Under the iron tower of Kaibao Temple, it has become a construction site.

On the foundation of the new Heavenly King Hall of Fushengin Temple, dozens of officials gathered, as well as the purple-clothed masters of the same number of monks.

The construction site is dusty everywhere, and construction materials such as yellow sand, gravel, cement, and steel bars are also visible.

In ordinary times, these nobles are always insensitive to such a dirty place, and the farther away the better. But today, I have to wait here in disgrace.

An official in a five-grade robe waited impetuously, and as soon as he saw someone rushing in, he grabbed him and shouted, "When will Han Xianggong arrive?!" ”

The person who came didn't know anything, he didn't know what to say with his eyes wide open, and someone next to him sighed, "Don't you just say it, Zhang Xianggong and Han Xianggong are still in the ordnance prison." Wait, if the steam locomotive is fine, I'm afraid it will be after noon. ”

A little later, the two petty officials in green robes exchanged heads, both of them were pale faces, rough hands, typical officials from engineering backgrounds.

"It seems that the two ministers still value steam locomotives more."

"Who said that? How can you walk without a locomotive with a locomotive? In the future, when the water is used to build a bridge, this reinforced concrete is indispensable to build bridge piers. Don't forget, the word concrete was coined by Han Xianggong. ”

Today, the total mileage of the Great Song Railway has exceeded 10,000 li, of which the double-track railway as the trunk line has more than 5,600 li, and the mileage of the remaining branch railways is increasing every day.

At present, however, almost all of the railway mileage is basically laid on the plains, and even the larger rivers are connected by specially designed train ferries to guò. When crossing the Yellow River, it is necessary to unload the goods and cross the river and then load the goods on the car.

The real difficulty in the construction of railways is in the erection of bridges and the laying of roads in the mountains.

The narrower river can be crossed by a wooden bridge, and the stone bridge is a little more expensive and costly, but it is not a problem. However, the construction of the bridge, which is more than 100 zhang long, has risen sharply, and until now, due to technical reasons, the construction of any of them has not yet begun, although the construction plan has been finalized.

The biggest problem is that the bridge piers are difficult to repair. Strong and flood-resistant piers cannot be built by throwing stones into the river.

But now there is reinforced concrete, that is, artificially made stones, which have enough strength and random size, even if it is the flood of the Yellow River, as long as it is thick enough, it can also resist it.

And reinforced concrete can not only be used to build bridge piers, but also the pillars of houses. The new Tianwang Palace to be built in front of me is to use reinforced concrete to build the most important twenty-four pillars.

And this palace of the heavenly king is also the first building in the world to use reinforced concrete as the main structure - so it can attract the prime minister to preside over the groundbreaking ceremony.

"Do you know why Han Xianggong didn't build the new bridge first, but used it to build this Heavenly King Palace?"

The response voice was a little quieter, "The bald donkey can't die." ”

Although the voice was lowered, the words 'the bald donkey will not die' still attracted a low laugh from the surroundings.

New architecture, new design, no experience up and down, there must be all kinds of problems. In this case, it is natural that students, parliamentarians, and ordinary people cannot take such a big risk. However, the bald donkey, which is not engaged in production and spreads dissent, is more suitable for experiments.

Although this is speculation, in the final analysis, Han Gang's attitude towards Buddhism has always been the same, and it has not changed since the early years, so it is known for this. Having said that, no one had ever seen Han Gang have a good face for any sect.

"But no matter how you say it, it's all put in the back."

"I want to accompany Zhang Xianggong. It was not Han Xianggong who valued the steam engine the most. ”

……………………

There was a roaring noise from the running machine, and puffs of smoke were sprayed into the sky from the chimney.

The huge boiler rests on the chassis, and the flames in the furnace, as the doors open and close rhythmically, poke out of it, and then are pressed back by a shovel of coal.

A burst of steam erupted, and two huge flywheels spun around to drive the lowest wheel through a cast-iron connecting rod the thickness of a guò bowl.

Little by little, the wheels of steel moved, from slow to fast. Like a giant beast lying quietly on its stomach, it finally moved.

A crowd of people gathered around the steam locomotive that started slowly on the tracks, and let out a deafening cheer. They were the people who had created this steel beast, and they were as happy as they were when they saw their children toddler.

A little farther away, a group of officials surrounded the two in the center.

Zhang Dian raised his eyes and swept around, all of them with flattering smiles, and they could not see that they were happy at the success of the steam locomotive.

Glancing at these officials with disgust, he looked at the train that was starting to move at a turtle speed, and he turned his head and asked Han Gang beside him: "How fast can you go?" ”

Han Gang said: "The highest is twenty-five miles per hour, and the steady operation is twenty miles." ”

Zhang Dian said: "It's not as good as a horse." ”

It can only advance twenty-five miles in an hour, which is indeed not as fast as the speed of a horse-drawn carriage.

Zhang Dian asked again: "How long can you walk at a time?" ”

"These days, it runs twelve hours a day, and it breaks down an average of three times, and each repair takes about two to four quarters of an hour."

Zhang Dian shook his head, "It's still not as good as a horse." ”

If the horse on the railway is tired or sick, it can be replaced at the next station, and if it is injured, it will only take up to five minutes to get rid of it. If it is a train on the track, it will have to stop for half an hour or an hour at any time, and the railway schedule will be completely messed up.

As he spoke, a whistle sounded, and the world's first steam locomotive left the Bianshui Wharf of the Ordnance Supervisor and drove along the steel track towards the warehouse area, five miles away.

Seeing the locomotive drive away, Zhang Dian asked again: "What is the cost?" ”

"Not counting the previous expenses, it took less than 200 yuan to build this locomotive......"

"It's still not as good as a horse."

For a medium-level horse, the purchase price of the imperial court is only six to ten yuan, and a locomotive is equivalent to thirty horses.

This is still not counting the previous expenses, for the steam engine, the research expenditure has already exceeded one million. In order to be able to get the steam engine on the car, the investment of the imperial court was as high as 400,000 yuan. The labor has not been counted, and the processing fee has not been calculated, and the two hundred guan that Han Gang said is completely the cost of materials.

Han Gang was ambushed, everyone who knew knew it, and Zhang Dian also knew it, but he didn't chase after him, and asked again: "How many goods can you pull?" ”

"Two thousand stones."

Zhang Dian shook his head: "It's not as good as a horse." ”

On the heavy-duty track connecting the dock and the warehouse, a group of sixteen horses could easily pull eight wagons loaded with 2,000 stone of grain.

Han Gang sighed, "Is it just that you can't use horses all the time?" ”

"Of course not." Zhang Dian is not provocative, today he is actually in a good mood, "I just feel too slow." It is necessary to invest more to build a better steam engine as soon as possible. ”

Han Gang smiled: "Can you get on the boat?" ”

Zhang Dun was categorical: "Those who can get on the boat!" ”

Zhang's family, to be precise, is now the largest maritime merchant in the Great Song Dynasty and even in the world, with more than 140 ships with a full load displacement of more than 2,000 stones, and the largest even has 5,000 stones.

Every year, more than half of the goods from Liangguang (including Jiaozhou) such as rice, sugar, timber, spices, seafood, etc., as much as tens of millions of stones, are transported to various coastal ports by sea ships of the Guò Zhang's family.

Once the marine steam engine was invented, the Zhang family fleet was simply like a tiger. For the practical mechanical power, Zhang Dian will only look forward to it more than Han Gang.

Han Gang looked at the pillar of smoke in the distance: "It shouldn't be too long." ”

"How many years?" Zhang Dian immediately asked.

"A few years." Han Gang failed to give an accurate number.

"A few years, a few years. In a few years, the iron ship you mentioned in Yukun will be able to be launched. Zhang Dian nodded with a faint smile and turned around, only to find the stunned look on Han Gang's face, he was startled and asked, "What?" Is there still a problem? ”

"It's not." Han Gang shook his head, "It's only been a technological invention over the years, but in the way of nature, there is still no progress, and it's a little annoying. ”

Zhang Dian raised his hand and pointed to the railway not far away, "The railway runs through the east, west, north and south, and the steam locomotive is also on the road. If someone wants to attack Qi and show him the railway, why should you bother, Yukun? ”

"There is nothing to worry about, only that today's development cannot be sustained." Han Gang sighed, "The truth is the pillars and beams, and the technology is only the exterior wall. If the pillars and beams are not strong, the outer walls will not last. ”

Without calculus, without the rigorously demonstrated law of gravitation, and certainly without the Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, the current development of science and technology can be said to be built on a quagmire.

What Han Gang brings to the world is only a conclusion, not a process of derivation and proof.

Mechanical design, geodesy, astronomical observations, there are so many places where mathematical tools are used. But the slow development of mathematics has become a stark contrast to the continuous advancement of technology, and it can even be said that it has dragged its feet.

It is difficult for Han Gang to confirm now whether his behavior of ignoring the derivation process and releasing the true knowledge and wisdom summarized by countless scholars over hundreds of years in later generations has become an obstacle to the development of science, in other words, it has caused an obstacle to knowledge.

Of course, an epoch-making genius can be expected to emerge to solve the problems we face today.

But in that case, all Han Gang can do is to plant widely and harvest thinly, promote compulsory education as much as possible, and see if there can be one or two geniuses who can complete calculus in the larger population base.

It's just that in that case, and I don't know how long it will take, Han Gang can't be sure if he can see that day.

"Alright." Han Gang cleaned up his mood, "I'm going to Kaibao Temple next, and I'll ask Brother Zihou here." ”

"Just for a few pillars?"

"Man-made stone pillars." Han Gang emphasized.

Zhang Dian shook his head, "I really don't know why Yukun didn't build the bridge first and build some Heavenly King Palace." ”

"Well, the monk can't die." Han Gang said.

In another world, the superpower that suppressed the entire earth, was able to build railways to more than 100,000 kilometers in an era when electricity was not yet widespread, and there were not many modern machines, precisely because the area where it was built was mainly on the vast plains of millions of square kilometers.

The Great Song Dynasty has now built railways on the plains, and it has also cultivated a group of professional road construction teams. However, the mountains, forests and rivers that are a little more difficult are still the biggest crux of the construction.

Reinforced concrete buildings have just come out, no one has experience, and if something goes wrong, it's going to kill people. In this case, it is better to let those monks who go to the West Heaven wholeheartedly come first.

Well, the monk can't die.