New Shun 1730

With anxiety about the prospect, Niu Er and others took a short rest in Ceylon and then took Siraj back to the country in the extravagant way of using three parallel fleets to prevent accidents.

Not to mention the hard work along the way, after docking in Tianjin, Siraj was allowed to rest in Tianjin. He hurried back to the capital to report on the situation here.

Furthermore, if Siraj comes to Beijing to pay tribute, the court will also need to make some preparations. No matter what, it is not etiquette to take people directly back to the capital.

However, when he returned to the capital, he felt something was not right.

There were obviously more soldiers on the street than usual, as if something had happened.

But it seemed like the matter wasn't too big. After all, if something big like that really happened, there wouldn't be enough soldiers on the streets.

When I came to the Privy Council, I followed the procedures and went to the room to complete the procedures. After asking, I found out that Liu Yu was on duty in the Privy Council today, so I went to see him.

After meeting him, he submitted his experiences, thoughts, opinions, etc. in this field, and also talked about his experiences in Bangladesh. When he saw Liu Yu looking down at the report he had written, he couldn't help but ask: " My lord, what happened in the capital? What I saw when I entered the city seemed to be a murderous atmosphere?"

Liu Yu didn't even look up. He continued to read the report and said casually: "It's a small matter. Haihu in Nanhaizi is not very stable recently. Suppress and suppress."

"It's not like the railway from Mentougou to the city was built a while ago, and steam trains are also trying to run. Although the transportation capacity is still insufficient and the efficiency is not very high, it is enough to supply coal to the capital."

"Haihu households in Nanhaizi usually rely on cutting grass and cutting firewood in Nanyuan to supplement their family income. In recent years, the capital has used more coal and the price of firewood has become increasingly expensive. Now the coal mine road to Mentougou has been repaired, and winter is coming soon. , Coal is transported here one by one, and the price of firewood is getting lower and lower, so they are going to make a fuss. "

"normal."

"This matter is not under the jurisdiction of the Privy Council. It is up to them to decide how to deal with it."

Liu Yu's tone was very ordinary, although it sounded like a story about the poverty of thousands of families, like a replica of the Huainan Salt Reclamation.

But it is different after all.

Yanhu in Huainan was a place where parents didn't know each other, uncles didn't love them, and it was far away from the capital. Liu Yu's methods there were too cruel.

The situation in Beijing is quite different.

Moreover, Nanhaizi's sea gate involves royal relations after all. Although it is no longer the resettlement place for a group of self-imposed people from the previous dynasty, many of the problems left behind are still a big trouble now.

As the royal Nanyuan, it is impossible for Liu Yu to say: Hey, you can just go out of the treasury to reclaim wasteland and recruit people, and that's it, isn't that the end of it?

He couldn't say it, and it was impossible to do it. He didn't bother to mention it at all, as if it was nothing to do with him.

Niu Er, on the other hand, listened with enthusiasm and asked hurriedly: "My lord, has the railway from Mentougou to the capital been repaired? This is a big deal."

Liu Yu, who was looking down at the report before, heard this, put down the report in his hand, looked at Niu Er, and said with a smile: "You and I have the same opinion. Didn't the French make a cugget last year? It is used to pull the cannon on the road. We here think that walking on the road is not suitable, so we should run on the rails. I bet that running on the rails is right, and the French are running on the road. Wrong.”

With the rise of Dashun and the exchange and diffusion of technology, the French, based on their own domestic climate, road conditions, etc., developed steam-powered vehicles that can pull heavy artillery on the road...well, cars...not in advance. How long, only ten years.

Now it’s hard to tell which side is right and which side is wrong. After all, the locomotives running on the railway in Dashun are not very efficient. Moreover, special railway laying and forging of rails are required, which is even more expensive.

The French used to rely on corvee labor to build roads extending in all directions in the country. They chose to run directly on the roads to pull 18-pound or 24-pound heavy artillery. They cannot be said to be stupid. This is normal and combined with the actual domestic situation.

It's just that Liu Yu said that he bet that the French chose the wrong technical direction. The word "bet" was used a bit shamelessly.

The Academy of Sciences in Dashun has also invested a lot of money and has just canceled the original gear transmission structure of the steam locomotive. It is considered to be on the right track.

Without a prophet, you can only try and make mistakes and rely on money.

After all, Dashun did not follow the market-oriented route, but the route of setting up special projects, and Liu Yu poured money into it.

After the Songsu Grand Parade that day, Liu Yu returned to Beijing and basically stayed in the Privy Council for retirement.

The only thing he did was to take charge of the Wuding River management project.

The reason why this is not something that Jingzhao Yin can do is mainly because the Wuding River management project includes solving the problem of coal and firewood used in the capital, immigration from the Heilongjiang border gold mining area, immigration from the Korean border, and widening of the Wuding River to relocate residents. Wait for a system project.

After all, the level of Jing Zhaoyin and others is still a little low, and they cannot solve all aspects of coordination, fundraising, investment and other issues.

As for the coal mine problem, whether it is chanting scriptures, ghosts and gods, dragon vein metaphysics, etc., after all, it is still inferior to the fact that the people in the capital have nothing to burn and complain about it.

Taking this opportunity, Dashun's railway line, or the world's first forged rail track and steam locomotive-pulled railway line from Mentougou in western Beijing to Beijing, was officially opened to traffic.

In fact, when Liu Yu came back from Songsu, investment and preparations for this railway had already begun. Previously, there were many roads with cast iron rails in coal mines, Songsu and other places, which were mainly pulled by horses.

When Liu Yu was preparing in Beijing, the steam locomotive had not been successfully researched, or it was not very applicable at all - it had a large gear transmission structure, and it was estimated that it would fall apart if it ran too fast, but it was simple to build.

He was the one who finally decided not to use the already mature cast iron rails, but to use forged rails.

When the road was basically completed, the steam locomotive was almost usable. It cost some money and killed two students from the Academy of Sciences, but it was usable.

The coal mine used the new technology tried in southern Sichuan, and some of the British mining technology learned from the West. After the well salt area in southern Sichuan was basically mature, it turned back to open a mine in Mentougou.

This thing did not cause much trouble in Dashun.

It had nothing to do with whether the people were ignorant or not, and Dashun was not stupid.

Originally, the people in history resisted the railway trains because after all, this thing was tied to the invaders. Once it was tied to the invaders, the resistance and dissatisfaction encountered would be much greater than those made by themselves.

This is quite normal. In 1721, the British burned oriental cotton cloth on a large scale, calling it a bad thing that "makes people depressed and promotes extravagance". In the earlier coffee incident, it was also said that drinking coffee would turn people into French sissies.

The resistance suffered by Dashun was not great, but it was just because of some historical issues left over from the previous dynasty, which caused the interests of some people to be damaged.

That is, the people in Nanyuan and Nanhaizi.

After all, the capital is a consumer city.

Taxes from all over the country, officials' salaries, soldiers' pay, royal institutions, etc., are mostly consumed.

This is also a big city that has existed for several dynasties. The trees around it have basically been cut down.

The remaining, relatively close, are only two places.

One is the imperial mausoleum.

There are still many trees in this place, but they are definitely not allowed to be cut. Cutting trees and burning fires on the royal tombs is definitely a death sentence in feudal society.

Another one is Nanyuan in the south of the capital.

The royal garden, with birds and beasts, fruits and vegetables, is a royal garden with a wall of hundreds of miles.

After Zhu Di came to power and moved the capital, he sent many people here, and they were called "Hai Hu". It has nothing to do with the sea, but refers to the Haizi in Nanyuan, that is, the Haizi in the pond and lake.

At the beginning, the eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty all came from special places. After Daizong, self-castration could be used, and everyone castrated themselves to make progress and bring honor to their ancestors.

There were too many eunuchs, so they were sent to Nanhaizi.

There must be someone to manage such a place. If no one manages it, it will not be a royal garden, but a wetland pond.

Self-castration will definitely not leave descendants, but relatives will come here to find something to do.

Although they are pariahs, they are all "voluntarily" pariahs. After all, the harsh politics has less impact on this place, and it is also working for the emperor.

The fruits and vegetables eaten in the palace can be sold if they can't be eaten. On weekdays, they also need to fulfill some feudal obligations, such as repairing walls, planting vegetables, feeding elks, and digging ponds.

As pariahs, they can be exempted from many taxes, and those who castrate themselves also bring their relatives here, so there are more and more people.

As a human being, you have to eat, drink, defecate and urinate.

Coincidentally, the capital is in the north, and it is quite cold in winter. People in Nanyuan pick up some pine branches, firewood and the like and sell them in the capital.

This kind of firewood is "haichai".

The railway in Mentougou has been repaired and the coal mine has begun to produce coal. The current population of the capital consumes only about 10,000 tons of coal a year.

Although this broken railway and locomotive are broken, the daily cargo volume of 200 to 300 tons is only a few miles in total, so it can still be transported.

Although the efficiency of the steam engine is low, since it is used to transport coal, it is fine as long as it is efficient.

The people of Nanyuan will definitely be dissatisfied, which is very normal.

Whose responsibility is this? Of course, it is the responsibility of the feudal emperor.

In fact, such a large piece of land could be directly reclaimed, or sold or rented out like the Huainan Grass Marsh, and there would be no such trouble.

Who would have time to spare when there are large tracts of land to plant? How much money would they earn by driving a car to the capital to sell firewood before dawn?

Raising some birds and beasts, they can only go there a few times a year, and there are walls outside, which is a pure waste of money.

The emperor has not been there many times in recent years. The last time he went there, it seems that the Ordnance Department presented an advanced, gas-compressed gun. The emperor took ministers, princes, etc., played with this gas-compressed gun for a few rounds, and asked Liu Yu whether this thing could be mass-produced to equip the army, etc.

This time, the interests of the sea dwellers in Nanyuan were seriously damaged by the coal mines and railways.

This is a royal garden, and the caretakers must have been paid a commission, so there is no need to think about it.

Using connections to find a door, it caused a storm, but it was not big.

Pain is inevitable, and it is a small matter.

Since the reform of Songsu, the total number of people who died of illness and acclimatization has reached hundreds of thousands.

This time, Jingzhao Yin also stood on Liu Yu's side and made it clear that if anyone dared to lie on the railway, it would prove that they were not ordinary people and they must be hit hard.

The reason why he stood on Liu Yu's side was simple.

He was responsible for the problem of burning fire for heating and cooking in the capital area.

Mentougou Coal Mine was under the jurisdiction of the previously established Ministry of Industry and Commerce and had nothing to do with him.