Chapter 270: Borrowing Money Based on My Own Ability (Second Update, Please Subscribe)

France in this era was a famous financial empire that could easily compensate 5 billion gold francs, so it was definitely not short of money.

If there is a chance, of course I would hook up with a rich man like this.

What does the current development of the New World rely on?

It relies on overseas capital. More than half of the capital for building railways in the United States in the 19th century came from London. Without London's financial capital, there would be no development of the United States. Even until the 1920s, British financial capital still occupied an extremely important position on Wall Street.

Since the United States can use British capital for development, South China can also use French capital for development.

In fact, compared to France, Zhu Xianhai would rather choose Britain as the financial sponsor. After all, according to the results in the simulator, a conflict of interests between Nanhua and Britain is bound to break out.

Once a war breaks out... why should I pay back the money I borrowed with my own ability?

But at the moment, because of the Chilean issue, Nanhua's relationship with Britain was not very friendly, which directly affected Nanhua's difficulty in borrowing money in London. So far, it has only borrowed more than 22 million pounds. In silver, it is only more than 70 million taels.

Of course, when he borrowed the money, he had no intention of paying it back. It was a pity that he couldn't borrow more.

In this case, we can only rely on France as a financial sponsor. Although we may need to pay back the money borrowed from France, it will definitely be beneficial to the development of Nanhua after borrowing sufficient funds.

So, this money needs to be borrowed!

After getting close to France as his financial sponsor, Zhu Xianhai took out his long-planned plan at the beginning of the new year of 1867.

"Ji Gao, I asked you to come here today because it's time for Nanhua to have a plan to build a railway network. Currently, Nanhua only has one Pacific Railway between Nanhua and Linhai. Now with the influx of immigrants, we need to settle more immigrants in the Pampas, so we must finalize the railway construction plan to the north as soon as possible. We strive to build a railway network covering the Pampas and Shanxi within 5 years, so that the total operating mileage of the railway will exceed 10,000 miles!"

The construction of railways in Nanhua started very early. Long before Zhu Xianhai's expedition to Araucanía, it had already begun with the construction of iron mines. Although the construction of the Pacific Railway was full of twists and turns, it trained a group of railway engineering and technical personnel for Nanhua.

In the past, the rails used in the railways built by Nanhua were all wrought iron rails imported from Britain and France, because Nanhua's steel company needed to export steel abroad to earn more than ten times the profit. However, with the "invention" of open-hearth steelmaking technology in Europe, steel prices are falling rapidly. In other words, low-cost steelmaking technology has been applied, which also means that the era of huge profits for Nanhua Steel Company has ended, and low-cost wear-resistant rails will be used on railways.

Zhu Xianhai plans to first apply the wear-resistant steel rails on railways, and use the construction of railways as an opportunity to promote the development of Nanhua's steel industry. He believes that with the stimulation of railways, Nanhua's steel production will have a leap-forward development in the next ten years, and high-quality steel rails will completely replace wrought iron tracks.

Now is the time to start building railways, especially since Nanhua can issue bonds in France, in other words, it can use foreign money to develop itself.

"In addition to railways, the construction of supporting roads must also be accelerated. Hard roads should be used where conditions permit, and efforts should be made to form a transportation network with railways as the main trunk and paved hard roads as branches, covering all areas of Shanxi and Shandong, and ultimately forming a complete land transportation network."

Mr. Zhu had certainly heard the truth that if you want to get rich you must first build roads, but the planned large-scale immigration push also required the coordination of a transportation network.

At present, inland transportation in South China mainly relies on railways, and there is only one Pacific Railway. Relying solely on the Pacific Railway cannot meet the transportation needs of future immigrants.

Therefore, Zhu Xianhai planned to spend several years to build a railway and highway transportation network, connecting all parts of Nanhua with several railway and highway networks. This would not only facilitate the resettlement of immigrants - immigrants could be resettled along the railways, but also promote the circulation of goods, which should be extremely beneficial to the internal economic development of Nanhua.

As for the highway system, although the transportation volume seems to be small at the moment, as the Otto Internal Combustion Engine Company began to produce gasoline internal combustion engines, the "invention" of the car is only a matter of time. With the car, not only can the problem of road transportation be solved, but in conjunction with the Northern Railway, it can also be used for military mobilization.

war!

War is always inevitable. Moreover, in Zhu Xianhai's plan, Nanhua would intervene in the Paraguayan War. It was not interference, but taking the opportunity to expand its territory.

In this case, it is imperative to build a northern railway and road network. Fortunately, the Pampas is flat enough, and it is very easy to build a railway on the grassland.

Although it is easy, thousands of kilometers of railways and thousands of kilometers of roads require a lot of funds. Where does the money come from?

We can only rely on bonds!

Three years!

There are only three years in total. When I think about the fact that the Paraguayan War will end in three years, if I don’t take the opportunity to expand to the north and miss this opportunity, it will be difficult to expand again!

Thinking of this, Mr. Zhu couldn't help but sigh: I really don't know if I can see the day when Nanhua develops into a member of the imperialist powers and builds a beautiful imperialist home!

The country's development still needs to make a big leap forward!

Time waits for no one, I can’t wait to start farming!

Thinking about the widespread illiteracy of Chinese immigrants, Zhu Xianhai couldn't help but frown.

Governing the world is indeed more difficult than conquering it!

It is difficult to conquer the world, and it is even more difficult to rule the world. And it is even more difficult to conquer the world and rule the world at the same time.

What Mr. Zhu is doing now is an extremely difficult task.

It is definitely not possible to expand to the surrounding areas after governing the country well, because the imperialist powers - Britain, including the United States and many other countries, will never give him the time.

"Your Majesty, we have not yet digested Chile. If we rashly expand again, it will not only arouse the vigilance and hostility of other countries, but also affect our digestion of Chile. Isn't it a bit too fast to march north?"

Zuo Zongtang reminded.

"It's a bit too fast, but there's nothing we can do! Isn't the most important thing for us right now to improve our internal strength, develop industry and commerce, expand our military strength, and digest the current results of the war?"

Zhu Xianhai shook his head. How could he not know that he was going a little too fast? But according to the lessons learned from the simulator, he had to speed up!

"I also want to digest the fruits slowly, but if we don't try our best to expand our territory, then in a few years, we will have to face external pressure. The British will never allow us to rise in South America and disrupt their plans. Although slow development is beneficial to our development, it is also beneficial to Britain's long-term layout. Under Britain's planning, we will inevitably face foreign invasions in the next few years. In this case, what is the best choice for us?"

(End of this chapter)