Reborn Ming Dynasty as Emperor

Chapter 550 Opening of the First Main Railway Line
Although Daming has already deployed nearly 50 troops to the Southeast Asian peninsula, as far as Daming is concerned, the existence of war has not been felt at all.

The life of the people in Ming Dynasty was still rich and busy as usual. With the promotion of electric lights to the provincial capitals of the chief ministers, the night markets in various cities and towns became more lively.

Some rich families or some lively markets even began to sing operas, listen to music, dance lions, and juggle all night long.

The people's non-working hours are extended, the demand for entertainment naturally increases, and the demand for consumption also begins to increase significantly, which further promotes the commercial prosperity of Ming Dynasty.

But also because of the increase in entertainment demand, it also promotes the rapid development of the tertiary industry, and more and more people leave direct labor production and start to specialize in art, literature, music, drama, etc.

In the past, legendary books such as gifted scholars and beautiful ladies, heroic epics and other legendary books that were popular in the market became more popular, and media newspapers and periodicals that mainly relied on publishing academic articles and news at the beginning also began to appear some publications dedicated to serializing various legendary stories .

The term "magazine" also began to appear in Daming ahead of time, but compared to the traditional entertainment methods of previous years, the general public is still interested in novelties such as steam trains and electric lights that are often mentioned recently.

With the arrival of the 29th year of the apocalypse, because the Daming Daily disclosed the news half a month ago that the first railway from Shanhaiguan to the capital of Ming Dynasty was about to be completed and opened to traffic.

Therefore, during this period of time, more and more people began to crowd along the line from Shanhaiguan to the capital, ready to take a good look at the steam train painted in the Da Ming Daily.

Many people in Daming did not understand why two railroad tracks were laid between Shanhaiguan and the capital, and the railroad tracks were covered with stones, and sharp barbed wire fences were erected on both sides of the railroad tracks.

But when the monster-like black locomotive spewed thick white smoke and slammed forward, many people who were watching the barbed wire along the way couldn't help being dumbfounded.

No one thought that this kind of iron bump like a black dragon could actually move on this narrow rail, and it only relied on a few round iron pans, no horses, and no one to push.

Some people who like to show off their knowledge began to explain that this is a car that burns coal to breathe out. This kind of car does not need a horse, but only needs to be installed on a steam locomotive.

But more people are amazed by this, and even want to go into the car window to take a look.

However, at this time, the train from Shanhaiguan to the capital is not allowed to enter by any ordinary people. Minister of Communications Huo Weihua and other court officials and railway construction participants became the passengers of the first train that officially passed.

It was also the first time for Xu Guangqi to sit in this kind of small steam train carriage that can only be seen in tourist areas in later generations. The seat he sat in was a bamboo double seat, and the inside of the window was a wall made of yellow wood boards. The train is naturally very slow, but for Xu Guangqi it is as fast as a galloping horse.

Seeing the mountains and forests rushing backwards, Xu Guangqi picked up a glass of Shaoxing wine as a tribute, poured it into the cup of Gong Yonggu, the captain-in-law, and waited for the captain-in-law Gong Yonggu on the opposite side to take the short glass. After drinking the cup, he asked: "Madam Gong, can you tell whether the trees, flowers, plants and even the mountains and rivers outside the window are still or moving?"

Gong Yonggu couldn't help laughing and said: "Mr. Xu Ge is really joking. Although the lower officials are shallow in reading, they are not stupid. The trees and flowers outside are naturally still. The root of it is that the train we are riding on is fast, and we are in the train, so we are moving at the same speed as the train, so the flowers and plants seem to move backward."

Xu Guangqi shook his head. As an academic official of the Ming Dynasty, he can be regarded as a "nerd" in natural science. As soon as Gong Yonggu replied, he opened up the conversation box and began to popularize physics knowledge for Gong Yonggu. , All the objects in this world are in motion, there is no absolutely static thing, and stillness is only a relative state, etc. Gong Yonggu was taken aback when he heard it.

And at the same time that Xu Guangqi was teaching physics knowledge to the wealthy Captain Gong Duwei, the train had already crossed the first bridge.

Although Daming has now manufactured high explosives that can be used for blasting, it does not have a systematic theoretical basis for engineering mechanics, so it is not possible to build relatively long tunnels. Build a railway bridge.

The technical requirements of the railway bridge are not low, and the requirements for the strength of the steel are also high. Fortunately, with decades of development, Daming's steel smelting and welding technology has made great progress, so the erection of the railway bridge can be realized. They even built railway bridges directly on the basis of building stone arch bridges, so as to meet the sufficient full load capacity of the bridge body for steam locomotives.

Huo Weihua is not interested in participating in Xu Guangqi's physics professor. He naturally knows that he, a cabinet scholar, has participated in the construction of bridges, rail laying, and the number of carriages along the entire railway. He couldn't be as relaxed as Xu Guangqi and Gong Yonggu. Now he is deeply afraid that an accident on the steam train will cause the project that he is solely responsible for to fail completely. You must know that His Majesty the Emperor spent a lot of money on it. If it fails, I'm afraid I can't escape punishment.

The people outside the iron fence didn't know what the officials inside the steam train were thinking. They just felt novelty and surprise now, and many people even shouted and cheered.

After the steam train arrived at the platform in the western suburbs of the capital, the cheers became more intense, and Huo Weihua also heaved a sigh of relief. After several failures, this iron lump finally managed to reach the capital without any danger, and this also marked the beginning of Daming's success. The first railway was officially completed and opened to traffic!

From then on, the travel time from Shanhaiguan to the capital will be greatly shortened. Although there are only ten carriages, and the number of troops or other populations that can be transported is limited, it is obviously much faster than before when infantry ran on two legs.

After the completion of the first main railway line, the Department of Railways under the Ministry of Communications began to officially sell train tickets. Although the price of train tickets had risen to one hundred silver dollars each, it was still hard to find one.

At the same time, Zhu Youxiao has also begun to think about opening a new railway line, and to meet the transportation needs of the increased army to attack the Indian Ocean Peninsula as soon as possible.

(End of this chapter)