Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 533
"This is the third version of the train after adjustments. It can reach a speed of [-] miles per hour with a full load of [-] tons."

"After the ship is adjusted, it can also reach a speed of eighty miles per hour."

In the first ten days of October, when the grain rush was over and tax documents from all over the country were sent to the capital, Zhu Youjian came to the Military Armament Academy after a long absence.

While listening to Wang Zheng's explanation of the progress of the third version of the large-scale high-pressure steam engine, he also touched the large-scale high-pressure steam engine model placed in front of him with his own hands.

Compared with the second version of the steam engine for trains and ships with a speed of [-] miles per hour and a load of only [-] tons, the progress of the third version of the large-scale high-pressure steam engine is not insignificant.

"Have fuel costs increased?"

In the research institute with reinforced concrete for the whole body and a glass ceiling for the top, Zhu Youjian turned around and asked Wang Zheng, who pushed his reading glasses:
"It has increased by about 30%, but compared with the increased load and speed, this increase is normal, and the thermal efficiency has increased instead."

Wang Zheng's words are basically those in the "Yanshan Textbook". If Zhu Youjian hadn't watched him learn it step by step, he might have thought that Wang Zheng had traveled from modern times.

"How is the research on internal combustion engines? Is there any progress?" Zhu Youjian asked Wang Zheng. Wang Zheng nodded first, then shook his head and said:

"The model has been made, and it can work, but its horsepower is too small, less than three horsepower, and its thermal efficiency is very low, less than 2%, which is far lower than 14% of the high-pressure steam engine, and the cost of kerosene is very high. high."

Wang Zheng brought good news to Zhu Youjian, but Zhu Youjian knew that it would take decades for Daming to use the internal combustion engine.

He can use his own knowledge to help create the steam engine, but he only has a general understanding of the internal combustion engine. It took almost 30 years in Europe for the internal combustion engine to be invented in the mid-nineteenth century and applied to automobiles and agricultural machinery.

The current scientific foundation of the Ming Dynasty is a castle in the air, and the house is supported by Yanshan textbooks.

If there isn't a lot of physicist talent filling in the fundamental physics, sooner or later the house will collapse.

The purpose of Zhu Youjian's promotion of official studies is to obtain some talents in mathematics, physics and chemistry from the large population of Daming.

"Your Highness, please look over here..."

Wang Zheng signaled Zhu Youjian to follow him, and Zhu Youjian followed Wang Zheng to a machine similar to an internal combustion engine.

"This is the internal combustion engine manufactured by the Military Armament Academy. The fuel is kerosene as His Highness said."

"At present, Guochao's kerosene is obtained by fractional distillation of petroleum, and the cost is twenty cents per catty."

"We have tested the internal combustion engine using kerosene, and its horsepower is not enough to propel the train when it is put on the train."

"My subordinate feels that there may be no need to study this internal combustion engine."

Wang Zheng's disappointment with the internal combustion engine is the same as that of the European scientific community in the [-]th century. If Zhu Youjian hadn't seen the benefits of the internal combustion engine, perhaps he would also have no hope for the internal combustion engine.

Facing a steam engine with ever-increasing thermal efficiency, an internal combustion engine with only one-seventh of its efficiency is like a clown.

Daming has the ability to get it out, but there is no way to improve its efficiency.

The thermal efficiency of the steam engine can be improved before, and it was also made by Wang Zheng after Zhu Youjian taught the experience.

But in the face of the internal combustion engine, even Zhu Youjian didn't know how to improve its efficiency.

"You can try to follow the steps of the steam engine to improve the thermal efficiency, don't worry too much."

Zhu Youjian comforted Wang Zheng. He knew that it would take at least a few decades for the internal combustion engine to be put into the market. Anyway, it would not cost too much money to study it, so let's do it first.

"Has the research on gunpowder and artillery, and other machinery, progressed?"

Zhu Youjian walked in the exhibition room of the research institute, looked at the various machines developed by the Military Armament Institute, and asked Wang Zheng about the progress of other research.

The current Armament Academy is no longer the small workshop it used to be.

In the Armament Academy, there are more than 600 people who have received more than ten years of Yanshan government education, and more than 3000 people who have received more than five years of education.

These nearly 5000 Hanlin bachelors are basically all the existing mathematical, physical and chemical scientific research talents in Daming.

In future generations, I am afraid that a few high schools can gather so many people, but in the present, and even in the next 200 years, they will be an existence that will make all countries hold their own.

This is just the beginning, starting from the 19th year of the apocalypse, tens of thousands of people with the same knowledge as them will pour into the Armament Academy every year.

At that time, the quality of Hanlin bachelors in the Armament Academy will be further improved, and batches of science workers will flood into factories all over the country.

"The research on gunpowder has not progressed for a long time. After the research, the artillery can roughly increase the range to six miles. Going further requires the support of gunpowder."

Facing Zhu Youjian's inquiry, Wang Zheng first answered the first question, and then led Zhu Youjian to a series of signs with "Agricultural Machinery".

Behind the sign are five or six machines that Zhu Youjian doesn't know. Wang Zheng explained:

"There are the conveyor belts that His Highness mentioned, drive-type harvesters, seeders, and fertilizer spreaders."

"These machines basically rely on steam engines and livestock, but they can improve the efficiency of people's planting, especially the various machines powered by animals. Compared with steam-type machines, they are cheaper and stronger, and have a greater effect on the people."

Wang Zheng introduced all the machines to Zhu Youjian one by one, no matter it was human, animal, or steam powered.

In short, Zhu Youjian said that these machines can improve the production efficiency of ordinary people, such as animal-powered rocker harvesters.

Only one ox or a draft horse is needed to put the man-made stalks into piles, saving farmers a lot of time.

After reading these, Zhu Youjian walked to the military display stand, where there were steam armored vehicles, steam warships, rocker machine guns, Apocalypse XI rifles, grenades with wooden handles similar to those of later generations, and pistols.

These things are all under research, or only have appearance models, and the only ones that can really be used are the Apocalypse XI rifles.

"When will these things be realized one by one?"

Zhu Youjian looked at the palm-sized steam armored vehicles and warships, and played with them.

Wang Zheng couldn't answer his question, so he had to find a Hanlin Bachelor from the Military Academy to answer.

In general, pistols are the most likely to be implemented at present, followed by rocker machine guns, and then wooden handle grenades.

The welding technology needed for steam ironclad ships is not up to Da Ming at present. Only by developing electric power and using electric welding can this standard be achieved, but the word electric power is too far away from the current Daming.

As for steam armored vehicles, it can be realized in theory, but the cost is too high, and the Ming army already has the ability to iterate firearms, so it is not very necessary at present.

Only after the emergence of the internal combustion engine, it has the need to study mass production.

These things are the objects that Ming Dynasty needs to study in the next 50 years. After 50 years, it will be 1685 AD.

Thinking of this distant timeline, Zhu Youjian was not even sure if he could live to that time.

He put down the things in his hand, turned around and walked out of the exhibition hall. Wang Zheng was about to see him off, but was stopped by Zhu Youjian.

"You guys continue to study yours. I will ask the Ministry of Households to allocate the 100 million taels of research funding for the Armament Academy."

After speaking, Zhu Youjian left the Armament Academy with Lu Wenzhao who was guarding the door.

After they walked out of the gate of the Armament Academy and got into the carriage, Lu Wenzhao also took out a memorial and handed it to Zhu Youjian:

"Your Highness, this is a summary of the documents from the four provinces outside the customs sent by the Ministry of Household Affairs just now."

"The situation is better than what was discussed before. The total grain and fodder output of the four provinces this year is more than 280 million shi in Liaodong, 340 million shi in Modong, 38 million shi in Donghai, and [-] shi in Beishan."

"In addition to these, there are more than 280 million sheep, more than [-] horses and more than [-] cattle of the herdsmen."

"According to the requirements, the land tax of the four provinces is 320 million shi, 28 sheep, more than [-] draft horses, rough horses, and more than [-] cattle."

Lu Wenzhao was explaining, and Zhu Youjian was also flipping through it. After they finished talking one by one, and the other finished reading it, Zhu Youjian also closed the memorial and asked:
"How many cattle, horses and sheep are produced by the official ranch?"

"About 40 army horses, more than 140 rough horses, more than 190 million draft horses, more than [-] million cattle, and more than [-] million sheep."

Lu Wenzhao's response was quick, because Zhu Youjian asked him to go to the officialdom to inquire before leaving.

Since the 11th year of the Tianqi pacification of the Northeast, the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty has focused on animal husbandry.

Currently in the pass, there are only some poultry farms in the mountainous areas and pig farms in the cols and hills.

The number of these officialdoms is not large, but there are also quite a few, with a total of [-].

Breeding of large Yorkshire pigs has been very successful. At present, there are 150 million large Yorkshire pigs and 72 domestic pigs in [-] official farms.

In addition, there are more than [-] million poultry such as chickens, ducks and geese in the officialdom.

These poultry and livestock basically did not take up Daming's own grain, and the grain they ate was rice that was transported to Luchuan by Indian servants.

These rices crossed the ocean and had a slight odor when they arrived in Luchuan. However, after processing, they can be transported overland to livestock in the south, while livestock in the north still eat feed made of bran.

These cattle, sheep, livestock and poultry eat nearly 5000 million stones of feed every year, but Zhu Youjian doesn't feel bad.

In the final analysis, nearly [-]% of the feed that they eat is the food produced in Sidang, India, and it is better to feed the livestock of Daming if it is left to the natives of Sidang in India.

At least the livestock in the officialdom can be eaten by the people of Ming Dynasty, which alleviates the famine in disguise.

In the Ming Dynasty under the rule of Zhu Youjian, except for the Huaibei famine and the worst drought in the 14th year of Tianqi, there is currently no famine.

Even Zhu Ciran saw a lot of bones in his travel notes to the south. After he inquired, they were people who starved to death in the 14th year of the apocalypse, or died of illness due to malnutrition, and they were limited to the south of Shanxi.

As the people in Shanxi continue to migrate to outside the pass, there will be fewer and fewer people starving to death.

"Have all the pastures outside the pass been allocated?" Zhu Youjian was dealing with the memorial, and also asked Lu Wenzhao.

Lu Wenzhao lowered his head slightly: "According to the report of the Ministry of Household Affairs, the 18 billion mu of grassland outside the customs has been distributed, and even the grassland in Mobei has been distributed to some Shanxi people."

"In addition, the Ministry of Household Affairs also has Shangshu, saying that this year Huangdian will distribute 120 million cattle and more than 600 million sheep to immigrants."

"..." Lu Wenzhao's words made Zhu Youjian pause his pen, but he quickly responded, "According to the Ministry of Household Affairs."

Zhu Youjian has no doubts about the ability of the officialdom. After all, the Taipu Temple in the Yongle period was able to raise more than 20 million horses and more than 150 million sheep in the official racecourse within 1000 years. A larger officialdom is impossible.

"How are the preparations for Nanzhou's officialdom? Did Cheng En tell you before leaving?"

When Lu Wenzhao came out with Zhu Youjian, he naturally had to write down all the affairs of the various departments, even if Zhu Youjian asked at any time.

"Nanzhou officialdom has been opened. Right now, there are twelve counties in Nanzhou, three counties overseas, and nine counties on land."

"Except for the three overseas counties that only build livestock and poultry farms, the remaining nine counties on land are all equipped with pastures."

"The local pastures are billions of acres, which can raise tens of millions of cattle and sheep."

The development of Nanzhou has been on the right track. At present, there are three prefectures and twelve counties in the local area. Although the territory is vast, the population is only 56. The grain produced by the cultivated land is very insufficient, and Nanhai Prefecture needs to transport grain to it.

However, with the opening of the officialdom in Nanzhou, tractors will enter Nanzhou one by one.

Considering the population and land conditions of Nanzhou, excluding the old and the weak, only 2000 tractors are needed, and at least 700 million mu of arable land can be reclaimed in ten years. Counting animal husbandry, it can feed [-] million people.

Daming can't produce [-] tractors at the moment, but Daming can send thousands of tractors to the local area.

For example, among the [-] tractors shipped to Nanyang, [-] were left in Luzon, Palembang, and Old Port, [-] were sent to Nanhai (Java), and the remaining [-] were sent to Nanzhou.

For Jiugang, Nanhai Mansion is the most important, because it is the best place to reclaim, and the yield per mu of land is also the highest.

As long as this prefecture is properly developed, the current mu yield is enough to feed 4000 million people.

In comparison, Palembang, Old Port, and the three prefectures of Luzon are slightly insufficient. As for Zhongshan and Dongshan, their development needs to be ranked after Nanzhou.

After Lu Wenzhao's report was over, Zhu Youjian did not continue to ask, but lowered his head to deal with the memorial.

After a quarter of an hour, when the carriage arrived at Mentougou Railway Station, Zhu Youjian got off the carriage and returned to the capital by train.

While he was riding the train, Zhu Ciran, who was riding a bicycle all the way, was also panting through the Daba Mountain, and walked the provincial road between Hanzhong and Sichuan into the Jiange of Baoning Prefecture in Sichuan.

As soon as he entered Sichuan, what Zhu Ciran could feel with his naked eyes was tranquility.

Compared with the more densely populated Hanzhong Prefecture in Shaanxi, after entering Baoning Prefecture, it is very normal to ride for dozens of miles without seeing any people.

Fortunately, after crossing Jiange and driving into the country road, Zhu Ciran finally saw a rural village not far from the country road.

From a long distance, people in the village noticed the strange-looking cart, Zhu Ciran and four riding on the cart, and dozens of cavalry behind them.

The prince's trip may have been hidden from the common people, but certainly not from the officials of Yanshan. Coincidentally, the village officials here are officials from the Yanshan faction, and they have long known that the prince has chosen this path.

Therefore, when Zhu Ciran stopped, a village official ran all the way to the entrance of the village, and just ran into Zhu Ciran who got off the car and was carrying a water bag.

"Zheng Sanyuan, the village official of Nanxi Village, see His Highness the Crown Prince, Your Highness is thousand years old..."

As soon as they met, Zheng Sanyuan bowed to Zhu Ciran, which made Zhu Ciran feel unhappy.

He wanted to experience folk life as a commoner, and Zheng Sanyuan greeted him like this, how could the people in the village treat him like an ordinary person.

"You wait here, I will go to the village by myself."

Zhu Ciran made Zheng Sanyuan stand where he was, and then he called Liu Shun, and the two walked to the village, but the villagers in the village were all in their yards, leaning on the courtyard wall to look at them, and no one was there. go out.

But this is not a problem, Zhu Ciran walked around Nanxi Village with Liu Shun according to the old rules.

Walking in Nanxi Village, the atmosphere of the whole village is extraordinarily peaceful. There are no noisy crowds, and there is only a straight concrete road leading to nowhere.

The villagers' dwellings are well arranged, and the yards are neat and clean. The whole yard is made of cement and stone. Compared with the villages in Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Hexi, Zhu Ciran's first reaction to Nanxi Village is that it is rich.

He walked around several times and took the opportunity to fetch water from some villagers' homes.

During the conversation, he realized that basically every household here raises native pigs and poultry. Half of the feed for the pigs is rice bran powder, and the other half is wild pigs grazing.

Each yard basically has three to five pigs and more than twenty poultry.

Nanxi Village is built on both sides of the main road in the village. Behind the yard is a vegetable field, and further away is a rice field.

In the distance, the rice in the rice field has been harvested, and the straw is tied into an upright shape by the farmers.

Vegetables such as radish leaves, sweet potato vines and Chinese cabbage are planted in the vegetable garden. They are so green that they can feed the whole family for a month or two.

"By the way, what are you guys doing? Why did Zheng Village officials come to pick you up?"

A [-]-year-old man who took Zhu Ciran and Liu Shun to visit the yard asked the two of them. Seeing this, Zhu Ciran immediately explained in a low voice:
"It's not to welcome us, it's to welcome the mayor. The two of us were sent by the mayor to fetch water and check people's conditions. Village official Zheng is still chatting with the mayor."

"Oh, I see, I see, it's nothing serious, right?" The old man nodded quickly, thinking that something important had happened.

Zhu Ciran shook his head, and then said: "Just ask how your life is going, and whether the village officials have made things difficult for you."

"Then let's go back to the courtyard and sit and talk." Hearing this, the old man immediately brought Zhu Ciran and Liu Shun back to the courtyard, found two small stools for them, and then went back to work.

While he was doing this, Zhu Ciran and Liu Shun walked around and looked at his yard.

This yard covers an area of ​​about four quarters (256 square meters), and the backyard is a cowshed, woodshed, and hut.

The cowshed has two walls, and the courtyard wall blocks three sides together. The roof is made of cheap gray tiles. There are a buffalo and a mule in the shed. There are hundreds of briquettes in the firewood shed next to the cowshed, and a large vat of bran. Bran powder and a bucket of dozens of catties of soybean material.

This scene made the two look at each other in surprise, as if lamenting the financial resources of the old man.

Not to mention the yard and the farm cattle and mules distributed by the government, the briquettes, bran, and beans in the firewood house alone are worth nearly a tael of silver.

The two then looked at the hut. The hut is a normal dry toilet in the countryside, but the pigsty is connected to the back of the dry toilet. The pigsty is paved with stone slabs, leaving gaps for easy cleaning of excrement.

In the pigsty, the old man raised two sows and six or seven piglets. After walking out of the hut, there were a dozen chickens locked in a row of henhouses knocked on wood at the corner, chirping.

When I came to the kitchen in the front yard, the kitchen was also very tidy. The water tank in the corner was filled with water, and the rice tank that could hold hundreds of catties of rice was full.

In addition to the kitchen, there is a main house in the front yard, and side rooms on the left and right sides of the main hall of the main house. In addition to these two side rooms, there is also a side room opposite the kitchen for people to rest.

"Sit first, sit first, there is nothing to greet people at home, it makes the two of you laugh."

After finishing everything, the old man greeted the two to sit down, and after the two sat down, he brought a small coffee table.

In front of the two of them, he boiled water to make a pot of rough tea, brought a plate of peanuts, and then hugged his three or four-year-old grandson and waited for the two to question him.

Seeing this scene, the two wondered if they had come to the wrong place, thinking that they had come to Jiangnan.

"Uncle Zhang, do the people here live like this? Does every family raise so many pigs and poultry?"

Zhu Ciran asked with some surprise, but the old man Zhang nodded: "It has basically been like this for the past few years."

"How much arable land does every household in the village have now?" Liu Shun asked curiously, but the old man Zhang replied without hesitation: "Look at people, the immigrants who migrated from Shaanxi each have ten acres."

"When my family moved here, my wife, my son, and daughter-in-law were all there, and they allocated [-] acres of land."

"Later, my wife died, but my grandson was born, and it was still [-] mu of land for four people."

"Why don't you see my eldest brother and sister-in-law?" Liu Shun looked around and asked curiously. Old man Zhang also explained:

"The road in the south is being built, and they go to work. They are paid fifteen yuan a day. Except for the busy farming season, they are helping at other times."

"Are there many families like yours in the village? How much grain can the field produce each year?" Zhu Ciran asked, with some writings in his hand, like interviews for later generations.

"There are many. There are some who live better than us. Even poor families can have [-] acres of land and raise three or four pigs. It is not a problem to produce [-] catties of rice every year."

All the old man Zhang's answers were without hesitation, which gave Zhu Ciran a general understanding of the situation in Nanxi Village.

According to the worst 15 mu of land, raising three or four pigs, and yielding 25 catties of rice per mu, excluding taxes, the annual income of a family in Nanxi Village is at least about [-] taels. If a husband and wife work part-time, That can reach about [-] taels.

For a family like Old Man Zhang, including the part-time wages of his son and daughter-in-law, the annual income can reach almost 50 to [-] taels of silver.

This kind of income is naturally nothing to Zhu Ciran and the others, but after Zhu Ciran and the others traveled through Shanxi, Shanxi, and Hexi, they knew how terrifying such an annual income was.

Even if the people in Shanxi do not suffer from drought, a family of four can earn at most thirteen or forty taels of silver per year including the money from part-time jobs.

With the current drought, the annual income of a family of four in Shanxi can basically only be maintained at around seven or eight taels.

Shaanxi is slightly better than Shanxi, but it has not encountered a severe drought, and it can only have seventeen or eight taels of silver for part-time workers, and only twelve or thirty taels in the case of drought.

As for Hexi, the actual situation is only between 15 taels and 20 taels.

Looking at it this way, the people of Nanxi Village are simply too rich.

"Are all the villages in Sichuan similar to Nanxi Village?" Zhu Ciran asked curiously, but old man Zhang shook his head:

"It's all different. It depends on where the immigrants are from. Some people who go to eastern Sichuan are a little worse than us. They can only eat two or three meals of meat a month."

"Two or three meals of meat..." Zhu Ciran was speechless, thinking of the life in Shanxi where even the village officials could only serve cabbage and pickles with rice.

But Liu Shun heard something was wrong from the words, and couldn't help asking: "How many meals of meat can Nanxi Village eat in a month?"

"I know!" The child who was being held by the old man Zhang replied rushingly: "One meal a day, and eat meat for dinner!"

"One meal a day?!" Zhu Ciran and Liu Shun almost bit their tongues, and Old Man Zhang nodded with a smile:

"Every family in the village kills a pig every day, and the whole village eats it, so they can eat one meal a day."

"The chickens and ducks at home are basically eaten by the family. I kill a chicken here and eat it for three days."

Old man Zhang's words and expression did not seem to be deceiving, but Zhu Ciran and Liu Shun still couldn't believe it.

They just walked out of Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Hexi, and they couldn't believe that the people of Ming Dynasty still had a meal of meat every day.

But the expressions of old man Zhang and his grandson told them that at a time like this, it was just the norm in Nanxi Village...

(End of this chapter)