A group of four-wheeled light carriages galloped on the road from Tongzhou to the capital. There were hundreds of cavalry guards around.
Yang Fan's modern supplies are all delivered to the new city from the modern transmission point. In order to build the railway, construction materials and supplies needed to be transferred from the warehouses in the new city to the Changxindian goods yard on the west bank of the Yongding River in the western suburbs of the capital.
This period of summer can be solved by water transportation. After all, there are now steam engines and ships that can tow water ships.
However, the canal is frozen in winter and cannot be used. And the construction of the railway cannot stop. Therefore, Xiao Niangpi decided to spend 150,000 taels of silver to build this road from Xincheng to Jizhou and Tongzhou, and then bypassed the north wall of the capital, Jishuitan, and ended at Changxindian.
This road is paved with waste soil from steelmaking and has four lanes in both directions. It is compacted repeatedly with a steam roller, making it very strong and flat.
It is the best and highest standard road of this era. Because there is insufficient asphalt, cement and steel slag are mixed and compacted as materials. Steel slag is particularly suitable for road construction.
The particle size of steel slag is small and it is not easy to block drainage pipes, which can effectively prevent poor drainage. Steel slag has good compression resistance and can effectively resist the pressure of vehicles and extend the service life of the road surface.
Steel slag has good anti-skid properties, which can effectively prevent vehicles from sliding and improve driving safety.
The Hongqiao on the Chaobai River is a four-lane cement stone bridge. It is an important bridge connecting this road.
During the rebellion in Ji Town this year, this was also one of the main battlefields. Xiao Niangpi, Lin Yueru, Chen Xi and others took the management team of Xincheng and the heads of various departments of Yang Fan's system to Changxindian Town to participate in the first departure ceremony of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway.
"Why don't you put the starting point in Xincheng? And there is no station in the capital. The station closest to the capital is actually located in Changxindian Town, west of the Yongding River. I don't know what you think." Xiao Niangpi Holding Xue's cheek with his little hand, he looked at the map spread on the small table in the car and said.
"I also find it strange that this railway is actually built on the west side of the Yongding River. This is true from Tianjin to Zhangjiakou." Lin Yueru also frowned.
Chen Xi thought for a while and said, "Are you afraid that building in the capital will attract too much attention and cause trouble?" There is a fifteen-inch gauge super mini train from Changxindian to Jishuitan, which is used to transport supplies transported by water. line.
If people in the capital want to take a train, they must first go to Jishuitan and take this small train line to Changxindian before they can take the train from Tanggu to Zhangjiakou.
"It would be great if it were built from Xincheng. We could sit in a luxury box, get on the bus from Xincheng, inspect along the way, and go directly to Zhangjiakou." Xiao Niangpi said.
"I guess the master is worried about the outside world. Isn't there intelligence all the time that Jiannu may invade this winter?" Lin Yueru said.
"More than a million taels of silver have been invested in the railway, and there must be no room for loss." Xiao Niangpi also sighed: "It is really too expensive to build roads with iron. Every time I see the request document sent by the Finance Department, I feel like I'm terrified. This section has finally been completed, and by the end of the year, the whole line will be open to traffic. Next year's finances will also be able to breathe a sigh of relief." Chen Xi said: "Madam, the master said, it's not all done in Guihua City. I will continue to go west through the Alxa area and build it to Hami and Yinli Valley."
"Ah! It's still repairing. How much does it cost? It's like a gold-eating beast." Xiao Niangpi said, covering her chest.
It feels really bad to watch money flowing out every day.
"No, many places in Alxa are deserts. It will definitely be impossible to build a railway there." Xiao Niangpi immediately discovered the problem.
It's clearly shown on the map. After leaving Linhe City in the jacket, not far away are the Badain Jaran Desert, Tengger Desert and Ulan Bhe Desert.
Chen Xi smiled bitterly and said: "That's what I told the master. We don't have the technology to build railways in the desert now. But the master said he has his own way." Lin Yueru said: "The sand dunes there are all flowing under strong winds , will cover the railway tracks. If the sand dunes cannot be fixed, don't even think about building the railway." Chen Xi said: "I have reported these problems to the master. The master said that the straw in our territory should be trampled with a kind of foot. Grass grids are mechanically implanted into the sand to form a field grid, which can block the flow of wind and sand."
"There is underground water under these deserts. You can use steam engines to pump water. If there is water, you can plant trees. It is used to protect the railways." Xiao Niangpi said: "I am very familiar with Mongolia. The sand cannot store water and fertilizer. Water is very It will leak out soon, and it will dry up quickly after watering. The tree will not survive." Chen Xi said: "I don't know where I got a thing from. Mixing it with sand can modify the sand and increase the adhesion. Together, they can retain water and fertilizer like soil. I have tested it, and it is completely possible to plant grass, trees, and even crops. After the straw is returned to the field, it will rot. After a few years, this sandy land will gradually transform into soil. . In the end, it will become real soil in a few decades." Xiao Niangpi and Lin Yueru were almost shocked. What, our ears heard it correctly, this is okay.
This kind of
"Sand water-retaining adhesive" was invented by Professor Yi from Chongqing Jiaotong University. Just mix the white powdery adhesive into the sand and add water, and the sand can be bonded together like soil in 2 minutes. Helps with water retention and planting.
Yang Fan also discovered it while browsing the news. He was pleasantly surprised to find that with this artifact, he could build a railway through Alxa and go to Yinli in the shortest distance.
Yang Fan does not intend to let the railway go through the Hexi Corridor in Ningxia and Gansu. The main reason is that there are too many areas for coordination, and the difficulties and constraints are too great.
It is also easy to attract the attention of the court. This route near the capital was finally approved by the emperor on the grounds of solving the problem of canal freezes and suspension of operations in winter.
Moreover, Yang Fan promised that the imperial court's grain could be transported to the capital for free. Going straight through Alxa is the best option.
Alxa in this era is not the ghost he will be in later generations. The desertification of the land in this era was far less severe than in later generations, otherwise the Mongolian Alxa tribe would have been finished long ago.
During this era, the melted ice and snow in the Qilian Mountains merged into more than a dozen rivers and flowed into the Alxa wilderness.
The largest ones are Heishui River, Shiyang River, Dang River, Shule River, Beida River, etc. There can be a dozen strongholds near rivers along the railway as water replenishment stations.
Moreover, the line passes through the north of the three major deserts. As long as grass grids and sand are used to modify the soil in some areas, and steam engines are used to pump water, it is completely possible to build a green plant isolation belt to prevent wind and sand along both sides of the railway line. .
After passing Hami, it will be much easier to continue westward. As long as this railway is built, the north of the Great Wall will gradually become Yang Fan's territory in the future.
