Beyond the East China Sea.

The base camp of the Zhenwei army, which has been built and maintained for three years, has washed away the summer heat in the face of the sea breeze.

Nestled at the foot of the hills, the camp on the seaside has been expanded several times, and the former wooden pile camp wall has been replaced by a wide wall made of heavy stones.

In the bay, the pier piercing in front of it is like a sharp sword piercing into the deep sea waters, so as to cater to the warships with a deeper draft.

Bursts of roar came from the distant mountains, and smoke and dust rose into the sky with forest birds.

On the top of the mountains, there is a calm that seems to have been cut away by a sword-wielding god, and a fortress battery that is so huge that it can be seen with the naked eye on the sea, intimidating all directions.

And in the ravine below the fort, there was a thick black smoke constantly trying to invade the white steam.

When the smoke and steam came out of the mountains and forests, a huge and majestic steel beast was seen, crushing the two steel tracks on the ground with the force of destroying the city.

Behind the behemoth, wagons loaded with raw ore drove to the smelter in the corner of the bay not far from the camp.

】

On the side of the smelter facing the wharf, there is a road that only allows the Akito to go directly to the pier, a forbidden area trestle, which is closely guarded by tall walls.

On the ridge of the hill not far from the smelter, a group of officers and soldiers were distributed over a long distance, staring into the distance, and from time to time someone raised the brass binoculars in their hands to look farther into places invisible to the naked eye.

On the pier, a treasure ship slowly sailed from the sea into the pier where only ships with exclusive flags were allowed to dock.

In the distance, on the sea, several small boats of three or two thousand materials, with their muzzles open, and officers and men lined up, were carried out of the shallow waters of the bay and distributed out of the deep waters outside the bay and beyond.

A long whimper came from the sea.

On the hills behind the bay, horns sounded to meet the signals on the sea.

There was a dingdong sound in the smelter, and several of them came out, and I saw that between the two walls, on the laid track, several much smaller steel machines drove out. The carriage was stuffed with a thick tarpaulin.

It was only a hand-sized carriage, but there were hundreds of officers and soldiers guarding the left and right, and even the empty area on the carriage hid officers and soldiers armed with strong crossbows.

"In this world, why are there so many smart people, can't there be more stupid people? At least I have to be stupid people except for the Ming Dynasty. ”

On the tall watchtower behind the camp wall on the side of the smelter, Li Jinglong, a scholar of Wuyingdian University and Cao Guogong, put down the brass gilt telescope and spoke with a faint sigh.

Tie Xuan, who was beside him, smiled calmly: "Our army has increased to 20,000, and we will stop at the land for a hundred miles, and Treasure Island is unique to the Ming Dynasty. And we have been here for three or four years, how can the Japanese people not know about the yellow and white things hidden in the two places? ”

"Grandpa, when I go out now, I have to worry about being stabbed in bed by those widows." Li Jinglong scolded twice with some annoyance.

Tie Xuan rolled his eyes and turned his head to look at the steam train that had already traveled to the trestle: "The gold and silver in the second quarter, except for the use of setting aside to buy the northern and southern dynasties of the Wa Kingdom, will be sent back to the sky today. The general may have a recital or a letter, and today it can also be sent to heaven at the same time. ”

Li Jinglong waved his hand very boldly: "There is no music than the gold and silver of this car, which is more real." As long as Grandpa and I do a good job for the court, there will be no major incidents in the family. ”

In the distance, a trumpet sounded on the sea.

A fleet of ships, carrying flags one after another, lowered their sails and slowly stopped on the sea.

Tie Xuan was a little surprised by Li Jinglong's subtle changes today: "Treasure Island's second-quarter output has arrived. Grandpa seems to be more free and calm now. ”

Li Jinglong turned around and moved to the direction facing the sea on the watchtower, frowned and said, "According to my intentions, I shouldn't make such a big deal now. If you do this, no one with a thief will dare to move.

If you want me to say, just get a boat and load this batch of gold and silver, and send it back to Yingtian City.

What is the value of hundreds of thousands of taels of gold and silver?

The imperial court has a reason to send it to the hand, and when the time comes, it will level the Japanese kingdom in one fell swoop, why do you need to be like this? ”

Tie Hyun became more and more speechless.

What is this called? Hundreds of thousands of taels of gold and silver are folded and folded?

It was these people who were now staying in piles of gold and silver every day that allowed Li Jinglong to say such things.

If it was put in the court, I am afraid that it would have been sprayed by a bunch of people a long time ago.

Tie Xuan shook his head: "Using a large army to fight will inevitably affect the output of Iwami and Treasure Island. And now that the situation in the court is changing, at this time, as a courtier, I should not add a burden to the court. ”

After finishing speaking, Tie Xuan turned his head to look at Li Jinglong. The two led the army to the sea, far away from Yingtian, and spent several years together in this foreign land, which can already be said to be close.

He hoped that this general of the country, who could already be said to be a friend, would understand what he meant.

Li Jinglong snorted twice: "Our army is 20,000, not to mention one enemy and ten, but also one enemy and five." In the past few years, the Japanese people have been operated by us, and the wind of pleasure has begun to emerge. As long as there is an opportunity, first take the Northern Dynasty, and then go south to the Southern Dynasty. The rest of the ordinary widows are just widows who I don't keep account books and names. ”

Tie Xuan immediately retorted: "There is indeed a wind of pleasure in the north and south dynasties, but we can't forget that some of them have also begun to secretly collude to try to drive us Ming people out of this small land. ”

"So what? The Ming army is invincible! Li Jinglong raised his eyebrows, and his disdain was clearly revealed on his face. This is not because he is arrogant, but because he must have the confidence to lead the party and sit on the side.

Tie Xuan had a headache and sighed: "Our army still has to rely on Shandong Province and Lee's Korea to supply most of the grain and grass materials. Once the war breaks out, the purpose is exposed, whether it is to the south or the north, do you think the two dynasties will sit idly by? When the time comes, our army will be attacked on the back of the enemy! ”

Li Jinglong sighed lightly, was silent for a while, and then his expression darkened slightly: "I want to go back to Beijing...... I'm about to forget what the lights of Qinhuai look like for ten miles. ”

As soon as these words came out, Tie Xuan immediately fell silent.

Li Jinglong's words are pure, what he said is the ten miles of Qinhuai lights, and at this moment, it is really just the ten miles of lights, not mixed with any selfish desires.

This is a person who is away, nostalgic for his homeland.

For a while, Tie Hyun didn't know how to persuade this friend who had never said it clearly.

Li Jinglong suddenly shouted: "Chaos! As long as the Japanese country is in chaos, we can have a better chance! After a big war, we will have an inexhaustible number of widows.

Iwami's side, the Manchu Dynasty was the first to use a steam train, and the court also knew very little. But there are no places where Treasure Island, coal mines in Shanxi Road, Yinghang Cement Road, and various places in the imperial court have started.

As long as the Japanese country is in chaos, there will be more Japanese laborers for my use! ”

A bold idea gradually became clear in Li Jinglong's mind.

Tie Xuan seemed to feel something, the whole person turned around, stared at the big brother in front of him with a solemn face, and said in a solemn tone: "You'd better not think about using the general's life as a shield!" ”

Li Jinglong was silent, but his eyelids kept shrinking and narrowing slightly, looking at the warships in the bay that only today's Ming could build.

Gurgle.

Tie Xuan panicked for no reason, and he looked at the silent Li Jinglong with some disbelief: "You won't have already done it." ”

After asking, Tie Xuan took a deep breath, but felt even tighter in his chest.

Li Jinglong retracted his gaze, looked at Tie Xuan, whose face was tense, and smiled slightly.

He opened his mouth and sighed, and gently raised his arms and patted on the railing on the edge of the watchtower in front of him: "Tie Xing is worthy of being the person in the entrainment of His Royal Highness Taisun, he is really smart!" ”

"Li Jiujiang! You're crazy! ”

In the watchtower of the big camp next to the bay, Tie Xuan roared in pain.

……

"Unless it's crazy! Otherwise, how can the railway be paved throughout the Ming Dynasty? ”

Zhu Gaochi stood on a high platform, looking at the steel track in front of him and the steam train running on it, his face full of shock and surprise, as well as an expression of disbelief.

Located outside Yingtian City, next to the cement road leading to Taiping Mansion, near the Yangtze River, a piece of land that can be navigated by boats, has now been occupied by workshops with chimneys for the past two years.

Yan Shizi's incomprehension and doubts were passed on to the ears of everyone on the stage.

Zhang Ergong, who is now the official left attendant of the Ministry of Works, has never worn a red robe, but only a dark red but stained regular clothes.

The robe, which had been pressed against the waist, had just been put down, and it was still deeply wrinkled.

Listening to Yan Shizi's questioning, Zhang Ergong looked up at His Royal Highness Taisun, who was facing away from everyone on the edge of the stands.

The materials used for the steel track, Zhu Gaochi had just checked. He didn't believe that he could spread this thing all over the Ming Dynasty. The imperial court just doesn't eat or drink for a whole year, and it may only be able to connect the surroundings of Yingtian at most.

On the contrary, Zhu Shangbing, who was wearing a pro-army thousand household uniform and a long knife at his waist, was thoughtful, and after a while, he whispered tentatively: "This road is expensive, steel is forbidden, if you want to build a road, I am afraid you have to set up another road guard, in case local thieves destroy the road and steal it." ”

Well?

Well!

Although no one in the entire stands spoke, Zhu Shangbing swore that he had obviously heard the voices of these people with different meanings.

Even Zhu Yunxi, who was standing at the front of the stands, turned around and stared at Xiao Han with a somewhat unpredictable face.

Zhu Gaochi even opened his mouth and said: "It's on the point at this time." ”

What you think is right?

Zhu Shangbing began to wonder if he forgot to bring his ears when he went out today.

He hesitantly turned his head to look at Zhu Yunxi, as if he wanted to ask for a more accurate opinion.

Zhu Yunxi didn't speak, but his eyes revealed a look of affirmation, and then beckoned to everyone.

Zhu Shangbing, who has been affirmed continuously, suddenly smiled all over his face, and rushed to Zhu Yunxi's side in front of everyone.

He even straightened his chest and looked at the steam train running on the tracks that was doing verification experiments: "I think this thing is ...... The advantages and disadvantages of this car are very obvious. But if it is used well, it can help me a lot. ”

Zhu Gaochi, who came over with Zhang Ergong, couldn't help but smile and asked: "Then you go on, what are the advantages and disadvantages?" ”

With the applause, Zhu Shangbing's smile on his face was even bigger.

He waved his hand at the three fully loaded carriages that were pulled by the head of the steam engine on the tracks: "The greatest advantage is that this carriage pulls more things than a horse-drawn carriage, and even the steam carriage is not like this." In this way, if the imperial court wants to help a certain place in the future, or if the goods from a certain place are transported to Yingtian, it will save a lot of manpower.

As for the disadvantages...... The road used for this car is fixed, and the cost is high, which is easy to be coveted by thieves.

But just now I also thought that this car is not only capable of transporting goods, but also allows people to carry this car with a slight adjustment. Nowadays, this carriage can fit 100 people, and 10 carriages can fit a whole army of soldiers and horses from a thousand households!

This is probably no less important than the delivery of goods. ”

Zhu Gaochi blinked, and secretly muttered to himself that he would never say that he was a real fool in the future.

Zhu Yunxi nodded again and again: "Cargo transportation, except for shipping, I can't think of anything more than this car." As for the people or soldiers and horses you mentioned, it is indeed a great merit of the first class. ”

The transportation of strategic materials and the projection of military force are based on all kinds of transportation.

Today's Da Ming, a well-equipped cavalry, is already the strongest in mobility.

But how far can you run in a whole day? And the war horses also have to rest at regular intervals.

But the train is different, and there is no need to think about the time to rest.

As long as enough coal is added to the combustion chamber, the vehicle can be kept on the railway.

What is the reason why the imperial power has not gone to the countryside for thousands of years?

In addition to the sinking of the official system, which leads to the elongation of the administrative system.

The most important is the issue of transportation and communications.

"Whether this road is built or not, the imperial court needs to mine more iron ore!" Zhu Shangbing continued to focus on the core of the problem.

Zhu Gaochi nodded and said: "Under the new policy, the imperial court must be fully prepared. However, at this moment, things such as apportionment into the mu, Jingcha, and military merit are being implemented, and it is necessary to try to loosen the household registration restrictions, and it may be difficult for the government and the people to recruit conscripts. ”

Zhang Ergong also said on the side: "We call this road a railway, and this car is a train." According to the verification of the ministers, if the imperial court wanted to build a railway, it must have sufficient labor. The road is to be laid with foundations, and then the trees are cut down for sleepers, and then railroad tracks are laid on them.

Moreover, the ministers and others have recently discovered traces of new mines in the local area, and they also need to be mined by labor, otherwise it is impossible to ensure the construction of the railway according to the annual output of iron ingots in the imperial court today......"

"Then let Cao Guogong and the founding father come back from outside to catch laborers!" Zhu Shangbing directly stated the solution.

Before Zhu Gaochi could speak, Zhu Shangbing had already raised his hand and said: "The imperial court is now in Shanxi Province, Zhili and other places, and there have long been countless widows. As long as the Japanese people don't die, I will not lack labor! ”

Zhu Gaochi frowned and looked at Zhu Yunxi silently.

Zhu Yunxi nodded with a smile: "Brother Bing'er is high!" ”

………………

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