Rumble.
On the train to Nanxiong Prefecture.
The Great Tomorrow was quite dissatisfied with the speed of this train.
It looks huge, but in fact, even horses can't outrun it.
But the greatest advantage of steam locomotives is their powerful traction.
Therefore, this kind of train can carry a lot of goods at one time. Relatively speaking, it is the most advanced transportation tool currently.
Now in the Ming Dynasty, two railways have been built at the same time, namely the western artery connecting Guangzhou, Changsha, and Wuchang, and the eastern artery connecting Guangzhou, Nanchang, and Yingtianfu. In the future, these railways will continue to extend northward. Become part of the national rail network.
The only problem is that large-scale infrastructure construction is too expensive.
If the financial reform of Ming Yuan paper money had not been completed, Zhu Daohua would not even think about it.
But now, thanks to the control of the money printing press, this large-scale infrastructure investment has become the locomotive that drives the economy.
However, the problem is that the printed money has to be circulated in society. Instead, it flows into the land purchase and real estate market, which drives up the land and real estate prices, which in turn causes the industrialization process of the Ming Dynasty to be frustrated.
After all, the temptation of financial gains from investing in real estate is too great.
Fortunately, the private capital of the Ming Dynasty is now sufficient, and because Emperor Zhu himself does not know much about finance, the financial policies of the Ming Dynasty basically tend to be conservative, and he is very cautious about turning on the money printing machine to print money.
They were all too careful.
Therefore, there is no big step forward in infrastructure construction such as railway investment. Now it is only very conservative to formulate a railway plan with Wuchang, Yingtianfu and Guangzhou as the core within ten years.
And most of them are not allocated financially, but try to absorb private funds as much as possible. After all, Ming Dynasty is a freak of feudal monarchy mixed with partial capitalism.
Building railways is not for social welfare, but for making money.
And this railway line from Guangzhou to Nanxiong Prefecture has become a demonstration line, which is to let the wealthy people in Guangdong see the benefits of railways.
On this train at this time.
The wealthy people in Guangdong who were absolutely loyal to Emperor Zhu were not dissatisfied with the speed of the train like Emperor Zhu. Instead, they looked shocked and surprised.
This railway was originally a convenient road and was temporarily built to support the Jiangxi battlefield. It was not a very solid line.
Now, the original service line has been reinforced and the roadbed has been consolidated, making this line a two-way railway line that can carry heavy-haul trains. In the future, it will also be divided in Nanxiong Prefecture, with one side facing the northwest and the other It extends towards the northeast.
"It's really amazing. The cargo this train can pull is at least as much as a thousand carriages!"
"With this train, it will not be difficult for goods to travel across the world in the future."
"It must be profitable. The speed of this train is much faster than that of a ship, and after all, there are too few places in the world where large ships can operate."
"It's not just about transporting goods, it's also good for transporting people. In the past, it would have taken a month or two for ordinary people to walk north from Guangzhou to Wuchang and Yingtianfu. But now if there is a railway connection, it can be reached in two or three days, and it's also Much safer.”
"Yes, yes, it is too expensive to travel for several months. If there is railway transportation, it will not be so difficult to go to Yingtian Mansion."
In the trains of carriages, the wealthy people in Guangdong were talking a lot.
No wonder the wealthy people in Guangdong are interested in this train.
no way.
In the past, when scholars from Guangdong wanted to take exams in Nanjing, they had to leave two or three months in advance.
Even going to Nanjing is considered lucky.
If you want to go to Beijing.
Then we have to leave a year in advance.
There are many mountains and rivers along the way, and you might encounter a bandit who wants you to eat some wonton noodles or bench noodles.
In addition, the current Pearl River Delta has begun to look like a "world factory" in later generations.
A large number of goods produced by factories also need markets and the support of cargo transportation.
before this.
If you want to transport goods on a large scale, you can only transport them along the oceans and rivers.
And now, with this railway, wouldn’t it be possible to go anywhere in the world?
Heke is a real commodity that spreads all over the world.
On this train.
Those invited were all wealthy local people in Guangdong.
There are also members of the Guangdong Government Council and the Guangzhou Government Council.
As well as several important ministers of the Ming Dynasty, as well as Luo Jiangong, the governor of the Strait Governor's Palace who returned to Guangzhou to report on the war situation in the Indian Ocean.
"Your Majesty, the Indian Ocean Fleet has a great victory. Now our army has taken control of the Indian Ocean and has signed a treaty with the Maratha Kingdom. The Indian market has been reopened." Luo Jiangong said.
"The next step is the war on Indian land. Now the British are definitely not willing to fail. They have gathered forces on land and spent a lot of money to recruit 30,000 new mercenaries. Counting their original 50,000 Indian mercenaries Counting the indigenous mercenaries and the 15,000 lobster soldiers transferred from the British mainland, the army strength currently controlled by Britain's Indian colonies in the South Asian subcontinent has reached 85,000!"
"The total strength is 85,000, but the Indians are not a concern. As long as the 15,000 lobster soldiers can be defeated, the South Asian subcontinent will be controlled by the Ming Dynasty!"
Zhu Daohua said.
His words made several ministers present look at each other.
Emperor Zhu's unabashed contempt for the local Indian mercenaries made them feel that the emperor was underestimating the enemy too much.
"Your Majesty, there are some indigenous peoples in India who can fight, especially the cavalry. Under the British, there are Gurkha cavalry, Punjab cavalry, Sikh cavalry, and Bengal light cavalry. The total strength of the cavalry army has reached more than 30,000. , The British cavalry force only relies on one or two brigades of dragoons, so we must not underestimate the enemy."
Luo Fangbo stroked his beard and said.
Zhu Daohua couldn't help but nodded when he heard this: "I have underestimated the enemy a little. India is thousands of miles away. The decision-making power on how to fight should be delegated to the front line."
Zhu Daohua thought for a while and said: "An agency can be established to take charge of the war in India and the enfeoffment of the vassal states. The cabinet should appoint people, and the Indian vassal coalition forces should also send some people. Things should be discussed and communicated before handling, and there should not be any situation where the various departments are constraining each other. thing."
On the Indian side, with the British fleet defeated, the only struggle they could make was on land.
The Ming Dynasty, which controlled the sea, was almost invincible, not to mention that Emperor Zhu really felt that the combat effectiveness of the Indian mercenaries was questionable.
This is of course some bad influence that later generations brought to Boss Zhu.
Maybe the Indian people are very brave and good at fighting in this era?
But then again.
The Ming court would not interfere with the systems implemented by the vassals.
In other words, vassals like Sun Shiyi need to build their own national system.
At that time, the Indian vassals can also recruit indigenous people as soldiers.
Daming's phased goals in India have been completed. This large market with a population of almost 200 million has become Daming's exclusive market.
What is the total population of the world now?
The total is less than 900 million.
The current population of the Ming Dynasty is more than 200 million. If all the Han areas are taken, it will reach 300 million.
There are 900 million people in the world, and 500 million of the market is monopolized by Ming Dynasty. With such a vast market, Ming Dynasty's rapid industrialization can continue to develop at a high speed for decades!
The high fiscal revenue brought by commercial taxes and industrialization can also support the Ming Dynasty in its conquests.
It’s just that the site is too small.
Just keep working hard.
Think of this.
Zhu Daohua shifted his thoughts from India to Nanyang.
Today, the Ming Dynasty has two major strongholds in Nanyang, one is the Strait Governor's Mansion and the other is Borneo.
At the same time, it did not accept the requests of some Nanyang sultanates to become a vassal state - according to the rules, becoming a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty was not something that could be done casually.
You have to pass an assessment and meet certain conditions—unless you get special approval from the Emperor of Heaven.
The Straits Governor's Office firmly controls the Strait of Malacca.
In Borneo, small-scale fighting occurs almost every day.
Through the war, Lan Fong Province continued to expand its territory to the north and east through military settlements, and now it basically occupies most of Borneo.
"Today there are still Dutch and Spanish colonies in Southeast Asia. The Dutch have lost their value, and there is no need for the existence of the Governor of Batavia on Java Island."
Zhu Daohua said.
There are a large number of Chinese plantations near Batavia. These were the compromises the Dutch had to make after the Dutch East India Company and the Ming Dynasty decided the winner in the Nanyang War. After this year's development, now Batavia was surrounded by Chinese plantations.
The fertile volcanic soil of Java is very fertile agricultural land.
In later generations, this small island will have a population of 100 million.
The Chinese are definitely interested in such land.
"The Netherlands has joined the anti-Ming alliance led by the British, which means that their previous contract with the Ming Dynasty has been invalidated. They will draw troops from the military camps on Java Island and form an army brigade to drive the Dutch away from Batavia! "
Zhu Daohua pointed at Batavia on the map of Southeast Asia and said.
This is not difficult to do, and the Ming Dynasty does not even need to send troops, because the plantations on Java Island are armed plantations, and every young Chinese is equipped with a flintlock.
A quota is given for an Army brigade.
I don’t know how many young people on Java Island are rushing to join the army.
And the Dutch also knew that their Batavia colony was unlikely to last long.
Therefore, they did not increase their troops in Batavia, and even began to evacuate people from Batavia. The Dutch also had a small colony in India - but now it seems that not only can they not be able to keep Batavia, but the Indian colony will soon It's going to be lost too.
After deciding on Java Island.
Zhu Daohua looked towards the north of the map, Luzon Island north of Borneo!
(End of chapter)
