Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 48: Thoughts on the Bridge, Magistrate of Liuhe [Seeking Follow-up Reading]

Steelmaking is the foundation and prerequisite for building trains.

Therefore, after making personnel arrangements for the four project teams, Liu Kuan decided to personally supervise the steelmaking work first.

After learning about the various resources around the capital, Liu Kuan chose Liuhe County across the river as the location for steelmaking.

Historically, Liuhe has rich reserves of metal minerals such as iron and copper, especially iron ore.

As early as the Zhou Dynasty, Liuhe was a well-known place for copper mining and iron smelting, and Yeshan in the area was even known as "the No. 1 mountain for smelting in China".

Later generations even filmed a popular period drama with Liuhe's iron and steel industry as the background.

In addition, Liuhe is adjacent to Chuzhou, and the Chushui River system originating from Chuzhou flows through Liuhe and merges into the Yangtze River. Chuzhou is also a place rich in mineral resources, not only copper, iron, gold, silver, but even rare metal deposits such as manganese, vanadium, titanium, and molybdenum!
There are metal deposits, rivers connecting the area, and coal mines nearby.

It can be said that Liuhe was an excellent place to develop the steel industry in ancient times!
In fact, not only was there a large-scale ironworks here in the early Ming Dynasty, but even in later generations, there were still many steel mills in operation!

After the morning court session that day.

Liu Kuan reported to Lao Zhu that he would go to Liuhe to supervise the steelmaking.

Old Zhu agreed straightforwardly, and with a wave of his hand, he sent out a thousand Feixiong Guards to follow and protect him.

In the words of Old Zhu, Liu Kuan's life is extremely precious to the Ming Dynasty and must be protected!
In this way, Liu Kuan, accompanied by the groom Li Xiaoer, the servants Xiaohu and Xiaorong, and four officials, left the city under the escort of fifty Yiluansi soldiers and one thousand Feixiongwei soldiers.

Because he was followed by thousands of soldiers, Liu Kuan still went through the Yifeng Gate.

After they passed the city gate, Captain Zhou Tao asked, "Is Deputy Commander Liu planning to go by land or by boat?"

Although Liuhe County is under the jurisdiction of Yingtian Prefecture, it is on the opposite side of the river, so the only way to get there is by boat.

But now that there is a cross-river bridge, there is an option to travel by land.

Liu Kuan thought for a moment and said, "I'd like to take a look at the bridgehead and railway on the north bank of the river. How about we cross the bridge first, then take a boat to the north bank pier in Liuhe when we reach the other side of the river?"

"Of course you can. I will send someone to Jiangbei to arrange for boats."

Zhou Tao was a lean, middle-aged man, very capable. He quickly dispatched people after responding.

After a while, Liu Kuan and his group set foot on the asphalt road.

It was also at this time that Liu Kuan discovered that this area was blocked by the Ming army. Not only was there no civilians crossing the bridge, but there was not even a single civilian in the wild fields within hundreds of steps around the south end of the bridge.

You can also see that a thick iron chain is tied to a bridge pier on the shore and pulled straight, and the other end is tied to a big tree and nailed to the solid ground.

Liu Kuan looked surprised when he saw this.

Old Zhu said he wanted to tie up the bridge, and he actually did it.

Then he asked, "Captain Zhou, has His Majesty sealed this bridge?"

Zhou Tao, riding beside Liu Kuan, said, "It's not a ban, but anyone with His Majesty's order can cross the bridge."

"Ordinary people can't?"

Zhou Tao laughed and said, "Of course not. What if they get on the bridge, touch it here, move it there, and damage it? His Majesty said that the Ming Dynasty cannot repair this bridge now."

Liu Kuan was a little speechless after hearing this.

He could understand Zhu Yuanzhang's mentality of cherishing and protecting the bridge.

But this bridge is mainly made of reinforced concrete. Even if people go up on the bridge and touch or move around, how can it be damaged?

Even if we use the gunpowder at that time to explode, it will not work if the amount is too little.

As for the bridge being worn out and gradually broken down by the normal passage of vehicles and horses - in later generations, this bridge could accommodate tanks without being damaged. At this time, even if vehicles and horses passed through it tens of thousands of times a day, it might not be damaged.

As for natural decay - you don't need it to decay. It will decay anyway if exposed to wind, rain and sun.

While Liu Kuan was secretly complaining, he had already arrived in front of the bridgehead, and his eyes couldn't help but fall on the two statues of workers, peasants and soldiers.

Although the scarlet words on the bridgehead are gone, the statue is still there, as if silently telling people six hundred years ago who built this bridge and for whom it was built!

When Liu Kuan withdrew his gaze from the statue, his eyes became firm.

"After we cross the river and stay overnight, I will definitely write a petition asking Zhu to allow the people to cross the river via the bridge road!"

While Liu Kuan was thinking about his own things, officials such as Shen Lin, who were on the bridge for the first time, opened their eyes wide, looked around, and found everything strange.

When he reached the middle of the bridge, looking at the surging river rushing past his feet, Shen Lin, a top student of the Imperial College, was so excited that his face turned red. He almost wanted to stop there and compose a poem.

Unfortunately, Liu Kuan and Zhou Tao had no intention of staying and did not give him this opportunity.

Even so, when Shen Lin looked at Liu Kuan again, his gaze became even more fiery.

During the past few days in the Science and Technology Department, he had vaguely known that Liu Kuan was an extraordinary person who suddenly appeared in the Ming Dynasty along with the cross-river bridge and railway.

At that time, he felt that following Liu Kuan was the right thing to do. Today, being able to follow Liu Kuan onto this miraculous bridge, he felt even more that his choice outside Minglun Pavilion that day was the right one.

When he and Liu Kuan build the first train of the Ming Dynasty and it runs on the more than 2,000-mile Yan-Shanghai Railway, he might even be able to leave his name in history!

···
Arrived at the north section of the bridge.

Liu Kuan entered the North Bridgehead Fort guarded by the Ming army and took a look around, only to find that it was also empty - although the Ming army was guarding it, they did not use it as a barracks, but camped outside.

The road in the north section of the bridge is shorter than the south end, only about one mile long, and is also blocked by the Ming army.

As for the railway, it extends to Chuzhou, and the section connecting to the bridge appears to be intact.

Liu Kuan didn't know the specific conditions of railways in other places, and he didn't plan to check them out right now.

The group boarded a navy boat at Puzikou and sailed downstream. Soon they arrived at the Jiangbei ferry in Liuhe County, which is also the place where the Chushui River and the Yangtze River meet - Guabu.

More than a decade after the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Guabu had become a prosperous ferry town with constant traffic and heavy traffic.

The navy boat carrying Liu Kuan and others did not stop, but went upstream along the Chu River towards Liuhe County.

Although this section of waterway is not as long as the one from Puzikou to Guabu, it takes longer because it goes against the current.

Liu Kuan noticed that many of the boats going downstream had a deep draft.

He asked, "These boats are supposed to be carrying iron materials and ironware produced in Liuhe, right?"

Among the accompanying personnel, Zheng Zhiliang, formerly of the Ministry of Works, was the most knowledgeable about this. Upon hearing this, he smiled and replied, "Vice-Chairman Liu has a keen eye. It is indeed so."

Liu Kuan asked again, "Do you know how many kilograms of iron can Liuhe produce in a year?"

Zheng Zhiliang shook his head. "This is confidential. I'm just a minor official, so I don't know."

Liu Kuan didn't ask any more questions.

Zhu Yuanzhang gave him great authority. If he wanted to know about this matter, he could ask the official in charge of the ironworks after arriving in Liuhe, or he could check the relevant information from the Ministry of Works or the Ministry of War after returning to the capital.

Before noon, Liu Kuan and his group arrived in Liuhe County.

At the pier outside the city.

The person in charge, Wang Buqun, had been waiting for a long time with a group of officials.

Seeing Liu Kuan getting off the navy boat, he and another official in a green robe immediately stepped forward to greet him.

"Lu Zhi, the magistrate of Liuhe County, has met with Deputy Liu."

Without Wang Buqun's introduction, the official in green robe was able to identify himself.

Liu Kuan returned the greeting, "Thank you, Magistrate Lu."

Lu Zhi smiled and said, "The county has prepared a small banquet to welcome Deputy Liu. How about we go into the city together and eat directly at the restaurant?"

Liu Kuan was a little surprised when he heard this, and thought to himself: As long as Zhu Yuanzhang is still alive, do local officials at the foot of the capital dare to take advantage of the opportunity to eat and drink?

He was puzzled and had no intention of enjoying the pleasure of the tongue, so he said, "I am here only on official business and have no intention of disturbing the place. Let's go to the inn to have a meal and rest."

Lu Zhi's smile froze slightly.

Liuhe is close to the capital, and he was well-informed about the news in the court. He knew that Deputy Liu was a popular figure at the time, so he used his private money to prepare a banquet to entertain him. Unexpectedly, Liu Kuan refused to respond.

Not only did this make his plan to curry favor with the other party fail, but it also made him lose face.

He then advised, "It's almost noon, and the banquet has been prepared. Wouldn't it be a waste if Deputy Liu doesn't go?"

Liu Kuan was about to continue refusing when Wang Buqun came up to him and whispered, "Deputy Officer, since we're going to make steel in Liuhe, we're bound to have dealings with the local government. We mustn't make the relationship too awkward."

Liu Kuan was not ignorant of the ways of the world, he was just so focused on steelmaking that he neglected it.

After hearing Wang Buqun's reminder and noticing Lu Zhi's strange expression, he knew that the other party was interested in making friends with him.

In addition, since Wang Buqun persuaded him to attend the banquet, it means that attending the banquet has nothing to do with corruption.

So he nodded and said, "Since County Magistrate Lu has invited me so kindly, I would be honored to decline."

In fact, although Zhu Yuanzhang paid relatively low salaries to officials (which were enough at the time), he also left money for welcoming and seeing off guests to the local areas in accordance with the rules of previous dynasties.

However, the amount was not much, and Lu Zhi wanted to curry favor with Liu Kuan, so he took out his private money to treat them.

Although Liu Kuan didn't know all this, he knew the importance of establishing a good relationship with County Magistrate Lu. So when he arrived at the restaurant, he chatted with County Magistrate Lu for a while while eating and drinking.

It wasn't all just small talk, but he was asking around to find out some things related to the Liuhe Iron Works.

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(End of this chapter)