Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 69, Ford Model A, Fang Shouxin and his son return to their hometown.
Fang Wen sat in the car, looking around at the interior.

The clutch, brake, and accelerator pedals are similar in operation to those of future cars.

There is also a long gear shift lever.

"Here's the key." The senior student from Qinghe Airport handed over the key.

After taking the key and starting the car, Fang Wen drove it around the airport open area twice, then entered a state of mechanical perception to understand the overall condition of the car.

The blower gearbox is operating normally.

There was a continuous vibration in the chassis.

The exhaust pipe is a bit clogged, causing vibrations that affect the chassis and also make noise.

But that wasn't a problem; Fang Wen figured cleaning the exhaust pipe would solve it.

He was then surprised to discover that the fuel was not delivered to the engine via fuel injection, but rather via a carburetor.

This surprised Fang Wen greatly. He knew that the Boeing P-26b fighter jet he had purchased was already considered one of the most advanced aircraft of the era, but it still used fuel injection. Moreover, the US Army canceled the order because of the improved fuel injection equipment.

This car even uses a carburetor, a feature typically found in futuristic gasoline vehicles.

Fang Wen, who understood the future, realized that adding a carburetor to this car could be very valuable.

The development history of engine fuel delivery equipment in my memory should be: fuel injection device - mechanized carburetor - electronic fuel injection device.

This made Fang Wen even more interested in the origin of the car.

He stopped the car and opened the hood to check.

There are inscriptions on the outside of the engine.

Ford Model A 1928

The senior student came over and asked, "Is it okay?"

"I test drove this car, it's alright. By the way, where did it come from?"

"I heard that it was specially shipped from America by a rich young master. It was made by Ford. Later, his family offended someone they shouldn't have, and overnight their house burned down, their property was seized, and everyone, young and old, left Beiping. This car was also put up for sale. It worked fine at first, but then it started having problems. It was very noisy, and the chassis kept vibrating. No matter what we did, we couldn't fix it. In the end, I bought it back for 300 silver dollars."

Fang Wen smiled and said, "Senior, I roughly know where the problem lies. You got a good deal."

"Really! You can fix cars too?"

"I learned some mechanical repair in Shanghai. Do you have any iron skewers with hooks? Or bamboo strips, about three feet long, that will do."

What do you need this for?

"Someone blocked your car's exhaust pipe. I can't drive very far unless it's fixed."

Then the senior found the tools, and Fang Wen squatted down and inserted the bent iron skewer into the exhaust pipe. At about a meter away, he encountered a foreign object, hooked it, and pulled it out.

It was a small, black strip of cloth with gaps, which did not completely block the exhaust pipe, but created the illusion that something was wrong.

I suspect it was done on purpose by the mechanic. Anyway, there are very few people who can repair this kind of car these days, so no one would know if he tampered with it.

The senior student was overjoyed and wanted to invite Fang Wen to have a meal before leaving, but Fang Wen politely declined.

The car left Qinghe Airport and headed towards Hebei.

Fang Shouxin sat in the passenger seat, while Shunzi stood in the back, guarding the two barrels of gasoline.

After driving for a while, Fang Wen asked, "Uncle Fang, where are we going?"

Looking outside, Fang Shouxin sighed, "Thirty years have passed. When I left, the emperor was still alive, but now even the prince's mansion has become a university. Back then, I was just a naive young man. Wherever my master told me to go, I went. In Beiping, we took a detour once, and we didn't dare to get close to the outer city before we slipped away."

"Father, the young master asked you where you're going, not to hear your homesickness," Shunzi interjected from behind.

"You little brat, would you even be able to speak here without me?" Fang Shouxin turned and glared at Shunzi, then continued, "Master was shot while fighting the foreigners. He was poisoned, and his wound festered. We disciples made a stretcher and left the Boxer Rebellion to go back to our hometown for treatment. They say the poor are scholars, the rich are warriors. We martial artists were poor, but we had learned some medicine. We thought that once we got back, we could treat Master with gunpowder and heal him. But the weather was hot along the way, and his wound worsened. Master died on the way. We were penniless, without even money to bury him. By then, the county magistrate had already fled, leaving only two minor officials. We brothers then came up with the idea of ​​robbing the county treasury." So that's how it was. Fang Shouxin completely revealed his secret of the past thirty years.

They ultimately failed to rob any money, but they injured two minor officials. They hastily buried their master in the wilderness and then returned to their hometown.

As Fang Shouxin later recounted, one of the two minor officials rose to prominence and, remembering the incident, vowed to deal with them. Fang Shouxin, being alone, simply fled south to seek refuge.

Later, his fellow disciples corresponded with each other and he learned of the changes in his hometown. He never returned.

Fang Shouxin said these things not without reason.

He wanted to ask Fang Wen two things.

First, find the master's grave, take out a sum of money, and give the master a grand funeral to repay the debt of gratitude between master and disciple.

Second, there were eight fellow apprentices, all from counties under Cangzhou. After finding them, regardless of whether they wanted to go to Shanghai, he wanted to leave them some money to protect themselves, so that their lives would not be even more difficult after the Japanese entered the pass.

Regarding the money, Fang Shouxin had already asked Fang Wen for an advance. He was bringing this up now to seek the host's opinion.

Fang Wen naturally had no objections. It was a good thing for him to be filial to his master and take care of his fellow disciples; on the contrary, it made Fang Shouxin seem even more like a person of great loyalty and righteousness. Fang Wen was more interested in getting to know his other fellow disciples to see what they were like.

The distance from Qinghe Airport to Cangzhou is a little over 200 kilometers.

Fang Wen was driving a Model A with a 4-cylinder water-cooled engine, a displacement of 3.3 liters, 41 horsepower, and a top speed of 105 km/h.

Although it has been used for 4 years, its performance can still maintain an average speed of 8-90 kilometers per hour.

The entire journey was on dirt roads, making it very bumpy. Even with Fang Wen using mechanical senses to drive, it still couldn't make the passengers in the car more comfortable.

Shunzi, who was sitting in the back, had a tough time. To ensure that the two cans of gasoline did not spill, he had to keep his hands on the gasoline cans the whole way.

Fang Shouxin still couldn't bear to see his son suffer, so during a break to refuel and refill water, he let Shunzi sit in the front row and took over for him.

Once Shunzi reached the front row, he immediately became much more talkative.

"Dad, where is this?"

"We're still in the Hebei Plain, not even in Cangzhou yet. Shunzi, remember this: we're from Cangzhou. We're going back to acknowledge our ancestors."

"I see. I saw the church; didn't you guys vandalize it?"

"Ahem, why bring up things from back then? There were so many foreigners in Shanghai, try smashing up a church and see what happens."

"I'm not that stupid. The land here is so flat, it's just that there's less water. I still prefer Jiangnan."

"."

Fang Shouxin would interact with his son at times, but rarely paid him any attention at others.

Fang Wen found it amusing. The father and son were quite interesting together. When driving long distances, you need some noise around you to keep yourself from getting sleepy.

Until the car arrived at the outskirts of a town.

Fang Shouxin suddenly spoke up: "Young Master, stop here. I remember Master should be buried here."

After getting off the bus, he searched around but found nothing.

He returned with a sorrowful expression.

Fang Wen comforted him, saying, "Thirty years have passed. Maybe your fellow disciples have moved your master's grave back to his hometown."

"Yes." Fang Shouxin suddenly understood. There were eight fellow disciples, and it was impossible for only he to think of fulfilling his filial duty to their master.

He felt somewhat ashamed and then got into the car.

The car started again and arrived at Fang Shouxin's hometown county.

(End of this chapter)