Zeng Erlang is the youngest son of the old Zeng family. Because his family is poor and his appearance is not that outstanding, he has not yet married a wife in his twenties.
His two brothers also had a sister, but only the eldest brother married a daughter-in-law through a sister-in-law exchange. When Zeng Erlang was not working, he would either be in a daze or go around peeking at the eldest daughter and the younger daughter-in-law of each family.
There is no way, the family is too poor and cannot afford to marry.
Whenever night fell, listening to the banging and calling from his elder brother's room, Zeng Erlang tossed and turned so much that the bed board was almost broken by him.
It's not okay to stay like this all the time, so when Li Yunze took over the river dredging project in Chang'an City, Zeng Erlang joined the ranks of migrant workers with the temptation of going to Chang'an City to broaden his horizons and make money outside.
Everything in Chang'an City dazzled these rural young people, and they were extremely shocked.
At that time, I swore in front of my companions that one day I would move into Chang'an City and become a city dweller.
His companions ridiculed him for not knowing the heights of the world, and then they all started bragging and spanking.
When I was working in Chang'an City, I would work in dredging various rivers during the day. After dinner at night, I would basically brag and fart, and then go to sleep.
Although Li Yunze opened a night school and spent a lot of money to invite scholars to teach reading and literacy, there were not many people willing to learn.
Mainly because I was too tired from working during the day and really didn’t have the energy. At the same time, as I get older, I feel that my life has already been set. Why should I go to school at this time? Do I still want to take the imperial examination?
Zeng Erlang insisted on attending night classes, and would never miss a class even if he was extremely tired.
Naturally, you don't know anything at the beginning. As a teacher, a scholar only teaches, regardless of whether you learn or not.
Many of my classmates who went to night school also gradually dropped out due to various reasons.
Zeng Erlang, who wanted to change his destiny, still persevered. Even when he was free from work during the day, he did not talk to his companions about the ajar door. Instead, he squatted on the ground and used tree branches to practice the calligraphy he learned last night.
This continued until the dredging project was completed.
When the project was over, the night classes were cancelled, and everyone went home, Zeng Erlang still felt that he still had unfinished business, but it was a pity that he had no chance.
After returning home, Zeng Erlang no longer peeked at anyone's eldest daughter or daughter-in-law. He spent the whole day either squatting outside the private school in the village and eavesdropping, or writing and drawing on the ground.
The people in the village were laughing at him because he was crazy, and he still wanted to change his fate but couldn't.
Later, the construction of the railway began to recruit corvees. Zeng Erlang learned that Lijiazhuang was in charge of this matter, so he took the initiative to replace his elder brother and take over the corvee.
As expected, there was another night class at the construction site in the evening.
Because Zeng Erlang knew a lot of characters, he was recommended to take classes at the Railway Technical School after studying for a period of time.
Now I was directly separated from the work on the construction site and started to learn professional knowledge.
The first is math.
Perhaps because of his perseverance, or perhaps because of his slight talent, after nearly a year of study, Zeng Erlang was admitted to the advanced class with excellent results.
The content taught in the advanced classes is very professional.
From railway maintenance to dispatching schedules and so on.
Those who can come here to study are outstanding talents who stand out from hundreds of thousands of civilians.
In addition to practical classes, they no longer had to work in the sun and wind on the construction site. They studied hard for a year. They only passed the examination and graduated when the railway was about to open to traffic, and were assigned to work everywhere along the line.
Zeng Erlang was very lucky and was assigned to work as a dispatcher at Chang'an East Station. With a super high income of two taels per month, he lived in a house allocated by the railway company and became a real city citizen.
You know, even if you are a fourth-rank official in the imperial court, your monthly income is about four dollars.
Zeng Erlang also has additional allowances and various physical rewards.
When he returned to his hometown village during the holidays, the doorstep of his home was trampled down by the matchmaker.
The eldest brother always said that it was Zeng Erlang who robbed him of his opportunity. What would he have done if he had been the one who went to work as a corvee?
Regarding this kind of complaining words, Zeng Erlang, who had opened his eyes, smiled and said nothing.
An illiterate man like his elder brother would not be able to attend night school, let alone a technical school.
After rejecting his parents' proposed blind date in the village and leaving behind gifts and belongings, Sojiro left his home village.
The village is nice and brings back memories of my youth, but I want to go outside and have a look.
Zeng Erlang, who returned to Chang'an City, carefully took his several apprentices and tried to train them all to get rid of his fate of facing the loess and back to the sky. He opened his eyes to see the world and lived in this world in vain. Once.
Then one day, the second lady from Lijiazhuang came to the station.
Wu Meiniang, who was wearing a long dress with gold embroidery and a bright red cotton cape, got off the gorgeous carriage. When she was notified, everyone waiting here looked straight.
Although he was young, his demeanor and grace really made everyone's hearts beat like little deers.
He raised his hand to lift his hood, revealing his black hair like clouds and mist, and stepped forward like a little phoenix spreading its wings and about to fly.
Wu Meiniang, with shining earrings and gold hairpin, clapped her hands, "You are all outstanding employees of the company, and your abilities have been recognized by everyone."
Listening to the clear and sweet voice, Zeng Erlang and others felt their scalps go numb.
Unfortunately, apart from going to Pingkangfang, the daughter of the grocery store owner is the most distinguished girl they can come into contact with on a daily basis.
At this time, facing the daughter of the Duke and the person in charge of Lijiazhuang, it felt like my scalp was really numb.
"... After the line from Chang'an City to Luoyang City is opened, a lot of manpower will be needed along the line... You are all excellent employees. This is an excellent opportunity to participate in advanced training... Qualified graduates, Everyone can get a 50% salary increase..."
Wu Meiniang talked for a long time, and finally gave up her position, and a strong man continued the conversation.
The man first saluted Wu Meiniang respectfully, but then he straightened up and turned around, his face as cold as frost. "You don't need to know my identity. You just need to know that I will be your instructor."
"What you will learn next will be the country's sharp weapon and the country's most important treasure! Anyone who dares to leak it will not only lose your own head."
After the man finished speaking, he waved his hand vigorously, "You have three days to go home and take care of your housework. After three days, we will gather here and send you to training."
Everyone dispersed. On the way home, Zeng Erlang was so agitated that he simply walked past the door and went straight to the grocery store.
He was going to propose to the grocer's daughter!
At the station, the man with a stern expression in front of a group of workers turned around to face Wu Meiniang, but he simply bent down and said words full of warmth: "Second lady, don't worry, I will be the official." When efforts are made to train them in how to operate electricity
The skills of Taiwan are guaranteed to be learned by everyone. "
Wu Meiniang, who was obviously thinking about something, smiled calmly, "Thank you."
With the construction of the railway from Chang'an City to Luoyang City starting, the preliminary training work will naturally start in advance.
One of the most important things is to train dispatchers to learn to operate radio stations.
If there are more trains, there must be reasonable scheduling, otherwise accidents will easily occur.
Nothing is more convenient than radio in this regard.
It is not easy to operate a radio station. The only way is to select and train dispatchers with basic knowledge.
As for the scholars in the Tang Dynasty, most of them were not even qualified to enter school because their mathematics was so bad.
After gathering her thoughts, Wu Meiniang showed a smile and said, "Colonel Wu, was the theft completed a few days ago?"
After hearing this, Wu Yan immediately showed an angry look on his face, "What a bunch of bastards, they dare to steal cars. Baiqisi has arrested everyone here, even the guys who sold the stolen goods. This is it." ..”
He said with some embarrassment, "Many sheep have been eaten."
A few days ago, Li Yunze arranged for a truck to transport a large number of Merino sheep from Chang'an City to Shengzhou, where they would be sent across the Yellow River and handed over to the Tang army for distribution to obedient tribes to raise.
Unexpectedly, on the way, a group of local people climbed onto the train by taking advantage of the train's turn to slow down.
Hundreds of sheep, covering several carriages, were thrown off the train. Most of them were killed and injured. In the end, not even one out of ten was recovered.
The news came to Chang'an City via telegraph, and Li Er was furious.
Li Er, who regarded trains as the wings of the Tang Dynasty, valued the related safety most, and immediately ordered Baiqisi to arrest him within a time limit.
Wu Yan personally led a team to rush there by train, and soon captured all the local people who were stealing the train.
Those people still plausibly complained that "we rely on the mountains to eat the mountains, and we rely on the water to eat the water." Our house is right next to the railway, so it’s fine if we don’t dismantle the tracks and sell them, but it’s not a big deal if we get some things. '
The consequences of this incident are serious.
Of course, there are laws to deal with those who pick up cars and sell stolen goods, and the local magistrate was taken away by people from Dali Temple who came by train the next day.
In the higher-level states, from governor to Biejia, from chief historian to recorder, he joined the army, and even Liu Cao was dismissed from his post and investigated.
Suddenly, the whole court was shocked.
It is precisely because of this shock that states and counties along the way have madly stepped up education and propaganda, and patrols and arrests have become more serious.
Things that happen from time to time include people boarding trains, boarding without buying tickets, forcibly stopping trains and forcing people to board the trains to transport goods and deliver people, etc., etc., all of which have disappeared visibly to the naked eye.
This is how the yamen is, usually turning a blind eye.
But once the superiors really take action, they will immediately become serious in order to ensure that they don't become the next one.
"Good work."
Wu Meiniang smiled and looked up at the falling snowflakes in the sky, but there was a stone in her heart.
Wu Yan naturally knew why. There had been a lot of noise inside and outside Chang'an City about the emperor's intention to betroth his eldest daughter, Princess Changle, to Lord Li.
However, he would never say another word about this kind of thing.
It was not his turn to participate.
"Yesterday, a telegram was sent from Yanzhou, saying that bandits were demolishing the railway tracks, and the official wanted to rush there to arrange the disposal." Wu Yan chose to run away very conscientiously, "I'm leaving now."
Since the Changsheng Railway was opened to traffic, from Chang'an City to Shengzhou, which is more than a thousand miles away, many events along the way can be known on the same day, and it can be reached in two days at most.
The speed and efficiency of information acquisition have already broken the ceiling of imagination.
In contrast, even in the very nearby Huazhou, it would only take a few days to find out about anything, through messengers and horseback transportation.
Such a significant contrast shows that everyone from Li Er to Chaotang has invested huge enthusiasm for the railway.
After Wu Yan greased the soles of his feet and ran away, Wu Meiniang picked up her skirt and got into the carriage and "returned to the village."
Princess Changle's matter was stuck in her heart and she was determined to go find the master to find out!
