The Ming Dynasty started with saving the eldest grandson
Chapter 435 This is the Future
Chapter 435 This is the Future
"The train has been built so far?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked in surprise:
There was another half sentence he didn't say, which was: It's not as difficult as you say.
Chen Jingke naturally knew what he was thinking, so he said:
"What we built this time is a prototype, a scaled-down version, which is very different from a real steam engine."
"The difference is about the same as making a hand or a clock."
Old Zhu ignored his explanation and said:
"Don't worry about the difference, just make it. Come on, let's go and take a look."
When Empress Ma learned about this, she naturally wanted to go along to take a look.
Then Zhu Biao, Zhu Xiongying, Xu Miaojing, Zhu Su, Xu Da, Li Shanchang and others went there.
It is impossible to keep the secret of a large group of people traveling together.
As everyone knows, the Steam Engine Research Institute has achieved results.
Could it be that it was created? But why is there no movement at all?
Everyone was talking about it.
Old Zhu didn't care about that and quickly took his men to the Steam Engine Research Institute.
Wu Bingrang, who had already served as the dean, brought people to the gate to greet them.
Old Zhu didn't say a word and went straight to the point: "Take us to see the train."
So Wu Bingrang led everyone to a huge open space.
A miniature railway track is built around the site.
Parked on the tracks was a miniature train, one and a half feet wide, two feet high, and three feet long.
There are several miniature carriages towing behind the car, some simulating cargo and some simulating passengers.
Zhu Yuanzhang and others walked around the train several times, commenting on it from top to bottom.
Unfortunately, most of their comments are:
What a big lump of iron.
How much iron does this require?
Are these rails paved entirely with iron?
Does the Ming Dynasty have enough iron?
Then there is:
Can this thing actually run?
How does this thing run?
Look, there's a stove and some coal over there. Maybe I can run away by lighting a fire.
Eat fire to run? Wouldn't that make you a monster?
Otherwise how can we call a train?
I think this track can save a lot of effort when used for horse-drawn carriages.
Wu Bingrang and the others found it very funny and at the same time they felt a sense of superiority.
This is the benefit of mastering knowledge.
Chen Jingke did not look down on everyone. He was just a few hundred years ahead in knowledge.
There's nothing to be proud of.
Even though what everyone discusses may not be reliable, the curiosity and acceptance of new things they show are remarkable.
Is truly worthy of respect.
Because this attitude often means the potential for progress.
Compared to the people of a certain dynasty who thought there was a monster when they heard the noise of a train and were scared to the point of peeing their pants, the Chinese at that time were really not lacking in enterprising spirit.
There is no lack of ability to accept new things.
It’s just that because he was too strong in his previous life, he lost the direction of his efforts and finally became obsessed with the beautiful dream of becoming the Celestial Empire.
At a critical crossroads, we were overtaken by the West.
With a direction in this life, our ancestors will be able to maintain their advantage longer.
It even widens the gap, to the point where outsiders despair.
Empress Ma was laughing so hard that she couldn't stop.
Although she didn't know what was going on with the train, she could tell how unreliable these people's discussion was.
Finally, he couldn't bear to listen any more, so he said, "Alright, alright, stop guessing."
"Whether you can run or not, and how to run, you will know after trying it."
Old Zhu reluctantly put away his hand that was stroking the train and said:
"The girl is right, Wu Bingrang, get the train running."
Wu Bingrang immediately responded to the order, first asking everyone to leave the track, and then lighting the coal in the boiler.
Of course, such a small train cannot accommodate people.
He was standing by and performing the operation.
The boiler was originally filled with hot water, and white steam soon came out.
The scene was completely silent. No one dared to breathe, staring at this lump of iron.
Old Zhu clenched his hands nervously, and his veins bulged.
Wu Bingrang's expression gradually became serious, and his eyes were fixed on the barometer.
Seeing that the air pressure was about right, he pulled a switch.
"Woo woo woo..." The whistle sounded.
Then the little train shook violently, making a "clang clang clang..." sound.
Everyone stared at the train with eyes wide open in disbelief.
It moved. It really moved.
The train did move. After shaking a few times, the wheels slowly turned and it started running along the track.
It's not accurate to say that it's running, the speed is very slow, even slower than an adult's walking.
Wu Bingrang was standing nearby, so he had to slow down.
But even that was enough.
Being able to get the car moving without relying on human or animal power was already a baptism for everyone present.
This is different from the shock brought by the temperature difference engine.
That thing was too simple and had no practical value, so people were only curious about it for a while at first, but soon lost interest.
Trains are different. Even the dullest person can realize how significant they are.
At this time, Lan Yu scratched his head and muttered:
"You're walking too slowly, can you go faster?"
Wu Bingrang said without even turning his head: "This is a scaled-down prototype, and it's very slow."
"We have estimated that a large one would be four or five feet wide, six or seven feet high, and ten to twenty feet long."
"It will be a little faster than it is now, um, a little faster than an adult walks."
Lan Yu frowned and said, "Is it only slightly faster than a human walking?"
Zhu Yuanzhang laughed and said, "Silly man, people get tired but this lump of iron doesn't. It can keep walking without stopping."
"Calculate how far you can go in a day."
Lan Yu actually started counting on his fingers.
Not only him, many people started to calculate together.
Don't think that generals are all straightforward and must be bad at math.
In fact, this is a completely wrong idea.
Everyone thinks that generals have to think about how to train troops and how to plot against the enemy every day.
In fact, this is not the case.
What generals actually care more about are various trivial matters.
The quantity and usage of various materials.
How many miles do we walk every day, how much food do we consume, and how can we minimize the consumption of food in transportation.
These are what they need to master.
It can be said that a real senior general has to deal with numbers every day.
Someone who is not sensitive to numbers cannot become a good general.
For example, Lan Yu gave the number in the blink of an eye.
The average speed of a normal adult unarmed is about twenty miles per hour.
This car runs a little faster than a human...if it runs at the same speed as a human, it can travel twenty miles in an hour.
Twelve hours a day...
"Two hundred and forty miles? Can this piece of iron walk two hundred and forty miles a day?"
he said in shock.
Everyone was shocked by this number.
Lao Zhu smiled and said, "Now you know how powerful the train is."
Lan Yu looked at the train as if he was looking at a treasure: "Amazing, really amazing."
Others have the same attitude.
Two hundred and forty miles a day, distance can no longer hinder the rule of the Ming Dynasty.
Zhu Xiongying rolled his eyes. He remembered very clearly that these words were said by Chen Jingke.
Now he was being used by the Emperor to show off. The key point was that he was not the one showing off, which made him a little disappointed.
Zhu Biao just smiled and said nothing. This was also a tacit understanding between father and son.
When Mr. Zhu wants to show his presence, his son will deliberately hide himself.
When he needed to demonstrate his imperial authority, Zhu Yuanzhang would hide behind the scenes and provide support.
This is undoubtedly Lao Zhu's home court.
At this time, Chen Jingke, who had been silent all the time, couldn't help but say:
"Trains can only run during the day. It's too dangerous at night in the dark."
Xu Da said: "Even if we can only walk for six hours a day, that's still 120 miles, which is incredible."
Tang He agreed, "Yes, in ten days we can travel more than a thousand miles, and in a month we can walk from south to north."
Feng Sheng said: "There is no need to waste any manpower. The soldiers can fight directly after arriving at the destination."
Li Shanchang said: "This is nothing, the transportation of military supplies is the big deal."
"In the past, if we transported military rations over a thousand miles, 90% of the rations would be consumed on the road."
"With this train, military rations can be transported to locations thousands or even tens of thousands of miles away without missing a single grain."
"How much national and civilian power can this save?"
The more people discussed it, the more they felt that trains were a powerful weapon for the country.
I don't know who started praising Chen Jingke first, so the topic turned to praising him again.
Chen Jingke just said modestly: "It is because of the hard work of everyone in the research institute that this thing was created."
Wu Bingrang said that they did it exactly according to Chen Jingke's design and did not dare to take credit for it.
In fact, he was being modest.
Although the main structure was based on the sketch drawn by Chen Jingke.
There are so many details to make a sketch into a real object.
All these details were figured out bit by bit by the people in the research institute.
Old Zhu, who was in high spirits, waved his hand and said, "Don't be modest, everyone has made contributions and will be rewarded handsomely."
The final result was that those who worked in the institute got salary increases, and those who worked got promotions.
In short, the scene was full of joy.
Only Chen Jingke got nothing.
But Chen Jingke said nothing.
He knew that Lao Zhu was not unwilling to give, but was preparing to give a big gift.
You will be given a phased reward based on your past achievements.
After all, I have reached the age now, and it is time to fulfill the rewards that I had declined in the past due to my age.
-
Everyone followed the train around for several circles. Empress Ma couldn't bear it anymore and took Xu Miaojin and other female relatives to rest aside.
Looking at that group of grown men who are still so excited, I am really confused.
Although the train is indeed quite novel, what’s the point of looking at it like this?
If Lao Zhu heard this, he would definitely tell them:
It's interesting, so interesting that I can watch it all day long without getting tired.
Although Chen Jingke also found it very interesting, he was an experienced person after all, so he was the first to regain his sanity.
"Emperor Retired, seniors, we can't just sit there and watch."
He originally wanted to persuade everyone to visit other places or discuss some serious matters.
Unexpectedly, Lao Zhu's eyes lit up and he said, "Yes, you see, we are all confused."
"Lord Wu, let me try it out as well."
Chen Jingke: "..."
Forget it, I won’t say anything more, just let them be.
Then he took Empress Ma and other female relatives to visit the research institute.
Here we saw huge factories and various large tools.
Some of these tools were newly developed for building trains.
Some already exist, such as gantry cranes, which have become popular in shipyards.
This factory was too backward for Chen Jingke.
But for people of this era, it is full of 'science fiction' feeling.
Ma Niangniang sighed and said, "Is this the mechanization that Jing Ke talked about?"
Chen Jingke thought about it and did not refute.
In the past, anyone who said that this was mechanization would definitely be laughed at.
But in this era, this is mechanization and science fiction.
Moreover, in his plan, the Steam Engine Research Institute would not only study steam engines, but also various tools.
For example, machine tools.
This is also one of the stepping stones to entering the industrial age and a necessary condition for industrial upgrading.
In the past life, our country was strangled by others in the field of machine tools for decades.
In this life, we are the only ones who get to hold others back.
So what if you know the technology for making steam engines?
Without the corresponding machine tools, you can only rub it by hand.
The cost and quality are totally incomparable to ours.
Of course, these Ma Niangniangs don’t know this.
But they can also feel that what they see will change the world.
-
The group of old men played until it was almost dark and then left reluctantly.
However, Lao Zhu did not forget the important matter. Before leaving, he asked Wu Bingrang to build a real train as soon as possible.
"Whatever you need, we will give it to you. Next year we will see a real train."
"I will definitely not let your majesty down." Wu Bingrang agreed first, then said with a serious expression:
"Your Majesty, you have seen how important trains are."
"Although it is very convenient, the consequences of making a mistake can be very serious."
"Even if it is built, it will take a long time to test and adjust."
Old Zhu nodded. I thought he was going to postpone the time, but Wu Bingrang suddenly changed the subject and said:
"It's very troublesome to lay rails... This rail is a simple one. The real rail needs hardened road surface."
"Then a layer of gravel is placed on the road surface, sleepers are placed on the gravel, and rails are laid on the sleepers."
"Only in this way can it bear tens or even hundreds of thousands of kilograms of weight."
"If we wait until the trains are built before laying the tracks, it will take a lot of time."
"So it's better to lay a real railway first, so that when the train is built, it can be put into trial immediately."
“It saves a lot of time.”
Old Zhu nodded and said, "We understand Mr. Wu's proposal. You don't have to worry about the railroad tracks."
"As long as your train is built, we can guarantee that there will be rails to use."
After returning to the palace, Lao Zhu convened an internal meeting.
Only Zhu Biao, Zhu Xiongying and Chen Jingke participated.
Two things were discussed at the meeting.
One is the increase in steel production.
Old Zhu said: "Trains are just lumps of iron. The current steel reserves of the Ming Dynasty cannot even build a railway. We must increase production."
Zhu Biao nodded and said, "But fortunately, since we have been prepared, it is relatively easy to increase production."
The first five-year plan included a plan for steel, and it was implemented as a century-long national policy.
So the current steel production of the Ming Dynasty only looks low, but in fact all the preliminary preparations have been almost completed.
With just one order, production capacity can be unleashed.
Then Lao Zhu brought up another thing, where the railway tracks were built.
Actually, there is nothing much to say. Just build a railway from the research institute to Luoyang and then to the Yellow River.
"The current transportation to and from Luoyang is too dependent on the Yiluo River, and the pressure on water transport is huge."
"If we can build a railway directly to the Yellow River, it will effectively ease the transportation pressure."
"Moreover, this railway is neither too long nor too short, which can play a role in running-in, and is within the tolerance of the court."
Another point is that this railway will be very prosperous.
It can make the world realize the importance of trains more quickly.
As for why it has to be repaired in the research institute, it is naturally for the convenience of maintenance.
If we don't build this section of road, we will have to find a way to transport the trains we build before we can put them on the road, which is very troublesome.
The matter was settled.
As for the execution, Zhu Biao would naturally do it.
Next, Lao Zhu turned his gaze to Chen Jingke and said:
"Tell me, what reward do you want?"
(End of this chapter)
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