Zhu Jingyuan went through the handover procedures with his predecessor, Chief Secretary of Jianghuai, and officially took office as Chief Secretary of Jianghuai.
Just like the previous stages of political training, Zhu Jingyuan did not directly intervene in government affairs this time. Instead, he first began to investigate the local situation from two levels.
I took a few secretaries to look through various data files in Jianghuai Province.
At the same time, Lin Zexu was asked to arrange a group of reliable secretaries to visit the entire Jianghuai Province.
Screen different types of counties, towns, and streets, and check local official files.
If there are officials with the same surname and close household registration in the same government office, they all go to inquire and confirm their relationship and register.
County supervisors and assistant officials are temporary officials. The key is that local people cannot serve as officials locally. It is basically impossible to form traditional clan and family forces in the place where they serve.
Moreover, if officials above this level have traditional clan, master-disciple, or in-law relationships with each other, they are usually directly disclosed, and most of them will take the initiative to avoid suspicion.
On the contrary, ordinary officials in county offices, towns, and streets below the county-level chief official can serve locally and have the opportunity to form a strong local clan power in a certain place.
According to Zhu Jingyuan's experience, once these officials, who are at the most basic level and face ordinary people, form a clan power within the official system, they may have a very bad impact on the local people.
Zhu Jingyuan is still planning to conduct a detailed universal census this time. At present, he is just doing a rough random sampling to see if this situation exists in the local area and whether it is universal.
Even so, it cannot be completed in a short time. Whether it is searching, screening, rushing to the appropriate yamen, or requesting and querying, as well as sorting and confirming data, it takes a lot of time.
After Zhu Jingyuan arranged the order, he was ready to continue looking at the data of Jianghuai Province.
But after watching it for a while, Zhu Jingyuan realized a problem.
Now that you want to do this kind of investigation yourself, you can check the other person's family member information based on the household registration information corresponding to the person's name.
Household registration information based on family units obviously makes it easier for one to identify possible clan relationship groups within the system.
If you abolish the household registration management system in the future and use general education examination certificates for individuals that do not directly reflect household registration place and family information as identity registration, you will not be able to do so...
Therefore, even if the general education examination certificate system is fully promoted, it seems that it is not appropriate to completely abolish household registration information...
Perhaps this is the reason why I always kept my household registration book as a family unit in my previous life?
Family registration information can intuitively confirm the kinship relationship of a family.
It’s not necessarily a bad thing for ordinary people.
However, if household registration information is not abolished, how can the inherent ethnic differences be completely eliminated?
How to prevent different cities from treating people with different household registration places differently?
Simply erase this information from the household registration?
Zhu Jingyuan put down the file in his hand and thought about it carefully for a while, feeling that this was the only way he could do it.
However, this matter will be at least five years from now, or even ten years from now, so there is no need to make a decision in a hurry.
Zhu Jingyuan put this matter behind him for the time being and continued to look through the data from the Jianghuai Chief Envoy Department.
It has to be said that Jianghuai Province is really the richest province in the Ming Dynasty, and it seems that there is no other province.
Looking purely at economic data, Jianghuai Province is on par with major countries in Europe and the West.
There are many industries including the royal family consortium, government-owned consortium, and private manufacturers.
As the true heartland province of the Ming Dynasty, it is now a prosperous scene from top to bottom.
Just looking at the data, you can't see any problems at all.
However, even if you can't see the problem, it is still necessary to simply look through the data and have an idea of the status of this identity.
Zhu Jingyuan patiently continued to read.
However, just two days later, before Zhu Jingyuan had finished reading the documents, he suddenly received news from the Ordnance Department.
It started with a piece of good news:
After years of research and experimentation by Daming Airways, the Royal Flying Machinery Company, and the Ordnance Department, they finally made a turbojet engine with practical value and completed the design and flight test verification of the supporting new aircraft.
Then he went on to add that piston engines using turbocharging and water-injection afterburning, piston engines using turbine energy recovery systems, and turboprop engines have now completed installation and flight test verification.
However, now that turbojet engines have become practical, relevant researchers are somewhat confused about the future development direction of airlines, so they hope Zhu Jingyuan can give some instructions.
If possible, Li Rui hopes to go to Yingtian Mansion to report the situation to Zhu Jingyuan in person.
In addition to family members and officials at higher and lower levels who are related to government affairs, craftsmen related to scientific research are also among the few who know Zhu Jingyuan's whereabouts.
Zhu Jingyuan often contacted them directly to exchange various ideas and discuss various issues.
Just like this time.
However, in most cases, it will not be serious enough to discuss directly in person.
It may be that this issue is particularly important, or it may be because Zhu Jingyuan happened to arrive at Yingtian Mansion.
The aviation industry R&D center and engine production center in the southern part of Ming Dynasty are located in Yingtianfu.
Zhu Jingyuan looked at this request and couldn't help but sigh to himself.
It has been more than ten years since the first year of Ankang, and Ming craftsmen finally built a jet engine.
This is not just a successful experiment, but it is "of practical value".
According to the standards of the Ming Dynasty Ordnance Department, if necessary, it can be directly mass-produced and installed.
A proof-of-principle machine with the goal of being able to operate has been developed a few years ago.
This is of course great good news. Ming’s aviation industry can begin to comprehensively develop turbine power steering.
However, looking at the second half of the news, Zhu Jingyuan also understood the dilemma of the relevant craftsmen.
Turbocharging and water injection afterburning systems, and more importantly, turbine energy recovery systems, these horsepower-increasing technologies for traditional radial piston engines, have only reached the same level of maturity in the past two years.
What Zhu Jingyuan can imagine is that the output power of engines under these current technical conditions may be very close...
Moreover, it has been less than twelve years since Daming's aircraft officially took off, and it has been continuously and rapidly changing under its own guidance.
The most critical replacement part is of course the engine.
According to the standards proposed by Zhu Jingyuan and the judgment of relevant craftsmen, the piston jet engine is now truly mature after the turbine recovery system is put into practical use.
But the real core craftsmen also know that Zhu Jingyuan said ten years ago that the future belongs to the jets.
Now the radial piston engine seems to have finally matured, but it seems that it is time to retire.
They remembered that Zhu Jingyuan seemed to have expected a similar situation at the beginning, but the relevant person in charge was now very confused.
Some of them feel annoyed that "all the piston engine efforts of the past ten years have been in vain."
The key is that there are some differences within the craftsmen group, and Zhu Jingyuan's guidance is urgently needed.
Zhu Jingyuan felt that Li Rui seemed to have misunderstood what he meant.
Therefore, Zhu Jingyuan basically asked his secretary to reply to Li Rui without much hesitation.
Ask him to bring a few core craftsmen directly to Yingtian Mansion, and also bring aircraft using the latest types of engines.
Li Rui immediately organized the main craftsmen in charge and took a plane to Yingtian Mansion the next day.
Li Rui and other craftsmen flew on a high-end business jet. They were on the road for less than two hours, and Li Rui and his team did not feel tired after landing.
Li Rui and his group, together with the several planes they brought, did not land at the regular airport in Yingtianfu, but went directly to the aviation experimental base in Yingtianfu.
Zhu Jingyuan also went directly to the test site. In front of the window in the lounge, he looked up at five planes from the north landing on the tarmac of the test site.
The largest four-engine passenger plane was the business jet that brought Li Rui and his party over.
Of the remaining four, three are typical small single-engine propeller aircraft.
The last one is a bit special. The overall fuselage is quite smooth, and the wings have a very obvious sweep angle.
There are no propeller engines hanging on the front end or wings of the aircraft.
Instead, the rear of the fuselage continued to spit out flames.
This is a turbojet engine, and the engine is installed directly at the tail. The overall shape is very mature.
Obviously, the overall design idea of this aircraft was directly provided by Zhu Jingyuan.
Rear-mounted twin engines, air intakes on both sides, and swept wings.
However, Zhu Jingyuan only mentioned this direction, and the specific design was completed by craftsmen.
In the research of fighter jets, we directly skipped the early immature designs of under-wing engines like the Meteor and ME262.
Zhu Jingyuan felt that Li Rui and his party were in a hurry, so he did not wait for them in the lounge.
Zhu Jingyuan went directly to the apron of the test site and met directly under several planes.
When Li Rui saw Zhu Jingyuan, he instinctively raised his hands to salute and say hello.
Zhu Jingyuan returned the gift casually, and both parties had said hello:
"There's no need for red tape. Just tell me the situation directly, Mr. Li."
Li Rui was familiar with Zhu Jingyuan's character and immediately introduced the four planes coming this time to Zhu Jingyuan:
"The bodies of these three traditional aircraft are the same. They are all newly finalized Type 10 fighters. The only difference is in the engines.
“The engine prototypes of the first two aircraft are also the same, both are mature double-row 18-cylinder radial engines.
“The engine of the first aircraft used turbocharging and water injection afterburning technology.
“The engine weighs 1,150 kilograms and has a power of about 2,200 horsepower in level flight.
“The engine of the second aircraft uses turbine energy recovery technology, with a level flight power of 2,400 horsepower.
“The engine is slightly heavier, more than 1,200 kilograms, but the power is also slightly greater and the specific fuel consumption is slightly lower.
“Although the third aircraft looks like a propeller aircraft, its engine is actually replaced by a turbine-powered system.
"The engine weight is also 1,200 kilograms, but the level flight power reaches more than 4,000 horsepower.
“The 600-kilogram turboprop engine we have tested can achieve a power of more than 2,600 horsepower.
“There is no doubt that turboprop engines have nearly double the power density compared to traditional piston engines.
“At the same time, because the structure is simpler, maintenance will even be simpler after maturity.
“The only disadvantage is that the fuel consumption is slightly higher than that of a turbine energy recovery piston engine.
“But in the face of doubled energy density, this little bit of fuel consumption is not worth mentioning at all.
"As long as a small part of the weight and space saved by the engine is used to hold fuel, a greater range can be achieved."
What Li Rui said will definitely have a huge shocking effect on pilots and commanders of this era.
Li Rui himself also admired in his heart that the turbine power system laid out by His Highness Prince Dashi ten years in advance was really too powerful.
But at the same time, Li Rui's expression and tone showed little surprise or admiration.
Instead, there was a hint of helplessness with a hint of tangle.
Because the first two engines that were obviously going to be eliminated were matured by his leadership.
The efforts of the past nearly seven years have been almost in vain.
What makes Li Rui's mood even more complicated is that the new propeller engine, which will definitely eliminate the traditional piston engine, seems to be eliminated simultaneously by another research completed at the same time.
Li Rui looked at the last plane without propellers with a particularly troubled mood:
“The last aircraft is a turbojet engine that was completed only this year.
"It uses two 'turbojet-modified' engines, and the normal thrust of a single engine is about 1,200 kilograms.
“The thrust of a turbojet engine cannot be directly equivalent to the power of a propeller engine, but it can be roughly converted and compared under certain conditions.
"The thrust of 1,200 kilograms is roughly equivalent to the thrust generated by a propeller engine of 4,000 horsepower. Two of them are nearly 8,000 horsepower.
“One engine weighs about 600 kilograms, and the total weight of the two engines is about 1,200 kilograms.
“The power density of a turboprop engine is doubled compared to a piston propeller engine, and the power density of a turbojet engine is doubled compared to a turboprop engine.
“Such a surging power makes the maximum speed of this jet directly exceed one thousand kilometers per hour.
“Our researchers believe that as long as we continue to optimize the shape or engine technology and increase engine power, its speed may directly exceed the speed of sound.
“With such a huge gap, the previous different types of propeller engines seem to be meaningless.
"The key is that research in these three aspects has been basically conducted simultaneously in the past few years."
When Zhu Jingyuan saw Li Rui's report, he roughly guessed where the ideas of these craftsmen had gone.
Now I listened to Li Rui's thoughts quite seriously, and then asked with a smile:
"Gong Li, although we are all from the Ordnance Department, we can't just think about military use.
“What about civil aircraft? From small private aircraft to agricultural aircraft, what type of engine is better?
“Although jet engines are good, can they be used by ordinary people and farmers?
"Even if we only consider military applications, we can't just consider fighter jets and bombers.
“There are also transport aircraft, small transport aircraft, what type of engine is more suitable?
"Compared with jet engines, propeller engines also have their advantages.
"Compared with turboprop engines, piston propeller engines also have their advantages."
Li Rui said rather embarrassedly:
"Your Highness...we...actually didn't think of this.
“Compared to piston engines, turboprop engines are easier to maintain, which is actually for military and official agencies.
“For ordinary farmers and enthusiasts, internal combustion engine structures such as piston engines are actually easier to repair.
“Various propeller engines can indeed play a role in the civilian market and/or military small transport aircraft.
“But...our craftsmen are developing the most advanced military fighter engines as the goal.
"As a result, it seems that all the energy and resources have been wasted now..."
Zhu Jingyuan seemed to understand what Li Rui and others were thinking:
“Gong Li, and all the great workers, please don’t feel sorry for this matter.
“Without your hard work and research over the past ten years, what kind of aircraft engine should we have used in the past ten years?
“I can’t say that I feel full after eating the third steamed bun, but I feel like the first two steamed buns were wasted.
"Don't say that after riding a bicycle for ten years, and suddenly switching to a car, you feel that the bicycle you used in the previous ten years has never carried you, right?
“Also, don’t look down on small transport aircraft and the civilian market.
“In an environment where there may be no chance of another large-scale war in the future, the civilian market is the real core market.
"Also, in order to achieve our design targets, the relevant technologies that we have developed during the design process over the years cannot only be used on specific engines, right? Can they also be used in other related industries?
“Lastly, regarding small and medium-sized transport aircraft, they actually have another very important purpose.
“Now that our radio detection technology is rapidly maturing, we can begin to develop land-based and ship-based dedicated early warning aircraft.
"In my vision, this kind of aircraft is the command center of the battlefield and the eyes of the fleet. It is very important."
(End of chapter)
