Dreaming back to 1949, the great powers were there to deceive us

After Jiang Zhen finished talking, Guan Tianpei walked in and asked,

"After the north-south artery is opened, how will we recover the money? If the road is closed for management, the cost will be too high."

Hu Zhenhua disagreed with this view and retorted,

"The biggest benefit of the lockdown is that it increases the speed of trucks. For example, from Guangzhou to Dandong, a distance of 3000 kilometers, if a truck runs at 70 kilometers per hour without taking breaks, it can cross the north-south distance in 43 hours! What kind of efficiency is this? If there is any change, the soldiers can quickly maneuver!"

"If you don't seal it off, animals like mules, horses, cattle, sheep, pigs, hares, pedestrians, and naughty children will run wild on the road, and cars won't be able to speed up at all. One car idling doesn't waste much fuel, but what about a thousand, ten thousand, or even a hundred thousand cars?"

"Time is money. If the front line urgently needs ammunition, can we afford to delay?"

Guan Tianpei frowned.

“That’s another expense!”

"It's not bad for these three melons and two dates!"

Guan Tianpei was so angry that he laughed.

"Do you know how much these three melons and two dates cost?"

“I’ll do it no matter how much it costs!”

Guan Tianpei shook his head helplessly.

“After the road is closed, do we collect tolls?”

"No, direct charging requires too much manpower. We use an indirect method, adding a road maintenance tax to the fuel and collecting it from each refinery when the fuel leaves the factory."

Guan Tianpei thought about it and suddenly frowned.

"That's not right. Some cars don't use highways. And some organizations, like power plants and military tanks, don't even use roads. If we add taxes to the fuel, wouldn't they be losing money?"

"Special units can consider tax rebates. As for cars that don't use the highway, don't they use other roads? So the road maintenance tax collected could be distributed to local governments based on the number of cars in each region, with the funds earmarked for road construction and maintenance. At this stage, the collected tax proceeds should be used first to repay loans."

Hu Zhenhua waited for Guan Tianpei to finish recording and continued,

"Another benefit of closing roads is that you can build service areas with gas stations, restaurants, and repair areas. You can rent these areas to locals and make money without doing anything."

Jiang Zhen suddenly interrupted Hu Zhenhua,

"Wait a minute, can't we run it ourselves? Why rent it out?"

"Stop talking nonsense! 3000 kilometers. Even if we build a pair of service areas every 15 kilometers, that's 200 pairs. Even if each pair has 100 people, that's 2 people. And they're spread out along 3000 kilometers. Do you know how difficult it is to manage so many people? Running it yourself? If you do that, you'll probably lose money!"

Hu Zhenhua took a breath and continued,

"It's different when it's contracted out. The locals take their own business more seriously than anyone else! They won't even use a single extra drop of water to wash the dishes!"

Jiang Zhen still felt that he had lost out, and retorted,

"Hearing what you said, I think the service area is a cash cow and it would be better if it were run by the state!"

Hu Zhenhua raised his eyebrows and retorted,

"Practice is the only criterion for testing truth. To determine which method is better, you can conduct a set of comparative experiments. Decisions cannot be made on a whim or based on assumptions; they must be based on science!"

Guan Tianpei interrupted the two people who were arguing with a smile, changed the subject, and said,

"Zhenhua, with the approval of our superiors, the North-South Road and Bridge Company has been officially established. It will be responsible for the construction and subsequent operation of this major artery. Are you interested in participating in the investment?"

"Participate in the equity investment?"

"Yes, you said that public ownership is the main body, and multiple ownership systems coexist! We are now introducing external capital, which is also a practice of this concept."

Hu Zhenhua was immediately tempted. The best business in the world was to build toll stations. However, Hu suddenly realized that he had dug a hole for himself. His suggestion was to add the fees to the fuel.

It is extremely difficult to get money from tax authorities!

But you can't calculate it that way. There is no cost for land acquisition for this highway.

This is a long-term business. In the future, the rent of service areas will continue to rise year by year, and the highway toll collection model will be reformed again...

This business can be done!

“How much of a share can I get?”

"You put in 3 million dollars, which is 10%! But you have to invest in foreign currency cash."

Hu Zhenhua fell silent.

He obtained a set of data from the United States. At the beginning of the year, the construction of Chicago's Eisenhower Expressway (four lanes in both directions) started. The budget cost was about 1.83 million yuan. The total length of the highway is about 47.8 kilometers, and the average cost per kilometer is about 383 million yuan.

If this standard is followed, the budget for this 3000-kilometer-long road would be as high as 114 billion yuan.

Guan Tianpei's budget is about 30 billion yuan.

Although this amount of money seems to be a lot, Lao Hu is really not very sure. The cost of building a bridge across the Yangtze River alone is more than 1 million yuan.

For example, in 1968, the Jinling Yangtze River Bridge was completed with a total investment of approximately RMB 2.87 million, which was converted into US dollars according to the exchange rate at the time (1 US dollar = 2.46 RMB), amounting to approximately 1.17 million US dollars.

Suddenly, Hu Zhenhua had a flash of inspiration and shouted,

"I agree to invest! Mr. Guan, make the budget 90 billion yuan and then give me a report!"

Guan Tianpei was puzzled and asked,

“Why triple the budget?”

Jiang Zhen understood, he rubbed his hands and said hesitantly,

"Zhenhua, what do you think about us selling you 20% of our shares?"

Guan Tianpei got angry when he heard this and shouted,

"The fact that the higher-ups approved 10% is already highly controversial..."

Jiang Zhen waved his hand to interrupt Guan Tianpei, signaling him to calm down and continue asking Lao Hu,

"Zhenhua, your 10% stake will be valued at 3 million RMB. We don't care how you deal with it. But you must hand over the remaining 10%, no matter how much you sell it for."

If the investment budget for the entire expressway is 90 billion, then a 10% share would be 9 million yuan. Hu Zhenhua would not have to spend a penny and could still make a profit of 6 million yuan, while North-South Road Bridge could get another 9 million yuan.

After Guan Tianpei figured this out, he suddenly calmed down.

If 40% is sold, the state won’t even need to invest.

However, this is not the way to calculate it. Highways involve land issues, so we must be cautious.

Hu Zhenhua's brain started working at high speed.

It is not easy to attract investment when such a large amount of money is involved. After all, there is a huge gap between the two major ideologies.

Moreover, the country implements a one-sided foreign policy, and it is not easy to attract foreign investment. Not to mention, the polar bear will not allow it.

The reason why Hu Zhenhua suddenly crashed the exchange rate of banknotes was to block the outflow channel of foreign capital, forcing them to accept the OEM plan and continue to contribute to China's economy.

"This isn't easy!"

Jiang Zhen didn't care, he waved his hand casually and said with a smile,

"No matter how difficult the task is, it will be easy for you! We will fully cooperate with you if you need anything!"

Ever since Jiang Zhen met Lao Hu, the latter has been constantly creating miracles. Lao Hu can turn plans that seem out of the blue to others into reality, so Jiang Zhen has a mysterious confidence in Lao Hu.

Hu Zhenhua shook his head and smiled bitterly.

"let me try!"

……