"Father, uncles. I have other uses for this money. However, since Father and the uncles have already spoken, I have no choice but to lend it to them.
How about this, I will lend 100 million taels of silver to the Northern Warlords Government in my own name. However, the interest would be based on the interest rate of foreign banks. Moreover, his father, Uncle Tang, Uncle Zhou, and the others had to sign the loan contract.”
Yuan Kewen said to everyone.
Big Head Yuan's expression was a little ugly.
He had already spoken personally, but Yuan Kewen was still making excuses. Moreover, he was only willing to lend them 100 million taels of silver and even wanted them to sign it. Where would he put his face?!
Yuan Kewen was also very clear that it was almost impossible to get the money back after lending it to the Beiyang government.
At least, it was impossible for him to come back while Big Head Yuan was still alive.
But three years later, if Yuan Datou died and he couldn't inherit Beiyang, then the Beiyang government would pay him back. If the Beiyang government couldn't pay back the money, what other choice did they have besides letting him inherit the country that Yuan Datou had built?
"Kewen, we can accept this condition!”Tang Shaoyi said.
Then, Zhou Xuexi drew up a loan contract. Yuan Datou and the others signed their names on the contract.
On the other hand, Yuan Kewen stated that after the envoys paid, he would directly transfer 25 million pounds to the Northern Warlords Government.
"Father, uncles. I have one more thing to ask of you.”Yuan Kewen said.
"What is it?" Big Head Yuan asked.
"I want to invest in the construction of two railroads. I need the government's assistance.”Yuan Kewen said.
"You're paying to build the railway?"? Big Head Yuan was a little surprised and couldn't figure out what his son was thinking.
"This is a good thing! We fully support it!" Tang Shaoyi said with a smile.
Even though Yuan Kewen had lent 100 million taels of silver to the Northern Warlords Government, he still had 120 million taels of silver left.
If this money could be used to invest in the railway, it would be very beneficial to the Beiyang government.
Perhaps, they could even divert a lot of road construction funds during this process. Why not?
"Alright, I hope to start construction as soon as possible. We will build the railway from Zhangjiakou to Kulun, as well as the Longhai line, all the way to Dihua. If possible, extend further west!”Yuan Kewen said.
"These two railroads? That would require a lot of money. In addition, it's very difficult to get anything in return." Tang Shaoyi said with a frown.
From Zhangjiakou to Kulun, they had to cross the desert and then head north into the grasslands.
As for the Longhai railway extending westward to Dihua, it also had to pass through the vast Gobi and desert.
These two railroads were not only costly. At the same time, there was no economic benefit.
It was almost impossible to recoup their losses.
This caused the Beiyang higher-ups to not understand Yuan Kewen's true thoughts.
"Uncle Tang, I naturally understand this. However, it was too difficult for the border areas to communicate with the mainland. In addition, the current political situation was unstable, so the border would naturally be unstable. In the long run, there would definitely be big problems.
If the railway is built, then our control over the border will be much tighter. "Even if something happens, we can use the railway to quickly transport troops to suppress it!”
Yuan Kewen continued.
"Good, as expected of my son. He is wholeheartedly thinking of the country!”Big Head Yuan applauded.
The eyes of the other Beiyang big shots were also filled with admiration.
It wasn't that they didn't know about the problems at the border.
However, now that they had not even settled the mainland, the border was even more out of their reach.
Yuan Kewen naturally had his own plans.
If these two railroads could be built, it would not only strengthen the control of the border.
More importantly, if the Russians collapsed in the following world war. Then, the Yan Huang Empire could use this opportunity to quickly send troops to interfere. He could also take back a large amount of territory that had been seized by the Russians.
This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the Yan Huang Empire. Naturally, they could not miss it.
Once the Russians recovered from the war, if the Yanhuang Empire wanted to take back these territories, they would have to take back the land. If that was the case, it would not be so easy. He would have to pay a greater price.
After some discussion, Yuan Kewen decided to pay 20 million taels of silver this year as the initial capital.
Next, he would pay a sum of silver every year for the construction of the railway.
The current cost of building a railway was about 13,000 taels of silver per kilometer.
From Zhangjiakou to Kulun, it was about a thousand kilometers. Including other expenses, it would cost about fifteen million taels of silver.
As for the Longhai Line, if it extended all the way to Dihua, it would be much longer. Moreover, the difficulty of construction was much higher. Deducting the Bianluo section that had already been opened to traffic, there were still over 3,000 kilometers to go from Kaifeng to Luoyang. If they were to extend westward to Yili, it would reach more than 3,600 kilometers.
In total, he would need to invest at least 70 million taels of silver.
Of course, for Yuan Kewen, these two railroads had to be built.
If possible, he wanted to build more railroads.
This way, it would be better for national defense and economic development.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。