Chapter 525: Official Iron Smelting Station

Bi Ziyan calculated the accounts and finally understood why the emperor vigorously promoted the four-wheeled carriage. Indeed, at a sudden glance, this matter was not worth it, and it was unnecessary. It cost too much, and it was just burning money. But when looking at the problem from the height of the entire Ming Dynasty, this angle suddenly changed. The extra cargo, the extra mileage, and the time saved should be massive and immeasurable. These are real people's strength. If the four-wheeled carriage is implemented, this will invisibly give the people real benefits.

"It's good if the Bi Qing family understands it. I have ordered Fu Mingde to classify the carriages and divide the carriages into grades, and try to reduce the cost as much as possible to facilitate promotion...; I have already told Liu Mao to try to deliver postal carriages. I still have only a preliminary idea of ​​this matter. What should I do in detail? It will take Liu Mao to summarize some experience before it can be finalized. I have already told Liu Mao to try to open postal carriages and public carriages. At this time, he may be traveling to Tongzhou..." Yang Jing said with a smile.

"Your Majesty's wiseness, it's better to be more appropriate." Bi Ziyan thought for a while and replied. If you have experience and promote it, it is indeed better than if you suddenly come up and promote it on a large scale.

Sun Chengzong was silent while standing aside, while Sun Yuanhua had some enlightenment.

"After talking about the carriage, I will just talk about what a heavy industrial base is..." Yang Jie took a sip of tea and said again. He was so dry that he had just debated with his imperial party.

Several people looked at the emperor in confusion. What is this heavy industrial base? The name is really weird.

"...I have a problem that I can't figure it out." Yang Jie took a sip of tea and began to continue.

"Please make it clear." Sun Chengzong said that Sun Chengzong knew a little about this heavy industrial base, but the reasons the emperor said were indeed far-fetched. Sun Chengzong was quite cautious about this issue. When he saw the emperor ask, he took the conversation directly. This matter has a lot to do with military affairs. It is for the reason to inquire about this, because it seems that the person in charge of the emperor's heavy industrial base was Sun Yuanhua, and Sun Yuanhua was casting a cannon, which means that this heavy industrial base is associated with casting a cannon and military affairs.

"Just as Bi Qing's family said just now, why is our dynasty's annual steel production over 100 million, why is it defeated in Liaodong? Why is this 100 million steel not even converted into weapons? I think that if one percent is converted into weapons, our dynasty should have more than a thousand cannons easily. If these 100 cannons are defended, how can the Donglu easily conquer cities and territories? If these steel can be turned into guns and cannons, how many soldiers can they be equipped?" Yang Jie moistened his throat and said with a hint of pain.

"...this..." The emperor's statement suffocated several people present. How to answer this question? There are so many questions involved, not as simple as an iron question.

"One thousand cannons each year, but they only account for one percent of our steel production. How many years have the Donglu risen in Liaodong? In this way, how many cannons should be there every year? There must be more than ten thousand..." Yang Jie still said with a little sadness.

"...This..." The heads of several people seemed to have been hammered, and they looked like stars. They felt that what the emperor said was indeed a big problem, but there were too many involvements and too many roots, but they didn't know how to answer them at once.

"...Your Majesty, these are all iron refined by the people. They are different from the iron used for cannons cast by the Ministry of Works and the Military Affairs Bureau. They cannot be confused..." Bi Ziyan didn't know where to start, so he could only pick up one to argue.

"What the Qing family means is that there is no relationship between steel and the survival of the country?" Yang Jingwei said with a little sadness.

"...Your Majesty, I don't mean this. I mean that the people do not allow the casting of cannons, so, this..." Bi Ziyan Gang made an excuse for his remarks, and felt that this excuse was not so good. What was that? Bi Ziyan seemed to remember something, but couldn't say it for a while.

"Where will the hair be attached to it? The country is gone, who will protect the people? For example, our mortal enemy, the Donglu, once we enter the pass, what should we do? All the people in the world are slaves to the Donglu? When it comes to the critical moment of life and death, they would rather use huge amounts of steel to make profits, but not use one percent to cast cannons to resist foreign humiliation? Don't you think there is a problem here?" Yang Jing asked sadly and seriously.

"This..." The emperor was dizzy when the heads of several people asked. The answer should actually be, but I couldn't remember it for a while.

"I have always thought that my Ming Dynasty is vast and has a vast territory, a vast territory and a huge population. Why can't I do anything to a small tribe with a population of only tens of thousands..." Yang Jing continued to ask questions.

"... It has been at least ten years since the Donglu was born to this day. Our dynasty hastily started to introduce foreign cannons and began to remember to cast cannons. The technology of casting cannons has to be learned from the barbarians. Have you never thought about the problem here?" Yang Jing continued to ask.

"..." The confidants of several emperors were asked by the emperor's questions and looked at the stars. They originally thought there were many reasons to say, but when they said each reason, they felt a bit far-fetched. They said it was a reason, but it was just an excuse. They couldn't say it in their throats, and they were so depressed that they felt uncomfortable. The emperor asked here, and there were even more reasons. Now they didn't know how to say that the abandoned things in the court were not the same.

"I remember that our dynasty is known as the Supreme Kingdom of the Celestial Empire, but now it has fallen to the point where it is difficult to settle a small tribe. When fighting against this small tribe, it is actually the firearms of the barbarians. Don't you find these problems ridiculous?" Yang Jing asked again.

"..." Several people were still talking in their throats. This was not the first time they heard the emperor say this. It really hurts people and self-esteem. What happened to the dignified Heavenly Dynasty? Why can't you beat others here and there be no better people there?

"Do you all know who was the first to build the cannon?" Yang Jingwei asked again.

"Did Your Majesty talk about artillery?" asked Sun Chengzong.

"Well, it's not bad, artillery." Yang Jingwei said.

"When you remember correctly, if you remember correctly, it should be in the Song Dynasty. There are records of using artillery to fight, but the power of artillery at that time was far less than that of today." Sun Chengzong replied.

"Yes, gunpowder was invented during the Song Dynasty in China, and then artillery was created. How many years have passed since then?" Yang Jingwei asked.

"It's been at least seven hundred years since your Majesty." Sun Chengzong replied.

"Yes, it's been seven hundred years. Seven hundred years ago, what was the state in the distant West? Do they know what gunpowder is and what cannons are? But now? It was the Ming Dynasty, the Heavenly Kingdom, who bought their cannons, and their cannons are even more powerful. Don't you think that for hundreds of years, others have been making progress, but is our dynasty stagnant? If this continues, the cannons of the barbarians will become more powerful and the firearms of our dynasty will continue to stagnate. What will happen in the future?" Yang Jing continued to ask.

"Go back to Your Majesty, be controlled by others..." Sun Chengzong replied.

"The wrong thing is not only because of the control of others, but also as a slave to a devastated country in the future. Don't you think that a small Eastern Captain will greatly damage our dynasty and exhaust our energy. In the future, those barbarians will have more powerful firearms, so what will happen to our dynasty?" Yang Jie said.

"Your Majesty, this is not true. I will chase you up and will never be worse than the firearms of the barbarians. How could I be afraid of a young barbarian..." Sun Yuanhua heard what the emperor said, and he felt so uncomfortable that he couldn't help but argue.

"According to the situation of our dynasty, is it related to resisting foreign humiliation? Isn't our dynasty an annual output of 100 million jin of iron? The Donglu have risen for more than ten years, and how many jin of iron has become a firearm? It turns into a cannon? It turns into a weapon to resist foreign humiliation?" Yang Jing felt even more unhappy. It would be fine if this question was not mentioned. The more he talked about it, the more unhappy he felt, the more he felt angry. That anger was blocked in his heart. It was obviously powerful, but it couldn't be used, which made people anxious.

"Your Majesty, the hardships of state affairs are facts, but now I, the Ming Dynasty, have Your Majesty, these are just clowns who will definitely be crushed into powder. Your Majesty, don't underestimate yourself!" Bi Ziyan couldn't help but argue. This question is very blocking. Even if he had a thousand reasons, he couldn't say it. Every reason was an excuse. For example, in fact, those iron smelting people paid taxes. Can you say that the vast land and wealth have nothing to do with resisting foreign humiliation? But how much does it matter? The more you talk, the more you can only get more blocked, which led to the Ming Dynasty becoming like this, which cannot be clear at once.

"The Qing family is also a sensible person. He is talking nonsense again. The Qing family's thinking is still stuck in the dream he weaved for himself! 'Know yourself and your enemy, and you will never be defeated in a hundred battles'. The Qing family should understand this sentence. Now the Yi people travel thousands of miles away and took a year to preach the Ming Dynasty. But what about my Ming Dynasty? How many people have been to the Yi people? How much do they know about them? How can they crush them into powder? The words of our ancestors are all regarded as wind in our ears. If this continues, alas... I am fully aware of the Yi people, and I am completely unaware of the Yi people... alas..." Yang Jing lamented.

"Your Majesty..." Bi Ziyan was criticized by the emperor and felt even more upset. The emperor's self-deprecation made him really sad. The emperor's words hurt his self-esteem.

"Your Majesty, I think that the barbarians are tens of thousands of miles away from our Ming Dynasty. Even if they can come to our court, it will not mean anything. Do they dare to come to attack our Ming Dynasty? This is not a problem. It is true that they should prevent them from touching the details of our court. If I create more powerful cannons, they will not be worried." Sun Yuanhua hurriedly persuaded the self-deprecating emperor.

"The Qing family also talks nonsense, and I have read "The Complete Map of the World Geometric Map". How can I say such conceited words? How big is the world? How much does it occupy in the Ming Dynasty? How could there be no dynasty as big as my Ming Dynasty touch the details of our dynasty and come to trouble our dynasty?" Yang Jing denied Sun Yuanhua.

"Your Majesty, this is my Ming Dynasty... How can those barbarians..." Sun Yuanhua just said a few words, and the rest of the words were blocked and could not be said. It would be better if he didn't say this. He himself followed Xu Guangqi to learn the barbarians' knowledge. How could he not know the strengths of barbarians? At this time, he was so excited that he was asking the emperor. He was so excited that he was saying the wrong thing.

"Don't you think that one can make a thousand-mile mirror, the other can budget the astronomical phenomena more accurately than our dynasty, the other is more powerful than our dynasty's firearms, and the other can travel thousands of miles across the ocean. Can a simple barbarian be summarized by a barbarian? You might as well calculate that these things involve those things, how much better our dynasty is than them?" Yang Jing asked back.

"..." Bi Ziyan and Sun Yuanhua were speechless when asked, and Sun Yuanhua couldn't speak. According to the emperor, this Ming Dynasty was just a pedantic, bloated and fat giant. The so-called power was just a layer of skin.

"Almost everyone has always told me that my Ming Dynasty has a large land and vast territory, rich resources, and rich people. Others are just barbarians, but uncivilized savages. It is not worth looking at it. But considering the situation in the past ten years, it may not be necessary. A group of uncivilized savages have defeated our dynasty in succession, lost thousands of miles of land, and damaged countless people. In the distance, another group of people brought me more powerful cannons, firearms, and the thousand-mile mirrors brought by the Ming Dynasty, and countless more powerful carriages. However, our dynasty seems extremely powerful, but in fact it is extremely weak, and was beaten by the Eastern Captain.

The defeat in the war is a good example. Not to mention taxes and money, just converting steel production from less than one percent to military power is enough to illustrate the problem. If our dynasty had quickly transformed the world's steel production into military power, turning into weapons, turning into muskets, cannons, and armor, not to mention more than one percent, it would be enough to build more than a thousand cannons. If it could be converted into 10,000 cannons, at least more than ten thousand cannons could be cast. These continuous firearms, weapons, and armor armed soldiers, could the Donglu still be rampant?" Yang Jing asked.

Several people were speechless when asked. It is true that the land is vast and the area is wide, and the product is rich. It is even more absolute. Unfortunately, the border often cannot send food and pay, and the government troops are about to collapse at a touch, and there are some firearms, but powerful ones such as the red cannons and muskets must be introduced from the barbarians. Although this problem is a problem, although everyone knows it, they don’t know how to explain it. There are too many problems here, but not just weapons.

"...Your Majesty is right. Our dynasty seems to be powerful, but in fact, the national strength is often in the past. If we count, our dynasty has very little combat power. Oh, Your Majesty, this matter cannot be explained in a moment! It is of course very important to convert steel into weapons and assemble soldiers, but the corresponding food, supplies, and training involves more, and this tax is..." Sun Chengzong said helplessly.

Sun Chengzong was fine, but his face was still calm, but Bi Ziyan was hurting his self-esteem, and Sun Yuanhua was even more in a panic.

"Master Sun is right. Our dynasty often fails to convert national strength into combat power. The whole country's strength is often not enough to deal with a small tribe. If we can quickly transform national strength into combat power, what other Donglu can't handle it? This problem has troubled me for a long time. I thought about it and felt that only by firmly grasping a group of things that are related to the lifeline of the court in my hands. In the war, it can be quickly converted into weapons, firearms, and cannons, and rapidly expanding the strength of our dynasty to avoid situations similar to Donglu... Therefore, there is also the saying of today's heavy industrial base." Yang Jingye said.

"What does Your Majesty mean?" Bi Ziyan confused the emperor and asked.

"What I mean is to build a heavy industrial base so that the steel output of this heavy industrial base will account for more than 10% of the world's output. In normal times, cast iron is sold like the people, and they can buy and sell it themselves. In wartime, they can convert civilian production capacity into military and rapidly expand their military equipment. If the steel output of my heavy industrial base accounts for 10% of the world's steel output, then, in wartime, I want to expand my military equipment. With a command, 10 million kilograms of steel will be turned into weapons. Instead, when we are fighting, we will only remember to introduce advanced weapons, and when we are fighting, we will only think of casting cannons. Only in this way can we exert the national strength of our dynasty..." Yang Jing explained.

"Your Majesty, I understand." Sun Chengzong replied.

"...I understand." Bi Ziyan also said, "Bi Ziyan finally remembered something and understood what the emperor meant.

"...I understand, too." Sun Yuanhua said at last.

"Okay, you are all my confidants. It's good that you can understand. Some people may say that I am strong and powerful, so let them say go. Some people don't want to see, know, and don't want to solve these problems. These problems can only be left to me and for you." Yang Jingjie said.

"I understand, please understand." Several people replied.

"The heavy industry base has now begun. Sun Qing's family is casting cannons in Tianjin, which is the core of this heavy industry. I plan to move him to Fengrun, which has iron ore and coal mines in this place. It is a very rich place with transportation and resources, which is a good place..." Yang Jingjie said.

"Your Majesty, Fengrun? Isn't it the Zunhua Iron Smelting Station that year?" Sun Yuanhua suddenly figured it out and asked suddenly.

"Zunhua Iron and Metallurgical Institute?" Yang Guifei didn't understand much.

"Go back to Your Majesty, yes, this place is the former official iron smelting station. It used to be a place where iron smelting hundreds of thousands of kilograms and millions of kilograms of iron every year. However, now it is abandoned. Oh, Your Majesty's words really make sense! The court must have enough iron smelting stations in its hands, otherwise, in the war, I can only catch blindly... Your Majesty is right. In fact, this is what our court has done before. I think it is because if there is a war, the court does not have enough steel in its hands. Oh, it's a pity that it's all abandoned now! I think it's really important to pay attention to this matter. Now that our foreign enemies are in front of us, the court must have iron in its hands..." Sun Yuanhua said.

"..." Yang Jingwei was depressed. He said this earlier. He said that there was an official iron smelting station and he just did it himself. There was such a lot of verbal expenses? He said that he was so tired. It was really a waste of expression! Yang Jingwei thought to himself depressed.
Chapter completed!