The comments of King Ping and the events that happened in Wenhua Hall did not cause any storm in Nanjing City when they were strictly kept secret. There was only a rumor that King Ping submitted a memorial in a small area. As for what was said in the memorial, no one knew.

It seems that for the Ming Dynasty, this has never happened at all. It has not caused any storm at all.

Maybe this is the tranquility before the storm.

After November, it was almost the end of the year. Since the peace and prosperity of the world, officials from all over the country naturally began to offer "auspiciousness". This is something that civil servants have been good at since ancient times.

This "auspiciousness" is all kinds. In addition to the traditional "auspiciousness" such as "heen crowing", people also sent sweet potatoes weighing ten kilograms and corn with a yield of hundreds of kilograms per mu. In recent years, under the implementation of the government, exotic products such as sweet potatoes and corn are becoming popular day by day. Of course, their seeds are not the seeds of America in this era, but the traditional seeds that Zhu Guoqiang could breed and retain seeds in the 1960s and 1970s brought by Zhu Guoqiang from another time and space.

The yield of these good varieties may not be worth mentioning in the 21st century. But in the Ming Dynasty in the 17th century, it was simply a miracle. Of course, these are "auspicious" and this is also "auspicious" created by the emperor himself. Such flattery is not burdened. To be honest, this is not flattery.

In short, "auspiciousness" is all kinds!

But even so, these "auspicious" are traditional, but there are also fresh, even unprecedented. For example, the Royal Society sent an exquisite copper train model!

Looking at this guy who was no different from the 19th century steam locomotive, Zhu Guoqiang stared at it and was stunned for a long time.

"It's really made!"

Although it was just a model, Zhu Guoqiang still stared at it without even blinking.

Finally a train is built!

Although Liaodong has achieved practical steam engines four years ago through technical data obtained from another world, there has been little progress in train research.

Unexpectedly, it was finally made.

"Your Majesty, our train has been running for three consecutive months!"

Ge Shizhen's report surprised Zhu Guoqiang.

"Okay, Ge Shizhen, I've actually kept it from me for three months! I won't wait anymore, I'll go to the scene now, I'm going to see my train!"

After hearing this, Zhu Guoqiang went straight to the test site of the Royal Society in Jiangbei. The so-called Royal Society is actually a place to study Western learning and new learning. The basis of the new learning is the Western scientific works translated by Zhu Guoqiang from the other side.

Those works formed the foundation of new learning, and even the practicalization of steam engines was due to the technical information in the book and the manufacturing of various machine tools. Although some of the technologies are relatively simple, it is certain that the Ming Dynasty is absorbing this kind of technology that transcends time and space little by little.

However, because the technology in the book does not equal detailed technology, nor does it equal drawings, people of this era need to study and absorb it, which takes a certain amount of time and even requires key research. Of course, it is precisely because of this that scholars of this era can truly absorb these technologies.

Steam locomotives are key projects. After all, this is related to the future social development of the Ming Dynasty. Whether it is the social economy or military war, it will bring qualitative changes!

As for the moment, the emergence of the steam locomotive will prompt the Ming Dynasty to turn its attention to the grassland and fight against Jiannu and the remnants of the bandits.

railway!

With the railway, there was logistics, and the logistics problem was solved, and the Ming army no longer entered the expedition to the north of Mo, but conquered!

The conquest of the grassland and the Western Regions was completed through railways.

The Royal Family Club is not in Nanjing, but in Jiangbei, covering an area of ​​tens of thousands of acres. This place is not only a Royal Society, but also a fully equipped factory. The test factory here has various mechanical equipment, and there are even some ordinary machine tools brought by Zhu Guoqiang from another world.

This experimental workshop originated from the Dalian Arsenal, and can be said to be the mother of industry in the Ming Dynasty. Too many firsts were born.

However, its power has not yet been revealed, and even the advanced "mule machines" and steam looms have just begun to show its strength.

When the prelude to the times opened, even those who were at the forefront did not know what this great era would look like. All changes happened little by little.

After taking an imperial ship from Qinhuai to Jiangbei, he got ashore at the pier of the Royal Society, and even just crossed the Yangtze River embankment, Zhu Guoqiang saw the world's first train!

Its shape is similar to the original train, but it is a bit different from the first train invented by Stephenson. It looks a bit like a train from the mid-19th century. Maybe this is because the train looks like this in the information they borrowed from.

From a distance, you can clearly see that black smoke is coming out of the chimney of the locomotive, and a large amount of steam and white smoke is mixed in the black smoke.

"Your Majesty, this is our train..."

Ge Shizhen said proudly.

In another time and space, he was the second place in the Ming Dynasty, but now he is a scholar. In the past six years, he has been studying new science, which can be said to be the authority of the new academic circle of the Ming Dynasty.

As he walked towards the train, Zhu Guoqiang looked at the railway tracks on the ground and asked.

“How are the rails made?”

It seems that until now, the Ming Dynasty still uses the crucible steelmaking method he brought. This steelmaking method is expensive and it is definitely unrealistic to make steel rails.

In fact, even if it is the crucible steelmaking method, it still provides extremely cheap steel for this era. Compared with the so-called "hundred-steel making" one ton of steel only requires only 70 taels. Of course, this is based on cheap blast furnace pig iron. If it were the earth iron smelting furnaces in the past of the Ming Dynasty, it would definitely not be as cheap pig iron.

"Your Majesty, this kind of "working"-shaped rail is cast of pig iron, weighing 30 kilograms per meter. The cost of laying a railway is the highest. Although the rail is cast of pig iron, it still needs to be smoldered after casting, so that the railway will not be crushed by the wheels because it is too brittle, so the cost has increased a lot..."

Before converter steelmaking and open furnace steelmaking technology provide cheap rails, the most common rails were only two types of pig rails and cooked rails, while the former was relatively cheap. It also used the most common rails. Perhaps as the train loading increased, deep iron rails were eventually replaced by cooked rails. However, in this era, pig iron rails could meet basic transportation needs.

In a few years, when the mechanical technology is mature, you can directly go to the steel track. However, before that, you need to use a flat furnace or converter to provide cheap steel, which is not a problem. The reason why those technologies are not adopted is that their technology is too complex. After a decade or twenty years, when the scholars of the Ming Dynasty mature, these will no longer be any problems.

"So at the current cost, how much does it cost to build a railway mile?"

"Your Majesty, the current iron price is 16 taels per ton, and the price of railway tracks per ton must be maintained at about 24 taels, so the iron plant will only make a profit. One mile is about 600 meters, and if it is 30 kilograms per meter, the cost of railway tracks and connecting fishtail boards, nails, etc. is about 400 taels. In addition, sleepers, roadbeds and road construction and labor are required. It takes at least 600 taels to build a one mile railway. The five-mile railway in the test site costs a total of 6,135 taels, including the attached inspection yard and other buildings..."

Listening to Ge Shizhen introducing the research and development of steam locomotives and the construction of railways, Zhu Guoqiang had already thought about it in his mind.

One mile is 600 taels.

This is because there is no need to repair bridges on the test site, so the cost is reduced a lot. If it is replaced by normal road construction, not only bridges must be considered, but also stations and other facilities must be repaired. The cost of railways in that area will increase by at least 20 to 30%, which is 800 taels.

One thousand miles, that is, eight hundred thousand taels!

It's only 800,000 taels!

It's so simple and cheap!

Well, I seem to have forgotten that there are also a series of expenses such as land acquisition. This doesn’t matter. The cost of a one-mile railway is increased by 200 taels, which is 1,000 taels.

"One million taels are built for one thousand miles, and thousands of miles of railways are built, which is just a few million taels. With the railway, you can fight..."

Why did Zhu Guoqiang not lead his troops out of seclusion and launch the last battle against Jiannu?

It’s not because I don’t want to fight, but because... I can’t afford to fight!

This is not affordable because it consumes too much money and food. According to the calculations of the Governor's Office of the Five Army and the Ministry of War, the cost of one stone of military ration on the front line is more than 60 taels of generals! When a 100,000 army expedition is only for people, horses, food and grass every month, and at least 50 million taels of silver is required to prepare for the north!

Moreover, the farther the distance, the higher the cost. If the enemy retreats to the Western Regions, the cost of transporting grain and grass will be a sky-high price.

In another time and space, the so-called imperial merchant Fan family. When Kangxi re-expeditioned the Junggar tribe, the Fan family took the initiative to ask for capital and transport military rations. Each stone was only one-third of the official price of 120 taels of silver, that is, 40 taels. This was because the Fan family was very familiar with the route with many years of experience in Mongolia trade, which reduced the transportation cost.

And what about the Ming Dynasty now?

Sixty taels...

I'm afraid this is still an optimistic estimate.

But with railways and trains, it’s different!

How much does the train cost?

No matter how high it is, it will not be higher than the sky-high price that costs 60 taels of freight. This sky-high price is equivalent to buying 60 stones of grain and grass! It is only one or two taels of food and grass when using a train.

With railways and trains, not to mention anything else, the money saved by transporting military supplies is enough to build several railways.
Chapter completed!