In the afternoon, at a manor outside Chang'an City, Yuwen Wen strolled in the lush cornfield and talked to Yang Ji, the "corn envoy" that this year's "newly arrived" new batch of American corn will be planted soon. Yuwen Wen is very concerned about this, so he came here to take a look.

With the contact between the expedition and the indigenous people of the Americas (Central America), the exchange deepened, and different quality corn was exchanged from different tribes. After being transported back to the Central Plains, most of these corns will be used for planting. Then, after continuous breeding, plants with full fruits will be selected as much as possible.

This is the work of Yang Ji, the "corn envoy" Yang Ji, but now, the topic Yuwen Wen and Yang Ji are not about corn, but about railways.

It is now summer. At the beginning of the year, a train robbery occurred on the Huangbo Railway. Under the counterattack of police and passengers on the train, the robbers failed and were subdued. However, this attempted robbery attracted people's attention to the safety of railway transportation.

In this regard, Yuwen Wen's view is that robbers must be severely punished to serve as a warning, but they cannot cause trouble for the new railway (train) transportation because of the occurrence of the robbery. Because roadblocking and robbery have been happening in ancient times, trains are also means of transportation, so similar incidents are inevitable.

Because railway transportation (rail carriage) first appeared in Ezhou and Huangzhou, Yang Ji was quite familiar with railway transportation. Now he saw the emperor bringing up related topics, so he made suggestions:

"Your Majesty, if you want to make a profit, you can only rely on freight. Passenger transportation will inevitably suffer losses in general."

"Weichen believes that railway transportation will be mainly freight in the near future to ensure considerable profitability and more good news, so that more people can invest in the construction of railways."

"The court's finances cannot support the large-scale construction of railways, so they can only raise private funds to build and operate railways through the "official supervision and business" method. In order to ensure investment, bad news must be avoided as much as possible, which will affect everyone's confidence in the railway."

"As for passenger transport, most people who can take the train have financial resources, so they will always attract desperate people. Even if the train security is strictly done, they cannot prevent the desperate people from taking risks again and again."

"Once the robbery occurs, even if it fails, once such news spreads, it will only make people think that taking the train is unsafe and will also make potential passengers, that is, rich people, feel uneasy."

"What's more, there are many inconveniences when taking the train. Rich and noble families are not allowed to rush forward and backward. Without clever servants to serve each other and without strict protection from the troops, when getting on the train, even if you are in the first-class carriage, it is equivalent to giving all your life and life to a few train conductors who don't know the details, and the police... "

Speaking of this, Yang Ji concluded: "Your Majesty often says that matters are priorities. I believe that the most urgent task is to absorb private investment as much as possible and build more railways as soon as possible. Therefore, in order to ensure "benefits", I suggest that the number of buses and trains on existing railway lines should be appropriately reduced."

"In terms of the operation of an investment project, your suggestions are indeed correct." Yuwen Wen looked at the corn crops around him and said slowly, "However, there are many uses of railway transportation, and you need to relax your horizons."

"The impression that passenger trains give people is that most passengers are either rich or noble. If you want to get rich, it is better to rob the train, divide the stolen goods and fly away, and spend the rest of your life with the stolen goods. Therefore, robbers will continue to appear."

"Then, the security of buses has become the top priority, so the railway operators and governments along the route will naturally find ways to ensure the safety of the train."

"Not to mention the desperate people who committed crimes, just say that the powerful and clans along the railway will inevitably become the targets of the government."

"For these local snakes, they can use both soft and hard skills to win them into the railway transportation system, become part of the railway transportation interest group, and shoulder the responsibility of maintaining the security of the railway."

"At the same time, the government sent troops to garrison along the railway on the grounds of protecting railway safety. Wouldn't you feel familiar with this routine?"

Yang Ji pondered for a moment when he heard this and asked, "Your Majesty's meaning is that the drunkard's intention is not to drink? In the name of protecting railway safety, strengthen control over the areas along the route?"

Yuwen Wen nodded: "Yes, wherever the imperial railway was built, the imperial control would extend. Those powerful people who were arbitrary in the countryside would naturally choose to be law-abiding people in the face of the temptation of the lucrative profits of participating in railway transportation and the eye of the official army."

"The official army deployed along the railway has very convenient supplies, which can effectively reduce the daily cost of garrison. The garrison is overwhelming local tyrants, and then local officials have the confidence to take a tough attitude, check the land, hide households, collect taxes, and enforce the law will be much easier."

"This is one. Second, wherever the railway extends, the manor economy will collapse. Because the low freight costs will cause foreign goods to pour into the areas along the route on a large scale, and the large-scale dumping of countless low-quality and cheap goods is enough to completely shake the foundation of the manor economy."

"At the same time, with the emergence of railway passenger transport, people along the route can reach thousands of miles away to work within a few days to support themselves and their families. Tickets for the fourth-class carriage are actually not expensive, which will further promote population mobility."

"The price of grain for twenty years and the price of cloth (linen) has dropped, allowing workers to rely on their wages to support themselves and even their family. Then, instead of farming for landlords, making cattle and horses, and even having their wives and daughters sleep with them, it is better to take their family to work in another place."

"Those big landlords will face the risk of large-scale loss of tenants and employees. If they want to retain tenants and employees, they have to reduce the pressure. As a result, costs rise, income continues to decline, and old estates are even more powerless to compete with new farms."

What Yuwen Wen said actually comes from a familiar accusation in later generations: wherever the imperialist railway is built, the imperialist hegemony will extend.

Railway transportation is not only an improvement in transportation modes, but also a powerful tool for the expansion of power. People in this era have basically not realized this.

Western powers built railways in other countries, and then relied on railways to dump goods and destroy local economy. They also sent troops to deploy defenses along the railway and dispatched personnel to manage them. Then they became more and more demanding extraterritorial legal power.

Step by step, the country's sovereignty is trampled on, turning areas along the railway into colonies or semi-colonies.

It can be said that in an era when Western powers were rampant, railways were a tool for imperialism to do evil, and both the construction process and the use process were full of sins.

However, if you replace "imperialism" with "central court", the "style" is different.

The central court can rely on steamers and trains to further strengthen its control over the local area, disintegrate the manor economy in many places, and accelerate the disintegration of the economic foundation of aristocratic families and powerful people.

The emergence of steamships and trains has accelerated population mobility and the booming industry and commerce have prevented many people from farming and can support themselves and their families by relying on work. Therefore, more and more people have got rid of their personal dependence on landlords and clans.

Of course, Yang Ji didn't know what "imperialism" or "Western powers", but he quickly understood what Yuwen Wen meant.

Railway (train) transportation is a tool that is sharper than steamship transportation. The imperial court can strengthen control over the areas along the railway on the grounds of ensuring railway safety, and then clean up the local tyrants.

Such benefits are much more money than selling train tickets.
Chapter completed!