Ang Lee originally planned to open a door in every carriage, but considering that the interior of these five carriages were interconnected, there was no need to go through so much trouble. Moreover, too many doors would ruin the overall design and not be conducive to comfort.
After considering this, Ang Lee decided to open the doors in carriages one, three, and five. Carriages two and four did not have any doors. This way, it would look more beautiful.
Of course, the main reason was that these five carriages were not for civilian use. They were Li Longji's imperial carriages. There would not be many people in each carriage, especially the first and second carriages. They were all for Li Longji alone. What was the use of so many doors?
"Your Majesty, the interior of these five carriages are interconnected. Even if there is only one door, there is no problem. The carriage at the very front is where Your Majesty rests."
Ang Lee explained and pointed to the first carriage, indicating for Li Longji to enter the carriage for inspection.
Li Longji walked along the ladder that had been prepared beforehand and entered the first carriage with the help of a little eunuch. Ang Lee naturally had to accompany the inspection and followed closely behind to enter the carriage.
Once he entered the carriage, Li Longji was immediately stunned. The layout of the carriage was simply more gorgeous and comfortable than his bedroom.
On both sides were large areas of tempered medicinal jade windows. Inside the windows were two layers of curtains. The outer layer was semi-transparent silk, and the inner layer was opaque brocade. Moreover, the curtains were embroidered with many patterns of dragons, phoenixes, and flowers. It looked very gorgeous.
The innermost was a large and luxurious bed. It was no problem for four or five adults to sleep side by side. It was enough for Li Longji to hold a beauty and roll in the sheets. Under the window on one side were two rocking chairs side by side. Moreover, they were rocking chairs with cushions. It was very comfortable to lie on them and one could clearly see the beautiful scenery outside the window. Under the window on the other side were several fixed chairs. In the middle was a tea table for storing items. Moreover, all of them were decorated magnificently. Even the porcelain tea set was placed on top.
Of course, there were some auxiliary facilities. For example, in two inconspicuous corners, there were two ultra-thin full-copper fireplaces. When the weather was cold, the fireplaces could be used to make the entire carriage as warm as spring.
In order to keep warm and insulate, except for the windows of tempered medicinal jade, the rest of the carriage was made of double and triple layers of wood. Even the roof was made of double layers of thick wood. The insulation performance was very good.
"Your Majesty, these medicinal jade windows can be pushed open. If you feel stuffy in the carriage, you can open the windows to breathe some fresh air."
Ang Lee reached out to open a window. Suddenly, a gust of fresh air.
"Assistant Minister Li, isn't this medicinal jade fragile? Wouldn't it be dangerous if it was hit by something hard if it was used as a window? "
While he was excited, he frowned and asked.
"Your Majesty, these medicinal jades are different from the medicinal jade mirrors. This is a newly invented steel medicinal jade. It's not easy to break. Even if it breaks, it won't hurt anyone. Your Majesty, I'll demonstrate it now."
Ang Lee stretched out his fist and hit the medicinal jade carriage with a greater force. The whole carriage was buzzing, but there was not even a crack on the medicinal jade glass. It could be said that it was intact.
This move surprised Li Longji and everyone. However, after finding that the medicinal jade was intact, they were all greatly relieved. They secretly praised the quality of tempered medicinal jade and looked at Ang Lee with admiration.
"Tempered medicinal jade, good stuff!"
Li Longji praised and walked to the second carriage. He saw two small doors, one on the left and one on the right, in the gap. He asked curiously, "Assistant Minister Li, what's the matter with the two small doors in the gap?"
"Your Majesty, the one on the left is the wash room, and the one on the right is the toilet room."
Ang Lee introduced softly and opened the two small doors for Li Longji to see.
There was water at the top of the washroom. As long as the knob was turned, one could wash their hands easily and happily. It was not much different from the tap in the future. The function was exactly the same.
The toilet room on the other side only had a flush toilet. The water stored at the top was enough to use 50 times. It was more than enough to meet the needs of Li Longji and the concubines.
"Assistant Minister Li, after the water and filth are flushed down, will they directly rush to the railway?"
Li Longji felt that if the water and filth were flushed directly on the railway, the whole railway line would become stinky after a long time. What a killjoy it would be.
"Your Majesty, the water in the washroom will directly rush to the railway line, but the water and filth in the toilet room will rush into the pottery jars below. There will be specialized people in charge of cleaning them. They will definitely not pollute the railway line."
Ang Lee explained in a relaxed manner. This was also a problem that he had considered for a long time when he was designing the carriage. Whether or not to install a urinal recycling device had been a problem that had troubled him for a long time.
Installing such a device would greatly increase the logistical pressure. Now there was only one Emperor's carriage, so it was not a big problem. However, in the future, trains would definitely be popularized. In this way, a large number of urinal jars and a large number of related logistical personnel would be needed. This would undoubtedly greatly increase the operating cost of the carriage.
If the urinal was not installed, a large amount of feces would be scattered on the railway line along the way, which would cause great damage to the environment. On hot days, it would even form a foul smell and spoil the scenery. If people were to clean it along the way, the cost would be as high as the sky. It was never cost-effective to pollute first and then treat later.
After careful consideration, Ang Lee decided to add this device to collect feces. In order to slightly reduce the cost, people who specialized in the fertilizer industry could be responsible for collecting feces at various stations. After all, in the era of the Tang dynasty, human and animal feces were the best fertilizer for grain and could be sold for money.
Seeing that Ang Lee was so thoughtful, Li Longji nodded in satisfaction.
After entering the second carriage, Li Longji found that this carriage was brighter and the coverage area of the medicinal jade glass was larger. On one side of the front half was a table with six chairs, and the chairs could be folded under the table. In this way, there was still half of the walking space. On one side of the back half, there were more than a dozen chairs, a few small tea tables and a bookshelf. The other side was empty. In the middle of the front and the back half, there was a translucent silk hanging to divide the carriage into two halves.
"Assistant Minister Li, is there anything particular about the layout of this carriage?"
Li Longji looked around and felt very satisfied. However, he could not figure out the function. After all, many of the facilities here were things that only existed in the future. Li Longji had never seen them before. Of course, it was difficult for him to figure out the function.
"Your Majesty, the front half is the place for dining. This table can be placed with dozens of side dishes. The chairs around it can seat up to six people. The back half is the place for Your Majesty to relax. You can sit on the chairs, drink a cup of tea, read a book, and occasionally look out of the window to enjoy the scenery outside. In addition, if Your Majesty feels lonely, you can also ask the ministers to accompany you. There are more chairs here and there is an open space next to it. The ministers can sit or stand, depending on Your Majesty's wishes."
Li An introduced them one by one. He then pulled the curtains open a little more to make the carriage brighter. Because this was where the Emperor would be staying, there were also bronze fireplaces placed at the two corners to keep warm during winter.
Li Longji was very satisfied with the second carriage. Although some of its functions were the same as the first carriage, such as sitting here and reading books, he could do the same in the first carriage. However, there was an additional space to move around, which was always a comfortable thing. Moreover, between the two carriages, there was a place for washing hands and urinating, which made life much more convenient. It was much more spacious and comfortable than the caravans in the future.
"Assistant Minister Li is really thoughtful. This carriage is much more comfortable than the one I used to ride in. It's simply a heaven and earth difference!"
Li Longji praised from the bottom of his heart.
"Your Majesty is too kind. This is only the preliminary results of the research. Perhaps there will be better carriages in the future."
Ang Lee appeared to be modest, but he was actually praising himself.
"Eh, between the second and third carriages, there's also a washroom and toilet?"
Li Longji walked to the junction between the second and third carriages and asked curiously.
"Your Majesty, there are washrooms and toilet rooms at the junction of all carriages. There are a total of four in the five carriages. This way, it will be more convenient to use them."
Ang Lee hurriedly explained.
Li Longji nodded and walked into the third carriage. Just as he entered the third carriage, Li Longji's expression suddenly turned cold. This was because the configuration of this carriage was much lower than the previous two carriages.
There were jade windows on both sides that were separated by a large step. Moreover, the specifications were smaller, but the entire carriage was still considered bright. In addition, the curtains were made of ordinary blue cotton and were of a lower grade. As for the facilities inside, there were only twelve rows of seats on each side. There were two seats in each row for a total of twenty-four seats. The rest was very spacious and empty.
"Assistant Minister Li, what is this carriage for?"
Li Longji hurriedly asked.
"Your Majesty, this carriage is for the guards, eunuchs, and palace maids to rest. The empty space at the side can be used to store some of the items Your Majesty needs, or it can be used to store nothing."
Ang Lee explained and extended his hand to guide Li Longji to the fourth carriage. After all, there was nothing to see in the third carriage. There were only twenty-four seats.
Li Longji walked into the fourth carriage and immediately felt his vision darken. That's right, the fourth carriage was slightly darker than the third. Moreover, he could only walk through the narrow passage on the right. On one side of the passage, there were six small jade windows, while the other side was covered by a green curtain. It looked very mysterious.
"Assistant Minister Li, what is inside?"
Li Longji's curiosity was aroused again. He tilted his head and looked at the green curtain.
Ang Lee hurriedly pulled the curtain aside and introduced, "Your Majesty, please take a look. These are double-decker beds for the palace maids, eunuchs, guards, and imperial cooks to rest. There are six small rooms in total. Each room can accommodate four people, so there are twenty-four people in total."
"Assistant Minister Li, aren't you being too considerate? You've even thought of their beds."
Li Longji was somewhat dissatisfied. These servants were all here to serve him. If all of them went to sleep, who would serve him?
"Your Majesty, if it was only a short journey, then these small rooms would be useless. But in the future, our Tang dynasty's railway will be spread to very far places. If Your Majesty wants to inspect the world, you may need to travel for many days. Thus, the bodies of the palace maids and eunuchs will not be able to take it! We can only take turns sleeping. Moreover, this can only be considered as a test of this humble subject's technology. Once it matures, in the future, when our Tang dynasty's railway is spread to Anxi, it can be used on a large number of carriages. This way, the people of our Tang dynasty will be able to sleep all the way to Anxi. "
Ang Lee hurriedly explained to dispel Li Longji's misunderstanding.
"So that's how it is. We were thinking too much. The last carriage must be the dining carriage for cooking!"
Li Longji was not a fool. Ang Lee had just mentioned the imperial cooks. Moreover, the first half of the second carriage had a large dining table. The last carriage could only be the dining carriage.
"Your Majesty is wise. The last carriage is indeed the dining carriage. Your Majesty, please."
Ang Lee led Li Longji into the dining carriage and let Li Longji see the various equipment in the dining carriage.
The equipment in the dining carriage was very complicated and somewhat dazzling. On the left side was a whole row of stoves and operating tables. There were a total of four large pots, which could cook four dishes at the same time. The area of the operating table was, of course, very impressive. At the bottom of the operating table, there was a large amount of honeycomb coal, which was specially used to cook the pots.
Bowls, chopsticks, and other tableware were placed on the operating table. There were even more placed in the cabinets above the large pots and operating tables. They were stored very well and did not take up much space. They looked neat and clean.
On the other side of the carriage, half of the space was three-dimensional cabinets used to store various kinds of food. Moreover, the heaviest food such as rice and flour were stored in the lowest level, while the lighter vegetables and meat were stored in the higher level.
In the remaining space, there were four small carts placed neatly. They were specially used to transport the cooked food to ensure that a large amount of food could be sent to the second carriage in time.
At the top of this carriage, there was a very large clay jar that was specially used to supply water to the carriage so that the imperial chef could conveniently use the water source.
"This small cart is very interesting. This is the first time I have seen it."
Li Longji personally moved the small cart, thinking that it was very interesting.
"Your Majesty, the carriage has been tested and can set sail at any time. Do you want to take a tour around the Hot Spring Palace? It will take at most four hours for a round trip. "
Since the tracks were already laid, of course, he had to personally experience it. Otherwise, how could he prove that the tracks were successfully laid? In order to prevent problems with the tracks, Ang Lee also arranged for an iron-wheeled carriage to lead the way in front of the carriage. This way, if there was a problem with the tracks, the iron-wheeled carriage would be the first to overturn, thus ensuring the safety of the carriages behind.
Li Longji thought for a moment and said softly, "Let the ministers enter the carriage first and wait in the third carriage. Immediately go and invite my wife and tell her that I want to take her to the Hot Spring Palace."
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