Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 1103 1098 [Train! ]

When the painters were about to arrive in Luoyang with the Dunhuang manuscripts, Zhu Ming sent a telegram to his father.

What is Zhu Guoxiang doing?

He personally went to Jiaozuo to wait for the trial run of the first steam locomotive!

The coal used in Kaifeng during the Song Dynasty mainly came from Jiaozuo, Hebi and Anyang, and was mainly delivered by water.

But it is not possible to transport the entire journey by water.

Take Jiaozuo for example, the distance from the coal mine to Qin River is fifty miles and requires land transportation.

Nowadays, not only Kaifeng needs Jiaozuo coal, but Luoyang also needs Jiaozuo coal, and the land transportation task there is extremely heavy. So much so that the court directly ordered that Jiaozuo coal can only be transported to Luoyang and is not allowed to be transported to Kaifeng. Anyway, Kaifeng has two other coal mines that can supply it.

Zhu Ming and Zhu Guoxiang discussed it and decided to develop a steam locomotive.

Steam engines and railroads have been used in Jiaozuo Coal Mine for nearly ten years. However, the steam engines are only used to pump out the water in the mine, while the railroads are used to pull the mine carts with mules to transport the coal out of the mountain.

Now, the two are finally combined!
The first steam locomotive had six freight cars, a designed load capacity of 20 tons, and a speed of about 5 kilometers per hour. People could run faster than the train.

The starting point is the foot of the mountain where the coal mine is located, and the terminal is in the north of Qinyang City. The total length of the railway track is 49.6 miles. Coal is transported to Qinyang by train, then loaded onto ships and transported by Qinshui River all the way to the outside of Luoyang City.

The railway track has been laid for more than two years and crosses three small rivers. For safety reasons, the three original stone bridges were left for people and animals to pass through, and the stone bridges carrying trains were rebuilt nearby.

April in the lunar calendar.

Zhu Guoxiang came to Meishan Town, accompanied by officials from Huaizhou Prefecture, Hanoi County (Qinyang), and Xiuwu County.

During the Northern Song Dynasty, the Jiaozuo area belonged to Hebei West Road.

After the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Jiaozuo, along with the nearby Xinxiang, Hebi, and Anyang, were all assigned to Henan Province. For example, Yue Fei changed from a Hebei native to a Henan native.

Hebei did not suffer any loss, and its jurisdiction even became larger because the Youyan area in the north was incorporated into it.

Meng Xichang, the prefect of Huaizhou, was from Sichuan. As a Jinshi, he was naturally proficient in mathematics and had some knowledge of physics.

But Meng Xichang was always skeptical about steam locomotives.

The railway spanned Xiuwu and Hanoi counties, both within Huaizhou Prefecture. The work of building the railway was in the charge of officials from the Ministry of Industry, but Meng Xichang was still needed to cooperate in recruiting workers and ensuring logistics.

He hasn't seen the train yet!

"Your Majesty, the auspicious time has arrived." An official from the Ministry of Works came running over.

Zhu Guoxiang nodded and said, "Let's get started."

"Boom!"

The gong sounded.

The huge red cloth covering the locomotive was torn off, revealing a big red flower tied to the front of the train.

The six carriages at the rear were all filled with coal.

"Fire the boiler!"

While waiting for the boiler to heat up, a whistle sounded and a large amount of smoke spewed out from the front of the train.

"哐哐哐哐..."

The wheels hit the rails with a sound, and the train slowly moved forward, dragging twenty tons of coal.

The speed was so slow that a few technical officers from the Ministry of Industry could catch up with the train by following it. Gradually, people began to jog and always followed the train.

The extremely slow and lightly loaded garbage train, in the eyes of people at that time, looked like a giant beast swallowing fire and breathing out smoke. The visual impact was simply suffocating.

The officials from Huaizhou Prefecture, Hanoi County, and Xiuwu County were all stunned and stood behind Zhu Guoxiang for a long time, speechless.

"Long live! Long live!"

The administrative and technical officers of the Ministry of Industry on the scene cheered and celebrated, as this was the result of their three years of work.

There was even a technical officer who trotted to catch up with the locomotive and jumped onto the front steps. He held the iron handrail with one hand, half of his body hanging outside the locomotive, and stretched out his other hand to feel the speed in the wind.

Zhu Guoxiang smiled and praised: "Excellent. Whether it is the officials of the Ministry of Works or the local officials, their achievements will all be counted. Workers who participated in the construction of bridges, roads and cars will be rewarded with an additional reward ranging from one to thirty strings of cash, depending on their working hours and positions."

The prefect Meng Xichang sighed with deep emotion: "Your Majesty is a scholar of heaven and earth, and has the ability to control all things. I admire you very much."

The prefect was the first to flatter the emperor, and the Tongpan, Caoyuan, county magistrate, and chief clerk also followed suit.

Zhu Guoxiang said to the local officials: "We need to set up a coal transport army here to garrison and maintain the railway. The number of soldiers will not be large, and they will be recruited from the people who originally transported coal. Hanoi and Xiuwu counties must assist in the recruitment."

"I obey your order!" The two county magistrates bowed hurriedly.

Railways replaced dozens of miles of land transportation, and all related practitioners lost their jobs. Some of the strong men were recruited and trained as land transport troops (railway troops) to protect and maintain the railways.

A few hours later, the train arrived at the north of Qinshui at a snail's pace.

The roar of the whistle startled the people of Hanoi, who all ran to the south bank of the Qin River to look out. More and more people gathered outside the city, and even teachers from the prefectural and county schools took their students out of the city to watch the excitement.

The boatmen at the ferry were doing a booming business, carrying common people to the north shore on their boats.

People gathered dozens of steps away, watching the coolies unload the coal from the trucks and transport it to the coal station warehouse on the north bank of Qinshui for stacking.

"This iron cart is really big. Did it come from Meishan Town?"

"I was wondering why there were so many pieces of wood and iron. It turns out they were paving the way for this big iron cart."

"The government had already said when they were recruiting workers that this kind of road is called a railway, and this kind of iron car is called a train. It was built under the supervision of the emperor." "The train is a good name. No wonder the smoke it emits sparks."

"How did it move?"

"Have you forgotten the big antenna in the city? It must be the same as the telegraph. This kind of train runs on electricity and spits out smoke and fire. Most likely, there are high monks blessing it with Buddhist teachings."

"You people are always talking nonsense. The telegraph has nothing to do with the Buddha and the monks. The reason why the big antenna is erected on the pagoda is purely because the pagoda in the capital is the tallest."

"It turned out to be Mr. Tian. Mr. Tian is indeed a scholar, he knows a lot."

"With this kind of train in the future, the price of coal in Huaizhou City will definitely drop, and you and I can both benefit from it."

"Yes, Mr. Tian is still knowledgeable."

"..."

Huaizhou City is the transportation hub for Jiaozuo coal. The people here naturally abandoned firewood and had long used coal for cooking and heating. The honeycomb coal "invented" by Zhu Ming also spread to Huaizhou.

The first beneficiaries of the train were the people of Huaizhou City.

Suddenly, an official came over and said to the crowd, "From now on, if there are people going to Qinghua Town or Meishan Town, they can take a coal-loaded cart. The fare is definitely cheaper than taking a donkey cart. Well, it's just a little dirty, and you may get covered in coal dust. Merchants transporting goods there can also take the train with their goods."

This is an effective use of train resources, otherwise the train would be empty on the return trip.

For ordinary people, taking the train was still very cost-effective, as they could just wash their clothes if they got them dirty with coal dust. Merchants were even happier, as they didn't have to worry about their goods getting dirty after they were packed.

There is only one train at the moment, but the number will gradually increase in the future.

The people of Huaizhou stood there and watched, and gradually two to three thousand people gathered. The boatman at the ferry was rowing with sparks, and he made a lot of money today.

They were not in a hurry to leave and did not even have time to eat. They just watched the workers unload coal.

Someone also asked: "Can we take the train today?"

The coal station official, who was temporarily also the train station manager, smiled and replied, "Tickets have not been sold yet, but the emperor has ordered that you can ride at half price today, and all the fares collected will be donated to the prefectural and county schools."

We are also charging half price for the fare today because we are afraid that too many people will take the train, not to make a profit from the fare.

Even so, some people were willing to try it out, and they ran to pay their fare and wait for the train. It didn't matter if their clothes got dirty, because they could walk back on the way back, just to try the feeling of riding a train.

Finally, all the coal was unloaded.

The people who had already paid and lined up climbed up the ladders and entered the empty truck bucket used to load coal.

There were even a few wealthy businessmen and scholars who were not afraid of getting their clothes and hands dirty, and they looked around and touched around in the truck bed.

There was no place to sit, only iron handrails on the inside of the box, so passengers had to stand the entire time. The box walls were even too high, so shorter passengers couldn't effectively see the scenery outside.

"Woo~~~"

"哐哐哐哐..."

The whistle blew and fireworks erupted.

People burst into exclamations: "It's moving, it's moving, it's really moving!"

"This train is so majestic, spewing smoke and fire."

"It can't run as fast as a horse."

"Such a big car can't run as fast as a horse."

Many people who were watching the train followed it and walked forward. When the train picked up speed, they jogged after it.

Two or three thousand people kept chasing the train, and only stopped when they were exhausted and out of breath. Some people were very strong and ran for several miles after the train.

The previous Mr. Tian was called Tian Shougeng, who was already a scholar in Huaizhou Prefecture at a young age.

At this moment, Tian Shougeng stood in the truck bed, his hand holding the handrail was black, and the end of his dress was stained with coal dust. He didn't care about getting dirty, he just stood on tiptoe to look out, and the scenery along the way kept passing by.

"It's truly a work of art!" Tian Shougeng exclaimed.

A wealthy businessman named Li said with a smile: "Mr. Tian, ​​can you build this kind of train?"

Tian Shougeng said: "Although I don't know how to make it, I know the principle behind it."

The wealthy businessman surnamed Li was surprised and asked, "Does Mr. Tian really know?"

Tian Shougeng said: "Coal mines have steam pumps. I also know that there are steam coin-making machines and steam iron-forging machines. This kind of train is also powered by steam. Just like boiling water at home, when the water boils, the lid of the pot will be washed off."

The wealthy businessman surnamed Li suddenly realized: "So it's just boiling water."

Tian Shougeng shook his head: "The steam engine is extremely complex and sophisticated. It is not something that ordinary people can master. This thing is a miracle of nature. I plan not to take the imperial examination. I plan to apply for a mechanical school next year."

"It's a pity not to take the imperial examination." said the wealthy businessman named Li regretfully.

Tian Shougeng had a hard time passing the imperial examination, so how could he have the confidence to pass the imperial examination? Now that he saw the train, he suddenly decided to change his career and study mechanics to become a technical officer in the future.

This can also be considered a step forward.

Tian Shougeng got off the bus at Qinghua Town halfway along the way. It was almost evening and the city was twenty miles away.

He and the wealthy businessman named Li rented a donkey cart in the town to go back to the city, while many passengers walked back in the dark. They did not feel it was a hassle, but were extremely excited. The experience of taking the train could make them brag about it for months.

(End of this chapter)