They boarded the boat from Beijing, walked along the Wei River, and were washed to Tongguan. Then, they began to climb upstream.
The ice on the Yellow River had broken, but it didn't mean that the weather was hot. From time to time, they could see small ice cubes on the river, as well as grass sticks and human and animal feces frozen on the ice. Floating and sinking planks, and the soaked corpses of some animals were all walking together into the sea when the river opened.
Zhang Xiaobao was very gratified that he didn't see plastic bags, instant noodles, or mineral water bottles. It meant that everyone cared about the environment. He praised, "Very good. Not throwing industrial products around means that the quality of our people has improved. Until now, I haven't seen a condom floating on the river."
"I'd rather see those messy things. At least it means that we can produce them. Do you think condoms are very low-tech? The material environment determines quality. When you go to the village and ask people to spit, you put paper in it and then throw it into the trash can. People want to listen, but you put trash cans on the side of the dirt road in the village? "
Wang Juan criticized Zhang Xiaobao's criticism of others.
Zhang Xiaobao said unconvinced, "Do you have canned food? Do you see any floating on the river? "
"Canned food is made of iron. Even if a rich family throws it away after eating it, the servants at home will still collect it. Ordinary people buy a few during the holidays, and after eating them, they still have to use them to make things. In order to build railways and fight wars, our family's canning factory stopped selling.
It's been almost ten years, right? We haven't developed a perfect industrial system yet. It's like a monk's hundred monk robes. Where there's a hole, there's a patch. It's developing according to our will.
What do you think will happen in ten years? I really want to live the same life as before. It's convenient to come and go. The difference in geographical location doesn't seem so sad. Look at how Pan 'er and the others cried when we left. Our parents and grandparents also cried.
If it was back then, as long as I was in the country and missed them, I would have flown over with a call. Now, I can only endure. "
As Wang Juan spoke, she became sad. When she came out, she didn't bring Pan 'er and her little sister. They were still too young, unlike Xiao Bei and the others who were a little older. Also, Ji Xiang, Ruyi, and the other three brats, Xiao Hong, had to stay at home.
This time, the environment they would be living in would be grasslands, deserts, gobi, and snowy mountains. Most people would not be able to withstand it, but Xiao Bei and the others were used to it. They were very adaptable.
Zhang Xiaobao also didn't want to be separated from his family, so he sighed and changed the topic, "Of course you won't delay at all. There are military planes for you to use. For a poor businessman like me, I can only take a private jet, which costs a lot of money every year.
Who knows what will happen in ten years? Perhaps there will be large passenger planes by then. We already have planes now. When we reach the place, we can take them out and let people fly. I don't think they can fly too high or too far. "
The happiest thing this year was that at the end of January, the gasoline engine was made. It was lighter than the diesel engine, and in the current situation where the technology was about the same, it had a higher speed.
So when it was successfully made, the first thing that Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan thought of was not that they could sit in a car, but that they could build a real plane.
In fact, they had already built a plane when there were diesel engines. They started with a model, the kind that used batteries, and then enlarged it. Then, they used a tractor to pull a glider in the direction of the wind.
Throughout this process, Wang Juan displayed a strong foundation of knowledge. Zhang Xiaobao could only help as an assistant. There were also many people who worked tirelessly, forgetting to eat and sleep. While they worked, they also had to systematically learn knowledge.
Physics, chemistry, and mathematics were compulsory courses for the new members of the Ministry of Works. As for politics, language, and foreign languages, they didn't need to know too much about it. It was a waste of time.
Especially foreign languages. In the future, the world's language would be the Tang language. In addition to other languages and archaeology, the children would have more time to themselves.
Before they left, five planes powered by gasoline engines had been built. Wang Juan and Zhang Xiaobao adopted the two-layer wing design step by step, which was the biplane.
As for the 'ugly' and 'impractical' design of the space shuttle, the two directly rejected it. Only children would play with it, and adults would use two-layer wings to look more mature.
Therefore, the five planes that hadn't taken off even once made Xiaobei feel that they were very similar to dragonflies flapping their wings.
This plane was only known to those who were actually Rank 3 and above. Others didn't know how advanced the technology of the Tang Empire was.
Even the officials who didn't get along with Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan didn't keep it a secret from them.
In the middle of February, the Minister of Revenue, Wang Bei, couldn't help but cry when he saw the glider being pulled up by a tractor, turning in the air, dropping bombs, and firing machine guns at the targets on the ground.
Although the bombs only hit one of the twenty targets, and the machine guns weren't accurate, he still cried with pride. For the first time, he realized that the Minister of Works, Zhang Zhong, was also very cool when flying the glider.
At that time, the others, including Li Longji, were shocked. The glider was much faster than the hot air balloon, and it was also more agile. Although the bombs weren't accurate, it should be quite effective when thrown into a crowd. The main purpose was to frighten the enemy. The enemy's generals would definitely be dumbfounded after seeing the glider. Where was a suitable place to put the tents?
Right now, the most important thing for Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan was to rush to the destination, assemble the glider, and test fly it. Of course, the two of them wouldn't personally go up to enjoy themselves. What if they fell to their deaths? When the glider flew into the sky, the road to heaven was never lonely. Countless heroes walked on it.
*****
As the fleet advanced upstream, many ships appeared on the river. A large number of cargo ships were mixed with a small number of passenger ships. The fishing boats still had to wait for 10 days to half a month for most of the floating objects on the river to be washed away.
However, the fishermen's income during the winter was not bad. Before the Yellow River was frozen, they had reared the last few fish they caught. During the Spring Festival, they sold them for a lot of money. They also caught a lot of fish from the ice.
In the past, they couldn't do anything. One was the sterilization and warmth of the fish pond, and the other was the oxygen supply. At that time, they didn't know that the fish in the water needed air to survive.
Instead, Zhang Xiaobao asked people to hang a few nets on the boats. He planned to catch a few good Yellow River carps for his brothers and sisters to eat in hot chili oil.
As Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan's fleets advanced, the other boats all made way for them. There was also the Iron Cavalry Camp on the shore, and they left a lot of horse dung on the road. They believed that after the dung was dried up, people would pick it up and bring it back to be used as fertilizer. Now that everyone knew how to use dung scientifically, they couldn't bear to throw it out.
The Ministry of Works' fertilizer wasn't used on all kinds of soil, and there wasn't much of it left. Zhang Xiaobao wanted to sell the fertilizer to other countries, but he didn't tell them the exact proportion of the fertilizer.
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