Looking at the minecarts coming in the distance, from time to time there were people watching the cars who jumped up mischievously when the slope was big, and went down the slope, Du Zhongxiao sighed. In fact, he did not plan to build a train and build a railway as soon as possible, but wanted to use this road for transporting ore as a test line, and when the new steam engine was built, he would try it here first. When it is mature, it will be repaired to the coal mine and connected to Xuzhou.

But there is one omission in my own planning, that is, the sales of iron produced by the iron supervisor. It is a fact that there is a shortage of iron everywhere in the world, but it is not easy for the iron of the iron prison to be sold to them. The speed of information transmission in this era is too slow, and the iron prison in Ye County has been open for so long, and there are still too few iron dealers who have heard the news. Except for Luoyang in Xijing and Kaifeng in Tokyo, there are very few iron dealers in other places. Even if Du Zhongxiao used the place of the transfer division to let the prefectures and counties under his rule unveil the list everywhere, it did not change much. A few days ago, a few iron dealers came to Jiangling Mansion, and even alarmed Du Zhongxiao and personally picked them up.

The iron output exceeded Du Zhongxiao's expectations, and he began to think that 70 million catties a year would be unacceptable, and according to the current situation, the output of the next year will inevitably exceed 200 million catties. In the next two to three years, production will grow rapidly. There is high-quality iron ore here, and there are coal mines, as long as it can be sold, is it a lot to produce 100,000 tons of steel a year? Later generations desperately controlled production, and they could produce nearly 10 million tons.

But the problem is that the product cannot be sold. One is that the transportation is inconvenient, and the other is that there are no sales channels. How much steel can be sold by iron dealers alone? The so-called big businessmen, thousands of pieces of iron a year are amazing, and they are a drop in the bucket for the iron supervisors.

This railway really had to be built. If it can be repaired to Xiangzhou and connected to the Yangtze River system, everything will be different. At this time, the Jinghu area has not yet been developed, and the Jiangnan lacks iron, which is a huge market. If the iron supervisor manufactures a large number of iron tools and has a direct road to Jinghu, it can greatly promote the development of the two lakes area and can rapidly expand the market.

At this time, there were actually conditions for the development of the two lakes area, but there was a lack of population, and the imperial court had no motivation. Traditionally, the population of China has migrated from north to south, and development has been carried out one by one. From Lianghuai to Liangzhejiang, the two lakes are facing Jingxi Road. However, now the population of Jingxi Road is insufficient, where there are more manpower to go to the two lakes. In later generations, the densely populated shores of Dongting Lake were sparsely populated at this time, and there were a large number of barbarian tribes, and many areas were still slash-and-burn. Just as sheep raised in the northern steppes are sold in large quantities to the Central Plains, so are cattle in the Two Lakes region. Because there is a large amount of idle land, cattle are free-range, and the cattle are herd in the mountain swamps, and when they are sold, they are introduced into the pen, and a large number of them are sold to the Central Plains, and the price of cattle is surprisingly low.

For a thousand years, the migration route of the population in central China has been the central axis that connects Ye County. From Hedong Road to the Central Plains, especially around Luoyang, after the population increases, the road from Luoyang to Nanyang is extended, all the way south. In the late Tang Dynasty, the Central Plains was in turmoil, and the population of Hedong Road and the Central Plains decreased, and they have not been filled up until now. The area around Luoyang, including Ruzhou, where Yexian is located, had a large number of people who migrated from Hedong Road in the early Song Dynasty.

Many of the northerners of later generations are said to have come from under the big locust tree in Shanxi. In fact, this kind of migration is far from starting from the Ming Dynasty, and has lasted for more than a thousand years to the Song Dynasty. As for why Hedong, that is, Shanxi Province in later generations, was able to maintain its population in troubled times and move out again and again, the reasons are very complicated. All in all, the troubled times ended, and the population moved out of Shanxi Province and first to the Central Plains. The population of the Central Plains grew, and then moved south to the Nanxiang Basin. The Nanxiang Basin was full, and it continued to move south to the Lianghu area.

Jingxi Road Yingtian, a large number of slender men opened idle fields, and it is inevitable to expand to the Xiangzhou area. Du Zhongxiao estimated that this time would not be too long. With the process of replacing the slender man with a car and a boat, he will go to Xiangzhou as early as the next year, or as late as a year. In order to facilitate the future camping, this road should also be built. With the iron superintendent, at least iron tools should be popularized.

To build a road, we must also build a sales channel. It is far from enough to rely on private businessmen, and there must be official channels. Du Zhongxiao has no authority across the country, so at least the sales channels of Jingxi Road can be established first. The iron supervisor cannot store iron, and the backlog is waste. The ore is turned into iron, and the iron is either sold directly, or made into ironware, and then turned into money. Only by using money to build infrastructure, increase production, and unimpeded access can we ensure development.

Laying railways uses too much iron and the cost is too high, but for the current iron supervisor, it is just right. If you can't sell iron after smelting, what's the difference between it and clay? Not to mention that the railway is of great significance, but it is meaningless, and it is necessary for the railway supervisor to use up the iron produced. Only in this way can we continue to produce and develop.

Looking at the smoke billowing from the chimney not far away, and the surrounding mountains and forests covered with snow, Du Zhongxiao sighed. I originally thought that even if I really got out of the train and built a railway in the future, it would not be an easy task. It is difficult to think of the huge amount of iron used in the railway tracks and the huge amount of money spent. It really started with mining and ironmaking, and I realized that it was not like that at all. The production of iron is growing too fast, and the market is far behind. There are many things that cannot be planned at all until they are followed.

It is not surprising that the iron produced in many years can only be built into a railway. Without this use, too much iron is produced, and the scale of the iron supervision can only shrink. In addition to this approach, where is there a huge steel market? It doesn't take much to make weapons.

Production promotes consumption, and consumption stimulates production, and it is far from the time when it can be in a positive cycle.

In Qingyu Building, Zhu Yuanwai looked at Qian Yuanwai and said, "Please sit outside." Today, our brother is the east, please drink a few glasses of wine. ”

Qian Yuanwai looked at Zhu Yuanwai, Jian Yuanwai and Wen Yuanwai, and said coldly: "The three are big families in the city, and I am just a rich man in the countryside, how dare I eat your invitation?" ”

Zhu Yuanwai said: "Brother Tai's words are outside. If there was some truth in what you said before, it is different now. How many households are there in Yexian County? How many households are there here? If you really want to talk about it, Brother Tai is from the city, and this is the city. ”

Qian Yuanwai snorted coldly, sat down at the table, and said, "However, although my family is here, the money-making business has not been robbed by you?" After a lot of effort, I built a smelting furnace, but I didn't sell it for much money, and I met you picking iron from the slag, and you lost the capital in vain! ”

Zhu Yuanwai smiled all over his face: "This is a personal encounter, there is no way, don't take it to heart." As long as the iron supervisor is here, Brother Tai is still afraid that there will be no money to make? This large number of people, each of whom receives money and food every month, is a mountain of gold and silver. ”

Qian Yuanwai had a cold face and said, "You don't have to say these rhetoric, if you have any business, just say it." ”

Zhu Yuanwai glanced at his companion and said, "Don't hide it from my brother, because of the recent rise in vegetable prices and meat prices, the iron supervisor wants to open up the field to grow vegetables and hire people to raise some livestock and poultry. The three of us brothers were not talented, but took over the business of the iron prison and wanted to grow vegetables for them. Most of the good land here is from the brothers' families, and growing vegetables is not better than planting other things, and the more cooked the land, the better. How about a price for Brother Tai and sell some land to us? ”

Qian Yuanwai sneered: "What you think is a good thing!" A few days ago, He Yuanwai told me that the three of you were looking for him and wanted to sell vegetables here. Because he is my own brother, he did not promise you. I lost my capital by opening a smelting furnace, and now I am saving money by growing vegetables, and the three of you are coming to take away my business again! I will tell you clearly, don't say buy my land, even the shops in this neighborhood are also my customers, and you can't take it away! ”

Zhu Yuanwai was not in a hurry, and said: "It's not that I said, Qian Yuanwai, your eyelids are too shallow." How many vegetables can these stores buy? The iron supervisor is the big one. If you sell us some land, we will not treat you badly, and we will let you sell vegetables to the iron prison. How is it? If not, then the business of the iron supervisor will not have your share in the future, so don't regret it then! ”

。 vertex