Volume 4: Hot! The whole world is a warring state Chapter 747 The Achievements of the Traveler
"I, Wu Sangui, the commander-in-chief of the New Silk Road Guard, pay my respects to His Majesty."
"Your Highness, I, He Tengjiao, the governor of Gansu, pay my respects to His Majesty."
"minister……"
On September 20, 1643, Zhu Youdong's special train arrived in Lanzhou.
He set out in late May of that year, leaving behind Zhu Youxiao and Zhu Ciyi as co-supervisors. It took him nearly four months to reach Lanzhou, stopping and starting along the way. At this speed, he should have arrived even if he walked, not to mention the train.
The reason why he walked so slowly was, of course, because the emperor wanted to get first-hand information from the grassroots.
In Northern Zhili, he witnessed the summer harvest of the farmers. Of course, there was a limit to the emperor's showmanship, and he did not personally go to the fields to harvest wheat with the farmers. But when his Nine Dragon Umbrella was opened in the fields, the local farmers not only cheered for the emperor, but also spontaneously held a harvesting competition. The atmosphere that day was so heated that several old farmers got heatstroke due to excitement...
In Shanxi, he saw the prosperity of the White Tiger Bank, which was established by the four major families: After the Ming Dynasty entered the steam age and began to build a large number of power plants, mainly thermal power plants, the coal sales in Shanxi flourished. In addition to several large state-owned coal mines, other small and medium-sized coal mines controlled by private capital sprang up like mushrooms after rain.
During this process, many gamblers used their personal property as collateral to borrow a sum of money from the bank, then sought advice from a Feng Shui master and began digging underground: if they found coal, they would get rich together. If they didn’t find any, their family would be ruined…
Countless small coal mines were digging frantically, and the demand for miners soared: in the steam age, coal was the driving force of the times. As long as it was dug out, there would be no worries about selling it. However, the profit-seeking nature of capital made the quality of life of miners in these small coal mines extremely low, and some black-hearted bosses even cheated and deceived some outsiders to work in the mines - their treatment was even lower, and they were even treated like miners.
As a time traveler, Zhu Youdong knew that these problems might arise. But when he took a certain risk and conducted surprise inspections on some small and medium-sized coal mines with a small group of people, he was still shocked by the miserable conditions of the miners he saw. The debt collection team of the White Tiger Bank, which was responsible for collecting overdue loans, had done many things that were much more evil than those in later generations...
Then the furious emperor sent a telegram directly, summoning Prince Xin Zhu Youjian and Crown Prince Zhu Ciyi from Beijing: This matter is handed over to you. First of all, we must formulate industry access standards, so that not just anyone can enter the market, and we must not let ordinary people take out loans to open mines out of gambling. Then we must formulate a series of safeguards such as safety production standards, minimum wage standards for workers, compensation standards for work-related injuries and mining accidents, and standards for pneumoconiosis care, and require local officials to strictly implement them - not to mention that miners' rebellion is a hundred times more dangerous than ordinary peasants' rebellion. The key is that as the royal family, we, every Han people in the world, can't say that they all live a well-fed and well-clothed life, but at least, let them live with dignity, which is our goal!
With the arrival of Zhu Youjian, the Shanxi officialdom was in dire straits again. But Zhu Youdong didn't care about it. His special train continued to move forward and arrived in Shaanxi.
In the historical plane, in Shaanxi in 1643, the people of Chiye Qianli were cannibalistic. However, in this plane, the situation in Shaanxi was much better.
Thanks to his foresight as a time traveler, large amounts of oil began to be mined in northern Shaanxi, where agriculture was basically ruined: the oil in northern Shaanxi had low production, low quality, and was scattered - this type of oil mine was most suitable for private capital to enter.
The essential principle of a steam engine is to boil water, and a thermal power plant is simply a steam engine that boils water to generate steam to drive a generator to generate electricity. And boiling water, coal, oil, etc. are all the same, right? And with the progress of the chemical industry in the Ming Dynasty, oil has many other uses besides being a fuel. Therefore, there is no need to worry about the sales of the little oil in northern Shaanxi.
Although from a global perspective, the amount of oil in northern Shaanxi is very small, but these hundreds of oil wells can still feed the already small population in northern Shaanxi (a large number of people have migrated to Taiwan, Southeast Asia, and Jilin) without much problem.
As for the Guanzhong region, Zhu Youdong was pleasantly surprised to find that the various reservoirs and canals left by Yuan Yingtai can still be used effectively. So although Shaanxi has generally had less rainfall in recent years, as long as the climate is not too extreme, the Guanzhong Plain itself can be completely self-sufficient in food...
He conducted research and solved problems along the way, so even with the help of the train, Zhu Youdong still took a long time to reach Lanzhou until late September.
Then, among the group of ministers who came to greet him at Lanzhou Railway Station, the first one to sign up was actually Wu Sangui?
After Wu Sangui, the following people such as He Tengjiao, Liu Zongmin and others made him feel deeply moved.
After sighing, he felt extremely relieved: Isn't this great? Wu Sangui defended his country without being a traitor who betrayed his country repeatedly. He Tengjiao was a local official without having to die a heroic death. Liu Zongmin used his talent for ironwork to live a comfortable life today without being driven to ruin by cruel officials... History has completely changed. Perhaps these people are unlikely to appear in history textbooks in colleges and middle schools in this plane, but isn't this great? This is all the achievement of me, a time traveler!
In the future, even if I don't win the final victory in the competition among the seven travelers , as long as I see the people whose fates have been changed because of me, it will be worth the journey.
After a round of singing at the train station, everyone accompanied Zhu Youdong to the governor's office in Lanzhou City. After everyone sat down, Zhu Youdong spoke first: "I have come all the way from the train station, why don't I see any Star and Moon Temples?"
"Eh? I don't know what the emperor means by that. There are indeed some Xingyue followers in Lanzhou City, but the number does not exceed three thousand. There are Xingyue temples, but there are only two. And they are all in the west of the city. The emperor will come from the east, so he will not be able to see them."
"Oh, that's how it is." Zhu Youdong suddenly realized that in the 21st century, there are probably more Xingyue Temples in Lanzhou than in Yinchuan. He was thinking that since he was here, he would gather the imams in the city to talk about religious unity. Unexpectedly, at this moment...
"That, Wu Sangui."
"I am here."
"How many Xingyue Temples are there in Xinjiang?"
"Your Majesty, a lot."
"Well, then you can send a telegram to the Xinjiang Provincial Administration Commissioner for me later, saying that I will probably arrive in Xinjiang in late October. After I arrive there, I will meet with the famous imams there, so that the Xinjiang Provincial Administration Commissioner can make preparations in advance."
"Yes, I accept your order."
After arranging the religious matters first, he turned around and gave Liu Zongmin a meaningful smile: "Director Liu, I heard that your Lanzhou Iron Works can support the entire city. How is it? Is the pressure too great?"
"Your Majesty." The sturdy man stood up awkwardly. "This ironworks does not belong to me, but to Your Majesty and the Ming Dynasty. As for the pressure, I definitely have it. After all, our factory is now mainly responsible for providing rails for the Lanzhou-Xinjiang double-track railway. The quality of each section of rails must be guaranteed to be flawless. I have to do quality inspections myself every day, but... there are too many rails shipped out of the factory every day, so I can only do random inspections. Of course, there are no problems with the ones I have personally inspected, but what about those I have not inspected? Although the factory has arranged other quality inspectors, but..."
"Hahaha, ever since Mr. Xu became the Minister of Industry, the Ming Dynasty has restored the Qin Dynasty's system of 'marking the workers' names'. Every piece of rail must be marked with its batch number and the identity of the quality inspector. When there is a problem, we can follow the map and hold the person responsible."
"Your Majesty, although that is what I said, I am the factory director. As long as there is a problem with the rails, even if I am not the one who inspected them, I will still feel a great sense of responsibility."
"That can't be helped. There's a saying in the West that goes, 'If you want to wear the crown, you must bear its weight first.' You're the factory director, so of course you have the biggest responsibility. But I like your sense of responsibility. Tell me, besides worrying about product quality, what else are you worried about?"
"this……"
"What's wrong? Is it inconvenient for someone to talk here? Do you want me to kick these guys out?"
"Your Majesty." He Tengjiao beside him smiled bitterly and stood up: "It's mainly a problem with the quality of the coal produced by the coal mine. The governor and the iron factory have been arguing for a long time..."
"Well, looking for new coal mines in Longdong? That's a good idea. Who came up with it?"
"Your Majesty, this is Sun Kewang, the general affairs director of our steel plant."
"Who are you talking about? Sun Kewang? Where is his ancestral home? Mizhi, Shaanxi? Hahaha~ Interesting, very interesting. Um, He Tengjiao."
"I am here."
"I know that Gansu's agriculture and animal husbandry have suffered disasters year after year. I also understand your desire to protect small coal mines in the province in order to ensure employment for the people in the province. But since the coal from the original small coal mines has affected the quality of the rails, then, as the governor, shouldn't you also think about the problem from the perspective of the court?"
"Your Majesty, I have visited several coal mines in the province many times and asked them to improve the quality of coal. But... Your Majesty, these coal mines involve the jobs of nearly 100,000 people. If the ironworks does not use their coal, Director Liu will be able to sleep well, but I will not be able to sleep."
"Haven't I figured out a solution for you? There are many treasures underground in Gansu. The governor should organize several small coal mines in the province to form an exploration team and go to Longdong to look for them. I guarantee that there must be a large coal mine there. In addition, since I am here, I will give you another suggestion. Look carefully near Yumen Pass and at the foot of Qilian Mountain. The output of the oil fields there is no less than that of the oil fields in northern Shaanxi now. In addition, there is a large gold mine in Yangshan, Wen County, which is at the junction of Shaanxi, Gansu and Sichuan!"
"Ah? Your Majesty, are you serious? Oh, by the way, Your Majesty is the reincarnation of the blue dragon, so you are born knowing everything."
"Hey, what about the reincarnation of the Azure Dragon? If you are born knowing it, don't mention it. It's my fault. In recent years, the amount of gold and silver coming from South America is huge, and the country has already mastered the addresses of many large oil fields. So I forgot that Gansu also has mines."
Yes, the Yumen Oilfield in Gansu was mined in 1939. It is China's first oilfield and the birthplace of China's petroleum industry. The Yangshan Gold Mine in Wenxian County, Gansu, was discovered in the 1990s and became China's largest gold mine that year.
Of course, the Yumen Oilfield produced only 500,000 tons of gold a year at its peak, which is far behind the tens of millions of tons produced by Daqing in later generations. And the Yangshan Gold Mine, under the modern mining model, has produced only more than 300 tons of gold in more than 20 years, which is completely different from the gold mines in South America. However, these two mines, plus the high-quality coal fields underground in Longdong, are enough to feed Gansu today.
