amaotonovel Chapter 780 This damn official, I don't even want to be a single day of him anymore!
Chapter 780 This damn official, I don't even want to be a single day of him anymore!
Zhu Biao stared intently at Yang Shaofeng and said, "Brother-in-law, even without a treasure ship, there are other ships capable of sailing the open sea."
"The warships had no cannons, but they had catapults and bows and arrows."
"From the Ming Dynasty to Japan, it's possible to cross the border even by crossing a bathtub."
"Destroying Japan is far easier than imagined."
"But the steam engine is different."
"This thing can be used on cars, on ships, on textile machines, and on water presses."
"Such a powerful tool is the future of the Ming Dynasty and the future of all of China. No matter how much cost, how much money, or how many people are involved, the steam engine must be developed as soon as possible."
"Moreover, we must prevent the technology of steam engines from leaking out of the country, no matter what."
At this point, Zhu Biao's tone became somewhat heavy again: "The Hu Yuan dynasty has already lost enough books and technologies. Our Great Ming must avoid this no matter what, unless we have more advanced and better technology."
"..."
Zhu Biao spoke very seriously.
Yang Shaofeng was completely bewildered.
Is this fucking right?
This is really good!
You, a prince from a feudal agrarian era, are here discussing with me the advanced nature of industrial technology and the necessity of keeping it secret. Who the hell is the time traveler here?
Should I, as an official, utter the phrase "Heavenly King covers the Earth Tiger"?
Yang Shaofeng inwardly groaned, but on the outside he smiled and said, "Your Highness, please rest assured, the development of the steam engine is progressing steadily, and we expect to have a small steam engine that can be used in water presses by the end of the year."
"As for the large steam engines used in steam locomotives, they should be ready by this time next year."
"Compared to these, there are a few other problems that are more troublesome."
Zhu Biao was slightly taken aback, and quickly asked, "What's the problem?"
Yang Shaofeng said with a smile, "First, the railway."
"Because steam engines can pull relatively heavy loads at a time, railways must use high-quality steel to make the rails."
"This involves the quality of the iron ore, the technology of steelmaking, and the forging technology of the rails."
"Secondly, the planning and construction of railway lines."
"This involves more than a dozen provincial administration offices, hundreds of prefectures, thousands of counties, and countless villages."
"The geology varies from place to place, and whether a railway can be built can only be determined after a special survey."
"Then it involved occupying people's houses and farmland, as well as a whole host of other things like opening up mountains and building bridges."
"Especially the part involving opening up mountains and building bridges requires an uncountable number of laborers."
"Even if..."
Before Yang Shaofeng could finish speaking, Zhu Biao interrupted with a dark face, saying, "Even if you turned all the short and ugly people in Japan into laborers, it still wouldn't be enough, right?"
"Besides the shortage of laborers, we may need to establish specialized disciplines or even colleges at the University of Denzhou, firstly to further explore the potential of the steam engine, and secondly to research something even better than the steam engine."
"Then, we need to organize people to compile specialized teaching materials and train more craftsmen who understand steam engines."
"Then, steam locomotive stations will be set up in most of the provincial administration offices or prefectures and counties, which will require a large number of people."
"In the end, Ningyang County and Dengzhou Prefecture are short-handed, and I need to find a solution."
Is that how it is?
Yang Shaofeng chuckled twice, "Congratulations, Your Highness, you've even learned to answer first!"
Zhu Biao rolled his eyes in annoyance.
These problems were also calculated by Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen, along with the heads of the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Works, the Ministry of Transportation, and even the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Personnel, and the Ministry of Justice.
However, the calculations showed that there was absolutely nothing that could be done, and all they could do was stare helplessly.
Because the total population of the Ming Dynasty is only around 70 million, but what the Ming Dynasty needs to do now is far more than just a railway.
Simply put, mining requires people, dredging waterways requires people, building reservoirs and canals requires people, and building roads and bridges also requires people.
In a world where people are needed everywhere, we must also ensure agricultural production.
Seventy million?
Even if we had two more 70 million people, it wouldn't be enough.
As for the idea of importing Koreans, monkeys, and other laborers, it seems simple and feasible, but in reality it is not realistic at all.
Because the imported laborers need to earn wages, eat, and wear clothes, these obvious expenses are already astronomical.
Not to mention that the Ming Dynasty also needed to rely on the grain from its various vassal states to ensure its food security.
This kind of demand hidden beneath the surface is the most unsolvable problem.
Zhu Biao's head throbbed with worry as he thought about it. After a long while, he sighed and said, "Let's take it slow. I guess my father is discussing this matter with the Duke of Han and the Earl of Chengyi."
What if they can come up with a solution?
……
There is no way to do it.
Li Shanchang immediately took off his hat, scratched the back of his head, and said with a look of despair, "I cannot conjure up enough manpower."
"Even if we let Xu Da and Chang Heizi capture all the Hu people on the grasslands, and let Yu Tongyuan capture all the short and ugly people in Japan to do hard labor, we still wouldn't have enough manpower."
"The Ministry of Works' Water Conservancy Department has already calculated that even without the bridge construction and river dredging, just completing the construction of reservoirs and canals will require the people to work continuously for ten or even twenty years."
"If we also consider mining and steel smelting, I'm afraid even another twenty years wouldn't be enough."
"To shorten the time to five years, or even ten years, we would need more than 500 million or even 100 million people."
"Therefore, the only solution to these problems right now is to prioritize them, then put them into order, and use time to make progress, pushing forward little by little."
You don't know until you calculate it, and then you're shocked by the results.
Before formulating the new five-year plan and the recently proposed centennial plan, Li Shanchang was very optimistic, thinking that as long as a plan was formulated, it would be fine to gradually move forward.
However, after the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Works and other government departments made calculations, Li Shanchang discovered in despair that the Ming Dynasty simply did not have enough manpower available.
Damn it, that bastard Yang the Madman talks about workshops all the time, and steam engines and railways all the time.
Now look what's happened! He just packed up and went to Ningyang County, leaving behind a huge mess for me to clean up.
That damn prime minister has really done too much!
Minister of Personnel Li Xin also looked utterly desperate: "Your Excellency, what you just said was only that there weren't enough people, but you didn't mention the shortage of officials, clerks, and servants at all."
“Take that train station for example. Even if each station requires ten people, and there are only ten stations on a line, that's still a shortfall of a hundred people.”
"There's also the reform of the post stations proposed by the Ministry of War, which involves even more personnel changes."
I don't want to be that damn Minister anymore!
Otherwise, we should persuade the higher-ups to call Yang the Madman back and let him become the Minister of Personnel.