"You mean that the Railway Department is preparing to start construction of the railway line between Chang'an and Luoyang by the end of the year?" Li Xuanqing and Qiaoxi were teasing Xiao Tianqi, winter was coming, Qiaoxi dressed Xiao Tianqi into a small bun so that Li Xuanqing couldn't help laughing, and at this time Cen Tianshi walked in with Wu Zuodong, Minister of Transportation.

After Qiaoxi asked Ruyan to take Xiao Tianqi away, Wu Zuodong handed the plan of the Railway Division to Li Xuanqing and said: "Your Majesty, the queen, this is the construction plan of the Changluo Railway of the Railway Department and other geological exploration reports. ”

Looking at Li Xuanqing's opportunity to bury his head in reading the plan, Cen Tianshi said: "Your Majesty, the minister feels that he can agree with their opinions, and if the conditions permit, it is best to build the double line at one time to avoid unnecessary follow-up processes." ”

Li Xuanqing raised his head and smiled: "I also know, but has your cabinet prepared funds for the Changluo Railway?" Won't we issue railway bonds again? The section from Chang'an to Luoyang seems to be only more than 700 miles, but there are many complex terrains such as rivers and mountains along the line, and the project cost must be large, and the Ministry of Construction should not be ready to build a bridge over the Yellow River, right? Li Xuanqing glanced up at Wu Zuodong and said with a smile.

"I had to ask the Weinan Shipyard under Niangniang to build a barge." Wu Zuodong was not red in the eyes of Li Xuanqing, and said generously: "In the entire Guanzhong, only Niangniang's shipyard can manufacture large barges and ferries, so the minister has to come to the emperor and the queen." ”

His words made everyone laugh, and Cen Tianshi interjected: "This time, the cabinet of the Changluo Railway has discussed with the military logistics department, and Yang Yi will mobilize 200,000 hard laborers to follow their railway department for construction in advance, and the cabinet will let the provinces and regions along the way take advantage of the winter to recruit 100,000 people to participate, so that there will be 300,000 people working at the same time throughout the winter." Although the consumption is large in winter, fortunately, it can still create income for the people without delaying the agricultural time, which is also a matter of killing two birds with one stone. ”

"As for the funding? At the end of the year, the cabinet still had part of the budget, and after the military handed over the seized and handed over property to Qianzhuang, Yin Honglin decided to issue an additional 500 million Tang yuan in advance, and the remaining amount was transferred to the accounts of the Ministry of Finance and the military as special funds after the year. Cen Tianshi didn't have so many worries about the funds and said with a smile: "And Murong has already leaked the news, and the business tycoons in Chang'an heard that there may be railway bonds this time, but they all plan to buy them." ”

"Big brother, I think it's a good thing that the Changluo Railway started ahead of schedule, the river transportation between Chang'an and Luoyang relies on the Yellow River, and the stability is too poor to bear the huge material export channel in Guanzhong, and the Changluo Railway just makes up for this, connecting Guanzhong and the Central Plains really together. As long as you arrive in Luoyang, you can take the canal to transport it to the Central Plains. This is something that Brother Murong and Brother Xu, their top wealthy businessmen, will not see. So this time, even if they donate money to build the road for free, they will actively participate. Qiaoxi knew that Li Xuanqing actually wanted to build several railways in the Central Plains in advance, but she agreed with the planning of the Railway Division, and the road section she chose was also very good and critical.

"Minister Wu, don't worry, Qiaoxi will explain to the shipyard. It will also allow industrial groups to design the locomotive carriage and so on in advance. Qiaoxi saw Li Xuanqing nodding and immediately clapped his hands and smiled.

In fact, the reason why Cen Tianshi agreed to build the Changluo Railway is still unspoken, but Li Xuanqing understands that Chang'an as the political center of the empire is actually not very suitable, not to mention that the Guanzhong Plain has been over-cultivated for so many years, resulting in serious soil erosion, and the climate is gradually cold and dry with the arrival of the Xiaoice period, and the property gradually cannot keep up with the speed of consumption. And the most important thing is that most of the empire's territory is in the east, relying on the control of the west is inevitably a little powerless, since Li Xuanqing does not want to move the capital, then there is only one way, find a way to strengthen the connection with the Kwantung region, so that the centripetal force generated by Chang'an can be strengthened with the change of transportation mode.

It is not surprising that Cen Tianshi thinks so, in fact, in later history, Chang'an gradually disappeared from the list of capitals in the minds of successive rulers. However, in the imperial territory portrayed by Li Xuanqing, Chang'an is the most suitable political and cultural center of the empire. As for the economic center that can be moved eastward, it is the same as the political center and the economic center of later generations belong to two megacities.

Yang Yi has maintained a team of more than 50,000 prisoners of war in Guanzhong all the year round, or people from the construction company have cooperated with the Ministry of Water Resources and Environmental Protection to continuously expand and deepen the water conservancy network in Guanzhong, turning these canals, which were originally just irrigation rivers, into a comprehensive project integrating irrigation, shipping, and flood discharge and discharge. As for the experience of soil erosion control from later generations, with the continuous efforts of Li Xuanqing and Zhang Quanfu and others, the soil erosion control and green area of Guanzhong area, where Chang'an is located, has improved year by year. Coupled with the fact that it was the end of the Tang Dynasty at this time, and the Guanzhong area was far from the extent of soil erosion and environmental degradation in later generations, Li Xuanqing had reason to believe that maintaining the current governance intensity for five to ten years would inevitably turn the entire Guanzhong into a backing to support Chang'an as the capital of the empire.

"Well, I agree with your plan. However, I also have a hard requirement, that is, green belts should be planted on both sides of the railway line with a width of no less than 10 zhang, except for areas where there is already vegetation in mountainous areas. This indicator needs to be completed by the railway maintenance personnel along the way arranged by your railway department. In the future, green belts will be planted along all railway lines, and specific tree species have been prepared on the farms of the Ministry of Water Resources and Environmental Protection. You send people to communicate and coordinate. Li Xuanqing closed the plan, suddenly remembered something, and immediately ordered: "What I want to emphasize is that the green vegetation in the ten-zhang wide green belt must be alive, don't think about planting it once and don't care if they live or die." ”

"Sir, it would be better for the cabinet to have local governments organize a large-scale afforestation activity in the northwest and central plains from March to April every year." Li Xuanqing continued: "Last time I heard Zhang Quanfu say that he had already communicated with the law court and was going to write a law on environmental protection, and that Mr. had time to help him, and many of his ideas in the Central Plains and Northwest were the only way to retain the green and hope for future generations. We also don't hope that after thousands of years, the desert in the northwest will gradually turn into Guanzhong and swallow up, this piece has been the birthplace of our Chinese nation since ancient times, right? ”

"Your Majesty, don't worry, I'll arrange it. In addition, starting next year, local governments, especially those in the northwest and Central Plains, will be organized every year to mobilize the people to plant trees and afforestation to protect the land and the environment. Cen Tianshi and Wu Zuodong stood up at the same time and gave the order.

"Okay, now that you already know the importance of environmental protection, I won't say more, since the Changluo Railway is going to be built, let's start as soon as possible. Qiaoxi and I will go to Weinan in a few days to take a look at your site selection work. Li Xuanqing waved his hand and sent the two away, and then Qiaoxi walked over and said: "Big brother, Mr. Cen, they have gradually matured in governing the country now, and we can be regarded as letting go of a thought." ”

"However, although they chose the Changluo Railway well, it is not easy to build it under the current conditions. The Qinba Mountains and the mountains of the Hanguguan generation are enough for them. Li Xuanqing shook his head and said.

"Big brother, why don't we let the industrial group build them a few excavators?" Qiaoxi suddenly said something that made Li Xuanqing feel incredible, but then he suddenly reacted and smiled: "Qiaoxi, what kind of steam excavator are you going to build?" ”

"Yes, even if it is less powerful than the later generations, it is much faster than they dig with a hammer." Seeing that Li Xuanqing guessed what he was thinking, he bent his thin eyebrows and smiled: "With our current technical reserves, there is no problem at all, at most, let's pirate the linkage system and gear processor." It's all messy. ”

Thinking of this, the husband and wife hurriedly explained that Ruyan took care of Xiao Tianqi, and then went to the headquarters of the industrial group outside the city. After Li Xuanqing ascended the throne, the palace maid and guard system within the royal family was gradually established, and after abandoning the eunuch and eunuch system, Li Xuanqing also regarded the palace maid as a social profession, established a promotion mechanism for them, and also picked up the previous system of being released when they reached the age. In this way, the palace maid also got rid of the status of the emperor's plaything for thousands of years, and began to work like other professions in society. And Ruyan and others have now become supervisors because they have followed Li Xuanqing and his wife for a long time, but because they are all orphans, they have no plans to release them to start a family for the time being, and now they have become the housekeepers of the palace after Li Xuanqing and his wife leave the palace.

It is said that Li Xuanqing and his wife went to the headquarters of the attack group and found Zhang Qiang, the person in charge, and asked him to find the workers and technicians in the mechanical laboratory and workshop, and told them the shape and principle of the excavator in later generations, and took out the pictures of the centralized excavator models drawn by himself and Qiaoxi, and asked them to go to the manufacturing workshop to modify and design while building, and be sure to complete the manufacture of the prototype within half a month.

In fact, Li Xuanqing and Qiaoxi gave the picture drawings have been very detailed, the original excavator is not as complex as the technology of later generations after the maturity of technology, with the tractor site design only, the telescopic boom and the bucket are very simple, the telescopic arm is hydraulic plus spring design. Hydraulics is not possible for the time being, but it is no problem to rely on pulley block and spring technology to make alternatives. As for the most important control system, there is no problem with the current technical strength of the industrial group.

So after explaining these people, the two went to the power laboratory with Zhang Qiang to see how the improvement of the steam engine was going. The improvement of the steam engine has been in two directions, one is miniaturization, and the other is high-power, after countless explorations and attempts, the high-power aspect has actually done well because of the urgent requirements of the navy, and the boiler technology supporting the steam engine has crossed the threshold of the first generation, and is constantly thinking about the direction of greater power and higher efficiency. Although Li Xuanqing and Qiaoxi have confessed to miniaturization, because the two of them don't look down on the appearance of the ancient monster species of steam engine driving wheeled vehicles, they have never asked. At this time, I suddenly remembered it, and I couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive.

However, after Zhang Qiang asked about the situation, he found that the miniaturization technology mastered by the laboratory had met the requirements for the current situation, and it could be directly loaded with a little improvement. The couple was pleasantly surprised and began to remember one thing they seemed to have overlooked, that is, they didn't seem to have said anything about how an abstract physical concept such as power or force should be used to calculate size, or what the unit of measurement should be.

"When testing the size of the force, the laboratory calculates the pulling force of a horse with reference to it." Zhang Qiang's serious answer almost made Li Xuanqing and his wife sit on the ground. What is the pulling force of a horse? What the hell is this? Could it be that this can also be a unique unit of measurement that can be copied by itself? However, the two of them did not care about this, as long as there was an accurate unit of measurement, it meant that mechanics had entered the conceptual stage, and it was possible to convert with other units in the subsequent analysis, so they did not pay attention to the relationship between horsepower and Newton.

After explaining the internal affairs of the industrial group, the two instructed that once the excavator test was successful, at least ten vehicles would be manufactured and sent to the construction site of the Changluo Railway. Immediately afterwards, the two of them simply rode out of the city towards Weinan, the shipyard is actually not very difficult to manufacture ships such as barges and ferries, but the construction of barges and tugboats and other high-powered ferries Weinan has little experience. After finding the person in charge of the shipyard, the two began to pass on the experience and skills of ferry manufacturing to later generations, helping the shipyard skip the initial basic design and get on the right track.

After doing this, the two returned to Chang'an City and began to study the rivers and mountains along the way against the construction drawings sent by the Railway Division, although the black powder had been handed over to the construction company, and the blasting was used as a weapon to solve the complex terrain during the construction. However, many of the rivers along the way still need to be bridged to cross. There are more than a dozen large and small bridges listed by the Department of Railways alone. However, what made Li Xuanqing's eyes shine was that this time the Railway Department outsourced the design and manufacture of these bridges to Chang'an Changle Bridge Construction Company, a wealthy businessman, and this company designed and manufactured railway bridges.

"Big brother, will the railway bridge be built by a four-person company? This is a railway bridge, even if there is technical support from the logistics department, it will be troublesome in case there is a problem. Qiaoxi said a little worriedly.

"Huanjiu, go and notify Xuan Yingwei and the Ministry of Communications, send someone to get the information of the Changle Bridge Construction Company to the Changqing Palace, and let the Changle Company take all the technical information of the construction of the railway bridge." Li Xuanqing groaned slightly and instructed Huan Jiu to find Hu Xiaosi and Wu Zuodong, while he and Qiaoxi went to Changqing Hall to prepare to check these things personally.

"Big brother, I feel like we're firefighters again." Qiaoxi laughed as she walked.

Li Xuanqing smiled bitterly: "This is difficult at the beginning. Why don't we go back and formulate an industry standard and entry threshold, so that they can take the certificate qualification or something, so that it seems to be less troublesome for us. ”

Qiaoxi stuck out his tongue and said with a smile: "Big brother, is the resentment in his previous life too big?" This is going to torture people. However, after smiling, he also nodded: "That's fine, at least this kind of qualification certificate has a very positive effect in the early stage." Tomorrow, let's list those industries that require certificates and qualifications, and then make them one by one. ”

"Let's start with the railroad, right?" Li Xuanqing said with a smile: "In this way, we don't need to keep an eye on every railway." ”