Ming Dynasty: Traveling through the harem, Zhu Yuanzhang was dumbfounded

Chapter 228 New Track

It was August, near autumn, in the fourteenth year of Hongwu.

More than half a year has passed since Yang Chen asked the steel plant to produce manganese steel.

During these days, Zhenjiang Prefecture made great progress under his various policies.

According to incomplete statistics, Zhenjiang Prefecture has completed a large-scale unified scientific knowledge, which makes all those who are curious about this aspect yearn for it.

Long before the emergence of manganese steel, Zhenjiang Prefecture already had 30,000 scientific and technological personnel!

These 30,000 people studied Chinese scientific knowledge from ancient and modern times, both at home and abroad, all night long.

All scientific subjects including physics, chemistry, biology, etc. were summarized.

People ranging from those in their early twenties to those in their sixties and seventies can work together on a project in the same office.

This enabled Zhenjiang Prefecture to figure out how to better obtain hot air balloon fuel and extract various fertilizers in just a few months.

The most surprising thing was the progress of the railway defense line.

The first railway forged with manganese steel in the Ming Dynasty was officially opened to traffic.

In addition, the horse-drawn carriage officially completed its mission, and the steam locomotive replaced the horse-drawn carriage, which had appeared less than two years ago.

Zhu Biao stood on the platform of Nanjing Station, watching the steam locomotive pulling the four carriages, and tears welled up in his eyes.

"Okay! Okay! Okay!"

Three consecutive blasts mixed with trembling.

He knew very well that with this train, there would be fewer and fewer people suffering from hunger in the Ming Dynasty in the future.

In recent years, the overall living standards in the Ming Dynasty have indeed been continuously improving.

There are so many things that the royal family and the nobles can enjoy.

Things that they had never dared to imagine two years ago began to appear in Zhenjiang Prefecture one after another.

Take Nanjing city for example.

This city was the second city in the Ming Dynasty to have electric light bulbs, after Zhenjiang Prefecture.

It is also called the city that never sleeps by many people.

When they got the light bulb, all the officials were both happy and sad.

The happiness is that they don’t need candles for lighting, they can enjoy reading under the light at night as if it were daytime.

No wonder with the advent of the light bulb, the workload of all officials naturally increased a lot, and they even imitated the 9-to-6 work system of the Zhenjiang Prefecture and Municipal Government.

In order to motivate officials to work overtime, Zhu Biao gave officials an extra half-day's pay for every hour of overtime, and for every hour and a half of overtime, in addition to the pay, they would also be given delicious meals prepared by the royal chef.

As a result, many officials had to increase their workload.

Firstly, you can get extra money, and secondly, when you have supper, you have the opportunity to meet many high-ranking officials.

After Zhu Biao praised it repeatedly, an old man stood up and stroked the steel beast with his hand and couldn't help saying:

"Biao'er, is this the train? It seems that everything that bastard did in Zhenjiang Prefecture is truly magical."

Feeling the coldness brought by the metal, Zhu Yuanzhang would never have thought that he might actually see something that existed in the painting two years ago in his lifetime.

Steam locomotive!
It was unprecedented, and all the dignitaries present couldn't help but feel shocked.

"Yes, father, I never thought that Brother Yang could build a train in such a short time." Zhu Biao pointed to the steam locomotive that was four meters high and seven or eight meters long and said:
"Father, I almost forgot to tell you that this is the first train of the Ming Dynasty. Brother Yang named it Hongwu, after the reign of Emperor Dashi. This was a decision I made after discussing it with Brother Yang. I hope Father will not blame me."

This train was actually assembled just a month ago.

After completion, Yang Chen handed the naming right to Zhu Biao.

After much deliberation, Zhu Biao thought that it would be most appropriate to name the train Ming Dynasty after his father's reign title.

Yang Chen didn't have any objection to this. After all, he was only responsible for technical issues and didn't want to care about other things.

Therefore, the front of the train not only has the words of Zhu Yuanzhang's reign, but also a cast-in-steel "Ming" character on it.
It makes people marvel at the masterpiece of nature.

When Old Zhu learned about this, he was so happy that he walked straight to the locomotive and took a closer look. He immediately smiled with joy.

"Hahaha! Great! Hongwu! Look, sister, this train is named after our reign! It's really impressive! Even when we are gone in the future, people will still remember Hongwu!"

Empress Ma, dressed in elegant clothes, did not respond well to Zhu Yuanzhang's pride. Instead, she taught the seven-year-old Zhu Xiongying to be humble.

"Look at your grandfather. He is so old and still cares about these false reputations. It's really shameful."

Compared to the childish Zhu Xiongying two years ago, the seven-year-old boy is now almost as tall as Zhu Biao's belly.

He could even help Empress Ma walk, with a heroic look on his face, looking like a handsome young man.

Grandma's words made Zhu Xiongying cover her mouth and giggle.

How could Zhu Yuanzhang not know that his sister was trying to tell him not to be too proud.

In addition to the Zhu family members going to Zhenjiang Prefecture today, hundreds of officials from the capital also went there.

This train was an opportunity for officials from the capital to go to Zhenjiang Prefecture and learn from the local people.

In Zhu Biao's opinion, it is time for Zhenjiang Prefecture to appear in most people's vision.

Now is a rare opportunity with the development of steam locomotives.

"Gentlemen! As you can see, this thing is a huge behemoth produced by Zhenjiang Prefecture. I hope you can adjust your mindset. In order to better build the Ming Dynasty, these are the necessary steps for you." Zhu Biao shouted to the officials in official uniforms who were neatly lined up behind him.

"Please get on the bus in an orderly manner now. Remember, you must follow the staff's instructions. Do not cut in line or crowd."

Yang Chen not only trained scientific and technological personnel in Zhenjiang Prefecture, but also a variety of service industry workers.

This includes train station staff.

The clothes they were wearing were all finalized after Yang Chen asked an embroiderer to come over and discuss for three days and three nights.

The style is very similar to the modern one, with the Han style of the Ming Dynasty. Everything from the overall design to each button was carefully selected by Yang Chen.

Before arriving at Nanjing Railway Station, all officials bathed and dressed, but they were shocked to find that

My temperament is totally unqualified to compare with those ordinary people who serve as train staff.

The other party did not show a flattering attitude in his eyes just because of his official rank.

Even when Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Biao, Empress Ma and others were present, they did not behave inappropriately at all.

It was so magical that of course they were surprised.

Except for a few people, such as Yang Siyi and Teng Yi.

They had the privilege of frequently visiting Zhenjiang Prefecture to learn from the masters, and they knew exactly what magical places there were.

After everyone got on the train and sat down, the locomotive began to make a humming sound, and the whistle signaled the start of the train's movement.

Gradually, there was a rolling sound on the track.

The royal family was in a separate carriage.

After all, the train carriages were still very crowded at first. Zhu Yunhuan was less than three years old, and it would definitely be bad for a little kid to be squeezed in with a bunch of people. As for the others, the officials were arranged in other train seats.

They sat facing each other, looking out the window from time to time at the scenery that quickly passed by their eyes, all with surprise on their faces.

"Hiss! I didn't expect that the Ming Dynasty has such national strength now. It really surprises me. I heard that this steel beast eats coal. I don't know how much coal it can eat in a day to run so fast."

"You are worried about this, but I am also worried about the lack of coal. I just saw someone use five horses to pull our annual supply of coal to the front. The national treasury is not sure whether you can withstand the loss."

"Don't worry, the last thing the national treasury lacks is money. Japan is under constant surveillance by General Lan, and that piece of land is constantly producing silver and gold to enrich the national treasury.

Moreover, some time ago I heard from people in the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works that the Shanxi Provincial Administration Office had discovered a large coal mine. It seemed that they were using tools from the Zhenjiang Prefecture to dig continuously and dug out a lot of coal.

That coal is enough to last us for many years, and I'm afraid it may not be used up until the day I die."

"It is rumored that Zhenjiang Prefecture is the future city of the Ming Dynasty. I used to scoff at it, but now it seems to be truly magical."

Except for a few officials who could not accept the changes of the times, the rest of the officials knew very well that the Ming Dynasty would undergo earth-shaking changes in the future. If they could not keep up, they would be eliminated.

"By the way? Recently I heard that there seemed to be some problems in the South China Sea. I wonder if this is true?"

"How is that possible? In the 13th year of Hongwu, Your Majesty ordered Wu Zhen to recruit soldiers throughout the entire Ming Dynasty. He recruited nearly 200,000 people from the coastal areas to Fujian for military exercises.

In addition, the Ming Dynasty also had various treasure ships and warships. Even if the situation was terrible, nothing would happen. Don't forget that Lan Yu led 100,000 Ming Dynasty navy and wiped out the entire Japan in less than two months.

With this record, who can stop the Ming fleet? "

Many people are quite clear about the strength of the Ming Dynasty Navy.

The scene of the Japanese genocide caused by Lan Yu is still vivid in people’s minds.

Therefore, many people deny what this official said.

However, someone soon came forward to confirm the certainty of the matter.

“No, what he said just now is indeed true. Not long ago, the King of Jin led a 3,000-man navy to Wanli Shitang in the South China Sea to occupy a strategic location, intending to establish a base on Luzon and other South China Sea islands.

But for some reason, several months have passed and there is still no news.

So His Majesty sent Li Wenzhong to search for it. After a month, he finally found the wreckage of a Ming ship on an island in the South Seas. This shows that something must have happened in the South Seas that we don’t know about.”

If this was said by someone else, the others would definitely sneer and treat it as a joke.

However, the person who said this was the Minister of War Chen Ning.

This guy is one of the few old ministers during the Hongwu period who can still fight in the battlefield at this age.

The most recent time, Zhu Biao asked him to write a combat report within three days.

Chen Ning went back to prepare without saying a word. A month later, the Ming Dynasty's Northern Expedition officially began.

Zhu Di, the Bear King of the Ming Dynasty, led part of the central army and his own guards to the Komi primeval forest, which is the buffer zone bordering the Grand Duchy of Moscow and the Ming Dynasty, to charge and fight.

Many Slavs who were still living in the primeval forests of Siberia were captured.

I don't know whether it was Yugoslavia or Western Slavia.

Anyway, these people are special in the Ming army.

The hair color is bright and light, and the eyes are of all colors.

After a year of domestication, these people could speak poor Ming Chinese, and were also the few people under Zhu Di who could fight on the battlefield with heavy armor and shields.

After hearing Chen Ning's words, a group of officials began to make various speculations about the affairs in Nanyang.

Some say it was due to encountering the enemy, while others say it was due to climate reasons.

There are all kinds of them anyway.

Compared to everyone who was discussing happily, Chen Ning's face gradually showed anxiety.

It was big news that Zhu Gang, the third son of the Hongwu Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, was in danger at sea.

The train departed at noon and successfully arrived at Zhenjiang Prefecture, nearly a hundred miles away, in less than half an hour.

The speed is neither fast nor slow.

When the steam engine deflated, the train slowly slowed down.

From the moment the officials entered Zhenjiang Prefecture, many people introduced everything about Zhenjiang Prefecture to them.

Many officials were curious about the various new things in front of them, wondering what on earth these were.
How could a trumpet-shaped object actually make human speech? And how come the buildings around it were of a style they had never seen in the capital of the Ming Dynasty?

"Big brother!"

"Second brother!"

When Zhu Biao saw Zhu Chong appear in front of him, he hurried forward and the two of them hugged each other.

Zhu Chong's temperament now is far beyond the reach of others.

Standing behind him were a group of officials from Zhenjiang Prefecture, all of whom were incompatible with their colleagues from the capital.

It's like they are from two different countries.

However, when they saw Zhu Yuanzhang, they still bowed humbly.

"My lord! See your Majesty!"

"You are all capable guys, get up." Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand, letting everyone relax.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

"Second brother? How come you messed up your hair like that bastard Yang Chen?" Zhu Yuanzhang shifted his gaze to his son. It would have been fine if he hadn't looked at him, but once he did, he immediately felt a certain atmosphere.

Because Zhu Chong cut his long hair short and left a slicked-back hairstyle, combined with his current clothing, apart from looking similar to Zhu Biao, he has nothing to do with the previous King of Qin.

"Second Uncle! Why do you have the same hairstyle as our teacher? You look so handsome!" Zhu Xiongying supported Empress Ma, his face full of happiness for his uncle.

The ministers began to become curious about Zhu Chong.

I thought that the ancient saying that one's body and hair are given by one's parents is the most important thing for men.

As a prince, how could he cut his hair short for no reason?

And he has such a weird hairstyle.

Most people's eyes were on him. Zhu Chong touched his nose before answering:

"Well, actually it's just for convenience. Father, mother, I'm unfilial. I know you two won't like me like this, but Brother Yang said that short hair will definitely be the trend in the future. Whether it's for battle or daily life, men can do things better if they keep a clean and neat short hair.

Otherwise, you only wash your hair once every few days, and it takes half a day for your hair to dry completely, which is such a waste of time."

Before Zhu Chong could finish his words, Zhu Yuanzhang was so angry that his beard exploded.

"Nonsense! This guy is just exaggerating!"

"Okay, Chongba! The second son is already so old, why do you still care about him? In my opinion, short hair is better, it looks more energetic." Empress Ma reached out and stroked Zhu Yuanzhang's back for a while and comforted him.

(End of this chapter)