Daming Crazy Emperor

Chapter 136 What are you afraid of?

To the north of the capital, in the west of Deshengmen, there is a river about [-] steps wide and more than a hundred steps long. This river is an artificial river connecting the north moat and the inner city Jishuitan.

During the Yuan Dynasty, Guo Shoujing was ordered to build the Tongzhou-Dadu section of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, and Jishuitan became a new starting point for the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal.

At that time, the Jishuitan was often crowded with grain ships and merchant ships from the south of the Yangtze River. The north of the capital could be described as a gathering of hundreds of boats and thousands of sails. It was extremely prosperous.

Kublai Khan, Emperor Shizu of the Yuan Dynasty, was very happy to see this, and personally named the canal from Dadu to Tongzhou "Tonghui River".

That is to say, in the Yuan Dynasty, large water transport ships could directly enter the metropolitan city from the south of the Yangtze River through the canal. Whether it was food for the people in the city, or wood and stone needed for the construction of palaces and houses, etc., it was very convenient to transport.

When it came to the Ming Dynasty, there were many strange things. Because of the rampant Japanese pirates and pirates, the Ming Dynasty directly imposed a sea ban. For the safety of the capital, the artificial river connecting the North Moat and Jishuitan, which is more than a hundred steps long, was also blocked!

Looking at the blocked river and the rusted iron gate in the hole in the city wall, Taichang couldn't help shaking his head slightly.

He really couldn't figure out what the ancestor Yongle Emperor was afraid of. Could such a cave with a width of thirty steps be a threat to the safety of the capital?
If people really want to attack the capital, is it useful to seal such a hole?

He shook his head slightly, and then said decisively: "Remove the iron gate, replace it with a movable gate, block the water channels on both sides, drain the accumulated water, and dig!"

There is a city wall in the middle of this waterway. As long as the place passing through the city wall is made into movable iron gates, pull the two sides when in use, and push the middle to block the river when not in use. It will not threaten the safety of the capital at all.

He really didn't know what the wise and mighty Emperor Yongle was afraid of, it was so fresh!

You know, because such a waterway with a length of more than a hundred steps was blocked, not only the water transport boats could not enter the capital, but also the carts he wanted could not enter the imperial city.

At this moment, Song Yingxing has already trial-produced many kinds of vulcanized rubber, some of which can withstand the high temperature of steam.

That is to say, the steam engine is almost successful, and as long as the steam engine is made and connected to the pedals of the wheel, the human-driven wheel can become a steam engine-driven ship!
The ten wheels he needed for the trial production of the ship are all docked on the north moat. He can't let Wang Zheng and Song Yingxing go out of the city every day to do research and development, right?
At this time, as long as the artificial river channel with a length of more than [-] steps is dug through, the moat will be integrated with the Jishuitan in the inner city, the Shichahai Lake, and the Taiye Pool in the imperial city.

In this way, not only can the cart be driven into the Taiye Pond in the imperial city, but it will also be convenient for him to leave Beijing in the future.

As long as you have a ship, even the simplest wheeled ship, traveling thousands of miles a day is no longer a dream!
Because steam engines are different from mules and people, steam engines will not get tired, even if they run continuously all day long, they will not feel tired at all.

And the minimum speed of the ship is more than 20 kilometers per hour, which is about fifty miles per hour, and one hour is one hundred miles.

That is to say, even if the ship with the lowest speed is built, running for ten hours a day is still a thousand miles!

This is not a small progress, but a qualitative leap. You must know that Nanjing is only two thousand miles away from Beijing. If there is no ship to sail, it will take at least ten days. This depends on the direction of the wind. , if the wind direction is wrong, I'm afraid it won't arrive in a month.

But with a ship, it will take at most three days to arrive, and there is no need to care about the wind direction at all!
The benefits of the ship are far more than these. With the ship, you don’t have to be limited by the power of the sails. It is not a problem to build a big ship with [-] materials, [-] materials, [-] materials, or even [-] materials. It is more flexible than a sailboat, and there is no need to control the wind direction at all.

At that time, if a bunch of high-rise ships and gunboats are built, the overlord of the sea will be Ming, not Spanish, Dutch, British and French!

Taichang was thinking about the ship, but the prince Zhu Youxiao beside him couldn't help asking: "If this ditch is dug, the waterway will directly lead into the city, isn't it safe?"

Halo, are you afraid too?
What are you afraid of!
Taichang thought for a while, then patted him on the shoulder and said: "Chief, does a powerful dynasty need to be afraid of such a small thing? If Daming is strong enough, who can hit the capital of Daming? If Daming is not strong enough, block the What's the use of a small ditch? So, don't be afraid, do it boldly, as long as you can make Daming so strong that it is invincible, no one will dare to come to the capital to act wild!"

Well, my son is not afraid!
Children are not afraid of tigers when they are newborns. With such encouragement from Taichang, the prince Zhu Youxiao immediately straightened his waist and said expectantly: "Father, as long as this ditch is dug, the big ships in the moat will be able to enter." Let’s go to Taiye Pool, when the time comes, we only need to install the steam engine, and these boats will be able to drive fast, right?”

Uh, this kid seems to like to play in boats.

You kid don't know that in history, you fell into the water because you were surfing in the Taiye Pool by boat, and then someone poured a bottle of elixir medicine, and then died!
Thinking of this, Taichang couldn't help warning: "The steam engine needs to be tested after it's finished, and it needs to be tested after it's installed on the ship. Don't sit on it during the test, it's very dangerous. Also, remember , even if the test is completed, you will have to bring a few Jinyiwei masters who are proficient in water to accompany you for protection when you take the boat. This is not a question of whether you are afraid or not, but a question of safety.

Well, as long as you have a boat to play with, you can bring a boat of Jinyiwei masters!

Prince Zhu Youxiao had just finished speaking, and Xin Wang Zhu Youjian couldn't help asking: "Father, with the ship, can we transfer the grain from Nanzhili to the tea-horse market in Hetao through the canal and the Yellow River?" Now, when the time comes, can we exchange food for war horses?"

Uh, that's a really good idea.

After all, it will take time for the tea production in Sichuan to recover, especially after the chieftain rebellion, it may be difficult for the tea production there to return to its original scale within a year or two. War horses are the only option.

Alas, it would be great if the interests and hobbies of these two children could be exchanged.

During this period of time, he was relatively free, because the cavalry of the Shenwu Battalion had already arrived in Sichuan, and the siege of Chengdu had been lifted. As long as Sun Chuanting and Qi Jin joined forces, the Southwest Chieftain Rebellion should be calmed down soon.

As for Liaodong, the fortress over there has almost been repaired, and it is almost impossible for Jiannu to break through a series of fortress defense lines, so there is no need to worry about it for the time being.

It was rare that he had free time, and he ran to Ciqing Palace almost every day. While mentioning Song Yingxing, he also began to pay attention to the education of the crown prince and Xinwang.

At this time, he discovered that King Xin was particularly interested in the way of management.

To put it bluntly, the way of management these days is the way of governing the country. If the crown prince is interested in the way of governing the country, he will naturally wish for it. If King Xin is interested in the way of governing the country, he will be a little dumbfounded.

Of course, it doesn't mean that the letter king Zhu Youjian wants to take his brother's crown prince.

The two brothers have a good relationship.

Perhaps, it's because they both lost their mothers since they were young, and they didn't get any father's love when they were young. The two brothers have been dependent on each other for so many years, and their relationship is really not ordinary.

Alas, even if King Xin has no intention of trying to seize the crown prince, he can't be allowed to develop in the way of governing the country. After all, once a person has the ability, his ambition will grow accordingly. Who knows if their brothers will end up fighting for the throne? And turn against each other.

In order to prevent the tragedy of brotherly killing, he deliberately directed Xin Wang Zhu Youjian's hobbies to the economic aspect.

Anyway, whether it is managing people or money, whether it is managing the economy or governing the country, the nature is actually the same.

Xin Wang Zhu Youjian is also really interested in these and that, and in this regard, his growth rate is quite amazing.

Now when it comes to business or something, this little guy can speak clearly.

Because of this, Taichang even thought of changing the model of feudal vassals.

After all, there are only so many fields in Ming Dynasty, and each feudal lord confiscates hundreds of thousands of mu or even millions of mu. There will always be a day when the confiscation ends. How will the common people live then?
Perhaps it is a good model to let the vassal king do business and support himself.

If you set up a large firm such as the East India Company, let all the vassal kings and kings participate in the shares, and then let a prince like Xin Wang take care of it, take this group of royal relatives to do business overseas, and make a lot of money. Definitely not a problem.

In this way, not only can it solve the problem of the vassal king's fiefdom, but it can even bring considerable benefits to the internal treasury.

Of course, this idea is not very mature yet, and he will have to communicate with the head of state Wu Yangchun and other big businessmen before he can make a final decision.

(End of this chapter)