Chapter 770: Railways Crisscross

On the official road from Tang Mountain Mine to Compliance and Transformation Iron Factory, dust rose.

It was not dust kicked up by horses and carts.

The entire road had been dug up, exposing the soil, which turned to powder in the dry autumn air.

Five thousand laborers were toiling in this ditch, fifteen li long.

They chanted work songs, driving heavy pine sleepers sheathed in iron into the compacted foundation.

On the sleepers, artisans of the Engineer Battalion were aligning two parallel tracks that gleamed with a dark luster.

That was not ordinary rail.

In the center of the rail surface, a finger-wide strip of strange iron was inlaid.

"Section Seven, horizontal error exceeds three parts!"

The supervisor shouted hoarsely.

"Adjust! It must be within one part! Otherwise the vehicle will tip when it runs!"

The artisans, sweat pouring down their faces, adjusted the shims.

Hoofbeats came from afar.

Zhu Yuanzhang (Zhu Yue) reined in his horse and gazed at the chaotic, vast worksite before him.

Liu Ji followed behind him, holding a thick engineering diagram.

"Your Majesty, this is the first experimental track."

"It is fifteen and three-tenths li long, connecting Tang Mountain Mine Shaft No. 3 to the east gate of Compliance and Transformation Iron Factory."

"Designed load capacity: it can transport thirty thousand catties of ore or twenty thousand catties of pig iron in a single trip."

Zhu Yuanzhang dismounted and walked to the track.

He crouched, his finger brushing the cold strange iron.

"Why embed strange iron?"

"Your Majesty, the Investigation of Things Institute has calculated that ordinary steel rails deform easily under heavy load and suffer huge friction loss."

"With the addition of strange iron, the rail's hardness triples and wear resistance increases fivefold. More importantly…"

Liu Ji also crouched, pointing at the fine pattern on the surface of the strange iron.

"These are potential-energy guiding lines. If we succeed in developing a potential-energy-driven locomotive, the track itself can serve as an energy transmission conduit."

Zhu Yuanzhang rose and gazed toward the end of the track.

There, the tall smokestack of Compliance and Transformation Iron Factory belched black smoke.

"How much longer will the project take?"

"Originally scheduled for three months, but now…"

Liu Ji gave a wry smile.

"The sleeper supply can't keep up, with only a sixty percent pass rate. Rail forging is also slow, and refining the strange iron is labor‑intensive."

"For the fifteen‑li stretch, after two months we've laid only ten li."

"The front lines can't wait three months."

Zhu Yuanzhang cut him off.

"You've seen the military report from Brocade Prefecture. Bone Demons are appearing ever more frequently, and Digging Beasts are beginning to move in packs."

"Xu Da needs ammunition, arrows, and new spearheads."

"Without iron, nothing can be made."

He turned and looked at the laborers on the worksite, their faces covered in dust.

"Convey my decree."

"Effective today, all laborers participating in track laying will receive double rations and a thirty percent wage increase."

"For each day an artisan finishes early, award five taels of silver."

"Moreover——"

His gaze swept over the forests on the distant hills.

"Requisition all pine and cypress trees over a hundred years old within the Directly Ruled territory."

"Regardless of whose land it is, or whether it is an imperial estate, seize it all."

"The Imperial Court will compensate at market price; any objections can be addressed after the war."

Liu Ji opened his mouth, but ultimately said nothing, merely bowing deeply.

"I obey your order."

Ten days later.

Tang Mountain Mine.

On a makeshift high platform, Zhu Yuanzhang, Liu Ji, officials of the Ministry of Works, and heads of the Investigation of Things Institute gathered.

Everyone stared at the mine shaft's mouth in the distance.

There, a huge, black, centipede‑like object lay still on the track.

That was the first experimental mine cart.

No, it should now be called a "locomotive".

The vehicle is five zhang tall and eight chi wide, supported by thirty‑six pairs of iron wheels.

At the front, the "Vast Martial Model One Steam Engine" transported from Dragon Spring Mountain, after modification, has an enlarged boiler and two cylinders.

Its thick smokestack already puffs thin black smoke.

"Pressure is up to standard!"

The stoker poked his head out from the front and shouted.

"Connecting rod in place!"

"Brake check complete!"

Zhu Yuanzhang raised his hand.

"Depart."

The order was passed down.

The stoker violently opened the steam valve.

"Hiss—"

White high-pressure steam spewed out.

The piston began to move.

The connecting rod drove the crankshaft.

The crankshaft drove the first pair of driving wheels.

The wheels moved.

Slowly, with a piercing metallic friction sound, it began to rotate.

Then the second pair, the third pair…

The whole train emitted a thunderous roar, slowly moving forward.

Speed kept increasing.

The wheels rolled over the track joints, producing a rhythmic "clang" sound.

The ten ore cars being pulled behind also started moving.

Fully loaded with iron ore just mined.

"It succeeded…"

Liu Ji murmured.

The officials of the Ministry of Works were excited, grabbing each other's arms.

But Zhu Yuanzhang's expression did not relax.

His eyes stared fixedly at the track.

Staring at the point where the wheel contacts the rail.

There, sparks flew in all directions.

Not normal friction sparks.

It is a kind of energy discharge phenomenon produced between the strange-iron strip under heavy pressure and the wheel rim similarly mixed with strange-iron powder.

Tiny, azure-colored electric arcs flash each time the wheels roll.

Although weak, it indeed exists.

"Stop!"

Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly shouted.

"Your Majesty?"

Liu Ji was startled.

But the order had already been passed down.

The stoker hurriedly closed the steam valve and pulled down the brake.

Amid the piercing metallic friction sound, the locomotive slowly came to a stop.

Stopped at a place less than a hundred zhang from the platform.

Zhu Yuanzhang strode down from the platform toward the locomotive.

Everyone hurriedly followed.

He walked to the wheel's edge and crouched.

On the rim surface, a layer of scorched black marks had appeared.

And the strange-iron strip on the rail also left fine, seemingly corroded pits at the corresponding position.

"This is… a dark energy reaction?"

Liu Ji's voice trembled.

"No."

Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head.

"It is the phenomenon of strange iron emitting energy under extreme pressure and high-speed friction."

He stood up and looked toward Doctor Wang of the Investigation of Things Institute.

"When you previously did material testing, did you discover this situation?"

Doctor Wang's face turned pale.

"We have discovered it, but it only appears under extreme load. And the dissipated energy is extremely weak; we thought it does not affect usage…"

"That was a static test."

Zhu Yuanzhang interrupted him.

"Now it's on a moving train, fully loaded with three hundred thousand catties of ore, speed exceeding twenty li."

"Every jolt, every turn, pressure and friction change violently."

"Such dissipation will accumulate."

He pointed toward the track ahead.

"There, the azure electric arc traces on the track surface just passed have not yet completely dissipated."

"If it runs three hundred li, five hundred li, what kind of field will these dissipated energies form?"

"What will it attract?"

Everyone fell silent.

They recalled the northern battlefields contaminated by Yuneng Pollution.

They recalled the mutant beasts abnormally sensitive to energy.

"Change."

Zhu Yuanzhang's voice was decisive and unyielding.

"Add an insulation layer between the wheels and the tracks."

"Use rubber, use oil-soaked leather, use whatever works."

"We must not let energy leak to the outside."

"Moreover—"

He looked toward the locomotive's front.

"The steam engine's power still needs to be increased."

"The current speed is too slow. At this speed, covering the fifteen li from Tangshan to Zunhua would take half an hour."

"What I need is fifteen minutes."

Doctor Wang's mouth opened.

"Your Majesty, the boiler pressure is already at its limit; if we add more..."

"Then build a larger boiler."

Zhu Yuanzhang turned and looked toward the distant Zunhua Iron Works.

"This road must be made to run."

"The soldiers at the front await iron, await ammunition, await spears."

"They cannot wait."

Seven days later.

The modified locomotive underwent another test run.

A thick layer of oil-soaked cowhide was installed between the wheels and the tracks.

After reinforcement, the boiler's pressure increased by thirty percent.

This time, the fully loaded locomotive ran from the Tangshan Mine to the Zunhua Iron Works, taking only two quarters of an hour.

When the first car of ore was dumped into the iron works' yard, the entire iron works erupted in earth-shaking cheers.

The iron works' overseer knelt before Zhu Yuanzhang, tears streaming down his face.

"Your Majesty! With this railway, the iron works' daily iron output could triple! No, quintuple!"

Zhu Yuanzhang helped him up.

"Then let it be fivefold."

"Half of the produced iron goes to the armory, half... continues to be used for laying tracks."

He looked toward Liu Ji.

"Draft the decree."

"Take the Tangshan-Zunhua Railway as a model and plan three main lines."

"The first, from Zunhua heading north, passing through Jizhou and Tongzhou, straight to the capital."

"The second, from the capital heading west, passing through Baoding and Zhengding, linking to Shanxi's coal and iron."

"The third—"

His finger pointed southeast.

"From the capital heading southeast, via Tianjin and Cangzhou, to Jinan."

"These three lines must be operational within two years."

Liu Ji's hand trembled.

"Your Majesty, this project... might require the nation's full strength..."

"Then let it be the nation's full strength."

Zhu Yuanzhang's voice was very calm.

"Railways on land, sea routes on water."

"Both legs must run."

"The Qing state feeds its soldier nests with living people."

"We do not."

"We use iron, we use coal, we use machines."

"Let's see who lasts in the end..."

He gazed northward.

"Are their monsters more numerous, or are our rails longer?"

When the news was transmitted back to Hetu Ala, it was already late at night.

Hong Taiji knelt before Nurhaci's throne, his voice suppressed.

"The Ming are laying railways."

"The scouts reported that the first line is already operational, its capacity equivalent to three thousand laborers."

On the throne, the azure core flickered uncertainly.

After a long while, Nurhaci finally spoke.

"How fast is it?"

In one day and night, they can transport three hundred thousand catties of iron, straight from the mine to the iron factory.

That is to say…

Nurhaci slowly sat up.

The speed at which the Ming dynasty manufactures weapons and armor will increase severalfold.

Hong Taiji lowered his head.

Yes.

Does the master know?

Already reported.

What did the master say?

The master said…

Hong Taiji paused.

The weak point of the light curtain may cause the next penetration cycle to come earlier.

We must, before the Ming people lay out the railway network…

He raised his eyes, and a blue light flickered in them.

Break their spines.

The same night.

Chen Dynasty Observatory.

Zhang Cheng watched the monitor; there, a faint but stable energy flow trajectory had just appeared within the Great Ming territory.

The trajectory's course was unnaturally straight.

It was like… a line.

A line drawn by human hands.

Railway…

He whispered the name.

Behind him, Yue Fei's voice sounded.

Can you help?

Zhang Cheng shook his head.

Technically, I've already given it. The rest is up to them.

He turned and looked at Yue Fei.

But over on the Qing side, actions have sped up.

Energy reactions underground at Hetu Ala have surged. The output efficiency of the war nests has increased by at least forty percent.

Yue Fei fell silent for a moment.

How much time do we have left?

I don't know.

Zhang Cheng gazed toward the chaotic western sky.

But the light curtain's fluctuations are becoming increasingly unstable.

The next penetration…

His fingers lightly tapped the control panel.

It could be earlier than anyone expected.