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Volume 4 Leviathan 139 Rejection

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    Shen Hongmao didn't speak, but his face turned red and white, revealing the excitement deep in his heart at this time.  He bent down and picked up the newspaper copy from the ground, read it carefully a few times, and suddenly sighed in a low voice: "I took a long breath to cover my tears, and mourned the hardships of the people's livelihood!" In the early morning of the next day, Jiying Hall of the Imperial Palace  .  "Everyone, have you read Master Gao's book?" Empress Dowager Deng's voice came from behind the bead curtain, and her voice was full of unconcealable worry.  "I've read it all!" Qi Zhiti coughed. He took the fold from Zao Guoquan's hand, but his right arm was trembling slightly, as if the seemingly light fold was of great weight.  "That's good!" Empress Dowager Deng coughed: "Ms. Qi, you are the chief minister, can you tell me whether it is feasible to read Master Gao's proposal?" "Queen Mother¡ª¡ª" Qi Zhiti glanced at Hu Keqin and Zao Guo with a pleading look.  He looked at their faces, but the two men lowered their heads and avoided his gaze.  Qi Zhiti turned around helplessly: "I think Master Gao's proposal is not feasible!" At this point, he paused, and then said: "But it must be possible!" Behind the bead curtain, Jiang Qingyue and Lin Wanqing  Standing next to the Queen Mother, after hearing Qi Zhiti's answer, the two couldn't help but look at each other, and saw helplessness in each other's eyes. These two female bureaucrats with rich experience in the central government also had the same views as Qi Zhiti on this issue.  "It's not feasible but it must be done? What did Qi Xianggong say?" Queen Mother Deng asked from the curtain.  "Queen Mother, according to what Master Gao said in the book, the construction of the Far Eastern Railway by the Russians will pose a huge threat to our Manchurian Protectorate, Zhangbei Protectorate, Shuofang Protectorate, and Anxi Protectorate. Moreover, the Russians  We have long hoped to obtain a warm water and non-freezing port. Originally, it was only a long way from the mainland. The Far East was sparsely populated, and shipping was frozen for half of the year. It was not enough to support the army. Once the railway was opened, the army would inevitably move south, so we should take advantage of the Russians.  When the railway was not completed, troops were sent to capture Russia's Far Eastern coastal states to deal with the northern threat. Master Gao's analysis was indeed reasonable, but Russia was also a big country similar to France and England. If it wanted to conduct an expedition to its Far Eastern states, at least  We need more than 100,000 troops, the Manchurian Protectorate is sparsely populated, and the climate is bitterly cold. If we want to launch a large-scale expedition, and several key points on the Russian side have been completely fortified, once the war starts, it will be protracted and the government's finances will simply not be able to bear it!" "  Then why do you say it is necessary? " "The capital of our empire is Hanjing, which is far away from the frontier. In fact, the governorates of Manchuria, Zhangbei, and Anxi are just governors, and there were no floating officials to govern them in the past.  Dashun is similar, they are all out of reach, and they only have some garrison troops on the border, so even if there is a conflict, they will accept the rebels and not go into battle in person. But it is different now.  The Russians have already begun building a railway from Moscow to the Far East. Even if Gao Dashun wins this time, it will not change this fact. As long as Dashun cannot connect Manchuria, Mongolia, Xinjiang and the mainland by railway, sooner or later these places will be destroyed.  Countless Russians were taken away from the railway, so this railway is a must! "Since ancient times, the best way to effectively control a newly conquered area is to build roads and canals. In this way, in the short term  Once a rebellion occurs, the army can be quickly mobilized to suppress it; in the long run, economic and cultural exchanges between the two sides can be deepened and integration can be achieved at an early date.  The Qinchi Road and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal are examples from history. Those present here are familiar with history books. Once they hear it, they will understand that the outcome of this Sino-Russian struggle actually depends not only on the battlefield, but more on both sides.  National strength, whoever can build the railway to the contested area faster will be able to control the area more firmly. This kind of struggle may not have the sound of guns and smoke, but it will be more cruel and fierce.  "In this case, the construction of the railway is imperative!" Empress Dowager Deng said: "Xianggong Qi, this is a big body. The route of the railway, the amount of land, capital, and labor required must be carefully considered. The plan will be completed in two days.  It's a meeting of the imperial court to convene ministers to discuss this matter. Before that, some of your cabinet members should come up with a rough outline to avoid being rambling. " "Yes, Your Majesty the Queen Mother!" Qi, Hu, and Zao came from Jiying Hall.  When they came out, there was a look of embarrassment on their faces. Although the three of them had not directly managed the railway construction, Dashun had also built the Pinghan Line (Beijing Youzhou Prefecture to Hanking) and the Jinpu Line (from Tianjin) in the past ten years.  to Pukou), the Beijing-Shanghai Line (from Hanking to Shanghai), the Bianluo Railway Line (from Kaifeng to Luoyang, the earliest section of the Longhai Line) under construction, and some short-distance railways.  The common feature of these railways is that they mainly travel between important economic and political centers, and the areas they pass through are mainly densely populated and economically prosperous inland areas. They are not difficult to build and recover costs quickly.  But the railway requested by Gao Tingyu is completely different. These main positions??The areas that railways in border areas pass through are generally sparsely populated, have harsh climates, and have rugged terrain. The difficulty of building railways is much greater than those that have already been started and completed. Although those border areas are rich in resources and have good development prospects, in  After the construction of the railway is completed, both the population and the economy will make great progress, but it will be difficult to see benefits for a long time. In other words, it is a completely loss-making business.  Under this situation, it is unlikely that private businessmen will provide money. The only source of income can only be government allocations. However, Dashun's finances are already stretched thin. It will take ten years to complete the railway.  The difficulty of construction can be imagined.  "Sir, we don't understand military matters. You must hurry up in the past two days and draw up a rough road map." Qi Zhiti smiled bitterly: "The Queen Mother is already concerned about this matter, but there is no need to delay!  " "A rough map is easy to describe, but a detailed map requires on-site investigation, which is not a matter of a day or two!" At this point, Zao Guoquan sighed: "Actually, it's not difficult to draw a map, it's just a matter of road construction.  Where does the necessary money come from? This is not a small number. Just the journey from Shanhaiguan in Youzhou Prefecture to Shenyang will cost no less than millions of taels. If it is to be extended to Longzhou (today's Changchun)  The cost is even more, not to mention the northwest, Mongolia and other places. That is simply an astronomical figure. " Qi Zhiti smiled bitterly and advised: "As the saying goes, you can pay back the price if you ask for it. This is what Gao Houye said.  Prices are sky-high, and the roads must be built day by day. Mongolia and the northwest can be left alone first, and the one from Youzhou must be tightened. If the Russians want to seize the ice-free port, the nearest route is from Vladivostok.  "Go south!" "That's right, but the railway from Youzhou to Zhangjiakou still needs to be started as soon as possible. With this railway, the troops stationed near Zhangjiakou can be transferred back to Youzhou as a mobile force, which is equivalent to more than 10,000 more troops.  Elite soldiers." "Well, go back and hurry up. Master Hu and I will also discuss how to raise funds!" Just as the three adults in Dashun's cabinet were discussing how to deal with the threat caused by the fluttering wings of the butterfly thousands of miles away.  When there was a strong wind and waves, there were also three people sitting at the wine table in the Luming Pavilion in Hanjing City, drinking and talking. Although these three people were far from as high-ranking and powerful as Qi, Hu, and Zao in official positions.  , but from another perspective, the influence of these three people on Dashun and even the political economy of East Asia is no less than that of Qi, Hu, and Zao.  "Come, come, come, I'll do it first as a courtesy, brothers, please feel free to do whatever you want!" Kong Zhang's face had already turned a purple color, just like the color of the silk and leather jacket he was wearing.  This is how he behaves every time he drinks to seven or eight points. At this time, his thoughts will become particularly sharp and his voice will be particularly loud. But if he passes this threshold and drinks a few more drinks, he will suddenly become depressed.  He fell down and fell asleep.  People who know him well agree that this is also a talent. At least he will not say the wrong thing or do the wrong thing at the wine table - because he has already fallen asleep by the time he loses consciousness.  "Okay, okay!" Chen Zaixing and Liu Qingyang both just touched the wine glass to their lips. They had something on their minds, so naturally they couldn't drink as happily as Kong Zhang opposite them. Their eyes flickered,  They are all trying to guess what the other person is thinking from their expressions.  "Brother Chen and Brother Liu, you still remember that we were here six years ago, and the three of us discussed raising money to build roads and quell the rebellion!" Kong Zhang finished drinking the wine and sighed: "The three of us were just people at that time.  A small role, but now Brother Liu is the chairman of Houde Bank, a director of the Shanghai Textile Sales and Raw Cotton Purchasing Alliance, and a director of the Shanghai Consultative Bureau; not to mention Brother Chen; I am the only one who is still a small role. " "Haha.  !" Liu Qingyang smiled slightly: "What does Brother Kong mean? When did the second-largest figure in the Renyi Bank, the largest in the seven northern provinces, become a minor player?  60% of the working capital is provided by Renyi Bank. This business alone is enough to make your mouth full of fat!" "Brother Liu, please stop making fun of me!" Kong Zhang smiled bitterly: "Didn't your raw cotton purchasing alliance just work?  Have you reached an agreement with the American businessman named Jefferson to purchase 6,000 tons of cotton as inventory? With this confidence, it is not up to you to decide the cotton price next year. Either the cotton merchants in Xinjiang will accept your negotiated price?  , or watch those cottons starve to death. Anyway, I just got rid of the few plantations on hand, and the remaining ones are also going to be abandoned for a year. There is no other way. At your price, you can even plant the seeds.  I can¡¯t even make the money back!¡± Thank you book friends for not cheating me and qpiqpi for your reward, thank you very much!
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