Due to the sea route, Carmen had to return overland to his hometown of Poitou.

It was an arduous journey, and early in the morning, Carmen got on a car bound for Gesar City, the southern gate of Gyeonggi.

The 200-kilometer journey took him two days and cost him 20 silver coins.

During this journey, the long-distance carriage changes every 2 to 3 hours, including the goat, which is quite convenient.

Although it was summer, the carriage used an open-top carriage and a shaded awning, and the eight passengers were forced to huddle together, and the heat was still unbearable. In this era, the traffic situation is becoming less and less suitable for practical needs.

In particular, the roads are in disrepair, and the horse-drawn carriages are bumpy, almost turning the food out of people's stomachs.

This is still within the confines of the economically developed Gyeonggi Province, and the road conditions are so bad that I really don't know where the huge road tax collected every year is spent.

All passengers must also spend the night on the road, at their own expense. Some people just find a random place to stay up all night in order to save money.

Carmen's trip was a tolerance, and of course he would not save money for the boss, so he found the best hotel for the night, and the first two days of the journey were quite affordable.

After arriving at Gesar City, there is a tributary of the Long River where you can sail. With the sea routes cut off and inland transport suddenly busy, both by road and inland waterways, Carmen waited two days in Gesar to buy a ticket for a southbound ferry at twice the price.

The boat ride on the river was not as smooth as Carmen had imagined.

On the night of the third day of sailing, two cargo ships collided and sank, and the river ahead was blocked, and all the ships coming and going from north to south were huddled together, and no one could move.

Carmen had to disembark early, and with a stranger, he hired a private carriage at a high price to continue south.

Seven days later, they finally arrived at the city of Kamanla on the north bank of the Long River, where Carmen and thousands of people had to be stranded, while a large number of ships were used only to transport important supplies: grain, cloth, salt, coal, and so on.

After seven days of waiting, Carmen finally crossed the Longjiang River and arrived in Minsk, the capital of St. Nouv. By this time, Carmen was exhausted and looked like he had fallen apart.

Luckily, he met one of Viscount Connery's henchmen, Mr. Paul Feich, in Minsk, so that he could travel to Genoa in Monsieur Feich's carriage.

Before leaving the Holy City, Carmen wrote a letter to Sean, preparing to go south to interview Sean as a reporter for the Voice of the Righteous.

Mr. Feige knew about this, but what he did not expect was that Carmen had spent so much time on the road that he had gone on a business trip to the province of Saint-Nouvé to finish his business, and met Carmen in Minsk, who was belated.

"It will be fine in the future, and when the railway is built, business trips will not be so scary. Feige listened to Carmen's complaint and said with a smile, "The train is fast and smooth, and it is much more comfortable than making a horse-drawn carriage." ”

"I'm afraid that in my lifetime, it will not be possible to take a train to the Holy City. Carmen complained.

"No, no, I think it will happen in twenty years. Did you know? The Viscount had a great idea, which was to connect every city in the empire by rail. "Anyone, a frequent traveler like you and me, who has ever taken a train once, will never ride in a carriage if possible, even in the most luxurious carriage." ”

Carmen then noticed that Mr. Feige's carriage was luxurious, with excellent shock absorption, soft cushions and backrests, the ability to lie down, and even a wine cooler.

As Sean's confidant and treasurer, Mr. Feige is worth a lot of money, although the stocks he owns have no chance to pay dividends for the time being because various businesses have not yet made profits, but the total value is also hundreds of thousands.

The first people who followed Sean are now all rich people.

In fact, Carmen's interview with Sean has already begun, and not many people know more about Sean's career than Mr. Feige.

"You know, the Viscount is a member of the Emperor's Science Society, and he has a terrible instinct for science and technology, and those stupid professors at the University of Poitou can make something in no time with a little bit of the Viscount's attention. This is true for smallpox, so it is for electromagnetism, and so is for new explosives......"

Feige did not hesitate to praise his owner.

"The same is true for ironclads, and although Mr. Andrew Johnson was the first to use the steam engine on ships, the idea of the propeller came from the viscount, and these two technologies are one of the two most critical technologies of ironclads. ”

"Technology is the primary productive force, and that's what the Viscount often tells us, and he's keen to invest in engineers, and he's keen to invest in professors at the University of Poithu, even if it doesn't bear fruit for a long time. But so far, every one of his judgments has been brilliant ......"

It took three days to cross the entire province of Saint-Nouvé to reach the Ott Mountains, and over the Ott Mountains, Carmen and Mr. Fitch took another three days.

The trails in the Ott Mountains are widening, and from time to time the sound of explosives can be heard, which, needless to say, also come from Poitou's latest product.

In the case of the sea route, land transportation is even more important, and of course, the various checkpoints in the provinces along the way have suddenly increased.

Arriving at Patram Fort, you have truly set foot on Genoese soil.

Originally a semi-abandoned military fort, the population has at least doubled, thanks to the mining and smelting industries that developed here, and it has become a new city on the northwest edge of the Darlington Iron Ore Region.

Feige and Carmen were warmly entertained by Herbert Wells, commander of the garrison's 201st Garrison Brigade, and stayed in the barracks that night.

The next day, Fitch took Carmen to board the legendary train, which made a small bend at Fort Pattenham, from the Dockton Coal Mine in the west, to the Linton Iron Ore in the east, and now to the outskirts of Darlington, a distance of less than 100 kilometers.

But it was the first railway in history.

A planned railway to the capital, Poitou, is already under construction, and there are construction sites everywhere, with large numbers of workers toiling in the scorching southern sun.

Previously, Feitch also led Carmen to visit the Genoa Coal Mining Company and the Genoa Iron and Steel Company, as well as the corresponding mining areas, where the power of industry shocked Carmen, and a large number of immigrants numbered in the hundreds of thousands, forming new small towns in the mining areas.

In fact, the construction of railways is imminent, the coal mined cannot be transported, and the smelting of steel has to be controlled due to transportation bottlenecks.

"Therefore, it is extremely important to build a railway, because it can improve the efficiency of transportation, but it also consumes a lot of steel. "We, the Kang Railway Company, are responsible for the construction, the rails are from Genoa Steel, the trains are from Kang's Machinery and Power Company, and the coal used in the future will of course come from the Genoa Coal Company, which are all the Viscount's industries." ”

"And to whom does the railway line belong?" asked Carmen.

"It belongs to the province, and the province has invested 3 million louis, and all the proceeds of the railway from Darlington to Poitou will of course also go to the province.

You know, the province is very rich right now. The Doge's Palace didn't even have to pay for it, and the bankers in Poitou rushed to give loans to the provinces. Feige laughed.

"Bankers like to lend money to rich people who don't need to borrow money. Carmen said.

"Haha, Carmen, you're very incisive. Feige shrugged, "In general, Genoa is not what it used to be, as long as you are not lazy, everyone has a job." ”

Carmen nodded: "Yes, I've only been away for a year, and this place has become a little strange to me." ”

"And what is the main purpose of your interview?" Feige asked.

"Honestly, this has deviated from my original purpose, and I need to think about it. ”

......

Just as Carmen arrived in Poitou, a major event occurred in the Holy City.

Overnight, more than 300 people were arrested by the secret police, including many prominent figures.

The Marquis of Walker, who had a place in politics, was one of them, accused of disloyalty to the royal family and conspiracy to commit treason. The marquis later spent most of his family's fortune to save his life, but the family has since lost his title.

The secret police raided three orphanages in Gyeonggi without revealing the true cause, prompting an outcry from the church.

Because these charities belong to the Church. To the astonishment of observers, however, the Church then suddenly announced that it would donate 20 million louis to the state and forgive all interest on the previous year's loan, which was a huge sum of money.

One of the results was the promotion of Joseph Frank to Major General, and one more general to the Frankish family.

For the major general, although it was a big victory, breaking the reserve force of the Bloodthirsty Order, and capturing many of the backbones, the sage still escaped, so it can hardly be said to be a definitive victory.

The sage's revenge soon came.

Fires broke out one after another in the shipyards that received orders from the navy, causing huge losses to the empire and directly affecting the war against the fish monsters.

There were also assassinations of officials from key departments, several of whom were surnamed Frank or related to the Frankish family.

There were even serial bombings near the White House, which once made the situation in the Holy City very tense and caused Frank to lose face.

However, this was not enough to calm the anger in the sage's heart.

The secret police is his old opponent, but this time the secret police seems to be very targeted, and at the same time to carry out more arrests, it is simply prepared, so the secret police can hit hard this time, so that he has no calm reaction time at all, and years of layout and hard work are ruined.

This must be supported by reliable intelligence for the secret police to succeed.

Therefore, the wise man learned from the pain and began to investigate the cause of the incident.

So, Carmen Gable's name appears before his eyes, and while investigating the journalist's origins and background, the Magi discovers that he has met an acquaintance.

"Sean Connery, it seems that this viscount has no reverence for my power!"