This steam train was not the first or second one built in the Ming Dynasty. It had been tested before in the mining area of Gyeonggi, but the wooden rails covered with iron sheets were laid at that time.
After becoming familiar with the experimental data, the Bingzhan Bureau officially began to build these two steam locomotives.
Of course, there is a small section of railway track that has been tested in the Bingzhan Bureau. If there is no problem, it will be moved to the newly built railway station outside the capital city.
Song Yingxing came up at this time to report that everything was ready, which meant that it was really almost done.
Otherwise, if everything is the first time, Emperor Chongzhen happily came to show off, but in the end he was slapped in the face. Where should I put the face of the majestic Ming Emperor? I am afraid that he will become the father of Ming science.
A laughing stock!
At this time, after Emperor Chongzhen heard Song Yingxing's report, he suddenly felt very high-spirited. He stood up and waved to his wife and children and said, "Let's go out with me and take a look!"
Queen Zhou and others were also excited. After all, they had seen the video sent by Liu Weichao and knew how powerful this steam train was for this era!
When they heard Emperor Chongzhen's greeting, they all stood up immediately and looked at each other. They were neatly dressed and must not violate royal etiquette!
On the other side, Chief Assistant He Fengsheng and others were waiting boredly. Since they had nothing to do, they were wasting time talking.
I heard He Fengsheng say to the others: "Wait a minute, what kind of car is your Majesty? If it really doesn't work, please join me in admonishing your Majesty. Just accept this and be busy with state affairs. That's the business!"
After hearing this, Zuo Maodi, the Minister of Civil Affairs, immediately said with a smile: "What if this train can do it? Then we have no reason to advise His Majesty!"
Although he said this, looking at his expression, it was obviously more of a joke.
No, Huang Zongzhou, the always serious censor of Zuodu of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, immediately said: "Look, how can such a heavy thing move? Is it okay if it can move? Or can it crawl like a snail? In short, if this thing is better than a carriage
It’s still too slow. According to my opinion, it won’t work. Don’t mess with this thing!”
After hearing this, Ni Yuanlu, the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, immediately laughed and said: "I heard that the Military and War Bureau has invested all their energy in these vehicles in recent months. Even the ordnance and armor scheduled for Baoding are required.
It has been postponed for a month. I estimate that this thing will cost a lot of money! Your Majesty, it’s true that you started messing around with it as soon as you had some money!”
Upon hearing this, the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment glanced at the Minister of the Ministry of Works, and then said: "Is that all right for you? Your majesty's cement manufacturing business is all yours, why don't you find another profitable business for yourself?
"
Hearing what he said, Ni Yuanlu immediately got excited, lowered her voice a little, as if she was afraid that the factory guards outside would hear it, and said in a low voice: "Do you know, in fact, His Majesty actually has a lot of good things in his hands. In terms of textile manufacturing,
, they are all kept in the palace!"
Just when they were talking about this, they suddenly heard He Fengsheng interrupting them and saying: "It seems to be fine. That Minister Song went to invite His Majesty. Let's go out too!"
Having said this, he turned around and glanced at his colleagues, and then said seriously: "According to what Master Zuodu Yushi said, if this steam train is not faster than a horse-drawn carriage, please follow me.
I would like to advise Your Majesty that you must support these actions for the country and the people!"
After Zuo Maodi and others heard this, they all became serious and bowed in agreement, obviously agreeing with the chief assistant's statement.
Afterwards, everyone went out. When the cold wind blew, all of these old men shivered in spirit. No, they were refreshed. With their heads held high and their chests held high, they all went to the platform outside the stationmaster's office to greet the emperor and his family.
Emperor Chongzhen came out and looked at their expressions. They all seemed a little serious. He didn't know what they were thinking. He immediately laughed and exhaled a series of words: "Today is a happy day. Why are you so serious?"
?This will be recorded in history!"
"..." Emperor Chongzhen's words made He Fengsheng and others speechless.
The emperor's self-confidence was so overwhelming that he even dared to say that it was a day recorded in the history books! Do you know how big of an event it is to leave a mark in the history books?
With this thought in his mind, He Fengsheng came back to his senses. Just when he was about to speak, he heard Emperor Chongzhen smiling and saying to them again: "Why do I seem to be unfavorable to you? How about this? I will fight with you."
How about a bet?"
Anyone can see that Emperor Chongzhen is in a very good mood.
No, when Wang Chengen, the eunuch and eunuch of the Chief of Ceremonies who was waiting behind him, saw it, he quickly stepped forward and joked with him: "Long live Lord, I see that they don't dare to bet with Long live Lord, because they will definitely not be able to win against Long live Lord."
,hehe!"
When He Fengsheng heard this, he immediately stopped caring and immediately reported to Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, I am a humble minister..."
Having said this, he suddenly rolled his eyes slightly, then turned around, pointed at other senior Ming officials behind him, and then said: "All my colleagues, I would like to make a bet with Your Majesty. If this steam... train does not
If it's faster than a carriage, then I win, okay?"
Huang Zongzhou listened, glanced at the train on the track, and then bowed and said: "Your Majesty, for the sake of fairness, this carriage can also be loaded with some heavy objects for a test. If the carriage is still faster, please don't do it again."
Instead of using your majesty’s wisdom and prowess to do such things that waste people and money, it’s better to use them for state affairs, so as to bring peace to the world as soon as possible and restore peace to the world. ”
Song Yingxing, who was waiting by the side, heard what they said and couldn't help but want to step forward to say something. However, when he heard Huang Zongzhou say that this was a waste of money and people, he immediately stopped talking and looked like he was watching a good show.
expression.
When Emperor Chongzhen's wife and children heard the content of their bet, they all had different expressions. Then, Concubine Tian, whose personality had become cheerful again, couldn't help it and laughed immediately.
Then, when she saw the chief minister and a group of foreign court officials looking at her, she immediately realized that her attitude seemed a little wrong, so she immediately stopped laughing and covered her mouth with her hand.
But despite this, it can still be seen that she seems to be holding back her laughter, which is a bit hard.
Everyone else, including Concubine Tian, wanted to laugh but did not dare to laugh. The scene was really exciting.
When He Fengsheng and others saw him, their expressions became a little ugly. However, they couldn't say anything.
The harem is not allowed to interfere in politics?
The key point is that this is not a political matter. Besides, they didn’t say anything, so why should you condemn them?
Forget it, there is nothing to argue with a group of women and children with long hair and short knowledge!
Therefore, He Fengsheng and others pretended to be invisible to the expressions of the women and children behind Emperor Chongzhen.
Of course Emperor Chongzhen knew why his wife and children behind him were behaving like this. He turned his head and coughed immediately. The expression between his brows seemed to say, don't spoil my good deeds!
Then, he turned back and looked at He Fengsheng, Huang Zongzhou and others said: "Okay, I promise you. But what if I win? Since it is a bet, then if I win, I will ask the professors of the Ming Royal Academy of Sciences to also
How about going to the Imperial College to start classes?"
He has always felt that there are too few scientific and technological talents at hand. A lot of the scientific knowledge passed down from Liu Weichao has not been studied by anyone.
Although he trained among the palace maids, eunuchs, and craftsmen, most of the people in these groups were illiterate. Training him from scratch was very laborious, and there were still very few people who could really use him.
Emperor Chongzhen was a bit impatient and couldn't wait to train people from scratch. He had also been thinking about how to quickly train scientific and technological talents.
However, even if he is the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, if Ming scholars are asked to study scientific knowledge, they will find that it has always been only the Four Books and the Five Classics. Other than that, it is miscellaneous knowledge and is not valued by the scholars. Let them study scientific knowledge.
, how much resistance there will be!
Therefore, taking this opportunity, if so many senior officials of the Ming Dynasty, including the Chief Minister of the Ming Dynasty and others, agree to let him go to the Imperial College to teach scientific knowledge courses, it will be a good start.
Since it is a sure-win bet, it is natural to gain some benefits.
At this time, He Fengsheng and others couldn't help but look at each other after hearing Emperor Chongzhen's bet.
According to common sense, they really didn't believe that Emperor Chongzhen would win. After all, the weight of the steam train was there. No matter how heavy the carriage was, it couldn't compare with the weight of the steam train.
However, they are all human beings. Looking at the expressions of Emperor Chongzhen and the expressions of the women and children behind Emperor Chongzhen, something feels wrong!
However, Emperor Chongzhen was watching them, and they wanted to propose the bet. It seemed unreasonable not to make a bet now.
Ni Yuanlu, the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, rolled his eyes and said to Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, I have no objection to this bet. However, in order to see the outcome of the bet, I think the carriage needs to be on the cement pipe.
Run, is this okay?"
Upon hearing this, He Fengsheng and others came to their senses one by one, understood the benefits of his proposal, and quickly agreed with his proposal.
How could Emperor Chongzhen not know that they were increasing their chances of winning? However, with this little thought, it meant nothing to him.
So, without saying a word, he immediately agreed and said: "Okay, I'm sure. The steam train and the carriage will arrive in Tongzhou and then return. Which one will be faster?"
When Ni Yuanlu heard this, he was afraid that the horse would not be able to bear such a long distance. Just as he was hesitating, Huang Zongzhou answered Emperor Chongzhen on their behalf: "In this case, I am willing to bet!"
When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he didn't give them a chance to regret it. He immediately laughed and said: "Okay, then it's settled, let's get started!"