Dashun Yongchang

Therefore, Ming officials like to pay attention to scholars and socializing the most on weekdays, because these two things do not require much investment, and can often bring unexpected returns.Even a Ming official like Yuan Yuzong who was willing to do things would not spend all his energy on his own work during the Ming Dynasty, because it was impossible for him to be a lone minister who broke away from the circle.

But in Dashun, Li Zicheng never talked about the emperor's reign. He asked the officials to do things, at least to do their own work well first.Although the Marshal's Mansion has always been short of people, for those scholars who don't like to do things, Li Zicheng would rather throw them to the Wenhua Palace to edit books than appoint them as local officials.

Li Zicheng's approach certainly made some scholars feel dissatisfied, especially those Jinshi who had already achieved fame in the Ming Dynasty. For an official position, Li Zicheng is too arrogant.In layman's terms, Li Zicheng would rather be close to villains than gentlemen, how can this country restore peace?

Before that, these people still disapproved of Li Zicheng, and stayed with the prince with the idea of ​​"I don't even bother to serve a thief if you don't give me an official position". unknown number.If they stayed with the prince, they would have room to advance or retreat.

However, after the Shun army reversed the situation on the battlefield, these gentlemen also began to be unwilling to be lonely, and began to shout that "governing the country cannot be with villains", "Dashun wants to rule the world, your majesty still wants to be close to virtuous ministers and stay away from villains." "And so on, and began to flatter each other, trying to let the people know who is the wise man in the field.

What kind of effect these people's remarks have had on Li Zicheng, Yuan Yuzong is still unclear, but those officials who were promoted by the Marshal's Mansion with little knowledge were stimulated to work harder. They were afraid that Li Zicheng would listen. The words of these sages kicked them away. They couldn't compare their influence with these sages in public opinion, so they could only work hard.

Liang Er and Wang Yong are obviously also part of these people, but Yuan Yuzong still feels that it is more comfortable to work with these villains. If he works with those gentlemen, then he must quarrel every day and shirk responsibility. A person willing to do these practical jobs.Although he should stand with sages with similar backgrounds as himself, he doesn't want these sages to come to the department he manages.

When they visited the northern end of the village, Yuan Yuzong couldn't help but asked the two people around him, "What's that for?"

After accompanying Shangguan for a long time, Wang Yong, whose mood had settled down, immediately replied: "Oh, that's the station. A railway was built from the Iron Mine in the west mountain to Liuquan, and this is the temporary station of the railway. We plan to Build a place for railway staff to live, passengers to wait, and cargo to be loaded and unloaded."

Yuan Yuzong nodded slightly, but quickly asked him: "I heard that the railway overturned not long after it was in operation? Is this thing unsafe?"

Wang Yong immediately shook his head and said, "The overturned vehicle was caused by the fact that the wheels were not in stable contact with the rails. After modifying the wheels, there is no problem now. Why don't you go over there and see for yourself. There should be a bus arriving at noon."

Seeing Wang Yong's beaming expression when he talked about the railway, Yuan Yuzong wondered if he had found the wrong partner?After all, he came here this time to criticize that the railway is a waste of money and useless, so he has reason to ask Wei Xuelian to stop spending expensive iron materials on such useless toys.

Although he was suspicious, Yuan Yuzong followed Wang Yong to the station with a calm expression.The so-called station is actually a flat ground tamped on the edge of two rails, and there is a long row of wooden sheds on it to shelter from wind, rain and sunshine.On the opposite side of the railroad tracks are piles of ore mountains. Many peasants are carrying the ore on the ore mountains, which look like a group of hardworking ants attacking the honey mountain.

Looking at the ore mountain on the opposite side, Yuan Yuzong said in surprise: "How can there be so much ore piled up? Is it you or the folks arranged by the Liguo Iron Works? This speed is too slow, isn't it?"

Chapter 500 Steel III

When Yuan Yuzong asked, there was a sudden movement in the distance.Everyone turned their heads to look, only to see several bullocks pulling a long train carriage slowly walking towards them.

It’s not that Yuan Yuzong has never seen a model of a railway. In order to verify whether it can pull load-carrying vehicles on the rails, Liguo Railway Factory built a section of rails in the factory area. Yuan Yuzong visited it. The vehicles running on the rails look normal. The big car is no different, except that it is much more stable when driving.

Because of such an impression in his mind, when Du Yizhong proposed to him to suspend the railway construction project, Yuan Yuzong did not think that the project should not be suspended. It was just to save some energy during transportation or make people feel more comfortable. The construction of railways would be too laborious and costly. Of course, the emperor had the power to do so.

Compared with the Ming emperors who wantonly built palaces to satisfy their selfish desires, at least Li Zicheng still wanted to reduce the burden on the common people and spend money. From this point of view, building a few railways to satisfy Li Zicheng's desire to be close to the people is not a big deal.If it wasn't at this critical moment, he wouldn't want to stand up and stop it. This is also a kind of self-consciousness of a courtier.

But he never thought that people like Wei Xuelian could actually make a series of land boats.This was a scene he had never seen before, and he was a little stunned for a moment.

Wang Yong, the head of the military supervision department, watched the slowly approaching train, and while admiring, he explained to Yuan Yuzong: "Such four carriages, plus a locomotive for driving livestock, make up one train, which can hold about 20 trains at a time. The goods in the first ten thousand catties are 200 cars in terms of ordinary carts.

The daily transportation capacity from Liuquan to Liguo Iron Works is only 100 vehicles, so the iron ore transported from the mountains can only be transported by half a train per day.It is only 10 miles from Shanzhong Iron Mine to Liuquan, and it takes an hour for these bullocks to go there. Now they go back and forth every morning and afternoon, and they can probably transport a train of iron ore, limestone and wood. and other supplies.

Therefore, the iron ore here is piled higher and higher.In fact, the transportation capacity of this railway can be improved, but the current loading and unloading and iron ore mining capacity have not kept up, so we can only maintain the level of two round trips a day..."

Wang Yong's words were full of admiration and admiration for the new thing of the railway, but Yuan Yuzong looked at the oppressive feeling brought by the huge carriage slowly approaching, and he could not but admit that it was indeed a miracle.

After all, this is not on the water. It would take thousands of people to tow these four carriages full of things on land if there were no railways.It is not that there is no precedent for moving giants on land. In the Song Dynasty, the transportation of Taihu stones and the huge wood and lake stones needed by the emperor to build palaces sometimes required civilian labor to drag them. The huge stones and trees only weighed tens of thousands of catties.

For most people who have never even been out of the county in this era, the shock brought by seeing such a train is about the same as the shock of seeing Beijing or Nanjing for the first time. It's hard to believe that there is such a magnificent city in this world, so when the country people enter a big city for the first time, they can't help being afraid, because they feel that the people who live in such a great city must not be ordinary people.

Now Wang Yong and others' admiration for trains is roughly the same as that of country people's admiration for big cities. This kind of admiration is not rational, but because it is unimaginable, they are obsessed with it.

Yuan Yuzong recovered quickly. Although it was a miracle, it was just a miracle to him. After all, technical miracles always serve the power, so naturally he would not enter the city like a countryman. Generally, bewildered by the appearance of the city.

After waking up, he immediately thought of a question, so he asked Wang Yong: "How much money was spent on this railway? How much iron was used?"

Wang Yong hesitated for a while and said: "According to the new weights and measures, each meter of rail weighs about 10 kilograms. It is poured with mud or sand and then polished. The iron material used per kilometer weighs about 30 tons. The current cast iron weighs about 80 tons per ton. The price is 2400 taels, which is 5000 taels, plus labor and other material costs, the cost of the railway is about [-] taels per kilometer."

This is indeed an astonishing number, but compared to the many problems caused by the canal, replacing the transportation of the canal in a few areas may be a solution.Yuan Yuzong finished his inspection of Liuquan, and after a simple lunch in Liuquan mansion, he went on the road again to Liguo Iron Works.

The road from Liuquan to Liguo has been repaired this winter. When Yuan Yuzong walked along this road, he could still see drainage ditches being dug and street trees planted on both sides of the road.Such a scene of labor makes people feel as if the troubled times are over and the days of peace have arrived.

Yuan Yuzong looked at the scene where the people on both sides of the road were concentrating on working, and he admired Li Zicheng's decision. Although he demanded to put the needs of the army first, he did not take excessive measures to oppress the civilians. Of course, this It also relied on Li Zicheng's ability to borrow money from Jiangnan merchants, which Emperor Chongzhen could not do.

In fact, comparing Li Zicheng and Chongzhen, the latter has much more power than Li Zicheng, because Li Zicheng has never once violated the wishes of everyone, even if he gave up Beijing and went south and did not return to Shaanxi, Li Zicheng also persuaded most people to support him. The military order was only issued, but whether Chongzhen appointed Yuan Chonghuan, executed Yuan Chonghuan, or appointed other chief assistants, he almost always made a decision with one word, and no one could stop him.

But what is strange is that businessmen in the south were willing to lend money to Li Zicheng, but Chongzhen's father-in-law refused to donate money to his son-in-law, as if he had forgotten who he relied on to enjoy his wealth.Li Zicheng, who borrowed money from southern merchants, spent most of the money on the army, but he also ensured fair trade between the army and the people, so that the cities and villages around the garrison camps shared the benefits of the army's needs. , instead of becoming the target of the army's oppression.

Only by ensuring the fairness of trade, the cities and villages around Xuzhou began to prosper, because a large number of troops and officials were concentrated in Xuzhou, and the needs of these people greatly stimulated the local economy.And the prosperity of the economy eliminated the people's vigilance and hostility towards the Dashun regime, and they began to support the Marshal's Mansion, which brought order and prosperity to them.

Originally, there were thieves and thieves two or three miles away from Xuzhou City, but now, there are no more pedestrians and business travelers on the road. This is a harbinger of the restoration of order in the place.

The closer you get to Liguo Town, the smoother the road becomes, and the hills and hills spreading on both sides begin to recede slowly, replaced by large tracts of flat land.Yuan Yuzong was admiring the scene beside the road while driving, thinking in his heart, if another month passed, the land on both sides of the road should be able to see the scene of spring plowing, right?Perhaps, the troubled times are finally coming to an end.

It was already dusk when Yuan Yuzong arrived at Liguo Iron Works. Wei Xuelian, Zhang Tao, Tang Ruowang, Song Yingxing and others greeted him and went to the cafeteria for dinner.Wei Xuelian, Zhang Tao, Tang Ruowang and Yuan Yuzong were already familiar with each other, but Song Yingxing and Yuan Yuzong had not met a few times, but Yuan Yuzong did not dare to underestimate him, because this person was personally requested by Li Zicheng to be sent from Nanjing talent.

Song Yingxing, who was born as a Juren, had achieved the position of the prefect of Bozhou when Daming died. From this point of view, Song Yingxing's official career was quite prosperous, but after realizing that Daming had no hope, Song Yingxing chose to resign and return to his hometown. .Even after Emperor Hongguang ascended the throne and issued an edict to invite him to come back, he did not accept it.

Song Yingxing originally planned to sort out some of his works at home, mainly the revision of the work Tiangong Kaiwu.In the tenth year of Chongzhen, with the support of his friend Tu Shaoying, Song Yingxing published his work in Nanchang Mansion.But at that time, due to time constraints, the text had not been carefully revised, so there were many typos in the book, so Song Yingxing hoped to reorganize it at home for future printing.

At this time, Li Zicheng asked him to go to Yangzhou through Nanjing. Song Yingxing refused at first, but Ruan Dacheng was very attentive to Li Zicheng's order, knowing that Song Yingxing was the person Li Zicheng called for, so naturally he would not let him refuse so easily .Therefore, after Ruan Dacheng inquired about Song Yingxing's situation, he recruited him again in the name of the prince, and at the same time found someone to persuade Song Yingxing to go to Yangzhou, in exchange for subsidizing Tiangong's reprint.

Song Yingxing could refuse Emperor Hongguang's recruitment, because he didn't think he was a subject of Emperor Hongguang, but he couldn't refuse the prince's recruitment. He was a subject of Chongzhen, and the Song family was also a family of officials, and had a relationship with the Ming Dynasty It's not so easy to cut off, his elder brother is still an official in Guangzhou at this time.

It’s just that Song Yingxing, who originally planned to make up the story, became interested in the re-translation movement of the Yongle Canon hosted by the prince after he arrived in Yangzhou. The Yongle Canon was also a book he had always wanted to read but could not.Originally, he also wanted to stay in Wenhua Palace, but Marshal Du's Mansion asked him to verify the content on Tiangong Kaiwu, saying that Marshal Du's Mansion hoped to summarize some handicraft technology experience, and then introduce new ones.

Song Yingxing was naturally interested in this, so there was Huai'an and Xuzhou and his party. After arriving in Xuzhou, Song Yingxing went to Liguo Iron Works and refused to leave.Yuan Yuzong didn't know why, but when he saw Song Yingxing's utterance about the iron factory's technical affairs, he understood that he was being confused by the iron factory.

Well, although the Liguo Iron Works has only been established for half a year, at the current rate of expansion, there is no better place for those who want to start a career in the iron works.Just like Yuan Yuzong's affection for Li Zicheng was just like the country party, but there is no such thing as the friendship between the monarch and his ministers.But after Li Zicheng established the General Staff Department, it is impossible for Yuan Yuzong to resign and go home now, because the General Staff Department is not only Li Zicheng's, it is also his career now.

Chapter 501 Steel III

In a progressive group, even people with little talent will try their best to play their role, because everyone will feel that they are improving during this rising period.Just like the Houjin established by Nurhachi, the reason why it was able to persevere surrounded by Ming Dynasty, Mongolia and North Korea is that the sense of belonging brought by this rising period is the most powerful, because everyone can see where their hope lies. .

On the other hand, Ming, Mongolia, and North Korea are all in a period of decline at this time, and they are already full of internal contradictions. Facing such a small progressive group, they will make many unwarranted judgments. Those who expect their own failures are actually There are many more people who want to defeat Hou Jin, because these people cannot resist the ruler, so they hope that the failure of the ruler will bring about internal changes.

Similarly, in the first month of the 16th year of Chongzhen, when the rebel army conquered the sky, Li Zicheng called himself "Fengtian Advocating Justice, Marshal of Civil and Military Affairs", and Luo Rucai called himself "General Daitian Fumin Weide", the rebel army also became a new military and political force.Just because the rebel army formed a sense of belonging during the rising period, when Li Zicheng got rid of Luo Rucai and others later, the rebel army still maintained a certain degree of unity, and only a few people left the group.

But after Li Zicheng launched the Eastern Expedition, because the progress was too smooth, a large number of Ming soldiers and officials surrendered, making the progressive forces within this group into a minority. Those who newly surrendered did not feel their own progress. It was just a choice of speculation, which greatly damaged the cohesion of the Rebel Army group.

On the contrary, the Manchus, after more than ten years of hard work by Huang Taiji, the Manchus have finally stabilized. Before entering the customs, they have almost digested the Liaodong Han people, so although they accepted them when they entered the customs A large number of officers and troops surrendered, but the Manchus still firmly controlled the dominance of the Qing Dynasty and maintained their upward momentum.

Yuan Yuzong believed that if Li Zicheng refused to evade the battle at Shanhaiguan that day, but wanted to bet on taking down Shanhaiguan before the Manchus arrived, then the Dashun group would really be doomed, because Dashun, which was full of internal disagreements, did not Without the capital of gambling, even if Shanhaiguan was taken down, it would only clear the way for the Manchus.Since the Great Wall did not stop the Manchus, how could the Shanhai Pass alone stop the Manchus who were determined to go south?At most, it was just causing a little trouble for the opponent, because the Shun Army also had no backup in Shanhaiguan.

Li Zicheng avoided the war in Shanhaiguan and abandoned Beijing for a series of actions. It seems that he handed over his destiny to the Manchus, but he bought himself a time to integrate the interior and digest the surrender of the Ming army.After that, he went south to Huaiyang, forced Emperor Hongguang to abdicate, and set up the banner of the prince. In addition to easing the relationship with the old ministers of the Ming Dynasty, he also unified his internal thinking.

The series of constructions carried out by the Marshal's Mansion in Xuzhou, Huaiyang and other places are also aimed at awakening the progressive forces inside and further eliminating the speculative forces.Because builders cannot speculate, if they want to keep their own construction results, they will take the initiative to maintain the existing regime, instead of expecting other people to have any magnanimity. The news also made everyone panic and angry about the Manchus who were engaged in the enclosure movement. Even the scholars who originally thought about uniting the slaves and destroying the bandits became more sober and began to re-emphasize the defense of the Chinese and barbarians.

Although this kind of progressivism can stimulate the enthusiasm of internal individuals, it also allows each department to have a relatively independent voice. For example, after the banquet at the reception, when everyone sat down to drink tea and sober up There was no positive response.

Wei Xuelian wholeheartedly agreed to the request to allocate the newly built artillery, but to the suspension of railway construction, several people present expressed their opposition, especially Song Yingxing's attitude was the most encouraging.

As a scientific and technological researcher, Song Yingxing has no sense of belonging to Dashun, but he is full of interest in the development of Liguo Iron Works. When he heard Yuan Yuzong's request, he immediately objected: "Although Yu doesn't understand What military, but judging from the news published in the current newspapers, Dashun is not at a disadvantage on the battlefield, that is to say, a few more guns and a few less guns, in fact, can't change the current situation on the battlefield, so what's the matter? Is it necessary to stop the construction of railways in order to cast cannons? Compared with adding a few cannons to the army, railways are really beneficial to people's livelihood."

Facing the emotional Song Yingxing, Yuan Yuzong was also a little stunned. Although during the conversation at the banquet just now, he could hear that Song Yingxing had a lot of opinions on the construction of the iron factory, but he did not expect the other party to be so excited.Speaking of which, the current Song Yingxing is not strictly a member of Dashun, so he shouldn't be so excited about this issue.

But Song Yingxing obviously doesn't see it that way. As a scholar who won the Wanli Examination but suffered repeated setbacks in the Jinshi Examination, he devoted his energy to collecting technical materials of various handicraft industries after he refused to take the Imperial Examination, hoping to be able to Do something for the people.In his view, the imperial examination system actually has a lot of drawbacks, and it cannot select talents who are really beneficial to the national economy and the people's livelihood, because the content of the imperial examination does not test these.

However, the ordinary people he came into contact with in his life in the countryside are closely related to these handicrafts in their daily life. Even farming requires skills, because many farmers will only follow the farming methods of the older generation, and only rely on their own self-control for saving seeds, which makes the yield per mu of many farmers not even reach the average level.

It was these contacts with the life of the lower class people in the countryside that gave Song Yingxing the idea of ​​compiling Tiangong Kaiwu, hoping to spread some proven effective technologies to the people, so as to improve their lives.

Although Dashun was a regime established by rogues, after seeing Dashun's plan to translate and print the Yongle Canon and Geometry Originals, and the Marshal's Mansion's vernacular translation of these books, it greatly lowered the learning threshold for the low-level people. With the approval of Song Yingxing, he has always believed that knowledge is for dissemination, not for some people's self-entertainment. If most people can't understand the article, then no matter how profound the meaning of the article is, no matter how important the content is , still will not spread among the people.

It was precisely after seeing Dashun's efforts in this regard that Song Yingxing was interested in letting go of the Yongle Grand Ceremony and going north.And this trip to the north also gave him quite a surprise. In the Qingjiang shipyard, he saw a completely different management model from the previous official workshops. Although he was an official of Ming Dynasty, he did not approve of the way Daming managed craftsmen.

The craftsmen of Ming Dynasty are all descendants, that is, the ancestors were craftsmen, so the descendants will be craftsmen, unless you pass the imperial examination and leave the identity of craftsmen, but such families are generally very few, because most craftsmen Households can only make ends meet, and there is no way to train a scholar, not to mention that without the guidance of teachers, it is quite difficult to take the imperial examination by self-study.

As for the military craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty, although they are not independent, they are only counted as military households, but military craftsmen are worse than civilian craftsmen, because military craftsmen have no personal freedom at all, and you have to go wherever the court tells you to go, while civilian craftsmen At least the craftsman can pass Nayin to be exempted from military service.Just because military craftsmen lack personal freedom and have no future, there are quite a lot of military craftsmen who pretend to be fake, because they are military craftsmen whether they learn skills or not, and they can't leave their own class if they learn well, so why should they study? ?

Therefore, in the Jiawan period, the number of military and civilian craftsmen in the capital has been greatly reduced, because there are too few people with good skills to make good things, and everyone is telling false stories, so that even the helmet of the general can't stop the arrows of the people. , and when Liaodong took the oath, the army's weapons could not cut off the bull's head, so they had to use Shangfang's sword.

When Song Yingxing compiled Tiangong Kaiwu, what he thought was to dedicate this book to the imperial court, so that the imperial court could use it to teach craftsmen, so as to prevent the craftsmen used by the court from being too outdated.In Qingjiang Shipyard, he found that his goal was at least realized by the Marshal's Mansion. Although the status of craftsmen in the shipyard has not been abolished, the personal freedom of craftsmen is almost relaxed, and the Marshal's Mansion has also abolished the artisan household. It is stipulated that the children must work as craftsmen. Even the craftsmen in the shipyard have signed employment contracts in the Marshal's Mansion, which means that after a certain number of years, the craftsmen can choose to retire to get a retirement annuity, and then do what they want to do.

The abolition of the old regulations on the management of craftsmen in the Ming Dynasty greatly stimulated the enthusiasm of the craftsmen in the shipyard, and also made the craftsmen interested in researching technology, because under the regulations of the Marshal's Mansion, the quality of craftsmen's skills is directly related to The remuneration is linked together, and they have a certain right to speak in the management of the shipyard.

During the half-month stay in Qingjiang Shipyard, Song Yingxing saw the vitality brought about by the changes in production management. This vitality is directly reflected in the craftsmen of the shipyard who are willing to try to make things that have not been made before.It was a completely different world from the lifeless official workshops he had seen in the past, and he felt that this was the right path.

On the side of Liguo Iron Works, he saw a more interesting new world.Everyone here is working hard to live and work, and arrange everything in an orderly manner. It seems that in their lives, without the influence of the emperor and officials, there are only those problems that should be solved today, and those problems that should be solved tomorrow , apart from these work matters, nothing can bother them.

For Song Yingxing, there is nothing more interesting than observing this new world that is gradually taking shape, so when he heard that Yuan Yuzong wanted to disrupt the construction plan of this new world, he naturally became furious.

When Yuan Yuzong was surprised and puzzled, Wei Xuelian quickly changed the topic and said: "Mr. Song is too concerned about the construction of the iron factory, so he speaks more bluntly. Please forgive me, Mr. Yuan."

Although Yuan Yuzong was a little unhappy, he still accepted Wei Xuelian's explanation, and he emphasized again: "I am not against the construction of the railway. I have seen the transportation capacity of the railway in Liuquan today, and I also think that the railway is a It is a very good way of transportation. But it is a war period after all, we have to ensure the victory of the war first, and then talk about other things that are beneficial to people's livelihood. Now we are in a stalemate with the Manchurians. At this time, we need to transport one more cannon to the front line It's all good, how can it be said that it has nothing to do with the overall situation? If we can't defeat the Manchus, can everything here be preserved..."

Chapter 502 Steel Four

After listening to Yuan Yuzong's speech, Wei Xuelian thought for a while, and then said to the powerful person in charge of the General Staff Department in front of him: "If you only look at it from the perspective of a war, what more can we provide to the front line?" One cannon, one more musket, or one more waist knife are all beneficial. But looking at the future of Dashun, the lower officials think that the most important thing is to build the Liguo Iron Works as soon as possible.”

Yuan Yuzong was a little surprised and said: "Hasn't the iron factory already started to produce iron? The next step is nothing more than the issue of expansion. This is different from the completion of the project, right?"

Facing Yuan Yuzong's suspicious gaze, Wei Xuelian said calmly: "If the ironworks you refer to are the ironworks built for pouring cannons, then it has indeed been completed, but such an ironworks is very important to you. Dashun is not very meaningful.

I have already submitted the information about the construction of the Iron Works to the Armed Forces Supervisor. I don’t know if you have read this report, but I am willing to repeat it here for you. "

After facing this famous official, he was also a Jinshi of Chongzhen for 16 years and an academician of Dashun Academy of Sciences. After all, Yuan Yuzong couldn't treat him as an ordinary official. Bar."

Wei Xuelian then went on to say: "There are iron smelting plants all over the Ming Dynasty, but the best iron smelting technology is Foshan. It is said that the largest iron melting furnace in Foshan can hold more than 6000 catties of ore at a time, and the daily output of iron is 23 Dan, which is almost One piece of iron is produced for every three shares of ore. A furnace of molten iron needs to consume nearly 7000 catties of charcoal, which is equivalent to more than 6 catties of raw materials to produce one catty of iron. Therefore, this kind of iron furnace basically takes half a year to save ore and charcoal Then the molten iron is smelted in half a year or even less than half a year.

The iron ore produced here in Xuzhou is of better quality, and the coke is more durable than charcoal, so we can almost produce a catty of iron from 4 catties of raw materials.Iron furnaces are easily destroyed once they stop igniting, so as long as the raw materials cannot be supplied, a new furnace must be built in the next year.We currently produce less than 3 tons of iron per day, but we must ensure that 12 tons of iron ore and coke are transported to the iron factory every day, otherwise it may cause shutdowns, which we cannot afford.

Therefore, the reason why the current iron output of Liguo Iron Works cannot increase is because our transportation capacity has encountered difficulties. We have found iron ore and coal that can be burned into coking coal, but we want to transport raw materials from iron ore and coal mines. To come to the Liguo Iron Works, an astonishing number of transport carts are needed.

A cart is calculated based on the transport capacity of 4 jin. Our iron furnaces produce 7 jin of molten iron day and night, so 28 carts are needed for a day and night, and 30 furnaces need 35 carts per day.What we can guarantee now is the transportation capacity of [-]-[-] large vehicles per day.In other words, if you want to increase the output of molten iron, you must first increase the transportation capacity.

The best way to increase transport capacity is by ship. Liguo Iron Works is close to Weishan Lake and the canal, so as long as the iron ore and coal mines are close to the canal, the transportation problem can be solved.But now we have only found coal mines by the canal, and the iron mines are far away from the lake, or the iron mines near the lake are all underwater and cannot be mined at all.

Therefore, if we want to connect iron ore and coal mines with Liguo Iron Works in a more convenient mode of transportation, we have to choose the cooperation of railway and water transportation.One kilometer of railway requires 30 tons of iron, which does not include the amount of iron used by vehicles and other station facilities.In addition, if you want to mine iron ore and coal, you also need excellent steel tools.

Therefore, if we want to build a truly functioning ironworks, we have to build a railway from the mine to the ironworks to ensure that the raw materials of the ironworks will not be interrupted, and the ironworks also have various methods to improve mining. Steel tools to increase the efficiency of ore and coal mining.

If we cannot establish an ore and coal transportation system connected with the iron factory, and cannot mine ore and coal to meet the needs of the iron factory, then we cannot say that we have built an iron factory.Yes, we did build a cannon foundry here, but if the iron factory cannot provide high-quality iron blocks to the cannon foundry, then this cannon foundry is only a temporary existence.

Xiaguan believes that an iron factory that can provide cannons and guns to the army every year is definitely more meaningful to the army than a cannon foundry that can be revoked at any time.Therefore, we must first ensure the existence of the iron factory itself, and then we can consider the orders given by the General Staff.And once this railway transportation system connects mines and iron factories, the steel we produce every year will continue to grow. These steels will not only meet the needs of the army, but also meet the needs of the people. This is what Dashun needs. Ironworks, no? "

When Wei Xuelian, Song Yingxing and Yuan Yuzong were fighting, Tang Ruowang just sat quietly and listened. He was no stranger to the current situation. Since he came to Macau in the 48th year of Wanli, he had been interacting with Chinese dignitaries. After that, he participated in the revision of the Chongzhen almanac, so he was naturally not surprised by the open and secret struggles among Chinese dignitaries.

Compared with the rude aristocratic politics in Europe at this time, even the great Holy See often likes to use poison and daggers to solve its political opponents in political struggles. Chinese political struggles can be called art.

Chinese aristocrats never try to use force to solve each other. They only use one plot after another to plot against each other. In fact, earlier, when Chinese aristocrats failed, as long as they resigned and returned to their hometowns, nothing would happen. It is much more civilized than the political struggles in Europe where people die at every turn.

Tang Ruowang, who was born as a German aristocrat, believes that Chinese scholar-bureaucrats are Chinese nobles. Although there are some differences between scholar-bureaucrats and nobles in the eyes of Chinese people, in Tang Ruowang’s view, Chinese scholar-bureaucrats also attach great importance to blood ties. At least concubines have children. The treatment of the son of the main wife is completely different.

However, the Chinese literati’s control over the tenants on the land is actually much stricter than that of the small nobles in Europe. At least many small nobles in Europe only have the right of first night in theory, but the Chinese literati openly give away the most outstanding children of the tenants’ families. Taking away the servants who have been taken as their own will not be punished for it.

Precisely because of the commonality of the aristocrats in the East and the West, Tang Ruowang supported Matteo Ricci among the Jesuit Chinese missionaries, advocating that he first communicate with Chinese dignitaries and dignitaries, first obtain the approval of these nobles, and then spread Catholicism Go among the lower classes.

There is another group of missionaries in the Jesuits who believe that they should preach directly among the lower class people, because the upper class people in China are not interested in Catholic teachings, they are only interested in the Western knowledge brought by the Jesuits, and the Chinese The fate of the people because of suffering, so it is easy to accept the faith of God.

Tang Ruowang was dissatisfied with the claims of the latter group of people, because these missionaries who tried to spread the teachings among the lower class people in China were easily regarded by Chinese officials as cult figures who were bewitching the people to rebel like the White Lotus Sect, and even implicated them These missionaries trying to take the upper line.

However, Tang Ruowang, who has been in China for more than 20 years, did not realize that he was increasingly treating missionary work as a side job, but instead regarded communicating with Chinese scholar-bureaucrats as his main job.In fact, he is more like an official in the Chinese court than a missionary serving God.

For example, in today's conversation, Tang Ruowang was thinking about the debate between the two sides, and guessing which side the Dashun Emperor would stand on.For him, Li Zicheng's thoughts now attracted him more attention than the Pope, after all, the Pope was too far away from him, and His Majesty was by his side.

While Tang Ruowang was thinking, Zhang Tao also said to Yuan Yuzong: "The lost wax method must be used to cast cannons in colder weather, because when the weather is hot, the wax will melt and the mold will be destroyed. In fact, the cannons will be poured this year." It’s almost time to pass, and it’s really unnecessary to stop the railway to pour all the effort at this time, and it’s not impossible to let the mold dry in the shade for three or four months…”

Although he knew that Tang Ruowang's opinion was insignificant among the four, he was a Westerner after all, but out of politeness, Yuan Yuzong still asked for his opinion.

Tang Ruowang thought for a moment, and then said in fluent Chinese: "Before Your Majesty went north, the Grand Canal seemed to have been sold to private individuals. If the imperial court does not want traffic to be controlled in private hands, then the development of railways is probably imperative. The construction of railways requires iron and steel. That is to say, the sooner the iron factory is completed, the rails needed for the construction of railways in various places will become the key to the development of the iron factory. Or, His Majesty plans to take back the Grand Canal or use those private Is the steel produced to build those railroads?"

Of course, Yuan Yuzong rejected Tang Ruowang's idea. The newly established Huaiyang Canal Management Company included the section of the Grand Canal between the Yellow River and the Yangtze River. This canal section with a total length of more than 170 kilometers is really the essence of the Grand Canal.Therefore, the management company issued a share capital of 200 million taels, and also issued 500 million taels of public bonds, which were used to repair the river.

Talking about taking back the canal at this time is simply an enemy of those shareholders. It must be known that these shareholders are also forced to exchange silver and land for the equity and bonds of the canal. Canal stake for sale?However, this new financing method not only solved the problem of money and food for Marshal Du's office, but also did not arouse the antagonism between Huaiyang gentry and businessmen. People want to break promises.

Although the canal was sold to private individuals, there were many voices of protest at the beginning. After all, it is the food and clothing of millions of slot workers.However, Dashun is not Daming. Those officials who originally had huge interests in the canal had almost no influence in Dashun. After the Manchurians entered the customs, the Grand Canal had actually lost its role as a north-south traffic artery, so the opposition The voice also became much quieter. After all, repairing rivers and reclaiming wasteland is beneficial to the people around the canal, so the Marshal's Mansion does not lack supporters.

After the Marshal's Mansion stabilized the situation in the south of the Yangtze River, the Yangtze River North and South Canals and the Yangtze River Transportation Channel, which were originally cut off, were finally opened up again, which brought the Grand Canal section south of Xuzhou back to life again, so I thought I The shareholders of the Canal Company, whose money was wasted in vain, finally felt relieved. They felt that their property should not be wiped out. Of course, Yuan Yuzong would not say anything to irritate them at this time, because the Marshal's Office is planning to Following the example of establishing a canal management company, continue to absorb idle funds or land from the society to complete land reform and economic construction projects.

Chapter 503 Counterattack Plan One

Although the two sides did not reach a consensus in the conversation that night, Yuan Yuzong finally changed his mind after he inspected the construction of the iron factory accompanied by Wei Xuelian the next day.Obviously, the current Liguo Iron Works is in a positive construction period, and disrupting this construction at this time is obviously not worth the candle.

And after inspecting the cannon casting factory, he also realized that it is impossible to increase the production of cannons in a short period of time, because cannon casting is a technical task, and it is impossible to do without one process. This is not possible by increasing investment in the short term problems that can be solved.Touching a dark and shiny iron cannon, Yuan Yuzong finally changed his mind and told Wei Xuelian that the ironworks should transport the cast cannon to Feng County as soon as possible. As for suspending the railway construction plan and increasing the number of cannon castings, he would Mention it again.

Wei Xuelian naturally welcomed Yuan Yuzong's change of mind. He quickly agreed to the order to send cannons to Fengxian County, and suggested to go to Fengxian County via Weishan Lake by water, because the lake ice had already melted. Boats are already able to operate on the lake.

Yuan Yuzong returned to Xuzhou after lunch, but on the way back, he felt that the military inspector had too little power over the iron factory, not even as much as the Xuzhou Manufacturing Bureau.Of course, the reason why he was willing to make concessions was not only that he had seen the changes in the form of transportation brought about by the railway in Liuquan, but also that the Yuliguo Iron Works had always been Li Zicheng's most concerned project. Li Zicheng will report to Li Zicheng wherever the building should be built.

Therefore, in name, the Liguo Iron Works is a parallel unit to the Xuzhou Manufacturing Bureau, two levels lower than the General Staff, but Wei Xuelian and him are actually equal in front of Li Zicheng, and Wei Xuelian has the support of the Academy of Sciences behind him, so there is nothing he can do Force the other party to obey themselves.