External Institute of Scientific Research Department.

This place has been guarded by soldiers and no one is allowed to approach.

There has been no mention of steam locomotives in the official gazette so far, and ordinary people basically don't know about it.

When Zhu Ying came here.

The locomotive had been lifted onto the tracks.

Unlike the locomotives of later generations, the locomotives made today not only have a similar shape, but also incorporate many Chinese elements.

As for the appearance, there is no way to deal with the steam ironclad ship, otherwise the craftsmen have never been lacking in terms of sensory perception.

When Huang Guan learned that the crown prince was coming to visit, he was already waiting there.

"How is it? It works, right?"

Zhu Ying casually asked Huang Guan who was standing next to him.

Huang Guan bowed and said, "Reporting to the Grand Master, we have already tested it before and there will be no problems with its operation. This time, putting it on the track is also the final step. I am confident that there will be no problems."

Seeing Huang Guan's confidence, Zhu Ying smiled and nodded: "Let's get started."

This is the test track, with a total length of one kilometer, and trains will run back and forth.

As the officials shouted and nodded, the steam engine began to roar, and as the entire car body began to tremble, gradually, the rollers below began to move.

The entire train also slowly began to move forward.

However, just when everyone thought everything was going well, there were a few loud bangs and the engine suddenly stalled.

Huang Guanzhi's smug smile suddenly froze on his face.

"Please forgive me, Your Highness."

How cool he was just now, how embarrassed he felt now. Huang Guan knelt down and kowtowed immediately.

All the officials nearby knelt down and said, "Your Highness, please forgive me."

Zhu Ying waved his hands and said, "This kind of failure is just a common occurrence. How can it be a sin? Everyone, get up. Why are you still kneeling? Let's go and check what went wrong."

"Thank you, Grandson!"

Huang Guan and everyone else then stood up and bowed.

A group of officials from the Ministry of Industry rushed over to check it out.

Cold sweat broke out on Huang Guan's forehead.

When I was experimenting in the house before, even though there were some minor problems, they had all been solved. I had just sworn to the Crown Prince that nothing would happen, but now it suddenly stalled.

To be honest, this can be considered a crime of deceiving the emperor.

There is no way, the imperial power is so overbearing and unreasonable.

"Your Highness, what is this big tin can for? I don't see any horse pulling it, so how can it move?"

The mother and her two daughters who had been following behind obviously had no idea what a steam engine was.

Amira was bold and asked directly.

Aida, who was standing beside her, was so frightened that she quickly went to pull her daughter away.

Zhu Ying didn't care and explained, "This is called a train. I told you before that as long as I build this train, we can reach the Western Regions in a few days."

"The train is currently under testing and there is a minor problem. It's like a stomach upset. We can fix it later."

Aida felt relieved when she saw that the prince had no intention of blaming her.

The younger sister on the right, Ibaiti, also asked, "I don't think this is fast enough. Don't we have a carriage? It took us almost two months to get here from the Western Regions. How can we arrive in just a few days?"

Zhu Ying continued, "That's because it hasn't started running yet. When it does, its speed will be almost as fast as a horse on the grassland. The most important thing is that horses need to rest, but it doesn't."

"There are twelve hours in a day, and it will run at the highest speed a horse can. It will only take a few days to reach the Western Regions."

Yibaiti was still a little unconvinced: "How could it not need to rest? Wouldn't it be exhausted to death?"

Hearing this, Zhu Ying burst into laughter.

The few of them had been communicating in Turkic. Except for Huang Guan who could understand it, the other officials had no idea what the Crown Prince and the others were talking about.

Just seeing the Crown Prince laughing, everyone started laughing along.

Zhu Ying turned to look at Huang Guan: "Explain it to them."

Huang Guan heard this and bowed slightly to the mother and daughter, then said: "This thing is called a train, and it was made by the Ming Dynasty's Scientific Research Department. It is made of steel from head to toe."

"Inside this train, there is a huge furnace burning, which provides a constant source of power for the train to run. As long as the furnace is not extinguished and coal is continuously added, the train can continue to run."

"The flameout just now was due to some minor malfunction in the furnace. It will be operational again after it is repaired."

Huang Guan's Turkic is naturally not as fluent as Zhu Ying's.

However, he explained the principles of the train in a very simple way.

It is difficult for ordinary people who have never been exposed to a steam engine to understand it, but a furnace is easier to understand.

Besides, there is no word for steam engine in Turkic.

We have to create one now to realize it.

Compared with the perfection of Chinese characters, Turkic is very different.

"As long as the fire in the furnace is not extinguished, it will keep running, no matter it is day or night."

Queen Aida, who had been silent, murmured to herself.

As the queen of a country, even though Fox-Hu Kingdom was just a small country, Aida had been exposed to political and military affairs after all.

In the Western Regions, there is no such thing as the harem not interfering in politics, even the queen is not uncommon.

Therefore, Aida is very clear about how great an impact the appearance of this train will have.

If the soldiers could be transported on it and arrive in a few days, a new war would break out in the world.

With such powerful weapons, the Ming Dynasty would surely expand its territory.

What the queen saw in this was blood and fire.

Countless nations will surrender one by one to the Ming army.

At this time, officials from the Ministry of Works came to report.

The flameout problem has been detected. It is because there is debris blocking the steam engine pipes, which causes the flameout during startup.

In fact, as long as it is moving, the chance of stalling will generally become very small, because the high temperature will melt the residue at the same time.

"Regarding the issue of steam engines, we need to establish a special team of craftsmen to carry out repairs and maintenance."

"Whether it's a steam train, a steam ironclad ship, or any other steam machinery, wherever a steam engine is used, rules must be set."

"For example, before starting, what inspections should be carried out? List these inspection items one by one. Only after these inspections are completed can the steam engine be started."

"In the Research Department, a steam engine must be kept running all the time, and someone must record how long it takes for problems to occur. A certain time point must be guaranteed, and the steam engine must be inspected and maintained before this time point every time."

Zhu Ying casually explained some methods used by later generations.

People nowadays have not formed a stable concept about machinery. They think that once it is built, there will be no problems. In fact, the failure rate of machinery is very high.

Huang Guan immediately bowed and said: "Hearing your words, it is like a revelation. I still have many shortcomings in steam engine work. I hope you can give me more guidance in the future."

Not only Huang Guan, but also other officials and craftsmen were all very surprised.

In the eyes of officials, the Crown Prince often visited the Scientific Research Department, but in fact he only came once every seven or eight days or half a month.

However, the Crown Prince was very clear about steam engines and other aspects, and did not even need any introduction from officials. He knew more about them than the craftsmen who were personally involved in the manufacturing.

At this moment, in the hearts of Huang Guan and other officials and craftsmen, there was only one word to describe him: a true god.

Apart from this, they could not think of any other explanation.

"Okay, now that we've cleaned up, let's get started."

"As you command."

The second start-up began. Compared to their previous confidence, Huang Guan and his people were now much more nervous.

I was afraid that the flameout problem would occur again.

Fortunately, after cleaning up the debris, the steam engine started smoothly.

A rumbling sound was heard, and the locomotive began to gradually accelerate.

As power is supplied, the speed of the train becomes faster and faster.

From a brisk walk, to a trot, and then to a rapid gallop, the locomotive moved forward along the rails.

"It's getting faster and faster, faster than a galloping horse."

Amyra couldn't help but exclaimed loudly.

Although the officials and craftsmen from the Ministry of Works could not understand her Turkic language, the surprise in her tone was clearly revealed.

"Your Highness, I have accomplished your mission."

A full stick of incense had passed before Huang Guan bowed to Zhu Ying and spoke.

Zhu Ying nodded with satisfaction: "Very good, the advent of the train is a major event for our Ming Dynasty, with far-reaching impact. It will change the current situation in the world."

"From now on, we will immediately build a special train for our Ming Dynasty according to the existing standards. The court will set up a railway department to be responsible for train operation, loading and other matters."

"Mr. Huang, you will be in charge of this matter. Ask the Scientific Research Department to cooperate and immediately build a special train from the capital to Peking."

Huang Guan hurriedly bowed and said, "I will obey the order of the Crown Prince."

Zhu Ying nodded and then asked, "The railway track has already been built. Where does it lead to now? Has it reached the port on the Yangtze River?"

The railway that was being built from the capital naturally did not go along Zhengyang Avenue, as the population there was too dense and it was not suitable for construction.

The railway starts from the north gate of the imperial palace, from the direction of Xiaoling Mausoleum and Xuanwu Lake, all the way to Nanjing Port.

The road is not long, only about twenty miles.

There is enough steel in the capital to build this railway.

"Your Highness, the construction was completed yesterday." Huang Guan replied respectfully.

Zhu Ying was somewhat pleased and said, "The carriage has been built, right? I remember that a report was sent to you a few days ago. If that's the case, I'll ask the Imperial Astronomical Observatory to choose an auspicious day."

"When the time comes, Grandpa and all the officials of the court will ride on this train and experience it for themselves."

"That day, remember to do the maintenance work well. Don't let anything go wrong."

There are more than 20 steel mills around the capital today, which are specially set up for forging steel.

Zhu Ying had already made preparations for this section of railway in the capital. The ground had been compacted, sand and gravel had been piled up, and they were just waiting to lay the tracks.

So it doesn't take much time.

For a carpenter, making railroad tracks is not a difficult task. It is just a matter of changing from carpentry work to steel work. The principle is the same.

Huang Guan looked a little ugly.

Zhu Ying frowned, "Why, the carriages aren't ready yet, this shouldn't be a difficult task."

Huang Guan bowed his head and said, "According to your Highness's instructions, the nine carriages have already been completed."

Zhu Ying asked, "What's the problem?"

Huang Guan smiled bitterly and said, "We have done a test before, pulling a carriage together with the train."

"I didn't feel any other difficulties at first. Everything was running normally before, but the problem occurred when I parked the car."

"Because the locomotive is moving very fast, it takes a long time to slide to stop, and during this process, the carriages behind it can easily hit it."

"We only had one carriage at the time, but it almost caused a major problem. If there were nine carriages, I'm afraid the crowding would have caused people to fall down."

The main design plan for the train was proposed by Zhu Ying, who simply described it in the way that later generations did.

Hearing Huang Guan's words, I immediately thought of the hooks on trains in later generations.

However, Zhu Ying did not rush to explain, but asked: "Does the Research Department have any plan to solve this problem now?"

Huang Guan replied: "The method we have come up with is to directly link all the carriages together. Each carriage will use a brake device like the locomotive. When it is necessary to stop, they can brake together and stop steadily."

"If nine carriages are used to transport a large amount of goods, the speed of the entire train will become slower. Therefore, an official from the Ministry of Industry suggested that a steam engine could be added to the rear of the train to provide power for the entire train, which would make the train faster."

Zhu Ying was a little surprised.

He didn't expect that the Scientific Research Department's ideas were already very mature, and such a solution was almost like the high-speed rail of later generations.

Later high-speed trains had two locomotives, but they were not designed to provide power at the same time, but to rotate front and back.

Directly linking all the carriages together for forging also avoids the problem of traction devices between the carriages.

From this aspect, it has already been perfected.

"It's a good method, why don't you start doing it?" Zhu Ying asked.

Huang Guan bowed and said, "I have not yet reported this matter to the Crown Prince, so I dare not act privately."

The reason why the Ministry of Works has not done so yet is because this matter involves the Crown Prince.

After all, the idea of ​​building a separate carriage was proposed by the Crown Prince.

In a sense, the actions of the Research Department were tantamount to overturning the Crown Prince's decision, which was tantamount to disobeying the order.

Without the Crown Prince's order, which craftsman would dare to reform the plan set by the Crown Prince?

Zhu Ying thought for a moment and said, "For the trains in the capital, we can follow the method you proposed. For the carriages in other places, we can make a tractor in between to cushion the collision between the carriages."

"This method can also be used to cushion the impact of train movements for connected carriages."

Zhu Ying began to tell Huang Guan how the carriage hooks were made.

The hooks are made of steel and look like two fists, installed at both ends of the vehicle body. When the two "boxers" touch each other hard, they can easily separate and then hook together tightly.

This is the general plan of the train carriage traction device in later generations.

Zhu Ying's description was not very clear, mainly because the hook was not a single piece, but consisted of multiple parts, and it would take some time to try to make it.

The key is the movable hook, which can largely offset the pressure of the train's movement.

In the capital, you can use integrated trains, but in other places, it is not so convenient.

Huang Guan understood the prince's meaning very well, but he just didn't have any ideas for many things.

Zhu Ying only needs to provide a direction of thought and Huang Guan can create it.

The principle of hooking is not impossible to accomplish for carpenters.

"Can it be completed in half a month?" Zhu Ying asked.

Huang Guan immediately stated: "Please rest assured, Grandson, it will be completed."

Zhu Ying nodded.

By then, he would be able to take the old man on the train.

Thinking about it this way, I feel a little excited.

When trains are built everywhere in Ming Dynasty.

Travel will become a very hot topic.

In his previous life, Zhu Ying had only ridden on a green-skinned train when he was a child, but it was later replaced by a high-speed train.

I didn't expect that at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, I would be able to take a train again.