The ancient land of the Central Plains, silent for more than 100 years, since the beginning of the dynasty after the war, the Ming Dynasty, the changes, it seems that it has nothing to do with it, this land is just silently nurturing the people of Li who have lived here for generations and one after another the royal princes and princes who have been sealed here.

If the wheel of history does not change its trajectory, then this land will be silent for more than 100 years before it will usher in a great change, and that great change is the prelude to the fall of the Ming Dynasty.

Of course, at this time, the wheel of history has changed its trajectory, Yang Cong is here, it is impossible for the Ming Dynasty to perish, and the Central Plains is also full of vitality again because Yang Cong was ordered to build the Shuncheng Railway.

The Shuncheng Railway is the railway from Shuntianfu to Chengtianfu, although it is connected by the North Zhili and Huguangcheng announced the political envoys, the main body is in the Central Plains, because most of the Shuncheng Railway is in the Central Plains, so Hu Zongxian, the governor of the three provinces, will also temporarily set the line in Zhengzhou Mansion.

This Hu Zongxian is a ruthless person, he is quite ruthless when he starts to do things, let him supervise the construction of the Shuncheng Railway, Yang Cong is looking for the right person, as soon as he took office, he ordered all the state capitals along the way to recruit laborers, and fully cooperate with the officials sent by the Ministry of Industry to build the railway, and he also kept patrolling back and forth, but anyone who delays, no matter what the reason, will be dismissed and investigated!

However, even if he is so ruthless, this railway is not so easy to build, and it is indeed a difficult project to build more than 2,000 miles of railway within two years, because from Shuntianfu to Chengtianfu is not a flat ocean, there are mountains, rivers, hills, and dangerous places in the middle, and the terrain is so complex that it often makes people have a headache.

No, when the railway was halfway through, Hu Zongxian ushered in a huge challenge, because the railway had to cross the Yellow River to reach Huguang.

Hu Zongxian was actually aware of this problem a long time ago, so he invited a group of old officials who were specially responsible for building bridges from the Dushui Qing Officials Department of the Ministry of Industry early on, and asked them to think of a way to see if they could build a bridge over the Yellow River.

At this time, the construction of a bridge over the Yellow River is simply an international joke, without cement, without steel, how can a bridge several miles long be formed?

The old officials of the Ministry of Industry have racked their brains for nearly a year, but they still haven't come up with a way, this bridge really can't be built!

What to do?

In desperation, Hu Zongxian could only repair a book, and ordered someone to send it to the capital urgently for 800 miles, and sent it to Yang Cong, asking this god-like existence to think of a way.

Yang Cong was complacent because of the "invention" of the telescope at this time, and he never thought that Hu Zongxian would suddenly throw such a big problem over.

Is it possible to build a bridge over the Yellow River?

It's not possible at all!

At least, it is impossible at this time, let alone two years, and the Ming Dynasty may not be able to build a bridge over the Yellow River for another twenty years.

So, what to do?

If you can't build a bridge, then you can only build a ferry, Yang Cong suddenly remembered that he hadn't built a steamship yet.

A steam ship is actually simpler than a steam locomotive, because the hull is the carrier, there is no need to redesign, and there is no need to consider what load or steering system, only how to use the steam engine to propel the hull on the water.

Moreover, at this time, Daming also has an advantage, that is, the Daming sailor originally had a ship, such as a wheel, which itself is propelled by a wheel-like water wheel, but the rotation of the water wheel depends on manpower.

This thing, as long as it is slightly improved, and the steam engine is installed, it will be a steamship directly.

Of course, the emperor pays attention to pomp and circumstance when he goes on patrol, if the wheels of just a few zhang long seem to be a little shabby, Yang Cong simply ordered someone to transform the Dafu boat, remove the sails, and add a water wheel to use it as a dragon boat for Jiajing to ride.

The School of Physics already has a shipping school, and most of the disciples there are craftsmen in shipbuilding, and this kind of "small thing" does not need Yang Cong to do it himself, he only needs to say his ideas, and naturally someone will help him complete it.

At this time, Yang Cong still had important things to do, and he didn't have time to supervise the construction of any ships, because the revision of "The Principle of Knowing from Things" was almost completed.

The book "The Principle of Knowing Things" is the foundation for transforming the entire Ming Dynasty, and he naturally wants to put it in the first place.

Moreover, this book has been compiled for more than ten years, and it has taken him a lot of effort, and it will be almost completed at this time, and he will not leave everything behind, and go all out to organize it.

In fact, there is not much work for this follow-up revision, the main thing is to ask Jiajing to read it, put forward some opinions, and then revise it according to Jiajing's opinions.

For example, the title of the book, just "The Principle of Knowing from Things" seems a bit inappropriate, because it does not mention the emperor Jiajing.

Therefore, Jiajing requires that the front of the title of the book and the upper left corner of the cover must be added, "Daming Jiajing Made".

For another example, Jiajing felt that this "Art of War" involved the secrets of the Ming army and was not suitable for transmission, so this "The Principle of Knowing Things" must also be divided into a palace version and a civil version, the court version is the imperial book, and the civil version should delete a lot of confidential content.

Yang Cong thought this deeply, he thought that the "Art of War" was nothing, because even if the enemy country knew the Ming army's method of arranging troops, and did not have such advanced weapons as the Ming army, it would be fake.

There are many things in the book "The Principle of Knowledge" that are more important than the art of war, such as the manufacturing method of steam engines, the processing method of muskets and artillery, and the manufacturing method of various processing equipment.

Therefore, he took the initiative to delete the manufacturing methods of steam engines, the processing methods of muskets and artillery, the manufacturing methods of various processing equipment, as well as trains and ships, from the civilian version, leaving only the description of civilian equipment such as spinning machines and looms.

Moreover, he also asked Wang Xuan to improve all steam engines, and seal them all as a whole, leaving only the opening of the steam in and out and the place where the connecting rod protruded, and the rest, from the appearance of the clue at all.

The sealed casing was also attached to the outer wall of the steam piston, and once forcibly disassembled, the entire steam engine was discarded.

Of course, even if it is such a precaution, people who are interested in it can still imitate it if they spend some time, and there is no way to do it, so he can only warn Wang Xuan and other disciples of the School of Physics to study hard, be brave and diligent, and strive to maintain a leading position in the application of steam engines at all times.

After some meticulous revision, the book "The Principle of Knowing Things" finally passed Jiajing's review and was officially completed.

This book is divided into the palace royal edition and the folk edition, a total of "astronomy", "geography", "five elements", "art of war" and other eight categories, a total of 36 volumes, more than 180 copies, among them, the folk edition has deleted a large category, four volumes, more than 20 copies, only more than 160 copies.

The paper used for the whole book is extremely luxurious, the cover is the most durable raw kraft paper, and the pages inside are also the most valuable white cotton Xue Tao notes, and the overall materials are even better than the original of the "Yongle Canon".

Moreover, this time, Yang Cong also made a bloody book, and all the pages of the book were made into templates of a unified system, ready to be printed in batches!

You must know that a huge work like "The Principle of Knowing Things" is generally hand-copied in these years, because there are so many books in the whole set that if more than a hundred or even hundreds of books are to be typeset and printed, the cost is simply immeasurable, and even the royal family can't afford it!

For example, the Yongle Canon only has a manuscript, and there is no printed copy at all.