nucmednet Chapter 503 Dual-Use Military and Civilian Rail
Chapter 503 Dual-Use Military and Civilian Rail
Cheng Li, the Right Vice Minister of War and head of the negotiation team, exclaimed, "Earl of Pingnan, the court is truly sincere. We even brought the official document from the Ministry of War appointing the General. Your cousin can go to Shandong to take up his post immediately. In all my years in the Ministry of War, I have never seen an appointment process completed so quickly."
Liu Ye understood his implication: the court had shown sincerity, and the Earl of Pingnan should also show sincerity. He immediately made a decision: "Lord Cheng, there's no need to say more, I understand. I have already ordered someone to retrieve the silver from Qiongzhou while you are returning to the capital, and the transaction can be completed today."
Cheng Li was overjoyed. With the money in hand, he could now complete his task of "begging for alms."
Liu Ye was also very happy. Before he took control of the maritime trade, a mere 200,000 taels of silver was a year's total income and could be considered a huge sum of money. But now it was just a drop in the bucket for him. He didn't even need to transfer it from Lingao. He could just take a portion of the spoils from defeating the Gao-Zhang allied forces. Such a small amount of silver saved him from the mission to fight in the northwest and the position of the general of Dengzhou. It was well worth it.
A few days later, the "Far Voyage" also brought Liang Xiaoming from Lingao.
After not seeing each other for several months, Liang Xiaoming didn't have time to exchange pleasantries with Liu Ye. Instead, he complained, "Why did you call me all the way from Lingao in such a hurry? I have so many things to do!"
Liu Ye's eyes lit up. Whenever Liang Erdang was involved in something, it usually meant there was some new technological advancement, but he didn't know if it was for civilian or military use this time. He asked curiously, "Did you come up with some new gadget?"
Liang Xiaoming looked at him smugly: "I'm afraid I'll disappoint you. It's not something the military uses. It's a railcar that I and the students of the intermediate class at Baicao Academy have put together. When you sent someone to Lingao to find me, I was planning the entire Lingao urban rail transit system. I intend to use this as the city's light rail in this time and space, as a public transportation tool, to enhance Lingao's urban image."
Liu Ye was somewhat surprised: "So you've been working on this all this time? What kind of horses are you using? How many people or goods can you transport at once? We can't produce stainless steel right now, so what if the iron tracks rust?"
Liang Xiaoming replied approvingly, "I didn't realize you were so professional; you asked the right question. The current prototype is a four-wheeled vehicle about 5-7 meters long, with a full load of about 10-14 people. We're currently using Yunnan horses, purchased from Yunnan province, as the traction horses. Yunnan horses are characterized by their short stature, robust physique, hardiness, and ability to carry heavy loads over long distances. They're not suitable as warhorses, but they're a good choice for pulling four-wheeled carriages. Normally, two or three Yunnan horses would definitely not be able to pull a carriage fully loaded with about 10 people on other roads, but with the tracks, the load capacity can be increased to about twice, and one horse can pull it, although the speed is a bit slower."
"As for rust..." Liang Xiaoming explained, "That's not a problem. Even modern railway tracks will rust from sun and rain. However, as long as there are frequent trains, the running surface will be polished, so the side that the wheels have been running over won't rust, and rust underneath won't affect the passage of vehicles. High-speed trains aren't afraid of the tracks rusting, so our snail-paced horse-drawn carriages are even less afraid."
Even though railway tracks are commonplace in modern times, Liu Ye had never paid attention to the problem of rusted tracks. Returning to ancient times was a good opportunity to learn more. He happily said, "Since it won't have any impact, then there's no problem. I'm really looking forward to returning to Lingao and seeing these horse-drawn carriages. With bamboo-reinforced cement buildings, a complete drainage system, and public rail transit, the people of Lingao would definitely be the happiest people in the entire Ming Dynasty."
"This is one of the reasons I built this wagon. In addition to civilian use, it can also transport strategic materials to the docks at a much faster speed during wartime, which is much more efficient than carrying them by hand."
Liu Ye was overjoyed and said, "I hadn't thought of that. It can be used for both military and civilian purposes. That's great!"
"Actually, there's another problem you've overlooked, which is precisely the problem that my students and I have pondered the longest," Liang Xiaoming said. "If the track is to be easy to maintain, it must be laid in sections, with sleepers underneath. But this makes it uneven, causing horses to step on it unevenly, and they are also prone to tripping over the sleepers..."
“Yes! Sleepers aren’t an obstacle for a train, but they’re a nightmare for a horse.” Liu Ye frowned. “So how do we solve this?”
“I vaguely remember that in the 18th century, the solution was to sprinkle fine soil between the sleepers to fill the gaps. However, this method had many drawbacks. First, it required daily maintenance to fill in the craters left by horses' hooves, which was extremely tedious. Second, the road surface would revert to its original state of being ‘dusty in sunny weather and muddy in rainy weather,’ wasting all the effort we put into building the cement surface.” Liang Xiaoming gestured as he explained, “Later, a student named Su Erdi made a suggestion. He said that since the protruding rails were inconvenient, why not sink the rails? This gave me inspiration, so I designed an embedded concave rail, removing the sleepers and embedding the rails directly into the cement road surface. This way, the aforementioned problems would not exist.”
"But without sleepers, as you said, it will be inconvenient to maintain and replace the rails, right?"
"It's alright. The speed and load capacity of a horse-drawn carriage and a train are incomparable. Even if the rails are damaged or deformed, and even if it causes a derailment, it won't cause major casualties. It can be repaired and used as is. At worst, it can all be replaced in three to five years!"
Liu Ye nodded. "I'll leave all of this to you. I have complete faith in you. But the reason I brought you all the way from Lingao today isn't to hear you explain railway knowledge; it's to give you an official position."
Liang Xiaoming was stunned. He scratched the back of his head and asked in confusion, "Me, an official? Even if you gave me an official position, I couldn't handle it."
Liu Ye laughed and said, "I'll just give you the title, you won't have to do any work. Besides, you'll be the General of Dengzhou, a military officer from Shandong. I remember you're from Shandong, so this is like returning home in glory in another timeline. After all, I'm already the General of Qionghai Town, and during my time in Nanjing, I was also granted an earldom by Emperor Chongzhen. I can't possibly hold the positions of General in both the north and south at the same time, can I?"
"Just a figurehead with no real power? That's more like it. You want me to excel at technical research, but I'm not cut out for being an official." As he spoke, Liang Xiaoming suddenly realized, "Holy crap, you said you were granted a title? When did that happen?"
Liu Ye laughed and said, "It's a long story. Let's have a couple of drinks tonight and I'll tell you the details. To put it simply, I got into a fight with the eunuch in charge of the garrison in Nanjing, which shocked Emperor Chongzhen, and that's how I got this earldom."