Chapter 539: This Ming Dynasty is the real prosperous era (fifth update, please subscribe)

The train roared, spewing thick black smoke, running through the mountains of Araucania. Although it was April, it was autumn in the southern hemisphere, and the slightly cool wind blowing into the carriage from the window made people feel relaxed and happy.

The railway from Linhai to Nanhua was laid along the Central Valley. The railway first passed through the mountains along the west coast, and then through the vast hilly Central Valley, and entered the Andes Mountains on the east. It took almost four years to complete the railway. From the time it was completed, this Pacific Railway became the lifeline of Nanhua - immigrant ships could directly reach Linhai through the Pacific Ocean, and then transport immigrants to various parts of Nanhua by train. In fact, in the past few years, Nanhua has built an average of more than 1,500 kilometers of railways each year. The vast Pampas grassland has been railwayized. Along the railway, collective farms stand on the grassland. Immigrants have built a large number of irrigation projects on the grassland - dams, water diversion channels, reservoirs, and hundreds of drainage and irrigation stations using steam pumps, reclaiming tens of millions of acres of fertile land.

All of this was unfamiliar to Yung Wing, Li Jingfang and their companions who had just arrived in Ming Dynasty. After the train passed through the thrilling "Devil's Nose" and drove out of the Andes Mountains, the endless "Xinxia Plain", also known as the Pampas, appeared before their eyes, and all they could see was green.

The flocks of sheep in the distance were dotted on the grassland like white clouds in the sky. Going further, the grassland turned yellow - that was the golden color of wheat. The surface of the artificial river was sparkling, and willow trees and other woods grew on both sides of the river.

In the agricultural planning of the Ming Dynasty, although the basic principle of planting along the river was formulated, in order to conserve water and soil, not only was the basic principle of prohibiting reclamation within 500 meters on both sides of the river planned, but also a 200-meter prohibited reclamation zone was planned on both sides of the artificial river used for irrigation. At the same time, planners deliberately set up the riverside as a "landscape belt" as a place for people to relax and have fun. There are not only flowers and trees on both sides of the river, but also a small number of pavilions and towers on the river banks near some cities. To some extent, riverside parks are the characteristics of the Ming Dynasty.

Although he had never been to Ming Dynasty, the rivers he saw along the way seemed to have been deliberately improved. After discovering this, Yung Wing was a little curious.

"I never thought that the Ming Dynasty would have such leisure time."

Looking at the scenery on the river bank outside the car, Yung Wing secretly admired it in his heart. Such scenery could not be seen in the Qing Dynasty. Perhaps there were countless scenic spots in the Qing Dynasty. However, those desolate and dilapidated towns could never compare with this one. Everywhere along the way, the buildings were neat, the roads were flat, and the streets in the villages were clean. It was a world of difference.

"Perhaps, this is the true atmosphere of the Celestial Empire..."

For some reason, this thought popped up in Yung Wing's mind. This thought made him panic for no reason. He even looked at the eldest son with a little worry, only to see that the eldest son was immersed in the scenery outside the car and didn't notice him at all.

Not bad, not bad.

Maybe I can't let my imagination run wild like this anymore.

Rong Hong secretly reminded himself in his heart. But along the way, his heart could not calm down for a long time, especially when he saw the peaceful and prosperous world that seemed like a paradise on earth.

It is inevitable that you will have random thoughts and think about things that you shouldn’t think about.

Two days later, when the train approached Nanyuan, the largest iron and steel industrial zone in the Ming Dynasty, the scene before their eyes had changed dramatically. The towering chimneys spewed black smoke. This industrial zone not only had a lot of chimneys, but also had more than a dozen tall iron-making blast furnaces. The black and white smoke almost covered the sky. Even when the same train passed by, a strong smell of rotten eggs could be smelled in the air. When this strange smell produced by coking rushed into Yung Wing's nose, he coughed repeatedly and quickly covered his nose to hold his breath.

"Mr. Rong, this is the taste of industrialization!"

Li Jingfang looked at this magnificent industrial area. Instead of being choked by the smell of rotten eggs, he smelled the smell produced when the coking plant used coal to make coke.

He even took a deep breath, closed his eyes and felt it all, then stared outside the car and said.

"One day, outside Xuzhou City, there will definitely be scenery like this, Mr. Rong."

In fact, there are similar factories in the area from Xuzhou to Haizhou. The Liguoyi Iron Works in the north of Xuzhou is also magnificent. The ironworks founded by Zhao Tianfeng produces nearly 100,000 tons of wrought iron annually. Countless people have sighed after seeing the ironworks: There is no such ironworks in the eastern half of the earth, within the Asian region, outside of China.

The Xuzhou Manufacturing Bureau and the Haizhou Shipyard are both first-class factories in Asia in terms of scale. In addition to the coal mines in Lieshan, the Textile Bureau, Telegraph Bureau, Railway Bureau and China Merchants Shipping Bureau in Xuzhou, in the past few years, under the pressure of war, Governor Li's Westernization Office has become larger in scale and has gone further than in history.

There was no other reason, because the Heavenly Kingdom went further - the ironworks and shipyards near Nanjing were also large-scale, and they even hired managers and engineers from Nanhua. Under the pressure of the Heavenly Kingdom, even if there were many conservatives in the court who criticized Governor Li, the court did not dare to criticize too much. After all, if Governor Li could not stop the Heavenly Kingdom, the Aisin-Gioro family would lose the world.

However, even so, the scale was far less than one-tenth of that of the Ming Dynasty. Faced with the overwhelming industrial atmosphere, Li Jingfang was shocked unprecedentedly. As the son of the governor, he thought more.

But what do you think more about?

Of course - what the Ming people can do, they can do too.

The next morning, the train finally entered Nanhua's territory. As the train slowed down and entered the station, the train attendant shouted:

"We've arrived at Nanhua East Station! We've arrived at the final stop..."

Finally, they arrived at Nanhua. Although Li Jingfang and his friends knew that they had entered Nanhua when more buildings appeared outside the train, they still seemed a little excited as they were about to get off the train.

Passengers poured out of the train like a tide, and Yung Wing and his party also got off the train in the crowd. However, the staff of the American Company who was responsible for receiving them did not let them leave with the passengers.

"Mr. Rong, let's take another passage."

It has to be said that privileges are everywhere, no matter where you are. When ordinary passengers were leaving the train station through the crowded exit, more than 100 members of the Qing Dynasty's Ming Dynasty Children's Group had already walked out of the train station through a special channel.

(End of this chapter)