It goes without saying that the train is of great use. It can be understood just from the stunned faces of Zhu Song and Zhu Yun at first and the complicated expressions on their faces after they recovered. The first thing they thought of was not its civilian use, but its military use.
Purpose. With a train that has a transportation capacity that is dozens of times that of a railcar, the country can transport an army and the grain, grass and weapons they need to any place where tracks are built in a shorter time. This not only means that the country can
Responding to foreign wars and quelling domestic rebellions more quickly also means that the country can strengthen its control over flat border areas, such as Kanto. In this way, does the Eiei feudal clan enshrined in Kanto still have any meaning?
Will it be withdrawn after the construction of the track is completed?
But when they thought about it carefully, they felt that this should not be the case. It was Yun who brought them from Shanhaiguan to the capital specifically. If they wanted to abolish the Yingyong Second Domain, what was the point of doing so? Abolish the Second Domain now? Although they have been there for some years
I have never met Yun, but I don’t think Yun would do such a thing, especially after having discussed with them for a long time how to govern the vassal state.
Zhu Song suppressed his anxiety, turned around and said to Yun: "It is surprising that such a transportation object can appear in the world. If we had not come to the capital, not only would we not be able to see it, but we would not even be able to imagine that there is such a thing in the world."
"Yeah, I can't even think of it." Yun Ye said: "There are people in Gezhiyuan who can research such a thing."
"This is the reason why I established Gezhiyuan, and why I would rather be punished by many officials or privately said that I wasted money on food and salary, but still firmly support the research of people from Gezhiyuan." Yun himself did not think too much. "The next few hundred years will be
In the next year, scientific progress will exceed anyone's imagination, and countless objects that only exist in myths will be researched and become things that ordinary people can use. Through scientific research, more and more advanced weapons will appear, which
It will greatly change the shape of the battlefield; more and more advanced machinery will appear, greatly changing the appearance of industry and commerce; countless more useful daily necessities will appear, changing everyone's life; the level of scientific research
, will also become one of the criteria for evaluating whether a country is strong or not."
Speaking of this, Yun recalled those things from later generations. Whether it was airplanes and rockets used in war, assembly lines used in industry, automatic robots, telegraphs and telephones used to transmit information, and flush toilets that entered thousands of households.
, gas stoves, and water heaters have greatly changed human life. He will never see these things again in his life, but he wants the people of the Ming Dynasty to be the first people in the world to use these things in this time and space.
Zhu Song and Zhu Yun did not believe what Yun said, but they would not refute it. Yun also knew that they would not believe it. He just wanted to express his feelings suddenly. "Ignore the last part of my words, you guys
You all believe that trains can transport dozens of times more goods than horse-drawn carriages, right? Building tracks will be of great use in promoting the development of the Eiei feudal clan, right?" said Yun.
"We will build the track after we get back." Zhu Song and Zhu Yun said immediately. But Zhu Song paused and said: "From now on, the track will be built with pure iron?" Because the tracks in the yard are all made of pure iron.
It was built, so he asked this question.
"No, we still cover the wood with iron sheets." Yundao said. When most people are still not rich, building all-rail tracks is tantamount to tempting people to steal. Even though the Ming Dynasty people continued to increase the per capita land area, there were low-priced
You can buy farm tools and livestock, and you are a little richer than before, but the fragile nature of small farmers' economy has not changed. It's just that instead of going bankrupt if the land failed to harvest for two consecutive years, it will only go bankrupt if the land fails to harvest for three consecutive years. For
For many people, a few hundred kilograms of iron is enough to risk their lives. Therefore, it is still not possible to build a full railway track for the time being.
Zhu Song breathed a sigh of relief. He was not only worried about theft, but also worried about whether the fiefdom's finances could afford it. According to custom, when building public facilities in a vassal state, the court would pay part of the money and the vassal state would pay part of the money. Although the British vassal also discovered some
Gold mines, but the expense of conquering the tribes in Kanto is also very high, and the remaining money may not be able to buy the iron for building the track. But since the iron-clad wood track is still being built, there is no need to worry.
"Officials, Zhang Xuexi has researched such useful things, so he should be rewarded heavily." Zhu Song, relieved, noticed Zhang Xuexi's dark body, remembered that he was Yun's son-in-law, and decided to give him a favor.
"Yes, brother Huang, Xuexi's research on the train is comparable to his military exploits on the battlefield, and he must be heavily rewarded." Yun Ye said.
"Since you all say so, it's useless if I don't reward you." Yun smiled and said to Zhang Xuexi: "Xuexi, listen to my instructions."
"Zhang Xuexi, the chief registrar of Gezhiyuan..., was given the title of Aiqingzheng, the fourth rank of Qiandu censor. He was first awarded the title of Zhongshun doctor, then promoted to Zhongxian doctor, and then Zhongyi doctor. As for the title, according to merit, he should have been given the title of Baron Aiqing.
, but when you married Guangling before, your title was not promoted as usual, but this time you were rewarded with the title of Viscount."
"Thank you for your grace!" Zhang Xuexi immediately knelt down and said.
"My daughter thanks her father for the reward." Min'er also said happily.
"As a father, I won't call you a lady." Yun joked to her daughter again.
Min'er snorted at her father, probably because she wasn't satisfied with him, but now that she's happy, she doesn't want to argue with you.
After saying this, Yun's goal for today had been achieved. He had no intention of enjoying the smoky train again and took them out of the yard to return to the palace. Zhang Xuexi's coat was dirty and he could not leave with them.
Went to take a shower. Min'er originally wanted to go to her father-in-law's house with him to tell her father-in-law and mother-in-law the good news, but seeing this, she could only wait until the afternoon.
On the way back to the palace, Zhu Song and Zhu Yun were still discussing. Yun lowered his head and thought about whether there was anything he had missed. He thought about it over and over again, and it seemed that there were only two things that he had not yet explained. He raised his head and was about to talk to Min'er and Wenyuan.
Suddenly she caught a glimpse of Yun Zhi, and saw that she was not talking to Zhu Song and Zhu Yun, and she felt a little curious. Today was also the first time Yun Zhi saw a train. She had not known that people from Gezhiyuan were studying trains before, but she was surprised when she saw the train.
The look on her face just flashed by, and then she seemed to be deep in thought. Since she was about to return to the Central Plains, she didn't have to worry about abolishing the Governor's Palace, so what was there to think about?
"Yunzhi, what do you think when you saw the train today?" Yun approached Yunzhi and asked.
"Third brother, my sister remembers that many years ago, it should be the ninth or eleventh year of Jianye. One time, my sister and my third brother somehow talked about when the Mongols would be eliminated. The third brother and my sister talked about the industrial age.
It can be destroyed; my sister asked what the industrial age was, and the third brother replied at that time: "A fire gun is much more convenient to use than a crossbow, and its range is far beyond that of a crossbow. It has become a weapon equipped by all soldiers; generals can use it in an instant."
When they can communicate with armies thousands of miles away; when there are things that can transport dozens of times more transportation and cost tens of times more than rail carriages, and can save dozens of times more to ensure logistics, the industrial age will be reached, and the Mongols will be destroyed.'
.”
"Although firearms are not yet equipped for all soldiers, they are much more useful than crossbows. The train that my sister originally thought was a fantasy has also been developed; the only thing left is to allow generals to contact armies thousands of miles away in an instant.
Something has not yet appeared. Although I can't imagine anything that can allow a general to contact an army thousands of miles away in an instant, it may appear soon. When this kind of thing appears, perhaps the industrial age is coming.
Yunzhi said.
"I'm sorry you still remember these words." Yun also remembered the conversation with Yun Zhi at that time. He sighed for a while and said to Yun Zhi: "Although firearms are becoming more and more useful and trains have been developed, let the general
Something that can contact armies thousands of miles away in an instant will not appear soon."
"Why is Third Brother so sure?" Yunzhi asked.
The reason is of course that Yun has already experimented. The first step in Yun's experiment was to make a generator. He succeeded easily. The principle of the generator is very simple. Metal can generate electricity by cutting magnetic lines. Just fix a magnet and then
Just let the metal continue to move in the magnetic field. But the second step, if you want the general to contact the far-distance army at any time, you need a telegraph, and Yun tinkered for a long time, but he did not develop a telegraph.
However, this reason cannot be explained to Yun Zhi. Yun Zhi can only say: "Because I have not seen any research results that may allow generals to contact armies thousands of miles away in an instant. What I told you eleven years ago
At that time, I only thought that the emergence of these three things would eliminate the Mongols, not that they would appear soon. After the steam engine was developed, I thought that a train could be built, and strongly encouraged Xuexi to research; but I can’t see it now.
to anything resembling a steam engine."
"Even if it doesn't happen now, maybe it will happen in a few years." Yunzhi is very optimistic.
But she then said: "If we reach the industrial age you mentioned, Third Brother, is it really a good thing?"
"How do you say this?" Yun was a little confused that she suddenly brought up this topic.
"The cost of making firearms is much higher than that of swords and guns. If all soldiers were to use firearms to fight, the cost would be several times higher than now, and the court would also need to levy more taxes."
"There are only so many taxes that can be levied on farmers, and it is difficult to increase them. If you want to collect more taxes, you can only collect them from industry and commerce. In order to collect more taxes from industry and commerce, you can only encourage the development of industry and commerce. With the development of industry and commerce, start-up
There will be more and more factories and merchants running commerce, and the court will become increasingly inseparable from industry and commerce."
"At this point, will the people who run factories and businessmen also want to become nobles and share the power of the court with the clan? If businessmen and the clan share the world, will it be good or bad for the Ming Dynasty?" Yunzhi finally said.