The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 642 Ample Funds and Doubled Salaries

It was already getting a bit cold in Beijing in October.

Emperor Wanli was still staying at the Summer Palace and had not returned to the palace.

There was no need to seek refuge from the heat on such a cold day; he was accompanying Song Yingxing in researching and developing trains.

Song Yingxing was truly a genius.

He actually developed the train, something that had never existed before, in just a few months!
On the ninth day of the tenth lunar month, around 7 a.m., Wanli Emperor, somewhat impatiently, brought Zhu Changxun to the workshop that specialized in building carriage heads.

At this moment, the front of the car, which had a huge cylindrical structure about ten feet in diameter lying horizontally on top, had been assembled, and smoke was even billowing from the chimney.

Song Yingxing even went upstairs and ordered people to start burning steam.

Yongnian Earl Wang Wei watched from below with a face full of anticipation.

Wanli walked over and shoved the young Zhu Changxun into the arms of Yongnian Earl Wang Wei, then asked, "Father-in-law, how is it? Can it be opened now?"

Earl of Yongnian, Wang Wei, nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, Chang Geng said it can be opened."

Emperor Wanli thought for a moment and then asked, "Have the railway tracks been inspected?"

Yongnian Earl Wang Wei nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, I have ordered people to check it several times. There is no problem, it is very secure."

That's good.

At this moment, Song Yingxing suddenly poked his head out of the driver's seat and excitedly said, "Your Majesty, we're ready, we can start."

You're driving, kid?

Wanli waved his hand repeatedly and said, "Chang Geng, why don't you get down and let someone else drive? This test drive is dangerous."

I don't want to lose a genius like you.

Unexpectedly, Song Yingxing shook his head repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, it's alright. I installed the slowest gear. It would probably take half an hour to circle around these workshops. It's very slow."

You just want to try it yourself, don't you?

The circle around the workshop is only about ten miles, which is half an hour. That means the slowest speed is only five or six kilometers per hour, which is very slow and there should be no danger.

After thinking for a moment, Wanli waved his hand and said, "Alright, then you can drive it and take a look."

"okay."

Upon hearing this, Song Yingxing immediately retreated into the cockpit, raised his hand to pull the horn, and then slapped down the steam valve with its mushroom-shaped nozzle.

With a long whistle, the front of the car slowly started moving.

The speed was really slow, not much faster than a person walking. It took almost the time it takes to brew a cup of tea for the car to leave the workshop.

In fact, the structure of this car's front is similar to that of a flying shuttle boat, except that a boat is steered by a rudder, while the car is steered by its wheels.

If you don't turn, the train traveling on the tracks is similar to a shuttle boat traveling on water, so there's definitely no problem.

Now we just need to watch the turn.

Wanli couldn't resist taking the small binoculars from the Jinwuwei guard and staring intently at the front of the carriage in the distance.

He watched for almost fifteen minutes before the locomotive gradually turned from the rails connecting the workshop onto the outer ring of rails.

It didn't take long to turn the corner; the front of the car seemed to quickly turn and slide past.

Absolutely no problem!
Now land transportation is also more convenient.

Upon seeing this, Emperor Wanli couldn't help but show a hint of excitement on his face.

Next, we can consider laying railways on a large scale, and trains can be manufactured in large quantities.

We still need to discuss this with Song Yingxing. I wonder if that kid considered the mass production issue when he was building the car.

The carriages are fine; they're not technologically advanced and could be mass-produced long ago.

The front of the car is currently just a prototype; some parts will need to be improved if they are not suitable for mass production.

He was waiting for Song Yingxing to drive the car back when a familiar figure strode in from the front gate.

Deng Zilong!
This guy is back from America.

These days he's been working with Song Yingxing on building a locomotive, and he's almost forgotten about things in America.

Only then did he remember that there were still many things to do in America.

He quickly stepped forward and raised his hand, saying, "Li Qing, you've worked hard, no need for formalities."

Deng Zilong repeatedly bowed and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

Emperor Wanli nodded slightly, then asked, "Liqing, how is it? Has the canal been completed over there?"

That canal, which is only a little over a hundred miles long, was already dug.

Deng Zilong nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, the tunnel is open. This humble general has already moved the Shenshu Battalion, the Shenji Battalion, and the Sichuan Army soldiers to the East Commandery in North America." Very good.

Emperor Wanli nodded with satisfaction, then asked, "Are there any traces of colonial bandits over there?"

Deng Zilong shook his head slightly and said, "My naval ships have made a great round trip over there, but have not yet found any trace of the colonial bandits."

Haven't the British run over there yet?
That would be great.

Wanli thought for a moment and then asked, "Have you hired people to work on that open-pit coal mine over there? Is water transport convenient?"

Deng Zilong nodded repeatedly and said, "This humble general has already recruited tens of thousands of able-bodied men to mine there, as water transport is very convenient."

Anyway, the open-pit coal mines over there are huge; you can easily find coal by digging along the nearby riverbank. Centipede boats and shuttle boats can easily haul coal in.

This is going to be a huge windfall!

Wanli then asked, "How is the output of gold, silver, and copper mines over there?"

Deng Zilong carefully explained, "Your Majesty, there weren't many smelting furnaces over there to begin with, and they used to burn charcoal."

We still need to build a lot of furnaces, so the output of gold, silver and copper mines over there hasn't increased much yet.

Now, even including the gold mines in Jinshan, they can barely produce 1.5 million taels of gold per month, less than 1 million taels of silver per month, and about 300,000 catties of copper per month.

Indeed, production has not increased significantly yet.

However, once the railway is built there, it will be convenient to transport coal and ore, and production will increase steadily.

Emperor Wanli nodded slightly, then asked, "Minister Li, how much gold, silver, and copper did you bring back this time?"

Deng Zilong cautiously said, "Your Majesty, including the gold produced in Jinshan over the past few months, I have brought back more than six million taels of gold, more than two million taels of silver, and more than one million catties of copper."

Now they really have so much money they can't spend it all.

The grain harvest in Liaodong and Nurgan is about to begin, so it's time to consider increasing the soldiers' pay.

At this time, the soldiers' pay was very low, one tael of silver plus one shi of grain per month, which was lower than the income of most ordinary people.

Now that he has enough money and supplies, he can't let these soldiers who fought for the country suffer.

Emperor Wanli thought for a moment, then asked, "Minister Li, are the soldiers' rations and pay too low right now?"

what?
You asked me that question!
Should I say something for the soldiers?
After thinking for a moment, Deng Zilong gritted his teeth and nodded, saying, "Your Majesty, if we don't count the military merit rewards, the soldiers' rations and pay are indeed a bit low right now."

Then it will go up.

Emperor Wanli bluntly asked, "Do you think doubling the soldiers' pay and rations is enough? That is, two taels of silver and two shi of grain per month."

This price increase is certainly enough.

The problem is, the Ming Dynasty now has an unusually large number of soldiers.

Such a huge increase in food and salary expenditures is terrifying.

Upon hearing this, Deng Zilong hesitated for a moment before cautiously reminding him, "Your Majesty, we already have more than five million soldiers. Is this a huge increase all at once?"

The number of soldiers now is truly terrifying.

However, no matter how terrifying the numbers are, they will still rise.

Emperor Wanli nodded slowly and said, "We will first increase the rations and pay of the Beijing Garrison, the border troops, the navy, the Sichuan army, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and the Imperial Guard."

As for the soldiers of the garrison, I will discuss it with Yuan Jing when he returns to see how to raise their rank appropriately.

The fact that the rations and pay have doubled is a tremendous boon for the soldiers.

I'm just fulfilling my duty as a subject by giving you a reminder.

Since His Majesty doesn't care about all that and insists on doubling the price, what's the point of trying to persuade him?
Upon hearing this, Deng Zilong repeatedly cupped his hands and said, "On behalf of my naval officers and soldiers, I thank Your Majesty for your grace."

With the pay increase, you need to quickly smelt more gold and silver for me, otherwise, the gold and silver produced in the Americas won't be enough to pay the soldiers' wages.

Wanli thought for a moment, then pointed to the railway tracks on the ground: "Liqing, this time you should take more of these railway tracks and sleepers back with you."

Calculate the distance from the main gold, silver, and copper mines to the port and docks. Based on the distance, bring the appropriate length of railway track.

I will have Chang Geng arrange for craftsmen to go there and teach the able-bodied men to lay the railway tracks. Recruit more able-bodied men and finish laying the tracks as soon as possible.

"At that time, I will order the Weiyuan warship to transport the completed trains over. We must quickly double the production of gold, silver, and copper there as well."

Should we move this over and install it now?

Okay, if you think it's feasible, then it's feasible.

Deng Zilong nodded repeatedly and said, "I understand."

(End of this chapter)