Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 330: Ming Dynasty Enters an Era of Rapid Technological Development

This day was the day when the railway section from Beijing to Tongzhou was opened to traffic. Zhu Houzhao got up early and went to Yongdingmen with a group of officials.

Because there were sufficient slaves, the construction project was carried out very quickly, and at this time a railway station was built outside Yongdingmen.

The train station adopts the traditional Chinese architectural style of double-eaved hip roof. There are two locomotives parked on the tracks. Behind the locomotives are five carriages. The carriages are not large and are all black like the locomotives. Under each carriage are train wheels, which are firmly embedded in the tracks.

Zhu Houzhao and a group of officials were now standing in front of a train.

Zhu Houzhao was fine. Zhang Cong, the chief minister of the cabinet who was following behind Zhu Houzhao, rarely smiled kindly when he saw the train. He was happier than when he saw his own grandson was born. He couldn't help but stretch out his hand and wanted to touch the metal texture of the train, but because Emperor Zhu Houzhao was here, he couldn't help but hold back.

"Unbelievable, unbelievable! Thirty years ago, I would never have thought that such a magical thing would appear in the Ming Dynasty. A car made of iron and weighing more than a hundred tons could actually be propelled by steam power!"

Xia Yan couldn't help but sigh about this.

At this time, Zhang Cong, the chief minister of the cabinet, saw Xia Yan sighing and couldn't help but say:

"Gong Jin, have you ever thought about how Confucianism has governed the country for more than a hundred years, but the country has been declining day by day, and people's hearts are no longer the same as before. Since the prosperity of the holy learning and the full display of the knowledge of all kinds of crafts, the people have been free from hunger, and steam has replaced fierce horses, and guns have replaced bows and crossbows. From then on, a country governed by learning is stronger than a country governed by barbarians!"

Xia Yan glanced at the lights on the train, and he increasingly recognized in his heart that since he and his officials began to accept the concept of "rationality and sacredness", the empire has indeed undergone earth-shaking changes. These things that were previously regarded as strange and cunning by Confucian officials can really change this era. He couldn't help but ask Zhang Cong:

"According to the Prime Minister, this philosophy is completely useless and should be completely abandoned?"

"It's not that Neo-Confucianism is useless, it's that people's hearts have changed. Nowadays, there are more rich people than poor people. Even the small families have accumulated money for many years, but they all pursue fame and fortune. It is difficult to correct people's hearts with Neo-Confucianism alone. Once the steam locomotive is available throughout the country, it will undoubtedly promote the development of commerce and people will be able to stay in their hometowns. The clans will exist in name only, and the relationship of father-father, son-son, and grandson-grandson will naturally be difficult to maintain the peace of the country.

Therefore, I think that Neo-Confucianism is no longer suitable for the current Ming Dynasty. If we want to make the world peaceful, the study of statecraft must keep pace with the times. It is better to innovate than to be conservative. The idea of ​​the essence of the empire must be changed. If it is not changed, it will be difficult to change the foundation of the empire. At that time, only the scholars and officials will benefit, while the poor will still have no place to stand. "

After Zhang Cong said this, Xia Yan couldn't help but say:
"But at present, the poor people of Ming Dynasty are not without a place to live. All the wealth in the world is gathered in Ming Dynasty. Apart from some Confucian officials in the country who say that the court is only interested in profit and is inhumane to foreign countries, there is no public resentment."

"But in fact, the current court's wanton plundering is indeed inconsistent with the principles of Neo-Confucianism. However, plundering is indeed beneficial to educating the people of the country, so that the elderly can be taken care of and the young can grow up.
Therefore, I think we should abandon the ideology of Neo-Confucianism and make the behavior of foreign plundering justified in the ideology of governing the country. Otherwise, if Neo-Confucianism is allowed to spread, many Confucian scholars in the country may really do something that feeds the tiger with their own bodies. "

Zhang Cong said, "Your Majesty has said that if we want to be capable ministers, we must keep the long-term interests of the country and our people in mind. If Neo-Confucianism is not eradicated, the science and industry of the Ming Dynasty will inevitably be restricted by it. The technology of steam power and the new technology of guns and gunpowder cannot be monopolized by the Ming Dynasty for a long time. Once they are mastered by other countries, and if other countries are not bound by Neo-Confucianism and wantonly enslave and plunder other countries, then they may soon surpass the Ming Dynasty and become a strong enemy of the Ming Dynasty."

"What the Prime Minister said is very true. At present, Gao Feng, the chief eunuch of the inner court, has been ordered to take the finest longevity cream of the Ming Dynasty to sail to the West. By then, these Western countries will once again feel the power of the strong ships and powerful guns of our Ming Dynasty. Perhaps, by then, one or two of these Western countries will really be awakened by this!
I went on a tour of the West several years ago and learned in detail about the doctrines of Western Christianity and the literature and art of the Renaissance. The scholars there are indeed more open than those in the Ming Dynasty, and have a more thorough understanding of human nature. Although they are bound by religion, the grassroots are gradually seeking to break free from religion and pursue secular freedom. They are more enthusiastic about the study of science than the Ming Dynasty, and have never been ashamed of it. In our Ming Dynasty, if it were not for Your Majesty's promotion of the learning of a hundred schools of thought from top to bottom and the high status given to craftsmen, the world would now only consider general knowledge of poetry and books as talented, and it would be difficult to consider mathematics and astronomy as the right path. If the Ming Dynasty is bound by the study of science again, a hundred years later, it is hard to guarantee that these Western countries that are already open and respect a hundred schools of thought will catch up with or even surpass our Ming Dynasty in terms of national strength. Fortunately, they are not bound by religion yet!"

Xia Yan couldn't help laughing as he spoke. He was very glad that although he had beheaded the Western Pope, he did not depose the Pope of the Western Papal States, but allowed them to re-appoint another one. However, other Western countries did not unite to attack the Ming Dynasty because the Pope of the Papal States was killed. This also forced Xia Yan to admit that the Western countries had indeed begun to gradually get rid of religious constraints, and the control of religion over these Western countries was gradually declining.

Zhu Houzhao came out at this time and saw Zhang Cong and Xia Yan chatting while waiting outside the royal hall in the carriage, so he asked, "What are you talking about?"

Zhang Cong and Xia Yan answered truthfully.

Zhu Houzhao just nodded at first. He was very pleased that the literati of the Ming Dynasty were not pedantic. They also had the ability to think independently, and could even smell the changes in the future situation from the complex and changing current situation. Just like in history, a group of enlightened literati such as Li Zhizao and Xu Guangqi in the middle and late Ming Dynasty also realized the changes in the global situation and began to actively learn and master natural science knowledge, and even wrote books to promote it. The focus was on writing books to promote it. Unlike some emperors, some literati of the Ming Dynasty would not keep scientific knowledge that benefits the people hidden in the cabinet because of selfishness.

What made Zhu Houzhao even more gratified was that there was no Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 during the Ming Dynasty. However, reformist officials such as Zhang Cong predicted with their extraordinary foresight that after the Ming Dynasty entered the steam industrial revolution, its real opponent would not come from outside, but from internal resistance.

Bang!
The first steam locomotive of the Ming Dynasty started up, a crackling sound was heard, and thick white mist spewed out from the black chimney. The whole train galloped on the rails, like a strong young man running in winter, steaming all over his body, and heading towards the distance with vigorous steps.

Wherever the railways spread, steam locomotives ran all the way.

On the chilly North China Plain in spring, there is a new beautiful landscape, and the gentle Chinese landscape also has a touch of toughness.

Zhu Houzhao looked at the receding tree shadows, the factories in the suburbs of Beijing, and the farmers working in the farmland in the suburbs of Beijing, as if he was watching a cross-cut documentary about the present Ming Dynasty.

At this time, Zhu Houzhao could not help but say: "The Ming Dynasty is sometimes like this train. No one knows where it will go in the future. If you feel that Neo-Confucianism is not enough, just find another subject. Governing a big country is like cooking a small fish. You must go with the flow. You should neither deliberately obstruct nor rush into it. You should take it step by step. After Jiaozhi is recovered, the chieftains in the southwest should also be dealt with. The times are different, and the attitude of the Ming Dynasty towards various forces must also be different."

Zhang Cong and Xia Yan both nodded in agreement.

After the steam train arrived in Tongzhou, Zhu Houzhao and a group of officials got off the train. At that time, officials from Tongzhou had already been there to greet them, and the people of Tongzhou City also gathered near the train station to watch. For them, this was the first time they had seen this train, and the first time the emperor had seen it as well, so it was naturally very novel.

After Zhu Houzhao had a brief interaction with the people, he moved into the temporary palace in Tongzhou. Important officials such as Zhang Cong and Xia Yan also temporarily lived in the palace according to Zhu Houzhao's imperial edict. For officials such as Zhang Cong and Xia Yan, being able to take a train from the capital to Tongzhou was indeed a shocking thing. They seemed to be reluctant to leave and were eager to let people all over the world enjoy this new means of transportation of the Ming Dynasty.

Of course, as ministers at the core of the government, they were also thinking about what the emergence of steam locomotives and railways could bring to the Ming Dynasty, and how they, as trusted ministers of the Emperor, could make these new things benefit the country and the people.

Zhu Houzhao was also thinking about this, so he summoned the officials involved in the construction of the railway from the capital to Tongzhou and the operation of steam trains in the palace, and expressed his intention to establish a Ministry of Railways, a Railway Construction Bureau and a special steam locomotive production plant to be responsible for the railway operation management and construction of the entire Ming Dynasty, as well as the manufacturing and improvement of trains.

The final result of the court discussion was to appoint Qin Yu, the left vice minister of the Ministry of Works, as the Minister of Railways, and Xu Jie as the left vice minister of the Ministry of Railways and concurrently the governor of the Railway Bureau, specifically responsible for railway construction and operation.

The reason why Xu Jie was put in charge was that when he was the chancellor of Shuntian Prefecture, he was one of the first officials to participate in the use of steam locomotives, and he was also one of the first officials responsible for the construction and operation of railways.

Of course, it is still in the early stages of railway construction, and Xu Jie can only be temporarily responsible for the operation and management of the railway from Beijing to Tongzhou.

The railway from the capital to Tongzhou was initially mainly responsible for transporting grain, minerals and industrial products. In addition, there were also special trains for carrying passengers. However, the passenger trains were divided into four categories: sleeper berths, carriages with seats, carriages without seats and noble carriages. The sleeper berths were further divided into soft sleepers and hard sleepers.

The noble carriages were mainly used by important figures in the empire.

Zhu Houzhao's special train was also being manufactured. In addition, Zhu Houzhao also specially granted the cabinet ministers and the Privy Councilor of the Imperial Guard the privilege of having a special train to facilitate their inspections of local political and military affairs.

After the railway line was built between Beijing and Tongzhou, the transportation of goods between the two cities became much more convenient. From then on, it was no longer just road transportation, but more goods were transported in and out of Beijing in a single day.

The canal transportation between the north and the south did not become any busier as a result, and was not greatly affected by the opening of sea transportation.

At the same time, the manufacture of steam ships in the Ming Dynasty was also put on the agenda. At the large shipyard base in Yuegang, Fujian, a light gray ironclad warship was being manufactured intensively. Nearly 100,000 slaves, under the supervision of supervisors, transported high-quality steel from Wuchang, Tongzhou, Shanghai, Taiping and other places to the shipyard day and night.

The Ming engineers who graduated from higher schools such as Imperial University of Peking and Central University were wearing steel helmets and holding blueprints, directing the slaves below to use pulleys and cranes to lift the steel to the appropriate positions for welding by Ming technicians. The Ming craftsmen on various elevated platforms were welding the steel skillfully. The development of chemical technology, especially the emergence of organic chemistry, enabled the Ming Dynasty to master the production and application of acetylene. In addition, the discovery of the electric arc improved welding technology a lot, allowing some Ming craftsmen to use more advanced welding techniques.

As a result, the successful manufacture of ironclad ships became possible.

But even so, it has not yet been successfully manufactured, and there are still many technical difficulties in many details.

In general, the Ming Dynasty has now entered a period of rapid development of science and technology. Because the power has been upgraded from traditional human and animal power to mechanical power, the next step is just to apply mechanical power to all walks of life.

Because of this, various steam machines and steam products have emerged in large numbers.

Zhu Houzhao and the Ming Dynasty court were also generous and spent money crazily, which made the researchers who developed new industrial products and new technologies very enthusiastic, and even some scholars and officials increased their interest in this area. Because of this, not to mention the development of steam locomotives and steam ships relying on steam power, some people even began to develop steam airplanes. Zhu Houzhao still gave these people financial support regardless of whether they would succeed or not. Some people even thought that since there were steam locomotives, if cannons were installed on steam locomotives, they could directly drive the steam cannon carriage forward.

In any case, after the steam industrial revolution appeared in the Ming Dynasty, all kinds of new machines emerged like mushrooms after rain.

In addition, electricity was also being studied crazily. After the electromagnetic induction phenomenon was confirmed by the Daming Academy of Sciences, Daming researchers had begun to manufacture electric motors and apply electric current.

The Ming Dynasty had entered an era of vigorous development of science and technology, constantly refreshing human history. At this time, on both sides of the Atlantic, Western colonists were still carrying out the most primitive capital plunder in a relatively backward way.

Gao Feng and his Fu Shou Trading Company fleet arrived in Lisbon.

Although Portugal's colonies were greatly reduced due to the westward expansion of the Ming Dynasty and its sphere of influence was finally limited to some areas in South America, Portugal did not retaliate against the Ming Dynasty or even ban trade with the Ming Dynasty. It was not because Portugal did not want to retaliate, but mainly because Portugal knew it did not have the strength to do so.

In order to make profits from the huge market of the Ming Dynasty, he had to endure the humiliation brought to them by the Ming Dynasty, continue to do business with the Ming Dynasty, act as the Ming Dynasty's comprador, and sell the population and raw materials plundered from his own colonies to the Ming Dynasty.

In fact, in history, before the Steam Industrial Revolution, the Ming Dynasty was not behind the West in military strength, because as a highly developed small peasant economy society, its productivity represented the highest level before the Steam Industrial Revolution. But after the Steam Industrial Revolution, human productivity underwent a complete milestone revolution, which led to China beginning to lag behind the West.

It was also after the emergence of the steam industrial revolution that China began to lose wars of aggression against Western colonists. Before that, it was either winning or drawing.

Now that Gao Feng's fleet arrived in Lisbon, the Portuguese authorities in Lisbon began to stop the Ming fleet from coming here to trade.

At the beginning, Gao Feng's fleet did not use force to force Portugal to do anything. It paid customs duties according to the rules and began to sell high-quality longevity cream in Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, an international trade center.

"This is a magical secret elixir of life from the East, a fine longevity cream that can really make you feel like you are in ecstasy."

The marketing strategy adopted by Fu Shou Trading Company after arriving in Lisbon was to promote it among the Portuguese aristocracy first, so it specially bribed some nobles to promote it on its behalf. At this time, it was a baron named Fesso who promoted the fine Fu Shou cream to his friend, Marquis Doxie.

Doxie began to accept injections of the fine longevity cream, and he felt very happy, even happier than when he had an affair with a rich lady, so he became addicted.

As a result, the fine longevity cream produced by Daming quickly spread among the upper circles of Lisbon.

The Fu Shou Trading Company made a fortune from this right from the start, and the capital plundered by these Lisbon nobles in their colonies also flowed into the Ming Dynasty through this method of consuming the fine Fu Shou cream.

Of course, the Ming Dynasty's Fu Shou Trading Company not only sold high-quality Fu Shou Cream in Lisbon, but also in Madrid, Rome, Rotterdam and other places. Every day, dozens of Fu Shou Trading Company's merchant ships sailed from Ceuta to the West.

However, it is still the early stage for Ming Dynasty to sell high-quality longevity cream to the West, so these Western countries have not yet reacted excessively.

What really makes Portugal, Spain and other countries helpless now is that the Ming Dynasty has used the most stringent measures in history to completely ban the smuggling of fushou cream into the Ming Dynasty, causing Western countries to lose their only opportunity to reverse the trade deficit with the Ming Dynasty.

Portugal was lucky. It had already experienced the power of the Ming Dynasty's naval warfare, and its own national strength was limited, so it did not have the courage to challenge the Ming Dynasty. Moreover, Portugal itself had already lost the shipping routes east of the Cape of Good Hope, so the ban on the smuggling trade of Fu Shou Cream would not cause much damage to it.

The country that suffered the most was Spain. Taking advantage of the fact that the Ming Dynasty's control over the areas south of the Ming Sea was not strong enough, Spain sent a large number of smuggling ships to bypass South America to smuggle the longevity cream into the Ming Dynasty.

Even in the cases of smuggling of elixirs investigated by the Maritime Customs in various provinces of the Ming Dynasty, most of those executed were Spanish.

Before this, the Ming Dynasty did not know much about the West, so it always regarded Portugal and Spain as Portuguese. But now, as the Ming Dynasty has a deeper understanding of the outside world, the official tone has gradually divided the Portuguese into Spain and Portugal.

On a related note, Spain had never suffered a loss at the hands of the Ming Dynasty, and its empire was at its peak of strength. Therefore, the Spanish Empire could not accept the loss of the trade in smuggled elixirs from the Ming Dynasty, and threatened to use force to force the Ming Dynasty to allow Spain to sell elixirs to the Ming Dynasty.

then.

The Spanish Empire's invincible fleet officially began to prepare for a long voyage in an attempt to teach the Ming Dynasty a lesson.

However, an expedition is never an easy task, let alone an expedition from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Even the Spanish Empire's Invincible Armada could not do it. So, although the Spanish Empire said it was an expedition to the Ming Dynasty, its actual purpose was only to seize the Ceuta region that the Ming Dynasty had already controlled.

Ceuta is now the only colonial outpost of the Ming Dynasty in the Mediterranean. Every year, a batch of silver and gold mines are transported back to the Ming Dynasty from here. Now it has also become the base for the Ming Dynasty to manufacture high-quality longevity cream. Therefore, the economic status of Ceuta is very important to the Ming Dynasty, but it is also very close to Spain.

The Ming Dynasty also stationed a fleet in the Ceuta area, with a total of two second-level sailing warships, five third-level sailing warships and three supply ships, with a navy of about 1,000 people, a marine corps of 300 people and an army of 500 people, who were specifically responsible for the defense of the Ceuta area.

However, except for the highest military and political leader of the Ming Dynasty in the Ceuta area, namely the Ceuta prefect and Ceuta coastal defense guerrilla Weng Wanda, who learned through the Embroidered Uniform Guard that the Spanish Invincible Armada would attack Ceuta, the Ming Emperor Zhu Houzhao and his court officials in the capital actually did not know that in the West a powerful empire that occupied countless territories in North America and destroyed countless civilizations had declared war on him.

There was no other way around it. Before the advent of radio, Weng Wanda could only use the small amount of troops he had to fight against the Spanish Empire.

The city of Ceuta has now become a Chinatown through and through.

The first group of Han people who followed Xia Yan and others and came here later became the nobles here. They controlled important departments from military, administration to diplomacy.

The civilians were white and black immigrants from various places, as well as a small number of yellow people from India, Luzon, Japan, Siam and other places. These people together formed the current Ceuta region of the Ming Dynasty.

These white people and black people as well as the indigenous people of Luzon, India and other places do not intermarry. This is both a rule followed by these ethnic groups and a rule stipulated by the Ming government in Ceuta, in order to prevent these people from forming a group.

In addition, the Ming government allowed them the freedom to believe in religion, so these white people, black people and indigenous yellow people would fight with each other because of race or religion, and even fight and kill each other.

However, the Ming government would not intervene unless it involved infringing on the interests of the nobles, that is, the Han people, or caused a large number of deaths. After all, these people were the basis for the Han people in the Ceuta region to become slave owners.

Of course, the Ming Dynasty's Ceuta government also hopes to see people of different races or different religious beliefs in the Ceuta region fighting each other, so that they can achieve their goal of effectively ruling Ceuta.

However, because they had to accept Chinese characters, speak Chinese, follow Confucianism, and regard the Ming emperor as the only monarch they were loyal to, the civilians in Ceuta were also quite active in protecting the Ceuta civilization.

Because, in Ceuta, in addition to the nobles, that is, the Han people, and the common people, there is also a class of scholars, that is, Confucian scholars.

Regardless of whether they were white, black or indigenous yellow people, after receiving Confucian slave education, as long as they obtained the title of prefectural student in the imperial examination system in the Ceuta region, they could become Confucian scholars and have the opportunity to rule the common people for the nobles.

Therefore, these commoners were very active in becoming Confucian scholars, and were very active in accepting the Confucian idea of ​​loyalty to the emperor. They were also unwilling to lose the opportunity to become Confucian scholars of the great Eastern country because of the invasion of Western colonists.

Just when Weng Wanda received the news that the Spanish Invincible Armada had set sail, he received another piece of news that a black family in Sichuanfang, Ceuta had wiped out an entire white family, and a large-scale fight between blacks and whites broke out.

Thanks to the book friend Sword Soul Platform for the 100 starting coins reward. Thank you to the book friend Say Too Much is Legend for the 500 starting coins reward. Thank you to the book friend Bamboo Skewer for the 100 starting coins reward.

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(End of this chapter)