Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 342: Long Live the Ming Dynasty! Conferred the title of Marquis of Jiangning! [Subscription Request]

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned.

It wasn't that he was dissatisfied, it was simply because he couldn't understand what was in the box.

The objects in the box were made of metal, wood, leather, rubber, etc. With his knowledge, he had no idea what they were made of, let alone how to use them.

He immediately asked, "Liu Kuan, how do you use this wireless telegraph? Can you demonstrate it?"

"Of course I'll demonstrate it to His Majesty." Liu Kuan said with a smile, "Here are two wireless telegraph machines, both capable of sending and receiving telegrams."

"Your Majesty, please write a simple message and give it to a telegraph operator. Then, have him take a wireless telegraph to the front hall and send the message. The telegraph operator in the main hall will then use the telegraph to receive the message."

"Telegraph operator?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked.

Liu Kuan pointed at two young clerks and said, "These two are the telegraph operators trained by the institute during the research and development process. They know how to use the telegraph machine to send, receive, and translate telegrams."

Zhu Yuanzhang asked again, "Didn't you say before that wireless telegraphy can communicate even if the distance is thousands or tens of thousands of miles?"

Liu Kuan smiled bitterly, "Your Majesty, sending someone a thousand miles away with a telegraph machine would take time. The front hall is isolated from this place, so it can also verify the effectiveness of wireless telegraphy."

Zhu Yuanzhang knew he had asked a stupid question and felt a little embarrassed.

Fortunately, he was thick-skinned and immediately said, "Then let them experiment."

After saying that, he returned to the imperial desk, wrote a note himself, put it in an envelope, and asked Li Gui to give it to one of the telegraph operators.

After receiving the envelope, the telegraph operator, along with several other officials and craftsmen, lifted the telegraph machine and left the main hall. Although the telegraph machine was not as sophisticated as later models, it was not particularly heavy and could be lifted by one person. They had two people to carry it to avoid it from falling.

The other telegraph operator who stayed in the hall also became busy.

Everyone saw him find a craftsman, open the left side of the box, pull out an exquisite handle, and ask the craftsman to shake it.

The telegraph operator knelt on the ground, fiddled with the telegraph machine in the box, and pulled out a strange metal object (antenna).

Only then did Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao, Xu Da and Li Shanchang, who had also gathered around, realize that the telegraph was not only installed in the box, but was integrated with the box.

Wu Zongbo and other cabinet ministers were embarrassed to look too closely, and were still wondering in their hearts: How could this wireless telegraph really be able to communicate over a distance of thousands of miles?

If so, how is it done?

Could it be that he asked Dianmu to help pass the message?

Of course, there were also cabinet ministers who had studied the journal "Natural Science" and knew a thing or two about electricity. They speculated that this telegraph might have utilized some characteristics of electricity, just like beacon fires and smoke signals, using telegraph signals to convey information.

Soon, after fiddling with it for a while, the telegraph operator nodded to Liu Kuan.

Liu Kuan said, "Your Majesty, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and all my colleagues, please remain quiet."

No one was talking to begin with, and now even their breathing was lightened.

The telegraph operator was listening carefully to something, and after a few moments, the telegraph machine began to make a beeping sound.

The telegraph operator listened and wrote something in pencil on a small wooden notebook.

Seeing this, Xu Da, Li Shanchang and others could not help but listen to the dripping sound and try to figure out the message contained in it.

Unfortunately, they couldn't hear anything.

However, the clever old Li already vaguely understood how the telegraph machine transmitted messages - most likely the sound was a secret signal, just like some people use knocking on the door as a secret signal.

Old Zhu and Zhu Biao also had this understanding.

The beeping sound seemed to sound three times before it ended.

The telegraph operator took out a small notebook and translated the characters and symbols on it. Then he stood up and saluted Zhu Yuanzhang, saying, "Your Majesty, the message is: Good weather and good harvests, and the Ming Dynasty will last forever!"

Zhu Yuanzhang's face immediately lit up when he heard this, and he laughed happily, "Great! We did write these eight words! This wireless telegraph is truly a magical communication device, hahahaha..." Li Shanchang was no longer sleepy at this time, and with a rare spirit, he bowed and said, "Congratulations, Your Majesty! The Ming Dynasty has obtained this magical communication device. It will surely enjoy long-term peace and prosperity!"

Xu Da and his ministers came to their senses and immediately stepped forward to offer their congratulations. "Congratulations, Your Majesty, on receiving this divine communication artifact! May the Ming Dynasty enjoy long-lasting peace and prosperity!"

Although Zhu Yuanzhang knew that "May the country live forever" was just a blessing, he was still very happy and laughed even more happily.

After laughing, he waved his hand and said, "Liu Kuan, Li She, you have made great contributions to the Ming Dynasty by developing this wireless telegraph. We will reward you handsomely!"

"Liu Kuan contributed the most to the development of this wireless telegraph technology. Furthermore, you have made significant contributions in the past few years since the creation of the Ming Dynasty's first train. Therefore, I will confer upon you the title of Marquis of Jiangning!"

Liu Kuan was originally very happy and was looking forward to Zhu Yuanzhang's reward, but when he heard that Zhu Yuanzhang conferred him the title of Marquis of Jiangning, he was stunned.

He then immediately bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I thank you for your kindness, but Jiangning is a county in the capital and has unique significance. I dare not accept the title of Marquis of Jiangning!"

After being in Ming Dynasty for a few years, Liu Kuan is no longer a novice who knows little about Ming Dynasty regulations.

As far as he knew, the prefix of Zhu's title of "Bo" was very casual, mostly used to describe the qualities and achievements of the meritorious officials or his expectations of them.

The prefix of Marquis is often the name of a county or an ancient county name.

The prefix of "Jun Gong" is a two-character ancient county or country name, while "Guo Gong" is a single-character ancient country name.

However, some county names, prefecture names, and ancient country names have special meanings and will not be given randomly.

Jing County was the largest in the world, and logically only those of royal family could be granted the title of marquis, so Liu Kuan naturally did not dare to accept it.

After Liu Kuan, Wu Bozong also advised: "Your Majesty, Jing County does have a unique meaning and should not be granted lightly. Please think twice."

The other ministers followed suit, saying, "Your Majesty, please reconsider."

Zhu Yuanzhang said, "It is because of this unique meaning that we are conferring upon Liu Kuan the title of Marquis of Jiangning. As the saying goes, a son-in-law is half a son. Liu Kuan is not only half a son to us, but he has also made countless great contributions to the Ming Dynasty. Only the title of Jingxian is enough to honor his achievements!"

Zhu Biao also stood on the same side as Old Zhu, looked at Liu Kuan and said with a smile: "Sister-in-law, it's just an empty title, why do you care too much?"

Liu Kuan gave a wry smile and was about to say something when he saw Old Zhu's face turn stern. "This is both a reward and our will. Do you think you're going to disobey it?"

Seeing this, Liu Kuan had no choice but to bow again and said, "I accept your command and thank you!"

Zhu Yuanzhang regained his smile and said, "No need to rush to thank me. I haven't finished discussing the rewards yet. Well, I haven't thought about the rest yet. I'll write it down in the official imperial edict when I have thought it through."

Zhu Yuanzhang then looked at Li She and said, "Li She, you have made a great contribution by developing the wireless telegraph. I will use the name of Thousand Telegraphs, which means that wireless telegraphs can transmit messages over thousands of miles, to confer you the title of Thousand Telegraphs Earl!"

Li She was overjoyed, trembling with excitement, and knelt down and said, "I accept your command and thank you!"

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said, "Later, you will write up the achievements of the other officials and craftsmen in a memorial and give it to Liu Kuan to present. We will then reward others according to their merits."

"The minister obeys the order!"

Liu Kuan breathed a sigh of relief - he was very worried that Zhu Yuanzhang would casually confer the title of "Uncle of Telegraph" on Li She. That would be too strange. After all, Zhu Yuanzhang had precedents of conferring titles such as "Uncle of Navigation" and "Uncle of Science and Technology".

Fortunately, Lao Zhu was not so straightforward this time and came up with the title "Qian Xun Bo", which was not so unpleasant.

Recovering from his thoughts, Liu Kuan said, "Your Majesty, the official imperial edict regarding the award may be issued in a few days. Although this telegraph has been tested by the research institute, it would be best to send it thousands of miles away for further testing to ensure that its functions are stable enough. Only then will the award be given."

"You are very thoughtful." Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and nodded, "Okay, I will listen to you."

Zhu Yuanzhang then returned to the throne and said, "Liu Kuan, you are knowledgeable. Now that this wireless telegraph has been developed, tell me how we should deploy it to maximize its functionality without causing it to be misused."

When Liu Kuan heard this, he knew what Zhu meant by "not to abuse it" - the wireless telegraph was a powerful communication tool in his own hands, but it was also a powerful tool in the hands of the enemy; in addition, if villains or traitors used this thing, it would likely cause considerable losses to the Ming court.

Fortunately, he had thought about this matter a long time ago and immediately expressed some more mature ideas.

　Second update.

　　Good night~
　　
　　
　
(End of this chapter)