1635 Han style rises again

"September 1672, 9, sunny day.

In this extremely prosperous city of Qi State, all the members of our mission took a full ten-day rest to relieve the fatigue after more than half a year of journey.

This journey is the longest distance I have traveled in my life.We have traveled half the world, traveling tens of thousands of miles, from the bustling Europe to this barren continent.

Oh, I may be biased in my description of the Hanzhou continent.In terms of the hustle and bustle of Jianye City, this land is not as desolate as we imagined - of course, I have not visited other places in Hanzhou.

During this long and arduous journey, fifteen companions of our mission were called by the Lord to return to heaven forever.But luckily, most of us made it to Hanzhou alive, to this southern New World country.

In addition to the countless ships in the port, which shocked me, the city's construction planning, cleanliness, prosperity, and the spiritual outlook of the local residents also made me feel sincere admiration and surprise.

This city seems to have been designed in advance, with a neat layout and reasonable planning. The blocks are separated by spacious roads and artificially planted trees, without the mess and crampedness of Paris. .

When it comes to the roads in the city, I have to admire the generosity of the Qi people.They paved all the urban roads with flat stone slabs or black asphalt, and they also had complete drainage facilities, which made it possible for the entire city to walk on these roads with umbrellas in heavy rain and majestic weather. No need to worry about getting muddy and dirty.It will not let the wheels of the carriage get stuck in the mud, making it impossible to continue driving.

The clean and tidy environment of Jianye City made every member of the mission feel ashamed. The habit of defecating and throwing away garbage in daily life can only be restrained and hidden as much as possible.Yes, each of us represents the great Kingdom of France, the great King His Majesty, and we cannot allow the people of this country to laugh at us because of some inadvertent rudeness of the mission.

All our members of the mission were arranged by Qi State in a post house full of ancient oriental charm, and were treated politely and gently by them.

During this break, we fully appreciate the oriental cuisine.Oh, God, their cooks cook meals that are as good as His Majesty's court feasts, and slightly better in taste and taste.

I don't know if it's because the Qi people have mastered a reasonable proportion of spices, or because they have a long tradition of cooking techniques.They can make the same food or vegetable into many flavors and patterns.In my opinion, their delicacies are the best consolation and appeasement for our stomach after half a year of devastation at sea.

The prosperity of this city is not only reflected in the daytime, the flow of countless merchants and goods, and the traffic of various pedestrians and vehicles.At night, the city will light up countless street lamps one after another, dotted with stars, illuminating the spacious streets, beautiful buildings, and many tourists and local residents who are still unsatisfied.

Most of the buildings in the city are very novel and elegant. There are oriental classical style buildings with cornices, wing corners, bucket arches and paintings, Zhuzhu Jinding and other styles. Less European Baroque and Gothic architecture.

It is said that Jianye City was only established for more than 30 years, and it is as young and full of vigor as the country.

Qi State is really a magical country. "
-
"September 1672, 9, light rain.

Early this morning, our mission took two merchant ships provided by the Qi government and embarked on a journey to their capital.

When the ship sailed out of the bay, we encountered four warships of the State of Qi returning to their voyage. The sailors and passengers on the merchant ship enthusiastically waved their arms to greet their naval officers and soldiers.

It can be seen that the people of Qi State respect their soldiers very much, and even yearn for them very much.The battleship has left our sight far away, and many passengers are still looking back at them reluctantly.

The ship traveled along the coastline for four days and stopped at a small town on the peninsula - Beikou (now the small town of Newlandby in northern Australia).With beautiful natural light and a charming and comfortable living atmosphere, it is a place of peace of mind.

On the seaside not far from the town, there are many beautiful beaches, large areas of lush forests and high cliffs.Looking from a high place, there are many carpet-like grasslands hidden in the mountains and forests. The shepherds ride horses and drive cattle and sheep leisurely, just like a beautiful ink painting. "

I have to admit that the Hanzhou Continent is really a place full of vitality. "
-
"September 1672, 9, sunny day.

After passing through a small town that is said to be the northernmost tip of the Hanzhou mainland, we entered the east coast of the Hanzhou mainland.Along the way, we have the opportunity to appreciate the geographical features of Qi.

Likely affected by some kind of erosion, this long, narrow peninsula is flat, with low hills to the east and unusual tropical rainforest.Here, we can intuitively feel the sparse population of Qi State. After a few days of travel, we can't see any footprints of human activities along the way.

Compared with other parts of Hanzhou, the land on this peninsula looks relatively barren, and the soil is almost all laterite.It may be precisely because of the poor soil conditions that the place is sparsely populated, and the number of wild animals living there may far exceed that of humans.

However, the peninsula has a diverse ecological environment. The endless prairie, wetland, rainforest, coastal sand dunes, and bushes are mixed together, giving off a full wild brilliance. It is a barbaric and inexplicably beautiful land.

However, on the sea not far from the mainland, there is a string of endless and extremely beautiful coral reefs. Under the sunlight during the day, they are like countless bright pearls, embedded in the vast ocean. "
-
"September 1672, 10, sunny day.

Today we arrived at an important city on the east coast of Hanzhou, um, people in Qi called it Weihai (now Cairns, Australia).

According to the enthusiastic guide, this is the first east coast city developed by Qi State, and it has been 30 years ago.The population of the city is about 6 to [-], and there are industries such as sugar refining, cotton spinning, hardware, leather goods, food processing, and wood processing.

Our delegation was arranged to rest in a garden-style manor in the west of the city. The local officials of Qi State expressed their warm welcome to our arrival and held a dinner.

The officials and businessmen attending the meeting were obviously full of curiosity about France. We both used different languages ​​and had a pleasant but difficult communication with several translators.

We told the people of Qi that France is the most powerful and richest country in Europe.We have a splendid culture and a long civilization.

On behalf of His Majesty the Wise King, the great Kingdom of France, and the 2000 million industrious, brave, and kind-hearted French people, we did not hesitate to cross tens of thousands of sea miles to Qi to express our most sincere friendship to the people of Qi. "
-
"September 1672, 10, sunny day.

All of us thought that after a day of rest in the city, we would continue our journey on a dull and boring sea boat.

But the Qi State diplomat who was in charge of receiving our mission told us that we will go to their capital by land instead, so that the speed will be faster.

All of us were dismayed by this.Because, when we were on the boat, we already learned that the capital of Qi State is still farther south, and the distance is also thousands of kilometers away.If you take a carriage, although the speed is slightly faster, the bumps along the way will shake the bones of all of us.

Although taking a merchant ship will be a bit dull, many people also have slight seasickness.But according to the people of Qi, the east coast of Hanzhou is their densely populated area. There are many ports and towns along the way, and they can stop at any time to rest.Compared with the fatigue of horses and horses on land, sailing close to the coast is barely acceptable. At worst, we can also lie in the cabin and shake and shake with the ups and downs of the waves.

After dinner in the afternoon, our delegation took five passenger carriages and embarked on what we thought was a "very difficult" journey.

However, the Qi people gave us all a very unexpected surprise!

Yes, we still have to go by land, but the transportation we take is not a horse-drawn carriage, but a legendary steam locomotive!

When the carriage arrived at a quaint station, we met this magical steel behemoth.The front of the locomotive is a huge cylinder with a thick chimney and a large boiler installed on the front end of the frame.A coal fire burned beneath the boiler, probably to heat the water in the boiler to steam.A pipe from the boiler directed steam into cylinders above the front wheels of the car.The force of the steam is very strong, pushing the piston in the cylinder to move forward, and the piston is connected with the front wheel through the connecting rod and the crankshaft, so as the crankshaft rotates, the wheels rotate accordingly, thus driving the locomotive forward.

Unfortunately, I can't describe the appearance of the locomotive and the specific internal structure too clearly.Because, when the officials and locomotive maintenance personnel of Qi State found that we were carefully observing the steam locomotive, they came to stop our behavior and persuaded us to leave very politely.

The carriage we took should have been specially arranged by officials of Qi State, and there were no other passengers except for more than a dozen accompanying officials and guard soldiers.

At this moment, we all feel like children who don't know much about the world, curiously observing all the new things here in the carriage.

After maybe more than half an hour, as the locomotive made several high-pitched whistles, each of us felt that the carriage began to move slowly.In just a few minutes, the speed of the locomotive became faster and faster, and the scene outside the window also passed by quickly.

I feel very ashamed that at this moment, all the modesty and poise that we French are so proud of are gone.Everyone is eagerly lying in front of the car window, greedily looking at everything outside the locomotive, the endless forest, the neat farmland, the sparkling river, and the beautiful farm...

God, this speeding steam locomotive is simply a creation of God.It towed a dozen wagons full of goods and passengers--the equivalent of hundreds of horse-drawn carts--at a steady speed of forty or fifty yards on two rails.

Oh, of course, there was still a slight vibration in the carriage, but it was almost negligible compared to the bumps of the carriage.

This is amazing! "

---------

"October 1672, 10, cloudy.

We have been traveling by train for four days, and everyone has slowly adapted to this amazing means of transportation.According to the people of Qi, they have completed the railway from Weihai to Chang'an, the capital, shortening the original time of more than 20 days by boat to ten days.

In this regard, while all of us expressed admiration and admiration, we all felt fear deep in our hearts.Regardless of Qi's land area, population size, and military power, we, France, cannot ignore the strength of this country with its powerful steam locomotives and railways passing through various places.

In addition, we in France should try our best to introduce this magical machine into the country, which will inevitably lead to huge changes in the field of transportation. "

---------

"September 1672, 10, sunny day.

Driving along the east coast of Han Chau, we will see an unusual phenomenon, the trees here have no "undergrowth".Along the way there are various woods, meadows, swamps, and the distance between the trees is so great that the whole area, or at least a part of it, can be directly cultivated without having to cut down a single tree.

Generally speaking, the vegetation coverage in this area is very high, but some places still look bare.In my imagination, this area is like the back of a scrawny cow, most of it is covered with long hair, but the bumpy hip bone is very prominent, and the occasional friction and impact make the hair fall out completely in this area. up.

But in fact, it was because the trees grew on a lower slope, and the distance was very far away, and there were no shrubs under the forest, so it looked like they were bare.

According to the accompanying Qi diplomats, the land in this area is fertile, the rivers criss-cross, and the farming conditions are extremely superior. It is the most important agricultural production area in their country.There are countless fertile fields, growing wheat, corn, soybeans, cotton, sugar cane, potatoes and other crops.In the deep interior of the province, there are many excellent pastures, raising tens of millions of cattle and sheep.All the people of Qi State can live and work in peace and contentment, and live happily in this beautiful land.

It can be seen that these Qi officials are very confident when talking about their country's industrial and agricultural production and achievements, and their expressions are full of pride and self-satisfaction.

To be honest, half a month ago, I was very disapproving of the boast of Qi Chinese people.But after passing through many towns and villages along the way, I think it may be true what they say, that this country is indeed a rich and civilized country.

Whether in Jianye City, Weihai City, or the large and medium-sized cities we passed along the way, such as Guangling, Yunyang, and Xiangjiang, we have never seen a beggar or a homeless person.Also, I don't think it's an intentional scene for them.

All this shows things that are unimaginable even to our mighty and wealthy France.

I think that all of us French, including His Majesty the King, may have underestimated this country a bit.

Qi State is definitely not a simple country. "