The overseas rubber trees that Li An spoke of were naturally the rubber trees of South America. Although this was still the era of the Great Tang, South America definitely existed, and so did the rubber trees. Thus, as long as a group of people was sent to South America, they would definitely be able to find and bring back these much-needed rubber trees.
In addition, in addition to rubber trees, there were many good things in America, such as sweet potatoes, corn, peppers, tomatoes, potatoes, and so on. Especially sweet potatoes and other crops, which had high yields and low requirements for land, were very suitable for popularizing in the Tang Dynasty. This would completely solve the problem of food for the people and allow more people to leave agriculture and move to other industries.
However, at present, only Ang Lee knew that there was a new American continent far overseas. The furthest places that people in the Tang Dynasty era knew about overseas were the Wo Nation in the east and a few small islands in Nanyang.
Therefore, when Ang Lee said that he would send a fleet to the depths of the ocean to find rubber trees, Chen Xuanli and the four craftsmen in the carriage were all dumbfounded.
The four craftsmen looked at each other and did not dare to ask rashly. However, Chen Xuanli did not care about this and directly asked, "There are rubber trees in the depths of the ocean? Where are they? Why don't I know about them? "
Li An was stunned for a moment before he explained, "It's very far to the east of the East Sea. It's estimated to be between 20,000 to 40,000 li. It's a very distant place. It's not easy to get there. Only a few people have been there, so naturally, the Great General has never heard of it."
In fact, Ang Lee himself had never been to America, not in this life. In his previous life, he was also trapped in China and did not go to America. However, in the developed Internet society, even if he had never been to America, Ang Lee knew the basic situation of America like the back of his hand, especially the terrain of America, what crops and minerals there were, and how far it was from the Tang Empire.
And with the Great Tang's current seafaring technology, as long as they made sufficient preparations, equipped the ships with steam engines, installed high-powered telescopes, and used the monsoons and ocean currents, they would be able to smoothly reach America and return. Li An had never doubted this, and he would have to do it in the near future.
"20,000 to 40,000 li? Is it really that far? "
Chen Xuanli was a little shocked. This distance was several times farther than the westernmost part of Beijing to Anxi. He could not imagine that the easternmost part of the East Sea was so far away. Moreover, there was a piece of land where rubber trees grew. The four craftsmen also showed an expression of disbelief. Obviously, they knew even less about the outside world.
"Haha! This world is very big. The land on the other side of the East is called America, which is several times larger than the Tang Dynasty., and in the south, there is a large island called Australia, which is not much smaller than the Dynasty........................
Li An said with a smile.
..........................
.................................... What is a kangaroo? "
Looking at Chen Xuanli's appearance, Ang Lee felt that the people of this era were too pitiful. They knew too little about the outside world.
Ang Lee casually explained and said that when he returned, he would draw a world map to show these guys how big the world was.
Of course, Ang Lee only dared to draw a 2D world map, which was the world map that was pasted on the wall in the future. He did not dare to make a globe. After all, the people of this era had a deep-rooted belief that the world they lived in was a 2D world. It would be very difficult to rashly make a globe and let them know that they lived on a sphere. It might even bring a huge disaster because of this inappropriate action.
The steam bus ran back and forth a few times on the concrete road, and then ran for a while on the dirt road in the distance, and directly drove back to the south of the city from the dirt road outside the city. The feeling was not ordinary. With the double protection of the spring damping system, sitting inside almost did not feel much bumpiness, at least within the tolerable range.
And this effect strengthened Ang Lee's determination to develop the steam bus, and appropriately increased the size of the steam bus, so that more passengers could be transported to farther places.
For example, a distance of fifty miles to one or two hundred miles was very suitable for a steam bus. It was completely feasible to set up a bus station in Chang 'an City that led to several counties about a hundred miles away.
According to the number of passengers, one or two buses per day would be enough. If there were a lot of passengers, a few more buses could be issued to meet the travel needs of the people.
After returning to the R&D Center, Ang Lee received news from the Luoshui Bridge. This bridge that connected the railway and the road was about to close.
When the bridge was about to close, as the designer of the bridge, Ang Lee naturally needed to attend the closing ceremony of the bridge to show the importance he attached to the work of the bridge. In addition, the newly formed officials of the Bridge Department and the assistant minister of the Ministry of Works, Guo Xuji, would definitely go. As for whether or not the higher-level officials would go, Ang Lee was not sure.
In order to make it easier to inspect the bridge, Ang Lee ordered a few R&D craftsmen overnight to move the newly built steam bus to the Changan City Railway Station and take the night train to the Luoyang City Railway Station.
After returning to the courtyard in the evening, Ang Lee busied himself in the study. He had to complete the world map that he had been drawing for half a month. He had to draw up all the corners of the world and formulate a step-by-step feasible plan.
After nearly two hours, Li An had finally completed the Great Tang version of the world map. However, there were many places on this map that were not very accurate. After all, Li An did not have a detailed understanding of the area of each country in the east and west. He could only draw out a few of the larger and more well-known countries. As for the areas of the less important countries, he had only given a rough indication of their areas.
In addition, in order to make it easier to understand the map, the necessary mountains, rivers, and lakes also had to be marked. The ocean was painted light blue to show the difference with the land. Different countries on the land were also painted in different colors. The Tang dynasty was golden yellow. The countries in the west were painted in several other colors to distinguish the borders. As for most of the open spaces without human habitation, they were not painted with colors. Only rivers, lakes, and mountains were marked.
This world map, which took Ang Lee half a month of free time to draw, was ten feet long and more than six feet high. It was a very large map. The paper used was also the best paper workshop in the capital. It was tailor-made for Ang Lee. There were a total of a dozen sheets, and they were all piled up in Ang Lee's courtyard.
After drawing the map, Ang Lee was greatly relieved. He hung the map on the wall and looked at it carefully. The more he looked at it, the more he wanted to take the whole world into his pocket.
"Husband, it's already very late. Why aren't you resting?"
Yan Ruyu walked into the study and stood beside Ang Lee. She saw the map hanging in front of her.
"Husband, is this the world map you mentioned? The whole world is on it?"
After seeing the world map, Yan Ruyu was also very happy. This was something she had never seen before. Of course, she would feel happy and curious.
"Yes, this is the world map I drew in half a month of free time. What do you think? It's not bad, right?"
Ang Lee replied with a smile and took Yan Ruyu into his arms.
"Husband, is this world really so big? The Tang dynasty only occupies a small part of this map! "
Yan Ruyu was shocked by the vastness of this world. Like all the people of the Tang dynasty, she could not imagine that there was such a vast land and sea outside the Tang Empire.
"Of course. Do you think I would lie to you? Do you see that? This purple country next to my Tang dynasty is Tibet. There's also Wo over here, Sindhu over here, Abbasid Caliphate, Turkic … "
Ang Lee pointed at the countries on the map and introduced them in detail.
"Husband, what do these places that are not painted mean?"
Yan Ruyu looked at America, Australia, Africa, and the northern part of the Turkic Empire and asked curiously.
"Wife, these places are almost uninhabited, and there is no imperial court ruling over them. They can be regarded as ownerless lands. At most, there are some savage tribes."
Ang Lee introduced and was full of desire to own these places.
"By the way, wife, when you have nothing to do at home, can you help your husband make a few copies of this map? In the future, this map will be very useful. If there is only one copy, I'm afraid it will be very inconvenient."
Yan Ruyu smiled and nodded. "Relax! Husband, our residence's Little Yin and Little Meng both have excellent drawing skills. I'll have them draw with me, and I'm confident that we'll be able to make many copies of this map very quickly. "
Ang Lee happily said, "That's great. I'll leave this matter to Wife. Right, I'll be taking the train to Luoyang tomorrow morning. Wife, remember to miss me."
"Why are you leaving home again? Is there something important?"
Yan Ruyu pouted her little mouth, clearly a little unhappy.
"The Luo River Bridge will be closing soon, so your husband naturally has to go and take a look. Come, let's go back to the room. Tonight, your husband will properly pamper you."
Ang Lee softly chuckled as he hugged Yan Ruyu and walked to the bedroom.
The next morning, Ang Lee rode his horse to the Changan City Railway Station. He saw Guo Xuji and several dozen high-ranking officials behind him, as well as several hundred low-ranking officials and laborers. Not only were there officials and low-ranking officials from the Ministry of Works, other leaders of the Imperial Court were also present. Even the Nine Temples and Five Supervisors and a few scattered officials had appeared.
In addition, Yu Chaoen of the Railway Bureau had also come and was chatting with Guo Xuji.
"Assistant Minister Guo, Yu Tieling, so early!"
Ang Lee dismounted from his horse and greeted the two.
"Oh, Assistant Minister Li, long time no see, haha!"
Yu Chaoen hurriedly greeted him with a smile.
Guo Xuji smiled and said, "Assistant Minister Li, Yu Tieling came over early this morning and arranged for a purple-red special train for us. Look, these are all the best carriages!"
Beside these officials, there was indeed a purplish-red special train. Only a few green stable carriages were attached to the back of the train.
"Haha! Assistant Minister Guo, you flatter me. This is His Majesty's imperial edict. How many brains does this little slave have to have all these officials sit in an ordinary carriage? "
Yu Chaoen did not take the credit for himself. He directly said that this was the Emperor's will to show his loyalty to the Emperor.
"Okay, it's about time. Let's quickly board the carriages! Otherwise, we won't be able to reach Luoyang before nightfall. "
Ang Lee clasped his hands and gestured to the officials, then had them board the carriages.
These officials modestly let each other board the carriages according to their positions. They went to different carriages according to their departments. The officials and low-ranking officials went to the soft sleeper carriages to rest, while the other attendants sat in the soft seat carriages. The officials who brought horses had their attendants place them in the stable carriages at the very back, where they were taken care of.
Before the purple-red train arrived, the staff of the railway bureau had already made arrangements according to the departments and positions of these officials. Therefore, the hundreds of people boarded the train very smoothly and did not waste much time.
The train started on time and continued towards Luoyang City at the safest speed. At this time, on this railway line, the trains that stopped at the station had already been put into operation. However, the staff of the railway bureau had already set the time and would not let these trains block the path of the direct train to ensure the efficiency of the direct train.
On the train, Li An, Guo Xuji, and the other officials looked at the wheat sprouts that had just sprouted along the way and felt extremely comfortable. This was especially so for the officials who were taking the train for the first time. They felt extremely comfortable.
This time, the officials of many departments went to attend the completion ceremony of the Luo Shui Bridge with the intention of sightseeing and sightseeing. After all, it was much more interesting to go sightseeing than to stay in the yamen all day.
The purple-red special train was a train exclusive to the nobles. All the facilities were better than ordinary trains. The chef in the dining car was also more skilled, so the food was naturally more delicious.
Not only did the officials eat the best food, but many of the low-ranking officials and attendants also ate the delicacies that they rarely ate, and they were extremely happy.
Before the sun set in the evening, the train arrived at Luoyang Railway Station on time. However, Ang Lee discussed with a few officials and decided not to enter Luoyang. They would stay at Luoyang Railway Station for the night so that it would be easier for them to rush to the Luoshui Bridge the next morning.
The high-ranking officials had their own rooms and services, while the low-ranking officials could only stay on the train. In any case, there were soft beds on the train, so they could rest well.
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