Great Tang princess

Chapter 800 Railroad Experiment
From the perspective of the future, my country's territory is actually relatively large in the world.

But what many people don't know is that although our country has a large territory, not all of these areas are useful.

The key point is that more than 75% of our country's territory is made up of mountains, hills and terraces.

The real plains are only about 25%, and the plains even include special areas like deserts.

To put it bluntly, our country has a vast territory and abundant resources, and most of the geographical characteristics in the world can be seen in our country.

There are rainforests, mountains, swamps, deserts and basins... But the problem is that the area that can be used to grow food is not as large as imagined.

The reason why the United States is called "a country favored by God" is because it is almost a large plain, which is obviously about the same size as our country, but it occupies quite good resources.

Not only agricultural resources, but also the very famous Great Lakes in North America, which are rich in fresh water resources.

Relatively speaking, Poyang Lake, the largest freshwater lake in my country, is a bit too small.

After all, Qinghai Lake has become a saltwater lake at this time.

It was because of this thought that Li Yuechen wanted to include Lake Baikal in his future territory.

In this way, there are at least two major freshwater lakes, which can increase domestic freshwater resources.

But in this way, combined with the lines drawn by Li Yuechen on the map, the territory of this country will change in the future.

It may even cause Outer Mongolia to disappear directly. To be honest, Li Yuechen doesn't want that place, he is too poor.

The area of ​​Outer Mongolia is not small, but the problem is that most of it is grassland, and there is almost no cultivated land.

The northwest is mostly mountains, and the south is the Gobi desert. Apart from rich mineral resources, it seems that there are no other advantages.

But no, no, since you want Lake Baikal, this place still has to be included in the territory.

But the current technology is not mature enough, and underground mining is more troublesome, so the economic structure there can only be based on animal husbandry.

……

On May [-]th, the Grand Court Assembly, all officials in the Eastern Capital must participate.

However, Li Yuechen didn't go there. Instead, he experimented with the craftsmen in the engineering academy with the model of the train track they made.

This track is less than ten meters long and only one meter wide, and it is laid in the courtyard of the Engineering Academy.

The improvised wheel weighs about 150 kilograms and looks like a large barbell.

At this moment, Wang Gangdan and other bigwigs from the Academy of Engineering gathered in front of him, watching the results of the experiment.

Li Yuechen picked up the 150-jin wheel with just one hand and gently placed it on the track.

Pei Bishu raised his own question from the side: "Your Highness, why should the inner edge of this wheel be larger and the outer edge smaller?"

"It's hard for me to explain the specifics, but you'll know if you try." Li Yuechen smiled slightly.

Back then, Li Yuechen spent his childhood in the countryside, and at that time there were often railways passing through the village.

So when she was a child, she ran around on the railway and watched the wheels up close.

There are even some naughty children who will hold things like iron nails and put them on the rails to let the train run over them.

While speaking, she tilted the wheel a little.

"Look, the whole wheel is tilted at this moment. It stands to reason that if you continue to go forward, it will derail, but..."

As she spoke, she gave a slight push to the wheel.

While the wheels were moving forward, the original angle of inclination was slowly and automatically corrected.

"Oh?" Pei Bishu and a group of craftsmen all opened their eyes wide, "It's so amazing?"

"This should be calculated through the principles of mechanics, but unfortunately I don't know the exact formula." Li Yuechen shook his head regretfully.

She only knew that it was right to do so, but she couldn't explain the specific reason.

As the saying goes, knowing it but not knowing why.

After confirming that the inner edge of the wheel should be larger, Li Yuechen continued: "Also, considering safety issues, there should be an extra circle around the inner edge of the wheel... What is it? It seems to be called flange..."

After all, she didn't study industry. She knew the specific shape of some things, but didn't know the name.

"In this way, this raised flange can clamp the rails and prevent the wheels from derailing..." Li Yuechen explained while picking up the mud next to him and began to explain the plasticity.

The craftsmen nodded, and then asked the literate apprentices around them to record it.

"There's also the problem of changing orbits." Li Yuechen came to the table, picked up the prepared mud and made a model of changing orbits.

"This is slightly narrower than the normal track, and it moves to the sides at any time. In this way, it can solve the problem of trains traveling on different routes."

When Li Yuechen was still in elementary school, there was still a job as a switchman on the railways in many places.

When the track is changed, the children around will get out of the way quickly, and then pull the huge iron rod back, and the point rail will move to the other side.

"The next experiment you are going to do is to make a real object on the rails in this courtyard, and then make a frame to try the experiment." Li Yuechen said.

Now that the power problem is being gradually resolved, the compartment can be arranged.

After the experiment is successful, it is possible to consider laying the first railway of the Tang Empire.

The craftsmen immediately nodded and agreed.

It is not difficult to see from this experiment that this is another huge project. If this thing is made, it will definitely be a great sense of accomplishment.

For these craftsmen, this kind of challenging project can undoubtedly inspire fighting spirit, so everyone's fighting spirit is high.

But Li Yuechen asked them to study this, in fact, he had another idea.

The train travels a long distance, so it naturally needs an internal combustion engine as a drive.

However, it is obviously unrealistic to only use buses for public transportation in cities.

Because even if the internal combustion engine is successfully developed, it must be supplied to the army in the early stage.

So in terms of urban transportation, what Li Yuechen thought of was the urban trams that often appeared in many TV dramas during the Republic of China.

Li Yuechen's understanding of this thing is better than that of a bus. He was an extreme athlete back then and traveled all over the world, seeing many real objects.

After the 21st century, although it is rare to see this thing in China, it is very common in Europe.

In the TV series of the Republic of China, this thing is also standard.

In addition, electricity itself is more environmentally friendly than gasoline, so if it can be developed as a means of urban public transportation, that would be great.

And now there are generators, so maybe this thing is not so far-fetched.

In today's engineering academy, because the age of the bosses is gradually increasing, the second generation of craftsmen is gradually emerging.

The difference from Wang Gangdan and his gang is that the second-generation craftsmen are basically literate.

They are able to record and pass on knowledge so that future apprentices have a higher starting point.

……

In a blink of an eye, it is June, the season of unbearable heat.

Li Yuechen walked into his office, drinking a cool drink while reading the work report.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door, and after Li Yuechen greeted him, Li Chongrun walked in.

"Oh, Run'er, are you still used to working in the Ministry of War?"

"It's okay, I just feel that it's not as easy as in the army. It's a bit troublesome to read a lot of documents every day." Li Chongrun replied with a wry smile.

For a soldier from the frontline combat unit like him, sitting there reading documents for a day is really not as comfortable as doing physical training.

"Hahaha..." Li Yuechen laughed a few times, "Although he is full of complaints, he has done a good job recently!"

Li Chongrun poured a cup of tea on his own: "Don't praise me, auntie, I think from time to time whether I should just forget it..."

Being able to make jokes shows that I don't hate work too much, which is also a good thing.

"Okay, what do you want to see me for?" Li Yuechen waved his hand and asked.

"The captives from last time have already been escorted on the road. They are expected to arrive in Dongdu in three months. How does Auntie plan to arrange for them?" Li Chongrun asked.

Li Yuechen propped his chin with one hand and thought for a while: "I'll detain them in the Qianniuwei camp first. When the refinery on Kurt's side is built, let them go to work."

"Okay, just let them go abroad, will it..."

"Well, don't worry, the garrison will take care of them at that time, and there will be no problems. Now that the production process of muskets has been upgraded again, the garrison will have about the same number of people in the garrison." Li Yuechen smiled.

Industry is something that develops very fast.

From the initial output of 24 per year, it is now almost possible to produce one per day.

And when Li Yuechen didn't take the initiative to issue an order, the people in the engineering academy were already studying how to increase the range.

Some time ago, I also sent a slug paper, hoping that she will approve and support it.

If it weren't for the consideration that the weapons were still sufficient and there was no need to upgrade quickly, Li Yuechen would even teach them rifled guns.

It's just that it's not necessary for the time being.

Nowadays, muskets are only available in Datang's army, and the outside world does not have this technology.

In addition, Li Yuechen is not allowed to sell weapons to other countries for the time being, so there is no need to rush to upgrade this aspect for the time being.

The musket is different from other products, and has already begun to have technical barriers.

You can't learn it just by looking at it. Even if you get the real thing and disassemble it for observation, it will take a long time to reproduce it.

Among other things, until now, many foreign envoys have not figured out why Datang's four-wheeled carriage can turn easily.

Of course, this kind of technology can't be hidden for long. As the exchanges between countries become more and more frequent, this kind of thing will eventually be sold.

To say that the most surprising product of Datang is the typewriter.

Although these foreign envoys have never seen the real thing, but every time they see the handwriting on the documents given to them are exactly the same, they can guess that it should not be handwritten.

It's just that this thing is useless to them at the moment, because the writing of many countries around them is fragmented.

For example, in Japan and Silla, although the spoken Japanese language has taken shape, Chinese characters are still used for writing.

Things like katakana have not yet appeared, and all official documents are all Chinese characters.

That is to say, even though the languages ​​are different between the Tang Dynasty, Japan and Silla, barrier-free communication can basically be achieved in writing.

At present, there are simple characters in Dashi Kingdom, but they are not very systematic.

As for the Western Regions, there are basically different national languages. Although there are characters, many words that cannot be translated must still be written in Chinese characters.

This resulted in many envoys writing to their own kings, often in both languages.

"Okay, since my aunt said there's no problem, I don't worry about it."

"I think you should pay more attention." Li Yuechen smiled, "Now that you have come to the Ministry of War, everything in this area will be your job in the future. It is always good to learn in advance."

Li Chongrun was stunned for a moment, and then said: "Auntie, don't say that, now Auntie..."

"Okay, okay, don't mention this." Li Yuechen waved his hand and interrupted him, "Speaking of which, you are almost 19 years old, do you have a sweetheart?"

As an elder, Li Yuechen couldn't help but began to care about the children's national affairs.

However, Li Chongrun shook his head slightly: "As long as my nephew can remember, he has been in the army, how can he have time to think about those..."

"Speaking of which, I'm not too young, so I should think about it." Li Yuechen said.

"My aunt once said that it's best to find it by yourself before the age of 20. If you can't find it now, why don't you tell me about a marriage?" Li Chongrun replied.

He felt that it was too troublesome for him to find a partner. As the emperor's son, he had too many things to do, and he really didn't have time to talk about it by himself.

After hearing this sentence, Li Yuechen thought for a while: "This...maybe I can really try it."

The marriage of the emperor's son is also very important, and it cannot be delayed forever, let alone the future emperor who he personally cultivated?

But this problem is not easy to solve, Li Yuechen doesn't have much contact with girls from powerful families, and has very few friends.

Now I don't know who has a suitable girl.

Although she herself does not have any arrogance in blood, the problem is that the right family must also be considered. If the emperor's son marries a wife, it is inevitable and impossible to marry an ordinary person.

Because they are not the same people at all, and it is impossible to chat together, which will not benefit the future married life at all.

After thinking about it carefully, it seems that there is only one woman of the right age that I know.

So he asked, "What do you think of Lu Yao?"

"The governor of the Imperial Central Bank?" Li Chongrun asked back.

Although he had never seen this person with his own eyes, he had heard of it.

A genius who was admitted to Jinshi at the age of 16, a disciple of Princess Xuancheng, who used to be an official in the Ministry of Household Affairs, and now works as the president of the Imperial Central Bank.

"I heard that she seems to be three years older than me?" Li Chongrun asked.

"Hey!"

Li Yuechen waved his hand: "It's not a problem at all. The female junior is holding a gold brick. The [-]th female college sits... cough cough. Anyway, this is a small problem."

(End of this chapter)