"The first steam engine wagon, the cost performance is not very high."

Several chief managers of China Heavy Industries, after visiting the iron car, came to a conclusion and said in front of Zhu Gaochi.

Zhu Gaochi was also very curious.

The iron car in front of me is very simple.

Because of the problem of steering, there is only one front wheel, but because there is only one front wheel, the balance is not good enough, and the speed of braking is also low.

"Although there are many shortcomings, I believe that in the future, it will become a technology as important as the train, and China Heavy Industry will develop it regardless of the cost and use it in large quantities."

"Where it can be used, it must be used, and what can be used or not must be used."

Zhu Gaochi said.

Everyone nodded again and again, understanding His Royal Highness the Imperial Grandson's thoughts.

The cost of use, as well as the effect, as long as it does not lose money, China Heavy Industries should use steam engine trucks.

"The current steam engine wagon seems to have little effect, but when the steam engine first appeared, it was just for pumping water, who would have thought that after the development of technology, it became the most important invention of the Ming Dynasty."

"I see, this steam engine wagon, more agile than a train, with an iron lid on it, is not an invincible existence."

Zhu Gaochi reminded.

Everyone was stunned.

No one has ever thought about this, worthy of His Royal Highness the Imperial Sun, his thoughts are like a wild imagination, and there is no trace of an antelope hanging on its horns.

The more I think about it, the more convinced I become.

If there is such an "iron guy" on the battlefield who is rampage and invulnerable, wouldn't there be no one to stop him.

"The three wheels are unstable, easy to overturn, and the requirements for the road are high, and now I am afraid that it is more likely to have problems, but what His Royal Highness the Imperial Sun said has inspired us a lot."

Han Youchang said seriously.

There are many people who study steam engines, and although the first person to make them by himself is Mansan, as more and more people put into it, many people's talents in steam engines have surpassed Mansan.

Han Youchang is one of them.

In the steam engine factory of China Heavy Industry Co., Ltd., when the second-generation steam engine overcame many problems, this person solved the key problem of sealing and put forward the solution idea of "capping".

Later, Jinzhou established a shipyard to overcome the difficulties of steam engine steamers, and this person was one of the leaders of the technical team appointed and played an important role.

"That's right."

Zhu Gaochi agreed.

"It's not as demanding as a train, but it's hard to do it on a dirt road, so you can try to change the wheels, but you don't have to use them."

Zhu Gaochi proposed the track.

The cost of the track, as well as the technology, are higher, and there are still many technologies that the current steam engine wagon needs to overcome, but he will throw out some of the directions he knows.

It's not like pulling out the seedlings to help them grow, but they play a guiding role.

"That's where the pressure comes in."

"The same piece of mud, people can quickly fall into it, and lay a plank, people will not sink when they stand on it, and the same is true for wheels and tracks, you can consult more scholars in other industries, and you must not do it behind closed doors."

"Steam engine trucks can not only transport goods, but also play a huge role in agriculture, breaking through the limitations of manpower on the land and completely liberating the productive forces."

The clerk on the side recorded Zhu Gaochi's words.

The same was true in China Heavy Industries before.

Even if Zhu Gaochi is busy with things and forgets the things he explained before, there is a record of the paperwork, and there will be no omissions.

"The technology of the steam engine is still open to the whole society, and all scholars and craftsmen can study and improve the steam engine, and as long as there is a result, they can get a heavy reward from the imperial court."

Zhu Gaochi emphasized.

The steam engine was the most important invention of the Industrial Revolution, followed by coke refining technology, which brought about changes in social energy and power, and gave birth to an industrialized society.

Therefore, the coking manufacturing plant is still controlled by the imperial court and controls the country's energy.

Steam engine technology is open to the whole society, and everyone can study and make profits, which can only be done by China Heavy Industries.

Historically, the first generation of steam engine technology in Britain did not have a patent, because the craftsmen rebelled against the nobles and knew that applying for a patent would only fall into the hands of the powerful, so they did not apply for a patent directly.

Everyone can study the steam engine, and Watt can improve the steam engine, which is the background.

It can be seen that the British society, with the development of productive forces and the social changes brought about, finally achieved the progress of social civilization.

Development is everything.

However, society is not developing steadily, and in the process of change, various problems emerge, and regression is also common, so it is necessary for the people to participate in person.

The chief managers of China Heavy Industry brought back Zhu Gaochi's request.

It didn't take long.

The factories of China Heavy Industries, according to the instructions of the higher authorities, purchase and use a large number of steam engine trucks, even if it is unprofitable, as long as it is not operating at a loss, they will insist on using it.

Jinzhou Steam Engine Wagon Factory, Beiping Steam Engine Truck Factory, and Beijing Steam Engine Truck Factory, three of which were opened in a row.

It's only been a few months.

There is a shadow of steam engine wagons on the market, mainly in the factory area.

"China Heavy Industry Co., Ltd. has a very high implementation of the will of His Royal Highness the Imperial Sun, and it is worthy of being an important weapon of the country." Xie Jin's eyes showed a look of admiration.

China Heavy Industry is a "giant beast" that is separated from the imperial court.

Although under the arrangement of His Royal Highness the Imperial Grandson, it gradually came under the supervision and control of the imperial court, the huge system is amazing.

The direct and indirect control of hundreds of thousands of workers, coupled with the influence in all walks of life, and the core industries controlled, can be described as half of the Ming Dynasty.

"Double-edged blades."

Zhu Gaochi said with a smile.

People have seen the benefits of China Heavy Industry, and he must also explain the harm of China Heavy Industry to everyone.

When I was alive, I had the confidence to guide me well, but what about the day I was gone.

"Over the years, I have continued to split China Heavy Industries, including the Railway Engineering Department, the Railway Operation Department, and various organizations from the China Heavy Industry system, just to prevent China Heavy Industries from overtaking the country."

Businessmen are much easier to deal with than China Heavy Industries.

China Heavy Industries not only has money and resources, but also has rights.

The dragon slayer eventually becomes an evil dragon.

Only a mature system, and a continuous process of improvement, can make the sword only kill the enemy, not hurt itself.

Xie Jin understood Zhu Gaochi's worries.

If you include the Ministry of Railway Engineering, the Ministry of Engineering and other large departments, the workers directly managed by China Heavy Industry will exceed one million.

"China Heavy Industry will continue to be split in the future, but at this stage, it is better to concentrate on doing big things."

Zhu Gaochi said affirmatively.

Relying on the natural fermentation of the market alone, in just a few months, three steam engine and wagon manufacturing plants were opened regardless of the cost, and it would not take 11 years to build nearly 100,000 miles of railways.

Mandarin Palace.

The Governor's Office, the Military Department, and the Cabinet of the Five Armies are all there.

Zhu Di was not there, so he went to patrol the Beijing camp.

The 600,000 land and water army of the Ming Dynasty, the new military system, and the new mode of warfare, with the railway, have undergone earth-shaking changes from the original.

How to ensure the safety of the capital has become the most concerned thing for the military department.

"From 30,000 Wei to Beiping City, to the west to Yili Li, to the south to Guangzhou, with 30 large stations and 30 small stations as military stations, forming a defense line of three circles inside and outside."

Jin Zhong pointed to the circle on the map and said.

"The station in the capital is directly controlled by the Beijing battalion, the Fenyong Army controls the north station, and the loyal and brave army controls the south station, and each has a battalion of new troops to guard it for a long time. Then there are Xuzhou stations, Shanghai stations, and Hangzhou stations, and a battalion is also set up. ”

The railway network of Daming is mainly two from north to south.

A railway from Datong to Taiyuan, then south to Zhengzhou, Wuhan, Changsha, and finally into Guangxi, as well as at Jiaozhi.

One runs from Beiping to Tianjin, then Jinan, Xuzhou, Beijing, Shanghai, and Hangzhou.

The railway from Hangzhou to Fuzhou and Xiamen has not yet been opened to traffic, and it is in the process of large-scale construction.

Then there are the areas near Chengdu in Sichuan, the area around Chongqing, the area around Guiyang in Guizhou, and the area around Kunming in Yunnan.

Zhu Gaochi looked at the planning of the Ministry of War on the map and considered the gains and losses.

The railroad is indeed fast.

But if someone makes trouble, they can also use the railway to go straight to the capital.

The blitzkrieg waged by the railroad is well known.

Humans are the most learning animals.

Shield contradictory spear.

Now it's time to need a shield.

Jin Zhong saw that Zhu Gaochi had no intention of asking, so he continued to point to the railway network on the map and said: "The middle line railway is parallel to the east line railway, no matter which line it is, it needs to pass through Xuzhou, and similarly, the south needs to pass through Hangzhou and Shanghai. ”

"Considering that the road between Hangzhou and the capital is not far, the first line of defense joined Hangzhou."

It stands to reason that Hangzhou should directly build a railway with the capital.

However, with the great development of Shanghai County, it has become the only area where a large station has been built as a county, and the railway of Beijing and Hangzhou stations has made a bend.

"Xuzhou and Zhejiang railway stations, each set up three battalion military stations, become the gateway of the capital railway network. Then there are three major stations in Jinan, Zhengzhou and Nanchang. ”

There are three battalions at the main station.

In addition to defending the railway, there is also the purpose of defending the place. There is a battalion left in the capital and even the small station in Yingtianfu. It also relied on the railway network as a measure to prevent rebel rebellion in the event of a rebellion.

"There are 150,000 troops on the railway, and the remaining 350,000 troops, 100,000 in Beijing, 150,000 in the frontier, and 100,000 in the rest of the inland provinces, a total of 500,000.

Half a million troops.

It seems that the whole world can go there.

In fact, it is true, but the current territory of the Ming Dynasty is too big, and the pace of expansion is too fast, and it seems that it is very stable in all directions, but in fact, troops are needed in all directions.

"Li Fangyuan, the general of the right army of Goryeo, is the most powerful, and at present, we are pressing, and he does not dare to blatantly seize the throne, and the shogunate of the Wa Kingdom has been like fire and water with Ouchi Yoshihiro, and war is about to break out."

"The Burmese Xuanwei Division is ready to move, the Kingdom of Siam is conscripting troops to prepare for war, and there is a great situation of annexing the Sukhothai region, so I will not have the opportunity to intervene."

Jin Zhong received official letters from all over the country.

"If it weren't for the pressure of our Daming, the world would have been in flames of war."

"yes."

"All localities are accustomed to barbarism, relying on force to do misdeeds, do not understand civilization, do not care for the people, and do not know the value of peace.

Xie Jin smiled.

Since His Royal Highness the Emperor Sun likes to spread in a civilized and oppressive tone, the ministers have followed suit, and soon they are better than the blue.

Hearing the conversation and laughter between the two of them, Zhu Gaochi was a little speechless.

Da Ming is the moral model of the world.

An example of benevolence and righteousness.

"You just talk about overseas and southwest, but I see that the biggest threat is the northwest." Zhu Gaochi spoke, interrupting everyone's laughter.

"His Royal Highness the Emperor is talking about Timur?"

Zhu Gaochi nodded, "The Golden Horde was defeated by Timur once, and now it is in a period of decline, according to Li Xian, who sent an envoy back, there is a small kingdom over there, which actually controls the tax revenue of the Golden Horde, and in the long run, this country will definitely replace the Golden Horde." ”

"And the Timurid Khanate, because it blocked the news of the exchange between the East and the West, we can't know it clearly, but we can also know how much that this country is very powerful now, at least hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses, although I am not afraid, but we also need to take precautions in advance."

When it comes to precautions, Zhu Gaochi has a headache.

Preparedness requires military force.

The population of the Eastern Chagatai Division is small, the railways have not yet been built, and there are many troops stationed, so they need supplies from the interior, plus the cost of transportation, which is not much different from traditional consumption.

But if there are fewer people stationed, in case Timur changes his mind and launches the Eastern Expedition in advance, with two or three hundred thousand infantry, more cavalry than the number of infantry, and a total of 500,000 troops to the East, it will be very dangerous for the soldiers and civilians who remain in the Eastern Chagatai Division.

There are two best ways to do this.

One is to shrink the defensive line and take the initiative to abandon the governance of the Eastern Chagatai Metropolitan Division, and concentrate on the governance of the eastern part of the country, leaving only part of the boundary point in the Eastern Chagatai.

The second is to take the initiative to play out.

But if you play it, the cost will be higher.

This is the difference between a nomadic civilization and an agrarian civilization.

The nomadic civilization is poor, the materials are poor, and it is profitable to fight wars, and the poor are only human lives anyway, and if they lose, they will lose.

Fight to feed the war.

When a huge territory is laid and there is no place to grab, it is a time of decay.

Agrarian civilizations do not.

After governance, it will become more and more prosperous and civilized.

The transformation of the south from a wild land to a rich land is the glorious wealth created by the people of agricultural civilization through their own hands and hard work.

Central and West Asia.

After the first wave of looting and slaughter, it recovered for a period of time, and finally had some vitality, which was called another Renaissance by later Western scholars, and then it was plundered and slaughtered by Timur.

So Timur's eyes returned to the Central Plains.

He fell ill and died on the road.

His successor did not dare to fight against the Ming Dynasty and chose to continue to submit, and sure enough, when the way of war and war stopped, the Timurid Empire began to decline.

As soon as Timur died, his empire was in civil strife, and from civil strife to disintegration, there was no peace again.

And Central Asia and West Asia, because there is no Ming Dynasty like East Asia, at least nearly 200 years of recovery period, thus retaining the fire of civilization, they are not so lucky, so they completely decayed.

In the end, whether to fight or not, and if so, how to fight.

After the slaughter of Timur in Central Asia and West Asia, and whether there is wealth and means of production to replenish the blood of the Ming Dynasty who came from afar, Zhu Gaochi is most afraid of facing a mess, but he needs the materials of the Ming Dynasty.

To fight a war is to serve the people of the Ming Dynasty and bring them benefits, rather than personal good deeds, Zhu Gaochi is still hesitating.

Too many directions, too many choices, and annoying.

"Since Timur is a threat, then we will destroy it and ensure the continuation of civilization in the world." Jin Zhong said firmly.

He didn't think that there were still forces in the world that were the opponents of the Ming army.

Jin Zhong's proposal was approved by most officials.

There are also those who oppose it.

Worried that the land would be barren and unprofitable after the battle was defeated, it would only consume the country's resources, and in the end, it would be better to give priority to the development of the Central Asian peninsula and concentrate on stabilizing the Wa Kingdom and Goryeo.

"The Timurid Empire is too far away from us, and we need to send at least 300,000 troops to completely wipe them out, but in case at this time, Goryeo and the Wa Kingdom have launched a war, and we are unable to suppress it."

Huang Huai knew Zhu Gaochi's plot best.

With the help of the internal contradictions between Goryeo and the Wa Kingdom, at the lowest cost, they maintained their status quo and continued to contribute to the development of the Ming Dynasty, so they spoke out against it.

"Although Timur will definitely be able to defeat the other side when he sends troops at the moment, it is still unknown how many years it will take to stabilize, how many soldiers will need to be stationed, how much money will be spent, and whether he can get benefits, but the interests of Goryeo, the Wa Kingdom, and even the countries of the Central Asian Peninsula can be seen."

"In this case, the minister believes that the stability of these regions should be prioritized and integrated into China as soon as possible, and then it is a good time to deal with the Timurid Empire."

"I'm afraid that people don't mean to hurt the tiger, and the tiger has the heart to eat people."

Jin Zhong said from a military point of view: "In the area of the Eastern Chagatai Dusi, there are tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians left behind, and this place is newly recovered, should we ignore it?" And there is no reason to prevent thieves for a thousand days, so it is better to fight out first. ”

"From the capital to the area where Timur is now, it is tens of thousands of miles away."

"Although his capital is not far away, only less than 20,000 miles away, but as soon as the war starts, it is necessary to completely destroy the other party, is it possible to pursue tens of thousands of miles away?"

"Where do the supplies come from, how much civilian power is needed, and how many crises are encountered."

Zhu Gaochi saw that the ministers had their own opinions, and finally made a decision and said: "Seek peace through war." ”

Everyone looked at Zhu Gaochi.

In the East Asian monster room, Zhu Gaochi needs to plan the overall situation, not a temporary gain or loss.

"If Timur is obedient, ignore him, but if he is not convinced, then give Timur a beating, beat Timur painfully, beat him with fear, so that he does not dare not submit to the Ming Dynasty and drive him out of the east of Central Asia."

Wars are fought for profit.

What agricultural civilization needs is land that can be produced, and Zhu Gao stared greedily at a corner of the map.

As for the Central Asian region.

Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have been Chinese lands since ancient times, and the two regions have been included in China's territory since the period of Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty until the end of the Tang Dynasty.

These two areas currently belong to the Eastern Chagatai Division of the Ming Dynasty.

The plains of Central Asia are in the west, while Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in the east are located on plateaus, with mountains accounting for 93 percent of the country's land area, 90 percent of the territory at an altitude of more than 1,500 meters, and the highest being more than 7,000 meters.

Even if there are mines in these areas, they are very expensive to mine.

Today's era is an extremely barren region, and the previous war between the Tang Dynasty and Persia was a great loss from a geographical point of view.

And to build railways in these two places, Zhu Gaochi felt that it was better to build railways in southern Yunnan.

Whether it is in terms of difficulty or interests.

He decided to go overseas and south.

And finally in Central Asia and West Asia.

And if there is no change in history, Timur will not live long, and it is the best choice to let Central and West Asia be in chaos first.

But we have to guard against it.

What if something new happens?

(End of chapter)