Traveling through Great Qin: Father Qin Shihuang!

"Father, look here!"

Zhao Che reached out and took out a pen, and then drew a circle on the map.

"Yun Mengze?"

Zhao Che didn't stop, and drew a line along Yunmengze that ran through half of the map.

"The south of this line is the key area we want to develop. The climate conditions and temperature in these places are very suitable for the growth of crops. If our hybrid rice is popularized, the annual grain output of Daqin will increase several times. more than."

"The emergence of potatoes and sweet potatoes has helped us basically get rid of the threat of hunger, but we must not stop because of this. The foundation of Daqin lies in agriculture. No matter what time it is, we must not forget this."

"Potatoes and sweet potatoes can only be used as temporary substitutes for food after all, and it is impossible to completely replace the status of food. Food is still the most scarce material in Daqin, especially at this time when Daqin advocates more children and more children. There is not enough If we don’t have more food, Daqin’s population will not increase.”

……

Listening to Zhao Che's analysis, Yingzheng and Fusu nodded frantically. As the emperor and heir apparent of the Great Qin Dynasty, their eyes would naturally not be limited to the present.

When there were no potatoes and sweet potatoes in the past, the heads of Guizhou in Daqin were worried about how to fill their stomachs. In order to survive, grass roots and bark were precious food for them.

Now that the problem of hunger is solved, Daqin is qualified to pursue a better life, not only to make the heads of Guizhou full, but also to eat well.

"Che'er, although the food production in the south is high, you forgot to consider a problem!"

Ying Zheng pointed to the river connected by Yunmengze and said.

"If the guess is correct, you should want to connect the waterways between the north and the south through Yunmengze, that is, the North-South Grand Canal you mentioned before, but the problem with the North-South Grand Canal is already obvious, that is, it takes time exhausting."

"Let's not talk about the construction of the North-South Grand Canal. Where do these laborers come from? If this news spreads, it may first touch the interests of the lower-level Guizhou leaders. There is a lesson from the Great Wall Imperial Tomb. The heads of Guizhou probably won't agree."

"Also, even if the leaders of Guizhou agreed, where did such a huge manpower come from? The total population of Daqin is so large, and a group of Guizhou leaders will migrate to the northern grasslands in the next year. We can't let other aspects of Daqin just for the sake of a Grand Canal Stop all your plans?"

……

After Yingzheng's voice fell, Fusu also nodded.

"Dad is right. The difficulty and cost of excavating the North-South Grand Canal are too great. It is definitely not supported by the current Daqin. Moreover, there are so many hills and mountains across Shu County from Yunmengze. Dealing with these hurdles would take years of delay."

Zhao Che smiled. The North-South Grand Canal will naturally be dug, but definitely not now.

Compared with the North-South Grand Canal, he has a better way.

"Father, look at this route!"

Zhao Che took a pen and drew a line from Yunmengze to Luoyang, which was [-] miles away from Xianyang.

On this straight route, there are almost no obstacles from mountains and rivers, all the way is plain.

"By land?"

Looking at the line in front of him, Ying Zheng frowned.

"Although land transportation is convenient, the transportation efficiency is not high enough, and it requires a lot of manpower, not to mention that a large amount of food has to be transported to Yunmengze before it can be transported back, which is not necessarily easy to use."

Ying Zheng shook his head and said.

"Ordinary land transportation is not enough, but if we build a railway between Yunmeng and Luoyang, our transportation efficiency will naturally increase through train transportation!"

"Train transport?"

Hearing this, Ying Zheng suddenly became excited.

"Are railroads and trains finally ready to be built now?"

Ying Zheng has long been looking forward to the train that Zhao Che said can travel thousands of miles a day and can run by itself without manpower.

However, the construction of the train was not going well, mainly because it was stuck at the barrier of materials. Last time when Yingzheng went on an east tour, Zhao Che stopped by to investigate the situation of various lines in Daqin, in order to be able to do so as soon as possible. Set up Daqin's railway network.

"Railways and trains are still the same problems as before, mainly in terms of materials and energy, but now that we have rubber, the power energy of trains can be solved, and the next step is to solve the problem of steelmaking."

"Steelmaking?"

"That's right. Ordinary pig iron is fragile and brittle, and it can't meet the needs of building trains and railways. Therefore, we must develop steel and alloys."

The transportation efficiency of the train is closely related to the construction materials of the railway. Because the train is heavy and fast, the requirements for the rails are extremely high.

If the construction materials of the rails do not meet the standards, it is very easy to have accidents during the transportation process, and the only thing that will be faced at that time is the car crash and death.

Fortunately, after this period of development, Daqin's iron smelting technology has been very mature. The most basic pig iron and wrought iron forging are very efficient, while steel alloys are forged on a deeper level based on the original foundation.

"Forging steel method!"

Zhao Che took out the steel forging process that he had prepared a long time ago.

"Che'er, the forging process of this steel is probably very difficult. With Daqin's current ability, if a railway is to be laid between Yunmeng and Luoyang, how long do you think it will take?"

Ying Zheng had already seen steel, which was the building material of the Great Qin Xuanniao.

In order to test the power of steel, Ying Zheng used his long sword to slash the steel shell of the Xuanniao, but naturally no trace was left.

Not to mention an ordinary long sword, even the mighty blunderbuss in Ying Zheng's eyes could not break through the defense of the Xuanniao.

And the most important thing is that the iron and steel forging process is really too difficult. According to Zhao Che, a catty of iron ore can only be refined into about four taels of pig iron, and the pig iron needs to be hammered and tempered before it can be made into a qualified one. Come on steel.

Not only that, but in the process of steelmaking, the requirements need to be strictly followed, otherwise it is easy to fail in refining.

Leaving aside the cost required to create enough steel, the manpower consumed alone is not a small number.

Zhao Che naturally understands this, but forging of steel is a must, and the material of the railway must not be sloppy in the slightest, otherwise all previous efforts may be wasted.

Zhao Che roughly estimated the cost and the time it would take, and finally came up with a similar answer.

"In three years, at most three years, I am confident that the railway between Yunmeng and Luoyang can be built."

"Three years?"

Ying Zheng stroked his beard, feeling that it had been a long time.

The main reason is that Zhao Che's previous work is generally relatively simple and has a short cycle, which is why Daqin's changes are so fast.

In just over a year, Daqin has become like this, which made Yingzheng feel eager for quick success.