Lord of the Desert

Chapter 534 Railway
June 21st.

It is located several dozen miles east of Xijing City.

The morning light is moist, and the mist forms on the mountainside.

Wheelbarrows shuttled back and forth across the valley, and workers wearing open-fronted short jackets dug and filled in the soil; the wind howled and carried away the clanging of shovels and picks striking the earth and rocks.

In the distance, monkeys were curiously watching from the treetops.

Hong Fan, dressed in a narrow-sleeved martial arts uniform, stepped into the construction site accompanied by a group of senior project executives.

"The line is designed to be 40 kilometers long, with a construction period of two years, a total investment of 80,000 guan, and an estimated consumption of 2,500 tons of steel."

Jia Ziyong explained.

Now he is no longer an ordinary craftsman in the Imperial Workshop, but the head manager of Liangzhou Tongxing.

The Tonglian Trading Company was newly established in February of this year, with an initial capital of 100,000 taels of silver. The "Xijing-Canglangshan Railway," which connects the second factory area of ​​Tiannan Trading Company outside Xijing City to the Canglangshan mining area, is the company's first project.

"The vehicle body follows your design concept, with a track gauge of 1.5 meters, a designed maximum speed of 28 kilometers per hour, an average speed of 15 kilometers per hour, and a load capacity of 100 tons, equivalent to the combined carrying capacity of 60 horse-drawn carriages. It was jointly developed by us, Junchixing and the Equipment Supervision Department."

Hong Fan nodded slightly.

According to simulations, once the Xicang Railway is completed, the transportation costs of coal and iron ore from the mining area to Xijing will be reduced by half, and the transportation time will be reduced to one-third. The resulting cost reduction will inevitably stimulate the accelerated expansion of the coal and steel industry.

The rising sun dispelled the coldness of the sky and fields.

On the roadbed, which had been initially leveled after the removal of stones, a martial artist from the Hunyuan Realm walked slowly. With each step he took, he tamped down the ground within a radius of several meters around him by an inch, an efficiency far exceeding that of horse-drawn scrapers and tampers.

This man, around fifty years old and missing an arm, saw the world-renowned Chixing watching his work. His face flushed slightly, and he became even more focused on tamping the soil.

Upon seeing this, Hong Fan couldn't help but smile.

The first railway in Britain took three years to build, and in just forty years thereafter, the total length of railways in the country reached 40,000 kilometers.

In comparison, the Great Hua, which possesses its own martial arts, will definitely be faster.

"Ziyong, have you had any difficulties these past few months?"

He turned his head and asked.

"Route surveying was quite difficult. Many people on the engineering team had no experience in surveying and mapping, and they didn't even know how to use theodolites and levels very well. The data and drawings they produced were of such poor quality that they had to be reworked. It took more than two months to complete the task."

Jia Ziyong replied solemnly.

"I'm not talking about that kind of difficulty."

Hong Fan shook his head and smiled.

"Beyond the specific implementation level, is there anything that requires my involvement?"

"Oh, is that what you're asking about, young master?"

Jia Ziyong suddenly realized.

"The biggest obstacle is undoubtedly land acquisition. Private land is not so bad, it's just a matter of raising the price, but it's very difficult to acquire public land, as the governor's office has set up many obstacles."

"Jin Ziming, how is he now?"

Hong Fan frowned slightly.

Having endured the torment of the Purple Impermanence and the Dragon Summoning Festival, he no longer had the patience he once had for people like Jin Ziming.

"It's almost done. With Lord Wuzheng personally stepping in, and the bank giving Governor Song a two-tenths share of the profits, the Governor's Office quickly relented."

Jia Ziyong replied.

Wu Zheng Gong is Shen Moye, while Song Fantai refers to Song Hongchou, the second-rank Liangzhou Provincial Administration Commissioner.

“Yes, I have left the Martial Arts Academy, and Jin Ziming will also be transferred. It’s probably just for show.” Hong Fan’s expression softened slightly.

“Song Hongchou is scheming for the position of prefect, and he certainly doesn’t want to offend us at this critical juncture.”

Just then, a thunderous roar came from afar.

The crowd looked in the direction of the sound and saw a huge rock, about two people high, being smashed in half by a short, stocky man with a heavy punch. Then, the man stuck his hands into the soil, lowered his waist, and with a burst of energy, lifted the several-ton rubble to the side of the road.

"This guy works efficiently, how much would it cost to hire him for a day?"

Hong Fan asked.

“That’s Xu, the retainer of the Bihai Gang. He’s in charge of the heavy work that ordinary people can’t do on the route. I pay him twenty strings of cash a day.”

Jia Ziyong answered immediately.

According to the market rates in Xijing, a full-time, long-term contract with a person at the Hunran Realm would start at 600 taels of silver per year, with daily pay being even higher. As far as Hong Fan knew, there were plenty of people at the Tianren Jiaogan Realm who could earn 1,000 taels of silver.

Twenty strings of cash a day is ridiculously low.

However, the Blue Sea Gang was already under Hong Fan's protection, so this Mr. Xu was clearly not there for the money.

Once the boulder was moved, the ordinary construction team that had been waiting nearby immediately took over.

In order to improve efficiency, the earthwork is carried out in parallel. While the filling and leveling are still underway, the laying of crushed stone ballast is already underway.

The sleepers were teak soaked in creosote oil, and were piled up together with slightly rusted I-beam rails under tarpaulins by the roadside.

"The terrain of Yiyuan Mountain, which is ten miles away, is rugged. We plan to excavate a 130-meter-long tunnel through the mountain."

Jia Ziyong continued his report.

"The Zhu family contacted Fan Longqiu, the 'Three-Foot Unique Warrior' from Shengzhou, and agreed on a gift of one thousand taels of silver, with the tunnel to be completed in one day."

The Zhu family had already informed Hong Fan about this matter.

While Dahua's overall technical level is still lagging behind, the existence of martial arts is like a shortcut, allowing for amazing results even with rough techniques.

The first railway in the world opened in 1825. It was made of wrought iron and the single rail was less than five meters long. After more than a hundred years of development, it was only after World War II that the length of the rail reached 100 meters, thanks to flash welding technology.

However, the rail gaps, which achieve 90% of the strength of the base material through electric melting and high-pressure welding, seem like a joke in the face of Jin Xingwuzhe's seamless steel welding capabilities.

From the very beginning of its design, the Xicang Railway was intended to use rails that are hundreds of meters long, so there is no memory of trains that frequently vibrate with a "clang, clang" sound in this world.

"Ziyong, you need to pay extra attention to the thermal expansion and contraction of the long rails."

Hong Fan repeatedly gave instructions.

"Xi'an has a large temperature difference between the four seasons, so it is essential to lay the rails in the spring and autumn seasons when the temperature is moderate; with a temperature difference of 30 degrees Celsius, the thermal expansion and contraction distance of a 100-meter-long rail can reach 30 millimeters, so the rail gaps reserved on both sides must be precise..."

The site visit lasted the entire morning.

At noon, Hong Fan and Jia Ziyong's group rushed back to Xijing City under the scorching sun. They had a working lunch at the newly purchased headquarters by Tongxing by the Yao River, while Wen Zhongguan, Qian Hong and others also came to keep them company.

"There are several good quality iron mines in Zhenbei Youwei. These mines are all owned by Rongtie Palace. For a long time, their steel business has had no competitors."

Wen Zhongguan chewed on bean sprouts as he spoke.

“Guangji City is separated from Zhenbei Zuowei by frozen wastelands and frigid forests. In the past, no caravans were willing to go there. But now, the cost of our goods is only one-fifth of that of Rongtie Palace. With such a large price difference, it is inevitable that some people will be tempted. Just at the end of last year, Rongtie Palace even sent an elder to ask us to prohibit the shipment to the northern border of Hezhou. In the end, he had a heated argument with Young Master Zhu.”

He chuckled as he spoke.

Hong Fan did not take his words seriously.

When the Nanxing Group suddenly emerged, the elimination of outdated production capacity was inevitable. It was just that Tongyun Mountain Villa had a locational advantage over Rongtie Palace and jumped on the ship of the new era earlier.

(End of this chapter)