Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 343: Great Reward for Craftsmanship! Zhu Tan's Secret Visit [Please Subscribe]

"I believe that wireless telegraphy is of primary use to the nation in the military, administrative, and intelligence fields. Therefore, it is appropriate to establish specialized departments responsible for sending and receiving telegraphs within the various levels of government agencies in these three areas."

"For example, in terms of administration, when wireless telegraph machines were still difficult to manufacture and the imperial court lacked management experience, telegraph offices could be established in the provincial governors' offices."

"Equip the telegraph office with at least two telegraph operators, a special guard, and a number of other personnel."

"In this way, only twenty or so telegraph machines will be needed in the early stages. Your Majesty will be able to communicate with the provinces and the prefectures in a timely manner, thereby strengthening your control over the provinces and prefectures."

"As for military and intelligence matters, the same principle applies. Initially, fewer than a hundred wireless telegraph machines would be needed. If any unexpected incident occurred, it would be easier for the imperial court to recover."

For a mature emperor, the army and intelligence are the real core of power, and finance and civil affairs have to take a back seat. That is why Liu Kuan used administration as an example and did not give specific examples in the military and intelligence aspects.

After a pause, he continued, "The most important thing is to establish a government office in the imperial court specifically responsible for telegraph affairs, to vertically manage the functions of telegraph offices at all levels in the localities."

"For example, the telegraph bureau within the provincial government had independent financial, personnel, and even armed security powers, and was only under the control of the imperial court's telegraph office."

"The Provincial Administration Commissioner only has the right to use the Telegraph Office to send and receive telegrams, but is not allowed to interfere in its internal personnel, financial and other affairs."

"Also, it would be best if key officials, such as telegraph operators, were rotated regularly to prevent them from colluding with local officials."

"That's all I can think of at the moment."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, his smile growing even wider as he said, "Your suggestions are good. I will seriously consider them."

"By the way, how long will it take to build a wireless telegraph? And how much does it cost?"

Liu Kuan looked at Li She.

Li She said, "Your Majesty, given the current level of manufacturing in the Ming Dynasty, wireless telegraph machines are still very sophisticated and complex machines, making them difficult to mass-produce."

"Most of its parts rely on skilled craftsmen to make them by hand, and the yield rate is relatively low. Therefore, manufacturing a wireless telegraph machine is not only time-consuming but also very expensive."

"Take these two wireless telegraph machines as an example. To build one, we must mobilize all the craftsmen in our institute, plus the cooperation of craftsmen from other departments. It will take at least two months to complete."

"Taking into account the materials and labor, a single telegraph machine would cost approximately 300,000 guan (approximately 100,000 guan) to produce, and the cost of precious materials like rubber is difficult to estimate."

Two months?
Three hundred thousand strings of cash for one?
Upon hearing these two numbers, Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Biao, and all the cabinet ministers couldn't help but frown slightly.

Although the Ming Dynasty's finances were very ample now, no one thought that 300,000 strings of cash was a small number - before Liu Kuan arrived, the Ming Dynasty only spent more than 300,000 strings of cash on the construction of large buildings such as palaces.

The most important thing is that it takes two months to build one, which is too long.

Liu Kuan then spoke up, "Your Majesty, what Li She said is the data of experimental products, and the time and cost of manufacturing experimental products are often quite high."

"But once it's developed, even if we can't mass-produce it later and have to handcraft it, these two costs can be greatly reduced. Li She, if we use the experience accumulated by the current research institute and optimize each production link, how much time and treasure do you think it will take to produce one?"

Li She was a purely technical official, and only then realized that what he had just said was not quite right. After thinking for a moment, he said, "The timeframe should be shortened to about a month. If the material and labor costs are determined, it can probably be reduced to over 100,000 guan."

In fact, even if it took two months and 300,000 strings of cash to build one, Zhu Yuanzhang would order the mobilization of manpower and materials and spare no effort to build enough wireless telegraph machines as quickly as possible.

But after hearing that time and cost could be greatly reduced, he was very happy.

Zhu Yuanzhang thought about it and made a decision. He said, "Since that's the case, we will set up a telegraph department. It will be under the personal army system and directly report to us."

"In addition to establishing telegraph offices in various provinces and prefectural governments, a 'telegraph machine manufacturing bureau' was also established in the capital, directly under the Telegraph Department."

Zhu Yuanzhang's words were obviously not a discussion with anyone, but an announcement and an order - in his opinion, the office responsible for wireless telegraphy must be controlled by the emperor himself.

The others also understood this truth, so no one had any objections.

A few days later.

The court then formally established the Telegraph Bureau, and also issued an imperial edict to announce the specific rewards for Liu Kuan, Li She and others.

In addition to being granted the title of Marquis of Jiangning, Liu Kuan was also granted 10,000 acres of farmland, a separate courtyard each in Yangzhou City and Suzhou City, and a total of ten shops in various prefectures in Zhili.

He was also given ten thousand taels of gold and one hundred thousand strings of precious notes!

In addition to being granted the title of Qianxun Bo, Li She was promoted four ranks to Director of the Secret Telegraph Manufacturing Bureau (rank seven). He was also granted a residence in the capital, a shop, and 800 mu of farmland in Yingtian Prefecture. He was also awarded 800 taels of gold, 10,000 strings of banknotes, and a quantity of silk, cotton cloth, glass, and cement.

Although other officials and craftsmen in the Radio Research Institute were not awarded titles, many officials were promoted and the main craftsmen were also credited with great achievements, which was conducive to their future promotion in rank.

In addition, they were also rewarded with a lot of banknotes, silk, cotton cloth, glass and other items.

At the same time, Guo Tianwen, who had been working in the Machinery Manufacturing Bureau, was awarded the title of Earl of Machinery for his repeated achievements in research.

He was also rewarded with a residence in the capital, two shops, and 1,000 acres of land in Yingtian Prefecture.

So far, including Liu Kuan, Marquis of Jiangning, and Tao Chengdao, Earl of Dongning, the Ming Dynasty has conferred one marquis and three earls for their contributions to engineering!
When the news spread, many people in the Ming Dynasty turned their attention to the "strange skills and tricks" of the past, hoping to invent some kind of machine and gain wealth and honor.

Students in government schools and even ordinary people in various places have become more concerned about mathematics and natural sciences.

···
When most people in the court and the country were paying attention to Zhu Yuanzhang's successive titles of Marquis of Jiangning, Earl of Qianxun and Earl of Jijie, the policy of allocating land tax to each household began to be piloted in Zhili.

To "distribute the land tax according to the land area", finding out the local population is secondary; the main task is actually to measure the land area.

The Ming Dynasty's Fish Scale Book stipulates that it should be updated every ten years, which means that the land should be measured once every ten years.

Zhili was the first place to implement this regulation, so the third large-scale land survey happened to be carried out in the 20th year of Hongwu.

Zhu Yuanzhang learned from Jinyiwei spies that many local officials and gentry were colluding with each other, and was worried about the effectiveness of the land survey, so he sent Prince Lu Zhu Tan to supervise the matter.

Zhu Tan previously supervised the Liushenmen Yamen and had accumulated some merits; this year he participated in the Western Route Army's Northern Expedition and also accumulated some merits.

But he was still a little short of the level of a commander-in-chief, and Zhu Yuanzhang did not require him to have military merits, so he sent him to supervise the land survey in Zhili.

Changshu, Suzhou.

Zhu Tan was on a secret visit with his guards.

Zhu Tan is now eighteen years old. He graduated from the main hall two or three years ago. He first entered the Fengyang Army for training, and then entered the Shaanxi Army for training. Now he has grown into a dignified young man with a hint of arrogance and unruly temperament.

At this time, he was dressed as an ordinary rich man's son, with only eight guards around him. He got off the boat at the canal dock and went straight to Changshu County.

Lian Qing, the captain of the guards beside him, whispered, "Master... aren't we going to secretly investigate the land survey? Why aren't we going to the countryside, but to the city instead?"

It was winter, and Zhu Tan wore gloves, but he still did not forget to fan himself with a folding fan.

He folded his folding fan and said, "Lian Qing, I usually tell you to read more and use your brain more, but you don't listen. Otherwise, how could you ask such a stupid question?"

Lian Qing was born with a big and strong build, and now with a confused look on his face, he looked even more stupid.

Zhu Tan thought that Lian Qing was only a personal bodyguard, not a counselor, so he spoke frankly, "The imperial court is already strictly investigating the land survey. If there really is something fishy going on, even the farmers in the countryside would be unaware of it. How can we get anything out of it?"

"Changshu County has convenient transportation by land and water, so it must be a well-informed place. If we visit more places in the city, we might be able to get some valuable information."

"Besides, since we're conducting a secret investigation, don't we need to book a guest room first?"

Lian Qing wasn't that stupid after all. He suddenly understood what was going on and said admiringly, "Young Master, you are really smart!"

Zhu Tan's attention had already shifted elsewhere at this time.

I saw a cement road built on the canal dock, leading directly to the city gate.

There were four-wheeled and two-wheeled carriages one after another on the road, and there were also many pedestrians of all kinds. At first glance, the prosperity of the city was not much inferior to that of the capital.

Many warehouses, restaurants, eateries and other shops have been built on both sides of the cement road near the dock, and there are even more stalls along the street, suddenly forming a bustling market.

Zhu Tan walked, looked and listened.

Suddenly, the conversation among the guests at a roadside teahouse caught his attention.

　First update.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)