Chapter 446 The Daqin Railway is definitely not just for coal transportation!
In early May of the 21st year of Chongzhen Emperor's reign, the Ming Dynasty's northern inspection tour, which had been prepared for many days, was officially launched.
The so-called Northern Patrol actually just walked from Beijing to Zhangjiakou. In later generations, this distance was nothing at all. It was easy to go back and forth every day. But in this era, it was a big deal.
We took more than 2,000 people to patrol along the railway to Zhangjiakou. It took five days along the way. This means that there is a railway, otherwise it would be even slower. During the march, the garrison personnel were on horseback to guard and provide marching equipment and supplies.
, the emperor and the accompanying ministers went there by rail car. This way of traveling saved a lot of effort, and the most trouble-free thing was that there was no need to arrange special places to rest along the way. Zhu Youjian and the others had food and accommodation in the car.
On the ground, the soldiers rested and rested using tents and other supplies carried on the rail cars, which caused little disturbance to the place.
"General Qin, you have been guarding on horseback all the way. It has been too hard to travel back and forth. Now that you have arrived at Zhangjiakou, you can relax a little and don't have to wear armor and surround me all the time." The hardest person in the process was Qin Liangyu.
It's really hard for a seventy-year-old man to still ride a horse to protect the safety of the camp. Zhu Youjian originally arranged a rail car for her, but she didn't sit on it, saying that she didn't ride on the horse.
She felt unsure about her body. It was such a big event for the emperor to go on patrol, and she really couldn't rest assured if she didn't go out and arrange it herself.
"I have been in the army for most of my life, and I am used to piercing armor, so I am not too tired! Saint, please don't worry about me, please put state affairs first." The emperor's concern had no effect, Qin Liangyu continued to do things as usual.
, seemed to have no intention of taking a rest.
"Governor Song, how are the preparations for the Zhangbei Grassland Alliance? Can it be held as scheduled in five days?" Seeing that it was useless to persuade Qin Liangyu, Zhu Youjian had to give up and asked Governor Song Quan of Yunzhong to see if the official preparations were
how's it going.
"I have been busy with this matter recently. Now there are more than 40 tribal leaders from various grassland ministries who have agreed to come to the northern grassland of Zhangjiakou to participate in this grand alliance meeting. In addition, the heads of several major temples in the grassland will also come to participate in the meeting.
, the alliance meeting will definitely be held as usual.”
"As long as we can set up a stage and have some people come to the meeting. What I'm afraid of is performing a one-man show during the alliance meeting. Other than that, I'm not afraid of anything else. You have been the governor of Yunzhong for more than a year. Now, including
Including Datong, all the planned administrative districts of Yunzhong Province should be in place. Let’s talk about the current situation and difficulties.”
"Revelation to the sage: There are currently 700,000 people registered in our Yunzhong Province, including Xuanhua, Datong, Guihua and Miyun Special Prefecture. Eleven Mongolian Autonomous Leagues and 50 Mongolian Autonomous Leagues have also been established on the grassland.
There are many large and small autonomous territories, and the population of these alliance territories should be around 600,000. At present, the biggest difficulty is in finance and taxation. That is to say, the finance and taxation in Miyun and Zhangjiakou can make things happen. In addition,
Everywhere else can’t make ends meet.”
"It is inevitable that a newly established province will have difficulties in terms of financial revenue. The biggest problem in Yunzhong is that although the land area is larger than the average province, the population and output are much smaller, which means it is larger than the prefecture.
It’s just a little bit. The biggest trouble is that there is still less cultivated land. If we rely on agricultural taxes, we probably won’t be able to rely on it in the future.”
"His Majesty is well aware of his situation, and the ministers and others are very pleased. The lack of cultivated land and the small number of people are indeed the main problems facing Yunzhong."
"Let's talk about the situation in Datong first. Datong is one of the important towns on the nine sides, but the farming industry has been weak for a long time. After the liberation, have you made any special research and judgment, and what are your thoughts on the development of farming in Datong?"
"Let's focus on building water canals! Datong is surrounded by mountains and rivers both inside and outside, so it's quite difficult to develop farming."
"You will make a long-term plan for promoting agriculture in Datong in five to ten years and report it to the imperial court. The imperial court will allocate special funds to support the recovery of agriculture in Datong. Although it is not easy to promote agriculture in Datong, we still have to make great efforts to promote agriculture in Datong. Agriculture in Datong is prosperous.
, is of great significance to stabilizing the entire frontier. Even if there are not many ways to deal with the staple food, it is possible to think of ways to use supplementary food such as potatoes. Potatoes and sweet potatoes can be eaten directly, or they can be made into powder, brewed and used as feed.
It is a very good substitute for staple food. The industry in the palace can provide some assistance in this, please use more efforts!"
"Chen and others also have this idea. Vigorously promoting and planting miscellaneous grains is indeed a way for us to promote agriculture in Yunzhong."
"It's true. If the water conservancy and land in the Guihua Fucheng area are improved, it will be very suitable for growing potatoes. Relying on the production of potatoes, you will have many more ways to provide food rations for the people. In addition, although farming is important,
But your real advantage in Yunzhong lies in the mines. You should know that Datong is prolific in coal. As long as the railway from Datong to Xuanhua is built as soon as possible, the coal in Datong can create great value. Like nearby Guihua,
In fact, there are a lot of valuable minerals, and you should work harder in this regard! Now, quickly repairing the two railways from Datong to Zhangjiakou and Zhangjiakou to Guihua is a top priority for the development of the entire Yunzhong.
You must grasp the progress and make these two railways play their role as soon as possible."
Having a mine does not mean that it can be turned into money. The key depends on the transportation situation. If the transportation is not good, the minerals cannot be turned into live money. Large-scale development must be accompanied by large-scale infrastructure construction! There is a valley road from Datong to Xuanhua, and a railway is built.
The difficulty is relatively low, and if the funds and technology are in place, it should be almost complete in two years. As long as this railway is repaired, Datong's coal will truly become a treasure.
In later generations, there was a famous railway between Datong and Xuanhua. A section of the legendary Datong-Qin Coal Transport Line ran from Datong to the valley of Xuanhua. When he was in school, he always had something that he couldn't figure out. It was obviously
Why should the special line for transporting coal to the south be built from Datong to Qinhuangdao? After traveling through time and becoming the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, he re-examined the Da-Qin Railway line. Zhu Youjian felt that the role of the Da-Qin Railway was not fully written in the textbook!
More than just a dedicated line for transporting coal? The Da-Qin Railway should also be a national defense railway line. Because the line it passes happens to overlap with the northern Gyeonggi defense line operated by the Ming Dynasty. Doesn’t the Da-Qin Railway connect the line from Shanhaiguan in the east to Datong in the west?
! It seems now that using roads as walls and railways as part of national defense fortifications was not what Zhu Youjian thought alone. In later generations, examples of its application can also be found! From Datong to Shanhaiguan, even in later generations,
It is still the country's most important northern defense line.