Daming Town Haiwang

Chapter 1568, Repairing the Yangtze River Bridge
In the Golden Luan Hall, Emperor Hongzhi sat high on the dragon chair, looking down at the subordinated officials, and naturally saw Liu Jin who was at the front.

Emperor Hongzhi naturally had his own considerations for appointing Liu Jin as a cabinet minister directly through special briefing.

He wanted Liu Jin, a competent minister, to continue reforming Daming for him and lead Daming to a more brilliant future.

The minister of the court, Liu Jian, is already old. He is almost eighty years old. Although he is in good health, he is an octogenarian after all, and he will not be able to work for a few years.

Li Dongyang has always been in poor health, and there are always accidents at home. He has resigned to himself many times. The reason why he did not agree is because he really needs Li Dongyang to assist him, and the other is that he has not yet found a suitable person. to take over.

Now that Liu Jin has entered the cabinet, it can be regarded as a successor. The key is that Liu Jin is still very young, only in his thirties, and can work for him for many years.

In a few years, Wang Shouren will be promoted again. Wang Shouren is also very young, and he is only in his early forties now. With the two of them assisting, one on the left and one on the right, this Daming will be able to do well in the next few decades. Very stable.

Liu Jin and Wang Shouren, he attaches great importance to them. After years of detailed investigation, they are ministers who can be absolutely assured. The development direction of Ming Dynasty in the next few decades.

"There is something to play, nothing to retreat~"

Xiao Jing, who is already seventy years old, his voice has become old, and it is no longer loud and sharp like it was a few years ago.

"It seems that the inner court is going to prepare a new batch of newcomers. It's just that it's really hard to find people who are good-natured and unambitious. The key is to have strong abilities."

Listening to Xiao Jing's voice, Emperor Hongzhi couldn't help sighing in his heart, time flies.

In the blink of an eye, I have been the emperor for twenty-three years, Xiao Jing has been with me for many years, and this is also getting older day by day.

"Your Majesty, Wang Shouren, the chief envoy of Southern Zhili, reported that he is planning to build a Yangtze River bridge across the Yangtze River in Nanjing. It needs [-] million taels of silver, and asks the emperor for permission and grants funds."

Minister Zeng Jian of the Ministry of Industry stood up and reported to Emperor Hongzhi about the preparations for the construction of the Yangtze River Bridge in Nanzhili.

"Building the Yangtze River Bridge?"

"Fifty million taels of silver?"

As soon as Zeng Jian's words fell, the civil and military officials who were all over the court couldn't help being amazed.

The Yangtze River is the largest river in the Ming Dynasty. It is very wide. Since ancient times, all dynasties have been unable to build bridges on it. Now Nanzhili is going to build a bridge on the Yangtze River. When they heard the news, everyone first expressed doubts.

Can a bridge be built on the Yangtze River?
Can we build it?
The Yangtze River is not an ordinary river. It is very wide, the water flow is very large, and the water is very deep. It is very difficult to build the Yangtze River Bridge. The Yangtze River has been a natural moat since ancient times.

During the Three Kingdoms period, the reason why Wu State was able to defend the southeast mainly relied on the natural danger of the Yangtze River. If there was no Yangtze River, it would have been unified by Wei State long ago.

Although Daming's infrastructure is very strong now, cement roads, railways and so on are being repaired everywhere, and many bridges have been built, but the Yangtze River Bridge will be built on the Yangtze River, which still surprises everyone.

Of course, there is also a huge fee, fifty million taels of silver.

This is not fifty thousand taels, five hundred thousand taels, but fifty million taels of silver.

That is to say, the imperial court is rich now. If it were more than ten years ago, the tax silver received by the imperial court would only be more than three million taels a year.

This fifty million taels of silver is an incomparably huge sum.

However, it is only the estimated cost of building the Yangtze River Bridge. If you want to build a bridge on the Yangtze River, God knows how much money will be thrown into the Yangtze River.

"Can we build this Yangtze River Bridge?"

Emperor Hongzhi was also shocked, shocked by Wang Shouren's bold idea. Although he had never been to the Yangtze River, he knew some data about the Yangtze River. Building a bridge on it would undoubtedly be the project of the century in this era.

"Your Majesty, with our Ming's current technology, although there are many difficulties to overcome in building a bridge on the Yangtze River, it may not be impossible, and it can still be done."

Zeng Jian thought for a while and said with certainty.

In these years, he has been engaged in infrastructure construction, and he is very busy as the minister of the Ministry of Industry. He also knows how many bridges have been built in these years, and has accumulated a wealth of bridge construction technology and experience.

It is actually entirely feasible to build a bridge on the Yangtze River. Technically speaking, although it is difficult, we can still find ways to overcome it.

What's more, Liu Jin also specially established the Daming Institute of Architectural Engineering, which is a college that specializes in cultivating construction engineering talents, and is also a college that specializes in bridge construction, cement roads, railway construction, tunnel construction and other technologies.

Many students who graduated from the college have already spread to every construction site in Daming, and the Ministry of Industry specially recruited a large number of students from the college as officials.

No way, who made their technology really powerful.

"Even if it can be repaired, it doesn't need to cost fifty million taels of silver?"

After listening, Emperor Hongzhi pondered for a while and then said.

"Your Majesty, according to the plan submitted by Nanzhili, the Yangtze River Bridge to be built is a bridge for both roads and railways. At the same time, the height of the bridge is designed to exceed [-] meters, so the total cost is estimated to be [-] million. Two silver."

Zeng Jian also replied immediately.

"You are the minister of the Ministry of Industry. Do you think it is necessary to build the Yangtze River Bridge? Will the cost be too high?"

Emperor Hongzhi nodded slightly, and then asked again.

The construction of the Yangtze River Bridge is not a trivial matter. It does not mean building a garden in the imperial palace. It is a major event related to the long-term development of the entire Ming Dynasty.

It can even be said that if this bridge is really to be built, it can even be written into history, and it can also be written into one's own achievements in governing the country. After all, building bridges and paving roads has been a good thing since ancient times.

"Your Majesty, it is indeed necessary to build the Yangtze River Bridge. My Ming Dynasty has already built a bridge on the Yellow River. It not only meets the needs of roads and railways, but also greatly facilitates the travel between the north and the south."

"The Yangtze River has always been an important natural moat for north-south communication. If a Yangtze River Bridge can be built, it will greatly facilitate the communication between the north and south sides of the Yangtze River. From then on, the natural moat will become a thoroughfare."

"The train can also continue to be built to the south, and then connected to the road, it will be more convenient for me to travel between the north and the south of Ming Dynasty."

Zeng Jian thought about it and replied.

The bridge must be built, but this time the bridge is built on the Yangtze River, which is technically difficult and requires a lot of investment, but also because of this, once the Yangtze River Bridge is built, it will play a huge role in the future.

The bridge is used for road and rail, which means that in the future, the train can go directly to the south and continue to be built. With the train, the communication between the north and the south will be more convenient and faster.

"Your Majesty, the construction of the Yangtze River Bridge is indeed a good thing that benefits the country and the people. The Yangtze River is a natural moat, which seriously hinders the communication between the north and the south. My Daming train has been repaired here and there is no way to build it south."

"My Ming Dynasty has a vast territory, and there are still many bridges like the Yangtze River. In the future, our Daming Railway will communicate with all directions, and it is inevitable to build bridges on the great river."

"The construction of the Yangtze River Bridge now will not only facilitate the communication between the north and the south of the Yangtze River, but also accumulate rich experience and technology in bridge construction, laying the foundation for the construction of more bridges in the future."

Liu Jin also stood up and said that building bridges is a good thing, and there are still many bridges to be built in the future. Building a bridge now, accumulating experience, and mastering technology can also lay the foundation for the future.

When the officials heard this, they also nodded.

"Your Majesty, what Liu Gong said is reasonable~"

"The Yangtze River Basin is the land of prosperity in Ming Dynasty. Huguang, Jiangxi, and Jiangnan, and the railway is also related to the lifeline of the country's transportation. In the future, it will continue to be built in the south, connecting Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, and going to Nanyang, Jiaozhi, and Xianglin. "

"Your Majesty, building bridges and paving roads has been beneficial to the country and the people since ancient times, and it is also a thing that is famous for thousands of years. The ancient sages and sages all attached great importance to the construction of water conservancy."

"Now our Ming Dynasty is prosperous and prosperous, far surpassing all previous dynasties. Naturally, building a bridge is to build a bigger and better bridge. The construction of the Yangtze River Bridge is beneficial to the country and the people, but not harmful."

The ministers also stood up to express their support, especially the officials in the south, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, and Nanzhili, who expressed their support even more.

If the Yangtze River Bridge is built, it will be very useful for the development of these places. In the past, it was too troublesome to cross the river, and all had to rely on boats.

It is difficult and inconvenient for big ships to berth, and small boats are bumpy and cannot transport much.

If there is a bridge that can be used both by road and rail, it will be extremely convenient whether it is by road or by train in the future, and it will play an extremely important role in promoting the development of the Daming Jiangnan area.

"It's a good thing to build bridges, but do we have the technology to build bridges on the Yangtze River?"

"Yes, yes, the Yangtze River is so wide that it is really difficult to build a bridge on it. I am afraid that the bridge will not be built by then, and even if it is built, it will not last long."

"Yeah, the investment is so huge, fifty million taels of silver, which is purely pushed up with silver. It's okay if there is a guarantee, but if it is washed away, wouldn't the fifty million taels of silver be in vain? ?”

"Your Majesty, I think the risks involved are too great. The Yangtze River is not a small river. It is too difficult and too dangerous to build a bridge on it."

Some ministers supported it, and some ministers opposed it. All the opposing officials felt that building bridges on the Yangtze River would be too risky, that the technology might not be able to do it, and even if it was built, it would not last long enough, and the huge wealth would be wasted.

The officials were arguing endlessly, which also put Emperor Hongzhi in a dilemma. Can the Yangtze River Bridge be repaired?
(End of this chapter)