Early the next morning, the three of them met outside Dadongmen. Let’s go to the big world together.
They are not rich people, so they cannot afford to sit in a sedan or a rickshaw, so they can only ride in a rickshaw. Fortunately, it is already autumn, and the weather is much cooler than in summer. The three of them rushed on their way early, feeling relaxed and at ease.
The big world of the Australians began to be built soon after they retreated from the city of Guangzhou.
The land along the road from Dadongmen to the Great World was originally just a mudflat made of mud along the river bank. Not to mention houses and fields, there are not even many decent trees. There are some deserted graves and graves scattered among the wild smoke and grass. Since the Australians came here to build the Great World three years ago, they first built a major road. It connects the big world with Guangzhou city. So before this big world opened, the connection with Guangzhou had already been established.
The road was naturally paved with a mixture of gravel and black cinders in accordance with the usual luxurious style of the Kun people. It was wide and flat, with drainage ditches on both sides, and kapok trees were planted.
For more than three years, most of the items that could be purchased from Guangzhou on the Great World construction site were transported along this road, and various craftsmen and strong workers in the city also walked along this road to work. Residents near Dadongmen are also used to the sound of the sirens calling for work at the Great World construction site every morning.
There were already a lot of pedestrians on the road at this moment, and most of them were in the same direction as them. Most of them are "short-shirt gangs", hard-working people. There are also some small vendors selling food, carrying burdens and pushing carts, and they go to the construction site in an endless stream.
However, there were also some sedan chairs mixed in the crowd, and some looked like businessmen, riding donkeys and leading their young apprentices, slowly heading towards the big world.
Huang Hankun was surprised when he saw that there were many people with fake hair among the vendors and laborers. Could it be that there were also many fake hair here? After taking another look, he saw that these people still wore Ming Dynasty uniforms and did not look like "fake Kun", so he quietly asked Wu Yi what was going on.
"These are local people who have worked for the Kun people for a long time. They also imitate the Australians' hair style." Wu Ji said, "They say they are so clean and easy to take care of."
"The government doesn't care?"
"It is better for the government to do less than to do more. Who is willing to offend the Australians for this?"
"It's truly lawless!" Huang Xunkun said angrily.
Less than half a mile away, I saw workers inlaying long iron bars on the road. Wu Dai said that this was the Kun people's ox-pulled railway - many people had seen the Kun people using oxen to pull trucks filled with building materials on the road - and I heard that in the future, with just a few pennies, you could ride on the big train beside the Pearl River. world. In addition to ox-drawn trucks, there are also small iron cars running on the repaired road section. As long as two people press up and down, they can move like flying.
"This is not a railway for oxcarts, but a railway for thieves' steamers." Huang Hankun said worriedly as he looked at the track under construction. "It won't be long before Kun Thief's train will reach Dadongmen."
"You have to experience this." Wu Ji said with great interest, "I heard that their little train does not use oxen and horses to work, but boils water and boils fire. I have never understood it, but now I can see it with my own eyes!"
Huang Xunkun secretly smiled bitterly. This train is naturally a very useful item. With 10% of the railway, it only takes a moment for the thieves to arrive at Dadongmen, not to mention the ease of pulling in the cannon. Rather than building a thoroughfare to the big world, it is more like an iron chain around the neck of Guangzhou City.
But even if I say it, what’s the use? The government did not dare to ask. Not to mention scholars like Yuyuanshe.
The group continued to move forward, and not far away, they saw a spire tower rising from the ground. Under the spire is an arched stone door--according to Wu Dai, this is the main entrance to the big world.
The people of Yuyuan Society are very interested in everything about Australians, so naturally they will not let go of the specimen of the big world right in front of them. Every ten days and a half, there are always people from the society who come here to have a look - Wu Keke counts Do is one of the most popular people here.
"The shape of this tower is like a red-haired man," Wu Ji said, "but there is one thing I don't understand: this is the top floor. Why is it hollowed out on all sides? Some people say that it is for hanging a big bell, but this tower has been built It has been more than a year. There is no hanging bell, but the surrounding area is sealed with reed mats. I don’t know how to explain it."
But Huang Henkun knew that this "bell" was not that "bell". He shook his head and said: "Brother Wu Xian, this bell is not the big bell hanging in the bell and drum tower of the temple, but the Australian bell..." He thought about how to explain it, "There are probably some wealthy families in Guangzhou who have it."
"Could it be the floor-to-ceiling Australian clock in Mr. Liang's house?" Wu Dai was a little skeptical. "I've seen that clock before. It's very novel. It's just the size of a wardrobe."
"Australian clocks can be big or small. The small ones can be carried in your arms, and the big ones can be placed on the bell tower." Huang Hankun shook his head, "There are several bell towers like this in Lingao. The bells ring every half an hour. There is no bell on this bell tower, and it has probably not been built yet. It is very difficult to build such a big bell. Even in Lingao, the bell towers have been empty for several years."
"I see."
The three of them walked further along the track for a while, and the big world was in front of them. The appearance of this big world is very strange. It is said to be a business, but it is as large as a small city.
At this moment, they were standing on the mound by the roadside, and they could roughly see that the big world by the river was a huge pentagon. Huang Henkun remembered that he had seen it in Huang Ping's mathematics book: This is called a regular pentagon.
Each side is about a mile long. Huang Xunkun took a breath: This scale is as big as a county town in Hainan. Kun thief, is this called opening a business? They are obviously building a city!
Huang Xunkun has experienced battles for a long time and is familiar with military affairs. He also has a good understanding of Australian city defense architecture. He could tell at a glance that this big world was exactly the same as the various forts and camps built by the Kun thieves on Hainan Island: they were all so-called "bastions": the forts were in the shape of a pentagon, with a small tower on each convex corner. fortress. This so-called bell tower is exactly a convex-cornered fortress.
What is a little gratifying is that the two wings extending from the bell tower do not have city walls, but two open colonnades, which do not have a strong military meaning. There is still some bamboo scaffolding erected here, and most of the rest has been completed. The thick stone pillars are embossed with patterns, which look majestic and majestic. Through the colonnade, you can see that the interior is a large square. The site has not been leveled and is filled with yellow sand, gravel and various materials. A thick and ferocious black iron tower in the center has been the talk of the town in Guangzhou for the past few years, whether rich or poor: a steam crane.
This steam crane is thick and strong, can lift heavy objects, and can rotate freely. What confuses the citizens of Guangzhou most, including the scholars of Yuyuan Society who are interested in studying "Kun Studies", is: this tower crane is How do you grow taller by yourself?
The lively citizens watched the iron tower machine rise from more than one foot high to seven or eight feet high as the buildings in the big world got higher and higher.
How to raise the height of the hanging tower has become a topic of constant discussion in many teahouses and restaurants across the city, and there is also endless debate in Yuyuan Club. For this reason, Master Lin specially hired several carpenters and coppersmiths with excellent skills to go to the site to watch the machine. It's just that you can't get close to the construction area. Even if you look at it from a distance several times, you can't figure out why.
It can only be seen that it was built and raised section by section. However, the tower is so high, and the iron frame of each section is so huge and heavy. It is obviously not dragged up by human power or pulleys. Furthermore, there is a long cantilever and a small iron-framed glass house at the top of the tower. It seems completely impossible to increase the height layer by layer.
At this time, they were not in the mood to talk about this matter, and just followed the flow of people into the big world.
The construction site of Great World was originally surrounded by a bamboo fence from a distance. At this time, the fence doors were open, and there were road signs at the door: one side said "Work" and the other side said "Investment."
The group of people walked in the direction of "Invitation of Investment" following the road signs. All the people doing business were crowded along the road. The three of them followed the flow of people through the colonnade and entered the large square that was still piled with building materials. Several people were startled: What kind of house is this!
The main building in front of them was something that not only Zhang and Wu, who were in Guangzhou, had never seen it before, but Huang Hankun, who came from the "Kun Thief's Lair", had never seen it before.
The building in front of me stands in the middle of the square and is entirely made of stone. The ornate stone facade has long, narrow windows with gleaming glass. Not only is this building a five-story building, but each floor is taller than their usual floors. The main entrance of the magnificent building is as high as two floors, supported by stone pillars in the middle. On both sides of the high steps are a pair of unusual-looking stone lions with ferocious faces and wings. There is another bell tower above the main entrance. Looking closely, this building is not square. Like the outer wall of the Great World, it is also a regular pentagonal building. There are towers at each of the five corners. Spreading out like wings from the two wings are two-story buildings that connect to the two towers on the outer wall of the Great World.
"So high! It's just, it's just..." Zhang Yu stammered, suddenly feeling that his walnut pastry shop was finished, and that his efforts to come here were in vain.
"This height is almost as high as a pagoda." Wu Ji forced himself to calm down and looked up at the building. In ancient China, buildings were rarely built, and the few buildings were mostly two-story. The only real high-rise buildings are religious buildings such as pagodas. Although the height of some towers can be equivalent to the twenty or thirty-story buildings of later generations, their construction area is small and they have little practical value.
While Huang Hankun was amazed, his heart suddenly sank: I had never seen Kun Thief build such a magnificent building in Lingao. Why did he spare no effort to build such a magnificent building just outside Guangzhou?
Xiang Zhuang's sword dance was intended for Pei Gong. The so-called big world they built was clearly a declaration of war against the imperial court. This big world is not some glamorous and glamorous Australian-style world, but an out-and-out majestic pass! (To be continued.)xh211
