Daming Crazy Emperor

Everyone discussed for a while, and the plan for the first batch of cities in Xibo Province was roughly finalized.

Most of the more than [-] cities in the first group were built along the river system, including the three cities on the west side of the Ural Mountains, which were also built near the tributaries of the Hubei River.

As for why, it is naturally for the convenience of transportation.

It is impossible to use railways to connect the entire Xiber province at this moment, and now the internal transportation of the Xiber province can only rely on boats.

That is to connect the major rivers and water systems through the Arctic Ocean to realize the transfer of materials and personnel within the entire Xibo Province.

Of course, this is not enough. In the future, they will build a railway network. Even now, they can also try to use canals to connect the major river systems.

Taichang stared at the map for a while, then pointed to a few tributaries in the north of Shenwu City: "Chang Geng, send someone to look at these tributaries, see if you can find a way to dig a canal to connect the Ebei River and the Yeni River .

We cannot rely solely on the Arctic Ocean to connect major river systems, because the Arctic Ocean is too far away from here.

If we want to transfer the supplies from the opposite Yeni River, we have to sail seven or eight thousand miles north to enter the Arctic Ocean, then sail four or five hundred miles to the Yeni River, and then sail south along the Yeni River Seven or eight thousand miles.

In this way, it will take at least more than a month to make a round trip.

And the thawing period here is not long. If people and materials are transferred by this method, they can be transferred three or four times a year at most.

It would be different if we built a canal near here.

From the map, the distance between this tributary and the tributary of the Yeni River is only about a hundred miles.

Moreover, the main trunk of the Yeni River is only about a thousand miles away from here.

If we can build a canal to connect the Ebei River and the Yeni River from here, it will only take one or two days for the materials in the Yeni River Basin to be transported here to be loaded on the train, and it will only take two or three days to go back and forth. time.

There is also the Xinxijiang side. If people or materials are transferred through the Arctic Ocean, it will take tens of thousands of miles to go around the Arctic Ocean alone. In addition to the north-south voyage of the two rivers, it will be at least more than 2 miles. It takes two months.

If we can build a canal to connect Xinxi River and Yeni River, the distance will be shortened to about two thousand miles, and it only takes four or five days to go back and forth. "

It's a good idea, but the canal can't be built just because it wants to.

The terrain on both sides and the height of the water level have to be considered.

If there are mountains between the two water systems, it is impossible to build a canal. If the water level difference between the two sides is too large, it is useless to build a canal, and ships cannot pass at all.

Song Yingxing stared at the map for a while, then pointed to the area between the Ebei River and the Yeni River and asked, "Your Majesty, are there any mountains in between?"

Taichang thought for a while, then pointed to the map and said: "There are some mountains and forests near this tributary, but there are grasslands on both sides of this tributary, a flat ocean, and there are no mountains blocking it at all."

If this is the case, then there is no big problem. The rivers on the same grassland generally have a small drop, so there should be no problem with navigation.

Song Yingxing nodded, and then solemnly said: "Weichen will send someone to check first, if the tributaries on both sides are on the same grassland, there should be no problem in building the canal.

However, judging from the terrain of the entire Xibo Province, the canal between the Ebei River and the Yeni River is easier to build, and the canal between the Yeni River and the Xinxi River may be a little troublesome, because there are basically mountains . "

Taichang nodded slightly and said: "Well, you should send someone to take a good look at it first, it would be good if we can dig the canal between the Ebei River and Yeni River first.

After all, this side is a plain terrain, and most of the grassland and cultivated land are concentrated here. Most of our first city is also built near these two river systems, and most of the population is concentrated here.

As long as the two river systems can be connected together through canals, at least the early development will be fine. "

Song Yingxing heard the words, couldn't help nodding and said: "I understand."

Taichang thought about it carefully, and then said solemnly: "There is another important issue, and that is the issue of keeping warm in winter.

It is colder here than in Liaodong. If there is only a heated kang, most people can basically only lie on the heated kang in winter, and at most they can move around in a room with a heated kang, and basically cannot go to other places.

In the winter here, let alone going outside, a house without a heated kang would freeze to death.

This is definitely not possible. It is impossible for millions or even tens of millions of people not to go out for more than half a year. Even if these people can not go out, we have to consider whether the cattle, sheep and horses they raise can bear it.

If the cattle, sheep and horses are not driven into warm houses in winter, even if these cattle, sheep and horses will not freeze to death, they will die of hunger and thirst.

Think about it, in this place where the splashing water turns into ice, the water and grass in the unheated house are frozen like stones, how do the cattle, sheep and horses eat and drink? "

This is indeed a big problem, even if people can lie on the kang and survive, it is impossible for the cattle, sheep and horses to lie on the kang!
Besides, it is impossible for them to build heated kangs everywhere.

The heated kang is warm to lie on, but someone needs to light the fire.

If the kang is built everywhere, then people have to burn the kang everywhere.

Burning kangs at the moment is not done indoors. It turns out that ordinary people basically use firewood to burn kangs. It is not a big problem to burn kangs indoors. At most, the smoke from the burning is a bit smoky.

At the moment, the relatively large cities basically use coal to burn kangs. After all, there is no place to chop firewood in large cities, and everyone has no time to go outside the city to chop firewood for several months or even more than half a year.

So at this moment, the newly built cities basically use coal to burn kang.

The gas produced by burning coal has the danger of poisoning, so the kangs designed to be fired with coal were all burned outside the house, and they were equipped with chimneys, so as to avoid gas poisoning.

The winter here is very cold, and it may be possible to burn a kang outside. If you run around outside, carrying firewood and briquettes for a day, who can bear to burn a kang for a day?
When everyone heard the words, they all frowned and pondered, and remained silent for a long time.

They really couldn't think of a good way to do it.

Seeing this, Taichang explained in detail: "Actually, this is not impossible to solve.

We can use the boilers and steam pipes, install more large boilers around the city, and then use steam pipes and warm passages to connect each household.

We can also specially build some large markets with boilers. When winter comes, the boilers will be fired to heat up the whole market.

In this way, the common people here can also go to the door to door and even go to the big market to buy things through the warm passage in the winter.

We can even build some greenhouses tightly wrapped in plastic sheets outside the city, and also connect steam pipes.

In this way, ordinary people can still eat fresh fruits and vegetables in the winter. "

This method is indeed good, but the investment is quite huge.

How many large boilers and steam pipes are needed for a city of 10 people?
Song Yingxing thought about it carefully, and then said cautiously: "Your Majesty, I dare you, this method is indeed good, but it requires too many boilers and steam pipes.

Even if we use the boilers of warships, it is not bad if one boiler can guarantee heating for 100 people.

Calculated in this way, a city of 10 people must be equipped with at least [-] boilers, and I don't know how many steam pipes are needed.

There are more than 2 cities, that is, more than [-] boilers and countless steam pipes.

With so many boilers and steam pipes, even if we can build them, it will be a big problem to transport them! "

Taichang naturally considered this question.

He said calmly: "We can definitely set up factories for making boilers and steam pipes in Shenwu City, so the transportation problem will be solved, right?
Moreover, we can build larger boilers, one boiler can manage thousands of people.

In this way, more than 2000 boilers in more than [-] cities are enough. "

Uh, this boiler can't be made as big as you want!
Song Yingxing carefully reminded: "Your Majesty, the boilers used for warships and trains are the largest. No matter how big they are, we don't have such a large machine tool for processing!"

Taichang shook his head slightly and said: "The boiler used for heating is different from the boiler used for warships and trains.

The boilers and steam pipes used in warships and trains have special requirements. The steam pressure must be guaranteed, and problems such as air leakage caused by bumps and vibrations must be prevented, so they must be machined.

The boiler for heating is placed on the ground and will not move, so there is no such high requirement.

Moreover, even if there is a leak, it's okay, as long as the steam can be transported out.

There are not many places for such a boiler to be processed by machine tools. We only need to make the mold a little finer and add more rubber seals. We don’t even need to process it. "

Well, of course it's fine if you do that.

Song Yingxing thought about it carefully, and then carefully reminded: "Your Majesty, the boilers need to burn coal. There are so many large boilers that don't know how much coal will be burned in half a year. Do we also have to consider the transportation of coal?" a bit?"

What is there to consider?
Taichang smiled slightly and said, "Chang Geng, do you think there will be no coal mines in such a large area as Xibo Province?"

Uh, this.

The two capitals and thirteen provinces of Ming Dynasty are not half as big as here, and there are a lot of coal mines. A place as big as Xibo Province must have coal mines.

Song Yingxing suddenly said: "Your Majesty, what do you mean, we dig coal directly here?"

Taichang nodded slightly and said: "That's right, we can just dig coal here.

Didn't I ask you to bring a lot of prospecting officials?

You can let them sit on the Spike warship to explore in the Hubei River Basin.

It would be best if coal mines could be found.

We directly pull the machinery and equipment for mining coal mines by boat, and the coal used for heating of 300 million people will definitely be easily solved.

If no coal mines can be detected in the Hubei River Basin, then go to the Yeni River Basin to try.

The east of the Yeni River is almost entirely mountainous, and there must be a lot of coal mines.

Of course, if the coal mine is in the Yeni River Basin, the construction of the canal should be considered immediately.

If it’s not enough, we will start digging this year.

We can stop the railway line first, pull all the large excavators there, and then organize a hundred thousand people to help.

In this way, a canal of one or two hundred miles should be able to be dug in one or two months. "

Song Yingxing nodded repeatedly when he heard the words: "The emperor is wise, I must send people to investigate the coal mine as soon as possible, and find a suitable place to build the canal."

Taichang smiled again and said, "Don't just stare at the coal mines, there should be many other mines in such a big place.

You can explore gold mines, silver mines, copper mines, iron mines, and even oil. "

Song Yingxing nodded quickly and said, "I understand."