Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 338 Imperial Heir
Zhangjiakou Fort
At the foot of the snow-covered mountain, Xu Jie, the chief minister of the Ming Dynasty's Ministry of Railways, was holding a telescope and watching the Ming Dynasty railway engineers several miles away directing the start of operation of the Ming Dynasty's first compound locomotive.

Next to him was Zhu Zailei, the eldest son of the Ming Empire.

Zhu Zailei was wearing the official uniform of the seventh rank. His current identity was the Supervising Censor, responsible for supervising the construction of the entire Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway project.

Although many people in the empire were paying attention to him, they all hoped that he could be made the crown prince by the Ming Emperor as soon as possible.

But he was not in a hurry as he was over 40. He just wanted to see the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway opened as soon as possible.

Because he has spent nearly six years on this project.

Before Zhu Houzhao asked all the princes who remained in Beijing to serve as local officials, Zhu Zaile, the eldest prince, had served as a student at the Imperial University of Peking and the Ming Army Command College, and then worked in the six ministries and as a county magistrate.

By now, he has been promoted to Censor.

The third prince Zhu Zailei submitted a petition to the Emperor Zhu Houzhao requesting him to be made the Crown Prince. This really scared Zhu Zailei himself, as he was afraid that the Emperor Zhu Houzhao would mistakenly think that he was seeking the throne and would displease his father.

But when Zhu Houzhao announced that Zhu Zaijie would be named King Chang and establish a country in America, he breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that his father did not suspect him and his heirs because of this matter, allowing him to continue building the empire with peace of mind.

Influenced by Zhu Houzhao's national consciousness, nationalism and collectivism since childhood, Zhu Zailei is a typical red aristocrat. He likes to leave his footprints in this vast land and let thousands of people regard him as a hero. Of course, he also has a strong desire for power and wants to be the designer of the entire empire.

Zhu Zailei always remembered what his father had told him: only by curing a county can one cure a prefecture, only by curing a prefecture can one cure a country, and only by paving one road can one pave millions of roads in the future.

Therefore, he is now very actively completing one political achievement project after another, and at the same time, he also enjoys the pleasure brought by completing such construction.

He was one of the main persons in charge of the construction of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway.

At this time, he only hoped that this first railway directly leading to the Great Wall would be successful. He also knew that once this railway was completed, it would enable the Ming Dynasty to better control the military and economic areas outside the Great Wall.

Because Zhangjiakou is an important gateway for entering the interior from outside the Great Wall, once a railway is opened between Zhangjiakou and the capital, it means that the empire can more conveniently deploy troops and supplies to outside the Great Wall.

In addition, the cost of developing areas outside the Great Wall will be reduced, and a large number of Ming Dynasty trading companies mining outside the Great Wall will be able to transport ores and other raw materials back to the interior more conveniently, making it easier for Ming Dynasty to control and develop areas inside the Great Wall more economically beneficial.

"...I believe that as long as the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway is completed and opened to traffic, even if the court no longer implements strict administrative intervention, the people will flock to the areas outside the Great Wall to develop, because the opening of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway is equivalent to opening up the blood vessels connecting the areas outside the Great Wall with the areas inside the Great Wall. There will be no need for the empire to abandon the areas outside the Great Wall..."

Zhu Zailei wrote these words in a letter to his father Zhu Houzhao to express his expectations for the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway.

With the advancement of cement manufacturing technology and road construction technology, the Ming Dynasty had established a complete road network before building railway lines.

Especially between the two capitals, the developed road network also promoted the development of the logistics industry in the Ming Dynasty. The post stations had been upgraded to post stations, which were not only responsible for the delivery of the empire's military and political affairs and the reception of military and political officials, but also began to be responsible for the dissemination of private media and the mailing of private goods and letters.

Therefore, Zhu Zailei was able to maintain contact with Zhu Houzhao through letters, and the delivery process was much faster than traditional letter delivery. Basically, Zhu Houzhao would receive a reply within ten days or so and learn about the thoughts of these princes and what they saw and heard at the grassroots level.

However, many civil servants were dissatisfied with the prince's appointment as a local official. They believed that the prince should focus on his studies and choose good teachers to teach him how to govern the country. The prince should not be allowed to serve in local positions, which would cause the prince to form factions and disrupt the court order.

But Zhu Houzhao disagreed. First of all, his older princes were already in their thirties or forties. If they were still allowed to study, wouldn't they only be researchers for their entire lives? How could they apply what they learned?

Secondly, this world is still a family empire, and the empire is still controlled by the Zhu family. If he doesn't let these princes look after him, who else can he expect to look after him?

At least, Zhu Houzhao now realized that letting these princes experience the place in person gave him an extra pair of eyes.

Now with five sources of intelligence, namely the East Factory, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the West Factory, secret reports from civil servants, and letters from the princes to their families, Zhu Houzhao could undoubtedly understand every accident and the situation in every place more objectively and clearly, and make the most reasonable judgment. He could also know who was playing tricks on him, who was doing things sincerely, and whose words were true and whose words were false.

It was also because of this that Zhu Houzhao did not suspect Zhu Zailei because of the request of the third prince Zhu Zaijie to make Zhu Zailei the crown prince, and did not cause the construction of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway to be shelved because of the disposal of Zhu Zailei, so that the entire empire did not suffer major turmoil due to some minor disturbances.

The weather is getting colder and colder. According to the mathematical model established by the Imperial Astronomical Observatory after monitoring and compiling various data over the past 15 years of the Zhengde period, it is predicted that the earth's temperature will continue to drop in the next 100 years.

Although Zhu Houzhao, as a time traveler, already knew this result due to his familiarity with history, this logical prediction by the Imperial Observatory also made people of that era more convinced.

Including Zhu Zailei and Xu Jie, who were at the foot of the snow-capped mountains in Zhangjiakou at that time.

Zhu Zailei didn't know how long the severe cold would last, but he believed that the high-quality coal from outside the Great Wall could be transported through this railway, allowing the northern part of the Great Wall to retain more of the warmth of last spring and summer.

Zhu Zailei even hoped that his childhood wish would come true in the future, to transport more coal to the capital, burn more boilers, and provide heating for the entire capital in winter.

The rumbling sound of a locomotive was heard. The newly improved duplex locomotive was running on the zigzag rails. The rumbling white mist coming out of it was as white as the snow on the mountain. The dark iron wheels were like the strong arms of a warrior, climbing up and down the slope of about 30 degrees, slowly moving upwards.

Seeing this, Zhu Zailei smiled excitedly.

The craftsmen standing near the hill and the people who came to visit cheered even more.

Even the slave laborers from Jiaozhi and Africa looked at the mechanical monsters created by this empire with curiosity, their eyes revealing excitement and fear of this civilization.

"Minister Xu, we really succeeded!"

After a long time, Zhu Zaile turned around and said something to Xu Jie.

Xu Jie also nodded, unable to suppress the excitement on his face:
"Yes, this is really a miracle. The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty is great, the craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty are great, the officials of the Ming Dynasty are great, and the people of the Ming Dynasty are great! Your Highness, look, this black motorcycle looks like someone wielding a giant pen to draw a bold and colorful stroke on this vast land!"

"It looks like it, very much like it. It's a very powerful stroke, penetrating deeply into the wood! It's magnificent!"

As Zhu Zailei said this, he got on the motorcycle parked in front of him with snow all over his body.

Xu Jie also followed. After staying in the mountains for several months, they could finally return to Beijing to report on their work and tell the Ming Emperor Zhu Houzhao that the second railway trunk line of the Ming Dynasty was completed!
Zhu Houzhao learned the news that the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway was completed and opened to traffic half a decade later, and he was very happy about it.

Because of the complex terrain from Beijing to Zhangjiakou, the construction of this railway is not a simple project, at least not as easy as the Beijing-Tong Railway.

Therefore, the opening of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway not only meant that the Ming Dynasty could better control the areas outside the Great Wall and boost the economy, but also meant that the Ming Dynasty's scientific and technological level had risen to a new level.

Moreover, this technological improvement is not only in the field of transportation engineering construction, but involves technological improvement in all aspects, such as gunpowder blasting, steam power, steel manufacturing, and mechanical processing.

Officials such as Xu Jie were naturally promoted according to the rules, and the emperor's eldest son Zhu Zaile was also directly promoted to the prefect of Shuntian Prefecture.

As the heir to the throne, Zhu Zailei was naturally promoted faster than others.

Of course, Zhu Houzhao also intended to make Zhu Zaile the crown prince by doing this, but Zhu Houzhao did not give a clear signal to the outside world, or the outside world was not aware of this phenomenon, because Zhu Houzhao also promoted other princes.

The invention of the voltaic battery and incandescent lamp allowed the Royal Western Garden to bid farewell to the era of lighting with candles at night. Electric lights that would not flicker due to wind reduced the possibility of fire and were brighter, so bright that Zhu Houzhao could see the birthmark on Elizabeth's white buttocks. At this moment, his empire seemed to be brighter, as bright as the moonlight that looked like rotten silver piled up under the palace walls.

Emperor Zhu Houzhao was still in the room holding an electric light to shine on white pigeons, while the eldest son Zhu Zaile was already waiting outside the palace gate under the moonlight to see his father.

The cold wind made Zhu Zailei shiver. When he felt that his whole body had fallen into an ice cellar, the door of the palace slowly opened.

When Zhu Zaile came in and prostrated himself on the ground to pay his respects.

Zhu Houzhao was still lying on the large imperial bed. In such a cold winter season, he would not get out of bed easily.

Elizabeth curled up beside Zhu Houzhao like a brocade cat, half exposing the white dove.

Zhu Houzhao had already sat up with the help of the palace maids. The two palace maids who were warming his feet moved forward a little and pressed their chests tightly against Zhu Houzhao's feet, making Zhu Houzhao's whole body warm, as if he was stepping on a pile of green grass in summer, soft and hot. He didn't feel at all that it was the coldest time of the year.

"Let's sit by the fireplace and talk. You're shivering. Are you cold or are you getting more afraid of me as you get older?"

Zhu Houzhao said something across the screen.

The eldest son Zhu Zailei just sat obediently on the stool next to the stove, trying his best to control his trembling mouth: "The weather is getting colder, and the emperor must also pay attention to keeping warm." "Don't worry about it. Now that you are the governor of Shuntian Prefecture, how do you plan to manage Shuntian Prefecture?" Zhu Houzhao said, motioning Elizabeth to retreat to the dark bed, then asked someone to move the screen away, and personally looked at Zhu Zailei with an electric light: "You have white hair, you are aging faster than your father!"

Zhu Zailei smiled, but did not dare to look up. He only glanced at Zhu Houzhao's increasingly thick sword-like eyebrows with his peripheral vision, and said, "Father said that the Ming Dynasty is different from the Ming Dynasty before the early Zhengde period. Industrialization has promoted the urbanization of the empire. How to better manage towns is as important as how to better manage villages."

"That's right. Shuntian Prefecture is the largest city in the Ming Dynasty, with a permanent population of over 10 million and countless dignitaries and officials. Basically, managing such a city requires a detailed urban plan, not only for the long term but also for the short term, and overall management, but also for reform and elimination of malpractices. Eliminating malpractices is not difficult, but the difficulty lies in innovation. What new things do you plan to bring to us, the people of Shuntian Prefecture?"

Zhu Houzhao asked with a smile.

"Of course, I will follow my father's advice and promote the new things of the inner court to the people. I plan to popularize tap water supply and unified heating supply in the capital, just like the inner court. In this way, the people in the capital will not have to worry about water shortages and cold weather in winter. Ordinary people's homes will no longer suffer from freezing, and the noble families will not have to move south because of the increasingly cold weather!"

After Zhu Zaile replied, he couldn't help coughing. After staying in the mountains for several months, he caught a cold. He had just been cold outside for so long, and now that he was inside and exposed to the heat, his coughing became worse.

"Very good. Steam-powered water pumps are already very mature. We just need to build a reservoir. It won't be a problem to supply running water to the whole city, but we have to do a good job of purifying the running water to prevent it from being unclean enough and making people sick. Once the running water is supplied, it will cause a lot of harm if the whole city gets sick. As for the heating supply, we have to ensure safety and environmental issues. We have to choose a good location for the boiler so that the whole city won't be covered in gray!"

After Zhu Houzhao said this, Zhu Zailei nodded repeatedly in agreement.

The father and son talked again about the construction of the next railway, namely the Liangjing Railway Line and the expansion of Shuntianfu Railway Station. Zhu Houzhao found that the current eldest son Zhu Zailei was obviously much more mature in thinking and governing. He thought that only practical experience can train pragmatic and mature politicians, and politicians with their own new ideas.

Zhu Houzhao was very much looking forward to seeing what Shuntian Prefecture would become under Zhu Zailei's management. He believed that if Zhu Zailei could manage an imperial metropolis with a population of tens of millions, it would undoubtedly be most suitable for him to be sent to a province with large agriculture and labor force to serve as governor for a few years, or to govern a coastal province for a few years before inheriting his position.

But in fact, managing Shuntian Prefecture is not easy.

Even though Zhu Zailei wanted to promote tap water supply in the capital, he found that it was more difficult to promote tap water supply throughout the city than to establish tap water supply in the palace.

Because in the palace, there is no need to consider costs and worry about not having enough money. For example, for water pipes, you can directly use copper pipes that are not easy to rust and have bactericidal effects, so you don't have to worry about rust and pollution.

However, the relatively expensive copper water pipes cannot be used in the entire capital city, and even slightly more valuable metals are not allowed. Even if the Ming Dynasty is now rich enough to allow all the people in the capital to use copper water pipes, no one can guarantee that all the people will consciously not steal the relatively expensive copper water pipes.

There was no hard plastic in that era, so Zhu Zailei could only look for iron water pipes that were not easy to rust and were cheap.

Fortunately, the Ming Dynasty now has mature electroplating and alloy steel technology, so it is not difficult to produce some iron water pipes that are not easy to rust.

"Your Highness, the galvanized steel pipes developed by the Sanxin Factory in Hejian Prefecture are a bit expensive, but the steel is excellent. Its biggest advantage is that it is not easy to rust. It is the most suitable for making tap water pipes. Other steel pipes are prone to rust and breed bacteria. Do you think we should use this kind of steel pipe?"

Pan Gu, the Tongpan of Shuntian Prefecture, recommended a new type of steel to Zhu Zailei.

Because the developer of this new type of steel had worked in the Ming Academy of Engineering, was an expert in the Iron and Steel Smelting Bureau, and was a retired official who had served as the Right Vice Minister in the Ministry of Industry, and Zhu Zailei did admit that this new type of steel was more suitable for making water pipes, so he decided to let Pan Gu purchase this steel from the Sanxin factory.

But it just so happens that Pan Gu was actually an accomplice of the second prince Zhu Zaituo in his early years, and was Zhu Zaituo's spy planted in the capital. Although they both wanted to be the legitimate prince of the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Zaituo was obviously better at doing secret business than Zhu Zailei, perhaps because he did not have an advantage in the patriarchal inheritance system.

In any case, before purchasing this batch of steel, Pan Gu reported the matter truthfully to the second prince Zhu Zaituo who was returning to Beijing for a family reunion at the end of the year. After hearing this, Zhu Zaituo only said:
"I heard that Dean Xu of the School is from a wealthy family in the south. His family runs an ironworks. There is an ironworks in Zhending Prefecture in the capital, called Sanyu Ironworks. You can go and negotiate. After you take it over, I will give you 20% of the profit. I will take 30% of the 80% I get as the purchase price and let the Xu family get it. It will be a great gift from me to Dean Xu."

So Pan Gu did not go to Hejian Prefecture, but went to Zhending Prefecture.

Pan Gu knew that the Second Prince had gained the most benefit in this matter and would naturally be protected by the Second Prince, so he became more daring and greedy. He bought the inferior steel pipes from the Xu family iron factory at a high price. Originally, the money Zhu Zaile gave to Pan Gu was used to buy galvanized steel pipes from the Sanxin Iron Factory, which was expensive. Now that Pan Gu added some more money according to the Second Prince's instructions, naturally the Xu family benefited even more.

The Xu family was naturally willing to accept this benefit, but they still reported it to Xu Jin, the Minister of Education and the head of the Imperial Academy. After Xu Jin learned about it, he did not refuse. After all, this bribery method was very covert and did not count. Moreover, he could not offend the Second Prince. However, he still instructed: "This matter must not be made public. Although it is a profit of millions of silver dollars, it is bound to be bad."

The clan member who was in charge of the Xu family iron factory nodded hurriedly: "Don't worry, sir, your nephew knows it!"

However, Zhu Zailei handed over the specific matters of tap water installation to Pan Gu, but it did not mean that he did not care at all. When the installation was completed and water was started in the first pilot area, namely Xicheng District, Zhu Zailei came to check it personally. He first checked the steam pump and the reservoir, then the boosting equipment, and then ordered people to open the main valve and start the water.

However, Zhu Zailei was surprised to find that although the surface of the water pipe was galvanized, it was leaking water under the impact of high-pressure water flow. He felt something was wrong and hurriedly checked it carefully. Then he suddenly realized: "This is an iron pipe welded directly with iron blocks, and the steel is obviously not calcined enough. Go call Pan Gu!"

Zhu Zailei was so angry that he looked at them one by one personally, only to find that the entire main road was full of these inferior steel pipes. He wanted to kill Pan Gu.

Pan Gu also hurried over at this time: "Your Highness, what do you want to talk to me about?"

"What's wrong with this steel? Didn't you say you purchased galvanized steel pipes from Sanxin Iron Works? How did it turn out to be this ordinary welded and forged steel pipe! This can't even be considered a steel pipe, it can only be an iron pipe!"

Zhu Zailei questioned loudly.

Pan Gu had already prepared himself to be killed by Zhu Zailei, so he immediately knelt down and cried, "Your Highness, I have my own reasons! Could you please ask your attendants to leave? I will tell you the truth!"

Seeing that Pan Gu acted so aggrieved, Zhu Zailei thought that he had something to hide, so he agreed to his request, dismissed his attendants, and asked Pan Gu to explain to him in detail.

So Pan Gu said that Xu Jin's family came to him with a petition, asking him to buy their steel pipes, and said that it was Minister Xu's intention. He couldn't refuse, so he agreed to Xu's request.

Zhu Zailei could not help but slam the table in anger: "This Xu Jin, how dare he make such a fortune!"

"Your Highness, calm down. Minister Xu is now the leader of the Qingliu, and he has always been the most supportive of you as the crown prince. You should think long-term. Your Highness has not yet been appointed as the crown prince by His Majesty. It is better not to fall out with Minister Xu at this time. I think we can spend more money to purchase steel pipes from both the Xu family and Sanxin Iron Works, and then only use the steel pipes from Sanxin Iron Works when installing water pipes. This is equivalent to giving Minister Xu a sum of silver dollars, so that we can live in peace. What do you think?"

Pan Gu suggested so.

This was the solution he had thought of long ago.

He believed that the eldest prince in front of him would not be willing to expose Xu Jin in order not to offend the Qingliu leader Xu Jin and other civil officials. He even wanted to take this opportunity to give Xu Jin some benefits to win the favor of Xu Jin and other civil officials so that they would cheer for his position as the crown prince, just like the second prince did.

In addition, Pan Gu believed that the eldest prince would definitely not be willing to see the water supply project he led completed poorly. In order to satisfy His Majesty and gain public support, he would definitely be willing to spend more money.

Therefore, no matter what, Pan Gu believed that the eldest prince Zhu Zailei would definitely adopt his suggestion, pay more money, and let him go to Sanxin Iron Factory to purchase galvanized steel pipes, so that he could still earn some kickbacks.

Zhu Zailei admitted that Pan Gu's suggestion was good, but he was not a simple person, and he did not give Pan Gu a direct reply. He just nodded and said, "I understand. I will give you another sum of money to purchase galvanized steel pipes from Sanxin Iron Works. If you make any mistakes again this time, I will impeach you!"

As he said this, Zhu Zailei ordered his men to remove the inferior steel pipes that had just been installed.

Pan Gu was also very happy.

……

Not long after, the second prince learned about this and smiled: "This is the handle, not only the handle of my royal brother, but also the handle of Xu Jin!"

……

Zhu Houzhao saw that Zhu Zailei didn't seem as excited as before, so he couldn't help asking, "Did something happen in Shuntian Prefecture, or is your mother's snack not tasty?"

Zhu Zailei quickly relaxed his brows: "It's nothing, I just haven't recovered from my cold recently, and I feel a little tired. I disturbed your interest, it's my fault."

Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but slap his knee and said, "I wonder how their penicillin extraction experiment is going. With antibiotics, at least the disease can be cured faster!"

Zhu Houzhao then said, "Don't keep saying you're sick. I can see that you have something on your mind. I still say the same thing. I have the final say on the issue of the crown prince. No one can help you. As for your brothers, only you can help them! I don't like anyone hiding things from me!"

What Zhu Houzhao said was equivalent to warning Zhu Zailei.

Perhaps it was because he was accustomed to having frank conversations with his father Zhu Houzhao since childhood, or perhaps it was because of his own personality, or perhaps Zhu Houzhao's words made Zhu Zailei understand something.

Zhu Zailei then stood up and replied truthfully: "I dare not deceive my father. There was a mistake in the purchase of steel pipes for tap water in Shuntian Prefecture, which involves some corruption issues."

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(End of this chapter)