I want to be emperor

Chapter 676 The Train Running on the Field (8K Large Chapter)

Luo Zhixue first went to the cab of the train to have a look, then ran to the passenger carriage hanging behind the train, and sat down directly.

This made the civil and military dignitaries who were accompanying them somewhat at a loss. They originally thought that Luo Zhixue would first look at the train under prohibition during this inspection, and then go to the viewing platform to watch the train start running from a distance. , I didn't expect Luo Zhixue to just sit on the train and not get off.

However, although Luo Zhixue's move was unexpected by many people, after a few words of persuasion, he stopped talking nonsense. .

What the founding emperor Luo Zhixue wants to do is not something that his courtiers can dissuade, let alone taking the train, which is not dangerous. Even if the steam in the front train leaks and explodes, it will not affect the passenger compartment at the rear.

Even if the train derails and has an accident, the speed of ten to twenty kilometers per hour is not serious enough to go there, and the passenger carriage is hung at the end of the train, so it is even less likely that there will be any problems.

Therefore, after a few words of persuasion by a group of courtiers had no effect, they quickly acted on their own.

Several military and political officials who were qualified to accompany them went directly to the last carriage where Luo Zhixue was... Others who were not qualified went to other passenger carriages. As for the originally prepared 'passengers', they naturally gave up. No longer need to be a tool person.

At the same time, the security work was also undergoing rapid adjustments. The Fourth Cuirassier Regiment of the Guards rode directly on both sides of the train to provide the necessary protection nearby.

Of course, the imperial guards were closer to Luo Zhixue, they would follow Luo Zhixue wherever he was, and directly provide personal protection.

At the same time, the second division of the Guards spread out in an emergency, directly deploying defenses along the railway line, and adopted the method of standing guard at a certain distance along the way, directly standing guard on both sides of the railway.

Ordinary law enforcement and temporary personnel such as patrols further sealed off the intersections along the railway line, and prohibited people watching the excitement from getting too close to the railway, and persuaded people who had already approached to return.

While the security work is undergoing rapid adjustment, the technical team of Guangzhou Machinery Company and the technical bureaucrats of the railway management office are also conducting the final strict inspection of the test train.

Although they had double-checked several times before this, and even conducted a short non-public test yesterday, nothing went wrong.

But today's occasion is very important to the future development of the railway transportation industry, not to mention that now even the emperor himself boards the train.

In today's experiment, there is no room for the slightest mistake.

All details must be carefully and carefully.

Otherwise, the consequences will be extremely serious!
Under tremendous pressure, hundreds of technicians repeatedly inspected the Type 21 train, not only the locomotive, but also each carriage, large and small, and all kinds of technical details were exhausted.

Finally, Wu Pengyou, co-organizer of Guangzhou Machinery Company, was looking at the inspection reports submitted by various units.

Wu Pengyou, who was born in the Mechanical Engineering Department of the Royal Institute of Technology, studied in the Institute of Steam Engines during his studies, but failed to get a teaching position after graduation... The number of places to teach in the Royal Institute of Technology is limited, and the competition is also very fierce.

In the end, he chose to work in the Ministry of Industry after graduation, but what he did was not administrative work, but research work. He once worked in the Mechanical Research Institute under the Ministry of Industry, responsible for the research of steam engines.

Later, he was transferred to Guangzhou Machinery Company and served as the co-organizer of Guangzhou Machinery Company. This position is actually the meaning of chief engineer, who is mainly responsible for the technical work of the factory.

Well, Guangzhou Machinery Company is a large government-run enterprise directly under the Ministry of Industry, and its senior management personnel are all officials, so Wu Pengyou, the co-organizer, is also a serious court official, a fifth-rank official.

During these years as the co-organizer of Guangzhou Machinery Company, he established the high-pressure steam engine research and development project and led the development of high-pressure steam engine.

Then, the first train, the Type 21 train, was designed and developed by using the high-pressure steam engine.

In other words, the Type 21 train in front of him was built by him alone.

For such an important test today, he naturally had to personally take charge of and deal with a series of technical issues.

After reading the report, Wu Pengyou said to Shi Jinghuan, the left servant of the Ministry of Communications who was in charge of official affairs (the railway management office belongs to the official department), "Master Shi, the technical inspection has been completed and no problems have been found!"

With that said, Wu Pengyou also handed over the thick stacks of inspection reports to Shi Jinghuan, and Shi Jinghuan took them over and looked through them.

However, he struggled to read a lot of technical terms and performance parameters in the inspection report... After all, Shi Jinghuan did not come from a technical background, but from the serious Guozijian University. When applying for the imperial examination, it is also an ordinary Jinshi subject, not a natural history subject.

Although he also has some basic knowledge of science and engineering, it is only superficial, and it is still difficult to understand this highly professional inspection report.

But even though it was difficult to read, he still read word by word, and finally did not pay attention to the signature of the person in charge on each checklist.

He doesn't quite understand the data parameters, but he does know the names of these responsible persons. They are all top technical experts, and most of them are from several high-efficiency universities in Jinling City, especially some professors from the Royal Institute of Technology. Some of them are technology leaders in major government-run research institutes.

These technical experts from the third party have conducted a detailed inspection of many details of the train and signed their names, so the gold content of this inspection report is enough to gain his trust.

After looking through it for more than ten minutes, Shi Jinghuan said: "Since everything is ready, then follow me to face the saint!"

-

Soon, Shi Jinghuan took Wu Pengyou to the last passenger compartment. After saluting respectfully, Shi Jinghuan said: "Your Majesty, the train is ready and ready to start at any time!"

Luo Zhixue smiled: "Okay, since you're ready, let's start!"

After finishing speaking, he glanced at Wu Pengyou next to him and said immediately: "Wu Aiqing, you have done a good job this time. You were able to overcome all difficulties, develop a high-pressure steam engine with firm direction, and further design and build a national important weapon like a train. it is good!"

A simple sentence, especially the word 'very good' at the end, immediately made Wu Pengyou's face turn red, and then he knelt down with a snap: "Your Majesty...you can develop a train for your majesty. The duty of ministers as ministers is even more honor!"

Luo Zhixue was still smiling, and stretched out his hand to help: "Get up quickly, there is no need to be polite!"

"Okay, I guess you are quite busy today, go get busy first, don't leave until the test is over, there is a banquet at noon, you come with me too!"

Wu Pengyou got up immediately after hearing this, and then bowed and saluted to say that he complied with the order, and then retreated.

Just like what Luo Zhixue said, among the mid-level and senior officials present today, he is the busiest... because he is the specific person in charge of the entire train project test, dealing with all matters, especially those related to technology It all needs him to deal with it one by one.

With Wu Pengyou's departure, several other people looked at Wu Pengyou's back thoughtfully, especially Shi Jinghuan, the right servant of the Ministry of Communications.

Wu Pengyou himself may not know what the luncheon means, but he knows it very well.

That being said, he is not qualified to attend this luncheon. There is a limit to the number of participants in this kind of imperial luncheon, and it is impossible to have a large number of hundreds of people.

So there are only three kinds of people who are eligible to participate.

One is the top founding hero in the empire, that is, the first-generation dukes and marquises who were conferred during the founding of the country; dukes and marquises who are below the earl or inherit the title are not eligible to participate.

One is the current high-ranking officials of the empire, and the range of high-ranking officials is also very small, that is, ministers of counselors and co-organizers... In the Great Chu Empire, officials who have entered the imperial study are the real top officials, regardless of whether they are civil or military.

The last type is the real academic bosses, mainly the deans and deputy directors of several departments of the Royal Institute of Technology, and the academic leaders of science and engineering in several other universities in Jinling City.

He, Shi Jinghuan, is the right servant of the Ministry of Communications, and he is not even qualified to pour tea at the front end.

However, Wu Pengyou was actively invited by His Majesty to participate, which shows how much His Majesty attaches importance to this person.

In fact, Shi Jinghuan still has some misunderstandings. Luo Zhixue is not saying that he really values ​​a person like Wu Pengyou alone, but just wants to convey a message to the outside world, that is, he attaches importance to the development of science and technology, and also attaches great importance to rewards for meritorious personnel. .

As a result, more researchers and officials are working hard...

After all, if you want your subordinates to work hard, rewards and punishments are necessary. If Wu Pengyou can lead the team to build a high-pressure steam engine and even trains, then Luo Zhixue will not be stingy with his rewards.

This banquet was just an appetizer, and later he planned to promote him and reward him with material rewards such as cash.

When looking back at various scientific awards, maybe he will be given a place, so that he can gain both fame and fortune.

And these are the basic daily operations for Luo Zhixue, so he actually doesn't take them too seriously.

It's just... Luo Zhixue is the emperor, his words and actions can change the fate of many people.

-

Following Luo Zhixue's order to start the experiment, the technicians quickly completed the preparations and began to light the coal stove on the locomotive.

While coal is added to the furnace to burn, the water in the boiler begins to be heated to produce steam at high temperature and pressure.

As the water in the boiler is continuously heated, the pressure of the water vapor finally reaches the predetermined value.

At this time, as the engineer and train driver loosened the steam valve, high-temperature and high-pressure steam quickly entered the cylinder through the pipe!

The powerful kinetic energy possessed by these high-pressure steam began to push the piston in the cylinder to reciprocate!
The pushed piston itself is doing two-way reciprocating motion in the cylinder, and through the traditional structure, this straight up and down kinetic energy is converted into the rotational kinetic energy of the flywheel, and finally drives the wheel to rotate!
Luo Zhixue, who was sitting in the last carriage, felt the slight shaking of the carriage and heard the sound of friction between the steel wheels and the rails.

Type 21 train is moving!

Although the train was moving very slowly at this time, just moving forward slowly, it still moved.

Many people were amazed by the moving train. Some of them were sitting on the train, but they were timid, or people who were weak in accepting new things. At this time, they could not help breaking out in a cold sweat. It's too serious, and I probably have to shout 'Ghost! 'Just run away in embarrassment.

But... at this moment, His Majesty is on the train, even a blind man can tell from Luo Zhixue's tone that Luo Zhixue attaches great importance to the train.

And as a courtier of the empire, no matter what you think about the train as a new thing in your heart, but on this occasion today, you have to show a look of curiosity, appreciation, and anticipation.

Otherwise, do you want to stand on the opposite side of the emperor?

The train is slowly increasing its speed. At this time, the speed is slower than that of people walking. The front of the 21-type train in front, the coal in the boiler is burning violently, continuously producing high-pressure water vapor, trying to pull the more than 100 people behind it. tons of cargo and passengers as well as the hull itself.

Such a heavy weight is a huge burden for the Type 21 locomotive, after all, its design power is only more than 100 horsepower.

With just such a little power, it is possible to pull it, but it is slower to increase the speed.

But Luo Zhixue was not in a hurry, he was sitting on the seat now, quietly waiting for the train to pick up speed slowly.

While he was waiting, the 21-type locomotive, with its continuous efforts, drove the eighteen carriages behind to move from the beginning to the speed of people running, and then further increased to the speed of people running.

At this time, Luo Zhixue looked at the cavalrymen of the Fourth Cuirassier Regiment who were driving and protecting them outside the carriage. At this time, these cavalrymen had already instigated the horses under their crotches and were trotting. Whether it was cavalry or horses, the overall situation was relatively relaxed. of.

But Luo Zhixue knew that it would not be long before these cavalrymen would complain.

Because war horses get tired, but trains don't...

It can run for dozens of kilometers along the railway line without stopping, and the speed will become faster and faster, reaching a speed of [-] kilometers per hour.

At that time, it will not be easy for the cavalry of the Fourth Cuirassier Regiment to keep pace with them.

Of course, this time the train test will not last too long, because the railway is only ten kilometers long, and it will turn around when it reaches the pier, and then run back.

And the Fourth Cuirassier Regiment has already made a plan, and has prepared spare horses along the way... Then the horses were changed in the process, but not the people.

There is no need to prepare extra horses... They have enough spare horses themselves.

After all, their fourth cuirassier regiment is a standard heavy cavalry, and riding three horses alone is the standard configuration.

In this way, after using spare horses, the cavalry of the Fourth Cuirassier Regiment can accompany them all the way!

As a result, ordinary people who watched the ceremony from a long distance away saw a very strange, even weird scene.

Hundreds of cavalry galloped along both sides of the railway line... In the middle of these cavalry was a black train braving white mist, making clanging, clanging sounds and advancing in sync.

It seems that the two are running a race!
When people saw this scene, some smart people had already guessed that the Holy Majesty might be in the car... After all, apart from Luo Zhixue, no one can send hundreds of thousands of guard cavalry in Jinling City these days. Run along with the train.

It seems that His Majesty attaches great importance to this train. Maybe this train has a bright future?
Some people are already thinking about how to get involved in the railway business. Direct investment in the construction of railways is naturally impossible. In the Great Chu Empire, commercial railways are under the jurisdiction of the Railway Management Office, and private or other institutions are not allowed to participate.

There is no hope for the railway, but the train is a good idea, because the one who made the train is a commercial company, and it is also a company listed on the Jinling Stock Exchange.

Some people are already thinking of increasing their efforts to buy the stock of this company. Although the stock of Guangzhou Machinery Company has been rising since the news of the development of the high-pressure steam engine came out during this period, it seems that there must be more to come. Room for big gains.

Today's high position is not the ceiling!

Of course, there are still very few people who can guess something, analyze it from these superficial things, and then germinate to invest in the stock of Guangzhou Machinery Company. Most of them only see the running train and marvel at it!

The Type 21 train continued to move forward, and finally ran to the pier by the Yangtze River. After turning around at the station there, it headed towards Yuhuatai Station again.

There are also various tests such as deceleration and acceleration in the middle.

After the train returned to Yuhuatai Railway Station again, Luo Zhixue got off the train with an excellent mood, ending the first public long-distance train operation test in the Great Chu Empire and even the entire human history.

However, Luo Zhixue did not leave immediately, but continued to stay in this place.

Today, I came to see the train test, and at the same time, I came here for an outing. In the afternoon, he will take a group of concubines and children to the Yuhuatai to climb up and look far away.
Although Yuhuatai is only a small hill, only [-] meters high, it is considered a small mountain near Jinling City. The most important thing is that it is close to Jinling City, and it has been famous since ancient times.

In the Ming Dynasty, it was already the eighteen sceneries of Jinling. In the later generations, Qianlong went to the south of the Yangtze River several times to play the wind, flowers, snow and moon, and he went to Yuhuatai several times.

Luo Zhixue himself often brings his family here to climb high and look far away!
It can be regarded as a traditional event of the royal family, basically every year, but in the past it was not so big.

Taking advantage of the fact that Queen Wang was still talking and laughing with a group of female relatives, and it was still early before the luncheon, Luo Zhixue simply called all the ministers who were present today, and the monarchs and ministers had a drink in a tent. Drink tea, eat snacks, and talk about this train casually.

After taking a sip of tea, Luo Zhixue spoke first: "This train is a good thing. Later, we have to find a way to repair the railway and make the train run!"

"With the huge transportation volume and convenience of the train, once it is rolled out, it will definitely become the main blood vessel of our country. Products from all over the country can be transported from the place of origin to various places through the railway network."

"The wool from the herdsmen's homes in the north can be transported south by train to the wool spinning factory. After the wool spinning factory processes the wool, it can then transport the wool fabrics to various markets and reach the hands of the people of the empire!"

"The grain produced in the Northeast Plain can be transported to the port by convenient and cheap train, and then transported by sea to the food consumption areas with a large population in the south, or simply transported directly to the North China Plain and even Shanxi by railway line!"

"By the way, I heard that there is a lot of coal in Shanxi, but the traffic cannot be transported, so that there is a large amount of coal in the local airspace, but it is impossible to earn income. If a railway can be built to transport the coal, it will be very beneficial to the people in Shanxi. The role of poverty alleviation in places with little land will undoubtedly be huge!"

"Not only in Northeast China and Shanxi, but also some specialties in other places can be transported by railway, so as to drive the local people out of poverty and become rich!"

"With more basic agricultural products and industrial raw materials pouring into various industrial areas from the place of origin, the cities, and in turn, the industrial products produced by various factories, can also transport goods to various places through cheap railway transportation, which not only allows enterprises to Get more markets, more profits, and allow the public to obtain industrial products at cheaper prices!"

As Luo Zhixue talked, he was already a little excited. He didn't care whether these courtiers could understand the huge development opportunities contained in his words, but the establishment of the Great Chu Empire had already emerged in his mind. After building a huge railway network, all kinds of industries developed rapidly and people's living standards improved.
"It's not just railways. Hasn't this high-pressure steam engine been developed? Since it can be used on trains, it can also be used on ships. If the high-pressure steam engine is installed on warships, then our warships will be able to get rid of the dependence on wind power. , you can turn the course anytime and anywhere, and seize the opportunity in naval battles.”

"Put it on a merchant ship, so that we don't have to think about the monsoon when our merchant ship goes to sea, and we can sail on the sea even in the headwind season."

"And more importantly, if the high-pressure steam engine is installed on the inland watercraft, then the inland river traffic will become more convenient, and the inland watercraft can go upstream conveniently and quickly, without using any trackers or considering the wind direction!"

"At that time, the inland river and coastal river transportation network in the empire will, together with the railway network, become the blood vessels of the empire, promote the further development of the empire, and further improve the living standards of the people!"

When Luo Zhixue said this, he was already looking forward to the grand occasion of countless trains running on the railway, and countless ships sailing on rivers, lakes and oceans.

Because at that time, the Great Chu Empire ushered in the real industrial age!
Although strictly speaking, the Great Chu Empire opened the door to the industrial revolution with the textile industry 20 years ago, and a few years ago, a low-pressure steam engine was developed and gradually applied to some industries.

But generally speaking, for the vast majority of people, they still can't feel the atmosphere of the so-called industrial age.

Especially for the people in the vast rural areas, their distance of movement is limited, and they work on the land all year round, although they use the mechanized agricultural tools, cooking utensils, daily tools and so on produced by the factory.

But these iron products are actually hard to remind them of the industrial age, and they don't even know what factories in this era are like.

But if it's a train or a ship, it's different!

Even an ordinary farmer can feel the atmosphere of the industrial age when he sees a train running across the field and a ship running on a river without wind.

If they take the train or ship in person when they go out to other places, the feeling will be even deeper.

Well, it's just a matter of experience.

What is really important is that with the large-scale popularization of railways and ships, the circulation of goods will be more convenient and the cost will be lower, which will enable farmers to obtain more sources of income.

There is a saying in later generations, which is also applicable to the Great Chu Empire today, that is, if you want to get rich, build roads first.

This road represents the convenience and cost of cargo transportation.

As long as many local products, especially agricultural products closely related to farmers, such as economic crops can be transported out at a relatively low cost, farmers' income can increase.

In the contemporary Great Chu Empire, the ordinary official roads, horse-drawn carriages, and even sailing ships that seem to be very common in the past have not changed much in the living standards of the people at the bottom.

But railways and ships are different.

No matter how bad it is...it is more convenient for young people in the countryside to go to the city to work and earn money.

When Luo Zhixue was thinking about a lot of these things, a group of important ministers of the empire also had their own ideas, and they were not fools. One of the few important ministers who can be counted, all of them are human beings.

There is no need to talk too much about Luo Zhi's theory. They can basically see the huge promotion effect of the popularization of trains and ships.

However, some people also thought of a problem, that is, trains are cheap, but railway repairs are expensive!
The Great Chu Empire has not been building railways for a year or two, and those mine owners have been playing with railways for more than ten years, so many people know a thing or two about the cost of railway construction.

Overall, the current construction of wrought iron railways with a standard gauge of 1.5 meters in the Great Chu Empire costs about [-] Chu Yuan per kilometer in the plain terrain.

This is only the construction cost of the railway itself, excluding land acquisition costs, train costs, and infrastructure construction costs such as railway stations.

Just the construction cost of the railway line itself.

This price is very expensive, and this price is only the cost of building a railway on the plain terrain.

If you build a railway in a mountainous area, then the price will be doubled casually... After all, in the mountainous area, you still have to dig land foundations, build tunnels, and erect a large number of high-demand railway bridges... That's because labor costs are low these days, However, there is also a lack of a large number of construction machinery. It is very inefficient to rely solely on hoes for infrastructure construction.

Therefore, depending on the terrain, the final cost of building a railway in a mountainous area may be double or even several times that of a plain terrain.

Regardless of whether it is plain terrain or mountainous terrain, railways are very expensive things, and it costs millions or even tens of millions of investments at every turn.

And the finances of the Great Chu Empire did not have so much money to repair the railway...

The empire seems to have more than 2 million central fiscal revenues, but this central fiscal revenue is undoubtedly a drop in the bucket for the tens of millions of investment in railway construction.

If we want to build the railway, I am afraid that we have to take the route of loan financing.

Due to the high cost of railway construction, some high-ranking officials of the empire thought that if they had the high-pressure steam engine anyway, it would be better to vigorously develop the inland and coastal shipping industries.

With steam ships, all big rivers and small rivers can be run. It is simpler and cheaper than railways, and it does not require any official investment. As long as the news is released and a little policy support is given, a large number of private individuals or enterprises will join in.

But no matter what, the development of trains and steamships has become a foregone conclusion, and the next step is how to do it, and these specific issues will naturally not be discussed.

This kind of informal chat between monarchs and ministers, it is naturally impossible to say that any detailed plan will be finalized directly.

And this superficial general direction has been determined, that is, trains and steamships must be developed, and they must be vigorously developed.

For the rest, whether Luo Zhixue or these important officials of the empire, they had to go back and think about it carefully, and after careful consideration, they came up with some constructive solutions, and finally everyone discussed and settled the matter.

Luo Zhixue was drinking tea and chatting with several important ministers at the front, while finalizing the general strategic direction of the empire to vigorously develop trains, ships, and large-scale industries with high-pressure steam engines as the core.

The Queen Wang who was next to her also ran to the train side with a group of noble ladies to watch the excitement.

The defense between men and women is still very serious these days. Although everyone travels with their female relatives, in fact, from the road to here, basically men stay together and women stay together.

Even if it is a minor boy, if he is a little older, he can only stay with his father and brothers in the front.

Of course... Except for Luo Zhixue who brought some underage princes and daughters over, none of the ministers actually brought little kids over here. Those who brought over were all teenagers. The child came here today just for a blind date.

In another occasion, in another time, it would be really difficult for you to find so many unmarried children of powerful and high-ranking officials.

Luo Zhixue knew about this and expressed his support.

Because it was Queen Wang's proposal to let the ministers bring their underage children here.

Queen Wang's idea is simple, she thinks that there are several children in the royal family who are about to get married, whether it is the princess who is going to marry or the prince who is going to get married.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, I just took a look at the children in the families of the ministers to see if I could choose a few suitable ones.

In order to solve the marriage problem for the children, not only Wang and Queen are worried, but even Luo Zhixue should not pay more attention.

Who made him have more children...

There are more than [-] sons and daughters in total...

Once there are more children, it will be difficult to get married!
(End of this chapter)