My life skills in Daming Liver

The whistle sounded, and Xu Kun stood up from the first-class carriage. He looked out the glass window at the Songjiang Station platform, which was already crowded with passengers with large and small bags ready to board the train.

Fortunately, the first-class carriage is parked at the front of the platform. There is a special waiting platform for first-class carriage passengers, which is not as crowded as the ordinary platforms at the back.

Xu Kun's assistants also stood up. When the train stopped, the conductor opened the door and a group of people walked out of the train.

Looking at the locomotive spewing white steam, Xu Kun really couldn't understand how this thing moved on its own.

If you don't understand it yourself, don't understand it. Anyway, the Governor is just like the magician, he can always invent magical things.

This is true for textile machines and steam engines. Xu Kun even has a different view from mainstream scholars.

The rapid rise of Southeast China did not rely on weapons and equipment or new ideas, but on these magical inventions.

Xu Kun went out this time to investigate the Su-Song Railway. Xu Kun had a deeper understanding of the railway using steam locomotives.

When Xu Kun started his business, he immediately invested heavily in keeping up with the new spinning machines promoted by Su Ze at Tiangong Academy. Only then did he suddenly emerge in the subsequent cotton textile revolution and become the number one cotton merchant in the Songjiang area.

Since this incident, Xu Kun has been following Su Ze. He also took the lead in subscribing for the last railway bond and made a lot of money.

Now that Xu Kun is investigating the railway, he also sees the huge benefits of the railway.

Xu Kun walked down from the platform, looked at the bustling train station, and said to his assistant:

"Let's go directly to Songjiang Magistrate's Office."

The Xu family's carriage was already waiting at the train station. Xu Kun got on the carriage and went directly to the Songjiang Mansion Yamen.

Xu Guo, the current prefect of Songjiang, was Su Ze's companion when he was running a newspaper in Suzhou. He was also ranked second on the same list as Shen Shixing.

Xu Guo is much older than Shen Shixing, but everyone knows that his future is limitless.

The governor's old friend was also the prefect of Songjiang, the largest prefecture in the southeast. Xu Guo would have a good chance next time to enter the cabinet along the old path of Shen Shixing.

Guangzhou Prefecture, Songjiang Prefecture, Suzhou Prefecture, Fuzhou Prefecture, and Hangzhou Prefecture, these five prefectures have the highest financial contribution in the entire Southeast. The prefects of these five prefectures are also different from those in other places, and are vaguely one level higher.

Especially the increasingly developing Songjiang Prefecture, relying on its advantages in railways and shipping, has surpassed other prefectures and become the capital of the world.

However, after Xu Guo came to Songjiang Mansion, he made almost no major moves.

All of his policies were continuations of the policies of his predecessor, Songjiang Magistrate Shen Shixing, and there were not even major adjustments to personnel arrangements.

The construction policies of Shanghai County are all based on the plans left by Shen Shixing. The only thing that people talked about after Xu Guo came to Songjiang was that Xu Guo moved the prefecture's Yamen from Huating to Shanghai County.

People in Huating County have strong opinions on this matter.

Although Shanghai County is the land of Longxing for the Governor, and Su Ze started his career by relying on the anti-smuggling police regiment trained in Shanghai County, Huating has always been the economic and political center of Songjiang Prefecture.

The Xu family's workshops are concentrated in Huating County.

Xu Guo moved the government office from Huating County to Shanghai County. Didn't this make Shanghai surpass Huating?

However, Xu Guo also has something to say. Now Shanghai's Huangpu Port has surpassed Songjiang Port and has become the most important port connecting the north and south of the Central Plains.

Nowadays, in ports in the southeast and north, whether it is Jeju Island, Incheon, or Dagu, these merchant ships will dock in Shanghai.

Ships traveling from the south to the north will also dock in Shanghai for supplies.

Shanghai Port has become the port with the largest throughput in the entire southeast, and this is without occupying the north.

If the Ming Dynasty was swallowed up, Xu Kun could not even imagine how prosperous Shanghai would be.

In addition, the Songjiangfu terminal station of the Su-Song Railway is also located in Shanghai County.

The railway is not far from the port, and goods at the port can be loaded and unloaded directly onto the train and then transported by land to cities along the way.

In addition, you can directly enter the Yangtze River from Shanghai's seaport, and transport goods to Wuchang via inland river merchant ships along the way.

It is located at the intersection of inland waterway shipping, maritime transportation, and railways, and is also the most convenient outlet to the sea from Nanjing. It is impossible for Shanghai not to develop.

This has also caused Shanghai County, which originally had a population of only 100,000, to expand rapidly. Now Shanghai County has demolished the county wall, and the permanent population living in Shanghai County has reached 300,000.

Xu Kun also purchased land in the suburbs of Shanghai and planned to build a workshop here.

Xu Guo's government office was newly built, but Xu Guo was a pragmatist. The government office was not gorgeous, but its area was not small.

Songjiang Prefecture is different from other prefectures because of its rapid economic development and the need for various professional staff to manage it.

Ever since the former prefect Shen Shixing, the Songjiang prefect has continuously reported to the cabinet, requesting the expansion of Songjiang Prefecture's official establishment.

The Governor's Office and the Cabinet were very cautious about this matter. Xu Wei even went to Songjiang Prefecture in person many times before finally deciding to increase the number of Songjiang Prefecture magistrate's offices to twelve officials and one hundred and twenty clerks.

This has greatly surpassed other first-level yamen of the prefecture, which is one of the reasons why Songjiang Prefecture is called the best government in the world.

Xu Guo couldn't help it.

Songjiang Prefecture has a huge population and a lot of various economic activities. Without a large number of professional officials, it is impossible to deal with so many affairs.

For example, if you general inform the government office, you usually set up six offices according to the six departments to take over the affairs of the superiors.

But Songjiang Prefecture is different. Just one household department requires a lot of professional management.

Because there were too many powers, Xu Guo split up the household department of Songjiang Prefecture.

The first is the Finance Department, which is responsible for the financial budget and expenditure of all levels of government offices in Songjiang Prefecture, and is responsible for all investment and use related to Songjiang Prefecture. To put it bluntly, it is the department responsible for the use of money.

Next is the Taxation Section, which is the department responsible for taxation in the entire Songjiang Prefecture, that is, the department responsible for collecting money.

The finance and taxation are separated, and the revenue and expenditure are two lines. This also makes the accounts of Songjiang Mansion clearer and avoids the problem of excessive power of the Hu Ke.

The household subjects were only split into two, while the engineering subjects were completely split.

Railways, highways, shipping, river transportation, water conservancy, and urban construction were all separated by Xu State to form relatively professional institutions.

There are twelve officials and one hundred and twenty clerks. Compared with the five officials and eighty clerks of other prefectures, Songjiang Prefecture has a much larger establishment, but Xu Guo's manpower is still not enough.

Moreover, this is a situation where public security and firefighting are both maintained by the Shanghai Anti-Smuggling Corps, and Xu Guo does not need to maintain security forces at all.

Therefore, the entire Songjiang Prefecture is also known as the official hell. When entering Songjiang Prefecture, you must be prepared to do 996 every day, or even 007 every day.

Xu Guo was busy with government affairs, but he still found time to meet with Xu Kun.

This is not because the Xu family has a lot of money in Songjiang, but because of Xu Kun's other identity. He is a representative of the Constitutional Assembly of Songjiang Prefecture.

Representatives of the Constituent Assembly have a special status in local government affairs. They have veto power over local policies. They can also directly report local issues to the Metropolitan Government or the cabinet. Representatives of the local Constituent Assembly can also question local officials when they unite.

In many areas, some domineering local officials suffered at the hands of the representatives of the Constituent Assembly. Some officials who were eager for quick success were even driven away by local representatives of the Constituent Assembly.

Xu Guo was not worried about such a situation happening, but as Xu Kun was a representative of the Constitutional Assembly, it was official business for him to come to see him.

Xu Kun walked into Xu Guo's office. He first saluted Xu Guo and then placed a document in front of Xu Guo.

"Master Futai, this is a railway development plan written by ordinary people."

Xu Guo opened it. This was a very professional survey and a plan to build a railway.

Today's Suzhou-Songjiang Railway is actually a section from Taicang County in Suzhou to Shanghai County in Songjiang Prefecture.

In fact, the mileage is not long, and it only passes through Jiading County along the way.

Xu Kun's plan was very ambitious. He planned to build the railway between Shanghai County and Huating County, and even build it to Qingpu County. It would be best to build it together with Kunshan County in Suzhou Prefecture to form a railway. loop.

Naturally, Xu Guo also supported the construction of railways.

However, the railway investment was huge, and it also involved the issue of land demolition along the way, which was very difficult to deal with. Xu Guo himself was not a person who particularly wanted to make trouble, so he had always been hesitant.

Besides money, the most important thing is public opinion.

Nowadays, the two railways in the southeast have been arguing for a long time over whether the railways should be funded by the government.

If the railway fails to make a profit, Songjiang Prefecture will also bear a lot of infamy.

Xu Kun added: "Several chambers of commerce in our Huating County want to jointly fund the undertaking of this railway. What do you think of Mr. Futai?"

Private catering?

Xu Guo hesitated, but he still shook his head and said: "The railway official operation is a national policy set by the governor, and it cannot be shaken."

Xu Kun said: "Master Futai, of course it is a railway official operation, we are just hosting it."

"Undertaken? You mean you will build the railway? Songjiang Prefecture will invest?"

Xu Guo shook his head and said, "That won't work either. How can Songjiang Prefecture have the money to invest in the railway?"

Xu Kun said with a smile: "Please let me read this plan before talking about it."

Red means the railway has been built, yellow means the planned railway