Chapter 1074

Qingzhou.

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

“Your Majesty, since the introduction of the five-year plan, thermal power plants have been completed in twenty-six upper prefectures, including Dengzhou, Youzhou, Jinzhou, Xuzhou, Jinling, Songjiang, Suzhou, Lin’an, Fuzhou, and Guangzhou. The total number of upper prefectures in the country is 127. It will not be a problem to complete the construction of all upper prefecture thermal power plants within five years.”

In the Zhengda Guangming Hall, Su Liangcai, representing the Ministry of Electricity, reported on the construction of the thermal power plants.

After a pause, he continued reading the year-end report. “In addition, the Ministry of Electricity has also made some progress in hydropower generation this year. The Tuo River dam, which is currently under construction, has a hydropower generation section designed into it. In terms of the popularization of electricity, eighty percent of the people in Qingzhou now have electricity in their homes. The remaining twenty percent live in remote areas, so they will have to wait until the main lines are laid. As for factories, all factories in the industrial zone have already begun using electrical machinery. The only regret is that the current Ministry of Electricity is still operating at a loss, and only Qingzhou is able to break even.”

Xiao Ming also had a copy of Su Liangcai’s year-end summary. He nodded in appreciation. “The first year’s plan has been completed, which is very commendable. However, electricity is still in its initial stage of development, and there is still a heavy burden to bear in the future. As for profitability, you don’t have to worry about it for now. The construction of power facilities is currently in a dense phase, so it is impossible to be profitable. The court will bear this loss.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Su Liangcai breathed a slight sigh of relief. He had passed this hurdle and could have a good New Year.

Now, the thing that imperial officials feared the most was the year-end summary. If there was a problem with their department, they would not be in a good mood for the New Year.

Su Liangcai returned to his unit. Princess Pingyang then came out in order.

Compared to her former seductive self, the current Princess Pingyang was more capable. She had been in charge of the Ministry of Railways for several years, and the complex affairs had given her a lot of experience.

“Your Majesty, by the end of this year, the total mileage of the Empire’s operating railways has reached five thousand kilometers. The main routes from north to Yakutsk, south to Jinling, east to Dengzhou, and west to Chang’an have all been completed. The Ministry of Railways is now building branch railways between the main lines to complete the railway network. The only regret is the problem that the north and south railways cannot be connected due to the Yangtze River.” Princess Pingyang said.

Xiao Ming nodded slightly. Because he started his rise in Qingzhou and was the first to unify the north, industrial construction was concentrated in the north, while the south was relatively backward.

But with the unification of the Empire and the establishment of its maritime hegemony, what the Empire needed now were coastal commercial ports, especially those in the south.

In this way, connecting the north and south logistics was the current problem facing the Empire.

However, although he missed the modern-day Yangtze River Bridge countless times, he understood that with the Empire’s current level of architectural technology, it was impossible to build such a magnificent project.

So, after weighing his options, he decided to settle for the next best thing.

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

Xiao Ming asked, “How is the railway ferry that I had your shipyard research coming along? Currently, it is the only way for steam locomotives to cross the Yangtze River.”

When trains appeared and there was no bridge over the Yangtze River, the north-south railway relied on this kind of railway ferry.

In modern times, as early as 1850, Britain was already using railway ferries in the Firth of Forth in Scotland. Even now, there are still more than twenty countries around the world that use railway ferries.

In a country with many islands and no bridges over the sea, this kind of railway ferry was a necessity.

Simply put, a railway ferry was to build a railway track on a large ferry. The track on the ferry could be connected to the railway track. If a train wanted to cross the river, it only needed to be driven onto the track on the ferry.

Once the train was on the ferry, the ferry could then carry the train across the sea or a river. However, the prerequisite for building a railway ferry was to master steamship technology.

In the past, Xiao Ming did not mention it because he did not have this technology. Now that the ironclad technology was mature, there were no longer any technological obstacles to building a large railway ferry.

“Reporting to Your Majesty, the difficulty of building a railway ferry is no less than that of the King-Class ironclad. Although we have already mastered the technology for building a railway ferry, it will still take a year to build the first batch of railway ferries. It should be no problem by this time next year.” Zhang Liang said, bowing.

Princess Pingyang said in surprise, “A railway ferry. I never expected such a magical thing to exist. If that’s the case, the railway construction in the south can be accelerated.”

“So, you no longer have to worry,” Xiao Ming said with a smile.

Princess Pingyang responded and then returned to the queue.

Xiao Ming did not let Zhang Liang go back but continued to ask, “How is the construction of the Empire’s shipyards going now?”

“Reporting to Your Majesty, the construction of the large shipyards in Bisha City, Dengzhou, Jinling, Songjiangkou, Lin’an, Fuzhou, and Guangzhou is sixty percent complete. A total of forty-two of them can be put into production. All these shipyards have the capability to build ironclads. In addition, according to the requirements, sixty-five medium and small-sized shipyards will also be put into production by the end of this year, and they will have the capability to build medium and small-sized commercial steamships.” Zhang Liang reported.

Xiao Ming was satisfied with this data. Now that the Empire had basically no enemies on land, the most important task now was to control the world’s trade routes, because naval power was extremely important.

It was for this reason that he allocated a large amount of funds to build shipyards and at the same time, train shipbuilding talents.

“In that case, starting next year, the shipyards can build commercial steamships for sale to the Empire’s merchants. The Empire has invested a lot of money in the shipyards over the years, and it is now time to get it back.” Xiao Ming said.

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Zhang Liang responded.

After listening to the reports of three people in a row, Xiao Ming looked at Yang Chengye. He was in charge of the Empire’s industry and commerce, so he could be asked about things like factories and banks without having to ask the various people in charge individually.

Noticing Xiao Ming’s gaze, Yang Chengye walked out. At this time, he was holding a thick report in his hands.

He glanced at the other ministers apologetically. He said, “My report might be a bit long. I will try to be as quick as possible.”

Clearing his throat, he said, “The Qingzhou Bank has been formally renamed the Imperial Central Bank. The functions of the Imperial Central Bank have also been clarified. From now on, all banks within the Empire will be under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Central Bank.”