With the blessing of the Hexingen Foundation and East Africa, Jiaozhou has already taken the form of a large city in the Far East, and is also the most influential oriental city in Germany.

Unlike the semi-colonial treaty ports, Jiaozhou was controlled by the Qing government, but out of distrust of the Qing government bureaucracy, the Heixingen consortium chose to continue to hold force.

Even if the Manchu officials don't have the courage, those local gangs are not necessarily, the head snake is the head snake after all, and they are absolutely courageous, as long as the interests are in place, they don't dare to do it, these people are really licking blood to live, and there is really no deterrent effect on them without arming.

Don't think that the identity of a foreigner can be rampant and domineering, that is the treatment only of Britain and France, the two countries wish that the Qing country would give their own citizens a knife, a bad operation, and another excuse for war.

……

"Father, I intend to build an experimental railway between Dar es Salaam and First Town, which will be used to strengthen the connection between Dar es Salaam and First Town, and at the same time to gain experience for future railway construction in East Africa." Ernst picked up the phone and said to Prince Konstantin.

When it comes to the topic of railways, Prince Konstantin is very interested, especially since this is a railway that belongs to him.

In Europe, Hexingen is a poor and remote place, with no decent river or railway, and transportation is largely by carriage and on foot.

But the road conditions in Heisingen were not very ideal, even compared to those of East Africa at this time, and the roads in Europe did not change much until the eighteenth century.

Even the roads built in ancient Rome were patched up, but they were already the best roads in Europe at that time.

After the 18th century, Europeans began to pay attention to transportation construction, and roads and railways developed rapidly, but none of this had anything to do with Heixingen.

The geographical location, construction conditions, properties and population of Heixingen could not support the road renovation, at most the original dirt road was slightly smoother.

"Very good, but the railway is not an ordinary project, do you have a specific plan?"

"Father, the Ron Railroad Company that I bought is now on its way to East Africa, and they will plan out the route according to the actual local situation when they arrive in East Africa."

"Rownes Railroad? I haven't heard of it! ”

"It's a small company in the Grand Duchy of Baden, so it's not very well-known."

"Then leave this project to them, can it be completed?"

"It's safe to say that they have experience and have been building railways for the French."

"France?"

"Yes, but it's mainly outsourced, because South Germany has abundant and cheap human resources, and at the same time it is better managed than French workers."

When Prince Konstantin heard this, he nodded and said, "Well, then I'll rest assured, what I'm most afraid of is that they don't have relevant experience." However, even so, how do you solve the materials for building the railway? ”

"Cement, East Africa can provide at the moment, sleepers can be made from East Africa, and there is no need to worry about land resources, that is, locomotives, rails, some parts and equipment need to be imported from Germany.

Coupled with the fact that Dar es Salaam is not far from the first town and the terrain is relatively flat, the final construction cost of this railway will not be too high. ”

"And what do you need me to do?" Prince Konstantin asked.

Isn't this problem solved? Just give me a call about this?

"That's the kind of father, I still have to discuss some details of this railway with you, for example, didn't you say some time ago that you were going to build a defense project in the first town!

The railway is a strategic means of transportation, and you have seen the effect of the last time Prussia used the railway to transport troops, so we must pay attention to this railway in terms of national defense, and Dar es Salaam is very close to the first town, with this railway, the speed of travel between the two is faster.

Therefore, when you are engaged in this project, you must include the railway, and there must be no loopholes. ”

"I know about this, the defense project has not started yet, and I will arrange for someone to set up the checkpoint at that time."

"It's going to be a collaboration between the designers and the railway companies, so there's no hurry, at least when they get to East Africa. Moreover, the railway belongs to national defense transportation, and when the time comes, a Ministry of Railways will be established in the government by the way! Ernst said.

"Still have questions?"

"There is also the issue of the gauge of the railway, which I can't make up my mind about.

At present, we can refer to 1000mm, 1435mm, 1520mm, 1676mm and so on, 1435mm is the most popular, now Prussia is also like this, if we directly use 1435mm, you can save some costs, but the larger the railway gauge, the greater the cargo volume. ”

Konstantin pondered for a moment and said: "I don't know much about railways, you can tell me more about the railways in various countries." ”

"There is no unified standard for railway gauge, and the flexibility is relatively strong, for example, 1435mm is the width of the Roman chariot, and the horse-drawn carriages of Europe also adopted this number, and later the British were the first to develop railways, so this number is used in Britain, its colonies, the United States, and some European countries.

1000mm is mainly used by France and its colonies, especially the French colonies, and is characterized by being suitable for mountainous construction and cheap to build.

1520mm belongs to the broad gauge, which is mainly used by the Russians, who do not want to be in line with Europe for military reasons.

1676mm is a wider railway, in addition to these types, there are many different standards, in short, varied, so I am more difficult on this issue. ”

"I almost understand what you mean, 1435mm is currently the most widely used, but his in various railway standards should belong to the more ordinary, narrower than his cost is cheaper, high flexibility, but the volume is low, wider than him, the cost is high, the flexibility is poor, the volume is large, this is what it means!"

"It's not, the railway, you want to have two iron bars, these two iron bars are the main cost, in two straight lines in parallel, the width is actually about the same, and the material used in the turn is a little more, and the sleepers are a little longer, and the land area is a little more.

But none of the above is a problem for East Africa, where there is a lot of land and timber, and the loss of turning can be completely offset by the volume.

After all, the railway is a long-term operation project, so it is a fact that the cost is slightly higher, but the longer the subsequent railway operation, the higher the profit and efficiency, after all, the large volume. ”

Hearing this, Konstantin thoroughly understood, this kid still tended to use broad gauge in his heart, after all, he began to defend broad gauge before he finished speaking, but because the 1435mm railway mainly used in the world, especially in Europe, it was difficult to choose in his heart, after all, people are conformists.

So, Prince Konstantin said: "Let's use broad gauge!" However, you also said that there are many standards for broad gauge, and we will not discuss the use of that kind first, and after the railway company relocates to East Africa, let the East African government and professionals make an assessment according to the actual situation in East Africa, and then we will choose a standard. ”

(End of chapter)