Chapter 516: Chapter 301: Successful Train Test Run_1
North Country.
New Yan County.
Train station, entrance.
By now, the train station entrance was packed with people, as the newspapers of North Country had already published articles about the invention of the train the day before.
The common folk didn't understand what a train was; it was their first time hearing about it. However, after seeing the introduction to the train in the newspapers, they all developed a strong interest in it.
At the moment, the common folk at the scene were fervently discussing the content of yesterday's Yan County newspaper.
"Do you think it's true that there is a carriage that can move without horses pulling it?"
"It's said to be invented by the North Prince Mansion. I think it might be true. Look, the Prince is here. If it were fake, wouldn't the Prince be embarrassed?"
"The newspaper says this train can travel two hundred kilometers in a day and it doesn't need to rest. Two hundred kilometers a day, without horses? It seems a bit too far-fetched."
"Whether it's true or not, we'll know soon enough."
…
While the common folk were discussing, the sound of a steam train's whistle came from afar.
"Toot~~~!"
The people, who had never heard the sound of a train whistle before, instantly became restless.
However, when the common folk saw that the North Prince remained calmly standing on the train platform, they quickly quieted down.
If the North Prince wasn't panicking, then it probably wasn't anything serious.
At that moment, the crowd suddenly became agitated again.
"Look over there!"
"It's coming; it's coming; it's really a carriage with no horses!"
"My heavens! This carriage is so big and long; how much stuff can it haul in one trip!"
"If the North Country had such carriages connecting all its cities in the future, wouldn't we be able to easily travel to other cities?"
"What carriage? Didn't you read the newspaper yesterday? This is called a train!"
…
At this moment, the minds of the members of the various major merchant groups in the crowd were racing.
They made money mainly through regional differences or timing differences. Now that the North Country had such a convenient mode of transport, their horse-drawn carriages were bound to become obsolete.
If the railroads of North Country could be extended to the major dynasties in the future, and if they continued to cooperate with the North Prince Mansion, their goods would not need to take months to reach other places - only a few days or at most about ten days.
This transportation tool named "train" could certainly lead the world towards revolution.
Only…
Would the North Prince Mansion really agree to cooperate with them?
After all, this train looked so mysterious and its hauling capacity was terrifying, not to mention its speed. It was obviously intended for military purposes. With such trains, the ability of the North Country to transport troops towards a certain place in the future would be greatly enhanced.
No matter what happened on the North Country's border, as long as there were railway tracks, the North Country's army could reach the location in the shortest time possible.
In this era of warfare, what they valued was the speed of troop deployment.
Although it was uncertain whether the North Prince would use the train for civilian transportation, people from various major trade caravans still planned to try and talk with the North Prince Mansion. What if the North Prince agreed?
At this moment.
In the crowd, a cold-looking woman dressed in white with black trimmings quietly observed the black train not far away. Her pupils slightly contracted. She was clearly shocked by the North Country's train.
Murong Xue'er muttered to herself, "Who exactly is the North Prince to create such a thing?"
The train was obviously not of this world, or rather, this world should not have such things. Furthermore, according to the intelligence, there were mysterious weapons in the North Country. It was apparent that the North Country still had many things that the people of this world had never seen before.
Murong Xue'er now even believed that the rumors of the North Prince being a disciple of the immortal might be true. Otherwise, how could those things created by the North Prince Mansion appear in this world?
All the major dynasties had developed for thousands, even tens of thousands of years, and they had never seen anything like those created by the North Prince Mansion. Yet, it wasn't long since the North Prince arrived in the North Country, and the North Prince Mansion had already created various things that had never existed in this world before.
At this time, Murong Xue'er couldn't help but doubt whether she could complete the task given by the Empress. She had been in the North Country for some time now, almost a year, but she still couldn't get close to the North Prince.
Given the current rate of development in the North Country, it probably wouldn't be long before the overall strength of the North Country completely overwhelmed the Da Yue Dynasty. Although the North Country still imported a large amount of food from Great Jue, Murong Xue'er had also heard that the North Country had developed many high-yield food crops.
Watching the steel behemoth slowly approaching in the distance, Murong Xue'er made up her mind to take the time to contact Lu Chen. She must dig out all the secrets of Lu Chen. In the future, he would be the Empress's greatest enemy. They must uncover the secrets of the North Country's strength so they could find a way to cope.
Lu Chen stood on the platform, looking at the train drawing closer. He turned his head and smiled at his wives beside him, "What do you think of my train?"
At this time, Lu Chen's women were still in a daze. Although they had long heard about this kind of horseless train, seeing it with their own eyes still left them immensely shocked.
Mu Zixuan then snapped back to reality, looked at Lu Chen, and said, "Your Highness, will all cities have a direct train to Yan County in the future?"
Lu Chen said, "Yes, in the future, if we want to go to any city in the North Country, it will only take a few hours by train, at most a day or two."
"Of course, the railway will not only be laid in the North Country. Someday, the railway will cover the important cities of Great Sum and span the major dynasties."
Upon hearing these words, the women felt a jolt in their hearts. It seemed for the first time they were truly aware of Lu Chen's ambition.
Although they had long known that Lu Chen was ambitious and would achieve great feats in the future, he rarely showed it in front of them. The image Lu Chen presented to them was merely that of a libertine.
Now that Lu Chen spoke of extending the railway to the major dynasties, did that not mean that he intended to unify all dynasties one day?
In fact, Lu Chen thought that once the people of this world realized the various uses of the train, they would inevitably seek to cooperate with the North Country and then the major dynasties would follow suit by laying railways. His previous words showed no sign of his ambition; it was completely his wives who were overthinking.
As the train gradually arrived at the station, some craftsmen from Great Yu City got off, and the first to disembark was Mo Xing.
Upon seeing Lu Chen, Mo Xing excitedly approached him, "I bow before Your Majesty!"
Lu Chen said, "Rise."
"Mo Xing, you have made a great contribution. Your name will go down in history!"
Hearing this, Mo Xing replied, "I dare not take credit. All of this is Your Highness's achievement. Without Your Highness's blueprints, I could not have built this era-transcending vehicle!"
Lu Chen said, "I plan to establish a Bureau of Transportation. You will be the director of the bureau from now on. You will be responsible for all the railway construction and train upgrades in the North Country."
Upon hearing this, Mo Xing was momentarily stunned, then, realizing what it meant, knelt again, "I will surely not let down Your Highness's expectations!"
...