Chongzhen Chat Group

Emperor Chongzhen did not think about asking his ministers to answer, and said with a little pride: "Actually, dear friends, some of you should have thought of it. Yes, it is a car driven by a steam engine. I call this a train. After all, it is powered by fire. car!"

Having said this, he stood up, glanced at the ministers, and waved his hand: "Let's go, I will take you to see this new type of transportation. Haha, don't underestimate it. This can bring about earth-shaking changes to the Ming Dynasty." ."

After finishing speaking, Emperor Chongzhen walked on his own, leading a group of ministers, out of the door of Wenhua Hall and walked back in a mighty manner without sitting down.

Although these high-ranking officials of the Ming Dynasty followed Emperor Chongzhen, they did not walk silently like the maids in the palace. They walked together in twos and threes, whispering about it.

For these ministers, it is a recognized fact that no one can compare with Xu Guangqi, the Minister of Civil Affairs, in terms of the level of scientific and technological knowledge. Therefore, several people came to Xu Guangqi's side.

The assistant minister Xue Guoguan asked in a low voice: "Xu Shangshu, the train the emperor mentioned is a steam carriage?"

When he said this, he felt a little sure, otherwise he would not be embarrassed to ask this, but directly asked what kind of train it was!

"Yes, according to what Your Majesty said, it was the steam engine that replaced the horse pulling the carriage, and it wasn't just a steam carriage!" Shen Yongmao, the Minister of War, was also very interested and chimed in.

Xu Guangqi nodded after hearing this, and when he saw all his colleagues looking at him, he replied: "There is not a big lake in the Forbidden City where a steam ship can run. Besides, His Majesty has already said that the car is driven by a steam engine. I guess This is the steam carriage that Mr. Xue Ge mentioned!"

After hearing the "authoritative" explanation, all the ministers turned to look at Emperor Chongzhen who was walking in front of him. Some of them were a little puzzled. The assistant minister Zhang Zhi asked Xu Guangqi: "Xu Shangshu, this steam carriage, no, this What is so special about the train that His Majesty can say that it will bring about earth-shaking changes to the Ming Dynasty?"

"Yes, if only steam engines replace horses, it seems that the cost of maintaining a car is very high. And think about it again, will everyone go to court in steam carriages when I wait for the next time? Then this street..." Shen Yong After hearing this, Mao frowned and said this, a little afraid to think about it anymore.

If what the emperor said about bringing earth-shaking changes to the Ming Dynasty, he meant that in the future, the streets of the Ming Dynasty would be filled with steam carriages like this. One steam engine would be noisy enough, but if there were so many of them on the streets, wouldn't it be "bang"? "Bang bang" is the sound of steam engines all over the place? And there will be smoke, and the capital will become a foggy city by then!

However, there are some convenient places. There will no longer be livestock pooping on the street, and it will be cleaner. You don’t even have to worry about whether you have enough coal with you. There are so many steam carriages anyway. If there are no more coals on the road, it’s not a big deal to find other steam carriages to appropriate a few pieces of coal...

Thinking of this, Shen Yongmao trembled all over, as if the advantages of this steam carriage were negligible compared to the disadvantages. Can this alone bring about earth-shaking changes to the Ming Dynasty?

Shen Yongmao thought of it, and so did the other ministers. They looked at each other and could see the confusion and helplessness in each other's eyes. The emperor seems to have praised this kind of steam carriage to the sky. This...

Later, should I compliment the emperor and say that this steam carriage is good, or should I tell you the truth and don’t build such a steam carriage!

But now is the time when the emperor is vigorously promoting scientific and technological knowledge. If anyone dares to go against this trend, can he still be an official?

Thinking like this, some people turned their eyes to the front, looking at the first assistant and the second assistant. This important task of admonition should be shouldered by the two heads of officials, right?

Either Xue Guoguan has a straightforward temperament and says whatever comes to mind, or he was recommended by Wen Tiren and has a better relationship. He walked a few steps quickly, came to the side behind Wen Tiren, and whispered: "Master Chief Assistant, don't you think that this steam carriage seems... It seems to be a waste of people and money, and it seems to be far less useful than an ordinary carriage!"

Seeing Wen Tiren looking sideways, Xue Guoguan glanced at Emperor Chongzhen in front of him and whispered about the shortcomings of the steam carriage.

In fact, Wen Tiren himself knew it without him having to say it. He frowned and said nothing, but just walked behind Emperor Chongzhen. Sun Chengzong on the side also frowned and was also listening.

On the other hand, Cao Huachun, the eunuch in charge of the ceremony, and the eunuch Bingbi, the eunuch behind him, turned their heads to look at them one by one, with some inexplicable expressions on their faces, as if they were a little disdainful, or maybe It feels a bit like city people looking at country bumpkins.

Although they did not speak, their expressions were noticed by many civil servants. At this time, those civil servants were puzzled.

Logically speaking, civil servants would have a natural sense of superiority over these men with missing parts. The expressions on the faces of these eunuchs now should be what they have, right? They were not stupid either. They could see that it was probably the matter with the steam carriage that made these eunuchs look down on their own civil servants.

I turned around and thought about it carefully, but I didn’t find anything wrong with my idea of ​​a steam carriage! As a result, they became even more depressed. What went wrong?

Wen Tiren didn't speak, just listened. He also saw the expressions of Cao Huachun and other eunuchs, and was thinking about it in his heart. When Xue Guoguan finished speaking, he looked at him eagerly, waiting for him to take an attitude. Wen Tiren looked up at Emperor Chongzhen who was walking in front of him.

He didn't believe that the emperor didn't hear Xue Guoguan's words. Although he whispered, he was not far away! But the emperor was indifferent and walked as if he didn't hear anything. This seemed to be an attitude.

Thinking of this, Wen Tiren showed a serious expression based on his understanding of Emperor Chongzhen. He raised his voice slightly to ensure that Emperor Chongzhen could hear him, and heard him say to Xue Guoguan: "You are also a minister of the Ming Dynasty, aren't you? Knowing anything has a step-by-step process. Especially the application of scientific and technological knowledge is reflected in this steam engine! Although steam carriages still have many shortcomings, as long as they continue to improve, they will always be better. One day, this steam carriage will be better than an ordinary carriage..."

When he said this, he paid attention to Cao Huachun, who was walking in the same row with him. Seeing his expressionless look, he glanced back and found several eunuchs showing signs of surprise.

In this way, he understood clearly and knew that he should be right. So, he continued to teach Xue Guoguan: "As a minister of the Ming Dynasty, your vision cannot be limited to the present. This steam carriage has brought earth-shaking changes to the Ming Dynasty. That refers to the future, after improvement. Now, what we should do, Just uphold the holy will and work hard to improve the steam carriage..."

Other civil servants were also listening. They did not expect that the steam carriage that had become the future for the chief minister would bring about earth-shaking changes to the Ming Dynasty. But what the emperor said just now did not seem to say that it was the future. Is it after improvements?

The first assistant admitted that today's steam carriages are a bit unusable, but they did not talk about this shortcoming, nor did they deny it, but they talked about the future!

It’s no wonder, the first assistant is the first assistant, it seems that it’s better to learn a little bit!

Sun Chengzong, the second assistant who had been silent all this time, was a little disdainful. There were some things that he said one thing and another, but he couldn't take care of the emperor's face and do Tai Chi. As he walked silently, he had already made up his mind. He would remonstrate after a while. If the steam carriage continued to improve, it would be better. However, if he wanted to promote it on a large scale unrealistically, it would bring about a huge impact on the Ming Dynasty. The earth is changing, even if you don’t want it!

After talking, thinking, and walking, all the officials stopped talking.

When the palace maids and chamberlains along the way saw Emperor Chongzhen leading these scarlet-robed officials to the Imperial Garden, they all saluted with a very special expression. Just like a child, when he finds something interesting, he secretly places it in front of his elders, waiting for the elders to look surprised when they discover it.

Finally, when he arrived at the entrance of the Imperial Garden, Emperor Chongzhen stopped and exercised for a while. His spirits improved a lot. Looking at the courtiers who also stopped, he said with a smile: "My dear friends, I want to open your eyes, this train can bring about earth-shaking changes to the Ming Dynasty, I am definitely not being alarmist!"

Having said this, he glanced at Wen Tiren again, and then said with a smile: "If this train hadn't been improved, I wouldn't have been able to use it. Now that you all have a look at it, it can be promoted and bring about earth-shaking changes to the Ming Dynasty." has changed!"

Having said this, Emperor Chongzhen turned around and strode into the imperial garden.

Those dead eunuchs basically glanced at the queue of civil servants, and then followed them one by one with a superior look.

On the contrary, the civil servants were stunned. Because what the emperor just said seems to be different from the result they thought! However, when they thought about it carefully, they couldn't understand how this steam carriage would bring about earth-shaking changes in the Ming Dynasty. Is it such an exaggeration?

If you don’t understand it, you won’t think about it. In fact, there was no time. The emperor had already entered. They couldn't stay at the entrance of the imperial garden thinking about things.

The civil servants headed by Wen Tiren just entered the imperial garden and looked up. In front of the emperor, there was a huge thing. It was completely different from the steam carriage they thought.

Just by looking at it, they all knew that they were probably wrong. No matter how much I thought about it, I never expected that this steam carriage, no, no, it was a train, could be so long!

When Emperor Chongzhen saw all his ministers coming in, he ordered several guards who were already waiting: "Light the fire and get ready to start!"

Then he turned to look at the courtiers who were staring at the train, and introduced them to them with great interest: "My dear friends, you should have been able to see that this train is not just a carriage and a carriage. As long as the power of the steam engine is sufficient, it can Just pull as many carriages as you can!”

At this point, Emperor Chongzhen pointed to the ground and said: "Look here, gentlemen, this train is sliding on this rail. This reduces frictional resistance as much as possible and allows the same power to pull as many carriages as possible. , and the train will move very smoothly on this rail. To be precise, the train actually consists of two parts, one is the locomotive, and the other is the rail. Without further ado, all the gentlemen, please get on the train and experience it first. This train!"

The carriages of this train are not closed, but are for sightseeing. Emperor Chongzhen put the first experimental train in the Imperial Garden for a purpose. A lot of wives at home could pull the train around in circles in the Imperial Garden to add an entertainment program.

But at this time, it was Emperor Chongzhen who got on the train first, followed closely by Cao Huachun and others. After the civil servants recovered from their surprise, they all followed and got on the train one by one.

With so many people, they only occupied one carriage, and there were three carriages hanging behind them, all of which were empty.

After a while, the train started moving, not very fast, slowly moving along the pre-paved rails in the Imperial Garden.

On the train, Emperor Chongzhen looked at these ancient people with a smile and said nothing. And none of these Ming Dynasty's highest-level officials said anything, just experiencing the feeling of riding a train.

After completing one lap, the train slowly stopped near the entrance of the Royal Garden.

I don't know when, hundreds of servants were already standing at the door. Many civil servants were a little confused. Could it be that so many people were called to carry the train?

Emperor Chongzhen waited for the train to stop, and then said to his courtiers with a smile: "My lords, how about one more lap?"

After he finished speaking, without waiting for his ministers to reply, he waved his hand and all the servants boarded the empty carriage at the back. They don't have the preferential treatment from these ministers. They squeeze one by one and squeeze into one carriage before moving on to the next carriage. So hundreds of chambermaids were finally packed into the carriage.

Then, the train started moving again, still slowly and steadily. Many courtiers saw this with surprise on their faces. They turned to look at the carriage behind them, silently estimating how many people this train could pull at one time!

At this time, many of them already understood why the emperor said that this train could bring about earth-shaking changes to the Ming Dynasty!

Sun Chengzong wiped the sweat in his heart. It was a good thing that he didn't speak, otherwise he would be slapped in the face! Thinking like this, he looked at Wen Tiren and found that he didn't even have a trace of blush. When he turned to look at Xue Guoguan and others, he finally found signs of blushing.

In fact, Wen Tiren's face was not red, but his heart was red. At this time, he finally understood why those dead eunuchs had such expressions when they listened to his words. Fortunately, I was smarter and didn't give any advice. The same goes for Xue Guoguan, who was almost fooled by this guy!