May 16th, the seventh year of Chongzhen, was not a special day. The emperor came to Tianjin and took the civil and military officials of the court to visit the strange big garden. This was already a well-known thing in the streets, but it was not known to the common people.
It's so strange. Although not many people have met the emperor, they have heard a lot about him these days, and gradually they have become accustomed to it.
Nowadays, it is not popular to hold a welcome ceremony that is crowded with people. Whether the emperor comes or not, the ordinary people's lives are still going on. The government has sent people to publicize repeatedly that respect for the emperor only needs to be kept in mind, and those empty etiquettes
If you can avoid it, avoid it. If you can live a good life and have more children and suffer less, this is the greatest reward for the emperor.
However, as the high-pitched whistle sounded at Youshi, the village near Haihekou still had ten rooms and nine empty rooms. Where were the people? They all ran up the hillside! In order to improve the people's travel conditions, the imperial court wanted to come here.
The construction of an experimental railway between Beijing and Beijing is no secret to the surrounding people. They have watched nearly 100,000 workers sweating profusely for more than two years.
Trains are even more commonplace. Although the steel monster really frightened many people when it first appeared, Xi Shengun, who claimed to know five hundred years in the past and five hundred things in the future, and who knew astronomy and geography, was frightened.
The matter of peeing pants is still a joke. But this time is different. Early this morning, government officials went to each village to inform them that the emperor would lead hundreds of officials to board the train to conduct a manned train experiment for the people of Ming Dynasty.
Prove its safety.
The emperor risked his life for ordinary people? How could this be possible? But the traitors in the imperial court were so cunning that they only announced the incident when it happened, leaving no time to persuade Cambodia. Although the security work has been strengthened, but
The common people were still worried about some accident and quickly organized to protect the emperor's road. The thoughtful villagers even lit the beacon fire at the head of the village to convey the news to various places along the way.
In less than half a day, the railway line from Tianjin to the capital was already full of people. If the Supreme Emperor dared to let the emperor and the general of Zhenguo sit on the train, the possibility of danger was unlikely. But after all, it was such a long way. If Nala
What should we do if the iron bumps on the carriage are tired and the people on the carriage are also hungry? The emperor does not need hungry soldiers, so the common people cannot let the emperor work on an hungry stomach, so this temporary stove must be set up quickly, and every household
If you have any delicious food, you don’t have to hide it until the Chinese New Year and then secretly send it to the government, waiting for it to be sent back, and it will be placed along the way!
Huh? What's sneaking around there? First drag him out and beat him until his parents don't recognize him, and then throw him in jail! Whose cattle and sheep came here? Kill them quickly and stew them. I heard that the ones in that car
There are quite a few people, and they are worried that the meat is not enough to eat. They are afraid that the emperor and the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty will be wronged.
Rumble, rumble, rumble... As waves of roars like rolling thunder came, the crowd began to commotion. Even the swaddled babies stopped crying and stared into the distance with wide eyes. At that distance
The birds and animals seemed to be accustomed to such sounds, and were not affected at all, and continued to stroll and eat leisurely there.
"Oh my God! If this guy was hit by something, wouldn't he turn into meat?" The Shaanxi businessman who saw the train passing by for the first time kept patting his chest. Fortunately, the smoke from the steam engines in the factory was worse than this.
Big, otherwise unsophisticated people would not be able to worship this as a giant steel dragon?
A local next to him excitedly showed off: "Isn't that right? This guy is very strong. We have seen hundreds of people put in the stone after a long time of effort, and then it was pulled away in one go! That guy
It's said to be one to two million kilograms, and you still have to carry it for several years?"
"Can you load a million kilograms at a time? Then you will have to worry about finding someone to help transport the mountain goods you collect in the future?" A glimmer of light flashed in the eyes of the Shaanxi businessman. Suddenly he said unwillingly: "I don't know what this means.
When will I be able to cultivate to my forehead..."
"Brother Tu, you don't have to worry! Has the imperial court taken less care of our people these years? Now that there is such a good thing, and the Holy One has personally tested it, it will definitely have to be promoted on a large scale in a short time. I'm afraid you won't be so good by then.
Plenty of stuff to sell!" The people didn't know that the imperial court had negotiated a big deal. Hundreds of thousands of workers would be invested in the vigorous road construction, but they all knew that if the imperial court came up with something good,
To show off, it will definitely be fully promoted before long. The local profiteer suddenly laughed and said: "However, in the future, transportation will be more convenient, but you can't do exclusive sales! As for the price..."
Lao Tu smiled generously and replied: "I'm afraid! After traveling all over the country for so many years, the relationship accumulated by these newbies can't be compared to that of novices? Why should I be afraid if the price drops a little? One trip in the future will be better than one year's trip now, so what's the point?
Can I earn less?”
Two profiteers were discussing the huge benefits that could be gained from improved transportation, but the old men here seemed a little downcast. "Why do these people never want to take a rest? We have prepared so many delicious foods for the emperor."
Yes, I don’t know if the old man saw it!"
"I saw it! The emperor must have seen it!" An old man took over, "Don't you think about who is today? Doesn't he know that we ordinary people are always thinking about the kindness of the court? Besides, aren't there the same people on the car?
Are the Supreme Emperor and General Zhenguo who have descended from the gods to earth here?"
"Old Huang's words make sense. Our two emperors and generals of the Ming Dynasty are not comparable to those clay bodhisattvas and fake gods in the temple. There is nothing in the world that they don't know!" Old Man Dou used to be very pious, even though
In those years when natural disasters were constant, he would rather the whole family go hungry than forget to set up an incense table and place offerings. However, the gods and Buddhas in the sky seemed to have no time to take care of ordinary people like him. Eating fast and chanting Buddha all day long could not fill his warehouse with food, let alone
It could make his family full of descendants, but it only made him suffer even more.
If General Zhenguo hadn't personally led the army to the expedition, he had been tied to Liaodong and had thrown these old bones there long ago. How could he still enjoy family happiness as he does now?
Have there been few natural disasters in recent years? In fact, there have been many. However, with the emperor here and the civil and military ministers of the Manchu Dynasty who are sincere in doing things, even if there was a significant reduction in production in the fifth year of Chongzhen, they still did not go hungry. The imperial court
Not only were all taxes exempted by opening a granary to store grain, they even distributed meat to an elderly man like him and his growing grandson.
The people in the north have become rich in recent years, but unlike those in the south of the Yangtze River, the temples in the north have become increasingly dilapidated. Want to beg for alms? Yes! But even Mr. Dou would ask, when the disaster hit the sky, the sky was full of gods and Buddhas.
Where is it? Don’t fool people with those mythical legends. As long as you can tell even one example of Buddha using his boundless magic power to save the world. We will give you as much as you want. If you don’t have any at home, we will go out with the overseas legion to snatch it for you!
Can't tell? Then where is the coolness? Are you still saying "I don't have tofu"? It's none of the people's business if you don't have tofu to eat. If we live a good life and only drink wine and eat meat, you won't want this!
The imperial court failed to cover everything. It also said that it only provided disaster relief but not the poor. However, the imperial court was doing things in a down-to-earth manner and working hard to provide the most basic guarantees so that the people had the ability to create their own future. That’s why we need to build temples.
Okay, first replace the statues with statues of the Supreme Emperor, the Emperor and the generals who govern the country. We will pay you as much as you want!
The original belief is rapidly collapsing. But if the people of the North knew what those three young men who were regarded as gods were doing, they would definitely lament that gods are really unreliable these days.
"Open it! Open it! Close it! Close it..." After finally getting through it until dark, Chongzhen was even more excited than during the day and kept issuing commands. Fortunately, this work only requires hands-on work and no need to kneel down to receive orders, otherwise
The unlucky Wang Chengen would rather jump on the train than stay here.
"Brother Jian, have you had enough trouble?" The flashes in the special carriage were really dazzling, and Zhu Qiji finally couldn't help but stopped him. "This is already the third time. It won't matter if you mess it up again."
spare!"
"Brother, you are not doing this properly! Why don't you prepare a few? Also, this light bulb is not durable! It has been broken so much in just two hours!" My brother likes to yell as much as he wants, then
It was their right, but if he wasn't afraid that his eyes would turn black later, Chongzhen really wouldn't have stopped.
"Prepare a few more? You can say it's light. Do you know how difficult it is to make? Even if it's not durable, it's still worth three thousand taels of silver!" He shook his head helplessly, and Zhu Qiji couldn't understand what he planned to do back then.
When the throne was handed down, I didn't realize that this younger brother was so prodigal. It seems that he was led astray by those treacherous people in the court over the years. No wonder Shui Cong, who was already a bad-hearted person, didn't want to sit in that position. If he were replaced,
.Is there still peace in this world?
"Three thousand taels? Brother, the emperor's uncle found out about the false expenses, and he will give you a copy!" Who are you kidding? A glass jar as big as this can be worth three thousand taels? Chongzhen didn't give you clothes.
You idiot, you have to spend four taels of silver to apply a patch. Now is not the era when only Prince Fu's Mansion can produce glass. Selling this thing to Western allies is very expensive, but its cost will never exceed five taels of silver.
Incandescent lamps, a lighting device that has begun to be eliminated in later generations, were invented and used more than a hundred years earlier because of the emergence of Zhu Youcong. If Edison had a chance to be born smoothly and grow up according to the historical trajectory, compete with him
The person who holds this patent will not be the weak British scientist Swann, but the research institute of the Ming Empire.
How to prepare inert gases is a problem that the institute has not yet been able to solve. But so many years of technology accumulation are not in vain. Vacuuming glass jars is not a new process. It can be given to Devigne to fool Galileo.
It is something that requires a high degree of confidentiality. Chongzhen guessed right. The glass jar is not expensive, but the expensive thing is the filament inside.
The thing used by Zhu Qiji to make filaments is called platinum. Isn't it expensive? The one used now was copied from Shivella's house when Zhu Youcong first regained Macau. According to Xu Xiake's memories, in the southwest region of the Ming Dynasty
There are also such minerals, but they are limited in quantity and difficult to mine.
If it is difficult, there is no problem. If it doesn't work, just use free labor, but Ming Dynasty has an unwritten rule. It only explores and does not develop its own minerals, leaving them for future generations to prepare for emergencies! And now
Zhu Youcong has no intention of running to Africa like his Western allies and has not yet formulated an attack plan to completely occupy the north, so he has to rely on imports.
"Isn't it just to find Western allies? Leave this matter to Brother Cong. When they come to negotiate next time, they will first make hundreds of thousands of taels, and then big brother, how much do you want to do? Isn't it easy?" Chongzhen didn't realize it at all.
The rarity of platinum is an astronomical figure at first glance, but it is hard to blame him. After all, the goods produced in Ming Dynasty are all hot commodities. If you don't spend a lot of money now, wait until the production efficiency is enough to cope with large-scale dumping needs.
Well, what else are you playing with?
"I don't have that ability!" Zhu Youcong, who was lying on the soft sofa, didn't even open his eyes and refused: "Brother, do you think this thing is cabbage in the field? I have already asked about it.
Vera and the others dug holes all over Africa, but they only managed to get as much as twenty kilograms a year."
"That's it? Could they be lazy?" Thinking of this possibility, Chongzhen suddenly put on a smiling face, walked up to Zhu Youcong and said to please: "Why don't you, brother Cong, suffer a little more, and take the lead?"
With the Ming Dynasty Navy and Overseas Corps, let's go shopping first to dig up some for emergency use. If you have time, pick up a few boxes of diamonds along the way. Wang Aiqing said, that thing is very useful for cutting!"
The use of diamonds as cutting tools was also caused by Zhu Youcong. Nowadays, Western concepts are not taken seriously by the people of the Ming Dynasty. The two troublemakers in his family who are used to seeing rare and rare treasures did not even take this thing seriously.
The small box of diamonds that Roy and others bribed him with back then could only be used by the research institute and the Ministry of Industry to make cutting tools for milling machines and other machinery.
"Yes! If, like our Western allies, you, the emperor, only want the colony to have no territory, I can send troops to conquer it within two years and take over it smoothly!" Zhu Youcong was too lazy to talk to this inconspicuous emperor.
Explain what, instead of persuading and educating, it is better to let him make his own choice. As long as he is not too stupid, he should be able to know which is more important.
"What should we do? This electric lamp is a good thing. It is of great use to the country and the people!" Thinking of this, Chongzhen suddenly jumped up and said: "Chengen, please put out this lamp quickly and replace it with candles. In addition,
You go to other carriages and steal all the light bulbs used by the courtiers and seal them all!"
"Wang Chengen, let me kindly remind you, if you are not afraid of getting beaten, go ahead!" Zhu Youcong slowly sat up. He smiled and said: "I went to see it just now. Those old guys like Han Xu can surround themselves with electric lights.
The water is flowing out, and he will rush to anyone who wants to get closer..."
Zhu Youcong was not trying to intimidate him. In order to get a closer look at the electric lamps that could not be extinguished by the wind, he almost had to remove the partitions of the carriages. The three electric lamps in each carriage were surrounded by spectators.
, are currently studying the mystery. If anyone dismantles the light bulb now, those gentle scum might really beat him up.
"Your Majesty..." Wang Chengen was afraid. Civil servants are relatively easy to deal with. After all, they are good at brains and words, and their skills may not be that great. But there are officials from the Ministry of War in the car.
At least Mao Wenlong and Lu Xiangsheng would be fatal if they beat up soldiers.
Are there people who are so deceitful? Eunuchs are human beings too. Especially since the imperial court has decided not to recruit new eunuchs from among the people of the Ming Dynasty, this is a rare species that must be well protected. Let alone being beaten for the sake of the emperor.
, even if it means taking this life, it is nothing, but this beating is too painful?
The emperor did not ask him to fetch the light bulb, but to steal it. The first eunuch in history to be beaten for stealing in public? If this spreads out, he will be laughed out of his mouth!
"What's wrong? You're afraid of them, but not me?" Light bulbs, which are more expensive than gold, can be seen by those treacherous people. Chongzhen just wants to collect more quickly and install them in the Forbidden City when he returns to Beijing.
"Slave..." Wang Chengen was in trouble. On the one hand, he listened to the emperor's words and left his name in history as the stupidest eunuch; on the other hand, he disobeyed the imperial edict. There may not be any danger for the time being, but the future will definitely be difficult. No matter what choice you make,
It’s not easy!
Putting on a posture of looking forward to death, Wang Chengen finally listened to the emperor. After all, the person who wrote the palace files was still an old acquaintance. If you give him some benefits, he might be fooled. "I will accept the saint!"
"Come back!" After all, it was the Supreme Emperor who was much softer than others. Just when Wang Chengen was about to step out of the door, Zhu Qiji finally couldn't bear to stop him. "They are using mass-produced cheap goods.
Just stop making trouble."
"Mass-produced cheap goods? Brother, how can you sing this?" Chongzhen was very dissatisfied. There were cheap ones that he didn't need, but he had to give him a luxury product worth three thousand taels of silver? This is not the way to cheat his brother.
ah.
There are actually many materials that can be used to make filaments, but Zhu Youcong deliberately told the institute only the most expensive one, but he also made it clear why platinum was chosen. But the current institute is not what it was when it was first built.
The scale is huge, and after forming an alliance with the Imperial Academy, the powerful combination is even more powerful.
After a little research, they understood the reason for vacuuming the sealed glass jar. Didn't Ma He, an alchemist of the Southern Chen Dynasty, say in "Pinglong Recognition" that the Yin Qi in the complex air is what makes objects burn?
Necessary condition. Since there is no way to separate this thing for the time being, the only option is to remove it all.
Did you choose platinum because it has the highest melting point and strong heat resistance? That’s easy, experiment! Find different things to replace, and then make a cheaper and more durable one! In just one month, the institute’s experiment was completed
All the metals that can be found in the Ming Dynasty, and they even personally fired ceramic wires as thick as a hair, finally allowed them to find two very effective substitutes from thousands of materials.
Using the caustic alkali fusion method, the best filament can be made from the tungsten extracted from the pile of various ores that Xu Xiake asked Du Yinxi to transport back. However, the production process is still very immature. In more than three hundred kilograms of ore,
It has only been refined for less than a tael, and the price is almost as high as that of platinum. Moreover, this thing seems to have many uses, so it must be handed over to Song Yingxing quickly so that he can continue to study it.
Although carbonized bamboo wire is not as useful as tungsten wire, it is cheap and requires simple processes. It is not a problem to keep the light on for more than ten days. The only trouble is that it is too delicate and will be scrapped if you are not careful when using it. So now although
This is nominal mass production, but after allocating a large number of manpower, the research institute can only produce more than a hundred lamps per month.
"Only more than a hundred?" If this thing is expensive, it will definitely be troublesome to promote it, but bamboo silk is easy to find. If you use this to make light bulbs, the people of the Ming Dynasty can afford it. Chongzhen thought that the whole Ming Dynasty would be brightly lit.
The scene is exciting. We must increase production as soon as possible so that ordinary people can use this thing! (To be continued...)