If possible, Zai Chun really wanted this train to take everyone straight to Tianjin and the Northern Industrial Zone. At this speed, he would go in the morning, have lunch at noon, and come back in the evening.
Unfortunately, the Beijing-Tianjin Railway was built according to the stage method. Different construction sites are responsible for different areas. Bridges, hills, and depressions are more difficult projects, so they must be built separately.
Building a railway from flat ground is very simple, and all sections are carried out at the same time!
Why do we need to send 100,000 civilians to build the railway? It means that the entire railway line must be started at the same time. Now the Beijing-Tianjin Railway only has four bridges that have not been completed. It will take more than half a year to repair the bridges and completely connect them!
Zai Chun looked at the railway bridge being connected with rivets on the Grand Canal and sighed, "Hey...across the river is more than 40 kilometers of railways that have been repaired, but it's a pity that the iron bridge has not been repaired yet..."
"Urge those British engineers. The bridges that the Chinese are responsible for are progressing faster than them. If they delay my time, I will deduct their money!"
The train drove along the canal for a short distance, then turned around and turned northwest, heading straight for the Qinghe construction site!
Passing through countless villages and towns along the way, the train whirred gradually as it approached the Qinghe construction site!
Although Prince Gong Yixin secretly has channels to communicate with the outside world, and Sanbao's brother Naduobao has secretly defected to him, the information he heard is completely different from what you saw with your own eyes.
No matter how people outside describe it, they can't describe the huge scale of the Capital Iron Works. In the distance outside the window, only a headless group of dark buildings can be seen, and they just crash into it.
The edges are full of garrison camps and slums for poor workers. The naturally curved streets are muddy. Many people stare blankly at the trains on the tracks. This is an industrial area after all, and people have seen a lot of new things. There is nothing scary about this train.
Yi Xin saw with his own eyes that there were actually women and children in this slum area. It seemed that some refugees were ready to stay permanently!
Looking further into the distance, there are densely packed green brick and tile houses in many places with relatively high terrain and close to factories. These are where wealthy executives live, forming relatively independent wealthy areas.
However, because everyone relies on the core industrial area to make a living, this rich area and the extremely poor slums are mixed together, and it is really not comfortable to live in.
Looking up into the distance, Zaichun's industrial zone has grown in size. Many of the chimneys are over ten meters tall, and some even reach the height of five stories.
The coking plant has been put into operation, and coal is being continuously sent in. One furnace after another is turned into coke for steelmaking, which must be reserved in advance.
Many of the low chimneys are brick-burning factories and newly built cement factories. The demand for these materials in the infrastructure construction of industrial areas is endless.
As long as you can produce it, you can get whatever you want!
Yixin knows all these people. He is not a free-for-all prince. He also studied industry when he was the Prime Minister's Yamen. He has done homework on Xiao Letian's Northern Industrial Zone.
The uses and basic shapes of various factories are roughly the same!
"The coking plant has already started production. It looks like the first furnace of steel is about to be fired? Is that the blast furnace over there?"
That's right, the Qinghe Iron Works of the Qing Dynasty built four high-rise buildings in the first phase of the project. The lowest one is fifteen meters high. The feeding area, slag discharging area, molten steel pouring workshop... a series of supporting things have been built. !
Yi Xin was shocked. He knew very well that the construction of such a complex iron factory industrial zone was actually more difficult than the railway!
Is it difficult to repair the railway? In fact, the difficult parts are locomotive manufacturing, rail forging, geological exploration and bridge construction... The rest of the work, such as smashing rocks, laying rails and laying foundations, are all tasks that ordinary people can do.
But steel plants are different, especially blast furnace steelmaking, which requires the collaboration of multiple departments and many technical personnel to complete the task!
The level of complexity is much greater than building a railway, and don’t laugh at the fact that the technology here is all imitation. It’s already a miracle that it can be imitated in this era.
Yixin was silent, he was really shocked by the scene at this moment!
The train gradually stopped at the station of the steel plant. Hundreds of officials knelt on the platform. When they saw the train stopping, they immediately shouted "Long live the train!"
Zai Chun first helped Empress Dowager Ci'an get off the train, and then a warm sedan was brought over immediately!
Zai Chun supported the Empress Dowager Dong in the sedan chair to get warm, and then ran back to the car to help his mother Ci Xi get off the train. A filial son's performance is indispensable.
Cixi frowned as soon as she got off the train, "Oh... what does this smell like! It's sour..."
"Haha, Queen Mother, please raise your legs high and be careful... This industrial area is like this, too much coal is burned, and the smoke released by a lot of incompletely burned coal is sour!"
"Everywhere in the industrial area is good, but the smell is a bit stronger and a bit dirty... If you two ladies are really not used to it, why don't you just rest in the carriage?"
Cixi looked at Ci'an and saw that the Empress Dowager Dong had no objection, and she was too embarrassed to lag behind!
"The Ai family also wants to see the world. This industrial zone has made you crazy. How can you do it without seeing it with your own eyes?"
Zai Chun helped Cixi get into the sedan chair. The sedan chair carried by eighteen people had been sent out from the palace in advance. This was not a simple sedan chair but a mobile house.
The space inside the sedan was almost fifteen square meters, enough for the Queen Mother and two attendants to move around. There was a silver wire charcoal stove burning inside and sprinkled with spices. There was no smell of smoke at all.
Once you get into the sedan, you are immediately cut off from the cold wind outside. People inside are so warm that they want to wear single clothes! There are huge glass windows on the left and right, which are bright and clean, and provide an unobstructed view of the entire industrial area.
Cixi was watching when she suddenly saw three familiar figures coming down from the rear of the carriage. Under the guard of a group of soldiers, they stood lonely and separated from the other ministers.
"Yixin...Yixuan...Yikkuang..." Cixi was stunned for a moment, looking at the three acquaintances who looked like little old men. They didn't even have a fur coat. They were just ordinary people's old cotton-padded jackets, green and gray. It's all a bit white.
"This... this is a bit too harsh... Lianying!"
Li Lianying on the side quickly lowered her head and said, "My servant is here..."
"Look back...you give each of the three of them a fine lambskin fur. They are guilty. Bearskin, fox fur...these are all trespassing and cannot be worn!"
"But you have to give me a sheepskin robe anyway! Can an old cotton-padded jacket keep out the cold? Wouldn't it freeze to death?"
"As the old saying goes, ten layers of cotton are not as good as one layer of wool... After all, we are relatives, so why should we be so cruel and cold?"
Li Lianying smiled and said, "The Queen Mother is truly a bodhisattva. I will do it now!"
