Ten Dragons Take the Inheritance

Chapter 505 Railway
On August [-]th of the eighth year of Yuanzhuo, the Confucianism of Erudition and Confucianism was held as scheduled in the main hall of Qianqing Palace. The emperor came to supervise the examination, which lasted for two hours; All were incorporated into the Hanlin Academy, and were awarded the posts of editing and review respectively. At the same time, the emperor issued a clear edict: to write the historical books and scriptures of the Imperial Academy, and to compile the "Siku Quanshu" to identify the scriptures from the historical records of the Ming Dynasty.

On the seventh day of September in the eighth year of Yuanzhuo, Yunti, who was imprisoned in the Shangsi Hospital, died of a serious illness at the age of 45; on the 43th day of September in the eighth year of Yuanzhuo, the deposed prince Yunfeng died in the Shangsi Hospital at the age of [-]; Although the man has been imprisoned for a long time, the emperor remembered the brotherhood and mourned for it. He issued an imperial edict to posthumously present Yunti as the king of Liyan County, and posthumously present Yunfeng as Prince Limi, with a lavish burial.

On the ninth day of October in the eighth year of Yuanzhuo, the First Fleet from the Nanyang Expedition returned with great honor. The emperor ordered his elder brother Hongli to welcome the envoy to Qingdao, Shandong Province to meet the triumphant army and the Sultan of Malacca who moved inland; the Fourth Fleet stationed in Fujian was ready. Set off for Malacca to escort the Jiangxi people who had immigrated to Malacca, and replaced the Third Squadron of the First Fleet, which was on guard duty in Malacca at this time.

On October [-]th of the eighth year of Yuanzhuo, the emperor issued an edict to give generous rewards to the army that went on an expedition to Nanyang. Prince Yunyu of Jinyong County was crowned Prince Yong and rewarded both Princes and princes. Liu Shuangcheng, who retired from office, became the Minister of the Navy; Liu Ninghai, the commander of the First Squadron of the First Fleet of Jin Dynasty, was appointed Admiral and transferred to the commander of the Third Fleet stationed in Shanghai; Commander; Suo Longso, the commander of the third fleet of the Jin First Fleet, is the admiral and temporarily serves as the commander of the Malacca Garrison. The officials arranged a memorial ceremony, and the emperor came to summon the souls of the fallen soldiers in person.

On the seventh day of November in the eighth year of Yuanzhuo, it was sunny, taking advantage of the fact that it was not an early morning, Yinzuo had a rare late sleep, and did not get up until the sun was three poles, and the newcomer Ning Guiren served and changed his clothes, and he would use it After eating some white porridge, he walked towards the Hall of Mental Cultivation. As soon as he arrived at the Hall of Mental Cultivation, he saw Ma Qi, the Chief Military Minister holding a memorial, waiting in the hall. Now, Yinzuo has never been so lazy before, he hurriedly said with a smile: "Is Ma Aiqing looking for something important?"

"The Holy Majesty once said: matters related to the Academy of Sciences are the most important tasks. The old minister will remember it in his heart and dare not forget it. This memorial is a secret document written by Lin Shilang. I dare not neglect it. I am here to ask the Holy Majesty for instructions." Ma Qi respectfully Hold the memorial high above your head.

"Oh?" Yinzuo was stunned for a moment, not understanding what went wrong with the newly established Academy of Sciences, and he didn't call Gao Nianying to pick up the papers. He went forward and took the papers. Ruokang couldn't help laughing loudly: "Good! Good! That's great! I want to reward all the ministers who have made great achievements!"

Ma Qi had read the memorial beforehand, and he knew something about steam locomotives, trains, speeds, etc. mentioned in the book, but he didn't understand what's so great about these new things. He was happy to see Yin Zuo at this time Feeling a little lost, I couldn't help being curious, and asked tentatively: "Is the Holy One planning to promote this thing?"

promotion?Hey, that's of course, hehe, those brats have been working on it for more than 20 years, and they finally tossed this thing out, ha, with such convenient transportation facilities, the land of the Qing Dynasty can truly It is not only economically, politically, but also militaryly significant.Yin Zuo was like drinking honey water in summer, his heart was bubbling with beauty, and he didn't care about answering Ma Qi's question, he waved his hand and said: "Decree: All ministers of military aircraft, president of the Academy of Sciences Lin Qi, and Prince Cheng , Prince Yong, Prince Yi, and Prince Yong will see you immediately."

Ma Qi keenly found that Hongli's name was missing from the people Yinzuo summoned, and he felt a sudden shock in his heart, but he didn't dare to ask the reason. Green and white, but fortunately Yinzuo was in agitation at this time, and didn't notice this, otherwise Ma Qi would not escape the fate of being the leader.

Today is not an early court day, and the recent government affairs are not too busy. Most of the off-duty ministers are idle at home at this time. As soon as they received the imperial decree, they all rushed to the Hall of Mental Cultivation. When they saw Yinzuo's face Everyone was very puzzled by the uncontrollable smile on his face, and no one could guess what the Holy One was happy about, but they didn't dare to ask, and they all stood obediently, waiting for Yin Zuo to speak.

"My dear friends, I have some good news to tell you. Well, this is the first achievement since the establishment of the Academy of Sciences. Let Lin Shilang tell you about it." Yinzuo glanced at the officials with a smile on his face, and said to the president of the Academy of Sciences. Lin Qi nodded and said.

Lin Qi, a native of Quanzhou, Fujian Province, was born as a Jinshi in the first year of Yuanzhuo. Due to his poor family, he studied in Shanghai Technical School and worked in Shanghai Shipyard in his early years. , So relying on his strength, he was selected as a scholar, a scholar, and a Jinshi within three years, and it was a good story for a while. Because of his technical background, he was assigned to the Ministry of Industry as the fifth-rank director as soon as he entered the court. He was promoted to the position of minister in just eight years. , the speed of promotion is known as No. 1 among Jinshi in the same class, even the top three of the year are far inferior to him. Although Yin Zuo took care of him, it is true that he is talented.

At this time, seeing Yin Zuo calling the roll, Lin Qi calmly came out of the queue, not in any panic because Sheng Jia was in front of him, surrounded by big men from the court, and respectfully knelt down on the ground and kowtowed Said: "Your Majesty, my lords, this time the Shanghai Steam Engine Research Institute affiliated to the Academy of Sciences has reported to the imperial court that the design and trial operation of the steam locomotive has been completed. This thing is tentatively named the train and uses coal as fuel. The fixed rail is used as the running track, and it runs on two parallel rails four feet apart. Each train can have eight carriages, and can carry more than 180 tons of goods when fully loaded, and the full-load speed is about 3 miles per hour; The cost of locomotives and carriages is about 5 to 3000 yuan. If it is built on a large scale, the cost can be reduced to about 1 yuan. Not counting the land price, the cost of each mile of railway is 7000 yuan. If it is built on a large scale, the cost can be reduced The price is about [-] yuan. The existing Tianjin Iron and Steel Plant has been able to complete the supply of the required rails, and the needs of sleepers can also be obtained from various places. If the manpower is sufficient, the costs can be further reduced. Xiaochen has a quotation in his hand It can be used as a reference for the Holy Majesty and all the adults."

The ministers present were all shrewd people, and they roughly understood that the basic function of the train is to carry goods and transport people. For example, the total length is 3548 miles. To build a Beijing-Hangzhou railway, the cost of the railway alone will be about 5000 million yuan, plus the cost of the train itself, manpower input and the cost of land acquisition and demolition that may be involved. However, such a railway alone would consume nearly half of the annual income of the Qing Dynasty. No one can guarantee whether it is meaningful to invest such astronomical figures in railway transportation.

Fan Shijie himself also has a technical background. He was the number one contributor to the construction of the Jiangnan Shipyard back then. He naturally knew the root cause of the steam engine research institute originally set up in the Jiangnan Shipyard. At this moment, all the officials were gasping , stood up immediately and said: "Master Lin, the railway you are talking about is just two rails with sleepers, and the cost is not too much. Why is the construction cost so much more than the locomotive itself?"

Although Lin Qi has never participated in the research and development of steam locomotives, since this is the first achievement since the establishment of the Academy of Sciences, he has already done his homework, not wanting to make a fool of himself. He replied leisurely: "Master Fan asked a good question. The rails and sleepers were originally not worth much, and they were actually just a fraction of the cost of the railway. , These roads and bridges have to be specially reinforced to ensure the smooth passage of trains, so the original bridges along the way are not enough and must be rebuilt, and the construction cost is mainly due to this.”

The courtiers didn't understand what Lin Qi said, but Yin Zuo naturally understood. Yin Zuo, who had already made up his mind to build the railway, didn't wait for the ministers to ask any more questions. He smiled and waved his hands and said, "What Lin Aiai said But I understand that the investment in these things is huge, but once they are completed, the benefits will be huge. Regardless of the convenience of north-south material circulation, even the deployment of troops can be done in a timely manner. Once there is a disturbance, the troops can also be transferred from north to south. In order not to be in a difficult situation, I decided to build this railway, which will not only provide convenience for the people, but also ensure that our foundation of the Qing Dynasty will last forever."

As soon as Yin Zuo's words fell, Shi Shilun, the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, couldn't stand up anymore, and immediately came out and said: "My lord, due to overseas wars, this year's overseas trade volume has dropped sharply, only less than 4% of previous years. After entering mu, the domestic annual revenue has increased by nearly 1%, but after the military expenditure, this year's fiscal revenue is only flat. Although there are more than [-] million in the treasury, it is used for emergencies, even if the humble minister can squeeze out For some, the maximum is [-] million yuan, no matter how many ministers you have, you will not dare to agree, please think twice."

"Your Majesty, what Master Shi said is true. I think things like trains sound good, but they have not been verified after all. If you invest a huge amount of money blindly, if you lose it, you may damage the country's foundation. I hope that you will find out clearly." Zhang Tingyu said briefly. After hesitating, he also stood up to persuade him.

As soon as Zhang Tingyu finished speaking, all the ministers came out to remonstrate, even Yun Zhen, who has always been indifferent, expressed his opposition. The objections of the ministers were like a pot of cold water, which made Yin Zuo feel a headache ——Money, money, you can’t play anything without money, but right now the war is just over, and the commodity market hasn’t fully started yet, so how can you play without money?
(End of this chapter)