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Chapter 708 Rack Track
"Li Zhizao was really blind to associate with you, and he was even more blind to dare to speak the truth in private. Well, stop talking nonsense, go back immediately to gather all the people and wait at Bei'an Gate, bring more carpenters and wood. Wang Chengen, you send someone to follow, and no one is allowed to be questioned!"

When Hong Tao heard Li Zhizao's name, he knew that Xiong Sanba was not lying. At the same time, he secretly decided in his heart that he must find time to talk to Li Zhizao face to face and warn him not to say certain things carelessly, let alone to a political idiot like Xiong Sanba.

It doesn't matter if I hear it myself, but once the censors know about it, they will inevitably file a petition to impeach me, and it will be difficult to handle. Even if I am favored by the emperor, I can't say that the court is deep and shady behind my back. If I don't handle it this time, what should I do if others say the same thing in the future?

With Xiong Sanba and his men, plus more than a dozen eunuchs from the Imperial Household Department who were proficient in carpentry, they worked hard in Wansui Mountain for ten days and finally built what was on the blueprint. After a series of tests and modifications, it was ready for production.

What on earth was drawn on Xiong Sanba's blueprint that made the emperor, who was in charge of both military and political affairs and busy from morning till night, take out so much free time that he didn't even have time to fish to help with the research? Two words: rack rails.

At the foot of Wansui Mountain, among the winding paths and corridors of the nursery flower beds with green pines and willows, a long slope was piled up with mud and gravel, and two sets of tracks extended up along the mountain in a winding manner.

After more than half a year of mine trials, this cast iron track with a length of more than two feet has been proven to be superior to wooden tracks in all aspects. It has been listed as an official replacement product and is being used in the construction of the track from Tianjin to Luanzhou.

But the point is not the cast iron track, but the extra track between the two tracks. No, it's not a track, but a lot of jagged things.

Those who have traveled to Mount Pilatus in Switzerland may have seen a small train that can climb the hillside. If you observe carefully, you will find that there are two tracks with steel teeth on both sides of the traditional rails. The train relies on the gears equipped on the chassis to engage with the steel teeth on the track to climb the mountain.

The system drawn on Xiong Sanba's drawing was a similar one, but it was not as complicated as the later rack and rail system. It was not driven by a steam engine or internal combustion engine, but instead used a variable speed gear set similar to a waterwheel in a machinery factory, driven by human or animal power.

To put it simply, he wanted to install a rack system on a track with a steeper slope. When the chassis of the rail car engaged with the rack, the turntable would be driven by human or animal power, causing the rack to move up and down, thereby pulling the rail car uphill or downhill.

Although Hong Tao could tell at a glance that the thing on the drawing looked like a rack and the principle was similar, he didn't know if it could be done relying on the existing industrial infrastructure, so he found a particularly quiet and confidential place to try it out.

The answer is yes, and the cost is not too high. Take the temporary track built at the foot of Wansui Mountain as an example. The driving wheels pulled by four horses can pull up and down three rail cars loaded with twelve tons of stones. If it is replaced by human driving, twenty half-grown boys selected from the Cuju team can do it.

As a result, the application scope of rails has been expanded many times, and the difficulty of construction has been reduced many times. It is no longer limited to plain areas. Even in mountainous areas, as long as the rack rail system can be installed, heavy-load rail vehicles can safely cross mountain ridges, making a huge contribution to transportation in remote mountainous areas.

Of course, the more ridges there are, the more rack systems will be installed, and the transportation cost will also increase. And every rack system will delay more than half an hour. With current technology, the gear system cannot bear too much force, and the weight that can be pulled at one time is best controlled within ten tons.

"All ready. You stay here and watch them measure the parts accurately. Let the foundry and machinery factory produce two sets of test assemblies first to see the results. Come over here. What's the matter now?"

Hong Tao completed his task only after he personally watched the craftsmen in the machinery factory disassemble the rack system into parts. He patted Xiong Sanba on the shoulder and handed over the remaining work. Then he waved to Wang An, who had been waiting for a long time not far away, indicating that he could report on his work.

There is no way, it is just so busy, the more power you hold, the more things you have to do. If you want to lie down like Emperor Wanli, you have to give up most of your power. You can't have the best of both worlds. I just received the envoys of the Japanese shogunate this morning. I stared at them for more than half an hour and finally pushed away the responsibility for the large amount of smuggled raw silk in Tsushima Island. By the way, in a friendly and harmonious atmosphere, we had effective communication on the issue of opening more trading ports. In the afternoon, things started again.

"Your Majesty, the female manager of the Sun Moon Bank has returned from Xiao Luzon. She is waiting for you in the Yangxin Palace before lunch."

Wang An also had a face full of lawsuits. In the past, he had witnessed how Tian Yi and Chen Ju were in charge of the Imperial Household Department. There were definitely not so many things to do as there are now. They could often accompany the emperor to read books and talk about history and present affairs.

Nowadays, the Imperial Household Department no longer has to suffer from the pressure from the emperor and court officials, and can even ignore the cabinet ministers. However, the workload has increased several times.

She had to manage the emperor's affairs, be a good secretary to the emperor, and control the East Factory and Jinyiwei to keep a close eye on the court. Even with the addition of three scribes, she still had to be busy from morning till night.

Complaining? Just thinking about it is a sin. I am busy, but the emperor is even busier. He gets up before dawn, runs around the lake, and starts working after breakfast. The imperial meeting often lasts a whole day, and he also has to give lectures to the Cuju team and the Haihu Division when he has time.

The only relaxing activity was fishing, but there was no guarantee that he could go fishing whenever he wanted. If the emperor was like this, it would be foolish for the eunuchs to complain about being tired.

"It's bound to be bad news when she comes!" When Hong Tao heard that it was Oyani who came, his pace slowed down significantly.

This female banker did a very good job. Under her leadership, the business of Sun Moon Bank flourished. In just three years, it had established a firm foothold in Guangdong and Fujian, and also opened several branches in several other major coastal cities and ports.

However, the more capable a person is, the more ideas they have. Every time we meet, they will make various requests, some of which can be agreed to and some cannot, but it takes a lot of effort to explain.

"I went to tell her that His Majesty was busy with important matters and couldn't spare the time, so she should go back and wait for news."

Although Wang An was increasingly unable to figure out what the emperor, whom he had watched grow up, was thinking, he could roughly judge the emperor's mood from his habitual movements and expressions, and immediately fulfilled his duty as a shield when he saw this.

"Oh, forget it. She is also working hard for me, and she is doing a good job. She is more dedicated than many Ming officials. It will be disheartening to treat her so perfunctorily. Wang Chengen, go to the ice cellar in the West Garden and get a box of bitter candy and send it to the Yangxin Palace... the back palace."

As he spent more and more time as emperor, Hong Tao sometimes felt as if his soul was leaving his body. On the one hand, he considered things from the perspective of an emperor, but on the other hand, he always looked at things from a third-party perspective.

Take Wang An for example, there was nothing wrong with what he did, he just helped the emperor to relieve his worries. But from the perspective of the court officials, it was considered as meddling in government affairs and deceiving the emperor.

(End of this chapter)