As soon as they met, Zheng Zunrang thanked Shi Jiuke repeatedly.

Shi Jiuke was ruined by Zheng Zunrang, and asked: "Brother Zheng, you have painted the whole lake of the little brother, what thank you do to the little brother in a good manner?" ”

Zheng Zunrang was stunned when he heard this: "You still don't know? ”

"Know what?" Shi Jiuke was confused.

For more than half a month, Shi Jiuke has been rushing outside the door above.

Zheng Zunrang patted his thigh and said: "Jingshi is victorious, Jiannu has been destroyed!" ”

"Jingshi's victory?!" Shi Jiuke was overjoyed when he heard this, "Did you really let the little brother say it?" ”

"That's not it, this time it's really thanks to you, brother Xian." Zheng Zun said, "If you hadn't sworn to tell me, the war of exterminating slaves would definitely end in the first half of the year, and I wouldn't have been able to raise capital in advance." ”

"Now it's okay, it is estimated that your Shi family and our Zheng family will have the most capital to prepare."

Speaking of this, he said: "At this IPO meeting of the Liangjing Railway, we must occupy as many shares as possible, which is a once-in-a-lifetime God-given opportunity." ”

Or else, the sense of smell of the merchant is the most sensitive?

The Battle of Bali Bridge had just ended, and even those traitorous ministers had not yet been liquidated, and businessmen like the Zheng family and the Shi family were already coveting the business opportunities brought by the railway.

"That's, that's what Brother Zheng said." Shi Jiuke also said.

"The construction of the Liangjing Railway is nothing to do with us, and the Holy Lord has already promised the Wanghu family, but after the completion of the railway, the two of us still have the opportunity to participate in the freight business."

After a pause, Shi Jiuke asked again: "Brother Zheng, how much capital have you prepared?" ”

"Not much, only two million." Zheng Zunrang asked with a smile, "How much have you prepared, Brother Xian?" ”

"Little brother, you can't compare me with Brother Zheng." Shi Jiuke waved his hand and said, "I can only squeeze out one million yuan, and I won't be able to get any more." ”

With the development of industry and commerce, the wealth of the Ming bourgeoisie was growing at an alarming rate.

For example, the Zheng family in Huiji County, Chongzhen died a year before the seventeenth year to brew thousands of stone rice wine, and the annual profit was only a few thousand taels of silver, but after the injection of capital by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, especially after receiving a large order from the new army, the sales of the Zheng family brewery swelled up like a balloon, and now the profit a year has reached more than two million.

Of course, the vast majority of the two million profits go to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but the Zheng family only drank soup, and they have also accumulated a lot of wealth in the past five years, for example, this time, the Zheng family's self-raised funds plus various industries as collateral, and the funds borrowed from the industrial and commercial industry silver account added up, a full two million yuan.

Before, the Zheng family really couldn't think about it.

Because the competition in the silk industry is fierce, the total output value of the silk reeling, knitting and other workshops cannot be compared with the Zheng's brewing workshop, but fortunately, the profit margin is very large, so it has saved a lot in the past few years, plus the funds borrowed from several silver numbers, and has actually prepared a million yuan of funds.

The key is that the Ming Dynasty allowed mortgage lending, which greatly accelerated the expansion of industrial capital.

"Brother Xian, one million yuan is already a lot, and only salt merchants can come up with so much before."

Zheng Zunrang laughed, and then said: "Then don't say much, let's hurry up, although the official document of the Internal Affairs Office has not yet been sent, but I think it won't take too long, we have to take the first step." ”

"Brother Zheng wait for a while, and wait for the younger brother to talk to the manager of the silk factory."

Shi Jiuke immediately entrusted the affairs of the silk reeling factory to the steward, and then followed Zheng Zunrang back to Nanjing first, and after arriving in Nanjing, he took the golden ticket issued by the Nanjing General Number of the Industrial and Commercial Industry and went straight to Beijing by boat.

……

Outside the grassland gate, Longjiang Shipyard.

In the past half month, Zheng Zhilong has eaten and lived in the shipyard.

Moreover, Zheng Zhilong also deliberately isolated internal and external news so as not to disturb him.

The reason why Zheng Zhilong is so tight is because the first steam-powered warship of the Ming Dynasty has reached a critical juncture, and the moment to witness history and witness miracles is coming.

Early this morning, Zheng Zhilong came to the shipyard viewing platform and took a seat.

In the sound of footsteps, a scholar from the Water Master School hurriedly came up.

"Grandpa." Shizi said excitedly, "Everything is ready." ”

"Good." Zheng Zhilong sat on the Taishi chair, patted the armrest and said, "Pass my order, the trial flight begins!" ”

"Grandpa has an order, the trial has begun!" Zheng Zhilong's orders were passed down one by one, and soon from the viewing platform on the shore to the lookout post on the mast, and from the lookout post to the deck of the warship, and then from the deck to the power room, the sailors guarding the power room immediately opened the lid of the furnace and sent shovels of anthracite into the hearth.

This batch of anthracite coal was mined from the coal mines of Yongcheng County.

As the fire burns, the scale of the manometer rises at a speed visible to the naked eye.

When the scale of the manometer finally reached 1 scale (an atmospheric pressure difference), a sailor opened the valve with force, and the hot high-pressure steam immediately entered the huge cylinder of the steam engine through the valve.

Driven by high-pressure steam, the flywheel began to move slowly.

After a while, the speed of the flywheel went from slow to fast, and finally to fast.

The rotation of the flywheel is linked by the propeller at the stern of the ship through the propulsion shaft.

Soon, the high-speed rotation of the propeller churned the river to produce a huge propulsion.

Driven by this propulsion, the 2,000-material warship began to move forward at a speed visible to the naked eye, and Zheng Zhilong and others on the viewing platform immediately cheered, it was really done, the steam engine warship was really done!

From this moment on, the Daming Water Master will enter an unprecedented new stage.

Just as Zheng Zhilong and the other officers and soldiers of the Navy Division cheered and thundered, another student rushed over with a newspaper in his hand, and Zheng Zhilong's face immediately turned pale.

"What's going on?"

"Who told you to bring the newspaper in?"

Without waiting for the student to speak, Zheng Zhilong reprimanded him sharply.

The student gasped and said, "Grandpa, the Jingshi has won a great victory, and Jiannu has been destroyed!" ”

"What? The Jingshi won a great victory, and Jiannu was destroyed? Zheng Zhilong turned his anger into joy, "This is really double happiness." ”

After a pause, Zheng Zhilong said with an expectant face: "If Jiannu is destroyed, the pseudo-Shun and the Western Thief will become a mustard disease, and the Ming Dynasty can invest more troops and resources in developing the sea frontier!" The era of our sailors is coming, hahaha! ”

Zheng Zhilong still clearly remembers what Chongzhen said to him at the beginning, the new route, the new continent, and what South America and Oceania, there are too many seas in this world waiting for their sailors to explore, and there are too many new continents waiting for the new soldiers of the Ming Dynasty to occupy, and all of this is inseparable from the sailors.

Thinking of this, Zheng Zhilong couldn't hold back the eagerness in his heart.

At the moment, he said to Zheng Cai beside him: "Beat the flag, let them turn on the power of the steam engine to the maximum, Lao Tzu wants to see how fast this steam engine can make a 2000-material warship run?" ”

Zheng Cai answered yes and quickly gave an order with a banner.

Soon, black smoke billowed from the chimney of the test ship.

Immediately after that, the test ship was accelerating at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Because the speed was so fast that a huge wake was dragged in the stern of the boat.

A small fishing boat that happened to pass nearby was almost overturned by the wake wave.

Zheng Zhilong couldn't help but be overjoyed when he saw this, this speed was much faster than a sail.

The key point is that this thing doesn't need to be propelled by the wind, and it can be turned on at any time.

Thinking of this, Zheng Zhilong became even more expectant.

The trial voyage of the steam-engine ship must be completed as soon as possible.

Then rebuild the large and small warships of the sailors as soon as possible.

……

Zheng Zhilong and the students of the Sailor Academy were happy, but the officials in Nanjing were distressed.

Because the Tang Bao was sent to Nanjing with the Holy Order, there was also a decree from the Holy Lord, requiring officials of all sizes in Nanjing to leave for Beijing within three days after receiving the holy decree, and of course, the family members did not need to go to Beijing for the time being.

Chongzhen's meaning is already obvious, that is, to return the capital and move the capital back to Beijing.

For Chongzhen, a traverser, it can be said that moving the capital back to Beijing can be said to be a matter of course.

The reasons for moving the capital from Nanjing back to Beijing can be summarized as follows.

First, combining the political and cultural center and the economic center of the Ming Dynasty is a terrible choice, which is nothing now, but in the near future it will overwhelm the city, especially in the seventeenth century, when science and technology were not developed enough, and the city's water supply, sewage and transportation will become a huge burden.

Second, it is to promote the prosperity and development of several northern provinces.

The slaughter of several provinces in Beijing, especially in the Gyeonggi region, by the six entry of Jiannu, coupled with the devastation of peasant uprisings, can really be described as a devastation of life and ruins, and if the capital is not moved back to Beijing at this time, it is bound to make the recovery of the economy and people's livelihood in the northern provinces extremely slow, which is obviously very unfavorable.

Third, it is balanced, and geographical balance is still very necessary.

As for the Son of Heaven guarding the country, it has actually become a false proposition.

Because it won't be long before Beijing becomes the hinterland of the Ming Dynasty.

To sum up, moving the capital back to Beijing can be said to be an inevitable choice.

But this frustrated officials who tended to make Nanjing their capital.

Even many scholars in the Ministry of Internal Affairs are full of complaints, such as the Finance and Silk Department to Zhang Dai.

Needless to say, Zhang Dai's ability is needless to say, otherwise Ma Mingluo would not be so important to him, but it is undeniable that Zhang Dai also pursues all kinds of enjoyment in life.

Zhang Dai is a beautiful maid, a good house, a good fresh clothes, a good plough garden, and a good vocal music......

If he goes to Beijing, most of Zhang Dai's hobbies will be wiped out.

At this time, Beijing was, in Zhang Dai's eyes, a border and barbaric cultural desert.

So what's so bad about Nanjing? With a large population, bustling and an abundant nightlife, there is no better city in the world than Nanjing as the capital.

Why should he return the capital?

Why do you have to return to Beijing?

But there was no way, in this matter, Chongzhen did not plan to discuss with the civil and military officials at all, and directly forcibly asked the officials to go north with the central decree, and only gave three days.

The civil and military officials had no choice but to go north.

Even if he opposes the return of the capital, he will mention it after getting Beijing, after all, the saint did not explicitly say that the capital should be returned, but only said that there were important matters to discuss.