The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

When Zhu Feng learned that he was going to Jizhou, he had no idea what he was going to do. Compared to the group of people who came to say goodbye to him, he seemed to be the one who didn't realize it.

On this day, Zhang Zhou called Zhu Feng over and took him with him to the courtyard of the laboratory.

The two were walking, and Zhu Feng was still chattering: "Brother Zhang, are you going to Jizhou to fight? What are you going to do today? Order all the troops?"

Zhu Feng has never had many opinions, and Zhang Zhou is not surprised.

The two of them arrived at Zhang Zhou's workshop together, but before they entered, Zhu Feng noticed that the security in the workshop was different from the usual one. There were many more palace guards.

When he entered, he saw Zhu Youtang and Zhu Houzhao and his son inside. Zhu Feng immediately felt that he was in the wrong place and hid behind Zhang Zhou.

"Father, Mr. Zhang is here. This thing is interesting, but we can't look at it here. He doesn't come to introduce it. It's not a big deal." Zhu Houzhao deliberately spoke loudly, It seemed to be putting pressure on Zhang Zhou.

Zhang Zhou and Zhu Feng came forward to greet him.

Zhu Youtang smiled and said: "Bingkuan, you came just in time. The prince and I have been watching here for a long time. Why...why does this thing keep running here without manpower?"

On this day, Zhu Youtang specially brought his son to give Zhang Zhou a "farewell". After all, Zhang Zhou was taking Zhu Feng to leave the capital. The king relied too much on Zhang Zhou. In addition, Zhang Zhou was still an official in the East Palace. The emperor still counted on Zhang Zhou. Zhou took care of his son's education, and then specifically allowed Zhu Houzhao to come with him.

It was also because Zhang Zhou said that before leaving, he wanted to show Zhu Youtang and his son something novel.

Zhu Houzhao is a naughty boy, but Zhu Youtang himself is not much different from a childish child. He is naturally eager for new and interesting things, but his personality was too suppressed before and he could not express it.

Zhu Feng also followed Zhu Youtang's line of sight and cast his own gaze on the courtyard.

But I saw a dark thing about half a man tall, pulling a bunch of wheeled things and running on a track, and this thing actually made some strange noises.

And this, of course, was the "novelty" that Zhang Zhou wanted to show Zhu Youtang and his son. It was also a scaled-down model train, only just over half a meter tall. There were several iron carriages pulled behind it. There are also some ups and downs set up in certain places to prove that this novel vehicle still has a certain ability to pass.

"Your Majesty, I will name this thing a train." Zhang Zhou said.

Zhu Houzhao said: "Father, can you ask Mr. Zhang to take it down and take a closer look?"

Before Zhang Zhou arrived, the naughty kid had proposed this idea several times, but he never got a reply from his old father.

Li Rong, who was standing next to him, hurriedly warned: "His Royal Highness, please don't get close. This thing looks... a bit dangerous, so it's better to be careful."

It can keep running around the yard without exerting any human or animal power. In Li Rong's opinion, this is a very dangerous thing, especially when the king and prince of the Ming Dynasty are present. If this thing rushes over and "crushes" the father and son, In the past, wouldn't that be bad?
Although Li Rong himself felt that this thing actually didn't look that dangerous, being a slave always showed his cautious side.

Zhu Youtang said: "Bingkuan, please explain in detail."

Only then did Zhang Zhou give an order, asking several craftsmen who had been guarding the entrance of the yard to come over and work together to stop the front of the model train.

When everything returned to calm, Zhang Zhou stepped forward, and Zhu Youtang followed him, but Zhu Houzhao was the first to step forward and almost ran in front of Zhang Zhou.

Zhang Zhou said: "Your Majesty, please see, this is the device that applies the power of the train. Let's call it a locomotive. It uses water to boil it through coal, and then emits steam from the pores to drive the gears, and the gears drive the conveyor belt. It drives the wheels below to rotate and pulls the wagon behind it to move forward together."

"What to use? Water? Mr. Zhang, are you joking?"

Zhu Houzhao thought this was some advanced trick, but when he heard that he just boiled water and used the water to drive the train forward, of course he thought it was nonsense.

Compared to this statement, Zhu Houzhao seems to be more willing to believe that this is actually Zhang Zhou exerting some kind of "mind power" or "immortal magic". Perhaps this is easier for him to accept.

Looking at Zhu Youtang's reaction, it was actually not much different from his son's. They probably didn't believe it.

It's just that Zhu Youtang won't directly question anything.

"The prince is right." Zhang Zhou said, "It is the gas emitted by boiling water that drives the train forward. Of course, the more important thing is to create the corresponding track. If there is no such iron track, how can the train move forward? When traveling on flat ground, first of all, it is difficult to control the direction, and then it is difficult to maintain its balance, and it is even more difficult to continue moving forward. There will always be some stumbling places, and then the train will have to be dragged through mountains and rivers by external force, which is almost impossible. It can’t be done.”

Zhu Houzhao said with a smile: "Sir, if it is carried by water as you said, then this thing shouldn't be heavy, right? I thought it was made of iron."

As he spoke, Zhu Houzhao walked over and wanted to lift the locomotive himself, but then he was dumbfounded.

Because the thing was indeed made of iron. Although it was only about half a meter high and a meter long, and the inside part was still hollow, an iron object of this size was not something that a boy like Zhu Houzhao could move.

"Prince, don't be rash," Zhang Zhou said, "There is a charcoal fire inside, so don't burn you even if the flame is turned off. Also, this thing weighs two to three hundred kilograms, so don't smash it or stretch it."

"How many pounds?" Zhu Houzhao glared at Zhang Zhou.

Suddenly Zhu Houzhao realized that he was like a clown, and then found that his father glared at him viciously, and then he retreated back in despair.

Zhu Youtang said with some disbelief: "Bingkuan, how heavy will this set be?"

Zhang Zhou said: "Each wagon weighs more than 100 kilograms. Adding the front of the car, the whole bunch weighs more than 1000 kilograms."

Zhu Youtang asked: "Can you move a thousand kilograms of things with just boiling water? Is that heavier than...a carriage? It seems that the water boiling equipment is not too big."

Zhang Zhou explained: "Actually, weight is not important here. It depends on friction. The explanation is very complicated. Just like although the carriage is heavy, the horses are not actually carrying the carriage, but are dragging the wheeled carriage. It’s not too heavy. But it’s almost impossible for horses to pull a carriage without wheels.”

"Oh." Zhu Youtang seemed to understand.

But in front of his son, he still had to pretend to understand, so that he could reflect his majesty as a father and king.Zhang Zhou said: "This time I have requested to go to Yongping Mansion to continue exploring some iron ore mines. The purpose is not only to increase the casting of artillery, but also to manufacture rails and trains to transport grain and grass supplies to the northwest for the Ming Dynasty in the future. Provide maximum convenience.”

Zhu Youtang pointed at the locomotive and said, "If it's so big, it can't transport much, right?"

Zhang Zhou smiled and said: "Your Majesty, the train designed by Yi Chen is much larger than this one. In addition to loading goods, it can also transport people. The rails are also wider than this one. The road must be as smooth as possible, especially when passing through some mountains." At the pass, we must break open the mountain and split the rocks. In the past, this was almost impossible, but now with the powerful gunpowder, everything is much easier."

No matter what others think, at least in Zhang Zhou's opinion, the starting point for building his own train is much more convenient than others.

First of all, there is unlimited policy support. Iron ore and manpower are almost free. There is also yellow gunpowder that has been invented for railway construction. In addition, he is the chief designer's brain, which eliminates a lot of trials. If you do the wrong process, the entire opening can create the appearance of an advanced train.

"Good."

When Zhu Youtang heard this, he naturally wanted to support it.

It's not like Zhang Zhou was just talking nonsense. After all, he, the emperor, had personally "tested" it. This model is very illustrative and very operable.

When Li Rong heard this, he couldn't help but said: "Mr. Zhang, your suggestion is certainly a good one. After all, the Ming Dynasty spent a lot of money on water transportation and the transportation of grain and materials to the northwest every year. This can save a lot of money. But... please... Excuse me for asking, even if you build it, it’s just this... railway track, hundreds of thousands of miles long, what if the Tatars come to destroy it?"

"exactly."

Zhu Houzhao seemed to have found a breakthrough to the problem. In other words, he, a naughty boy, had reached adolescence and was eager to prove in front of his father that he was very capable and no worse than Zhang Zhou, so he also wanted to show his unusual point of view.

"Father, I think what Eunuch Li said makes sense. This thing is just flashy. Even if the railway track is damaged and can be repaired, if there are still people using such an iron shell to transport supplies, then the Tatars will know it directly The transportation route is known, just wait where the railroad tracks must pass, and you don’t have to think twice to be a robber."

Zhu Youtang felt unhappy when he heard this.

Good guy, does the eunuch below wear the same pants as his son?They actually came together to question the rationality of Bingkuan's decision?You really don’t remember to eat but not to fight!

Zhu Youtang said with a straight face: "If you had brought this up three years ago, it would have been fine. Now, at this time, you still think so, because you feel that the Ming Dynasty's artillery and muskets are not enough to deter the foreigners, right? ?”

Li Rong saw that the emperor was angry and quickly fell silent.

Zhu Houzhao looked a little unconvinced and continued: "Father, if we use a train to transport firearms and are robbed by the Tatars, what should we do?"

Zhu Youtang's nose was almost crooked with anger.

Zhang Zhou smiled and said: "Your Highness, do you think this is good? Every train that goes out is equipped with some artillery on the carriage. If the Tatars dare to come, just use artillery to bombard them, and then equip some firecrackers. Just shoot indiscriminately. As for the train tracks, some earthen forts should also be built along the way. In addition to facilitating the loading and unloading of goods, it also facilitates the transmission of some intelligence. Just like beacon towers, if there is an attack by the Tatars, they should be prepared in advance. To take precautions, wouldn’t it be more accurate and effective for various people to use railway tracks for defense?”

"Humph!"

Zhu Youtang hummed softly and stared at his son, meaning, did you hear it?Whatever you can think of, you, Mr. Zhang, have already been prepared!Are you still using your little head to make trouble?

Zhu Feng also found an opportunity and said stupidly: "It would be a good thing if the Tatars really attack. After all, the biggest trouble in the northwest now is that the Tatars are unwilling to gather in one place, often with artillery and muskets." , and cannot fight head-on with it.”

At this moment, Zhu Feng seemed to have figured out why he followed Zhang Zhou to Jizhou.

It doesn't matter whether there is a war or not. It turns out that he is following Zhang Zhou to open iron mines.

This is probably what Zhang Zhou said before, asking him to go with Zhang Zhou next time he goes on an expedition... which can be regarded as fulfilling his promise.

Zhu Youtang also nodded with satisfaction and said: "Zhijie, you are right. What we are worried about now is not that the foreign barbarians will come, but that they will not come. If we can use this to attract the main force of the foreign barbarians, we can gather them and annihilate them." All in all, it can be regarded as an unexpected gain.”

As the first person to raise this topic, Li Rong understood it after hearing this.

If he wanted to block Zhang Zhou's suggestions in front of the emperor, he couldn't do it with his ability. He might as well go along with it and don't come out to raise objections... Although as a ceremonial eunuch, he would not be interested in those things that seek change and innovation. Like traditional civil servants, they will have inner resistance and cannot help but want to question and object. After all, this is a common problem in the traditional Confucian cultural circle in the past 2000 years.

But the key also depends on who brought about this change.

If it were Zhang Zhou.

Then don't bring trouble to yourself and just let it go.

"Bingkuan, this thing is quite magical. It can be so powerful when boiling water. This thing shouldn't be used in only one kind of place. Also, before the autumn cools this year, we should also prepare various things in the palace. The heating is turned on everywhere.”

Here Zhang Zhou is studying steam engines, while Zhu Youtang is still thinking about heating his home with hot water.

Even Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but glance at his father, wondering in his heart, why did his father still care about heating at this time?Shouldn't we discuss more about whether this kind of train is feasible?
"Your Majesty, I have indeed done a detailed study on this recently." Zhang Zhou said.

"Oh?" Zhu Youtang showed great interest again.

Zhang Zhou said: "I use this to drive the weaving machine, so that cloth can be made faster and better. However, I use more straw and cotton to provide raw materials for weaving. I also improve the loom." , and the manufacture of shuttles, etc. I won’t take His Majesty and the Prince to see the details. After all, most of the weavers’ workshops are women, and the place is very noisy.”

Zhu Houzhao said: "There are good things, why don't you take them to have a look? It must be very interesting."

"Prince." Zhu Youtang waved his hand and said, "Since Bingkuan said he won't go and see it, then he won't go there yet. After we have some results, Bingkuan, tell me in detail what is different about this weaving workshop. .As for the supply of straw cotton, I will ask someone to coordinate with you."

Zhang Zhou said: "I will send people to various places to purchase, so as to supply the soldiers in the northwest first. I believe it won't be long before the soldiers in the northwest can wear clothes cut from this new type of cloth." (End of Chapter)