mage in the late qing dynasty

Chapter 589 Rolls-Royce Silver Charm
After finishing the work, Zhao Chuanxin was very relaxed, strolling and walking,

There are row upon row of vendors along the street, and Shili Yangchang is not called for nothing.

Zhao Chuanxin even saw a woman pushing a stroller and shopping with a half-grown child.

This surprised Zhao Chuanxin. The stroller was made of bamboo, and the four wheels were small and stuck to the ground. The child in a heavy padded jacket could only stand inside, with two arms stuck outside.

Flatbread, deep-fried dough sticks, steamed rice, and bean curd paste, these four king kong shops early, and most of them have closed their stalls after noon.

The sun was warming, probably because of the root of the starry sky, Zhao Chuanxin didn't feel too hungry.

After walking for four miles, Zhao Chuanxin suddenly saw a green-painted sedan parked outside a noodle shop by the side of the road, with two rows of seats in the front and rear, with a compartment, the steering wheel is on the right side, and the car is on the right side. There is also a spare tire in the position, which seems a bit in the way.

Inside the spare wheel, next to the front seat is the gear lever.

The wheelbase of the car is about 3400mm.

Under the left and right rearview mirrors, there is a fan lamp on each side, a fan lamp on the left and right sides of the carport, and two headlights in front.

The front car logo is erected, and above it is the "meter" of the British Union Jack flag.

Zhao Chuanxin dared to say that this is the least tractor-like car he has ever seen, and it is also the best-looking car he has ever seen.

The most important thing is that other cars are started manually and need to be shaken.But this car has electric start.

He stopped and circled the car twice, feeling a little excited, do you want to...

He looked around, the driver didn't know where he was going, and Zhao Chuanxin was about to go up and agitate to see if he could buy it for zero yuan.

Just when the feet had already stepped up, a familiar voice came from the noodle shop: "Master, we are here."

Zhao Chuanxin was surprised and found that Benjamin Goldberg and Zhao Yixian were eating noodles in the noodle shop, and there were two people sitting beside them, one was Tang Guoan and the other was a foreigner.

Next to the oily table, there were three iron barrels, which smelled of gasoline.

Tang Guoan and the foreigner hurriedly got up: "Mr. Zhao."

Zhao Chuanxin coughed, stepped on the pedal of the car, stretched out his hand to adjust the shoelaces, then retracted his feet, put his hands behind his back and entered the noodle shop.

Don't get me wrong, I just untied my shoelaces.

He said with a serious face, "You drove this car?"

Tang Guoan pointed to the foreigner: "This is Van Halen, a Dutch diplomat. The car is Mr. Van Halen, and he sent it specially for Mr. Zhao."

Zhao Chuanxin was surprised: "For me?"

This is a little embarrassing.

Van Halen nodded respectfully: "Yes, our Queen Wilhelmina specially sent me here to show respect for Mr. Zhao's smoking ban.

This is a British Rolls-Royce. It was exhibited at the Olympia Motor Show last year. The Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith has six cylinders and a three-speed transmission. It is currently the best car in the world.

The queen also made a special exhortation. "

Zhao Chuanxin frowned: "What did the queen of your country say?"

Van Halen said solemnly: "The queen said - this is a good car, remember to maintain the car after driving."

"..." Zhao Chuanxin's face became serious, and he said like a serious diplomat: "The queen is right, please tell her that the car does need to be lubricated for a long time, otherwise it will rust and the car will be damaged." There will be breakdowns, especially for such a noble car as the Rolls-Royce Silver Charm. Please tell her that Zhao invited her to China as a guest, it must be very interesting, and Zhao will definitely take her to drive for fun. Here During the period, Zhao will practice various driving postures, and she will definitely make the queen feel at home, and she will be very happy. I also hope that the queen can think more about driving skills, and bring forth new ones, so as to achieve the realm of human and car integration. People look at it with admiration."

Van Halen smacked his lips, feeling a little strange no matter how he heard it, but he couldn't tell what was wrong.

Also, what kind of oil is kun oil?

He nodded cautiously: "Anyway, Mr. Zhao, the words will be brought to you. In addition to the car, there are three barrels of gasoline here."

The seriousness on Zhao Chuanxin’s face was wiped away, and he grinned and said, “I’m interested. My friend, serve a bowl of Yangchun Baixue noodles, add a plate of tofu mixed with shallots, the color scheme must be clear and white, and the tofu must be white and tender. It's plump and slippery..."

The guy was stunned: "Okay, here we go..."

I said in my heart that it's not like what rich people talk to me?

They have all eaten.

Seeing that Zhao Yixian was depressed, Zhao Chuanxin asked, "What's wrong with you?"

Zhao Yixian complained, "This is the case for people who didn't eat in the morning and didn't sleep last night and couldn't walk."

Zhao Chuanxin didn't take it seriously: "Is it because I don't have a mouth? Can't walk or take a car?"

Benjamin Goldberg turned the bag around and said, "Master, why don't you eat minced meat, we don't have any money with us."

"No money?" Zhao Chuanxin just remembered that Zhao Yixian was a poor ghost, and Benjamin Goldberg never brought money. "If you don't have money, you won't get credit? If you don't give credit, wouldn't you be robbing? You see, as long as people dressed like these two guys are rich people, just tie them up."

Tang Guoan and Fan Hailun: "..."

It's lawless.

Zhao Chuanxin finished eating in a hurry, his sleeves were rolled up, and the three barrels of gasoline on the ground disappeared.

Tang Guoan and Fan Hailun were taken aback by this.

Zhao Chuanxin wiped his mouth: "What are you still doing? Go out and tell me how this car works."

Van Halen said to himself that you are not welcome.

There are all kinds of cars at this time, with brakes, accelerators, clutches, joysticks, and everything else.

Only these two Rolls-Royce Silver Ghosts have the same layout as the cars of later generations.

Zhao Chuanxin is an old driver, so he can understand after a little research.

He suddenly had a question: "No, your queen gave me this car, but I just proposed that all countries cooperate to ban smoking, and the car was delivered the next day. This..."

Van Halen lifted his top hat and scratched his bald head: "This... was shipped to Hong Kong Island earlier, and it was only shipped to Shanghai in recent days. I don't know the details."

Why doesn't he find it strange?And if you ban smoking, you have to send a car?This may seem like the Netherlands is trying to lower itself a bit.

But he was just following orders.

Zhao Chuanxin understood.

Her Majesty the Queen must have been thinking about him, she had already prepared the car and sent it to him all the way.When I arrived on Hong Kong Island, I found that he had left and was transported here again.

Perhaps it has been purchased and shipped since Wilhelmina returned to Holland.

It sounds simple, but it definitely takes a lot of effort.

Zhao Chuanxin waved his hand: "Okay, get out, I'm going to drive."

Benjamin Goldberg squeezed in the front row with Ganfan, next to Zhao Chuanxin.

Zhao Yixian went to the back row.

Zhao Chuanxin started the car, shifted the reverse gear skillfully, and turned the car around.Putting it into forward gear, the car ran away with a chug of black smoke.

Van Halen said, "Why is Mr. Zhao so good at driving for the first time? When I was just learning, the car overturned into a ditch."

Tang Guoan watched the car go away, smiled and said, "A capable person can do anything."

In fact, he was also curious, but he just didn't say it.

……

In the car, Zhao Yixian looked at the scenery passing by outside the car window, and couldn't help feeling a lot of emotion: "Technology is changing with each passing day. Such a machine that does not require manpower or animal power is really amazing."

The people outside cast curious eyes.

This somewhat satisfied Zhao Yixian's vanity.

The first car in China was transported from Hong Kong Island to Shanghai by a Hungarian.That was in 1901.

So people in Shanghai have seen cars for a long time.

In 1902, Yuan Datou bought a car on Hong Kong Island and gave it to Empress Dowager Cixi as a gift, and the capital also had cars.

By 1907, the coastal cities even had automobiles for passenger and freight transportation.

Maybe seeing a car on the street is still a novelty to the common people, especially these two Rolls-Royce Silver Charms are very popular.

At this time, the covered car is called a caravan.

Driving in winter without being shaved by the cold wind is considered an enjoyment.

The cars produced by Ford only cost three or four hundred dollars each.

But the price of this Rolls-Royce Silver Charm car is as high as more than 700 pounds.

Converted into a dollar, it would cost several thousand dollars, a proper luxury.

Even so, Zhao Chuanxin also felt that his muscles were shaken so much that it felt like he had been hit with a fascial gun.

He bared his teeth: "It seems that my grandfather has to find time to study the car."

Is it difficult to build a car?
difficult.

Is it difficult to build a car at this time?
Zhao Chuanxin didn't think it was difficult.

Ford in the United States, how does Ford make cars?
A laboratory that can be accessed by a car, a blackboard, a drafting table, a rocking chair, and only these things in the early stages of design.

A grinder, a drill press and a lathe were added later.

The chassis parts are made in the laboratory, and the engine parts are made outside the laboratory, assembling, inspecting, debugging, and improving.

Chuan steel material is the core.

With these, they built ugly but durable Model T cars.

Because he wants to make guns, Zhao Chuanxin not only has Kuisang Steel, but also the best special steels in the world.

It is a pity that the quantity is not large, and domestic supplementation is also very difficult.

Currently, the best ironworks are in Hanyang.

At that time, Zhang Zhidong was proficient in practical affairs, and Cixi sent him to follow the example of the West to introduce the steel industry. In fact, this was a very forward-looking idea for the Qing court.

Zhang Zhidong understands the practice, but he is very unfamiliar with the steel industry. At first, he felt that China has a vast land and rich resources, which is no worse than the West, and the ore is used as soon as it is taken, and the properties of the ore are not tested at all.

This is the evil result of not studying mathematics, physics and chemistry.

As a result, the boilers erected in the early stage could not be used, and the first batch of molten iron became waste.

Zhang Zhidong's mentality exploded at the time, and the Qing court saw that this was not possible, so they tightened up the allocation of funds.

The Qing court did not allocate money, so Zhang Zhidong raised funds from Japan and Germany.

This gave Hanyang Iron Works a shadow of Japan and Germany, but it also gave rise to China's first steel enterprise in modern times.

Most of Hanyang's steel was used in the manufacture of rails and guns.

Benjamin Goldberg, who had never ridden in a car, said excitedly: "Master, I think it looks good, why do you want to rebuild it?"

Zhao Chuanxin's body shook from being bumped: "The leaf spring is too hard and shakes badly. We have to improve the suspension. Forget it, there are too many problems, and it can't be done in a day or two."

Benjamin Goldberg watched the car speeding under the master's control, and couldn't help but feel complacent: "Master, let me drive it for a try."

"I'll teach you how to drive it when you get to a place with few people."

Zhao Yixian's eyes lit up: "Mr. Zhao, let me open it too?"

Zhao Chuanxin: "You have neither a car nor money to buy a car, so what do you drive?"

"..."

The speed of the Rolls-Royce Silver Charm is not slow, it can drive up to 40 mph, but the road is not strong, Zhao Chuanxin is only swaying around 30 mph, but this speed is considered fast on the streets of Shanghai at this time, and there are constantly rickshaws , The chariot is surpassed, and the rider cannot compare with it.

Every hour of driving, Zhao Chuanxin needs to stop to add water.

But when it was open for two and a half hours, the pot was still boiling.

Toss for a long time, wait for the engine to cool down, and continue on the road.

Only when we reached Chenghu Lake, the sun slanted to the west.

There are crab sellers with burdens on the roadside, hawking along the way: "Fried crabs, fried crabs, fried crabs, fried crabs..."

Zhao Chuanxin stopped the car, opened the door and probed, "Bring me to see."

The crab seller also said that the car was driven by a foreigner. Seeing that it was a Chinese, he breathed a sigh of relief, walked over with a load and smiled, and opened the curtain.

Zhao Chuanxin took a look: "Isn't this just a steamed crab? Why do you say it's fried?"

The crab seller said innocently: "This is fried crab."

Zhao Yixian traveled far and wide and experienced a lot, so he hurriedly said: "Shenxian Zhao, in Suzhou, boiled crabs are fried crabs. The local crab meat is fat and yellow, and a large crab weighs a pound. Li Bai once praised that crab claws are golden liquid, and the bad mound is Penglai. You must drink good wine and ride the moon to get drunk on the high platform."

In fact, they are Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs.

The crab seller pointed his thumb: "Sir, you are very knowledgeable, that's exactly what it is. My crabs just came out of the bamboo gate, and I picked the biggest one to sell. They are all deep-fried, and it would be best to serve them directly with wine."

Zhao Chuanxin saw an ancient temple with no plaque on the side of the road, and said, "Seeing that you don't have many crabs left, I'll pack them all up. I'll just make do with it tonight."

Zhao Yixian was still reluctant, saying: "Suzhou is prosperous, and some of them are inns."

Zhao Chuanxin emphasized: "We are poor travelers, we live in hotels and eat out every day, and the money suffers."

"..." Zhao Yixian said in his heart that it is rumored that you have earned a lot of money in the United States, why do you search like this?
Benjamin Goldberg doesn't matter, he's low on material things.

But Zhao Chuanxin had already jumped out of the car: "Don't smear the ink, hurry up, I'll make a fire to burn charcoal, and I don't have rice wine, but you can have two taels of sorghum wine."

He took out the things, and left the rest to his apprentice and Zhao Yixian.

Zhao Chuanxin took out the "Code of the Old Gods", thought about it, and decided to do the experiment later after dinner.

(End of this chapter)