What's more, what's more, what's more
A train was billowing northward in thick smoke at Zhenjiang Port on the north bank of the Yangtze River.
This is a feeder port.
It is connected to the railway connecting Guangzhou and Zhongdu, and Zhongdu to Beidu.
It took six years of construction.
The Beijing-Guangzhou Railway was finally completed and opened to traffic.
Of course.
subject to current technical capabilities.
The Ming Dynasty did not have the ability to build a railway bridge across the Yangtze River for the time being.
So now it can only be connected by ferry.
The first commercially operated freight train departed from Jianggang on the north bank of the Yangtze River and headed for Beidu City.
"It's not easy. With an investment of almost tens of millions of yuan, the first north-south artery spanning the north and south has finally been built! Next, we have to build several more north-south and east-west railways to form a north-south and east-west intersection, and the north line The railway needs to be extended all the way from Beidu to Heilongjiang City."
Standing at a place in Jianggang, Emperor Zhu sighed as he looked at the freight train rolling northward.
"Your Majesty, it is easy to build the railway from Zhongdu to Beidu. They are all plains. However, it is too difficult for the railway from Beidu to cross Yanshan Mountain." The person who was speaking was a man wearing a navy blue birch uniform. He was a man in his thirties with an army hairstyle.
The young man's name is Zhan Mingxing, a native of Panyu, Guangdong.
One of the three hundred old brothers.
He studied in several universities in Europe for several years and was the founding scholar of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Daohua University.
Now he is the chief engineer of the Ming Dynasty Royal Railway Company.
This section of railway from Beidu over the Badaling Great Wall was a nightmare for engineers of this era.
If it weren't for the Royal Institute of Metallurgical Technology's research into new cheap steel smelting technology and the large-scale application of explosives in railway engineering.
This railway across Badaling will not even be planned.
"Train climbing is indeed a problem. Although the cost of bombing the mountain is high, the significance of building this railway is of great significance. Several industrial zones in Daming must be connected by railways!"
Emperor Zhu said.
Now there are three main industrial zones in the Ming Dynasty.
Pearl River Delta, Yangtze River Delta, Bohai Bay.
And now the Ming Dynasty plans to plan a new industrial zone in the northeast.
It's near Shenyang.
Relying on Anshan's iron and Fushun's coal.
This will be the most important coal and iron community and the largest heavy industry base in the Ming Dynasty.
And as the collective farms in Northeast China expanded toward the Xing'an Mountains.
Provinces were established in Liaodong, Western Liaoning, and Northern Liaoning, and the colonial and collective production attributes of collective farms were revoked. The land was instead auctioned based on equity, and the matter of transforming collective farms into large-scale operating farms was also discussed. Agenda - Now that the Ming Dynasty has firmly controlled the Northeastern region south of Heilongjiang, it seems somewhat unnecessary to continue to maintain the collectivization of collective farms.
Farmers who own collective farms can receive dividends through their land equity. Liaodong Province, Liaoxi Province, and Liaobei Province have become the provinces with the best population structure, the highest level of education, and the highest per capita disposable income in the Ming Dynasty.
Therefore, plans to plan industrial zones, establish universities, and build railways in the Northeast are urgent.
"God bless, I heard that the herringbone railway line design has basically passed the acceptance test?"
Zhu Daohua smiled.
Of course, Zhan Mingxing has little to do with the railway engineer in history.
His font name "Tianyou" was also given by Emperor Zhu.
So in this time and space.
There was also a railway engineer named Zhan Tianyou.
"Your Majesty, it has been verified that it is theoretically feasible. This will greatly reduce the number of contributors to the construction of the Badaling Railway. In three years at most, the railway can be built to Shenyang!"
Zhan Mingxing said excitedly.
Emperor Zhu nodded, then turned to look at Wang Dayong, the Secretary of the Ministry of War beside him.
Wang Dayong was originally the commander of Emperor Zhu's Guards Regiment.
However, Zhao Si resigned from his position as Shangshu of the Ministry of War some time ago, became a general, and now sits in the Generalissimo's Mansion.
As the scale of the war decreases.
The older generation of generals have stepped down from positions of real power.
They were replaced by young generals such as Wang Dayong, Luo Dingshan, Yang Yuchun, and Yang Fang.
"How is the equipment change situation of the northern corps?"
"Your Majesty, all the corps are now in the process of orderly reloading and installing needle guns. At the current pace, the northern corps will complete the reloading by June next year."
Wang Dayong said hurriedly.
The Ming Army has also undergone organizational reforms.
The era of the brigade as the basic combat unit is over.
The basic organization of the Ming Dynasty's army is now divisions.
The basic strength of a Ming Army infantry division is 12,000.
It has two infantry regiments, one mounted infantry regiment and one artillery regiment.
The regular army forces that now belong only to the Ming Army Ministry of War include 20 infantry divisions, 10 horse infantry divisions, 5 shock cavalry divisions, and 5 large-caliber howitzer divisions.
The total strength of the army has reached 400,000!
And this is only the regular army of the Ming Dynasty, not including the vassal armies in each direction.
The Corps is a temporary organization.
Fill in several divisions according to the needs of the combat direction.
"Focus on the Liaodong Corps first. The Liaodong Corps must fully complete its equipment change and training by the end of this year."
"As you command!"
Wang Dayong said hurriedly.
Right now.
A freighter arrives.
A large number of boxes containing munitions were unloaded from the freighter.
This river port is not only the starting point connecting Zhongdu and Beidu.
It is also an important material distribution center.
Arms produced in Guangdong are transported here. After inspection and storage by the Army Department, they are then distributed to army regiments stationed in various places.
Right now.
The staff of the Army Department were sweating profusely as they inspected, numbered, and put the unloaded arms into storage.
This is also the reason why Wang Dayong, Minister of the Ministry of War, is here today.
The Ming Dynasty Army is now going to comprehensively upgrade to a new generation of rifles.
A breech-loading needle-fired gun of the 6th year of Liberation.
Breech-loading guns had already appeared a few years ago, but there were still many problems at that time. There were no large-scale equipment troops.
After several years of continuous investment and iteration.
This breech-loading gun was finally finalized and began to be equipped with regiments in several key directions.
Emperor Zhu asked someone to open a box, took out the Guangfu 6-year-old breech-loading needle gun inside, pulled the bolt, listened to the clear sound of the mechanical collision, nodded with satisfaction, turned to Wang Dayong and said: "This The breech-loading gun is very good. Several regiments on the front line are rushing to get it. The factories in Guangdong have no time to produce it! However, the Guangfu 2-year-old rifled gun that was replaced must be recycled. Now all Western countries are replacing the rifled gun. As for guns, we were the first to replace them with breech-loading guns, keeping us one generation ahead of the West in terms of equipment. However, the financial pressure is not small, so it would be best if we can find a way to sell some of the rifles we replaced with stronger rifles."
The mechanical structure of breech-loading guns is much more complex than that of front-loading rifled guns.
Therefore, the relative cost is also much higher.
In terms of final selling price, the price of a breech-loading gun is three times more expensive than a front-loading rifle.
A gun costs 6 Ming Yuan.
All 400,000 troops were replaced.
Get 2.4 million yuan, plus the supply of bullets, training on new firearms, etc.
To completely replace the breech-loading guns, the Ming Army must prepare at least four million Ming yuan in additional military expenditures.
The financial pressure is considerable.
It's already September now.
But the temperature on both sides of the Yangtze River is still extremely high.
Emperor Zhu was just wearing a silk shirt.
But Wang Dayong was in neat military uniform with a straight collar.
The whole body is sweating when it's hot.
Wiping sweat with a handkerchief in his hand, he said: "Your Majesty, although our Liberation Year 2 rifled rifle has been withdrawn by us, it is still a first-class rifle in the world. Now, Western countries have completed the rifled Only France and Britain have changed their guns. Other countries still use a mixture of smoothbore guns and rifled guns. Therefore, there must be no worries about the sales of rifled guns in the second year of liberation. Japan, Korea, Siam, Burma, King Pingxi, The Indian princes are all rushing to get them, but do we really want to sell them all? Are we not careful?"
Zhu Daohua nodded and smiled: "Of course arms sales must be strictly reviewed, but this rifled gun is sold as soon as it is sold. Now all countries can produce this type of firearms. If you don't sell it now, the price will not be high in a few years." , if we don’t sell it, others will sell it,”
Wang Dayong thought about it and thought it made sense.
Arms trade?
It has always been quite profitable.
When the Ming Dynasty fully replaced the breech-loading guns, other countries will also follow suit after seeing the power of the breech-loading guns. By then, there will definitely be a large number of rifled guns flowing into the market.
If you sell at this time, you can get a high price.
It will be sold at a loss in a few years.
In France, Napoleon, Duke of Chia, seized power in a coup and almost became the emperor of France.
Now that he was the emperor of France, Napoleon could no longer act as the Duke of the Ming Dynasty.
It is said that the butt determines the head.
Now the war in Europe has stopped.
The only countries in the world that are still fighting are Russia and the Ottoman Empire.
As for the Western European countries.
Temporarily silenced - everyone knows that they are investing their strength in the New World.
It seems that the Western countries also know where the future war will take place - after all, as long as Tsarist Russia and the Ottomans are still fighting, the Ming Dynasty's army is probably unlikely to drink the Danube like the Mongol Empire's army.
Future wars will definitely take place in the New World.
The key to the competition between China and Europa is also in the New World.
To support the scale of the war in the New World, we need to rely on the industrial system of a powerful Ming Empire.
Of course.
The current Chinese system is not monolithic.
Europeans are also in private contact with some Ming vassals.
The British spy ship appeared outside Busan in North Korea some time ago and was captured by the Ming Dynasty's Beiyang Fleet.
The rebellious troops of the Donghak Party.
There is definitely a European element in it.
Think of North Korea.
Wang Dayong frowned.
The chaos in North Korea is getting bigger and bigger.
The heads of two groups of wealthy people from all over the country were beheaded and hung on the city walls.
The Donghak Party also divided land in North Korea and gained support from most North Korean civilians.
If this continues.
North Korea is afraid that it will become an entrance to the Chinese system, and the Europeans will seize the opportunity.
But Emperor Zhu ignored this, as if he had forgotten North Korea.
The envoys from North Korea have all arrived in Zhongdu, and they go to the Jiangbei Palace every day to kneel down and cry.
But Emperor Zhu just didn't see him. Instead, he came to Zhenjiang to inspect the railway and military supplies transportation.
At this time, the emperor's secretary, Lin Zexu, who had just graduated from Daohua University Law School, walked over quickly.
In addition to being an official, Lin Zexu also went to study.
And he quite has the qualities of a top student.
I completed the college course in just one year and graduated with honors.
"Your Majesty, two envoys from North Korea are waiting in the Jiangbei Palace today. The chaos in North Korea is getting bigger and bigger."
Zhu Daohua smiled slightly: "I have been waiting for them for a long time, but I still have to inspect the railway construction site. If I don't have time to see them, let the queen and the prince go to see them on my behalf."
Zhao Jiakun, the judge of Hucao in North Korea, and Jin Byungxi, the magistrate of Si Xianfu, have been waiting in the main hall of Jiangbei Palace for a long time.
They came here every day these days. Although they did not see Zhu Daohua, they also experienced the splendor and prosperity of the Ming Dynasty.
Compared with their Gyeongbokgung Palace and Changdeokgung Palace, Emperor Zhu's Gangbuk Palace, they are just two small gardens that cannot be put on the table.
Not only is it small, but it is also shoddily made, not even one percent as good as the Jiangbei Palace!
The Jiangbei Palace is only the temporary office and residence of the Emperor of Heaven. They have also been to the imperial palace in Zhongdu. It is magnificent and even more grand than the Jiangbei Palace.
No wonder the Emperor of Heaven has no time to deal with North Korea. It seems that people don't care about North Korea's little territory and wealth at all!
They did not see the emperor for several days, but they sent Korean ginseng, tiger skin, and ten beauties from the Andong Jin family and Fengyang Zhao family to the Empress of Ming Dynasty, and then they were received by the Empress of Ming Dynasty. Opportunity.
The meeting place was the magnificent Junhua Hall in the Jiangbei Palace. It was built like a palace on a fairy mountain. It was the palace where the prince Zhu Yizhen lived. However, of course Zhu Yizhen did not live here, but lived with Emperor Zhu and Empress Luo.
However, it is only reasonable for the Ming Prince to meet officials from his own country for the first time on his own territory.
Luo Fangmei walked into the hall with a six or seven-year-old boy, and Concubine Li walked in behind with a baby in her arms.
Zhao Jiakun and Jin Bingxi both prostrated themselves on the ground and saluted: "I congratulate Zhao Jiakun (Jin Bingxi) to meet the Empress of Ming Dynasty and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."
Luo Fangmei sat down on the throne, and Zhu Yichi also sat down next to him. He looked at the kneeling envoy from North Korea with a smile: "You two came from afar, presumably for North Korea's affairs. I also watched North Korea's affairs. As a matter of fact, nine out of ten of the wealth in North Korea is concentrated in the wealthy families of Yangban, which is the source of the chaos in North Korea."
Zhao Jiakun said hurriedly: "His Royal Highness, I am a loyal minister of the Ming Dynasty. North Korea has always regarded the Ming Dynasty as its father. Even if North Korea wants to change, it must change according to the orders of the Ming Dynasty. How can it be coerced by the rebellious party?"
Zhu Yicheng pointed at the baby in Concubine Li's arms and said: "This is my fourteenth brother. My father has said that he will be the king of Korea. Now that the king of Korea, Li Zuo, has no heir, and there are such chaos in the country, we want the Ming Dynasty to put an end to the chaos in Korea." In this situation, it is better for everyone in North Korea to support my fourteenth brother as king so that Ming Dynasty can send troops to North Korea to quell the chaos."
Zhao Jiakun and Jin Byungxi glanced at each other. The Ming Emperor had not seen them for a long time. It turned out that they wanted to make their prince the king of North Korea.
Moreover, it seemed that North Korea still had to raise this issue themselves, so the Queen was asked to meet them first and give them a heads up.
(End of chapter)
