Although he heard the dissatisfaction in Chongzhen's tone, Zhao Sigong still stubbornly said several requirements discussed by various firms in Datong.

After Zhu Youzhen listened, he immediately laughed, "Don't let the central bank enter Jindi, give Jindi merchants an equal share of border trade company quotas, and also ask for permission to Jinshang to build their own banks." Do you think of me as a bodhisattva in the temple, can you give what you want? ”

Zhao Sigong, Li Sixiao, Zhai Ning, Tian Shengbai, and Huang Zhiming immediately lowered their heads, their foreheads pressed against the floor tiles, and said in fear: "Xiaomin and others will never dare to do this, this is really after the discussion of the various firms in Datong, let Xiaomin and others submit their opinions to the court on their behalf." ”

Zhu Youzhen reprimanded unceremoniously: "I have already given you a chance, since you didn't participate in the first place, it was your own problem, don't think about any crooked ways outside the meeting."

Do you think that by contacting a few officials from Shanxi, you can force me to reverse my promise? Now that the rules have been made, it is necessary to follow them, and if the rules are made and they are not followed, will I have nothing to do before holding a meeting of businessmen? ”

Chongzhen's anger immediately frightened the five Jin merchant representatives, who had the courage to go to Beijing to meet the emperor, mainly because the merchant representatives who attended the merchant meeting said that the emperor was a young man with a gentle personality.

It is said that at the meeting, although many rather rude demands were made, the emperor not only did not get angry, but also listened to these opinions and rectified the bad rules of some local tax cards.

However, today's meeting, the angry young emperor was obviously too far from the gentle character of those merchant representatives.

After all, after the old Silk Road in Hezhou was cut off, only the Mongols and the Jurchens could trade with the merchants outside the country.

In recent years, due to abnormal climate changes in Mongolia, a large number of livestock have died, so financial resources have declined, resulting in a continuous decline in purchasing power. However, it was the Jiannu of Liaodong, because he defeated the Ming army in a row, obtained a large amount of property from the hands of the military and civilians of Liaodong, and had enough financial resources to digest the materials in the hands of the Jin merchants.

This also made Datong, the most important economic center city on the border, begin to slowly move to Zhangjiakou.

It was basically legal to do business with the Mongols, but trading with the Jurchens was undoubtedly a head-killing business, not to mention that the food, weapons, and armor needed by the Jurchens were all contraband.

Although with the care of the Datong border army, these Jin merchants can safely transport these contraband out of the customs, but no one can guarantee that this smuggling business will be safe forever.

Therefore, the powerful merchants of Datong played the trick of agents, first selling contraband to some small merchants in Zhangjiakou, and then trading with the Jurchens through these small merchants.

Although they lost some of their profits, they kept themselves safe. However, after the new emperor ascended the throne, a meeting of merchant representatives announced the opening of border trade, but demanded that the number of merchants engaged in border trade be limited, including two in Huguang, three in Shaanxi, and one each in Fujian, Sichuan, Henan, Beizhili, and Shanxi, a total of 10.

However, in the past, the merchants who were able to trade with the border were six points in Shanxi, three points in Shaanxi, and one point in other provinces. As soon as the new regulations were introduced, the Shanxi border merchants immediately ceded most of the border trade market, leaving only the most dangerous smuggling trade to the Jurchens, which obviously made these Shanxi merchants both frightened and angry.

Although behind these Shanxi merchants, there were local officials, clans and border troops to support them, but at this time, the Ming Dynasty had not yet reached the level of chaos in the world and the center was unable to control the situation.

Although the Jin merchants were able to push a group of officials to speak for themselves, the officials of Shanxi origin were not able to influence the situation in the DPRK and the central government.

The first assistant Huang Liji was obviously more supportive of the local merchants in Hebei, and the Fujian officials in the cabinet, who were not very powerful, all focused on maritime trade, and they did not pay much attention to border trade.

The Jin merchants in Datong had to send a few representatives, hoping to get through the imperial court, regain the Jin merchants' dominant power in the border trade, and by the way, resist the interference of the central bank controlled by the Hui merchants in Shanxi's commerce.

Although Zhao Sigong and the others mustered up the courage to negotiate with the emperor, they were reprimanded by Chongzhen before they could speak, and their courage disappeared suddenly.

Although they could risk their lives to trade with other peoples, they did not have the courage to confront the emperor face to face, after all, their foundations, industries, and relatives were still under the rule of the Ming Emperor, and they did not want to flee to the outside of the border and live that kind of nomadic life.

Seeing that the few Jin merchants below had completely lost the momentum they had just had, Zhu Youzhen suddenly clapped his hands lightly, and Wang Chengen immediately ordered several attendants to lift the wooden frame on the side.

Zhu Youzhen got up and walked to the edge of the wooden shelf, and said to several Jin merchants: "Of course, things are not completely non-negotiable, although I will not change the decision of the merchants' meeting, but some things can still be changed. You don't have to kneel anymore, get up and look at this map. ”

Under Chongzhen's orders, Zhao Sigong and Li Sixiao finally stood up tremblingly, Li Sixiao just glanced at it, and subconsciously said: "This is the map of Shanxi." ”

Chongzhen didn't think much about this, he didn't think that now is not the next generation, except for Jiangmen and some scholars, not everyone has a map at home.

Although the map is out of proportions and has no contour lines, it at least marks the difference between mountains, rivers, and plains.

Zhu Youzhen's fingers moved down the topmost Datong, passing through Shuozhou, Xinzhou, Taiyuan, Linfen, Yuncheng and then to Fenglingdu on the edge of the Yellow River.

"From Datong to Fenglingdu on the edge of the Yellow River, although there is a Fenshui that can be used, I have heard that this river is not navigable for about half of the year.

Except for some hills in the Xinzhou area, most of this north-south passage is still a relatively flat plain.

I'm sure you've seen the above-ground railroad tracks being built in the capital, and I'm planning to build a railroad along this line. In addition, another branch road was built from Taiyuan to Yangquan to connect the rail lane between Taiyuan and Jingcheng Ancient Road.

In Shanxi, Yangcheng, Zezhou and Lu'an have the most developed iron smelting industry, and the local coal and iron minerals are abundant. By connecting these three places to the Tongpu Railway, the rails required for the railway will be satisfied. ”

Several representatives of Jin merchants just calculated that the railway from Datong to Puzhou, plus the branch lines to Yangquan, Yangcheng, Zezhou and Lu'an, reached a total length of nearly 3,000 miles.

According to the information they inquired, the railroad built in the city was relatively cheap, about less than 200 taels of silver per mile, and 350-450 taels per mile in the field. The more than 2,000 miles of railway, not counting the cost of building bridges and land acquisition, exceeded 1.2 million taels.

Zhu Youzhen looked at a few businessmen who were still calculating, and simply said directly: "The total budget of this Tongpu Railway and the Yangquan Branch Railway is 3.5 million taels, and after completion, the transportation cost from the Yellow River to Datong will be reduced by five or six tenths compared with the current one, and the time can also be shortened to about one-third.

The most important thing is that the entire railway construction alone has reached 30,000 tons, that is, 60 million catties. I believe that even if all the iron and coal mines in Shanxi were to expand production, it would still take years to meet the demand for the construction of the railway. ”

Zhai Ning, a native of Yangcheng, suddenly moved in his heart, and cautiously asked the emperor for confirmation: "What does Your Majesty mean is that the materials for the construction of these railways will be procured?" ”

Several other Jin merchants also looked at the emperor with attention, the railway with a cost of 3.5 million taels of silver, regardless of whether the railway can achieve the benefits of cost saving that the emperor said after completion, the construction of the railway itself alone is already a very profitable business.

Zhu Youzhen did not avoid the merchants' questions, he said directly: "The imperial court will send officials to set up the Shanxi Railway Bureau to conduct a comprehensive investigation of Shanxi's topography and the cost of various materials.

The materials required for the construction of the railway are then accounted for and tendered in sections. Purchase materials from bidders at the winning price. ”

Zhai Ning and the others suddenly became a little hot, but Zhao Sigong immediately sobered up, and he asked cautiously: "I don't know what the connection between this railway and the opportunity Your Majesty said?" ”

Zhu Youzhen glanced at him and said straightforwardly: "The imperial court does not have so much money to build this railway now, so the Shanxi Railway Bureau will issue 3.5 million taels of public bonds with a term of 30 years and an annual interest of 6%.

I will hand over this bond to a new bank for sale, and as long as you Shanxi businessmen can underwrite the 3,500,000 taels of railway bonds within a month, then I will ask the Ministry of Household Affairs to issue you a commercial bank license, allowing you to carry out financial business under the supervision of the Ministry of Households.

Of course, you must promise to accept the banknotes issued by the central bank, and assist the Sihai Commercial Bank to complete the material preparation work in the Datong area.

In return, I can persuade the merchants of Henan and Fujian provinces to sell the quota of border trading companies to you. ”

Li Sixiao immediately said to Chongzhen without thinking: "Your Majesty, one month is not enough, from here to Datong, it will take one month just to go back and forth." ”

Zhu Youzhen looked at him, grinned and said: "Then I will give you a month and a half, but you must give me an answer today, whether you accept paper money or not, do you want to cooperate with the Four Seas Commercial Bank?" ”

Facing the emperor's questioning, Li Sixiao's face was a little pale, and several other people were also sweating on their foreheads, he gritted his teeth and said, "I wonder if Your Majesty can give Xiaomin and others some time to discuss?" ”

Li Sixiao's height is a head longer than Chongzhen, but when he bows down, he looks shorter than the emperor. Zhu Youzhen stretched out his hand and patted him on the shoulder, and said meaningfully: "This is the first time I have given you a chance, I hope you will not let me down." ”

After Chongzhen finished speaking, he took Wang Chengen out of the main gate of the Jiale Palace, leaving behind five merchants who had been left in the shadows.