Chapter 455: It requires a lot of manpower
Chapter 450 of "The Great Ming in the Box" opens with dynamic events: âPrepare for ignition!âYoung Master Bai was young, yet he radiated confidence, appearing full of vigor... Read on for more!
âPrepare for ignition!âYoung Master Bai was young, yet he radiated confidence, appearing full of vigor and energy.
Madam Bai watched him from afar, her heart swelling with pride for her son. Since the day he dodged her hard pinch, Madam Bai had not hit him for many years. As the child grew up, a mother couldnât educate him with hard pinches anymore.
Nowadays, Madam Bai placed herself in a lower position than her son, often feeling he knew more and saw the futureâs direction clearer than she did. She had transformed from a ânavigatorâ into a follower.
While looking at Young Master Bai outside the box, Li Daoxuan thought of âthe new young generation of Gaojia Village.â
The older generation, limited by insufficient education from childhood, was doomed to great âfeudal limitations,â but the young generation might break free from the framework and gain new life. The future belonged to them.
The steam engine on the train ignited!
Two workers in charge of adding coal removed their clothes, revealing their sturdy upper bodies, and shoveled coal into the boiler with iron shovels.
âWooh!â
âWooh!â
The trainâs whistle emitted a shrill sound. This wasnât the fake whistle imitation from the electric small train; it was a genuine whistle sound. At that sound, the most moved wasnât the little people, but Li Daoxuan, the Deity.
In his childhood, Li Daoxuanâs grandmother lived in Huangjue Tree Old Village, Beibei District, Shuangqing City. Beside the village ran an old railway, and coal-transporting trains always roared past home. Back then, every time he visited his grandmotherâs, he heard a real train whistle.
Sadly, time spared no one; his grandmother passed away, Huangjue Tree Old Street was demolished, the old train was phased out, and the tracks were abandoned.
After growing up, he rode either light rails or high-speed rails, unsure how many years it had been since he heard a genuine whistle. The electric small trains in scenic spots all had simulated whistles, lacking power and sounding fake.
Now, hearing the real whistle with its robust tone made his eyes tear up unintentionally.
The small train moved!
âIt moved! It moved!â
âIt really moved.â
The onlookers shouted excitedly: âSuch a big iron vehicle, weighing hundreds of thousands of pounds, could be powered just by boiling water.â
Madam Bai screamed wildly: âMy son succeeded, hahaha, my son succeeded⌠girls, cheer up!â
The girls she had paid for scattered colorful confetti: âYoung Master Bai is mighty!â
âYoung Master Bai is domineering!â
âYoung Master Baiâs invention is so wonderful.â
Young Master Bai glanced at the group in disgust and couldnât help but complain: âWhatâs all this fuss? Throwing paper everywhere will make cleaning later a pain!â
The small train accelerated, rumbling forward along the tracks. Its speed was much slower than the electric small train Li Daoxuan had placed down, like the first train in historyârunning very sluggishly, only eight kilometers per hour.
But it was enough. Once it started moving, it marked the beginning of a new era in human civilization.
Li Daoxuan was overjoyed and picked up the gold finger he had prepared long ago. With a snap, he detached a small golden ring.
He extended his golden hand and placed the golden ring before Young Master Bai.
People inside the box saw it clearly: the Deity had acted.
The golden hand descended, clutching a golden ring. Even without thinking, one could guess it was made of pure gold. Good gracious, a half-height gold ringâhow many ounces of gold was that?
Gao Yiye declared loudly: âBy the Deityâs order, Young Master Bai has made a major invention beneficial to all humanity. He shall be heavily rewarded with a gold ring. Everyone, take Young Master Bai as an example, and create more great inventions in all fields from now on.â
The crowd: âCongratulations to Young Master Bai!â
Gao Yiye then turned to Thirty-Two: âBy the Deityâs order, from today on, Gaojia Village enters a mode of large-scale railway construction. Hire many workers, build numerous railways, and connect all our key locations. Especially Qiachuan Port, which will be a crucial freight hubâensure train passage there as soon as possible. As for the immortal small train bestowed by the Deity, it will be gradually reclaimed and no longer provided for mortal use.â
Hearing the immortal small train would be taken back, everyone felt a bit wistful.
But this was long expected, especially by those educated, like Thirty-Two, Bai Yuan, and Liang Shixian. They had pondered this for ages. While items from the immortal realm were good, they were still immortalsâ objects, not meant for mortals. Sooner or later, theyâd be reclaimed. The Deity, in mercy, had let us use them for years. Now we must strive to make replacements ourselves.
Soon, Liang Shixian, Thirty-Two, and Feng Jun gathered together.
Liang Shixian said: âWe three must discuss properlyâwhich railway sections each will be responsible for.â
Feng Jun wiped off the nosebleed startled earlier by the big train moving: âThis official has limited manpower. Iâll focus on laying the thirty-mile railway from Heyang County to Qiachuan Port.â
Thirty-Two thought briefly and smiled: âFewer people in Gaojia Village are willing to do heavy labor like paving roads these days. I canât gather many hands, so Iâll oversee laying the railway from Gaojia Village to Heyang County.â
Liang Shixian responded: âThen Iâll handle the railway from Chengcheng County to Gaojia Village. However, I donât have enough workers either.â
Everyone was short of laborers now!
This was a serious issue.
Both Gaojia Village itself and Chengcheng County and Heyang County were undergoing large-scale construction. Over the years, operations expanded everywhere, demanding labor constantly. The problem was no longer insufficient supplies but a severe lack of people.
Thirty-Two gave a sidelong glance: âMagistrate Liang, werenât you secretly poaching workers from Bai Shui County and Dali County lately? How many have you managed to steal?â
Liang Shixian scratched his head awkwardly: âI did bring in many people, but a large iron mine was discovered at Yaotou Town in my area. Those I took from Bai Shui County were all sent digging in the mine. Iron mining requires so many hands too.â
Hearing about iron mining, no one dared criticize. Everyone present was just calculating how much iron was needed for hundreds of miles of track. If we aimed to stop asking the Deity for iron and become self-reliant, iron ore was crucial.
The leaders sighed deeply: âBefore, we thought there were too many people to feed; now itâs too few to meet needs. This is reallyâŚâ
Gao Sanwaâs head popped up nearby: â30 years Hedong, 30 years Hexi!â
The crowd: âDonât randomly quote proverbs!â