Xu Xingsheng then explained to Chongzhen: "Now the coal kilns in the entire western part of Beijing have been integrated into 37 major mines, and some other small coal kilns in remote locations, or coal kilns with poor reserves and quality, have all been closed.

In these 37 mines, there are as few as 3 or 40 people as many as 4 or 500 people, and there are about 11,900 coal miners and coal transporters. All the mines were re-planned and reinforced, and railroad trolleys were laid to transport the coal mines. To this end, Mentougou Coal Industry United Company invested 590,000 yuan in the transformation and changed its name to Jingxi Coal Group, and its assets were also expanded to 5.5 million yuan.

After the transformation, the average daily coal mining per capita is now 018 tons, and the daily output has increased to 2,142 tons, almost seven times that of the past. With such a daily output, in addition to supplying 280 tons/day to Mentougou factories and 800 tons/day in Beijing, there are nearly 1,000 tons more.

Based on 250 days of coal mining per year, it is necessary to export 250,000 tons of coal a year. Although fuel is expensive in the north because of the scarcity of trees, once the freight of coal exceeds 100 miles, it is basically not competitive. What's more, with the exception of Beijing, the rest of the population is scattered in the countryside, which is not conducive to the sale of coal.

Although Tianjin is full of merchants, its population is only 7 or 8 times that of Beijing, and it is close to Tangshan, so if there is no railway to connect it, Mentougou's coal cannot compete with Tangshan's coal. And even if Tianjin's coal consumption is all calculated, it is only 4 or 50,000 tons a year, and it still can't solve the problem.

If you want to digest all the annual coal production of Mentougou, you still have to find a way to go south. According to the minister's understanding, in the Jiangnan areas of Su, Song, Hu, Jia, and Song, a ton of ordinary charcoal has reached 10 taels of silver.

The cost of raw coal in Mentougou is 278 yuan/ton, after coal washing, the cost rises to 33 yuan/ton, the freight from Mentougou to the Ximen Coal Yard in Beijing is 035, and the tax is 015, that is to say, the cost of transporting a ton of coal to the Ximen Coal Yard is 38 yuan.

However, the freight from Ximen Coal Yard to Tianjin Port is as high as 34 yuan. If the Jingxi Railway can be extended to Tongzhou, then the freight will fall to about 11 yuan. The freight from Tianjin to Shanghai is about 36 yuan per ton, that is, after a ton of coal arrives in Shanghai, the cost is about yuan.

If it is the former, it can only be sold near the Yangtze River port. But in the case of the latter, the area from Shanghai to Jinling can compete with charcoal. There are no less than 3 million households in this area, and as long as 1 percent of the households use our Jingxi white coal, then the coal accumulation in the coal mines in Jingxi will be solved.

Moreover, the people in the south of the Yangtze River raise more silkworms, and the salary required for this silk reeling is not less than one million, which shows that the export of coal to the south of the Yangtze River is a promising thing. ”

After listening to Xu Xingsheng's explanation, Zhu Youzhen calculated a little in his heart that the sale of this coal in Beijing can make about half of the money, but after it is transported to Jiangnan, it is about 1 yuan per ton. Although it doesn't earn more than 200,000 yuan a year, from the perspective of this process, transporting coal to Jiangnan absorbs more labor.

He calculated it for a while, and then asked casually: "Then how much is the investment in increasing the double line and extension line of the Jingxi Railway?" ”

Xu Xingsheng said in a low voice: "A total of 105 kilometers, according to the minister's calculations, the cost of 1,100 yuan per kilometer is about 11.57 million yuan." ”

Hearing the number Xu Xingsheng said, Zhu Youzhen couldn't help frowning and looking at him, and asked a little suspiciously, "Isn't it?" When the construction of the Jingxi Railway began, the budget was 448 yuan/km. After the completion of the Jingxi Railway, the settlement was only 580 yuan/km. How long has it been, and how has it doubled? ”

Xu Xingsheng hurriedly replied: "Your Majesty doesn't know, since the opening of the light rail and the Jingxi Railway in the city, everyone thinks that the profits of building the railway are really huge.

Suncheonfu wants to build a light rail around the city to reduce the number of camels and horses in the city and reduce the burden of sanitation and cleaning. And the squires of Baoding and Zhending, and even the merchants of Shanxi, wanted to build the railway in the capital as soon as possible.

Baoding and Zhending were originally the most fertile places in the land of Beizhili, where there has always been the habit of rice-cotton and wheat-cotton rotation. In the past, it was very inconvenient for them to ship the cotton they planted, but they couldn't weave themselves, so they could only use it to make quilts and jackets.

However, if the railway from Beijing to Jiaozuo is completed, then it will be an excellent choice for them to transport cotton to the capital in the north, or to the Yellow River and take the waterway to the Grand Canal. Shanxi merchants wanted to use this railway to reduce the transportation cost of goods in and out of Shanxi.

After the completion of the railway from Beijing to Jiaozuo and the railway in Shanxi, they only need to pay for the transportation of goods, and only a section of the mountain road over Taihang Mountain is left. Compared to before, it can also save at least one-third of the shipping cost.

It is precisely because there are two railway constructions in front of us, so now everyone in the market is optimistic about the market of pig iron next year, and those pig iron trafficked from the south are now hoarded, just to want to fight a good price when the railway starts next year.

Therefore, the price of pig iron on the market has broken through the upper limit again and again, and even the worst pig iron is 35 yuan per ton. The rails cast by blast furnace pig iron have reached 49 yuan per ton, so the cost will naturally be doubled.

However, the quality of pig iron smelted in the blast furnace is better than that refined with southern pig iron in the past, although it is more expensive, but the maintenance cost is still saved. ”

Zhu Youzhen thought for a while before saying: "If you add the land price and other construction costs of the railway, wouldn't it cost 2 or 300,000 yuan?" ”

Xu Xingsheng thought for a while before he said: "The shares of Jingxi Coal Group are only 51% owned by the Inner Government, so the investment in this railway double line and extension line is only half of the investment in the Inner Government, which is only the sales profit of Jiangnan Coal in one year." ”

Zhu Youzhen was finally a little comforted in his heart, but he soon asked with some curiosity: "The cost of the railway from the capital to Jiaozuo has almost tripled, why didn't those local squires who bought railway stocks come to petition with me this time?" ”

Seeing that Chongzhen did not oppose his railway construction plan, Xu Xingsheng's somewhat nervous mood finally relaxed, and he immediately said: "The railway has been doubled, but the cost has increased a lot, but in the stock market, its price has always been very optimistic, and it is already one and a half times the original price.

Everyone believed that in the future, cotton, glass and other goods in the capital would be able to go south along this railway. Coupled with Henan's railway plan, this railway is obviously not worried about cargo transportation.

Even according to the calculation of the Jingxi Railway, the daily transportation capacity is 450 tons, 1 cent per ton per kilometer, and the freight of this railway has reached 2,930 yuan per day, deducting half of the operating expenses, and within two and a half years, the investment of the entire railway will be recovered.

The franchise of this railway is for 30 years, which means that shareholders who invest in this railway can get at least 10 times the return. Therefore, it is normal for them not to come to His Majesty to complain. ”

Zhu Youzhen thought about it, Xu Xingsheng was really telling the truth. The goods are transported from the capital to Jiaozuo for almost 650 kilometers, and the freight cost of 65 yuan per ton is less than 035 cents per catty of goods. This price is the transportation of wheat, and it is also affordable.

However, the rapid rise in iron prices will surely regret it to those Shanxi and Songjiang businessmen. They have been procrastinating, grinding the Shanxi and Susong railways until next year, and this is a small loss.

He gloated a little in his heart, then adjusted his mentality and said to Xu Xingsheng: "Since the price of iron has risen so rapidly, have Mentougou Iron Works and Tangshan Coal and Iron Consortium made adjustments to their plans for iron production next year?" ”

Xu Xingsheng hesitated before replying: "The small blast furnace in Mentougou now produces 14 tons of iron every day and night, and this small blast furnace can be smelted without changing people and shifts without turning off, which is much more efficient than the old blast stirring furnace used in Mentougou now."

However, the problem now is that the small iron ore used in the smelting of Mentougou Iron Works does not seem to have large reserves, and it is estimated that in a year and a half, this iron ore will be mined about enough.

What the minister meant was that he would simply stop the other four old-fashioned blast agitators and let the small iron ore be used exclusively for small blast furnace smelting. First, it can save fuel, and secondly, the transportation channel between Tangshan and Qian'an has been connected, and the iron ore transported from Qian'an has also been smelted in two furnaces.

According to the report from the Tangshan Iron Works, the iron content of the iron ore in Qian'an is not high, and it takes 3-4 tons to smelt one ton of pig iron, but the iron ore there contains fewer impurities, and the quality of pig iron is better than that of Mentougou.

However, due to the insufficient iron content of the ore, the consumption of fuel and auxiliary materials has also increased significantly. The cost of pig iron per ton reached 40 yuan, which is twice as high as that of Fujian iron and Guangzhou iron smelted with charcoal.

Although the price of iron in the market is high, as long as you smelt raw iron, you will not lose money, but this is not a long-term solution. After all, these iron-smelting craftsmen in Mentougou are more skilled, so Chen thought about whether to transfer them to Tangshan Iron and Steel Plant to see if they can make some technical improvements and save costs.

In addition, the first batch of two small blast furnaces of model 1 in Tangshan Iron and Steel Plant is also about to be completed, and they can just take over the smelting of these two small blast furnaces. ”

Tangshan two 1 type 1 small blast furnace, the volume of about 25 cubic meters, according to the Mentougou small blast furnace 09 iron rate calculation, the two can produce about 23 tons of iron per day and night. Compared with the performance of the old mixing oven of 05 tons to 1 ton a day, it is already a pretty good new technology.

Of course, there are two larger blast furnaces of type 2 and type 3 under construction, and if all four blast furnaces of Tangshan Iron and Steel Plant are completed, the iron output of about one year can reach one-tenth of the annual output of Daming pig iron.