Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 440: Railway Network Concept (6.2K)

With the sound of horse hooves, Feng Zicai and Zhang Lexing rode side by side on the battlefield.

All around, fallen Mongolian flags and broken corpses could be seen everywhere.

Under the bombardment of Tang army's artillery shells, the bodies of the Mongolian army were badly broken into pieces, and there were almost no intact ones.

Under the command of the Tang army, the Mongolian prisoners of war moved the corpses and piled up the bodies of the Mongolian cavalry who died in battle, preparing to burn them together.

Looking up at the sun that was about to set below the horizon in the distance, Feng Zicai spoke.

"After this battle, Mobei will most likely be pacified!"

"When you and I return to the court, His Majesty will surely reward us handsomely."

Zhang Lexing also replied with a smile.

"It doesn't matter whether the reward is high or low. After this battle, you and I will be the modern-day Wei Huo, and our names will go down in history!"

Compared to rewards, Zhang Lexing cares more about reputation.

Feng Zicai couldn't help but burst out laughing when he heard this.

Both of them were very happy!

Thanks to the Qing Dynasty's extensive promotion of the Yellow Sect on the grasslands, all the Mongolians converted to religion.

This move, on the one hand, was to cooperate with the policy of reducing the population and reduce the Mongolian population, so as to reduce the threat of Mongolia to the Central Plains.

Well, the teachings of the Yellow Sect stipulate that once you join the sect, you cannot get married, marry, and have children.

On the other hand, it is also to change the nomadic habits of the Mongolians and let them settle in one place instead of wandering around everywhere.

This is exactly what the saying “The monk can run away, but the temple cannot” means.

Here, the Mongolians are the monks who can run away, and the Yellow Sect temples are the temples that cannot run away.

As long as the temple is still here, these Mongolian monks will not be able to escape.

Therefore, after the main force of the Tang army entered the grassland, they no longer needed to play hide-and-seek with the Mongols all over the grassland.

Instead, it can directly force the Mongols to engage in a large-scale decisive battle with the Tang army!
Well, if the Mongols don’t come for a decisive battle, the Tang army will burn down their temples!
In order to defend their beliefs, the Mongols had no choice but to unite and fight a decisive battle with the Tang army outside the city of Kulun.

There is no need to mention the result. After a decisive battle, the coalition forces of the various tribes in northern Mobei were directly beaten to pieces by the Tang army.

The remnants either fled in all directions or fled back to the city of Kulun.

As they talked, the two men continued to ride their horses to patrol the battlefield and comfort their wounded soldiers.

Zhang Lexing suddenly asked.

"General Feng, I heard that the imperial court is planning to send troops to Beihai further north. Is this true or false?"

Although Li Yi had ideas about Lake Baikal, the matter was not made public, and Zhang Lexing only heard some rumors vaguely.

Hence, today’s question.

In his opinion, Feng Zicai had followed the Tang Dynasty to conquer the world when he was in Guangxi, so his qualifications were definitely much more profound than his.

Although he didn't know about these things, Feng Zicai might have the source of the information.

Upon hearing this, Feng Zicai hesitated for a while, but felt that there was nothing to keep secret from Zhang Lexing, so he spoke immediately.

"It's true!"

"But this matter has not been made public. I heard it from my colleagues in the court."

"Your Majesty wants to take over the North Sea and use it as a fortress to deploy defenses in order to completely eliminate the threat from the north."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Lexing just nodded and spoke with some expectation in his tone.

"Beihai, how long has it been since we Han people have been to that place..."

Feng Zicai heard this and said with a smile.

"Master Zhang, don't think about it for now. Let's figure out how to write the victory report of this battle!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Lexing burst into laughter.

"Haha, that's right, that's right!"

"Now that the battle is won, we must write a good report on the victory."

……

Inside the city of Kulun, in a royal tent.

Chechen Khan, Sanying Noyan Khan, Tushetu Khan, Jasaktu Khan and other successive khans gathered together to discuss matters.

"Our army has been defeated in this battle, and Kulun is in danger."

"Once the Tang army attacks the city, the consequences will be disastrous..."

"Please discuss this matter with all of you. What is the way out for us Mongols?"

As they were talking, the atmosphere in the tent became solemn.

The only sound was the bubbling sound of milk tea brewing on the stove inside the tent.

There was a dead silence!

Suddenly, the Chechen Khan on the side spoke in a somewhat dejected tone.

"Now that things have come to this, why not surrender to the Han people and save your life!"

The Mongolians actually had a hard time these days.

On the one hand, the Qing Dynasty deliberately weakened them, but more importantly, there was the threat from Tsarist Russia in the north.

Since the 16th century, Tsarist Russia has begun to expand eastward, all the way from Eastern Europe to Siberia.

Now, it has even taken over the entire Siberia and begun to threaten the Mongolian grasslands.

Well, this is also the reason why the Mobei tribes could not defeat the Tang Dynasty and did not flee north.

It’s not that they don’t want to escape, but that they have nowhere to escape!
Further north is the territory of Tsarist Russia.

Tsarist Russia was much more cruel to the Mongols than the Tang Dynasty was to them.

In addition, over the years, the tribes in northern Mobei have been harassed by Tsarist Russia, and each tribe has suffered heavy losses.

It seems like I can’t make it in Mobei anymore!
Therefore, the Chechen Khan got involved in the war between the Tang Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty, and led his troops south to compete with the Khorchin tribe for pasture.

Well, he wants to move south!
Zasaktu Khan said with a grim expression.

"Is this really the end of it?"

Chechen Khan said with a gloomy expression.

"Fight, you can't win. Escape, you can't escape. What else can I do if I don't surrender?"

Tushetu Khan on the side said thoughtfully.

"However, I think surrendering to the Tang Dynasty is actually a good choice."

"The roots of the Han people are inside the Great Wall, not outside it. Even if we surrender to the Tang Dynasty, it is nothing more than a superficial submission."

"Otherwise, could the Han people really send officials to the grassland to manage us?"

"When the Tang Dynasty weakens and retreats back to the interior, this grassland will still belong to us Mongols."

Well, when the Han and Tang dynasties were strong, the nomadic peoples on the grasslands did submit to the Central Plains.

Even the nomads on the grasslands once respectfully called Emperor Taizong of Tang their Heavenly Khan!
But the result?

The Han people's organizational and management methods make it impossible to directly govern the grassland. Even if they surrender and the Han people want to govern the grassland, they can only let them govern themselves.

Finally, when the Han people's Central Plains dynasty declined and withdrew from the grassland, the grassland still belonged to them.

Upon hearing this, several people showed a thoughtful expression.

Suddenly, Sanying Nuoyan Khan also spoke.

"Also, the Rakshasa people in the north are now eyeing our grassland covetously."

"Perhaps we can surrender to the Tang Dynasty, and then use the power of the Tang Dynasty to deal with the Luosha people..."

Sanying Noyan Khan could not bear the pressure from Tsarist Russia, so he wanted to surrender to the Tang Dynasty and take advantage of the power of the other country.

Or it can be said to be driving the tiger to devour the wolf.

When several people heard this, their eyes lit up.

Why didn't they think of this?

Several people looked at each other and then said.

"This is a good idea."

"If so, send someone to contact the Tang army and discuss surrender."

"Although we have surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, we still have to fight for better treatment..."

……

Early March of the second year of Kaitai in the Tang Dynasty!

Li Yi left the capital and went to Tianjin for inspection.

However, this time when he set off for Tianjin, he did not take a carriage or a sedan chair, but took a train.

Just a few days ago, the Beijing-Tianjin railway line connecting Beijing and Tianjin was completed and put into trial operation.

Therefore, Li Yi chose to take the train for this trip.

Well, the Tang Dynasty had been building railways for so many years, but Li Yi had never ridden on one.

Now, it's time to give it a try.

On the tenth day of March, Li Yi set out from the Old Summer Palace, and the imperial carriage marched towards the Beijing Railway Station in a mighty procession.

Arriving outside the brand new Beijing Railway Station, Li Yi got off the carriage and, surrounded by the crowd, walked into the train station.

He inspected the entrance to the station, the waiting hall, and other places, and even took a few staff members aside to ask about their well-being.

After doing all this, he led his men onto the platform.

"Your Majesty, the special train is ready, please get on board!"

The young conductor came up to Li Yi, bowed deeply, and then spoke.

Li Yi laughed, reached out and patted the young driver on the shoulder, jokingly.

"I entrust the lives and property of you and your families to you. Please do not be careless."

When the driver heard this, he said excitedly.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty. I understand!"

"I will definitely send your Majesty to Tianjin safely!"

Li Yi smiled and immediately boarded his own train.

This special train was shipped from Guangzhou by sea. Well, it was the same train that Luo Caiyu and her companions took when they went north from Guangzhou.

After the Beijing-Tianjin Railway was completed, this special train was transported from Guangzhou to Beijing by sea.

Although the freight cost is a bit high, the cost of sea transportation is not high, and it is better than building another special train anyway.

It is really not cheap to build this special train.

It’s not that Li Yi doesn’t like to enjoy life, it’s just that he doesn’t want to spend money on unnecessary things.

The Tang Dynasty is now undergoing a major infrastructure renovation, and there are many places that need money. As the emperor, he naturally has to be frugal.

Well, didn’t you see that Li Yi didn’t even build a palace, but lived directly in the Old Summer Palace?

Among all the founding emperors in history, which one could be as frugal as he is?
After getting on the special train, Li Yi entered the conference room immediately. Behind him followed Zhang He, Minister of Railways of the Tang Dynasty, and relevant officials of the Ministry of Railways.

Li Yi sat down in the main seat in the conference room, and then asked everyone to take their seats.

After everyone sat down, Zhang He stood up and reported.

"Your Majesty, at present, our Tang Dynasty has planned two railway lines, one horizontal and one vertical."

"One is the Beijing-Guangzhou line, which connects Beijing and Guangzhou."

"The second is the Jingxi Line, which connects Beijing and Xining."

"Among them, the Beijing-Guangzhou line starts from the capital, passes through Zhengding, Zhengzhou, Wuhan, Changsha, and arrives in Guangzhou, passing through Zhili, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, and Guangdong provinces, with a total length of more than 2,000 kilometers."

"The main purpose is to open up land transportation between the three major water systems of the Yangtze River, the Yellow River, and the Pearl River, connecting the three major regions of North China, Central China, and South China. It is currently the most important north-south transportation artery for the Tang Dynasty."

"The Beijing-Lanzhou line starts from the capital, passes through Zhengding, Taiyuan, Xi'an, Lanzhou, and arrives in Xining. It passes through Zhili, Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Gansu provinces, and is nearly 2,000 kilometers long."

"The main purpose is to connect the east-west transportation of Datang and promote the development of provinces such as Shanxi, Shaanxi and Gansu."

Li Yi listened to Zhang He's report with great interest.

Although Li Yi cannot afford to build an eight-horizontal and eight-vertical railway network now, he can still build one horizontal and one vertical railway.

Of course, it is in installments.

If Li Yi were asked to pay all the costs of building the railway at once, the Tang Dynasty would be bankrupt and could not afford it.

However, if you can't afford it all at once, you can pay in installments, or you can borrow money to build it. Li Yi has an idea to issue a wave of railway construction bonds to support Datang's railway construction, but it is still under consideration.

The reason why we chose to build the Beijing-Guangzhou Line and the Beijing-West Line first.

The main purpose is actually to facilitate transportation.

Needless to say, the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway is a north-south trunk line. Even in later generations, it is the most important and busiest transportation trunk line. Its importance is self-evident.

Not to mention anything else, just the fact that it connects the three major water systems of the Yangtze River, the Yellow River and the Pearl River is enough to show its importance.

The Beijing West Line is mainly intended to open up traffic between the east and the west.

Unlike north-south transportation, which has canals and sea transportation as a supplement, east-west transportation can only be done by land.

Although there are sections of the Yellow River that can be used for water transportation, the scale of water transportation on the Yellow River cannot be compared with that of the Yangtze River and the Pearl River.

This makes transportation between east and west China very troublesome and freight costs very high.

Not to mention anything else, just wanting to move troops westward would be very costly.

It is precisely because of this that China’s control over the Western Regions has been relatively weak throughout the ages.

Therefore, Li Yi planned to build a railway line across the east and west.

The reason why the railway line goes through Shanxi instead of Henan is because Li Yi wanted to take advantage of the railway to utilize Shanxi's resource advantages and transport Shanxi's coal and iron out for the development of Datang's industry.

Otherwise, having resources but not being able to apply them is no different from having no resources at all.

After listening to Zhang He's introduction, Li Yi nodded slightly, then asked.

"How much does it cost to build a railway? How long will it take?"

Zhang He hesitated for a moment, then spoke.

"Your Majesty, according to the corresponding plan of the Ministry of Railways, the current cost of building railways in our Tang Dynasty is about 5,000 silver dollars per kilometer."

"The total mileage of the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway and the Beijing-Western Railway is about 2 kilometers, and the total construction cost is about million silver dollars."

“As for the construction period, it is divided into ten years.”

"That is to say, the Tang Dynasty needs to invest an average of 20 million silver dollars in railway construction every year."

When talking about the total construction cost, Zhang He was actually a little surprised.

The cost of building this railway is really too high!

If Li Yi remembered correctly, when the Tang Dynasty built the Guangzhou-Shaoyang Railway, the cost per kilometer was 7600 silver dollars.

It has only been a short time and the cost has been reduced to 5,000 yuan.

The main reason for this is that the heavy industry of the Tang Dynasty developed rapidly, which reduced the cost of railway tracks.

It is conceivable how much Datang has developed in heavy industry over this period of time.

Li Yi nodded slightly at first, but still spoke.

"I know!"

Ten years is still a bit long...

However, Li Yi also understands that more haste makes waste.

Investing 20 million silver dollars in railway construction every year is not a small sum.

With the current financial capabilities of the Tang Dynasty, it is not easy to support it.

If Li Yi continues to urge the construction of the railway to speed up, there will probably be trouble.

The consequences of Yang Guang's rush to build the Grand Canal are still fresh in our minds.

After thinking for a while, Li Yi continued.

"Railways are not only for the imperial court to build. What do you think if I delegate the qualification of building railways to the private sector and allow the private sector to raise funds and build railways on their own?"

It would undoubtedly be a very difficult and time-consuming task to build a railway network covering the entire country relying solely on the power of the government.

However, if private construction is allowed, this problem may be solved!
It is not easy to recover the cost of building railways to the northwest and the grasslands, so it is highly unlikely that the private sector will touch them.

However, if railways are built in the economically developed coastal areas such as Jiangnan, Guangdong and Guangxi, the costs can be recovered very quickly because of the developed economies in these areas, and profits can even be achieved very quickly.

There is a high probability that the wealthy merchants and gentry among the people would be interested in getting involved.

Upon hearing this, Zhang He did not dare to make a direct conclusion, but said.

"Your Majesty, I dare not make a final conclusion on this matter, but perhaps we can give it a try."

Li Yi hesitated for a moment, then spoke.

"Well, if that's the case, then let's make a proposal for now, submit it to the cabinet for review, and prepare for a pilot implementation!"

Zhang He heard this and said immediately.

"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"

Upon hearing this, Li Yi just nodded slightly.

Accompanied by a deafening whistle, the special train started slowly and headed towards Tianjin.

The steel wheels rubbed against the rails, making a clanging sound.

Soon, the speed of the special train increased and it moved along the rails.

……

Tianjin Station!
On the platform, officials of all ranks in the city, led by Mayor Zhang Tai, arrived at the train station in advance to prepare to welcome the imperial carriage.

Estimating that the time was about right, Zhang Tai raised his wrist to check the time.

The hands on the watch moved to five minutes to eleven, and Zhang Tai became more and more nervous.

But at this moment, a whistle suddenly sounded in the distance.

Woo! Woo!

Soon, there was the clanging sound of steel wheels rubbing against rails.

Gradually, a train appeared in everyone's sight.

Black smoke and steam were spewing from the front of the car. From a distance, it looked like a long dragon lying on the ground and running.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Finally, the train pulled into the station, slowed down, and stopped.

When the train stopped, teams of soldiers wearing the uniforms of the Guards Division and carrying rifles got off the train.

Then took over the defense of the station!

Soon, the train started again and left the station.

Then, Li Yi's special train slowly came over.

It was obvious that the first train that appeared was to explore the way for the special train.

The special train stopped in front of the platform and the carriages were opened.

Soon, another team of soldiers from the Royal Guards came out.

Then, Li Yi raised his leg and walked out of the car.

Upon seeing this, Zhang Tai was the first to step forward and greet them.

"Your Majesty, may your Majesty be blessed!"

Li Yi laughed, reached out to help Zhang Tai up, and then said.

"Haha, there's no need to be so polite, Qing family."

"If you count the time, it's been almost two years since you and I last saw each other."

"How is your family doing lately?"

Li Yi still attaches great importance to this former chief of the attendant room.

Zhang Tai heard this, took a deep breath, and said with a look of emotion on his face.

"I am ashamed!"

"I just tried my best to complete the tasks assigned by His Majesty, but failed to achieve any great political achievements."

Li Yi heard this and still said with a smile on his face.

"Haha, what are you talking about?"

"I have read the development report submitted by Tianjin recently. Your family has done a very effective job!"

Li Yi is really satisfied with Zhang Tai.

Zhang Tai not only successfully completed the development plan he was assigned, but even exceeded the target.

Tianjin's industrial and commercial development is progressing very rapidly, and customs tariffs are rising year by year.

Li Yi is still very optimistic about subordinates who are able to achieve political achievements.

As they were talking, Li Yi, accompanied by Zhang Tai, left the train station, got on a horse-drawn carriage, and headed towards Tianjin city.

Tianjin is also undergoing massive construction today.

The city walls were demolished and many buildings in the city are being rebuilt.

However, Li Yi did not enter the city, but went directly to the industrial area outside Tianjin city.

Li Yi has now formed a habit that whenever he inspects a place, the first place he goes to is the industrial zone.

The royal carriage stopped outside the industrial zone, with Zhang Tai leading the way.

"Your Majesty, under your Majesty's guidance, the development of Tianjin Industrial Park has entered the fast lane."

"Today's Tianjin Industrial Park mainly has the following three pillar industries."

"They are textile, steel, and food processing!"

"Among them, the textile industry includes spinning, weaving, cotton spinning, wool spinning and other related industries, and now corresponding factories have been built."

“Among them, there are 21 spinning mills, 12 weaving mills and 6 garment factories, employing more than workers.”

“Steel mainly involves steel smelting and processing, as well as the research and development and production of special steel products.”

"Today, Tianjin has built two large steel mills and a steel processing plant. Most of the rails used in the Beijing-Tianjin Railway are produced in Tianjin."

"As for food processing, it is mainly seafood processing, such as salting of marine fish, canning production, salt making, etc., which also employs a large number of workers and absorbs a considerable amount of abundant labor."

"In addition to these large-scale factories, there are also a considerable number of small-scale family workshops..."

Zhang Tai gave Li Yi a detailed introduction to the industrial development in Tianjin.

Soon, the team arrived in front of a factory building.

Zhang Tai started to introduce.

"Your Majesty, this is the Rong's Textile Factory, the largest textile factory in the industrial park."

"In the Rong Textile Factory, there are 70 latest steam spinning machines, 105 new steam looms, more than 520 workers employed, and nearly 500,000 pieces of cotton cloth can be produced each year."

"Last year alone, the Rong Textile Factory provided the imperial court with nearly 5,000 silver dollars in taxes."

As he spoke, Zhang Tai pointed to a man standing beside him who was wearing brocade clothes, had a big belly, but a lovely smile on his face and introduced him.

"Your Majesty, this is Rong Luhe, the owner of the Rong Textile Factory."

Upon seeing this, Rong Luhe immediately bowed down before Li Yi.

"I, Rong Luhe, come to see Your Majesty!"

"Long live your Majesty, long live, long live your Majesty!"

Li Yi waved his hand and said.

"No need to be polite. Our Tang Dynasty is not the Qing Dynasty. You don't need to kneel before me all the time."

This is not the first time Li Yi has said this, but the inertia brought about by the Qing Dynasty's two hundred years of poisoning the world is too great.

This kind of thing cannot be changed in a short period of time!

Li Yi can only seek change slowly and subtly.

……

PS: Today is New Year’s Eve, I wish you all a happy New Year.

The author really couldn't have imagined that the monthly ticket revenue this month could reach 1,400.

According to the rule of adding one chapter for every 200 monthly votes, I will have to add seven chapters to complete the task.

I have added five chapters so far, and the remaining two will definitely not be completed this month, so I can only do it next month.

Also, please give me a monthly ticket.

This month's monthly ticket is still more than 1600 away from . During the period of double monthly tickets, this should not be difficult.

If you guys keep working harder, don’t worry that I can’t add up the money. I’ll definitely be able to pay it off next month.

(End of this chapter)