Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 587: Building roads and bridges and controlling the Yellow River – can we do it all at once?

"Look, these are wheels, four in the front and four in the back, eight wheels in total. Is this a car? But if it is a car, how can it be so big?" Feng Guoyong said in astonishment, pointing to the front and rear bogies under a carriage.

Li Shanchang stroked his beard thoughtfully, "Yes, this carriage looks to be at least ten feet wide and seven or eight feet long. If it were any taller, it would be as big as a warship. If this thing were to travel on the road, it would probably take hundreds of horses to pull it. And yet there are so many carriages here. I really don't know what His Majesty's intention is."

Feng Guoyong nodded upon hearing this, but he was still observing the wooden track model under the wheels, and asked with even greater confusion, "But why are these carts placed on two wooden beams? Are the carts supposed to move along the wooden beams?"

Li Shanchang suddenly pointed to the ground not far away, where two miniature train model rails were laid out. They were only a hand's width wide and could be measured with one hand.

“Look there, the ground is paved with something similar to the wooden beams, with purlins (sleepers) underneath and two long iron bars (rails) on top. This is probably the real road used for running cars. The big one next to it is probably just a model.”

Having followed Lu Jin for a long time, the two of them gradually learned some scientific terms and already knew what a model was. They then began to ponder. If the little thing on the ground was just a model, and its actual size was as big as the car next to it, how terrifying would it be if the road and the car were built? It would probably be another 'massive construction' project.

The two exchanged a glance, both seeing the surprise and doubt in each other's eyes.

However, at that moment, two hoarse whistles suddenly came from the distance west of Yunxiang Palace, mixed with the noise of children. Then, to their horror, they saw the Crown Prince, the Princess and other princes riding in an extremely long, strange carriage, puffing out white steam as it drove past them.
As the train drew closer, the two men realized that the train pulling the long train was also a strange vehicle with several pairs of wheels and a chimney that was constantly puffing out clouds of smoke. Behind the engine was a boy of about ten years old driving the train. He seemed to be an orphan that His Majesty had adopted in Luzhou before, whose name was something like Mu Ying.

Mu Ying was driving the car, and the Crown Prince, princes, and princesses sat behind him, along with several palace maids. The dozen or so people slowly passed along the railway track. When they passed the two prime ministers, Mu Ying took the initiative to bow and say, "This humble one greets the two prime ministers."

When Li Shanchang saw him remove his hands from the carriage and bow, he was so startled he almost jumped up. "No need for such formalities. Just drive carefully and don't let the Crown Prince fall!"

Mu Ying really wanted to tell them that the car hardly needed any human intervention and could travel along the track on its own, but after thinking about it, she didn't say it. She just nodded and obediently placed her hand on the valve.

Behind him was Crown Prince Gongshu Tan, who would be five years old in two or three months. Now, he was like a little adult, bowing to the two of them like Mu Ying, saying, "Greetings to the two prime ministers."

The two quickly returned the greeting with clasped hands, "Greetings, Your Highness. Please hold on tight while you sit up there, lest you fall."

"Okay, I understand, don't worry." The Crown Prince casually agreed, then turned around and patted Mu Ying on the back. "Brother Mu, quickly add charcoal to the fire so the carriage can go faster."

Upon hearing this, Mu Ying took a shovel the size of a spatula and scooped out chunks of coal from the coal hopper under her buttocks, continuously adding them to the locomotive while saying, "Add more, add more, Your Highness, please don't rush me."

The long, twenty-odd-carriage little train chugged past the two of them, carrying more than a dozen people, and gradually disappeared into the distance until it circled around behind Yunxiang Palace and was completely out of sight.

Li Shanchang and Feng Guoyong were both stunned. This thing could carry more than a dozen people smoothly without being pulled by oxen or horses or pushed or pulled by manpower? Wasn't this really the wooden ox and flowing horse of Zhuge Liang mentioned in the Three Kingdoms stories?
The two exchanged a glance, both seeing the shock in each other's eyes. Just then, they also saw the direction of Yunxiang Palace. Lu Jin and Empress Zhang Yunxiu were standing on the platform of Yunxiang Palace, leaning on the stone railing and watching the children playing train in the distance.

When Lu Jin saw the scene of the Crown Prince bowing to them, he immediately smiled and waved to them. The two then hurried over to meet Lu Jin.

"Greetings, Your Majesty and Your Majesty! What has Your Majesty done?"

Lu Jin immediately laughed and said, "The princes are cooped up in the palace all day with nowhere to play, so I have someone make carriages for them to play in."

Li Shanchang asked directly, "What about those carriages on the east side of the main hall? His Majesty probably doesn't just intend them as games for children, does he?"

Seeing that Li Shanchang had asked directly, Lu Jin nodded seriously, "That's right. Besides being for the princes to play with, these train and railway models are also for the science class to use for experiments. As for the carriages on the east side of the main hall, they are used to measure the actual size and set up experiments."

"A train and railway model? Is that what His Highness the Crown Prince was sitting on just now?" Feng Guoyong asked as well.

"good."

"Does His Majesty intend to build this kind of road in the Ming Dynasty?" Li Shanchang asked hurriedly.

"Is such that."

"What is the purpose of this thing? Why did Your Majesty suddenly have such an idea?" Feng Guoyong asked, puzzled, seeing Lu Jin's straightforward admission.

Lu Jin then said, "As you two gentlemen can see, the purpose of trains and railways is simply to serve as a means of transportation, and there is no essential difference between them and vehicles or ships."

"As for the idea, it's not really a spur-of-the-moment decision. I've wanted to build this for a long time, but I lacked some technology and conditions before. Now that the initial technology has been accumulated, it's natural to put the construction of the railway on the agenda."

Seeing that the two still looked puzzled, Lu Jin gave them a brief explanation of the uses and principles of trains and railways: "For a country, nothing is more important than transportation and roads. The transmission of imperial decrees from top to bottom and the smooth flow of decrees require roads, which is why post roads were built."

"Furthermore, transporting supplies, supplying provisions to the army, and mobilizing manpower and food for disaster relief all require transportation and roads. Am I right?"

The two nodded immediately. These principles were simple and easy to understand, and they naturally understood them. Roads were related to the operation of the country, and the stability of the border defenses was of course a top priority for the country.

Lu Jin continued, “In the past, the only means of transportation in the world were carts and boats. Horse-drawn carts and oxcarts had too little capacity. If carts were used to transport provisions to a large army, tens of thousands of oxen and horses, thousands of carts, and even a lot of laborers would have to be conscripted. Sun Tzu’s Art of War also emphasizes that ‘when provisions are sent from a thousand miles away, the soldiers will show signs of hunger.’”

"If we use only manpower to transport the grain, we would have to conscript tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, of laborers. This would not only be a waste of manpower and resources, but the amount of grain transported to the front lines would be less than what the laborers ate on the way. It would be really not worth it."

"What about the grain transport boats? They are affected by the waterways. To allow grain transport boats to pass, canals must first be dug, and canals must be dredged and maintained frequently. At the same time, water transport is also affected by the seasons. Every year there are high water seasons and low water seasons. If the water volume is too high or too low, the boats cannot sail. When transporting upstream, a large number of manpower and boatmen are needed. Therefore, although the grain transport has a large carrying capacity, it also has many drawbacks."

"Moreover, haphazardly digging canals will also damage the original natural water system, leading to disordered waterways, the Yellow River diverting into the Huai River and flowing into the sea, causing frequent floods. Didn't the Yuan Dynasty perish because of this?"

"While sea transport is convenient, it is also risky. It can be blown away or capsized in a storm. Most importantly, sea transport cannot be carried inland and is limited to coastal areas, which greatly restricts it."

"Therefore, I once thought that since sea transport cannot enter the inland areas and digging canals has many drawbacks, could we find a way to improve vehicle transport? Since ancient times, the limitations of vehicle transport have been the size of the vehicle, the oxen and horses that pull it, and the roads that carry it."

"If small cars have low transport capacity, then just make the cars bigger. Make the vehicles as big as canal boats, and load dozens of them together for transport, just like boats on land. The transport capacity will definitely not be inferior to canal transport."

"But in this way, let alone pulling dozens of carts at once, even just one cart would weigh tens of thousands of kilograms, and ordinary oxen and horses would have no chance to pull it. Even if each cart used dozens of oxen and horses, these animals would still need a lot of fodder and grain."

"So is there a way to replace oxen and horses pulling carts? They are not only incredibly strong, but they don't need to consume grain and can run tirelessly. The steam engines in the workshops along the Qinhuai River could do that, and that's how the train came about."

"A train is simply a steam engine mounted on a frame. It only needs coal to be burned and water to produce steam, which blows the iron bellows back and forth. Then, the connecting rod drives the wheels to rotate, thus achieving the requirements of not needing food, not knowing fatigue, and having infinite strength."

"In addition, ordinary dirt roads cannot withstand such heavy vehicles, so we need to find a way to build special roads."

"Steel was laid on the road, and wooden beams were placed underneath to distribute the weight of the entire train. This way, instead of just a thin rut to bear the weight, which would eventually cause deep ruts to be pressed into the road over time, the weight of the train was evenly distributed across the entire roadbed by the wooden beams and steel rails. This is how a railway capable of carrying heavy trains was created."

Upon hearing this, the two nodded repeatedly. Feng Guoyong even praised, "This idea is indeed good. Let the wheels run on steel, and then put wooden blocks under the railway to distribute the weight of the whole car. But this idea is good, but I'm afraid the cost will not be low, right?"

"The cost is indeed not low, but it's well worth the money!" Lu Jin emphasized immediately. "The biggest advantages of railways are twofold: first, they are not subject to the same restrictions as canals, and they can be built even in places without water; second, their transport capacity and speed are far superior to those of water transport. This is the biggest advantage of railways!"

Upon hearing this, Li Shanchang also asked, "What about the transport capacity of this railway and train? What is its speed? And how much did it cost to build?"

Seeing that he couldn't explain it clearly by talking here, Lu Jin immediately pointed to the model carriages not far away and said, "Gentlemen, please come with me to take a look there before we talk."

"Your Majesty." Just then, Zhang Yunxiu suddenly said from the side, "Since Your Majesty has state affairs to discuss with the two prime ministers, then I will take my leave first. I will go and prepare food for the children."

"Since the two prime ministers are here, please stay for lunch."

The two men dared not be negligent and quickly bowed, saying, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

Lu Jin nodded, "Yes, you go first. I'll talk to the two gentlemen for a bit." After Zhang Yunxiu bowed and took her leave, Lu Jin led the two to the carriage and asked his personal guard, Li Dingbang, to fetch a map to accompany them.

When they reached the carriages, Lu Jincai said, “Although the official locomotives haven’t been made yet, the traction can be calculated in advance. I have roughly calculated that one locomotive can carry at least five or six hundred tons. Each carriage can carry at least 25 tons, or 50,000 jin. And one locomotive can carry at least 20 carriages, which means one million jin can be transported at a time. If we convert that to shi (stone), it would be more than 8,300 shi.”

"Most importantly, it is very fast, and the engine does not need to eat, drink and rest like oxen and horses. It can run day and night without stopping. At 45 kilometers per hour, one hour is 180 li, and twelve hours is 2160 li."

"The distance from Jiankang to Dadu is only about 2200 li. If a railway is built between them, it would only take one day and one night to travel from Jiankang to Dadu by train!"

Upon hearing this, Li Shanchang and Feng Guoyong exchanged a glance, both revealing expressions of shock. If the performance of this train and railway could truly reach what the emperor described, it would be too incredible!
As they talked, they arrived at the door of a passenger carriage. Lu Jin opened the door first and went in, and the other two quickly followed behind.

After entering the boarding area, turn to the side and you'll see a long, narrow aisle with rows of seats facing each other on both sides, Lu Jin explained as you walked in.

"This is a dedicated passenger carriage. Each side of the seats can accommodate three people sitting side by side, or six people sitting face to face. There is a long table in the middle where you can read or eat. There are 26 such six-person booths in each carriage, which can carry 150 people. And one locomotive can carry 20 of these carriages!"
"Do you gentlemen know what this means? Twenty carriages mean three thousand people. If we use railways and trains to transport troops, and we send out one train every five minutes, that's 24 trains every hour, or 288 trains a day, which is 864,000 people."

"In other words, we only need two days and nights at most to send 84 troops 2000 miles away!"

"And that's an overestimation. What if we only mobilize 200,000? In the future, we won't even need to conscript a single laborer for war. At most, we can send 200,000 troops, along with their necessary food and ammunition, two thousand miles away in a single day. The days of 'sending food a thousand miles away and soldiers showing signs of hunger' will be completely over!"

Upon hearing this, the two men immediately realized, "That's right, this thing can be used to transport troops. With soldiers sitting on it for two days and nights, 840,000 people can be sent to a place 2,000 miles away. If a road were built from Dadu to the northern desert, wouldn't that be incredible? What chance would the Mongols have?"
Throughout history, the biggest fears of expeditions to the northern deserts have been getting lost and transporting the army's provisions, especially since there were no supply points along the way. But if there were a railway like this, would these problems still exist?

The Central Plains dynasties were indeed short of horses and cavalry, but what if I could deploy an infantry army of hundreds of thousands in the northern deserts, with a constant supply of provisions? What could the nomads possibly use to fight them?

Seeing the shocked yet excited expressions on their faces, Lu Jin quickly added, "As mentioned earlier, if a train departs every five minutes, with 288 trains departing daily, it will only take two days to transport 240 million shi of military rations."

"Moreover, not a single grain of food needs to be given to the laborers along the way. Each train only requires five or six people to drive and manage. The amount sent out here is the amount received at the front. Unlike before, when at least 70 or 80% of the grain ended up in the laborers' stomachs, the front only received 20 or 30%."

"In this way, not only can a lot of time be saved, but also a lot of losses during transportation can be reduced. This is the huge change brought about by productivity!"

Transportation capacity is also a form of productivity, no doubt about it.

"It can transport 84 people or 240 million shi of military rations in two days and nights. In other words, it could also transport 42 people and 120 million shi of grain. If this road can be built, it will be extremely useful. It is much more convenient than the canal transport."

"Moreover, once this railway between the two capitals is completed, it is estimated that there will be no more voices opposing the relocation of the capital. The speed of travel will be faster, which is equivalent to shortening the distance. What used to take nearly a month can now be reached in a day and a night. Then no one will feel that Yanjing is too far away. Going to Yanjing from Jiangnan will be as easy as visiting the neighboring prefectures and counties in the past!" After listening to Lu Jin's introduction, Feng Guoyong immediately gave his fair evaluation.

Li Shanchang immediately added, “Indeed, if the railway and trains can truly achieve the transport capacity and speed Your Majesty has described, their value will far exceed that of the Grand Canal. Transporting hundreds of thousands of troops and millions of shi of grain to a place two thousand li away in a single day and night is something even the most fantastical stories wouldn’t dare to write. It’s practically like a magic trick, but as Your Majesty has said, it is indeed feasible.”

"But if Your Majesty builds such a railway according to the method you mentioned, the cost of constructing it must be quite high, right?"

Lu Jin was stunned when he heard this. He originally thought that he would have to use a lot of persuasion to convince the two of their agreement, but now it seemed that things were a little different from what he thought. These two actually recognized the value of the railway so much.
It's not surprising that Li Shanchang and the others thought that way. Although they were ancient people, they just didn't have as much experience as modern people, but that doesn't mean they were stupid!

According to Lu Jin's explanation, there are 288 trains a day. How many carriages are on each train, and how many people and goods can be carried in each carriage? This is a very simple arithmetic problem that even a ten-year-old child can figure out.

Although transporting hundreds of thousands of people and millions of bushels of grain in a single day and night sounds absurd, like a fantasy or a supernatural tale, you can calculate it yourself if you don't believe it. The basic data is there for all to see. Regardless of the actual situation, theoretically, it is indeed possible to transport that much, leaving them no choice but to believe it.

Once you believe this transport capacity data, anyone who doesn't like it is truly foolish. This thing is clearly much more useful than the canal system. As long as the cost isn't too outrageous, how could anyone not like it?
Seeing how interested the two were, Lu Jin led the group out of the car again and came to the steel rail that Tao Guangyi had given them.

"Although the cost of building a railway is considerable, it is far from being unacceptable compared to its value."

Lu Jin kicked the rail and said, "This is a steel rail rolled from high-quality steel by the Dangtu Ironworks. Each meter, which is three feet, weighs one hundred jin."

"You gentlemen may not know this, but in February of this year, the iron blowing furnace developed by the students of the science class was successfully tested. Following the previous frying and pouring methods, we now have the blowing method of my Gongshu family."

"This method can produce large quantities of cheap steel in a stable manner. The price of refined steel has now been reduced to the same level as wrought iron in the past. The official ironworks of our Great Ming sell wrought iron for 20 wen per jin. If the court uses it for its own purposes, the price can be even lower, and it is not impossible to sell it for 15 wen per jin."

"In this way, the cost of the rails required for each kilometer of railway would only be 6000 silver dollars. If lighter rails, weighing 40 kilograms per meter, are used, the price can be reduced even further to 4800 silver dollars per kilometer."

"In addition to the rails, there are also sleepers, ballast, labor costs, and roadbed. All of these add up to about 13,000 to 15,000 yuan per kilometer."

"Taking the railway between the two capitals as an example, it is only about 1100 kilometers long, and the total cost is about 1650 million silver dollars. If the construction period is five years, the court only needs to allocate more than three million silver dollars for the project each year, and the railway can be completed in five years."

"That doesn't sound like much."

Li Shanchang immediately commented, and Feng Guoyong nodded in agreement.

It's no wonder they were so adamant. In fact, in just the first three months of this year, the first quarter alone brought in 400 million silver dollars in salt sales. If the government were to use one quarter's worth of salt tax each year to build railways, it could certainly afford it.

In short, the imperial court has money, so it speaks with authority!

But Li Shanchang immediately frowned and said, "But the price Your Majesty mentioned should only be the price for building a railway on flat ground. If we are building the railway between the two capitals, we will have to cross the Yangtze River, the Huai River and the Yellow River, three major rivers. Not to mention the numerous tributaries along the way, how much would it cost to build bridges?"

Before Lu Jin could even speak, Feng Guoyong, who was standing next to him, offered his suggestion.

"Should we manage the Yellow River and Huai River together?"

Li Shanchang was taken aback upon hearing this and quickly asked, "What do you mean?"

Feng Guoyong then explained, “What I mean is, now that the Yellow River has changed course and flows into the Huai River, we can first manage the abandoned Yellow River in Shandong, completely cut it off, and then build a large bridge. After the bridge is built, we can also dredge the abandoned Yellow River again.”

"After the abandoned Yellow River is dredged, we will cut off the Yellow River in the south and let it return to its old course in Shandong. Then we will dredge the Huai River and build bridges over it."

"As for crossing the Yangtze River, I really can't do anything about it. The Yangtze River has too much water, and it's impossible to cut it off or change its course no matter what." After saying that, he looked at Lu Jin again.

Lu Jin was stunned when he heard this, and thought to himself, "Holy crap, Feng Guoyong's idea is great! He can do railway construction, bridge building, and Yellow River management all at the same time. Why didn't I think of this method?"
First, block the abandoned Yellow River in the north, then build a Yellow River Bridge. This is no different from building a bridge on flat ground, which will greatly reduce the difficulty of construction. After the bridge is built, let the Yellow River return to its original course, and then manage the Huai River and build a bridge over it.

This idea is absolutely brilliant. Others build bridges by constructing cofferdams in the river and creating a dry area to build bridge piers, but Feng Guoyong is directly changing the course of the river.

It's like the route you usually take after work is now under construction for an overpass. Please take a detour for two months until the overpass is completed.

Feng Guoyong said, "Don't let the water come over yet. Let me finish repairing the bridge before you let the water flow."
Similarly, following this method, the bridge over the Huai River can also be built in the same way. First, dig a main irrigation canal in northern Huai River, and build a new channel for the Huai River to enter the sea, so that the Huai River takes a different route. After the bridge is built, the Huai River can be brought back. Wow, Lu Jin couldn't help but applaud this idea.

Who says the ancients were stupid? They had a lot of ideas.

That's what initiative is all about. As long as you're willing to use your brain, there are always more solutions than problems.

Li Shanchang was also taken aback upon hearing this. After thinking for a moment, he said, "This method is good, but if we build roads, bridges, and control the water all at the same time, the workload will more than double. The Yuan Dynasty has only been gone for a few years, and we're already trying to control the Yellow River."
"Moreover, can the imperial treasury support so many projects at the same time? We can't possibly follow the Yuan Dynasty's example of changing currency and opening the canals, can we?"

Upon hearing this, the people present immediately fell silent, staring at each other in disbelief. "Opening the river to turn it into money"—this evoked a strong sense of déjà vu. Was the next line going to be "A stone man with one eye, incurring the wrath of countless red scarves"?
Feng Guoyong was silent for a moment before saying, "Then let's hear what His Majesty's original plan was."

(End of this chapter)