When it comes to railways, we must mention one person, that is, Jiang Jin, the Minister of Works, who is still left behind in Nanjing.

With the gradual migration of the six ministries to the north, Jiang Jin, who stayed in Nanjing, can now be said to be the highest-level official in the south of the Ming Dynasty. Moreover, due to the construction of the railway, Jiang Jin was unable to go to Beijing for at least two or three years. If it were someone else, he would have to worry about staying away from the center, but for Jiang Jin now, he has no such concern at all.

After all, Zhu Yicheng had promised him that when the railway from Nanjing to Zhenjiang was completed, it was the day when he entered the military aircraft. Jiang Jin had been waiting for the wish to join the military aircraft for more than seven years, and this matter had almost become a knot in his heart.

Therefore, Jiang Jin was willing to stay in Nanjing and handed over the work of the Ministry of Works in the court to the Left Minister for stewardship. He devoted himself to the railway. Naturally, Zhu Yicheng could see clearly his efforts. In order to appease Jiang Jin, Zhu Yicheng directly gave Jiang Jin the title of Grand Secretary of Wenyuan Pavilion. When the imperial edict was sent to Jiang Jin, Jiang Jin suddenly laughed to the sky and was very happy at the same time.

There were many great scholars in the Ming Dynasty, such as the Grand Secretary of Wuying Hall, the Grand Secretary of Wenhua Hall, the Grand Secretary of Dongge, etc., but there were differences between the Grand Secretary and the Grand Secretary. According to the Ming system, the arrangement of the Grand Secretary was the Dong Pavilion - Wenyuan Pavilion - Wuying Hall - Wenhua Hall - Jianji Hall - Zhongji Hall. Among them, the Jianji Hall and Zhongji Hall were rarely awarded, and there were very few people who served in the two halls in the Ming Dynasty.

Jiang Jin originally had the title of Grand Secretary of the Dongge, but this title was just glory. Because according to the Ming system, Grand Secretary was not of high rank, only five ranks, unlike the Qing Dynasty who promoted Grand Secretary to the first rank. This is because the Ming Dynasty was originally a cabinet system, and in order to limit the rights of cabinet members, it was specially set up like this.

Jiang Jin's transfer from the Grand Secretary of Dongge to the Grand Secretary of Wenyuan Pavilion seems to be a little further, but this step is not so easy. You should know that many people can serve as the Grand Secretary of Dongge, but the Grand Secretary of Wenyuan Pavilion is different, because in the early days of the establishment of the cabinet in the Ming Dynasty, all cabinet members must be the Grand Secretary of Wenyuan Pavilion, that is, only if you serve as the Grand Secretary of Wenyuan Pavilion, you will have the opportunity to enter the cabinet.

Although the Ming Dynasty has replaced the original cabinet with the Military Affairs Office, this convention has continued. Therefore, Zhu Yicheng gave Jiang Jin the great minister of Wenyuan Pavilion, which is very obvious. He told Jiang Jin that what he said was the final say. Now you are an alternate military aircraft of the Military Affairs Office. As long as the railway is built properly, you can enter the Military Affairs Office naturally.

This is also the reason why Jiang Jin was ecstatic. Therefore, after being promoted to Wenyuan Pavilion Grand Secretary, Jiang Jin devoted all his energy to the railway matter. With the assistance of his left and right hands, the right assistant minister of the Ministry of Works, and the director of the Railway Department Jiang Daoli, the construction of the railway can be said to be a thousand miles a day and extremely smooth.

Although this section of railway from Nanjing to Zhenjiang is not long, if the joints are connected and some site selection requirements are added, the total length is only less than 200 miles. With such a small distance, it takes only half a day to take a boat, and even if you take a carriage by land, it is only only one day.

However, as the first railway in the Ming Dynasty, this railway is of great significance, and this railway will also be the basis for the construction of other railways after the Ming Dynasty. The cost, location selection, manpower, coordination, etc. of the construction today will be references for the construction of other railways in the future. Because of this, Jiang Jin did not dare to neglect at all and kept doing it himself.

Today, Jiang Jin was listening to Jiang Daoli's report. With the progress of the railway project, there are things that require them to solve every day, no matter how big or small it is. Now the railway has been built for twenty-eight miles. In the construction of this short twenty-eight miles, Jiang Jin and others encountered countless situations that were not expected in the early stage.

These situations have various aspects, including terrain, manpower, materials and other factors, but are even closely related to climate change. However, as time goes by, one problem after another is gradually solved, and the construction of railways has gradually become more and more orderly.

"Sir, this is the case with sectional construction. According to the officials, if we adopt this method, we can solve a lot of labor, which not only improves efficiency, but also avoids only stopping work and waiting for materials when encountering problems or continuing after processing." Jiang Daoli now seems to be no longer the way he was a minister, because he has been on the scene for a long time as the director of the Railway Department. In less than a year, Jiang Daoli has become dark and thin, and is almost completely different from before.

However, his eyes were much brighter than before. In fact, it was not only him, but even Jiang Jin was not much better. He lost a lot of weight. If he ignored the official uniforms they were wearing, it would be almost no different from ordinary workers to throw them on the construction site.

Listening to Jiang Daoli's story, Jiang Jin thought quietly. The so-called sectional construction was slightly different from the way he proposed to Zhu Yicheng that the entire section of Nanjing to Shanghai was divided into Nanjing to Zhenjiang, and then the Zhenjiang to Shanghai.

The construction of Jiang Daoli refers to the sections of the 200-mile railway from Nanjing to Zhenjiang according to the project, which is initially divided into four sections, each with 50-mile sections.

According to the method of starting each section at the same time and then connecting each section to complete the entire project. Although this method is complicated than laying along the way, it is convenient for the use of manpower and resource allocation. In the previous railway construction, Jiang Jin and the others encountered a lot of trouble, and once they encountered problems, the construction must be temporarily stopped and they could not continue until the problem was solved.

This has caused many work stagnation and waste of resources. In order to change this situation, Jiang Daoli put forward this suggestion based on previous experience, and now he is discussing with Jiang Jin whether to change the construction in this way.

Jiang Jin thought for a while and nodded, "This method is good, but it is the first time we are building a railway. Although the terrain from Nanjing to Zhenjiang is not complicated and it is not too difficult to change the plan, in my opinion, let's try it out in two sections for the time being. If there is any problem, it can be avoided."

"Sir, I admire you." Jiang Daoli smiled and flattered, and Jiang Jin waved his hand and said, "What is this far-sightedness? If you hadn't reminded me, I wouldn't have thought of this for a while. You need to know that the railway is a national event. The emperor is staring at Beijing City. As long as you do this job well, you will have a bright future in the future!"

Jiang Daoli stood up and bowed deeply to Jiang Jin. As Jiang Jin's confidant and right-hand assistant, he naturally understood the importance of railways and understood why Jiang Jin was so concerned.
Chapter completed!