The room goes through the late Ming Dynasty, and the back door leads to North America at the beginni

After listening to Zhao Kang's words, Zhao Laogen and others waited patiently.

Today, many people came to watch the opening of the railway. Both sides of the railway near Qiqiao Urn were crowded with people. It was very lively. There were also many small vendors taking the opportunity to sell dried fruits and hot drinks. It was just like a party, not letting people in. Feeling bored.

For example, Zhao Laogen and others can not only chat with familiar villagers, but also hear the eloquent talks of some scholars and the loud conversations of businessmen.

"I heard that the railway has been built all the way to Yuzui Wharf?"

"No, it's more than twenty miles away."

"The imperial court spent money, food and materials to build such a railway, but I don't know what the use is. Nanjing has many rivers and many official roads. Could it be that the higher ups still find transportation inconvenient?"

"This railway was built by those from the Academy of Sciences. It is said to be used for scientific experiments."

"Science? Today's man who values ​​science but neglects Confucianism may not be a long-term leader."

"Brother Wang, be careful what you say, and be careful of misfortune coming from your mouth."

"···"

There were many similar comments among the onlookers, especially the Confucian scholar group.

After all, the train has not yet appeared, and people can only see the railway. They realize that building this railway will definitely cost a lot, but they don’t know what the purpose of building it will be. Naturally, there are many voices of doubt.

In addition, the railway was built by people from the Academy of Sciences, and scholars were dissatisfied with the imperial court's contempt for Confucianism, which led to even more criticism of the railway.

In other words, Liu Sheng was the founding emperor and his prestige was extremely high and unshakable. Otherwise, during the construction of the railway, someone would have signed a letter to remonstrate to stop the matter.

The more than 20-mile railway from Qiqiao Weng to Yuzui Wharf took more than four months to build. The government and the public had long criticized it. Liu Sheng also knew about it through Xiuyiwei and other channels, but he didn't care.

When the role of trains and railways is revealed, gentry, businessmen and even ordinary people from all over the country, as long as they are not stupid, will rush to request the construction of railways.

Even if people at this time do not have a clear concept of the principle of building roads to get rich, they are still aware of it.

No matter what people talked about in private, when Liu Sheng came with his bodyguards and accompanying officials, the people still subconsciously knelt down and shouted.

"Long live my emperor!"

The sound waves came and went, following Liu Sheng's carriage until it reached the front of the train station.

Liu Sheng got off the carriage and finally saw the completed Nanjing South Railway Station.

There is a ticket office and a waiting shed here, but the main building is the "Nanjing Railway Patrol Bureau".

Da'ei's first experimental railway was not paved with steel rails (the previous article has been changed), but it was still rails. In later generations, there were people who stole rails and wires and sold them for money, let alone in the seventeenth century.

If the court doesn't care, not to mention the railway tracks, even the sleepers below will be taken away and used as firewood.

Therefore, after the railway is repaired, how to protect it is also a priority.

After discussion, the Da'ei imperial court established a Patrol Department under the Ministry of Transport, which would serve as the competent authority for the future railway patrol bureaus in various places.

The reason why it is not placed in the patrol department is that the patrol bureau is mainly established to protect railways, official roads, etc., and is somewhat different from the patrol police.

The second is to consciously avoid excessive concentration of military power.

As for the construction, daily maintenance, operation and other tasks of the railway, it is the responsibility of the Railway Department.

Therefore, there are now several corresponding government agencies in Nanjing, such as Yingtianfu Railway Bureau, South Zhili Railway General Administration, Railway Department, etc.

The ticket office, waiting shed, patrol bureau and other buildings, plus some open spaces and walls, cover hundreds of acres, making it a large complex of buildings.

Liu Sheng walked into the train station and looked directly at the railway not far away and the train parked on it.

With the technical information he brought, the shape of Da'ei's first railway was very similar to that of later generations, that is, the "I"-shaped railway track.

But because it is the first railway, it is still a one-way street (double track, not single track).

Therefore, the train above has two locomotives and seven carriages, that is, nine carriages - this was Wang Hui's choice. Nine is the ultimate number. Although he joined the teaching and learned a lot of Western knowledge, he still had deep feelings in his heart. Influenced by Chinese culture.

Liu Sheng came to the railway and took a closer look. He found that the appearance of the train was very close to the trains he knew in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Three of the seven carriages are used for passenger transportation and four are used for freight. Liu Sheng entered the passenger carriage and looked around. He saw that one carriage was a luxury carriage with facing tables and chairs, and the other two were ordinary carriages without tables.

In fact, the ordinary compartment is not the lowest level. In the future, if there are many people and few goods, people can sit directly in the cargo compartment at the back.

The interior space of the train gave Liu Sheng a much smaller feeling than the trains of later generations, but when he sat in the luxury compartment and raised the curtains to look outside, he still felt as if he had returned to the later generations.

Although Wang Hui's team had tried it many times after the railway was completed, Liu Sheng still had no idea of ​​getting on it when it was officially opened this time, so he only ordered to drive it after getting off.

Woo——!
A long whistle sounded.

On both sides of the train track extending to the west, onlookers followed the sound and looked toward the station.

Then I saw a long, strange car emitting smoke running along the railway track.

Even though they were nearly a hundred steps away, some timid people couldn't help but scream in fright.

"Oh my God! This car is so long!"

"It's still smoking, could it be on fire?"

"My dear, many parts of this car are made of iron!"

"Is this the train?"

Although the people were shocked, it did not cause chaos.

For one thing, when Wang Hui's team tried out the train before, although people were prohibited from watching, the whistle still sounded, and the smoke from the locomotive could be seen from a distance.

Secondly, it is broad daylight now, and there are troops patrolling the railway line to maintain order.

Moreover, although the train appeared for the first time, it was obviously an artificial creation made of iron and wood, and it probably looked like a carriage. Even if some people were ignorant, they would not mistake it for a monster.

But surprise and shock are inevitable.

"How did this car run? Why can't I see the oxen and horses pulling it?"

"The car is so big? Maybe there are cows and horses in it?"

"Sheng Wang, you have bad eyesight, but I am fine. There are iron wheels under the train, where are the hooves?"

"Then how does this car move? It's getting faster and faster!"

The train at this time was very slow when it first started, not even as fast as an ordinary person's trot.

But just as people were talking about it, it gradually moved away and its speed increased, like a galloping horse!

So people were even more shocked.

Some people thought of the rumors about Liu Sheng being banished to an immortal, and couldn't help but murmured: "Is this the sacred car that your Majesty invited from the immortal world?"

After being shocked, a few knowledgeable people or shrewd businessmen thought of the wide carriages of the train and quickly thought of more things, and they couldn't help but start talking excitedly.

"This train seems to have nine carriages?"

"That's right, nine!"

"Then it can transport a lot of people and goods in one trip, right?"

"That's right! I wonder if the court will allow us to rent this car. If so, it will be much more convenient for us to transport goods here from Yuzui Wharf in the future!"

"Even if the imperial court allows the common people to use it, I'm afraid it will be very expensive."

"···"

Zheng Sen, Wang Fuzhi, Zhang Huangyan and others were also among the crowd outside the railway, but they did not come back to their senses until the train was out of sight.

These few people are all smart people. They have learned a lot of science-related knowledge at Nanjing University in the past few months. Now that they have seen the first train running in Dawei with their own eyes, they can think of even more.

Zhang Huangyan said very excitedly at this time: "I just saw that this car was running slowly at first, and I thought it was impractical, but I didn't expect that it would be faster than a galloping horse in the end!
If, as Professor Wang said, this car only needs to burn coal to run around the clock, it would be much better than a horse-drawn carriage! Especially useful in the military! "(End of chapter)