The idea of a railroad carriage, also called a horse-drawn train, had already been in the emperor's mind as early as his journey south to Beijing.
If you don’t engage in trains, are you still a time traveler?
Just like carrying a gun, as an absolute killer in the cold weapon era, it would not be on the table in the hot weapon era.
The same goes for horse-drawn trains, which were hardly worth mentioning in the industrial age.
But there is no way, it is still only the feudal era, and we have to wait until the industrial revolution, in the mid-to-late eighteenth century.
Horse-drawn trains are the product of compromise.
After all, the steam engine is still in its infancy and has been slowly being improved.
But Zhu Yixi couldn't wait.
From Jilin in the east, to Turpan in the west, to the Yinshan Mountains in the north, and to the South China Sea in the south, such vast land was captured during his reign.
The cost of governance is high, which makes it difficult to maintain. After all, it is too big.
So the train is an indispensable thing.
Since the locomotive has to wait, let’s add the rails first.
Pillow, rail, locomotive, the three elements of a train.
If the locomotive doesn't work, then make do with horse-drawn trains first. When the time is right and steam engines can be used, it will be a matter of course without any obstacles.
Of course, as far as Zhu Yixi knew, the original track was not made of iron, but made of stones.
Later, tracks made of wood, which were very common in British coal mines, appeared. Of course, it was not trains that ran on them at that time, but horse-drawn carriages.
Ranwen
He wouldn't consider any of this and just used the rails.
Anyway, with the extensive mining of coal mines, fuel is no longer restricted, and the output of Zunhua Iron Mine is quite acceptable, so it is natural to use rails.
In order to obtain more iron, he even liberalized the operation of iron plants, thus stimulating the influx of more private capital.
Of course, if nothing else, most of them are bureaucrats and nobles participating.
The emperor was not surprised by this.
Without a new aristocracy, how can we replace the old aristocracy?
Isn't the so-called revolution in Britain just a traitor among the nobles? Cromwell was originally from a noble family.
This is the law of history. Those who uncover the tombs of the old dynasties are often their own people, such as the Tang Dynasty, the Sui Dynasty, and the Yuan Dynasty Qing Dynasty.
"First from Yuquan Mountain to Beijing, then from Yuquan Mountain to Xuanfu, and then to Datong."
Zhu Yixi looked at the map and sketched the railway layout of the Ming Dynasty in his mind.
When pig iron production was not enough, it became very necessary to lay railways in frontier areas.
"Your Majesty, there are many people who are curious about the railway tracks in the capital."
Zhang Qi said with a smile: "After hearing that for just a few coppers, you can take a walk on the carriage, many people are willing. It is much cheaper than renting a car."
"That's inevitable."
Zhu Yixi's energy was pulled back. He turned his head and looked at Zhang Qi: "As long as it becomes popular in the capital and the people accept the railway and know its convenience, it will naturally spread to all over the world."
“Then we won’t have to worry about sales.”
That's right, from the beginning, Zhu Yixi did not completely regard railways as exclusive to the military, but planned to expand them to the private sector, so that ordinary people can appreciate the charm of transportation development.
As long as the money is received and the cost can be repaid, the Ministry of Internal Affairs will not lose money.
When the time comes, the money collected will be enough to cover the whole of China one by one.
Interest is eternal and is a perpetual motion machine.
Moreover, for the emperor, mastering the railways was equivalent to mastering the financial channels. Although the initial cost was a bit high, it could not sustain the accumulation of money over time.
"If it were open to the public, just the daily round trip from Yuquan Mountain to Beijing would earn hundreds of yuan!"
Zhang Qi squinted his eyes and said carefully: "There are about 100,000 princes and nobles in Beijing. They all drink spring water from Yuquan Mountain. They only charge ten coppers for a bucket of water. How can they not get more than 10,000 buckets of water every day?"
"That's true."
Zhu Yixi is also very happy that the first railway can make a profit.
"How much does it cost to build one mile of railroad track?"
"Your Majesty, every kilogram of pig iron in Beijing is now worth ten coppers. One mile consumes at least two hundred thousand kilograms, which is two thousand silver dollars..."
Zhang Qi said casually, and a string of numbers popped out of his mouth.
It is conceivable that with the increase in iron consumption, the price of iron will inevitably increase, and its cost will become increasingly high.
But compared to future earnings, these are not worth mentioning.
It is estimated that the journey from Yuquan Mountain to Beijing City can be repaid in half a year, and the rest is pure profit.
The emperor's finger suddenly pointed at the map.
Zhang Qi's eyes followed his fingers, wandering around the capital and Tianjin mansion.
"Your Majesty, what do you want?"
Seeing the name of Tianjin Prefecture, Zhang Qi's heart beat faster instantly.
It is only three hundred miles from Tianjin to Beijing, but due to shipping factors, there are countless merchants who cross it, and they carry tens of thousands of goods.
It can be said that if a railway is built. Its profits are immeasurable, at least ten times that of Yuquan Mountain.
This is not a road, it is clearly made of gold and silver.
Thinking of this, Zhang Qi's face was full of jealousy. It would be great if he could manage this.
"How much does this cost?"
Zhu Yixi narrowed her eyes and asked directly.
"Your Majesty, there is no need to go directly to Tianjin."
Zhang Qi took two steps closer. After receiving the warning looks from the eunuchs' eyes, he came back to his senses and trembled a few times.
The emperor waved his hand and motioned to come over.
He then raised his head, pointed at Tianjin, and said: "Marine merchants disembarked from Dagu Port, rented ships to transport to Triangle Dian, and then directly passed through the canal to Chongwenmen to unload the goods."
"The most crowded one is from Sanjiaidian to Chongwenmen. The canal is shallow, narrow and often blocked. There are too many ships passing through and there are many tax collection checkpoints, which makes it very inconvenient."
"And if a railway track is built along the canal in Sanjiaidian, the railway will only take about two hundred miles to transport a large number of merchants."
"Wait, you mean businessman?" Zhu Yixi suddenly interrupted and asked in confusion: "Where are the goods?"
"Your Majesty, the horse's transport capacity is not enough. It can only pull a few people. We can only pick up light goods, and the heavy ones can only go through the canal."
Zhang Qi explained softly, feeling a little helpless in his heart. The emperor was still not very close to the people!
"As long as the merchants arrive in Beijing first, the goods can be escorted by the stewards."
"Moreover, just transporting people to Beijing to take exams, as well as officials and merchants traveling to and from the capital, can generate a lot of income..."
Understand, steam engines must be put into real use before transportation capacity can be released on a large scale.
Zhang Qi suddenly felt that the emperor had calmed down. He looked up and saw that he was looking at the map.
However, Zhang Qi became more and more frightened as he watched.
The emperor's eyes moved from Beijing to Liaodong, and then from Liaodong to Nanjing...
Money, a lot of money will come out of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Chapter error report
