Chapter 337: Building an Economic Circle with Bianliang as the Core

"I didn't expect that the Korean envoy was so kind and praised me so much at that critical moment."

After the morning ceremony, surrounded by hundreds of officials and people, Zhao Zhen returned to the palace and held another meeting with many prime ministers of the Constitutional Yuan.

At this moment, his face was flushed and he was very excited. Seeing the birth of this industrial miracle with his own eyes still makes him unable to recover.

After all, for him, even the development of the train has his share of credit. But he was not involved in the specific design or experimental operation. He could only speculate in the palace. He was naturally very happy to finally see it today.

Zhao Jun said with a smile: "Korea and Dali are just outsiders, and they will help whoever wins. Japan is far away overseas and may not necessarily pay attention to us. Jiaozhi is controlled by us, and only Xixia and Liao hate us to the core. But at that juncture, Who dares to offend me, Da Song?"

"In the past, they would have dared. The Liao people were so arrogant back then. When the envoys came, they not only asked us to greet them with great fanfare, but also walked through the streets and alleys. They were also arrogant and arrogant. Let's look at it now."

Fan Zhongyan looked around the crowd with a smile and said: "Now that the Liao envoy comes to Bianliang again, not only is there no one to greet him, but if he dares to bully the people, he will be arrested and imprisoned in an instant. Like mice crossing the street, ordinary people dare to provoke them arbitrarily, and they can only be trapped. Live by your tail."

"Hahahahahaha."

Everyone laughed, and everyone's face was filled with a cheerful smile, feeling quite proud.

It has to be said that at least before the Liao and Song Dynasty signed the alliance in the first year of Kangding, the Song Dynasty held back its breath for too long. From the Battle of Gaoliang River to the Battle of Chanzhou, the Song Dynasty was always in a weak position.

Weak countries have no diplomacy.

Under such circumstances, according to the "History of the Song Dynasty", every time an envoy from the Liao Kingdom came over, the Song Dynasty had to spend at least 30,000 yuan in reception fees, which shows how big the reception standards were.

Moreover, when the envoys of the Liao Kingdom arrived in the capital of the Song Dynasty, in addition to being slightly better off in the palace, they stayed in the Concierge House and went shopping on the streets. During the time they lived in the Song Dynasty, their attitude was extremely arrogant and they often did illegal things. The Song Dynasty But he had to swallow his anger.

Now after the offensive and defensive changes, the Liao envoys are no longer as arrogant as before. This is enough to show that Yelu Zongzhen was really broken by the Song Dynasty on that battlefield in Hebei.

"Don't be too happy too early."

At this moment, Zhao Jun suddenly poured cold water on him and said: "The emergence of steam trains marked that the Song Dynasty was about to officially enter the era of industrialization. Although the Liao people did not necessarily know what this meant, they must know that the national power of the Song Dynasty had already As they become stronger, they will only become more and more uneasy."

"Well, Hanlong means to prepare early?"

Lu Yijian asked.

"Yes."

Zhao Jun nodded and said: "Now is the period when the national army is changing its equipment. The troops who have replaced firearms still need to be trained, so we cannot take it lightly. However, if the Liao people really dare to come, then we cannot be timid. Even if we don't want to do it right now, It will directly destroy the Liao Kingdom and Xixia, but there will still be no problem in taking back the Sixteenth State of Yanyun."

He did not agree to destroy Liao and Xixia now, not because he was worried that they would not be able to defeat them. But I am worried that the Song Dynasty has just started its industrial development and is about to spend money. If the Liao Kingdom and Xixia were destroyed, the country would need to spend huge manpower and material resources to digest it.

You must know that the Liao Kingdom and Xixia Zhao Jun planned to let them assume the role of providing raw materials and dumping goods. Once a war breaks out, Liao and Xixia will definitely stop providing raw materials.

Even if the Liao Kingdom and Xixia are destroyed in the future, the foundation of the Han people in the Northeast and Mongolia is relatively weak, and it is very likely that rebellions and uprisings will continue.

Not only will the court not be able to benefit, it may also cost a lot of money to suppress.

This is not worth the gain.

Therefore, it is better to maintain the current order for the time being and let Liao and Xixia serve as the raw material production areas of the Song Dynasty.

"Only take back the sixteen states of Yanyun?"

Zhao Zhen asked a little disappointed.

Historically, Song Huizong threatened that whoever takes back Yanyun would be crowned king.

During the Song Dynasty, the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun have always been heartbreaking.

However, Zhao Zhen was not satisfied with this for a long time. In today's Song Dynasty, wouldn't it be okay to annex the surrounding countries?

"Of course it's more than that. What I mean is that we can take back the Yanyun Sixteenth Prefecture at this stage."

Zhao Jun smiled and said: "In the international community, the bigger the territory and the faster the expansion, the stronger the country will be. The so-called step that is too big will easily lead to trouble. The Yuan Dynasty was big enough, but it fell apart within a hundred years. How much appetite does it have? Just eat as much as you want, it can’t be done overnight.”

"Well"

Yan Shu agreed: "I agree with Han Long's opinion on this point."

"When I launched the Eastern Polar Strategy, it was a century-old plan. One generation will do something for one generation. What my generation wants to do is to take back the 9.6 million square kilometers of our country for future generations."

Zhao Jun added: "It's not that I have a small appetite, but with the current productivity, even if you have conquered so many countries, it will be very difficult to hold on to them. Communication, transportation, geopolitics, national integration, etc. are all problems. Unless the Song Dynasty is crazy and wants to make enemies on all sides, it will still have to slow down in many cases. "

"All right."

Zhao Zhen nodded to express his understanding.

Zhao Jun said: "Let the Liao Kingdom and Xixia State ignore them for now. When the news comes back to them, Li Yuanhao and Yelu Zongzhen are anxious. We are only engaged in our development. The future path is in our own hands. There are many Once the national strength improves, everything will fall into place.”

As he spoke, he stood up, walked to the desk, and began to spread out the local map of Henan.

Zhao Jun did not plan to spend much energy and entanglement on the matter of Xixia and Liao. It can be said that before the second year of Qingli, the two together might bring some trouble to the Song Dynasty.

But after the second year of Qingli, the military capabilities of the Song Dynasty skyrocketed.

This not only refers to firearms, but also refers to the Song Dynasty's military situation and whether its combat effectiveness has improved.

If Song Jun relied on defense in the past, it can be said that it has been washed away now, and it is no longer what it used to be.

Zhao Jun reformed the army not only in equipment, but also in the military system. Now generals often stay in the military camp to train soldiers, and they no longer know the soldiers and generals as before.

In addition, after eliminating the cancer in the army, military discipline has also taken on a new look. Perhaps it can't be compared to the group of elite soldiers and generals from the founding period of the previous dynasties, but with the blessing of muskets and cannons, even if Li Shimin came with the founding elite of the Tang Dynasty, he would have to come back defeated.

Therefore, Zhao Jun has never doubted whether the Song Dynasty could wipe out these two countries if it suddenly reorganized its troops and started an all-out war against Xixia and Liao.

It's just that fighting a war is about making money.

The age of firearms was more expensive than the age of cold weapons. Although it was easy to eliminate these two countries, the investment in war plus the investment in digesting the territories of these two countries, the Song Dynasty was likely to spend a lot of manpower and material resources.

Now is the time when the Song Dynasty needs money to actively develop. During the rising period of making the cake bigger, investing all the money in military expenditures will seriously hinder the development of the country and even bring the country to stagnation.

That's why Zhao Jun didn't have any murderous intentions against Xixia and Liao. As long as they obediently become the raw material production area and product dumping ground of the Song Dynasty, it would be okay to support them first like Japan.

certainly.

If Xixia and Liao took the initiative to extend their claws, it would be another matter.

At that time, it would not be impossible to collect some interest first and take back the territory of Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures that has a Han base.

Zhao Jun spread out the map, clicked on several places on the map, and said, "Everyone, come and take a look."

Everyone got up from their seats and came to the table to watch.

Zhao Jun pointed at the map and said: "Now we don't need to care about external forces, because in terms of force, our Song Dynasty is already the number one in the world, so the next thing to consider is how to make our Song Dynasty more powerful."

"What do you think of Da Sun?"

Zhao Zhen asked.

"The plan I made is very simple. First, we will upgrade the domestic industry and then start exploring externally."

"Oh? What does this mean?"

"It's very simple. In summary, it is actually internal development and external business expansion."

Zhao Jun smiled and said: "Our Song Dynasty's domestic productivity has improved a lot. According to the current trend, it is not a big problem to feed two to three billion people. If we manage Southeast Asia well, we may be able to feed seven or eight without the need for hybrid rice." Yidu is easy.”

"In this case, we must consider how to develop internally. The increase in population will inevitably cause a shortage of jobs, so we must vigorously develop business and first fix our internal business cycle."

He continued: "But the internal cycle consumes our domestic raw materials after all. Products such as gold, silver, and copper that are widely used in coins. As precious metals, they cannot lose their position as money. The more they can be consumed, the greater our reserves will be." There are few, so there must be external business.”

"Um."

Wang Zeng said: "This is a very realistic thing, and we don't think there is any problem."

"Does Hanlong mean steamship?"

Yan Shu immediately thought of something.

"Yes, our external commerce is still too little. The annual import and export trade volume is only 200 million yuan. Not to mention compared with our later generations, there is still a gap with the late Qing Dynasty."

Zhao Jun smiled and said: "Why did Dai Ying fight the Opium War with us? It's because we don't need their goods, but our goods are urgently needed by them. As a result, all their domestic silver flows into Dai Qing, and Dai Ying has a long-term trade deficit. If you can't afford it, just lift the table. This is the logic of a gangster."

It is mentioned in high school history textbooks that the British Industrial Revolution occurred in the middle and late Qing Dynasty, and then in just one hundred years, the world colonized and became an empire on which the sun never sets.

But the East has always been a mask of pain.

Because the tea, silk and porcelain produced in the East are urgent needs in the West, but the industrial products produced in the East cannot find a market in the East.

In the final analysis, the Qing Dynasty was indeed able to achieve self-sufficiency. In addition, the ruling class of the Qing Dynasty was not interested in the West, or they preferred to maintain the status quo, so they closed the country and closed the country to not allow Western products to enter.

As a result, Eastern products are constantly exported and Western products cannot come in, which is quite a bit of a foreign trade barrier.

Under the superposition of the two, Dai Ying saw a large amount of silver they scraped from the colonies flowing into Dai Qing like running water. Naturally, he couldn't stand it anymore, so he launched the Opium War.

Therefore, in a sense, it is a great lack of virtue to lead the truth.

"Da Sun means that we can do this in the future?"

Zhao Zhen opened his eyes wide. Are they going to follow the same old path as Dai Ying?

"That's not necessarily true."

Zhao Jun shook his head and said: "For the Western world, Eastern products are necessities. Tea, porcelain, and silk are all what they want. But Western products are nothing. Even in the industrial age, now we It’s also in a leading position.”

"This means that we all have products from the Western Industrial Age and products unique to the East. Then there is no possibility for us to become a sales place for each other's products. We can only produce them ourselves and then produce them for them."

"In this way, we can open their country with goods, but they cannot dump goods to the East. This trade transaction was not equitable from the beginning, and the Song Dynasty was definitely not satisfied with the Eastern world."

"So as long as steamships appear and can replace wooden ships and allow the Song Dynasty's merchant ships to travel all over the world, then the whole world will soon become a dumping ground for our goods. Unless they choose not to have necessities and close the country and not follow us. trade."

He smiled and said: "But when it comes to that, they basically can't help it. Judging from the current situation, the Song Dynasty only needs to complete industrial upgrading and rely on the trade of the feudal society in the first industrial revolution to complete primitive accumulation. Then I am afraid that in the future, a thousand Over the years, the East will remain unshakable in its leadership position.”

"If so, that would be great."

Everyone was excited.

"Of course, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and a good foundation is better than anything else."

Zhao Jun clicked on the map again and said: "Develop domestically first. My first step is to build a railway directly to Nanyang, and the second step is to build a railway from Sichuan to Shaanxi."

"It is understandable to build a road to Nanyang, but why should we build a road from Sichuan to Shaanxi?"

Everyone was puzzled.

"It's very simple, complete the entire economic cycle."

Zhao Jun explained: "You see, our entire domestic economic framework and route are basically locked along the Yangtze River, Yellow River, Huaihe River and the Grand Canal, but Shaanxi and Sichuan, Henan and Jingxiang are obviously close at hand, but they are It’s like the world is apart.”

Everyone nodded slightly without looking at the map. This principle has been true since ancient times. Because the land of Bashu is the source of the Yangtze River, it is completely possible to travel along the Yangtze River, and the water transportation route is very fast.

As the saying goes, a thousand miles of rivers and mountains are returned in one day.

Under normal circumstances, it only takes less than a month to travel nearly 2,000 kilometers from Bashu to Zhejiang. If there are no weather factors, it would only take more than ten days, which can be said to be very fast.

Sichuan and Shaanxi are obviously very close to each other, but they can only travel by land. The distance from Chengdu to Chang'an is 700 kilometers, which takes two to three months.

Unless it's like Tang Xuanzong delivering lychees to Concubine Yang on a horse.

Otherwise it's a world of difference.

Therefore, exchanges between Sichuan and Shaanxi have been greatly hindered since ancient times.

The same goes for Henan and Hubei. There is the Nanyang Basin in the middle, and hundreds of kilometers of roads are all overland.

In ancient times, the cost of traveling by land was very high, so transportation was very inconvenient.

On the other hand, both Hebei and Guangdong now have canals to communicate with each other. Needless to say, Hebei has the Yongji Canal and Guangdong has the Ling Canal.

Then we only need to open up the transportation between Henan and Hubei, Sichuan and Shaanxi, and these economic regions will greatly promote exchanges.

"If Henan and Hubei want to use water transportation, they need to detour through Zhejiang. From Henan, take the canal to Huainan, then take the Yangtze River from Huainan up to Hankou and transfer to the Han River to Xiangyang."

"The same goes for Sichuan and Shaanxi. Sichuan and Shaanxi are even further apart and have to be transported from the Yellow River, so there is almost no water transportation between the two places, only land travel. But the road to Shu is difficult, it is difficult to reach the sky, and the cost of communication is You know how big it is.”

"After these two railways are completed, the next step is to connect Shanxi, Hebei and Bianliang together and transfer the industrial center to Hebei. Bianliang will remain the political and economic center for the time being."

"Basically, as long as these three railways are opened, our main economic and development centers in Sichuan, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong, Huainan, Zhejiang, Henan, Hebei, and Shandong will quickly become active, with Bianliang as the center and surrounding areas. Together they will become one big block.”

"According to my rough estimate, repairing the three railways in the next five years will ensure a period of rapid development for at least twenty years in the future. From now on, the Song Dynasty will be able to rapidly increase its national power and build railways everywhere."

"The only three countries that are still outside the plate are Fujian, Jiangxi and Guangxi, but there is nothing we can do. We can only consider it after the third railway is connected to Shanxi to transport coal resources to Hebei and turn Hebei into an industrial area. Fujian, Jiangxi and Guangxi regions.”

Zhao Jun finally reluctantly named Fujian, Guangxi and Jiangxi.

It's not that he favors one over the other, it's actually geographical factors.

Just look at the distribution of economic cities in the Song Dynasty. Except for Fuzhou in Fujian and Guangzhou in Guangdong, which were the ten most economically developed cities, the other eight were all located along the canal.

After the construction of the railway, the local economic development will definitely improve rapidly, so he must first consider building the surrounding areas with Bianliang as the core.

The capital of the Song Dynasty was not in Beijing, so the political center would not be in the north and the economic center would be in the south.

But so does success and failure.

The political and economic center of the Song Dynasty happened to be in Bianliang.

Unless Zhao Jun chooses to move the capital.

But moving the capital also pays attention to the right time, place and people.

Even if the Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures were taken back, at least for now, Beijing would not be suitable to be the capital of the Song Dynasty.

Other places are not as good as Bianliang. It is not a matter of geography, but purely because once the capital is moved, the development of Bianliang will be destroyed in an instant, and it will have to start over to develop another imperial capital. It is really not worth the gain.

Therefore, Zhao Jun must consider radiating from Bianliang as the center, and the extension of the railway is also spreading from Bianliang as the center.

In the future, the railway from Henan to Hubei will definitely be built first, and then Sichuan and Shaanxi will be connected, and then Shanxi will be connected with Hebei and Bianliang. Then, from the map, the southeast, northwest and northeast of Bianliang within 2,000 kilometers will basically be completely connected.

In the future, it will no longer take two or three months to get from Sichuan to Bianliang. It will only take 20 days to ship to Xiangyang and then take the train to the north. Or take the train to Chang'an first, and then take the Yellow River to Bianliang.

This means that the transportation time of all goods within the 2,000-kilometer range of Bianliang will be reduced by more than two or three times, greatly improving the speed of logistics transportation.

In this case, if the Song Dynasty still cannot develop, it will be a ghost.