I Build an Aircraft Carrier in the Ming Dynasty

The imperial examination was a major event, but in the Dahua Empire, there were many similar events.

Wu Changqing also paid attention to the imperial examinations while grading papers, and spent the rest of his time busy with other things.

For example, to inspect the trial operation of the locomotive.

In early February, Wu Changqing, some ministers, and many people came to the suburbs.

The scientific research team led by Feng Xianzhong has already produced the most primitive locomotive, and today it will be tested in front of Wu Changqing.

In order to let the people understand the train and accept this new thing more quickly, Wu Changqing also allowed the people to come and watch.

The more people know about this train, the less obstacles they will encounter when building the railway.

Otherwise, with the level of superstition in this era, if you want to build a railway from a certain place, the local people will worry that the feng shui will be destroyed, and what veins will be damaged.

Although these dissenting voices can be suppressed by force, it is naturally better for the people to understand and accept them on their own.

A two-kilometer railroad track has been laid in the proving ground, and a locomotive has been placed on it.

Its appearance and size are generally similar to the locomotive in Wu Changqing's impression. As for the details, he is not clear.

But this is not important, the key is to look at the performance.

"What is the horsepower of this locomotive now, what is the speed per hour, how long can it continue to run, and how much coal does it consume?"

Wu Changqing asked a lot of professional questions, and at a glance, he knew that he was very familiar with trains.

Other ministers are not surprised, after all, the concept of trains was first proposed by Wu Changqing.

"Your Majesty, the horsepower of this train is currently about 1,000 horses. When empty, it can travel 40 miles in an hour. It can pull ten carriages and carry a load of 100 tons. When fully loaded, it can travel 30 miles in an hour. It's about the same speed as a person walking.

The disadvantage is that it consumes more coal and water. Ten carriages should be pulled, at least one carriage should be loaded with coal, and three carriages should be loaded with water. After the railway is built in the future, a coal and water supply station will need to be set up every tens of miles..."

Feng Xianzhong introduced the performance of this locomotive.

At first glance, it feels so rubbish and troublesome. However, Wu Changqing was more satisfied.

Because, the early trains are like this ghost.

"Yes, it is practical, and the railway can be officially laid. However, this performance is still very poor, and there is a lot of room for improvement. It needs continuous improvement. A locomotive with a speed of two or three hundred miles per hour."

Wu Changqing said.

The efficiency of the locomotive at this time is very poor, and it is only suitable for use in some economically developed places, such as the Jingsong line from Nanjing to Songjiang.

In addition to making money by laying railways on this line, it is more difficult to make money by laying railways on other sections.

Only by waiting for the efficiency of trains to improve, can railways be laid to some places where the economy is not particularly developed.

Therefore, Wu Changqing was relatively calm about the locomotive in front of him.

The other ministers who followed the inspection together did not have this calmness. They were severely shocked by the data mentioned by Feng Xianzhong.

It can carry a load of 100 tons at a time, and it can reach the walking speed of a person. This carrying capacity is simply against the sky.

To transport 100 tons of coal in the traditional way, it would take at least a wagon team of 400 people.

But now, only one train driver, three coal loader, and a few chores are needed.

This improvement in transportation efficiency has more than doubled dozens of times.

More importantly, if people and horses are used for transportation, people and horses will still be tired and need to rest in the middle. People want to eat, horses want to eat grass.

As for this locomotive, it does not need to rest, as long as it keeps adding water and coal.

"This is the weapon of the country."

Hong Chengchou sighed with emotion. He thought of a major role of trains, which is to transport troops.

Calculated at one hundred pounds per person, this train can transport 2,000 people at a time.

As long as he gets a dozen locomotives, he can quickly drop tens of thousands of troops to a certain place at a time.

This kind of weapon can greatly enhance the control of the world.

In the past, when a rebellion broke out in a remote area, it took more than a month to transmit the news, and it took at least three to five months to deploy troops.

When a small rebellion of a thousand people broke out in one place, the imperial court had to send 10,000 troops there. Because by the time they arrived at the rebellion, those rebels had already grown to tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands.

That's how Li Zicheng brought down Daming.

The general who suppressed the rebellion took 3,000 people on the road full of confidence. As soon as he arrived in Shaanxi, he was dumbfounded, because Li Zicheng's army had grown to tens of thousands.

With trains, this will never happen again.

As soon as there is a rebellion, the train can quickly deploy its forces and nip the rebellion in the bud.

This train is simply the emperor's favorite.

"The minister asked to build a railway from Nanjing to Beijing, as well as to outside the customs."

Li Shaobin said that he is a soldier, and he is naturally concerned about the military use of trains.

Seeing the powerful transportation capability of the train, he couldn't help but get excited.

If there is a railway from Nanjing to Guanwai, then their northern expedition will become very easy, and their control over Guanwai can also be very firm.

In his view, the route from Nanjing to Guanwai is a route that must be built.

After all, the threat in the north has always been greater than that in the south, otherwise the former Ming Dynasty would not have set the capital in Beijing, so that the emperor guarded the gate of the country and guarded against foreign enemies in the north.

Today, the capital of Dahua is Nanjing, which is very far from the north, and its control over the grasslands outside the customs is very weak, which is a hidden danger.

Only moving the capital or building a railway can solve this problem.

Moving the capital involves too much, so building a railway is simpler.

"Commander Li, don't worry, you probably don't know how much it will cost to build a railway. I think that in the early stage of railway construction, you should build those routes that can make money first. When you have money in the future, you can build routes for military purposes. ."

Ruan Dacheng from the Ministry of Industry said that his department was mainly responsible for building the railway.

He can't let people in the military dictate and blindly point.

It is so expensive to build a railway. If it cannot generate economic benefits in the future, then building a railway will be a heavy burden.

The Ministry of Industry cannot afford this burden.

"Is it important that money has the stability of the world?"

Li Shaobin was dissatisfied.

"If you have money, the people will be able to live a good life before they can be stable. We all know that the construction of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal has a long history.

But for the Sui Dynasty at that time, it was an important reason for its demise.

Our current financial resources are not enough to build a railway from Nanjing to Guanwai, unless the people are squeezed. And oppressing the people will lead to dissatisfaction among the people. "

Ruan Dacheng retorted.

"I don't need to fight for now. I have already made a decision in my heart for the first railway. First, I will build the route from Nanjing to Songjiang. As for the route to Beijing and beyond the customs, I will talk about it later, but I won't wait too long. It should be fine within a few years. already."

Wu Changqing interrupted their argument, this kind of thing he has already decided, there is no need for the people below to argue so much.

"Your Majesty is wise."

Ruan Dacheng smiled.

Wu Changqing's statement is clearly to support his theory and give priority to economic development.