In the fourth year of the Apocalypse, on the eighteenth day of the first lunar month, there was a State Council meeting.

In the first half of the meeting, everyone was discussing routine matters. There was a slight controversy and the only thing that took a while was the reward for the Battle of Luzon: the opinion submitted by the Privy Council was that both Li Guozhu and Yan Siqi were promoted to admirals.

The Ministry of War raised objections to this: Although it was not due to fear of war or other reasons, during the great battle of Manila Bay, Yan Siqi could not even board a battleship, why should he be promoted to admiral? The Privy Council argued with reason, what year

Capital, daily contributions are also important. Finally, with the unanimous support of the cabinet and many ministers attending the meeting, the Ministry of War's opinion was affirmed: the Navy finally has a full-time admiral, but there is only one for the time being.

In addition, the promotion of Zheng Wei, who died heroically, as a rear admiral, generous pensions for the soldiers who died in this battle, and the regular report of the Ministry of Rites on the preparations for this year's examination are all appropriate and unnecessary.

redundant words.

After these routine matters were completed, in the second half of the meeting, Li Guojun, director of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, who was affiliated with the Ministry of Household Affairs, first fired at the Ministry of Industry.

"Your Majesty, gentlemen. Since the imperial court reformed the mining policy in the third year of Tianqi and allowed private capital to officially purchase and operate coal and iron mines, businessmen from all over the Ming Dynasty have invested a total of more than 120 million in the past six months and purchased 88 mines.

Iron mines and 178 large and small coal mines. A considerable number of iron ore and coal mines have already started production. Since these mines are privately owned, the efficiency is indeed much higher. According to the data held by our State Administration for Industry and Commerce, in the second year of Tianqi, my Ming Dynasty

The country produced a total of 45,000 tons of pig iron and 860,000 tons of coal. Last year, the third year of Tianqi, it was 51,000 tons and 980,000 tons of coal. The growth rate was extremely gratifying, and the tax revenue received by the court also increased rapidly.

.but!"

Li Guozhu gently knocked on the table: "In the actual work of the branches of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, we found that all subway stations and coal owners were complaining about the serious lack of transportation capacity. A large amount of iron and coal could not be transported out after they were produced.

Or after transporting it out, the freight and losses on this road are extremely high. Your Majesty, distinguished officials, and businessmen from all over the country are asking when the Ministry of Industry will be able to build roads and railways, especially railways, to various mining areas. This is a polite question.

Yes, some bad-tempered mine owners simply said that the court had deceived them. When they originally sold the minerals, they said that railways and roads would be extended soon. But now..."

He spread his hands and said: "If the road problem is not solved, the transportation capacity cannot be solved. The resulting situation is that various places need a lot of coal and iron, and various military factories need a lot of coal and iron. And in Shanxi, Mongolia, etc.

The large amount of coal and iron in the land has never been transported out, and the country cannot collect taxes. This group of mine owners will also easily go bankrupt!"

Amidst Li Guozhu's somewhat hurried report, the ministers naturally focused their attention on Xu Guangqi, Minister of Industry.

Lao Xu stood up a little annoyed: "Director Li, I can understand your mood, but no matter how anxious you are, the road can only be repaired inch by inch."

After saying this, Old Xu turned to Zhu Youdong: "Your Majesty, since the imperial court decided to establish the Hetao Heavy Industry Center last year, the Ministry of Industry has immediately planned a road and railway from Beijing to Baotou. However, the straight-line distance between these two places exceeds 500 kilometers.

, the actual road conditions require the construction of bridges across mountains and rivers. Therefore, the Ministry of Industry has only completed the route survey so far. After emergency calculations by the Ministry of Industry, the actual mileage of the Beijing-Baotou Highway will reach 830 kilometers. The Beijing-Baotou Railway is due to the mountains.

Drilling holes and building bridges when meeting water are basically straight lines, so the mileage has been shortened, but it will still reach 650 kilometers. Even if construction of such a long route starts this year, it will take at least five years to complete!

In addition, Shanxi has coal transportation problems. Currently, the Ministry of Industry has organized manpower to start the construction of the Jingtai Highway. Since the first half of this highway can directly use the completed section of the Jingluo Highway, the actual construction mileage is only more than 200 kilometers, and it should be completed within three years.

.As for building a railway from east to west to the interior of Shanxi, everyone, Weiwei Taihang! The construction difficulty is really too great!"

"Da Sikong, it's not like your subordinates don't understand the difficulties of building a road from the eastern plains to the central mountains in Ming Dynasty. But if it takes three to five years to build it, all our merchants will go bankrupt!"

"Director Li, you've passed! Sit down first."

"Da Si Nong?"

"How many problems has Da Sikong solved for our Ming Dynasty over the years? We have to believe in Da Sikong. Besides, Da Sikong is cautious. The three to five years he said are probably only one or two years in reality."

"Xu Honggang, don't put your hat on me! Three to five years is a very optimistic estimate! If the geology and rock mass are unstable, it is possible in ten to twenty years!"

As Xu Honggang eccentrically stood up for Li Guojun, Xu Guangqi publicly counterattacked. First, participating officials from the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Household Affairs began to quarrel, and then the Ministry of War, which involved vital interests, also participated. Later, other ministries also participated in the quarrel, and the order of the entire venue

, everything was in chaos all of a sudden.

The noise of the officials below did not affect Zhu Youdong. He knocked on the table again habitually and fell into deep thought.

In the Chinese Empire, due to the inconsistent weights and measures in the past dynasties (for example, there is a huge gap between Hanshi and Akashi), and literati always like to write approximate figures when writing history books. Therefore, it is difficult to say clearly how much coal and iron production was in these dynasties. But later generations will

Most historians agree that the Ming Dynasty was the peak of steel production in ancient China - the annual steel production was approximately over 40,000 tons at its peak.

China has used coal to smelt iron a long time ago. Therefore, since the steel production in the Ming Dynasty was the highest peak in ancient China, it is natural that the coal production in the Ming Dynasty must also be extremely high.

However, in the Ming Dynasty on a historical basis, its coal and iron production mainly came from the eastern region: Hebei, Anhui, Jiangxi and other places.

These places are either the Great Plains or the Jiangnan area with dense water networks, so transportation is basically no problem.

Now, the Ming Dynasty has started its industrial revolution, and the demand for coal and iron will skyrocket: in the foreseeable future, the Navy family can eat all the pig iron produced by the Ming Dynasty every year, and they will still not be full - Chapter 1

After an industrial revolution, if we really want to measure a country's national strength, wouldn't the gold standard be coal and iron output?

Therefore, from this perspective, the Ming Dynasty must develop the mineral resources of Shanxi, Mongolia, Hubei and other central provinces: from the unification of China by Qin Shihuang to the present, the Chinese Empire has a history of nearly two thousand years. Over such a long time, the eastern region

There are not many mineral deposits that are easy to mine. If the rich mineral resources in the central and even western regions are not exploited, there will not be enough steel to fight wars in the future.

As a time traveler, Zhu Youdong knows very well that for sea transportation and even inland waterway transportation, the transportation of hundreds or even thousands of tons is a very simple matter. But when it comes to road transportation, this amount is a bit scary: during the Ming Dynasty

The roads at that time were indeed cement roads, but on the one hand, horse-drawn carriages and donkey carts were still used on the cement roads. On the other hand, these cement roads were only built according to the village road standards of the 21st century and could not withstand long-term heavy pressure.

Therefore, if we want to transport the products from central China in large quantities, we must use railways!

Hey, if you want to get rich, you need to build roads first. Why didn’t I think of this and foolishly went directly to build an industrial base? No matter how well the TMD industrial base is built, it’s useless if things can’t be transported out!

However, we Chinese, infrastructure madmen, there is no road that cannot be repaired! Besides, we Chinese are also the most adaptable nation.

After thinking carefully for a while, he slowly came up with an idea. Then he asked Fang Zhenghua to bang the table hammer and restore order in the venue.

"Well, Da Sikong, I would like to make three suggestions regarding road construction."

"I would like to ask your Majesty to give me your instructions."

"First, increase the project funds, recruit more workers, and construct multiple sections of the designated line at the same time. On the premise of ensuring the quality of the project, try to shorten the construction period."

"...Your Majesty, the Ministry of Industry has prepared 50,000 civilians for the Beijing-Baotou Highway, Railway, and Beijing-Taiwan Highway. Since the Emperor has said so, how about increasing it to 100,000?"

"Yes, if it's not enough, you can add more. Tian Ergeng, is it time for the Wenxiang Sect on both sides of the canal to rebel?"

"Your Majesty, we have at most one or two months."

"Hey, don't you have this civilian husband? And it's very cheap."

"...The Emperor has a wonderful plan, and I bow to you. Please give me the second clause."

"Second, it is indeed difficult to build the Beijing-Baotou railway through the Taihang Mountains with the existing technology. I will not force it. However, the Ministry of Industry wants to build a new railway that runs through various mining areas in Shanxi, and then connects the Datong and Beijing-Baotou railway.

Connecting. Well, although there are various plateaus and small mountains in Shanxi Province, it is still much simpler than crossing the Taihang Mountains, right?"

"...I have accepted the order and will organize manpower to go to Shanxi to conduct route exploration after the meeting."

"Okay, no matter how fast the above two things are, it will still take two or three years. And our Ming Dynasty's army and merchants can't wait that long. Therefore, the Ministry of Industry must be more thoughtful about restoring navigation in the middle reaches of the Yellow River."

"Ah?" Xu Guangqi, who was stunned for a moment, quickly came to his senses: "Your Majesty, shipping in the middle reaches of the Yellow River has existed since ancient times, but this shipping is incomplete. Generally speaking, the middle reaches of the Yellow River at the junction of Qin and Jin are basically

There are many gorges but not dangerous ones. More than 90% of the waterways can carry ships of less than 500 tons. However, it is completely impossible to sail at Hukou Waterfall. In addition, there is a wandering river section from Yukoumen to Tongguan...

.Your Majesty, are you going to blow up the mouth of the pot and level the river?"

What are these words? How could Hukou Waterfall explode? First of all, I, a time traveler, can’t bear it emotionally.

"I remember that when civilian ships passed through Hukou, they all used the 'dry land sailing' method, right?"

"Yes, but Your Majesty, civilian ships are light. If they are filled with coal, how can they be pulled across?"

"Let's find a way. Install slide rails, use steam engines for traction on both sides, and slightly modify the bottom of the ship. Mr. Xu, there are always more solutions than difficulties."

"I understand. I will go to Fangshan immediately after the meeting to convene relevant scholars for discussion."

"Well, as for the wandering river section from Yumenkou to Tongguan, Founder Hua asked the General Affairs Department to urgently send today's meeting minutes to Baotou after the meeting, and asked Yuan Yingtai to take a look. Isn't he the general manager of Hetao Heavy Industry? Dongxi Production

If it comes out and cannot be transported, he is the most anxious."

"My slave obeys the order."

"Okay." Zhu Youdong clapped his hands with satisfaction and said: "In this way, I think that the waterway in the middle reaches of the Yellow River can be used within three to five months. In this way, before the railway is built, we have an emergency solution.

.Guojun, are you satisfied?"
Chapter completed!