The carriage drove on the smooth and wide road leading to First Town without the slightest bump, and through the window, the level of construction of the East African Highway was an eye-opener for the members of the Far East Assistance Mission (FETAM).

Li Ge asked Velix, who had been sent by the first town hall to pick him up, "Mr. Velix, what are the threads hanging from those wooden poles at intervals on the side of the road?" ”

Since Villix was Austrian, Aryan was needed to translate the communication between the two.

Aryan: "That's the wire used for communication, and it connects the city of Dar es Salaam to the first town. ”

Lige: "Communication? Just rely on those two lines! ”

Aryan: "Yes, that's the beauty of science, and you may not understand it if you explain it, but you just need to know that with these cables, the news from Europe can reach East Africa in a day." ”

Liger suspected that the Aryans were questioning his own intelligence, and he didn't explain to himself how the two lines worked.

Lieger: "Mr. Aryan, I know that you Westerners have a lot of creative skills in terms of craftsmanship, and can build steam ships, advanced guns and cannons, and industrial products for various purposes, which may be a little more advanced than our Far East, but we just didn't pay attention to scientific and technological research before. ”

Aryan: "Of course I know this, Mr. Liger, I used to be a native of the Far East, and I still know a lot about this, and the Far East is indeed quite backward in this regard, not to mention the general public's understanding of science, even many officials may also feel strange about the existence of such a thing as the telegraph." ”

It is certain that the level of education in the Far East is now far behind that of the German region, after all, the whole world is now unique in the whole world because of the universal compulsory education.

Aryan then told Aryan about the general operation principle of the telegram, and Li Ge was stunned for a moment, which was indeed a bit brain-burning for Li Ge, who only read the Four Books and Five Classics.

Lige: "You're saying you created lightning and used him to deliver messages?" ”

Aryan: "It's not thunder, it's just ordinary electricity, with current science and technology, no one can master thunder and lightning, its energy is too powerful, and it is uncontrollable. ”

Li Ge: "Then you don't mean that you can create a thunder ...... with a generator Electricity! ”

Aryan: "Electricity is inherently present in nature, and European scientists have studied electricity itself by converting it into energy, which is the magnetic field. ”

"Magnetic field?" Li Ge heard a new term, but it was still difficult to understand, in Li Ge's view thunder and lightning is "heavenly wrath", these foreign people vainly try to manipulate the thunder and lightning is simply rebellious.

In fact, since ancient times, there have been countless capable people with a scientific spirit in the Far East, and they are not superstitious about the induction of heaven and man like Li Ge.

For example, in the Han Dynasty's "Huainanzi", it is believed that "yin and yang are thin for thunder, and agitation is electricity", although "Huainanzi" has no basis for the understanding of thunder and lightning, but it shows that the ancients had dialectical thinking about thunder and lightning, rather than superstitious Confucian theory of heaven and man.

The book was written in the Warring States Period, and it was recorded earlier in the "Biography of Liang": Yin and Yang are thin, and the feeling is thunder, and the excitement is thunder.

Yin and Yang correspond to positive and negative charges, and it feels creepy when you think about it, after all, thousands of years ago, the ancients in such a low state of science and technology could have such a cognition, even if it was just a coincidence, it would make people awe-inspiring, but is it really just a coincidence!

Aryan: "Actually, Mr. Liger, don't be surprised, there is such a thing as the telegraph, in fact, there is such a thing as the Far East, but you may not know it. ”

Li Ge: "There are also in the Far East?" ”

Aryan: "Yes, at the beginning of this year, the telegraph lines from Hong Kong to Shanghai and Nagasaki to Shanghai under the auspices of Britain, Norway, Tsarist Russia and Denmark are estimated to be almost completed, and the Heixingen Electric Power Company is also planning a telegraph line from Shanghai to Jiaozhou. ”

The reason why Aryan knew about this was because the person in charge of coordinating this matter at that time was himself, and it was really not easy to find a German translator in the Far East, so the Hexingen consortium often borrowed people from the East African embassy.

When the Aryan and the mission left the Far East, the submarine cable from Shanghai to Jiaozhou had already begun to be laid, and it would be directly connected to the Danish-led "Danish Great Northern Telegraph Company" telegraph line, so that East Africa's future contact with the Far East could also be completed by telegraph.

It's just that the news has to be transferred from Europe, and there is an extra procedure, but it is harmless, and the "Danish Great Northern Telegraph Company" is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, and although it has a multinational capital background, it is still a Danish company.

The laying of telegraph lines in the Far East was known only to the top level of the Far Eastern government and some local dignitaries, and such a small person as Li Ge really did not know about it.

In fact, the government of the Far East is still opposed to foreign companies laying telegraph lines in the Far East, but the situation is stronger than people, so it turns a blind eye, among which the Heixingen consortium is the most excessive, directly pulling Austrian businessmen to invest in the telegraph network centered on Xuzhou in the Huaihai Economic Zone, and now many countries and regions in Europe have not completely popularized the telegraph, so this approach is somewhat advanced.

If this network is completed, it is uncertain whether it will be profitable in the early stage, because the current Huaihai Economic Zone is an economically backward area in the Far East, and there are many poor people, many of whom cannot afford to spend the cost of telegraphy, or there is no such concept of consumption, unless the Huaihai Economic Zone develops, and the telegraph is a new thing that is also well known.

Although the Huaihai Economic Zone was proposed by East Africa, East Africa itself did not invest much in the local area, and the majority was Austrian businessmen from East Africa, and many of the factories they invested in and built could drive local development in the future, but no one knows how many years it would take for the economy to develop here.

However, the difficulty is not too great, after all, the investment excludes the factors of local government interference, as long as there are no foreigners to make trouble, basically there will not be much problem, and the Huaihai Economic Zone represents Germany and Austria behind the two world powers, even Britain, France, Russia, etc.

This is a sure-fire business, that is, it takes time, whether it can be profitable in the early stage or depends on Xuzhou, a battleground for soldiers, and whether the north-south transportation hub can assume the function of its hub city.

However, judging from the investment enthusiasm of Austrian businessmen, they are more optimistic about this project, the times are developing, and the telegraph will definitely be popularized all over the world, although the average consumption level in the Far East is not high, but the volume is large enough, and Xuzhou is located in the Central Plains, Zhili, Shandong, Anhui, Jiangsu center, the contact center of these areas is Xuzhou. Therefore, the construction of a telegraph company in Xuzhou should, with a high probability, may be profitable!

In this matter, the Hexingen consortium is just taking the lead, and the specific decision is still made by the German Far East Chamber of Commerce.

The focus of the Heixingen consortium is how to strengthen the ties between East Africa and the Far East, the initial assumption of the Xuzhou telegraph company is only an inland information exchange node, but also pay more attention to the issue of profitability, and the Huaihai Economic Zone's foreign exchange node is in Jiaozhou, the entire Huaihai Economic Zone is only this excellent port, which is also the background of the Shanghai to Jiaozhou telegraph line laying.

(End of chapter)