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

After seeing the train, Zheng Sen was also very excited. He nodded after hearing this, "It is indeed of great use - if a railway is built from Jiangbei Wharf to Northern Xinjiang, with a few more carriages, this train can carry thousands of soldiers." The horse went straight to the northern border.

It does not use cattle and horses, but coal, and can work day and night. I am afraid that the time from Nanjing to Northern Xinjiang will be shortened by more than double! "

Wang Fuzhi thought of the previous conversations of several businessmen next to him and said: "Not only is it of great use in the military, but it can also bring great convenience to the people.

I just looked at it and saw that the train was running on the rails without any bumps and was extremely stable. If it can connect thousands of miles, it means that we no longer have to suffer from the bumps of the carriage when traveling long distances.

If businessmen could use trains to transport goods, the goods transported in one trip would far exceed that of horse-drawn carriages and ships, and even the risks of doing business would be greatly reduced. "

Yao Qisheng said: "This train does have many advantages, but I don't know how much coal it consumes. If it consumes too much coal, I'm afraid it will be very expensive to use.

In addition, I don’t know how much money was spent to build these more than 20 miles of railway.

If it is extremely expensive to build, it will be difficult to promote and even harder to replace carriages and ships. "

"Xizhi's (Yao Qisheng's character) concerns are indeed justified."

Several people couldn't help but nodded with a slight frown.

At this time, a scholar in his thirties next to him seemed to have heard the conversation of several people. He came closer and held his hands to talk.

"My dear, Gu Yanwu, he just heard what a few people said and seems to know a lot about trains and railways. Could he be a graduate student of the Academy of Sciences?"

Gu Yanwu is from Kunshan, Suzhou Prefecture.

He was admitted as a scholar at the age of fourteen. However, he failed several provincial examinations and accidentally turned thirty.

Four years ago, he gave up the imperial examination, read through the history books of the past dynasties, county chronicles, as well as the records of farmland, water conservancy, minerals, transportation, etc. in the collections, chapters, and collections, as well as geographical materials, and began to write "The Book of Benefit and Diseases of the Counties and Countries of the World" ” and “Zhaoyu Zhi”.

At this time, his behavior was no different from that of ordinary scholars.

There was no hope for his official career, so he wrote a biography.

One is that if you have this hobby, you can also show your talents; the other is to leave a name for future generations - when people come to this world, they always want to leave some traces.

But what he didn't expect was that the world would change its masters within a few years.

In the new dynasty and the new atmosphere, some things became different from those in the Ming Dynasty.

In addition, Kunshan is not far from Nanjing. In the past two years, he will travel to Nanjing when he has time to make friends and increase his understanding of the new dynasty.

Originally, the establishment of new institutions such as the Academy of Sciences, libraries, and universities in Da'ei, as well as a series of innovations in the central government and local government offices, were enough to surprise him.

Unexpectedly, when I returned to Nanjing, I heard discussions between the government and the public that the Academy of Sciences had built a "railway" under Liu Sheng's order.

Although Gu Yanwu had read many books, this was the first time he heard about the railway.

At first, just like the ordinary people, they thought that bricks were made of iron to pave a road.

But when I think about it, I feel that this kind of thing is too ridiculous, and it is not like what the founding emperor of Dawei did today.

So I stayed in Nanjing until now and saw the true appearance of the railway.

He knows the track.

Some local mines use rails and trolleys to pull ore from the mine, which is more efficient than using people to carry or lift it.

But that is done by using a rope to pull it outside, or at most adding a winch and using animals to pull it.

Like the train on the railway in front of him, it only needs to be burned with coal, without the use of livestock, to make nine large carriages run as fast as a galloping horse, but it was beyond his comprehension.

However, with his intelligence, he could also see that this train was superior to carriages and ships in some ways.

But after all, he had just seen the train today, and his thoughts at the moment were not as comprehensive and comprehensive as what Wang Fuzhi and others had just said.

Only then did he come forward to talk.

Zheng Sen smiled and said, "I'm Zheng Sen, a student at Nanjing University. The three next to me are all my classmates."

"Wang Fuzhi."

"Zhang Huangyan."

"Yao Qisheng"

The three of them also reported their names one after another - this was the basic social etiquette at this time.

After bowing their hands and saluting each other, Gu Yanwu asked with slight surprise, "Is there a teacher at Nanjing University who talks about this train and railway?"

"That's right." Zheng Sen nodded, "Professor Wang Hui, who is responsible for developing the train and building this railway, went to give us a lecture." "Do you know why this train does not use oxen and horses, but only burns coal, so it can travel faster than Galloping horse?”

"Hahaha." When Zheng Sen and others heard this, they all laughed kindly, because they also had this doubt when they first learned about the existence of the train.

After laughing, Zheng Sen explained, "This train can run only because it is driven by a steam engine."

"What is a steam engine?"

"This is taking too long to say. Why don't we wait for the train to come back and I can find a restaurant to chat with Brother Gu?"

"I can't ask for it."

Zheng Sen is not yet twenty years old now. It is the time when he is young and likes to make friends. Although Gu Yanwu's clothes were relatively ordinary, his appearance was extraordinary, so he was determined to make friends with him.

After changing the topic, Yao Qisheng said: "When do you think the train will return? Or, how long will it take for a round trip?"

Zhang Huang said: "Although this railway is built between Qiqiao Weng and Yuzui Wharf, it is not a straight track, but has several bends and is more than 20 miles long.

If the train can maintain the same speed as when it left, it will probably be able to return in an hour. "

As a student at Nanjing University, I am now accustomed to measuring time in hours.

In fact, the concept of hour has been around for a long time and is used to represent half of an hour, so Gu Yanwu didn't sound unfamiliar with it.

He said, “A normal horse can run forty miles an hour, but if it runs at full speed, it can run hundreds of miles.

I saw that when the train left just now, it was indeed running at an ordinary speed. If it didn't stay there for too long, it should be back in about an hour. "

Zheng Sen is now more superstitious about Liu Sheng.

He also highly praised the trains and railways built by Liu Sheng.

He said: "Even if a horse only runs at a normal speed, it is impossible to keep running forever. It has to rest. The actual distance it can run does not exceed two hundred miles.

The train is different. As long as there is enough coal on board, it can keep running.

If you want to compare the speed of horses and trains, short distance is too unfair, and long distance can show the advantage of trains. "

Several people nodded.

Because it is indeed true.

Zheng Sen and the others were not the only ones waiting for the train to come back. It could be said that all the people who had been watching before had not left and were waiting.

In less than an hour, the train came back and brought back four carriages of coal from the dock!

Such a fast speed caused many people to marvel.

In the train station, Liu Sheng was also satisfied with this - as far as he knew, this speed was almost as fast as the trains in the early 20th century.

And this is just the first train and the first railway in Dalei.

In the future, with his support, the Academy of Sciences will develop faster trains and build longer railways!

After laughing for a while, Liu Sheng commended all relevant personnel from the Academy of Sciences, the Railway Department, and the Railway Patrol Bureau.

Not verbally, but in a physical way.

He also gave a speech, encouraging the train development team to continue their efforts and develop faster and better trains as soon as possible; encouraging the Railway Department to train more engineering troops specializing in railway construction to prepare for the construction of more railways; encouraging the Patrol Bureau's Soldiers, carefully protect every inch of the railway to ensure it is safe and smooth.

When he finished speaking, he naturally won loud cheers from everyone in the train station——

"Long live my emperor!"

"Long live! Long live!"

Liu Sheng walked out of the train station with a smile and happened to meet an official from the Ministry of Rites to report the news.

It is said that Zheng's daughter will be able to arrive in Nanjing tomorrow.

Hearing this, Liu Sheng couldn't help but smile to the guards on his left and right and said: "Our first railway in Dalian has been completed and opened, and new people will be added to the harem tomorrow. From my words, isn't this a double happiness?"

Although the guards were not as good at flattering as Qian Qianyi, they were very sensible and immediately said in unison: "Congratulations, Your Majesty! Congratulations, Your Majesty!"

"Hahaha, go back to the palace!" (End of chapter)