As for the argument that landlords have no surplus grain, Gao Zian just thinks that Zhuang Chengyi is farting. Although the old Pixiu always shouts that the treasury has no money, when it comes to a critical moment, the Ministry of Revenue can always come up with "the last payment"

available money”.

No one knows how much money there is in the national treasury except Zhuang Chengyi, who is in charge of the Ministry of Finance, and officials who always pretend to be confused.

But Gao Zian also knew in his heart that the Song Dynasty spent too much money. Every year, the Ministry of Industry under him alone spent nearly 30% of the national treasury budget. Now he wanted to force Zhuang Chengyi to spend additional money.

Zhuang Chengyi, an old man, would definitely be furious if he built a railway for the Ministry of Industry. The budget of the Ministry of Industry was still directed at Zhuang Pixiu, so there was no need to mess with him at this time.

But Gao Zian was also very interested in Zhuang Chengyi's method of making money, especially since the old man specifically said that there would be no need to increase taxes.

The construction of railways is definitely a bottomless pit, and no one knows how much money this bottomless pit can swallow. Judging from the current tax situation in the Song Dynasty, even if taxes are to be increased, Lao Pixiu will definitely find a way to add clever names to the commercial tax, even if

If the commercial tax is increased by only half a percent, the extra money collected will be an astronomical figure, but this astronomical figure is probably not enough to support the construction of the railway.

Without raising taxes, he can still get money to support the construction of the railway... Does Zhuang Pai Yao still have the ability to turn stone into gold?

Thinking of this, Gao Zian couldn't help but move closer to Zhuang Chengyi's position and asked in a low voice: "What's the plan?"

Zhuang Chengyi chuckled, stroking his beard pretending to be profound, and said with a smile: "Don't say it, don't say it."

Can't say?

Why don't you just talk to me about it?

Gao Zian was choked by Zhuang Chengyi's words. After he came to his senses, he simply imitated Zhuang Chengyi and stroked his beard and said: "Since Zhuang Shangshu doesn't want to say it, then I won't ask, as long as it doesn't delay the Ministry of Works plan.

Just the construction of the railway."

Zhuang Chengyi shook his head and said: "I don't want to delay your work at the Ministry of Works, but if my proposal can be implemented, I'm afraid it will really delay you."

Gao Zi'an was furious. He just thought that Zhuang Chengyi would not be innocent. At the moment, he could only resist the urge to beat Zhuang Chengyi violently. He frowned and asked, "Still, you can't tell me?"

Zhuang Chengyi hummed and said: "It can't be said, it can't be said. This matter still needs the approval of the officials."

After hearing what Lao Pixiu said, Gao Zian naturally couldn't keep entangled anymore, so he could only leave the household department angrily.

…

"I think this railway should be repaired, but I am not in a hurry to repair it."

Zhuang Chengyi said: "In my opinion, the only places where our Song Dynasty needs large-scale troops at present and in the future are the Jin Kingdom and Europa. While our Song Dynasty has a certain understanding of the terrain of the Jin Kingdom, we have no idea of ​​the terrain of Europa.

I don’t understand it at all.”

"In this case, we might as well slow down the railway on the Song side and repair the railway on the European barbarian side first."

"In this way, we can not only make money from them through the railway, but also consume their young and strong labor. At the same time, we can also understand the terrain on the other side of Europa and lay the foundation for the future march into Europa. Once the army enters Europa, the troops on the other side of Europa will

The railway can be used by me. Isn’t this enough?”

Zhuang Chengyi thought about it. The old man in the official family has always been a person who doesn't care about money. If he simply wants to make money from Europa and the barbarians of the Jin Kingdom, the official family may not be too concerned about it. After all, the official family still has someone else in their hands.

I don’t know how much internal funds there are.

The more important point is that as long as Europa and the Jin Kingdom are eliminated, all their money will belong to the Song Dynasty. At best, they can be kept for now.

Zhuang Chengyi had no doubt that the Song Dynasty had the strength to destroy Europa and the Jin Kingdom.

But if building a railway to Europa can consume the youth of the barbarians and lay the foundation for a future attack on Europa, then the officials and other senior officials will definitely be interested.

Sure enough, after Zhuang Chengyi briefly talked about the benefits of building a railway to Europa, Zhao Huan rubbed his chin and thought deeply.

It is not impossible to build railways for the barbarians. After all, Zhuang Chengyi has already analyzed the benefits. If we can really build a railway for the barbarians, we can really make money while consuming their national power. We can also directly borrow the railways they built in the future.

, and by the way, you can also get the terrain information on Europa, which is indeed a good thing.

But it is not that easy to get the barbarians to agree to build the railway.

As we all know, most of the barbarians in Europe are stubborn. However, the barbarians in Europe during the Song Dynasty have not experienced the Renaissance. The four major inventions have not yet been introduced to Europe. The barbarians are in the stage of believing that indulgences can atone for sins. What does the Holy See say?

What kind of stage of ignorance is this? What if the Holy See thinks it’s not good to build a railway?

Just like the old lady Cixi of the Qing Dynasty who didn't want to build the railway and came up with a bunch of bullshit reasons such as disturbing the tombs of her ancestors, the reason why the British Lafayette and the church men didn't want to build the high-speed railway was also because they were worried about the consequences of building the high-speed railway.

Desecrating graves and disturbing the peace.

Although Europe at this time was still in a fragmented and barbaric era, and there was no such thing as the long-standby Lafayette and the paper maker Ka Zhongtang, but the church fathers who have witnessed the development of the world thousands of years later still believe that building high-speed rail will desecrate the tomb. Come to think of it,

The church elders from thousands of years ago were certainly not any worse than their younger generations.

To put it bluntly, it is obviously unreliable to expect them to actively agree to build the railway.

If you want them to show their support for building the railway, you might have to give them some sweetness first. Basically, it is the same as most other sects that believe in gods. The lower the believers are, the more they believe in the existence of gods.

The top executives do not take the gods seriously. At this time, in order to maintain their luxurious living standards and raise a large number of illegitimate children, the big bosses of the Holy See even dare to sell indulgences on the basis of their merit bank.

To make money, I believe that as long as they are given enough chips, they can unconscionably say that the railway is a miracle shown by God to the world.

After making up his mind, Zhao Huan simply knocked on the table with his fingers and decided to leave the matter of railway construction to Conrad III.

Zhao Huan believed that Wu Xin could completely train Conrad III into a psychologically twisted and loyal dog, and he also believed in the brain-dead abilities of those dead eunuchs in Dongchang.
Chapter completed!