In Xiyang City, a unique style of carriage runs on the track, pulling the carriage is two horses, and the carriage behind it has two carriages, each carriage has four wheels, the front and back are connected together, and the carriage also has a carport, which can shade the sun and protect from the rain.

The length of each carriage is significantly longer than that of ordinary carriages, and the front and rear carriages are connected, and they are full of people, men and women, old and young, and when they see someone crossing the track in front of them, the coachman rings the wall clock and shouts:

"Hey! Get out of the way! ”

The people crossing the track stepped aside, and the carriage continued along the track, stopping at the long pergola more than thirty paces away, and the 'attendant' who accompanied the car shouted loudly: "Qingyun Street has arrived!" Qingyun Street Station has arrived! Get on at the front door and get off at the back door! ”

"First down, then up! Don't squeeze! ”

Some passengers got off the back door of the carriage with packages on their backs, and soon after the front door opened, the men, women and children waiting under the pergola lined up to walk to the front door, and the 'toll collector' at the door shouted with a big paper bullhorn:

"This bus is going west out of the city and heading to Longtoushan New Port! Two pennies per person! Children are half the price of a penny, as long as the height does not exceed this pole is a penny! Make it all the way to the last stop! ”

"Don't rush, don't squeeze! I can't get on this trip, there's another one! Before six o'clock, horse-drawn carriages passed by! ”

While the passengers boarded the train, the driver picked up the bamboo tube and drank water, and after a while, he raised his horsewhip and shouted, "Get up!" With a whip from the void, the pack horse walked forward, pulling the carriage full of forty people and continuing to move forward.

In normal times, two horses would never be able to pull a carriage carrying forty people, but when the carriage is on a "railway", it is not the same at all.

Two iron tracks, connected by 'sleepers' to form parallel lines, form a double-track "railway", on which a special four-wheeled carriage travels, drawn by two horses, can carry not only forty people, but also heavy goods.

The railway of Xiyang City is a double line (two-way), in fact, it is two parallel railways, each railway runs in one direction, the length is forty miles, east-west, the east end is the eastern suburb of Xiyang City, Bakou Port, the west end is the west suburb of Xiyang City, Longtou Mountain West foot New Port.

The railway crosses Xiyang City, and the carriage takes a one-way trip, which takes an average of one hour, that is, two hours, and the ticket has two prices: two yuan for adults and one yuan for children, and you can sit from the starting point to the end point.

Because it is a horse-drawn carriage running on the track, this kind of carriage is also called 'rail carriage', which was opened more than a month ago, and was officially put into operation three days ago after a month of trial operation.

Although the free ride during the trial operation has changed to two for adults and one for children, the attendance rate of each rail carriage is still more than 50%.

"Every morning at seven o'clock, the first train from east to west and the last train from five o'clock in the afternoon..."

Next to the track, Wang Yan held a leaflet and read it quietly, not only to himself, but also to Wang Meng next to him, a group of nearly 20 people, who were watching the excitement at this time.

Wang Meng looked at the four railroad tracks in front of him, and asked the entourage with some uncertainty: "Is this a wooden rail covered with iron, or a real railroad track?" ”

"General Wang, this is a real railroad track, the iron ingots smelted by Jiangnan Daye, after being transported to Xiyang, were turned into railroad tracks, which cost a lot of money, and the railway with a total length of forty miles took more than half a year to build."

Wang Meng was not a curious person, but the 'railway' was really a strange thing in the world, and he couldn't help but be curious: "This railway costs a lot of money, and if you rely on transporting passengers alone, it will take a long time to make up for the deficit?" ”

"General Wang, this double-track railway, used for passenger transportation is just for the convenience of the people, and it is not profitable, but it is used to transport goods, it is different, it has been officially operated for three days, and the daily freight volume is extremely amazing, and I want to come to the government office to recover the cost, no more than half a year."

A gentleman is ashamed of his words, but Wang Meng is not a so-called 'gentleman' who is stupid in reading, he has been an official for decades, leading troops to fight, persuading farmers to teach agriculture, and knowing the basic livelihood expenses.

After a rough estimate of the cost of the railway, as well as the statement that the official said that "the cost will be recovered, it will not take more than half a year", Wang Meng couldn't help but be moved.

The official said that the profit of the railway depends on freight, and he knows that this means that Xiyang's business is very prosperous, and the current Xiyang is no longer the dilapidated town on the north bank of the Yangtze River that he saw back then.

More than ten years ago, Zhou Jiong, the governor of Jiangbei Province of Chen Guo, sat in Jiangbei, and the governance office was in Xiyang, Wang Meng came to Xiyang because of official business, Xiyang at that time was ordinary, and even a little dilapidated, and now, when Wang Meng came to Xiyang again, Xiyang has undergone earth-shaking changes.

And this change began eight years ago, Wang Meng listened to the introduction of the officials, at that time, the young King of Xiyang was still the prince of Xiyang County, and he had just taken office as the assassin of Bazhou (now Huangzhou).

In eight years, the number of households in Huangzhou exceeded 50,000, and the prosperity of Xiyang City can be ranked in the forefront of the cities along the Yangtze River.

Seeing several horse-drawn carriages running in tandem with two carriages in tandem and full of heavy goods passing by, Wang Meng realized what was the basis for the "return to capital in half a year" that the officials said.

He has heard from people in the past few days that Xiyang, Huangzhou produces a large number of cloth, paper, books, porcelain and glass products, and the cargo port is Bakou Port in the east of Xiyang City, and the "cargo throughput" is rising every year.

At the same time, at the western foot of Longtou Mountain in the western suburbs of Xiyang City, there is a large area of reclaimed wasteland, after several years of development, grain production has increased year by year, and more and more government soldiers and their families have settled down, forming villages with more and more people.

There are more people, more related industries, and a large number of farms, so that a new port has appeared at the western foot of Longtou Mountain, and its "cargo throughput" has also increased significantly.

Between Xiyang City and Bakou Port in the east and Xingang in the west, there is a strong demand for enhancing the land freight capacity, and the rail transportation with strong capacity is like timely rain, which makes everyone cheer.

Wang Meng has never seen a city with handicrafts and commerce as the driving force of rapid development, looking at the 'Western scenery' in front of him is a little dizzying, and the accompanying Wang Meng also feels quite novel when he sees the track.

Wang Meng and other major officials in the Lingnan region of Chen Guoling, who had surrendered, had just come to Xiyang from Panyu not long ago, and they were going to Anlu after a few days of rest, and Wang Ding, who persuaded Wang Meng to surrender, accompanied him throughout the process.

When Wang Fei rushed to Lingbiao before, there were already rumors that a railway was going to be built in Xiyang City, but when the railway really appeared, Wang Fei didn't know how to express his feelings, so he could only learn and sell now, and introduce to Wang Meng all kinds of 'scenery' that was different from other places in Xiyang City.

Before they followed the Hulin Army to the north, to Jiangzhou Nanchang, Wang Meng and his party traveled lightly, back to Xiyang in advance, here, Huangzhou Governor Shi and other officials warmly received them, to tomorrow, Wang Meng and his party will set off to Anlu.

Wang Meng has only fully recovered from the long journey of nearly two months until today, and Wang Meng invited him to take a walk around the city to see the 'railway' mentioned at the banquet before, and now that he has seen it with his own eyes, it really feels different.

For him, the only railway and bell tower in the world in Xiyang City are really worthy of being called 'Xiyang View'.

It is not only them who are looking at the 'Xiyang View', on both sides of the long track, many people are looking at the legendary 'railway', of course, Wang Gong and his party are accompanied by officials, and there is no need to crowd with unidentified people.

There was a sudden uproar ahead, and after a while, the cheers came from far and near, and Wang Meng raised his eyes to see that it was Lubu Feijie.

"Great victory! Great victory! King Xiyang led the official army to flood Lekou in Yuzhou, and 20,000 strong enemies were wiped out! ”