Daming Military Empire

Chapter 270

Ding Chou's imperial examination had just ended, and Bi Maokang, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, came to him again. This time it was good news: the cable factory was put into operation!

The commissioning of the cable factory means that the telegraph network can be laid. Of course, Zhu Cijiong did not immediately order the nationwide construction of the telegraph network throughout the Ming Dynasty. The sending and receiving of hundreds or even thousands of miles of telegrams has not been tested yet. Zhu Cijiong He didn't know if there would be a problem, because in the era he lived in, such backward communication methods as cable telegraph had long been eliminated, and he didn't know how far the telegraph signal could travel, and it was unstable.

Since there are uncertain factors, it is necessary to experiment. If there is a problem only after the telegraph network is fully rolled out, it will be a waste of time and money.

He also thought about the location of the experiment. First, lay the line between the capital and Dongdaying, and try short- and medium-distance communication. If there is no problem, then lay the telegraph line between the capital and Liaodong, and try long If there is no problem with distance communication, it will be fully laid.

It is only more than 200 miles from Tianjin to Beijing, and the construction of Xicheng District is almost coming to an end. Zhu Cijiong simply asked Li Mingfu to lead the Wuwei Army to take [-] prisoners to cooperate with the Ministry of Industry to dig out the wire slots and lay the lines.

Bi Maokang may be addicted to using the earth-turning dragon. He even designed a special earth-turning dragon for the laying of telegraph lines. The wiring groove should be dug about three feet deep and two feet wide. He modified the sharp blade on the back One click, it becomes narrower and longer directly, so digging the wiring trench like this is called a super speed.

When excavating, first the earth-digging dragon drove all the way, and then there were teams of prisoners. The first team of prisoners first shoveled the loose soil, then another team of prisoners carried the wire frame in and placed it, and then another team The captives poured the mixed cement directly into it, and then another team of captives smoothed the cement, as well as those who made the cover, those who pulled the underwater cables, those who connected the special joints, and those who waited for the cement to dry to dig out the standard frame. There are also those who pull the cables behind, 20 people are like an assembly line, and the line from Dongdaying to Beijing was laid in ten days!

One end of the telegraph line is in a side hall of the Qianqing Palace. For this reason, Zhu Cijiong also specially trained ten eunuchs as correspondents, who are responsible for sending and receiving telegrams. For the experiment of remote communication, at this time ten eunuchs had already lined up neatly in the communication hall, waiting for the emperor's order.

As soon as Zhu Cijiong came in, he excitedly said to the eunuch Wang Cheng'en, who was in charge of communications, "Turn on."

Wang Chengen immediately waved his hands to the two eunuchs behind him, and the two eunuchs hurried out. Soon, there was a characteristic puffing sound of steam pistons from the side hall next door. An indicator device for machine paralleling is very simple. It is a drumstick in the middle, a snare drum on the top, and a small gong on the bottom. When the power is on, the drumstick is sucked up to strike the snare drum. Ringing the gong is quite like tapping the drum to march into the army, ring the gold and withdraw the troops.

Now that the drum is sounding, it means that the telegraph is powered on, and everything is ready, waiting for Zhu Cijiong to speak.

Zhu Cijiong thought for a while, and simply said casually according to the plot in the movie: "Send the report: This is the Qianqing Palace in the capital, please reply when you receive it."

Hearing this, Wang Chengen waved to the other two eunuchs, and the two eunuchs immediately sat in front of the brand-new telegraph, one of them took out the standard telegraph code paper, and waited with a pen in hand, while the other opened the "Encyclopedia of Commonly Used Chinese Character Codes" and searched quickly Get up, and soon they translated Zhu Cijiong's words into binary code.

After the decoding was completed, one of the eunuchs immediately put his hand on the telegram sending button and began to press it regularly, while the other eunuch sat next to the telegram receiving device and listened carefully, ringing the bell to write down the code. The receiving device can also be set to be linked, so that you can check whether your side is sending the right one.

In less than a cup of tea, the telegram was sent, and the two of them sat together and checked it carefully, and found that there was no problem, so they stood up and saluted respectfully: "My Majesty, the telegram has been sent."

Zhu Cijiong nodded, and said nervously, "Sit down and get ready to receive the telegram."

The two eunuchs hurriedly sat back when they heard the words. Both of them took out the standard telegram code paper, and stared at the telegram receiving device closely with their pens.

Less than a stick of incense, the telegram receiving device rang "ding ding ding", and the two eunuchs quickly wrote down the code represented by the ringtone, and it was less than a cup of tea, and the bell of the telegram receiving device rang When it was over, the two eunuchs immediately checked the codes they wrote down together, and found that there was no problem, and then opened the "Encyclopedia of Commonly Used Chinese Character Codes" to search quickly.

Soon they translated it, and the two eunuchs stood up at the same time, and one of the eunuchs held the telegram in front of Zhu Cijiong, bowed his head and said: "To the emperor, they replied: This is the Admiral's Mansion in Dongdaying, my emperor Long live Long live Long live."

Although the words were a little flattering, but there was nothing wrong with the content. It seemed that the telegram was connected. Zhu Cijiong was overjoyed at first, and then he said angrily: "Send the telegram: Can you say something else?"

The two eunuchs quickly translated Zhu Cijiong's words into codes and sent them over, and the other side quickly reported back, this time the content of the telegram was: "Zunzhi, the emperor is wise and mighty!"

This flattering is addictive, Zhu Cijiong glanced at the telegram, and said dumbfounded: "Send the telegram: Who are you, please report your name."

Soon the other side reported back again, this time it was a bit normal, and the other side replied like this: "If you return to the emperor, my humble minister Shi Kefa."

It seems that there is no problem with the short-distance communication. Only now did Zhu Cijiong show joy, and said with a smile: "Send the report: keep in touch, contact once every hour, and test for twelve hours."

The other side quickly replied: "The humble minister obeys the order."

Since there is no problem, Zhu Cijiong is relieved, he is too lazy to guard here, and he directly confessed to Wang Chengen and went back to the study. The next step is the line from the capital to Liaodong. Guanning City is almost two thousand miles away. If it is laid at this speed, it will take at least three months. Zhu Cijiong naturally didn't want to wait so long. He recruited Bi Maokang to discuss it, and finally decided to divide the Wuwei Army into ten groups and start construction at the same time. , Forget about digging along the railway line, and it happens to be able to send the Dilong to each section by train.

Therefore, the Wuwei army was divided into ten groups, each with [-] captives, took the train, took the ground dragon, and set off with the officials of the Ministry of Industry. In less than half a month, the telegraph line from Guanning City to the capital was blocked by them Connected!

Zhu Cijiong ran to the test naturally and excitedly. This time, there was no flattering on the other side, but it was more terrifying than flattering, because the telegrams were sent non-stop.

"This is the city of Guanning in Liaodong, the humble official Sun Chengzong."

"The emperor has been doing well recently."

"I heard that the emperor is going to get married this year."

"Congratulations to the emperor, congratulations to the emperor."

Zhu Cijiong looked at the telegrams, and his eyes couldn't help getting wet. Sun Chengzong is over 70, and the problem of nagging has also come up. I don't know how long he can last. It is recorded in history that he led his family to resist the Qing army in the 17th year of Chongzhen. .

But now is not the time to be sentimental. Since so many messages can be sent over there, it proves that there is no problem with the long-distance communication. He immediately ordered Li Mingfu to lead the Wuwei Army to take [-] captives and start laying the capital to Kaifeng. Telegraph line, then from Kaifeng to Fengyang, then from Fengyang to Jinling.

In short, within this year, all the telegraph lines between the capitals of the two Beijings and the thirteen provinces of Ming Dynasty will be laid!

(End of this chapter)