Although this train has an inconspicuous appearance and is extremely crude compared to its descendants, it has a driving wheel that is as tall as an adult, and it took the craftsmen many months of hard work.
I first made a pair of models that were about the same size as carriage wheels, but because they were made of wood, the structural strength was not very strong. As a result, after being installed, they fell apart after running three times.
This was also due to the poor consideration of the project team. Later, they made a pair of reinforced wooden pulleys, but the result was still the same, and the steam engine was almost broken.
Finally, as a last resort, the steel driving wheel was installed. The blacksmiths of the Academy of Sciences had never made such a large-scale iron wheel. It took a month to complete it.
Several more pairs were subsequently made and installed on other sample heads. A certain prince did not care about the cost in order to build a train as soon as possible, so the Academy of Sciences dared to assemble multiple locomotives at the same time.
In order to prevent the large amount of steam from directly exploding the iron box, a pile of copper pipes were used to connect the boiler, and a cylindrical iron shell was made outside.
Although it already has the main features of later generations of trains, it is common for the boiler of this Ming Dynasty train to explode.
Fortunately, due to sufficient preparation in advance and proper control, only a few drivers were injured and no crashes have occurred yet.
"Eat for nothing! Eat for nothing! Eat for nothing..."
As the linked drive rod began to reciprocate and gradually increased speed, the driving wheel and the driven wheel rotated successively, and the entire locomotive began to start.
"Yes, Not Bad!"
Although the tracks were laid in the Imperial City, and the Academy of Sciences often conducted driving experiments on locomotives, a certain prince did not have much time to come and watch them.
Seeing how well this stupid guy was operating, a certain prince nodded approvingly. He spent no less than tens of thousands of taels of silver in total, and finally saw a return on his investment.
Building trains, laying tracks, and raising dozens of members of the entire project team, including those scrapped locomotives, is definitely a huge expense.
The train project is more expensive than the airship. Although the latter also requires combustion to obtain power, as long as it is properly controlled, cylinder explosion will not occur.
The former is at best an "epoch-making means of transportation", but on the contrary, it is a time bomb that makes a loud noise at any time and can move on its own!
"Your Highness, if this locomotive travels at a speed of less than twenty miles per hour, it will be less prone to cylinder explosions."
The train is one of the few projects that Lao Songtou needs to personally take charge of. He is well aware of the progress of the project, and he also feels very accomplished in building such a behemoth that can ride on the rails.
"Twenty miles? Hmm! Then you can travel 480 miles in one day and night. From the capital to the gold mine, you can arrive in three days at most. Not bad, not bad!!"
The investment in the train project is huge. If it were not for understanding the urgent needs of Taicang, a certain prince would not be so anxious to launch this money-burning project.
The purpose of building trains is to transport ores, especially ores containing precious metals, to the capital for smelting.
No matter what kind of gold, silver or copper, as long as it is shipped over, it will be enough to offset the freight.
Transporting a cart of ore means a cartload of money!
The original test speed of the "Rocket" locomotive was 24 kilometers per hour. The speed of this similar product in front of me is about half that of the other one, nearly 12 kilometers per hour.
But it is much faster than people running, and its transportation capacity far exceeds that of horse-drawn carriages. It can run day and night. The transportation capacity of a train is equivalent to twenty or thirty horse-drawn carriages.
If you think about it this way, the initial investment cost is completely irrelevant.
Buying a train is much more cost-effective than buying a carriage, as long as it works properly and has some good coal.
"Have you ever tried a double-headed car?"
When the quality is not up to standard, a certain prince will not let a locomotive pull the goods alone, otherwise the food will be stopped halfway.
Assuming that the failure rate of one locomotive is one-quarter of the total time, then the time when two locomotives fail at the same time only accounts for one-sixteenth of the total time, which is much more reliable.
When two locomotives pull goods together, the power provided is much stronger than one. In the early stages of operation, this is the only way to play more appropriately.
"Back to Your Highness, I haven't tried it yet!"
"Then try it if you have time! By the way, one or more carriages must be hung during the test to test the towing ability of the locomotive. Freight carriages and passenger carriages must also be designed. The Academy of Sciences must not only be able to build locomotives, but also Corresponding carriages can be built. The rails are not long enough and can be extended southward, and curved rails must be built for the train to turn and to test the train's steering ability. Then the switch device can be installed by the way. According to the destination of the train, The direction of the rails can be determined as soon as it comes. The Academy of Sciences must come up with more mature samples before the spring for mass production. I hope that the pulling force of a locomotive is equivalent to about forty draft horses. If it cannot be reached, it will be used Two locomotives. These are the tasks that the Academy of Sciences needs to start preparing for, and they must be tested in wind and snow, because in the future, trains will run on the rails in any weather conditions."
Trains are not luxury cars and do not need to be pampered. They just need to be durable and durable.
The mission of the Academy of Sciences is to test out a locomotive with acceptable performance and quality.
The requirements of a certain prince are not high, but at the very least, the thing you built must be able to transport goods normally, right?
What's the use of just a locomotive running around on the tracks? ? ?
It seems that the advancement of the Academy of Sciences is still very slow, perhaps due to the limitations of vision and cognition.
A certain prince then made a point of explaining that perfecting the train would not delay the laying of the rails, right?
The area to the west of Taiye Pond can be paved casually, and it can be paved to the imperial city, and it can be paved in the areas of the old city, middle city, and new city.
Now, except that the railway cannot cross the river, any railway can be laid as long as it can be used to complete the test of the locomotive.
"I will only act according to His Highness's instructions!"
Song Yingxing also understood that the prince was anxious about the train project. After returning, he would ask the members of the project team to speed up the progress. The test time of the locomotive should not be extended because of the drop in winter temperatures.
"The Academy of Sciences is going to set up a project team specializing in manufacturing locomotives and carriages, and in the future it will be a company that manufactures such products. Although there are places in the 24th yamen that can make machinery, they don't understand the new thing like trains at all, so let I am not worried about them making locomotives. Before the entire railway line from Beijing to Jinshan is completed, the sections from Beijing to Changping and even Yanqing will be opened to traffic first. The Academy of Sciences must build at least fifty locomotives and five hundred carriages with qualified quality. For transportation between the two places. When the entire line is completed, at least two hundred locomotives and two thousand carriages must be built. I asked the Academy of Sciences to recruit a large number of craftsmen, not just for related experiments, to create some samples That's it. As long as the train project is close to maturity, it can start mass manufacturing locomotives and carriages like other factories. The rails can be manufactured by factories under the Ministry of Industry, and I can also let the court purchase specified sizes from outside private factories. For the railway tracks, the Academy of Sciences only needs to complete the front and carriage parts.”
On the one hand, we must speed up testing, and on the other hand, we must be prepared for mass production. Both are indispensable.
After the railway between Beijing and Changping was built, I suddenly found that there were not many trains available. Isn't it embarrassing?
In a certain prince's plan, the railway and the train were completed at the same time.
Once the railway is built, trains will be put into use in large numbers, ushering in the beginning of industrial transportation.
Wherever the train goes, the economy of that city can be boosted. This is also the main strategy to activate half of Shuntian Mansion.
In areas lacking rivers in the interior, there is no better means of transportation than trains to connect the two places and bring their products to each other.
With the train, the economy of the cities along the line can develop rapidly.
A certain prince has no time to take care of other places, but Shuntian Mansion is his own territory and he must take care of it.
There must be no situation where the railway is already in place but the rest of Shuntianfu is still impoverished.
Trains can not only bring logistics, but also passenger flow. You can complete a one-way trip in half a day, which is convenient and fast.
In the eyes of a certain prince, this crap was extremely crude, but in the eyes of Old Song and others, it was second only to the airship as a pioneering work.
As long as you are not short of money, spending one or two silver on a ticket to experience the charm of high-tech products is definitely worth the money.
In order to thank the merchants who gave him face and purchased new products for the royal family, a certain prince decided to give them a chance to show off their wealth.
That is free train rides and permission to take photos. Nothing can show off one's transcendent status better than this.
Of course, it's definitely not going to be as short as it is right now. The length must at least be doubled to make this group of VIP guests enjoy themselves.
Before that, I had to let my beautiful mother wait for a group of old ladies from the queen's house, plus my foodie brothers and sisters.
It is estimated that the railway tracks will be laid in half a month. I don’t know if the blame dad will be envious and jealous when he sees the photos...
The water network in the south of the Yangtze River is densely covered. It is impossible to lay a railway in a short time. The cost is high and it is impossible to build it in time.
Because of the severe drought in the north during this period, floods are still occurring frequently in the south of the Yangtze River.
The railroad tracks that were finally laid were then washed away by floods. That’s all money!
If the dumper who spent his own money to build the railway knew about it, he would definitely be heartbroken...
A certain prince didn't want to care about those bullshit things in Nanting, and he was beyond his reach.
After knowing that Ma'anshan is a giant iron mine, those with ulterior motives may still be trying to deceive the scapegoat!
In this era, iron and salt are equivalent to copper coins. In some places, even if you have money, you may not be able to buy these two things.
Although the Jiangnan area is a poor mining area, there are coal mines in Huainan and iron mines in Ma'anshan. As long as they are used properly, they can still increase the profits of the dumping father.
If Nanting takes over everything, then the scapegoat will only have one skill left, which is to tighten his belt!
Money is needed to repair the palace in Nandu, money is also needed to develop coal and iron mines, and money is needed to add some "thin horses" to the imperial palace.
If the scapegoat dad doesn't take away the nobles from Nandu, the money he brings will last for a year at most, and then the vicious cycle will start again...
With "a certain unfilial son" as an example, I believe that if Emperor Chongzhen is a little smarter, he won't be bullied by his ministers to the point of selling iron!
Although our method disowns our relatives and offends many financial backers, it is the only way to save Daming after all. Otherwise, we have to wait for Brother Li to deliver a courier to our door!
"Your Highness, Zhou Xin'er, the proprietress of the Beauty Center, wants to see you!"
"Invite her in!"
This little aunt had perjured herself before for a certain prince, so she was probably frightened now. She was afraid of being retaliated by the factory guard vassal whom she had offended, so after finishing the matter, she came to Donghua Gate, waiting to be hugged and asked for some advice. comfort.
"Slave Zhou Xin'er pays homage to His Highness the Crown Prince and wishes..."
"Okay! No courtesy! What are you doing here to see me?"
"Your Highness, I was... worried..."
Zhou Xin'er didn't dare to say that she had perjured herself. How smart the prince was. He would know everything with just a little bit of attention.
"Don't worry, the factory guards are too busy looking after themselves right now. They are searching for fugitives all over the city, so how can they care about you? Besides, even the factory guards will never leave your place. If that blind man touches you, there will be someone there without my intervention. Help you out. Whenever you do something for me, the rewards will be extremely generous. I know that you are making a lot of money every day and you are not so short of money, so I will reward you with some commodity tickets. With the tickets, you can buy goods in Qianqi Department Store. Buy directly, no need to queue up anymore.”
They are here to ask for benefits, and they are little aunts who have seen the world. Empty words cannot appease them. They must provide some actual benefits.
Product tickets are a tool for directly picking up goods. Although it costs money, for some products that are scarce on the market, being able to buy them is a success.
Many commodities are priced but not available. Just because they are unavailable does not mean they are out of stock. A certain prince used this trick to seduce customers' appetites.
Like the new oil lamps that were in short supply, even the court officials had to wait in line. Everyone who can go to the palace to be a third-grade official or above must "enjoy" the purchase limit treatment honestly.
"I thank you, Your Highness, for your grace!"
Zhou Xin'er was immediately excited when she saw that she had twenty merchandise tickets.
She had sent people to the department store countless times before, but she could only buy less than fifty lamps.
It depends on the prince's face, otherwise he wouldn't be able to buy ten.
The output of new oil lamps at the Academy of Sciences is not low, but why can’t they be bought on the market?
In addition to the reasons of a certain prince, Zheng Zhiwan emptied all the inventory at once before leaving Beijing and returning home.
Before Zheng Zhiwan, a group of Japanese daimyo who had just received a silver reward were traveling in the capital and found out again...
The remaining small part was also sent to Tianjin, Baoding and as tribute, and sent along the canal to Nandu to pay homage to the scapegoat.
In order to sell novel goods at high prices and cash out a lot of money as soon as possible, a certain prince never cared about other factors.
In this way, it would be strange to be able to provide sufficient supply to the market.
Even in the home of Xue Guoguan, the first assistant, there are only five new oil lamps.
Counting the wives, concubines, and children, there is not even a single lamp in the house.
During the time that Xue Guoguan lived in the military aircraft office, his home was equivalent to a free one...
This quasi-national warrior is also embarrassed to purchase more, because the number of oil lamps in other colleagues' homes is far less than his.
A certain prince would not cause any trouble to his father-in-law-to-be. It would be easy to get free oil, so he would just stay at the military aircraft.
Nowadays, military aircraft offices not only have oil lamps, but also electric lights and telephones. In the future, there will also be phonographs!
"By the way, it seems like you haven't had a new show for a while, right? I've rehearsed some more here. You should go learn it first and let the beauties in the assembly perform it on the stage once to see how it works!"
"I thank you, Your Highness, for your grace!"
"Okay! Let's take a look at it first. If you think it's okay, then worry about it. I call this the "Italian Opera"!"
After a certain prince said this, he asked the little aunt to get up. It was freezing cold, and even if the room was warm, it would be bad for the knees to keep kneeling.
What's more, the real protagonist is not the little aunt, but a pair of performers who have just entered. After saluting, they begin to twist their bodies and wave the handkerchiefs in their hands.
"It's the New Year in the first month~!"
“It’s the first day of the new year and it’s just one day~!”
"Ouch, yoyo! Ouch, yo..."
