People in the Song Dynasty were lawless

Chapter 335 From now on, the north-south canal is connected
In November of the sixth year of Qingli, the imperial court recruited some civilian men to build some tracks in the south suburbs of the capital.

By December, the track had been built to a length of 20 kilometers.

There is a small steel factory in Bianliang, which is now frantically supplying rail tracks. Tens of thousands of people are constantly laying roads along the line, extending all the way south.

In Zhao Jun's design, this track is naturally not a spectacle, but a part of the North-South Railway.

As mentioned before, the Bianliang East-West Canal is very convenient, but the north-south communication is very difficult.

If you want to take the canal, you have to take a long detour from the Yellow River Ferry to Biankou.

Therefore, Zhao Jun has always planned to open up the north and south and connect the economies of Hebei, Henan, Nanyang and other places.

But unfortunately, due to limited conditions, he was unable to dig a canal.

The main reasons are cost, space, terrain and other factors.

Although it is not impossible to forcibly dig a Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal to connect the north and the south like the Yuan Dynasty did.

"First develop the Bianliang urban area, and then slowly spread to the entire plain areas of Hebei and Henan."

At the same time, some goods transported by Yangtze River water do not need to enter the canal from Yangzhou downstream, then transfer to Huainan and Jingdong Road, and finally reach Bianliang.

"As for what Lao Fan said before, a railway should be built in Shaanxi and Hebei respectively, so that when the Liao Kingdom and Xixia go to war in the future, troops can be quickly sent to attack."

As for the south, we can first build a railway from Bianliang, passing through Henan and Nanyang basins to Xiangyang on Jinghu North Road.

First build the railway from Bianliang to Nanyang, and then build a dense railway network in plain areas such as Hebei, Henan, Shandong, and Huainan.

"I do not think so."

But once the Yuan Dynasty set its capital in Beijing, the ruling class of the Yuan Dynasty needed a canal running from north to south to connect the economic and political centers.

It can be said that Zhao Jun not only possesses the knowledge of future generations, these maps and a lot of knowledge stored in his notebook have become his capital.

The Song Dynasty was different.

Zhao Jun's meaning is very simple.

Therefore, the Yuan Dynasty could only build river canals at a huge cost.

This is especially obvious in mid-December, when the temperature drops rapidly. The many prime ministers in the Constitutional Yuan all put on thick cotton coats and listened to Zhao Jun's explanation of strategic planning.

This map is not a map of the Song Dynasty, but a map brought by Zhao Jun from later generations. It is an atlas in a geography book.

In this way, the Nanyang Basin, a large mining area producing coal and iron, can be connected with Bianliang.

Say something ugly.

It was raining heavily outside at this time. The weather in December was getting colder and colder, and the weather was often weird. Sometimes it would be sunny for several days, but it would still be very hot. Sometimes the temperature suddenly dropped by more than ten degrees overnight, and there was even freezing rain and heavy snow.

“Steel is the first step in industry, and then we can start building railroads nationwide, shipyards, and steamships sailing around the world.”

"And the most important thing is that now we can let Liao and Xixia act as our raw material suppliers and commodity dumping countries. If they are destroyed, where will we get materials and sell things?"

He spread his hands and expressed his opposition to Fan Zhongyan's proposal to build the Hebei-Shaanxi railway first.

Therefore, there is actually no need for Zhao Jun to dig rivers as time-consuming, labor-intensive and expensive as the Yuan Dynasty did.

"Because to put it bluntly, is it difficult for us to eliminate Xixia and Liao now? It's not difficult at all."

They were not burned in vain, and have now become Zhao Jun's political chips.

"Because these places are important areas for coal and iron production. For example, Pingdingshan in Henan is a major coal-producing city, and the Nanyang Basin is extremely rich in coal and iron ore resources. Needless to say, Hebei will be the largest steel-producing area in my country in the future."

After the development of industrialization, the steel and textile industries in various regions will develop greatly.

"As the center of the world, Bianliang is naturally the first urban area to develop, just like London in the UK."

After some operations, not only will the transportation time of goods from Sichuan, Hunan, Guangdong and other places be greatly reduced, but the connection between Hebei and Bianliang will also be closer.

Even if Zhao Zhen died suddenly today and the nine-year-old Zhao Fang ascended the throne and was deceived by a traitor who said he would drag Zhao Jun out and behead him, the people in the Constitutional Yuan would have to work together to depose Zhao Fang and replace him with the second son of the emperor Zhao. Xin comes up.

In addition, the Song Dynasty is now in the initial stage of the first industrial revolution and is about to officially enter industrialization.

In this way, national railways can be greatly developed, and the national power of the Song Dynasty will truly begin to soar.

In mid-December, nearly half a month after the fleet returned, Zhao Jun was drawing and marking the map on the table in the conference room in the Constitutional Courtyard.

"So at least for now, I think we should focus on developing the economy first and raise the national power of the Song Dynasty to another level. In this way, we will be more sure to eliminate Xixia and Liao. After the train is built, it will be more conducive for us to control distant areas."

Zhao Jun shook his head and said: "The difficult thing is how to govern after we conquer it. Even if we wipe out the Liao Kingdom and Xixia, will these Dangxiang, Khitan, Jurchen, and Mongolian tribes obey us? Will they integrate into us? I don't think it's that simple. Integration It takes many years to come in.”

It is entirely possible to transfer the goods from Wuhan to the Han River, unload the goods in Xiangyang, and transfer the goods to a train to be transported all the way to Bianliang.

Secondly, the Yuan Dynasty was still an ancient feudal dynasty, and the only way to communicate between the north and the south was the canal.

Bianliang was built northward to the White Horse Ferry of the Yellow River, thus connecting the canals in Hebei. In the future, Hebei would no longer need to flow upstream of the Yellow River and divert to the Bianhe River.

Although the geography book was burned by Zhao Jun, the pictures were saved by him on his laptop and later reappeared through his paintings.

Later, it expanded to areas with complex terrain such as Shaanxi, Shanxi, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Hunan, Fujian, and Sichuan.

With these things, Zhao Jun's status is as stable as Mount Tai.

Finally, after careful consideration, Zhao Jun believed that the canal and railway should be implemented simultaneously.

It just so happened that the steam train was perfected, and rubber became the last link in this layout.

The capital of the Song Dynasty is Bianliang, and the land of Yanyun is not even a country. There is no need to build a river directly to Beijing to connect the north and the south, as long as it is connected to Hebei.

As for the destruction of Liao and Xixia, it may be a matter of course in the future, but now Zhao Jun said that they can not destroy them first.

If it was destroyed, the Song Dynasty would still have to digest it and spend money to manage it.

It would be better to let Liao and Xixia act as raw material producers and commodity dumping countries for the Song Dynasty first, so as to maximize their profits.

After all, when you reach Zhao Jun's position, you must consider the interests of the country first. If we only fight but not cure like the Yuan Dynasty, it will be nothing more than a short-lived dynasty in the end.

"I agree with this point. Anyway, at my age, I probably won't be able to see the destruction of Liao Kingdom and Xixia in the future. It's better to wait a little later."

Lu Yijian said: "In Hanlong's opinion, how long will it take for us to build the country and officially send troops to declare war?"

They are also curious, who wants to wait too long?

"It won't be long."

Zhao Jun said with a smile: "The New Year is here. According to the custom, all countries have to send envoys to the Song Dynasty to pay tribute. When we show the train, in the next three to five years, Liao and Xixia will be beaten."

"This"

Everyone was surprised.

Wang Zeng and Yan Shu were thoughtful.

Li Di and Zhang Shixun were too old to react.

Zhang Shixun wondered: "Why?"

"Because that will only make Liao and Xixia see that the gap between them and the Song Dynasty is getting bigger and bigger. If they don't find a way, they will be completely destroyed. So they must take some action in the next three to five years."

Zhao Jun said categorically: "No matter what they do, the Song Dynasty can use it as an excuse to send troops. It will be difficult for them to survive at that time. It just depends on whether I, the Song Dynasty, will destroy them by then."

"Makes sense."

Wang Zeng agreed: "If I were Yelu Zongzhen and Zhao Yuanhao, seeing the power of the Song Dynasty, I would only become more and more heartbroken. How could I not be worried? If this continues, I am afraid they will no longer be able to fight back in the future." This is like comparing the combat effectiveness of Liao, Song and Xixia to 100, Xixia to 90, and Song to 80. In the past, both Xixia and Liao could defeat the Song.

But now the national power of Liao and Xixia has improved. One has a combat power of 120 and the other has reached 110. It seems that they have become stronger. But looking back, it turns out that the Song Dynasty, which had a combat power of 80, has not improved its national power. It's like riding a rocket, and the combat power reaches 200 and goes up.

And this gap will only widen as time goes by. Anyone who becomes the emperor of Xixia and Liao will have to worry.

That's why Zhao Jun predicted that in the next few years, Liao and Xixia are likely to take the initiative to provoke war again.

Once they provoke war again, the Song Dynasty can consider whether to eliminate them this time, or just defeat them, and then support the puppet regime like Annan to semi-colonize first.

After all, it is indeed a pleasure to defeat it, but management is still a big problem.

Still need to do it step by step.

For example, first take back the sixteen states of Yanyun, and then take back the Northeast step by step.

As for the Mongolian prairie, it won’t be too late to wait until the railway is built there in the future.

When everyone is making plans for the future railway.

Someone knocked on the door outside, and Zhao Jun said: "Come in."

A secretary of the Constitutional Yuan came in and said: "Report, the Ministry of Industry has just sent someone to report that the railway has been officially completed this morning."

"Oh?"

Zhao Jun was surprised: "You have cultivated the Wei family so quickly?"

The secretary replied: "It was heavy rain that stopped work on the river repair side, so the Ministry of Works moved people to the railway side."

Now the Song Dynasty is already a bit short of manpower.

Construction is going on everywhere.

The imperial court recruited workers from all over Bianliang and only managed to gather 10,000 people. It was necessary to build two sections of a 40-kilometer long road to Weishi County within a month. The construction period was very tight.

Later in history, when the United States built the Pacific Railway, more than 3,000 kilometers were built in nine years, and the average was only about 30 kilometers per month.

However, the difficulty of railways is to dig tunnels. Many places on the Pacific Railway have to dig tunnels, which delays the construction period. In plain areas, it is not so troublesome. Just lay sleepers and rails all the way, and the speed will be faster.

Originally, Zhao Jun planned to complete the project with 10,000 people within a month, but he didn't expect it to be completed in just twenty days. Is this his plan to perform China's speed a thousand years in advance?
"Then I'll go take a look."

Zhao Jun stood up, then looked at the crowd and said, "Let's end the meeting today. It's raining so heavily outside, so don't go. I'll go take a look."

"Forehead"

Although everyone wanted to take a look, what Zhao Jun said was indeed right.

The weather has been getting colder and colder recently, and there have been heavy rains. These prime ministers are all in their 60s and 70s, and their bodies and bones cannot bear it, so they have no choice but to forget it.

Fan Zhongyan opened his mouth and wanted to go, but he had something to do with the Ministry of War in the afternoon, so in the end he had no choice but to go.

Zhao Jun left the Constitutional Yuan. It was only noon, but the sky outside was almost gray, with countless white lines dripping down.

The attendant held an umbrella and escorted Zhao Jun all the way to Xuande Gate, and then protected him into the carriage.

The carriage was mighty and powerful, surrounded by hundreds of guards, and headed south of the city.

At this moment, about five or six kilometers away from Bianliang in the south of the city, a simple station rose from the ground, with a straight road leading directly to the south.

Two tracks are laid on the road. The base is either cement or some sand and gravel with sleepers and tracks on it.

There is no way. If cement is used as the base, the amount of work and cost will be too great.

However, as long as the tracks are spliced ​​together, they are very strong. Unless it's man-made, there won't be any major problems.

When Zhao Jun's carriage arrived at the train station, Su Shunyuan, the right minister of the Ministry of Industry, rushed over to greet him.

He was responsible for the construction of this project.

"I've met Zhiyuan."

Su Shunyuan stepped forward and bowed his hands.

"Well, how's the repair going?"

Zhao Jun stepped out of the carriage, wearing a thick cotton coat and cotton cloak.

It was windy and rainy outside, and the cold wind was blowing on his face like a knife, making him slightly unable to open his eyes.

After I got used to it a little, I saw groups of people wearing raincoats in the wilderness, slowly coming back from the end of the railway in the south, in the mist and rain.

"This is the workers coming back."

Su Shunyuan looked into the distance and said: "This repair is seventy miles away from Weishi. We chose to start repairs from both sides at the same time, so as to speed up the construction period. It was officially completed this morning."

Zhao Jun asked curiously: "If you practice like this, aren't you afraid that it will be inconsistent if you practice together?"

"Will not."

Su Shunyuan smiled and said: "Before the construction, the road was already planned, gravel was laid, and the distance between the rails was specified. The workers only needed to nail the sleepers and rails according to the markings on the gravel."

“The Ministry of Industry is full of talented people.”

Zhao Jun sighed and said that the wisdom of the ancients should not be underestimated.

During the storm, at least two to three thousand civilians returned to Bianliang, and the Ministry of Works organized people to start paying wages.

Accompanied by many officials, Zhao Jun inspected about four or five kilometers along the railway and returned to the train station in the afternoon.

This train station is as simple as a few bungalows. It is only surrounded by fences and does not even have a ticket gate.

But in this era when trains just came out, industry has not really developed and grown. It is already a miracle to build a thirty or forty kilometers long railway, and there is no need to care about whether the train is simple or not.

After returning to the station, Zhao Jun gave instructions: "Practice is the only criterion for testing truth. Just because the railway track is built does not mean it will be passable. Only when it is truly passable can it be considered qualified."

"Yes."

Su Shunyuan said: "Tomorrow, the Ministry of Industry and the Institute of Physics will assemble a steam engine on the railway track for trial operation."

"Ah."

Zhao Jun said: "The New Year is approaching, and as usual, the surrounding countries will send envoys to the Song Dynasty to celebrate the New Year with His Majesty. Your Majesty is planning to invite envoys from all over the world to attend the ceremony at the beginning of the New Year to demonstrate the prestige of the Song Dynasty and to avoid any trouble."

Su Shunyuan said sternly: "Your Majesty and the Governor, please rest assured that I will live up to my orders."

"it is good."

Zhao Jun praised: "I, the Song Dynasty, have a bright future, and I will be able to conquer all the troubles, starting next year!"

Everyone looked towards the station outside.

The rain is still falling, but everyone is already looking forward to the scenery of the trains driving above.

Starting next year, at least the train from Bianliang to Weishi will be open to traffic.

If all goes well, railways will soon be laid along Weishi, Yanling, Linying, Wuyang, Fangcheng, Nanyang and other lines.

Since then, canals have been connected from north to south. There is a canal to the north of Bianliang that leads directly to Hebei, and a railway to Nanyang in the south.

Goods from Sichuan, Hunan, Hubei, Guangdong and Guangxi will no longer have to be transported from the Yangtze River to Zhejiang and then back from Zhejiang to Bianliang.

(End of this chapter)