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The main structure of the carriage was made of wood, and only the wheels and part of the base were made of iron. Therefore, the carriage was not very heavy, far less than the iron carriages of later generations.
In this way, as long as Li Longji and dozens of ministers boarded the carriage, the total weight of the carriage would increase a lot, which required more manpower to drive the carriage.
In order to ensure that the carriage could travel on the railway at a higher speed, Ang Lee added six more male servants, making a total of eighteen people responsible for driving the carriage.
This was also calculated in advance by Ang Lee. The driving force provided by eighteen people was enough to pull the carriage and dozens of people.
In order to facilitate boarding and alighting, the carriage was designed to be in the middle of the side. There were six rows of seats in the front and back. The seats in the front row were wrapped in leather and mattresses. Sitting on them was as comfortable as sitting on a sofa. There was a small space in front of the front row, where one could stretch one's legs at will. It was the most comfortable position. The seats in the back row were simple wooden cushions, which were slightly less comfortable.
Li Longji boarded the carriage with the help of two little eunuchs, followed by Gao Lishi, followed by Ang Lee and dozens of ministers. They boarded the carriage in order according to their positions.
Seeing the interior of the carriage, everyone was surprised. They had never seen such a structure before. After all, the carriages on the land were very small, but Ang Lee's carriage was very large and had 48 seats. The scene was luxurious.
"Your Majesty, you sit in the front row."
Of course, Ang Lee would leave the best position for Li Longji. Moreover, the four seats in the front row were all reserved for Li Longji. In the Tang dynasty, no minister could sit on the same level as Li Longji.
However, except for Li Longji, no one dared to sit down casually. When the Emperor was present, unless the Emperor bestowed a seat, no one was allowed to sit down casually. This was the imperial power of the feudal era. No one was allowed to touch it.
"Dear ministers, please take a seat!"
Of course, Li Longji would not let the ministers stand in the carriage. He was very good to them.
According to their positions, the high-ranking officials sat down first, followed by the low-ranking officials. After a while, all the officials finally sat down.
Although Ang Lee's position was not the highest among the ministers, he needed to explain the situation in the carriage to Li Longji. Therefore, he sat behind Li Longji, and the seat beside him was empty.
"Great General, have a seat too! Sit right next to me. "
Li Longji politely asked Gao Lishi to sit down as well. His old servant was not young anymore, and it would be more strenuous for him to stand on the carriage.
"Your Majesty, I can stand..."
Gao Lishi declined..
"Great General, please sit down! Otherwise, His Majesty will be unhappy. "
Ang Lee answered.
Gao Lishi went to the second row and sat beside Ang Lee. He was the emperor's servant, so he could not sit with the emperor. Moreover, there were so many ministers in the carriage.
Seeing that all the ministers were seated, Ang Lee opened the silk curtain and ordered loudly, "Okay, start the carriage. Let's go."
Hearing the order, the eighteen male servants began to step on the pedals, slowly starting the carriage and pulling it forward.
"Hey, it's moving. It's really moving."
"It seems that the carriage in front can really pull so many people!"
"This carriage is not only stable, but it can also pull more people. The only drawback is that the rails consume too much iron."
"Yes! Yes! The Tang dynasty has thousands of miles of mountains and rivers. If they were all paved with rails, how much iron would it take?! "
When the carriage was slowly moving, all the ministers discussed in private. In the Tang dynasty, where materials were relatively scarce, it was not strange for the ministers to have such doubts.
Li Longji lay comfortably on the seat and felt the carriage slowly speed up. When the speed was stable, he slowly looked out of the carriage.
"Not bad. It is indeed more stable than a horse carriage. The carriage is also more powerful. I don't have to worry about the horses being frightened. I like it very much."
Li Longji felt that this man-powered carriage was so comfortable that he had a plan in mind.
"Thank you for your praise, Your Majesty. I will continue to work hard and make the carriage better."
Li An knew that Li Longji would definitely like him, but he didn't expect Li Longji to praise him in front of so many ministers. This was something he didn't expect.
Li Longji nodded with satisfaction. He looked at Li Linfu behind him and said, "Right Prime Minister, are there iron mines in the Guanzhong area?"
Li Linfu was shocked when he heard this. This time, he accompanied Li Longji to inspect the iron mines. Li Longji and Ang Lee were the absolute protagonists. He, the head of the ministers, became a relatively secondary person. In addition, he did not know much about these things that Ang Lee was doing. Therefore, he just smiled and agreed with his colleagues along the way. He did not take the initiative to make any suggestions, nor did he dare to say anything to avoid exposing his ignorance.
"Your Majesty, there are nine iron mines in the Guanzhong area. Five of them are being exploited, and the other four are not exploited."
Li Linfu did not know much about culture, but he knew a lot about the imperial court. He even knew how many iron mines there were in the Guanzhong area. When Li Longji asked him, he could answer directly.
Therefore, Li Longji had always been favored, not only because of flattery and flattery. He also had some skills, which made Li Longji feel comfortable using him.
"Oh, there are so many. How about the reserves?"
Li Longji did not care about these details of the imperial court. He did not expect that there were so many iron mines in the Guanzhong area. However, he was more concerned about the reserves of these iron mines.
"Reserves?"
Li Linfu was stunned for a moment and replied honestly, "Your Majesty, according to the current mining progress, these iron mines will not be exhausted in thousands of years. One of the iron mines has been exploited since the pre-Qin Dynasty. Until now, only a corner of the mountain has been exploited. Our Tang Dynasty is rich in resources, and the resources are inexhaustible."
Li Longji was overjoyed when he heard this. "In this case, as long as we use gunpowder to explode the ore, we can get a lot of iron. As long as there is enough iron, it will be possible to lay railway tracks on the road."
"Your Majesty, as long as gunpowder is used, the mining speed of the iron ore will increase exponentially. I believe that our Tang Dynasty will have inexhaustible iron. At that time, it will be completely possible to lay railway tracks."
Ang Lee said affirmatively. He had envisioned this situation many times. As long as there was no problem with the production of gunpowder, the mining speed of the iron ore would be guaranteed. Once there was a large amount of iron, there would naturally be no shortage of raw materials for laying railway tracks.
Li Longji agreed with this very much. He looked at Ang Lee and urged, "Assistant Minister Li, if we want to lay railway tracks on the road, we must have enough iron. Our Tang Dynasty does not lack iron. As long as you configure enough gunpowder in the gunpowder workshop, the mining efficiency of the iron ore will be greatly increased, and there will be no problem with the raw materials needed for laying railway tracks. Therefore, Assistant Minister Li has a heavy burden on his shoulders. You must work hard to configure more gunpowder."
"Yes, Your Majesty. I understand. I will redouble my efforts to configure enough gunpowder as soon as possible so that there will be no shortage of raw materials for laying railway tracks."
Seeing that Li Longji and Ang Lee had reached an agreement on laying railway tracks, all the ministers were shocked. However, when they thought of the great power of gunpowder, they calmed down. If gunpowder could really increase the mining speed of the iron ore by many times, then the extra iron could be used to lay railway tracks. In other words, as long as there was enough iron, there was nothing unrealistic about laying railway tracks on the road. Of course, it was impossible to lay railway tracks on all the roads in the Tang Dynasty, but it was completely feasible to lay railway tracks on some of the most central main roads. Moreover, Ang Lee had a better plan, which would increase the carrying capacity of the railway carriage by many times. So, why not give it a try?
Lying on the comfortable specially-made seats and enjoying the scenery outside the carriage, the ministers felt very good. If they could sit in such an iron-wheeled carriage in the future, the fatigue of the journey would be greatly reduced. In this way, the daily distance of travel could be greatly increased, and the people sitting in the carriage would not be tired.
In particular, these ministers were not young and their bodies were relatively weak. Sitting in the bumpy carriage, they could not travel far in a day. Otherwise, their bones would fall apart. If they sat in such an iron-wheeled carriage, they would not feel uncomfortable. When they went out for inspection, the efficiency would be increased by many times.
Of course, the premise of all this was that the Tang dynasty had enough iron as the foundation. Otherwise, everything would be empty talk. Of course, these ministers also believed that as long as a large amount of black gunpowder could be smoothly produced, the output of iron could be greatly increased. Thus, the Tang dynasty would have enough iron to produce rails.
The comfort of the iron-wheeled carriage had been unanimously approved by Li Longji and the ministers. At this moment, only the sufficiency of iron was left. The premise of sufficient iron was a large supply of black gunpowder. For Ang Lee, providing enough black gunpowder was not a problem at all. Therefore, the eventual popularization of the rails was already a matter of certainty. No one could change it.
The iron wheeled carriage slowly came to a stop three li away. Because the track was only so long, there was no way to go any further. This made everyone feel a little unsatisfied. Who wouldn't want to sit on such a comfortable iron wheeled carriage for a while longer?
Following Ang Lee's order, the eighteen male servants changed the direction of the driving mechanism and drove the front of the carriage to move back to the starting point.
"It's going back. It can go back directly."
"That's amazing. I was just thinking about how to change the direction of such a big front. I didn't expect it to go back directly. What an amazing invention! "
"Assistant Minister Li has invented so many new things. Lu Ban is alive!"
"Assistant Minister Li's achievements are much better than Master Lu Ban's. Master Lu Ban can't make rails and iron-wheeled carriages!"
When the carriage slowly moved back, everyone was surprised. Many people were thinking about turning the carriage around, but unexpectedly, the front of the carriage did not move at all. It went back directly, which surprised everyone. Of course, some ministers had seen Ang Lee reversing the carriage before, but more ministers were busy eating cucumbers and did not notice how the carriage went back.
Li Longji also approved of the automatic steering technology and liked the carriage made by Ang Lee more. Of course, he also hoped that Ang Lee could make a special carriage for him to meet his needs in all aspects.
Li Longji hoped that the railway line would start from the north of the Daming Palace and extend to the Hot Spring Palace dozens of miles away. In this way, it would be very convenient for him to go to the Hot Spring Palace every time, and he would not have to go through a bumpy journey.
However, all of this was not realistic for the time being. First, he had to mass produce black gunpowder and then increase the production of iron ore. When there was enough iron, he would lay a long railway. Only then could he realize his idea.
The iron-wheeled carriage slowly stopped at the starting position. At this point, the experience was over. Ang Lee stood up first and reminded everyone, "Everyone, we have arrived at the station. You can get off now."
Hearing this, all the ministers stood up consciously. To be honest, they did not have much feeling before the experience. They just thought that laying the railway would consume too much material. After the experience, they all changed their views and understood that the iron wheel had great advantages. Moreover, Ang Lee had promised that he would continue to improve these carriages until they could benefit the people. In this way, everything was possible.
"Dear ministers, please get off the carriage first. I have something to say to Assistant Minister Li."
Li Longji did have a lot to say to Ang Lee, but it was not convenient to say these words in front of the ministers.
After the ministers heard the order, they walked to the carriage in order of their official rank. After getting off the carriage, they gathered in twos and threes to discuss the feasibility of laying railway tracks on the roads of the Tang dynasty. Based on the current national strength of the Tang dynasty, once the railway tracks were laid, which road should be laid first and so on.
Different ministers had different opinions, but their general opinions were similar. Among them, the road from Chang 'an to Luoyang was the consensus of many ministers. They felt that the relationship between the two cities was the most important. This road was the most important road in the entire Tang dynasty, so the railway tracks must be laid first.
As for Ang Lee's promise that he would continue to improve the performance of the iron wheel, these ministers could not discuss it. After all, they did not understand these things and did not know how Ang Lee would improve it. However, they were still willing to believe in Ang Lee. After all, Ang Lee had surprised them countless times and made them feel that Ang Lee was omnipotent. Maybe after some research, he could invent a more practical iron wheel.
After all the ministers got off the carriage, Gao Lishi also got off the carriage with two little eunuchs who had been standing. Only Ang Lee and Li Longji were left in the carriage.
"Assistant Minister Li, I plan to enlist tens of thousands of people to speed up the mining of iron in Guanzhong. Can the black gunpowder you prepared provide enough?"
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