industrial lord

Chapter 545 Investigation along the way
Grand Duke Wei Sen attends the 10th Pig Beauty Pageant

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[Grand Duke Wesson (second from left) takes a photo with the top three players in the competition]
Weishen Daily, Zhutou Town, June 6th. On the afternoon of the 18th, Grand Duke Weishen came to Zhutou Town to participate in the annual pig beauty pageant and served as a judge.

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This first newspaper in the world with photos made Frederick's hands and feet go cold. The photos were relatively clear, and the faces and clothes could not be mistaken when compared with existing portraits.

This newspaper is to be passed down through the ages, and if it is preserved until the space age, it won't be a problem to replace it with a good car.

Among the scholars who studied photography technology, some coated photosensitive materials on iron plates, while others converted the darkroom used by painters to project scenery into a camera. After the iron base film was exposed, the unexposed photosensitive material was washed away with concentrated ammonia water, and then the etching method was used to make a negative film with an image.

Then after another transfer, the image will appear on paper.

Frederick thought that this method was just one of many unsuccessful explorations, so he agreed to let them follow him to film as an encouragement to scholars.

But he didn't expect that those scholars actually wanted to give him a surprise.

This time it was more than just a surprise, it was a shock.

The protagonists of the world's first public photo are Frederick and three breeding pigs with an average weight of nearly 200 kilograms. This is incredible.

Frederick wanted to fight his way back to Weissenburg, but there was no way. This was a newspaper from two days ago.

He had just left Branburg, the border between the Principality of Byrne and the Osmaga Empire.

There is a train station to the north of the castle and the town, and to the south is a trade route that goes south through the White Mountains to the north of the Kingdom of Sardinia, a total distance of about 350 kilometers.

This trade route was an important passage between the southern part of the Rhine Confederation and the northern part of the Kingdom of Sardinia. Branburg also became an important commercial center. Traditional commerce and handicrafts were well developed in the town. The emerging small hardware industrial zone and the industrial products market of the Principality of Wessen on both sides of the train station outside the town were also bustling with traffic.

However, due to the limited carrying capacity of horse-drawn carriages on mountain roads, the goods transported on trade routes are currently mainly small and lightweight light industrial products, while bulk commodities are still transported by ship.

According to the plan of the Duchy of Bavaria, the railway to the Kingdom of Sardinia will be built along this mature trade route and reach the city of Bern, the exit on the other side.

The water route from Weissenburg to the Kingdom of Sardinia requires going down the Danube and making a big detour to the Dark Sea. If you go to the Citrus Islands in the south, it is about 4700 kilometers, and to Venice in the north, it is about 5400 kilometers.

If this railway is completed, the railway from Weissenburg to Brann will be about 230 kilometers. After the train reaches Bern via 350 kilometers of mountain railway, it will be about 120 kilometers away from Venice, and the total mileage will be about 700 kilometers.

When the railway was opened, commodities could be moved more quickly across the Inland Sea and the Rhine Confederation.

However, in recent years, Venice has become very wealthy, causing dissatisfaction among its neighbors, so the railway network of the Kingdom of Sardinia does not include them and bypasses them.

If the goods from Venice are to be transported by rail, they can be unloaded at the nearby Port Ferdinand of the Osmaga Empire, a new port built by Mary in her territory, and then the railway here can bypass the White Mountains to reach the Duchy of Wessen, a distance of about 1000 kilometers.

Frederick needed to discuss financing for railway construction with the Kingdom of Sardinia on this trip. He had to travel the route himself to know the specific conditions along the way. Otherwise, it would be a joke if he didn't know anything when investors asked him questions.

Moreover, in the past, road transportation was strangled by this section of the White Mountains. In order to dispel investors' doubts, a solution needs to be come up with first.

Today, the White Mountains are occupied by the Osmaga Empire, and are separated from the Rhine Alliance and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The entire mountain road is the territory of the Osmaga Empire, and most of the merchants who run this road are local mountain people. These mountain people grew up in the White Mountains and are familiar with the climate and environment. Some of them are related to the bandits in the mountains and can pass through by paying a bribe.

Frederick was on an official visit this time, and he brought along a pomp and ceremony befitting his status.

However, this part of the people and materials will move with the 3rd Division to the Kingdom of Tarago. They will first take a boat to Ferdinand City in the Osmaga Empire - a new city built by Frederick to support Queen Anna - and then take the newly built railway to Ferdinand Port, where the 3rd Division will board a ship to its destination.

Frederick once again changed his name and moved alone, intending to take a good look at the situation along the way.

This time he pretended to be a scholar and went to the Kingdom of Sardinia to find a job, so he found a large caravan.

The team owner is a middle-aged man named Fontana. His grandfather was a nobleman in Bern. After losing power in an internal family struggle, he fled to the White Mountains and became a son-in-law of a local noble.

Now the two families have reconnected and started a transportation business in the White Mountains.

The fleet consisted of forty steel-framed four-wheeled horse-drawn carriages with a small implosion engine underneath them, which could save a lot of horsepower when started uphill.

There were nearly a hundred drivers and bodyguards in the convoy, all of whom were equipped with a double-barreled shotgun and two revolvers.

Most of the customers were small merchants, each of whom would charter one or two carriages to load the goods and transport them to the Kingdom of Sardinia for sale.

In the past, there were some warriors and magicians who went to the mountains to hone their martial arts, as well as scholars and priests who went to various cities. This time, there were only Frederick and a nun who was going to the holy city to pay homage to the saint.

Frederick listened to the nun preaching the scriptures for more than an hour in the bus. After listening to her preaching the benefits of half an hour of fasting, he felt dizzy and had to slip out to chat with Fontana.

When chatting, Fontana repeatedly emphasized that the family title should have belonged to him, but it was a mistake made by the maid at home when he was one year old, which led to his twin brother inheriting the family business, while he himself had to live in the open air.

Frederick smiled and said, "You are out there making money now, but your life is not as comfortable as your brother enjoying the breeze on the top of the mountain."

He had previously browsed the information of the nobles along the way. The castle of Fontana's family was on the top of a small hill, and it happened to be a windy place, so the wind was quite strong.

Fontana shook his head and said, "It's not that easy to make money. If I had money, I would buy a house in Bern."

"It's too risky to do business, so it's more economical to do transportation."

Frederick asked him again: "Is it safe for us to walk in the mountains?"

Now they have entered the mountains. The mountain road is in the valley. On both sides are mountains four or five hundred meters high. In the distance, there are snow-capped peaks over a thousand meters high.

The mountains on both sides are covered with large trees such as pine and fir, and the roars of wild beasts can be heard from time to time in the woods.

Fontana patted the shotgun beside him and replied, "It was quite dangerous before, but now with this, we don't have to worry about wild animals or anything like that."

Frederick asked again worriedly: "What about the bandits?"

Fontana smiled and said, "You'll find out in a moment."

Then he pointed to a few piles of rocks on the roadside ahead and said, "Look at those piles of rocks. They are the marks of the bandits here. They are waiting for us ahead."

(End of this chapter)