Bringing the Railway to Daming

Zhu Bo got up, put on his clothes, and asked someone to bring him hot water to wash.

After breakfast, he went to inspect the winery located inside the Acropolis with Zhu Zhengshan and other garrison officers.

"It's called a winery, but it's actually a wine-making workshop. It's just that workshops used to be called factories, so that's why we call it that."

As they walked along the road, the talkative Zhu Zhengshan began to introduce the situation of the Sanhaiwei Winery, saving Zhu Bai from having to ask any more questions.

"This winery currently has only one winemaker with three apprentices. I hired them from my hometown through connections, otherwise no one would be willing to come."

"Besides that, there are four helpers, all of whom are the remaining men of our Acropolis who have just reached adulthood. There are eight of us in total."

When he arrived at the place, Zhu Bo found that it was indeed a small winery - an independent two-story courtyard with more than 20 rooms. The main production facilities were a mill, a well, a wine cellar, a distillery (distilled liquor, Shaodaozi, was produced in the Song Dynasty), and a few mules and horses.

Zhu Bo once visited the government-run winery in the capital and felt that the Sanhaiwei Winery had no major problems except that it was too small.

However, influenced by Liu Kuan, he couldn't help but mention it after the inspection, "Commander Zhu, it doesn't matter if the winery is small, but sanitation must be good. After all, this is a matter of the health of the craftsmen and the quality of the potato stew."

Zhu Zhengshan explained, "I haven't been here for a while. I didn't expect them to be so unhygienic. I'll scold them later."

Zhu Bo said, "It would be best to formulate corresponding hygiene management regulations and let them act according to the rules. No matter how small it is, it is still a government-run winery, and the necessary rules must be followed."

"Yes, I will remember that."

After leaving the winery, Zhu Bo asked again, "How are the profits of this winery distributed?"

Zhu Zhengshan explained, "This winery belongs to our Sanhaiwei. After paying the liquor tax to the court according to the law, the remaining profits will be put into the Sanhaiwei public account."

"However, this winery has only been open for less than two years, and the output is small. We also have to supply wine to keep the soldiers warm in the winter, so the profit is very small. I'm going to keep it for future expansion of the winery."

Zhu Bai thought for a moment and said, "Saving money to expand the winery is a sound idea. As for the low output of the winery, that's because your potato harvest is small. So Commander Zhu needs to find a way to increase potato production."

Zhu Zhengshan said, "I understand this principle, but Your Highness the Prince of Xiang may not know that farming in Mobei is truly difficult."

"Those places with good soil and water are mostly grasslands. The imperial court has decreed that grasslands must be reserved for herders. We can't just cultivate them casually."

"So, cultivating the land itself is a problem. Secondly, even if we find a suitable place, we have few people and few oxen, so it will be slow to cultivate it."

"Plus, irrigation is difficult, so we can only do it slowly, not quickly."

Zhu Bo asked, "Can't horses plow the fields?"

Zhu Zhengshan smiled bitterly and said, "Horses plow shallow fields. What can be done with one trip by an ox, a horse would need two or three trips, or even more. They wear out quickly. Even if we are in Mobei, it's not cost-effective to use horses to plow the fields."

Zhu Bo was silent for a moment.

He had not expected that there would be so many problems to be solved in the military reclamation of wasteland by the Mobei Guard. If he had not understood it on the ground, such trivial matters would probably not be reported to the court, let alone presented to his father and elder brother.

At this time, he and Zhu Zhengshan had already left the Acropolis and rode towards the factory area of ​​Sanhaiwei.

He looked up and saw that the surroundings were basically plains. Even if there were some undulations, they were all very gentle. Suddenly, an idea came to his mind.

"Perhaps we could suggest that the Imperial Machinery Bureau develop steam-powered tillage machinery. If successful, it could solve the problem of the lack of oxen in Mobei and Luohuang Dusi, greatly improving the efficiency of land reclamation!"

Thinking of this, Zhu Bai wished he could send a telegram to the capital right away.

Unfortunately, in the entire Mobei Province, only Hening (now Horqin), the provincial capital, had two telegraph machines, controlled by the provincial government and the telecommunications bureau of the Dusi respectively. If he wanted to borrow a telegraph machine to send a message, he would have to wait until he arrived in Hening.

Zhu Bo, Zhu Zhengshan and his party rode for more than ten miles and arrived at the "factory area" of Sanhaiwei.

The factory area was the guidance given by the imperial court when it instructed Mobei and Luohuang to develop industries.

Because from the video played by Liu Kuan, we can see the damage that industrial development has brought to the environment, and it is difficult to control under the current conditions, but it is impossible for the Ming Dynasty to stop local industrial development for this reason.

Therefore, the imperial court issued an order that when establishing industries, the various guards and prefectures in Mobei Province should find a place that would cause less damage to the surrounding environment to set up factories and build factories in a concentrated area.

This can not only limit industrial pollution to a relatively small area, but also facilitate protection and management, which can be said to kill two birds with one stone.

For example, the Sanhaiwei factory was located in a barren valley near an open-pit coal mine.

Standing on the slope at the edge of the desolate valley, Zhu Zhengshan pointed to the factory area below and explained, "Your Highness, please look, the coal factory near the railway track to the west is currently producing honeycomb coal and coal furnaces."

"Where there's a small river in the east, there are woolen mills and leather factories, and where there are earthen kilns in the middle is the brick and tile factory."

"Those buildings on the north leeward side are the shared dormitories and cafeterias for several factories. These four factories have a minimum of a hundred people, and a maximum of over three hundred. Add to that the thousand-household unit responsible for defending this area, and the entire factory area has over three thousand people in total, which is not much less than the number of people in the Acropolis."

Although Sanhaiwei is a fortress, not all the garrison soldiers and their families live in it - there are actually only more than a thousand households of soldiers and civilians in the city, because some of the garrison soldiers and their families are settled in the Qianhu Suo.

As for the garrison troops in the fort, they were stationed there on a rotating basis, not permanently stationed there. Zhu Bai took out his telescope and peered through it for a moment before asking, "Are the workers in these factories all remnants of the garrison troops?"

"Of course not," Zhu Zhengshan said with a smile. "The imperial court asked us to hire some herders who met the requirements. Plus, there are quite a few local herders who are skilled in wool and leather processing, so these two factories have hired quite a few herders."

Zhu Bai nodded, then asked Zhu Zhengshan to lead the way into the valley for inspection.

After taking over Mobei, Zhu Yuanzhang attached great importance to Mobei's civil affairs, economic development, education and other work.

The nomadic tribes that surrendered to the Ming Dynasty still existed, but most of the tribal dignitaries also served as middle and grassroots administrative officials. In terms of law enforcement, some changes were made to the "Ming Dynasty Law" in accordance with grassland customs.

Of course, they will not say that there will be any changes, but rather that the special laws of the Mobei Province will be used.

In fact, it was to govern the northern desert using the same method as governing the chieftains in the southwest.

As for the nomadic tribes in the desert grasslands that were incorporated into the five provinces of Gansu, Shaanxi, Hebei, and Liaoning, they were not so "lucky" - apart from being able to maintain their nomadic customs, those tribes were completely governed by officials sent by the Ming Dynasty, and all affairs were handled in accordance with the "Ming Dynasty Law" and other relevant policies within the country.

In terms of education, the Ming Dynasty established schools in all citadels and thousand-household units. All male members of the families of tribal nobles who also held Ming Dynasty officials had to be sent to school if they were under the age of sixteen.

The same is true for the chieftains in the southwest.

Most of the tribal leaders were even required to send their legitimate sons to the capital to go to school and study.

Whether it was the chieftains in the southwest or the dignitaries of the grassland tribes, they all knew that this was both a favor from the Ming Dynasty court and an excuse for them to send hostages to the court.

However, few of them probably understood that the Ming court had a third intention in doing so.

That is to educate them subtly through education, so that their descendants can gradually integrate into the Han family...
After inspecting the factory area in Sanhaiwei, Zhu Bo left with his team early the next morning and continued to march towards Hening.

Because he inspected and learned about the conditions of the garrisons as he walked, he arrived in Hening five days later.

When they arrived a few miles outside Hening City and saw the city, Han Li and other accompanying personnel who were visiting here for the first time couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

"I never thought the Mongols would build such a large city deep in the grasslands, almost as big as some of the prefectures in the interior."

"This place is nestled between mountains and water, and it's truly a rare spot on the prairie for building a city."

"To the east and north of that mountain, there are so many forests. It's really a great place!"

"···"

Hearing the emotions expressed by Han Li and others, Zhu Bai couldn't help but recite a poem first.

"The Heavenly Strategy controls the upper reaches, and the border is under the control of the Jin vassal. The mountains and rivers are connected to the Central Xia, and the snow and wind guard the North Tower."

"This poem by Yuan Dynasty poet Wang Yun describes the geographical advantages of this place. It is sandwiched between the Hangai Mountains (to the west) and the Kent Khan Mountains (to the east), and the Orkhon River leads directly to the North Sea (Lake Baikal). Its strategic location is second to none on the northern steppe."

Seeing his followers all looking over, he continued, "In the early years, the Uighurs and the Kerait tribes both built cities here. Going back further, even the Turks may have built a city here."

"During the Mongol Empire, Temujin and his son Ogedei devoted their efforts to building this city, which led to the peace and tranquility it enjoys today."

"However, the Mongol Empire eventually broke up, and this place became the capital of the Lingbei Province of the Yuan Dynasty. It went from being the political center of Eurasia to a regional political center."

There were no civilian staff accompanying Zhu Bo, so everyone was listening intently.

After looking at Ningcheng from afar for a while, Zhu Bai smiled and said, "Let's go. It's getting dark. Let's go into the city quickly."

After saying this, he whipped his horse and galloped towards Hening City.

After entering the city, Zhu Bo received a warm welcome from the officials. After a night's rest, he wrote a telegram and asked the Mobei Provincial Government's Telegraph Group to send it to the capital.

One was to ensure safety, and the other was to report to Zhu Yuanzhang what he had gained from his previous inspections in Hebei and some places in Mobei.

···
···
Capital.

The spring breeze in February is like a pair of scissors, which has already cut out green buds from the trees, flowers and plants in the south of the Yangtze River.

In the Fengxian Hall of the Forbidden City, Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Biao and Liu Kuan were discussing matters.

Zhu Yuanzhang said loudly, "Since the survey shows that 60% of the people are interested in using electricity, then this matter is settled. As for those who are currently reluctant to use electricity due to the cost, I believe that once they see their neighbors using electric lights, they will gradually change their minds."

"Yes," Liu Kuan responded, then said, "Your Majesty, since the entire capital will be electrified, the court should establish a department specifically responsible for electricity."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded slightly and then asked, "What suggestions do you have for this matter?" (End of this chapter)