Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 169: There is no piracy in the Ming Dynasty, will the Westerners revolt? [Please subscribe]

"It's okay." Zhu Chong said in a muffled voice, "You lean against the wall, we'll push the quilt up from your side, otherwise you'll suffocate in there soon."

"oh oh."

Deng was usually savage and vicious, but at this moment, she was at a loss and became very obedient.

Then, the couple and their two companions squirmed in the quilt, moved their heads to the wall, and pushed the quilt up together. Snow, thatch, and mud poured down together, and the three of them finally broke free from the quilt.

There was a big hole in the roof, and many things in the house were buried under the rubble, including the spinning wheel and loom.

After the Lantern Festival at the beginning of the year, Deng was verbally reprimanded by Zhu Yuanzhang and threatened with not being able to see her children. She finally tried to change.

A few days later, Empress Ma sent someone to deliver a spinning wheel and a loom, and asked an old nanny to teach them the skills of spinning and weaving. Deng and Guanyin Nu followed suit, regardless of whether they were reluctant or not.

Afterwards, Zhu Chong went to the dock to carry bags to earn money, while the two daughters spun yarn and wove cloth at home to supplement the family income.

Although in actual process, Guanyinnu did more work and Deng did less, but when the two sold the first batch of cotton cloth they wove and got money, Deng still felt a kind of happiness she had never experienced before and was no longer so resistant to weaving.

Later, when she learned that Zhu Yuanzhang had returned five acres of land to Zhu Chong, Deng thought of renting it out to others and collecting rent from them.

Unexpectedly, Zhu Yuanzhang had already issued an order stating that these five acres of land could only be cultivated by Zhu Chong's family and could not be rented out to others.

In this situation, Guanyinnu suggested growing vegetables, and Deng thought it was a good idea and agreed.

The two men asked Zhu Chong to borrow an ox to plow the fields, but Zhu Chong was unwilling. In desperation, the two men only plowed up the area of ​​the two acres that was most suitable for vegetable fields and planted vegetables.

The other three acres of excellent paddy fields were drained of water and not even plowed. People just dug holes and planted some soybeans, sesame seeds, cotton and the like there, and didn't take much care of them.

Although it was their first time growing vegetables, after asking for advice from surrounding farmers, they were able to grow them quite well. With Beijing vegetables readily available, the Zhu family had another source of income.

As for the soybeans, sesame seeds and cotton in the other three acres of land, because they were not taken care of and the soil was never plowed, the harvest was naturally very small, but it was better than nothing.

Although Guanyinnu was the most diligent among the three, Zhu Chong and Deng were careless in their work and even slacked off from time to time.

But because the three of them are young and middle-aged, and have no elderly or children to support, they actually live a good life.

During the Mid-Autumn Festival, perhaps Old Zhu noticed Deng's behavior, but he actually sent Zhu Shangbing to celebrate the festival with the three of them.

After this, Deng worked more actively.

Nearly a year had passed, and Deng had developed some affection for this "home", and even for the spinning wheel and loom she used to weave every night. Now that she saw her money-making property being crushed and buried, she felt like crying but had no tears.

"Master, what should we do now?" Deng asked Zhu Chong with red eyes.

Because Zhu Chong forbade anyone to address him as "the Great King," Deng followed the example of the surrounding farmers and addressed him as "the Head of the Household." If they argued, they would simply call him "Zhu Er."

"How should I know?" Although Zhu Chong was reluctant to call this place his home, he was also inexplicably irritated. "Our roof collapsed, that person will not just ignore it."

"Besides, it snowed so heavily last night. There must be other people's houses collapsed by the snow in this area. Even if that person doesn't care, the Jiangning County Magistrate will."

While the two were talking, they saw Guanyin Nu already digging in the ruins.

"What are you digging for?" Deng asked with a frown.

Guanyin Nu said, "Our cotton-padded jackets are still buried inside, along with other useful things. What are we going to do if we don't find them?"

After hearing this, the two of them felt the cold and joined in the digging.

Not long after the three of them started working, several guards who were in charge of monitoring them came to help. Before long, they had cleared away all the collapsed snow, thatch, etc.

Zhu Chong and his two companions had the help of their guards, but it was not so easy for the other people in Huaishu whose houses were collapsed by the snow. Some of them did it themselves, while others asked their neighbors and relatives for help.

There were cries of grief and tears coming from several households, as some of the family members were unlucky enough to be injured or even died in the rubble.

Even if there were no casualties in the family, they would still be in tears when they saw the collapsed house and smashed belongings...
···
Today is the morning court.

As soon as Zhu Yuanzhang came to court, he named a few imperial censors and asked them to supervise the disaster relief work in different areas, and also asked Zhu Biao to give an overall overview of the matter.

After listening to this, Liu Kuan understood that this snow disaster should not be serious considering the situation in the capital.

As for whether other places have been affected and what the situation is, we can only wait for reports from local authorities.

After leaving the court, Liu Kuan returned to the Science and Technology Department and summoned Qiu Qichi, Zhang Jinrao, Ma Mengyang and even Guo Tianwen to a meeting.

"When it snowed yesterday, the Zouwu train must have stopped on a section of the railway between Chuzhou and Fengyang, as planned."

"The railway bureau needs to quickly understand the situation of the Zouwu train and its crew, contact local authorities, and resupply the train with food and other supplies."

"I understand." Zhang Jinrao nodded, then said, "After the snow melts, it will freeze again. The Zouwu train will be out of service for even longer. Can we organize some manpower to clear the snow from the railway?"

Before Liu Kuan could speak, Qiu Qichi said, "The railway from the capital to Xuzhou alone is seven hundred miles long. How long would it take to clear all the snow? It's obviously unrealistic."

Liu Kuan frowned, feeling a little worried.

Although there was a lot of information on his computer, it didn't even include information on how to deal with the problem of snow accumulation on the railway. Even if it was recorded, most of it would be methods that could be used in the future, and might not be used at this time.

For example, he first thought of using salt to accelerate the melting of snow to prevent the tracks from freezing.

Even without considering the potential for saltwater erosion of the rails, the Ming dynasty couldn't possibly have produced enough salt for such a task. As for manually clearing the snow, it would require a significant amount of money and grain, possibly even conscription. If the goal was simply to speed up the train's operation, the cost would clearly outweigh the benefits.

What's more, asking the workers to clear the snow from the tracks might damage many of the tracks.

Is it possible that we can only wait for the snow to melt and then for the ice to melt?

Frowning and looking up, Liu Kuan discovered that everyone present, except Guo Tianwen, was looking at him, obviously waiting for him to make a decision.

At this moment, Guo Tianwen suddenly asked, "Can we install a large shovel that fits the rails on the locomotive, then have the Zouwu train drive slowly and clear the snow away from the railway before it freezes?"

Liu Kuan's eyes lit up when he heard this.

He had never imagined that in the future there would be trains dedicated to clearing snow on railways - think about it, since there are cars dedicated to snow removal and ice breaking on roads, it is impossible for railways to not have trains with such functions.

Therefore, Guo Tianwen’s idea should be feasible.

Liu Kuan immediately said, "You can try this method—but it probably won't work this time. Your Machinery Manufacturing Bureau should work with the Locomotive Manufacturing Bureau to come up with a feasible plan as soon as possible."

"Once the weather clears and the thaw sets in, we'll install this large snow shovel on the Zouwu train. The other five trains currently in production will also need matching snow shovels."

"The winter snow in Zhili isn't that deep, but once you cross the Yellow River and head north, it gets much thicker. Trains can't do without snow removal."

"I was inconsiderate and didn't warn you before, but fortunately it's not too late to make amends now."

After a pause, Liu Kuan continued, "Also, we must send people to clear snow in advance at bends, forks, and intersections on the railway. However, we cannot just randomly conscript local laborers to do this. Professional railway workers must be responsible for this."

Qiu Qichi and Zhang Jinrao nodded after listening and wrote down the main points of Liu Kuan's words in their respective meeting notebooks.

Then, Liu Kuan discussed some other work issues with his subordinates before letting everyone return to their respective offices.

Afterwards, Liu Kuan handled official business in the office of the Science and Technology Bureau - he was now a doctor in the Science and Technology Bureau, and the Science and Technology Bureau had many subordinate offices, so naturally the official business he needed to handle every day increased.

Fortunately, compared with departments such as the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Personnel, and the Ministry of War, the Science and Technology Bureau still does not have much daily work.

After finishing his official business, Liu Kuan began to think about writing the next issue of "Natural Science".

Speaking of which, "Natural Science" has been published for a year now. Due to the demand for the imperial examination, the latest issue can sell tens of thousands of copies in the same month, and previous issues sell even more.

And this is only the sales of genuine copies published by Sanwei Bookstore. If the sales of pirated copies sold by booksellers across the country are included, it is estimated that the sales of the first issue of "Natural Science" have exceeded 100,000 copies!
This sales volume is nothing compared to books in later generations, but for the Ming Dynasty at that time, it was definitely called a "bestseller".

Liu Kuan has no ability to deal with the problem of piracy, nor does he want to deal with it for the time being.

Because the Ming Dynasty now has no legal control over publications such as review and approval, and there is no protection of genuine products.

In fact, nowadays, few people write books for money. Most of them write books for fame or for their own interests.

Even if someone wrote a storybook and sold it, they would write the story and have the bookseller buy it all at once. How many copies the bookseller sold and how much money he made depended entirely on his ability and had nothing to do with the author.

Some authors would even be happy to have their works printed by many booksellers, but in fact, most people who write books print them at their own expense and then give them away.

Therefore, not only did the Ming Dynasty currently lack laws to protect genuine books, it did not even have the concept of genuine and pirated books, and naturally there was no talk of cracking down on piracy.

Fortunately, Liu Kuan wrote the journal "Natural Science" to promote science and disseminate some simple natural science knowledge, not to make money.

However, nowadays, Natural Science can sell at least tens of thousands of copies per issue thanks to its excellent printing and first-mover advantage. Not only does it not make him lose money, but it can earn several thousand guan (profit) every month.

In this way, not only the purpose of promoting science was achieved, but also a lot of money could be made. Liu Kuan has always been very attentive to the writing work.

As for setting up a special editorial department to be responsible for writing "Natural Science" and even soliciting manuscripts from outside, Liu Kuan believes that the time is not yet right.

At present, the scholars in the Ming Dynasty still have too little understanding of natural science. It will take another two years of training before talented people who are qualified to be editors of "Natural Science" will emerge and manuscripts worthy of publication will be received.

In addition, he had always asked Zhu Huilan to help him review and revise the manuscript. In addition, since the magazine was published monthly, his writing tasks were not that heavy.
It was almost noon, and Liu Kuan packed up and prepared to return home.

But a eunuch came and ordered him to enter the palace.

"How did Old Zhu develop the habit of calling people to make comments before get off work ends? In the future, he would definitely be the kind of boss who would find excuses to make employees work overtime."

After secretly complaining, Liu Kuan still went into the palace obediently.

When he arrived at Fengxian Hall, Liu Kuan saw Zhu Biao was also there, so he bowed to the father and son one after another.

After the ceremony, Old Zhu asked directly, "The snow in the capital is now four or five inches deep, and it must be even deeper in Jiangbei. The railways are all covered in snow. How will your Science and Technology Department deal with this?"

Liu Kuan said, "This time, I was not thoughtful enough and failed to arrange a solution in advance. However, today, I have come up with a solution with my colleagues in the Science and Technology Department."

Immediately, Liu Kuan told the Science and Technology Department about the snow removal plan agreed upon at today's meeting.

After hearing this, Old Zhu commented, "Adding a large shovel to the front of the locomotive is quite an ingenious idea. I just hope you can verify its practical effectiveness as soon as possible."

Liu Kuan said: "The Science and Technology Department will strive to complete this matter before the next snowfall."

Old Zhu nodded and was about to let Liu Kuan go, but suddenly remembered something and asked, "Oh, right, when you talked about the scene after the Western Industrial Revolution, I had a question."

"Those aristocrats and capitalists in the West exploited the people so ruthlessly, even seizing their land for profit. Isn't there anyone who rose up in rebellion?"

　Second update
　　Good night~
　　
　　
　
(End of this chapter)