The second day of the second month has passed, and the giant dragon of Daxia is about to raise its head in the east.
The national key outline centered on economic development was first spread in Guanyun City with the conclusion of the economic forum summit.
This was undoubtedly like a huge rock falling into a calm lake, and the ripples it created then spread to the entire Xia Kingdom.
Businessmen were reassured, knowing that the best era of business was about to begin.
The common people also vaguely understood a little bit and knew that they could sell whatever they grew in their fields in the market.
Daxia's huge economic vitality will be released along with this ripple.
But today is only the sixth day of February, and the returning prefects have not yet returned to their prefectures, so the impact has not yet been reflected.
The harem of Guanyun City, Ci'an Palace.
"There's a problem with information dissemination right now." Fu Xiaoguan poured Xu Yunqing a cup of tea and said to Dong Shulan, "The country's policies rely entirely on officials to post them... Firstly, there are limitations. Secondly, if lower-level officials pretend to obey or misinterpret the meaning, wouldn't that lead to mistakes?"
Dong Shulan patted Xu Yunqing's back and laughed, "What can we do about this? Unless we build that train you mentioned that can travel 800 miles a day, we'll have to rely on carriages and horses to deliver messages, which is naturally slow."
Fu Xiaoguan thought about it and realized that the fastest way to transmit information at present was through Tianji Pavilion, which used specially trained carrier pigeons, but this kind of information was usually extremely important.
It may take more than a month for the policies of the national center to reach the more remote provinces through official mail. It may take several more days for these provinces to respond after receiving the news.
It seems that the construction of the railway needs to be put on the agenda.
In addition, in order to let the people know about the affairs of the national center of Guanyun City, it is time to establish a propaganda agency for Daxia.
Let’s start with the newspaper. Thinking of this, Fu Xiaoguan could no longer sit still.
"Mom, Shulan, I have something to do in the imperial study. I'll be back for dinner."
"Come on, Shulan, go get Wenyun and the others, and let's play a few rounds of mahjong."
"OK."
…
…
Fu Xiaoguan brought Liu Jin to the imperial study and said, "Go and invite Lord Meng... and Minister Wei from the Ministry of Works."
"I obey your order!"
After Liu Jin left, Fu Xiaoguan took a piece of paper, took out a charcoal pencil and started drawing on it.
He was drawing a train. He didn't know what the cab would look like, so he first drew the carriage - a rectangular box with a few wheels underneath. He thought that would be enough, and left the rest to Qin Chengye to tinker with.
With the steam engine, it probably wouldn't be too difficult to make this thing.
Not long after, Meng Changping and Wei Chang arrived at the imperial study.
The two sat down, their eyes falling on the paper. Fu Xiaoguan didn't look up, he continued to draw, and said to them as he drew: "This thing is a train. This is a concept map, which means it's a rough sketch. I'll tell you some of the details later..."
"The two tracks below are made of steel. The roadbed is paved with gravel, and then there are sleepers on top... They're made of wood of the same specifications. They're wide... Let Qin Chengye and the others calculate the width of the track. It needs to ensure that the train won't derail when turning..."
With Fu Xiaoguan's explanation, the sketch was completed. It was really a bit rough because he really didn't know the other structures of the train.
"Tell Qin Chengye that the steam engine will be used as the power source to drive these iron wheels to pull the train. They're all made of iron, so the steam engine needs to be powerful enough. The front of the train needs to have brakes and power control devices. Also... you can add a similar front of the train to the back. If you encounter a hill, the rear of the train can help push it. That's basically it. Let them study it first, and then solve the problems one by one."
The two ministers looked at Fu Xiaoguan in surprise. So this thing is the train that His Majesty mentioned at the Economic Forum Summit?
Can this iron lump dragging a string of iron sheds travel eight hundred miles a day?
Is he talking in his sleep?!
Wouldn't it be lighter to build this shed out of wood?
Besides... such a big thing, will it run quietly on these two tracks?
Forget it, there is no need to persuade His Majesty, as long as he is happy.
Fu Xiaoguan was quite satisfied with the sketch. He then marked some important things on it and handed it to Wei Chang. "Go down first and sort out this and what I just told you. Send it to Qin Chengye at the Institute of Science."
"...I obey the decree."
Wei Chang took this thing back to the Ministry of Works and was fascinated by it. This attracted many officials from the Ministry of Works. After listening to Wei Shangshu's explanation, they all opened their mouths in astonishment.
"Is that possible?"
"Speaking of which... that steam engine is indeed very powerful. It can drive such a large warship across the sea, so it should be able to tow this iron lump."
"How can it be the same at sea and on land? At sea, warships are subject to buoyancy. Didn't His Majesty once explain this? He said it's called mechanics. Propelling a warship requires overcoming the resistance of the seawater, which is infinitely smaller than on land."
"Your statement is also incorrect. Look, Your Majesty is designing a train. The wheels of this train are on these rails. The friction there is infinitely less than on muddy ground. If the steam engine is made large enough, theoretically it should have no problem dragging this piece of iron along the track."
“…”
For a while, the Ministry of Industry debated the feasibility of this train. Unfortunately, no one had been hit on the head by an apple. Although they had a concept of mechanics in their minds, no one had worked out a series of calculation formulas and axioms and theorems.
In the imperial study, Fu Xiaoguan and Meng Changping talked about newspapers.
He took another piece of paper and wrote the four big words "Daxia Daily" at the top.
"Newspapers are used to convey news happening in Guanyun City to the people of the world. So-called news means the latest news." "Look, this is the front page. This is where the national policies, the strategies of officials at all levels, and other important matters are reported."
"As for the rest of the pages...if there's not so much important news, you can write about interesting things happening in Guanyun City, or perhaps interviews with certain companies or businesses. Do you understand what I mean?"
Do I understand what Your Majesty means?
Meng Changping struggled to digest it for a moment before nodding. "It's like a record, recording the major events that happen every day in the court and in Guanyun City. Is that what you mean?"
"It's pretty much the same. Apart from the major policies, which must be rigorous, the rest can be a bit more lighthearted, otherwise the people won't want to read it. For example... you can write about an official's private affairs, but it has to be harmless and not fabricated."
Meng Changping was stunned. Can it be done this way?
That’s right, write about real things that people like, so that the newspaper can sell!
Who should I ask to do this?
"I think that Wen Daxueshi's two sons, Wen Xiuzhong and Wen Xingzhao, can be the editors-in-chief of the Daxia Daily."
Meng Changping grinned, "That's a good idea!"
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