mage in the late qing dynasty

Chapter 721 The work of ghosts and gods
Fukushima Anzheng was muttered all the way by Zhao Chuanxin, and the clergy of every church he passed had heard of this name.

Those who died were more than worthy of their death. These people seized and bought land and did not do anything about human affairs. They were equivalent to legal foreign bandits.

If he had to leave a message, Zhao Chuanxin would not be allowed to be massacred.

The two rode for several days. Worried about the pursuers, Bayar Bor'e proposed to take a detour to Zhangjiakou and go straight to the capital, intending to go north through Guangou to the palace of Prince Gong.

For several days in a row, the horses stopped and people stopped, and one person changed horses and horses, and soon arrived at Guangou.

At Badaling, countless workers were digging shafts, their pickaxes clanking against the rocks.

The arrival of the two men did not attract the attention of the tired workers.

However, a middle-aged man in a dusty suit spotted Zhao Chuanxin. His eyes suddenly widened and he walked towards Zhao Chuanxin.

When he got closer, he said in surprise: "Charcoal worker?"

Zhao Chuanxin turned around and saw the middle-aged man bared his teeth and smiled: "Brother Juancheng, you are well."

This person is none other than Zhan Tianyou.

Zhan Tianyou looked around and lowered his voice and said, "How dare you go to the capital?"

Zhao Chuanxin is a wanted criminal by the court.

"I work and sit upright, why don't I dare to come?" Zhao Chuanxin's eyes widened: "Did you find a gold mine here and lead someone to dig for gold? Why don't you bring a share of this kind of good thing to your brothers? "

Zhan Tianyou couldn't laugh or cry: "I am responsible for building the railway from Beijing to Zhangjiakou. This is the final stage of the second section. I am digging shafts and tunnels. No, we hit a huge rock and blocked the way. The project was blocked. There are rumors among workers that they dug up earthworms. Be careful that the earthworms turn over. I have a headache..."

Whenever a tunnel is excavated, there are always various rumors and legends, some with noses and some with eyes, and this will still be the case in future generations.

Every time this matter is mentioned, someone will always say: Some things have to be believed...

Zhao Chuanxin asked him: "Didn't you use the method of drilling holes and gunpowder blasting?"

Zhan Tianyou hesitated for a moment: "Chinese people have never used explosives before, so we must be cautious about this matter."

Zhao Chuanxin encouraged: "There is a first time for everything. The British started using explosives as early as the beginning of the last century."

"Hey, the terrain of Badaling is very different. The mountains are steep and steep, and there are many rocks underneath that are indestructible. Even if blast holes are drilled and filled with explosives, it is not feasible everywhere. In some places, it still needs to be done by the hands of workers, such as the one in front of you. Go through difficult times.”

Zhao Chuanxin got off his horse, lifted up his belt, and rolled up the sleeves of his flannel shirt: "Let's go, lead the way, brothers, help us."

Although Zhan Tianyou had not interacted with Zhao Chuanxin a few times, he felt that they were quite close to each other.

He was not polite and said: "Charcoal worker, don't be ridiculous. This is different from marching and fighting. It requires brute force."

To say that Zhao Chuanxin is a first-class fighter, he is called the God of War.

But Zhan Tianyou didn't think he knew engineering.

"Who is messing with you?" Zhao Chuanxin turned around and asked Bayarbo: "Old man, let the horse eat some grass. Let's rest here today."

Zhan Tianyou had no choice but to take him to observe.

Zhan Tianyou used the middle shaft method, which means digging two shafts in the middle. After going down, he excavated to both ends to increase the construction area as much as possible.

Zhao Chuanxin looked at the shaft, which was not deep enough to be dug in the mountain. There were rocks underneath. The workers were hammering away hard, but with little success.

Is this going to last until the Year of the Monkey and the Horse?

Zhao Chuanxin said: "Ask all the workers below to come up and do whatever they have to do. Leave this place to me."

Zhan Tianyou naturally hesitated. Historically, he completed the laying of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway two years ahead of schedule.

Therefore, the construction schedule is actually ahead of schedule.

But he is not willing to waste a day, because the significance of the railway is too great. If it is completed and opened to traffic one day earlier, it will have an important impact on the national economy and people's livelihood.

"Come on, brother, if I talk nonsense, come and see me."

People at this time still value their oaths very seriously.

After hearing this, Zhan Tianyou made up his mind, called all the workers and told them to take a day off.

The workers were naturally happy and dispersed one after another.

At this time, Zhao Chuanxin said cheerfully: "By the way, I forgot to tell you, it's true that you brought your head to see me, but it may be the head of a foreigner."

Zhan Tianyou: "..."

He had the urge to kick Zhao Chuanxin into the shaft.

The two of them grabbed the rope and descended into the three-meter-deep shaft. Zhao Chuanxin's expression suddenly became cautious: "Brother Juancheng, what you saw today must help me keep it a secret."

Zhan Tianyou saw him babbling, but he still clasped his fists and said, "I will definitely keep it secret."

Zhao Chuanxin has a clay trowel glove in his right hand and an elf carving knife in his left hand.

He first turned the rocks on the four sides into sand, extended the elf carving knife, inserted it and cut off the rock from the back.

A large piece of rock fell off.He casually loaded it into the secret realm. It was three meters high. It was just easy for him. He bent his knees, added strength, and suddenly jumped out.

Zhan Tianyou below was dumbfounded. He looked up at the mouth of the well, and then looked at the smooth-cut rock below. He felt incredible.

This is simply beyond human power.

Zhao Chuanxin threw the rock out and came back again.

The sand was melted, cut, and stones were thrown... in this repetitive cycle, the shaft was dug to a sufficient depth very quickly.

Zhan Tianyou hurriedly said: "Charcoal workers, it's time to dig sideways."

Zhao Chuanxin was worried about landslides, so when digging rocks, he left a few stone pillars for support while digging.

Because Zhan Tianyou pioneered the "herringbone slope" method to combat the steep slope, the tunnel was only left with a length of more than 1000 meters.

Because the tunnel was dug sideways, in order to fill the secret realm with as much space as possible, Zhao Chuanxin transported a large area of ​​sand, mixed with stones, out in batches. Each batch was five meters long and the cross-section was not wide. He needed it now. The key is to dig a tunnel large enough for workers to pass through, and then let the workers complete the later work.

So it's going fast.

Zhao Chuanxin ran back and forth more than 100 times at a time of five meters, and his forehead was sweating from exhaustion.

Zhan Tianyou was behind him, holding the drawings to make suggestions. His face was full of joy. When he saw this, he said: "Charcoal workers, take a rest and go out to eat. We have been down there for five hours."

Zhao Chuanxin wiped his sweat and said, "I'm going to blanch it. This is more difficult than I thought."

There are artifacts that are still like this, and it all depends on the hands of workers to cut the mountain, which shows how difficult it is.

In the beginning, the Chinese built many railways with great difficulty.

It is simply unimaginable how many difficulties Zhan Tianyou has to overcome in his many projects.

The two climbed out of the shaft and found the anxious Bayar. The three returned to the work shed to eat.

Zhao Chuanxin was sweating profusely, so he simply took off his shirt and put it on his shoulders.

When Zhan Tianyou saw that his whole body was covered with regular geometric patterns and simple graphic tattoos of various plants and animals, he couldn't help but be speechless: "How did you get these tattoos?"

The food was very simple, with white flour steamed buns and stewed pork. Zhao Chuanxin ordered a bowl of garlic sauce to dip it in.

He held a spoon and chopsticks. The spoon was used as a mallet and the chopsticks were used as needles, and he chiselled: "Just like this, little by little, there are still scars, and I have suffered from old sins."

"I see that the tattoos on the body of the charcoal workers have the characteristics of Hawaiian totems. Why go to so much trouble to get these tattoos?"

After all, Zhan Tianyou had studied in the United States and was well-informed.

"It's a long story. When I went to Hawaii, the local natives said that I was the incarnation of their god of war, Kuku, and they had to tattoo me or they would commit collective suicide. I have a good life, but I fainted when I saw blood, so I reluctantly did it. accepted."

Zhan Tianyou: "..."

The charcoal worker is good at everything, but his mouth makes it hard to say anything.

Your hands are covered with blood, and you are so embarrassed to say that you fainted from blood?

Just saying that when he was in Hankou, Zhao Chuanxin killed him until his blood flowed like a river.

After eating, Bayar asked: "When should we set off?"

"There's no rush." ​​Zhao Chuanxin wiped the corner of his mouth: "I'll leave after I finish helping Brother Chengcheng."

The sun was already setting in the west at this time, and it was obvious that it would not be completed today.

The two went down the tunnel again, digging through one side first.

When he saw the dusk outside, Zhan Tianyou felt indescribably excited.

"It's clear, it's really clear. It only took one day for the charcoal workers to dig through one side. It's really the work of ghosts and gods!"

If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, Zhan Tianyou would never have imagined that someone could dig 600 meters of tunnels in one day.

When we returned to the work shed, another engineer, Yan Deqing, came back with a group of engineering students.

Because rock cutting is a difficult job, they went to the front to survey the road conditions in an attempt to shorten the construction period and ensure the lead time.

After returning, I found that Zhan Tianyou had driven all the workers back.

Yan Deqing was stunned.

"Huancheng, you are really, really inappropriate." He wanted to say that he was joking, but Zhan Tianyou was the chief engineer and could not say it: "The construction period is so tight, how can we ask the workers to rest?"

Zhao Chuanxin, who was eating noodles with garlic next to him, suddenly raised his head and said, "Hey, you look familiar. What is your relationship with Yan Huiqing?"

Yan Huiqing was met by Zhao Chuanxin when he went to the British Consulate in Shanghai to ask for Shanxi mineral rights.

At that time, Yan Huiqing and Tang Guoan were preparing for the World Anti-Smoking Conference.

Only then did Yan Deqing notice Zhao Chuanxin: "Yan Huiqing is my brother, who are you?"

(End of this chapter)