Iron Dynasty

Cui Xue'er looked a little surprised at her father standing in front of her.

When she came back to her senses, her eyes suddenly burst into tears. Since she entered the palace, she has never seen her father again. Now that father and daughter meet, she can't help but feel a little sad.

Xiao Ming stood behind the king of Huainan, and after leaving the court, he took the king of Huainan to the palace. This trip to Qingzhou was just the beginning. After these vassal kings returned, they had to see their specific actions, so Xiao Ming did not dare to be careless. Facing the strongest of the three kings, you still have to play emotional cards.

This is not because Xiao Ming is afraid of King Huainan, but because he is unwilling to start the war lightly and waste his national power.

When he was just an ordinary person, he used to like to shout and kill, but since he became the emperor, he dared not speak easily.

For him, unless a matter must be solved by war, he will not easily start a war. After all, the phrase a country is big, warlike will die is not something that the ancients said casually.

My minister, see the noble concubine. King Huainan was also a little excited, but he tried his best to suppress his emotions and bowed to Cui Xue'er.

Cui Xue'er was stunned for a moment, and only then did she realize that they were no longer a simple father-daughter relationship, and now his father had to call her a noble concubine.

With a slight sigh in her heart, Cui Xue'er said, The King of Huainan is exempt from the ceremony.

Hearing this, the King of Huainan dared to stand up.

Seeing this, Xiao Ming said, The King of Huainan doesn't need to be polite. Although Xue'er is the imperial concubine now, she is also your daughter. If you have anything to say, you can say it as a father and daughter.

Realizing that it was his existence that made King Huainan somewhat unable to let go, he said: Qian Dafu, you accompany your concubine out of the palace today, and let the king and concubine go to Cui Shangan's mansion for a few days. It is rare for the king of Huainan to come to Qingzhou once. , can never be disappointed.”

Yes, Your Majesty. Qian Dafu replied yes, Cui Xue'er and King Huainan also smiled, and now their family can finally be reunited.

After saying this, Xiao Ming went to the imperial study. He said that he had something to do, but she saw Princess Pingyang walking towards the imperial study.

Turning around and leaving, Xiao Ming arrived in the imperial study, when Princess Pingyang had just arrived.

Seeing Xiao Ming, Princess Pingyang said, Congratulations to the emperor for your double happiness today.

Double happiness? Where does double happiness come from?

Xiao Ming smiled. He now recognizes Princess Pingyang more and more, because no matter from the secret guard or his observation, Princess Pingyang has been conscientiously repairing the railway now.

He naturally agrees with such an aunt who is willing to do things.

After getting acquainted with Xiao Ming, Princess Pingyang will also grasp the skills of getting along with Xiao Ming while in awe of the imperial power. She said jokingly: One of these is that the reduction of the vassal went smoothly, and since then the Great Yu Kingdom has lost three more vassal kings. , The second is that the Qingzhou Laiwu, Dengzhou, and Kaiping railways will be open to traffic soon, isn't this a double happiness?

Open to traffic? Xiao Ming asked in surprise, Really?

I don't dare to joke with the emperor. According to the emperor's plan, we will complete the opening of these three railways by the end of this year. We are just a little earlier. Princess Pingyang said: However, this is all thanks to the slaves provided by the emperor. And the steel mill has plenty of parts.

Xiao Ming nodded slightly, now that it is winter, and before you know it, another year will soon pass.

Although the key event this year was the expulsion of the barbarians, the industry and construction of the Great Yu Kingdom have been in progress. This railway is only one of them. In addition, in order to solve the problem of ore, the Minerals Department sent a large number of personnel to Look for all kinds of large mines all over the country.

Once the mines marked on the drawings were discovered, the Minerals Department established mines with the cooperation of the local government.

In addition, steel workshops, steam engine workshops, and mechanical workshops are all adding production lines, and three large shipyards have been added along the coast.

These shipyards are different from the backward manual workshops in the past, but a large number of steam engine power is used, and some special machinery and equipment for shipyards have also begun to settle in.

Since the advent of steam-engine warships, the idea of ​​ironclad ships has been circling in his mind, and these mechanized shipyards are prepared for the construction of steam-engine-powered ironclad warships.

Good! Good! Good! Xiao Ming said three good words in a row. He got up and walked to the map in the imperial study, where three railway lines were marked.

These three lines are not straight lines, but are curved like earthworms. In the construction plan, the area where the railway passes through is the mining area, so it has such a shape.

Once it opens to traffic, the three places will be connected in one line. From now on, cities along the railway will no longer have to worry about coal and iron. In this way, the industrial area of ​​Qingzhou Prefecture can be expanded. Xiao Ming's hands trembled with excitement.

A sad fact is that since the industrialization of Qingzhou Prefecture, the development of the Great Yu Kingdom has only been limited to a few cities.

There is no other reason, the contradiction lies in the transportation of resources.

The Great Yu Kingdom is not the United Kingdom. From the south to the north, it is the distance from the north to the south of Qingzhou Prefecture. It is very difficult to transport resources in this vast country.

Therefore, Xiao Ming can only rely on the resource-rich regions to build the industrial base. Once the industrial base is established, he will build a national railway to open up the transportation of resources across the country.

If you want to be rich, you must build roads first. This is not an empty talk. Even in the 21st century, the traffic-poor areas are still very poor, because there are no traffic conditions there.

Princess Pingyang had a smile on her face. It was the first time she saw Xiao Ming so happy. She said, But the three railways can consume a lot of money from the national treasury.

No matter how poor you are, you have to repair it. Xiao Ming said decisively, The task of your railway department has just begun. After these three railways, you will build the Qingliao Railway on one line of Youzhou, Jinzhou, Liaozhou and Raozhou. The south side starts from Laizhou, passes through Xuzhou, Huaizhou, Bozhou, and Jinling to build the Qingjin Railway, and then builds a railway from Qingzhou westward to Chang'an, from Chang'an south to Bashu.

Princess Pingyang was stunned when she heard the words. This project was a bit incredible to her. She said, Your Majesty, this is not a task that can be accomplished in a few years.

Of course I know this. Therefore, this is a long-term plan. The specific railway route I have planned for you is clear. Whether it is ten or twenty years, the railway network in the Great Yu Kingdom must be built. Xiao Ming's tone was firm.

Feeling Xiao Ming's determination, Princess Pingyang nodded heavily and said, With the words of the emperor, the Railway Division will definitely go all out.

Xiao Ming nodded. The railway network on the map is the route chosen by modern times after thorough argumentation, which saves the railway department a lot of time.

Now what they have to do is to serve as the tentacles of the Great Yu Kingdom, wherever the railway extends, their troops can be quickly deployed to wherever.

In this way, he can really control the unstable area.