Chapter 80: The Crown Prince Wants to Work Southeast Peninsula Strategy

Hearing that Queen Zhou asked herself so solemnly, Zhang Zhimu hurriedly said: "Oops! If the mother has something to do, just tell it directly, don't say what you want! ”

"Huh! All right! Queen Zhou smiled and said, "Among our princes, the prince is well-educated and smart. The prince told the emperor several times, and he also told me below that he wanted to find a job in Yaogang. Oh he! It's that when I saw those brothers all going to study, I couldn't envy it. But when he goes to study again, he is older, so he wants to participate in the work and learn more. Do you see this happening? ”

"Oops! There are so many things to do in the kiln, it's easy to do something. However, this time the prince came over, and I have arranged for the teacher to give him some remedial lessons, and I think the prince has a very deep accomplishment in the classics left by our ancestors. Some knowledge of mathematics and physics is his shortcoming, and he should spend some energy to make up for it. Knowledge in this area is very important in the future. Zhang Zhimu said.

Empress Zhou said: "I really want to thank Zhang Dongjia for this, the prince said, I didn't expect to learn these things, which opened my eyes a lot." Since he arrived at Yaogang, the prince has been working hard, and he didn't put it down during the Chinese New Year, and he kept praising the teacher you found was really very capable. However, the prince still wanted to go out and participate in the work directly, and wanted to get in touch with the people around the kiln. This is also a long way to see! ”

Zhang Zhimu looked at Emperor Chongzhen, who had been smiling and not speaking, and asked, "What does the emperor mean?" ”

"Huh! I was afraid that you would be embarrassed, so I never told you about it. I also wanted him to participate in something to do in the kiln, it was when I saw the honest Changping in the palace, and now I don't know anyone who is exercising, so I moved this thought. Kiln gang exercise people! ”

"What's so hard about that?" Zhang Zhimu said, "The emperor should have told me about this a long time ago. I just don't know what the emperor wants the prince to do? ”

"I didn't think about it. Behold, the prince has not thought about what to do, and we want to hear your advice! ”

Zhang Zhimu thought for a while and said, "Your Majesty, Niangniang, do you think this is okay?" We don't let the prince go out to work in the name of the prince, so that it is convenient for him to go out to work, it is easier for him to deal with all kinds of people, and it is safe. ”

"Hmmm! I agree, and that's what he meant! ”

"Also, I would like to let the prince go to the academy to be a teacher for a while, because he is very good at literature and history, and starting from here can also increase his confidence. In addition, the environment of the academy is relatively good, and the ideas there are active, so that the prince can have more contact with the students, and it can also let him see what the people who will be in charge of the world in the future are thinking and doing. Then I arranged for him to work in a larger factory for a while, and then I wanted him to work in the army and the General Staff for a while. Finally, I wanted him to follow Li Yan to participate in the drafting of the law. ”

The emperor said happily: "Oops! Zhang Dongjia, it would be great if it could be like this! After exercising in this way, your vision will be different! ”

"Actually, we have now selected some young students with good qualifications, and we have cultivated them in this way. We must have foresight in talent training and reserve some elite talents for the future as soon as possible. ”

Queen Zhou asked: "Is that Li Yan the one who wrote the "Song of Persuasion", and later rebelled with the thieves?" ”

"Yes, it's that talented Li Yan!" Zhang Zhimu said.

"Hey! Couldn't say that anymore! Li Zicheng is also a hero of the Ming Dynasty, and Li Yan is also a capable general of Yaogang. What he is doing now is related to generations to come, and it is good for the prince to follow him to do this! Emperor Chongzhen said.

Zhang Zhimu also smiled and said, "Hehe! The emperor is right! Li Zicheng is now on Annan's side, and he has adopted the means of attaching equal importance to grace and power to govern Annan very steadily. They are still in a hurry to fight Siam. We are now in Burma and the British are not finished, otherwise we will now unify the southeast peninsula. Li Zicheng is really a hero! There are also Li Yan and the emperor said, they have been working for many years to formulate the future code. Li Yan is an all-round talent in civil and military affairs, but he did not participate in so many magnificent things in our kiln, but it was not easy to bury his head and participate in the formulation of the code. A lot of the things they formulated, and now we are issuing them in the form of executive orders, and we will see if there are any problems in the implementation? This is a very rigorous matter, and there are many factors that must be taken into account in making laws, and the prince will be well trained with them! ”

"Hmmm! That way I'm more at ease! Empress Zhou nodded and said.

"Hey! "Emperor Chongzhen said," said Emperor Chongzhen, "Zhang Dongjia has always been very thoughtful in doing things, otherwise there would be no today's kiln gang, and there would not be today's Ming Dynasty!" ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your compliment!" Zhang Zhimu said, "I will let Yulin personally arrange the prince's affairs, and I will not let the others participate!" For the safety of the prince, I will let Li Zhi be responsible! His identity should be a rich kid in the capital, and they will deal with the detailed Li Zhi! ”

"Good!" Empress Zhou said happily, "Zhang Dongjia is bothered!" ”

In fact, Zhang Zhimu was still a little moved by Queen Zhou's ability to do this, because the prince was not born to Queen Zhou, and she had such a good relationship with the prince, and she also interceded for the prince, which was not easy in the royal family.

Lu Bingyi came back from a few construction sites in Tianshui, not only very satisfied with the progress of the projects on each construction site, but also brought back good news, an expedition team he sent out found a potash-rich salt mine in Qinghai.

Lu Bingyi told Zhang Zhimu that he had discovered the potash mine, and Zhang Zhimu said happily: "Oops! That's great! What we lack most is potash. We're going to build a potash plant there. In this way, we are not short of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus fertilizers. In the next step, our potential to increase grain yields will be greatly increased! ”

"Yes! I couldn't sleep with joy when I heard the news. "We are going to build not only a fertilizer plant there, but also an integrated chemical plant there." The resources there are not just potash, there are many useful things. The samples they collected, I have asked them to send them to Qingfengzi, and after they have carefully tested them, we will order what kind of factory to build. ”

"Good! Arrange this! Zhang Zhimu said, "A few days ago, the emperor told me something. The railway from Tongguan to Kaifeng is about to open to traffic, and the emperor suggested that we should extend the railway eastward to Dengzhou (Penglai) and Weihaiwei. I also think I should fix it. Want to hear your opinion! ”

"I also think it should, I rushed back to attend their opening ceremony, and then I went east along the Yellow River to have a look, and took someone to choose a railway line to the east." "But that's not what I'm thinking. I think we should want to build a railway from Beijing to Zhengding, Zhengding to Zhengzhou, and Zhengding to Taiyuan. Now the railway from Zhengzhou to Hankou is already under construction. Wouldn't it be nice if we connected all these sections of railroad? ”

"Hmmm! It's time to think about it. Zhang Zhimu said, "This means that we need to build a railway and road bridge in Zhengzhou." ”

"This bridge must be built!" Lu Bingyi said, "The Hankou Yangtze River Bridge will take at least two years, and when the Hankou Yangtze River Bridge is completed, many of our forces to build the railway will have to be transferred to the south of the Yangtze River." However, in the next two years, we will focus on improving our transportation network. Our industrial base is all over here. ”

"This year, the section from Datong to Zhangjiakou will be completed, and these places can be considered when the personnel are withdrawn!" Zhang Zhimu said, "However, Zhou Yuji's side sent telegrams several times, hoping to build a railway to the north to Beihai. Isn't this something to consider? ”

"Let's take the next step!" Lu Bingyi said, "I think that the security problem in the north has basically been lifted now, and we now have to devote our energies to the areas that will bring us a lot of benefits right away." We probably need the railroad more to the south! ”

"Hmmm! Mr. Lu is right! Zhang Zhimu said, "There are a lot of prisoners on Zhou Yuji's side, you can let them build the roadbed first, and when the conditions permit, we will go to build the railway." ”

"Another thing, as soon as I came back, I saw a telegram from the exploration team we sent to the upper Altai side of the Irtysh River, they found a lot of valuable ore specimens, and also found gold ore, and when they sent back the specimens, we can study them carefully." Lu Bingyi said.

"By the way, can they send some of them to the other side of Lake Balkhash. Now that they have established themselves in Ningde, the improvised road has been opened to that side, and there is a large copper mine on the north shore of Balkhash Lake. Later, when we build the railway, we can build a copper factory there. ”

"Oops! My biggest concern is that we don't have enough copper, and if we don't have aluminum now, we wouldn't be able to do it! Lu Bingyi said, "I can ask them to separate the two of them, borrow some soldiers from General Ningde first, and go to the north of Balkhash Lake to have a look." We have to take this matter seriously, I will organize people to go over immediately, and now we must be ready to build a factory. If only copper could be used openly! ”

Lu Bingyi knows that the most lacking thing in the kiln is copper. Not only the electric power is made of copper, but also the guns and shells are made of copper. Now all the copper minerals of the Ming Dynasty are not enough for the kiln. The copper coins that were collected are now used for copper.

Lu Bingyi also gave a briefing on the construction of the second- and third-level reservoirs on the Tianshui side, the reservoir in the upper reaches of the Weihe River, and the construction of the Tianshui-Lanzhou railway.

"Now in the whole territory of our Ming Dynasty, there are more than a few million people used on the construction sites of roads, railways, bridges, and reservoirs, right?" Zhang Zhimu asked.

"Huh! Almost," Mr. Lu said, "we made a lot of money, and almost all of it was spent on these construction sites." Unlike in the past, the more projects there are now, the more benefits the people will be. Many people, as well as all walks of life, have benefited. ”

"We grit our teeth and build these backbone projects. After these backbone projects are built, our next step of development will be even more accelerated! The next step is to improve our medical education system. That's a big deal! Zhang Zhimu said.

"We are about to enroll students again, and our teachers' college has expanded its enrollment several times today, and the number of places allocated to counties across the country has also increased a lot. There are also midwives in each county, and the number of doctors has also increased a lot. In a few years, the level of medical education in all counties across the country will be greatly improved. Lu Bingyi said, "I discussed it with Yan Xing and them. Starting next year, we will build a normal school in every prefecture-level city to train teachers at all levels. It's easy to build a school, but teachers are a problem. ”

"Teachers in liberal arts are easy to do, we have a lot of literati, and we can train them, but teachers in mathematics and science are not easy to do." Zhang Zhimu said, "I don't think so, we have graduates who are willing to go back to work in various places, and we encourage them to return to their hometowns to work." Their future job title evaluation, further training, and other benefits must be arranged. No, before our graduates are assigned jobs, we can ask them to go to local normal schools for internships for one to two years. Teachers also need to make a training plan, and it is worth spending some money in this regard. ”

"Yes! We want to work hard at both ends, high-end scientific research, and basic education below! Lu Bingyi said, "By the way, Li Yunhe and their new plane have been working on it for almost two years, right?" Why is there still not much progress now? ”

"Huh! I didn't rush them, they set their goals a little too high this time, and a lot of things went wrong when they came together. Zhang Zhimu said, "The development of this aircraft has concentrated some of the most high-end talents in our kiln gang." In the development of the aircraft this time, many testing and testing facilities have also been improved, and more importantly, I have seen that their ideas and methods for developing the aircraft are very correct. Although it took them a little more time this time, if the aircraft developed was successful, it would be a big leap forward. ”

"Huh!" Lu Bingyi also smiled and said: "It's worth the amount of money spent on the plane." If the plane succeeds, we can really form an air force! ”

"I hope that their twin-engine aircraft will be successful," Mr. Zhang said, "and that at that time, we will be able to build civilian aircraft." If there is a civil aviation plane, you go to Tianshui again, it will take a few hours to arrive, after seeing the construction site, take the plane and come back, how good would it be? However, the aircraft has high requirements for meteorological conditions, and Shi Tao and their meteorological work do not know how to do it. For example, if we take a plane to Beijing, if it rains there, it will be dangerous if it doesn't fall. Also, when it took off, the weather was good over there, but it was not impossible for the plane to arrive and it rained. This requires us to have real-time meteorological data from various places, and we can also predict the direction of clouds according to wind direction and pressure, so as to predict weather conditions. We need to start these things as soon as possible. ”

"Hmmm! I'll take care of this weather myself. Lu Bingyi said, "Now, we have developed a three-leaf anemometer, a barometer, and a hygrometer. Yang Chang: They also developed equipment for detecting air pressure and other parameters on radio-emitted balloons. However, it is not a simple matter to set up weather stations in various places. I think we need to set up a meteorological unit everywhere. I suggest that a meteorological unit be set up in all counties and above in our county, so as to ensure that there are special personnel in charge of meteorological affairs in all localities, otherwise this work cannot be carried out. ”

"Hmmm! I agree that a meteorological work committee should be set up here in Yaogang, and corresponding units should be set up in all localities. This matter requires the second uncle to have a certain understanding of this work first, and they can only carry it out if they participate. I'll find time to talk to my second uncle about this. We will allocate funds and use them for special purposes! ”

I talked with Lu Bingyi for a morning, had dinner together at noon, and in the afternoon Zhang Zhimu came to the command center and told Chen Yufeng and Ouyang He about the emperor's work for the prince.

Ouyang He smiled slightly and said, "The emperor is going to arrange a job for the prince in advance!" In fact, he also showed you an attitude of handing over power! ”

Chen Yufeng said: "It's the same thing whether he pays it or not, I don't have the heart to care about the emperor's affairs now." Zhimu, look at the telegram sent by Li Zicheng! ”

Ouyang He handed a telegram to Zhang Zhimu and said: "Our prince Chuang can't wait, they want to go it alone and send troops to solve Siam by themselves!" ”

Zhang Zhimu read Li Zicheng's telegram and said: "What the telegram said in the telegram is also right! As long as Siam is settled, we will not have to raise so many troops in the Southeast Peninsula. Many armies can be converted into cantonment armies. It is really used to fight the army, and it is enough to prepare to deal with the Womor Empire. ”

"However, I still think we should wait a little longer, and when our affairs with the British are settled, the affairs with the Mughal Empire will be over. Wouldn't it be better to calm down and settle Siam at that time? Ouyang He said.

Li Zicheng's analysis is also right, whether it is Annam or Myanmar, there is such a long border with Siam. It's going to tie up a lot of our energy. If we don't solve Siam as soon as possible, we and Li Zicheng will be distracted from Siam's side. Isn't it to discuss with Fan Chengkun and Qin Peng, let's settle Siam first, and then settle the affairs of the British and the Wolmore Empire? Zhang Zhimu said.

Chen Yufeng said: "In my opinion, we have beaten the British so that they dare not come and provoke us for the time being. When to go to the Womore Empire to find them, the initiative is ours. As long as we don't get closer to the border of the Wommore Empire, the Wolmore Empire will not take the initiative to fight with me, at least not start a large-scale war. Let's discuss with Fan Chengkun and them, it is better to change the strategy, solve Siam first, and after solving Siam, there is no need for Li Zicheng to raise hundreds of thousands of troops. We can also draw up our forces to deal with the Wolmore Empire. ”

"So be it!" Ouyang He said, "Call Li Zicheng back immediately and say that we are studying their suggestions, and we will reply to them later." Send a telegram to Fan Chengkun and Qin Peng again, explain the situation, and ask for their opinions. What do you think? ”

Zhang Zhimu and Chen Yufeng both nodded in agreement.

Zhang Zhimu said: "We and the Wommore Empire have to meet sooner or later, otherwise the border will not be stable!" ”

Chen Yufeng smiled and said: "We won't meet with the Womor Empire in Burma, Li Kui and they will also meet with the Womor Empire in the west." We and the Wolmore Empire are both big powers, and after we fight them and draw borders, we still have to live in peace as much as possible. ”

The Yaogang people studied the Womor Empire, and the kings and ministers of the Womor Empire were also studying the Ming Dynasty people who had advanced to their door.