Zhangjiakou.

At the foot of the snow-covered mountain, Xu Jie, the chief minister of the Ministry of Railways of the Ming Dynasty, held a telescope and watched as the Daming Railway engineer was directing the first duplex locomotive of the Ming Dynasty to start operation several miles away.

And beside him was Zhu Zailei, the eldest son of the emperor of the Ming Empire.

Zhu Zailei is wearing a Zhengqipin official uniform, and his current identity is the supervisor of the imperial history, responsible for supervising the construction of the entire Beijing-Zhangjiakou railway project.

Although many people in the empire are paying attention to him, they all hope that he can be made the crown prince by the Ming Emperor as soon as possible.

But he is not in a hurry, he just wants to see the opening of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway as soon as possible.

Because he has spent nearly six years on this project.

Before Zhu Houzhao let all the princes who stayed in Beijing serve as local officials close to the people, Zhu Zailei, as the eldest son of the emperor, had already served as a student officer at Beijing Normal University and the Daming Army Command College, and then served in the Sixth Ministry, and also served as a magistrate.

Until now, he has been promoted to the imperial history.

The third prince, Zhu Zaiyu, asked Emperor Zhu Houzhao to appoint him as the crown prince, but Zhu Zailei himself was really shocked, afraid that Emperor Zhu Houzhao would mistakenly think that he was seeking the throne and make his father dissatisfied.

But when Zhu Houzhao announced that Zhu Zaiwei was the king of Chang and established the Americas, he breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that his father did not suspect his heirs because of this matter, so that he could continue to build this empire with peace of mind.

Influenced by Zhu Houzhao's national consciousness and nationalist and collectivist ideas since childhood, Zhu Zailei is a typical red aristocrat, he likes to leave his footprints in these thousands of miles of mountains and rivers, so that thousands of Li Shu regard himself as a hero, of course, he also has a strong desire for power, he wants to be the designer of the entire empire.

Zhu Zailei always remembered that his father told him that only by curing a county can a government be cured, only by curing a government can a country be cured, and only by paving a road can tens of millions of roads be paved in the future.

Therefore, he is now very active in completing the construction of one political achievement project after another, and at the same time, he also enjoys the pleasure of completing this construction.

He was one of the main persons in charge of the construction of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway.

At this time, he only hoped that the first railway directly to the Great Wall would succeed, and he also knew that this railway, once completed, would allow the Ming Dynasty to better exercise military and economic control over the Guanwai.

Because Zhangjiakou is an important pass from outside the customs to enter the Guannei, once the railway between Zhangjiakou and Jingshi is opened, it means that the empire can more conveniently put troops and materials outside the Guan.

In addition, the cost of development outside the customs will also be reduced, and a large number of Daming firms that open mines outside the customs can also more conveniently transport ore and other raw materials back to the customs, so that the economic benefits of Daming's control and development of the customs will be better.

“…… Erchen believed that as long as the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway was completed and opened to traffic, even if the imperial court no longer implemented strict administrative intervention, the people would flock to develop outside the Guan, because the opening of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway was equivalent to opening up the bloodline between the outside and the Guannei, and the empire would have no need to abandon the land outside the Guannai......"

Zhu Zailei wrote this paragraph in his letter to his father, Emperor Zhu Houzhao, to express his expectations for the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway.

With the progress of cement manufacturing technology and road engineering construction technology, Daming has established a complete road network before the construction of railway lines.

Especially between the two capitals, and the developed highway network has also promoted the development of the logistics industry in the Ming Dynasty, the post station has been upgraded to a post station, not only responsible for the delivery of imperial military and political affairs and the reception of military and political officials, but also began to be responsible for the dissemination of civilian media and the delivery of civilian goods and letters.

Therefore, Zhu Zailei can also maintain contact with Zhu Houzhao's family letters, and it is much faster than the traditional family letter transmission, basically in more than ten days, Zhu Houzhao can receive a reply and understand his thoughts as princes and what he has seen and heard at the grassroots level.

However, there are also many civil officials who have complained about the prince's appointment as a local official, believing that the prince should still focus on his studies and choose good teachers to teach him how to govern the country, rather than letting the prince serve as a local official, which will not only cause the prince to form a party but also disrupt the court.

But Zhu Houzhao didn't think so, first of all, his older princes are all thirty or forty years old, if they are still allowed to study, wouldn't they only be a researcher for a lifetime, how to apply what they have learned.

Secondly, this world is still a family world, and the empire is still an empire controlled by the Zhu family, and if you don't let these princes watch it for you, who else can you expect to watch it for you.

At least, Zhu Houzhao now found that letting these princes experience the place gave him another pair of eyes.

Now that there are a total of five intelligence sources, including Dongchang, Jinyiwei, Xichang, Civil Secrets, and Prince's Family Letters, Zhu Houzhao can undoubtedly understand every accident and the situation in every place more objectively and clearly, and make the most reasonable judgment, and he can also know who is playing tricks with himself, who is doing things sincerely, whose words are the truth, and whose words are false.

It is precisely because of this that Zhu Houzhao did not suspect Zhu Zailei because the third prince Zhu Zailei asked Zhu Zailei to be the crown prince, and he did not cause the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway project to run aground because of the disposal of Zhu Zailei, so that the entire empire still did not cause major turmoil because of some small turmoil.

The weather is getting colder and colder, and according to the mathematical model established by Qin Tianjian through the monitoring and statistics of various data in Zhengde over the past 15 years, it is predicted that the earth's temperature will continue to fall in the next 100 years.

Although Zhu Houzhao, as a time-traveler, already knew this result through his familiarity with history, Qin Tianjian's logical prediction also made the people of this era more convinced.

Including Zhu Zailei and Xu Jie, who were at the foot of Zhangjiakou Snow Mountain at this time.

Zhu Zailei does not know how long the cold will last, but he believes that the high-quality coal from Guanwai will allow the northern part of Guannai to retain some of the warmth of last spring and summer through the railway.

Zhu even hopes that in the future, he can fulfill his childhood wish to transport more coal to Gyeonggi and burn more boilers to heat the entire capital in winter.

The roaring locomotive sounded, the newly improved duplex locomotive ran on the zigzag rails, the rumbling white fog was as white as the snow on the mountain, and the black iron wheels were like the strong arms of a strong man, climbing a slope of about 30 degrees together, slowly ascending.

Seeing this, Zhu Zailei smiled excitedly.

The craftsmen standing near the hill and the people who came to visit nearby cheered even more.

Even the slave laborers from Cochin and Africa looked curiously at the mechanical monsters created by the empire, their eyes revealing excitement and fear of this civilization.

"Xu Shilang, we really succeeded!"

After a long time, Zhu Zailei turned his head and said to Xu Jie.

Xu Jie also nodded, unable to suppress the excitement on his face:

"Yes, this is really a miracle, my Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty is great, my craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty are great, my officials of the Ming Dynasty are great, and the people of my Ming Dynasty are great! Your Highness, you see, this swarthy locomotive is not like someone wielding a huge pen like a rafter to draw a thick stroke on these thousands of miles of rivers and mountains! ”

"Like, very similar, very powerful stroke, into the wood three points! Magnificent! ”

Zhu Zailei said that he was wearing a piece of snow on the locomotive parked in front of him.

Xu Jie also followed, and after staying in the mountains for several months, they could finally return to Beijing to report on their work this time, and tell Emperor Zhu Houzhao of the Ming Dynasty that the construction of the second railway trunk line of the Ming Dynasty was completed!

Zhu Houzhao learned the news of the completion and opening of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway in advance half a decade later, and he was also very happy about this.

Because of the complex topography from the capital to Zhangjiakou, the construction of this railway is not a simple project, at least not as easy as the Beijing-Tong railway.

Therefore, the opening of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway not only means that Daming can better control the customs and boost the economy, but also means that Daming's scientific and technological level has risen to a new level.

Moreover, this technological improvement is not only a technical improvement in traffic engineering construction, but also involves a technical improvement in all aspects, such as gunpowder blasting, steam power, steel manufacturing, mechanical processing, etc.

Xu Jie's and other officials naturally increased their official ranks, and the emperor's eldest son, Zhu Zailei, was also directly promoted to Shuntianfu Yin.

As the emperor's heir, Zhu Zailei's promotion speed is naturally faster than others.

Of course, Zhu Houzhao also had the intention of preparing to establish Zhu Zailei as the crown prince, but Zhu Houzhao did not give a clear signal to the outside world, or the outside world did not realize this phenomenon, because Zhu Houzhao also promoted other princes to official positions.

The invention of voltaic battery packs and incandescent lamps allowed the Royal West Garden to bid farewell to the era of candle lighting at night, and the electric lamps that would not shake the light and shadow due to the wind reduced the possibility of fires, and were also brighter, so bright that Zhu Houzhao could see the birthmark on Elizabeth's white buttocks, and his empire seemed to be brighter at this moment, as bright as the moonlight piled up under the palace walls.

Emperor Zhu Houzhao was still holding an electric light to shine on the white dove indoors, while the emperor's eldest son, Zhu Zailei, was already waiting outside the palace gate in the moonlight to see his father.

The cold wind made Zhu Zailei shiver, and when he felt that his whole body had fallen into the ice cellar, the door of the palace slowly opened.

Zhu Zailei came in and prostrated on the ground to say goodbye.

Zhu Houzhao is still lying on the wide royal bed, in this cold winter season, he will not get out of bed easily.

Elizabeth curled up beside Zhu Houzhao like a brocade cat, and half-exposed the white dove.

And Zhu Houzhao had already sat up with the support of the palace maid, and the two palace ladies who warmed their feet consciously moved forward a little, and put their chests tightly on Zhu Houzhao's feet, making Zhu Houzhao's whole body warm and soft and hot as stepping on the green grass in summer, and he didn't feel that this was a cold winter wax moon.

"Sit by the stove and talk, look at your shivering appearance, is it cold or the bigger you are, the more afraid you are?"

Zhu Houzhao said through the screen.

And the emperor's eldest son, Zhu Zailei, only sat honestly on the stool next to the stove, trying his best to control his shaking mouth: "The weather is getting colder and colder, and my father must also pay attention to the cold." ”

"You don't have to worry about this, let's talk about it, now that you have done this Shuntian Mansion Yin, how do you plan to manage this Shuntian Mansion", Zhu Houzhao said and motioned Elizabeth to retreat to the dark bed, and then asked people to move the screen and look at Zhu Zailei with the electric light in person: "You have gray hair, you are aging faster than your father!" ”

Zhu Zailei smiled, didn't dare to look up, only glanced at Zhu Houzhao's thickening sword eyebrows by the afterglow, and said: "Father said that the Ming Dynasty is different from the Ming Dynasty before the early Zhengde period, industrialization has promoted the urbanization of the empire, and how to better manage the towns is as important as how to better manage the countryside. ”

"That's right, Shuntianfu is the largest city in the Ming Dynasty, with a permanent population of more than 10 million, and there are countless powerful officials and gentry, basically managing such a city must have a detailed urban plan, not only to have a long-term but also to have a short-term, overall management, but also to innovate and eliminate disadvantages, it is not difficult to eliminate disadvantages, it is difficult to innovate, what new things do you plan to bring to us as the people of Shuntianfu?"

Zhu Houzhao asked with a smile.

"Naturally, it is to pick up the wisdom of the emperor's teeth, and promote the new things of the inner court to the people, and the sons plan to popularize the supply of tap water and unified heating supply in the capital, just like the inner court, so that the people of the capital do not have to worry about the problem of water cut-off and cold in winter, the commoners' homes will no longer suffer from freezing, and the famous families will not have to move south because the weather is getting colder!"

After Zhu Zailei replied, he couldn't help coughing, and after staying in the mountains for several months, he also felt a little cold, and he had just been cold outside for so long, and now it was aggravated by the heat as soon as he came in.

"Very good, now the application of the steam engine as the power pump has been very mature, only need to build a reservoir is, the establishment of the city's tap water supply is not a problem, but we have to do a good job in the entire tap water purification project, so as not to be clean enough, so that the people are sick, once the tap water is supplied, if the city is sick and the disaster is not small, the heating supply must ensure safety and environmental problems, choose the location of the boiler, don't make the whole city gray!"

As soon as Zhu Houzhao said this, Zhu Zailei also nodded again and again.

Zhu Houzhao found that Zhu Zailei, the eldest son of the emperor, was obviously much more mature in thinking about problems and governing, and thought that it was really necessary to practice and experience in order to train pragmatic and mature politicians, and politicians with their own new ideas.

Zhu Houzhao was looking forward to what Shuntianfu would become under Zhu Zailei's management, and he believed that if Zhu Zailei could manage a large imperial metropolis of tens of millions in the future, he would be sent to a major agricultural and labor province to serve as a governor for a few years, or go to the coastal provinces to manage for a few years, and then inherit his position would undoubtedly be the most suitable.

But in fact, it is not easy to manage Suncheonfu.

Even if Zhu Zailei now wants to promote the supply of tap water in the capital, he finds it more difficult to promote the supply of tap water throughout the city than to establish a tap water supply in the palace.

Because in the palace, you can ignore the cost, and you don't have to worry about the lack of money, for example, this water pipe, you can directly use a copper pipe that is not easy to rust and has a sterilizing effect to make a water pipe, so you don't have to worry about rust and pollution.

But in the whole capital, you must not use more expensive copper water pipes, not even slightly more expensive metals, even if the Ming Dynasty is now rich enough to allow the people of the whole capital to use copper water pipes, but no one can guarantee that all the people will consciously not steal the copper water pipes that are still expensive.

In this era, there were no hard plastics, so Zhu Zailei could only look for cheap iron water pipes that were not easy to rust.

Fortunately, Daming now has mature electroplating and alloy steel technology, and it is not difficult to manufacture some iron water pipes that are not easy to rust.

"Your Royal Highness, the galvanized steel pipe developed by the Sanxin Factory in Hejian Prefecture, although the price is a little expensive, but the steel is excellent, his biggest advantage is that it is not easy to rust, it is the most suitable to be used as a water pipe, and other steel pipes are easy to rust and breed bacteria, you see, is this kind of steel pipe used?"

Shuntianfu general judge Pan Gu recommended a new type of steel to Zhu Zailei.

Because the developer of this new type of steel has worked in the Daming Engineering Institute, is an expert of the Iron and Steel Smelting Bureau, and has served as a right servant in the Ministry of Industry, the official of Zhishi has successfully developed, and Zhu Zailei did admit that this new type of steel is more suitable for water pipes, so he decided to let Pan Gu purchase this kind of steel from the Sanxin factory.

But this Pan Gu is actually the second prince Zhu Zaiyan's early comrades, and Zhu Zaiyan's eyeliner in the capital, although he also wants to be the son of the emperor of the Central Empire of the Ming Dynasty, but Zhu Zaiyan is obviously better at doing some behind-the-scenes business than Zhu Zailei, perhaps related to the reason why he does not have an advantage in the patriarchal inheritance system.

In any case, before purchasing this batch of steel, Pan Gu also truthfully reported this matter to the second prince Zhu Zaiyan, who returned to Beijing for reunion at the end of the year.

"I heard that the Xu Zhangyuan of the school department and his family are from the southern clan, and the family runs an iron factory, and now there is an iron factory in Gyeonggi Zhending Mansion, called Sanyu Iron Factory, you go to talk about it, after you take it down, the difference earned in the middle will be divided into two percent for you, and thirty percent of the eighty percent I got will be made into the purchase price, so that the Xu family can go, and it is a big gift to him Xu Zhangyuan."

So, Pan Gu did not go to Hejian Mansion, but to Zhending Mansion.

This Pan Gu knew that this matter was the greatest benefit of His Royal Highness the Second Prince, and naturally he would be covered by the Second Prince, so he had the courage to be greedy, so he bought the inferior steel pipe of the Xujia Iron Works at a high price, and the money that Zhu Zailei gave to Pan Gu was used to buy the galvanized steel pipes of the Sanxin Iron Factory, and now Pan Gu added some according to the instructions of the second prince, and naturally the Xu family benefited more abundantly.

The Xu family was naturally willing to accept this kind of benefit, but they still told Xu Jin, who was also in charge of the Hanlin Academy, and Xu Jin did not refuse after learning about this, after all, this kind of bribery was very hidden, it was nothing, and he couldn't save the face of the second prince, but he still instructed: "This matter is not to be publicized, although it is a benefit of millions of silver dollars, it is inevitable that bad things will happen." ”

The clansman in charge of the Xujia Iron Factory nodded hurriedly: "Don't worry, master, my nephew knows!" ”

But Zhu Zailei handed over the specific affairs of tap water installation to Pan Gu, but it didn't mean that he didn't care at all, and then when the first pilot area, that is, Xicheng District, was installed and started to pass water, Zhu Zailei personally came to inspect it, first inspected the steam pump and reservoir, and then also checked the pressurization equipment, and then ordered someone to open the main valve and start to pass water.

However, Zhu Zailei was surprised to find that although the surface of the water pipe was galvanized, under the impact of the high-pressure water flow, it was actually dripping water outside. ”

Zhu Zailei was furious for a while, and personally took a closer look at them one by one, but found that the entire main road was full of this kind of inferior steel pipe, and he wanted to kill Pan Gu for a while.

Pan Gu also hurriedly ran over at this time: "Your Highness, what are you calling the lower officials?" ”

"What's going on with this steel, didn't you say that you purchased galvanized steel pipes from Sanxin Iron Factory?! How did it become such an ordinary welded and forged steel pipe! It's not even a steel pipe, it's just an iron pipe! ”

Zhu Zailei asked loudly.

Pan Gu was already mentally prepared to be killed by Zhu Zailei, and immediately knelt down and cried: "Your Highness, the lower officials are in trouble!" Can you ask Your Highness to step back and give an absolute and truthful explanation to Your Highness! ”

Zhu Zailei saw that Pan Gu was so aggrieved, and thought that he had something unspeakable, so he retreated from his request and asked Pan Gu to explain it to himself.

So, Pan Gu said that Xu Jin's family came to him with a letter and asked him to buy his steel pipes, and said that it was Xu Shangshu's intention, and he couldn't refuse, so he agreed to the Xu family's request.

Zhu Zailei couldn't help but slap the table angrily: "This Xu Jin, dare to make this kind of wealth!" ”

"Your Royal Highness is angry, Xu Shangshu is now the leader of Qingliu, and has always been the most supportive of you as the prince, do things in the long run, His Royal Highness has not been established as the prince by His Majesty, at this time, it is better not to have a stiff with Xu Shangshu, the following officials look at it, we may as well spend more silver, both to purchase the steel pipes of his Xu family and the steel pipes of Sanxin Iron Works, and then install water pipes only with the steel pipes of Sanxin Iron Works, which is equivalent to sending Xu Shangshu a silver dollar, and they are safe with each other, what do you think?"

Pangu suggested.

This is the way he has long thought of coping.

He believed that in order not to offend Xu Jin, the leader of the Qingliu Dynasty, the eldest son of the emperor in front of him, would definitely not be willing to expose Xu Jin, and even wished to take this opportunity to give Xu Jin some benefits, so as to win the favor of Xu Jin and other civil officials, so that he could cheer for his position as the crown prince, just like the second prince;

In addition, Pan Gu believed that the eldest son of the emperor would definitely not be willing to let the water project led by him not complete well, and he would definitely be willing to spend more money in order to satisfy His Majesty and gain popularity.

Therefore, in any case, Pan Gu believes that the emperor's eldest son, Zhu Zailei, will definitely adopt his suggestion, give an extra amount of money, and then let himself go to Sanxin Iron Factory to purchase galvanized steel pipes, so that he can still earn some more kickbacks.

Zhu Zailei did admit that Pan Gu's suggestion was good, but he was not a simple person, and he did not directly reply to Pan Gu, he only nodded: "Gu knows, Gu will give you another sum of money to purchase galvanized steel pipes from Sanxin Iron Factory, if there is another mistake this time, Gu will impeach you!" ”

Saying that, Zhu Zailei ordered someone to dismantle the inferior steel pipe that was installed first.

Pan Gu was also extremely happy.

……

Not long after, the second prince found out about this and smiled: "This is the handle, it is both the handle of my imperial brother and the handle of his Xu Jin!" ”

……

Zhu Houzhao saw that Zhu Zailei didn't seem to have the excitement he had before, and couldn't help asking, "Did something happen to Shuntianfu, or did your mother's refreshments not taste good?" ”

Zhu Zailei hurriedly stretched his brows: "It's nothing, it's just that the wind and cold haven't been good lately, and I'm always a little tired, which disturbs my father's interest, and it's the fault of my son." ”

Zhu Houzhao couldn't help patting his knees and said: "I don't know how their penicillin extraction experiment is going, with antibiotics, at least the treatment will be faster!" ”

Saying that, Zhu Houzhao said again: "Don't keep saying that you are sick, I can also see that you have something on your mind, I still say that, only I have the final say in the matter of the storage position, no one can help you, and those younger brothers of yours, only you can help!" I don't like who hides it from me! ”

When Zhu Houzhao said this, he was tantamount to warning Zhu Zailei.

Maybe it's because I've been used to talking frankly with my father Zhu Houzhao since I was a child, or maybe it's because of my own personality, or maybe it's Zhu Houzhao's words that make Zhu Zailei understand something.

So, Zhu Zailei got up and replied truthfully: "The son does not dare to deceive his father, it is the Shuntian Mansion that made a mistake in purchasing tap water and steel pipes, which involves some corruption problems. ”

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