Chapter 330 Ming Dynasty enters an era of rapid technological development
This day was the day when the railway section from Beijing to Tongzhou was opened to traffic. Zhu Houzhao also got up early and went to Yongding Gate with a group of officials.
Because there were enough slaves, the project construction was very fast. At this time, there was a train station outside Yongding Gate.
The railway station uses a traditional Chinese building with a double-eaves roof as its roof. There are two locomotives parked on the tracks. Behind the locomotives are five carriages. The carriages are not large and are as black as the locomotives. Under each carriage are train wheels. Fits firmly onto the rails.
Zhu Houzhao and a group of officials were standing in front of a train.
Zhu Houzhao was okay. Zhang Cong, the chief minister of the cabinet who was following Zhu Houzhao, showed a rare kind smile when he saw the train. He was happier than when he saw his own grandson being born. He couldn't help but stretched out his hand and wanted to touch the metal of the train. The texture was not good, but because Emperor Zhu Houzhao was here, he couldn't help but endure it.
"It's incredible, it's incredible. Thirty years ago, I would never have thought that such a magical thing would appear in the Ming Dynasty. A car made of iron and weighing more than 100 tons could be propelled forward by steam power!"
Xia Yan couldn't help but sigh with emotion.
At this time, Zhang Cong, the chief minister of the cabinet, saw Xia Yan sighing like this and couldn't help but said:
"Are you thinking, Gong Jin, how Confucianism has governed the country for more than a hundred years, and the rivers have been declining, and people's hearts have never been the same? However, since the great prosperity of Shengxue and the full display of hundreds of skills, the people have no hunger, and even steam can replace the fierce horses and guns. With the use of bows and crossbows, the country of scholars will be stronger than the country of reckless men!”
Xia Yan glanced at the electric lights on the train and admitted more and more in his heart that since the courtiers like him began to accept the concept of "theory, body, and sacred functions", the empire has indeed undergone earth-shaking changes. Things can really change this era, and he couldn't help but ask Zhang Cong:
"Based on what Shoukui means, this Neo-Confucianism is really useless and should it be abandoned completely?"
"Nothing without Neo-Confucianism is of any use. It's because people's hearts have changed. Nowadays, there are many rich people and few poor people. Even a small family has accumulated money over the years. They all pursue fame and wealth. Only using Neo-Confucianism to correct people's hearts is enough." It’s really unsustainable, this steam fire Once cars travel across the country, it will undoubtedly promote the development of commerce and trade, and people will be able to stay in their homeland. Clan families will exist in name only, and the relationship of father, father, son, descendant will naturally be difficult to maintain the peace of the country;
Therefore, I believe that Neo-Confucianism is no longer in line with the current Ming Dynasty. In order to bring peace to the world, the study of governance must keep pace with the times. It is better to be conservative than to innovate. The ideas of Neo-Confucianism must be modified. If not, it will be difficult to reform the empire. This will only benefit the scholar-bureaucrats, while the poor will still have no place to stand. ”
When Zhang Cong said this, Xia Yan couldn't help but say:
"But now, the poor people of the Ming Dynasty are not helpless. The wealth from all over the world has gathered in the Ming Dynasty. Except for some domestic Confucian officials who say that the court is only interested in profit and is not kind to foreign countries, there is no resentment among the people."
"But in fact, it is indeed against the principles of Neo-Confucianism for the imperial court to plunder externally. However, plundering externally is indeed conducive to educating the people of the country, so that the old can be provided for and the young can grow;
Therefore, I believe that the consciousness of Neo-Confucianism as the mainstay should be abandoned, and the behavior of external plunder should be rationalized and legitimated in the governance of the country. Otherwise, if Neo-Confucianism is allowed to spread in this way, many Confucian scholars in the country will really feed the tiger with their own bodies. thing. ”
Zhang Cong continued: "His Majesty said that if we want to be able ministers, we must keep the long-term interests of the country and its people at heart. If Neo-Confucianism is not completely eradicated, the technology and industry of the Ming Dynasty will inevitably be restricted by it, and steam power will technology and new technologies in guns and gunpowder The art of learning cannot be unique to the Ming Dynasty for a long time. Once it is mastered by other countries, and if other countries are not bound by Neo-Confucianism and unscrupulously enslave the people of other countries and plunder, then other countries may soon surpass our Ming Dynasty and form the foundation of our Ming Dynasty. Strong enemy.”
"What Shoukui said is true. At present, Gao Feng, the emperor of the inner court, has been ordered to sail to the West with the Ming Dynasty's fine blessing and longevity medicine. By then, these Western countries will once again feel the power of the strong ships and cannons from the Ming Dynasty. Perhaps, by then, , one or two of these Western countries will really wake up because of this
Xiaguan went on a tour to the West a few years ago and learned in detail about the teachings of Western Christianity and its revitalized literature and art. Compared with the Confucian scholars of the Ming Dynasty, this place was indeed more open and had a more thorough understanding of human nature. Although it was bound by religion, However, at the bottom, there are also gradually people who want to get rid of religion and pursue secular freedom. They are more enthusiastic about the study of science than the Ming Dynasty, and they have never been ashamed of it. In the Ming Dynasty, if His Majesty had not promoted the learning of hundreds of schools of thought from top to bottom and given craftsmen a high status, the world would now regard only general knowledge of poetry and calligraphy as a talent, and it would be difficult for mathematics and astronomy to be the right path. After that, there is no guarantee that these Western countries, which are open to the world and respect all kinds of learning, will catch up with or even surpass our Ming Dynasty in terms of national strength. Fortunately, they are not yet bound by religion! ”
Xia Yan couldn't help laughing as he said that. He was very glad that although he killed the Pope of the West, he did not abolish the Pope of the Western Papal State, but let him establish a new one. However, the other Western countries did not because of the Papal State. The Pope was killed and they jointly attacked the Ming Dynasty. This also forced Xia Yan to admit that the Western countries had indeed begun to gradually get rid of the shackles of religion, and the control of religion over these Western countries was gradually declining.
Zhu Houzhao walked out at this time and saw Zhang Cong and Xia Yan chatting while waiting outside the royal hall in the carriage, so he asked: "What are you talking about?"
Zhang Cong and Xia Yan answered truthfully.
Zhu Houzhao just nodded at first. He was very pleased that the scholar-bureaucrats of the Ming Dynasty were not pedantic. They also had the ability to think independently and could even smell the changes in the future situation from the changing situation. Just like in Historically, in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, Li Zhizao, Xu Guangqi and others The enlightened scholar-officials of the Ming Dynasty also realized the changes in the global situation and began to take the initiative to learn and master natural science knowledge, and even wrote books to promote it. The focus was on book promotion. Unlike some emperors, some scholar-officials of the Ming Dynasty would not deny benefits because of selfishness. The people's scientific knowledge is hidden in high cabinets.
What makes Zhu Houzhao even more gratified is that there was no Sino-Japanese War in the Ming Dynasty. However, reformist officials such as Zhang Cong still predicted through their unusual foresight that after the Ming Dynasty entered the steam industrial revolution, the real opponent would not come from outside, but from outside. It's resistance from within.
Bang!
The first steam train in the Ming Dynasty started to start, with a screeching sound, and thick white mist spewed out from the black chimney. The whole train started galloping on the rails, like a strong boy running in winter, risking his whole body. The heat is driving towards the distance at a vigorous pace.
Wherever railroads have spread, so have steam trains.
On the North China Plain, where the spring is cold and cold, there is another beautiful scenery, and the beautiful Chinese mountains and rivers also have a touch of toughness.
Zhu Hou looked at the receding tree shadows, the factory buildings on the outskirts of Beijing, and the farmers working on the farmland on the outskirts of Beijing, as if watching a cross-cut documentary about the present-day Ming Dynasty.
At this time, Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but said: "The Ming Dynasty is like this train sometimes. No one knows where it will go in the future. If you think Neo-Confucianism is not useful, just find another science. Managing a big country is like cooking. Xiaoxian, you have to go with the flow. , neither deliberately obstruct nor rush forward, take it step by step, and after Jiaozhi is recovered, the chieftains in the southwest will also have to take the opportunity to deal with it. Times are different, and Ming Dynasty's attitude towards all forces must be different. "
Zhang Cong and Xia Yan both said yes.
After the steam train arrived in Tongzhou, Zhu Houzhao and a group of officials got off the train. At this time, Tongzhou officials were already here to greet them. The people of Tongzhou City also gathered near the train station to watch. For them, this train was It was the first time to see him, and it was also the first time for the emperor to see him, so naturally he was very novel.
After Zhu Houzhao briefly interacted with the people, he moved into the palace in Tongzhou. Important officials such as Zhang Cong and Xia Yan also stayed in the palace temporarily under Zhu Houzhao's imperial edict. For officials such as Zhang Cong and Xia Yan, they could take the train from The trip from Beijing to Tongzhou was indeed a shocking experience. They seemed to be unsatisfied and eager to let people all over the world enjoy this new means of transportation.
Of course, as central ministers, they were also thinking about what the emergence of steam trains and railways could bring to the Ming Dynasty, and how they, as His Majesty the Emperor's trusted auxiliary ministers, could make this new thing benefit the country and the people.
Zhu Houzhao was also thinking about such a thing. Therefore, he summoned officials involved in the railway construction and steam train operation from Beijing to Tongzhou in his palace, and expressed that he would establish a Ministry of Railways and a Railway Construction Bureau and specialize in steam locomotives. The production plant is responsible for the entire Ming Dynasty’s railway operation management and construction as well as train manufacturing and improvement.
The final result of the court discussion was to make Qin Yu, the left minister of the Ministry of Industry, the minister of the Ministry of Railways, and Xu Jie, the left minister of the Ministry of Railways and the admiral of the Railway Bureau, who was specifically responsible for railway construction and operation.
The reason why Xu Jie was put in charge was that when he was the Prime Minister of Shuntian, he was the first batch of officials to participate in the use of steam locomotives and the first batch of officials to be responsible for the construction and operation of railways.
Of course, it is still in the early stages of railway construction, and Xu Jie can only temporarily be responsible for the operation and management of the railway from Beijing to Tongzhou.
The railway from Beijing to Tongzhou was initially mainly responsible for transporting grain, minerals and industrial products. In addition, there were also special trains for carrying people. However, the passenger trains were divided into four categories: sleeper carriages, seated carriages, seatless carriages and noble carriages. Sleepers are also divided into soft sleepers and hard sleepers.
The noble carriages were mainly used by important figures in the empire.
Zhu Houzhao's special train is also being built. In addition, Zhu Houzhao also specially gave the cabinet ministers and the Privy Council of the Guards the privilege of a special train to facilitate them to inspect local political and military affairs.
With the railway line between Beijing and Tongzhou, the transportation of goods between Beijing and Tongzhou has become much more convenient. From now on, it is no longer just road transportation, allowing more goods to be transported in and out of Beijing in a single day.
The water transportation between the north and the south has not become busier because of this, and has not been greatly affected by the opening of sea transportation.
At the same time, the Ming Dynasty's steamship manufacturing was also put on the agenda. At the large shipyard in Yuegang, Fujian, a light gray armored warship was being manufactured intensively. Nearly 100,000 slaves were under the supervision of supervisors, regardless of distinction. High-quality steel products from Wuchang, Tongzhou, Shanghai, and Taiping are transported to the dock day and night.
Ming Dynasty engineers who graduated from higher education institutions such as Beijing Normal University and Central University were wearing steel helmets and holding blueprints and commanding from various high platforms, instructing the slaves below to use pulleys and hanging towers to lift these steel materials to the appropriate position. Daming’s technicians perform welding, and Daming’s technicians on elevated Craftsmen are skillfully welding these steels. The development of chemical technology, especially the emergence of organic chemistry, has enabled Ming Dynasty to master the production and application of acetylene. Coupled with the discovery of the electric arc, welding technology has improved a lot, making some Ming craftsmen can perform more advanced welding techniques.
Therefore, it is possible for the ironclad ship to be successfully manufactured.
But even so, it has not yet been successfully manufactured, and there are still many technical difficulties in many details.
In general, Ming Dynasty has now entered a period of rapid development of science and technology, because the power has been upgraded from traditional human and animal power to mechanical power, so the next step is just to apply mechanical power to all walks of life.
Because of this, various steam machines and steam products have emerged in droves.
Zhu Houzhao and the Ming court were not stingy and spent money like crazy, which made scientific researchers highly motivated to develop new industrial products and new technologies. Even some scholar-bureaucrats also increased their interest in this area. Because of this, not to mention relying on steam power to develop steam locomotives and steam ships, some people have even begun to develop steam aircraft. Zhu Houzhao still provides financial support to these people regardless of whether they can succeed. Some people even think that since steam locomotives are available , if the cannon is installed on the steam locomotive, you cannot directly drive the steam cannon car forward.
In any case, after the steam industrial revolution appeared in the Ming Dynasty, a variety of new machines sprung up in the Ming Dynasty.
In addition, electricity is also being studied crazily. After the phenomenon of electromagnetic induction was confirmed by the Ming Academy of Sciences, researchers from Ming Dynasty have begun to use it in motor manufacturing and current applications.
The Ming Dynasty has entered an era of vigorous development of science and technology, constantly refreshing human history. At this time, on both sides of the Atlantic, Western colonists were still using relatively backward methods to carry out the most primitive capital plunder.
Gao Feng and his Fushou Trading Company fleet arrived in Lisbon.
Although Portugal's colonial expansion was greatly reduced due to the Ming Dynasty's westward expansion, and its sphere of influence was finally limited to some areas in South America, Portugal did not retaliate against the Ming Dynasty and even banned trade with the Ming Dynasty. It was not because Portugal did not want to retaliate. Portugal also knows that it does not have this strength.
Moreover, in order to gain profits from the huge market of Ming Dynasty, he had to endure the humiliation brought by Ming Dynasty to them, continue to do business with Ming Dynasty, act as the comprador of Ming Dynasty, and sell the population and raw materials plundered from his colonies to Ming Dynasty.
In fact, historically, before the advent of the steam industrial revolution, the Ming Dynasty did not lag behind the West in terms of military strength, because as a highly developed small-scale peasant economic society, the Ming Dynasty’s productivity represented the highest level before the steam industrial revolution, but after the steam industry After the revolution, human productivity has completely undergone a landmark revolution, which is why China began to lag behind the West.
It was also after the emergence of the steam industrial revolution that China began to lose in the war of aggression against Western colonists. Before that, it had won or drawn.
Now that Gao Feng's fleet has arrived in Lisbon, the Portuguese government in Lisbon has not stopped the Ming Dynasty's fleet from trading here.
Gao Feng's fleet did not use force to force Portugal to do anything at first, and paid the customs duties in accordance with the rules, and began to sell high-quality drugs in the international trade center of Lisbon, the capital of Portugal.
"This is a magical secret elixir from the East, a fine longevity ointment that can truly make you want to die."
The marketing strategy of Fushou Trading Company after arriving in Lisbon was to first promote it among the Portuguese aristocracy, so it also bribed some nobles to promote it themselves. At this time, it was a baron named Feso who proposed to him My friend Marquis Doxey promotes premium elixirs.
Doxy also began to receive injections of high-quality Fushou ointment. She was very happy, even more happy than when she had an affair with a noble lady, so she became addicted.
As a result, the high-quality longevity ointment produced by Ming Dynasty quickly spread among Lisbon's upper class circles.
The Fu Shou Trading Company made a lot of money from the beginning, and the capital plundered by these Lisbon nobles in their own colonies also flowed into the Ming Dynasty through the use of high-quality Fu Shou drugs.
Of course, the Fushou Trading Company of the Ming Dynasty not only sold high-quality Fushou ointments in Lisbon, but also sold high-quality Fushou ointments in Madrid, Rome, Rotterdam and other places. There were dozens of Fushou Trading Company merchant ships sailing from Ceuta to the West every day.
However, it is still the early days of the Ming Dynasty selling high-quality longevity ointments to the West, so these Western countries have not reacted too much yet.
What really makes Portugal, Spain and other countries helpless now is that the Ming Dynasty used the most stringent measures in history to completely ban the smuggling of Fushou drugs into the Ming Dynasty, causing the Western countries to lose the only opportunity to reverse their trade deficit with the Ming Dynasty.
Luckily for Portugal, they had already experienced the power of the Ming Dynasty's naval battle, and coupled with their limited national strength, they did not have the courage to challenge the Ming Dynasty. Moreover, Portugal itself had already lost the route east of the Cape of Good Hope, so the smuggling trade of Fushou drugs was banned. The damage to him was not great.
The one that really suffered the most was Spain. Taking advantage of the fact that the Ming Dynasty's control south of the Daming Sea was not strong enough, Spain sent a large number of smuggling ships to bypass South America to smuggle medicine to the Ming Dynasty.
Even in the drug smuggling cases investigated and dealt with by the Ming Dynasty's provincial and municipal shipping departments, the majority of those executed were Spanish.
Before that, because Ming Dynasty did not know much about the West, it had always regarded Portugal and Spain as foreigners. But now as Ming Dynasty’s understanding of the outside world becomes deeper and deeper, in the official tone, it has gradually regarded Portugal and Spain as foreign countries. Langji is divided into Spain and Portugal.
Turning back to the situation, Spain has not yet suffered losses at the hands of the Ming Dynasty, and the national power of its empire is at its peak. Therefore, it is extremely unacceptable for the Spanish Empire to lose the smuggling of opium trade to the Ming Dynasty. It threatens to Use force to force Ming to allow Spain to sell longevity drugs to Ming.
then.
The Spanish Empire's Invincible Fleet officially began preparing for a voyage in an attempt to teach the Ming Dynasty a lesson.
However, an expedition has never been an easy task, let alone an expedition from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Even the Spanish Empire's Armada cannot do it. Therefore, the Spanish Empire said it was an expedition against the Ming Dynasty, but in fact its purpose was just to seize what the Ming Dynasty had already controlled. Ceuta area.
Ceuta is now the only colonial stronghold of the Ming Dynasty in the Mediterranean. Every year, a batch of silver ore and gold mines are transported back to the Ming Dynasty from here. Now it has become the base for the Ming Dynasty to manufacture high-quality fushou ointments. Therefore, Ceuta’s economic status is very important to the Ming Dynasty. It was very important to the Ming Dynasty, but it was also very close to Spain.
The Ming Dynasty also stationed a squadron in the Ceuta area, with a total of two second-class sailing battleships, five third-class sailing battleships and three supply ships. The navy numbered about 1,000 people and the marines numbered 300. , the army numbered 500 people and was specifically responsible for the defense of the Ceuta area.
However, except for Weng Wanda, the highest military and political leader of the Ming Dynasty in the Ceuta area, the prefect of Ceuta and a guerrilla in the coastal defense of Ceuta, who learned through the Imperial Guards that the Spanish Armada would attack Ceuta, the Ming Emperor Zhu Houzhao and his courtiers in the capital actually did not know. Knowing that there is a powerful empire in the West that has occupied countless territories in North America and wiped out countless civilizations, it has declared war on him.
There was nothing that could be done about it. Before the advent of radio, Weng Wanda could only use the small amount of troops he had to fight against the Spanish Empire.
Ceuta has now completely become Chinatown.
The first batch of Han people who followed Xia Yan and others and the subsequent Han people who came here became the nobles here, and they controlled important departments such as military, administration and diplomacy.
The civilians are white people, black people who immigrated from various places, and a small number of yellow people from India, Luzon, Japan, Siam and other places. Together, these people form the current Ceuta area of the Ming Dynasty.
These whites and blacks, as well as the natives of Luzon, India and other places, do not marry each other. This is a rule observed within these races and also stipulated by the Ming government in Ceuta in order to prevent these people from forming one body.
In addition, the Ming government allowed them the freedom to believe in religion, so these white people, black people, and indigenous yellow people would fight with each other because of race or religion, and even fight or even kill each other.
However, the Ming government would not care unless it infringed on the interests of the nobles, the Han people, or caused major deaths. After all, these people were the basis for the Han people in the Ceuta area to be slave owners.
Of course, the Ceuta government of the Ming Dynasty also hoped to see people of different races or religious beliefs fighting each other in the Ceuta area, so that they could achieve their goal of effectively ruling Ceuta.
However, because they all must accept Chinese characters and speak Chinese, and must regard Confucianism as the right path, and regard the Ming Emperor as the only loyal monarch, these civilians in Ceuta are also quite active in protecting Ceuta civilization.
Because, in Ceuta, in addition to the nobility, that is, the Han people, and the common people, there is also a class of scholars, that is, Confucian scholars.
After receiving Confucian enslavement education, whether they are whites, blacks or indigenous people, they can become Confucian scholars and have the opportunity to rule the common people on behalf of the aristocrats as long as they obtain the title of government student in the Ceuta area's imperial examination system.
Therefore, these common people were very active in becoming Confucian scholars and actively accepted the Confucian idea of loyalty to the emperor, and they were not willing to lose the opportunity to become Confucian scholars in the great Eastern countries because of the invasion of Western colonists.
Just when Weng Wanda got the news that the Spanish Armada had gone to sea, he got news that a black family in Sichuan Square of Ceuta had wiped out a white family, and a large-scale black-white fight broke out.
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(End of chapter)