Jingming

Chapter 433: The old emperor is getting more and more forgetful of things
The city of Guangzhou is prosperous, but the city is full of mourners.

Nowadays, in a place far away from the capital, the news between Guangzhou and the capital is transmitted extremely quickly.This is due to the fact that it took eight years to build the Beijing-Changsha section of the Beijing-Guangzhou Straight Road, and then it only took less than four years to build the Changsha-Guangzhou section.

Wearing the king's python robe, Louis was naturally very conspicuous at the dock in Guangzhou City, and then someone brought him a piece of white linen.

"Your envoy is wearing the python robe given to you by the emperor. Now that the empress and the phoenix have arrived in heaven, your envoy should express his condolences."

"What?" Louis was shocked when he heard the news of the queen's death.

But Louis, who had spent several months in Ming Dynasty, already knew how to do as the locals do, let alone this time he has a heavy responsibility?

He also tied a white cloth to express his condolences.

The death of the queen is a mourning for the country.The entire Ming Dynasty changes with the sun and the moon. In 27 days, the Ming Dynasty will be completely pure.

But the entire Ming Dynasty was still functioning, but there was a lot of silence on Louis' journey north.

This time it was not a boat ride, the straight road wound through the mountains of Lingnan. When the horses pulled the carriage uphill, Louis was always worried about what would happen if the horses ran out of power.

But it is obvious that there are many horses in Ming Dynasty.Every twenty or thirty miles, there must be a station.You can rest, go to the toilet, and change horses.

Passengers take the straight route and goods take the water route. This is a special arrangement for the section from Changsha to Guangzhou.

The straight road in this section is not as wide and flat as the one to the north.

However, even so, the fact that the rails could extend such a long distance was beyond Louis' understanding.

Daming, how much steel can be produced in a year now?

The seasons change and disasters cannot be avoided.Wear and tear, maintenance... Louis couldn't imagine how many people and materials were behind this to ensure the operation of this straight line.

"It is a railway bureau that was separated from Tongyi Bureau and is responsible for it alone." The chief who accompanied him to Beijing shook his head.

He couldn't talk more.

After years of losses, the emperor also intended to rebuild the railways from Beijing to Xuancheng, Datong and Guihua City.

It is even harder to cross so many mountains and passes.It's snowy in the north, so it's not easy to use in winter.I don’t know how much it will cost to patrol and repair in the future.

But with these straight roads, the court's control over local areas was indeed stronger.Among other things, the president of the Railway Bureau can attend military affairs meetings.

Louis' journey this time no longer passed through the canal. On the other side of the canal, Huai'an Prefecture was the seat of the Prime Minister's Hedao Yamen. Tang Shu had been the governor of the river for almost eight years.

Today, the core river sections that need to be controlled in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow-Huai River floods are all located in Huaiyang Province.The provincial government is in Yangzhou, but Huai'an is also more prosperous as a Caohe shipping terminal.

In the Shouzhou area of ​​Fengyang Prefecture, there are huge lime fields, quarries, and coal mines.

The cement, strips and gravel fired here are all transported by cargo ships from the upper reaches of the Huaihe River to Huai'an. From there, it is traced up to Suqian and Xuzhou in the upper reaches of the Yellow River, and down to Andong after the Huanghuai River merges. .

Tang Shu is here now.

The people from the Polytechnic Institute came here for inspection and chose this place.Not far from Fengyang Fucheng, this place is the land of Longxing.The great disturbance here once caused a lot of discussion.

However, the emperor's determination to make some contribution to the Huanghuai floods in this dynasty never wavered. Liu Tianhe was in the center and Tang Shu was in the local area. They have not moved for many years, which is proof.

The Huainan area has a vague tendency to develop into another heavy industry park, which is another clear evidence.

Everything here is for river management.

But almost eight years have passed, and Liu Tianhe is already 62. I wonder if he can continue to stay in the State Palace this time.

"Zhang Guogong, the queen has passed away, and we are mourning, but we still can't be disrespectful here." Tang Shu said worriedly, "After summer, although the inner embankment cannot be repaired, the outer embankment is okay. After autumn, we rush for work. It’s time to use materials, so we must prepare enough in these few months.”

"Don't worry, Mr. Tang, I understand the importance."

The person sent by the Huangming Assets Bureau to Huainan to coordinate the work between the factories and the Prime Minister Hedao Yamen was none other than Zhang Rong, the son of the late British Duke Zhang Lun.

When he was young, he tinkered with bicycles in the capital and gambled at major competitions. He was thrown into the Jinke Fertilizer Factory by the emperor, and had many dealings with farmers.

Zhang Lun worked hard for many years, and with a little hard work, Zhang Rong was not demoted but directly attacked the Duke of the State. After handing over the responsibility of the Huangming Assets Bureau to Zhu Feng, the Duke of Cheng, he spent the last few years dragging his old age. Chu and Zhang Rong started by sending fertilizer.

It was during that period that Zhang Rong realized how difficult it was to be a farmer.

What he had access to were farmers employed by wealthy families who could afford to buy fertilizer from the Jinke Fertilizer Factory at that time.

And when the British Duke passed away and he ascended the throne, he was arranged here by the emperor.

Even if the floods in the Huanghuai River cannot be cured, as long as some achievements are made, how many livelihoods of the farmers on both sides of the Huanghuai River can be saved?
Zhang Rong, who was no longer young, became much calmer, and instead introduced the information he knew to Tang Shu.

"I received a letter. After the Beijing-Guangzhou Straight Road is completed, it has not yet been decided whether the Xuanda Straight Road will be built or not. But the cement plants in the Beijing Heavy Industry Park cannot stop. After the imperial city was renovated, Guangzhou and Ningbo shipped timber from overseas. The businessmen who have returned are also looking for new sales.”

Tang Shu looked at him and asked in a deep voice: "What do you think Mr. Zhang Guogong said?"

"Tang Zonghe is out." Zhang Rong looked solemn, "Tang Zonghe, I will not be delayed here during this period. But during this year's major national policy meeting, I can make an effort to let Hedao Yamen do more money allocation. I can ask him Consort Yu helped me talk."

Tang Shu did not accept this statement for a moment.

Over the years, the Premier Hedao Yamen has become the third largest gold-eating beast outside the military pay and Beijing-Guangzhou Straight Road.

To regulate the river, we need to expand the river channel and build embankments. What seems to be stones hitting the water are actually white coins.

It is measured in tens of millions of taels of silver, but now after so many years, it is still not completed.

Want more?
It is true that the treasury was not as difficult as the period around the Jiajing decade, but the Ming Dynasty was so big that there were too many places to spend money.

"Let's save this summer flood first!" Tang Shu said solemnly, "Last autumn's Shushui Embankment only built a foundation. When the water rises, it will submerge below the river surface. If there is a major flood this year, the river water will be blocked by those several foundations. , I still don’t know if something will go wrong. If something goes wrong, let alone spending more money, I will still have to apologize."

"...It's really not easy for Mr. Tang."

"It's not easy for Liu Guolao." Tang Shu looked north, "It would be great if Liu Guolao could work for another three years..."

Zhang Rong's heart moved, and after being silent for a while, he said: "Then I will contribute to this matter."

Tang Shu was stunned for a moment, then solemnly saluted him: "Thank you!"

He concentrated on river management and had little official contacts.

Even though Huaiyang is its own province, river management no longer involves other provinces.But every time the autumn and winter projects are urgent, he has to travel to various prefectures and counties along the way.What they do are also things that offend people: the construction workers want to grab the extra labor left after the busy farming season, and building embankments requires occupying some fields...

There is no time for socializing before and after the Spring Festival.

After all, Zhang Rong is the Duke of the country, and the relatives behind the Huangming Assets Bureau are also a force that cannot be underestimated.

If they can support Liu Tianhe to work for another three years, then Tang Shu will have a lot of peace of mind.

At the moment, Tang Shu really doesn't have the energy to do this.River management has reached a critical stage, and from last year to this year, there was a vague discussion among the people: This year is the Gengzi Year, the beginning of the Jiazi Year.According to folklore, such years are often troubled by disasters.

Now, the death of the queen has intensified the worries of the people. This is a bad sign.

In case there is a major flood this year, you must be prepared in advance.

The Huanghuai River has been silted up for many years, and previous projects focused on the construction of the outer embankment and the widening of the downstream river channel.Starting from last year, the emperor also participated. Liu Tianhe and Tang Shu decided to attack the sand in Shushui and began to build the Shushui embankment.

On the contrary, in order to narrow the river channel, make the water flow faster, and wash away the sediment that may still accumulate in the future, it is necessary to build embankments in the river channels that may still pass through when the water flow is large.

Although with the help of cement, it is difficult to complete the project in just one autumn and winter water level embankment time.

The next two or three years will be the most critical.

Liu Tianhe and Tang Shu have been controlling the river for more than 15 years, and it's time to achieve results.

Things like this have been going on for many years but have not yet yielded results. The same thing happens in Beijing.

That's a new way to use boiled water after boiling it.

Is it difficult to make a steam engine?
The emperor has indeed pointed out the direction, and the original experimental equipment has been continued and improved.

When Weng Wanda returned from Nanyang by Fengzhou and took a new ship for the first time, he heard that the emperor had been conducting research on boiling water for a long time.

From the 12th year of Jiajing to the current 19th year of Jiajing, practical steam engines have still not been completely built.

There are so many difficulties.

Steel that is stable and durable under high strength and high temperature, the casting and sealing of round tubes, the crankshaft and gears that rotate and transmit power, and the control called air pressure, the risk of explosion...

But the biggest problem is actually this: when you use so much coal to boil water, you always have to release more than half of it to ensure there is no danger of exploding.And in this way, burning so much coal and only using so little energy is worth it?
The undercurrent in the court had been calmed down for the time being, and even if the new emperor was established again, it would not be this year. When Zhu Houcong was in a bad mood, he simply spent more time on these matters that needed to be considered in depth.

In the Polytechnic Institute in the southwest corner of the Forbidden City, there is an office for the steam engine project.

This is where theoretical design research is conducted, and the real experimental equipment is in the Heavy Industry Park.

Now the design actually needs to be improved and optimized again before it can become practical.

Arriving at the Polytechnic Institute, Zhu Houcong looked at the people standing in front of him with emotion.It is a thing that clearly knows its function and has a clear understanding of the theoretical principles. However, in terms of engineering, I want to make a practical product. With my own attention and resource guarantee, I have spent so many years and still have not taken the final step.

At that time, I always thought it was a problem with rubber or sealing, but Alfonso had already found rubber brought from South America in Europe, but it couldn't be used at first.

In the environment of a steam engine, the heat is high.This stuff softens when exposed to heat and must be processed.

Later, this problem was solved by Tao Zhongwen. God knows how he tried using sulfuric acid and raw rubber together. The final product was heat-resistant and more elastic.

This was only the year before last, and we are still experimenting with more uses for rubber.

As far as the steam engine project is concerned, Tao Zhongwen also participated.

There was also welding in this era.But now with the application of welding and rubber, the sealing in the pipes in the machine is better, the steam is more abundant, and more needs to be released and wasted.

"Your Majesty..." Zheng Kui, the great engineer of the project and the county magistrate, is no longer what he used to be. He speaks in professional terms, "Dr. Shen has already found a way according to the order, and the ministers have also made the barometer and installed it. At present, it is estimated that every Eighty percent of the heat from the first fever has been released! I have been thinking about this problem for almost a year, but I still can't find a good way."

The prototype and principles have been implemented, but it cannot be just a prototype.

Zheng Kui lowered his head in shame.

Over the years, Baojin Bureau has individually cast all kinds of odd-shaped parts for them, and the various factories in the Heavy Industry Park will respond whenever they have needs.

For no other reason, it was a key project that the emperor personally paid attention to.

But it’s been ten years.Not to mention the free money, how many decades can one’s life last?How could the DPRK and the Central Government have no objection to the fact that the emperor had been spending money on projects like steam engines?

What about His Majesty himself?It's probably close to disappointment.

"The boiler, cylinder, piston, connecting rod, crankshaft, valve, and barometer have all been solved. The only remaining problem should be this." Zhu Houcong replied, as firm as ever, "It can be used today, but it's just not worth it. Adding coal and water at any time is very cautious and has many restrictions. It is extremely difficult to determine the shape for use on vehicles and ships in the future. Let’s sort out this problem again. If it doesn’t work, I will find more people to brainstorm.”

At this time, Tao Zhongwen hesitated.

"What did you think of?"

Tao Zhenren still wears Taoist priest uniforms, and he has never changed this.

But now, under the emperor's long-term "influence", Tao Zhenren has become a master of science.After years of refining alchemy and burning so many strange things, Tao Zhongwen has compiled too many lists of different substances called elements by the emperor, as well as various three-state attributes that they exhibit individually or mixedly.

He was able to discover that rubber vulcanization would be different, not because he already knew the molecular formula, but because he had burned enough things, and there would always be some vague inspiration.

Anyway, the emperor paid for it and tried it by burning it.

Now when the emperor asked a question, he only said: "The trouble now is that a lot of steam has to be released to prevent the machine from getting too hot and eventually exploding. I have burned an unknown number of things, and there is naturally a lot of water. This steam, That is, water vapor. As long as it cools down, it becomes water again. I wonder if there is a way not to release so much air and let it cool down again in the machine. In this way, there is no need to add water frequently. "

"As soon as the machine started running, it was extremely hot inside and out. How could there be any room for coldness?" Zheng Kui recalled their experimental environment and shook his head.

Zhu Houcong was stunned for a moment.

More than 20 years have passed, and his knowledge of that year has become increasingly vague.

Alfonso has sent many books from Portugal in the past few years, but they are all from this era.

Tao Zhongwen mentioned turning water vapor back into water, and three words came to Zhu Houcong's mind: condenser.

But how to do this?What's the principle?
"What can you do?" Zhu Houcong asked Tao Zhongwen, "You burn a lot of things. Are there any things that absorb heat? If you let them touch, the steam will absorb the heat and it may cool down."

"I have to give it a try." Tao Zhongwen said truthfully, and then revealed the reason for his hesitation, "I can think of this today because I talked about the difficulties of steam engines when I was imparting my many years of experience to Prince Rui, and Prince Rui said this."

Zheng Kui and others immediately took a secret look at the emperor's expression.

"Zai Yan?" Zhu Houcong was stunned again, "Did he think of it?"

Zhu Zaiyan, who was adopted into the name of Zhu Houzhao, is now 21 years old.Last year, his mother also passed away, and he is now preparing for next year's exam.Zhu Houcong once promised him that if he passed the Jinshi examination, he would let his biological father and mother who had participated in the Huguang rebellion come out of the high walls of Fengyang.

In fact, it is no longer a big deal. Zhu Houcong's position is now extremely stable, and he could have just forgiven him.

But since there was an agreement, Zhu Houcong waited with peace of mind.Anyway, after the vassal kings all settled in Beijing, Zhu Houcong also arranged for the treatment of those people in the high walls of Fengyang to be improved.

But Zhu Zaiyan is obviously still very cautious.After he reached the age of 15, he took the initiative to become interested in physics and chemistry, as if to tell the emperor the path he wanted to take in the future and that he would not have any other thoughts.

He was quite talented and was determined to develop and study in this direction. Zhu Houcong admired him very much and arranged for Tao Zhongwen to give him tutoring lessons.

Now that Zhu Zaiyan could use his brain on the issue of steam engines, Zhu Houcong was a little surprised, but then he couldn't help but suddenly realized.

After Sun Ming became seriously ill, he probably had a premonition that there would be chaos surrounding the crown prince.

At this time, focusing on projects like steam engines made both the government and the public think that what he wanted to be in the future was just a great craftsman, so he was low-key and safe.

"Okay, if Zai Yan can make a contribution to this matter, that would be great." Zhu Houcong nodded, "You should also take him to participate in the project. It is better to be bold and try. I believe that after this After one pass, the steam engine will really take shape and become practical."

This should be the last level, right?
Zhu Houcong did not clearly remember that Watt improved the steam engine by designing an independent condenser based on the Newcomen steam engine at that time, which greatly improved the efficiency of the steam engine.

There was nothing we could do about it. Zhu Houcong was just an accountant in his previous life. His ability to give direction, support, and encouragement was the limit.

These epoch-making things still require specific people to continue to practice, ponder, and improve.

Ming Dynasty has developed for 20 years under the leadership of Zhu Houcong. Now is the moment when a new generation of young people have just grown up from the official learning of the three principles of heaven, matter and man.

Even so, in the imperial examinations, the mainstream ones are still the practical dialectical theories representing human theory. The only ones that are more closely related to physics are the compulsory arithmetic, simple calendar and geography, and an "Encyclopedia" jointly compiled by many departments. Common sense in the Canon.

These common senses were only included in next year's exam syllabus last year, in the first edition.

But Rui Wang's involvement in this kind of scientific research may represent the time when a new generation of young people can exert their efforts.

Zhu Houcong felt very relieved and looking forward to this.

A sufficiently representative thing needs to appear, and a group of people need to appear, and the emperor needs to fully encourage and commend it, so as to arouse new enthusiasm and create a new atmosphere.

Zhu Houcong returned to the palace from the Polytechnic Institute, and Zheng Kui and the others could only be deeply moved that the emperor still had patience and hope.

Have you ever seen an emperor who let them harm money and cause trouble for ten years?
This year there is another longevity ceremony. The queen died and the emperor was not happy.

Zheng Kui and others very much hope to succeed this year. The thing that the emperor has been looking forward to for so long is finally made. It should be something that makes him happy, right?

People who think like this include Yan Song.

After twenty years of imperial rule, various kingdoms came to court again. Yan Song, who had once again made up his mind, could only devote his time and energy to completing the emperor's great cause of using culture to attract the hearts of the people of the vassal.

A lot of books will be printed this year and sold to them then!
In addition, after many years of preparation, it is time to fully implement the compatibility, visa and other systems between the Ming Dynasty and foreign vassals to attract foreign talents.

All this is the highlight of this year's Longevity Ceremony.

Zhu Houcong returned to the palace and remembered another thing because of King Rui's choice.

It’s been a long time since I’ve thought about Lao Qin, and it’s been a long time since I’ve remembered that Lao Qin said that there was a scientific genius in the Ming Dynasty clan.

Who is coming?forget……

The emperor is getting more and more forgetful.

A good memory is not as good as a bad pen, so Huang Jin took out a large locked box, and Zhu Houcong quietly began to read through it.

In the imperial study, the emperor, who has been sitting on the throne for 20 years, still seems to have so many things to do as he has for the past 20 years.

In the palace that had just experienced a turmoil, Huang Jin, who had accompanied the emperor for so many years, quietly looked at His Majesty, who was frowning slightly while reading a book, and felt that he seemed even more lonely at this moment.

After a while, the emperor whispered softly: "Found it..."

Then he raised his voice and said, "Huang Jin, send someone to the clan's mansion to ask if there is any vassal with a heir named Zaiyu."

"Zaiyu?" Huang Jin confirmed.

Zhu Houconn wrote two words with his pen and let him look at them.

After Huang Jin saw it, he went out first.When he came back, he saw many more books spread out on the imperial desk, including those compiled by the Polytechnic Institute and Huangming University, as well as Western books sent by Alfonso from Portugal.

"...Your Majesty, please take a rest."

Zhu Houcong only said softly: "The tea is a little cold."

Huang Jin had no choice but to make hot tea again.

In the end, Zhu Houcong failed to find inspiration from these things, and the next thing pulled him back from this specific "scientific research work."

"Your Majesty, Sun Yuan, the right political advisor of Shaanxi Province, has arrived."

Over the years, the emperor has to devote more energy to these things.

"Announce it."

(End of this chapter)