Today is the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, but the sky is very gloomy, only a faint moonlight shines through the clouds and sprinkles a ray of light between heaven and earth.

The heavy white snow, like a huge woolen blanket, covered the vast desert wasteland, shining with a cold silver light.

Although it was dark at night, it was still bright outside, which was a good thing for the running train.

But because of this thick snow, the journey has been delayed for too long, Lin Hanlun, who was sitting in the carriage, ignored the howling north wind coming in through the cracks in the window, and wiped the glass with his hands from time to time, calculating the journey.

It's been six days since I set off from Yingtianfu, but now I've only walked to the Beihai Governor's District. From here, it is still more than 10,000 miles away from Tanglin City, and it will take at least six days.

But Lin Hanlun knew that this was just an ideal state, and with such a large amount of snow alone, it would take at least twice as long to reach Tanglin City.

Looking at the telegraph line frozen in ice and snow, he was worried that it would not be broken. If he couldn't get the news of Tang Lincheng at any time, he would be even more anxious.

Although his grandmother and father comforted him in telegrams, he could not settle down when he learned that the White Coalition had begun to attack.

He knew very well why the white coalition was waging war now, they wanted to fight for pastures near the Volga.

Only by this time were occupied, and in the spring and summer they were able to feed more flocks.

The slow-moving train stopped again, Lin Hanlun pressed the light switch next to him, but heard the Shenji battalion on the opposite side shouting loudly: "Turn off the lights!" ”

More than 100 people in the carriage raised their heads and looked over, Lin Hanlun knew that he was reckless, and hurriedly turned off the lights.

Yu Dashan stood up at the light coming from the window, staring at the snow outside. "In the Mobei region, except for Beimingshan and Xiaohai (Lake Baikal), where the Han people moved in a lot, the security was better, and many areas were still very chaotic. Many tribes tend to loot trains in order to survive, and although they don't kill people at will, if they are unlucky, they will also become the target of their murder. ”

Lin Hanlun said instructively: "I also know this, but I just got distracted for a moment and turned on the light." ”

The other party nodded and said, "I'll ask what the situation is, it's not close to the village in front of here, not to the store in the back, and it's not safe for the train to stop here." ”

Although he was scolded just now, Lin Hanlun was not angry because of the disparity in the identities of the two parties. These soldiers of the Shenji Battalion, who have been escorting this line all year round, are all very experienced.

Although he thinks that he is not worse than the other party, in terms of experience, he is definitely not as good as the other party.

Although the other party scolded him, he then explained to him that it was actually an apology in disguise.

After a while, Yu Dashan came back from the front of the car and said in a low voice: "It's not a big problem, there is a gold mine branch line in front, and the rail wrench is frozen, so you can go by straightening the rail." ”

The long railway line, except for the small stations where it is a double line, the rest of the place is a single line. In order to make the wrong train, some double lines will also be set up in some places far away from the station.

When the train is wrong, the train driver will stop the train, pull the track himself, and drive the train to a safe area before returning to the track.

Since people often forget to return to their positions, trains in this era would stop the train for inspection every time they passed a fork in the road to prevent them from driving the wrong route.

It would have been strange for people in later generations to start and stop trains, but in this era, it is very normal.

Soon, the train restarted and headed north.

Yu Dashan didn't feel sleepy, and seeing that Lin Hanlun didn't sleep either, he accosted him and said, "Have you ever returned to Tanglin City when the prince of Jixi Hou grows up?" ”

Lin Hanlun nodded and said: "After the railway was repaired, I came back twice, but it was summer, and it was the first time to take this road in winter." ”

"In summer, it's easy to walk, and you can get to Tanglin City in about ten days, but in winter, it's good to be able to walk in half a month. Those tribes don't dare to make random decisions about our kind of military vehicles, and if they are ordinary trains, they are often stolen. ”

"I've heard of it, but I went back to Tanglin City twice by troop carrier, and I haven't experienced the things you said." As if he felt that his answer was too dry, he took the initiative to provoke the topic and asked: "It took more than ten years for Qin Tianjian to locate the North Pole, why is there no definite news now?" ”

Yu Dashan shook his head and said, "I don't know, but Qin Tianjian hasn't worked in vain all these years, and most of the area from here to Beihai has been clearly explored." It is said that under the frozen soil, there are countless gold mines. ”

Lin Hanlun smiled and said: "Only the gold mine is useless, unless the railway is built there and can transport grain over, otherwise, we can only wait until the north can grow grain to feed more people." ”

One of the two people is very familiar with the situation in Lingbei and escorts them all year round. The other has been familiar with history books since he was a child, and if he wants to be a qualified governor, he will naturally not be unfamiliar with the Lingbei region.

Since the Qin and Han dynasties, all dynasties have surveyed the vast world in the north.

Huo Qubing of the Han Dynasty led a large army of "about light, and the curtain is overwhelming...... Survive the difficulty, Ji Gong Lu...... Feng wolf dwells in Xu Mountain, Zen in Guyan, and climbs to Hanhai". Here, Hanhai refers to the North Sea (later Lake Baikal)

By the Tang Dynasty, the Han people knew more about the north. It has been realized that Baikal is not the North Sea, but just a lake, which is called the Small Sea because it is larger than ordinary lakes.

According to the New Tang Dynasty Book. The Uighur Biography records that Dubo is bordered by the small sea (Lake Baikal) in the north, the Hanhai (Lake Baikal) in the north, and the sea in the north (Lake Baikal) in the north, where the days are long and the nights are short. It shows that Dubo is bordered by the small sea (Lake Baikal) in the north, and Guligan is located in the north of the Han Sea, also known as the small sea (Lake Baikal), and this small sea can be crossed.

New Tang Dynasty Book. The Uighur Biography records that there is a "Yu Zhe" department, according to Cen Zhongmian's research, this department is located on the Arctic Ocean bank at the mouth of the Klima River in the northernmost part of the Yaku region.

The Book of the New Tang Dynasty also recorded: Barge horses in the northwest of Northeast Asia, Yaku and other regions.

"To the north of the Turks, it is four thousand miles away from Beijing. …… The Arctic is at sea". It is 14,000 miles away from Chang'an in the north of the Turks, which means that the center of the barge is 14,000 miles away from Beijing, and the center is still some distance from the North Pole to the sea.

This also shows that in the Tang Dynasty, the geographical location of the north was roughly figured out.

The Eurasian continent is greatly hindered by the existence of the Pamir knot, which greatly hinders the communication between the East and the West. If the Central Plains wanted to reach Europe, it could only cross the Pamirs through the Silk Road.

However, the situation in the north is completely different, as the latitude radius decreases, the terrain becomes more flat, and it is the area north of the North Atlantic Warm Current that is affected by the humid air flow of the Arctic Ocean, and the cavalry can quickly maneuver all the way from the Hangai Mountain in the north of Lingbei to the Kazan Khanate west of Tanglin City.

And this distance is only more than 3,000 kilometers, far less than the distance from Luoyang, the capital of the Eastern Han Dynasty, to Kashgar in the Western Regions.

Therefore, the history of the Xiongnu fled to Europe, and the Mongols went west to Europe, but in fact, the difficulty is the same as that of Lingbei to Hangzhou, and it is quite convenient for any force to attack Europe from the right arm of Lingbei and attack the Central Plains.

In addition to discovering a smooth road to the west, Genghis Khan also did a good deed, which was to guide the Han people to farm in Lingbei.

Since the Han and Tang dynasties, everyone thought that this place was not suitable for farming, but Kublai Khan built five guards, each guard 10,000 people, including 2,000 people in Tuntian, and the ratio of Tuntian army and other soldiers was two to eight.

There are six guards in the Beijing division, and each army draws two soldiers to the field for the food of eight soldiers. In other words, two-tenths of the people can meet the food needs of the remaining eight-tenths of the people.

Of course, this also refers to the southern part of Lingbei, and as for the northern area, it is frozen soil for most of the year, and nothing grows.

In order to attract the people to move over, the Ming Dynasty has opened up the development of many small gold mines in recent years, and along this railway, there are many Han and Mongolian gold diggers who have established small towns.

However, most of these towns were built close to the station, as there were many small tribes in the area, and they were not subject to the jurisdiction of the imperial court at all.

Moreover, they live by hunting in the mountains and forests, which is also difficult to catch.

As for the big tribes, the vast majority of them have already surrendered to the Ming Dynasty. Those who do not obey will be wiped out when the railroad is being built.

Otherwise, keep them, and the safety of the railway line is not guaranteed at all.

After Genghis Khan, the Mongol people recognized the usefulness of the great geographical discoveries to the country. Subsequently, Meng Yuan conducted four large-scale surveys of Lingbei.

The first and second times were led by Herui, and the first time he arrived in the Arctic Ocean by land, knowing that he could reach the Arctic Ocean through the Onkora River (Yenisei River).

So the second time he built three large ships, each with a thousand men on board, and reached the Arctic Ocean along the Ankola River, and brought back a large amount of silver.

The first two surveys of Lingbei were made to understand the terrain, and the third survey was made by Meng Yuan for some small tribes in this land.

This expedition to the Arctic region was carried out when Liu Haoli, a native of Wanzhou, was the judge of the Fifth Ministry, but the savage tribe in Lingbei ignored him when they saw that there were many others, and ran away when they saw them.

The fourth expedition to the Arctic region was made by the great astronomer Guo Shoujing in order to make the timeline more accurate, and in the sixteenth year of the Yuan Dynasty, Kublai Khan, proposed to the ancestor of the Yuan dynasty to carry out a nationwide survey.

He suggested that the test should be conducted in "the distance test of the sun and moon eclipse scores are different, the length of day and night is different, and the sun, moon and stars are different from the sky".

After the suggestion was adopted, Guo Shoujing presided over the survey and exploration of the Arctic region.

The Yuan Shi Astronomical Chronicles called this survey and expedition a "test of the four seas".

Guo Shoujing selected 14 astronomical surveying technicians, more than 200 general surveyors, and more than 1,000 auxiliary personnel.

He led these men to set up a survey station every 16 degrees in a vast area of 11,000 li from north to south and 6,000 li from east to west, and 27 in the whole country, the northernmost of the North Sea Survey Stations, near the Arctic Circle where the Angkera River flows into the "North Sea" (Arctic Ocean).

The experiment carried out three astronomical and geographical measurements, including "the origin of the North Pole", "the length of the summer solstice day", and "the length of day and night".

This measurement is an important basis for the Yuan Dynasty to change the calendar. The Beihai test presided over by Guo Shoujing was unprecedented not only in China but also in the world because of its large contents, wide geographical area, high accuracy and large number of participants.

Subsequently, Meng Yuan carried out many small-scale explorations in Lingbei for more than 100 years, and left valuable documents.

However, due to the lack of precise testing of positioning, the maps and information they left behind can only be used as a reference.

From the beginning of his ascension to the throne, Zhu Zhanji has been vigorously promoting the topography and map mapping of Lingbei. Over the decades, a large amount of information has been collected and compiled into a book that has been included in the university's National Geographic books.

So much so that when the railway to Tanglin City was to be built, there was no need to send someone to re-survey, because almost all the data had already been collected.

All they have to do is follow the map to find the most suitable route for building a railway, and then make specific measurements.

Because the family fief is in Tanglin City, Lin Hanlun has paid special attention to this information and literature since he was a child, so to speak, except for a little experience, he is already an expert in the knowledge reserve of the extreme west, including Lingbei.

The train arrived at the city of Tunguska on the west side of the small sea in the middle of the night, and at this time, the train stopped again, and the driver came to inform him that the railway was difficult to pass due to severe icing, and that it would not be possible to continue until it was safe tomorrow.

Lin Hanlun knew that he was in a hurry and couldn't come, so he took his two family guards and Yu Dashan to get off the train in the cold wind.

The train is a special supply vehicle for the Ministry of Defense, built specifically for the delivery of weapons.

There are ten trains in total, the first is the front of the car, the second is a coal loading car, and behind it is a troop transport car and an ammunition car.

The troop carriage is almost the same as that of an ordinary train, with one hundred and twenty seats, but it is not divided into noble and commoner seats like ordinary carriages.

And the ammunition car is an iron cover, the body is almost all connected with iron rivets, and the compartment can only be opened from the inside.

The carriage can accommodate ten soldiers, and there are more than twenty rectangular shooting holes, and ten people stay in the carriage, even hundreds of people are helpless against them.

The train escort was led by a thousand generals and three generals, a total of 500 people, all of whom were fully armed.

With such a configuration, almost no one can think of a train. There are too many people, and the intelligence agencies don't eat dry food, and when the number is small, they can only deliver food to them.

The Qianzong Hou Shun who led the team obviously didn't want to be in the same carriage with Lin Hanlun, the grandson of His Majesty and the prince of Jixi, so along the way, he arranged for Yu Dashan to accompany him, and he hid in other carriages.

After checking the safety issues, Lin Hanlun braved the cold wind to come to the station's dispatch room.

It's cold and biting outside, but there is a big stove in the dispatch room, and it's warm like spring inside, but there are a lot of people, and the smell is a little bad because of the burning peat.

In the dispatch room, two telegraph machines, one for the east line and the other for the west line, confirm the entry and exit of trains through telegraphs to prevent traffic accidents.

More than a dozen people were working inside, talking and laughing, and the atmosphere was very lively.

Seeing Lin Hanlun's mink rat, a middle-aged man about forty years old in the dispatch room stood up and greeted him. "Forgive me for being clumsy, I don't know ...... this distinguished guest"

The guard introduced: "This is our Extreme West Hou Shizi, who was ordered by the Holy Order to escort a batch of supplies to Tanglin City. Didn't the Tunguska receive a telegram? ”

Lin Hanlun patted the guard's arm, shook his head slightly, and said to the middle-aged man, "I just want to know what the road situation is in the west direction?" Will you be able to drive tomorrow? ”

"In Xia Yao Cheng, deputy dispatcher of Tunguska station." The middle-aged man said, "There has been no snow in the past few days, so it shouldn't be a big problem." However, you need to be cautious when driving at night, so I asked you to wait until dawn and let us check it at dawn. ”

Lin Hanlun asked again: "The road to the west is still smooth, right?" ”

Yao Cheng understood what Lin Hanlun meant, and said with a smile: "Please rest assured, from the beginning of the assembly of the white people, His Majesty has already issued an order to ensure the safety of the railway line. Now the special road bureau and the local garrisons have canceled their vacations to protect the telegraph and railway lines. ”

They came out of the dispatch room and saw that Hou Shun was arranging for the soldiers to enter the station's large kitchen and prepare to cook.

They can only eat dry food on the train, although the train supplies hot water, and now there are several kinds of dry food for the army, rice and noodles, but the big guys still like to eat a mouthful of hot rice and soup.

The most important thing in every train station, in addition to the dispatch room, is this big kitchen.

Today's train stations, each with a large kitchen with 40 cauldrons, can serve more than 2,000 people at the same time.

However, unless notified in advance, most of the time, the soldiers are required to cook their own meals.

Lin Hanlun ate jerky at night and drank hot water, but now he doesn't want to eat, so he doesn't want to wait, so he gets on the train again.

Yu Dashan then asked: "The prince went home this time, didn't he notify the way?" I've snubbed you along the way. ”

Lin Hanlun smiled and shook his head: "I'm so anxious now, how can I have the heart to socialize." Besides, in this Tunguska city, I'm going to keep a low profile. ”

Yu Dashan didn't understand what Lin Hanlun meant, but he didn't want to ask.

Lin Hanlun sat back in his place and said to the elderly guard: "Uncle Zhao, I can take care of myself, you can also go sleep for a while." ”

Escort Zhao put a new military quilt on Lin Hanlun's body and asked him to lie down and cover it. "I'm not sleepy, I've slept a lot in the car these days, but I'm very tired."

Lin Hanlun said with a smile: "Then you go to the car to move for a while, there are still two or three hours before dawn!" It's still early...... gone."

Before he finished speaking, he heard a loud shout from under the car. "Lin Datou, get out of here!" Then several soldiers shouted together: "Lin Datou...... Lin Datou ......"

Uncle Zhao's face showed a wave of anger, his eyes stared at Lin Hanlun, as if as long as Lin Hanlun gave an order, he would get out of the car and beat people.

Lin Hanlun lifted the quilt again and sighed: "I knew that Tunguska was coming, and I couldn't hide from this guy!" ”

The city of Tunguska is located in the southwest corner of the Lesser Sea, at the mouth of the Upper Tunguska River. In later generations, this is Irkutsk.

Forty years ago, it was a barren place, but since gold was found in several tributaries of the Tunguska River, it has gradually flourished here because of the immigrants attracted by the gold rush.

In the twelfth year of Orthodoxy, His Majesty decided to build the Far West Railway, and Tunguska, as a transportation chokepoint, became the first city on the railway line to be confirmed for construction.

Later, Zunhua Bowu Keqin was awarded the title of Tunguska City Lord, responsible for the construction of Tunguska City, and organized soldiers, responsible for cutting down trees and making sleepers.

Wu Keqin is the third son of Wu Yuncheng, although the Wu family is a descendant of Mengyuan, but loyal after attaching to the Ming Dynasty, a father and three sons are brave and good at fighting, after Wu Yuncheng died of illness, the three sons were named earls.

Wu Keqin studied at Yulin Weixue when he was a child, and became one of the representatives of the new military branch of the Ming Dynasty, and was highly valued by His Majesty.

After the completion of the city of Tunguska, he was also made the Marquis of Tunguska, and the governor of the country was a military and political governor for thousands of miles from Xiaohai (Lake Baikal) to Yilan (the Russian Republic of Tuva in northern Xinjiang).

Because they were both in the Lingbei region, the Lin family and the Wu family also quickly formed an alliance and advanced and retreated together, and the relationship between the two families was very close.

Lin Hanlun grew up with the Wu family's brothers and sisters since he was a child, and his father Lin Chu also intended to marry Wu Keqin's granddaughter Wu Xun for him.

But the person in charge of the Lin family is his grandmother Tang Sai'er, she doesn't want her grandson to marry a woman with Mengyuan blood, and wants to marry him a pure Han woman, she doesn't agree to this marriage.

Because of this incident, Wu Keqin felt greatly insulted, and the relationship between the two families changed from intimacy to estrangement.

Lin Hanlun originally had a bad relationship with a group of brothers of the Wu family, but now he is very embarrassed. When a group of brothers from the Wu family saw him, they called him Chen Shimei, which also made him feel aggrieved.

Because of such an embarrassing relationship, Lin Hanlun didn't want to publicize it, but he didn't expect to be heard by the Wu family.

He came to the door of the train and shouted: "Wu Haozi, in the middle of the night, don't disturb the rest of the others." ”

Wu Haozi is Wu Keqin's eldest grandson, Wu Lu, who also grew up in Yingtianfu when he was a child, and only returned to Tunguska City last year. He had smallpox as a child, had a pockmark on his face, and was often called a hemp seed when he was a child.

When Wu Lu saw Lin Hanlun, he ran over, pulled Lin Hanlun's clothes, and ripped him out of the car. "Okay, you Chen Shimei, I finally let Lao Tzu catch you today......"

Before he finished speaking, his big fist slammed into Lin Hanlun's left eye socket.

Lin Hanlun's eyes were full of gold stars, his nose was sore, and tears couldn't help but flow. "You're crazy! Come, have a fight, and see who's afraid of whom! ”

"Come, let me see if you have grown up in the past two years!"

The two have wrestled and fought together since they were children, and they are also very familiar with each other's strength.

The two of them quickly got into a fight, and in the end the two of them twisted me, and I trapped you, tired and collapsed in the snow.

Originally, the two of them were still staring at each other coldly, but as soon as this familiar feeling returned, the eyes of the two of them softened a lot. Wu Luchang sighed, let go of Lin Hanlun and sighed: "Sister Xun suffered a blow and said that she was going to be a Taoist aunt!" ”

Lin Hanlun's heart trembled, and the familiar figure appeared in his mind. He also let go of his hand, lay down on the snow and said, "Grandmother is not familiar with Sister Xun, I will go back this time and try to convince her that if she agrees, I will come to marry Sister Xun next year." ”

Wu Lu was overjoyed, turned over and said: "If you can marry Sister Xun, Lao Tzu will take three hundred family members to help your family beat those stinky people!" ”

"It's you who want to fight!" Lin Hanlun rubbed his eyes and said hatefully: "It must be green, how do you let Lao Tzu see people!" ”

(This chapter is counted, and there is another chapter in the morning, so you can get up and read it.) ）