Emperor Chongzhen has always believed in the wise saying that there is a hatred that does not stay overnight, and he also believes in the words of the sage that the hatred of the tenth generation can be avenged.

In a word, be cautious when holding grudges.

After the cautious Emperor Chongzhen said goodbye to Zhu Chunchen and Zhang Zhiji, he also left the palace in a leisurely manner.

Destination, Ministry of Railways.

The last time they got 400,000 Tatars as coolies, according to their itinerary, they should have arrived in the Ming Dynasty early, but now they don't know how.

Under the influence of Emperor Chongzhen, in the Ministry of Railways, a huge map was also hung behind the lobby of Hong Chengchou's office.

It is different from the one hung by Emperor Chongzhen, which is very complete, and the one hung by Hong Chengchou is just a simple mark on the direction of the railway in various places, and a small flag looks like a mark on the construction site being built.

Hong Chengchou, who was bowing his head between the desks, heard the sound of someone coming in, looked up and found that it was Emperor Chongzhen, hurriedly pushed a pile of documents aside, and got up to salute Emperor Chongzhen.

Emperor Chongzhen smiled and waved his hand, stopped Hong Chengchou from saluting, and walked directly to the map behind Hong Chengchou.

Seeing this, Hong Chengchou hurriedly explained: "Your Majesty, Weichen's map only marks the direction of the railway, and nothing else. ”

Emperor Chongzhen hummed and said, "Okay, you don't have to explain this to me, I know the benefits of hanging such a map." ”

Hong Chengchou didn't explain it, it didn't work - the act of hanging a map in the lobby depends on how to think about it.

If you don't think about it, it naturally doesn't matter, but who can say for sure what is the human heart? Once you think about it, what do you want to do with the map?

Seeing that Emperor Chongzhen didn't care too much about this map, and said that he knew the usefulness and benefits of hanging the map, Hong Chengchou was relieved.

Emperor Chongzhen looked at the map for a long time, and found that he couldn't understand it at all-what all these messy things on it represented, and he was completely blinded.

After thinking about it, Emperor Chongzhen simply asked, "Hong Aiqing, how is the progress of the railway now?" ”

Hong Chengchou bowed down and said: "Your Majesty, the railway from Beijing to Nanjing has been completely completed, but it is necessary to transfer ferries back and forth in the Yellow River, and it is impossible to directly build a railway to go over."

If you want to build a railway across the Yellow River, I am afraid that the construction period will be delayed until about 20 years of Chongzhen. ”

Emperor Chongzhen nodded and said, "Repair!" First by ferry, but this kind of railway bridge also had to be built.

As long as the Yellow River is repaired, it will be much easier for other regions to repair it in the future! ”

Hong Chengchou bowed and said: "Yes, at present, the Ministry of Industry is ready to start construction of a bridge across the Yellow River, and only after the bridge is completed to ensure that it can pass through heavy vehicles, it will start to build a railway bridge."

It's just that Wechen is worried that it costs a lot of money, and the manpower required is even more numerous? ”

Emperor Chongzhen smiled and said: "The silver that should be spent will be spent, and the manpower will be spent, and I will approve it." Don't use this method to test in the future, you can say it directly! ”

Hong Chengchou hurriedly bowed down, and quietly wiped the cold sweat on his forehead as he got up.

Throughout the ages, I have never heard of an emperor who is the same as today, he doesn't care about any routine or not, and those things in the officialdom are useless, and people can do whatever they want.

If you look at this point alone, it is indeed much stronger than other emperors in history - or is His Majesty Yang Er the same as His Majesty today?

Chongzhen pointed to the map and said with a smile: "Hong Aiqing will continue to tell me that I am very concerned about the railway now. ”

Hong Chengchou bowed, and then walked in front of Emperor Chongzhen, pointed to the map, and said: "Your Majesty, the double line from Shanhaiguan to Jingshi has been completed, and the single line from Shanhaiguan to Shenyang has been completed.

The section from Beijing to Nanjing has completed the construction of a line, and the second line for reciprocating has been started, which is the first ranked section.

The single line from Beijing to Taiyuan and through Yan'an to Xi'an has also been completed, and the double line has not yet started.

As for the line from Xi'an to Lintaofu, it is still in a state where the test has just been completed, and construction has not yet started.

The two lines from Lingzang, where King Zanshan was stationed, to Lintao Mansion and Yongning Mansion had already been started in advance, but the preliminary measurements had not been completed, and they still needed to be replenished later.

Finally, there are several short lines from Yingtianfu to Suzhou, Wenzhou, and Quanzhou, and are now preparing to repair the line.

The first single line from Yingtianfu to Nanchang has been ready to start, and several lines from Nanchang to Guangzhou, Yuanjiang and Yongning have also been measured and ready to start construction. ”

Through Hong Chengchou's description and the comparison on the map, Emperor Chongzhen finally had the most intuitive understanding of the progress of the railway construction in the Ming Dynasty, which was much more intuitive than what he had seen on the chapter before.

After thinking about it, Emperor Chongzhen simply asked, "What does Hong Aiqing need here besides manpower?" ”

Hong Chengchou bowed down and said: "Your Majesty, the biggest problem in the construction progress of the railway at the moment is the problem of manpower.

In fact, it is not only the labor force that builds the railway, but also the small officials who test, communicate with the place, and supervise the materials and labor are very short.

In addition, the speed of the steam locomotive, although it has also been repeatedly improved, but the speed of the fastest locomotive at the moment is only half of the speed of the war horse's charge, or even less. ”

After Emperor Chongzhen snorted, he looked at the map in front of him fixedly and did not speak again.

Naturally, these problems exist as Hong Chengchou said, especially the problem of personnel.

Da Ming is not a later generation, and in the later generations, millions of college students can be produced in a year, and it is very suitable to be used as coolies.

But what about Da Ming?

Even if Emperor Chongzhen had decreed that the imperial examination should be changed to once a year to select more junior officials, in fact, there was still not enough manpower!

Just in terms of the construction of the railway, from topographic exploration to the start of construction to the final opening to traffic, there are too many people who need to read and write in each link, and what Daming lacks is readers!

Of course, Daming is not saying that there is a real lack of readers, but that there is a lack of readers who can directly get started!

Those who have good qualifications and understand the world of people are not only liked by the Ministry of Railways, but also by several others, and every year these films will rob each other and poach people.

Emperor Chongzhen pondered for a while and said, "Hong Aiqing is interested in entering the cabinet?" ”

Hong Chengchou was shocked, and he didn't know why Emperor Chongzhen suddenly asked this question.

Entering the cabinet, that must be the cabinet, as long as he enters the cabinet, he can be regarded as truly entering the power center of the Ming Dynasty, and the opportunity to see Emperor Chongzhen in the future will be countless times more than now, and even it is not impossible to win the position of the first assistant one day.

But what about the Ministry of Railways?

Hong Chengchou found that in the past few years in the Ministry of Railways, he has gradually liked this errand of the Ministry of Railways.

Not only is it because I saw that the Ming Dynasty's railroad was taking shape in my hands little by little, but also because there were the most barbarians in this yamen, the most tired barbarians, and the most inhumane!

Of course, Hong Chengchou never thought that he was inhumane - what if the barbarian was tired to death? What's the matter with Guan Daming?

A kingdom of the Celestial Empire like Daming was born to be in the center of the empire, and it was their honor for the barbarians to have the opportunity to shed blood and sweat for Daming!

But what to do now?

His Majesty asked, he must really intend to let himself into the cabinet, but after he enters the cabinet, the Ministry of Railways must put down this stall, otherwise his energy will not be able to take care of so many things.

You don't see, Wen Tiren is now older than Shi Fenglai, who is more than ten years older than him!

After thinking about it, Hong Chengchou still bowed down and said: "Your Majesty, although the minister intends to enter the cabinet, the affairs of the Ministry of Railways have not been completely decided, and Weichen does not dare to leave it alone." ”

Emperor Chongzhen nodded and said, "Then wait, in a few years, let's talk about it after the affairs of the Ministry of Railways are settled." ”

Emperor Chongzhen also really intended to let Hong Chengchou enter the cabinet - although the original plan was to let him carry the black pot, but Hong Chengchou has been very stable and competent step by step since he was appointed as the governor of Yan'an.

It's a rarity.

The current Ming Cabinet doesn't need many enterprising guys, and it doesn't need any amazing characters, but people who can check and fill in their gaps like Wen Tiren!

Hong Chengchou in front of him is a good object!

But it is true that as Hong Chengchou said, there are still a lot of things in the Ministry of Railways, let him enter the cabinet now, the affairs of all parts of the world and the affairs of the Ministry of Railways are enough to crush him to death.

Or, Hong Chengchou can separate the center of gravity and focus on the cabinet or the Ministry of Railways, but countless things have proved that people's energy is limited, and it is simply unrealistic to want to do everything!

Therefore, Emperor Chongzhen, who was also a little entangled, threw this question to Hong Chengchou to choose by himself - whether he was willing to enter the cabinet or not, it depends on his own ideas.

When Hong Chengchou refused, Emperor Chongzhen's heart was also secretly relieved - the affairs of the Ministry of Railways are also an extremely important part of the current Ming Dynasty, Hong Chengchou is very good, and it is not easy to find someone who can replace Hong Chengchou.

Sun Chengzong has no problem, there is no problem with entering the cabinet or running the Ministry of Railways, but Sun Chengzong is seventy-six years old, can he last for a few more years?

After another half an hour, Emperor Chongzhen, whose thinking had finally deviated, continued: "Since Hong Aiqing is willing to continue to preside over the Ministry of Railways, then follow Hong Aiqing's wishes."

It's just that I have a few requests to ask Hong Aiqing. ”

Hong Chengchou bowed and said, "Please give instructions to Your Majesty." ”

Emperor Chongzhen continued: "Hong Aiqing knows, what should the Ministry of Railways in my heart, or the railway of the Ming Dynasty, look like? ”

Hong Chengchou bowed and said: "The minister is dull, he can't know His Majesty's intentions, and he still hopes that His Majesty will make it clear?" ”

Emperor Chongzhen said: "From east to west, from south to north, from northeast to southwest, from southeast to northwest, there are railways everywhere!"

In the beginning, I didn't need to be fast, and I could get from Beijing to Nanjing in two days or eight days in ten days.

But in the future, this speed should be increased slowly, and it is best to be able to do it the next day! It's the same in other places.

The railroad is equivalent to the blood vessels dissected by those medical school guys, and the railroad is my Daming's blood vessels!

Whether it is transporting goods, or people traveling, or transporting soldiers and military supplies, the speed is not comparable to the horse-drawn carriage manpower, does Hong Aiqing think so? ”

Hong Chengchou nodded and said: "What Your Majesty said is extremely true, Weichen also did a test on the section from the capital to Shanhaiguan.

Transporting 100,000 stone grain and grass from the capital to Shanhaiguan will cost nearly half of the money if manpower is used, and a large number of people will be used for war.

If it is changed to railway transportation, the consumption is less than half of it, and the main consumption is also some coal and water, which is indeed much stronger than the character. ”

Emperor Chongzhen nodded and said, "That's right." Also, I'd like to hear what Hong Aiqing has to say about the railway? ”

Hong Chengchou pondered and said: "Your Majesty, the minister originally thought that merchants and ordinary people could ride steam locomotives, but in the end he gave up this idea, and it is better to allow the post station to use the railway to transport goods instead. ”

Emperor Chongzhen asked, "Hong Aiqing refers to the goods of the merchants?" ”

Hong Chengchou nodded and said: "Yes, now businessmen have to transport goods through civilian post stations, and they also have to hire darts to transport a large number of goods."

If it is changed to rail transportation and charge part of their fees, it can reduce the cost of the merchants, and at the same time, it can also make the post station and the Ministry of Railways more income. ”

Emperor Chongzhen nodded and said: "Is this, Hong Aiqing just looks at it, how to charge or something, think about it carefully, and then report it to me."

However, just now Hong Aiqing said that businessmen still need to hire a dart board to transport goods? Could it be that the road is not very smooth or what? ”

Hong Chengchou hesitated: "The road is also too peaceful, at least much better than during the Apocalypse, but there are still many strongmen who gather in the mountains and forests who want to do some business, so most of the merchants will hire dart masters for safety." ”

Emperor Chongzhen said: "Then Hong Aiqing is not worried that someone will hit the idea on the railway?" ”

Hong Chengchou shook his head and said: "Your Majesty, the people in the world don't know much about the railway, but no matter who they are, they don't have the courage to put the idea on the railway. ”

Indeed, no one dared, the famous names of Jinyiwei and the East and West Factory were there, and they could almost stop children from crying at night, no matter which big boss on the hill had a bad brain, and he didn't have the courage to fight the idea of the railway.

Emperor Chongzhen nodded, and then turned the topic in another direction: "Hong Aiqing can also think about it and see the problem of transporting people by railway in the future." ”

PS: Today I sacrifice a big guy's book "Projection of the Heavens", the work of a good friend earth dog.

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