Chapter 2594
In the past, the upper class circles that Yangzhou salt merchants could come into contact with were, at most, people at the level of salt patrol censors or local officials. Real "relatives of the emperor" are not so easy to establish relationships with, and this time with The contact between Bai Letong and others also made Dai Yingda realize that he had the opportunity to come into contact with the group of people who truly ruled this country. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for him.
Of course, strictly speaking, Shi Diwen and Shi Chengwu and his son also belong to this top class. However, Shi Diwen has never found a place on the executive committee. In terms of the power he holds, he has actually had contact with Dai Yingda in the past. The chief envoys, inspectors, governors and other officials seem to be almost the same. But these young officials from Sanya are people who are likely to inherit the throne in the future, and they are definitely worthy of his efforts to build relationships.
It's just that Dai Yingda tried to follow the past practice of dealing with Ming officials, but he met with failure with Bai Letong and others. These young people are not very interested in money, but this is the only condition that the salt merchant can offer. The interests of both parties are inconsistent, so it is naturally difficult to reach a consensus.
Although under pressure from Shi Diwen, Bai Letong finally gave up investigating the possible fraud of the Yangzhou salt merchants' children in the provincial examination, but this also left a negative impression on the Yangzhou salt merchants. If Shi Chengwu hadn't come forward to make peace, then this matter might not be completely resolved for a long time to come. For Dai Yingda, who wanted to move closer to the center of imperial power, that would also be a big hidden danger.
Fortunately, Dai Yingda's more than ten years of management were not in vain. At least Shi Chengwu was invited to come forward to persuade him. If it weren't for Shi Chengwu's sake, Bai Letong probably wouldn't have lowered his arrogance and put forward an indulgence-like condition to resolve the matter. If money can solve the problem between Yangzhou salt merchants and Bai Letong, Dai Yingda will be able to breathe a sigh of relief.
As a result, the hundreds of schools funded and built by Yangzhou salt merchants not only greatly promoted the promotion and popularization of Haihan cultural and educational industries in the Donghai region, but also cultivated a large number of talents for Haihan, but these are all things for later. .
When Bai Letong put forward this condition, he actually didn't have such long-term considerations. What he considered was to give both parties a step down, and at the same time, let Dai Yingda shed some blood, which could be regarded as giving a deep impression to these Yangzhou salt merchants. lessons.
After returning to his residence after dinner, Tao Hong just said to Bai Letong: "Letong, the conditions you just proposed to the salt merchant may be a little too simple."
Bai Letong asked in confusion: "How can you see it?"
Tao Hongfang said: "Don't you think Shi Chengwu agreed too quickly? The conditions you proposed must be far lower than the difficulty expected by the salt merchant. Shi Chengwu was also afraid that you would regret it, so he agreed immediately."
Bai Letong thought that this was indeed the case, and responded with a wry smile: "This is like selling a favor to Shi Chengwu!"
Ning Zijing said: "This Yangzhou salt merchant also has great influence in Hangzhou. If this matter continues to be dragged on without resolution, it will be troublesome for everyone to look up and not see each other in Hangzhou. The invitation sent by Shi Chengwu just now, isn't this Do we have to meet Dai Yingda again? ”
The invitations Shi Chengwu sent to several of them during the banquet were not an ordinary social interaction, but another major event. Bai Letong and others had no choice but to accept the invitation. The owner of this invitation was not the Yangzhou salt merchant, but Shi Diwen. The invitation was to invite them to attend the groundbreaking ceremony of the railway project between Hangzhou and Ningbo.
One of the geographical advantages of Hangzhou is its proximity to the coast, but what cannot be ignored is that this city located on the bank of the Qiantang River does not have the conditions to build a large seaport, so it cannot handle the demand for maritime transportation for future urban development. Therefore, a special solution was proposed in the capital relocation plan, which is to use Ningbo's Zhoushan Port and the ports along the Yongjiang River as the sea passage for Hangzhou, and build dedicated land passages between the two places to solve the problem of bulk cargo transshipment.
Simply relying on the reconstruction and expansion of the current official road between the two places may be able to temporarily meet temporary needs. However, the executive committee must consider the development prospects of Hangzhou as a capital city. Of course, various infrastructure projects must be viewed in the context of a century-long plan. It is necessary to make some advanced arrangements, such as using railways to partially replace the transportation functions of existing official roads.
It has been more than 20 years since Haihan started building the first railway in Sanya. During this period, it has also accumulated rich construction and operation experience through multiple railway projects. Therefore, despite the land distance between Hangzhou and Ningbo With a length of more than 300 miles, the scale of the project exceeds all previous railway projects in Haihan. The Donghai Region still gritted its teeth and planned this railway as part of the infrastructure project of the capital relocation plan.
The preliminary exploration project for this railway actually started before Haihan officially took over the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions, and it has been about two years so far. Although there are still some aspects of the survey and design work that have not yet been perfected, Shi Diwen does not want to wait any longer. After all, with the implementation of the capital relocation plan, the Hangzhou area will face great freight pressure. If the Hangzhou-Ningbo Railway can be completed earlier, This means that materials can be transported from sea to Hangzhou faster. Construction of some road sections that have completed survey and design can begin.
Of course, with the current engineering capabilities of Haihan, it is not realistic to build a railway bridge across the Qiantang River. Therefore, the Hangzhou Railway Station is located on the south bank of the Qiantang River, while the Ningbo Railway Station is located on the Fenghua River and At the intersection of the Yuyao River, sea-going ships can enter and leave the sea from the Yongjiang River and complete water and land transfers at the dock near the train station.
In addition to the two big cities at both ends of the line, this railway line also passes through Yuyao, Shangyu, Kuaiji, Shaoxing, Xiaoshan and other prefectures and counties in the middle. It is foreseeable that in the future, these areas along the way will also expand rapidly due to the convenience brought by the railway. development, just like those areas on Hainan Island that already enjoy this kind of treatment.
For such a large project, the project budget is naturally not a small amount. According to Donghai Region’s estimates, the cost from survey and design to putting into use is roughly equivalent to the Donghai Region’s fiscal revenue for three years.
Even if the Donghai region is famous for its prosperity, of course it is impossible to have that much money to invest in this project, so more financing channels must be adopted to solve part of the problem of funding sources. According to Haihan's traditional practice, issuing railway bonds and raising funds from the public has become one of the options for Donghai Region. The wealthy Yangzhou salt merchants became the main investors in purchasing railway bonds.
(End of chapter)