Chapter 494: What? Boiling Water?
Chapter 489 of "The Great Ming in the Box" kicks off revealing secrets: Shi Kefa soon arrived at Heyang County.Heyang’s County Magistrate Feng Jun greeted him outside the... Keep reading!
Shi Kefa soon arrived at Heyang County.Heyang’s County Magistrate Feng Jun greeted him outside the city walls. After exchanging courtesies, Shi Kefa’s very first question, cutting straight to the point, was: “What’s the price of grain here?”
Feng Jun stiffened momentarily at the abrupt question but quickly composed himself to reply: “Eighty coins per dou.”
Shi Kefa: “Indeed, eighty coins already? That price is level with average years. The food yield has doubled, yet the grain price matches ordinary years without plummeting precisely because of outward shipments and accepting so many refugees, correct?”
Feng Jun felt a little spooked by this barrage right to his face. He thought inwardly: This prefecture judge from Xi’an starts off with an investigatory tone as soon as he opens his mouth. Is he already suspecting me? Bad news! I’ve managed to cheat those above me and deceive those below me, surviving until now through great effort. If the court gets suspicious and sends troops to suppress me, I… Ah! Don’t panic! Don’t panic! I’ve already moved all my family members here. At worst, I can hide behind Deity’s golden hand.
Shi Kefa: “Lord Feng? Why’s your nose bleeding?”
Feng Jun reached out and wiped — swoosh — the blood was cleanly gone: “It’s nothing, nothing. Just a minor ailment since childhood. Nothing serious.”
Just as they were talking here, the woo woo woo whistle sounded. A colossal iron vehicle, clunking sound, arrived before Heyang County’s gates.
Shi Kefa was greatly startled: “What is that?”
Feng Jun: “That’s the small train from Chengcheng County’s Gaojia Village to Heyang County. You’ve arrived at the perfect time; it just started running yesterday! Ah, creating that railway between our two places was no small feat. Tens of thousands of laborers were mobilized, working desperately for months.”
Shi Kefa was completely dumbfounded. What train? What railway? He understood none of it.
Feng Jun: “Sir, are you sending these thirty thousand elderly and weak, women and children from Heyang County to Gaojia Village? About forty li—it’s not terribly far. They can walk it. But Governor Shi, why not travel lighter yourselves? Take the train. You could also pick a thousand people with weaker constitutions or slower pace from among the elderly and weak, women and children to take the train. That way, they won’t hold back the large procession.”
Shi Kefa: “What? It can transport a thousand people at once? This… could this be a magical car bestowed by the Deity?”
Hearing the words “Deity” from his mouth, Feng Jun felt a wave of relief. So you know of the Deity? He had worried Shi Kefa might see him as some White Lotus demon once he learned about him. Since you know as well, I’m less afraid now.
Rushing with pride, he explained: “Previously, the Deity bestowed a magical car that could run 240 li in two hours. But later, Young Master Bai from Gaojia Village invented the steam train. Now even we mortals can build them! Though, the steam trains made by mortals are a bit slower than the magical car. They only manage 60 li in two hours. Getting from here to Gaojia Village takes most of two hours’ time.”
Shi Kefa was utterly astonished. A vehicle carrying a thousand people moves sixty li in just two hours? What terrifying monstrosity is this? And it’s not heavenly bestowed, but something mortals can build?
“This thing,” declared Shi Kefa, suddenly intrigued, “I must try it. Very well. I shall accompany the first train to Gaojia Village. I’ll also select the thousand slowest elderly and weak, women and children to ride along. The remaining twenty-nine thousand will slowly march there under the guard of my soldiers.”
Feng Jun cupped his hands respectfully.
Soon, Shi Kefa boarded the small train.
This small train was the very first steam train built by Young Master Bai. Originally capable of only about eight kilometers per hour, after test runs, Young Master Bai continuously optimized it. He constantly improved the efficiency of the steam engine and the transmission shaft’s transmission efficiency. By now, it could reach speeds of fifteen kilometers per hour.
Its railway tracks had only recently been laid in multiple sections simultaneously. Construction ran simultaneously from Gaojia Village toward Heyang County and from Heyang County toward Gaojia Village. The two sections of track had only been connected the previous day, completing the line for its inaugural run.
The track-building process forced the Gaojia Village blacksmiths to grasp the meaning of “standardization” firsthand. Tracks must be standardized! If one piece was made thick by one person, and another thin by someone else, they couldn’t be joined.
Thus, Song Yingxing, working with skilled artisans, unified the measuring tools. Blacksmiths from Gaojia Village and all blacksmiths from Heyang County publicly adopted a specific ruler. They set its unit as a standard called “one meter,” ensuring everyone built the tracks according to this consistent measure.
The “Standardization” technical document previously sent down by the Deity was thus put into practical use. The measurement “meter” began serving as the new unit of length in Gaojia Village and Heyang County. All artisans, whether blacksmiths or carpenters, started using this standard for their crafts.
Standardization began boosting the efficiency of all work.
The production speed of breech-loading rifles suddenly accelerated.
Naturally, Shi Kefa knew nothing of these developments. He only knew a thousand people were crammed onto this enormous, bizarre vehicle. Then the strange vehicle gave a wooooo sound and began moving forward with a clunking sound.
That such a huge thing, loaded with so many people, could actually run without being pulled by oxen or horses, relying solely on a sooty great engine, filled Shi Kefa with profound amazement.
Simultaneously, his ingrained Imperial Guards instinct of “investigative surveillance” couldn’t be suppressed. He couldn’t help but move out of the passenger compartment toward the lead engine.
As a high-ranking official, he was already seated in the very first passenger carriage. Walking to the front of the carriage and pulling open a small door afforded him a view of the engine.
The two carriages were connected by a large iron hook. The speed was fifteen kilometers per hour – not fast. At this pace, he felt confident. Summoning his courage, he jumped across the coupling hook and landed within the engine compartment. He pulled open its small door and crawled inside.
Immediately upon entry, a wave of heat assaulted his face.
Two middle-aged men, stripped to the waist, were wielding large shovels, heaping coal into a massive furnace. Sweat poured off them; their bodies were smudged black, only their eyes gleaming brightly.
Shi Kefa: “Eh? This vehicle… it runs by burning coal?”
The two stokers initially wanted to lose their tempers and curse this “unauthorized” intruder. But seeing his official garments, they dared not. They merely said together: “Non-essential personnel are forbidden from entering the engine compartment! It’s dangerous here. Get out!”
Shi Kefa: “Your lord just wants a look. I’ll only look twice and be gone.”
The stokers were torn between exasperation and helplessness. “What’s worth looking at? Burning water, that’s all! The steam bursts out, pushes the mechanism, which turns the wheels. Simple as that, really.”
Shi Kefa: “What? Eh? Eh? Boiling water?”
His eyes followed the pipes rising above the large furnace… no, he couldn’t make heads or tails of it. What terrifying contraption was this?