Steel Dynasty - Chapter 760

[Chapter 759 Deportation]

The locomotive, which was emitting white smoke, kept going away and accelerated after leaving Qingzhou Station.

Upon seeing this, the common people started running after the steam locomotive. In the boring life lacking entertainment, they did not want to miss this magical thing. At least they had one more thing to talk about after dinner.

After the speed of the locomotive increased, Fiji’s face turned red. He said, “I really need to take care of myself. It looks like this steam locomotive can at least catch up with horses.”

“Not only that, not only can it outrun horses, but it can also outrun horses.” You need to rest like a horse, and the only thing you need is to set up water and coal supply stations along the way,” Princess Pingyang said with a smile.

This trial run was perfect. Everyone saw the process of the steam locomotive speeding up. During the process of speeding up, the steam locomotive also pulled eight carriages. These carriages will be able to carry a lot of goods in the future.

Pang Yukun was also happy from ear to ear, but while he was happy, he was also worried about the money from the treasury. He said: “Your Majesty, this railway is really a huge project that wastes people and money. Now just building the Qingzhou section of the railway has cost the treasury.” More than three hundred thousand silver, if you want to connect all the six states, you will need at least ten million taels of silver, and I am afraid that the treasury will not be able to handle it.”

Fiji and Pang Yukun are jointly in charge of the treasury, and they naturally know this very well. To build the railway, it will be spent on many things, including military expenditures, culture and education, official salaries, road construction in various states and counties, and workshops needed for the reform. All these things have stretched the national treasury.

Princess Pingyang frowned and said: “Your Majesty is very happy, why do you bring up such a disappointing thing? Money, there is always a way to find a way. Now Qingzhou merchants are making a lot of money from business, they must be allowed to It’s better to show off.”

After a pause, Princess Pingyang said to Xiao Ming: “Your Majesty, you are too polite to these businessmen. In the past, none of these businessmen would pay tribute to the court every year, but now, they have made so much money. It’s outrageous to put it in your own pocket and compete with the imperial court for profits. “

In fact, like Princess Pingyang, many officials now have some opinions on merchants. After all, Qingzhou’s political decrees were biased towards merchants in the past.

Xiao Ming smiled softly and said: “Auntie, this is wrong. If the people are rich, the country will be rich, and if the merchants are rich, the national treasury will be sufficient. Now the money in the national treasury is obtained from selling steam engines, which all belong to the merchants. Money, and I have told Li Kaiyuan to formalize the industrial and commercial tax and establish a special tax office and tax department. From now on, they will collect taxes from businessmen and people.”

Pang Yukun and Fiji suddenly laughed when they heard this. Just when he was about to mention this matter, he didn’t expect that Xiao Ming was already thinking ahead.

Princess Pingyang nodded with satisfaction and said: “Your Majesty, this tax is the most important thing for the country. Only with sufficient tax can the court be able to support officials, build cement roads and railways, and purchase firearms for the army. Dayu defeated the surrounding barbarians and maintained a peaceful and prosperous era.

“My aunt is absolutely right, I am preparing to reorganize the taxation next,” Xiao Ming said thoughtfully. A large part of the reason for the collapse of the Ming Dynasty was the failure to collect taxes. , in the end the country could not even support its army, resulting in a situation where the powerful were rich but the country was poor.

With this lesson in mind, Xiao Ming naturally did not dare to imitate the Ming Dynasty, which was too indulgent to wealthy families and businessmen. Only when the Taxation Department was built, and tax-paying businessmen could only receive tax payment certificates to do business, could they receive road guidance.

Businessmen who evade taxes and leaks will not only lose their qualifications to do business, but will also be punished.

The group of people were talking about looking for money to build the railway, when suddenly there was a burst of exclamation not far away.

Xiao Ming and others looked around and saw two Westerners, an old man and a young man, walking through the crowd towards them, but they were stopped outside by the guards.

However, the older Westerner seemed unwilling to do so and kept talking to the guards.

“Zhao Long, go ask what’s going on?” Xiao Ming said.

Zhao Long left in response, then turned back and said, “Your Majesty, these two Yi Di said they were businessmen from the West, and said they wanted to study at Qingzhou University.”

“It’s a joke, Qingzhou University is not a place they can go. “Fiji first said: “These surrounding barbarians all learned the craftsmanship of the Great Chongqing Kingdom and then came back to bite them. They are really afraid of power and unethical. Your Majesty, they must not be allowed to enter Qingzhou University.”

“I think it is better to go directly .

They were so bold to expel the two of them from Dayu. They actually disturbed the Holy Master and cost their lives? “Princess Pingyang has always been disgusted with people from these foreign countries.

When she was in Chang’an, Persians would occasionally come to Chang’an for business. At that time, Princess Pingyang showed hostility to these people.

Xiao Ming looked at the two of them. Naturally, Qingzhou University cannot be opened to the two of them. Otherwise, the knowledge of Qingzhou University will not be taken away, and the technical blockade will become empty talk.

Moreover, the performance of these two people made him more determined in his ideas, because at this time, Europe’s pursuit of science and technology had reached a fever pitch, and science had even become the belief of many people.

The two men’s desperate intrusion made him even more convinced of this.

After pondering for a while, he said: “Expell the two of them from Dayu. This is not Europe. You must abide by the rules of Dayu in Dayu. This is also a reminder to all Western businessmen in Qingzhou.” The one

who spoke At that time, Xiao Ming thought about whether he should also get a visa, and ask these people the purpose of coming to Dayu before they entered Dayu. If they found that their motives were impure, they would directly block them from the country.

After all, these blind Westerners entering the Great Chongqing Congress have brought a lot of harm, whether they are acting as spies or stealing technology.

After receiving Xiao Ming’s order, Zhao Long immediately asked his guards to expel the two of them from Dayu. From today on, this technical blockade will be implemented step by step.

This episode has passed, and the train has disappeared from everyone’s eyes and continues to go north.

Xiao Ming originally wanted to chase the steam locomotive on horseback to have a look, but finally gave up the idea. The success of the steam locomotive was proved when it left the station.

What he faced next was the problem of continuously extending the railway, and this required a lot of money.

Thinking of this, Xiao Ming was a little glad that he had established the Qingzhou Chamber of Commerce. In this situation, in addition to taxing merchants, he also had to strengthen national trade activities.

The Qingzhou Chamber of Commerce will definitely take the lion’s share of the Goryeo business this time, and the rest of the cake will be divided among the merchants.

The development of private trade was important, but silver was also important to the court. When commerce was only a seedling, he could only rely on national trade activities to bring sufficient silver to the national treasury.

Only with sufficient silver can he lay a solid foundation for the Great Yu Kingdom.

PS: Four more updates tomorrow.

(End of chapter)