Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 503

"Dingguo, eat your food before leaving!"

"it is good!"

On the 28th of the first month, when school was about to start in three days, Li Dingguo was not on his way to Prince Qi's Mansion like this time in the past few years. Instead, he helped pack things at home and was just about to return to the capital.

"Going so late, can you get to the capital in time?"

Sitting at the door, Li Dingguo's father Li Dashou also looked worriedly at Li Dingguo who was laying grass for the cow pen, but Li Dingguo smiled easily:

"It's okay. The train from Yanshan County to the capital has been repaired. I will go there later. I will get on the train when it gets dark, and I will arrive in the capital by dawn."

"So fast?" Mrs. Li Zhang, who had never taken a train before, came out of the house and wiped her hands with an apron, with a surprised expression on her face.

"Almost, it's 380 miles from Yanshan Station to Beijing North Station. The train will take six hours. I'll just sleep on the train."

Li Dingguo explained with a smile while laying grass for the cattle pen that he understood so well because he came by train when he came.

Daming's railway construction speed is not fast, although more than 20 people have started construction on each railway, but the speed is only more than 400 miles per year.

The construction of the Beijing-Liaoning Railway began in October of the tenth year of Tianqi, and it experienced a war suspension for two months, but even so, it has been built for nearly [-] miles.

As the output of mercury fulminate continued to rise, major iron and steel factories continued to smelt steel after using steam engines, so the construction of this railway was faster than Wen Tiren expected.

The original six-year construction period has now been shortened to less than five years, which means that it will take another four years to complete the construction. The railway from Beijing to Shenyang outside the Great Wall can be completed.

"In the future, railways will be built everywhere. During the slack season, I will take parents and you to Champa Mansion in the south of Cochin. I heard from His Highness that there are beaches and seas over there. The sea is blue and very beautiful."

Li Dingguo also took the train a few times, and after experiencing its convenience, he realized why His Royal Highness wanted to build the train vigorously.

In the past, he thought that trains were only used for military purposes, but later he discovered that trains are actually of great benefit to people's livelihood.

"Isn't it expensive to take the train?"

Although there are fields now and the income has increased, Li Zhang still loves money very much and is very frugal.

"It's not very expensive." Li Dingguo said with a smile: "When I graduate and enter the court and earn a salary, I will take my parents there."

"How much did it cost you from the capital to Yanshan?" Li Dashou asked the price directly.

"120 Liuwen." Li Dingguo didn't hide it, because he was afraid that it would be cheap, and his parents would not bring enough money for the train ride in the future.

"So expensive?!"

Sure enough, Li Zhang yelled out when he heard the price of the train, and Li Dashou was also a little speechless.

"It costs thirty renminbi to ride a carriage, and fifty renminbi to ride a horse, so that's okay."

Li Dingguo got up with a smile, and responded while working.

"It costs 120 liuwen from the capital to Yanshan. I'm afraid it's a few taels of silver to go to Jiaozhi? Have you gone to Shaanxi?"

Although Li Zhang thinks it is expensive, she still asks curiously. After all, the longest road she has traveled in her life is to migrate from Yan'an to Yanshan.

"It's far away, about eight thousand miles. The three of us plus my younger brother and sister, the round trip is estimated to be more than twenty taels."

"But it doesn't need to be that much. I heard from Cao Bingbi and the others that the steamship of the Armament Academy is already in sight."

"At that time, we will take the train to Tianjin, and then take a boat from Tianjin to the south. It is estimated that it will only cost a dozen taels of silver."

Li Dingguo talked eloquently, but Li Zhangshi joked:
"My little ancestor, I'm afraid you don't know why a dozen taels of silver is enough for our family."

"Why don't you delay, anyway, the boy will pay you to take you there."

Li Dingguo said with a smile, and Li Dashou also chimed in: "A dozen taels of silver, it's fine to go and go."

It wasn't that Li Dashou was licking his big face and nibbling at his son, but that their Li family had reclaimed a lot of land, and many people in the village had moved to the north, and the village officials began to redistribute the land for them.

The current standard for land allocation in Yanshan County is [-] mu per person, so Li Ding's family of five has a total of [-] mu of land.

Although it didn't increase much, due to the promulgation of the New Deal, their family originally had to pay ten taxes and three taxes according to the military garrison, but now they only need to pay ten taxes and one tax.

Although the drought in Xiaobinghe caused the temperature to drop, and the yield per mu of land in Yanshan decreased, but 48 mu of land can still produce more than [-] shi rice. After paying one-tenth of the land tax, Li Dashou and the others still have [-] nine shi left .

Except for the food left for the family, after selling the rest to the Huangdian, they can earn almost 20 taels of silver.

It has been several years since the Li family moved to Yanshan, and Li Dashou himself has saved a lot of silver. Although it hurts to spend more than a dozen taels of silver, it is okay to grit your teeth.

Of course, this is mainly because Li Dashou feels that life is getting better and better, and maybe he can earn more in the future.

"Are you crazy? That's more than a dozen taels!" Li Zhangshi stepped forward and gave Li Dashou a look, but Li Dashou babbled:

"There are only about 80 households in this village. If things go on like this, I am afraid that in a few years, there will be only about [-] households."

"Fifty or so households will divide the thousands of acres of land. It is estimated that the family will earn more every year in the future, and it will only cost more than a dozen taels..."

"Yes, mother!" Li Dingguo came out of the cattle pen with a smile, but Li Zhang scolded the two men and said, "You don't care about Yin Zi."

"Go out and inquire. Other families only have a few taels of silver a year, and you can spend more than a dozen taels of silver if you want to spend it."

"As far as the Zhang family at the entrance of the village is concerned, there are seven or eight people in the family, and the land is only about [-] mu. I heard from the Zhang family's aunt that they only collected [-] Shimi in the whole of last year."

"After selling the inexhaustible rice, the family only has 19 taels of silver."

"Don't you know what's going on with Zhang's family? It's because someone in the family died in battle, and they lived a good life with the pension."

"A few days ago, those peddlers from the south also said that the whole family in Shaanxi only had five or six taels of silver a year."

"In case of a severe drought, our little money is useless. We can't go to Qi Wang Mansion to beg with the whole family."

What Li Zhang said was ugly, but it was the truth.

The richness of the Li family took advantage of the early relocation. In fact, among the people in the traditional two capitals and thirteen provinces, most of the people have seven or eight people in each household, and they can only earn five or six taels of silver a year. At most, they can eat enough. That's all.

For the people of this era, migration is the fastest way to make a fortune, and Zhu Youjian is constantly exploring this way.

However, as the surrounding land is almost occupied, leaving only some oases and grasslands in the northern and western regions, the way to get rich from dividing the land has to be changed to reclaiming and getting rich.

After all, there are only so many acquaintances in East Asia, and they have been almost divided by Daming.

"Okay, mother, let's go eat."

Li Dingguo knew Daming's situation better than Li Zhangshi. He had seen his Highness being so busy with the people, but he was too young, and he only wanted to make his family live comfortably, and he hadn't thought about the world and the people yet.

Maybe when he gets older and sees more reality, his thoughts will slowly change.

The whole family was speechless, and they all went back to the courtyard for dinner. After lunch, Li Dingguo was also driven by Li Dashou's ox cart to the station in Yanshan County.

The station in Yanshan County was not too far from his home, but only thirty miles away, even if he walked there by bullock cart, it would only take an hour and a half.

Mrs. Li and Zhang prepared water and dry food for the two of them, and they sat on the bullock cart and rushed towards the station.

I saw people in the village on the road and said hello, but no one wanted to rub the car.

After all, it is the north, and it is still north of the Great Wall. Except for Liaodong, the people in the three provinces outside the pass do not lack animal power.

The people who migrated will get farm cattle and horses from the officialdom. These livestock can be used as transportation and agricultural tools, which is very convenient.

Walking out of the village, the two of them drove on the country road that was less than ten feet away, and in the distance were many villagers who were burning wasteland.

The two of them walked for an hour in a bullock cart on a country road that was more than ten miles long.

The remaining road of more than ten miles, from when they walked out of the country road, turned into a county road watered by concrete roads. It was a full three feet wide, enough for five carriages to run side by side.

The bullock cart is very comfortable to walk on the cemented county road, which is much better than the bumps on the country road.

After coming to the county road, the convoys on the road have also increased a lot, and people from the neighboring villages can often be seen walking on the road in bullock carts or riding horses.

"Going to the train station?"

"Ah yes..."

Some people they didn't know drove from the opposite direction, and they greeted Li Dingguo and his son when they met them. Since the oxen and carriages were not fast, they could often chat for a few words between them.

Yanshan County in the first month was still below zero, and the country roads were icy and snow-covered. Everyone couldn't walk fast, and everyone was dressed very warmly.

"Dingguo, is it cold?"

"It's not cold, it's quite warm."

Li Dashou was afraid that Li Dingguo would be cold, so he spread a layer of straw on the ox cart to keep him warm.

"Father, who cleaned up the snow on this country road?"

Li Dingguo looked at the snow that had been pushed to both sides of the road, and asked curiously. Li Dashou also smiled and said:

"Who could clean up this? The county sent out a task, and the town carried it out. The village officials in the village asked each village to do it."

"What about our family?" Li Dingguo was very curious, but Li Dashou smiled and said:

"You went home, our family couldn't go to work, so we paid eight Wen to the Liu family in the village's drying yard, and asked them to bring people to help with the work."

Li Dingguo, the Liu family of the drying yard, knew that they moved to the village later. They were from Datong, Shanxi, and they settled down late, so they didn't want to move to the north. Although they had a field, they still continued to do some work in the village.

"Why does the Liu family make so much money?" Li Dingguo asked curiously, and Li Dashou also explained:

"The house they live in belongs to the He family, and they have to pay three hundred Wen in rent every year."

"I talked to their family before, and they seem to be planning to save money to discuss with Zheng village officials and set aside a piece of wasteland for them to build a house."

"It takes a lot of money to build a house, but we won't earn that money. We will help him for two days. I won't be able to do it for too long, and your mother will blame me again."

Li Dashou is a down-to-earth man, he likes to give people money when people help him with work, but when neighbors need help, he keeps his mouth shut and doesn't mention money. This kind of character has caused him a lot of losses, and Li Zhang said a lot about him.

It's just that every time he is talked about, he will always change the subject cleverly, saying what's wrong with the field, probably what's wrong, and he can't talk about him after distracting Li Zhang.

The bullock cart walked slowly on the county road. Although it was very cold around, but Li Dingguo held a hand warmer in his hand and there was straw, so it was still bearable.

On the contrary, it was Li Dashou, with a sallow face and a red nose. Seeing this, Li Dingguo got up and grabbed the reins: "Father, I'm driving, you lie down."

"You lie down, I'm fine." Li Dashou pushed Li Dingguo's hand away, and then drove stubbornly.

Seeing this, Li Dingguo had no choice but to let Li Dashou continue to drive.

After half an hour passed like this, when the time came to Shenshi 16:[-] ([-]:[-]), they finally drove to the train station in Nancheng, Yanshan County.

The railway station was built outside the city, and the area is not very large, covering an area of ​​less than an acre. When you enter the railway station, you will find the ticket office and waiting hall. Carrying the bookcase on my back, I walked into this concrete train station.

Since he had never seen glass before, Li Dashou, who came to the door of the train station with glass as a window, tidied himself up, kicked the dirt on his feet, and then walked in boldly.

Li Dingguo looked at his father who was walking in front, and he could see that Li Dashou was a little flustered, after all, he had never experienced this before.

It’s just that his strong personality made him look around at the station. He was illiterate, but he chatted with Li Dingguo along the way, and he also knew that the counter with three large characters was the ticket gate.

In the railway station in Yanshan County, all the people who take the train are people from Huangdian, or private foot traders, and there are basically no ordinary people.

"Buy a ticket to Beijing North Station."

Taking Li Dingguo to the ticket gate, Li Dashou looked at the transparent glass. The male conductor at the counter glanced at Li Dashou, then wrote the ticket, stamped it and pushed it out: "120 Liuwen."

"Hey!" Li Dashou hurriedly handed over a piece of broken silver upon hearing the words, and the conductor weighed it by the name of the station: "I'll charge you three cents and two cents, and I'll ask you for 190 four cents."

After finishing speaking, the man opened the cabinet in front of him, took out two strings of hundred-wen copper coins, counted out six, and handed the remaining copper coins and the bus ticket to Li Dashou.

"Thank you...thank you..." Li Dashou saw that the process was fine, and when he got the ticket, the stone in his heart fell. He turned around and took Li Dingguo out of the queue, and then handed over the ticket and copper coins to Li Dingguo.

"You take the money." While speaking, he looked around, and saw that the top of the waiting hall was made of the same cement as the ground under their feet, but whitewashed.

On the left side of the station is the ticket gate, and on the right side is the place where service merchants carry and weigh goods. Opposite the gate is a row of glass and two closed east and west glass doors. There are many chairs in the four corners of the hall.

"Just sit here and wait for the bus? How do you know how to take the bus?"

Li Dashou asked Li Dingguo, Li Dingguo took him to a corner chair and sat down, then pointed to the big characters on the glass door and said:
"That's the entrance to the train. The gate on the west is to Shenyang, and the gate on the east is to Beijing. When you hear the siren, which direction the car is from, the gate will open in that direction. Just walk along the road when entering the station. , and then just get in the car."

"There are instructions on the back of this ticket." After speaking, Li Dingguo handed the ticket to Li Dashou. Li Dashou took the cardboard in his hand and looked at it. He didn't recognize any of the petty characters.

"Hey... Dad has no education, I don't know him." Li Dashou smiled awkwardly and handed the ticket to Li Dingguo, as if he was afraid that he would damage the 120 six-cent ticket.

"Do you want to go back first? When it gets dark, I'm afraid you won't be able to go home."

Li Dingguo looked at the huge clock hanging in the station, and found that it was five quarters, so he couldn't help but worry about how Li Dashou would go home.

"It's all right..." Li Dashou responded with a smile, his eyes kept looking around.

He is like a rural child who just entered the city, and he is out of tune with this station.

Everyone in this station is wearing silk cloth, and he is the only one wearing cloth clothes, which makes him shy.

"Clang clang-"

Soon, the sound of gongs sounded in the station, and the glass door to Beijing was also opened, and a man shouted with a tin horn: "Those who are going to the capital are getting ready to get on the train!"

After saying this, dozens of people in the station started to get up and walk towards the door, and Li Dingguo also got up and carried the bookcase on his back:
"Father, I'm going back to the capital first, you should go back early and be careful on the way, you take this copper stove."

Li Dingguo handed the copper stove in his hand to Li Dashou, and put his numb hands on the copper stove.

While his palms were warm, Li Dashou was also at a loss: "Oh, let's go, remember to go home during the summer vacation."

"Well, you go back, I'll go first." After that, Li Dingguo walked towards the boarding gate of the train station with his bookcase on his back, while Li Dashou got up and looked at his back until he disappeared. Looked at the train station, and then walked out of the train station.

He came to the sentry box of the Bingma Division, and after untying the ox cart, he couldn't tell what he felt all the time, he just felt empty.

When he left with the bullock cart, a voice he had never heard before came from not far away.

"Woooooo-"

When the siren sounded, Li Dashou straightened up, turned his head to look, and saw a black "strange car" slowly driving away from the distant railway with black smoke.

"This is the train..."

Looking at the back of the train going away, Li Dashou had mixed feelings in his heart, and finally he drove the bullock cart and walked towards home.

As for Li Dingguo who got on the train, he sat by the window near the train station, so when the train pulled out of the train station, he saw Li Dashou sitting on the bullock cart.

He kept looking at Li Dashou until he could no longer see him, then he looked away.

Turning his head, he looked at the carriage. The structure in the carriage was designed by Zhu Youjian, but the space was much wider.

The tables and chairs made of solid wood looked very comfortable, but there were not many passengers in the carriage, only a few dozen people.

Li Dingguo is not worried that the train will lose money, because after the train arrives at the station, it will choose to add more carriages or cargo boxes depending on the situation.

For example, the train at Yanshan Station is currently a truck that pulls materials to Duoyan County. If someone takes the train, they will arrange the carriage, and if there is no one, it will be a cargo box.

In short, no matter how you do it, the train will not lose too much money.

Li Dingguo, who knew all this, looked at the appearance of some businessmen and scholars in the carriage. Without exception, they were chatting and pointing at the scenery outside the window.

The speed of the train is not fast, but it is compared with later generations, and compared with riding a horse.

If you compare the horse-drawn carriage, apart from being a little noisy, the smooth train feels like a few blocks away from the horse-drawn carriage of this era.

"Jingle Bell--"

"There is a mechanism on the left side of the wooden chair on the car. You can put it down after pulling it down. This time the train is going to Beijing North Station. It is estimated to be six hours. Please keep it safe..."

Li Dingguo's speech skills, which were almost the same as those of later generations, appeared in Li Dingguo's ears. It was not the first time for him to ride a car, and he already knew that all chairs had organs.

After finding the mechanism and pushing it, the chair immediately tilted down to 120 degrees, which made people feel much more comfortable.

Although they are all wooden chairs, they are comfortable with cotton cushions on their buttocks.

Since the winter vacation classes were all over, Li Dingguo had nothing to do in the car, so he took a Yanshan textbook and began to read.

When reading, maybe he got up too early or was too bored, so he gradually fell asleep.

When he finally woke up from his dream, the dusk outside the train window had become pitch black, and only the oil lamp on the roof of the carriage was providing faint light to the carriage.

Li Dingguo looked around, everyone was sleeping, and they had brought their own blankets.

Li Dingguo didn't prepare any blankets, but the cabin of the steam train was very warm, and he was wearing thick clothes, so there was no need for blankets.

He got up and walked to the rear of the car, where there was a room marked toilet.

The train latrine is connected to a wooden box. When the train's dung box is full, it will be handed over to the Yexiang driver who is stationed at the station when the train stops.

After spending a few minutes to solve his problem, Li Dingguo returned to his seat and glanced at his pocket watch,
"Three moments of ugly time (1:45)..."

Realizing that it was still early, Li Dingguo closed his eyes and continued to fall asleep.

Time passed by little by little, until the sky began to light up slightly, and the crew on the car rang the bell and walked out of the car:
"It's still a quarter of an hour away from the capital..."

"Jingle Bell……"

The bell woke up many people, including Li Dingguo who was dozing off.

Some people went to the toilet to wash their faces, and some people solved the problem of the reincarnation of grains. After Li Dingguo packed his books, the train whistle sounded not long after.

With the sound of "whooping", the train entered the Beijing North Station and stopped shortly after entering the station.

As the door opened, Li Dingguo and the people in the car got off the train, and the wooden sign with "Beijing North Station" on the platform reminded Li Dingguo.

After a winter vacation, he returned to the capital.

"It's very comfortable, but it's too expensive, and few people can afford it..."

Li Dingguo shook his head when he saw that all the scholars and merchants on the platform were dressed in silk and satin, and then walked towards the exit with the bookcase on his back...

(End of this chapter)