Daming Crazy Emperor

Chapter 516 Incomprehensible progress

As soon as the New Year's Day is over, it will be in the twenties of the first lunar month, and the construction of the Grand Canal to the Sea has been started for more than three months.

At this time, the Xinhaizhou City in the east was almost completed, and most of the soldiers had moved to the barracks in Xinhaizhou City.

Because almost all the canals on the west side have been dug at this moment, leaving only the section nearly eighty miles to the east.

If the soldiers still lived in Xintongzhou City, they would have to drive at least a hundred miles a day to get to the current construction site.

This is obviously a waste of time and energy.

Therefore, after Xinhaizhou City was almost built, most of the soldiers moved there.

At this time, Zhang Yuanfang, who was going to Wubei City to transport materials such as cement and steel bars, also returned with his fleet.

Not only did he bring materials for more than 100 ships, he also brought weapons such as black iron knives, spears, and iron shields needed by the Indian tribes, and he also brought a dreadnought ship and [-] aegis newly built by the Wubei City Shipyard. Ships, [-] gunboats, hundreds of warships, and a large number of officials also came with the boats.

Wen Zhenmeng, the left servant of the Ministry of Rites, Huang Daozhou, the right servant of the Ministry of Officials, Ni Yuanlu, the right servant of the Ministry of War, Chen Zilong, the left servant of the Ministry of Agriculture, Xia Yunyi, the left servant of the Ministry of Commerce, etc., I don’t know how many young talents of Ming Dynasty gathered here.

Zheng Zhilong and Xu Erjue from Daming Western Company also came, and even Song Yingxing, the right servant of the Ministry of Industry, brought a group of young directors of the Ministry of Industry.

Taichang was overjoyed to see so many capable ministers and officials.

These New Year's Days were spent at sea, so Taichang specially prepared a sumptuous banquet for them.

On the top floor of the flagship, hundreds of civil servants and military generals gathered again, and the imperial chefs brought dishes up like flowing water. Soon, the tables were filled with all kinds of precious delicacies.

This time, it's not just seafood and beef, but also a lot of dry goods shipped from Daming.

Concubine Su Su also saw it, but couldn't understand it again.

She couldn't help asking curiously: "Your Majesty, haven't the New Year's Day and the Lantern Festival have passed, why are there so many dishes and so many people today?"

All the new capable ministers and officials were amazed when they heard this.

Of course they knew that the emperor had adopted a new Concubine Su. Question, Concubine Su seems to be from the Su clan at this moment!
He looks exotic, but how can he speak the standard Ming Dynasty official dialect?

Taichang explained rather embarrassingly: "This is called the Fengfeng Banquet. They came all the way from the mainland of Daming. Of course, they have to give a good welcome. Besides, we have celebrated the New Year's Day and the Lantern Festival, but they have been sitting there all the time." We’re rushing this way on the boat, and neither the New Year’s Day nor the Lantern Festival is over, so I have to make up for them.”

Oh, Su Yi nodded half-understood, and finally stopped asking.

She seemed to know that she should talk less on such a grand occasion.

Next, Taichang raised his glass to indicate that the banquet officially began.

After everyone ate and drank enough, Taichang didn't talk to them about business, because he knew that everyone had worked hard and needed to take a good rest.

There was nothing to say all night, and early the next morning, he took a group of civil servants and generals off the boat, rode on horses, and set off from Xintongzhou City to Xinhaizhou City along the reinforced concrete road beside the canal.

The more than 180 miles of the Grand Canal to the Sea were excavated manually, and the width and depth surpassed most of the main canals in the Ming Dynasty. In addition, new materials such as cement and steel bars were used, and the dams on both sides were regular and abnormal. Spectacular.

The depth of five feet is as high as that of a five-six-story building, and the width of thirty feet is even higher than that of a normal main road of a large river. Yes, all are amazed.

To be honest, this is not a big deal, when they entered the excavation area nearly eighty miles to the east, it was a spectacle.

After all, the width of the river is only about [-] feet, and here, all the trees with a width of one mile were cut down, and the cut branches and leaves were burned on the ground, and all the weeds and shrubs were burned away.

The hillsides on both sides and the trees are more than five feet high, and this passage looks like an alternative large river channel with a width of more than 150 feet, which is astonishingly spectacular.

At this time, the nearly [-]-mile river channel to the east has only been excavated for more than [-] days. However, the overall river channel has almost been completed. At this moment, as soon as the cement and steel bars arrive, the embankment can be reinforced.

Outside Xinhaizhou City, Peng Bin was leading a group of soldiers from the Shenji Battalion to dig a kiln for firing pottery pots. Hundreds of pottery pots nearly half the height of a person were neatly arranged beside the kiln.

The pottery pot he ordered to be made was not so big. Looking at the body of the pot, which was thicker than a person's waist, it might hold at least a hundred catties of wine.

However, he did not make this clay pot for wine, but for gunpowder.

Seeing that the kiln was almost built, he was about to order someone to throw some firewood in to bake it, when suddenly there was a rumbling sound of horseshoes in the distance.

Materials such as cement and steel bars had arrived yesterday afternoon, so he naturally knew that.

Question, it is impossible to transport cement and steel bars with a horse-drawn cart, right?

Curiously, he climbed up to the high place of the kiln and raised the binoculars to have a look, but almost fell off the top.

It turned out that the emperor came with a lot of civil servants and military generals.

He hastily confessed a few words, and then ran to the side of the main road.

As soon as he ran to the side of the main road, more than a thousand riders rushed towards him.

Taichang saw that the disheveled Peng Bin was standing on the side of the road waving, and quickly raised his hand to make everyone stop.

As soon as he got off his horse with a group of civil servants and military generals, Peng Bin hurried forward and bowed his hands and said, "I see the emperor, Mr. Lu, Mr. Song, and Mr. Wen..."

All right, all right, I'm afraid it will take a long time for you to see it like this.

There are too many of these people with higher positions than you.

Seeing this, Taichang slightly raised his hand and said, "Okay, Yan Ru, what are you doing, making this whole body of dirt."

Peng Bin quickly explained: "Weichen is leading a man-made kiln and preparing to fire clay pots."

Burn clay pots?
So backward things, why do you, a doctor in the Ministry of Industry in charge of building the Grand Canal, come here to bring artificial kilns?

Taichang couldn't help asking curiously: "Why are you burning clay pots?"

Peng Bin hastily explained: "Wei Chen burns clay pots to hold gunpowder."

Song Yingxing heard the words, and couldn't help asking with great interest: "Yan Ru, are you going to fry it?"

Peng Bin nodded again and again, "Yes, Mr. Song, I feel that bombing is the fastest and safest method."

What are these two talking about?

Taichang couldn't help asking: "What is fried?"

How to explain this?
Peng Bin thought for a while before explaining in detail: "Your Majesty, there are still several dams left on both sides of the Grand Canal that have not been dug.

Generally, the dam is dug last, but it can only be dug directly when the river channel is not very deep or wide.

Moreover, before digging, it is generally necessary to block stone troughs and wooden rafts on the side with water to prevent the dam from suddenly collapsing.

However, the Grand Canal to the Sea must not be dug directly, because there are no such large stone troughs and wooden rafts to block the water. If it is dug hard, it will be very dangerous, and I don’t know how many people will be lost.

Therefore, Weichen is going to make some clay pots, fill them with gunpowder, bury them in a circle around the dam, and explode them directly. "

Oh, that's what happened.

This is going to blow up the dam that blocks the water. Isn't the Grand Canal about to be completed?

Taichang couldn't help asking: "Yanru, how many days do you think it will be possible to sail?"

Peng Bin thought for a while, and then estimated: "It will take about ten days to reinforce the two sides of the eastern river, and after the dam bursts, we will send people to dive down to check it carefully, and it will take about half a month to finish it." navigable."

Well, this progress is already fast enough. In less than four months, the European barbarians may not be able to understand the progress of building such a long canal!

(End of this chapter)