The base camp of the anti-Japanese army, which has been built and maintained for three years, faces the sea breeze and washes away the scorching summer heat.
Located at the foot of the mountains, the camp on the seaside flatland has been expanded many times, and the wooden camp walls in the past have been replaced by wide walls made of thick strips of stone.
In the bay, the pier at the front is like a sharp sword thrust into the deep sea water to cater for the docking of warships with deeper draft.
Waves of roaring sounds came from the distant mountains, and smoke and dust rose into the sky accompanied by forest birds.
On the top of each mountain, there are fortifications and forts that are so huge that they can be seen with the naked eye on the sea, as if they were cut off by a sword-wielding god. They intimidate all directions.
And in the mountain valley under the fort, there is a thick black smoke that is constantly trying to invade the white steam.
When the thick smoke and steam entangled out of the mountain forest, a huge and majestic steel beast was seen, crushing the two steel tracks on the ground with the force of destroying the city.
Behind the giant beast, carriages were loaded with raw ore, and they were pulled by the giant beast towards the smelting plant in the corner of the bay not far from the camp.
On the side of the smelting plant facing the dock, there is a road that only allows people to access a restricted area of the dock and is strictly guarded by tall walls.
On a ridge not far from the smelting plant, a group of officers and soldiers were spread out over a long distance, looking into the distance around them. From time to time, someone would raise a brass telescope in his hand to look at places farther away that were invisible to the naked eye.
On the pier, a treasure ship slowly sailed from the sea to the pier where only ships with exclusive flags were allowed to dock.
And on the sea in the distance, there are several small boats with three thousand or two thousand materials, the muzzles are opened, the officers and soldiers are arrayed, and the boats are carried out of the shallow water area of the bay and spread out to the deep water area outside the bay and beyond.
Long whimpering sounds came from the sea.
From the hills behind the bay, horns sounded to meet the signals on the sea.
There was a ding-dong-ding-dong sound in the smelting plant, and several beeps were heard. Between the two walls, on the paved track, several much smaller steel machinery drove out. There was a dull sound on the carriage.
Thick oilcloth.
It was only a carriage that could be counted on one hand, but it was closely guarded by hundreds of officers and soldiers. There were even officers and soldiers armed with crossbows hidden in the gaps on the carriages.
"Why are there so many smart people in this world? Why can't there be more stupid people? At least except for me, Ming Dynasty, all of them must be stupid."
On the tall watchtower behind the camp wall near the smelting plant, Li Jinglong, Grand Scholar of Wuying Palace and Duke of Cao, put down his gilt-brass telescope and spoke with a faint sigh.
Tie Xuan, who was beside him, smiled calmly: "Our army has increased to 20,000, and we have marched hundreds of miles to stop. Treasure Island is unique to the Ming Dynasty. And we have been here for three or four years. How can the Japanese
Don’t you know the yellow and white things hidden in the two places?”
"Master, if I go out now, I have to worry about being stabbed by those Japanese girls on the bed." Li Jinglong cursed twice in annoyance.
Tie Xuan rolled his eyes and turned to look at the steam train that had already arrived on the trestle: "The gold and silver in the second quarter, in addition to being reserved for bribing the Northern and Southern Dynasties of Japan, will be sent out today. Does the general have any memorials or memorials?
It is a letter, and it can also be sent today to respond to heaven."
Li Jinglong waved his hand with great courage: "No memorial is as real as this truckload of gold and silver. As long as I handle things for the court, there won't be any big trouble in the family."
From the distant sea, a horn sounded.
A fleet of ships carried flags one by one, lowered their sails, and slowly stopped on the sea.
Tie Xuan was a little surprised by Li Jinglong's subtle changes today: "The second quarter output of Treasure Island has arrived. My father-in-law seems to be more free and easy now."
Li Jinglong turned around and moved on the watchtower to face the sea. He frowned and said, "According to my opinion, we shouldn't go to war with such a big fanfare now. If you do this, no one with treacherous intentions will dare to move.
If you ask me, just get a boat and load this batch of gold and silver and send it back to Yingtian City.
What does gold and silver worth if it is discounted by hundreds of thousands of taels?
The imperial court will now have a reason to hand it over, and when the time comes to wipe out the Japanese country in one fell swoop, why is it necessary to be like now?"
Tie Xuan became more and more speechless.
Look what is this? Hundreds of thousands of taels of gold and silver are just broken off?
It is because people like them are spending time in piles of gold and silver every day that Li Jinglong can say such words.
If it were placed in the imperial court, I'm afraid it would have been criticized by a bunch of people.
Tie Xuan shook his head: "Using a large army to fight will inevitably affect the output of Shijian and Treasure Island. Moreover, the situation in the court is changing now. As a minister, I should not add burden to the court at this time."
After finishing speaking, Tie Xuan turned to look at Li Jinglong. The two of them led the army out to sea, away from Yingtian, and spent several years together in this foreign land. It can be said that they have a close relationship.
He hoped that this great general, who could be said to be his friend, would understand what he meant.
Li Jinglong snorted twice: "We have an army of 20,000, not to mention one against ten, but also one against five. The Japanese people who have been managed by us in recent years have begun to have a hedonistic trend. As long as there is an opportunity, first
Take the Northern Dynasty, and then go south to the Southern Dynasty. The remaining ordinary Japanese are just Japanese workers in the Ming Dynasty who don't keep their names in the account books."
Tie Xuan immediately retorted: "There is indeed a trend of hedonism in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, but we must not forget that some of them have also begun to collude secretly to try to drive us Ming people out of this tiny land."
"So what? The Ming army is invincible!" Li Jinglong raised his brows, a look of disdain clearly revealed on his face. This was not because he was arrogant, but because he was a general who was leading the army and commanded a side. He must have the confidence to do so.
Tie Xuan had a headache and sighed: "Our army now still relies on Shandong Road and Li's Korea to supply most of the food and grass supplies. Once the war starts and the purpose is exposed, whether it is going south or north, do you think the North and South Korea will just sit back and ignore it? By then,
, our army is facing enemies from both sides!"
This chapter is not finished yet, please click the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Li Jinglong sighed softly and was silent for a while, then his expression dimmed slightly: "I want to go back to Beijing... I almost forgot that the lights of Qinhuai ten miles away are
What does it look like?"
As soon as these words came out, Tie Xuan immediately fell silent.
Li Jinglong's words were pure. He was talking about the lights of Qinhuai, which are ten miles away. At this moment, they were really just those lights, without any selfish desires.
This is a person who is away from home and longs for his homeland.
For a moment, Tie Xuan didn't know how to persuade this friend who had never said anything clearly.
Li Jinglong suddenly shouted: "Chaos! As long as the Japanese country is in chaos, we will have a better chance! If we fight together, our country will have endless use of Japanese workers."
Shi Jian was the first person to use steam trains in the Manchu Dynasty, and the DPRK and the Central Government knew very little about it. However, there was no such thing as Treasure Island, various coal mines on Shanxi Road, Yinghang Cement Road, and various places where the imperial court started construction.
.
As long as the Japanese country is in chaos, more Japanese workers can be used by me!"
A bold idea gradually became clear in Li Jinglong's mind.
Tie Xuan seemed to feel something. He turned around, stared at the big brother in front of him with a solemn face, and said in a solemn tone: "You'd better not use the general's lack of life as a shield!"
Li Jinglong remained silent, but his eyelids kept shrinking and narrowed slightly, looking at the warships in the bay that only the Ming Dynasty could build today.
A little thump.
Tie Xuan panicked for no reason. He looked at the silent Li Jinglong with some disbelief: "You haven't already taken action, right?"
After asking, Tie Xuan took a deep breath, but felt even more stuffy in his chest.
Li Jinglong looked away, looked at Tie Xuan with a tense face, and smiled slightly.
He opened his mouth and let out a sigh, then raised his arms gently and slapped the railing on the edge of the watchtower in front of him: "Tie Xingxing is worthy of being one of the people under His Majesty's care. He is really smart!"
"Li Jiujiang! Are you crazy?"
In the watchtower of the camp next to the bay, Tie Xuan vomited and roared in agony.
…
"Unless you are crazy! How else can you lay the railway all over the Ming Dynasty?"
Zhu Gaochi stood on a high platform, looking at the steel track in front of him and the steam train running on it, his face full of shock, surprise, and an expression of disbelief.
This place is located outside Yingtian City, beside the cement road leading to Taiping Mansion, close to the Yangtze River, and a piece of land where ships can pass. Now, in the past two years, it has been occupied by workshops with chimneys.
Prince Yan's incomprehension and doubts reached the ears of everyone on the stage.
Zhang Ergong, who has now been appointed as the Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Industry, has never put on the Dahongpao, but only wears a dark red but full of stains.
The robe that was originally pressed around the waist had just been put down, and it was still deeply wrinkled.
Listening to Prince Yan's question, Zhang Ergong raised his head and looked at His Highness Taisun who was standing at the edge of the stand with his back to everyone.
Zhu Gaochi had just checked the material used for the steel track. He simply did not believe that it could be paved all over the Ming Dynasty. The imperial court did not eat or drink for a whole year, so the most it could do was to connect the surrounding areas of Yingtian.
stand up.
On the contrary, Zhu Shangbing, who was wearing a pro-military Qianhu uniform and carrying a long sword at his waist, looked thoughtful. After a moment, he tentatively said in a low voice: "This road is expensive to build, and steel is a forbidden material. If you want to build a road, I'm afraid you will have to form a new guard."
A road guard station to prepare for local thieves to destroy the road and steal."
Um?
Um!
Although no one in the entire stand spoke, Zhu Shangbing swore that he clearly heard doubts with different meanings coming from these people's throats.
Even Zhu Yunxi, who was standing at the front of the stands, turned around and stared at Xiaohan with an unpredictable expression.
Zhu Gaochi even opened his mouth and said: "Now I think we are on the right track."
What you think is right?
Zhu Shangbing began to wonder if he had forgotten to wear his ears when he went out today.
He hesitantly turned his head to look at Zhu Yunxi, as if he wanted to seek more accurate opinions.
Zhu Yunxi didn't speak, but there was a look of affirmation in his eyes, and then he waved to everyone.
Zhu Shangbing, who received consecutive affirmations, suddenly burst into laughter and got to Zhu Yunxi's side before everyone else.
He even puffed up his chest and looked at the steam train running on the track that was doing verification experiments: "I think this thing... this car has obvious advantages and disadvantages. But if used well, it can
It has helped me a lot, Ming Dynasty."
Zhu Gaochi, who walked over with Zhang Ergong, couldn't help but smile and asked: "Then go on, what are the advantages and disadvantages of this?"
With the support, the smile on Zhu Shangbing's face became even brighter.
He waved his hand and pointed at the three fully loaded carriages pulled by the steam engine on the track: "The biggest advantage is that this carriage can pull more things than a carriage. Even a steam carriage is not like this. In this way, if the imperial court wants to provide relief to a certain place in the future,
Or goods from a certain place can be transported by day, which will save a lot of manpower.
As for the shortcomings...the roads used by this car are fixed and the cost is high, making it easy for thieves to covet.
But just now I also thought that this car is obviously not only capable of transporting goods. With slight modifications to the carriage, it can also be used to transport people. Nowadays, I think this carriage can hold a hundred people, and ten carriages can
It can hold an entire army of soldiers and horses from Qianhusuo!
This significance is probably no less than transporting goods."
Zhu Gaochi blinked and muttered to himself that he would never call him a true fool again.
Zhu Yunxi nodded repeatedly: "Except for shipping, I can't think of anything that can do more than this car. As for carrying people or soldiers and horses, it is indeed a first-class car.
advantage."
The transportation of strategic materials and the projection of military power are based on various types of transportation.
Today's Ming Dynasty's well-equipped cavalry are already the most mobile.
But how far can you run in a whole day? And the war horse needs to rest at regular intervals.
But the train is different, there is no need to consider rest time.
As long as sufficient coal is added to the combustion chamber, the vehicle can always be driven on the railway.
What is the reason why imperial power has not been sent to the countryside for thousands of years?
In addition to the official system sinking layer by layer, resulting in the elongation of the administrative system.
The most important issue is transportation and communication.
"Whether this road is built or not, the imperial court needs to mine more iron ore!" Zhu Shangbing continued to get to the core of the issue.
Zhu Gaochi nodded and said: "Under the New Deal, the court must be fully prepared. But at the moment, things such as allotment, imperial inspection, military merit and honors are being implemented, and we are also trying to loosen household registration. I am afraid it will be difficult for the government and the people to recruit corvees."
Civilian husband."
Zhang Ergong also spoke from the side: "We call this road a railway, and this car is a train. I can verify it. If the imperial court wants to build a railway, it must use enough labor. The road must be laid with foundations, and then the trees can be cut down to be used as sleepers.
, and then lay rails on top of it.
Qie Chen and others have also recently discovered traces of new mines in the local area, and they also need to be mined manually. Otherwise, compared with the current annual output of iron ingots by the imperial court, it would be impossible to guarantee the construction of the railway..."
"Then let Duke Cao and Duke Kai capture laborers from outside!" Zhu Shangbing directly stated the solution categorically.
Before Zhu Gaochi could speak, Zhu Shangbing had already raised his hand and said: "The imperial court is now in Shanxi Province, Zhili and other places, and there are already countless Japanese workers. As long as all the Japanese do not die, our Ming Dynasty will not be short of workers!"
Zhu Gaochi frowned and looked at Zhu Yunxi silently.
However, Zhu Yunxi smiled and nodded: "Best brother Bing!"