The Imperial Age with the Resurgence of Han Style

Chapter 395 Style
June 1737, 6, Daxing Prefecture, Xingbei County (now Caboolture District, 5 kilometers north of Brisbane).

"Li Yanxiu, someone is looking for you outside the military camp."

Li Yanxiu, a private first class from the Xingbei County Military Police Squadron who had just finished his shift, had not yet caught his breath when a companion told him that someone was looking for him outside the barracks.

With a hint of doubt, Li Yanxiu put on his belt again, put on the military cap on the bedside, and walked out of the barracks.

"Ugly baby..."

After Li Yanxiu left the camp, he was looking around when he suddenly heard a weak cry from his side.

Looking in the direction of the sound, I saw a man in his forties squatting by the wall, looking timid. When he saw Li Yanxiu, he turned his head and looked at me, then slowly stood up.

The man had an untidy beard and messy hair, and what was even more shocking was that his face was covered with blue and purple bruises and hematomas, and it was obvious that he had been severely beaten.

"Dad..." Li Yanxiu's mouth twitched, with a distressed and helpless expression on his face, "Dad, why did you come to look for me?... What happened to you?... Were you beaten again?"

"Ahem..." Li Dewu looked a little embarrassed. He subconsciously reached out and touched the bruises on his face, then laughed dryly at his son. "Oh... it's okay, it's okay. You've been in the army for more than a year, and I thought I should come and see you. How are you doing in the military police squadron... is it okay?"

"Dad, did you lose money in gambling again and are being harassed by someone for paying back the debt?" Li Yanxiu immediately saw through his father's purpose in coming here to find him.

By the way, your son joined the military police last year. As a father, you not only never came to visit him, but you even never wrote him a letter. It is clear that you don't miss your son at all.

A dozen years earlier, this father had not fulfilled any responsibility of raising and caring for his child. Whenever he had a little money, he would go to the horse or football market to gamble, hoping to become extremely rich.

To the extent that, ever since he could remember, his mother would often hug him and his siblings and cry bitterly, and the family would often suffer from hunger and hardship, and their lives were extremely miserable.

If the entire family had not first relied on their aunt and then relied on their cousin's wife, he and his younger brothers and sisters might not have been able to grow up smoothly.

Naturally, it is impossible for him to join the enviable gendarmerie and have a good future now.

It’s better not to have this father.

Judging from his appearance, he probably owed a large gambling debt in Daxing and was beaten up by someone. Now he came to Chang'an to find him, probably to ask for some money from his son to pay off the bad debt he owed.

In this world, what debt is the hardest to repay?

Apart from debts of favor, I'm afraid the only debt is gambling debt!

Because gamblers never really stop, and can never control the endless greed in their hearts. Whether they lose once, ten times, or even hundreds of times, they will always believe that they will win the next time, and thus keep throwing their chips out in vain.

"Ugly boy..." Li Dewu looked at his son's angry face and flinched a little, but thinking of the terrible consequences of not paying back the bad debt, he gritted his teeth and said in a timid manner: "Ugly boy, Daddy begs you, just lend me three hundred yuan. I promise, this is the last time. If I gamble again or borrow usury from others, I will be hit by a carriage and killed when I go out!"

"How can I have 300 yuan?" Li Yanxiu shouted irritably, "I am just a private soldier, and my monthly salary is only 8.5 yuan. How can I come up with 300 yuan?"

"Go borrow some money from your fellow soldiers..."

"I won't lend it to you!" Li Yanxiu said bitterly, "Your son is not so shameless!"

"Ugly kid!" Li Dewu pulled his son's arm with tears and snot, "Dad begs you, please help Dad, okay? If...if Dad can't pay back the three hundred yuan, Dad will not be able to live! You don't know the methods of those people. If you don't pay back the money you owe, they will definitely make you die in an ugly way..."

"Go report to the police!" Li Yanxiu swung his arms angrily. Looking at this father who made people hate and pity him, he was at a loss for a moment.

"Report to the police? ... The police can protect me for a while, but they can't protect me forever! Besides, those people must have a close relationship with the police. Maybe I'll be sold out the next moment after reporting to the police."

"You..." Li Yanxiu was so angry that he couldn't speak for a long time.

The traditional Eastern filial piety made it impossible for him to ignore this disappointing father.

Now that he has found his way here, he must have spent all the money in the family. He might even have gone to his married elder and second sisters to ask for money. In the end, when he had no other choice, he thought of his son, a military policeman.

"Ugly kid, why don't you try to borrow some money from your cousin?" Li Dewu said in a low voice.

"I won't go!" Li Yanxiu glared at his father. "When we were young, we relied on our cousins ​​and their wives. Now we all have jobs and can earn our own money. Why should we bother them? ... Dad, you haven't already gone to look for my cousins ​​and their wives?"

"Your cousin's door lintel is so big, how can I have the nerve to knock on the door?" Li Dewu's mouth twitched, with a helpless expression on his face.

That cousin's wife is the Princess of Wen'an County. Even if she doesn't say anything just by sitting there, her eyes looking at you so calmly, it makes people feel uneasy. How can they dare to go to her house to borrow money?

Oh, and that cousin, he was dressed in a senior officer's uniform, with a saber hanging from his waist, and his eyes were sharp, which made me a little scared. I heard that he killed a lot of people on the battlefield, and he is not as easy to get along with as he was a dozen years ago.

He didn't dare to ask his cousin for a loan, but he could encourage his son to get close to him. They were all blood relatives, so if he asked for a loan in the name of his cousin, he would surely get his money back.

"I'm in this military camp, how can I ask for leave at will?" Li Yanxiu looked at his pitiful father and his heart softened.

"You can tell Shangguan that the elder in your family is dying and you need to see him off urgently. Can you say that you won't grant me leave just because of this?"

"Dad..." Li Yanxiu was immediately shocked by his father's words. He stared at him for a long time without being able to speak.

"Ugly boy, don't stare at me like that." Li Dewu felt a little scared by his son's stare and subconsciously took a few steps back. "…A few days ago, your second uncle wrote to me, saying that your grandfather was indeed ill and he might not live long."

"Why didn't you say this just now?" Li Yanxiu was furious when he heard this. He pointed at his father and scolded him, "Grandpa was critically ill, but you didn't tell me anything. You only came to find me when you couldn't avoid the debt you owed! You really...really...are not worthy of being a son!"

"I'm thinking that I have no money on me, and I can't help much even if I go back..." Li Dewu scratched his head and said in a low voice.

"You..." Li Yanxiu was speechless. He shook his hands and turned to run towards the military camp.

"Ugly kid, why did you leave?" Li Dewu hurriedly chased after him, "Don't you care about your father's life or death?"

"Stay there honestly!" Li Yanxiu turned around and shouted, "I'll go ask Shangguan for leave!" "Oh... then hurry up, we still have time to take the train back to Daxing and borrow money from your cousin."

"..."Li Yanxiu.
-
Although Qi and France had declared war on each other, this did not seem to affect the lives and work of the local residents of Qi.

Officials still handle various trivial government affairs and issue various documents step by step.

The merchants continued to sit in the quiet teahouse, negotiating orders for goods and haggling over every penny of profit.

The workers also followed their daily routine and hurried towards the bustling factory early in the morning while eating breakfast.

Merchant ships loaded with cargo blew loud whistles, spewed out billowing black smoke, and slowly sailed away from their berths. The sailors on the ships kept waving goodbye to their relatives and friends who were seeing them off.

Inside the huge train station, under the unified command of the dispatcher, train after train rumbled out of the platform and sped off in all directions of the empire.

Cao Xi held her four-year-old daughter's hand and stood quietly in front of the window of the VIP waiting room. She looked at the bustling passengers passing by outside and spoke softly to her daughter.

Sitting on the chairs behind him were two boys, about seven or eight years old, looking curiously at the passengers and environment in the waiting room.

The maid in the house held several suitcases tightly in front of her, and her eyes kept looking at the hostess at the window so that she could be called at any time.

After a moment, a dignified lieutenant entered the VIP room and walked straight towards them.

"father."

"Dad, you're back!"

"Master Li..."

The two boys stood up from their chairs and ran towards the lieutenant affectionately.

The maid also stood up and greeted him in a flattering manner.

"Daddy!" The little girl next to Cao Xi broke free from her mother's arms, ran over cheering, and threw herself into the officer's arms.

Li Yanliang picked up his daughter and rubbed her face affectionately, causing the little girl to giggle and her two little hands tightly hugged her father's neck.

"I just went to the stationmaster's office, but there was no vacant compartment." He held his daughter in his arms, held his son's hand, walked to Cao Xi, and said with guilt, "So, our family of five can only take first-class seats, and we have to travel on the road for a whole day to Wenshuifu (now Goondiwindi, Queensland, Australia)."

"It's okay." Cao Xi tried to take her daughter from her husband, but her daughter ignored her and still hung on her husband's neck. She had no choice but to give up. "It's only about ten hours to get to Wenshui Prefecture. We can still make it."

"Actually..." Li Yanliang hesitated for a moment and said softly, "Actually, you and the child don't have to go. You have to catch the train all the way, and when you get to Wenshui Prefecture, you have to change to a horse carriage, which is very troublesome."

"Yanliang, I am your wife, and they are your children." Cao Xi said calmly, "We are husband and wife as one, and your grandfather is naturally my grandfather as well. As his granddaughter-in-law, I should see him off for the last time."

Looking at his wife's calm and peaceful face, Li Yanliang suddenly felt extremely guilty.

During this period, I really let down my wife's love and trust, and indulged myself in my own indulgence and selfish desires.

"Yanliang, don't you think we have become a little estranged in recent times?" Cao Xi reached out and pinched her daughter who was making faces at her, tilted her head to look at her husband, and said meaningfully.

"Uh..., I have been busy with military affairs recently and have neglected you and the child." Li Yanliang avoided her gaze and pretended to tease his daughter.

"If you have anything to say, you can tell me."

"Of course." Li Yanliang forced a smile towards his wife. "It seems that the time is almost up. Let's go to the platform to avoid being squeezed with the third-class passengers."

As he spoke, Li Yanliang turned around and called his two sons to pack their belongings and prepare to leave the waiting room.

With the rapid development of Qi State's railways, the railway station buildings in various regions also underwent a transformation from simple to gorgeous.

Daxing Railway Station was rebuilt in the eighth year of Shaoning (1704). It was larger in scale, with more gorgeous and spectacular materials and style, more mature functions, and even integrated hotel and restaurant functions.

During this period, the construction of railway passenger stations in Qi State also took advantage of the favorable conditions of railway development and rapidly developed, basically forming the existing architectural style of railway stations.

People often regard railway stations as important buildings like local government offices. This is not only a display of the strength of the railway company, but also a manifestation of political, social and urban vision. They try their best to build railway passenger stations more magnificently. When travelers who visit Qi take the train, they are all shocked and amazed by the grand scenery of the station.

If there was one thing that made fortress walls obsolete, it was railroads. No other infrastructure invention has done as much to destroy the urban fabric as railroads.

Here, the first thing that comes to mind is the railway connection between cities. The first railway in Qi State was the railway from Jianye to Heishan City (near Palmerston, Australia), which opened in the 1660th year of Qianwu ().

The development prospects of a human settlement were no longer determined by the distance from a river or the sea. Different cities in Hanzhou were connected to each other by railways and gradually formed a network. This process took only a short period of more than 40 years.

What does the emergence of railways mean to a city?

Wherever the first wave of railway construction in Qi State reached, people faced not only funding and technology, but also a series of problems related to the future planning of the city. All parties had heated discussions on the consequences of railway construction on the city, the relationship between private and public interests, the location and design of railway stations, and so on.

In addition to the desire to obtain a generous return on investment, capital's enthusiasm for building railways is also due to another reason, which is the expectation of rising land prices along the railway.

Railways and train stations are giant beasts that devour land. When the cities of Qi completed the transition from the pre-railway era to the railway era, the land owned by the railway company quickly accumulated to a huge number, and it also had indirect decision-making power over the use of land adjacent to the railway.

The railroad tracks stretched into the city like a giant snake, all the way to the city center. During the construction of the railway, many people had to abandon their homes. The original urban structure of a city would become unrecognizable in just a few months, and new communities were often born overnight on both sides of the railway line.

Previously, Qi's cities and settlements were mainly built along the coast and rivers. But now, with the rise of railways, new towns and settlements have sprung up along the railways and are constantly extending into the inland hinterland.

(End of this chapter)