1635 Han style rises again

September 1669, 9, Hanzhou, Songcheng (now Katherine, northern Australia).

Countless people gathered on both sides of the broad Song River (now the Catherine River in Australia). They stood on tiptoes and looked up at the river. A huge iron bridge spanned the two banks, and many bright red cloth strips were hung on both sides of the iron bridge. A dozen bridge builders are struggling to tighten the last batch of fastening bolts so that the entire iron bridge can be closed smoothly.

More than a hundred imperial guards, hundreds of gendarmes, and rotating township soldiers stood guard with muskets and kept the people outside the cordon. King Qi, several cabinet ministers and local officials stood on the north bank of the Song River, waiting for the bridge to close. After laying a simple bridge deck, they will walk across the bridge to celebrate the completion of the bridge.

The world's first iron bridge has two cast iron arch ribs, which imitate the wooden and stone bridges of the past dynasties, supporting the heavy and wide bridge body.The span of the entire bridge deck is 28 meters, the width is 13 meters, the height from the river is more than 310 meters, and the weight is [-] tons.

This iron bridge is a pure railway bridge, and it is an important node of the extension line of the Jian (Ye) Song (City) Railway.Moreover, the bridge construction period was only four months, and it was successfully closed, which is enough to witness that Qi's road and bridge construction technology has reached a new level.

When the iron bridge was about to be completed, the Ministry of Communications, Songcheng Mansion (separated from Jianye Mansion five years ago), Hanzhou Road Engineering Construction General Trading Company and other political and business departments specially invited King Qi and cabinet ministers to preside over the tailoring ceremony. Celebrate the completion of the first railway bridge in Qi.

As the first bridge of its kind in the world, the Songhe Railway Bridge has a classical symmetry and elegance perfectly suited to the 17th century, and also reflects the decades-long industrial development process of Qi State in miniature.The completion of this iron bridge shows that Qi has the organizational and technical construction capabilities for large-scale infrastructure construction.

At the same time, this world's first cast iron bridge has also brought great inspiration to many construction craftsmen in Qi.With railways and iron bridges, can steel be used to replace the wood and cement bricks currently used in large quantities in house construction?

Amidst the cheers of all the people, King Qi and many officials, engineers, and representatives of the people stepped onto the iron bridge one by one and walked slowly across the bridge deck.Afterwards, the king of Qi condoled and encouraged the construction workers of the iron bridge present, and congratulated them on successfully completing the construction of the first railway bridge in Qi, making it a milestone bridge.

In the lively atmosphere of iron bridge celebrations, a secretary hurried to the side of the deputy prime minister, Qi Yuanshan, and whispered a piece of news that had just come from Jianye City.

"Even if Ming Dynasty is unified, whether it is internal integration or eliminating external threats, it will take a lot of time and energy to solve and deal with them one by one." Qi Tian thought for a while and said slowly: "I think, For at least three to fifty years, the unified Ming Dynasty will not pose a direct threat to us."

"Britain only has a few ships and people in Asia, and dare to say that they want to replace the Dutch?" Qi Tian sneered at this, "The British want to use the hand of our Qi to suppress and weaken the Dutch's power , so that they can make room for the British. Furthermore, we and the Dutch jointly control the Strait of Malacca. If the British want to obtain tea, porcelain and other oriental commodities, who else can the British buy from? As for cotton cloth Well, the markets of the several Tubang kingdoms in southern India have been completely controlled by us, and that is the demand of millions of people, which is enough for us to digest for a period of time. Therefore, cotton cloth is not inferior to the demand of the United Kingdom."

"Hehe..." Qi Tian smiled, shook his head and said: "Since ancient times, from the establishment to the collapse of a new dynasty in the history of China, the longest period is only more than four hundred years, and the shortest period is only a few decades. no longer exists, who can remember us pioneers?"

"It's fine to talk about business, and it's also fine to establish diplomatic relations. But instead of forming an alliance to suppress the Dutch, we have to tactfully refuse." Qi Tian said flatly: "In time, Britain will inevitably rise in Europe by virtue of its superior geographical advantages and become our future. A strong contender for maritime supremacy."

"More than 30 years ago, we came to Hanzhou in panic. There were only a thousand people and only four or five boats. At that time, who would have thought that we would be where we are today?" How far will the country develop and become stronger?"

"Song Lao has made great contributions to the development and progress of our country's education and science in Qi." Qi Tian said slowly: "Your cabinet will discuss and give Song Lao a posthumous title. In addition, although Song Lao has Last words, everything is simple after death. But with Song Lao’s academic and scientific and technological contributions, we should treat him as a state funeral. As for the support funds donated by Song Lao to Tiangong Institute, I suggest that your cabinet allocate additional funds to establish A Youth Science Progress Award, named after Mr. Song."

"In this way, the name of Elder Song will be handed down to the world, and it will be remembered forever by the millions of people in our country of Qi. Even though he is dead, he will last forever." Qi Yuanshan nodded.

"But our country of Qi is different from the previous dynasties." Qi Yuanshan said: "Our country of Qi will be passed down forever."

"What's the difference?"

"Your Majesty is the king who founded our country of Qi, and he will surely shine in the annals of history and be remembered by countless descendants of our country."

"However, the industrial process carried out in our country has broken the original production method. It can be said that since then, human beings have entered the machine age, and the machines are becoming more and more complex. In the future, almost all products will be made by machines. And there is no longer any need for human muscle power, all power comes from coal and other energy sources. With the continuous expansion of the industrial process, our country of Qi will become a mature industrial power."

"Your Majesty, the British mission has been meeting and discussing with Honglu Temple for half a month. They have requested several times to establish a strategic alliance with Qi." Qi Yuanshan walked with Qi Tian on the flat river embankment, and talked about Regarding the matter of the British mission, "they hinted at us during the talks that they, the UK, can completely replace the Dutch and become the closest trading partner with Qi. Even, in order to promote and deepen the trade exchanges between the two parties, they are willing to The procurement sources of tea, cotton cloth, porcelain, leather goods, etc. are all transferred to Qi State."

"The king has told his ministers several times that the industrial process that our country is currently advancing is a great industrial revolution, which will enable our country to transform from a traditional agricultural society to a modern industrial society. In terms of production technology, Said that it will also make machines replace the previous manual labor, and replace the old handicraft workshop production with large factory production. This industrial revolution will create huge productivity for our country and make the whole society of our country turn upside down. As long as our country continues to promote the process of industrialization and continuously consolidate our national strength, then we will eventually gradually establish a strategic relationship with the Southeast Asia, the Indian Ocean, and even the world. Rule. In this way, our country of Qi is more than a hundred years of national destiny?"

I came to Song City today to attend the completion celebration ceremony of the Song River Iron Bridge, but unexpectedly received the news of Song Yingxing's death. Could this be some kind of dark meaning foreshadowed by the heavens?

"Because..." Qi Tian sighed, "Because, I don't want the mainland of China to remain divided."

"Maybe... yes."

"Hehe..., Shengshi?" Qi Tian couldn't help laughing when he heard this.

"..." Qi Yuanshan hesitated for a moment, then said softly: "Your Majesty, will the unified Ming Dynasty also become our potential competitor in the future?"

"Then why doesn't our country of Qi take advantage of the present opportunity to keep Ming and Qing prisoners separate?"

"Your Majesty, judging from the current development situation in the mainland, the unification of the Ming Dynasty is about to be completed, so...the cabinet is a little worried that our country's transcendent status and important interests in the mainland may be seriously challenged."

"That's right! Our country of Qi is indeed taking a path that is different from that of previous dynasties." Qi Tian turned his head and looked at the endless wilderness in the south, and said leisurely: "I hope that after we do our best to give this country After injecting more power, it can continue to expand the domestic cake—well, pancakes—continuously, so that our people can continue to share more benefits. I also hope that our country of Qi can expand for future generations. More living space, so that the increasing number of people no longer worry about the lack of land."

"Your Majesty, please stop mourning." Qi Yuanshan comforted: "Although Song Lao has passed away, his works such as "Heavenly Creation", "Guan Xiang" and "Music Law" have been handed down to the world in our Qi State. There are also hundreds of students trained, and various scientific achievements are widely used in various industries, and still have a positive and far-reaching impact on the research and development of science and technology in our country."

"In the cabinet, you may not be the only one who has such doubts?" Qi Tian asked.

"Our country of Qi can allow all the people to have land, houses to live in, and food to eat." Qi Yuanshan said proudly.

During this period, people's requirements for the so-called prosperous age were so low that they could only eat three meals a day, cover their bodies with clothing, and have a room for themselves.

"Actually, the population of Qi State is growing rapidly. The people have food so that they will not starve to death, the people have clothes so that they will not freeze to death, and the people have houses so that they will not be disorganized. Such a situation has been praised by all Chinese dynasties. It's a prosperous age." Qi Yuanshan said sincerely.

"Your Majesty, Elder Song (Song Yingxing) passed away at [-]:[-] this morning." Qi Yuanshan hesitated for a moment, then walked up to Qi Tian and said with a heavy heart.

"Old Song has passed away, and our country of Qi has lost a huge wall of science that lifts the sky, which makes people sigh!" Qi Tian stood on the south bank of the Song River, watching the rolling river, and couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

"What does His Majesty mean...reject Britain's so-called alliance request?"

"Mr. Song once told his eldest son, Song Shiyi, that he died at an octogenarian age. This is a great joy in life. Everything must be kept simple and not extravagant." Qi Yuanshan said softly: "Mr. Song still left a last word, and he had accumulated thousands of Hanzhou silver dollars during his lifetime. All donations will be donated to Tiangong College to commend the poor and promising young students."

"Under the leadership and promotion of our government, Qi State has now started the process of industrialization. Although the scale is not very large, its development momentum is extremely rapid. The creativity and productivity that will explode will be earth-shattering." Qi Tian Turning his head and looking at the direction of the Songhe Railway Bridge, "From the beginning of human history until now, almost all labor products in the world are completed with hand tools, mainly relying on the muscle strength of humans and animals, supplemented by water and wind power, wooden Lever and pulley are the only artificial machines."

"As you said, just relying on the scientific encyclopedia book "Heavenly Creation", Song Lao's reputation is enough to spread through the ages." Qi Tian nodded and said: "Perhaps, in the long history, like you and me Although he is a prince and minister, he will be lost in the dust in a hundred years, and no one will find him. However, Mr. Song can remain in history forever with his outstanding scientific contributions, and is admired by countless posterity."

"Haha..." After hearing this, Qi Tian patted Qi Yuanshan on the shoulder vigorously, and laughed loudly, "Yuanshan, unexpectedly, you are more confident and hopeful about the future of Qi than I am!"

"Not to mention the previous Tang and Song Dynasties, even hundreds of years ago, at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the vast majority of the people also had land to divide, houses to live in, and a life full of food. But in less than a hundred years, the There have been many ills, and the common people are generally in poverty, so that during the reign of Chongzhen, the end of the world came. Maybe our Qi country will be spared after hundreds of years?" Qi Tian looked at Qi Yuanshan playfully.

"Your Majesty..." Qi Yuanshan looked at Qi Tian in astonishment.

"Your Majesty, our country of Qi is different from Ming Dynasty, and even from previous dynasties." Qi Yuanshan said solemnly: "The Mongolian and Yuan Tartars are not counted, but has there ever been a dynasty that expanded its territory tens of thousands of miles away? Africa, The Red Sea, India, the Americas, and the depths of the ocean all have many overseas strongholds and territories of the Qi State. Looking at the Baigong Machinery of the Qi State, has there ever been a steam-driven machine-driven utensil in the past dynasties? Although the Qi State There are only thousands of factories, but the various products and materials they create are countless, and this kind of large-scale industrial production is beyond the reach of all dynasties."

When Qi Tian heard the words, his expression froze, the smile on his face slowly disappeared, and then a sad expression appeared on his face, and he remained silent for a long time.

"Your Majesty, what about three or fifty years from now?" Qi Yuanshan asked: "After the Ming Dynasty has completed its internal integration and eliminated the border threat, will they turn their attention to North Korea, Japan, Central South, and Southeast Asia?"

"You may not know what it means to be a strong industrial country. That will give our Qi country a crushing advantage when facing any agricultural country, or semi-agricultural and semi-industrialized country. The future unified Ming Dynasty There is no exception when facing our country of Qi."

"Your Majesty, Daming can also imitate our Qi model and quickly advance its domestic industrial process."

"Copying homework is not so easy!" Qi Tian smiled bluntly, "If a country wants to develop industry, it must have workers who have received basic education, industrial producers must have basic organization, and the production capacity of machine technology must be sufficient. Yes. Daming wants to quickly carry out the process of industrialization. It is no problem to build some factories to produce guns, build some textile factories, and even build some railways. But if you want to spread it all over the country, it will involve ideas (involving Confucianism, etc.), economic structure (involving small township landlords), secularism of men and women (involving female industrial population), politics (involving political organization structure), society (involving rural areas and urbanization, clans), education (involving disputes over cultural ideas ) and other conflicts of interest. The mainland of China is constrained by thousands of years of tradition, culture, and economic composition. If you want to quickly develop industrial processes, it is not as simple as drawing on a blank sheet of paper like ours in Qi."

"The original interest groups have not been cleaned up, the old social form has not changed, and the conservative ideological life remains unchanged. Once domestic productivity or production relations suddenly change completely, it will have a subversive impact on the entire society. Under this impact The first unlucky ones are the country's ruling leadership and elite, and the internal conflicts will be concentrated, and the destruction of the family and the country can only be done in the backhand. Therefore, if Ming wants to promote the industrialization process as quickly as Qi, The road is dangerous and difficult."

You must know that although the productivity factor is a plus to politics, it is still constrained by the background of the times.Otherwise, in future generations, if there were no Sino-Japanese War and the Eight-Power Allied Forces, I, the Qing Dynasty, can proudly say that the hard power of labor and capital far exceeds that of the Han and Tang Dynasties.