July 16, the twenty-fourth year of Chengshun.
The Hangzhou North Railway Station in the east of Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province was crowded with people and extremely lively. Inside the railway station, a train with more than ten carriages was parked on the platform.
Its Type 21 locomotive is still emitting a faint white mist, and this white mist is actually not smoke, but water vapor!
The power source of a steam locomotive is to use coal to boil water, and then use high-temperature and high-pressure water vapor to push the piston to reciprocate.
This means that when the steam engine is started, it will continue to spray out water vapor. After the water vapor is sprayed out, it will become white mist that people can see.
Similarly, because water vapor is continuously sprayed out, this is why the steam engine needs to continuously add water.
The train stopped at the platform, and many passengers boarded the train one after another with anticipation and excitement. For most of them, today's journey was definitely a novel journey.
Because of the great welcome and even curiosity of the public, the first officially opened passenger train today was full. Whether it was the ordinary carriage with relatively cheap fares or the first-class carriage at the back of the train, they were all full, and many of them were not To go somewhere, purely to try something new.
They treat the train ride itself as a trip...
As for trains, this is a new thing that has only appeared in recent years. Just like ships, trains have become the most talked-about technological product in the Chu Empire in recent years.
Especially for ordinary people.
Although various mechanical equipment and even steam engines have been around for a long time, these mechanical equipment are basically in factories. Except for relevant employees, it is actually difficult for ordinary people to see these large-scale mechanical equipment, let alone those industrial steam engines. .
But trains and ships are the majestic industrial products of the industrial age that ordinary people can directly see and feel.
Therefore, for the Great Chu Empire in the 24th year of Chengshun, it is actually difficult for ordinary people to feel the grandeur of the industrial era. You said that although some of the things used in daily life are also creations of the industrial era, there is always something missing.
But trains and ships are different!
Huge ships that are tens or even hundreds of meters long can run on the water without sails, while steam trains that are hundreds of meters long are speeding on the rails, and both of them are braving the thick white fog when they are running. cigarette……
At a glance, you can tell that this thing is definitely a product of the industrial age!
This is why the first industrial revolution in history actually started in the mid-to-late 18th century after the invention of the spinning jenny and the large-scale application of water-powered machinery.
But people always tend to think that the industrial revolution began after the large-scale use of trains in the mid-19th century.
It is because trains and ships can make people more intuitively feel the grandeur of the industrial age.
But actually...the Industrial Revolution began decades before trains even existed.
Well, trains and ships are products after the start of the industrial age. It does not mean that the appearance of trains and ships started the industrial age.
This sequence relationship cannot be confused.
————
When a large number of passengers were getting on the train, Qiu Chengzhe, the general manager of the Jiangnan Branch of the Railway Corporation, stood in front of the window in the office on the third floor of the train station, looking at the platform outside the window.
As the person in charge of the eastern section of the Jiangnan Railway, that is, the section from Shanghai to Ningbo, Qiu Chengzhe single-handedly presided over the construction of this railway, including the site selection and construction of the railway station in front of him.
He still remembered that only a year and a half ago, this area was still a relatively messy suburban area. However, after the construction of the Song-Hangzhou Railway began, this area was selected as the site of Hangzhou North Railway Station, and large-scale construction began.
A railway station covering an extremely large area was built here, and its main building was made of cement masonry structure.
Bricks and stones are nothing. The important thing is that cement is a relatively rare building material nowadays and is relatively expensive, so it is rarely used in ordinary folk buildings.
In the early years, cement was often used in the military, such as building forts. Later, it began to be used in various official buildings. For example, the palace in Jinling City was the first building to use cement as a building material on a large scale, and then Various government agencies, etc.
Nowadays, some companies also use it when building factories or office buildings. Many railway stations of railway companies are also buildings that use cement on a large scale.
Because of the use of reinforced concrete materials, Hangzhou North Railway Station is relatively large in scale and very grand. The huge hollow waiting hall is rarely seen in traditional buildings.
Along with this huge Hangzhou North Railway Station, there is another railway built together with this railway station: Jiangnan Railway and Songhang Railway.
As part of the Jiangnan Railway Plan, the construction of the Songjiang-Hangzhou Railway, that is, the Song-Hangzhou Railway, began preliminary route survey in the 22nd year of Chengshun. At the end of the year, land along the line began to be acquired and various materials were prepared. Chengshun 2nd Year Construction officially started in April of this year.
Because of the sufficient investment budget, the Song-Hangzhou Railway, like other sections of the Jiangnan Railway, started construction on multiple sections at the same time.
On the one hand, it was built eastward from Shanghai County in Songjiang Prefecture, and at the same time in Jiaxing Prefecture, it was built towards Shanghai and Hangzhou. On the Hangzhou side, it was also built towards Jiaxing.
Construction was carried out in four directions at the same time, and it took only about a year to complete the foundation construction, and then began the post-finishing work.
By June this year, the trial operation had already begun.
Railways are more of a public means of transportation, and safety is of greater importance. Even if the railways are fully completed, tests must be carried out to ensure that there are no problems with the railways.
At the same time, some preparation time is also needed for railway operations. For example, staff and even equipment at train stations along the route need to be drilled in advance.
Although the Song-Hangzhou Railway is only less than 200 kilometers long, there are many railway stations along the route, including Huating, Jiashan, Jiaxing, Tongxiang, Chongde, Renhe and Hangzhou North Railway Stations.
This is also a feature of railway construction in some densely populated and economically developed areas, that is, there are relatively many platforms.
These stations are equipped with facilities for adding coal and water.
Although the trains these days seem slow, they are also very troublesome to operate. For example, adding coal and water along the way is indispensable.
Today's trains all use Type 21 locomotives produced by Guangzhou Machinery Company. This kind of locomotive basically needs to add coal and fresh water once it runs for tens of kilometers.
Therefore, in addition to loading and unloading passengers and loading and unloading goods, contemporary railway stations also need to add coal and water for passing trains.
After everything is ready, formal business operations will begin today!
The first commercial operation was also greatly welcomed by the public, which can be seen from the fact that the first commercial passenger train was full.
Although many of them are just out of curiosity and regard the train ride itself as a trip, many passengers on the train really have travel needs. Some of them are going to Songjiang Prefecture and Shanghai for business, and some are planning to go to Hangzhou, Zhenjiang and other places. , there are also many people who go to Jinling, the capital.
Songjiang Prefecture, Hangzhou Prefecture, and Jinling City have a very large demand for personnel exchanges and cargo transportation. Although there are also sea transportation and canal and inland water transportation, they are still inferior.
People's demand for more convenient and faster railways is already huge.
Especially since other sections of the Jiangnan Railway have been opened to traffic, people have seen the convenience of the railway.
Prior to this, many sections of the Jiangnan Railway had been opened to traffic. From Shanghai County, Songjiang Prefecture to the north, the railway section of Assault Suzhou, Changzhou, Zhenjiang, Yingtian Jinling, Dangtu, and Wuhu had all been opened to traffic.
Now, with the opening of the Song-Hangzhou Railway, the Jiangnan Railway will be further extended to Hangzhou. From Hangzhou, you can directly take a train to Jinling City.
In addition, it won’t take long, probably this winter, the railway from Wuhu to Hukou should be open to traffic.
At the same time, the railway from Hangzhou to Ningbo is also under construction overtime and is expected to be open to traffic next spring.
In other words, after several years of construction, by next year, in the spring of the 25th year of Chengshun, the Jiangnan Railway will be fully open to traffic.
This Jiangnan Railway will start from Ningbo, Zhejiang in the east, pass through Hangzhou, Songjiang, Suzhou, Changzhou, Zhenjiang, Jinling, Dangtu, Wuhu, Chizhou, and finally reach Hukou, Jiujiang, Jiangxi, with a total length of about 1,000 kilometers.
This will be the earliest trunk railway in the Chu Empire, and relying on the dense population and economic conditions in the Pan-Jiangnan region, this railway will also be the trunk railway with the highest operating income and the most lucrative profits in the Chu Empire.
The high profits are also due to the fact that the Dachu Empire's railway department invested almost most of its resources in the construction of this railway, because this railway makes money.
The Railway Corporation is also counting on the operating profits of this railway to support the construction of other railways.
Build the easy and profitable railways first, and use the money earned from these railways to build the unprofitable or even loss-making railways. This is the established strategic plan finalized by the Railway Corporation.
Today, with the opening of the Song-Hangzhou Railway, the Jiangnan Railway is one step closer to being fully opened to traffic.
But now Qiu Chengzhe is already considering the follow-up Jiangnan Railway branch line plan, especially the branch line plan from Jinling City to Hangzhou.
Qiu Chengzhe has been promoting the Taihu Lake Railway Network Plan within the company, that is, in addition to the existing railway, build another railway from Jinling City to Hangzhou.
From the map, the Jiangnan Railway forms a ring around Taihu Lake, which can greatly shorten the time from Jinling City to Hangzhou.
At the same time, it can also connect Lishui, Liyang, Guangde, and Huzhou with railway lines, not to mention promoting local economic development. Moreover, these places themselves are densely populated and economically developed places, which can bring huge profits to Jiangnan Railway Company.
Once the railway from Jinling City to Hangzhou is completed, in addition to bulk cheap goods that must be transported by sea and river in the future, people and goods that are less sensitive to transportation costs will inevitably choose more convenient and faster trains.
After all, it would take at least several days to get to Jinling City from Hangzhou by sea or inland waterway.
But if you take the railway, you can arrive there in one day, to be precise, during the day!
This kind of convenience is unmatched by river transportation and sea transportation. For this reason, Qiu Chengzhe has been promoting this matter.
The superiors also attach great importance to and agree with his opinions. The route has entered the field survey stage. If everything goes well, it is expected that construction will officially start next year.
Once this railway is completed and operational, it will only take more than 200 kilometers to get to Jinling City by train from Hangzhou in one day.
It doesn't need to be like now. You still need to take a detour to Shanghai. The whole journey requires more than 600 kilometers of railway.
Moreover, it will be more convenient for people to travel and transport goods in Huzhou, Guangde and other places along the way.
In addition to this railway construction plan in the Jiangnan Railway, there are actually many other railway construction plans, such as Wuhu to Xuancheng.
According to the plan of the Jiangnan Railway Company of the Railway Corporation, every county in the Jiangnan region will be connected to trains in the future, because these places are densely populated and economically developed places, not to mention the travel needs of the local people and cargo transportation needs. Yes, the railway company cannot give up just the profits brought by operating the railway.
Although the Railway Corporation is carrying a lot of debt, it is still counting on the profits brought by the large-scale operation of the railway in Jiangnan to repay the debt.
The money borrowed to build the railway must be repaid, and the Jiangnan Railway Network will be the main force in repaying the debt in the future.
The Railway Corporation currently owes a lot of debt and is expected to borrow more money in the future.
After all, railway investment is very large. If the Railway Corporation wants to roll out railway construction on a large scale, it can only rely on a large number of loans and corporate bonds to raise funds.
Otherwise, it would be impossible to launch so many railway construction plans at the same time. You must know that in addition to the Jiangnan Railway, the Railway Corporation is also building several trunk railways such as the Central Plains Railway, the Longhai Railway, the Huguang Railway, and the Guangdong-Jiangxi Railway.
Among them, the Central Plains Railway has entered the most critical construction period.
The Central Plains Railway is a strategic railway connecting the south and the north. It not only has huge economic value, but also has huge national defense strategic value.
With the existence of such a railway, the transportation between the south and the north of the Chu Empire will become more convenient and faster... How can I put it, if there is a change in the northern grassland, the army stationed in Jiangbei will be destroyed within a few days. Able to kill Tianjin City, and then leave Zhangjiakou to fight on the grassland.
This is a strategic railway that can better integrate the northern and southern regions, and the empire's top officials attach great importance to it.
Since the Zhongyuan Railway was surveyed in the 22nd year of Chengshun, the survey and construction began in the same year, and multiple sections were constructed at the same time.
In the south, construction started from Jiangbei of Jinling City, that is, Jiangpu Railway Station, and in the north, construction started from Tianjin and went south.
Simultaneous construction will also be carried out on the Xuzhou side, which is the intersection with the Longhai Railway, and the construction on the Xuzhou side is actually larger. The Xuzhou side is the intersection of the Zhongyuan Railway and the Longhai Railway, so this place is also Build railways in four directions at the same time...
In addition, the first section of the Longhai Railway, that is, the railway from Xuzhou to Haizhou, has also entered the actual construction stage.
The construction of the Central Plains Railway is very fast, even faster than the Jiangnan Railway, because there are a large number of small rivers along the Jiangnan Railway, and there are many railway bridges that need to be built.
But the places where the Central Plains Railway passes are all plains...the terrain is flat, and there are not so many rivers.
The construction difficulty is low and the cost is low, so the construction efficiency is faster than that of the Jiangnan Railway. Of course, this refers to the investment of the same personnel and equipment.
In fact, in the past two years, the Railway Corporation has concentrated its main resources on the Jiangnan Railway. Although the Central Plains Railway is also important, considering that the subsequent commercial operation profits are unlikely to be as high as the Jiangnan Railway, the priority is to be lower. of.
But even so, the construction speed of the Zhongyuan Railway is very fast. After one and a half years of construction, Yingtianfu Jiangpu Railway Station has been built to Fengyang to the north.
At the same time, dozens of kilometers of railways have been built to the south in Xuzhou. Therefore, optimistic estimates suggest that the railway line from Jinling City to Xuzhou will be open to traffic by early next year.
At the same time, the section of road being built from Tianjin in the north to the south has also been built to Dezhou.
According to the construction plan, the Central Plains Railway is expected to be fully opened to traffic in the 26th year of Chengshun. The entire construction time of this 1,000-kilometer trunk line railway will only take about four years.
From this extremely fast construction time, it can also be seen that the senior officials of the Dachu Empire attached great importance to railway construction.
However, in order to build the railway, the Railway Corporation borrowed a large amount of funds. It not only borrowed money from major banks, but also issued a large number of corporate bonds.
It is worth mentioning that the interest rates on these railway bonds were very good, which attracted a large number of private capital purchases within the empire.
In other words, in fact, a lot of the money currently spent by the Dachu Empire Railway Corporation to build railways is private capital.
This also allows private capital to share in the dividends of railway construction and development, and the returns are very safe and risk-free.
If private capital invests in railway construction on its own, many people will make a lot of money in a short period of time, but at the same time, countless people will lose everything.
In history, when Britain launched a railway construction frenzy, some people made crazy money investing in railways, but there were also countless people who lost everything they invested in railways.
Not all railways can make money. Blind investment in railway construction will lead to nothing in return.
On the side of the Dachu Empire, capital cannot directly participate in railway investment. Capital enters through providing loans and purchasing corporate bonds. What they earn is not doubled profits, but fixed interest.
This kind of interest rate may not seem high and is not attractive to ordinary people, but for large-scale capital, this kind of interest rate, which is slightly higher than that of national bonds, is already a very good return on investment.
How to put it this way, when you manage 10,000 Chu Yuan, you can easily get an annual return of tens of percent or even 100% on your investment.
But when you manage millions or even tens of millions of huge funds, the difficulty of investment operations will increase sharply, let alone a doubled rate of return, even if you can stabilize an annual rate of return of more than ten points. All extremely difficult.
It is even an exaggeration to say that being able to outperform inflation is considered awesome!
Therefore, fund managers of regime companies are very cautious when investing the huge funds on hand, and tend to favor more conservative investment strategies, such as purchasing government bonds, corporate bonds of high-quality companies, and stocks of high-quality companies. etc.
The financial market of the Dachu Empire has been developing for more than ten years, especially after the establishment of the Jinling Stock Exchange Market and the Jinling Futures Market, which started futures trading of bulk goods.
At the same time, professional financial companies such as securities funds have also emerged one after another.
Nowadays, the scale of the domestic financial market is not small, and it is easier for companies to raise funds than before.
Of course, the liberalization and promotion of finance have also brought some financial risks, but these are all by-products of the development of productivity. They will also occur without financial liberalization, but they will be manifested in different ways.
Develop industry and commerce and develop people's livelihood economy. You can't stop doing it just because there will be risks in the future!
And money will not disappear, it will only flow... During the economic crisis, some people will lose everything, while others will make a lot of money...
The most important thing is that regardless of whether there are any financial risks in the future, the industrial development brought about by financial stimulus and the resulting improvement in production efficiency are real.
The improvement of production efficiency will have huge benefits for the improvement of people's living standards in the entire society.
The total food output from mechanized farming is always much greater than the total food output from small farming!
It’s always good to have plenty of food!
Of course, these are very extreme statements. Just saying that the development of the industrial economy cannot be abandoned because of financial risks does not mean that the financial management structure of the Da Chu Empire will allow the emergence of financial risks.
(End of chapter)
