Luo Zhixue had wanted to inspect various places in the north and south of the Yangtze River very early, but considering the huge impact of the patrol and the huge cost of mobilizing troops and people, he had to give up. Lan
Whether it was the ancient emperor or Luo Zhixue, it would be very troublesome for them to go on patrol.
The size of the accompanying team will be very large. There may be thousands of civil and military officials, and there will also be a large number of soldiers accompanying them. The size of the entire patrol team may be tens of thousands.
It wouldn't matter if these tens of thousands of people were all soldiers. The army was marching. As long as supplies could keep up along the way, it wouldn't be a big problem.
But when the emperor goes on tour... there are many rules and regulations for various interests.
For example, when the emperor is on a tour, the places he passes along the way require palaces for accommodation... You can't let the emperor stay in an inn, right?
The construction of this palace is not a small sum of money. Even if existing official or private buildings can be used as palaces, modifications still need to be made in order to comply with the emperor's palace specifications in terms of etiquette.
While on the way, you can't let the imperial driver walk on the dilapidated ordinary official road. This means that the roads along the way need to be renovated. Before the imperial driver passes by, loess and water need to be sprinkled to avoid dust flying. Lan
When all these items are added up, the amount of money required is not a small amount, and it also takes a very long time.
Therefore, before the opening of the railway, Luo Zhixue generally did not go on land for inspections, but mostly took waterways... Taking waterways was faster, put less pressure on the route, and cost less overall.
In the 17th year of Ru Chengshun, Luo Zhixue went to inspect Zhejiang for the first time. His inspection route was to go south along the Yangtze River to Zhenjiang, then to Suzhou through the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal, and then to Hangzhou.
After arriving in Hangzhou, he changed to a carriage and headed to Ningbo. By the way, he also inspected the Zhoushan Naval Base stationed in Ningbo.
However, after the opening of the railway, it became more convenient to go out for inspections. In the 24th year of Chengshun, Luo Zhixue took a special train for the first time to inspect Zhenjiang, Changzhou, Suzhou and Shanghai.
In the twenty-sixth year of Chengshun, Luo Zhixue traveled westward along the Jiangnan Railway and inspected Dangtu, Chizhou, Anqing, and Jiujiang.
Although these two inspections did not go to many places and did not cover far distances, they finally allowed the Dachu Empire to accumulate a certain amount of experience in special inspections and establish a more complete inspection system. Lan
To this end, the Railway Corporation built a number of special trains specifically for the emperor's travel. These patents are not all located in Jinling City. In fact, they are found in many places. This is because of the railway lines in many places. See on the map It seems to be connected together, but because of the river obstruction, the railway does not directly connect, and trains, ferries or barges are needed.
Among them, the Yangtze River blocked the north-south railway network of the Chu Empire!
The wide Yangtze River and the need for navigation made it difficult for the Chu Empire to build a cross-river railway bridge on the Yangtze River Bridge.
Chengshun has been conducting demonstrations and designs continuously for more than ten years, but until now there is no reliable design plan.
And as time goes by, the tonnage of ships operating in the Yangtze River is getting larger and larger, and the height is getting higher and higher, which also makes the Yangtze River cross-river bridge more and more difficult...
Xu Chongzhi, the co-minister in charge of flood control, shipping and other matters in the Yangtze River, clearly required that the Jinling Yangtze River Bridge must have the ability to navigate 10,000-ton sea vessels during the new round of Jinling Yangtze River Bridge Demonstration Conference in the 27th year of Chengshun. During the flood season, it is still necessary to have the ability to navigate 5,000-ton sea vessels.
Otherwise... don't expect to pass the approval of the Yangtze River Management Administration. Lan
The construction of a railway bridge several kilometers long is inherently extremely difficult for the contemporary Chu Empire's basic engineering construction capabilities. This also requires such a huge demand for navigation capacity, which means This requires extremely high navigation clearance and a longer span.
It is precisely because the requirements are too high and the technical capabilities cannot keep up for the time being that the Chu Empire lacks the ability to build bridges on large deep-water rivers in a short period of time, especially rivers with large navigation needs.
If there is not much demand for navigation and the water depth is not too deep, simply making the bridge longer would not be a big problem.
Not to mention the wrought iron bridges that have been developed in recent years, even stone arch bridges can be built...
Unfortunately, it cannot repair many railway bridges in important areas in this way.
This has also resulted in railway lines in many places being blocked by rivers.
For example, the Central Plains Railway and the Jiangnan Railway in Jinling City cannot be connected together. Lan
Similarly, the Chubei Railway on the Hanyang side cannot be connected to the Jiuheng Railway.
Jiujiang's Jiuheng Railway cannot be connected to the Jiangnan Railway.
The railway from Hangzhou to Ningbo in northern Zhejiang was also blocked by Cao Ejiang.
There are many similar situations. In the early years, the Railway Corporation had no good solution. It directly set up special connecting platforms on both sides of the river to transfer goods and passengers across the river through steamers. After crossing the river, Then transfer to the train on the other side.
In the past two years, the Railway Corporation has also tried to develop train ferries.
By directly building a special large-scale steam train ferry and laying rails on the ferry, trains that need to cross the river can drive directly onto the train ferry, and then drive across the river to the railway line on the other side.
The first ferry had already been put into trial operation in Jinling City in the 27th year of Chengshun. However, due to the new technology, once an accident occurred, the losses would be extremely huge. Lan
Therefore, this kind of train ferry is currently only used in Jinling City, and it is only used to transport freighters, and will not be used to transport passenger trains full of passengers.
If an accident occurred while the passenger train was crossing the river, hundreds of people would be killed or injured. No one could bear the responsibility for such a major accident.
Therefore, officials from the Railway Corporation, the Yangtze River Management Administration, and Yingtianfu are very cautious... and dare not easily allow train ferries to be directly used for passenger train transportation.
Ordinary passenger trains do not dare to operate, let alone royal special trains. No official has the courage to let Luo Zhixue's royal special train drive on a train and ferry that is still in the process of testing and the technology is not yet mature.
If something goes wrong, the whole family won't have enough heads to cut off.
Therefore, for the imperial special trains, the Railway Corporation simply prepares a separate train in an independent railway network.
These royal special trains have been ordered and built in recent years. They are currently planned to be used on the Northern Railway Network and deployed on different railway networks. A total of more than 30 royal special trains have been put in place and are currently undergoing subsequent rigorous tests and trial operations. Lan
Naturally, the royal train will not travel like ordinary trucks. Instead, it requires a specially formulated operating schedule. It also requires close cooperation with train stations and local patrol agencies along the way.
In preparation for the northern inspection that is about to begin in 2029, the Railway Corporation and local governments have already made various preparations early.
Various preparations lasted for about half a year, and it was not until late June of the 29th year of Chengshun that all the preparations were completed.
In this way, Luo Zhixue first took a ferry to cross the river, and then boarded the royal train at Jiangpu Railway Station, taking more than a thousand officials of various types and the First Guards Division to begin the northern patrol.
Before Luo Zhixue boarded the imperial special train, he looked at the special train for a while. Just from its appearance, it could be seen that it was different from the special train he had taken when he inspected the Pan-Jiangnan area several times before.
The special trains I took before were all built in the years after the train came out, and the overall technical level was still in the early stage of train development.
The locomotive still looks very primitive and crude. Although the carriage seems to use a lot of gold, precious wood and other luxurious materials, the core technology such as the chassis of the carriage is actually not very good. Lan
After all, even if it is a royal special train, the railway company can only rely on the existing locomotives and train carriages to carry out design modifications. Most of the modifications are only exterior and interior modifications, and then adding more safety measures.
Cost is not a concern in design and construction, so better quality parts can be used, assembly can be more rigorous, etc.
After all, it is not a complete redesign and construction of train technology, so the overall look is very original.
But now the royal train that Luo Zhixue sees is quite different from the original train even in appearance.
The locomotive used as power is larger than the original locomotive. The entourage said that this locomotive is the Guangsan type locomotive that was mass-produced and put into service in the past year.
It is designed, developed and produced by Guangzhou Machinery Company. It uses the latest steam engine for trains produced by Guangzhou Machinery Company. It is also the company's third-generation locomotive. Compared with the first two locomotives, not only the power output is larger, but also it burns coal. higher efficiency.
After adopting this kind of locomotive, trains no longer need to add coal and water to travel dozens of kilometers like early trains. Lan
Simply put, it means that it carries the same amount of coal and Danshui, and its cruising distance is longer, which increases the average running speed of the train and reduces operating costs.
And with greater horsepower, it can also pull more cargo or passengers.
On the carriages, a single carriage is longer than the old carriages... The earliest trains seemed to carry more than a dozen carriages at every turn, but in fact each carriage was very short.
But now, the number of carriages in most new-style trains is still around ten or so, and short-distance passenger trains often only have seven or eight carriages.
But the length of each carriage is several times longer than the earlier carriages.
This means that the same train can transport several times more goods or passengers than before, greatly increasing the train's transportation volume.
And these are all brought about by Guangsan series locomotives. Lan
Without the surging power of this new locomotive, there would be no way to significantly increase the transportation volume of the railway network.
Just from the appearance, Luo Zhixue can see the rapid improvement of train technology in the past eight or nine years.
After entering the interior of the car, the feeling is even more profound.
Even the width of a train carriage is affected by the railway gauge, the size of bridges, tunnels, etc. It will not change much even if technology advances. It is still the same width as the original carriage.
However, the increase in the length of the carriage directly increases the space of a single carriage.
Although there are more seats in the conference car, it can still accommodate dozens of courtiers.
Luo Zhixue's dormitory compartment is also very spacious. Lan
With the advancement of technology and changes in design concepts, the length of train carriages has increased. This is the most obvious feeling for ordinary people about the progress of train technology.
When the royal train started running, although the carriage under Luo Zhixue's feet was shaking slightly, the vibration was not large. If you were sitting on the spring sofa in the royal carriage, you would basically not feel the slight vibration of the carriage.
This is much better than the previous royal special train... The previous royal special train had a lot of vibrations. Even if you were sitting on a spring yellow sofa, even covered with thick velvet, there was still a very obvious vibration.
However, on the new royal train, Luo Zhixue could hardly feel the vibration when he sat down. The overall riding experience was better than those of the royal carriages built with the latest technology.
This shows that the shock-absorbing technology level of the imperial special trains has been greatly improved.
Luo Zhixue walked around in different carriages of the royal train and felt that the royal train was better than he expected.
Of course, this does not mean that the decoration is gorgeous or the furnishings are expensive. Luo Zhixue doesn't pay much attention to these things. Anyway, he knows with his toes that his royal train will definitely use the top decorations and furnishings. Lan
Luo Zhixue is more concerned about the train itself. Whether it is the locomotive or the carriage, he is very concerned about it.
While watching, he also discovered that there were two sets of braking systems on the imperial special train... One was an old, independent manual braking system for each carriage.
That is, each carriage is equipped with a braking system and a brakeman. After the train driver sends a signal, the brakeman pulls the brake handle to brake.
But in addition to the manual braking system, the Royal Class also uses an air braking system that is uniformly controlled by the driver.
Engineers from the Railway Corporation said that this is an air brake system developed and produced by Songjiang Prefecture Huating Precision Machinery Company. It consists of a high-performance air compressor independently developed and produced by them, as well as a cylinder piston and a connecting pipe.
The principle is very simple. The power of the locomotive drives the air compressor. The air compressor transmits the compressed air to the air piston in each carriage through the connecting pipe. The air piston pushes the brake shoes to brake under the pressure of the compressed air. .
This system is currently only used on a small number of newly built new trains, and the royal trains also use this new braking method. Lan
However, air compression braking is a new technology product after all. In order to avoid accidents caused by failure, even trains that use compressed air braking will still retain independent manual braking of each carriage to ensure safety.
Luo Zhixue also nodded slightly. This cautious attitude of the Railway Corporation is very necessary.
After all, if a train cannot brake, it will be a huge problem. Passenger trains can easily kill or injure hundreds of people. Even if a truck overturns, it will be a big trouble. For example, it will cause the railway to be shut down for a period of time. wait.
So when it comes to security, there can be no problems at all.
Sitting on the safe and comfortable special train, looking at the wilderness outside the railway line, Luo Zhixue knew that as his special train departed, local officials along the way would definitely improve the conditions of the wilderness he could see.
The Internal Affairs Section of the Hanlin Academy reported to him last month that many local governments along the railways were carrying out face-saving projects along the railways.
For example, renovating the appearance of train stations and buildings along the way where special trains pass...
Some officials even organized a large amount of manpower and material resources to carry out large-scale development of some farmland around the railway line, just to let Luo Zhixue see the grand scene of an orderly and fertile wheat field.
Several cities that are scheduled to get off the bus for inspections have made various preparations since last year. They have renovated the basic transportation in the city, renovated the appearance of the buildings in the city, and repaired some areas in the city where a large number of poor people live. Focus on rectification, build some major face-saving projects, etc.
Luo Zhixue knew all this well, but he didn't say anything. He just informed that no large-scale construction projects were allowed in various places, and extravagance and waste in order to welcome the arrival was not allowed.
But the words were passed down and the documents were distributed, but at most local officials restrained themselves or used a more secretive method.
Many people are waiting for the Holy Driver to leave a good impression on Luo Zhixue so that he can get promoted and make a fortune.
This was the case at Chuzhou, the first stop for the Royal Special Class... As soon as he entered the train station, Luo Zhixue could tell that the train station must have just been renovated... It was spotless, and almost everything that could be seen was easily replaced. Everything is new...
This is a train station where people come and go, and it has been in operation for six years. It is impossible to guarantee such a new appearance. Lan
If you want to achieve the new look that Luo Zhixue saw... you must have changed it from beginning to end.
Seeing this scene, Luo Zhixue sighed!
Even though he had previously ordered that extravagance and waste were not allowed, let alone large-scale construction projects, he still could not stop the local officials from wanting to show their ambitions in front of him.
It's just that...many officials have obviously put their efforts in the wrong direction.
For Luo Zhixue, if you spend a lot of money to renovate the train station and replace everything that can be replaced, Luo Zhixue will not only dislike you, but will think you are incompetent...
With this money, it would be more practical to build one more road, build one more bridge, and open one more primary school.
Unfortunately, many people know this truth, but they may not be able to do it. Lan
During the inspection in Chuzhou, Luo Zhixue did not stay long, it only took half a day, and soon the special train left for Fengyang.
Before leaving, he did not criticize the local officials except the state. After all, the funds were spent on the renovation of the train station. The train station is a public facility after all, and it can be justified in the name of repair... At most, it is repair. The timing was a coincidence, just before Luo Zhixue came to inspect!
If this was criticism, wouldn't he want to kill someone on the spot when he saw those face-saving projects later?
No!
After leaving Chuzhou, the imperial special class continued on to Fengyang.
When I arrived in Fengyang, the train station here was much more normal. Although it was spotlessly clean and had some simple renovations, it was not as exaggerated as the Chuzhou train station. Everything that could be replaced was replaced.
At this, Luo Zhixue smiled and nodded slightly to a group of Anlu provincial governor, chief envoy and other provincial officials who came to greet him, as well as officials from the local Fengyang Prefecture. Lan
After this comparison, Luo Zhixue felt that local officials were not so exaggerated.
So I gave him a smiley face.
The follow-up inspection of Fengyang lasted for one day. Although it was a quick tour, we only visited a local industrial zone in Fengyang, entered two major local large enterprises, and then took a look at a farmland on the outskirts of the city. A newly built large market in the city is said to be very lively and has brought a lot of livelihood to small traders.
However, a quick glance, coupled with some previous documents and reports, still allowed Luo Zhixue to feel that the local economic development in Fengyang in the past ten years was pretty good.
With the artificial diversion of the Yellow River, the situation along the Huaihe River Basin, which was frequently hit by floods in the past, has improved a lot, and agriculture has developed rapidly.
After the opening of the Central Plains Railway, although Fengyang is not a railway hub, it still has an important large-scale railway station, Fengyang Railway Station. Subsequent river transportation through the Huaihe River Basin can radiate most of the entire province.
Therefore, the opening of the Central Plains Railway has brought obvious transportation advantages to Fengyang Prefecture. In the past five years, the local industrial output value of Fengyang Prefecture has grown at a gratifying rate. Lan
As industrial output increases, the number of workers grows, and there are more urban residents, the tertiary industry will naturally develop.
Therefore, in the evening after the inspection, at a small meeting held in the Yujia train conference room, Luo Zhixue affirmed the abilities of the local officials of Anlu Province and Fengyang Prefecture, and encouraged them to continue working hard and try their best to to take local economic development to a higher level.
After finishing the inspection in Fengyang and resting for a night, Luo Zhixue's royal patent continued his journey to Xuzhou early the next morning.
Xuzhou in the past may have been a transportation node on the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, and its strategic position as the gateway to the South was more important.
Well, the Dachu Empire Army has deployed a second-class division here all year round to defend Jiangbei.
But the economy and people's livelihood are very average. Although they have gained some conveniences from the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, the main hubs of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal in the Jiangbei area were Yangzhou and Huai'an during the Ming Dynasty and even before the railway era of the Chu Empire. City.
However, when the Central Plains Railway and the Longhai Railway crossed here, Xuzhou instantly became an extremely important transportation hub. Lan
With the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and two trunk railways crossing it, Xuzhou Prefecture is a thoroughfare for five provinces in terms of transportation. The Ministry of Industry has formulated many investment plans here, many of which are relatively important for national defense. industry and people's livelihood industries.
Such as steel, chemical industry, machinery and then weapons industry.
At the same time, after the artificial diversion of the Yellow River, floods in Xuzhou, a city along the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, have also been greatly reduced, and agricultural production has increased rapidly.
The combination of these two makes Xuzhou one of the fastest growing cities in the Chu Empire in recent years.
As a strategic transportation hub, the gateway to the South, and the future industrial center and economic center of the Jiangbei region, Xuzhou is also the key city for Luo Zhixue's inspection of this northern tour.
