Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 10 The railway also crossed over! [Please read]

"Yan Wang Zhu Di launched his rebellion in July of the first year of Jianwen's reign and captured Nanjing in June of the fourth year of Jianwen's reign, a four-year campaign."

"After the Prince of Yan's army entered the capital, a fire broke out in the palace, and Emperor Jianwen disappeared. Some say he burned to death in the palace, while others say he disguised himself as a monk and escaped overseas."

"At this point, the Ming dynasty passed to the lineage of Prince Yan, and continued to be passed down until the Ming dynasty's demise."

After listening to Liu Kuan's story, Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao were speechless for a long time.

Although Liu Kuan did not describe the specific process of the Jingnan Campaign, both Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Yuanzhang came from the chaotic times at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, especially Zhu Yuanzhang, who established the Ming Dynasty from nothing.

He could imagine the difficulties Zhu Di faced when he led an army to quell the rebellion with only 800 guards.

It was precisely for this reason that he was very puzzled that Zhu Yunwen had a huge advantage but was still unable to defeat Zhu Di.

In the end, he could only attribute it to the fact that Zhu Di's military ability was too strong and Zhu Yunwen's ability was too weak.

He was even a little glad that Zhu Di succeeded in his campaign to quell the rebellion. Otherwise, with Zhu Yunwen's ability, the Ming Dynasty's reign would probably have been even shorter.

Later, Zhu Yuanzhang realized that the four-year Jingnan Campaign would inevitably leave the Ming Dynasty in tatters and countless people would suffer.

From a beggar to the founding emperor, one of his ambitions was to allow the people of the world to live in peace.

Unexpectedly, the many arrangements he made before his death would lead to a four-year civil war in the Ming Dynasty.

"Do people become demented when they get old?"

Thinking of the foolish actions of many emperors in their old age in history books, especially Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Li Longji, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but think so.

Zhu Biao was also surprised by the gap in military capabilities between Zhu Di and Zhu Yunwen.

But after hearing Liu Kuan say that later generations were not sure whether Zhu Yunwen was alive or dead, he felt a little better - at least Zhu Di did not kill Zhu Yunwen directly. Otherwise, even if he knew that this was later history and would most likely not happen again, he would still feel uncomfortable when facing Zhu Di.

After coming to his senses, Zhu Yuanzhang could not help but ask: "How has the Fourth Prince governed the Ming Dynasty since he became emperor?"

Zhu Yuanzhang had already learned about Zhu Di's military capabilities through Liu Kuan's account of the Jingnan Campaign.

But over the years, he increasingly felt that governing the country was far more difficult than conquering it. If one thing was not done well, it would involve many other affairs, leaving a blemish on the country.

Zhu Di had only arrived in Beijing last year to establish his fiefdom, and he only had certain military powers and could not interfere in local government affairs.

Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang did not know Zhu Di's ability to govern.

Liu Kuan was about to answer when he heard Mu Ying shout from downstairs, "Your Majesty, the scouts who were investigating the other strange road have returned!"

Another weird road?

Liu Kuan was stunned at first.

Then I remembered that the Yangtze River Bridge has two levels, and there is a railway on the lower level.

He immediately came to the railing of the city gate tower and looked at the railway. He then noticed that the railway seemed to extend into the outer city wall and its southernmost end could not be seen at all.

Zhu Yuanzhang said, "Bring the scouts here immediately."

"Yes!"

Mu Ying responded, and soon brought up two scouts from his personal army.

Zhu Yuanzhang knew that Zhu Biao had sent a team of scouts to explore the southernmost end of another strange road. After the two scouts saluted, Zhu Yuanzhang asked directly, "Have you found out where the end of that strange road is in the south of the Yangtze River?"

Both scouts had strange expressions on their faces.

One of the scouts said, "Your Majesty, we followed that strange road and first arrived at the shore of Xuanwu Lake. Then the strange road went out of the outer city wall and headed east."

"We left the city again and continued exploring along the road. We ended up reaching the north side of Qixia Mountain, but still hadn't seen the end of this strange road."

"Captain Sun ordered us to return and report to His Majesty and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, while he led the remaining scouts to continue exploring along the way."

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned, seeming to be quite surprised by this.

He glanced at Liu Kuan before asking the scout, "Have you made any other discoveries along the way?"

The scout said, "When we were almost at Qixia Mountain, we saw some people prying the fine iron and wood from the strange road. We drove them away and told them to notify the village head to protect the strange road."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said, "You have done well. Go down and rest first."

"Yes!"

After Mu Ying escorted the scout downstairs, Zhu Yuanzhang asked, "Master Liu, this strange black road is similar to the official road, but the other strange road seems inconvenient to walk on. What is its use?"

Liu Kuan was originally thinking.

The scout's words gave him a bold guess, that is, the railway connecting to the Yangtze River Bridge might be very long, rather than just a few miles long like the highway.

If this is the case, then it is probably not just the Yangtze River Bridge that will cross with him.

Instead, a railway associated with the bridge also crossed with him!

Hearing Zhu Yuanzhang's question, he immediately said: "Your Majesty, this road is called a railway. If it is really long, its importance is no less than that of a cross-river bridge!"

"For the sake of the future development of the Ming Dynasty, Your Majesty implores us to immediately send someone along the railway to convey your order, ordering the local authorities to protect the railway and prevent it from being destroyed by ignorant people!"

Railways? As important as cross-river bridges?

Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao were both surprised when they heard this.

Zhu Yuanzhang did not rush to issue an order, but said: "Mr. Liu, please tell me what the purpose of this railway is."

Liu Kuan had no choice but to patiently explain, "Railways are the most important mode of transportation in our later generations. They are even more convenient than highways...or even official roads and waterways."

"Because the railway is used in conjunction with a means of transportation called a train. A single train can carry thousands of people, or hundreds of thousands of pounds or even more of cargo, traveling along the railway at lightning speed, day and night without stopping."

"For example, in later generations, traveling from Beijing to Nanjing, or from Beiping to the capital, would only take a little over two hours by the fastest train."

After hearing what Liu Kuan said, both Zhu Biao and Zhu Yuanzhang were shocked.

Because what Liu Kuan described was completely beyond their imagination.

Zhu Biao couldn't help but question, "Thousands of people on one cart? Hundreds of thousands of pounds of cargo? How is that possible?"

Even Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but say, "Mr. Liu, please don't take advantage of our ignorance of future events and make up stories."

Liu Kuan laughed and said, "If they can build this cross-river bridge in the future, then what's so strange about inventing the train I mentioned?"

"In fact, building railways and trains is much easier than building a bridge across a river."

"You two have seen the appearance of this railway. The trains are not pulled by oxen and horses, but by steam engines and internal combustion engines."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Biao couldn't help but interrupt and asked, "What are Zhengqi Chicken and Neiran Chicken?"

Liu Kuan did not answer, but instead asked, "Excuse me, Your Highness, what is a loom?"

"Forehead···"

Zhu Biao was embarrassed.

He then understood that what Liu Kuan was talking about was a machine, not some kind of livestock. He was puzzled. How could a chicken possibly pull thousands of people? Unless it was a divine chicken from heaven.

Liu Kuan continued what he had said before, saying, "The technology contained in the internal combustion engine is relatively advanced, so I won't talk about it. Instead, I can talk about the steam engine, which you should be able to understand."

"You've probably seen the phenomenon of boiling water in an iron kettle and the steam lifting the lid? The steam engine was invented based on this phenomenon, but it only greatly increases the power of the steam."

"So, a train would often only need one steam engine at each end, with coal and people to boil water along the way, to keep the train running day and night."

"In addition, a train is made up of two locomotives and dozens or even hundreds of carriages in between, each of which can carry a large number of people or goods."

"So, there's this situation where a train can carry thousands of people or hundreds of thousands of pounds of cargo. Your Majesty, Your Highness, do you understand?"

After saying so much in one breath, Liu Kuan couldn't help but stop and speak slowly.

Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao were both recalling the scene of water boiling in the iron kettle, but they still couldn't understand how such a force could make the train that Liu Kuan mentioned move.

While Zhu Biao was still pondering the reason, Zhu Yuanzhang had no longer been bothered by it.

He asked, "The distance from the capital to Peking is over two thousand miles. Can this train really make it there in just over two hours, as you say? Even birds can't travel that fast, right?"

Liu Kuan was slightly embarrassed, but still prepared to explain clearly.

He said: "In my time, there was indeed a kind of train that could run this fast. We called it high-speed rail."

"Although ordinary trains aren't as fast, they still only take four or five hours to cover this distance."

"Of course, if the Ming Dynasty were to build a train now, it would probably take two or three days for the first generation train to travel over 2,000 miles."

After hearing Liu Kuan's explanation, Zhu Yuanzhang no longer doubted the truth, but could not help but sighed: "Even if it takes two or three days, it is very fast."

Zhu Biao had given up on pondering the principles of the steam engine and continued, "My fourth brother arrived in Peking last year to take up his fiefdom. It took him nearly a month to get there. Even if he rode at full speed, day and night, it would still take him seven or eight days to get there."

"Besides, even if we change horses along the way but not the riders, people still need to rest and can't keep going. So, even on horseback, it would take more than ten days to complete this journey."

Liu Kuan smiled slightly and said, "People can not only eat but also sleep on the train."

This sentence instantly made Lao Zhu and Xiao Zhu's yearning for railways and trains reach its peak.

Zhu Biao could not help but urge, "Father, please send someone to pass on the order to the local authorities to protect the railway."

Zhu Yuanzhang said, "Local officials have no military power, so how can they protect the railway? Go and pass on the order to the garrisons along the route to form a special railway guard team and treat this as a military order."

"Also, after the local government announced that railway damage was prohibited, if there were still unruly people who damaged the railway, they would be caught..."

At this point, Zhu Yuanzhang paused. He wanted to say that he would be beheaded after being caught, but thinking that people in the future would think his punishment was too harsh, he changed his words and said, "Confiscate all property and exile three thousand miles away!"

Zhu Biao felt that the punishment was still a bit severe, but thinking of the importance of the railway, he did not try to persuade him. He just said yes and went downstairs to convey the order.

Liu Kuan also felt that the punishment imposed by Zhu Yuanzhang was too severe, but he also understood that the Ming Dynasty was not the future.

In order to protect the railway from being destroyed, heavy penalties must be imposed to deter greedy and lawless people.

Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't wait for Zhu Biao to return, so he asked again: "Master Liu, how long do you think this railway that travels to our Ming Dynasty will be? Where does it start and where does it end?"

　Please collect, read and vote.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)