Back to Ming Dynasty with Industrial Revolution System

Chapter 1573 Ningwu Railway opens to traffic
In Wuhu, Taiping Prefecture, Jianghuai Province, it has been a while since the Ningwu Railway broke ground in Wuhu. At this time, almost all the businessmen, farmers, and workers in Wuhu were gathered by the completed platform. There was a lot of people, and everyone was waiting. The locomotive starts.

Since the opening of the Ningsu Railway, Wang Changyuan, a Wuhu businessman who had dealt with Chu Yun very early, united with a group of Wuhu local businessmen and upstarts to organize and launch a movement for private contracting of railway construction.They funded, hired workers, and were responsible for operations, while the government provided technical personnel for railway construction.

This section of the more than 200-mile-long railway was completed soon under the premise of sufficient funds.

Now all the local people are full of excitement to accept their results.They have invested a lot of money to build a railway to Nanjing for their hometown to develop the local economy.If the money doesn't have the desired effect, there's a good chance they'll be disappointed by it.

A steam locomotive lay quietly on the lying rails. People who liked lively and well-meaning people even put a big red flower on the cold black front of the locomotive to eliminate the chill caused by the machine being too cold.

Around the platform, there were also lion dancers and people with firecrackers celebrating the opening ceremony. The surrounding noise and congratulations continued, and a large number of firecrackers fell on the ground, leaving red skins, which was very lively.

"Treasurer Wang, you have finally returned from Dongying. We were afraid that you would not be able to catch up with the opening ceremony of our Ningwu Railway. It has been a few years since we broke ground, and it is finally completed. It is not easy to shorten the distance by two hundred miles. .” The businessmen in Wuhu sighed with emotion to one of the businessmen.

If the railway was built with the funds of the Ministry of Industry, perhaps these businessmen just had the mood of watching the excitement, but they could not realize the huge cost of building the railway, nor could they appreciate the hardships encountered during the construction of the railway.This railway is funded and managed by them, but the railway of more than 200 miles makes it difficult for these Wuhu businessmen.

"I was in the Osaka prefecture to turn over grain. When I heard the telegram from you, I immediately rushed back without stopping. Because you trusted me, Wang, you jointly funded the construction of the Ningwu Railway to make your hometown prosperous. Now The railway has been repaired, and the acceptance ceremony of the opening ceremony, how could Wang not show up in time!" Wang Changyuan said to the crowd.

"The telegram is really a good thing. Even if it is thousands of miles away, you can know it immediately." Many Wuhu businessmen are now able to accept new things. They even spent a lot of money to send a telegram directly to Wang Changyuan, inviting him to come back to participate in the Ningwu Railway. opening ceremony.

"Look, this is a locomotive and some carriages that our Wuhu Railway Company bought from the government. We plan to name it Wuhu, so that even if travelers from other places take our train on this section of the railway, we can let the people of Wuhu Fame goes out."

Everyone pointed to the front of the train lying on the lying rails. This iron bump pulled seven carriages, two of which were passenger carriages, and five were freight carriages.

The carriages are not important, what is important is the locomotive itself.

When Wang Changyuan saw a big red flower on the head of the steam locomotive, he couldn't help crying and laughing. Why in the eyes of the local people, this opening ceremony seemed to be a wedding ceremony for a girl who was about to be married?
Wang Changyuan has taken local trains in Beijing and even Nanjing to Suzhou. He is no stranger to steam locomotives, so he doesn't think there is much novelty. He also believes that the test run at the opening ceremony is not dangerous. As far as he is concerned, he enters the passenger compartment with other companions at ease.

Unlike Wang Changyuan, a big businessman who often travels north and south to see new things, most of the local people in Wuhu have never seen the trains and railways that have appeared between Nanjing City and Suzhou City. They are full of this strange means of transportation. fresh and curious.

Woo-!
The sharp whistle sounded, and white steam spewed out from the bottom of the steam locomotive, which made the people within a few meters around them very nervous, and they backed away in panic!

"Monster, monster, it can fly through the clouds!"

"Look at the black smoke rising from its head, completely different from the white smoke beneath its feet!"

"It moved, it moved!"

People who have never seen a steam locomotive were first shocked by the sharp whistle of the steam locomotive, and when the smoke from the steam locomotive billowed, the people seemed to have seen a legendary ghost, and even many plain-headed people who came to join in the fun shouted at each other. The loud "ghost" kowtowed and bowed.

"This is nothing more than a normal thing, why panic!"

The chief soldier of Wuhu led a group of patrolmen to maintain law and order on both sides of the railway, but he had never had the opportunity to ride a steam locomotive before, and when he was splashed by the white smoke from the steam locomotive, he couldn't help getting goose bumps all over his body.

The steam locomotive started very slowly, but its speed increased visibly with the naked eye, and soon it was faster than a horse-drawn carriage, and it left Wuhu at lightning speed!
The black smoke billowed, and Wang Changyuan and other Wuhu businessmen and officials always felt a little unbelievable when they saw the scenery from the window receding rapidly, just like a fairy tale.

"There is a saying in the Tang poetry, if you return a thousand-mile Jiangling in one day, I think that in the future, even if you don't take a boat or go smoothly, you can travel a thousand miles a day."

The merchants sat in the slightly shaking carriages, and were very satisfied with the steam train. Sitting in the train carriages was much more stable than a carriage. If the carriages galloped at such a speed, they would probably be bumped to death in the carriages.And now they can even drink tea and chat leisurely in the carriage.

"In the future, our goods from Wuhu can be transported to Nanjing, Suzhou, or even Hangzhou and Ningbo by steam locomotive. It is said that the construction of the railway extending from Suzhou City to Hangzhou and Ningbo is also accelerating, and I believe it will be completed in the near future." Wang Changyuan said .

"The efficiency of the government is really fast. I didn't expect that the Suzhou-Hangzhou Railway is longer than our Ningwu Railway, and it will be completed soon." Wuhu businessmen said with emotion.

"That's natural, the government has strong funds. However, our Ningwu Railway is the first commercial railway, and the military leader has praised us very much. He ordered the local government not to interfere with our daily operations at will. He also wants to see private operations. Whether the railway can be more efficient. So in the next period of time, we must find a way to run the railway well, rather than just build it and let it go." Wang Changyuan said.

"Of course, we invested so much gold and silver in the construction of the Ningwu Railway, we must manage it well to be able to recover the investment." Everyone replied.

(End of this chapter)