Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 503 Railway Age ([-])

"There is a slight crack on the axle. It is estimated that it will break after another trip. It is recommended to replace it in time." Menendes, a senior engineer from the Southern Vehicle Factory who arrived at Rocha Port with the car, inspected the car body carefully, and then said: "The one on the right The cylinder is not working very well, maybe there is something wrong with the graphite ring used for sealing inside, it is best to take it apart and check it carefully. The rolling bearings are really good, and they are much better than the old sliding bearings before, but maybe we really It is necessary to improve the machining accuracy of the grinding machine. Look at this bearing, there is still a problem with the ball grinding. Forget it, this is an old problem, and it will not be solved in a short while. In general, our steam locomotive The trial run was pretty perfect, wasn't it?"

"Of course." A group of technicians from Zinan Depot and the drivers and passengers all showed satisfied smiles on their faces.Yes, this is an epoch-making transportation tool that they have struggled for many years and overcome countless technical problems. Although there are many problems, it will be perfected one day.What an exciting picture it is to think of the steam locomotives produced by the South Rolling Stock Works running on the main railway artery that traverses the east coast of the country.

Shao Shude, Commissioner of Xiling District, also took his family to sit in the waiting room of the renovated Rocha Railway Station. His secretary graciously brought handmade whale oil cream, grilled veal steak, fresh La Plata deep-sea cod and spiced whale jerky brought back from Baleen Port.

After stopping the secretary's suggestion to open a bottle of brandy imported from France, Shao Shude took a bottle of Hezhong Daqu and said with a smile: "Support domestic products, start with me."

Li Yi, the navy captain who had already made his home in Luocha Port, smiled slightly when he heard the words, and then opened a bottle of Xiangshan dry red for himself, picked up a piece of dried spiced whale meat and threw it into his mouth. After chewing, he said: "It tastes like Not bad, probably because of the good seasoning. Whale meat has been on the market for a while, and the market response is still very enthusiastic. At least in the Luocha market, the small amount of whale meat put in is basically sold out. Let those trading companies and distributors who pay a lot of money to import La Plata beef want to cry."

It is said that since the beef crisis occurred more than a year ago and the price has skyrocketed across the board, on the one hand, the Government Affairs Council has increased its support for the farmers who raise beef cattle in the northern Mucaoling area. The agricultural technicians work together to solve practical difficulties for farmers.Among them, the resident loan officers solve the financial difficulties of the farmers, and the agricultural technicians solve various diseases of the livestock for the farmers, and promote artificial insemination techniques (conceals made of whale intestines, massage the prostate of bulls, you know), these All have effectively guaranteed the reproductive rate and survival rate of young animals.

On the other hand, the Government Council decided to put a large amount of whale meat on the market, and at the same time ordered the South African River Colony to increase the number of beef cattle sent to the central government by 20% every year.When the Government Affairs Council decided to put a large amount of whale meat in the domestic market, it was strongly resisted by liberals headed by Bai Siwen, but fortunately, the main leaders of the Executive Committee and the Government Affairs Council are still very clear-headed on this matter , They eliminated the interference of vested interest groups and resolutely implemented this measure of benefiting the people.

Although the people do not have the habit of eating whale meat, they can't stand the low price of this kind of meat, so many people still buy it and eat it.Moreover, as the Southern Ocean froze in the middle of last year in the southern hemisphere, a large number of whales swam northward in search of warmer waters. Great profit.During the five-month golden whaling season, more than 2 whales were captured and processed, all of which were large in size, thick in fat and rich in meat.

The country has obtained a large amount of valuable materials such as whale oil, whale skin, whale intestines, cod liver oil, and whale meat from whaling activities. In addition to industrial uses, the whale oil of the people on the east coast will also use the excess whale oil that cannot be used Luxury goods such as cream and high-end soap are sold domestically and in neighboring La Plata and Brazil, earning considerable profits.In addition to whale oil, tutu skirts and corsets made of whalebone were all the rage in the domestic market, and countless women who traveled through time, wives of military officers and other wealthy owners almost snapped them up.

The Nanhai Fishery Company, which has officially moved its headquarters and processing workshops to Luocha Port, has made a lot of money just by relying on whaling, and has handed over a large amount of dividends to the national treasury.At present, Zhang Yun, the captain of the original Hunter No. 1 whaling ship, no longer undertakes the task of going out to sea to hunt whaling.This stinking guy once led Hunter 1 into the Weddell Sea with floating icebergs to hunt whales last year, and named this undiscovered sea area Zhang Yunhai.This gentleman has now taken off the captain's uniform, put on a white shirt, and officially sat in the bright office. He is responsible for the processing and sales of the company's products. The size of the whale fleet.

"The day before yesterday, a transport ship came back from Baleen Whale Port in Falkland Island, and brought back more than 100 tons of dried and pickled spiced whale meat. These whale meats will be loaded overnight tonight, and then the cheap meat will be transported by train to Seven or eight densely populated villages and towns along the train line will be distributed and sold.” Shao Shude also picked up a piece of whale meat and said while eating: “In the past, whale meat or other imported goods were directly transported to the port, and then transported by land Or waterway distribution to inland areas. Due to the lack of transportation capacity, many commodities have to wait for a long time in the dock warehouse, and the storage cost is already very high. Then add the land or waterway transportation that is not cheap, and these commodities The price can often be increased by more than 50% on the original basis. Now it is much more convenient to have a train. Let’s take a large amount of whale meat arriving in Hong Kong as an example. The existing train can pull it at an average speed of more than 30 kilometers per hour. Sixty to seventy tons of meat, and then distributed to various settlements along the railway. The consumption is nothing more than some coal, well, maybe there should be some loss of mechanical parts and personnel salaries, but it must be more laborious than using a horse-drawn cart Much easier to transport.”

The advantages of trains mentioned by Shao Shude may not be particularly obvious in coastal areas with convenient transportation.But if it is to transport goods to the settlements in the inland areas, then the advantages of the train can be greatly revealed.Because any railway station is built directly on the edge of a densely populated town, it can easily transport a large number of commodities directly to the final consumers, and the cost is low, the transportation is convenient, and the advantages are great.

"The Ministry of Communications has set up some tax collection checkpoints on canal sections that have been manually excavated and dredged, such as the Yihe River, the Lianghu Canal, the Meihe River, and the Dayu River. The sluice raises funds." After hearing Shao Shude's words, Li Yi also talked about a gossip he heard: "I heard that a group of guys in the Canal Department of the Ministry of Communications have a deep resentment against the State Railway Administration, because they The canals under the jurisdiction finally have competitors, so that they are holding a meeting to discuss whether it is necessary to lower the canal toll. After all, no one has heard of the tax collection on the railway. Haha, the railway is really a big killer Well, the bureaucrats at the canal are about to face the competition, and the good old days of sitting on the ground and counting money are gone forever."

At present, the Canal Department of the Ministry of Communications has set up a tax card on the Meihe River, a tax card on the Yakui River, two tax cards on the Lianghu Canal (one-way toll), and two tax cards on the Dayu River. There are tax cards, two tax cards on the Yi River, and one tax card on the Meilin River. The toll tax that can be received every day is not a small amount.Although most of the taxes are collected by state-run river transport companies, river steamers, these taxes are passed on to the goods they transport, and ultimately consumers pay for it.

In addition to widening and dredging the existing canals, the collected taxes are also used to build new water lifting stations, sluices, and pay the salaries of workers who maintain these water lifting stations.Although there is not much money left each year, it is more or less an income. Now that the railway is doing this, it is inevitable to lower the canal toll tax in the long run. This is not good for the people in the canal department of the Ministry of Communications. News, after all, the money flowing into your department is much less, isn't it?

Of course, they don't need to worry too much in the short term.Because according to the existing national planning, the railway lines, highway lines and canal lines are all staggered, that is, the places where there are canals will not build railways for the time being, and the places where there are roads will not dig new canals or build railways for the time being.Railways will only be built in places where they are most urgently needed, such as the Northwest Railway project fully supported by the Executive Committee and the Government Council at this stage.Only after the railways in these places are saturated will the executive committee consider building railways along canals, such as the Yi River, in order to expand the transport capacity of this traffic artery.So, in the short term, the canal will have a good time, but in the long run it will inevitably face the threat of declining profit margins that the railways will face when they enter the competition.

On January 1646, 1, the first train in the history of the East Bank was overhauled. The workers of the mechanical maintenance class at the Luocha Railway Station replaced many unusable parts for the train, and then added enough coal and water to it.That night, dock workers (the train station was built next to the pier) loaded more than 1 tons of whale meat onto the train overnight, and the shipment was completed the next morning.

At 1 o'clock in the morning on January 2, with a crisp siren sound, seven carriages full of passengers and cargo (in the passenger carriages sat a group of students from the seafarer training school who were going to Zhenhai Port for internship) slowed down under the pull of the steam locomotive. Accelerate slowly and drive out of Luocha Railway Station.The train will stop at Corps Station, Invalids Farm Station, Dingyuan Station, Miannong Station, and Zhenyuan Station in turn, and unload a large amount of whale meat.The terminal station is Meilin Station. As the 7-kilometer Romei line railway has to stop and unload at each station, it is expected that the train will arrive at Meilin Port Railway Station the next morning for maintenance.

(End of this chapter)