"We Wuhu is located on the bank of the Yangtze River, only more than 200 miles from Nanjing City, which is only half the distance from Nanjing City to Suzhou City. If we can have a railway to Nanjing City through Dangtu, it will take only two hours to get from Wuhu to Nanjing City, and we can travel back and forth between one day, which is faster than the morning and evening."

"I expect the next section of the railway in the government to go from Suzhou to Hangzhou. I don't know when it will be our turn. I wonder if Wuhu can raise funds to build the railway on its own and connect to Nanjing City in advance? If we connect to Nanjing City's railway network, our Wuhu might be much more prosperous than it is now."

"So I want to propose to the government to build a railway from Wuhu to Nanjing, so that the railway and the golden waterway complement each other and promote the development of our Wuhu."

After Wang Changyuan returned to Wuhu, he summoned a group of Wuhu merchants to talk to them about the convenience of trains, and proposed the idea of ​​organizing the construction of a railway from Wuhu to Nanjing City by himself.

When other Wuhu businessmen heard that Wang Changyuan wanted to take over the railway construction project from Wuhu to Nanjing, he was slightly surprised.

"Shopkeeper Wang, you have to know that building a railway is a big project. First, it requires a lot of funds. Second, no one among us can build railways or trains." said many businessmen in Wuhu.

"As long as you have money, the government may be able to provide us with technology and talents. But I cannot afford such expenses alone. It is better for us to work together to undertake the railway project from Wuhu to Nanjing to bring glory to us Wuhu. You must know that Zhenjiang, Wuxi and other places may benefit from the Ningsu Railway passing by, and our Wuhu is neglected because of this." Wang Changyuan said.

Wuhu merchants realized that the emergence of railways may change the previous trade pattern. Many cities developed because they were in the position of the world's water and land wharf, such as Tianjin Wei and Yangzhou. If the connection between Nanjing City and Suzhou City is closer, the economic center of gravity will be more inclined to the area east of Nanjing City.

Wuhu is located west of Nanjing City and may decline. The completion of the Ningsu Railway from Wuhu, also under the jurisdiction of the Jianghuai Province, is regarded as a crisis for itself.

Why did the Jianghuai Provincial Yamen build a railway eastward? It is obvious that the Provincial Yamen believes that connecting the Nanjing city where the Provincial Yamen is located and the Suzhou city, the center of economic importance, can accelerate the development of the Jianghuai Provincial Yamen.

There is considerable competition within the one capital and twenty-one provinces, especially the addition of the Japanese provinces puts huge pressure on other provinces. After all, Japan was a vassal state in the past, with a population of tens of millions. As a major coastal province in the south, the Jianghuai province, the Zhejiang province, the Fujian province, and the Guangdong provinces all made efforts in the era of navigation, competing with each other for the title of the first province of the empire.

The Jianghuai Province took the lead in building the first railway in the south, which naturally caused resources to hit the most prosperous areas.

"As long as we pay, the government is really willing to provide us with talents and talents needed to build railways? And how much money is needed to build railways? How to operate after they are completed?"

"I think they would also set up wooden poles on both sides of the railway when they built the railway. It seemed that they were installing some lines, which might be the supporting facilities needed by the railway."

"There is also the cost of railways so expensive. How can we make a profit from it? Guangyao's hometown is good, but it's better to open more workshops in Wuhu and buy more goods out."

The merchants gathered in Chizhu Mountain in Wuhu talked about the difficulties in building and operating the railway.

For private businessmen, railways and steam locomotives are still unknown fields at this time, and they cannot estimate the cost of building and operating railways. The complex structure of steam locomotives is tantamount to ordinary people, making steam locomotives of price but no market.

"Ji Yuyong, a salt merchant from Taixing County, Yangzhou Prefecture, led his people to directly request the military master to contract the official road from the capital to Tianjin. The military master easily agreed, and the government even assisted the technology and talents in building hard roads free of charge. Now the new official road has been built. Their profit model is to obtain the right to set up checkpoints on the official road to recover the cost of road construction. I think we can imitate this model. Anyone and goods who want to transport through the railway we built need to pay us a fee." Wang Changyuan said.

Many Wuhu businessmen were pondering the gains and losses in the process. Railway investment was huge, but if they could really recover costs and make profits, it would be a safe investment plan.

"You guys think about it again. Building a railway to connect Nanjing City is equivalent to narrowing our distance from the provincial capital. We can get the first to hear the news, which is even more than Suzhou City."

"Also, if we build a railway from Nanjing City to Wuhu, we can build another railway from Hangzhou City, one railway to Luzhou Prefecture, one railway to Jiujiang Prefecture, and one railway to Jingdezhen. At that time, Wuhu will be a land hub. Even if we cannot compare with Suzhou, Hangzhou and Nanjing, it is also the county that the imperial ranks. This is a century-long plan." Wang Changyuan expressed his plan.

Maybe even he did not realize how important the railway hub is. Often the railway can change the fate of a region, so-called "to get rich, build roads first."

"As businessmen, we still have to weigh the pros and cons. With such a huge investment, even if the railway is built, the cost cannot be recovered without ten or eight years. I think we will still select representatives to find out whether we can contract the cost of railway construction, railway tracks, and steam locomotives, and then look for profitable strategies?" A businessman suggested.

"I have always dealt with the government. I can go to the Taiping Prefecture government office to report this matter, and jointly inquire about the railway contracting from the provincial government office with the prefect and us. The prefect also hopes that the ruler will have some political achievements and will definitely help us. If we estimate that we can make a good profit, there is a lot of potential." Wang Changyuan volunteered, intending to use the Taiping Prefecture government as a stepping stone and try to contact the officials of the provincial government office.

"So good." The merchants replied.

"But in order to make the prefect understand that I am not playing with him, please sign the names of our people who will prosper in Wuhu for a hundred years to prove that we are serious about this." Wang Changyuan opened a memorial and asked the apprentice to prepare a pen to grind it.

The Wuhu businessmen present looked at each other in a flash. Wang Changyuan brought up the name of Wuhu County, the hometown of Wuhu County. Almost all of them were Wuhu people present. If they did not sign their own name on this note, they would be dull in front of the fellow villagers.

Life is for the word fame and fortune.

Almost all the more than forty Wuhu merchants present were asking the private to sign the memorandum of the construction of the Nanjing City-Wuhu Railway.
Chapter completed!