Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 585 It seems like the railway can be built.

In 4054 AD, or 1357 AD, the fourth year of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, this ancient yet young empire, while its people rejoiced over the drop in salt prices, also ushered in another spring after its rebirth.

As the saying goes, the year's plan starts in spring, and spring is also the time when farmers are busy with spring plowing and working hard. To do heavy physical labor, people inevitably need to eat more salt. People who used to be reluctant to eat more salt have suddenly become generous because the government has greatly reduced the price of salt.

The price dropped from 70 coins to 40 coins, meaning that even though people still spent the same amount of money, they could buy almost double the amount of salt, which naturally made the people very happy.

As a result, the sales of salt in the first quarter of the imperial court surged, almost doubling compared to the sales in the spring of the previous year. Despite the price being reduced by nearly half, the imperial court's salt tax actually increased instead of decreasing, reaching 400 million taels of revenue just three months after the New Year!
Faced with this situation, Li Shanchang, Feng Guoyong, and others were naturally overjoyed, feeling that this year's salt tax was likely to reach a new high, perhaps even surpassing last year's 1400 million taels.

However, Lu Jin poured cold water on their enthusiasm, believing that this was a case of retaliatory consumption by the people, coupled with the demand for heavy physical labor during spring plowing, which caused the salt sales to double. Perhaps the sales would drop again in the next three quarters?
Li Shanchang and the others disagreed with Lu Jin's assessment. If it's because of the need for heavy physical labor that one should eat more salt, then is spring plowing the only time that labor is required? In the summer, one has to rush to harvest the first crop of rice and wheat, and also rush to plant the second crop of rice and corn. Wouldn't that be even busier and more tiring?

After the busy summer, there's the autumn harvest and winter storage. When winter comes, will we have to pickle vegetables and make cured meat again?

All these calculations show that the demand for salt is lower in which season than in spring? How could sales possibly decline?
Lu Jin did not refute this. He would just wait and see at the end of the year. Anyway, he was determined that as long as his expectations were not high, he would not be disappointed no matter what the result was.

Leaving aside the discussion between the emperor and the two prime ministers, the common people were naturally overjoyed. After enjoying the salt at a reduced price, they immediately threw themselves into the busy spring plowing. Only the landlords scattered throughout the country remained as miserable as ever, just like last year.
The reason is simple: the imperial court is continuing to send immigrants this year, and these immigrants are taking away their original tenants. With the continuous outflow of population, the cost for landlords to recruit tenants has become even higher. Sure enough, at the beginning of spring this year, another group of landlords voluntarily offered land to the government. Many people either sold their property and invested in industry and commerce, or they divided their property and became self-employed farmers.

The nine-tiered tax system, a folk version of the "Decree of Grace," was too ruthless; it utterly crushed the landlords and powerful families nurtured by the Yuan Dynasty.

However, this year's immigration program has been slightly adjusted. In North China, the immigration will still involve relocating three divisions from Shanxi and Shandong respectively, but the direction of the immigration has changed.

In the past two years, most of the immigrants from Shanxi went to the Hetao region. This year, only one division of immigrants moved to the Hetao region. The other two divisions were all moved to the areas of Jining, Baochang, Kaiping (Shangdu), and Yingchang (Xilinhot) to consolidate this forward base for the Ming Dynasty's expansion into the grasslands.

The three divisions from Shandong were divided into three directions. One went to the Naiman Banner and Tongliao area in later generations, the second went to Xianping Prefecture (Kaiyuan) in Liaoning Province, and distributed northward from Kaiyuan, occupying Xifeng, Siping, Huaide and other places in later generations, which was only a step away from Changchun City in later generations.

The last division moved eastward from Shenyang, developing along the area of ​​Qingyuan, Hailong, Liuhe, and Xinbin in later times. The next step was to occupy Tonghua and Hunjiang, and advance towards Yanji and Tumen in the northeastern coastal area of ​​Korea in later times. However, in this time and space, this area had already become the territory of the Ming Dynasty.

In this timeline, under Lu Jin's control, the Ming Dynasty is currently implementing an advance strategy in the northern region, relying on immigration and the establishment of fortified villages to continuously expand northward and control those areas outside the Great Wall.

Things that were difficult for previous dynasties to achieve, the Ming Dynasty has gradually gained a foothold in these areas outside the Great Wall thanks to the support of cold-resistant technologies such as cotton clothing, corn and sorghum, and heated brick beds.

Currently, the only remaining hostile force of the Ming Dynasty in the Northeast is Taining Road, formerly known as the Doyan Three Guards in history, which has not yet been formally incorporated into the direct rule of the Ming Dynasty.

There is also Kaiyuan Road, established by the Yuan Dynasty, which is Huanglong Prefecture mentioned by Yue Fei and later Nong'an County. It is now only a place of pacification. The Ming Dynasty has not stationed troops here for the time being, nor has it sent immigrants to cultivate the land. The officials appointed are former officials who surrendered from the Yuan Dynasty.

This situation is certainly not safe, but Lu Jin is not in a hurry. This year he has already advanced to the Huaide area, and is only 60 li away from Changchun. Next year, he will send another division to completely occupy Changchun. In this way, although the number of immigrants to Liaodong is not too large, at least the transportation line will be secured.

With these immigrants taking over the main force to guard the local areas, Yang Jing's Third Army could be replaced. Then, the Ming Dynasty could use Changchun as a base to allow Yang Jing to gather more than 100,000 troops to directly attack Huanglong (Kaiyuan Road), and bring Nong'an, which would later become part of the Ming Dynasty's direct rule, rather than just pacifying it.

At that time, it will not be the Ming Dynasty that will be worried, but the Three Guards of Doyan. Nong'an is only 400 li away from Taining Road (40 li southeast of Baicheng City), the core territory of the Three Guards of Doyan. With a cavalry rush, it can arrive in three or four days at most. Do you think the Three Guards of Doyan can still stay?
If the Doyan Three Guards do not want to submit to the Ming Dynasty, they will have no choice but to retreat further north and migrate to colder places, or they will have no choice but to completely submit to the Ming Dynasty. Once the Mongols of the Doyan Three Guards submit, Lu Jin will disperse them and move them to the interior of the pass to farm. Let's see what kind of trouble these people can cause.

The immigration adjustment in the north was like this, but the situation in the south was different. Last year, due to the military campaign in Yunnan and Guizhou, almost all the immigrants in the south were relocated to Yunnan and Guizhou. However, Yunnan has not been completely pacified this year, and the first batch of immigrants has not been formally settled. Therefore, immigration to Yunnan has been suspended this year.

First, three divisions of immigrants were transferred from Jiangxi and Hubei to Sichuan. The Chengdu Plain in Sichuan has always been known as the Land of Abundance, but now the population of Sichuan is pitifully small, almost the same as that of Shaanxi. Therefore, it is necessary to accelerate the recovery of the population.

Finally, regarding the overseas portion, one division was moved from Fujian to Zhongquan Prefecture and Xinjin Prefecture in Southeast Asia, and another division was moved from Zhejiang and southern Jiangsu to Chengzhou, in order to accelerate the occupation of overseas territories, replenish the Han Chinese population overseas, and allow the Ming Dynasty to quickly establish a foothold in these two overseas enclaves.

Meanwhile, Wang Dayuan's Lizhou Exploration Fleet, after a winter of rest, set sail again this year, taking the Yuanwang and the Zhenjiang, two large ships launched last year, along with a fleet of hundreds of immigrant ships heading north.

Choi Cheol, the Goryeo envoy who came to celebrate the New Year, also took the opportunity to return home on Wang Dayuan's fleet. Ever since he heard Lu Jin's request to increase tribute, he had no intention of staying any longer. He was eager to return home and report the bad news to Wang Zhuan about the Ming Dynasty's impending increase in tribute.
Meanwhile, in Jiankang, Lu Jin was also stationed in the capital, remotely monitoring the progress of various plans.

Regarding the promotion of new crops, only three technology extension centers were established nationwide last year. This year, the officers and soldiers of the Inner Guard who were selected and sent here have returned to their original units with seeds and technology. This year, each province will establish its own extension center, and people from various prefectures and counties within the province will be sent to learn. At this rate, in at most two more years, potatoes, corn, and sweet potatoes will be promoted to all towns and villages across the country.

In Yunnan, the war to quell the rebellion continued. After the Lantern Festival, Zhu Liangzu once again sent troops. He ordered Liao Yongzhong to lead the Sixth Army Group to garrison Dali and Kunming, and then sent Feng Sheng to lead the entire Fifth Army Group, plus two Imperial Guard Divisions, totaling more than 70,000 troops to attack Wumeng Road.

The chieftain of Wumeng led 30,000 troops to meet the enemy, but they were all wiped out by Feng Sheng in one battle. More than 7,000 were killed and more than 20,000 were captured. The entire territory of Wumeng Road was pacified, and the local chieftain's power was eradicated. The imperial court officially abolished the chieftain system in Wumeng Road and established Zhaotong Prefecture.

After pacifying Zhaotong, Feng Sheng ordered Tao An to send officials and transfer two more regiments of immigrants to Zhaotong to garrison the area. Only after completing all this did he lead his troops back to Kunming.

By early March, the major battles in Yunnan had basically ended, and all that remained was to slowly cleanse the region, resettle the immigrants, and appease the local chieftains.

Zhu Liangzu's mission to pacify Yunnan and Guizhou was basically completed, and there was no point in staying any longer. So he took the vanguard of two imperial guard divisions, escorted the captured Duan clan, and on the way back, when he passed through Guizhou, he also took the wedding procession and envoys of the five chieftains, and led them back to the capital.

In Beijing, after the second day of the second lunar month, the weather officially began to warm up, and construction projects that had been halted due to the cold weather have now resumed. Two state-owned factories in the north and south of Jiankang City have also officially started operations.

The Jinling Arsenal in the north of the city had entered full-scale production. By early March of that year, it had produced more than 16,000 Type 52 rifles, stockpiling munitions to prepare for the upcoming military reforms and equipment upgrades.

Following the successful manufacture of an air compressor last year, Jinling Machinery Factory in the south of the city has also developed a matching Besemai air bottom blown converter this spring. However, the one they have built is only an experimental sample for now. It is a little over one meter in diameter, less than two meters high, and has an effective volume of less than two cubic meters, but it can blow ten tons of molten iron at a time (one cubic meter weighs 7.8 tons).

This air converter has been temporarily installed at Dangtu Ironworks for experimental projects, used to produce 'high-quality steel' in small batches. Don't underestimate this small experimental device, its production efficiency is nearly a hundred times higher than the previous frying and pouring methods. Most importantly, it can effectively control the quality of steel and reduce scrap steel production!

In the past, whether it was the frying method or the pouring method, it relied heavily on the experience of the craftsmen. The work site was hot and tiring, and the quality could not be guaranteed. Even with an experienced master craftsman in charge, whether or not real steel could be produced was like winning the lottery, entirely dependent on luck.

Now, freshly produced pig iron from the blast furnace is poured directly into the converter. Then, someone turns on the air compressor's gas valve, watches the clock, and counts the blowing time. In just 15 to 20 minutes, steel with the correct carbon content can be produced. No more relying on luck like in the past!
In early April of that year, Tao Guangyi and Xu Jichuan finally brought the first steel rail rolled by the Dangtu Ironworks to the palace to report to Lu Jin.

On the open ground to the east of Yunxiang Hall, a 12-meter-long, dark steel rail was placed there. Lu Jin kicked it with his foot, but naturally couldn't move it. He then took a steel bar and tapped it, and the rail immediately clanged, behaving like a child seeing an iron ingot for the first time.

Lu Jin then asked, "Does this thing really weigh 50 kilograms per meter?"

Tao Guangyi immediately said, "It really is true, and 50 kilograms per meter is just a label. The theoretical value should be heavier, reaching 101 jin per meter. If Your Majesty doesn't believe me, you can have someone cut off a meter on the spot and weigh it. Of course, the two meters at both ends will definitely be slightly lighter, since holes have been drilled in the web of the rail at both ends."

Lu Jin nodded calmly upon hearing this, before finally asking the question that concerned him most, "How much does this thing cost?"

However, Tao Guangyi's answer was even more interesting. He immediately smiled and said, "Well, how to sell it should depend on His Majesty's wishes."

"Currently, the official ironworks run by the imperial court sell pig iron for 10 wen per jin, wrought iron for 20 wen per jin, and steel is hard to say. The cheapest wrought iron, which can't even be considered steel, costs 150 wen per jin, while better quality refined steel can even sell for 200 wen per jin."

"Given the quality of these steel rails, if Your Majesty were to sell them as wrought iron, they would be worth 20 coins. But if you were to sell them as fine steel, they would be worth 200 coins per pound! And there would definitely be a shortage."

Lu Jin nodded. Low-carbon steel was indeed no different from wrought iron. The primary school under construction in the city center and the Jinling Academy in the east of the city, though described as reinforced concrete and brick-concrete structures, actually used rolled wrought iron steel bars, yet they were still used. Even just wrought iron was certainly better than bamboo steel. As for railway tracks, when Britain first started building railways, they even used cast iron rails. It wasn't until large-scale deployment that they switched to rolled wrought iron. Lu Jin had gone straight to rolled steel rails, even if it was just the most common carbon steel, it was still far ahead of Britain at that time.

After hearing Tao Guangyi's quote, he quickly did the math in his head: 50 kilograms per meter, 50000 kilograms per kilometer, or 50 tons.

If you're building a railway, a single track has two rails, and a main line (one up line and one down line) has four rails in total. That means 200 tons per kilometer, or 40 catties. At 20 wen per catty, that's 800 million wen per kilometer, which is equivalent to 8000 silver dollars per kilometer.

This doesn't even include the sleepers and roadbed, let alone the bridge components and labor costs. The roadbed, sleepers, and labor costs combined are not low. Add the rails, and the cost per kilometer easily exceeds ten thousand silver dollars.

If we were to build the Jinpu Railway, which is 1000 kilometers long, the cost of the route alone would be close to 10 million taels of silver. And that doesn't even include the Yellow River Bridge or the Yangtze River Bridge, which would cost at least 3 million taels of silver each today.

Even so, building railways ourselves was much cheaper than paying foreigners to do it in the late Qing Dynasty.

Anyone who pays even a little attention to industry or news knows that, as is common knowledge, if we can't manufacture something ourselves, buying Western products will be incredibly expensive. But once China can manufacture it on its own, these white people immediately lower prices to suppress us, smashing the previously exorbitant prices of industrial goods to dirt cheap.

This was especially true in the late Qing Dynasty, when we couldn't manufacture anything ourselves. If you spent money to buy from others, you would naturally be at their mercy.

However, things are different now. If building a Jinpu Railway themselves would only cost a little over ten million silver dollars, it seems that the Ming Dynasty could accept it.

Putting aside other things, the annual salt tax alone amounts to tens of millions of taels, and the gold and silver plundered from Lizhou also amount to nearly ten million taels every year (at least for now). Therefore, let alone the Jinpu Railway, even the Longhai Railway is not out of reach if we grit our teeth.

The entire route from Lianyungang in Jiangsu to Lanzhou in Gansu is only 1760 kilometers long. Moreover, the entire line runs south of the Yellow River and north of the Huai River, without crossing any major rivers. This saves on the cost of building bridges. If the total project cost is 2000 million silver dollars, and the investment is spread over three to four years, then only 500 to 700 million silver dollars need to be invested each year. After four years, a Longhai Railway can be completed.

Lu Jin was increasingly tempted by the idea, but after careful calculation, he realized he should try to negotiate a lower price. The lower the cost, the better he could persuade his ministers, since allocating several million yuan from the treasury each year to build railways was no small sum.

So Lu Jin thought for a moment before saying, “In a broad sense, you know what we’re building these rails for. Ultimately, they’re only useful if they’re used to build railways. And at the current price, if we calculate it at 20 wen per jin, one kilometer of rails alone would cost 8000 silver dollars.”

"This doesn't even include the roadbed, sleepers, ballast stones, and labor costs. If you include everything, it would easily cost tens of thousands of silver dollars per kilometer. If you were to build a line connecting the two capitals, it would cost tens of millions of silver dollars. This is no small amount for the imperial court's revenue."

"Although I can make decisions with a single word, I still need the support of the entire court. I can't let the world say that I am like Emperor Yang of Sui, who started a massive construction project a few years after the founding of the country and disregarded the people's labor by digging the Grand Canal. Do you agree?"

"So this road needs to be even cheaper. Not only does it need to be cheaper, but it also needs to be so that everyone in the world can see that it's excellent value for money, to shut up the mouths of all the officials. So tell me, can the price of this rail be even cheaper?"

Tao Guangyi naturally understood the difficulty of this matter, so he thought for a moment before saying, "Your Majesty, the prices I mentioned earlier were all for external sales. If the court wants to use them for its own purposes, they can certainly be cheaper. After all, the ironworks are profitable, and both the workers and the factory make money, so there is room for price reduction."

"If the imperial court uses it itself, 6 coins per catty for pig iron and 15 coins per catty for wrought iron is not unacceptable."

"If we wait until the blast furnace with an annual output of 50,000 tons is completed at the Dangtu Ironworks, and then combine it with a larger steel blowing converter, and upgrade the mining and transportation equipment, then pig iron at 3 wen per jin and wrought iron at 10 wen per jin is not something we can't consider."

“Very good!” Lu Jin said with satisfaction. “If it’s 15 wen per jin, then each kilometer of rail would cost 6000 silver dollars. If it’s 10 wen per jin, then it would cost 4000 silver dollars. This way, we can reduce the cost of building the railway even further.”

However, Tao Guangyi then worried, "Even so, with the addition of the roadbed, sleepers, ballast, and labor, the cost per kilometer would probably still be 10,000 yuan. Would the imperial court still be willing to spend this money to build the railway?"

This time it was Lu Jin's turn to comfort him. So Lu Jin immediately said, "Whether the court officials are willing to build railways or not, the most important thing is to let them see the value of railways. This cannot be achieved by just talking. If they do not see the actual thing, no matter how eloquently we talk, no matter how much we talk, few people will believe that there is a means of transportation in this world that can carry goods thousands of miles a day without the help of oxen or horses."

"So the best way is for us to build a model road first. When they see the real benefits, they will want to pay for it themselves without you having to urge them."

"There's also the issue of construction costs. The distance between the two capitals is about 1100 kilometers. Even if you put all the money upfront, it definitely wouldn't be finished in a year. The construction period would be at least three to four years. So the imperial court could allocate funds in installments. If they only allocate 300 million silver dollars a year to build the railway, they could build a line between the two capitals in three or four years. You wouldn't even need to urge them; they would definitely be more proactive than anyone else."

“That’s true. We can allocate funds in installments. If we spread it out over the years, it doesn’t seem unbearable.” Tao Guangyi nodded immediately upon hearing this, but then he asked another question.

"So how should this first demonstration line be built? Where should it be built? How long should it be? And who should pay for it?"

Lu Jin immediately waved his hand and said, "I will use my own private funds to fund this demonstration line. When Marquis Bowang returned from Lizhou two years ago, he brought back 1200 million taels of silver, and I received 300 million taels of silver to go into the private treasury. Last year, he brought back more than 800 million taels of silver, and I received another 200 million taels. I have kept all of this money and haven't spent it yet."

"Therefore, we now have at least 5 million taels of silver for road construction. At 10,000 taels per kilometer, we can now build at least 500 kilometers."

Tao Guangyi and Xu Jichuan's eyes lit up immediately upon hearing this. If the emperor were willing to use his private funds to build this demonstration line, that would certainly be the best option.

Lu Jin then added, “However, we don’t need to plan our demonstration route to be too long at the beginning. Firstly, it’s to cultivate road construction talent and train engineering teams, and also to explore the technology ourselves. Secondly, this road must have practical value. We can’t spend so much money to build a mere decoration. So we must pay attention to the planning.”

Upon hearing this, Tao Guangyi thought for a moment and said, "If the plan is based on the requirements of experimentation, talent cultivation, experience accumulation, and practical value, then the best route is around the capital and should pass through the Dangtu Ironworks. This would make it easier for us to transport equipment and materials."

"In that case, starting from Beijing, passing through Dangtu, Wuhu, and then south to Xuancheng, where there are coal mines, this section can transport coal from Xuancheng to the Dangtu Ironworks. If we continue, we can go from Xuancheng to Guangde, Anji, Deqing, and Hangzhou. How many kilometers would that be? It shouldn't exceed 500 kilometers, right?"
"Your Majesty, may I go find a map?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Jin glanced at him and said, "No, I said there were five million taels, so you really spent five hundred taels clean, right?"

"No need to look for a map. I've already calculated the route you mentioned. It's about 330 kilometers from the capital south of Taihu Lake to Hangzhou. But it's just an experimental route, so there's no need to build such a long one. Besides, what are you going to transport back and forth from the capital to Hangzhou? It'll only make it convenient for Jiangxi porcelain to land in Dangtu and be transported to the Hangzhou port for sea voyages. That's about all it'll do."

Upon hearing this, Tao Guangyi scratched his head awkwardly. He had genuinely thought that Lu Jin intended to spend the full 500 million taels. "Then what does Your Majesty mean?"

"Starting from Jiankang, passing through Dangtu and Wuhu, continuing south through Fanchang and Nanling, and finally reaching Jingxian, this route is 165 kilometers long, and most of it is on flat land, without having to go through mountains. In terms of bridges, it needs to cross three rivers: the Qinhuai River in Beijing, the Guxi River in Dangtu, and the Qingyi River in Wuhu. Although there are three rivers, they are not very large, making it the most suitable route for us to let newcomers practice."

"Moreover, once this road is completed, it will be convenient to transport coal from Jingxuan to Dangtu Ironworks and the capital, which will not only reduce the price of coal in the capital, but also lay the foundation for Dangtu Ironworks to expand its production in the future. Therefore, this road has practical value."

"In the future, it can be expanded further south to Nanchang in Jiangxi, east to Hangzhou via Huzhou, and north to connect with the railways of Beijing and Nanjing. So as long as it is built, it will not be wasted and can become part of the future national road network. Moreover, there are only three bridges along the entire route, which is less than 200 kilometers long, making it easier to control the project cost."

"I'm willing to spend two or three million taels to build a demonstration line and pay your tuition."

Upon hearing Lu Jin's description of the route, Tao Guangyi and his companion became excited and immediately asked, "Your Majesty, when will we begin constructing this road?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Jin immediately rolled his eyes. "It's not that easy. You think you can just build it like that? 200 tons of steel rails per kilometer, so 165 kilometers would be 33,000 tons. Do you have that many steel rails right now? Besides, you have to send people to survey the route before you build a road. And what about the people along the way? Do they need to be relocated? How will they be resettled after they are relocated? How will those three bridges be designed and constructed? Don't you have to prepare all of these things in advance?"
"Let's first assemble a route survey team to survey the route, and we'll talk about the rest later."

"Yes!"

(End of this chapter)