Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 688 Postscript ([-]) Twilight of Yongchang

"Dang...dang...dang..."

On October 19, 24th year of Yongchang, Emperor Yongchang Zhu Heyin issued an order to strike bells and pestles in temples and Taoist temples inside and outside Beijing, and stop the court for three days to see off King Lang of Qi.

Qi King Zhu Cihong, as the second Qi King of Qi State, continued his father Qi Wenwang's research on science and technology and the policy of unity with Ming Dynasty and other vassals during his tenure.

The Qi State under his rule obviously has strong national power, but it has never been arrogant with military force.

He exempted the state of Qi from taxes many times internally, and actively helped the feudal vassals externally. Therefore, after the news of his death spread, all the vassals at home and abroad beat bells and pestles for him, and there were hundreds of princes and sons who went to Xijing to mourn.

On the first day of the first winter month, Daming gave the King of Qi the posthumous title "Xiang" as King Xiang of Qi. At the same time, he canonized Zhu Hexuan, the son of King Qi, as the third King of Qi.

On the second day of the first winter month, the emperor ordered his grandson Zhu Bohai and Minister of Rites Zhang Tingyu to go to Xijing City to mourn King Xiang of Qi.

On the first day of the first month of the 20th year of Yongchang, the emperor ordered the whole army to replace the Qiansheng-style rifles, and thus revealed the hidden backhand of the Ming Dynasty.

Gansheng rifle, this is a rifle developed by the Rifle Bureau of the Armament Academy in Qiansheng in 17 years. Compared with the apocalypse rifle, the tubular magazine used in the Gansheng rifle is located under the barrel, and the long spring feeds the bullets backwards. Eight rounds.

Since the magazine is hidden in the front bracket, there is not much difference between the Qiansheng rifle and the Yongchang rifle in appearance.

The gun weighs six catties empty, the whole gun is four feet long, the barrel is two feet and four inches long, the rifling is four right-handed, the muzzle velocity is three hundred steps per second, the effective range is one mile, the maximum range is three miles, and the magazine capacity is eight rounds .

Compared with the apocalypse-style rifle, which can only fire one round and reload one round, the Gansheng-style rifle, which loads eight rounds at a time, pulls the bolt eight times and shoots eight times, shows a crushing firepower.

According to the training of soldiers in the Dudufu of the Five Armies afterwards, soldiers using this rifle can shoot 1 times in 52 minute at the fastest.

The appearance of the Qiansheng-style rifle seems to have told the feudal clans why Emperor Yongchang so easily approved the rifle trade in the feudal clan.

As can be seen from the name of the Qiansheng-style rifle, there are still many hidden firearms in Daming.

From February to October, Ming Dynasty successively traded apocalyptic rifles to more than [-] feudal states.

The price of the gun is sold at 20 taels of silver each, and the bullets are one hundred taels of silver.

In just eight months, Daming sold more than 82 rifles in active service and in stock, and sold more than [-] million bullets at the same time.

It is worth mentioning that after Daming announced the Qiansheng-style rifle, Qi Guo did not follow the announcement and change his equipment. Instead, he kept using the Apocalypse-style rifle.

But even so, no country would believe that the Qi Congress was behind Daming in terms of firearms.

In March of the 20th year of Yongchang, Daming built the world's first large-scale thermal power plant in the north of Fangshan, Beizhili.

According to the records of the Ministry of Industry after the event, the Fangshan Thermal Power Plant invested a total of 20 taels of silver to build it, using two 25-kilowatt alternators, which can produce [-] kilowatts of electricity per day.

During the construction of this thermal power plant, the Ministry of Industry installed more than 400 chandeliers in the Forbidden City, the Sixth Ministry, the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion, and the Sixth Division, as well as fire prevention measures.

In July, Fangshan Thermal Power Plant was put into operation, and since then, electric lights have been seen for the first time by people outside the Armament Academy.

Emperor Yongchang was very happy about this, and asked the Armament Academy to continue to develop high-frequency generators, so that people in the capital and even the world could see electric lights at night.

Compared with the anxiety of the Ming Military Academy, Qi State was not in a hurry to use electricity in the lives of dignitaries and officials, but concentrated electricity to deal with the power system of the Academy of Sciences.

In September, Zhang Wanqi, Minister of the State of Qi, went to the public and said that the literacy rate in the State of Qi had reached [-]%. He suggested that universities should be added to the compulsory education system. Qi Wang Zhu Hexi heard that Zhu agreed.

In the twelfth lunar month, due to frequent failures of the power generation equipment of Fangshan Power Plant, the lights in the palace were sometimes on and off, which made Emperor Yongchang very displeased.

In the same month, Emperor Yongchang decreed to expand the Fangshan Thermal Power Plant to ensure that the yamen in Beijing can handle government affairs at night with peace of mind.

In March 21 of Yongchang, the Fangshan Thermal Power Plant was expanded from two 25-kilowatt alternators to ten, with a daily power supply of [-] kWh.

At the same time, the Ministry of Industry added wires and [-] chandeliers in various yamen in the capital, and the Department of Law and Education added a weekly "electricity safety class" to schools across the country, so as to reduce the safety problems of people's electricity use in the future.

After electric lights were popularized in various government offices in the capital, many ordinary people could also see this kind of "odorless oil lamp" that was brighter than oil lamps and had no smell when passing by.

While many people were curious, the Department of Justice and the "Da Ming Pao" also cooperated with each other to explain, and many people all over the world have a general understanding of what "electricity" is.

In April, Qi State also added "electricity" into physics textbooks.

In July, Zhu Cijiong, the king of Ding, passed away in the palace. Emperor Yongchang stopped the court for three days for him, and at the same time gave him the posthumous title "Mu", making him King Dingmu.

In October, when the three-month national mourning was over, Zhu Helei, who succeeded King Ding, couldn't swallow the grievance of being defeated by the Northern Alliance before, and decided to send troops to crusade against Tsarist Russia again.

At this time, Dingguo had a population of more than 340 million and an army of more than 3000, and because [-] of them were equipped with apocalyptic rifles, Zhu Helei was arrogant and did not take the Northern Alliance seriously.

However, Zhu Helei also knew that winter is not suitable for sending troops, so he took the first day of March as the time to send troops.

His approach gave the Northern Alliance time to build fortifications.

The Northern Alliance built a large number of fortifications in Valdai, St. Petersburg and other places, basically imitating the fortification methods of the fixed army.

In Dongyue, the Tang State of Kunlun Continent decided to unite with the Kunlun feudal clans to encircle and suppress the aboriginals in the interior after half a year of military training.

The Kunlun Eight Fans joined forces with Chen Fan, who later established the country, to form a counter-rebel army, with a total of nine battalions of soldiers and horses.

They went deep into the inland from various countries and different directions, and fought from the winter month to the next March, and did not retreat until the rear could not supply supplies.

According to the records of Chen Guo officials, Chen Guo alone captured more than 6 slaves in this battle, and used them to build a large number of canals in the Chen Guo Plain (Nile Delta) that were conducive to agriculture.

In March of the 22nd year of Yongchang, Dingguo and Mongolia launched an attack on the Northern Alliance. Dingguo sent 17 troops, Mongolia sent [-] troops, and the Northern Alliance sent [-] troops.

At the same time, a famine occurred in the Fujian Province of the Ming Dynasty, and many farmers were short of food. The wealthy local households took the opportunity to hoard the cheap rice sold in the Huangdian, regardless of the life and death of the people, in an attempt to obtain huge profits.

The local people in Yongchun and Dehua counties, Quanzhou Prefecture, couldn't bear it anymore, and launched an uprising against the wealthy households' storage of grain.

After the incident broke out, the army did not dare to take any action for a while, but Tian Wenjing, who was in Guangdong next door, immediately took a train to Quanzhou Prefecture.

He came to Quanzhou Prefecture by car and persuaded the local people to stop the uprising. At the same time, he promised to investigate the Quanzhou prefect and severely punish the wealthy households in the city.

He made three chapters with the common people, and then led three thousand soldiers from the security battalion to arrest the prefect of Quanzhou and all the county officials in Quanzhou. of food for disaster relief.

After a week of this, the hungry people in Quanzhou dispersed under the background of Tian Wenjing's promise of disaster relief.

On March 27, Tian Wenjing exempted tax from Fujian Province, and at the same time transferred food from Guangdong and Jiangxi to the victims.

The memorial was sent to the capital by telegram. Only then did Emperor Yongchang know that such a thing had happened under his nose, and immediately asked Tian Wenjing to strictly investigate and deal with officials in Fujian province.

In April, Tian Wenjing was the governor of Fujian Province. He rewarded and promoted officials who opened warehouses in time to provide disaster relief, arrested all officials who colluded with wealthy families, and sentenced officials who committed serious crimes to death.

In May, when the disaster situation in Fujian subsided, Tian Wenjing transferred more than [-] million shi of grain in Guangdong and Jiangxi for disaster relief. Fujian people spontaneously set up a shrine for Tian Wenjing, and called him "Tian Gong".

I don't know if Zhu Youjian, who is well-known under the spring, will be quite emotional when he knows that this person who "hidden flood disasters and did not report them" in history is now so stern and selfless.

In June, Rorschach, a bachelor of the Qi National Academy of Sciences, proposed a four-stroke internal combustion engine working cycle of intake, compression, power, and exhaust.

In August, several middle school students from Chen Guo found a cave in the upper reaches of the Chen River (Nile River) when they were having fun. There were many bronze wares stored in the cave, and they quickly reported the matter.

After the incident was reported, Chen Guo's army took control of the cave and waited for several teachers from the local middle school to conduct archaeology.

After archaeology, these bronzes were identified as bronzes of the early Western Zhou Dynasty. The teachers speculated that the current Chen State may be the West Queen Mother State during the Zhou Dynasty.

In October, more than 300 electricity bachelors from Qi State and more than 500 electricity bachelors from Daming conducted electricity research exchanges for nearly two years at the exchange center in Beizhou Prefecture, Yingzhou, and conducted joint experiments for half a year.

In March of the 23rd year of Yongchang, after a year of fierce fighting, Dingguo successfully captured Novgorod, and more than a million Tsarist Russian residents fled north.

However, Dingguo also suffered a lot of casualties, and the [-] army lost more than [-] people.

In contrast, the price of the Northern Alliance was even greater, not only losing Novgorod, but also killing more than [-] people.

In this battle, the Swedes saw the power of breech-loading guns for the first time, and at the same time they became more determined to maintain their alliance.

After the Swedish army withdrew to Sweden, King Alvin of Sweden sent an invitation to Denmark.

In his letter describing the power of the breech-loading gun, he invited Denmark to join the Northern League.

However, the Danes thought it was Alvin's exaggeration and ignored it.

In June, in the Beizhou Exchange Office, electrical bachelors from Ming and Qi countries jointly developed a [-]kWh AC generator.

If the Fangshan thermal power plant is replaced with such ten generators, it will be able to illuminate [-] electric lamps every day, and the same is true for the hydroelectric power station in Qi.

In addition to the breakthrough of the alternator in the communication between the electrical bachelors, some other bachelors have also made certain achievements in the communication research.

After this exchange meeting, Bachelor Wang Zheng of the Qi National Academy of Sciences discovered that carbon dioxide, ammonia, chlorine and other gases will turn into liquids under pressurized conditions, and turn into gases again when the pressure is lowered.

After returning to Qi State, he continued to study this phenomenon in his laboratory, and later discovered that during the process of changing from liquid to gas, these substances would absorb a large amount of heat, causing the surrounding temperature to drop rapidly.

After discovering this phenomenon, Wang Zheng continued his in-depth research and perfected the artificial refrigeration technology in March of the 24th year of Yongchang.

In May, Wang Zheng led the team members to develop the world's first artificial refrigeration compressor.

This kind of compressor can cool the objects stored in special containers to zero, but due to the high cost, it has not been widely promoted, but continues to be studied in depth as a product of the laboratory.

In May of the same year, Britain, France, the Netherlands, Holy Rome and other countries signed the "Utrecht Peace Treaty". The four countries divided up the European enclave of the Spanish Empire. At the same time, France and Spain could not be united in name.

The signing of this peace treaty made France finally the winner in the war of succession to the Spanish throne, and the Spanish throne was inherited by Felipe V, who had the blood of the Bourbon family.

So far, France has eliminated the worry of being attacked by the Habsburg dynasty on both sides, and has gained the future powerful Spain as an ally, expanding France's influence in Europe.

However, the 30 elite French army also suffered heavy losses in the war. The French navy was almost completely wiped out, and the army was also dilapidated, only one-third of its heyday.

At the same time, the Little Ice Age also began to show its final power.

A cold natural disaster befalls France, and a large number of hungry people died in the war, causing the entire French society to be on the verge of collapse.

The population of France dropped from more than 2000 million before the war to [-] million after the war.

The French people thought that after the victory of France, they would get a lot of land and assets to help the people restore food and clothing, and restore the social economy to the pre-war state.

However, the harsh "Utrecht Peace Treaty" seemed to be a resounding slap in the face of the French people.

The people don't understand much politics, they are just very disappointed with the outcome of the war.

Such disappointment caused Louis XIV's original great image and high popularity to decline, and the people's praise for comparing the king to the sun has since disappeared from the French's speech and memory.

In order to save his image in the hearts of the people, Louis XIV had to ask Daming Bank again for a post-disaster reconstruction loan of 600 million taels, and purchased a large amount of materials from Qi State to help France carry out post-disaster reconstruction.

Like France, there are three other countries that have requested loans from Ming Dynasty: the Netherlands, Spain, and Holy Rome.

All the funds they borrowed were also mostly used to purchase various materials from Qi State and the Middle East Supervisory Commission.

After the war, several countries involved in the war had a total debt of more than 500 million taels, which required them to pay off for a year without eating or drinking.

The loans would take them five years to repay, on a rule-by-government basis.

This loan was called "stupid loan" by later generations, because a large amount of gold in Western European countries was wiped out in this loan, leaving only silver and a small amount of gold in the country.

In September of the same year, due to the huge trade profits, Qi Wang Zhu Hexi decided to build a super large power station in Qishui, with an estimated investment of 300 million taels.

In October, construction began on the power station, which is expected to take seven years.

In the twelfth lunar month, Emperor Yongchang of the Ming Dynasty ordered to replace the motor of Fangshan Power Plant with a [-]-kilowatt motor, and at the same time install [-] street lights for the inner city.

However, after the decree was issued, it was quickly rejected by the chief minister of the cabinet, Chen Tingjing.

Chen Tingjing found the emperor with the imperial decree and explained the reason for the rejection.

Chen Tingjing believes that [-] electric lights will not play much role in the huge inner city, and the power plant has never generated any income in operation for many years, so the excess power usage rights should be sold to the rich and powerful in Beijing to earn profits. Fundraising for research on generators.

Emperor Yongchang agreed after hearing this, and Chen Tingjing also ordered the officials of the Beijing Power Supply Bureau to invite bids afterwards.

When the power supply bureau put out a bidding quota with a price of 1000 taels, in just three days, the quota for the first batch of electricity was snapped up by [-] dignitaries and wealthy businessmen.

These more than [-] powerful and wealthy businessmen were informed about the power supply after the event, and then the craftsmen of the Ministry of Industry came to install power supply lines, electric meters, and electric lights, and then energized the mansion.

They are the first group of people who witnessed the electricity going to the people, and the power supply station also has strict standards for their electricity consumption.

Each household must not use more than [-] kilowatt-hours of electricity per month, and if it exceeds, the power will be cut off, and the electricity price for them is also set very high.

Ten cents per kilowatt-hour of electricity, [-] cents for [-] kilowatt-hours of electricity, and electricity bills are settled quarterly.

The price of 1000 taels is the price of laying electric lights and power lines, while the electricity fee is another price.

For the common people, this may be unacceptable, but for these dignitaries, this fee is nothing more than the bits and pieces that they drank from their mouths.

In March of the 25th year of Yongchang, the Beijing Power Supply Station received its first electricity bill.

350 seven two six points four cents three, this is the amount of the first electricity bill received by the power supply.

This amount is not much, but for Daming, it made many officials see a new employment direction.

In April, the Department of Justice ordered universities around the world to add "Electrical Sciences" to reserve the electrical talents needed in the future.

Not long after this order was issued, the Armament Academy showed the fifth version of internal combustion engines and cars in the Forbidden City.

On the fifth day of May, the Academy of Armaments exhibited the "Daming Automobile" in the Forbidden City.

In this demonstration, the Daming car appeared in front of everyone at a speed of eighty miles per hour.

At the same time, in this exhibition, the Armament Academy exhibited a car version and a truck version.

The sedan version attracts more attention from civil servants, because its fuel tank can travel 240 miles at a speed of [-] miles per hour after it is filled with fuel, and one fuel filling can satisfy many people for a week's travel.

As for the generals, they are more concerned about a truck that can carry two tons. Although it can only maintain a speed of sixty miles per hour and travel two hundred miles per hour, it is enough for the army to use.

In terms of selling price, the cost price of a car is 300 taels, while that of a truck is 500 taels.

This price stopped many officials who were eager to make a move, but when they heard that the Armament Academy could reduce the cost price in the future, they all praised it in unanimous agreement.

The ministers were happy, and the students of the Armament Academy were also happy. After seeing this scene, the Yongchang Emperor Zhu Heyin couldn't help nodding happily.

Such happiness made him feel that his body was in good condition.

However, the emissary of the imperial hospital who was always with him knew very well that the emperor's health is not that good right now, and there is not much time left for him...

(End of this chapter)