But with the emergence of trains and railways, control of frontiers will reach unprecedented levels!
The Central Plains dynasty never faced the nomads because they could not defeat them, but because they could not control them. Long supply lines, as well as the transportation of personnel and materials are the fundamental reasons for the deterioration of the border.
Now, with the emergence of railways and trains, as long as they are built to the border, it means that Datang's control of the border has reached an unprecedented level, and every kilometer of railway extending deep into the grassland means that Datang's cavalry can radiate at least dozens of people. Kilometer range.
If these railways were used to transport materials, a new city similar to the Tang Dynasty's Evernight City could be built at a key node on the grassland, and its construction speed would probably be faster.
And the area of the grassland controlled by a permanent city at a key location is even larger. Are the nomads still so scary without the grassland? Of course it's impossible.
It turned out that this was what His Highness was thinking. Now the court officials also had a rough idea about some of the reforms Li Ke had made before. Some of the previous reforms were not regarded as serious if they did not take into account such high-speed communication methods. Perfect fit.
But with such an efficient way of contact, it is very reasonable.
For example, for the restructuring of military regions and the reform of the division of power among local officials, it was very important to be able to quickly contact the Tang court.
"Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang," the wheels of the high-speed train constantly collide with the junction of the rails, making such a unique and rhythmic sound.
Such noise caused everyone sitting in the carriage to maintain an unspeakable silence. Zheng Lin was sitting in his seat, and he was in a trance now.
The position he was sitting in was not very comfortable, but it was not bad. The overall comfort level was much higher than that of the carriage. More importantly, the scenery outside the window continued to pass backwards.
In such a short time, the distance they have traveled is probably longer than the time it took them to walk to this train station from the morning. Is this a brand-new technology, a brand-new road?
The Tang Dynasty... is there anything else that wealthy families like them don't know?
They once thought that together they could not control the entire country, but at least they had a very deep influence on the country. But now they find that they know nothing about this country.
Because all this is completely different from what they thought. His Highness is a human being, not a god, and most of his time is spent happily playing or dealing with state affairs. For example, these research aspects are carried out by the craftsmen recruited by His Highness.
And those craftsmen... they were just ordinary craftsmen before.
But they can now build such a behemoth, no, they can already make the steel dragon that His Highness said. How much progress have they made? Such talents are turned a blind eye by their powerful family?
Zheng Lin suddenly thought of a speech by His Highness that he had heard from other channels.
In that speech, His Highness once said that if you want to know who is the oppressor, you must understand the distinction between classes and who is the ruling class, and these powerful families are classified as the ruling class.
In that speech, His Highness said that they, the ruling class, enjoy vested interests and will be the biggest obstacle to reform, because if they do not hinder reform, they will lose the most.
Now it seems that... it is indeed the case. Zheng Lin thought about it carefully. If Wu Xing Qi Wang developed such a machine, they would never let such a machine come to the market unless under special circumstances, because this It will affect their rule of the world.
He suddenly understood the decision made by the patriarch of the Zheng family in Xingyang to set up the Zheng family in Chang'an alone. This had nothing to do with anything else, but that as a family, there should always be a "representative" to embrace this new world, " Embrace” these new technologies.
So now the question is, how should they make their next choice? Oh no, to be precise, he no longer belongs to a traditional wealthy family. What he wants to think about is what choice he and these merchant families who are firmly on His Highness's side will make next.
Will you use all your strength to help His Highness build the railway?
It is foreseeable that today, His Majesty and all the ministers in the court have finished visiting these railways. From next year, oh no, starting from this year, Datang may initiate large-scale railway projects and start large-scale railway construction.
But the imperial court's capabilities may not be enough to build so many railways at the same time, so the question arises... Will Datang allow private investment in railway construction? There is no requirement to hold 100% of the shares, or even more than half of the shares, but only about 30% at most? And the funds they invested can increase Datang's construction progress dozens of times.
"Master Zheng." A voice came from the side.
Zheng Lin raised his head and looked, and his eyes immediately lit up. It was Bai Ling, the president of the Chamber of Commerce.
"President Bai."
"Shall we go over there to chat?" Bai Ling pointed to a corner where his group was and asked. The people sitting in this carriage are all members of aristocratic families or merchant families, and Bai Ling and his colleagues have expanded the entire merchant association to a hundred members, and more than seventy people came today.
The others are not in Chang'an, otherwise everyone must be here.
Zheng Lin took a look and saw that the place was in the center of the seats of the members of the Chamber of Commerce. They were surrounded by members of the Chamber of Commerce, so naturally other wealthy families could not hear their conversation.
"Okay." Zheng Lin nodded and immediately followed Bai Ling.
They sat down in this corner, and Zheng Lin noticed that not only him, but also many people in the carriage were exchanging their positions.
"Master Zheng, the situation should be very clear now that His Highness has created such a magical object. I think, why don't we cooperate?" Bai Ling said with a smile.
"Why me?" Zheng Lin looked calm. The Merchants Chamber of Commerce is not weak at all among the eight major chambers of commerce in the Tang Dynasty. Because they have a special status and are the first to support His Highness, they all come from all over the world, and most of them are merchants from Chang'an and Longyou Road.
The other seven chambers of commerce, namely Jin, Hui, Yue, Lu, Yang, Gan, and Dongting, barely cover the western and southwest parts, and among these seven chambers of commerce, there are many affiliated chambers of commerce of powerful families.
Only the Merchants Chamber of Commerce did not pay much attention to His Highness when they were established. Therefore, their members were purely from merchant families. They were the purest and had little to do with the wealthy families. Therefore, they had the greatest support for His Highness. of.
