I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 796 Gyeonggi Railway Bureau
Pulled by a steam locomotive, the train roared forward along the rails.

The morning sun rises in the east, and golden light shines over, coating the long steel dragon with a layer of gold, as if a golden dragon is swimming over the land of Gyeonggi Province.

The long-blasting whistle and the rumbling sound of iron wheels shook the city of Beijing not far to the west.

At this moment, the train seemed like a long dragon leaving its nest in Beijing city and flying towards the vast wilderness.

Zhang Juzheng and other advisors sat in their seats, watching the scenery outside the car window speeding away.

Guang'anmen, Chaoyangmen, the majestic city towers and the continuous city walls seem to be standing in another world from afar.

The train made a semicircle around the southeast corner of Beijing and split into two at Shibali Bridge. A railway continued southeast along the North Canal.

The other turned north.

The train travelled along the track heading north.

When we arrived at Gaobeidian, the train roared across a bridge.

Everyone crowded to the window and leaned their heads to look out.

Everyone saw the train they were riding on speeding on a steel bridge that was more than thirty meters high.

The bridge spans more than 60 meters across the river, and there are centipede boats plying under the bridge. Someone on the boat heard the sound and looked up, staring at the long train spewing thick smoke and speeding across the bridge, stunned.

This is Tonghui River Bridge!
We flew over the Tonghui River!

Yang Jinshui led a person into the carriage.

He was in his thirties, wearing a dark blue uniform with four pockets on the top and bottom, a blue round-brimmed hat, and an armband on his left arm with "Tie. Jingji Bureau" written on it. A piece of cloth was sewn above the upper left pocket with "Daming Railway Jingji Bureau" written on the top line, "Fu Jinyou" in the middle, and "Jingtie 0001" on the bottom line.

Uniforms again!

Zhang Juzheng raised his eyebrows.

Since the emperor improved the military uniform, this kind of military-style uniform, together with the new clothing developed from industrial, mining, agricultural, animal husbandry and commercial enterprise uniforms, quickly spread throughout the Ming Dynasty.

Many people like new clothes, which are novel in style, beautiful to wear and very convenient in daily life.

Reading, farming, and working are much more comfortable and convenient than wearing old-style clothes.

Many people also like to wear uniforms because they represent a certain kind of power, and when they put it on, they feel a lot more confident.

As a result, many government departments, industrial and commercial enterprises, and non-governmental organizations developed their own uniforms, and even butchers who killed pigs wore uniforms.

Flooded!

The Cabinet and the Military Government jointly issued a document stipulating the departments and units that can wear uniforms. Only the military, police, and the economic police and security departments of industrial, mining, agricultural, and commercial enterprises can wear uniforms.

The rest can design their own uniforms, but they are not allowed to skirt the rules or imitate military and police uniforms.
Later, the Ministry of War applied, the Advisory Council discussed and approved it in front of the emperor, and the Cabinet issued a document, adding another department that could wear uniforms, the semi-militarized Railway Department.

This is the one Fu Jinyou is wearing.

"Your Majesty, this is Fu Jinyou, Director of the Jingji Railway Bureau of the Railway Department of the Ministry of War. He was formerly the Director of the Vehicle and Chariot Department of the Ministry of War. It can be said that the construction of the Beijing-Tianjin and Beijing-Luan Railways was supervised by him, and the entire operating system was also built bit by bit by him and his people."

"So you are a great contributor to the railway." Zhu Yijun said happily.

Fu Jinyou saluted immediately and said, "Your Majesty, I, Fu Jinyou from the Jingji Railway Bureau, am reporting to you!"

"No need to be polite, no need to be polite." Zhu Yijun turned around and pointed to Zhang Juzheng and others behind him, "Meet Prime Minister Zhang, Prime Minister Tan and others."

Fu Jinyou hurriedly saluted the twenty-eight ministers.

"Commander Fu, just now Jinxian Hou Huang Daolin introduced us to the locomotive and other conditions. Now that the train is running, can you introduce us to the railway?"

"Yes!"

Yang Jinshui waved his hand, and two eunuchs took a map and hung it on the screen wall.

This is a railway map.

Let’s talk about the pictures again.

Zhu Yijun looked at Yang Jinshui, pointed to the empty seat on the right, and motioned for him to sit down and rest.

Yang Jinshui shook his head repeatedly, reached out to take the teacup handed to him by the eunuch, and placed it on the coffee table in front of Zhu Yijun.

The other eunuchs also placed a cup of tea on the coffee table in front of each minister.

After the eunuchs left, Yang Jinshui took a round stool and sat down in the corner next to Zhu Yijun.

Zhu Yijun shook his head at his caution and motioned Fu Jinyou to continue.

“Your Majesty, gentlemen, there are two railways built in the Ming Dynasty. One is the Beijing-Tianjin Line, which runs from Beijing to Tianjin Station, with a total length of 147 kilometers.

Its extension, the Jingu Line, is 45 kilometers long from Tianjin Station to Dagu Station.

According to the 20 to 30 km per station, starting from Beijing South Railway Station, there are six stations: Yizhuang, Deren, Hexi, Wuqing, Beichen, and Tianjin. There is a Junliangcheng Station between Tianjin Station and Dagu Station.

Fu Jinyou pointed to the railway map on the screen wall and said.

"The Beijing-Luanzhou Line runs from Beijing South Station to Luanzhou Lulong Station, with a length of 267 kilometers. The extended line, the Luqin Line, runs from Lulong Station to Qinhuangdao Station, with a length of 77 kilometers.

The Beijing-Luanzhou Line has eleven stations: Shunyi, Beiwu, Sanhe, Shangcang, Yutian, Fuzhuang, Fengrun, Shilang, Kaiping, Yongping and Lulong.

There are four stations on the Luqin Line: Caozhuang, Funing, Yuguan and Qinhuangdao.

According to the regulations formulated by the Railway Department of the Ministry of War, railway stations are divided into four levels: A, B, C, and D. Among the above stations, Beijing South Railway Station is a Class A station. At the same time, it is also a junction station of two railways and a hub station, and its full name is Class A hub station. Tianjin Railway Station and Lulong Railway Station are also Class A stations, Kaiping, Yongping and Qinhuangdao Railway Stations are Class B stations, Shunyi, Yutian, Fengrun, Funing, Wuqing are Class C stations, and the rest are Class D stations.

The Beijing-Luan Line and its extension, the Luqin Line, are managed and operated by the Beijing-Luan Railway Company. The Beijing-Tianjin Line and its extension, the Jingu Line, are managed and operated by the Beijing-Tianjin Railway Company.

In addition to managing non-hub stations below Class B along the line, each railway company also has a dispatching office, engineering section, locomotive section, train section, transportation section and a dispatched public security department.

Zhang Juzheng asked, "Public Security Bureau?"

"Yes, Zhang Xiang. It was originally called the Security Department. It has the same functions as the security departments of various post stations, protecting the safety of railway property and maintaining normal operation.

After reporting to the emperor, he received his approval, saying that he would not only be responsible for the above responsibilities, but also for the safety of passengers and cargo on passenger and freight trains, as well as public safety such as the order of passengers at the railway station.

When everyone agreed to follow the emperor's will, they included the new responsibilities and changed the name to Public Security Bureau."

Zhu Yijun didn't say anything, just nodded.

Railway Public Security is a very powerful department.

Zhao Zhenji spoke, his hoarse voice full of fatigue, "Your Majesty has discussed with me that the Court of Justice should follow the example of the Court of Maritime Affairs and establish the Court of Railway Justice to handle criminal and civil cases related to railways.

The emperor said that railways are a new thing and have their own particularities. The Court of Justice is drafting the "Ming Dynasty Railway Transportation Law" and related regulations, and the case will be mainly tried according to this law.

I think this makes a lot of sense and I will follow your orders."

Everyone listened but said nothing.

Zhang Juzheng continued to ask: "Fu Jinyou, can you tell me in detail which section of this railway company is and what its responsibilities are?"

“In response to Prime Minister Zhang, the railway company’s engineering section is responsible for the maintenance and repair of railway lines, bridges, tunnels and other equipment.

This includes major and medium-sized repairs and maintenance of facilities and equipment such as bridges, tunnels, culverts, roadbeds, rails, turnouts, sleepers, ballast, etc. Railway patrols and guarding of railway crossings also fall within the scope of the engineering section's responsibilities.

The locomotive depot is responsible for the use, maintenance and preparation of locomotives and passenger and freight cars to ensure that the locomotives and passenger and freight cars are in normal condition and operate safely.

Now the locomotive drivers, firemen and on-board maintenance workers on our train all belong to the locomotive depot.

Their core department is the maintenance workshop, and stations above Class B will have one.

The train operation section is responsible for dispatching and directing passenger and freight trains to ensure that the trains run safely and on time. Its core department is the dispatching room.

The transportation section is responsible for the operation of passenger and freight trains.

The Passenger Transport Department is responsible for organizing train crews, operating passenger trains, and providing passengers with comprehensive travel services, including train crew and catering services.

The freight department is responsible for the management of the freight warehouse, loading and unloading of freight in carriages, and the organization and management of freight train escorts.

Zhang Juzheng nodded, "Yeah, it sounds complicated."

Tan Lun said nearby: "The railway system is huge and complex, and it is also very difficult to handle. Zheng Fanxi has put a lot of effort into it."

He was the former Minister of War, and it was in his leadership that the complex post system was thoroughly reformed and split into post service companies, transportation agencies, the General Administration of Posts and Communications, and the General Administration of Transport Management.

The post station system, which was like a bottomless pit before, is now thriving and has made great contributions to the information exchange and transportation of the Ming Dynasty.

The construction of the Beijing-Luanyang and Beijing-Tianjin railways also began under his leadership. From then on, he began to plan the establishment of the Railway Bureau, and the system formulated by Zheng Luo was inherited from him.

Tan Lun is qualified to say this.

Prime Minister Zhang Juzheng glanced at him and said nothing.

Zhu Yijun turned his head sideways and saw that his short hair was full of clumps of silver hair.

And his face.

When I taught myself "The Analects of Confucius" at Xi'an Gate, I was so full of vigor and vitality.

Now look at him, only fifty years old, as old as Zhao Zhenji, who is seventeen years older than him. The dark circles under his eyes, sagging skin, and the layers of wrinkles on his forehead are all signs of his exhaustion and hard work.

Mr. Tan cut his hair short because he was the leader of the Ming Dynasty’s army and navy and had to look like a leader.

As the Prime Minister, Master Zhang didn't need to cut his hair short, but he cut his hair short anyway, which was unbelievable.

Perhaps, with a short haircut, the silver hair would be much less and the aging would not be so obvious.

"Someone told me that the completion of the Beijing-Tianjin and Beijing-Luanzhou railways was not the result of the Cabinet's political achievements, but the credit of the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of War, the Hebei Provincial Government and the Luanzhou Government."

As soon as Zhu Yijun opened his mouth, everyone fell silent. All that could be heard was the clanging of railroad tracks and the occasional whistle from the front.

"Some people say that the prosperity of Shanghai and the numerous factories and mines in Luanzhou have nothing to do with Master Zhang. Master Zhang rarely cares about these two railways. They are all managed by the Ministry of War and the Ministry of the Imperial Household, and have nothing to do with him."

Zhu Yijun's words made everyone's face change and they were shocked.

What does the emperor mean by this?
Why did he suddenly attack Zhang Juzheng on this train?
Everyone looked at Zhang Juzheng, their eyes moving back and forth between him and Zhu Yijun.

Could it be that the emperor's biggest hidden card in his plan to adjust all officials is to remove Prime Minister Zhang Juzheng?

As soon as he moved, the earth shook.

The sky is about to change in the cabinet.

But for many people, it is a great opportunity.

Many people were discouraged and suppressed their excitement, waiting for Zhu Yijun's next words.

(End of this chapter)