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The literati shouted again: "What precious things cost 20 taels? Those tables, chairs, benches, teapots and tea bowls are more than enough to pay him 5 taels of silver."

Director Qian said to the boatman: "20 taels is really too much."

"That's ten taels, no less," said the boatman. "Not only did they break things, but they also ruined the boat business, so they should lose money."

The translator then went to talk to the Tsarist Russian youth to explain the results of the case.

When Khovanski heard this, he said angrily, "He kicked me from the back first, why should we lose money?"

The interpreter said: "You have injured people."

"We got hurt too," Khovanski said.

"But they were hurt more," said the interpreter.

Khovanski said: "They were hurt more because they were too weak to fight. Is it a sin that we are stronger?"

The interpreter said: "They are standing up to uphold justice, and you were the first to make trouble on the boat."

Khovansky said: "We heard that the boats in the lake were high-end brothels, so we went there. But the boat owner took the money, but didn't call the prostitutes. He only let us drink tea on another boat. This is a scam. We were cheated out of money, so we got into trouble with the tea pourer."

"You also said that it is a high-end brothel, can it be the same as an ordinary brothel?" The interpreter explained, "If you want to meet a famous prostitute, you must drink tea and drink first. And you can't just go there once. If you spend less than ten times, a famous prostitute will even you I don’t even want to know their names.”

Khovanski was dumbfounded: "Is this a prostitute or a lady?"

The translator sighed: "I really didn't lie to you, you will know when you learn to speak Chinese."

Khovansky held back his anger, and he had no choice but to take out a bank note: "I don't have 240 taels in cash, and this is a 1000 taels of deposit certificate from Datong Bank."

These young people studying in Tsarist Russia only had 1000 taels of silver, and the rest was dozens of taels of change.

A quarter of the funding for studying abroad was lost for just one brawl.

When Golitsyn came to the police station, these guys had already gone to the bank, and the two sides were dealing with the compensation issue at Datong Bank.

Golitsyn also made a statement at the police station, and was asked to hand in his saber, and he would take it away with a receipt when he left Nanjing.

Back in the small rented courtyard, those young people were arguing and fighting.

After their quarrel was over, Golitsyn stepped forward and said, "I haven't paid my living expenses for this month."

"You still want money?"

Khovanski was worried that he had nowhere to vent, and said with a sneer, "We are all from great aristocrats, and only you are an ordinary aristocrat. Why do you hang out with us?"

Golitsyn said: "I was sent by His Majesty the Tsar to study in China, and I was personally selected by Your Excellency the Prime Minister."

"I don't care how you got here, move out of here immediately!" Khovanski roared.

"Hit him!"

Another noble youth shouted, and as he spoke, someone rushed over and hit Golitsyn on the cheekbone with a punch.

Khovanski also started to act, kicking Goritsyn to the ground.

After a fat beating, Golitsyn was carried and thrown out of the courtyard. He was in so much pain that he couldn't get up for a long time.

But these noble youths, who lost more than 200 taels of silver, didn't know what to do.He continued to play in and out of the city all day long, and was ripped off by the shopkeepers, leaving a few hundred taels of silver, which was spent in less than two months.

They dug out a few pieces of sable fur left by Bayinkov. These things are very valuable in Nanjing. Good quality can cost thousands of taels of silver, while bad ones can be sold for four to five hundred taels.

These guys sell them in leather goods stores, and they also know to go to Honglu Temple to find translators.

But the translator is not reliable, and the joint merchants cheated on their things.The total price was agreed to be 5000 taels, but only 1000 taels were paid, and only one mink fur was admitted.

Khovanski was furious, and in front of the interpreter, he beat up the owner of the fur shop.

Then, they went to the police station again and compensated 20 taels of medicine...

Half a year later, a group of Russian beggars appeared in Nanjing, and their daily income was not bad.Because Nanjing has not seen beggars for a long time, and now not only do they have them, they are also Raksha beggars, and the common people regard them as rare animals.

Poor brother Khovanski, historically, he was the actual executor of the coup in Sofia.

At that time, he was in control of the shooting army, which was equivalent to the Moscow garrison commander. He was bribed by Sophia to launch a coup, expelled Peter the Great by force and put him under house arrest.

This guy has no brains at all, and after the matter is done, he actually considers himself a hero and clamors for an official promotion.Sofia promoted him to a rank, but Khovanski was still not satisfied, and asked Sofia to build a monument to the Shooting Army in Moscow.

His demands became more and more outrageous, forcing Sophia to cut him off.

And the new commander-in-chief of the shooting army is that Golitsyn!

But Golitsyn was beaten bruised and swollen, and went to visit Pascal with a limp. Fortunately, Pascal was at home on vacation this time.

Pascal has lived in China for many years and has already studied both arts and sciences. He not only produced a number of research results, but also studied the Four Books and Five Classics in depth.His way of reading the Four Books and Five Classics is very similar to that of Zhao Han, that is, grasping the basic ideas and developments of Confucianism, and then re-reading specific books in detail, studying Confucianism as a natural science, and not doing the kind of excerpts from chapters. stuff.

"You were abandoned by the nobles?" Pascal couldn't help laughing.

Golitsyn corrected: "They haven't inherited titles yet, they are just sons of great nobles."

Pascal asked: "Are you going back to Russia?"

"I have no money," Golitsyn shook his head. "I want to find a job and use my spare time to study, but I don't know how to speak Khitan yet. I have studied natural science in Moscow, and I can be your assistant. No salary, just take care of the food."

Pascal thought for a while: "Then you can be my assistant."

Golitsyn asked curiously: "Aren't you planning to go back to France? Why do you have to live in China?"

"Staying in France, I can't deal with the relationship between science and God," Pascal sighed. "I still can't deal with it in China, but I can stop thinking about it. France is my motherland, but China is my destination. God may exist, but certainly not in the way people imagine. God may be an energy, he may be a will, but he is certainly not a divine being in human form."

Hearing this, Golitsyn quickly made the sign of the cross on his chest.

Pascal asked: "What about you, will you go back to Moscow after acquiring knowledge?"

Golitsyn said: "Yes, I must go back. When I return to Moscow, millions of serfs will be free, and Russia will become stronger than ever. The Yenisei River Basin will definitely fall into the hands of the Khitan, but I will firmly consolidate the territory west of the Yenisei River!"

The ideal is grand, but the implementation is nonsense.

According to China's reform in Russia, it will be torn apart after modification.Then we have to take it step by step, first learn the development model of Western Europe, and at most learn a little science and technology in China.

"Mr. Pascal," Golitsyn asked suddenly, "in addition to climate factors, why do you think China can become powerful? Why can the population be so large?"

Pascal smiled and said: "The development routes of civilizations are different. Recently, I was reading articles sent back from overseas, which recorded many different civilizations. Some were primitive societies, while others were conquered by colonists. There are some young scholars in China who analyze and summarize the types of civilizations and Progress of Civilization. Subscribe to those journals if you are interested."

Chapter 1008 [Steam Ship]

After getting up in the morning and washing up, Golitsyn ran to the dining room.

"Sir, I have prepared the equipment for the experiment you are going to do today," Golitsyn said.

"Come over and have dinner," Pascal said with a smile, "I forgot to tell you that there is no work today. If you want, you can accompany me to the riverside to watch the steamship test sail."

"Steamboat?" Golitsyn couldn't understand.

Pascal explained: "There is a steam engine in China, and foreigners are forbidden to study it, but it is still possible to watch it from a distance. In the southwest of the outskirts of Nanjing, there are many chimneys emitting black smoke. That is the smoke from the steam engine."

Golitsyn still didn't understand, and couldn't help but ask, "Is that Eastern witchcraft?"

Pascal smiled and said, "You can also understand it in this way."

When Pascal went out, he not only asked Golitsyn to follow him, but also brought his servants along with him.

All the way to the edge of the Yangtze River, where thousands of people have gathered.

Suddenly, the imperial guards cleared the way, and Zhao Han showed up with the royal family.But instead of leaving the city, he climbed up the north city wall and waited on the majestic tower.

Xu Zhengming, who is in charge of developing the steam engine, is by Zhao Han's side right now.

He has improved the steam engine again, changing the single cylinder to a double cylinder, which greatly improves the efficiency of the machine.The steamship used for this test voyage uses a twin-cylinder steam engine, and the inventor is Xu Zhengming's son and apprentice.

"Your Majesty, you are ready." Xu Zhengming said.

Zhao Han nodded and said, "Then let's try the voyage."

Xu Zhengming raised the flag in his hand, and his son and apprentice received the news and immediately ordered the steamboat to set sail.

"Woooooo~~~"

The twin-cylinder steam engine had already been preheated, and the steam hit the whistle, making a loud shrill sound, and thicker black smoke was emitted from the ship's chimneys.

Wheel paddles are installed on both sides of the hull. This thing is ready-made, and paddle boats appeared in the Song Dynasty.In the past, the pedals were stepped on by manpower, but now they are driven by steam engines to move forward slowly in the Yangtze River.

Zhao Han looked at the binoculars for 2 minutes and asked, "Can it be faster?"

"The boiler will burn for a while before it can reach the fastest speed." Xu Zhengming explained.

Zhao Han didn't press anymore, but turned around and asked the concubines: "How is this thing?"

"It's too slow." Fei Rulan said.

Fei Rumei said: "The smoke is too much."

Liu Rushi smiled and said, "It would be great if we can improve faster."

Auntie Zhu asked, "Isn't this really pedaling?"

"..."

After the concubines had finished speaking, Zhao Han asked Zhao Kuanghuan, "What does the crown prince think?"

Zhao Kuanghuan replied: "As it is now, it doesn't seem to be very useful, and the machine needs to be continuously improved."

The speed of the steamship in front of him was about the same as that of a person walking.If a person runs on the shore, he will leave the steamship behind in minutes, and the cruising range is less than 200 miles. When the coal is burned out, he has to go to the shore to refuel.

Great scientific value, no practical value.

Everyone in the royal family was not very satisfied with the steamboat, but Golitsyn, who was standing on the bank, stared at the monster in the river with dumbfounded eyes.

"Witchcraft...it's really witchcraft, witchcraft bought from the devil!" Golitsyn kept muttering.

Pascal said with a smile: "This is natural science, a different kind of witchcraft. I am using my research on air pressure to help Qin Tianjian improve the steam engine. Maybe the steam engine will run faster in the future."

As the steamship drifted away, the people on the shore cheered, some of which were mixed with ridicule.

As for the joke, of course it is the slow speed of sailing like a turtle.

According to the original historical track, in more than 20 years, the French proposed the idea of ​​a steam ship.But no one paid attention to it, and the steam engine was not efficient enough to support this idea into practice.

More than a hundred years later, a Frenchman built a steamship, and during the trial voyage, both the man and the boat were blown up.Another American built a steamship, which was destroyed in a storm and killed.Then the Americans built a steamship and sailed in the inland river, but the river operator stopped it and dragged the boat to the shore and seized it.

Until the appearance of Fulton, Napoleon first supported him in building the ship. Due to the unstable center of gravity, it was blown over by the wind and waves during the trial voyage.Then he pledged his allegiance to the United Kingdom, but was always ignored by the United Kingdom.With the money earned from England, Fulton returned to the United States to do it himself, and the steamship finally succeeded in its trial voyage.

"Your Majesty, I must lead my disciples to continue to improve." Xu Zhengming was afraid that the emperor would be unhappy.

Zhao Han smiled and said: "Don't worry, take your time, you have done a good job."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your understanding." Xu Zhengming heaved a sigh of relief, thinking that the emperor is very kind.

Zhao Han suddenly said: "Have you ever thought that if you lift up the hull in a strong wind and waves, the paddles on both sides of the hull will leave the water. One side is low, and the paddles on the higher side will spin as well.”

Xu Zhengming was in a daze when he heard this, it was a question he hadn't thought about.

Zhao Han continued to remind: "Didn't you build a flying machine? That kind of device that resembles a bamboo dragonfly can be used in a steamboat. I call it a propeller. If you install the propeller under the water at the stern, you can turn the steamship into a flying machine." Push away."

"Your Majesty is wise!" Xu Zhengming sincerely admired him.

Technological progress is not always smooth sailing.

Zhao Han, who is not even half-baked, can only give some kind of advice, and leave the specific operation to professionals.

Even the steam engine in the factory has experienced a lot of hardships. In ten years, more than 30 boilers were blown up, killing and injuring more than [-] boiler workers.The bloody lesson gave birth to the advent of the safety valve, and now the steam boiler will finally not explode easily.

Zhao Han said: "While improving the steamship, the steam car must also be made."

"It's already under construction," Xu Zhengming said.

As for the track, there was something like it in the Qin Dynasty, and Nanyang discovered the remains of the wooden track of the Qin Dynasty that was several kilometers long.The shape is similar to that of train tracks, and the wood has been treated with anti-corrosion treatment, and it has not been seriously rotted after more than 2000 years.

According to the situation in the Nanyang mountain area, it should be used by the Qin Dynasty to transport ore.

For unknown reasons, the mines after the Qin Dynasty no longer used rail transportation.Until the late Ming Dynasty in Europe, mine tracks appeared again, and they were not as good as those in the Qin Dynasty.

When Zhao Han was still in Jiangxi, the mines in his jurisdiction began to use wooden rails one after another, and the power was of course mules, poor horses and cattle.

Now the steam engine has been widely used in iron and steel smelting, not only the output of iron and steel has increased, but also the price has continued to decline.This has just had the condition of laying railroad tracks, and the research and development of steam train should also be put on the agenda.

When the train was invented, it had to be put into use in the north first.

In Nanfangshan Kawasaki District, the laying of railway tracks is not easy, and the rivers are criss-crossing. It is more convenient to take a boat than a train.

Zhao Han had already thought about the route of the first railroad track.From the Xishan Coal Mine in Beijing to Tianjin, the Beijing Coal Mine can be shipped to the south from Tianjin.

With the experience of the first railway, the second railway can be built longer, from Beijing to Shanhaiguan.

The third railway is longer, from Shanhaiguan to Shenyang.

The fourth railway is under construction in Guanzhong, Chencang-Xi'an-Huayin.