The nine-year-old train of Gansheng is still very slow, at most about 25 kilometers. From the perspective of the future, it is simply "speed of turtle". However, in 1653, this was definitely a miracle. This is a real journey of thousands of miles a day!

When the train was tilted around a curved section on the track, the people in the car seemed a little nervous, afraid that the train would turn over. Later, when the train car was straightened again and started to speed up, they relaxed again.

The iron wheels on the tracks clattered regularly, and even the carriages were shaking a little. While dining in the dining car, Zhu Guoqiang looked at the guests in the first-class dining car. Their identities were different. Scholars in the casual shirts were also shining in gorgeous clothes.

Obviously, there will be no ordinary people in this kind of carriage. In this carriage, a bowl of rice costs one silver dollar. The expensive meals and tickets directly eliminate ordinary people. However, for the rich, this is never a problem.

Passengers with different identities were silently smoking pipes, some were reading books, and some were enjoying meals.

If it weren't for their clothes, Zhu Guoqiang even had the illusion of being on the 19th century Oriental Express. However, this is the Ming Dynasty, which is the Ming Dynasty's Oriental Express.

Just as Zhu Guoqiang was squeaking with cigars, a voice came to his ears.

"Master, is there anyone across from you?"

The voice was in Nanjing Mandarin, but it was a bit stiff, not like a Mingren... Looking up, Zhu Guoqiang saw a beautiful Indian maid standing in front of him, and his attitude was very respectful.

Looking behind the Indian maid, Zhu Guoqiang was stunned.

pretty!

Originally, he thought the maid of the Indian maid was the handsome man, but he never thought that his master was also from the Indian, and he was also a stunning beauty. The beauty of Indian women is unique and has a grand and gentle feeling under their strong appearance. In the sun, her skin is like white porcelain, which is not only very white, but also extremely delicate.

It must be a Brahmin, and maybe even the maid is a Brahmin.

Identity is not simple.

"Master, if there is no one here, then we will sit down."

In fact, Kafna didn't want the lady to sit with strange boys, but... there were only spaces in the dining car throughout the whole session.

Of course, Zhu Guoqiang would not refuse this.

"Thanks."

When Sinara thanked her, the cigar smell still made her frown. Perhaps the train was fast, but the smell in the carriage was not good.

"Sorry, I've finished my meal."

Zhu Guoqiang smiled and stood up and left the dining car. However, when he left, he couldn't help but glance at the Indian beauty a few times, and even thought to himself in a bit disappointed manner.

"Ping Wang is really. Does he just know how to pay tribute to me a few beautiful women? And Zheng Zhilong, have you forgotten that I am so romantic?"

There is really no way to issue an order for such a thing. If I don’t issue an order, you as a minister don’t know how to flatter me?

Disappointed!

This is not a good thing for the Zhongzhengying Dynasty.

No one can think what I think, and I am anxious about what I am anxious about.

Sometimes, the court still needs a few treacherous ministers, who can understand the saint's will.

Otherwise, I will force a woman to steal the first one today?

This was just a joke. A few hours later, the train finally arrived at his destination - Kowloon Gang.

That is, Huainan in later generations.

After years of development, the wilderness on the south bank of the Huai River has become a city with a population of tens of thousands. Unlike ordinary cities, it is the first mining city in the Ming Dynasty. The entire city is prosperous because of coal mines. Those who have been here will feel that the coal smoke here is very smelly. The large chimneys on the coal mine "gurgle, gurgle" spewed black smoke and cotton-like smoke, spinning around the mountain-like coal piles.

The nearby charred ovens were also filled with smoke. There were coal trucks and railway trains on the mines, which kept spraying white clouds into the sky. The thick smoke and fog rising from all over enveloped Huainan, so that it was difficult to see the clear blue sky in the mining area, sucking fresh air, and fog everywhere. The wind blew from the plains on the north shore, blowing on the piles of coal as high as a mountain, flying everywhere with coal ash, and coal ash pounced on the faces of passers-by, and their faces were dyed black in a short while.

After walking from the street, I applied a towel to my face, and the white towel suddenly turned black and gray. The clothes were covered with two days.

If they don't wash, they will probably turn into dust. Not to mention the workers in the kiln and the loading and unloading trucks, the porters who work in the open air, are rolling around in the coal all day long, not only are their hands and faces dyed black, but even the phlegm they spit out is black. Even if there is a bathtub in the mine that allows them to wipe their bodies and wash clothes frequently, it is difficult to wash them clean. Moreover, the clothes are also very dark, and because they have black hands and faces all year round, people call them "coal blackspots".

These coal blackstones come from all over the country. It is these "coal blackstones" who dug up coal piles as high as hills from the ground. They loaded the coal on trains and transported them to various places via railways and water, especially the daily burning and steam engines of millions of households in Jiangnan. They all rely on Huainan coal.

By the standards of the 21st century, the Huainan coal mine with an annual output of only 1.5 million tons is simply not worth mentioning, but in this era, it was the largest coal mine in the Ming Dynasty. It not only drives hundreds of steam engines along the river, but also is also the most important fuel source for the people of Jiangnan.

Of course, this is also one of the most important sources of income for the royal family - the largest coal mine here belongs to the old Zhu family. There is no way. At the beginning, it was Zhu Guoqiang's imperial finger. They dug out coal here, and then there was the largest coal mine in the Ming Dynasty.

This time, the reason why Zhu Guoqiang came here was because in the winter of the eighth year of Qiansheng, there was a coal shortage in Nanzhili for the first time - a market shortage of coal occurred many times.

"Your Majesty, since the first year of Qiansheng, coal balls and coal ball stoves have replaced ordinary stoves and become the main fuel for the people in the city, the demand for fuel has been increasing. Moreover, from Wuchang to Shanghai, there are two large iron factories, twenty-three machine cotton yarn mills, twelve machine reel factories and other machine industries, all of which need coal. Moreover, in the riverside area, more than 200 steam engines are expected to be put into use in the next two years, and more and more people are burning coal. On the one hand, the demand of the people is increasing, and on the other hand, the demand of the factories is increasing..."

Facing the sudden visit of His Majesty, Li Zhuowei, as a manager of a mining company, seemed quite helpless. He was born in a surviving school in Jinan. Over the years, he devoted himself to mining and studied a variety of mining machinery. He was even a visiting professor of mining in the Imperial College.

"Compared with the increase in demand, the output of Huainan coal mines has been maintained at around 1.5 million tons in recent years. It is not realistic to make technological progress and increase production. If you want to increase the output, you must build a new mine and hire more miners. After consultation with the governor of Fengyang, four new mines will be opened in Huainan this year. These mines will start at 500,000 silver dollars without a ceiling..."

The Ming Dynasty now encourages mining. Of course, taxes must be paid for mining, which is different from the mining supervision sent by Emperor Shenzong. If you want to mine, you must have a mining license and you also need to pay high taxes. Just like a coal mine is basically a tax of one ton of coal and one tael of silver. In this era, it is definitely high taxes, but even so, everyone is eager to open a coal mine. After all, as we all know, once a coal mine is opened, it is equivalent to digging out a lot of money. Who wouldn't want to do such a business that is stable and profitable?

If you want to do this business, okay. As long as you have enough money to bid for auction licenses, it will be fine. It starts at a low price of 500,000 taels, which is definitely a sky-high price in this era. But even at this sky-high price, it is just a starting price. The coal mine in Huainan is a large coal mine closest to Nanjing and the Yangtze River. It has railways and water transportation conveniences. Who doesn’t want it?

If you want, just prepare the money!
Chapter completed!