Chapter 274 Road Administration

Xiao Laowu, behind the vast majority of people in Shaanxi, called Xiao Yuren, the commander of the First Army of the Guangfu Army, "Xiao Laowu", not because he ranked the fifth at home, but only because of his means and the ruthlessness of "Yan Wuye".

"It's difficult!"

In the former infantry government office in the inner city of Xi'an, a long sigh in the chief office of the First Army Command has not come out, but it also shows the thoughts of the people in the room.

In the officer's office, a young man in military trousers and a white shirt stood in front of the map, shaking his head and sighing from time to time.

Xiao Laowu also has a time of worry. Xiao Yiling is not worried about anything else now. It is because his front line is getting longer and longer. The First Army is the only military-level unit in the Guangfu Army, Henan, Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Xinjiang Province and Suiyuan, all of which are the front lines of the First Army.

"The first division has passed Dunhuang. After leaving the Yumen Pass, it is almost time to Xinjiang Province. This supply line is getting longer and longer. It's difficult!"

When it comes to logistics, whether it is Northeast China, South China, East China, North China or even Southwest China, the conditions are better than the northwest. When he came to Xi'an, Xiao Yiren finally saw what the poverty of the northwest is. It is difficult to buy military grain in this place. Moreover, the more the troops go to the northwest, the wider the land is, the more the more the land is, the poor the poor the people are.

"We still need to build a railway first!"

Staring at Zheng County on the map, where there is the Pinghan Railway, the recovery of road rights allows the ruling axe to no longer consider the problem of spending lines, and then staring at Dihua on the other end of the map.

"3,000 kilometers of railway!"

Just thinking about this distance, Xiao Yiren felt a big head for a while. After all, this kind of railway is different from any other profitable railways. He once asked the Ministry of Communications. The answer given by the Ministry of Communications was that it was not realistic to build such a railway in the short term.

The reason is that it is unprofitable. The cost of the 3,000-kilometer railway project is at least 60 million yuan, but after Lanzhou, there is a shortage of people and goods in the northwest. There is no one to take a car and no goods. Even if the railway is built, it will lose money.

The capital of the Ministry of Communications to build railways relies almost entirely on foreign loans or private bonds, that is, commerce. Compared with the Northwest Railway, which does not have a good return, the railway route with quick results and high returns is undoubtedly the best choice. 6.5% of the interest on railway bonds is a burden for the Ministry of Communications. He We must consider the issue of return. In the next five years, it is impossible for the Ministry of Transport to start the construction of the railway west of Lanzhou.

He has also asked through others whether the business gangs in Shaanxi and Gansu provinces have the intention to raise funds to build roads. Even if it was built to Lanzhou first, but the problem is that the current Shaanxi business gangs have long lost their glory in those years after the chaos of Tongzhi. They are naturally willing to build railways, but the business gangs in the two provinces can only take it at most. Millions of taels of silver.

That little silver is not enough at all, and according to the meaning of the rule, this railway does not need to consume private capital. The current holding of the rule means that they have the courage to borrow a lot of money to build roads, ports and run factories. As for private capital, they should try their best to lead them to the industry. There is no need to let them take the money in the name of patriotism. The effort is spent on the railway with a short return cycle.

"If those old rich people see that investing in industry to make money than farming, they all invest in industry, then within ten years, the country will make a big change!"

"It's hard to do!"

He shook his head helplessly. Xiao Yiren took a sip of tea with a reluctant face. If it were other generals, he didn't need to think about the railway at all. At least after knowing that the Ministry of Communications had no money to invest in the railway for the time being, he would dispel this idea, and then, like now, he would send engineers and recruits to repair simple things. Highway.

But Xiao Yuren is different from others. The most important point is trust. The rule is to trust him, so he needs to repay this trust.

"There is no money!"

He shook his head helplessly. Xiao Yuren looked at the telegram he had drafted. The telegram was sent to the ruling telegram, which was to build a railway. A 3,000-kilometer-long railway from Zheng County to Dihua.

An autumn rain and a cool one. After several autumn rains, Nanjing has entered the late autumn. At midnight, there are not many pedestrians on the streets of Nanjing. After all, Nanjing is still an industry. Even if the Guangfu Avenue is planned, it is only a finishing project. As for the buildings on both sides, I don't know when they will be put into operation. Use.

In the conference room of Nanjing's ruling axe, Chen Moran is concentracing on the study of China's railway line planning and fundraising issues with Zhan Tianyou and several other people from the Ministry of Transport. In fact, this meeting is to discuss route planning, prioritization and fundraising.

"In a word, the relatively rich area is preferred, and the railway construction must take into account the time to recover the investment!"

Zhan Tianyou ended his speech with one sentence. This railway engineer, who was born as a child studying in the United States, may be the only railway engineer in China. Twenty-six years ago, he studied railway engineering in the Department of Civil Engineering of Yale University. He was responsible for the construction of the Huainan Coal Mine Railway. It was also this cooperation that made him serve as the deputy director of the Ministry of Transport, and during the negotiation period of road rights. The role played makes the Chinese people know that the undersecretary of the Ministry of Transport, who was a railway engineer.

It is also he who is responsible for China's railway planning. If he wants to strengthen the country, he must build a railway. This is a consensus in society, and the detailed railway planning is the first time in Chinese history.

Facing the planned railway route map hanging on the board, Chen Moran frowned from time to time. This is an ambitious railway plan. Ten years of 80,000 kilometers and the famous 100,000 kilometers of railway can compete. When Zhan Tianyou sat down, Chen Moran did not put forward any views on the priority of the route, but just looked at the railway plan and meditated there.

"Cung Kun line and Jinzang line can be changed! At least in the next ten years, there is no need to consider repairing the Kun line!"

Seeing that they were a little puzzled, Chen Moran opened his mouth to explain.

"The terrain there is too complicated, and our technical conditions are limited. Before we accumulate enough technology in the future, we will rush to go to the Machengkun line and the Tibet line. The technology is immature, and the funds are also very difficult. Soon the War Department will give you the latest military map, and then you will understand! Investigate first and then decide!"

"Yes, rule!"

Zhan Tianyou did not return to the proposal of governance. The railway in the southwest is not easy to build. For example, the Yunnan-Vietsia Railway is almost a sleeper.

"Good steel should be used on the cutting edge. In addition to the southern railway, I think the Pingsui Railway branch line Zhangku Railway will return to the Northwest Railway, which must be included in next year's plan! The construction of the railway should not only take into account the economic returns, but also the strategic significance. If there is no railway, defending the border is empty talk!"

"Governance, Zhangku branch line, Northwest Railway is strategically important, but..."

Hesitating, Zhan Tianyou meditated for a while and walked to the planning map.

"Take the northwest railway from Zheng County to Dihua as an example, the mileage is at least 3,000 kilometers, and the Zhangku railway is more than 1,000 kilometers. The two add up, 4,000 kilometers of railway, with a cost of 50,000 yuan per kilometer, requires funds of up to 20,000 yuan!"

Zhan Tianyou is not the significance of these two railways that he has not thought of. General Xiao in Xi'an has sent too many telegrams. The government and General Xiao considered the needs of national security, but as a direct planner of the railway, what he needs to face is the huge amount of money needed to build the railway. This is not millions, or even tens of millions. It's tens of thousands of yuan as soon as the construction is started! Although the government said that you can borrow money boldly, there must be a place to borrow this money.

Perhaps because they were at a loss, Chen Moran, Zhan Tianyou and others looked at the planned railway route map and fell into silence.

Chen Moran first broke the stiff silence.

"Bend it! I have to borrow money to build the railway. However, this time we are not going to let foreign companies contract or borrow money from Chinese people, but we have to go out directly to London, Paris and New York to borrow money..."

Chen Moran didn't finish his words, Zhan Tianyou said with a wry smile.

"Alas! Do you still want to borrow the government? The old account has not been repaid, and the new model has been borrowed. These railways have started construction at the same time, and the start-up capital alone requires at least 10,000 yuan! Borrow so much foreign debt at once, I'm afraid that it will be difficult for the people to accept it for a while!"

"The current loan is different from the past. The loan is to repair our China's railway. We can't sell the right to the road like the Qing Dynasty..."

"So, it's more difficult to borrow now!"

Zhan Tianyou interrupted Chen Moran's words again.

"In the past, foreign banks were willing to borrow money to Manqing. That's because of their interests, and Manqing promised them one day and one place when he borrowed money. Now it is not only not fulfilled, but also recovered by us, although we have guaranteed the repayment of the loan. But now, you have to borrow money from foreigners. If there is no interest, they won't borrow any money. Do you know why? There is only money in the eyes of foreigners! If there is no huge interest to occupy, they won't borrow a penni at all!"

Zhan Tianyou's words only made Chen Moran smile.

"Actually, it's not necessarily true, Mr. Zhan, we now borrow money directly to foreign exchanges to issue bonds, using railways as a guarantee, and also using railway income repayment. For those banks in China, they use borrowing as a threat to induce them to sell their national rights, but in the end, they only underwrite. It's just bonds, and those bonds are eventually sold on exchanges in New York, London and other countries. As I said, why don't we borrow money in China? It's because we need people to invest money in the industry. We need to go out to borrow money from the pockets of foreigners and people and issue it in full. There are hundreds of pounds of bonds, or hundreds of thousands of pounds of bonds. Let's go out this time and issue small bonds! A large foreign bank can claim benefits, but what about hundreds of thousands or even millions of ordinary people? What benefits can they want? It's just a reward!"

At this time, in the face of these officials of the Ministry of Transport, a person came to Chen Moran's mind. It was really a little invincending to put such a god of wealth.

(to be continued)