Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 265 The Traitor's Panic During the Siege and Conquest (Part 1)
Zhang Yun, the King of Hanzhong, suddenly led his army to attack Shanxi.

Both Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong seemed to be putting up a stubborn resistance.

Unfortunately, the disparity in strength between the two sides was too great, and Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong were simply unable to withstand the attack.

Soon, the Hanzhong army captured Yangcheng, the southwestern gateway to Zezhou, and Pingshun, the eastern gateway to Lu'an Prefecture.

Zhang Yun, the King of Hanzhong, went berserk again, dividing his troops into six routes to attack Qinshui, Gaoping, and Lingchuan in Zezhou, and Huguan, Lucheng, and Licheng in Lu'an Prefecture, with the intention of besieging the cities of Zezhou and Lu'an Prefecture in one fell swoop.

If we look at the situation in the Central Plains last year, Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong would probably have ordered their men to flee as fast as they could.

They can't possibly win. What are they doing staying here? Are they trying to die?
This time, however, they acted out of character, fighting desperately and not giving up a single city or territory!
Zhang Yun, the King of Hanzhong, didn't care about anything else. If they didn't submit, then fight them. If they didn't abandon the city and flee, then attack them!

This has turned Shanxi into a complete mess.

The capital city, however, was like a prosperous and bustling metropolis, bustling with activity yet appearing peaceful and prosperous, without a trace of turmoil.

Zhu Jue even left the capital and took a long trip.

Early that morning, around dawn, he led Zheng Zhilong, Bi Maokang, Song Yingsheng, Wei Zhongxian, Yuan You, Tian Hongyu, and others onto a small merchant ship called Zhiyuan, heading straight for Yongping Prefecture, the easternmost part of Beizhili.

He had never been to a place so far from the capital before. The farthest he had ever been was Zunhua, which was three or four hundred li away from the capital, while Yongping Prefecture was six or seven hundred li away from the capital.

Even though they were on the fastest small merchant ship, the Zhiyuan, it was only by evening on the first day that they arrived at Luanhe City, the southernmost part of Yongping Prefecture, at the mouth of the Luanhe River.

The next morning around dawn, they left Luanhe City and headed straight for the heart of Yongping Prefecture along the main Luanhe River.

There are many coal and iron mines along the banks of the Luan River, especially on the left bank. There are countless coal and iron mines along the way, and rows of miners' barracks and mountains of coal and iron ore are everywhere.

However, he was not there to see the coal and iron mines.

Around 9 a.m., the fleet finally arrived at Lulong, the capital of Yongping Prefecture.

This section of the main channel of the Luan River is not wide; in the narrowest part, it is less than thirty zhang (approximately 15 meters) wide. There is even a steel bridge built to the southwest of Lulong City.

Zhu Jue led his entourage up to the west gate tower of Lulong City, carefully inspected the tracks laid from the direction of the capital, and then solemnly said, "Father-in-law Yuan, Father-in-law Tian, ​​this year we must lay the tracks to Liaoyang. This matter is entrusted to you."

what?
This place is probably over a thousand miles away from Liaoyang!
The key is that there are too many big rivers along the way, such as the Daling River, the Santai River, and the Liao River, which are all exceptionally wide.

Upon hearing this, Yuan You cautiously asked, "Your Majesty, do you mean we should repair it before it freezes?"

of course.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly and said, "We have already begun to recover Liaodong. We have already taken Liaoyang City. If we take the south bank of the Hun River and Dingliao Right Guard, then we will have recovered about 90% of Liaodong."

It's only a matter of time before we recover Liaodong. By then, we certainly won't be able to station 400,000 to 500,000 troops in Liaodong. Once the Beijing garrison is withdrawn, the Jurchens will probably try every means to take over Liaodong again.

They also know that we have a large number of ships, so they certainly won't make a move when the ice is not frozen. If they do make a move, it will definitely be when the ice is frozen.

When the river is not frozen, we can still use the waterways and sea routes to transport people and supplies to Liaoyang. Once the river is frozen, although the sea routes are still open, the waterways are blocked.

It will be troublesome when we need to transport personnel and supplies to Liaoyang. We will first have to use railcars to transport them to the dock outside the Haihe River, then transfer the personnel and supplies to ships, and then transport them to Liaohai City, where we will have to transfer the personnel and supplies to horse-drawn carriages again.

The process of loading and unloading personnel and supplies is already troublesome, and with the addition of horse-drawn carriages that can't move in the freezing weather, transporting personnel and supplies to Liaoyang in winter would take at least ten days to half a month.

If we were to lay the tracks directly to Liaoyang, it would be a different story. Liaoyang is only about 1,500 li away from the capital. If the horses of the horse-drawn railcart were to be changed frequently along the way, it would be possible to travel at least 500 li a day, if not 800 li.

In other words, if Liaoyang were connected by horse-drawn railcars, even in freezing weather, it would only take us about three days to transport personnel and supplies there, which is not much slower than shipping.

Well, what you said makes sense.

The problem is that building bridges is too troublesome.

Yuan You cautiously reminded him, "Your Majesty, there are the Daling River, the Santai River, and the Liao River blocking the way. These three rivers are at least a hundred zhang wide." Nowadays, rivers a hundred zhang wide are no longer considered a big deal.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly and said, "Yes, we really need to build the bridges over these three rivers as soon as possible. Lord Meng, I'm entrusting this to you. You should make preparations first. Once Liaodong is unsealed, you should bring the personnel and supplies there and build the bridges as soon as possible. They must be completed before October this year."

Those are three bridges, each at least a hundred meters wide.

Bi Maokang nodded solemnly and said, "Your Majesty, I understand."

Zhu Jue glanced back at Lulong City again, then frowned slightly and asked, "Aren't there any steel mills and foundries built in Lulong City?"

Song Yingsheng quickly explained, "Your Majesty, building steel mills and foundries in this old city requires acquiring land, demolishing buildings, and finding places for artisans to live. It's very troublesome. Therefore, our steel mills and foundries are built in four newly built cities."

Building a steel mill and a foundry in this old town is really troublesome.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then asked, "How many kilograms of steel are we producing per day now?"

That's a frighteningly large number.

Song Yingsheng estimated, "We are producing nearly three million catties of steel every day now, which is far more than we can use. The Spanish can't buy that much either. We have stored tens of millions of catties."

That number sounds really scary.

Actually, it's nothing at all. Three million catties is only about 1,500 tons, which adds up to about 5 million tons a year. In later generations, any large steel group would produce tens of millions of tons a year, or even hundreds of millions of tons.

At this point, even with the combined strength of the entire Ming Dynasty, the annual production is only around five million tons, which is far from enough.

Next, they were going to lay the tracks like crazy. Each zhang (approximately 3.3 meters) of freight track weighed about 100 jin (approximately 50 kg). If four tracks were laid side by side, that would be 400 jin (approximately 200 kg). If each li (approximately 500 meters) was 150 zhang (approximately 500 meters), that would be 60,000 jin (approximately 30,000 kg). If each li (approximately 500 meters) was 6 million jin (approximately 3,000 kg). If each 1,000 li (approximately 500 meters) was 60 million jin (approximately 3,000 kg).
If a steam locomotive were developed, that would be even more incredible; the weight of the rails would at least triple.

Zhu Jue carefully calculated the figures and then decisively said, "Then let's build a new city here, right over at the dock."

This new city is mainly used to build steel mills and foundries. Our steel mills must have a daily output of at least five million catties. The foundry workshops also need to keep up. As for the residences of the craftsmen, there will be enough for the craftsmen in the steel mills and foundries.

"You should plan out the size of this city. Then, let Zhongxian acquire the land, and Tian Guozhang will be in charge of the construction. This new city must be completed and put into operation this year."

what?
You want to build such a large city?
Upon hearing this, Tian Hongyu thought for a moment and then cautiously said, "Your Majesty, I dare to say that we may not have enough manpower."

At the beginning, there were only about 800,000 artisan households gathered here. After deducting the more than 200,000 households at the Haihe Shipyard and the 100,000 households in the Americas, and then deducting the more than 100,000 households working in steel mills and foundries, the total number of able-bodied artisans that could be mobilized here was only about 300,000.

"And most of them are still mining. It's already a struggle to gather enough manpower to lay tracks and build bridges, let alone enough to construct a city."

I've already said it, the artisans weren't brought in to mine. Was I not clear enough?
Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then decisively said, "Then you should conscript able-bodied farmers to mine. They can come from the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty. Moreover, they can go back to help with the farming for one or two months during the busy farming season. We will send ships to pick them up and drop them off."

In short, you need to recruit enough able-bodied farmers to replace the able-bodied artisans. From now on, the able-bodied artisans can no longer be used for mining; they must all work in various factories.

Uh, this.

Upon hearing this, Tian Hongyu cautiously said, "Your Majesty, it takes time to conscript able-bodied farmers and to replace able-bodied artisans. I'm afraid this will delay the progress of the city's construction."

This problem is not big.

Zhu Jue pondered, "Didn't the Beijing garrison newly recruit nearly 500,000 soldiers? This year, only a few tens of thousands of these soldiers will be needed to operate warships, leaving more than 400,000."

Go tell Jian Dou to send over the newly recruited soldiers of the Beijing Garrison to help. Send 300,000 initially, and if that's not enough, send another 100,000. That should be fine, right?

With so many soldiers from the Beijing garrison, there was naturally no problem.

Upon hearing this, Tian Hongyu nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty is wise. With the help of the soldiers of the Beijing Garrison, there will definitely be no problem."

(End of this chapter)