"To build a railway from Mentougou to the capital, all the wrought iron was used to build railroad tracks, and small stones were paved under the sleepers, and there were ......"

"Did you figure it out? How much wrought iron do you need? Cost geometry"

In a courtyard in the armament courtyard, when Zhu Youzhen learned that the fourth version of the steam engine was about to be used, he immediately prepared for it.

He listened apprehensively to the sound of the abacus beating, and the thirty researchers at the level of Dr. Hanlin were in charge of the beating.

After all, hundreds of thousands of people can be squeezed here from Yanshan, so for Dr. Han Lin of the Armaments Institute, this calculation is too pediatric.

"It takes 2.3 million catties of wrought iron, plus sleepers and stones, 10,000 people of labor, the gauge is 4 feet 5, the construction period is two months, the total length is 38 miles, and a total of 350,000 taels of silver."

The 38-mile plain railway is a pediatric department for the Ming Dynasty, which is full of disaster victims and continues to build infrastructure.

Of course, all this is premised on the proper preparation of the materials.

"How much wrought iron was produced in the last year of the country?" Zhu Youzhen put his hands on his back and looked sideways at Wang Chengen, but Wang Chengen replied quickly: "It should be 120 million catties." ”

"About 60,000 catties of wrought iron per li......" Zhu Youzhen turned around and left, and Wang Chengen hurriedly followed.

He followed behind Zhu Youzhen, and Zhu Youzhen said to himself: "In this way, the wrought iron of the national dynasty can only build two thousand miles of railways every year? ”

There are naturally a lot of two-thousand-mile railways, but they are too few for Zhu Youzhen.

It is 4,000 miles to build a railway from the capital to Jiayuguan through Taiyuan and Xi'an.

The construction of the railway from Xi'an to Longchuan through Hanzhong, Chengdu and Kunming is 3,600 miles.

The railway that built the capital and walked outside the Great Wall, passed through Duoyan and Daning, and arrived at Shenyang was 1,400 miles.

The construction of the railway from Kunming to Champa in the southernmost part of Cochin was 2,500 li.

The last railway from Beijing to Nanjing through Shandong, and finally to Hangzhou was 2,200 miles.

These five railways are the railways that Daming urgently needs at the moment.

The first one decided the Ming Dynasty's westward expedition, the second one decided to recover Burma, the third one was to develop the northeast, the fourth was to run through the north and south, and the fifth was to control the south of the Yangtze River.

Five railways, a total of 13,700 miles.

According to the wrought iron production of Daming, it seems that it will be successfully built in seven years.

Not only that, but due to some geographical complexities, I am afraid that in the past seven years, only the shortest of the five railways can be built.

From this point of view, Daming's iron material is actually sufficient.

However, it was impossible for Zhu Youzhen to build them one by one, and when there were major droughts and floods in various provinces, and disasters were everywhere, he had to solve the problem of the survival of the victims by providing relief for work.

What is the best way to drive employment? It is undoubtedly a big infrastructure.

In particular, the light industry market of Daming has been saturated, and only the dynasty that can open up the market outward, only large infrastructure can solve the employment problem under natural disasters.

This natural disaster will not end in 14 years, and what Zhu Youzhen has to do is to complete the big infrastructure that the Ming Dynasty urgently needs in 14 years.

The pull of large infrastructure also represents the implementation of the new currency and the rise of the banking industry.

Five railways were not the limit of the Ming Dynasty, and the use of the fourth version of the steam engine would increase the output of minerals and metallurgy.

"Some parts factories for the fourth edition of the steam engine are ready to be built, and 500,000 taels of mercury will be transferred from the Imperial Horse Supervision into Mentougou."

"Wait for the gold and silver from Xiaoxiyang and Yingzhou to arrive at the national treasury in April, and then transfer 3 million taels of silver from the national treasury, and wait for the fourth version of the steam engine to be put into production and construction, and immediately put it into Anshan and Fengji in Liaodong, Qian'an in Beizhili, and ......"

Zhu Youzhen said more than a dozen place names, involving the top ten iron ores in Daming and the top ten overseas ore veins.

For example, the Anshan Iron Mine in Liaodong, the Benxi Iron Mine in Fengji County, the Qian'an Iron Mine, the Panzhihua Iron Mine in Sichuan, the Ma'anshan Iron Mine in Nanzhili, and the Meishan Iron Mine in Nanjing......

In short, there are thirteen provinces involved, and nineteen mining areas need to be built, which are basically in the hands of the imperial court.

"Each region has built its own railways to the river transportation and sea terminals, and the mileage is reported, and the railroad tracks are made from iron ore in various places to be built first."

Zhu Youzhen issued an order, which represented the beginning of the fourth version of the steam engine and the construction of the railway.

However, this is not enough, Zhu Youzhen also needs to increase the scale of miners.

It's just that mining is dangerous labor after all, and Daming can build infrastructure to create jobs, but overseas doesn't need it......

"Yingzhou, Jiugang, Jiaozhi, Xiaoxiyang, South Kunlun, Nanzhou ......"

Zhu Youzhen read out the place names of three provinces, two divisions and one prefecture, and said:

"The population of the three provinces is too large, so let the provincial political envoys prepare and send prisoners from each province to work in the mining areas, and the rest of the work, such as cement yards, digging mountains and digging rocks and building roads, hire locals, and the wages are set according to the local wages."

"If there is not enough mining area, the prisoners will be relocated to South Kunlun to dig gold."

"The slave and maid receive the order...... Wang Chengen responded, and Zhu Youzhen also said:

"Bicycles, clocks, glass, and other factories can be built, and you have heard Bi Maokang's words before, the cost of these things has been reduced, so you can discuss it with Huachun when you go back."

The three Yangs that Zhu Youzhen said were several technologies that had been mastered early in the Ming Dynasty, especially bicycles and clocks, which Zhu Youxiao had already made in the second year of the Apocalypse, but the cost was too high at that time to promote them.

Even now, the cost of bicycles is two taels of silver, clocks and watches are one or three dollars, and the glass of the glass factory is as high as 300 yuan for a window.

These things were destined to be used by the aristocracy at the time, and after the fourth version of the steam engine entered all walks of life, Bi Maokang estimated that the price of bicycles would fall to 900 yuan, clocks and watches 400 yuan, and glass 60 yuan.

Although it is still a little expensive, it is already something that people can afford.

Especially bicycles, in the situation that the price of donkeys is three taels of silver, bicycles that do not eat or drink are simply a blessing for the people.

Even in a prosperous place, workers are paid ten cents a day, and they can basically buy a bicycle in three months.

In addition, all provinces are building government roads, and after the use of cement government roads, even women can ride sixty miles in one day for the first time.

Trained soldiers can ride 150 miles a day on flat roads.

This is due to the underdevelopment of the rubber industry in the Ming Dynasty, but Xu Xiake bought back a lot of rubber seeds from European merchants, and these rubber seeds will rise in the old port in eight or nine years.

At that time, it is estimated that the tires will become more similar to the tires of later generations, and it is not a problem to ride 200 miles a day.

Even without a train, the bicycle troops could travel from the capital to Jiayuguan, the westernmost part of the Ming Dynasty, in a month's time.

Although the bicycle troops sound a little funny, in this era, once the Ming army is equipped, it can be said that it is a horse infantry per capita.

Needless to say, what is the concept of more than 900,000 horse infantry, in the battle of Fuliao, Nurhachi relied on tens of thousands of horse infantry to turn around the 200,000 infantry in Liaodong, if it were not for the Ming army with four cavalry guards and 20,000 Liaodong cavalry, Nurhachi might really be able to play the Ming army, and then retreat calmly.

The Battle of Fuliao was also the first time that Zhu Youzhen had faced an enemy with higher mobility than himself since he took charge of his troops.

Although many years have passed, and the current Jianyu is only barely breathing, the thorn in his heart cannot be pulled out after all.

As long as the train can transport the materials to Jiayuguan, the Ming army's bicycle troops will be able to go straight to the Western Regions and drink the Yinli River in two months.

Therefore, Zhu Youzhen is particularly concerned about the matter of the velodrome, because it represents a huge market.

Even if only 10 million people buy it, it can create a light industry of more than 100,000 people.

"The slave understands, please rest assured."

Wang Chengen nodded, indicating that he understood, but after he responded, he asked:

"Your Highness, the pricing of these goods ......"

"Bicycles sell for one or two and a half yuan, clocks and watches are 700 yuan, and glass is 100 yuan." Zhu Youzhen replied without thinking, and he didn't think the price was very high.

The cost price is the cost price, but the freight and labor also need money, and the current labor costs have become lower because of the drought, and when the drought is over, the people will plough their fields, and it will not be so easy to recruit workers, and the wages will naturally increase.

Fixing wages is what Zhu Youzhen has to do after the Ming Dynasty entered the industrial revolution.

The promulgation of the Labor Law when state-owned factories occupy at least 60% of the market, guaranteeing wages and giving respect to workers is the first step to maintain stability after the Ming Dynasty entered the industrial revolution.

If civil strife broke out in the Ming Dynasty, the workers and peasants would inevitably be the main force to overthrow the Ming Dynasty in the future, regardless of whether or not anyone had bewitched them.

Giving them respect and guaranteeing wages can be regarded as the last bit of face left for the Ming royal family.

Even if only one adult remembers the Labor Law, the royal family can retain a certain sense of decency.

At present, the light and heavy industry of the Ming Dynasty accommodates more than 2 million workers, at most 2% of the workers, and 5% if you count the people.

Not to mention that most of the 5% are processing industries such as textiles, tea, and sugar.

The introduction of the fourth version of the steam engine into the market will make their jobs unstable, and if they want to be stable, they will have to build factories to house employment.

The population of the Ming Dynasty accounts for too much of the world, and it is destined not to have a large proportion of the working class like European countries, but it will not be less.

Zhu Youzhen could only absorb the labor force into a relatively stable industrial system as much as possible, and for each additional permanent worker, one peasant would be reduced and the average cultivated land would be increased by six mu.

With the addition of 10 million workers, the Ming Dynasty will have an additional 60 million mu of average cultivated land, and the remaining 130 million peasants will each be able to share at least half an acre of land.

The middle peasant economy must be established, and the industrial economy must also be established.

Zhu Youzhen wanted to make good use of the remaining 14 years of drought.

"Your Highness, this can't be ...... like this"

"Why can't you get it?"

"It's going to explode like this......"

"Oh...... That's ......."

Walking to the door of the Tractor Research Institute, Zhu Youzhen heard the voices of Zhu Ciran and Wang Zheng from inside.

He had a bad premonition in his heart, and hurriedly walked into it, and then saw Zhu Ciran, whose face was white and black, and his hands were full of stains.

He was sitting on a chair, the table in front of him was full of parts of the steam engine, and Zhu Ciran was holding a screwdriver to assemble, and Wang Zheng next to him looked helpless.

"What about Dingguo?"

Zhu Youzhen turned his head suspiciously and looked at the Jinyi guards at the door, while the two Jinyi guards bowed their heads and said:

"He said that there was nothing to visit in the armaments yard, and he went back to the carriage to study......"

"No wonder ......" Hearing this, Zhu Youzhen looked at Zhu Ciran helplessly.

The kid hadn't noticed him yet, and the whole person was immersed in the atmosphere of assembling a steam engine.

Zhu Youzhen walked behind him, and he was still fiddling with the parts in his hand.

"Sir, this steam engine is so small, can its horsepower drive a tractor?"

"This ......" Wang Zheng looked at Zhu Youzhen and stopped talking, while Zhu Youzhen raised his chin lightly and motioned for him to speak.

"The lack of horsepower is natural, this is just a model machine, the actual agricultural steam tractor, about five feet high, four feet wide, seven feet long, weighs two thousand pounds......"

"But this kind of tractor is pulled to the field by a cart, and then placed in the field, and the ploughshare is pulled far away by a wire rope to plough the ploughshare."

When Wang Zheng saw Zhu Youzhen's signal, he could only talk to Zhu Ciran, and when Zhu Ciran heard it, he was immediately surprised:

"So bulky? How is that man going to be transported? Besides, how many acres of land can it plow, and how much charcoal and water can be wasted? ”

"Wheels will be installed under it, and then dragged by horses, ploughing about 20 acres a day, burning 1,000 catties of charcoal, and discarding 300 catties of water, which requires three people to operate."

Wang Zheng explained patiently, and Zhu Ciran said happily after hearing it:

"Then if there is such a ......" he pinched his fingers, and then continued to be happy: "There are more than 40 million units, and the land of the Ming Dynasty can be planted, right?" ”

"That's true, but ......" Wang Zheng's face was embarrassed, and Zhu Youzhen took the opportunity to say:

"Ran'er, you can't dream, think about how much silver is needed for a thousand catties of coal, how much silver the people have for an acre of land, how much silver is needed for a machine, and whether the people can afford it."

"Uncle Qi Wang?!" Zhu Ciran was taken aback, but seeing that he was not scolded, he quickly thought about it.

Although he didn't know very well, he also knew that one mu of land normally had an income of only 900 wen after paying taxes, and 20 mu of land was 18 taels of silver.

A thousand catties of coal is about one tael of silver, and the people can still get seventeen taels of silver.

"Uncle Qi Wang, the people can still earn seventeen taels of silver when they go to charcoal and water!" Zhu Ciran thought he was happy to show off, but Zhu Youzhen turned his head to look at Wang Zheng:

"How much does such a machine cost?"

"This ...... The cost is one hundred and fifty-six taels ......" Wang Zheng truthfully said the cost of the machine, while Zhu Youzhen looked at Zhu Ciran:

"How much does a machine cost, plus the freight, it will sell for at least one hundred and sixty taels of silver."

"I am like a north Zhili, each household is only between fifteen and twenty-five acres of land, even if a family of five people, fifteen acres of arable land, a year is not more than thirteen taels of silver."

"In other words, a family needs to go without food or drink for nearly 12 years before they can buy such a machine."

"Ah......" Zhu Ciran was speechless, and at this time, footsteps came from outside the door.

Li Dingguo trotted all the way into the courtyard, followed by Jinyiwei, it turned out that Jinyiwei went to Li Dingguo.

"Li Dingguo!"

Seeing Li Dingguo coming, Zhu Ciran hurriedly ran over and talked to him about Zhu Youzhen's problem.

After all, Li Dingguo has lived in the village for a period of time, so he knows more than Zhu Ciran, and said to Zhu Youzhen with confidence:

"Your Highness, a family can't afford it, but a village can afford it!"

"Spring ploughing generally takes about 20 days, and this machine can turn 20 acres, and 400 acres in half a month."

"Fifteen acres of land for one household, 400 acres for twenty-six or seven households."

"Twenty-six or seven-hundred-seven families can definitely afford to buy a piece of silver, and each village can buy three or four units."

"Uh-huh!" Zhu Ciran nodded hurriedly, looking proud, and he didn't know that he thought that what he said just now was said by him.

"You guys......" Zhu Youzhen looked at their appearance, and couldn't help laughing:

"Just think about it, it's true that as you said, a household can't afford it, but a village can buy it."

"But it's not easy to unite the people of a village, so what the court has to do is to help the villagers buy machines."

"Help buy?!" Li Dingguo was slightly surprised, after all, he heard the price of this machine.

Daming's 890,000 natural villages, tens of thousands of market towns, and more than 1,900 counties are, as Zhu Ciran said, 870 million mu of cultivated land, at least more than 40 million machines.

For these more than 40 million machines, the imperial court had to spend nearly 7 billion taels of silver......

With so much silver, Li Dingguo couldn't even think of it, and Wang Zheng, who was standing behind Zhu Youjian, and all the Dr. Hanlin were speechless.

Not to mention more than 40 million units, even 400,000 units can empty the treasury of the Ming Dynasty.

"Help buy, but not all." Zhu Youzhen looked at everyone's expressions, and sighed helplessly:

"There are eighty or ninety thousand villages in the Ming Dynasty, and the imperial court can't satisfy five or six units in each village, but it's still okay to place two or three."

"Don't think that being satisfied is good for the people, even if there are only two or three units, it can relieve a lot of pressure on the people."

"Besides, the price of the machine can be reduced through scientific research." Zhu Youzhen said so in his words, but the reason why he wanted to equip the people with machinery was not simply to reduce the burden on the people.

To put it bluntly, he wants to let the power of industry be seen by everyone in the world, and let everyone in the world give up the backward idea that industry is a "strange and ingenious skill".

In addition, after the issuance of these 200,000 machines, is the imperial court really only losing money?

How is that possible......

Not to mention that these 200,000 machines can release tens of millions of labor, the coal used in these 200,000 machines alone is enough to stimulate the coal industry.

The cost price of coal in Huangdian is 10 wen and 15 catties, and it is sold to the people for 1 penny and 1 catty, and 10 catties can earn 5 cents.

More than 200,000 machines are not only used by the people when they are busy with farming, but also when they are reclaiming new land.

With such a low cost, as long as the people found it solid, they would like to use it for 12 hours a day to reclaim new land.

Such a machine, even if it can reclaim five acres of land a year, is also cost-effective for the people.

At that time, the demand for billions of catties of coal will make the Imperial Horse Supervisor make a lot of money, and it will only take more than ten years to return to the capital.

However, how to build it, this still needs to depend on Wang Zheng and the scientific research team behind him.

Therefore, Zhu Youzhen set his eyes on Wang Zheng's body, and then said:

"How long does it take to solve the problem of speed and power?"

"Probably...... It can be solved in three months. Wang Zheng finished speaking, but continued:

"After the solution, the weight of the tractor is estimated to be reduced to 1,600 catties, and the supporting harvesters, cultivators, land leveling machinery, subsoilers, seeders and other man-operated machinery have also been studied."

"As long as Your Highness gives your order, a steam engine factory and agricultural machinery factory can be established in a few months."

"Xia Guan has calculated that 500,000 taels can be invested in the construction of a large high-pressure steam engine with an annual output of 100 units, 300 industrial steam engines and 1,000 agricultural steam engines."

Wang Zheng's words made Zhu Ciran and Li Dingguo, as well as everyone around him, look at him, after all, if Zhu Youzhen did not support it, it would be difficult to build a steam engine factory.

Zhu Youzhen was also a little stunned after hearing the cost, he thought that investing 500,000 taels to build a steam engine factory was already a big deal, but it turned out that the industrial start was really expensive.

Large high-pressure steam engines are mainly used for ships and trains, while industrial steam engines are used for light and heavy industry, and agricultural steam engines are needless to say.

Such an output is obviously not in line with the speed of industrial progress that Zhu Youzhen wants.

Although he knew that investing a large amount of gold and silver would lead to local inflation, Da Ming did not have much local finance to use at the moment, so Zhu Youzhen could only say to Wang Chengen:

"Increase the construction of steam engine factories from 500,000 taels to 3 million taels, and build six factories in Mentougou, Miyun, Yanqing, Taiyuan, Zunhua, and Baoan."

The places selected by Zhu Youzhen are all located in the river valley plain surrounded by mountains, because it is easier to keep secrets.

"Slave and maid receive ......"

Wang Chengen responded, and then reminded: "Do you want to inform Long live?" ”

"Naturally, ......" Zhu Youzhen nodded, he must tell his imperial brother about such a major event as the fourth version of the steam engine.

The six factories represent 600 large high-pressure steam engines, 1,800 industrial steam engines and 6,000 agricultural steam engines per year.

Although the speed of the agricultural steam engine was relatively slow, it would take more than ten years to realize the idea of the imperial court paying for 80,000 or 90,000 natural villages.

But the more factories are built, the more problems are found, and the more they are improved, the higher the output will be.

What's more, Zhu Youjian ordered the construction of a steam engine factory every year after the inspection, because the steam engine represents industrial capacity.

From this, we can see how huge the volume of Daming is.

In 1825, the industrial demand in Britain was only more than 15,000 steam engines, and the more than 8,000 in the Ming Dynasty was just the beginning.

Population and territory represent demand, and the demand of the Ming Dynasty is more than ten times stronger than that of the United Kingdom, and before the advent of the internal combustion engine, the Ming Dynasty needed at least a million steam engines to meet its own needs.

However, in Zhu Youzhen's view, the steam engine of the Ming Dynasty may not reach one million units and will enter the era of internal combustion engines.

Thinking of this, he looked at Wang Zheng and couldn't help but hope for him:

"After the fourth edition of the steam engine research is over, you should be distracted from the study of the internal combustion engine, you should have read both the subject and the general theory."

The more modern the scientific and technological products are, the more cumbersome they are, and Zhu Youzhen's memory of the internal combustion engine only remembers the car engine he saw when his car broke down and went to repair it, as well as the basic piston knowledge.

Naturally, this knowledge could not have inspired the internal combustion engine, but the underlying principles could.

can survive until the fourth version of the steam engine comes out, Zhu Youzhen is very satisfied, the fourth version of the steam engine and enough Ming needs, and then in the future, in addition to the progress of the agricultural steam engine, otherwise Zhu Youzhen will not care too much.

He was more concerned about whether he could see the internal combustion engine before he left the Ming Dynasty, even if it was the initial version.

"We have a superficial understanding of the topic of internal combustion engines, but there is too little information, and it is ...... to know only the principle."

Wang Zheng's face was embarrassed, and Zhu Youzhen was also relieved when he saw this, and comforted:

"It's good that the steam engine can enter the fourth edition, and when you completely solve all its problems, the court will have a rich reward."

"Your Royal Highness Xie......" Wang Zheng, who heard this, returned the salute, and Zhu Youzhen glanced at Zhu Ciran and Li Dingguo next to him, and turned around before saying:

"Let's take a look at other research projects......

After that, he walked to the door, and Zhu Ciran and Li Dingguo hurriedly followed when they saw this.

Wang Chengen took out a handkerchief and asked Zhu Ciran to wipe his hands, and then several people visited all the scientific research institutes of the Armaments Institute.

In general, more than a year has passed, all scientific research has progressed, and after the birth of the fourth version of the steam engine, in addition to the progress in transportation, industry, and agriculture, perhaps the greatest progress is the military industry.

Zhu Youzhen deliberately glanced at the rear-loading gun lathe that was still being studied, although the lathe had not yet passed the experiment, but everyone in the Military Industry Institute knew that its application was only a matter of time.

Once the lathe and the fourth version of the steam engine are used, it is probably not delusional for the Ming army to sweep through the Western Regions and Mobei with one enemy and 10,000 people.

Facing the lathe that was being corrected, Zhu Youzhen thought of Jianyu in the Northeast:

"It's best to solve the problem within a year and put it into production next year, and I hope to see it appear on the battlefield when I sweep the north."

"Your Highness rest assured......" Bi Maokang returned the salute, and Zhu Youzhen also turned around and left the Military Industry Research Institute when he saw this.

The change of science and technology will make the change of the Ming Dynasty smoother, and the gentry will eventually withdraw from the stage of history.

In the face of such a change of times, Zhu Youzhen couldn't wait......