Daming: The system rejected my request for salted fish

Chapter 1260

Wei Wu simply responded with a smile.

"This is just the beginning. Once the railways cover the entire country, the development of our Great Ming will only get better and better."

Upon hearing Wei Wu's words, Zhu Yuanzhang nodded in agreement, but he was thinking about something else entirely.

Throughout history, the most troublesome issue for rulers has always been the management of remote areas, since the emperor is far away and the country is far from the capital.

The journey itself takes a lot of time, and the transmission of information is slow, which makes it easy for officials to have absolute control.

This is why many dynasties, despite having vast territories, were unable to effectively control them and instead relied on local self-governance.

Because governance is so difficult, it might take three or four months for news of an event to reach the capital.

This is why ancient dynasties, after defeating the north, were often retaken by nomadic tribes from the north.

However, if the railway could be laid across the entire country, it would only take a few days to reach most locations.

By then, the speed of information transmission will no longer be an issue; the capital will be able to quickly receive news of anything that happens in remote areas.

Without this restriction, it would not be too difficult for the dynasty to manage its territory, and it could fully expand its territory.

Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang was now thinking that he hoped the Yuan Mongols and those small countries would take action quickly so that the Ming Dynasty could settle the score in one battle.

Thinking of this, Zhu Yuanzhang wished he could return to the capital immediately and keep a close eye on any news from the border.

But even though I had the idea, now that I was in Haizhou, I had to make an appearance here.

Subsequently, led by Zhu Yuanzhang, civil and military officials, escorted by soldiers, walked out of the train station in a procession of several hundred people.

At this moment, the area outside the train station was already packed with people, all of whom were focused on the train station entrance.

When Zhu Yuanzhang, dressed in a yellow robe, walked out of the gate with Empress Ma, the people immediately cheered.

However, the cheers here were different from those in later generations. Instead of shouting, the people bowed loudly to Zhu Yuanzhang.

In the next hour, Zhu Yuanzhang first had officials explain to the people the benefits and conveniences brought by railways and trains.

Afterwards, he led his civil and military officials on a brief tour of Haizhou before heading to the train station to return to the capital.

During this hour, the Tengfei had already turned around, and the workers had completed the loading and unloading of the cargo.

Goods brought from the capital have been transported to a special warehouse, while goods destined for the capital have also been loaded onto trucks.

The owners of these goods will also travel to the capital by train to experience firsthand the convenience it offers.

Actually, besides the imperial court, the biggest beneficiary of the Tengfei's first operation was the Sihai Chamber of Commerce.

The goods transported to Haizhou this time mostly belong to members of the Sihai Chamber of Commerce, with only a small portion belonging to other merchants.

Furthermore, these few businessmen were all friends of the members of the Sihai Chamber of Commerce, which is why they were able to take advantage of this opportunity.

After all, other merchants didn't know much about trains and never imagined that they could transport goods so conveniently.

The owners of the goods on the train heading back to the capital were mostly connected by members of the Sihai Chamber of Commerce.

In other words, this back-and-forth process allowed the Sihai Chamber of Commerce to once again enhance its reputation within the business community.

At the same time, this incident allowed him to make friends with many wealthy businessmen, which not only demonstrated his strength but also expanded his network.

The reason is simple: the franchise rights that Wei Wu initially granted were taken over by the Sihai Chamber of Commerce, or more accurately, by Qingxia.

Wei Wu's initial advice to Zhu Biao was that the franchise rights should be divided into two types: one for specific routes and the other for specific categories of goods.

With Wei Wu's influence, Qingxia naturally obtained a special route license, and it wasn't limited to any particular product category.

Currently, the Ming Dynasty only has one railway, the Jinghai Line, which means that Qingxia can transport any kind of goods on this railway.

After this railway operation, the merchants that Zhu Biao had summoned from all over the country will surely go back and spread the word.

The news will spread throughout the entire Ming Dynasty in a short time. At that time, all merchants who want to transport goods by rail will seek cooperation from Qingxia.

Even the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce will benefit from this, gaining another major boost to its reputation and securing its position as the top chamber of commerce in the Ming Dynasty.

This proved to be true; on the train journey back to Beijing, many businessmen tried every means to contact members of the Sihai Chamber of Commerce.

Besides the merchants who came to Haizhou by train, there were also those who boarded the train this time to head to the capital.

For two hours, the members of the Sihai Chamber of Commerce were constantly busy, dealing with merchants.

But they couldn't give any response, because it was Qingxia who had obtained the special privileges for the route, and Qingxia was in the Emperor's carriage.

When the Tengfei arrived at the Beijing station, Zhu Yuanzhang immediately convened a temporary court meeting with his civil and military officials, and Empress Ma returned to the inner palace.

Qingxia and the others no longer needed to stay by her side, and it was only then that the members of the Sihai Chamber of Commerce finally had the opportunity to meet with Qingxia.

On the contrary, Wei Wu, who neither had to attend court nor manage the affairs of the Four Seas Merchants Association, was left with nothing to do.

He was thinking of going to the Academy of Sciences to take a look, but before he could do anything, Zhu Biao suddenly came looking for him.

"Hey, brother, didn't Old Master Zhu suddenly convene a court meeting? Why didn't you go to listen to the proceedings?"

Seeing the puzzled look on Wei Wu's face, Zhu Biao smiled and then explained directly:

"The so-called court meeting is nothing more than reiterating the railway regulations we just discussed and letting them refine the details."

“Dad can handle this kind of thing by himself. Besides, I’m not exactly free either; I also have to gather businessmen to oversee the bidding process.”

"They have all seen the benefits of railways, so this is the best time to put out the tender and arrange the later planning of railways as soon as possible."

In fact, Wei Wu understood that Zhu Biao's idea was to get merchants to put up bids as soon as possible and accelerate the construction of the Ming Dynasty's railway.

The more railways built and the longer they are, the more convenient they will be. The sooner they are built, the sooner they can be used, which will be more beneficial to the development of the Ming Dynasty.

Just as Wei Wu was about to say something, he heard Zhu Biao's voice again.

"Xiao Wu, why don't you come and take a look at this bidding process?"

"Okay, I don't have anything else to do anyway."

As Wei Wu and Zhu Biao left, Qian Jinguang also arrived at the Ministry of Justice to receive his punishment.