Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 182 Steam Engine! Zhu Yunhuan's Promise!

When the Ming naval fleet reappeared in the Yangtze River, it immediately triggered a new wave of enthusiasm.

Countless people flocked to the embankments on both sides of the Yangtze River, wanting to catch a glimpse of the Ming Dynasty navy and even more to meet the legendary Crown Prince.

During this period of time, the deeds of the Ming Navy and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince have long been well known to the people thanks to the vigorous publicity of the Ming Daily.

Such as "The magic cannon destroyed the Japanese pirates", "Taiwan was taken over with ease", "The divine calculation destroyed the Japanese army", "Played tricks on the Japanese general", "Supported the Japanese king out of righteousness", etc.

I have to say that Luo Guanzhong’s writing skills are very strong when it comes to writing stories like this.

After several articles were published in succession, the image of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince among the people has surpassed that of the wise Zhuge Liang in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", and is even better than the legendary deified Jiang Ziya.

There is even a saying among the people that "When a true dragon appears in the Ming Dynasty, there will be eternal peace from then on."

Standing on the river bank and looking at the tall and mighty warships in the distance, many people also feel a sense of pride.

Under the arrangement of Zhu Yunhuan, the Ming Daily has been shaping national consciousness intentionally or unintentionally.

Now the results have begun to show.

In the past, most people’s attitude towards this was that it was none of their business and they kept a distance from it.

Anyway, since the Zhu family became the emperor, they had to pay royal taxes to the Zhu family.

Apart from that, things like loyalty to the emperor and patriotism are matters for scholars and court ministers, and have nothing to do with ordinary people.

But now.

Under the subtle influence of the Ming Daily, ordinary people began to feel that the Ming navy was powerful overseas and that they should be proud of it.

Even though he was wearing tattered clothes and eating barely enough food to fill his stomach, he could still hold his chest high with pride.

Seeing the warships of the Ming Navy at this time, everyone was extremely proud and cheered from time to time.

The naval officers and soldiers on the warship also responded.

There was a bright smile on everyone's face.

Before the expedition, although morale was high, many people were actually still very nervous.

Dying on the battlefield and being wrapped in horsehide sounds heroic, but who really wants to die?

Of course, what the soldiers wanted was to achieve great things and return home in glory.

But since ancient times, "one general's success is the result of the sacrifice of thousands of soldiers."

How can there be no casualties in war?
What's more, they were going to the sea.

A profound maritime culture has never developed in the traditional culture of the Central Plains.

Most people's understanding of the sea remains at the level of "dangerous waves".

The unknown is always the scariest thing.

In the eyes of many people, many people will die in this expedition.

Far more people died than during the expedition to the Northern Yuan Dynasty.

Coming back alive is luck.

However, what they never expected was that everyone came back alive.

More than ten thousand people went out and more than ten thousand people came back, not one less.

In addition to dozens of people who fell ill due to acclimatization, more than a dozen people were injured due to various accidents.

Everybody is still here!
This alone is a miracle that was unimaginable when we set out on the expedition.

Not to mention, they also annihilated the Japanese pirates, recovered Taiwan, conquered Japan, and made great contributions.

At this moment, everyone was extremely excited.

They admired His Royal Highness the Crown Prince who led them to the extreme.

After this battle, they all became Zhu Yunhuan's most loyal and fanatical followers.

The warship went up the Yangtze River and arrived near Nanjing a few days later.

"Look, what is that? Why is there black smoke?"

Just as Zhu Yunhuan was sleeping in the command ship, loud screams suddenly came from outside.

Immediately afterwards, a loud and long whistle sounded in my ears.

"This sound?"

Zhu Yunhuan jumped up from the bed and ran quickly to the deck outside.

Looking further ahead, I saw a huge, oddly shaped ship slowly approaching on the Yangtze River in the distance.

There were no sails, only thick smoke billowing out of the towering chimneys.

"Steam ship?" Zhu Yunhuan could hardly believe his eyes.

Although he had already told the craftsmen of the Ming Manufacturing Bureau the manufacturing principles of the steam engine, and had also informed Zhu Gaochi and Zhao Rui that this thing was the main focus of the Ming Manufacturing Bureau in the future, it had to be manufactured at all costs.

But Zhu Yunhuan knew very well that the principle of a steam engine was easy to explain but difficult to make.

In later generations, some people who were interested in summarizing the history of human science and technology said that human technology, in the final analysis, only did two things - boiling water and throwing stones.

The steam engine is an outstanding example of boiling water.

Boiling water is an activity that has not changed even in nuclear power plants of later generations.

The difference is that steam engines use materials such as wood, coal, and oil to boil water, while nuclear power plants use nuclear materials to boil water.

If you look into it, we are all boiling water, there is really no essential difference.

But there is a world of difference between boiling water and boiling water.

The steam engine actually appeared very early in history.

The earliest steam-powered machine can be traced back to the steam-powered ball in the first century AD. However, the development of steam power was extremely slow, and even stagnated for a long time.

Because of the problem of airtightness, it is actually not easy to achieve high pressure and make a steam machine that can replace human work.

He never imagined that after a few months at sea, the Ming Manufacturing Bureau had actually invented the steam engine that could propel ships forward?
"What a strange ship?" Zheng He and his companions gathered around and looked at the steamship in the distance with puzzled expressions: "Your Highness, what happened? Is the ship on fire?"

Zhu Yunhuan shook his head and said in a slightly excited tone: "No, it's a steamship, a magical object that can change the world."

Zheng He, Zhang Fu and Zhu Neng were all shocked.

Since His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said so, it must be of great significance.

"Order the warship to adjust its course and approach the steamer. I want to go over and take a look."

Zhu Yunhuan gave the order immediately.

Soon, the warship and the steamship slowly approached, and Zhu Yunhuan boarded a small sampan, left the warship and came onto the steamship.

"Greetings to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"

As soon as he got on the boat, Zhu Gaochi brought people to greet him and saluted respectfully.

His whole body was covered in soot and was dirty, looking like a black man.

If you didn't look carefully, you would almost not be able to recognize Zhu Yunhuan.

"You have built a steam engine?"

"Yeah!" Zhu Gaochi nodded, a little frustrated, "But the power of steam is not as strong as His Royal Highness said. It is very difficult to push a large ship. Moreover, the steam engine is huge and needs to burn a lot of coal."

Zhu Yunhuan immediately went to check it out.

In fact, he couldn't see anything.

I only vaguely remember that in history Watt improved the steam engine by separating it from the cylinder wall, which greatly improved the utilization rate of coal, making the steam engine have wide practical value.

But that was all he remembered, the rest was a blur.

However, what Zhu Yunhuan could really do was to invest, encourage, and guide the direction of development.

Specific technical details were not his forte.

"Your Highness, the steam engine seems to be of no use." Zhu Gaochi said in a low voice.

He had once heard Zhu Yunhuan describe the magic of the steam engine, but after actually making it, he found that it was far from the description.

The speed of the ship is much slower than that of a sailing warship.

If the water flow is a little faster, it is impossible to push the boat against the current and it will be washed downstream. You can only rely on human power to hold it back with ropes on the shore.

To generate steam, water needs to be boiled, which in turn requires large amounts of coal.

The ship's load was all used to transport coal.

In addition, the machines are too large and complex, and have various problems...and so on.

Using it to propel a large ship forward is far less effective than using sails.

Even paddling is better.

"No, it's too useful!" Zhu Yunhuan said firmly: "Order the craftsmen to brainstorm and find ways to improve it."

"Build a second and third machine like this."

"Until the steam engine is built!"

Zhu Gaochi sighed, "But this kind of machine is expensive and difficult to manufacture. It takes several months to build each one."

"The amount of silver consumed is enough to manufacture hundreds of rapid-fire cannons."

He was obviously disappointed and didn't even want to continue.

Zhu Gaochi had been working on the steamship these days and had not even had time to sleep, but the more he worked, the more disappointed he became.

There are too many flaws and too few advantages.

Although novel, it is ultimately useless.

"No!" Zhu Yunhuan shook his head: "Listen, no matter how much money it costs, the steam engine must be built."

"Go tell the craftsmen that whoever can come up with a way to improve the steam engine and build a practical large-scale steam engine will be granted the title of Duke!"

This statement came out.

Not only Zhu Gaochi was stunned, but even Zheng He, Zhu Neng and Zhang Fu next to him were startled.

Duke?

How many dukes are there in the entire Ming Dynasty?
All of them were people who followed Zhuge Liang to conquer the world and made great military achievements.

Others, even if their official rank is as high as the Minister of one of the six ministries, cannot even be granted the title of nobility, let alone the title of Duke!
But now His Royal Highness the Crown Prince actually said that whoever can build a large and practical steam engine will be awarded the title of Duke.

If this word gets out, I wonder how many people will be shocked?
Is the steam engine really that important?

If it is built, can it be comparable to the great achievement of conquering all directions and pacifying the world?
"Your Highness!" Zhu Gaochi called out softly, "Isn't it too much to confer the title of Duke?"

He had heard from his father Zhu Di that Zhu Di intended to reform the clan system.

In other words, although he is the eldest son of King Yan, it is still uncertain whether he can inherit the throne in the future.

It was too shocking for a craftsman to be conferred the title of Duke.

"I'm not lying!" Zhu Yunhuan said firmly, "Any craftsman, regardless of his social status, as long as he can come up with a practical method to build a large steam engine, I will make him a Duke."

"Everyone else who has made useful suggestions will also be rewarded according to their merits and given titles and honors."

……

(End of this chapter)