I am Da Song

Chapter 643
While the outside of the Song Dynasty was bloody and rainy, the inside was showing the brightest and most gorgeous civilization achievements of this era.

In the winter of the 23rd year of Jianye, Zhao Huan, the left minister of the empire, the privy envoy and many other court ministers personally attended the super smelting factory project built by Taixue on the edge of the water transport.

The Imperial Institute of Metallurgy built a large-scale blast furnace and a series of stout pipelines here.

This super smelting factory impressively uses the most advanced blast furnace ironmaking technology in Song Dynasty.

A professor from the Taiyuan University accompanied Zhao Huan and introduced: "Officials, today's blast furnace ironmaking technology uses coke, iron-rich ore and limestone flux in a vertical reactor to continuously produce liquid pig iron in the blast furnace."

"This ironmaking method has a relatively simple process, large output, high labor productivity, low energy consumption, and the production efficiency is nearly ten times that of the previous one."

"And the steel technology is more mature than before, and it can withstand high temperature and extreme cold."

Coke and limestone are everywhere in the Central Plains, and the Central Plains has a long experience in using them, so this is not difficult to achieve.

Zhao Huan asked: "Where did you find the rich iron ore? As far as I know, there doesn't seem to be much rich iron ore in the Central Plains."

The professor of metallurgy at the Taiyuan Academy who was in charge of this project nodded and said: "There are not many iron-rich mines in the Central Plains, but there are some. The main source here is Yizhou. The local green copper iron mine is a super-rich iron mine with proven reserves. Almost the crown of China."

"A team of pioneers discovered this rich iron ore when they were logging and deforestation in the local area, and built a plantation manor. Then they started a mining business in the local area, transporting more than ten ships of iron ore to the Central Plains every month, directly transported by water. Enter Tokyo."

Hearing this, Zhao Huan was very pleased. This is the situation he likes to see the most. When the pioneers explored the new territory, they discovered this kind of super rich ore.

How much wealth can this family reap from this mine alone that ordinary people would not be able to earn back in several lifetimes in the Central Plains?

This will inspire more people in the Central Plains to take the initiative to explore foreign lands and develop the economy.

Zhao Huan asked: "How much steel can this super smelting plant produce?"

The professors of Taixue were full of pride, and said: "This super smelting plant alone covers an area of ​​over a thousand acres, and can produce 800 million stones of steel every year."

"It is enough to meet the needs of urban construction throughout Tokyo, railroad paving, machine tools, steam engines, farm tools, etc."

"And this smelting workshop not only has a huge output, but also has advanced technology, which can greatly improve the technology of smelting materials, whether it is steam engines or trains, it will benefit all aspects."

Zhao Huan smiled as he looked at the tall factories and rough pipelines.More importantly, this kind of factory will not be limited to this one.Once its model is produced, there will be a steady stream of new factories to follow up and promote this model.

At that time, the industrialization process and quality of Tokyo will be greatly improved.

Zhao Huan turned to Su Chi, left prime minister, and asked: "With such a strong industrial capacity, it is necessary to transform it into national strength in time to benefit the people and avoid the dynasty cycle. How about the railway project supervised by the Ministry of Industry?"

Su Chi immediately replied: "I want to tell you the officials, part of the railway project planned by the Ministry of Industry has been completed, and some places have been opened to traffic. The Ministry of Industry plans to complete the first railway within this year, completely connecting Tokyo and Suzhou."

Zhao Huan immediately looked at Su Dai, who was beside him, and said, "The progress of the railway track has been steadily advancing. How is your locomotive project improving?"

Su Dai replied: "The most important thing to improve the locomotive is the metallurgical process. Now that the level of metallurgy has improved, the performance of the steam locomotive will inevitably improve."

Then Su Dai said with a smile: "It may be more general to say this. Specifically, the Taiyuan Academy has used various techniques to make all kinds of steam locomotives."

"There are already some railway tracks in operation. There are three types of steam locomotives in operation in Tokyo. One is mainly heavy-duty cargo, which can run more than 80 miles per hour. It is mainly connected to the surrounding cities and transports food to Tokyo. It can Carrying more than 5000 stones, it runs more than 50 miles per hour."

"One is the express train, which mainly transports fresh seasonal fruits and vegetables. It can carry thousands of stones and run hundreds of miles every hour."

"There is also a passenger train, which can carry more than [-] passengers and run for more than [-] miles per hour."

More than 20 miles per hour, that is, only a dozen miles per hour. If this speed is equipped with rattles, it will be a bit like a sightseeing tram.

Su Dai asked: "Why don't I take the official's family on a passenger train and take a look at the current things?"

Zhao Huan didn't hesitate at all, and said: "Yes. I have been looking forward to this for decades. When did this passenger train run?"

Su Dai led the way, and introduced: "It will be in operation this summer, mainly to communicate with the districts outside the city."

Zhao Huan asked curiously: "Didn't you plan to build a railway from the Imperial Palace to the Taiyuan Academy? Why didn't it be built, but the outer city was built first?"

Su Dai smiled and said: "It's not that simple. To build the railway from the Taiyuan Academy to the inner city, a section of the city wall must be demolished, and more than a dozen people including the Political Affairs Hall, Privy Council, Kaifeng Mansion, Shenwu Army, Inspection Battalion, and Guangbei Battalion are needed. departmental seal."

"It is said that the walls of the inner city cannot be demolished easily. So the railway has been suspended. The outer city is not so particular, so the outer city will be repaired first."

The outer city is still the lively scene, full of traffic and crowds.

But under Su Dai's leadership, Zhao Huan soon discovered something different.

A platform made of steel and concrete stone pillars stands between the coiled rails.

It coincided with the arrival of the train with its whistle, and the bang-dang train was moving melodiously, and the passengers on the train could still see clearly the pedestrians driving in carriages beside the railroad tracks from the windows.

On the road, there are also white horses with silver saddles, young knights rustling like shooting stars, with bows and arrows hanging on the saddles, and young men with sharp swords on their waists, looking forward to Li Bai's words: "Killing a person in ten steps, you can't stay a thousand miles away. It's done." Go, hide your body and name deeply. Pass Xinling to drink, take off your sword and cross your knees."

The scenery of the two eras is perfectly integrated at this moment.

Zhao Huan boarded the train and looked at all this, but he didn't feel much disobedience. It seemed that all this should be what Song Dynasty should be like.

Seeing that Zhao Huan boarded the train in person, the train conductor hurried over to see him.

Zhao Huan said with a smile: "You can drive normally. The speed of more than ten miles is not much faster than walking, so don't be nervous."

"However, I have a suggestion for you, can you hang a string of pendant bells in front of the train carriage?"

Listening to the swaying of the pendant bell, Zhao Huan felt that even if he fell asleep to the sound of the wind chime at this moment, he would have no regrets.

(End of this chapter)