4337 (AD 1640), July 8th.
This is a day worth remembering in history.
On this day, the wired telegraph developed by the Royal Academy of Sciences will send out its first telegram.
Today is not a major court meeting. The outside of Huangji Palace should have been deserted, but now a large number of people have gathered.
They are all important ministers of the Dahua Dynasty.
Duke Zhang Yuliang of Fujian asked Li Fengming, the Grand Governor: "Gong of Jin, you said that the technology of wired telegraphy is real?
We can really do it now and receive information from hundreds or thousands of kilometers away in an instant.
It's like a magic spell, it's incredible.
I hope this is true, this technology is authentic, and when we lead troops on an expedition, we can get in touch with the court at any time.
If there is a strategic change in the imperial court, the generals at the front can learn about it immediately and adjust their combat arrangements in a timely manner.
If the army lacks any supplies or encounters unexpected situations, it can receive timely support from the court. "
Li Fengming nodded and said: "His Majesty is so aggressive that we should suspend preparations for the war in the south.
Come and watch the cable telegraph transmission experiment, this technology has a high chance of success.
His Majesty the Emperor will call us all here only when he judges that this technology is successful.
If the telegraph technology is really successful, it will revolutionize the current military command system.
As long as a telegraph is set up on the front line, the most basic military units can communicate directly with the headquarters.
Generals can convey their ideas to the front line of the army.
We leaders all know that the execution of a strategy depends on the performance of junior officers. "
Wei Guogong Su Hu echoed from the side: "I think this technology should be popularized soon.
In the future, the army will use wired telegraphy to transmit messages. This thing is much faster than the communication corps.
The earlier the information is conveyed, the better the chance of victory will be.
Cable telegraphs can transmit messages to far away places, so His Majesty is so aggressive.
There is no problem in passing news from the north to the south of the Dahua Dynasty.
With the development of this technology, we will have opportunities to communicate with each other when we open countries overseas in the future. "
Min Guogong Zhang Yuliang said with a smile: "I believe that one day will come sooner or later. I just hope that when that day comes, the relationship between our brothers will not change."
Many generals in the Metropolitan Government are discussing the military application of wired telegraphy.
Officials from the Sixth Ministry are also discussing wire telegraphy. They are more concerned about the emergence of wire telegraphy and its impact on officialdom.
After listening to the discussions among these officials, Cabinet Minister Qian Mingyi sighed: “I can’t figure out how to implement wired telegraphy technology.
But we know the convenience of this technology. This technology can convey messages to extremely distant places in an instant. It is faster than homing pigeons and the 800-mile express.
We should adapt to this change in advance and never be caught off guard. "
Qian Mingyi knew very well that the emergence of wired telegraphy technology would bring great shock to the officialdom.
As the speed of information dissemination suddenly accelerates, the dark side of some small places will soon spread to the whole country, causing extremely serious impacts.
Some officials who want to use their power to make profits will soon be exposed.
In the past, the imperial court was indeed unable to effectively manage places far away from the center, and could only turn a blind eye.
As the imperial court's decrees can be transmitted to the whole country in an instant, this will bring great changes to the officialdom.
Officials who do not adapt to this change will be eliminated.
Prime Minister Wang Zhongce listened to the officials' discussion.
The main direction of their discussion was the changes in officialdom after the emergence of wired telegraph technology.
Out of the corner of his eye, Wang Zhongce saw Emperor Su He and several scholars walking towards here from the palace.
He had been silent before, and suddenly said: "You are all important ministers of the country, and your vision is too narrow.
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Don’t limit yourself to personal interests when looking at issues.
The emergence of wired telegraphy allowed the court to keep abreast of changes in various parts of the country.
This allows the imperial court to control every place, making it extremely difficult for powerful ministers and warlords to appear.
The empire of our Great China Dynasty will definitely be more stable than any other court in the past. "
When Emperor Su He heard what Prime Minister Wang Zhongce said, he admired: "Wang Aiqing is right. Even in the last years of the imperial court, the imperial court did not lose control of the Gyeongsang region.
The wired telegraph network is laid out all over the country, and any region will become the Gyeonggi region.
The imperial court's control over local areas will reach its highest level in history. "
After Emperor Su He praised Wang Zhongce, he smiled and said: "Of course, the basis of all this, that is, wired telegraph technology, has really succeeded.
Viscount Qin, I will not overstep my duties next time. I will leave the sending and receiving of telegrams to you. "
Qin Shu was extremely excited. He had finally waited for this important moment.
He built a telegraph machine a few days ago and was approved by His Majesty the Emperor.
They raced against time to set up a telegraph line connecting Beijing and Tianjin.
His subordinate was responsible for setting up telegraph lines, and he was responsible for improving the telegraph machine to make it easier to operate.
Qin Shu has to take time to discuss the coding of the telegraph machine with others these days.
The distance between Beijing and Tianjin is more than 100 kilometers. This distance is neither close nor far. It is the best communication distance for wired telegraphy now.
If the distance is made longer, Qin Shu is afraid that the signal will attenuate too much, a piece of information will be lost, and the transmission test will fail, which is not perfect.
Qin Shu received instructions from Emperor Su He, and he began to operate the telegraph machine and prepare for the transmission test.
Now this telegraph machine is very sophisticated. It is very different from the prototype shown to Emperor Su He that day.
Qin Shu cooperated with the Metropolitan Governor's Office and had initially completed the coding of the telegraph machine.
They chose the pinyin code from the military cipher as the basic code for the telegraph machine.
Pinyin is encoded through two signals.
Other yamen use telegraph machines, which can perform secondary encryption on the basis of basic coding.
The telegraph sending device is very simple, just a long-handled button.
Press and hold the long-handled button, and the telegraph will display a high-voltage signal. Short-press the long-handled button, and the telegraph will display a low-voltage signal.
The receiving end of the telegraph machine is composed of electromagnets and other components, and can automatically produce corresponding signals on the paper tape.
Qin Shu pressed the long-handled button of the telegraph machine rhythmically, and the telegraph machine made a clicking sound.
He turned to look at Emperor Su He and said: "Your Majesty, we have connected with the telegraph machine in Tianjin. Do you want to send the message?"
Su He smiled and nodded and said: "Send a report to Tianjin and ask Wang Yanhu, the governor of Hebei, about the situation of Hebei's people going to Beijing to take the exam."
Qin Shu nodded. He kept tapping the long-handled button of the telegraph machine, and the clicking sound kept ringing.
He quickly stood up, looked at Emperor Su He, and said respectfully: "Your Majesty, I have finished sending the report and are waiting for a reply from Tianjin.
Tianjin sent back the correct answer, which proved that wired telegraphy could connect the two places and the exchange of information was very smooth.
Wired telegraph technology has been successfully developed and can be used normally. "
Su He waited for the telegraph machine to receive the signal from Tianjin.
He hoped that wired telegraph technology could be developed successfully this time.
The success of wired telegraph technology means that one can truly know the world without going out.
The vast territory of the Dahua Dynasty will be closely connected, and there will never be a chance for these places to be separated.
The green light on the telegraph machine flashed, and it made a clicking sound.
Everyone held their breath and observed the performance of the telegraph machine.
The motor dragged the paper tape, and a long paper tape with signals of different lengths printed on it was spit out by the telegraph machine.
Emperor Su He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw this situation.
If the telegraph machine can spit out paper tape, it proves that it has received news from Tianjin.
Even if the message delivered is incomplete, it proves that the technical direction chosen by the wire telegraph is correct.
As long as we persist in research and development for a while, sooner or later we will see a telegraph machine that can transmit information.
Qin Shu waited until the telegraph machine stopped. He tore off the paper tape and handed it to Jin Duke Li Fengming.
Li Fengming looked at the simple signal on the paper tape. The code of the telegram was compiled by him and the staff of the staff department.
He doesn't need an interpreter, he can understand the information directly by looking at these signals.
Li Fengming said happily: "Your Majesty, the wired telegraph transmission test was successful.
This is the list of candidates sent by Wang Yanhu, the governor of Hebei Province. "
When Su He heard the news, he was extremely happy and said happily: "The successful development of wired telegraph is a blessing to the country.
In the wired telegraph project team, everyone’s title will be upgraded to one level, and each person will be rewarded with 10,000 taels of silver coins.
With the success of wired telegraphy, the Dahua Dynasty will be as stable as Mount Tai, and no trends anywhere will be hidden from the eyes of the court.
The imperial court can mobilize the country's supplies in the most efficient way.
Whether it is an invasion by a foreign enemy or a natural disaster in a certain place, the court can respond in a timely manner. "
Su He knew that the symbolic event of a country's decline was losing several key wars.
Or they suffer from continuous natural disasters but fail to provide effective disaster relief.
Both of these aspects accounted for a large proportion of the defeat of the Ming Dynasty.
After the advent of wired telegraphy, the imperial court was able to concentrate the power of the country as quickly as possible.
Whether it is mobilizing troops to resist enemy forces or mobilizing supplies to respond to disasters, efficiency has been greatly improved.
Qin Shu immediately bowed to Emperor Su He and said: "Long live my emperor, on behalf of everyone in the team, I would like to thank your majesty for the reward.
Our team will never stand still and will continue to develop telegraph technology.
Chen felt that telegraph technology was far from reaching its limits. "
All the ministers present applauded enthusiastically when they heard about the success of wired telegraph technology.
Wei Wang Su Hu asked curiously: "I saw Qin Zijue tapping on the telegraph machine. This kind of work is very complicated.
Newbies may not be able to adapt. What should I do if the signal is wrong? "
Qin Shu spread his hands and said: "If you type the wrong signal, you can only type the wrong command and then resend the correct signal.
Missing or misaligned signals will result in incomplete information.
The best way is to train the dispatchers in advance so that they can be 100% correct. "
Prime Minister Wang Zhongce stepped forward and asked: "Viscount Qin, how far can this telegraph machine you developed send messages? What is the approximate cost of each message?"
Wang Zhongce knew that with the success of wired telegraph technology, Emperor Su He would definitely set up telegraph networks across the country.
He had to ask clearly about the efficiency and cost of the telegraph machine so that he could calculate the budget for building the telegraph network as quickly as possible.
Qin Shu glanced at Emperor Su He. He saw the emperor nodded slightly, and then introduced to Prime Minister Wang Zhongce:
“With our current technology, each line can only transmit one channel of information.
It did not need to consider the impact of multiple signals, but this also led to a sharp increase in the cost of setting up telegraph lines.
The cost of running a telegraph was extremely low, just the cost of personnel and the cost of generating electricity.
The most important cost is the cost of setting up the telegraph network.
I estimate the cost of each telegram to be around one hundred cents.
According to our calculations, as long as the voltage is increased, the electrical signal will not be attenuated too seriously.
Electrical signals can be transmitted thousands of kilometers and the accuracy of the information can be guaranteed.
The cost of directly connecting two telegraph machines is too high and is generally used for special purposes.
The most economical and effective method is to build telegraph offices in various places to relay and transmit the received signals.
As long as the order for sending reports is established, there will be no confusion. "
When Wang Zhongce learned about this cost, he smiled.
The cost of one hundred articles per article is really cheap.
The imperial court now expedites three hundred miles to send documents to the southeast, which will cost at least a dozen taels of silver coins.
Prime Minister Wang Zhongce walked to Su He and said firmly: "Your Majesty, the telegraph network must be built as soon as possible.
Not to mention other advantages of this telegraph network, the eight hundred miles of expedited expenses saved are enough to build a telegraph line of thousands of kilometers. "
Su He smiled and said: "Wang Aiqing, you don't need to pay for the cabinet to set up the telegraph network. Now the cabinet is raising military expenditures and can only barely maintain a balance of payments.
My internal funds provided the money to set up a telegraph network. "
As soon as Emperor Su He said this, no one was competing for the ownership of the telegraph network.
Emperor Su He's intention was very clear. The telegraph network could only be controlled by the royal family and no one was allowed to get involved.
The cable telegram was successful, Su He returned to the palace, and the crowd dispersed from the front of Huangji Palace.
The telegraph and its contents were compiled and preserved in a museum.
Su He returned to Qianqing Palace and immediately called Qilin Guards to congratulate his master Ding Degui.
He planned to appoint Ding Degui as the director of the General Bureau of Telegraph, responsible for managing the country's telegraph business.
The receipt and sending of telegrams must be controlled by Su He's confidants.
Su He issued orders via telegram to all armies across the country and to the governors of each province.
Once the telegraph network is controlled by other forces and key telegrams are intercepted at special moments, extremely serious problems will arise.
Ding Degui soon came to Qianqing Palace. As a confidant of Emperor Su He, he silently waited for the emperor's orders.
"Degui, I am going to make you the director of the General Telegraph Bureau.
The General Telegraph Office established four main telegraph lines throughout the country.
The imperial palace connects the lines to the governors of major governor-general offices and governors of various provinces.
The cabinet connects all provinces, prefectures and counties.
The governor's office connects the various armies.
There are also telegraph lines open to private use.
Other telegraph lines, such as the railway bureau's internal telegraph lines, are set up by the telegraph bureau in cooperation with relevant yamen.
The most critical aspect of telegrams is strict confidentiality.
I leave this matter to you, and I hope you will live up to your trust. "
Ding Degui stood up straight and heard the task assigned to him by Emperor Su He.
He respectfully replied: "Your Majesty, please rest assured. I will definitely handle this matter in conference and never let down your Majesty's great trust."
Su He looked at Ding Degui. This man was his confidant and was usually responsible for the security of the Forbidden City.
Ding Degui has outstanding abilities, and Su He believes that he can do this well.
Su He specifically explained: “The most critical point in setting up a telegraph network is to train telegraph operators who can be trusted.
Every dispatcher must be reviewed by Xuanwu Guards.
The General Telegraph Administration gave priority to setting up telegraph lines to Shandong.
The new embankment of the Yellow River is about to be opened, and telegraph lines will also be set up on the embankment. "
After Ding Degui received the order from Emperor Su He, he immediately took office and set up the telegraph network of the Dahua Dynasty.
