I clearly wanted to be a tyrant, but how did I become the greatest emperor of all time?

Now the Minister of Revenue is completely obsessed with money, and all he talks about is making money.

The profits from the Beijing-Luzhou Railway this time made the Minister of Revenue taste the sweetness.

The imperial court expected to increase revenue by millions of silver taels each year by levying taxes on the Beijing-Luzhou Railway.

And this is just the tax on shipping.

The commercial taxes collected in the markets of Luzhou and Kyoto are also considerable.

Only with money in hand can the Ministry of Revenue feel confident.

The Minister of Revenue of this dynasty is probably the most domineering Minister of Revenue in the history of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

With a lot of money in hand, am I still afraid that you won't curry favor with me?

It is not like before, where they owed money to various departments everywhere.

Everyone's eyes turned to Li Tian.

Li Tian said: "I plan to build a railway from Kyoto to Yangcheng!"

This time everyone took a deep breath!

Yangcheng!

That’s the southernmost city in the Great Zhou!

Oh no, now the southernmost part of Da Zhou is Kangping Prefecture.

But Yangcheng is thousands of miles away from Kyoto, so why build a railway?

The Minister of Revenue immediately knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, the Ministry of Revenue cannot afford so much silver!"

Li Tian immediately said: "Who asked you to pay the money?"

The Minister of Revenue retreated tremblingly.

If the Ministry of Revenue doesn't pay the money, will Your Majesty pay the money?

Li Tian coughed lightly and said, "This railway can be called the Jingyang Railway."

"Start from Yangcheng and build all the way north to Kyoto."

"For the cost of building the railway, I will allocate 150,000 taels of gold from the inner treasury."

"Let the rest be shared among the prefectures along the way."

At this time, Tang Xiaoren and Jia Renyi said together: "Your Majesty, this cannot be done!"

"The imperial court is sharing the burden, which is a waste of money and labor!"

"In every prefecture along the way, there will be people who will take the opportunity to exploit the people!"

"Your Majesty, please think twice!"

Li Tian was overjoyed!

OK!

How did I come up with such a good idea?

This is how a tyrant behaves!

How can we let the Ministry of Revenue take the silver?

We must search the place!

Plunder me thoroughly!

Ruined the country's fortune!

The system also popped up a prompt:

【National project, Jingyang Railway. 】

[Share the cost of building the Jingyang Railway along the way, Great Zhou’s national fortune: -5000 points! ]

[Tip: This move may cause civil unrest, and the country's fortune will be further reduced! ]

[Once the Jingyang Railway is completed, this contribution will be settled. ]

[Hint: This railway will run through the north and south of the Great Zhou Dynasty, causing a huge change in the country's destiny! ]

【Do you want to start? 】

Of course we have to start!

It must be repaired severely!

It is not easy to build this railway!

Railways are extremely expensive, and all the prefectures and counties along the route, except Kunzhou, are poor and cannot raise funds to build railways!

I am really too smart!

Li Tian was very proud.

The construction of the Beijing-Yangzhou Railway is simply a stroke of genius!

This time it will definitely ruin the fortunes of many countries!

Li Tian stood up and said, "I have made up my mind! Promote Zhang Yuchai to the rank of fourth rank, and Minister of the Governor-General of the Jingyang Railway!"

"Responsible for raising funds for the railway and building the entire railway!"

"All the factories along the way are managed by Zhang Yuchai!"

"Let's adjourn the meeting!"

Li Tian immediately walked out of the imperial study.

The ministers looked at each other.

Your Majesty's decision cannot be easily overturned.

Since the emperor has made his decision, we have no choice but to execute it.

Tang Xiaoren took Zhang Yuchai's hand and said:

"Master Zhang, we must discuss this railway project carefully!"

Zhang Yingchai also nodded: "That's right, Prime Minister."

A group of people returned to the cabinet, and Tang Xiaoren sat down and said:

"Master Zhang, how much does it cost to build this Beijing-Yangzhou Railway?"

Zhang Yingchai made a simple estimate and said, "If we use the price of building the Beijing-Luoyang Railway as an example, I estimate it will cost around 10 million taels of silver."

Everyone gasped.

The Minister of Revenue shrank back and said, "So much silver?"

Zhang Yuchai said: "Building railways consumes manpower. Now that corvée labor has been abolished, it will cost a lot of money to recruit civilian workers."

"Besides that, wooden sleepers and rails also require a lot of silver."

“But if an ironworks could be set up, the price of rails could be reduced a bit.”

"The rest is the cost of crossing the mountain and building the bridge."

"After all the calculations, 10 million taels is a conservative estimate."

Tang Xiaoren sighed and said, "If the government offices along the way were to raise this much money, the people would be in dire straits."

Jia Renyi said, "Could it be that His Majesty has some deeper meaning that we are unable to understand?"

Everyone nodded slightly.

His Majesty is wise and brave, and he also loves the people very much.

It was Li Tian who abolished the thousand-year-old corvee system.

How could Your Majesty use the construction of railways to oppress the people?

Your Majesty must have a way to build the railway without straining the people.

But it is not easy to guess what His Majesty is thinking.

Everyone was silent.

Tang Xiaoren said, "Go and invite a few more gentlemen! Lord Fan Jian from Kaifeng Prefecture, Lord Lu Weibin, the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Rites, invite them all!"

His men hurried to do it.

These are all trusted ministers promoted by Your Majesty himself. They must understand Your Majesty's intentions better.

In a hurry, Fan Jian and Lu Weibin came to the cabinet.

Tang Xiaoren recounted the story of the construction of the Jingyang Railway.

Fan Jian said, "Your Majesty did not use the Ministry of Finance to pay this time, but took money from the inner treasury. Is there any hidden meaning behind this?"

Everyone pricked up their ears.

Fan Jian said: "Recently, a new type of chamber of commerce has emerged in Kyoto."

"To buy coal from Luzhou, we have to buy it by the carload."

“This is a big business, but many small merchants also want to participate.”

"So they banded together and formed a chamber of commerce."

“Everyone gets a share of the money, which is called a share.”

"Everyone contracts a carload of coal together. If there is profit, everyone shares it. If there is loss, everyone shares it according to the investment."

"There are more and more such organizations called chambers of commerce in Kyoto."

"Many wealthy businessmen with deep pockets use this method to invest."

Everyone's eyes lit up. Could it be that they were going to set up a company?

Does His Majesty mean to set up a railway company?

Jia Renyi said, "Could it be that we should set up a railway company and auction off the company's shares as the cost of building the road?"

At this time, Lu Weibin said: "My Lords, I think that is exactly what His Majesty meant."

"The benefits of railways can be seen by everyone through the Beijing-Luzhou Railway."

"Just relying on the freight, the investment can be recovered in two years."

"In the future, you will be the golden goose that lays eggs, which will be passed down to future generations."

"I think we can take out the railway's profits and redistribute them in proportion to the funds raised."

"If that's the case, there should be many wealthy businessmen willing to donate."

Everyone present was moved.

Although Tang Xiaoren and Jia Renyi are both considered clean civil servants.

However, according to their official ranks, the regular rewards from the court, plus previous favors, they had accumulated a considerable fortune.

All the ministers come from prominent families and have considerable money in their hands.

If you really take out the railway shares, you can get dividends from the railway every year.

Wouldn’t future generations also benefit from it?