Chapter 85: Meeting King Yan Again
"Your Highness, you are well." These were the first words He Xi said when she saw King Yan, and He Xi felt a lot of emotion in her heart.
He Xi didn't know what the historical Emperor Yongle was like. But now it seems to him that King Yan is completely different from the King Yan a few years ago.
After all, the King of Yan a few years ago was about the same age as He Xi. Although he was born in the royal family and received the best education of this era, and was taught by Zhu Yuanzhang, he was still a bit immature. But today's King Yan is different.
A big victory brings great changes to a person's mental outlook.
At least, although the King of Yan in history also had achievements in the Hongwu Dynasty, he had never had such a great victory. This battle brought too many benefits to the King of Yan. It also had a great impact on King Yan himself. King Yan may not even notice that he is actually very confident in his movements. He has also become more heroic in handling many things.
Some people do things grandly, while others do things in a fussy way. The development of this kind of character is often their own confidence. At this moment, King Yan is even more confident.
King Yan grabbed He Xi's hands that were about to salute, and laughed and said: "Brother He, you have also done great things. Our city of Beiping has become a ruined city. This is the real Beijing."
In fact, He Xi herself has changed a lot. It's just that He Xi didn't notice it.
He Xi said: "The new dynasty has a new capital, so how can we use the old dynasty's old capital? The Han Dynasty had Chang'an, and the Sui Dynasty had Daxing. It was just a new dynasty and a new atmosphere."
King Yan said: "It's a new dynasty and a new atmosphere. However, in Gu's opinion, it's because you are far more talented than Xiao He and can turn stone into gold. Otherwise, how can the court have money with such a big foundation?"
King Yan’s view is not wrong.
Although some of He Xi's technological reforms greatly promoted the development of Ming Dynasty and greatly improved Ming's productivity, such large projects, under the auspices of He Xi, did not make the imperial government's finances difficult. In fact, it was He Xi has some financial means.
Finance itself is the art of allocating resources. If done well, it can greatly utilize the original resources and do things more efficiently. But if you don’t do it well and you just want to make money, then it is naturally the most effective harvesting tool.
It will have a negative effect on the development of productivity.
The combination of the two resulted in the magnificent project today.
He Xi said: "Thank you, thank you."
King Yan said: "I passed by Beijing this time. I could have gone to Nanjing by sea. I just want to see you, so I won't talk nonsense. Let me see your foundation in Beijing. The most important ones are those factories. Not in Zunhua. Do you want to go and see it now?"
He Xi couldn't help but secretly complain about Lian Zining, betraying the teacher if he really followed someone else.
Lian Zining has no reputation now. Huang Zicheng, who was with Lian Zining at that time, was already in a high position and was considered a figure in the court. Even if Lian Zining, who is as famous as Huang Zicheng, is not as good as Lian Zining, is it useless at all?
Of course not.
Lian Zining understood many of He Xi's ideas best. As a result, King Yan, who was influenced by Lian Zining, also attached great importance to factories and industrialization itself. Although he had not read the modern books brought by He Xi, his emphasis on industry was the most important among the kings.
Nothing else but pragmatism.
Any general who can win a battle is very pragmatic. After all, it is almost impossible to win a war without being pragmatic on the battlefield. Civil servants can fool both the superiors and the subordinates, but can generals fool the enemy?
No one knows how far King Yan understands the truth. But King Yan attached great importance to results.
In other words, it can only produce results. In fact, King Yan does not care too much about the so-called truth.
So as soon as he came to Beijing, King Yan grasped the most important thing, not the vigorous city of Beijing, but the already formed Zunhua Industrial Zone.
King Yan has reached this point, can He Xi still say that he can't go?
He Xi said: "Since Your Highness is interested, I will naturally accompany you."
He Xi was about to get on his horse, but King Yan grabbed He Xi and said, "I don't ride a horse. I've been tired for a long time. I want to sit here." King Yan pointed to something next to him. Yes, it is a horse-drawn wagon.
He Xi said: "Your Highness, this is not of much use. It is just for pulling goods. It is also very messy. There are a lot of messy things. I'm afraid it will stain Your Highness's clothes."
King Yan said: "On the battlefield, it is common to see corpses lying down and sleeping. What does this mean? It's just bricks and tiles. How messy can they be? Can't you just remove them? Why don't you let me look."
King Yan said that at this point, what else could He Xi say? All he could say was: "Then please wait a moment, Your Highness."
He Xi immediately went down to give orders. After a while, a modified carriage came over.
Naturally, He Xi couldn't let King Yan use the truck.
The wheels of this carriage from He Mansion were replaced with iron wheels used on the rails, so that it could run on the rails.
King Yan got on the carriage, opened the curtains around it, felt the feeling on the carriage, and said for a moment: "Not bad, fast and stable. How is your steam engine? When can it be installed on the railway?"
King Yan's words were quick and steady, and they were not false words.
Although in He Xi's opinion, the railway was not fast or stable at all, at most it was a little faster than riding a horse. As for stability, let alone setting up coins. Put a glass of water on it, let alone water, the glass will break.
But it’s actually pretty good in this day and age. Railroad tracks are better than dirt roads, which reduce friction. The horse is also lighter when pulling. If you keep changing horses, you can actually maintain a speed that is almost the same as riding a horse.
Although this speed is not as fast as the speed of later generations of bicycles. But it has already made King Yan extremely amazed.
After all, in this era of marching, thirty miles a day does not mean that one cannot go further. The baggage transport was even slower. Thirty miles a day is pretty good. If we put down our baggage and light equipment, not to mention the cavalry, but also the infantry, it is not impossible to travel fifty miles a day, or even more.
He Xi said: "I don't know about this. I don't know if I will see it in my lifetime."
Although He Xi complained, Lian Zining said everything. But it's no wonder that Lian Zining, in fact, He Xi didn't keep many of his goals secret, because many things couldn't be hidden from others. For example, How Xi organized many people to study the miniaturization of steam engines. Always give someone a goal. You can't just say nothing.
Huang Zicheng and other students are He Xi's confidants, and He Xi always wants them to know.
It's just that He Xi didn't do it with much fanfare. After all, He Xi didn't know when he would be able to do it well. It would be very embarrassing if he said it but couldn't do it. Just like now, He Xi had planned it, but he could Didn't you think it would be so difficult to miniaturize a steam engine?
Especially the problem of materials. If you don't want a few parts to eject when the steam engine is running, it would take too much effort.
However, He Xi had the support of Zhu Yuanzhang and did not declare this or that to the outside world. Not many people knew about He Xi's plan, not including King Yan. After all, with the status of King Yan, as long as he wanted to know, Yan could not be allowed to do so in the Ming Dynasty. The king really didn’t know much.
The same goes for other princes, but they don't have the desire to know what He Xi does in private.
However, as He Xi's status gets higher and higher, many things become difficult to say.
He Xi was not lying when he said he didn’t know if he would ever see it in his lifetime. Because he has completely lost his judgment on the speed of miniaturization of steam engines at this moment. On the one hand, it is a matter of talent. Although Ge Tiangong, the technological leader under He Xi, has made many contributions to He Xi, in essence, Ge Tiangong is a knowledgeable person. Artisans of scientific knowledge. rather than scientists who understand the craftsmanship of craftsmen. There is an essential difference here.
The former is more capable of tinkering with existing problems, while the latter can propose a theoretical framework from experimental data to solve problems.
But talent development takes time.
It has been ten years since He Xi arrived in Ming Dynasty, which is not a short period of time, but can ten years really cultivate a qualified scientist? He Xi doesn’t know.
