Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1218 6000 Lira Railway

"Everywhere is now pioneering and forging ahead, and we can't fall behind!" On the construction site of the Southwest Railway, Mrs. Yang looked at the main railway line that was almost fully completed, and sighed to himself.

Under the desperate urging of the people on the east bank and the temptation of the commissioning award and the completion award, the *** people, who felt that they were under a lot of economic pressure, finally exerted their strength last year. From December to August this year (12), the big Within half a year, they have successfully built two sections of the Xiping-Dalong (1659 kilometers) and Datong-Caijiazhai (8 kilometers) railways, which is impressive.At present, there is only a 33-kilometer section of the Dalong-Caijiazhai section of the Southwest Railway that has not been repaired, and it will probably be completed next year.

"Director Yang Wang, the construction of the Southwest Railway is coming to an end. I think it's time for us to discuss the repurchase of the Southwest Railway." Siligu, representing the will of the Communist Party consortium, came to Yongjin County from Qingdao County ——The newly established county has jurisdiction over four townships: Yongjin Township, Yongli Township, Caijiazhai Township, and Wujianfang Township. At the same time, Guangling County was established with jurisdiction over Xiping Township, Dalong Township, Dahua Township, The five townships of Dade Township and Guangling Township seemed to be very eager to talk about the buyback of the Southwest Railway with Mr. Yang, director of the State Railway Administration.

It is said that **** people were really screwed by this railway.I still remember the smugness of these people when the railway was first started six years ago, and all the unrealistic fantasies about the operating income after the completion of the railway, which made the Japanese invest nearly 5000 million in the bank to get the full-length railway. But 464 kilometers of railway lines.

Now, six years have passed, and it's time to wake up from the dream! **** people realize that they can't get back their money from the operation of this railway at all, or that it will take many years to get back their money, and they can't afford to wait!Therefore, the **** consortium, whose patience has finally been exhausted, intends to activate the repurchase clause of the Southwest Railway as soon as possible, and discard this piece of land that is so precious to the people on the east coast and abandoned by the **** people like a shoestring. The railway is sold, and the funds are withdrawn as soon as possible, and invested in more profitable aspects.

Considering the good relationship with the Communists and the Italian consortiums behind them, such as Florence, Lucca, Parma, Milan, etc., the east bank government has officially approved the repurchase of the entire Southwestern Railway at a price of 6000 million bank lire— —Besides, this is also the clause written in black and white in the agreement that year—at the same time, the Grassland Railway Company jointly operated by East and Re is cancelled, and merged into the state-owned Central Railway Company for unified management.

At the beginning, in order to encourage the Japanese to complete the railway as soon as possible, the East Coast people also promised a large number of subsidy funds such as section opening awards, project completion awards, hard work awards, and some of these funds have already been distributed. , and some have not yet been issued, and this time they will also be settled together.

Furthermore, in order to build this railway, the Communists successively transported a large number of laborers from Germany and Italy, with a total of more than [-].Some of these people have sneaked to the east bank to settle land, some have worked in the east bank for five years and complied with the relevant provisions of the "Homestead Law" and can apply for naturalization, while some (the number is nearly [-]) are still Work on a construction site.Regardless of the former two, for the latter with the largest number, if the people on the east coast want to keep this labor force, then it is only natural to pay certain compensation to the **** people to buy out the contract.

Calculated in this way, when the Southwest Railway is completely completed next year, people on the east coast will still have to pay an additional fee of nearly 50 yuan.In this way, coupled with the huge sum of 6000 million lire in the bank required to buy back the railway, the **** people invested more than 5000 million lire in six years, and their average annual income can barely reach 3%, which is The annuity income of its domestic investment is 2.5-3 times, and the rate of return is indeed somewhat unsatisfactory, but for the Italians with severe excess capital, it is true that they cannot ask for more, at least it is better than investing in annuities or investing in domestic annuities. Government bonds are strong, aren't they?

From the perspective of the people on the east coast, it is actually not a loss.After all, they are short of manpower, and the domestic construction army always has endless work, such as national roads, water and sewage facilities, houses, docks, factories, railways, forts, etc. I don’t know how many Guarani, Krandi, and Polish , Congolese laborers, but the construction schedule is still extremely tight.This time, some **** people recruited laborers from the old continent to build the railway on the east coast. Nearly 464 laborers were hired, and the Communist Party of China spent six years building the railway. Rails, sleepers, tools, food, fuel, and building materials were all purchased locally from the east coast. The ships are all ordered in the three major shipyards on the east coast, and a lot of money has been deposited in the country on the east coast through various channels, so the price paid by the people on the east coast is far less than imagined. This [-]-kilometer-long artery-level railway is really It's earned!

It's just that it may not be easy to have such a good thing next time. The Japanese who have suffered a loss probably will never have any illusions about the cost of railway construction.If you ask them to repair the railway next time, these people will definitely ask for a high price. Hehe, the railway worth 6000 million lire is gone forever.

The only concern now is probably paying the bill like this.You know, 6000 million bank lire is equivalent to 1000 million East Coast silver dollars. How to pay this bill is still very particular.First of all, the state’s finances will definitely not be able to afford this money. Although the economy has been developing day by day in recent years, domestic tax revenue has risen rapidly, and the profits of state-owned enterprises have also increased rapidly, the East Coast government has always pursued a proactive fiscal policy. How much money is used to do so many things, and I will never do things like "seal the pile treasury" in the later generations of my Qing Dynasty to bury money. The old country treasury really can't afford this money.

Then we can only find a way from reserve gold.However, this is also limited. It has not been a few years since Gein paid the land loan to the Spaniards. Even if the Tieling Gold Mine has repeatedly increased its output, coupled with the private plundering and looting of the Shanghai Army in various places, there is currently the capital army's first The total amount of gold and silver reserves in the prison is still only 90 yuan. pay it.

Well, after all the calculations, I still have to find another way to pay the bill.For example, open a gap in the trade in the New Spain and Peru markets monopolized by the people on the east coast, so that the Japanese can also participate. Anyway, the people on the east coast can't sell all the goods, and some people who don't have an advantage can do so. Leave it to the Italians to do it, and they'll be more than happy, well, this franchise can fetch a lot of money.

In addition, we must not forget the strong production capacity of the people on the east coast. A lot of money can be offset by goods.The government only needs to print more banknotes in the country, and then sell the products produced to the underworld in exchange for real money. Anyway, these banknotes (usually bills of exchange) will not be paid within a few years. Greatly alleviate the current financial pressure - digging holes for the next leader will always be the favorite thing for the princes on the stage to do.

Finally, oh, don’t be afraid of losing face, let the **** people extend the loan, if it’s really not possible, go to the Bank of La Plata for a loan, and the financial situation will be tightened in the next few years. For the Ministry of Finance of the East Coast Republic of China, it is difficult to digest the 1657 million yuan of railway repurchase funds over five years, but it is definitely not insurmountable.

"Mr. Sirigu, your eager request to buy back the railway has caused great financial troubles to our country. As Committee Member Zhou Shenwo Zhou talked to you before, we require diversification of payment methods, and at the same time require some At the same time, the Bank of La Plata, Bank of Sao Paulo, Bank of Palermo, and San George Commercial Bank are required to provide low-interest loans to the Ministry of Finance of our country, otherwise it will be difficult for us to come up with this money." *** Yang * was also forced by the **** people to have no choice but to say helplessly: "Also don't forget, there is still the last [-] kilometers of the Southwest Railway that has not been opened to traffic, and you still need to continue to work hard .”

"We accept the payment method proposed by Committee Member Zhou Shenwo in principle, and Mr. Lopez and I have been jointly authorized by several consortiums including the Doria family, but the specific amount of cash to be paid and the quantity of goods to be offset As well as the crucial trading rights, they have to be carefully negotiated one by one. Now time is very tight, we should act as soon as possible." Sirigu dutifully fought for the interests of his master, only to hear him say: "I think The two things can be carried out at the same time, which will not affect anything. The last section of the railway will be completely completed by the beginning of next year. What's more, there is only the last section left now, and we don't need so many road construction workers. Your country proposed We have to pay close attention to the matter of buying out the work contract, after all, we will not raise so many people who do not work for nothing. If no one takes over these workers, we can only send them back to Italy and Germany, I am not kidding."

"Well, Mr. Sirigu, you have successfully convinced me." Considering the Xiamei Railway and Liuding Railway under construction, Yang ***, director of the State Railway Administration, finally let go, "I can finish the construction on the Southwest Railway. Sign and endorse for you, but I need the redundant laborers on your construction site to be transferred to the railway construction site in northern my country, and it is best immediately, immediately, understand?"

"This is not a problem, as long as they have the right means of transportation, they can set off for the north today." Sirigu said happily, "Then please go to the capital of your country with me as soon as possible, we still have a lot of work to do .”

"Okay, okay." Mrs. Yang said helplessly, "Let's go to Caijiazhai Railway Station to get on the train, and then take a boat back from Jingjiang Port."

(End of this chapter)