Industry is also artistic.

Whether it is modern colorful smart products, or today's black and white steam machinery, it has its own charm.

This is the case with the first steam locomotive "Harmony" in the Ming Dynasty today.

The swarthy shell resembles the muscles of a warrior, and the smoke that spews out dances on the angular locomotive like a woman in white.

The perfect blend of softness and rigidity, and the spreading railroad tracks also add a touch of toughness to the grass-green fields.

"Your Majesty, please go up and hold on to the railing", Song Yingxing, who was over the age of old, walked over tremblingly and on crutches.

Like Song Yingxing, Fang Yizhi, who has also become a master in the field of Ming Shengxue, and the chief designer of steam locomotives and railways also followed at this time, looking forward to Zhu Youzhen's appreciation for him for building such a locomotive.

"I know, if you want to say that I am riding this train, I am more familiar than you."

Zhu Youzhen boarded the steam locomotive with a smile, and as soon as he entered the carriage, he saw that there were bamboo seats inside, with two rows on each side, and there were only two carriages, the first section was a seat, the latter section was a sleeper, and there were toilets and wine tables in the middle.

Zhu Youzhen chose a window seat and sat down, and the officials of the imperial entourage also sat in one after another, and representatives from all walks of life who came to experience the new locomotive also sat in.

"You can start", Zhu Youzhen said.

At that time, not long after Zhu Youzhen's words fell, the first steam locomotive of the Ming Dynasty began to start.

First there was a rapid whistle, and the sneering white smoke increased, followed by the rumble and clanging of the machine as it was driven, and the clatter of the bearings could be heard.

A strong smell of engine oil came, but the Ming officials and civilians in the carriage did not feel uncomfortable, but shouted excitedly: "It's moving, it's moving, it's really moving!" ”

Several brocade guards had already forgotten that the emperor was still around, completely ignoring the image, and couldn't help but poke their heads out to look at the locomotive outside.

At this time, the onlookers outside were also very excited, and they all pointed to the locomotive and shouted: "It's moving, it's really moving, there is no horse, he can really move!" ”

"It's amazing, such an iron lump, how did he move!" One of the people asked in surprise.

Zhu Youzhen looked at all this with a smile, the people outside the window desperately followed the train regardless of the danger, and the soldiers on the platform couldn't help but show envy, the wall of Xuanwumen was retreating, and the trees in front of them appeared in front of the window one by one like slides, but they also disappeared quickly.

However, in fact, the speed of the steam locomotive of the Ming Dynasty is not fast, it can only run about forty miles in an hour, which gives Zhu Youzhen the feeling that it is slower than the green train of later generations, but for the officials and people of the Ming Dynasty, it is the fastest non-human animal power transportation in the world.

Zhang Huangyan, the new cabinet chief assistant, sighed behind Zhu Youzhen: "Your Majesty, this is really too fast, Wechen really didn't expect that the iron lump that burns coal can run so fast on the rails, Shengxue is really a peculiar science, if it is not for His Majesty's admiration, Weichen is afraid that he will never know that there will be trains in this world." ”

"This is just the beginning, if there are a few more locomotives like this, add a few more carriages, and pave the road with railroad tracks farther, paved to the south and northeast, so that my Ming can transport tens of thousands of infantry by train at one time, which is much faster than letting the infantry run to the outside of the gate before, and when the time comes, the expedition to Mobei is not afraid of poor logistics, and directly transports a cart of grain over, are you still worried about not enough to eat?"

As soon as Zhu Youzhen said this, Song Yingxing also nodded: "What Your Majesty said is that with such a railway, my central dynasty can control the locality, and the transportation of soldiers, grain and bulk goods is no longer a problem, especially in the northern waterways where the waterways are underdeveloped, so Weichen feels that he must take this opportunity to build more railways in the next few years." ”

"Well, this is included in the five-year plan of your cabinet, Zhang Huangyan, you have just taken charge of the cabinet, and you just happened to use this as a political achievement, and you can't just leave wealth and fame as an official, you have to have your own works," Zhu Youzhen said.

"Weichen obeys the order", Zhang Huangyan just nodded yes, he heard a loud and piercing sound, it seemed that the train had closed the air valve, and the speed of the train began to slow down, and finally stopped next to a newly built platform by the moat, at this time, Fang Yizhi walked over:

"Your Majesty, get off the bus and rest for a while, in front of you is the terminal Daming Industrial School Mechanical Branch, and there are already people from the inner court preparing imperial meals in it."

"Put it in the canteen, let me eat with these heroes who participated in the construction of trains and the paving of railroad tracks", Zhu Youzhen used the word "hero" to describe the technicians who made the steam locomotive, so that Fang Yizhi was very happy to hear it, and he also knew that His Majesty the Emperor praised the achievements of his Daming Industrial School.

Zhu Youzhen entered the Daming Industrial School as if he had entered a steel forest, here, what he saw was a variety of blast furnaces and black and white mixed railings, as well as the sound of knocking and banging from the cement room, the dark stream swirling in the reservoir, emitting all kinds of pungent rust smell, and the technicians wearing black coats and black watermelon hats walked out one after another: "I have seen Your Majesty, long live my emperor, long live long live!" ”

"Excuse me!"

Zhu Youzhen smiled, he never thought that he Daming already had so many mechanical talents, he walked over and wanted to greet these people warmly: "You have worked hard, Daming is strong today because of your efforts." ”

Everyone smiled.

Zhu Youzhen and these mechanical technicians spent a pleasant afternoon, and after that, Daming began to enter the period of railway construction.

The first railway outside the Xuanwu Gate, Zhu Youzhen did not let the Daming Industrial School be demolished, but allowed all people in the private sector to take this car in and out of the inner and outer city by purchasing tickets.

Zhu Youzhen even ordered the cabinet to set up the General Administration of Railways, and ordered the provinces to set up railway branches, while the railway in Xuanwumen was managed by the Shuntianfu Railway Branch.

Zhu Youzhen allowed private investment in the construction of railways and allowed them to operate a certain railway line, so as to encourage private capital to participate in railway construction.

However, at the beginning, except for the two trunk lines from Nanjing to Beijing and Beijing to Shenyang, which were built by the Ming government, private capital did not trust the benefits brought by railway operation and was more cautious.

But when a businessman named Qin Zheng sold his family's mine and built a railway from Nanjing to Hangzhou and made a lot of money, it began to arouse great interest from private capital.

And this Qin Zheng began to invest in the railways from Songjiang to Nanjing and Wuchang to Nanjing, and for a time became the famous railway king of the Ming Dynasty and the richest man in the new era.

(End of chapter)