Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 631 The First Steam Locomotive

Industry is also artistically beautiful.

Whether it is modern and colorful smart products, or steam machinery with black and white as the main color, they all have their own charm.

This is the case with the first steam locomotive "Harmony" in Ming Dynasty.

The dark shell is like the muscular muscles of a warrior, and the smoke slowly spews out like a woman in white dancing on the angular locomotive.

The perfect fusion of softness and rigidity, the spreading rails also add a touch of toughness to the grass-green field.

"Your Majesty, please go up and hold the railing." Song Yingxing, who was over seventy years old, walked over tremblingly leaning on a cane.

Like Song Yingxing, Fang Yizhi, the chief designer of steam locomotives and railways, has also become a master in the field of holy studies in the Ming Dynasty, and he also followed him at this time, expecting Zhu Youjian to express his appreciation for making such a locomotive.

"I know, if you want to talk about taking this train, I am more familiar than you."

Zhu Youjian smiled and boarded the steam locomotive. As soon as he entered the compartment, he saw that there were bamboo seats inside. There were two rows on each side. There were only two compartments in the compartment. There are toilets and a bar.

Zhu Youjian chose a seat by the window to sit down, and the accompanying officials of the empire also sat in one after another, and representatives from all walks of life who came to experience the new locomotive also sat in.

"It's time to start", Zhu Youjian said.

At that time, not long after Zhu Youjian's words fell, Daming's first steam locomotive started to start.

First, there was a rush of siren sound, and more and more whistling white smoke, and then you can hear the boom and clang of the machine's transmission, as well as the click of the bearing.

There was a strong smell of engine oil, but none of the Daming officials and citizens in the carriage felt uncomfortable, and instead shouted excitedly: "It's starting, it's starting, it's really moving!"

The guards in Jinyi had already forgotten that the emperor was still by their side, completely disregarding his image, they couldn't help poking their heads out to look at the front of the locomotive outside.

At this time, the people outside were also very excited. They all pointed at the locomotive and shouted: "It's moving, it's really moving, without a horse, he can really move!"

"It's really amazing, how did such a lump of iron move?" Some people asked in amazement.

Zhu Youjian looked at all this with a smile. The people outside the window ran desperately following the train regardless of the danger. The soldiers on the platform couldn't help showing envy. The city wall of Xuanwumen was receding, and the trees in front were like slides. Generally, one by one, they will appear in front of the window, but they will disappear soon.

However, in fact, Daming's steam locomotives are not fast, they can only run about forty miles in an hour, which gives Zhu Youjian the feeling that it is slower than the green leather trains of later generations, but to the officials and people of Daming, it is the world. The fastest non-human and animal-powered means of transportation.

Zhang Huangyan, the new chief minister of the cabinet, sighed behind Zhu Youjian: "Your Majesty, this is really too fast. I really didn't expect that the iron bumps that burn coal can run so fast on the rails. The sacred science is really amazing." It is a peculiar knowledge, if it is not for His Majesty's praise, I am afraid that I will never know that there are trains in this world."

"This is just the beginning. If there are more locomotives like this, a few more carriages, and the road paved with rail tracks further to Monan and Northeast, then I, Da Ming, will be able to use the train all at once. Transporting tens of thousands of infantry is much faster than letting the infantry run to the outside of the pass, and when the time comes to conquer Mobei, you will not be afraid of poor logistics, and you can directly transport a cart of food over there, don’t you worry about not having enough food?”

When Zhu Youjian said this, Song Yingxing also nodded: "What your majesty said is that with such a railway, our central dynasty can also control the place, and the transportation of soldiers, grain, and bulk goods is no longer a problem, especially The waterways in the north are underdeveloped, so Weichen thinks that in the next few years, he must take this opportunity to build more railways."

"Well, this will be included in your cabinet's five-year plan. Zhang Huangyan, you just took over the cabinet not long ago, and you happened to use this as a political achievement. You can't just leave your wealth and fame when you are an official, you have to have your own works." Zhu Youjian said.

"Weichen complies with the decree", Zhang Huangyan just nodded and said yes, when he heard a harsh bang, it seemed that the train closed the air valve, the speed of the train began to slow down, and finally stopped at a newly built platform beside the moat At this time, Fang Yizhi came over:
"Your Majesty, get out of the car and rest for a while. In front of you is the final station, the Mechanical Branch of Daming Industrial Academy. There are already people from the inner court preparing imperial meals."

"Put it in the cafeteria and let me eat with the heroes who are involved in train manufacturing and railway track laying." Zhu Youjian used the word "hero" to describe the technicians who made steam locomotives, which made Fang Yizhi very happy. I also know that His Majesty the Emperor praised the achievements of his Daming Industrial School very much.

Zhu Youjian entering the Daming Industrial School is like entering a steel forest. Here, he saw various blast furnaces and black and white railings, and the sound of knocking came from the cement room, and the dark stream Turning around in the reservoir, there were all kinds of pungent rust smells, and technicians wearing black coats and black watermelon hats came out one after another: "I have seen Your Majesty, long live my emperor, long live, long live!"

"Free gift!"

Zhu Youjian smiled. He never thought that Daming already had so many mechanical talents. He walked over and wanted to greet these people warmly: "You have worked hard. Because of your efforts, Daming has today's success. Strong."

All smiles.

Zhu Youjian spent a pleasant afternoon with these mechanical technicians, and after that, Daming began to enter the period of railway construction.

The first railway outside Xuanwumen, Zhu Youjian did not allow the Daming Industrial School to be demolished, but allowed private owners to buy tickets and take this train to enter and exit the inner and outer cities.

Even Zhu Youjian ordered the cabinet to set up the General Railway Administration, and ordered the provinces to set up railway sub-bureaus, while the Xuanwumen railway was managed by the Shuntianfu Railway Sub-bureau.

Zhu Youjian allowed private investment in the construction of railways and allowed them to operate a certain railway line, so as to encourage private capital to participate in railway construction.

But at the beginning, except for the construction of the two trunk lines from Nanjing to Beijing and Beijing to Shenyang, which were under the responsibility of the Ming government, private capital did not trust the benefits brought by railway operations and was more cautious.

But when a businessman named Qin Zheng sold his family's mine and built a railway from Nanjing to Hangzhou and made a lot of money, he began to arouse great interest from private capital.

And this Qin Zheng began to invest in the Songjiang-Nanjing and Wuchang-Nanjing railways, and became the famous railway king of Ming Dynasty and the richest man in the new era.

(End of this chapter)