Chapter 994: Layout of Beijun
Three months after the Shen Ce Guards set out, Luo Chong finally received their news. It took them more than a month to get there by boat, and another ten days to resume training there. After completing the reconnaissance, formulating a strategy, and formally attacking, it took three months to reply to the letter.
The letter was first sent to Luo Chong's home in Hanyang City, and then forwarded to the research institute in Xingang County by his family's personal guards. Luo Chong had been traveling between Xingang County and the comprehensive research institute on Huxin Island for more than two months, running back and forth, playing an important role as a guiding light for the engineering machinery project.
That afternoon, he received the northern war report forwarded by his personal guards, and he breathed a sigh of relief after reading it. Qubing really did not live up to his expectations. Luo Chong read his battle plan and reasons, as well as his analysis of the war form and various stages, and he was very impressed. Even
though the scale of this war was not large, it could only be carried out in the form of protracted war and guerrilla warfare, ambushing, and defeating a few hundred people at a time was a victory, and thousands of people were considered a major battle. Luo Chong didn't care much about this.
If the scale of the Battle of Takeshima was maintained, with nearly 20,000 people dispatched at a time, thousands of cavalry, and a large fleet, the war would last for several years. The Han tribe would definitely be dragged to collapse by such a large-scale war, but it was different in the north.
To deal with the cannibals, Luo Chong only dispatched one guard post, with a total of only 2,000 people. The more than 3,000 local militiamen were all locals. The Han tribe recruited them directly and did not have to pay them. Apart from the sacrifice of pensions, the tribe basically did not have to spend much money.
Not only that, the war against the cannibals in the north could also gain a lot of benefits. For example, in the past month or so, the three battalions of the Shen Ce Guard captured nearly 2,000 prisoners. Although not as many as those captured in one battle during the Battle of Takeshima, those captured in Takeshima were released back to be civilians. The Han tribe could not gain any benefits from them, but had to invest in their livelihood infrastructure.
However, the cannibal captives were different. Capturing one of these people was equivalent to earning a free labor force for free. The more they captured, the more they earned.
There are other resources. For example, in Qubing's report, they not only captured nearly a thousand prisoners of war, but also captured a large number of horned deer, yaks, and alpacas. These livestock are also real benefits.
So overall, the Han tribe not only did not lose money in the war against the cannibals in the north, but also made money all the time. As long as the river thaws in the spring of next year, the prisoners can be shipped back and thrown into the mines, and the return can be seen immediately.
The last thing is Qubing and Youye's analysis of the future after the war, which mainly revolves around the theme of whether to withdraw from the north in the future.
Qubing and Youye thought about it and decided to ask Luo Chong about this matter and let the leader decide. If the two of them act on their own and force Luo Chong to stay in the north, it is feasible, but these two people are not very brave. At least they are still afraid of Luo Chong, or in awe of him.
Qubing and Youye elaborated on their ideas in the letter, including the idea of operating specialty products in the future. The most important thing is that they both persuaded in the letter that the Han tribe had no reason to give up the territory that they had conquered with great difficulty. Moreover, if the camp in the north is well managed, it can make money without the material support from the rear. Under such circumstances, a full evacuation is a bit of a loss.
Full evacuation?
Luo Chong had never thought about this question before, but he agreed with Qubing and Youye's ideas. That is, why should we easily abandon the land that we have managed with great difficulty? It is not that we cannot support people.
However, the scale of the northern camp is indeed a bit small. Let's keep it. It is a bit far from the core area of the Han tribe. In addition, the transportation is inconvenient, which is not conducive to his rule.
It is quite convenient to go by water, but the winter there is too long. The river is frozen for at least four months a year, just like now. In other words, the Han tribe cannot carry out any military intervention in the northern camp during these four months.
It was good that the officials sent there were loyal to Luo Chong. Once the officials rebelled, the Han tribe would not be able to send troops. In four months, once the rebels controlled the entire north, he could train an army within four months. When the river thawed, the Han tribe would send troops to suppress the rebellion. Who knows whether they can win. Even if they win, it will be a waste of money and manpower. No matter how you calculate it, it will be a loss.
The waterway cannot be kept open all year round, so you have to find a way to go by land. At present, the Han tribe has not found a land route to the north. To be precise, it has not sent anyone to go there.
If you want to build a railway, it will undoubtedly be a major project at the level of a national artery.
The main development focus of the Han tribe in the next few decades will be in the south. Even if you build an artery, you must build it in the south first. After the initial formation of the southern railway network, you may consider the north. With
this calculation, Luo Chong may not see that day in
his life. No matter how you think about it, the north cannot make Luo Chong feel at ease.
And even if Luo Chong's generation is fine when he is alive, but when he dies, who knows whether the north will rebel after the Han tribe?
If you don't have the interests in the north at the beginning, then it doesn't matter if Luo Chong's descendants don't care about it. But if you have it at the beginning and then lose it, the nature is different. It is equivalent to losing the inheritance of your ancestors. You can't not take it back. But whether you fight or not, whether you can fight or win, it is a loss for the Han tribe.
For a while, Luo Chong was a little worried about this problem.
Qubing and Youye only thought about the problems in front of them, while Luo Chong was considering the problems in the next few decades or even hundreds of years. Now that he occupied the north, it would bury a hidden danger for future generations.
How to run a country like an iron barrel, the root is still in transportation, or Luo Chong's previous theory, if he has the ability to send hundreds of thousands of troops to any corner of the country within 24 hours, saying that he is rebelling is just a joke.
This is a bit exaggerated, but from the eight counties of Hanyang to the south, Luo Chong can really say that he can send troops whenever and wherever he wants, because the waterways in the south are unobstructed all year round, and the Han tribe has a large number of ships, so it is not difficult to do this.
But in the north, if someone takes advantage of the four months of frozen rivers in winter to rebel, by the time the central government sends troops to suppress the rebellion, it will be too late to make any efforts.
Just as Luo Chong was sitting in the room thinking hard, Lin Fei, director of the Power Research Institute, suddenly knocked on the door and walked in.
"Chief? A new rubber tire has been delivered, the same type used on tractors. We are installing it now, and we can test the whole vehicle in the afternoon. Would you like to come and take a look?"
Luo Chong was stunned when he heard this, as if he had thought of something, and then he immediately nodded and said, "Look, go and arrange it now, and call me for the test run in the afternoon."
"Yes." Lin Fei nodded and bowed and left.
After Lin Fei left, Luo Chong's eyes lit up in the room. Yes, although shipping has been blocked for four months and the railway cannot be built in a short time, land transportation is no problem. The Han tribe now has tractors, and they can quickly maneuver to the north by land. As long as they find a flat road that can pass the convoy, land transportation will not be much slower than shipping.
After figuring this out, Luo Chong was relieved. The reason why he was so entangled was that, to be honest, Luo Chong himself did not want to give up the north easily.
He didn't care much about the copper mines found in the north, but Luo Chong was reluctant to give up the asphalt lake. It was natural asphalt, the best thing for paving asphalt roads. At present, except for that asphalt lake, the Han tribe has not found another one in other places. This is the strategic value that Luo Chong is unwilling to give up.
But even so, the strategy for the north should be treated with caution.
Qu Bing proposed to develop a characteristic economy, which is no problem. Special livestock can be raised in large quantities, and grain must be grown. However, in order not to cause trouble for himself, Luo Chong is ready to limit the size of the northern population. Once it exceeds a standard, the excess population must be sent to the south.
Another issue is the appointment and removal of officials. Luo Chong is ready to train a group of officials locally, and then the central government will send some officials to form two forces, local and foreign. Then the officials sent by the central government will be replaced every three years, and the officials sent by the province will be familiar with the local officials. This is the so-called imperial technique, that is, the way of checks and balances.
By limiting the scale and factional checks and balances, Luo Chong can be assured of the north.
This is a short-term goal. In the long run, when the Han tribe develops well in the south and has a larger population, it is necessary to connect the territory in the middle with the north and south. When all the territories of the Han tribe are connected, there will be no more worries.
After making up his mind, Luo Chong wrote back to Qubing and Youye. Luo Chong expressed his affirmation and praise for the war in the north, Qubing's tactics, and Youye's active cooperation, and asked them to escort the captives back as soon as the waterway is unblocked.
Then it is about the future layout of the north.
Luo Chong's opinion is to retain one or two settlements and maintain the scale of a county. The total population cannot exceed 30,000. If there are more, they will migrate to the south, at least in the next 20 years.
In fact, this is very easy to do. The most harmonious way is to popularize education, educate the next generation of the northern county well, let them yearn for the capital of the empire, and provide them with jobs and opportunities. By then, the two will be compared. The north is cold and poor, and the south is warm and comfortable, with many job opportunities and a high standard of living. Even fools know to run to the south.
According to this routine, not only can we attract young people and various elites from Beijun to the south, but we can also naturally weaken the strength of Beijun.
Thinking of this, Luo Chong's thoughts became more and more fluent. He wrote a long letter with great enthusiasm, and also laid out the layout for the future of the north. After writing it, Luo Chong immediately asked his personal guards to send a letter to Qubing by flying eagle, and then waited to watch the tractor test run in the afternoon.
Steam-powered crawler hydraulic excavator, wheel loader, oscillating double-roller roller, large wheeled tractor.
This is a comprehensive engineering machinery project that was approved in the middle of the first year of Da Ming. More than four months have passed since the official approval of the project. The project has made significant progress. The most important point is that the hydraulic transmission system has been tackled, which is the biggest breakthrough.
The body and the like are not really a problem at all. The Han tribe already has experience in building trains. If the trains have been built, is it still a problem to build a frame for an engineering vehicle?
As for steam engines, Han tribe also has various improved versions. The Power Research Institute has spent several years to thoroughly understand the principles of steam engines. It is only a matter of time to improve new models according to requirements.
The difficulty of this project, the most critical technology, lies in hydraulic transmission.
Hydraulic piston pumps and hydraulic motors are the same thing, but the problem is whether they are used in the right or wrong way. This is a purely mechanical component. With the current mechanical processing technology of Han tribe, it is not difficult to make it. After all, there are steam machine tools now.
Then there are only two parts left, hydraulic oil and hydraulic oil pipeline.
These two sub-projects were developed by the comprehensive research institute on the lake island. The characteristics of hydraulic oil are heat and cold resistance, no solidification, no foaming, no oxidation, no corrosion to metal, but it has the function of lubricating and maintaining metal parts.
Under the suggestion of Luo Chong, the research institute used tung oil with protective effect as the main body, combined with a variety of vegetable oils. After a lot of experiments, it finally found the appropriate ratio of hydraulic oil, so the problem of hydraulic oil was solved.
The price is of course not cheap, but it is estimated that there are not many engineering vehicles, so Han tribe can afford it.
As for the oil pipeline, Luo Chong's idea was to use a metal hose to wrap a rubber hose structure to create a pressure-resistant oil pipeline. The rubber hose was not a problem, but the metal hose really made it difficult for everyone for a while. Finally, based on Luo Chong's experience, he made a pipe similar to the metal hose structure of tap water, which is the kind of pipe that is usually installed on the shower head, rather than the kind of hose woven from metal wire.
Such a pipe is definitely not as good as a metal braided pipe in terms of pressure resistance, but it is simple to process, which is why Luo Chong chose it.
At present, the Han tribe needs to solve the problem of creating something from scratch, rather than the problem of whether it is easy to use or durable. Based on the principle of getting things out first, Luo Chong chose this.
As a result, the three most critical components of the hydraulic system were pieced together.
With this hydraulic system, if the Han tribe's chemical industry level can keep up, then Luo Chong can even build a hydraulically buffered rapid-fire artillery, raising the level of artillery to a higher level. However, with the current ability of the Han tribe to produce gunpowder, he thought about it and decided to forget it, since it is not needed now anyway.
Today is the last day for the final assembly and test run of the tractor. The body, hydraulic transmission, and steam engine have all been solved. The last problem to be installed today is the rubber tire.
The giant rubber tire that is as tall as a person is really not easy to produce. The Han tribe is just beginning to explore it.
Another thing to note is that this first-generation tractor manufactured by the Han tribe does not have a steering wheel. Whether it is turning or driving, it must be done with several joysticks.
(End of this chapter)
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