After inspecting the three soft-seat carriages in succession, Li An felt that his eyes were sore. Although the train was very beautiful, the people sitting in the three soft-seat carriages were all coarse old men. There were only three young women dressed as men, and they didn't look pretty at all. There was no sense of beauty to speak of.
In short, Ang Lee would rather look at the ground or the ceiling than look at the passengers, lest he cry.
The dining car had a decent environment. There was a place for cooking and a place for eating. Several chefs were busy preparing delicious dishes.
Of course, these dishes were also divided into different grades. There were meat dishes, vegetarian dishes, hot soups, and plain water. Of course, the prices were also very different.
Because there was a place for eating in the dining car, the passengers could choose to eat in the dining car, or they could have their meals delivered by the attendants. Of course, they could also bring their own food and eat in their seats, or they could simply not eat.
The distance between Chang 'an and Luoyang was seven to eight hundred li. A train journey would only take more than half a day, so one lunch would be enough. The poor who did not come from wealthy families only needed to bring a few dry buns to get by.
"Wow, how fragrant! I didn't have time to eat breakfast today, so let's eat here! "
Ang Lee sat down in the dining car and gestured for Duan Xiushi to sit as well.
The delicious breakfast was quickly served. Moreover, it was completely free. They did not have to spend a single cent.
"Wow, how fragrant!"
Next to the dining car was a jade window. Ang Lee tasted the food and looked out the window in comfort.
"The scenery outside is so beautiful."
Duan Xiushi also looked out the window and sighed.
"The Tang dynasty's mountains and rivers are naturally more beautiful than can be imagined. This place is only filled with mountains and greenery. Anxi has ten thousand li of yellow sand and the Gobi Desert, as well as snowy mountains that never melt. If Commandant Duan goes to Anxi, you will see a different kind of beauty."
Li An said with a smile.
"From Assistant Minister Li's words, it sounds like you've been to Anxi before."
"That's not true, but this official likes to read books. That's what the books say, so it shouldn't be false."
In his previous life, Li An had indeed been to the Anxi region, but he had been to relatively few places. He had only seen the vast expanse of yellow sand and the unchanging snowy mountains on the train, but he had never personally experienced them. In this life, as long as the train was repaired, Li An would definitely go to Anxi and see the vast expanse of yellow sand and the thousand-year-old icebergs.
"Assistant Minister Li, when the train is repaired to Anxi, do you think that the Imperial Court's policies in Anxi will change?"
Duan Xiushi seemed to be thinking very far ahead.
Ang Lee looked at Duan Xiushi with appreciation. "Commandant Duan, I understand what you mean. If the Tang dynasty wants long-term stability, we must take advantage of this powerful opportunity to eliminate all the powerful enemies around us step by step. Only in this way can we ensure that no power can threaten the Tang dynasty. Therefore, in the future, the territory west of Anxi is very likely to belong to the Tang dynasty. Wherever the Tang dynasty's army goes, no one will be able to stop it."
"Assistant Minister Li, is this His Majesty's intention?"
Duan Xiushi looked at Ang Lee in horror.
"His Majesty's intention is not something that this official can guess at will. However, when this official invents the artillery, His Majesty's ambition will definitely be aroused. At that time, the entire world will be under the control of the Tang dynasty. This official should not be wrong."
Ang Lee speculated and was very confident about this situation.
After hearing this, Duan Xiushi was also very excited. As a commandant of the Tang dynasty, he certainly hoped that the Tang dynasty could conquer the whole world and make everyone in the world submit to the Tang dynasty.
After a simple breakfast, Ang Lee continued to inspect the back with Duan Xiushi. Behind the dining car were two hard sleeper carriages. Although there were beds in the hard sleeper carriages, not many passengers climbed onto the bunks to rest. Almost all of them sat on the bottom bunks and looked out of the window excitedly.
Although these people's status was relatively low, they might have the same magical feeling as Ang Lee, that is, the feeling of pointing at the world. After all, Ang Lee was just a small figure in his previous life, but he had this wonderful feeling. So, how could ordinary people in this era not have this kind of feeling?
When they walked to the hard sleeper carriage, Ang Lee suddenly felt that the environment of the first few carriages was too comfortable. There were 150 seats in each carriage, which was relatively more crowded. Although it was not full, some passengers had brought more luggage and occupied the empty seats. In short, it looked very crowded.
Moreover, because the people who bought the hard sleeper tickets were relatively poor people, their clothes were relatively shabby and their clothes were a little dirty, the number of jade windows was relatively small. Therefore, the smell in the carriage was relatively strong. It was still in the morning. If the salted vegetables and steamed buns were taken out at noon, the smell might be even stronger.
However, although the smell in such a carriage was relatively strong, Ang Lee saw a lot of young girls. There was no lack of children and old people. Perhaps the poor were not too particular and had fewer scruples when traveling, so they were more free.
"Little baby, you are not happy riding the train."
Ang Lee touched a child's forehead and asked with a smile.
"Train, dirty dirty dirty …"
The child was drooling and seemed very excited. His eyes were full of pride.
Perhaps after going back, he could brag in front of other little playmates that he had ridden the train. Dirty dirty dirty, his playmates would be envious.
Of course, Ang Lee often rode the train when he was a child in his previous life, but the children in the same village had never ridden it. Because of this, he was in the limelight and became the focus of attention in his childhood. That feeling was really cool.
Hanging in the last few carriages were the stable carriages. The smell was much stronger than the hard sleeper carriages. After all, the horses' food and drink were all in the carriage. It was impossible not to smell.
Ang Lee covered his nose and entered the stable carriage. Almost all the horses in the front soft sleeper and soft sleeper carriages were ridden by the guests. After alighting, they would naturally come to pick them up. Every horse was marked and would not be randomly claimed by the guests.
After inspecting all the carriages, Ang Lee returned to the soft sleeper compartment at the front and lay down on the lower bunk bed, looking at the passing scenery outside the window.
"You guys also lie down and rest for a while! Don't always stand. "
Seeing Duan Xiushi and two Yulin Royal Guards standing in the carriage, Ang Lee opened his mouth and ordered.
"Assistant Minister Li, we are subordinates. You just need to rest well. How can we treat you the same?"
Duan Xiushi opened her mouth and refused.
"The train will take an entire day to reach Luoyang City. If you guys stand like this for an entire day, your strength will be exhausted. If an assassin appears, you won't even have the strength to protect this official. Alright, stop wasting time. Each of you has a bed and lie down to rest!"
Ang Lee gave an unquestionable order.
The reason why he only brought three people out was that he was afraid of disturbing the people. Secondly, there were only four beds in the compartment. If he brought too many people, he would not be able to rest well.
The three of them were helpless. They could only obey the order and lie down on the soft bed to rest.
At noon, the train staff knocked on the door of the compartment and delivered food for the four of them. Other than Ang Lee's food which was a little special, the other three had the same food.
An hour after eating, the four of them lay down on the soft bed to rest. They would occasionally look at the scenery outside the window, close their eyes to rest, and even chat a little to relieve the loneliness and boredom of the journey.
The train passed by the Hot Spring Palace, Weinan County, Huazhou City, Huayin County, Tongguan City, Taolin County, Shanzhou City, Xiashi County, Xin 'an County, and finally arrived at the train station outside the western gate of Luoyang City.
These places had small and medium-sized stations set up temporarily to provide logistical support such as maintenance and supply equipment. However, because the current railway system had just been established, the number of trains was relatively small. Thus, these temporary stations had not yet been activated. All the trains were direct from Luoyang to Chang 'an and did not stop midway.
However, when there were more trains in the future, the railway operation and distribution system would become more mature and would naturally be activated. At that time, the trains from Chang 'an to Luoyang would be divided into direct trains that would arrive in twelve hours and trains that would stop midway that would arrive in one day and one night.
These trains that would stop at stations along the way would greatly facilitate the travel of the people of the various cities along the way. In addition, because the transportation efficiency would be much slower, the tickets would also be much cheaper. In the future, it would be the best choice for the poor to take. It would further reduce the occurrence of traveling on foot, improve the quality of life of the people, and promote the development of commerce and the economy.
If you want to be rich, you must first build roads. This was an immutable truth that was applicable in any era. After all, the only way to increase the wealth of a society, apart from the improvement of productivity, was through reliable commercial trade. Only trade could stimulate the creation and production of wealth.
Without reliable transportation, the development of trade would be greatly limited. The growth of social wealth would naturally be greatly limited, and the living conditions of the people would be difficult to improve.
Ang Lee's development of the railway system and its success would inevitably greatly promote the growth of the wealth of the Tang Empire in a very short period of time. The material and financial resources of the Tang Empire would also be rapidly improved under the promotion of transportation improvement.
Ang Lee lay down all the way until the train arrived at the station outside the west gate of Luoyang. Then, he got up and got off the train with several attendants.
At this time, the sun had already set in the west. It was less than an hour before the city gates would be closed. The travelers who needed to enter the city were all hurrying toward the city gates. Fortunately, the station was not too far from the city gates. In less than an hour, they would be able to enter the city without worrying about being stopped outside.
"Assistant Minister Li, it's almost night time. Are we going to enter the city now?"
Duan Xiushi softly asked.
"Forget it, let's not enter the city. Let's just stay at the train station for the night! In a few days, when I accompany His Majesty on his tour of Luoyang, we'll enter the city to take a look! "
Ang Lee did not intend to enter Luoyang. After saying this, he suddenly remembered that Duan Xiushi would leave him in a few days to take up a post in Anxi. He softly asked, "Commandant Duan, do you want to go to Luoyang to take a look?"
"No, this lowly officer has been to Luoyang before."
"Good, then let's stay at this train station!"
Ang Lee led Duan Xiushi toward the imposing administrative district of Luoyang Train Station.
As the railway system had been invented by Ang Lee, Ang Lee had personally inspected the construction of the railway tracks and train stations. For this reason, all the small bosses and the majority of the employees at Luoyang Train Station recognized Ang Lee and knew how high an official Ang Lee was. In addition, Yu Chaoen had already informed them that Ang Lee would be inspecting the railway work and had them make preparations.
For this reason, the moment Ang Lee walked into Luoyang Train Station, a large group of officials of all sizes ran over to welcome him.
Luoyang Station was second only to Chang 'an Station. The station master was a forty-year-old eunuch who appeared to be rather capable. He was one of Gao Lishi's trusted aides and had a good relationship with Yu Chaoen. Behind him were several eunuchs, several former officials from the Ministry of Works, and a few other officials who had come from who knew where.
For an official of Ang Lee's stature to inspect the railway was an extremely important matter. From the station master to the ordinary employees, everyone attached great importance to this matter. They had long ago cleaned the train station and placed all sorts of items neatly. Even the common autumn leaves were scarcely seen.
Of course, to the surprise of these well-prepared railway officials, Ang Lee had only brought three retainers, and they were Imperial Guards. None of them were high-ranking officials of the Imperial Court.
"The environment is very good. All of you have worked hard. In a few days, His Majesty will be inspecting Luoyang. When the time comes, I hope that all of you can do the same."
Since these officials had put in so much effort, Ang Lee naturally had to praise them.
"Assistant Minister Li, rest assured. On the day of His Majesty's inspection, we will definitely make the station even better. We will not disappoint His Majesty."
The station master hurriedly replied with a smile.
Ang Lee smiled and pointed to a forest area. He softly said, "Right now is the time for the leaves to fall. Why are there only a few leaves on each tree? All of you are too diligent in cleaning. You've swept away the most beautiful scenery."
"Assistant Minister Li, these … leaves are also scenery?"
The station master frowned. In order to make the entire station look even cleaner, he had arranged for a large number of people to frequently clean the station, especially the leaves. He wanted nothing more than to not see a single leaf when Ang Lee inspected the station. Unexpectedly, such a serious attitude was criticized by Ang Lee.
"Golden leaves cover the entire ground. Looking from afar, isn't this the most beautiful scenery?"
Ang Lee stretched out his right hand and raised his head to look at a forty-five degree angle, assuming the posture of a poet.
"Assistant Minister Li is right. This slave also thinks that these leaves are beautiful. However, this slave does not know if His Majesty likes to look at fallen leaves?"
"His Majesty is also a cultured person. He must like fallen leaves. From now on, continue to maintain the sanitation of the environment. However, there is no need to concern yourself with the fallen leaves under the trees. If His Majesty blames you, this official will help you explain."
"Yes, Assistant Minister Li. This slave understands."
Ang Lee nodded in satisfaction. He said, "Alright, this official has seen what needs to be seen. Find a clean room and send dinner to my room."
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