Chapter 1104 1099 [The Supreme Emperor——Yao and Shun]
The first railway is 50 miles long, and the next two to three years will be in the trial operation stage.
The Ministry of Industry will leave technical officers here to constantly discover and solve problems, and try to continue to improve the performance of the trains.
When the technology is almost accumulated, preparations will be made for the construction of the second railway.
The location of the second railway has been decided: Nanyang-Fangcheng-Yexian.
In the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, attempts were made to build a canal along this route to connect the Yangtze River and the middle reaches of the Yellow River. Once the water system was opened, supplies from Sichuan, Hubei and Hanzhong could be directly shipped north to Kaifeng.
Unfortunately, the work has been started, stopped, started again, stopped again, and repairs have been carried out on and off for decades to no avail.
After the founding of the Ming Dynasty, when Zhu Guoxiang became emperor, he asked water conservancy experts to conduct on-site inspections, and finally concluded that it was still difficult to repair.
Now there is a new idea, to connect directly with railways!
At this time, the county seat of Ye County was in Yeyi Town, more than twenty-eight miles further south than in later generations. There was a Lishui River that led directly to Yan City, and then connected to the Cai River to Kaifeng City.
After the railway was built, Sichuan's money, grain and materials were first transported to Jiangling for storage, and then went north along the canal in the Jingjiang section. The ships turned into the Han River and arrived at Xiangyang. They then took the Baihe River in Xiangyang to Nanyang. When they arrived in Nanyang, they switched to train transportation.
, passed through Fangcheng to Ye County and took the waterway again, and then transported it by ship to the treasury warehouse outside Kaifeng City.
The railway is not long, only about 180 miles.
But it can save supplies from Sichuan, Hubei, Hunan and Hanzhong by more than 2,000 miles of waterway, and there is no need to go around Zhenjiang, Yangzhou, Huai'an, and Shangqiu!
If Dali had been destroyed ten years later, Duan Yu would have taken this section of the train when he was escorted to Luoyang.
Why did the Northern Song Dynasty struggle here for decades, trying desperately to build the "Nanyang-Yexian" canal? It was just to save more than 2,000 miles of road.
This is the real use of railways in the early stages of development, which is to connect water networks in key areas.
A huge profit!
Currently, prospectors are frantically exploring coal mines there.
If the Pingdingshan coal mine is found, it is estimated that the railway plan will be changed again. That is, it will be extended several dozen miles to the north to be built near the coal mine. There will also be rivers there that can connect the Cai River to Kaifeng.
…
After the test run was successful, Zhu Guoxiang returned to Luoyang happily. After hearing the news, all civil and military officials came to greet him.
They really missed the Emperor.
Even this kind of longing is not mixed with any interests, it is purely respect for the Supreme Emperor.
Especially young and middle-aged officials in their thirties and forties. Some of them have never met the Supreme Emperor, but they have already sanctified the Supreme Emperor in their minds. Contemporary Yao and Shun!
"I will bow down and pay homage to the Emperor!"
They had agreed not to kneel casually, but a dozen young officials from the capital actually knelt down and knelt down to Zhu Guoxiang in the street. Their eyes were filled with tears and their voices were trembling when they spoke, as if they were seeing their deceased elders.
Zhu Guoxiang said with a smile: "They all stood up and spoke. They knelt down and cried. It won't be too late to do this kind of gift after I die."
"Don't dare!"
The officials who knelt down and worshiped were so frightened that they quickly stood up and took a peek to see what the Supreme Emperor looked like.
The dock was temporarily blocked by officers and soldiers, and people tried to come over but were stopped. People stood on their feet and looked from a distance, and from time to time there were people standing behind, jumping and stretching their necks to look forward.
Zhu Guoxiang turned around and bowed to the crowd in the distance, and countless people suddenly shouted long live the mountain.
This situation made the officials sigh with emotion, thinking that the ancient sage kings were nothing more than this.
Accompanied by civil and military officials, Zhu Guoxiang arrived at Dongguo City of the Imperial City, took an imperial carriage and went straight to the Chui Gong Hall. Liang Yi and others got close to the officials and were invited by Zhu Guoxiang to ride in the same carriage, which moved them to tears.
In Chui Gong Hall, Zhu Ming was busy reviewing memorials.
As soon as Zhu Guoxiang arrived, the eunuchs, female officials, and civil servants all left. Even the living man who wrote the daily living records retired.
Taking off his hat and throwing it away, Zhu Guoxiang asked: "Has the Dunhuang suicide note been sent back to Luoyang?"
Ju Ming glanced at you and said, "You have more white hair. Last time you had gray hair on your temples, but now your hair is almost all white."
Zhu Guoxiang said: "I can't tell how many years I have lived. Anyway, my energy and physical strength have been declining in the past few years, and the wrinkles on my face have gradually become more and more. I had a cold last winter, and it took me a month to take medicine."
.”
Ju Ming said: "When I sent you the telegram, the Dunhuang suicide note had just arrived in Chang'an. It is estimated that it will arrive in Luoyang in a few days."
Jingzhao Palace has been renamed Chang'an Palace and has not adopted Zhu Yuanzhang's Xi'an Palace.
In fact, it doesn't matter how you change it. There has never been "Chang'an Prefecture" in history. From the Han Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, there was always only "Chang'an County", which is nothing more than the difference between "Jingzhao Prefecture" being changed to "Anxi Road" and then "Xi'an Prefecture".
When the population of Ningxia Province recovers, Shaanxi and Ningxia will be split again, because these two provinces are too big!
The entire Hexi Corridor, plus Bayannur, Alxa, Baotou, Ordos... all belong to Ningxia Province, and the Hexi Corridor must be split off.
The northeastern part of Qinghai, as well as Lanzhou, Tianshui, Qingyang, Longnan... these all belong to Shaanxi Province and must be separated out.
The territory separated from the two provinces was naturally set up as Gansu Province.
Moreover, the Gansu Province established by the Ming Dynasty in the future will include the elite areas of Qinghai Province in later generations. Even Xining, the provincial capital of Qinghai, also belongs to Gansu Province! The Tibetan and Uighur tribes and the imperial court in Qinghai will all be handed over to Gansu Province.
Only major matters require the court's opinion.
After talking about some administrative division issues in the northwest, the father and son talked about Yunnan and Guizhou.
Bai Qi was transferred to the title of King of Guizhou, and granted 3,000 households, and 2,000 households were granted the title of Shishi. He was also granted the title of Grand Tutor, Shangzhu Kingdom, and his military rank was also raised by two levels, and he was specially named the General of the Southern Conquest.
In addition, he also granted permission to his descendants. If the title decreases to marquis, there is no need to reduce it any further. If you perform a little meritorious service, you can be re-titled as a county prince, a county prince, a country prince, or even a county king again.
This is the imperial court's encouragement to Bai Qi's descendants to achieve meritorious service and promotion, especially to encourage them to continue to expand their territories in the south!
The Mu family in history did not just guard Yunnan. They had been encroaching on foreign lands in the south. However, those newly occupied lands often became the Mu family's private land because they were too barbaric and the court could not set up a flow of land.
official.
Why was a prince who ruled Yunnan for a long time not be named the King of Dian but the King of Guizhou?
If you look at the Mu family in Yunnan, you will know that the Mu family is hereditary Duke of Guizhou, not hereditary Duke of Dian.
The imperial court would never allow a prince, prince or duke with military power to live in their own fiefdom for a long time. Therefore, Bai Qi could only guard Yunnan as the King of Guizhou.
Generals such as Yang Zaixing and Lin Chong also received rewards. Yang Zaixing's military rank was even promoted to the second rank, which was only slightly lower than Lin Chong's second rank.
This is very rare, Lin Chong came from Long Xungui, and Yang Zaixing only took refuge when Zhong Xiang was killed.
Ju Ming suddenly said: "Japan is going to change."
"Japan?" Zhu Guoxiang was quite curious.
Ju Ming said: "In Kaifeng, Taira Kiyomori, who has studied in Luoyang for several years, not only gained a lot of official positions by exterminating pirates last year, but also controlled the Seto Inland Sea. From now on, Japan will gain access to Sino-Japanese trade.
Half of the profits will be taken away by the Taira clan. If the Taira clan continues to develop for ten years, its strength will probably increase so much that it can suppress the king of Japan."
Zhu Guoxiang instantly understood: "Japan is going to have a civil war."
Ju Ming smiled and said: "The King of Japan must be afraid of the Taira clan, and will probably instigate the Genji clan to fight with the Taira clan. Once the conflict between the two sides completely intensifies, the Taira and Yuan families will have to turn from political fighting to military confrontation. The Japanese king cannot fall, and Japan must live forever.
One system, otherwise Japan can break free from its shackles."
If we follow the normal historical trajectory, the Japanese Emperor will naturally exist forever, and the Genpei war will only create the Kamakura shogunate.
But things are different now. The Taira clan who controls the Seto Inland Sea can earn more profits, smuggle weapons and equipment from the Ming Dynasty, and obtain various science, culture and technology.
Ju Ming even suspected that Taira Kiyomori was secretly developing firearms.
The butt determines the head. Taira Kiyomori controls the Seto Inland Sea, so he must support Sino-Japanese trade, and he must be a staunch "pro-Ming" element. What's more, after studying in China for several years, Taira Kiyomori highly praises everything about China.
If this guy overthrows Genji by force, will he be hot-headed and force the Emperor of Japan to abdicate?
After all, Taira Kiyomori’s current idol is Ju Ming.
Taira Kiyomori knew very well how Emperor Zhu conquered the country. He did not want to learn from Emperor Zhu, not to mention that he had a higher starting point than Emperor Zhu because the Taira clan itself belonged to a branch of the Japanese imperial family.
If it really gets to that point, the Ming Dynasty must send troops to intervene and not let the Japanese Emperor, who has become the King of Heaven, fall.
Since the Ming Dynasty took action to save the emperor, shouldn't Japan get something in return? It wouldn't be too much to cede Kyushu Island to the Ming Dynasty, right? There are also many gold, silver and copper mines there.
Zhu Guoxiang was speechless and complained: "Ceding the entire Kyushu Island is equivalent to crippling Japan. You really have a huge appetite."
"The main reason is that I'm interested in the mines there. There are all gold, silver and copper mines, and there are more than one or two," Zhu Ming said. "Japan's prospecting technology is not developed, and so many mines cannot be discovered under the nose. I do
It is reasonable to do good things and send people to explore and mine."
What America are you exploring?
Mining Doraemon directly from Japan.
As the foreign trade of the Ming Dynasty became more and more prosperous, not only was there no inflation, but there was always a shortage of metal currency, and some areas even experienced deflation contrary to common sense. On the one hand, this was because big businessmen were hoarding large quantities of money, and on the other hand, neighboring countries adopted the Ming Dynasty.
currency.
Ju Ming could only continue to issue more banknotes to regulate the currency market.
Unexpectedly, because the credibility of the Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes was so high, those guys even hoarded the banknotes, and even the Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes could be traded in Southeast Asia without any obstacles. If Ju Ming didn't dare to issue banknotes indiscriminately, he would have to cut off a lot of money.
To destroy the Dali Kingdom, in addition to expansion, the most important thing is to capture the Yunnan copper mines.
In the future, the reason for interfering in Japan's internal affairs and forcing Japan to cede Kyushu Island is also for the gold, silver and copper mines there. Otherwise, what is the use of that poor place?
Zhu Guoxiang chatted with his son for a while, then took Luoyang's grandson and granddaughter in his arms.
A few days later, the Dunhuang suicide note arrived in Beijing.