Since the steam warship belongs to military equipment, in addition to the military personnel, only the officials of the yamen can participate in the inaugural ceremony, and as for those ordinary people, they can only see an outline from a distance, until the outbreak of the Yangtze River water war, the common people in Shanghai understand how terrifying this steam warship is. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

But now this steam locomotive is different, in addition to the military, it is more used for commercial transportation, Wu Hao in order to maximize profits, not only allowed the local people to watch, but even some of the rich businessmen in the inland areas, private mineral owners, are also on the invitation list.

In those inland areas rich in mineral resources, when these mine owners heard that there was a way to solve the transportation problem, they rushed to Baoshan in a hurry.

"Such a long iron box, even if the track is laid, it will take a lot of horses to pull it!" A mine owner, looking at the steam train from a distance, finally couldn't help but say.

These mine owners are no strangers to railroad tracks, and as early as a few years ago, they began laying tracks in the mines, using horses, ploughing cattle and even manpower to transport raw ore out of the mines.

However, when he saw a huge steel monster in front and five iron boxes nearly fifty meters long (ten meters long for one carriage) connected to the back, he couldn't help but sigh that this thing was definitely not something that could be easily pulled by a few horses.

"Dude, what age is it now! Haven't you heard that those hundreds of tons of warships can travel quickly without manpower? Steam power is far more powerful than human and animal power. Another boss said with a smile.

"But it's a warship, and it can run in the water just as well as it does on land?" The man retorted.

Although he didn't understand the jargon of friction and buoyancy, he understood the difference between water and land.

"I don't know where else it is, but this is Baoshan Industrial Park, even if it's different, the skilled craftsmen in Baoshan can make it the same."

It seems that this person is quite confident in the scientific and technological level of Baoshan Town........

Just when many businessmen were pointing and commenting on the behemoth on the platform, Li Hongfei, who had inspected all the preparatory work, finally came to the platform.

"See Chincha-sama!"

Everyone paid homage to Li Hongfei.

"Okay, okay, don't make these false courtesies, I'm here today, like you, just come to see a fresh, don't think of me as an important person, the biggest thing here today is not the Qincha, but these outstanding scientists of my Ming Dynasty!" Li Hongfei behaved close enough to the people.

This is not contrived, in his eyes, those politicians with dirty ideas are far less admirable than scientists who are passionate about research, although he himself, in a sense, is also a politician.

"Hehe........."

The merchants didn't know how to answer, so they could only laugh here.

In their subconscious, the court officials are always the greatest.

"Master Li, did you call us over today to see the steam train start?" Just when the atmosphere was awkward, Su Dinghe, a wealthy businessman in Suzhou, opened his mouth to break the silence.

The knowledge of Suzhou merchants is far higher than that of businessmen in other places, so they can naturally quickly understand Li Hongfei's meaning.

As one of the first veterans to follow Li Hongfei's reform, Su Dinghe still has some understanding of Li Hongfei's temper.

"It's not enough to just see, you have to feel it for yourself, do you see the carriage in the back? After a while, everyone will go in and feel it, and the custody will surprise you! Li Hongfei pointed to the carriage behind the steam train and said to the businessmen present.

Even if the steam train could be successfully operated, the construction of the railway was a huge project, and the cost of the capital was too much for the national treasury to bear, and this is when the role of private merchants became apparent.

If these businessmen don't see enough benefits, will they be willing to pay for it?

Li Hongfei's words made the audience instantly commotion.

This is a mythical Baoshan Industrial Park, and the things that go out from here are undoubtedly magical items that make people break their heads and scramble.

The industry has long been rumored that the mystery of this steam train is unpredictable, and it is indeed a thing worth looking forward to for the businessmen present to be able to enter the interior and get close to the steam train for the first time.

The interior space of the steam train carriage is not large, equivalent to the size of a minibus in later generations, and in order to show the load capacity, the back three carriages are full of goods, and the only two manned carriages in front are relatively crowded for a huge sightseeing group of nearly 60 people.

"Master Li doesn't just want us to see this iron box, does he?" Someone couldn't stand the dull feeling in the carriage, and finally couldn't help but speak.

"It shouldn't be possible, if you want to talk about the feeling of this iron box, I really don't feel any surprise about it." Someone else said.

Li Hongfei asked these people to get on the bus before, saying that there was a surprise, but after everyone got on the bus, except for the dullness, they didn't find any surprises at all.

"Of course not, please find a place to sit down, we will set off from here in a while, go to Songnan Wharf in Shanghai County, I heard that our Yao County Commander has asked people to prepare wine and food there, and everyone just went there for lunch." Li Hongfei said with a smile.

"Lunch? It's noon right away, and unless you ride a horse, you'll have to eat dinner! Someone joked.

Ten miles away, it is not far, but if it were on foot, it would take an hour for them, a big bunch of pot-bellied old men, and as for the boat, it would take about a quarter of an hour to walk from the station to the dock.

At this time in time, in fact, most people have already started to eat lunch, and if Li Hongfei didn't say that he was having lunch just now, he would not be refuted by others, unless this steam train is faster than the steam warship.

"Don't worry! A quarter of an hour later, let's talk about Songnan Wharf. ”

After Li Hongfei finished speaking, he got up and went to the front of the train, because the boiler had been preheated and was ready to start.

And Li Hongfei left at this moment, not to go to the front to be the conductor, but to deliberately leave everyone a trace of mystery at the same time, but also to let them talk freely in the carriage, although Li Hongfei is close enough to the people, but the identity is there, and a group of businessmen will inevitably not let go...........

Woo~Woo~Woo~!

As the loud whistle sounded, everyone was startled at first, and then felt the soles of their feet tremble, and then the trees outside the glass window began to slowly retreat.

"It's moving! It's really moving! A businessman said with some excitement.

At this time, he stuck his head out of the window, looked at the slowly reversing station platform, and marveled at the magic of the steam train.

"Don't squeeze, don't squeeze, let me see how many horses are pulling in front!" The previous merchant had always been obsessed with the steam engine walking on land, and wanted to see the "greasy" in it.

"Hehe, you're kidding, it's steam-powered, and it doesn't need animal help, just like a steam warship." The attendant in the carriage explained.

Each carriage has attendants, including the last three cargo boxes, who are not professional attendants, but scientific researchers involved in the development of the steam engine.

After all, this is the first time that the steam train has been running, and although it has been carried out before, it is really the first time that it has been running with passengers, and they can be dealt with in time if there is a problem.

"This steam train is almost going to pull more than 50,000 catties! I'm so good, really so powerful? The man was incredulous.

If you really want to say that this person is stupid, he is not stupid, more than 60 people, according to the average weight of 150 catties per person, then there are 9,000 catties, plus five carriages, one locomotive, not to mention more than 50,000 catties.

"You really can't think that there are 300,000 catties (150 tons) of goods in the back three cargo boxes alone," the flight attendant said amazingly.

True, just now the merchant only counted the weight of the passengers, ignoring the fact that there were three more cars full of goods behind him.

With the explanation of the flight attendant, the eyes of the crowd widened, most of them had an expression of disbelief at this moment, and there were already a small number of mining area bosses, whose eyes began to roll flexibly, thinking about how much labor would have to be saved if they could get this behemoth to their own mining area?

Even if you have tricycles, board cars, wheelbarrows and other means of freight, the average per worker can only transport about 500 catties of goods per trip, and in some remote areas, even if the new road to the mining area is built, a laborer may only be able to make a round trip in about ten days (not that it is finished when it is shipped out, the key is to transport it to the wharf, or the local smelting plant, and due to limited technical reasons, it is impossible to get a smelter in every county), and the cost is so high that it is indeed difficult for people to bear.

And this steam locomotive, a can pull more than 400,000 pounds of heavy objects, with the current mining output, only need to run once every two days, can clear the inventory, work efficiency, far more than manpower.

What worries the bosses of these mining areas the most? Naturally, the shipping efficiency, with the increase in the number of mining areas, the output of raw ore is also more and more abundant, although the price has dropped slightly, but the sales are still not worried, the key is to turn these ores into cash, no silver, get a bunch of stones or coal at home, any boss will be upset when he sees it.

"This little brother, I don't know if this thing is expensive?" Merchants who saw a business opportunity began to inquire about the price.

"The price of the steam train is not expensive, the key is its special railway, everyone understands, but where the road is built, it costs money, just this railway to Songnan Wharf, the total cost is about 80,000 taels of silver, this is still not the case of building a bridge, plus the cost of the steam train, a total of 100,000 taels of silver."

As the R&D personnel of steam locomotives, they would not have been so clear about the cost of the railway, but who called them part-time "crews"? For those questions that are likely to arise, flight attendants must do their homework in advance.

In the case that there is no need for bridges, the cost of a five-kilometer railway is indeed not expensive at the cost of 80,000 taels of silver, after all, what Baoshan Town is building is not a freight railway, but a semi-freight, semi-passenger nature.

The so-called passenger railway is a common double-track railway in later generations, which can accommodate two trains to and fro.

The freight railway, only one one-way track, like those from the mining area, from the two or three days from the train to build, the purchase of a steam train is enough, the cost of the railway, will also be reduced by half.

"That's a bit expensive, isn't it?" There is a boss who feels sorry for his purse.

"Sell steam trains alone, only need 10,000 taels of silver, railway, you can hire a professional engineering team in Baoshan Town to go to the site for exploration, and then give a rough quotation, the specific price, according to the local labor costs, will naturally change, after arriving at Songnan Wharf later, you can discuss with the relevant person in charge, now you can look at the scenery along the way, you are the first batch of passengers to take the steam train, don't because of other trivial matters, affect this moment of historical value." The flight attendant explained.

These people present are all the bosses of the mines, and any mine, it is a million-level net worth, more than 100,000 taels of silver, which is really nothing.

It's just that the nature of businessmen is to maximize their profits, and if they come up with so much money at once, no one can make a decision immediately.

With the reminder of the flight attendant, the merchants also began to turn their eyes to the window, and only then did they realize that the scenery outside the window seemed to have changed.

"Oh my God! How long has it been? It's in Shanghai County! A businessman suddenly pointed to a sign next to the railroad and exclaimed.

In just ten miles, in order to let the businessmen feel the speed of the steam train, Li Hongfei asked the "road guards" along the way to erect a plaque every mile (500 meters) - "There are XX miles away from Songnan Wharf", and at the junction of Shanghai County and Baoshan Town, it was specially marked with eye-catching large characters.

After chatting for a while, the steam train had already traveled four miles and entered the territory of Shanghai County from Baoshan Town.

"We have tested that the maximum speed of a steam train when it is fully loaded is 80 miles (20 kilometers per hour), and now it is half the full load, and the maximum speed can reach 120 miles (30 kilometers per hour) in an hour." The flight attendant explained.

The steam train is not as good as the steam warship, it needs to sail in the river to obtain data, while building the railway line to Songnan, Baoshan Industrial Park has built a ten-kilometer-long ring line, which can be used as a test track, collect experimental data, and so on in the future expansion of the industrial zone, but also as a city loop, which can be described as killing two birds with one stone.

Due to the fact that it was running for the first time, the steam train did not increase to its maximum speed for the safety of passengers, but only reached 20 kilometers per hour.

It only takes a quarter of an hour to arrive at Songnan Wharf at such a speed, and Li Hongfei's previous promise to go to Shanghai for lunch is not empty talk.

If the carrying capacity of the steam train has made many mine owners excited, then its speed has made the eyes of wealthy businessmen everywhere shine.

Short-distance railways don't seem to have much of a role other than freight transport, but what kind of scene will happen when long-distance railways, or inter-provincial railways?

In today's era, rich people can say that they have their own exclusive carriages when they go far away, but those ordinary people are different, especially those ordinary people who can't afford to buy a carriage, so they can only choose to rent a car.

The cost of renting a car is too high, especially across provinces, it is simply sky-high, in addition to the basic car and horse expenses along the way, you also have to eat and live in the hotel, which wastes a lot of time and spends a lot of money.

This steam train is different, even if the cost is a little higher than that of a horse-drawn carriage, the time saved, and the accommodation fee saved along the way are far more cost-effective than renting a horse-drawn carriage.............