open sea

Chapter 1047
Ye Mengxiong really didn't expect that Xu Jue, a human relationship broker, would be so enlightened by the novelty of bicycles and the demand for workers.

As an important minister of the Beiyang military government of the Ming Empire with extremely military attributes, Ye Mengxiong has almost been out of touch with the world for a long time. His world exists on the map and in letters. It is the world across the ocean, but it is not the land where he stands.

There are indeed too many of their workers. Within the scope of Beiyang's capital, there are as many as [-] artisans from all walks of life.

With a huge base, there are less than [-] people who own horses and livestock. Even in the past few years since the horse market was opened in Mongolia, there is no shortage of horses in China, especially in the north of the Yellow River.

Ye Mengxiong also read the "Ming Hui Code" that Shen Shihang is currently rebuilding a while ago, which records the transaction volume of the horse market in detail. The annual official market transactions fluctuate between [-] and [-] horses. Buying cattle, horses and mules in the monthly market is more than [-] every year.

Not to mention the Sichuan-Tibet line of the ancient tea-horse road rebuilt by Ming Chengzu Zhu Di. Millions of tons of tea are sold every year, and horses have been flowing into the country.

Traditional families usually have livestock such as cows, horses and mules, especially donkeys and mules, and the small-scale farming economy does not need to spend a lot of money to buy a lot of forage.

But for workers, raising donkeys or even raising horses is too stressful.

Only great craftsmen with more than three taels of monthly silver have that kind of financial resources, but not everyone has that kind of heart.

Tired enough to go to work all day, and you still have to take care of a beast?
The workers need a new vehicle that can be a little more expensive, but cost less to follow up, and is of good quality and easy to repair.

Writing down these characteristics on paper, Ye Mengxiong almost thinks that Chen Mu's bicycle was created for workers.

Gadgets such as bicycles are not something that he, an important minister of Beiyang, should care about. Even the military role mentioned in Chen Mu's letter is only the work of the research institute. In fact, this part has basically been completed by the researchers of Beiyang.

On Ye Mengxiong's desk in the Beiyang yamen, there is a report on the use of the existing iron horses, which is very detailed.

The article clearly tells Ye Mengxiong that in order to complete the large-scale and low-cost production of this tool, he will need to overcome several difficulties in the discipline of machinery and materials in the future, and the advantages of steam engines, conveyor belts and mechanical processing will be brought after the overcome.

At the same time, Ma Fang, a more professional military veteran and trained at the Beiyang Medical Academy, gave the parameters of the performance of the "iron horse" he needs to replace the war horse: the main purpose is to use scouts, infantry to march quickly on flat terrain, and transport baggage .

It is necessary to achieve a weight of less than 220 jin, a load of [-] jin, marching for [-] miles in four hours, riding for [-] consecutive days without damage to all parts, and damaged parts within [-] days can be carried on the car and repaired in time. It can be connected together at any time, and the cost is limited to twelve taels.

Compared with those junior research juniors who came out of the North-South Martial Arts Hall and went to Beiyang without being a military officer, Ma Fang was too professional.

Ye Mengxiong was even sure that the first time Ma Fang saw the cavalry wandering around in the garden of the Medical Academy, riding a horse that had not yet been finalized, he had already planned multiple uses for this thing in his heart.

In Ma Fang's conception, the iron horse is a kind of chariot controlled by infantry wearing breastplates and helmets.

The car beam should be able to fix the bird gun or two hand guns with thorns, and the empty space of the car frame should have a matching canvas bag to hold water bags, wine bags, ammunition cartridges, palm mines, maps and other trivial items. It can fix the tent and purple flower quilt roll, and the saddle bag at the rear of the car can be placed on the left and right to meet the rations required by the infantry.

Depending on the target, [-]% of the two-person iron horse with reduced baggage and [-]% of the single-rider iron horse with rockets can be mixed. It can be chased by the enemy without fear, and it can also dismount and form a defensive formation.

Even though he was old, General Ma still couldn't forget the Great Wall, and he bluntly stated his intention in the report: troops equipped with iron horses could drive four hundred miles out of the Fortress in ten days and return to the Great Wall without the need for a train team.

The number four hundred miles is sometimes meaningless, but Ye Mengxiong understands what Ma Fang means—this is the distance from Datong Town to Guihua City, and it also covers the three hundred miles of Bansheng on the Ming-Mongolian border and the most prosperous pasture settlements of various tribes .

This report can rekindle the enthusiasm in the hearts of those middle-aged and elderly people who grew up with the suffering of the North.

Ye Mengxiong, who was sitting quietly in the yamen, put down his pipe, closed his eyes and imagined the scene: several complete units of Daming infantry, without the support of any supply troops, rode iron horses at a speed of [-] miles a day or even faster Out of the fortress, it smashed through all the nests like a gust of wind.

During the day, they formed formations with iron horses, and even cavalry with sabers could not break through the lines they had erected with thorns; at night, they used rockets to ignite felt tents one after another, turning everything on the way into a sea of ​​​​fire.

Except for Guihua City, the only city on the grassland, they didn't even need to use artillery. In just a few days and nights, the empire might win the most significant victory on the grassland since Chengzu.

"Heh, heh."

In the empty yamen, Ye Mengxiong laughed expressionlessly, the daydream was over.

It's a beautiful idea, but the current iron horse can only carry one person, and the bannermen who tried to ride didn't even dare to wear breastplates. Let alone riding for eighty miles in four hours, it will take fifteen days to survive. Not bad for eighty miles is already a major breakthrough brought about by the great craftsmen of the military government.

Right now, there is only one thing that can meet Ma Fang's requirements. The total weight of the iron horses that are currently finalized is 55 catties, which can be regarded as meeting Ma Fang's standard of "less than [-] catties".

Although in charge of the Sanyo Military Mansion, the Beiyang Yamen has really poor means of generating income.

Across the vast ocean, letters from the West have to go through Nanyang to report back. Even if Chen Mu from the East is farting, he will not smell it until half a year later.

The goods transported to Tianjin Port either entered the Forbidden City or entered the warehouse of the Ministry of Households, and very little money could actually fall into the pockets of Beiyang.

Even if he followed Chen Mu's example of selling armaments by relying on his industrial ability, the country is at the feet of the emperor, and all of them are sold at official prices, and they can't make much money, let alone export. The nearest neighbor is North Korea on the opposite side of the Bohai Sea.

But the foolish boy of the Li family of the king of North Korea is not interested in the military. He is already poor, and he is even more reluctant to spend money on it. Zhang Gong.

Don't mention how angry Ye Mengxiong is: you search Beiyang and find a bow-making craftsman for someone Ye!

To be honest, Ye Mengxiong felt that the income of his Beiyang yamen was probably less than that of the emperor.

It's okay to have less income, but he still spends a lot!
Beiyang has two four-legged gold swallowing beasts compiled by guards and more than 1 war horses in nine racecourses at all times. The remaining scientific research funds are not much, and they have to be broken into three halves. Beiyang's Academy of Sciences and Medicine Academy, as well as the Academy of the Ordnance Bureau.

The steam engine, the flying fish, and the Huode Xingjun who was installed on the Franc machine by Master Wanli, none of them should be studied, and there are very few that can be left for the iron horse.

But soon Ye Mengxiong picked up the charcoal pencil and began to write vigorously on the paper.

Xu Jue opened a window for him. Others will indeed resist this kind of iron horse driven by their own strength, but workers who rely on their skills to support themselves will not. This is exactly what they need.

"For the time being, it can't meet the needs of the military. It can be used by civilians to support the military."

　Good morning!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)