The golden crow fell west and night fell. At the farthest end of the west breakwater (south end), the lighthouse was filled with lights. This light illuminated the surrounding water surface, and it looked sparkling from a distance, which was very beautiful.

One after another, some light appeared at the south pier in the city, allowing people to notice the long dike and the pier trestle from afar.

At the same time, light began to flash on both sides of the north and south of the Yangtze River, outlining the outline of the river bank. From a distance, it looked like street lights on the side of the road, ensuring that pedestrians would not go in the wrong direction.

Above the river, the boats sailing at night lighted up lights, mixed with the fishing fires of fishing boats, like meteors in the sky, passing by the Xiyang River.

Even if you sail at night on the wide Yangtze River, it is not easy. On a night when the moon is in the sky, the visibility on the river is not much better. When you go to the waters with turbulent waters or shallows or reefs, if you are not careful, the ship will be destroyed and people will be killed.

Therefore, in order to ensure the safety of night sailing, lights need to be lit in dangerous shoals, reefs and other locations to warn the passing ships so that the boatman can notice the danger, avoid and turn in advance.

If there are fewer such lights, you should light one at a distance between the night flight sections, roughly outline the outline of the channel, and point out the important points, so as not to avoid the night flight ships who are not separated by water and land, and treat the river bank as the surface of the river and directly hit it.

As steamships were put into shipping, night sailing in the Yangtze River became more frequent, so various guarantees for night sailing were carried out one after another. These lights used to identify dangerous shoals, reefs and waterways are now collectively called waterway lights.

Since ancient times, it has been a case of setting up waterway lights in advance during night sailing, but it is time-consuming and labor-intensive to set up, so in general, folk night sailing ships just cannot enjoy such treatment.

On the trail on the south city wall of Xiyang, Chen Shubao, sitting in a wheelchair, looked at the night view on the river in front of him and the continuous channel lights, and couldn't help but remember what he saw and heard on the Tongji Canal.

This summer, the emperor of Zhou went on a tour and took a steamship to complete the entire Tongji Canal. The team was in a vast way, and Chen Shubao and his wife who were accompanying him under the imperial edict were also among them.

It was Chen Shubao's first time riding a steamship. This magical ship that can sail by just burning coal left a deep impression on him. Although the steamship is a bit noisy, there are all facilities on the ship, which is a bit worse than the imperial boat he rode on back then, but not much worse.

When I think of the Imperial Boat, I think of that year.

Chen Shubao was the king of a country back then. He had a lot of glory and enjoyment that the emperor should have, but he really had never experienced a ship like a steamer.

In a blink of an eye, the Chen State had been destroyed for more than ten years. As the king of the devastated country, Chen Shubao was paralyzed halfway and had a considerable obstacle to his words. Therefore, he threatened the winners and lived a stable life in Chang'an.

There is no worries about food and clothing, no one disturbs you. Although you don’t leave your home, you have various dramas to watch and rely on newspapers to understand the outside world.

In the newspaper, he saw reports about the steamship, but he had never been able to ride it. This time he traveled with the emperor's team, and finally got his wish.

The fleets that were on patrol sometimes sailed at night, and at night, the waterway lights would be lit along the coast of Tongji Canal to guide the correct course for the fleets that were on night sailed.

When the fleet sailed at night, lights flashed on both the shore and the boat, as if everyone was between the stars and the Milky Way. The scene was very spectacular. While Chen Shubao was still admiring it, a thought suddenly popped up:

How many candles, firewood, how many people need to be burned, how many people are mobilized to light lamps and protect lamps. Will it be too extravagant and wasteful?

If it were back then, Chen Shubao would never have thought of this, but after the country was destroyed, there had been changes unconsciously. He felt that it might be because he read too much newspaper.

His questions about the waterway lights were also answered through newspapers: the light source used for waterway lights is not a candle or a bonfire, but a magical lamp called "Calibrucidron Lamp".

This "calcium carbide lamp" is said to be simple in structure and is very simple to use: put a stone called "calcium carbide" into a water tank, and gas will emerge from the stone and rise out of the can pipe.

As long as gas is ignited on the other end of the pipeline, a bright flame can be ignited and can be used for lighting.

Put a piece of calcium carbide of the right size into the water tank and adjust the "valve" to maintain light for a long time, but the price of calcium carbide is not expensive, at least it is more cost-effective than lighting a candle.

The novel calcium carbide lamp has only appeared in the past two years and was first used in mining lighting. Now the thriving mining industry has a great demand for calcium carbide.

With the development of steamship shipping, calcium carbide lights are also used as channel lights to illuminate the channel for night sailing steamships, so the shipping industry also has a great demand for calcium carbide.

But the magical calcium carbide was not mined from mining. The newspapers are vague about how it came about.

While Chen Shubao was thinking, he suddenly felt warm. When he looked up, his wife Shen Wuhua covered him with a cloak.

"It's strong wind by the river tonight, let's go back?" Shen Wuhua said with concern.

Facing the wife's care, Chen Shubao nodded, and then the maid pushed the wheelchair and turned, pushing Chen Shubao to the stairs. Shen Wuhua was with her side, and several other entourages followed behind.

The people leading the way in front of the team were not carrying lanterns, but magical calcium carbide lamps. Of course, the calcium carbide lamps used by the government were much more sophisticated. The bright flames jumped in the glass lamps and were not afraid of the wind.

The river breeze on the autumn night is indeed a bit cold. The light of the calcium carbide lamp is poured on her body. Chen Shubao suddenly feels a little warm, but the source of the warmth is not the light, but Shen Wuhua who has always been with him.

He looked at Shen Wuhua with concern and thought that it was really good to live the rest of his life like this...

......

In Xiyang City, the palace maids hung calcium carbide lamps under the eaves, making the entire palace brighter, but the candles were still lit in each palace because the gas in the calcium carbide lamps would emit a slight odor when it burned, and the concubines didn't like it very much.

The emperor stayed in Xiyang, and wherever he lived was the palace, which was actually the hidden residence of the year, namely the Xiyang Prince's Mansion (Xiyang County Duke's Mansion). It was originally equipped with biogas lamps, and the lighting at night was very convenient.

However, the palace is not useful all year round, and the palace maids cannot use biogas lamps. Therefore, in order to save money, the biogas lamps in the palace have long been removed and the biogas tank has been replaced for other purposes.

This time the emperor stayed in Xiyang and his itinerary had been arranged, but it was still based on the cost savings. Not only did the biogas lamp not be reinstalled, but the gas lamp was not even installed. The night lighting of the palace was borne by candles and calcium carbide lamps.

The person who made this decision was Empress Yuchi Chifan. At this moment, she walked in the corridor illuminated by calcium carbide lamps and walked towards her bedroom, which was her own dormitory, with several palace maids following closely behind.

Yuchi Chifan and Yuwen Wen have lived here for more than ten years, so they are so familiar. Even after a few years, she can still find her dormitory with her eyes closed. However, now, she is not going to sleep, but arresting people.

The children played hide-and-seek with her, and most of them were found by her, and there were still two little foxes missing. Now she has never been to find her own bedroom, so...

Some odor came, and Yuchi Chifan looked up at the calcium carbide lamp hanging next to him, and couldn't help but speed up his pace and walk forward.

The gas in the calcium carbide lamp will smell when it burns. She doesn't like this smell, so the bedroom is lit with candles. If it weren't for being temporarily caught by someone to replace her, she wouldn't have swayed outside and smelled the stench.

As he thought about it, Yuchi Chifan sighed. Originally, Yuwen Wen, who was Aye's son and his children, had agreed to play hide-and-seek together tonight, but now Yuwen Wen has left and asked her to replace him.

Looking at the night sky, she felt helpless.
Chapter completed!