Dashun Yongchang

Fang Yizhi hurriedly said: "If Mei Xian contributed the technology of making pure-color glass, we would not be able to get so much good glass for grinding. The credit should go to Mei Xian..."

Li Zicheng laughed a few times and said, "Stop arguing, your contributions will be remembered by the Marshal's House. But first, take me to see where the lenses are made."

I watched the craftsmanship of the craftsmen in the mirror grinding room, and went to the assembly room next door to see the finished product.Li Zicheng looked at a few binoculars, and found that the magnification seemed to be higher than the high-priced binoculars he bought in Suzhou, and there were fewer air bubbles in the lenses.

He couldn't help but said to Fang Yizhi and Sun Tingquan: "I heard that there is also a convex lens in Europe that can magnify objects. You should analyze the principle and see if you can make a microscope that magnifies tiny objects. Far, the microscope can observe the micro, which is naturally the best helper for research..."

Chapter 304 Xuzhou Manufacturing Bureau IV

After visiting the entire manufacturing bureau, Li Zicheng, Fang Yizhi and others returned to the office. Li Zicheng made a summary of today's inspection, "...Although there are still these and other defects in the production organization, it can be completed in a short period of time. The situation of the Manufacturing Bureau has been set up, which shows that everyone is responsible.

I have nothing to say about your work, but I feel that the management of the Manufacturing Bureau should be separated from the Academy of Sciences, which is more in line with the needs of the Marshal's Mansion.Why do I suggest this, because the Manufacturing Bureau should be an independent production unit, and it should rely on its own production capacity to support itself, while the Academy of Sciences is a research unit, and it should mainly rely on state funding for research.

It was due to the impact of the objective environment before that I let the Academy of Sciences be responsible for the establishment of the manufacturing bureau and the iron factory, which are urgently needed by the Marshal’s Mansion. However, this kind of industrial construction organization not only took up the funds of the Academy of Sciences, but also distracted the energy of the academicians of the Academy of Sciences. In some jobs that ordinary people can do, this obviously goes against my original intention of establishing the Academy of Sciences.

In my opinion, the main task of the Academy of Sciences is to study the world we live in, so that we can get closer to this world, and use the various treasures that this world gives to human beings to improve human life.If the Academy of Sciences abandons this main task and instead disperses its energies on some secular affairs, then the Academy of Sciences will lose its meaning of existence..."

Regarding Li Zicheng's words, Fang Yizhi readily agreed: "Your Majesty is right. In fact, we only need to study the principles and turn the principles into practical things. We should not be responsible for this, and those craftsmen should be responsible." Follow the steps we give to produce, so that we don't have to spend a lot of time managing craftsmen."

Although Sun Tingquan was a little reluctant, they created the situation with one hand and one foot. Now he feels empty in his heart if he wants to hand it over, but he still knows the importance. Li Zicheng sang a different tune.Therefore, he could only smile and agree with Li Zicheng.

On the contrary, researchers from other academies of sciences raised questions to Li Zicheng one after another. Although many people asked questions, the questions were all the same, that is, if they do experiments and research by themselves in the future, can they still mobilize craftsmen from the manufacturing bureau to serve them.

Regarding the questions raised by these people, Li Zicheng thought for a while and then said: "Although I advocate the separation of the Manufacturing Bureau and the Academy of Sciences, it does not mean that the Academy of Sciences is required to withdraw from the Manufacturing Bureau. Many of the machine designs of the Manufacturing Bureau are given by the Academy of Sciences. Without the technical support of the Academy of Sciences, the Manufacturing Bureau obviously couldn't do well.

Therefore, the Academy of Sciences can sign a document with the Manufacturing Bureau. The Manufacturing Bureau provides humans and machines for the research projects of the Academy of Sciences, and the technology developed by the Academy of Sciences should be given to the Manufacturing Bureau for free.

For certain technologies that can bring significant benefits, the Manufacturing Bureau should also pay part of the patent royalties to the Academy of Sciences to support the daily expenses of the Academy of Sciences.The technologies developed by the Academy of Sciences enjoy the full support of the state, and the patents are owned by the state; the projects invested by the Academy of Sciences themselves should enjoy one-fifth to one-fourth of the patent rights; individuals use the materials provided by the Academy of Sciences Half of the patents for the technologies developed are owned by the Academy of Sciences.

The proposition of the Marshal's Mansion is to encourage inventions and creations, and both the country and individuals should benefit from it..."

Everyone is satisfied with Li Zicheng's answer, but they don't care about the so-called patent rights at this time, because no one except craftsmen will regard technology as a family heirloom, and the technology learned secretly Most likely won't pay.In other words, the patent royalties set by the Marshal's Mansion may be out of good intentions, but they may not be realized in actual operation, and naturally everyone will not have any expectations for patents.

Fang Yizhi asked: "Then when will the personnel in charge of the Manufacturing Bureau be sent over? The minister also just handed over the daily affairs of the Manufacturing Bureau."

After hearing this, Li Zicheng waved his hand and said, "I'm not in such a hurry for now, you will be in charge of the manufacturing bureau in a short time, and you can observe carefully for yourself, which craftsman in charge is more suitable for your work, you can recommend him. "

Fang Yizhi was a little stunned, and he asked in surprise: "Your Majesty, what you mean is to select people from among the craftsmen to take over the management of the Manufacturing Bureau? Is this feasible?"

It wasn't just Fang Yizhi who was stunned, the expressions of the people present were a bit strange, the Manufacturing Bureau was not a small unit, although they would not fight for this position, it didn't mean they would be happy to see a humble craftsman and themselves On an equal footing.

The reason why Sun Tingquan served as Fang Yizhi's deputy was not that everyone thought he was a good man and suitable for this position, but that Sun Tingquan was born in a craftsman family and was the most suitable for dealing with those craftsmen.After all, it is impossible for Fang Yizhi to discuss trivial matters such as their daily work arrangements, wages and benefits with the craftsmen in various factories every day.

Li Zicheng proposed to separate the Manufacturing Bureau from the Academy of Sciences. Everyone thought that some people should be transferred from the Marshal's Mansion, so they didn't have much feeling.But now that they heard that they were going to select personnel from the craftsmen, they couldn't help making eye contact with each other.

Li Zicheng didn't care about other people's gazes, and calmly said to the other party with wisdom: "Why can't this work? Scholars, farmers, businessmen, and craftsmen are also one of the four peoples. Since the world is for the public, why can't craftsmen manage their own affairs? Let's talk , if someone else came over, they might not be able to accept your way of spending money, would they?"

The researchers who had some ideas at first were immediately extinguished by Li Zicheng's words. Although promoting a management and manufacturing bureau from among the craftsmen was not in line with their cognition, they were indeed unwilling to find someone who did not understand natural science. People will manage the manufacturing bureau.

In fact, the establishment of the Academy of Sciences was not all smooth sailing. At least those in the Wenhua Palace have always looked down on the Academy of Sciences, thinking that the Academy of Sciences is studying natural science in name, but in fact it is promoting the eyes of Western monks, which has the intention of disturbing the Chinese people. mean.In particular, Xu Guangqi presided over the compilation of the Chongzhen New Calendar, because it adopted a large amount of Western astronomical knowledge, and has always been hostile to Qin Tianjian and Neo Confucianists.

That is to say, Li Zicheng established the new dynasty, and he didn't mind using the name of Chongzhen's new calendar, so he directly suffocated these voices against the new calendar in his stomach.Because these people oppose the new calendar for the following reasons: one is that the new calendar only counts 200 years; In terms of coordinate systems, the ecliptic coordinate system is introduced.

It can be said that the most important part of this almanac is not the calendar, but the latest European astronomical and mathematical knowledge attached to the calendar.In a way, the Jesuit missionaries were trying to conquer China in a civilized way.They want to prove that European civilization is not weaker than China, so Christianity is not a cult, but a civilized belief.

Although the knowledge of astronomy and mathematics spread by the Jesuit missionaries won the approval of some enlightened gentry, thus providing protection for the Jesuit’s legal mission in China, it also angered some conservative gentry. Knowledge is shaking the traditional Chinese view of the world, thereby weakening the Confucian order of China as the master of the world.

According to the views of some of the most stubborn conservative literati, "It is better to have a good calendar in Zhongxia (referring to China) than to have Westerners in Zhongxia." It is okay to change the emperor, but not to replace the Confucian social order.

It's just that these reasons don't make sense to Li Zicheng, a rebel. As the lord of the new dynasty, Li Zicheng actually used the Chongzhen New Calendar to commemorate the achievements of the former emperor, which is unimaginable to them.Because this kind of action is tantamount to tearing their concept of loyalty and filial piety, and supporting the previous dynasty should not be an official in the new dynasty. Naturally, being an official in the new dynasty cannot speak well of the previous dynasty. This is a basic understanding of scholars when the dynasty changes.

Fortunately, any attack on Chongzhen's new calendar will eventually turn into a mockery of the old and new lords. Conservatives who try to use their power to attack Western new learning and foreign religions will naturally not offend a new dynasty that is taking control of China. Lord, otherwise why would they bother to persuade the Lord of the new dynasty to suppress the new learning?

And these enlightened gentry who advocated the introduction of new learning had already been attacked by conservatives once during the Dengzhou Change.That time not only caused all the new troops they trained with great difficulty to defect, but also caused Sun Yuanhua, the leader after Xu Guangqi, to go to the guillotine.

Faced with threats from conservatives, they would rather reach a compromise with Li Zicheng.After all, if this opportunity is lost again, the Western School may not have another chance to stand up.The clan of the Ming Dynasty included the three princes, not to mention the lack of power in their hands, their support for Western learning alone was not comparable to Li Zicheng.

Seeing the researchers of these Academy of Sciences avoiding his eyes one by one, Li Zicheng, who was smiling all over his face, was actually complaining crazily in his heart. Without the support of the working class, can you frail scholars alone be able to stop the all-out counterattack of the landlord class? ?Although these people in front of them are also large and small landlords, at least these people are not completely on the standpoint of the landlord class. They are trying to make the entire landlord class make certain concessions so that they can coexist with other classes.

Li Zicheng knew in his heart that the purpose of these people's study of Western learning was not to destroy the landlord class. In fact, they wanted to use new theories to defend the landlord class. It's just that after the invention of gunpowder, the military aristocracy will naturally decline. Development will also destroy the pastoral life of the landlord class.

Before these people understand, he needs to let the working class grow up as soon as possible, at least to be able to share part of the pressure of the landlord class for himself, otherwise even if he defeats the Qing Dynasty, he will still lose to the landlord class.

Everything in this world has a marked price. Since he uses Zhu Cihong to ease the conflict with the landlord class, then Zhu Cihong will inevitably become the representative of the landlord class. If the union of the landlord class cannot be interrupted at a certain critical point, Then maybe a few years later, the situation of Daming Zhongxing will appear, which is not his goal.

Chapter 305 Xuzhou Manufacturing Bureau Five

It is obviously not enough to promote one or two craftsman-born officials. Ming Chengzu Zhu Di promoted Kuai Xiang, who designed the Beijing Imperial Palace and Tiananmen Square, as the minister of the Ministry of Industry, but Kuai Xiang was eventually sent back to his hometown by those civil officials. An example of a craftsman who became a serious official.

Just now Li Zicheng proposed to promote the artisan manager to be the head of the manufacturing bureau. It is not impossible that no one has thought of the miracle of Kuai Xiang during the Yongle period. This is probably one of the reasons for their hesitation.For a craftsman to rely on his craftsmanship to become a high-ranking official like the minister of the Ministry of Industry, this is indeed a great stimulus for those scholars who studied hard but became low-level bureaucrats.

However, for someone, it is meaningless to use one or two Kuaixiang to stimulate scholars, because it cannot change the tradition that one can only become an official by studying.When he disappears, everything will be set back to the old track by the inertia of history.Now that we have planned to deal with the landlord class, we can no longer let those landlord class literati continue to monopolize the way to become officials.

So after suppressing a group of researchers from the Academy of Sciences, Li Zicheng went on to say: "I have read the financial statements you submitted before I came here. Regarding your establishment of the Manufacturing Bureau Primary School to accept the children of craftsmen, immigrants and Weijiaji residents of the Manufacturing Bureau, I think it's well worth the money.

Industrial mining is not only about creating wealth, but also undertakes the task of changing the backwardness of the local area and changing customs.These educated children will inevitably become the backbone of the manufacturing bureau in ten or twenty years, and the main promoters of changing the backwardness of the local area.

Of course, only a primary school education is not enough, we should also set up secondary schools and technical schools so that they can master a complete science education.Judging from the current inheritance of craftsmen, technical experts in various industries always like to hide their hands, or do tricks that are passed on to their children but not to their daughters. If ancient utensils are preserved to this day, they can still become precious antiques, and ancient technology is hidden today. What else can it do?

You have had the most contact with Jesuit missionaries, so you should naturally understand that the reason why European science can develop to the present level is because Europeans set up universities to impart various knowledge, thus accumulating a large amount of literature. After systematic learning, you can stand on the shoulders of predecessors and continue your research, instead of everyone having to discover existing scientific theories from scratch.

Only 200 years ago, Europeans were still ignorant. They even believed in the existence of witchcraft. Hunting witches in the name of God was actually persecuting innocent widows and disabled people.But when Europeans established universities, civilization began to come to Europe. Although there are still many stupid people in Europe, we should admit that some Europeans already have the qualifications to discuss knowledge with us.

It can be seen that the use of school inheritance and the study of natural science is far stronger than the inheritance between master and student.Although our country established schools very early, the school education focused on the imperial examinations not only greatly hindered our country's research on natural science, but also imprisoned the thinking of our people. In order to avoid failing in the imperial examinations, scholars took a book The annotations written by people in the Song Dynasty are regarded as a golden rule that cannot be changed. Instead of studying the development of Confucius' thoughts in the contemporary era, they always think about what Confucius thought a thousand years ago. "

Although Li Zicheng's attitude towards Confucius and Zhu Zi was quite disrespectful, the crowd did not express any dissatisfaction.Criticism of the imperial examination system has existed since the middle of the Ming Dynasty, and most of them, scholars who study Western learning, essentially hate stereotyped essays.Moreover, Li Zicheng's attack was only on the knowledge of the two saints, and he did not directly attack the two saints. This level of criticism is the level of a disciple of Xinxue, and it is not particularly shocking and inexplicable.

Of course, the most important point is that the Marshal's Mansion has commissioned the Academy of Sciences to compile the new school education textbooks.That is to say, in the future, school education will be the private land for them to study new learning, so it is naturally a kind of political correctness to attack the imperial examination system and educational content in the pre-Ming Dynasty. No one will jump out to stop Li Zicheng on this point. Otherwise, there are ulterior motives.

After talking about school education, Li Zicheng immediately said: "In order to further strengthen the inheritance and research of technology, in addition to weakening the master-apprentice system and establishing technical schools, the current guild system in various industries should also be gradually abolished. I heard that, The current guilds have simply become the yamen of various industries. Any business must be approved by these guilds. Without the approval of the guilds, those who do business or open workshops without authorization will be beaten.

In the iron industry in Foshan and Wuhu, not only the period of apprenticeship is continuously extended, so that those apprentices work for the masters for nothing, but also the scope of production of various blacksmiths is stipulated. Those who make iron pots cannot use kitchen knives, and those who use kitchen knives cannot do it. As for farm tools, anyone who changed their own making tools without authorization will be warned at the door, and the serious one will be driven out of the local area by smashing the stove.

Such a thing must not happen in the Manufacturing Bureau.The guilds in other places, the Marshal’s Mansion has no time to rectify them now, but all the guilds in the Xuzhou area need to be rectified, especially the manufacturing bureaus, iron factories, coal mines and other government-run industrial and mining industries invested by the Marshal’s Mansion. guild.

Of course, each industry still needs an organization to carry out self-management. In terms of business, industry associations can be established, and members of the associations can jointly discuss industry self-regulatory agreements.As for craftsmen and miners, they can set up trade unions, and workers can also elect representatives to organize committees to serve workers..."

Others didn't know much about guilds and trade unions, and felt that the change proposed by Li Zicheng was just a difference in name, and ultimately it was an organization for managing workers, so they all took an indifferent attitude.

On the contrary, Sun Tingquan knew a lot about craftsmen, and he had already heard the difference between guilds and trade unions. After hesitating for a while, he asked while Li Zicheng paused, "The guild has the responsibility to manage craftsmen instead of the government. , and although the miners are not restricted by the guild, they are controlled by the mine owner, the chief security officer, and the chief armorer. If all trade unions are established now, can the representatives elected by the artisans and miners really restrain themselves? If these people do not cooperate with the government , I’m afraid it will cause a lot of trouble to the local people.”

Li Zicheng tapped the table in front of him lightly with his fingers, and after pondering for a while, he said: "We have to believe that the interests of artisans and miners are the same as those of factories and mines. They rely on selling their labor force to live. When factories and mines are down, they have to go hungry. Therefore, as long as the interests of workers can be protected, then they will definitely protect the interests of factories and mines.

Of course, we do not rule out that there are villains who oppress good people among the workers, and it is enough to hand over these people to the police.The Marshal's Mansion has established the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which specializes in the construction and management of police departments in various places.This can also solve the problem of resettlement of some veterans after they leave the army. The manufacturing bureau, iron factory and coal mine will set up police stations one after another..."

Although he felt that Li Zicheng was too optimistic about the moral standards of craftsmen and miners, due to his background, Sun Tingquan finally stopped talking, which would only make him more embarrassed in front of his colleagues.

After talking about craftsmen, everyone was more interested in the next topic, because Li Zicheng finally mentioned the issue of funding for the Academy of Sciences.After listening to Fang Yizhi's complaints, Li Zicheng thought for a while and said: "From this point of view, the daily salary and office expenses of the Academy of Sciences are 12 taels a year. This time I also borrowed a large amount of money from the south, but the money is mainly for war preparations, so next year's funds may not be too much..."

Although he felt a little disappointed, Fang Yizhi felt that he could guarantee 12 taels first, but he didn't know how much Li Zicheng could give besides 12 taels, 20 or 40 taels?Just when he was thinking, he heard Li Zicheng say: "Next year, the funding of the Academy of Sciences should be set at 20,40 plus 20. The [-] taels are completely controlled by the Academy of Sciences, but the other [-] taels can only be invested in the capital selected by the Marshal's Mansion." As for the projects, these projects must be reported to me first, and I will personally give instructions."

"60 taels?" Fang Yizhi looked at Li Zicheng in disbelief. This number really exceeded his imagination.

Li Zicheng looked at him and other people's enthusiastic gazes, immediately stretched out a finger and said, "It's 40 taels plus 20 taels, not 60 taels."

Fang Yizhi blinked and then changed direction and asked, "Then what is the research project selected by His Majesty?"

After thinking for a while, Li Zicheng said: "Mathematics, physics, chemistry, optics, metallurgy, machinery and steam engines, you can get support for research projects in several aspects. If the research project you propose is extremely important to the Marshal's Mansion , can be supported without restriction and within the financial resources of the Marshal's Mansion."

After Fang Yizhi let out a long breath, he got up and bowed to Li Zicheng and said: "Your Majesty can give such a great support to the Academy of Sciences, and I can only repay you..."

Driven by Fang Yizhi, everyone in the room also thanked Li Zicheng, which was much more orderly than when Li Zicheng first arrived at the manufacturing bureau.When Li Zicheng got up to help Fang Yizhi, he couldn't help but think that the magic power of money is the same in ancient and modern times.

After discussing the funding for next year, Li Zicheng, accompanied by Fang Yizhi and others, went to the cafeteria to have a light meal.After eating, Li Zicheng looked around the nearby immigrant camps as he still had time.

When Li Zicheng, who led a team of cavalry, walked into the gate of the immigrant camp, he was stopped by several militiamen. After hearing the news, Pan Zhai rushed to apologize to Li Zicheng with the camp steward.However, Li Zicheng waved his hand indifferently and said: "Deputy Director Pan has a style of Xiliuying here, and I like it very much. It is a wartime, and if we don't strictly check the internal and external personnel, wouldn't it be an opportunity for those who are willing to take advantage of it?" what.

I went to several camps around Xuzhou yesterday. Whether it is the management level of the people in charge or the appearance of the people in the camps, it is quite worrying. You are really doing a good job here.It seems that it is necessary to gather those stewards and come to learn the management of this camp. "

Seeing this, Pan Zhai didn't dare to say anything, so he could only change the topic and ask Li Zicheng to inspect the camp.

Chapter 306

When Li Zicheng came to Liguojian again, the small town of Tieye in the Song Dynasty had already glowed with new vitality. The area between the old town and the lake was originally a reed field, wasteland and vegetable field, but now it has become a construction site. ,

A large number of bungalows have been built in the area close to the old town, and a long wooden trestle pier has been built beside the lake. There is also a stone pier under construction beside the wooden pier, from the small river in the west of the old town to the east. Between the canals, a three-mile-long factory area was built one after another. Although most of the area was just an open space surrounded by wooden fences, a large-scale smelting area had already been built in the area close to the canal.

Wei Xuelian, Yang Zhiqi, Zhang Tao, Wang Zichao, Tang Ruowang, Ai Julius and others accompanied Li Zicheng to visit the ironworks. Wei Xuelian and others were all wearing tight-fitting arrow jackets, which were completely different from their previous outfits of Eguanbo leading scholar-bureaucrats. .Li Zicheng really likes this kind of close-fitting clothes. Although he is still not used to wearing this kind of long robe, it is much more convenient than loose Taoist robes and other clothes. That kind of clothes are almost only suitable for leisure time at home, and There must be servants to serve, otherwise it will be inconvenient to do anything.

It can be seen from the clothes styles of Wei Xuelian and others that at least they did not waste their time here, and Wei Xuelian explained to Li Zicheng the blast furnace design and smelting principles of the iron smelting field, which also proved that they have not been in vain these past few months. busy.

Looking up at a blast furnace in the iron smelting yard, Li Zicheng said to Wei Xuelian: "That is to say, this largest blast furnace can hold more than 6000 catties of ore at a time, and can produce 28 nine dans of iron in a day and night, costing more than 5000 catties of coal coke?"

Wei Xuelian nodded and replied: "The main reason is that the iron ore in Xuzhou has a high iron content. For iron ore in other places, three catties out of ten catties is very good. Once such a blast furnace ceases fire, it will be easily damaged, so In the southern ironworks that use charcoal to smelt, it basically takes half a year to collect ore and cut wood to burn charcoal, and the other half year is used for smelting, and a blast furnace only takes six to seven or eight months at most.

We use coal coke to smelt iron ore, and as long as the blast furnace can support it, we can continue to smelt it.From this point of view, the cost of making iron with coal coke is much lower than that of charcoal.Moreover, coal coke has a high firepower, which saves nearly one-third of the weight compared with charcoal.According to our calculations, Fujian Railway needs more than 15 taels per kilo of pig iron, so our current cost of pig iron per kilo of pig iron is roughly [-] or [-] taels. "

Li Zicheng couldn't help but nodded and praised, "This is probably the best news I've heard since I returned to Xuzhou. Then, can the mining of iron ore and coal be supplied?"

Wei Xuelian immediately replied: "We found new iron mines in the mountains to the west, and invented a new animal-powered water pump to mine some old underwater mines. The coal in Zaozhuang to the east is very suitable for coking. Coal mines that can be mined have also been found in Jiawang and other places in the south.

With a large number of people migrating from the north, the manpower problem has also been solved.If we don't expand the production capacity of the order from the Marshal's Mansion, it will take us three years to complete it.

Therefore, there are actually two main factors that limit the production capacity of iron factories. The first is the lack of transportation capacity; the second is the lack of experienced smelting craftsmen.We can cultivate the latter by ourselves, but the former is difficult to solve by ourselves, because the investment is too large..."

After listening to Wei Xuelian's complaints, Li Zicheng did not hesitate, but asked him: "So do you have any solutions for the transportation capacity?"

Wei Xuelian immediately gave way to Li Zicheng and said: "The two counselors Yang Zhiqi and Wang Zichao conducted a detailed investigation around the transportation of iron mines, coal mines and other materials around the iron factory, and drew a map. If Your Majesty doesn't mind If so, why don't we go to the meeting room, and I can use the map to explain to His Majesty the necessity of these transportation constructions..."

Faced with such a request, Li Zicheng naturally could not refuse, so the group returned to the office area from the iron smelting field. long drawings.

It was only then that Li Zicheng discovered that the blueprint contained not only the planned traffic routes, but also a series of projects for the expansion of the ironworks.Although Wei Xuelian played a little trick, Li Zicheng didn't take it to heart, because it must have taken them a lot of energy to organize and design such a blueprint. You can see their meticulousness.

Wei Xuelian and Yang Zhiqi explained to Li Zicheng for more than an hour. Finally, Wei Xuelian said to Li Zicheng: "At present we have two plans, and Plan A is the most complete. It can reduce the pressure of canal transportation between Weishan Lake and Luoma Lake.

At present, this section of the canal has to intercept the river flowing to Weishan Lake and make it flow to the higher Luoma Lake. As a result, multiple sluices have been built in this section of the canal, and ships are blocked here at both ends.If a railway parallel to the canal can be built on the side, the congestion here can be greatly reduced, thereby improving the transportation efficiency of the canal.

Of course, the investment in Plan A is relatively large, not only to build more than 100 kilometers of railways, but also to build piers, roads and bridges. The initial estimated investment is 180-200 million taels.Plan B is about 100-120 million taels, although the investment has been reduced, it is not as cost-effective as Plan A..."

After listening, Li Zicheng looked at the expectant eyes around him, hesitated a little and said: "Since the transportation construction is carried out around the iron factory, then you can also talk about the construction plan of the iron factory by the way, save me Go back and read your report."

Wei Xuelian was overjoyed when he heard this. Although he didn't have a good impression of the peasant army that overthrew the Ming Dynasty, he actually had an even worse impression of Chongzhen, so he was unwilling to be buried with Chongzhen. After Li Zicheng entered the city, he followed the crowd and surrendered to Dashun.

Although he saved his life and official position after surrendering to Dashun, Wei Xuelian was always terrified. After all, his father Wei Dazhong was one of the six gentlemen of Donglin. Disgraceful.

Li Zicheng returned to Beijing from Shanhaiguan to set up the prince's banner, and re-established Dashun's destiny with the political philosophy of distinguishing Hua from barbarians and the people as heaven. Only then did Wei Xuelian and other scholars find a reason to work for Dashun.

After that, Li Zicheng and the prince went south to subdue the four towns in Jiangbei, and opened up the post road to Jiangnan. Wei Xuelian also got in touch with his family. From the letters from his family, he roughly knew the current situation of his family.

When news of Beijing's fall first came back, his mother and elder brother were worried about his safety.However, as the news of his surrender to the rebel came back, the people in his hometown began to come to his door, asking his mother and elder brother whether it was true that he had surrendered to the rebel.The mother and elder brother were forced to have no choice but to consider moving out of their hometown to seek refuge with relatives and friends.

However, as Li Zicheng conquered Huai'an and came to Yangzhou, the number of people who came to persecute him decreased a lot. When the crown prince arrived in Yangzhou and the news came out that Emperor Hongguang was going to abdicate, the number of old relatives and friends who came to express condolences increased significantly. , Many people begged or hinted that they hoped that he could write letters for the children in their family to recommend to the prince.

Faced with such a cold and warm situation, the elder brother sneered the most in the letter, while the mother said that she was relieved and did not have to suffer anymore.His mother told him in the letter that if he was not happy with what he did, he should resign and go home as soon as possible. With the signboard of the prince in front, he could be regarded as doing his best for Daming.

Wei Xuelian is not as optimistic as his mother. He knows that the fact that he surrendered to Dashun will never be erased. Only when Dashun can really bring peace to the world can his actions be regarded as humiliating the family.Once Dashun failed, his reputation as a thief would never be washed away.As for the behavior of these people in the village, he can't go back at this time even if he goes back.

With this kind of thinking in mind, Wei Xuelian put all his energy into his work, and the current job is actually very suitable for him.One is not to get too close to Li Zicheng, and the other is to practice the Western knowledge he has learned.In addition, the construction of the iron factory and its affiliated factories and mines greatly absorbed those people who were forced to move south, allowing them to rely on labor to support themselves and their families, which made Wei Xuelian feel very meaningful.

However, with the development of the iron factory, Wei Xuelian felt more and more that the previous planning of the Marshal's Mansion seemed a bit petty. He hoped to make the iron factory more perfect. After conducting investigation and research with other people, he finally came up with Now the new ironworks on this drawing.

After Wei Xuelian explained the plan of the new iron factory in detail, he said to Li Zicheng: "...According to the new weights and measures, the annual iron production of Daming is about 10 tons, and if our new iron factory can be completed, The annual iron production can reach 5 tons, which is half of the country’s iron production in the past, and the army and civilians will no longer be in short supply of iron, and the price of iron can be lowered, which is a century-old benefit.”

15 tons of iron just want to meet the iron used by the army and civilians?Obviously your imagination is still low.Li Zicheng looked at the people around him silently, and couldn't help complaining in his heart.

However, he also had to admit that the plan given by Wei Xuelian was quite detailed, at least much more comprehensive than when he planned the Liguo Iron Works a few months ago. Obviously, they learned a lot during the construction of the iron works. .Moreover, the construction capacity of 20 taels a ton is indeed not expensive, Li Zicheng almost opened his mouth to agree.

But at the last moment, looking at the drawings, he changed his words and asked: "You plan to build this new iron factory within a few years? Have you considered whether the raw materials can keep up? Before the infrastructure is completed, it seems that just expanding the production capacity will not work. ?”

Li Zicheng's question really caught Wei Xuelian's attention. After he turned around and discussed with Yang Zhiqi, he said to Li Zicheng with a guarantee: "We can build the iron factory and the traffic at the same time. Delayed production..."

Li Zicheng looked at Wei Xuelian, Yang Zhiqi and the others, seeing how excited they were, and finally understood how the incident happened.The old intellectuals who have not realized the difference between industrial production and agricultural production have no idea that industrial production cannot be compromised. As long as one raw material is not fully prepared, the entire production project will be shut down.

Chapter 307 Goal

"I think that smelting pig iron is probably very different from farming. If you are farming, water more and less water, and fertilize more and less. It may affect the yield, but at least the harvest will not be ruined. But smelting For pig iron, the iron ore cannot be melted without a load of coke, and the blast furnace will be scrapped..."

Li Zicheng earnestly persuaded Wei Xuelian and others to plan cautiously and not make big strides forward. He believed that it would be very good to increase the iron production to [-] to [-] tons within two years and prolong the life of the blast furnace.

It’s just that Wei Xuelian always felt that the production capacity of 100 tons of pig iron a year is not an unattainable goal, and he also mentioned: “The laying of one kilometer of single-track rail requires about 100 tons of iron materials. 1.5 to 2 tons of iron materials are needed for the erection of railway tracks. If the production capacity is increased to 2 to 4 tons within two years, it will take at least 5 to [-] years to complete the construction of these railways, because we cannot use all the iron materials to build roads ..."

Li Zicheng felt that Wei Xuelian's calculations were really good. To be honest, he really didn't expect that it would take several years to build a hundred kilometers of railway tracks that were not all double-tracked. This is indeed a bit excessive.Even in the United States during the Civil War, it would not take a month to build a [-]-kilometer railway on the plains. Obviously, the production capacity of steel has seriously restricted the productivity of Ming Dynasty.