In addition to this major project, there were also tens of thousands of engineering troops gathered in Dengzhou Port and Kaifeng City. Their mission was to build a hardened road from Dengzhou as the starting point, passing through Mizhou, Jinan Prefecture, and Daming Prefecture, with a total length of nearly 700 kilometers. It is expected that this road will be completed in two years. At present, kilns are just beginning to be built on site in several areas along the way, and the real highway construction has not yet begun.

Moreover, this road is only the first phase. The second phase ends in Yan'an Prefecture, and the third phase ends in Xiningzhou, the former Xixia Henan Army. Once this road is completed, the western hinterland will no longer be a place where the emperors will be far away. Materials and soldiers from the south of the Song Dynasty can be transported by sea, canals, and then transfer from Dengzhou Port or Daming Prefecture to move westward along the highway. It takes less than one-third of the time before to reach the distant western part. This is equivalent to extending the hands of the central government and no need to deploy heavy troops in remote areas.

Although it will cost huge amounts of money to build a highway, it is worth it to spread it from the annual military expenses. What's more, with this highway, the western inland can effectively communicate and flow of people with economically developed areas in the southeast coast, which can also play a crucial role in the development of the inland economy. No matter how the Song Dynasty court is counted, it will not lose.

Can Hong Tao, or the current imperial court of the Song Dynasty, spend so much money to build so many major projects at the same time? Even if the laid-off army is used as labor, it has to be managed. So many people eat and drink every day, plus building materials and tools, is a huge expense.

Indeed, Hong Tao really couldn't afford the money, but he had a way to let others pay to help him carry out such a huge and long-term project. This hardened road, which he named Highway No. 1, was basically not paid a penny, and was contracted by a foreign-funded company called Huang's Construction Company.

Speaking of which, this company is still a relative who is not far from Hong Tao. Its major shareholder is Huang Hai's family. The person in charge is Huang Hai's eldest grandson and Huang Lang's eldest son Huang Yi. Now the Huang family is a real big family in the Jinhe Empire, especially in the agriculture and construction industries. Because it started early and has a wide connection, the current family industry is almost everywhere in every overseas colony of the Jinhe Empire. It is not an exaggeration to call it a trust.

"It seems that I have to formulate laws on antitrust and antitrust so as not to develop these capitalists unscrupulously in the future." When Hong Tao saw the detailed information of Huang's Construction Company, he couldn't help but feel moved again.

The Jinhe Empire has developed too fast in the past ten years. If this continues, it will take less than twenty years for the dynasty that was overthrown by itself to stand up. It may not be called the emperor at that time, but its nature is similar. If family businesses like Huang's Construction Company are not restricted, they may become a huge group of forces that can control a country one day. Capitalists are not much kinder than the emperor, and they must not be careless about them.

As for why Huang's Construction Company is going to contract such a highway that requires huge investment and seems to have no benefits? It's not that the Huang family has a problem with their brains, nor is it that they want to repay Hong Tao's kindness, but that Hong Tao gave them a promise. After this highway is built, it is not a free road, but a toll road. Anyone and organization who wants to use this road must pay the toll according to the payment standards agreed in advance and approved by the Song Dynasty court.

These tolls are the investment returns of Huang's Construction Company. At that time, Huang's Construction Company will set up a toll station on the highway. The sign says: I open this mountain, I plant this tree, if you want to pass by here, leave to buy wealth!

Of course, this toll period is limited, divided into different sections of roads, and the toll period ranges from ten to fifteen years. Not only does it require toll fees, but the necessary maintenance of the road is also required. After the toll period is over, the road will be taken over to the state-owned position of the Song Dynasty court and become a free road.

Any smart businessman can calculate this. As long as the Song Dynasty court can fulfill the contract, it will definitely make money, and it will make a lot of money. But only Hong Tao and the merchants of the Jinhe Empire can understand this model. If these merchants were asked to do such a business with the original Song Dynasty court, they would not even consider it. This is a credit issue.

A person needs credit for doing business, and a country, a government and others also need credit for doing business. The Song Dynasty court had no credit, but Hong Tao had it, not only it had it, but also it was very sufficient. It can be said that neither the merchants of the Jinhe Empire nor the merchants of the coastal cities of the Song Dynasty were invested in the Song Dynasty. They valued Hong Tao himself, so they believed that under his leadership, the new court of the Song Dynasty also had enough credit.

At this time, if anyone wants to continue to bring Hong Tao and exchange it for someone else to lead the Song Dynasty court, these businessmen will not agree, unless you pay their investment, interest and part of the profit first. Therefore, credit is not only a promise to others, but also a kind of protection for themselves and a good habit of mutual benefit.

At present, local investment in various infrastructure construction contracted on the land of the Song Dynasty, with a lot of foreign investment, and 80% of newly built highways, factories, and water conservancy facilities are carried out in this way. Whether it is a sole proprietorship or a joint venture, as long as it is beneficial to the country, future development, and local people's livelihood and economy, the Song Dynasty will not set up artificial obstacles. Moreover, many small and medium-sized investment projects are dominated by local officials. The central government is only responsible for the review and bidding of large-scale projects, and does not interfere with local investment projects, but only has regulatory responsibilities in procedures.

The court officials responsible for these tasks were even more interesting. Luo Youde handed it over to Jia Sidao. Judging from the work situation in the previous few months, he did it quite well. An original minister who was a misleading country, but in the new court, he became a very capable, brave, honest and dedicated minister in the world who ruled the world. This made Hong Tao very pleased and happier than building the highway itself.

"Are he scared by you? Will his old illness relapse in time?" Wen Nan didn't understand all this and was not relieved.

"When anyone was born, there was no bad guy on his forehead, nor was there a natural treacherous minister. The ancients said: "It is not a fault for raising a father, and it is a lazy teacher who is not strict in teaching! The reason why he becomes a treacherous minister has his own responsibility, but the main responsibility is the system. Without a suitable system to regulate everyone's behavior, good people will become bad people. Because if they are not bad, they will suffer losses. With a suitable institutional constraint, bad people will become better, because if they do not follow the rules, they will suffer losses. No one is a fool. The reason why treacherous ministers can stand out among so many officials means that their own abilities are stronger than others, otherwise they will not use the defects in the system so well.

So once such people reach a suitable system, they will soon be able to master the essence of the new system, make reasonable use and abide by it. They will even be more keen to maintain this system than others, because only under this system, people with strong abilities like them are more likely to come forward. Don’t use treacherous ministers and loyal ministers to classify your officials in the future. We use their talents, not saint training classes." Hong Tao had already figured out this issue, and at the same time understood Wen Nan’s doubts. There are still many people who can think like themselves in the Song Dynasty, and there are not many in the Jinhe Empire. This is the ideological gap caused by the times, and there is no way out, so they can only change slowly.

For old officials of the Song Dynasty like Jia Sidao, Hong Tao advocated bold delegation of power. As long as they are willing to actively integrate into the new rules, they should not set obstacles for them, and they should not discriminate against them. The previous bad was not their fault, and the burden of history should not be borne by them. In this way, they can set an example for other officials and use practical actions to call on more people to join the work of building a new Song Dynasty.

Of course, Hong Tao is not a good person who is unprincipled and dares to use these old officials to hold important positions in the government. He also has his own guarantee system, that is, the newly established Dasong Commercial Investigation Bureau. With Cixi, the big spy leader, picking up the mistakes for him, Hong Tao doesn't have to worry that these old officials will surrender to him on the surface and make trouble in secret.

According to different positions, Cixi has begun to focus on monitoring the every move of these people. As long as there are officials with bad intentions, Hong Tao's Marines will appear in front of her. In handling such matters, Hong Tao fully demonstrated William's evaluation of him, the Black Angel! On the one hand, he is generous, and on the other hand, he is cruel and cruel and suppressed. Any criminal officials verified by the Commercial Investigation Bureau will be hung on the local city gate together with their immediate family, and the entire family will be sent to the north to supervise labor. Mining, building roads, and some will be a life-long job waiting for them.

Throughout 1255, Hong Tao basically stayed in the north of the Song Empire. While supervising the construction of the Northern Steel Group Tangshan Steel Plant, Qianxi Iron Mine, Luanhe Machinery Factory, Luanhe Chemical Factory, Qianxi Cement Plant, and Luanping Coal Mine, while taking advantage of the opportunity to inspect the paving progress of Highway 1, he took the lead in starting another very important and sensitive reform on the Shandong Peninsula. This reform should be said to be the most difficult and most needed. It is different from the problem of redundant soldiers and redundant officials. It only touches the interests of a small number of people. Once this reform is officially launched in the Song Dynasty, almost everyone's interests will be touched. Some people suffer losses, and some people take advantage. But who will suffer losses, how much they eat, who will take advantage, and how much they take? Hong Tao is not sure yet, so he wants to try it here first, so he knows it and then spread it on a large scale. To be continued.
Chapter completed!