Looking at the scenery and trees on both sides of the road that were constantly regressing, Emperor Chongzhen secretly estimated in his heart.

It is similar to the battery car of later generations, and even slower, according to the speed calculation, it is about 30 kilometers per hour?

Compared with the speed of 100 kilometers at every turn in later generations, Daming's train is undoubtedly a slower one, and even electric cars can't outrun the garbage.

However, it is such a garbage that Emperor Chongzhen infinitely despises, looking at the entire Ming Dynasty and even the world, this garbage belongs to the existence of black technology.

When other countries did not have the concept of steam engine, Daming had taken the lead in applying the steam engine to machine tools and railway transportation.

This is Emperor Chongzhen's biggest plug-in.

It doesn't matter if you understand technology or not, as long as you roughly know what's going on, pull out a plausible theory and then insert it on some unique classic, everything can be explained - anyway, no one dares to ask Emperor Chongzhen for a clear statement.

Wen Tiren and the others sat in the carriage and felt quite magical.

The train that Emperor Chongzhen took did not use the royal special train, but deliberately transferred a carriage for future passenger operations, even the front of the car.

The distance of the railroad tracks is much wider than that Emperor Chongzhen saw in later generations, and the width of the carriage is also the same.

After looking at it with the same curiosity for a long time, Wen Tiren arched his hand and said, "Your Majesty, the speed of this train seems to be much faster than when it just started?" ”

Emperor Chongzhen snorted, and set his eyes on Cui Yongan, the left attendant of the Ministry of Railways not far away: "What happened on this train, let's let Cui Aiqing of the Ministry of Railways talk about it?" ”

Cui Yongan gave up, pointed to the train of the foot car, and then spoke: "Your Majesty, my lords, the front and carriage of the locomotive and carriage allocated this time are no longer the first generation.

At the beginning, the front and carriage of the first generation, I think you have also experienced it, the fastest speed is only to run fifty or sixty miles per hour, which is faster than the ox cart and much slower than the horse-drawn carriage.

If it weren't for the fact that the train could be kept day and night without the need for forage, and the carrying capacity was large, I am afraid that this thing would be completely like chicken ribs.

The current front code is Chongzhen's thirteenth year, and the same is true for the carriage, which belongs to the second-generation locomotive and carriage that has been finalized after countless improvements by the Royal Academy.

At present, each carriage can carry 200 people, and if it is squeezed, it can probably carry about 260 people, or even close to 300 people.

According to the formation of twelve carriages per train, it can transport 2,400 people at a time, close to 3,000 people, which is already the strength of half of the guard.

Even with so many people at once, the train could still travel one hundred and twenty miles forward every hour, and it was guaranteed not to wobbly too much.

In other words, if you don't take into account the magnitude of the shaking of the body and the safety of the people in the car, and blindly run forward desperately, the speed can reach about 140 miles per hour. ”

As soon as Cui Yongan's words fell, the entire carriage fell into silence.

Each hour is one hundred and twenty miles, and there are twelve hours in a day, if this thing runs all the way forward without changing people and cars, wouldn't it be able to travel more than 1,400 miles a day?

Those who can travel 800 miles a day can be called a divine horse, what is that line of more than 1,400 miles? An existence more awesome than Maxima?

The problem is, it's not that there is nothing like this thing, Emperor Chongzhen must have several horses in his house, but who else has this thing?

The train is different, the Royal Academy not only researched this thing, but even produced it, which means that the entire Ming Dynasty will be full of thousands of horses in the future?

Most importantly, it doesn't have to eat grass! Large carrying capacity! Ordinary people can ride it for silver - you spend silver to rent a thousand-mile horse to try?

As for saying that the train has to burn coal and water, how big is that?

Not to mention that Daming itself produces coal, even if Daming does not produce a single piece of coal, what can it do? There is an open-pit coal mine in Xinming Island, as long as you send someone to pick up the coal mine!

In fact, the Tang Dynasty King Zhu Yujian and the vassal kings of the Qing Dynasty and the Qin Dynasty had already made a fortune just by relying on the continuous coal production of the coal mine - and this was when the South China Sea Fleet was not powered enough.

It is conceivable that if the problem of the fleet's capacity is solved, Zhu Yujian and other vassal kings will simply sit on the gold mountain and pick up silver!

Wen Tiren suddenly felt a burst of distress: "Your Majesty, Xinming Island ......"

Looking at Wen Tiren, who wanted to speak and stopped, Emperor Chongzhen was simply confused: "Xinming Island? What happened to Shinmeiji? We're talking about trains now, why is it related to Xinming Island again? ”

Wen Tiren said: "Your Majesty has given Xinming Island to many vassal kings, and the coal mines there should have been my Ming Dynasty and could be attributed to the household department." ”

……

As soon as Wen Tiren's words fell, Guo Yunhou felt that one of his hearts had crackled into countless small pieces—Xinming Island, coal, trains, costs, and silver......

Countless similar words began to swirl in Guo Yunhou's mind, and after glancing at Wen Tiren, he suddenly decided that Hei Zhu Yujian and those vassal kings - coal, a heavy weapon of the country, could not be possessed by the vassal king?

It's just that before he could come up with any good ideas, Guo Yunhou felt a little discouraged, and finally gave up his plan to pit the vassal king.

Emperor Chongzhen is a little unreliable, and he often thinks that one is one play, and he doesn't care about the life or death of the ministers.

But Emperor Chongzhen still has one thing that is still very good, that is, his words have always counted, for example, if he wants to kill the whole family, he will definitely kill the whole family, and he will not even leave a chicken.

Since Emperor Chongzhen has sealed off Xinming Island, he will definitely not find a reason to take it back - coal is produced on Xinming Island, and coal is also produced in Daming itself.

The most important thing is that if the coal mine is recovered this time, will the iron ore be recovered next time?

These feudal kings can't see the benefits, and they will be so eager to go overseas? Can those people agree?

Even if they are all killed, Da Ming still has to send people over again, and the most painful thing at that time is not his own household book?

Wen Tiren didn't care too much about whether Guo Yunhou, the head of the household, would be very painful, snatching something from the hands of the vassal king, Wen Tiren also had no psychological pressure.

The question is, once you get into trouble with Tang Wang and others in this matter, will it affect the vassal king's plan to transfer the seal? Will it force those people to oppose the Tang King?

The crime of forcing the vassal king is too big, except for Emperor Chongzhen, no one in the entire Ming Dynasty can resist it, even if he is the head of the cabinet.

Looking at Wen Tiren and Guo Yunhou, who wanted to speak and stopped, Emperor Chongzhen smiled faintly: "Okay, isn't it just a coal mine, I have never lost this thing in the Ming Dynasty."

Besides, the Tang Dynasty did not take the coal mine as their own, instead of transporting the mined coal back to Daming, which is a good thing. ”

Coal is not absent from the Ming Dynasty, and Xinming Island is very different from the Mughal and Ottoman places.

The Mughal and Ottoman combined, it is the place where the local chickens and camels and the third brother and other big dogs in later generations are located, where there is black oil, and there are not too many things in the Ming Dynasty.

These two places must be kept in your hands and the oil must be transported back to Daming.

Xinming Island is different, the minerals that can be found on it, Daming basically have them, and the output is not as low as oil.

Therefore, Emperor Chongzhen decided to continue to maintain his image of being a man of his word and not to calculate the coal mines on Xinming Island.

But after thinking about it, Guo Yunhou hit other places again: "Your Majesty, now the South China Sea Fleet, the North Sea Fleet, and the East China Sea Fleet are all fighting endlessly on the ocean, and the coal from Xinming Island wants to be transported back to Daming, and there is no shortage of fleets.

Do you think it's better to form another fleet to specialize in maritime transportation? ”

Emperor Chongzhen said: "Didn't the Ministry of Communications already form such a fleet before?" ”

Guo Yunhou's old face turned red imperceptibly, and then he said confidently: "The Ministry of Communications is the transportation of the world, whether it is on land or sea, so it is impossible to focus on coal alone."

But how important is the coal in Xinmingdao? The daily life of our Ming people needs coal, the railroad needs coal, and if the Royal Academy can successfully transplant the steam engine to the ship, the fleet will also need a lot of coal.

Therefore, the minister thought that it would be necessary to form a separate fleet to transport coal from Xinming Island. ”

Emperor Chongzhen smiled: "So, it's best for this fleet to be hung under the direct jurisdiction of the household department?" Don't you cry with me this time? ”

Listening to the teasing meaning in Emperor Chongzhen's words, Guo Yunhou said very naturally: "Your Majesty, coal has become an important weapon of the country, and it is related to the people's livelihood and the safety of the world, so you must not be careful!"

As for the treasury, Wechen is desperate, and he has to squeeze out some silver to form such a fleet, otherwise, what face does Wechen have to take the position of the head of the Ministry of Households? ”

Emperor Chongzhen was laughed at by Guo Yun's cheekiness: "That's it, just rely on Guo Aiqing." It's just that the things on the sea are changeable, and the matters to be paid attention to are extremely complicated, so I just hope that Guo Aiqing will not complain. ”

After Guo Yunhou bowed down, Emperor Chongzhen set his eyes on Cui Yongan again: "I have already read the recital handed over by the Ministry of Railways, and I have also discussed it with Wen Ge Lao.

It's just that I still have a few questions, so it's better to ask Cui Aiqing in person, which is more intuitive. ”

Cui Yong's peace of mind tightened, for fear that Emperor Chongzhen would ask some messy questions again, so he had to bite the bullet and say: "Please make it clear to Your Majesty, the minister knows everything." ”

Emperor Chongzhen said with a smile: "Aiqing, don't be nervous, I just want to ask, what is the Ministry of Railways' plans for the future, and what lines do you plan to open in the future?" ”

Cui Yongan put his mind at ease - as long as it is not related to the issue of ticket prices, other issues are actually easy to say.

Stretching out his hand to gesture from the map spread out on the table, Cui Yongan spoke: "Your Majesty, according to the current situation, the few lines planned by the husband now can be opened to traffic and officially start operation before the fifteenth year of Chongzhen.

However, the line from Quanzhou to Nanjing, according to the meaning of Hongbutang, add another double line, and at the same time, build a line from Jingao to Nanjing, which is expected to be completed and opened to traffic before Chongzhen 20 years.

In addition, the line along the line from Beijing to Chengdu will also strive to be completed before the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, and at the same time the construction of the line from Chengdu to Mengyang and Chengdu to Menggen, which is expected to be completed in 20 years of Chongzhen, and will not exceed 22 years of Chongzhen at the latest.

The part of the above lines that has been completed, in addition to the military government, the rest of the time will be mainly freight, supplemented by passenger transportation, for a period of time. ”

After listening to Cui Yongan's words, Emperor Chongzhen set his eyes on Wen Tiren and Shi Fenglai again.

Wen Tiren pondered and said: "If the railways in these many places can be completed quickly, I have thousands of warriors in armor, so why am I afraid of the local people making trouble?" Just the Tobe side? ”

Guo Yunhou said: "If the construction of these many lines is started at the same time, it is not that the household department will not be able to take out the silver, but it will inevitably affect other aspects, unless it can be made soon after taking out the silver, otherwise, the household department will not dare to approve the transfer of silver taels." ”

Guo Yunhou's face was almost written with the four big words of crazy hints.

In short, there is silver in the treasury, and once the business tax starts to be collected, it is impossible to stop, and no one in the court will let go of such a large piece of fat.

And after the commercial taxes and customs duties of the Ming Dynasty were received into the national treasury, there was really not much to spend except for fighting wars and buying food to deal with natural disasters.

And this is only Daming's own silver, not counting the silver flowing in from the vassal country, plus Emperor Chongzhen doesn't like to cultivate gardens, a large amount of silver has slowly accumulated.

But what if the treasury has silver? Take it out to build a railway?

No problem, give this part of the proceeds to the treasury a little, and the old man nodded and agreed to let the treasury take out the silver - otherwise, you repair slowly, no matter how much silver there is in the treasury, it will not be able to support your consumption of starting work at the same time.

Emperor Chongzhen was about to laugh angrily.

Why are there such shameless old men in the court of the Ming Dynasty? I never imagined that Guo Yunhou, you are a righteous gentleman with crane hair and a childish face, and now you have become like this!

In the face of Guo Yunhou's crazy hints, Cui Yongan turned his attention to Emperor Chongzhen for help - how could such a big matter be decided by a mere Zuo Shilang?

Emperor Chongzhen was also very painful.

Countless facts have proved that hooligans are not terrible, and scholars are not terrible, what is terrible is that after the scholars do hooligan things, they can always put on a high-end and high-grade coat for their behavior, just like Guo Yunhou is now.