Zhan Tianzuo carried his thick duffel bag and rested against a tree beside the road. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

He was originally an apprentice carpenter in Diqiu, and later came under Zhou Quan, studied for three years to stand out, and when the construction of the railway from Xuzhou to Haizhou began, Zhou Quan named him and asked him to learn to repair the railway instead.

He remembered that Zhou Quan patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Tianzuo Tianzuo, your surname is Zhan again, this name is called, I'm sorry if you don't go to build the railway!" ”

So he became a railroad man.

I don't know why Zhan Tianzuo needed to repair the railway, but out of respect for Zhou Quan, Zhan Tianzuo still concentrated on his new career, and soon became the best railway craftsman. When the railway from Xuzhou to Haizhou was halfway through, he was transferred to preside over the preliminary survey project of the Beijing-Xuzhou railway, which was a huge test for him and an extraordinary opportunity.

Thinking of this, a smile appeared on the corner of Zhan Tianzuo's mouth, and he picked up the compass in his hand and looked at it.

Bang!

Just as he was holding the compass to measure conveniently, and was about to calculate the length with the instrument, suddenly, a stick stretched out and hit the compass directly in his hand.

The compass fell to the landlord, and the needle still stubbornly pointed to the north, but the glass case outside was shattered.

This thing was specially made by Zhou Quan and asked craftsmen to be used to explore and measure the direction, except for the sea, only people of Zhan Tianzuo's status could have it.

Furious, he looked up, only to find that there were dozens of more people in front of him.

They were all young men with sticks and hoes and shovels with red faces, and when they saw him looking, the leader said sharply: "You are here to build the railway?" ”

There is nothing to hide about this matter, but Zhan Tianzuo has developed a rigorous style, so he shook his head first and then nodded: "I came to survey for the construction of the railway, but it has not yet reached the ...... of repair."

"That's right, this guy is walking around with a compass, just for the railway, Hugh wants him to calculate the feng shui of our village again!"

"Exactly, the paper in his hand, I don't know what kind of symbols are drawn on it, let's grab it!"

These more than 20 talents don't care whether Zhan Tianzuo is coming to repair the railway now, after confirming that he is related to the railway, they are all rushing up, Zhan Tianzuo also has five or six companions and assistants around him, and they hurriedly came to change when they saw this, but they are only a few people, where is the opponent of more than 20 people?

In the blink of an eye, they were knocked to the ground, and all kinds of instruments in their hands, as well as their bags and packages, were robbed.

When they saw the money they were carrying, the villagers rushed up and snatched it with all their hands and feet, but the drawings they had just snatched were scattered all over the place, because they could not read them.

Zhan Tianzuo got up from the ground and hurriedly picked up the scattered drawings on the ground, which was the hard work of most of the month, which he and his companions obtained by measuring the earth with their feet. Finally picked up seven or eight sheets, but when he was about to pick them up again, he was pushed down one by one, and then a pair of feet stepped on his hands that were tightly grasping the drawings.

"These ghost talismans must be bad for our rural feng shui map, don't let him pick it up, you fools!"

Hearing someone calling, Zhan Tianzuo hurriedly said: "Qian Tian, you just take it, these papers will be of great use in the future, and you have to leave them for me...... Yes! ”

But someone gave him another kick and broke one of his ribs, causing him to scream in pain and faint.

Rao was like this, he still clutched a few drawings tightly, trying to protect them.

I don't know how long it took, but he faintly heard someone calling him, and he woke up, opened his eyes and looked out, only to feel that it was drowsy in front of him, and it was getting late.

"The craftsman is awake, the craftsman is awake!" There were joyful voices around, and Zhan Tianzuo came to his senses: "We...... Where are we? ”

"Still at the mouth of the river, Master Zhan, are you okay?"

Zhan Tianzuo shook his head, only to feel that his ribs hurt badly, and he muttered: "It seems to be a broken bone...... Don't touch me, don't touch me! ”

Surrounded by his companions, all of them had blue noses and swollen faces and disheveled clothes, but fortunately, everyone was used to staying in the wild, had been trained, learned some first aid treatment, and knew that broken bones could not move at will, so they tied a simple stretcher and lifted Zhan Tianzuo up.

At this time, everyone was penniless, and all valuable things were either snatched away or smashed, and even the compass used by Zhan Tianzuo to determine the direction was picked up by anyone. They were hungry and thundering, but they did not dare to stay, nor did they dare to find the locals to beg for food, so they could only take advantage of the night and go back in the direction of Xiangfu.

In the distance, there were still some villagers watching, and some stupid village women, spitting at them.

A little farther away, Cai Jiesheng saw this scene, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and his mind was spinning rapidly, and an article had taken shape.

The beating of Zhan Tianzuo and others is just a microcosm of this trend, and almost all the survey teams sent out like Zhan Tianzuo are in trouble.

Zhou Quan, who was responding to Tianfu, was furious when he heard the news.

"That's a lot of guts...... Do they really think I'm a bully? He was angry, but at the same time he couldn't help but feel powerless.

These hands-on people, it is very easy to clean up, Zhou Quan can send people immediately, it is really not good, he can even let the people of Liangshanzhai do it - Song Jiang's group is so moldy in Liangshan, it is not difficult for them to attack Kaocheng from afar, slaughter one or two villages, and even kill the entire Kaocheng Cai family.

But what about the consequences of doing so?

I am afraid that in the future, the construction of the railway will be even more difficult.

Thinking of this, Zhou Quan's heart became more and more irritable, he needed a way, which could help him solve the most conservative and stubborn forces in the process of industrialization.

Wang Qinian saw that he was thinking about things, and quietly retreated, but after a while, he came back with a newspaper.

The latest Henan Business Daily, still with the fragrance of ink, was spread in front of Zhou Quan.

"Hmm, there's a new article?"

Zhou Quan took it and found that its front page was about the villagers beating Zhan Tianzuo and others in Xiaohekou, Kaocheng County.

This article seems to be fair, and it is wrong to blame the villagers for being rude at first, but the conversation then turns around, saying that "although the matter is wrong, its feelings are pitiful", after all, it is still to exonerate these villagers and seek the sympathy of public opinion.

The literati did not use knives to kill people, and in this article, he called the beating a "mutual fight", and then said that the root cause was a rumor about the Beijing-Xuzhou railway. Therefore, he implored the imperial court and the people concerned to come forward to clarify and guarantee that there were no plans to build a railway, so as to win the trust of the people and avoid the recurrence of such tragedies, or even bloodshed.

The words were very tactful, but Zhou Quan still saw the murderous aura in the meantime.

The implication is that this time it was just a beating, and no one was killed, but next time, even if it wasn't in Xiaohekouzhuang, Kaocheng County, somewhere else, something similar would happen, and there might be death!

The corners of Zhou Quan's mouth bent down slightly: The signature of the article is not angry again.

This guy named Cai Jiesheng is bold, where did he get such guts?

Zhou Quan has always suspected that Cai Jiesheng has someone behind him, judging from this guy's article, although he is not a big writer, he still has a bit of a foundation, this kind of person will not easily do things that are unfavorable to him.

"In addition, there has been some commotion recently among the sailors on the canal, saying that if the Beijing-Xuzhou Railway is completed, the passengers and goods on the canal will decrease, and they, the sailors, river workers and slender men, may lose their jobs."

"Nonsense, even if the railway is built, how can there be less of them, shipping has its own advantages......" Zhou Quan said this, somewhat wrong.

This time I went to Xuzhou again, because the steam engine has made a breakthrough, and now the steam engine itself has been relatively mature, and the energy efficiency ratio has reached a certain level, and there is no major obstacle to turning it into traction power.

In the original history, Watt only came into contact with the Newcomen steam engine in 1763, and by 1774 he had only spent eleven years before and after he put his design into production, and a large amount of time was spent on seeking funds and other unrelated matters related to the invention. Zhou Quan has sufficient funds, and there are almost all the country's scholars and skilled craftsmen, even if some of these mechanical principles have to be explored in the process of research, he has increased relevant investment since the beginning of the three years of political peace, and it is normal for it to blossom and bear fruit in the past five years.

Stephenson began to develop the steam locomotive in 1810, and by 1814 he had invented the Voyager, and Zhou Quan believed that with his sufficient funds and guidance in the direction of research, the first steam locomotive in China should be built in less than four years. At that time, the canal will really face a huge existential crisis, and most of the river workers and sailors who make a living on both sides of the river will be unemployed.

"This matter is easy to do, and I am going to set up a new chamber of commerce called ...... Well, let's call it the Great Song Steamship China Merchants Bureau, these sailors, river workers and slender men, as long as they want, they can apply! Zhou Quan had a mind and an idea.

When these people make trouble in the future, it is better to take them in advance at this time, and then transfer the sailors and rivermen to the sea, anyway, there will always be a shortage of ocean-going sailors, and the slender men can go to the future steam railroad as road maintenance workers.

But this matter is still early, and what is urgent is still in front of us.

After pondering for a while, Zhou Quan said, "Invite the Jiuhe River Chief from Japan." ”

Wang Qinian was stunned for a moment: "Is this matter useful to rely on the head of the Nine River Channel?" ”

"Of course, the Nine River Chiefs are useless, but the theory of the three mountains he made in Japan is extremely useful." Zhou Quan sneered: "If you play yin with me, then I'll enlarge the killing weapon and flip the table, I want to see who can get whom!" ”

Wang Qinian still doesn't understand, why Zhou Quan wants to say "enlarge the killing weapon and lift the table", in his opinion, although it is troublesome to settle this matter, it is not impossible to do it, as long as you spend more money to buy, you are still worried that those rural fools are not honest? If you are not honest, you will beat them honestly!

"In addition, make arrangements, I will rush to Jingshi in the next few days to see Zhan Tianzuo and other injured people, as well as the people who did it at that time, I will find out." Zhou Quan said again.

He is not a magnanimous person, although those who do it are the result of being fooled, but a mistake is a mistake, and if a mistake is made, he must be punished accordingly! (To be continued.) )