In Xiyang City, a uniquely styled carriage is driving on the track. The one pulls the carriage is two horses. The carriage behind it has two carriages, each carriage has four wheels, connected in series with front and rear, and the carriage also has a carport, which can shade the sun and rain.

The length of each carriage is significantly longer than that of ordinary carriages. The front and rear carriages are connected, and there are people in it, including men and women, old and young. Seeing someone crossing the track in front, the coachman rings the wall clock and shouts:

"Hey! Get out of here!"

The person crossing the track was asked to the side, and the carriage continued to move along the track, and stopped beside the long pergola more than thirty steps away. The 'flight attendant' who accompanied the train shouted loudly: "The Qingyun Street Station has arrived! The Qingyun Street Station has arrived! Get on the front door and get off the back door!"

"Down first and then up! Don't squeeze!"

A passenger got off the car with a package on his back door. Soon after, the front door opened. The men, women, young and old waiting under the awning lined up to walk towards the front door. The 'toll collector' at the door shouted with a cardboard horn:

"This train goes west to the city and goes to Longtoushan New Port! Two cents per person! A child costs half a price per penny, as long as he doesn't exceed this pole, it's a penny! It's okay to stay until the last stop!"

"Don't be anxious, don't squeeze! I can't get on this trip, there is another trip! Before six o'clock, there will be a carriage passing by!"

Taking advantage of the time when the passenger boarded the bus, the coachman picked up the bamboo tube and drank water. After a while, he finished boarding. He raised his whip and shouted "Get up!", and whipped it in the air. The pack horse walked forward, pulling the carriage full of forty people to continue moving forward.

If it were normal, two horses would never be able to pull a carriage carrying forty people, but when the carriage was on the "railway", it would not be the case at all.

Two iron tracks are connected to parallel lines by "sleepers" to form a double-track "railway". A special four-wheeled carriage that is driven on the railway is pulled by two horses. It can not only carry forty people, but also carry heavy cargo.

The railway in Xiyang City is a double line (two-way), which is actually two parallel railways. Each railway travels in one direction, with a length of forty miles, east-west direction. At the east end is Bakou Port on the east suburb of Xiyang City, and at the west end is Xingang West of Longtou Mountain in the west suburb of Xiyang City.

The railway crosses Xiyang City, and the carriage takes one one way, which takes an average of one hour, that is, two hours, and the ticket costs only two prices: adults and children, you can take from the starting point to the end point.

Because it is a carriage running on the track, this kind of carriage is also called a "track carriage". It was opened more than a month ago and was officially put into operation three days ago after trial operation.

Although the free ride during the trial run has changed to two pennies for adults and one pennies for children, the attendance rate of each track carriage is still more than 50%.

"Every morning, the first bus will be driven on the east-west bus at 7 o'clock, and the last bus will be driven on the 5 o'clock in the afternoon..."

Next to the track, Wang Xun was chanting a leaflet in a low voice, both for himself and for Wang Meng beside him. Their group was nearly twenty people, and they were watching the fun at this time.

Wang Meng looked at the four rails in front of him and asked the accompanying staff with uncertainty: "Is this a wooden rail wrapped in iron, or a solid rail?"

"General Wang, these are real railway tracks. The iron ingots supervised by Daye, Jiangnan were transported to Xiyang and then turned into railway tracks. The cost is quite large. The railway, which is 40 miles long, took more than half a year to build."

"This..." Wang Meng was not a curious person, but the 'railroad' is really a strange thing in the world. He couldn't help but wonder: "This railway is quite expensive. If you rely solely on passenger transport, it will take a long time to make up for the deficit?"

"General Wang, this double-track railway is used for passenger transport only to facilitate the people. There is no question of profitability, but it is different for transportation of goods. In the past three days of official operation, the daily freight volume is extremely amazing. I think the government office will recover the cost for no more than half a year."

A gentleman is ashamed of making profits, but Wang Meng is not the so-called "gentleman" who is stupid in studying. He has been an official for decades, leading troops to fight, encouraging farmers and sericultures to learn about basic people's livelihood expenses.

After roughly estimating the cost of the railway in his mind, Wang Meng was also moved by the statement that the official said, "The cost should be recovered for no more than half a year."

The official said that the profit of railways depends on freight, and he knew that this meant that Xiyang's business was very prosperous. Xiyang is no longer the dilapidated small town on the north bank of the Yangtze River he had seen back then.

More than ten years ago, Zhou Jing, the governor of North Jiangdao of Chen, was in Jiangbei, and the capital was in Xiyang. Wang Meng came to Xiyang for official business. At that time, Xiyang was ordinary and even a little dilapidated. Now, when Wang Meng came to Xiyang again, Xiyang had already undergone earth-shaking changes.

This change began eight years ago. Wang Meng heard from the officials that at that time, the young King of Xiyang was still the Duke of Xiyang County and had just taken office as the governor of Bazhou (now Huangzhou).

In eight years, the number of households in Huangzhou exceeded 50,000, and the prosperity of Xiyang City can rank among the top cities along the Yangtze River. Wang Meng felt that in terms of local officials' performance assessment alone, Xiyang King deserves the title of "capable official".

Seeing several rows of carriages connected by two carriages and carrying heavy carriages, Wang Meng realized what the official said just now was the basis for "returning money for half a year".

He has heard people say in the past few days that Huangzhou Xiyang produces a large amount of cloth, paper, books, porcelain and glass products. The freight port is Bakou Port in the east of Xiyang City, and its annual "cargo throughput" is increasing.

At the same time, the western foot of Longtou Mountain in the western suburbs of Xiyang City is a large area of ​​reclaimed wasteland. After years of development, grain output has increased year by year, and more and more settled soldiers and their families have formed a village with an increasing number of individuals.

With more people, more related industries, and a large number of breeding farms have appeared. As a result, a new port appeared on the western foot of Longtou Mountain, and its "cargo throughput" has also increased significantly.

There is a strong demand for enhancing land freight capacity between Xiyang City, Bakou Port on the east and Xingang on the west. The rail transportation with extremely strong transportation capacity is like timely rain, which makes everyone cheer.

Wang Meng had never seen a city that was developing rapidly with handicrafts and commerce as the driving force. He was a little dazzled when he saw the "Western scenery" in front of him, and Wang Jun, who was accompanying him, felt quite novel when he saw the track.

Wang Meng and other major officials in the Lingnan area of ​​Chen Guo who surrendered not long ago came to Xiyang from Fan Yu. After a few days of rest, they were going to Anlu. Wang Jun, who persuaded Wang Meng to surrender, accompanied him throughout the journey.

When Wang Xu rushed to Lingbiao before, there were rumors in Xiyang City that it was about to build a railway. As a result, when the railway really appeared, Wang Xu didn't know how to express his feelings, so he could only learn and sell it right away, introducing Wang Meng to various "scenery" different from other places in Xiyang City.

Before, they followed the Hulin Army to the north. After arriving in Nanchang, Jiangzhou, Wang Meng and his party set off lightly and returned to Xiyang early. Here, the Chief of the Huangzhou General Administration and other officials warmly welcomed them. Tomorrow, Wang Meng and his party were about to set off for Anlu.

Wang Meng has not fully recovered from nearly two months of long journey until today. Wang Meng invited him to take a walk in the city and see the "railway" mentioned at the banquet before. Now he has seen it with his own eyes, and it feels really different.

For him, the only railway and bell tower in Xiyang City are truly worthy of being the "Xiyang Scenery".

Not only them are looking at the "Xiyang Scenery", but many people are looking at the legendary "railway" on both sides of the long track. Of course, Wang Jun and his party are accompanied by officials, so they do not need to be crowded with unknown people.

Suddenly, the noise in front of him became louder, and after a moment, the cheers came from far to near. Wang Meng raised his eyes and found that it was Lubu Feijie.
Chapter completed!