Steel Dynasty - Chapter 1088

[Chapter 1078 The Situation of the Empire]

Qingzhou.

Xiao Ming is reviewing the year-end summaries sent by various departments of the imperial court. Since the five-year plan was promulgated, the most important task at the end of the year is to verify the implementation of the five-year plan.

“Your Majesty, since the promulgation of the Five-Year Plan, twenty-six Shangzhou thermal power plants in Dengzhou, Youzhou, Jinzhou, Xuzhou, Jinling, Songjiang, Suzhou, Lin’an, Fuzhou, and Guangzhou have been completed, and the number of Shangzhou in the country has been completed. A total of one hundred and twenty-seven, it is not a problem to complete the construction of all Shangzhou thermal power plants within five years.”

Su Liangcai reported on the construction status of the thermal power plants on behalf of the Electric Power Department.

After a pause, he took the year-end report and continued reading: “In addition, the Electric Power Department has also made certain progress in hydropower generation this year. The Tuohe Dam under construction has designed a hydropower generation part, which will play an important role in the popularization of electricity. On the other hand, 80% of the people in Qingzhou now have access to electricity. The remaining 20% can only wait for the completion of the main line laying because they live in remote areas. As for factories, all factories in the industrial zone have already used them. The only regret is that the current power department is still in a state of loss, and only Qingzhou can break even. “

Xiao Ming also had a year-end summary presented by Su Liangcai. He nodded appreciatively, “Second. The one-year plan has been completed, which is very commendable. However, electric power is in its infancy, and the burden in the future is still very heavy. As for profitability, you don’t need to think about it for the time being. At present, electric power facilities are in the stage of intensive construction, and it is impossible to make a profit. Yes, the loss will be borne by the court.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Su Liangcai breathed a sigh of relief. He has passed this test and can have a good year this year.

What imperial officials fear most now is the year-end summary. If there is a problem in their department, they will not be in a good mood during the New Year.

Su Liangcai returned to his team, and Princess Pingyang came out according to the order.

Compared to her previous charm, Princess Pingyang is now more capable. She has been in charge of the Railway Department over the years, and the complicated affairs have given her a lot of temper.

“Your Majesty, as of the end of this year, the mileage of railways operated by the empire has reached 5,000 kilometers. The main lines from Yaksa in the north, Jinling in the south, Dengzhou in the east, and Chang’an in the west have all been completed. Now the Railway Department is building the main lines. After completing the construction of the railway network, the only regret now is that the north-south railway cannot be connected due to the obstruction of the Yangtze River,” Princess Pingyang said.

Xiao Ming nodded slightly, because he started in Qingzhou and unified the north first, so industrial construction was concentrated in the north, while the south was relatively backward.

But with the unification of the empire and the establishment of maritime hegemony, what the empire now needs are coastal trading ports, especially ports in the south.

In this way, opening up the north-south logistics is the current problem facing the empire.

However, although he missed the contemporary Yangtze River Bridge countless times, he understood that it was impossible to build this grand project with the current level of construction technology in the empire.

Therefore, under consideration, he decided to settle for the next best thing.

Thinking of this, he called Zhang Liang’s name. At this time, Zhang Liang stepped out and bowed: “Your Majesty.”

Xiao Ming asked: “How is the railway ferry that I asked your shipyard to study? At present, this is the only steam ferry A way for locomotives to cross the Yangtze River. “

When the train appeared and there was no bridge on the Yangtze River, the North-South Railway relied on this kind of railway ferry.

In contemporary times, as early as 1850, the United Kingdom was using train ferries in the Firth of Fawn, Scotland. Even now, more than 20 countries around the world are still using rail ferries.

In countries with many islands and no cross-sea bridges, this kind of railway ferry is even more necessary.

To put it simply, this railway ferry is actually a railway track built on a large ferry. The track on the ferry can be connected to the railway track. If a train wants to cross the river, it only needs to drive the train onto the track on the ferry. Can.

The train boarded the ferry, and then the ferry could carry the train across the sea and across the bridge. However, the prerequisite for building a train ferry was to master the technology of steamships.

Xiao Ming didn’t mention it before because he didn’t have this technology. Now that the armored ship technology is mature, there are no longer technical obstacles to building large train ferries.

“Back to the Emperor, the construction of train ferries is no less difficult than the armored ship King. Although I and others have mastered the construction technology of train ferries, it will take a year to build the first batch of train ferries. It is estimated that there will be no problem by this time next year. .” Zhang Liang bowed and said.

Princess Pingyang said in surprise: “Railway ferry, I didn’t expect there to be such a magical thing. If so, the construction of the railway in the south can be accelerated.”

“So, you don’t have to worry now.” Xiao Ming said with a smile.

Princess Pingyang said yes and turned back to the queue.

Xiao Ming did not let Zhang Liang go back, but continued to ask: “How is the current construction of the Imperial Shipyard?”

“Back to the Emperor, currently the large shipyards in Bisha City, Dengzhou, Jinling, Songjiangkou, Lin’an, Fuzhou, and Guangzhou have already Sixty percent has been completed, and a total of 42 can be put into production. All of these shipyards have the ability to build ironclads. In addition, according to the requirements, 65 small and medium-sized shipyards can be put into production by the end of this year, with the ability to build small and medium-sized ships. capabilities of commercial steam vessels,” Zhang Lianghui reports.

Xiao Ming is satisfied with this data. Now the empire basically has no enemies on land. The most important task at the moment is to control the global trade routes, because maritime power is extremely important.

For this reason, he allocated large sums of money to build shipyards and train shipbuilding talents.

“In this case, starting next year, the shipyard will be able to build commercial steamships to sell to the empire’s businessmen. The empire has invested a lot of money in the shipyard over the years, and it is time to get it back now,” Xiao Ming said.

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Zhang Liang responded.

After listening to the reports of three people in succession, Xiao Ming looked at Yang Chengye. He was in charge of the empire’s industry and commerce, factories, banks and other issues. Just ask him. There was no need to ask the various responsible persons separately.

Noticing Xiao Ming’s gaze, Yang Chengye walked out, holding a thick report in his hand.

Looking at the other ministers slightly apologetically, he said: “My report may be a little long, so I will try to be as quick as possible.”

Clearing his throat, he said: “At present, Qingzhou Bank has officially changed its name to Imperial Central Bank, Imperial Central Bank The functions of the Bank have also been clarified. From now on, all banks in the empire will be subject to the jurisdiction of the Imperial Central Bank.”

(End of this chapter)