Chapter 338 The Imperial Heir
Zhangjiakou Fort
At the foot of the snow-covered mountain, Xu Jie, chief minister of the Ministry of Railways of the Ming Dynasty, held a telescope and looked at the engineers of the Ming Dynasty Railway a few miles away who were directing the Ming Dynasty's first duplex locomotive to start running.
And beside him was Zhu Zailei, the eldest son of the Ming Empire.
Zhu Zailei is wearing the official uniform of the seventh rank. His current identity is the supervisory censor, responsible for supervising the construction of the entire Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway project.
Although many people in the empire are paying attention to him, they all hope that he can be established as the prince by the Ming Emperor as soon as possible.
But he is not in a hurry now that he is over 40 years old. He just wants to see the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway open as soon as possible.
Because he has spent nearly six years on this project.
Before Zhu Houzhao asked all the princes staying in Beijing to serve as local people-friendly officials, Zhu Zailei, as the eldest son of the emperor, had already served as an academic officer at the Capital University and the Ming Army Command College, and then served in the Sixth Ministry and as a county magistrate.
Up to now, he has been promoted to censor.
The third prince, Zhu Zaijun Shangshu, asked Emperor Zhu Houzhao to make him the prince, which really shocked Zhu Zailei himself. He was afraid that Emperor Zhu Houzhao would mistakenly think that he was seeking the throne and make his father dissatisfied.
But when Zhu Houzhao announced that he would make Zhu Zaibin the Chang King and establish the country of America, he breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that his father did not doubt his heirs because of this incident, so that he could continue to build the empire with peace of mind. With.
Influenced by Zhu Houzhao's national consciousness and nationalism and collectivism ideas since he was a child, Zhu Zailei is a typical red aristocrat. He likes to leave his own footprints in these thousands of miles of mountains and rivers, allowing thousands of people to regard him as a hero. Of course, he also has a strong desire to Desire for power, he wanted to be the architect of the entire empire.
Zhu Zailei always remembers what his father said to him: Only by curing a county can a government be cured, by curing a government can a country be cured, and by paving one road, millions of roads can be paved in the future.
Therefore, he is now very active in completing the construction of political achievement projects. At the same time, he also enjoys the pleasure of completing such construction.
He was one of the main persons in charge of the construction of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway.
At this time, he only hoped that the first railway directly to the Great Wall would succeed. He also knew that once this railway was completed, it would allow the Ming Dynasty to better control military and economic control outside the customs.
Because Zhangjiakou is an important pass from outside the customs to the inside of the customs, once the railway is opened from Zhangjiakou to the capital, it means that the empire can more conveniently send troops and supplies outside the customs.
In addition, the cost of development outside the customs will also be reduced. A large number of Ming Dynasty trading companies that mine outside the customs can more conveniently transport ore and other raw materials back to the customs, making the economic benefits of Daming's control and development within the customs better.
"... I believe that as long as the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway is completed and opened to traffic, even if the imperial court no longer implements severe administrative intervention, the people will flock to develop outside the customs, because the opening of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway is equivalent to opening up the bloodline between the outside and the inside of the customs, and the empire will There will be no need to abandon the land outside the customs..."
Zhu Zailei wrote this paragraph in a letter home to his father Zhu Houzhao to express his expectations for the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway.
With the advancement of cement manufacturing technology and road engineering construction technology, Ming Dynasty had established a complete road network before building railway lines.
Especially between the two capitals, the well-developed road network also promoted the development of the Ming Dynasty's logistics industry. The post station has been upgraded to a postal station. It is not only responsible for the delivery of imperial military and political affairs and the reception of military and political officials, but also begins to be responsible for the dissemination of private media and civil society. Postage of goods and letters.
Therefore, Zhu Zailei can also keep in touch with Zhu Houzhao through family letters, and it is much faster than the traditional delivery of family letters. Basically, Zhu Houzhao can receive a reply in more than ten days and understand the thoughts of these princes and what he sees at the grassroots level. smell.
However, there are also many civil servants who have criticized the prince's appointment as a local official. They believe that the prince should put his studies first and choose good teachers to teach him how to govern the country. Instead of allowing the prince to serve as a local official, it will cause the prince to form cliques and also lead to political corruption. Disturbing Chao Gang.
But Zhu Houzhao disagreed. First of all, the older princes like him were all in their thirties and forties. If they were still allowed to study, wouldn't they have to be researchers for the rest of their lives and how to apply what they learned.
Secondly, this world is still a family world, and the empire is still an empire controlled by the Zhu family. If I don't let these princes look after me, who else can I expect to look after me.
At least, Zhu Houzhao now found that letting these princes experience the place gave him another pair of eyes.
Now there are a total of five sources of intelligence from Dongchang, Jinyiwei, Xichang, secret reports from civilian officials, and letters from the prince. Zhu Houzhao can undoubtedly understand every accident and the situation in every place more objectively and clearly, and make the most reasonable judgment. You can also know who is playing tricks on you, who is acting sincerely, whose words are the truth, and whose words are lies.
It is precisely because of this that Zhu Houzhao did not suspect Zhu Zailei because the third prince Zhu Zaibian petitioned to make Zhu Zailei the crown prince, and did not cause the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway project to be stranded because of his disposal of Zhu Zailei, leaving the entire empire still There is no major turmoil caused by some small disturbances.
The weather is getting colder and colder. According to the mathematical model established by Qin Tian Jian through monitoring and statistics of various data of Zhengde for fifteen years, it is predicted that in the next hundred years, the temperature of the earth will continue to drop.
Although Zhu Houzhao, a time traveler, already knew this result through his familiarity with history, Qin Tianjian's logical prediction also made people of this era more convinced.
Including Zhu Zailei and Xu Jie who were at the foot of the Zhangjiakou Snow Mountain at this time.
Zhu Zailei doesn't know how long the severe cold will last, but he believes that high-quality coal from outside the Pass can use this railway to help the north of the Pass retain some of the warmth of last spring and summer.
Zhu Zailei even hopes to realize his childhood wish in the future, transporting more coal to Gyeonggi and burning more boilers to provide heating for the entire capital in winter.
The roaring sound of the locomotive came. The newly improved duplex locomotive was running on the zigzag rails. The rumbling white mist was as white as the snow on the mountain. The dark iron wheels were like the strong arms of a strong man, rising and falling together. Climb the slope of about thirty degrees and slowly go up.
Zhu Zailei smiled excitedly when he saw this.
The craftsmen standing near the hill and the people nearby who came to visit cheered even more.
Even the slave workers from Cochin and Africa looked curiously at the mechanical monsters created by this empire. Their eyes revealed excitement and fear of this civilization.
"Shilang Xu, we really succeeded!"
After a long time, Zhu Zailei turned around and said something to Xu Jie.
Xu Jie also nodded, unable to restrain the excitement on his face:
"Yes, this is really a miracle. His Majesty the Emperor of Ming Dynasty is great, the craftsmen of Ming Dynasty are great, the officials of Ming Dynasty are great, and the people of Ming Dynasty are great! Your Highness, look, this dark Doesn’t the motorcycle look like someone waving a huge pen like a rafter to write a colorful stroke on these thousands of miles of rivers and mountains? ”
"It looks like, it's very similar, it's a very powerful stroke, penetrating into the wood! It's magnificent!"
As Zhu Zailei said that, he got on the motorcycle parked in front of him wearing all the snow.
Xu Jie also followed. After staying in the mountains for several months, they could finally return to Beijing to report on their work and tell the Ming Emperor Zhu Houzhao that the construction of the second main railway line of the Ming Dynasty was completed!
Zhu Houzhao learned about the completion and opening of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway half a month later, and he was very happy about it.
Because the complex terrain from Beijing to Zhangjiakou determines that the construction of this railway is not a simple project, at least not as easy as the Jingtong Railway.
Therefore, the opening of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway not only means that Ming Dynasty can better control the outside world and boost the economy, but also means that Ming Dynasty's scientific and technological level has risen to another level.
Moreover, this technological improvement is not just a technological improvement in transportation engineering construction, but involves technological improvement in all aspects, such as gunpowder blasting, steam power, steel manufacturing, mechanical processing, etc., which all mean improvements.
Officials such as Xu Jie were naturally promoted to higher ranks as usual, and the emperor's eldest son Zhu Zailei was directly promoted to the Yin of Shuntian Prefecture.
As the emperor's heir, Zhu Zailei's promotion speed was naturally faster than others.
Of course, Zhu Houzhao also intended to establish Prince Zhu Zailei in doing so. However, Zhu Houzhao did not give a clear signal to the outside world, or the outside world was not aware of this phenomenon, because Zhu Houzhao also promoted other princes.
The invention of the voltaic battery pack and the incandescent lamp allowed the Royal West Garden to bid farewell to the era of candle lighting at night. Electric lamps that did not sway due to wind reduced the possibility of fires and were brighter, so bright that Zhu Houzhao could Seeing the birthmark on Elizabeth's fair buttocks, his empire seemed brighter at this moment, as bright as the moonlight piled under the palace walls like rotten silver.
Emperor Zhu Houzhao was still holding an electric lamp indoors to shine on the white doves, while the emperor's eldest son Zhu Zailei was already waiting to see his father outside the palace gate under the moonlight.
The cold wind made Zhu Zailei shiver. When he felt that his whole body had fallen into the ice cellar, the palace door slowly opened.
When Zhu Zailei came in and prostrated on the ground to say hello.
Zhu Houzhao was still lying on the large imperial bed. In this cold winter, he would not get out of bed easily.
Elizabeth curled up next to Zhu Houzhao like a brocade cat, half exposing the white dove.
Zhu Houzhao had already sat up with the help of the palace maids. The two palace ladies who were warming his feet moved forward consciously and pressed their chests tightly against Zhu Houzhao's feet, making Zhu Houzhao's whole body warm as if he were stepping on the green grass in summer. It's soft and hot, and you don't even realize it's the twelfth month of winter.
"Sit by the stove and talk. Look at the way you are shivering. Are you cold or are you afraid of me as you get older?"
Zhu Houzhao said something through the screen.
The eldest son of the emperor, Zhu Zailei, just sat on the stool next to the stove, trying his best to control his trembling mouth: "The weather is getting colder, and my father must also pay attention to protecting himself from the cold." "You don't have to worry about this. , tell me, now that you have become Shuntian Prefecture Yin, you How do you plan to manage this Shuntian Mansion?" Zhu Houzhao said, motioning Elizabeth to retreat to the dark bed, and then asked people to move the screen, and personally held the electric light to look at Zhu Zailei: "You have already grown white hair, you are better than your father. The emperor grows old quickly!”
Zhu Zailei smiled and did not dare to raise his head. He only glanced at Zhu Houzhao's increasingly thick sword eyebrows out of the corner of his eye and said: "Father said that the Ming Dynasty is different from the Ming Dynasty before the early Zhengde period. Industrialization has promoted the empire's development." In urbanization, how to better manage cities and towns is as important as how to better manage villages.”
"That's right. Shuntian Mansion is the largest city in the Ming Dynasty, with a permanent population of over 10 million, and countless dignitaries and gentry. Basically, managing such a city requires a detailed urban plan, not only long-term but also In the near future, overall management must be innovated to eliminate disadvantages. It is not difficult to eliminate disadvantages, but the difficulty lies in innovation. What new things do you plan to bring to us, the people of Shuntian Prefecture? "
Zhu Houzhao asked with a smile.
"Naturally, he picked up the wisdom of his father and promoted the new things of the inner court to the people. He planned to popularize tap water supply and unified heating supply in the capital, just like the inner court, so that the people of the capital would not have to worry about water shortages and cold in winter. The problem is that ordinary people’s homes no longer suffer from freezing conditions, and wealthy families do not have to move south because of the colder weather!”
After Zhu Zailei replied, he couldn't help but cough. After staying in the mountains for several months, he also felt a little cold. Moreover, he had been cold outside for so long, and now it was getting worse as soon as he came in and got heated again.
"Very good. Nowadays, the application of water pumps powered by steam engines is very mature. It only needs to build a reservoir. It is not a problem to establish a tap water supply for the whole city. However, the entire tap water purification project must be completed to prevent it from being not clean enough and making people sick. , once the tap water is supplied, the disaster caused by disease in the whole city will not be small. If the heating is supplied, safety and environmental issues must be ensured. The location of the boiler must be chosen well, so as not to make the whole city gray! ”
Zhu Houzhao said this, and Zhu Zailei nodded in agreement.
The two father and son again talked about the construction of the next railway, namely the Liangjing Railway Line and the expansion of Shuntianfu Railway Station. Zhu Houzhao found that the current eldest son of the emperor, Zhu Zailei, was obviously much more mature in thinking about problems and governing. He thought that he still had to practice Only through experience can we train pragmatic and mature politicians, and politicians who have their own new ideas.
Zhu Houzhao is looking forward to what Shuntian Mansion will become under Zhu Zailei's management. He believes that if Zhu Zailei can manage an imperial metropolis with tens of millions, he will be able to work in a province with a large agricultural and labor force for a few years in the future. It is undoubtedly most suitable to serve as governor, or to take charge of the coastal provinces for a few more years before inheriting his position.
But in fact, managing Shuntian Mansion is not easy.
Even though Zhu Zailei now wants to promote tap water supply in the capital, he finds that promoting tap water supply throughout the city is more difficult than establishing tap water supply in the palace.
Because in the palace, you don’t need to worry about the cost and lack of money. For example, for the water pipes, you can directly use copper pipes that are not easy to rust and have bactericidal effects. You don’t have to worry about rust and pollution.
However, the more expensive copper water pipes, or even slightly more precious metals, cannot be used in the entire capital. Even if the Ming Dynasty is now rich enough to allow the people in the capital to use copper water pipes, no one can guarantee that all people will use copper water pipes. Consciously not to steal copper water pipes that are relatively expensive.
There was no hard plastic in this era, so Zhu Zailei could only look for cheap iron water pipes that were not easy to rust.
Fortunately, Ming Dynasty now has mature electroplating and alloy steel technology, so it is not difficult to produce some iron water pipes that are not easy to rust.
"Your Highness, although the price of the galvanized steel pipe developed by Sanxin Factory in Hejian Prefecture is a bit expensive, the steel is excellent. Its biggest advantage is that it is not easy to rust. It is most suitable for use as water pipes. Use other Steel pipes are prone to rust and breed bacteria. Do you think this type of steel pipe should be used? ”
Pan Gu, the general magistrate of Shuntian Prefecture, recommended a new type of steel to Zhu Zailei.
Because the developer of this new type of steel once worked at the Ming Dynasty Engineering Academy, was an expert in the Iron and Steel Smelting Bureau, and served as a senior official in the Ministry of Industry, he successfully developed it, and Zhu Zailei did admit that this new type of steel needs to be improved. It was suitable for making water pipes, so he decided to let Pan Gu purchase this kind of steel from Sanxin Factory.
But it turns out that this Pan Gu was actually an associate of the second prince Zhu Zaitu in his early years, and was Zhu Zaitu's spy in the capital. Although they were both direct princes who wanted to be emperor of the Ming Central Empire, Zhu Zaitu was obviously more powerful than Zhu Zai. Lei is better at doing business behind the scenes, which may be related to the reason why he does not have an advantage in the patriarchal inheritance system.
In any case, before purchasing this batch of steel, Pan Gu truthfully reported the matter to the second prince Zhu Zaitu who was returning to Beijing for reunion at the end of the year. After hearing this, Zhu Zaitu only said:
"I heard that Xu Zhangyuan's family from the school is from a wealthy family in the south. His family runs an iron factory. There is an iron factory in Jinding Prefecture, Gyeonggi Province, called Sanyu Iron Factory. You go and talk about it. After it is taken down, you can make a lot of money from it. I will give you 20% of the price difference, and use 30% of the 80% I got to make the purchase price, so that the Xu family can get it, which is a great gift from Xu Zhangyuan.”
So Pan Gu did not go to Hejian Mansion, but to Zhending Mansion.
Pan Gu knew that the Second Prince had gained the greatest benefit from this matter and would naturally be protected by the Second Prince, so he had the courage to be more greedy, so he bought the inferior steel pipes from the Xujia Iron Factory at a high price. Zhu Zailei originally gave Pan Gu If Gu's money was used to purchase galvanized steel pipes from Sanxin Iron Works, the price would be high. Now that Pan Gu has added some more according to the second prince's instructions, the Xu family will naturally benefit even more.
The Xu family was naturally willing to accept such benefits, but they still reported it to Xu Jin, who was also the Minister of Academic Affairs and was in charge of the Hanlin Academy. After Xu Jin learned about it, he did not refuse. After all, this kind of bribery was very hidden and was nothing. He couldn't offend the second prince, but he still ordered: "Don't make this matter public. Although it is a profit of millions of silver dollars, bad things are inevitable."
The clan member in charge of the Xujia Iron Factory nodded hurriedly: "Don't worry, sir, my nephew knows!"
But Zhu Zailei handed over the specific matters of tap water installation to Pan Gu, but that doesn't mean that he didn't care at all. When the first pilot area, Xicheng District, completed the installation and started to provide water, Zhu Zailei came to check it in person. , first checked the steam pump and reservoir, then also checked the boosting equipment, and then ordered people to open the main valve and start flowing water.
However, Zhu Zailei was surprised to find that although the surface of the water pipe was zinc-plated, it was actually leaking water under the impact of high-pressure water flow. He felt something was wrong for a moment, and after a closer inspection, he suddenly realized: "This is a direct The iron pipe is welded with iron blocks, and the calcining temperature of the steel is obviously not enough. Go and call Pan Gu!”
Zhu Zailei was furious for a moment. He took a closer look one by one, only to find that the entire main road was made of such inferior steel pipes. He wanted to kill Pan Gu for a moment.
Pan Gu also hurriedly ran over at this time: "Your Highness, what do you mean by calling me?"
"What's going on with this steel? Didn't you say that you purchased galvanized steel pipes from Sanxin Iron Works?! How did it turn into this ordinary welded and forged steel pipe! This is not even a steel pipe, it can only be an iron pipe! ”
Zhu Zailei asked loudly.
Pan Gu had already been mentally prepared to be killed by Zhu Zailei, and he immediately knelt down and started crying: "Your Highness, I have some difficulties! Can you please step aside, I will tell you the truth! ”
When Zhu Zailei saw Pan Gu acting so aggrieved, he thought he had something to hide, so he obeyed his request, stepped back, and asked Pan Gu to explain it to him in detail.
Therefore, Pan Gu said that Xu Jin's family came to him with a petition and asked him to buy the steel pipes. He also said that it was Xu Shangshu's wish, but he could not refuse, so he agreed to the Xu family's request.
Zhu Zailei couldn't help but slapped the table angrily: "This Xu Jin dares to make such a fortune!"
"Your Highness, please calm down. Xu Shangshu is now the leader of Qingliu, and he has always been the most supportive of you as the crown prince. He takes a long-term view in doing things. Your Highness has not yet been appointed as the prince by your majesty. It is best not to have a quarrel with Xu Shangshu at this time. I will serve as an official." Look, I might as well We spend more money to purchase steel pipes from his Xu family and Sanxin Iron Works, and then install water pipes using only steel pipes from Sanxin Iron Works. This is equivalent to giving Xu Shangshu a silver dollar. We can live in peace with each other. You What do you think?”
Pan Gu suggested so.
This was a response he had already thought of.
He believed that the eldest son of the emperor in front of him would definitely not be willing to expose Xu Jin in order not to offend Qingliu leader Xu Jin and other civil servants, and would even take this opportunity to give Xu Jin some benefits in order to win the favor of Xu Jin and other civil servants, so that he could become his crown prince. Everyone cheered, just like the second prince;
In addition, Pan Gu believed that the eldest son of the emperor would definitely not be willing to let the water supply project he led be completed poorly. In order to satisfy His Majesty and gain popularity, he would definitely be willing to spend more money.
Therefore, no matter what, Pan Gu believed that Zhu Zailei, the eldest son of the emperor, would definitely adopt his suggestion and spend an extra sum of money to buy galvanized steel pipes from Sanxin Iron Factory, so that he could still earn some more kickbacks.
Zhu Zailei did admit that Pan Gu's suggestion was good, but he was not a simple person, and he did not directly reply to Pan Gu. He only nodded: "I know, I will give you another sum of money to purchase Sanxin Iron If something goes wrong with the galvanized steel pipes in our factory again, I will definitely punish you.”
With that said, Zhu Zailei ordered people to remove the inferior steel pipes that were installed first.
Pan Gu was also extremely happy.
……
Soon after, the second prince learned about this and smiled: "This is the handle, not only for my brother, but also for Xu Jin!"
……
Seeing that Zhu Zailei didn't seem as excited as before, Zhu Houzhao couldn't help asking: "Did something happen to Shuntian Mansion, or was your mother's tea not delicious?"
Zhu Zailei hurriedly stretched his brows: "It's nothing, it's just that the wind and cold recently haven't stopped, and I'm always a little tired. It disturbs my father's interest. It's my fault."
Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but slap his knee and said: "I don't know how their penicillin extraction experiment is going. With antibiotics, at least the treatment will be faster!"
After saying that, Zhu Houzhao said again: "Don't keep saying it's an illness. I can also see that you have something on your mind. I still say the same thing. I am the only one who has the final say on the matter of the reserve. No one can help." You, and your brothers, can only help yourself! I don’t like anyone hiding from me!”
Zhu Houzhao said this, which was tantamount to warning Zhu Zailei.
Maybe it was because he was used to talking frankly with his father Zhu Houzhao since he was a child, or maybe it was because of his own personality, or maybe it was Zhu Zailei's words that made Zhu Zailei understand something.
So Zhu Zailei stood up and replied truthfully: "I dare not deceive my father. It was Shuntian Mansion's purchase of water pipes that went wrong, involving some corruption issues."
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(End of chapter)