“There are wires on the train too?”
"Yes. Each train has a six-mile-long wire. This way, within a ten-mile radius, if a train breaks down anywhere, it can be connected to the telegraph booth in time."
"But."
Su Shi quickly thought of a loophole and said, "What if there is no time to report to the platform, or the next train has already departed?"
"That's why the imperial court arranged a trip every hour and a half, and restored Xinye County, which had been abolished during the Tang Dynasty."
The businessman laughed.
"Why?"
Su Shi was puzzled.
"Do you know how far a train can go in an hour?"
"have no idea."
"About a little while."
"I see."
Su Shi suddenly realized: "The distance between each platform must be less than this mile, so if a train breaks down, the previous train must not have reached the previous station yet."
"Yes."
The merchant said, "To be precise, it should be two stations ahead. Each station on the Beijing-Xiangyang Railway is approximately 110 li apart. If the first train departs an hour and a half later, the second train is at least 300 li behind. Even including the time it spends at various stations, the distance will not be less than 300 li, so the second train must be two stations behind. Originally, the most suitable schedule would be one train every hour, but for safety reasons, the court still uses one train every hour and a half to completely eliminate the possibility of a collision."
This issue was first discussed by Zhao Jun and Zhao Zhen. The telegraph had not yet been invented at that time, and they were very worried about communication between trains.
Once a fault occurs, if the following train is not notified in time, a rear-end collision may occur.
So in the early days, the Beijing-Xiangyang Railway ran a train every three hours, which means there were only four trains a day, in order to prevent such things from happening.
But not long after, Zhao Zhen developed the telegraph, which enabled long-distance communication.
However, a telegraph is not a telephone after all, and it is difficult to install wires on a train to operate it, so a telegraph kiosk was adopted.
It happened that when the Song Dynasty built the railway line, there was a patrol booth every ten miles. Because the steel used in the railway was very expensive at that time, a pound of steel was comparable to a pound of copper, and people in some places would steal the rails.
Therefore, there were railway soldiers guarding all along the railway line, so that the patrol booths where the railway soldiers were stationed could connect to the wires on the train and send telegrams on the train - telegraph machines were still too expensive, and it was impossible to equip every patrol booth with one.
The stations along the Beijing-Xiangyang Railway are Xiangyang Station, Xinye Station, Nanyang Station, Fangcheng Station, Yexian Station, Xiangcheng Station, Xuchang Station, Weishi Station and Kaifeng Station. The distance between each station is exactly about 60 kilometers.
At present, the maximum speed of the Song Dynasty's steam locomotive can actually reach more than 100 kilometers per hour, but the Ministry of Railways stipulates that the speed must be maintained at 6070 kilometers per hour. Including the time spent at stops, the speed is about 50 kilometers per hour.
Three hours is enough time for the front train to overtake the rear train by at least two stations. Once a vehicle breaks down and stops, the train will have a time warning of two stations, and can stop the entire line instantly.
Although doing so can easily cause a large number of train delays, because sometimes the train is often overloaded and overheated, causing malfunctions, and can be started again after stopping to rest for a while.
But once it stops, all the trains behind it will be unable to start, and the delay is often several hours.
But there is nothing we can do about it.
For safety reasons, we can only use such an inefficient method. Perhaps the problem can be solved in the future when wireless communication is possible.
"So that's how it is. The people at the Ministry of Railways are really smart."
Su Shi was amazed.
"Since the imperial court has done all this, it must have considered everything carefully. How could it disregard human lives?"
Although Su Xun was hearing this for the first time, it did not prevent him from educating his two sons. He said, "You should think more carefully when thinking about problems in the future, and never speak without thinking."
"It's my father."
The Su Shi brothers responded.
Then Su Shi looked at the merchant and said, "You are very capable, my dear sir. You even calculated that the last train would lag behind the first one by two stations."
The businessman waved his hand and smiled, "That's nothing. I'm a well-traveled businessman and have taken trains many times. Plus, being a businessman requires some math skills. I'll figure it out with a little thought."
"I'd also like to ask, how do these wires send telegrams?"
Su Shi asked again.
He is very curious.
"Forehead"
The businessman scratched his head and said, "I don't know about that. I heard that it has something to do with the physics that the government advocates."
"The Way of Physics?"
Su Shi thought for a moment and said, "Some newspapers from Chengdu came to Meizhou before, and I seem to have read about this. I heard that there are schools in Chengdu that teach this. What a pity..."
It's a pity that he didn't learn it.
"Although Chengdu Prefecture is a thriving commercial hub, it's too far from Bianliang, so it's understandable that it's not well-informed. If you're interested in the ways of physics, you can learn about them in Bianliang."
The businessman said something.
He looked Su Xun up and down again, then asked, "Sir, are you going to the capital for the examination and appointment?"
"Your Excellency has a good eye."
Su Xun did not deny it.
He did not bring any servants with him this time because he wanted to keep a low profile, but he did not expect to be seen through.
But he was not surprised. Merchants travel all over the country and have good eyesight. Besides, trains are not something that ordinary people can ride, so it is normal for him to see that he is an official.
The merchant said to Su Xun, "You are very intelligent. Perhaps you can try to take the Bianliang High School entrance examination while you are in Beijing. Mathematics, physics, and chemistry are gradually being added to the imperial examinations, and they account for a significant portion of your score. If you don't learn them, it will be difficult for you to pass the imperial examinations in the future."
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