious circle continued step by step. The Genoese investors were tormented and exhausted, and finally moved to the idea of ​​selling the railway quickly to get back the funds after the completion of the railway. Mind.

"Hehe, the Genoese helped us build the railway for the first time, and they couldn't dispel their enthusiasm all at once. I was laughing in my heart when these people calculated that the railway would cost 4000 million lire. It's impossible! Now sit It’s waxing, let’s give them a hand, it’s not a bad thing, after all, they are pointing out that they are doing things for us in Europe, some money, if they spend it for us, the effect will be several times better than our own.” Has been promoted to the country Yang Wanglin, director of the General Administration of Railways, also climbed up the small slope, panting and said: "There are so many Sicilians and Neapolitans, and the Genoese spent a lot of money to bring them here, but they can't stand it. Life, these laborers are willing to flee to our towns to work, and they are not willing to suffer here, which is understandable. But we really have to give the Genoese a little bit of benefits, otherwise we will be dumbfounded if they stop cheating people from the old continent in a fit of anger Now, the big deal is that if you spend money to buy people from them, if you can solve it with money, that's nothing!"

"Once the negotiations with the Spaniards are implemented, supplies will be delivered to them in batches in the future, and wheat is undoubtedly one of the important items. The current domestic situation in Spain is chaotic, and the grain harvest has been failing year after year. They must ask us to buy a large amount of grain, but This is the opportunity for the towns along the Southwest Railway. The people of Genoa now feel that this railway will not be profitable, so it is too early to say." Peng Zhicheng looked at the lights of Wanjia gradually shrouded in darkness, and said: "Anyway, the Southwest The railway must be completed on time, and we must also urge the Genoese to not let them slack off."

(End of this chapter)