Beiyang reactionaries

Although shipping is developed, the traffic on the road is a big problem.At present, most of Chongqing's coal fields are located in the east and north of Chongqing.Now it is all manpower, and people carry the coal on their backs and walk dozens of miles to send the coal to the riverside.Only in this way can the coal be shipped out by shipping.These dozens of miles can only be done by manpower.

Therefore, thousands of people are needed just to carry the coal mines.

The capacity is not good, and the output is not good.Moreover, the traffic in the coal field is too poor, so large machinery cannot be transported in.As a result, many coal mines in Chongqing are manually operated.

"Yes. Aging, that's the biggest problem. So we need to improve the situation."

"The governor means..."

"If you want to get rich, you need to build roads. If you want our coal fields to truly become profitable coal mines, then the traffic around the coal fields must be improved. The problem of transportation capacity must be solved, and the output of coal mines must be expanded. So I plan to build railways. "

This is something Duan Xun has thought about for a long time.

There are still many coal mines in Chongqing.As long as it can be mined, coal can be sold in large quantities to the south by using the Yangtze River shipping.Especially now that the First World War is still in full swing, and there are still nearly two years before the end of the First World War.The demand for coal is still very high.Once coal can be sold in large quantities, it will also drive the development of Yangtze River shipping and the prosperity of the Yangtze River cargo ship business.

Moreover, some small cities will soon be formed around the coal mines.

Therefore, we must solve the problem of coal mine transportation in Chongqing.

"Governor, you must have heard about the road protection movement in the year of [-]. Now that you think about it, what will be the result of the excitement. The Sichuan-Han Railway has been planned for more than ten years, but until now there is not even a shadow. We In a place as big as Sichuan, there is not even a railway at present, and the traffic situation in the southwest is very poor. Everyone has a consensus on this, but it costs money to build a railway, and it is not a little bit. Province Chang, do we have that much money in Sichuan now?"

railway.

Where is it so easy to fix.How many gentry in Sichuan raised funds and wanted to build Sichuan's own railway.But until now, there is not a single railway in Sichuan.Because the railway needs enough money, where is the money now.

More importantly, it is not easy to build the railway in Sichuan.

Because there are too many dangerous places, it is not at the same level of difficulty to build railways on the plains.For a railway with the same distance, the cost of repairing it in Sichuan is several times that of the plains.

"Fu Lao, I will be responsible for the money issue. I will raise as much as I want. What I want to ask is that I want to build the railway, which is to develop the mining industry in Chongqing. I want to give those small coal mines privately All the coal mines are closed, and a Chongqing Coal Mine Group Company is established. It is a company directly controlled by the government to be responsible for the coal mining around Chongqing. Do you think it is possible?"

Song Yuren thought about it.

Song Yuren understood what Duan Xun meant.Duan Xun is planning to monopolize the coal mines in Chongqing, except for the coal mine exploration rights granted to British and French businessmen, everything else will be taken back.Then the state invested in setting up a coal mining company.

"Governor, don't blame me for speaking harshly. Since the Westernization Movement, the government has opened countless government-run factories. Basically, none of them succeeded, and they all suffered heavy losses. Do you know what the biggest reason is?"

"Corruption and bribery, forming a party for personal gain, treating the company as their own."

"Yes. The Beiyang factories opened by Li Hefei (Li Hongzhang) were all like this. People who don't know anything, because they are Li Hefei's fellow villagers, Li Hefei's students, and Li Hefei's Huai army background, they are all in those factories. Occupying high positions. Then these people became corrupt, and all the important positions at the bottom were privately handed over. In the end, each of these factories was seriously in debt."

Duan Xun nodded.

Duan Xun himself was from the Beiyang Army, so of course he understands these things.Many of the industries of the Beiyang Army rely on the government's policies, and they are supposed to make a lot of money.But most industries are suffering serious losses.

In fact, it is not true that these industries are losing money, but that these people put all the money they earn into their own pockets.As a result, these companies have no money at all on their books, and all their books are losses.

"Fu Lao, I understand what you mean. This is all because there is no supervision and they are left alone. I plan to do so. Once the Chongqing Coal Group is established, the operation of this company will be handed over to your Mining Bureau, and the company will belong to your mine. Bureau of Mines. Your Mining Bureau can hire a competent person to be the operator of the coal company. The Assets Management Bureau sends representatives to the company to manage the use of government assets and supervise the operators sent by your Mining Bureau. The tax department sent representatives to the company, mainly responsible for supervising the financial situation. In the future, companies established with government finances will follow this model.”

"Let me think about it."

"Okay, Fu Lao. I just want to know if the government takes back these coal fields, will it cause riots. Like the road protection movement in the year of [-]?"

This is what Duan Xun is worried about.

As an outsider, I closed all those small coal mines and merged them into my side.Will those people cause a big disturbance like the road protection movement in the year of [-]?If so, things will be difficult.

"I will deal with this aspect. Many of these small coal mines do not have mining licenses issued by the government, and many of them are mined privately. They should be grateful if they are not held accountable. But some people have licenses. This requires spending money to buy their mines. There seem to be many small coal mines around Chongqing, but they don’t have much influence. The governor can rest assured.”

Song Yuren replied.

Song Yuren agreed, then Duan Xun has nothing to worry about.As for spending money to buy some formal coal mines, Duan Xun has no objection to this.So he continued: "Fu Lao, if someone from the gentry around Chongqing is willing to invest in a coal mining company with us, we can also accept it. But the coal mine is owned by the government, so this part must also be included in the calculation of shares."

"I understand what the governor means."

"That's good. Fu Lao, this time is our attempt. You are in charge of integrating the coal around Chongqing, and I will be in charge of building the railway there. The two of us will work together to improve the people's livelihood in Chongqing as soon as possible." go up."

money.

Duan Xun is indeed short of money.

But if Duan Xun is really cruel, money can still be obtained.After all, what I want to build is not the Beijing-Han Railway or the Sichuan-Han Railway.To build a railway with thousands of kilometers or even thousands of kilometers, the initial investment alone needs 2000 to [-] million silver dollars, and it may cost hundreds of millions or hundreds of millions of silver dollars to build all of them.

But Duan Xun only built a short section.

To build a railway from the riverside to the middle of the coal, there will not be a long railway, that is, a railway of tens of miles.Even if it is very difficult to lay the railway in Chongqing, it only needs two or three million silver dollars at most.Some problems occurred in the middle, and the construction became difficult. It is estimated that it will not exceed 300 million silver dollars.

Duan Xun gritted his teeth and could really take it out.

This time the crackdown on opium raids, the cash that was stolen was enough to lay the railway.Of course, Duan Xun is now formalizing the government departments, and he has to support the army and the police. Money is really tight.But as long as Wang Yongjiang can unify Sichuan's finances, then the money will not be too tight.

But no matter how difficult it is, even if you sell everything, you still have to do what needs to be done.

"Tap-tap-"

"teacher."

Sun Zhen served as the head of the guard regiment, and currently also serves as Duan Xun's adjutant.The adjutant of the Governor's Mansion can be said to be the most promising position.

"what's up."

"Han Linchun, dispatched by the Ministry of the Army, has arrived."

"Han Linchun? Where is it?"

"Where's the front line?"

This is the Governor's Mansion.

I don't know how many people want to visit Duan Xun.I have never heard of the seventh-rank official in front of the prime minister's door, and Duan Xun is similar here.If it wasn't because Sun Zhen knew that Han Linchun was sent by the Army Department, he wouldn't have told Duan Xun so soon.

"Let him in, I'll see you."

"Yes."

"Fu Lao, I still have things to deal with, so let's take a step first. The establishment of the Mining Bureau must be confirmed as soon as possible, and then reported to the provincial government, and I will sign it."

Since the end of the Qing Dynasty, Sichuan has actually had a department similar to the Mining Bureau, with similar functions.Song Yuren's becoming the director of the Bureau of Mines did not mean that he wanted to form a new Bureau of Mines alone.Instead, it is necessary to build a whole-hearted mining bureau on the basis of the original.Therefore, the establishment and required funds of the Mining Bureau must be approved by the provincial government.

"Okay. Governor, you are busy."

81 Sichuan Arsenal

"Brother Fangchen, I have admired your name for a long time."

Duan Xun laughed and walked in.When Han Linchun saw Duan Xun coming in, he immediately stood up and saluted: "General Duan, Han Linchun was ordered to report."

The 31-year-old Han Linchun came to Chengdu in a hurry, and went directly to Duan Xun's Governor's Mansion without a moment's delay.Han Linchun was originally a little chubby, but he lost more than ten catties during this journey.