The steel plants in the Qing Dynasty are about to start producing molten steel. This major event is actually more important than the construction of the railway, because the steel industry is the foundation of the railway industry, and the steel industry is the most basic industry of all industries!
Before the blast furnace steelmaking on August 20, a series of good omens came from the Capital Iron Works!
First, the ore dressing workers actually discovered a fist-sized gold nugget in several tons of iron ore! What’s even more amazing is that the naturally formed pattern on this gold nugget is actually an auspicious character!
The person in charge of the iron factory did not dare to neglect and immediately sent this auspicious omen to the palace, and the courtiers praised it!
Immediately afterwards, in the forest area of Yanshan in Shunyi, north of Qinghe Iron Works, herb collectors also dug up a thousand-year-old Ganoderma lucidum. The umbrella cover was as big as a coffee table!
Moreover, the herb collector also said that in the sky above the Ganoderma lucidum, there were white birds circling and even faint dragons and phoenixes looming in the clouds!
All are good omens. Shanxi sent three ears of sorghum, and Henan brought pure white deer. Even Marshal Zuo Zongtang, whose carriage and horse had just crossed the Yellow River from Zhengzhou, also presented a letter to the little emperor. Three ears of sorghum were sent to Zhengzhou. Everything has become clear for hundreds of miles!
Good omen, good omen, all good omen! This is also compounded by the fact that the stock price of the Beijing-Tianjin Railway has hit eight yuan, which is even more of a happy event!
Zai Chun's mood became very good, and the negative emotions suppressed by Fu Yin'er's appearance were diluted a lot during this period.
Not only the Qingliu scholars Han Chen and others were flattering every day during this period, but even the Eight Banners conservatives who had secretly colluded with Guiziliu before began to get closer and closer to the emperor!
Prince Lao Li, Prince Zheng, Prince Rui...these iron-hatted kings brought some Beile Beizi with them and came to the palace almost every day to pay their respects and praise!
It stands to reason that the nobles of the palace who have no actual errands can come to the palace two or three times a month to say hello, but I didn't expect that they would come every day during this period, and they would not deal with any government affairs. Anyway, they are indispensable for courtship.
Zai Chun knew that this was because the stock market had reached a new high, and these people finally knew that they were the emperor!
I laughed secretly in my heart, what kind of loyalty? It all comes at a price, if you can make them earn money, the loyalty of these dogs will be all over!
He looked down upon them in his heart but still wanted to give them face. When these royal nobles came, Zai Chun would say a few words to them when he had time. If he didn't have time, he would let them accompany the Queen Mother to visit the garden or something.
Until August 20th, this day was a serious day. Zai Chun put on a bright yellow dragon robe, put on the emperor's ceremonial guard, and left the capital from Anding Gate in a mighty manner, leading the civil and military officials of the court straight to the Qinghe Iron Works!
Originally, according to Zai Chun's plan, he could just go and have a look in casual clothes, and bring a dozen or so close officials with him, so there was no need to make it too spectacular!
But the Ministry of Etiquette was the first to jump out and quit, saying that just because of these auspicious signs, you can't just mess around! There must be a patrol of the emperor's honor guard, and it must be the largest one!
Good guy, this scale is big enough, almost catching up with the scale of Emperor Qianlong's expedition to the south of the Yangtze River!
Flag Luo Umbrella Cover, Tiger Spear Camp, Shanpu Camp... followed by the leading ceremonial guard are the Twelve Dragon Banner Guards!
Further behind are the guide car, Jili drum car, egret car, Luan flag car, Pie car, Pixuan car, etc.
Each vehicle is pulled by 4 horses and has 14 drivers and 1 craftsman.
Followed by the drums, big drums, cymbals, festival drums, snare drums, Yubao drums, etc., as well as wind instruments such as flutes, Xiaos, Jia, Changming and Zhongming horns, large horizontal blows, 筚篥 and other golden ceremonials Percussion instruments, the entire band consists of more than seven hundred people!
After the band is a flag array composed of various flags, banners, flags, etc.
Some accompanying officials and the emperor's 24 royal horses were also mixed in the flag array.
After the flag formation, there are the Qinglong Flag and the White Tiger Flag on the left and right.
Behind the two flags were the accompanying team of court officials. Interspersed among this team were cavalry and infantry armed with weapons.
After this pile comes the emperor's chariot. The emperor's chariot is the core of the entire honor guard, so the security is extremely tight.
The jade chariot is driven by the imperial servant, surrounded by 41 knights at the front and rear, and escorted by generals on the left and right guard on both sides.
Following the jade chariot were the senior generals and eunuchs of the Forbidden Army.
On the periphery of these escort officials, there were multiple teams of cavalry and infantry of the Forbidden Army. The number of the Forbidden Soldiers in each team varied, but they were all more than 20 people, and were led by a general.
The forbidden soldiers are equipped with bows, arrows, knives and other weapons, ready to deal with emergencies at any time.
Following the forbidden soldiers was a guard of honor composed of peacock fans, small group fans, square fans, yellow horns, Jianghu banners, Xuanwu pillars, etc.
Do you think this is the end? It's early, and there is a team of trumpeters just behind the emperor's carriage!
The musical instruments of the band are similar to those of the drum band in front of the jade bridge, but the scale is relatively small, with nearly 300 musicians.
Following the "rear advocacy" are various chariots specially used by the emperor, including square chariots, small chariots, waist chariots, golden chariots, elephant chariots, leather chariots, five pairs of chariots, root chariots, An chariots, and Siwang chariots. Cars, sheep carts, zodiac carts, yellow ax carts, leopard tail carts, etc.
These cars are not for people to sit on, they are all empty. They are regarded as a kind of courtesy cars. Of course, if special circumstances occur, the emperor can also choose a car frame at his convenience and escape quickly!
If one breaks down, replace it with another, and if it breaks down again, replace it. It’s very convenient!
The Eight Banners Guards were the last to hold the battle. Each of the Eight Banners selected 200 warriors to form a rear guard of nearly 2,000 people. This was the army that held down the position!
Around and behind the Eight Banner Guards, there was a flag array, roaring like an ocean!
Such a patrol team is too long. The leading cavalrymen of the ceremonial guards have already left Andingmen, and the last flag formation is still gathering by the Jinshui Bridge in front of Tiananmen!
Today, the people of the capital have opened their eyes. They haven’t seen such a large-scale ceremonial outing in many years. The queen’s ceremonial guard was grand enough during Zaichun’s wedding, but it was much worse than the emperor’s outing. Times!
After all, Zai Chun is a new emperor, and he trusts his own army the most, so the guard of honor is protected by the elite new Yulin Army, Guaizima and Xishan soldiers!
The vast number of civil and military officials, eunuchs and soldiers, this time the patrol numbered far more than 7,000 people!
People along the way prostrated themselves in the dust. Even the Western diplomats coming out of Dongjiaomin Lane jumped off their horses when they saw such a large-scale parade, took off their hats and stood in awe on the street. When Zai Chun's imperial chariot passed by, they also had to bow ninety degrees!
The emperor's majesty shocked everyone, even foreigners were no exception!
The team set out for patrol at seven in the morning. This ritual was too long-winded. By the time he saw the darkened Capital Industrial Zone, it was almost noon!
Many officials only came here half a year or even a year ago and have no idea how spectacular the industrial zone will be after it is fully completed!
As far as the eye can see, they are all gray and white factory buildings, revealing the cold industrial power. There are countless chimneys standing in the forest, and Emperor Tongzhi specially issued a decree that the buildings in the industrial zone can exceed the regulations at will!
The simplest example is that you can cover the chimney in your industrial area as high as you like. It is ten times higher than the Hall of Supreme Harmony and no one will care about you!
Since we are engaged in industry, we must respect science instead of respecting the feudal rules of the past!
Because of this, the chimneys in industrial areas are very tall, many of them are ten or even thirteen or four stories high!
The necks of many officials and soldiers who had never seen the market were about to break. They looked at the tall chimneys emitting black smoke above their heads. At this moment, all the blast furnaces were turned on, and the coking plants and cement plants were also starting to burn!
The entire sky was suppressed by thick black smoke. The sky that looked blue in the capital city turned light gray here!
Xiao Letian was most helpless about industrial pollution, but in the eyes of Emperor Tongzhi, it was a symbol of industrial power!
"Ah..." Zai Chun took a deep breath of air, letting the polluted air full of the smell of coal tar and pig iron mixed with black dust fill his chest!
"That's right...that's the smell! That's the smell! The smell I smelled in the large industrial areas of London and the Ruhr Industrial Area in Germany!"
"Haha... This is the taste of iron and blood! This is the taste of industry! This is the taste of great powers!"
"I announce! Open the furnace!"
