Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

When the painters were about to arrive in Luoyang with the Dunhuang manuscripts, Zhu Ming sent a telegram to his father.

What was Zhu Guoxiang doing?

He went to Jiaozuo in person, waiting for the first steam train to run!

The coal used in Kaifeng in the Song Dynasty mainly came from Jiaozuo, Hebi and Anyang, and was mainly delivered by water.

But it was not possible to transport it by water all the way.

Take Jiaozuo as an example. From the coal mine to Qinhe, there is a 50-mile journey that requires land transportation.

Nowadays, not only Kaifeng needs Jiaozuo coal, but Luoyang also needs Jiaozuo coal. The land transportation task there is extremely heavy. So much so that the court directly ordered that Jiaozuo coal can only be transported to Luoyang and is not allowed to continue to be transported to Kaifeng. Anyway, Kaifeng has two other coal mines to supply.

Zhu Ming and Zhu Guoxiang discussed and decided to develop steam trains.

Steam engines and rails have been used in Jiaozuo coal mines for nearly ten years. But steam engines are only used to extract water from mines, and rails use mules to pull mine cars to transport coal out of the mountains.

Now, the two are finally combined!

The first steam locomotive has six freight cars, designed to carry 20 tons, and a speed of about 5 kilometers per hour. People can run faster than trains.

The starting point is the foot of the mountain where the coal mine is located, and the terminal is in the north of Qinyang City. The total length of the railroad is 49.6 miles. Coal can be transported to Qinyang by train, and then loaded onto ships and transported to the Qinshui River, all the way to the outside of Luoyang City.

The railroad has been laid for more than two years, crossing three small rivers in the middle. For safety reasons, the original three stone bridges were left for people and animals to pass, and the stone bridges carrying trains were rebuilt nearby.

April of the lunar calendar.

Zhu Guoxiang came to Meishan Town, accompanied by officials from Huaizhou Prefecture, Hanoi County (Qinyang), and Xiuwu County.

In the Northern Song Dynasty, the Jiaozuo area belonged to Hebei West Road.

After the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Jiaozuo, along with nearby Xinxiang, Hebi, and Anyang, were all assigned to Henan Province. For example, Yue Fei changed from a Hebei native to a Henan native.

Hebei was not at a disadvantage, and its jurisdiction even became larger because the Youyan area in the north was incorporated.

Meng Xichang, the prefect of Huaizhou, was from Sichuan. As a Jinshi, he was naturally proficient in mathematics and had some knowledge of physics.

But Meng Xichang was always skeptical about steam locomotives.

The railway spanned Xiuwu and Hanoi counties, both within the territory of Huaizhou Prefecture. The work of building the railway was the responsibility of officials from the Ministry of Industry, but Meng Xichang had to cooperate in recruiting workers and ensuring logistics.

He has not seen a train yet!

"Your Majesty, the auspicious time has arrived." An official from the Ministry of Industry came running.

Zhu Guoxiang nodded and said, "Let's start."

"Dong!"

The gong sounded.

The huge red cloth covering the locomotive was torn off, and a big red flower was tied in front of the locomotive.

The six carriages at the back were all filled with coal.

"Burn the boiler!"

Waiting for the boiler to heat up, a whistle sounded, and a lot of smoke was sprayed from the top of the locomotive.

"Bang, bang, bang, bang..."

The wheels hit the rails and made a sound. The train dragged 20 tons of coal and moved forward slowly.

The speed was so slow that several technical officers of the Ministry of Industry could catch up with it by following the train. Gradually, people began to jog and always followed the train.

The extremely slow and lightly loaded garbage train seemed like a giant beast swallowing fire and spitting smoke in the eyes of people at this time. The visual impact was simply suffocating.

The officials of Huaizhou Prefecture, Hanoi County, and Xiuwu County were all stunned and stood behind Zhu Guoxiang for a long time without being able to speak.

"Long live! Long live!"

The administrative officers and technical officers of the Ministry of Industry at the scene cheered and celebrated. This was the result of their three years of work.

There was even a technical officer who jogged to catch up with the locomotive and jumped onto the front steps. He held the iron handrail with one hand, half of his body hanging outside the locomotive, and stretched out his other hand to feel the speed in the wind.

Zhu Guoxiang smiled and praised: "Excellent. Whether it is the officials of the Ministry of Works or the local officials, all of them will be counted as political achievements. Workers who participated in the construction of bridges, roads and cars will be rewarded with an additional reward of one to thirty strings of coins according to their working hours and positions."

Prefect Meng Xichang sighed sincerely: "Your Majesty is a scholar of heaven and earth, and has the ability to control all things. I admire you very much."

The prefect took the lead in flattering him, and officials such as Tongpan, Caoyuan, county magistrate, and Zhubu also followed suit.

Zhu Guoxiang said to the local officials: "We need to set up a new army of transport troops here to guard and maintain the railway. The number of people will not be large. We will recruit and train them from the people who originally transported coal. Hanoi and Xiuwu counties must assist in the recruitment."

"I accept your order!" The two county magistrates bowed hurriedly.

The railway replaced the land transportation of dozens of miles, and all the related practitioners were unemployed. It was just right to recruit some of the strong ones and train them as land transport troops (railway troops) to protect and maintain the railway.

A few hours later, the train arrived at the north of Qinshui at a snail's pace.

The roaring whistle startled the people in Hanoi, and they all ran to the south bank of Qinshui to look out. More and more people gathered outside the city, and even the teachers of the prefectural and county schools took their students out of the city to watch the excitement.

The boatmen at the ferry were doing a booming business, and they sent people to the north bank one by one.

People gathered dozens of steps away, watching the coolies unload the coal from the car and transport it to the coal station warehouse on the north bank of Qinshui for stacking.

"This iron car is really big, it came from Meishan Town, right?"

"I was wondering why there were so many pieces of wood and iron, it turned out that they were paving the way for this big iron car."

"The government had said it when recruiting workers that this kind of road is called a railway, and this kind of big iron car is called a train, and it was supervised by the emperor."

"The name of the train is well chosen, no wonder the smoke it sprays is accompanied by sparks."

"How does it move?"

"Have you forgotten the big antenna in the city? It must be like a telegraph machine. This kind of train consumes electricity and spits out smoke and fire. Most of them are blessed by eminent monks with Buddhist teachings."

"You guys are acting weird all day long. The telegraph has nothing to do with the Buddha and the monks. The reason why the big antenna is set up on the pagoda is purely because the pagoda in Fucheng is the tallest."

"It turns out to be Mr. Tian. Mr. Tian is indeed a scholar, and he knows a lot."

"With this kind of train in the future, coal prices in Huaizhou City will definitely drop, and both you and I can benefit from it."

"Yes, Mr. Tian is still knowledgeable."

"..."

Huaizhou City is the transportation hub for Jiaozuo coal. Naturally, the people here have abandoned firewood and have long used coal for cooking and heating. The briquettes "invented" by Ju Ming also spread to Huaizhou.

The first batch of beneficiaries of the train were these people in Huaizhou City.

Suddenly an official came over and said to everyone: "From now on, if there are people going to Qinghua Town and Meishan Town, they can take a coal cart there. The fare will definitely be cheaper than taking a donkey cart. Well, it's just a bit dirty. You may get covered in coal dust. Merchants transporting goods there can also take the train with them."

This is an effective use of train resources, otherwise the train will be empty on the return trip.

For ordinary people, taking the train is still very cost-effective. If your clothes are stained by soot, you can just wash them. The merchants are even happier because they don’t have to worry about getting the goods dirty after they are packaged.

There is only one train for the time being and more will be added slowly in the future.

The people of Huaizhou stood there and watched, and two to three thousand people gathered one after another. The boatman at the ferry was shaking his oars so much that he made a lot of money today.

They were not in a hurry to leave. They didn't even bother to eat, and just watched the workers unloading coal.

Someone also asked: "Can I take the train today?"

The coal station official, who is also the person in charge of the railway station for the time being, replied with a smile: "Tickets have not been sold yet, but the Emperor has issued an order. You can ride the train at half price today, and all the fares collected will be donated to the government school and the county school."

Today we charge half-price fares because we are afraid of too many people taking the train, not because we want to earn a few fares.

Even so, there are still some people who are willing to try something new and happily run to pay and wait for the ride. It doesn't matter if your clothes get dirty, you can walk back on your way back just to try out what it's like to take a train.

Finally, all the coal was unloaded.

People who had already paid and lined up climbed up the ladders and entered the empty truck compartment used to load coal.

There were even a few wealthy businessmen and scholars who were not afraid of getting their clothes and hands dirty, and were observing and touching around in the carriage.

There is no place to sit, and there are only iron handrails on the inside of the car. Passengers must stand the whole time. Even the walls of the cabin are too high, so shorter passengers cannot effectively see the scenery outside.

"Woo~~~"

"哐哐哐哐..."

The whistle sounded and fireworks erupted.

People burst out in exclamation: "It's moving, it's moving, it's really moving!"

"This train is so majestic as it spits out smoke and fire."

"Can't run as fast as a horse."

"A big car can't run as fast as a horse."

Many people who were watching were walking forward with the train. When the train picked up speed, they trotted along again.

Two to three thousand people kept chasing, and they stopped only when they were exhausted and panting. Some people were so physically strong that they chased the train for several miles.

The previous Mr. Tian was named Tian Shougeng, and he was already a scholar in Huaizhou Prefecture at a young age.

At this moment, Tian Shougeng was standing in the carriage. The hand holding the armrest was black, and the end of his skirt was stained with a lot of soot. He didn't care that he was getting dirty, he just put his feet up and looked out, and the scenery along the way kept passing by.

"It's really a miraculous craftsmanship!" Tian Shougeng praised.

A wealthy businessman named Li laughed and said, "Can Mr. Tian know how to build this kind of train?"

Tian Shougeng said: "Although I don't know how to make it, I know its principles."

The wealthy businessman surnamed Li was surprised and said: "Mr. Tian really knows?"

Tian Shougeng said: "There are steam pumps in coal mines. I also know that there are steam coin machines and steam forging machines. This kind of train is also powered by steam. Just like boiling water at home, when the water boils, the lid of the pot will be opened."

The wealthy businessman surnamed Li suddenly realized: "It turns out to be boiling water."

Tian Shougeng shook his head: "The steam engine is extremely complex and sophisticated, and it can be mastered by extraordinary people. The power of this thing is influenced by nature. I plan not to take the Jinshi exam and go to the mechanical school next year."

"It would be a pity not to take the Jinshi examination." The wealthy businessman surnamed Li lamented.

Tian Shougeng couldn't even pass the imperial examination. How could he have the confidence to pass the imperial examination? Now that I saw the train, I suddenly had the intention to change my career. I planned to study mechanics and become a technical officer in the future.

This can also be regarded as a step forward.

Tian Shougeng got off the bus at Qinghua Town on the way. It was almost evening and it was twenty miles away from Fucheng.

He and the wealthy businessman surnamed Li rented a donkey cart back to the city, but more passengers walked back in the dark. Everyone didn't feel like it was a hassle. Instead, everyone was extremely excited. The experience of taking the train would allow them to brag for months.