Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 136 The first steam train test run in the Ming Dynasty! [Subscription Request]

Liu Kuan said: "It can't be considered as a complete product. We have only built a practical steam engine and are conducting train trials."

"Isn't that a big step closer to building a train?" Zhu Biao said with a smile, "Come on, I'll go with you to take a look."

Zhu Tan, Zhu Bo, and other young princes immediately said, "Brother, we want to see it too!"

Even Zhu Ying had a longing look on his face, obviously wanting to go too.

Seeing this, Zhu Biao asked Liu Kuan, "Is this experiment safe?"

Liu Kuan said: "As long as we stay a little further away, there will be no danger."

Zhu Biao nodded immediately, "Okay, let's go and take a look together."

Then, Zhu Biao and his party joined Liu Kuan and others and headed towards Xuanwu Lake from the northeast of the Forbidden City.

Of course, Zhu Biao did not forget to send someone back to the palace to tell Old Zhu.

About half an hour later, Liu Kuan, Zhu Biao and others arrived at the carriage project team compound at the foot of Lime Mountain, which was near the section of railway where the horse-pulled carriage experiments were often conducted.

I saw that many of the emperor's personal soldiers had already stood around to block the area and prevent the people from accidentally entering.

After all, the previous horse-drawn carriage experiments and the current steam experiments are still somewhat dangerous, especially when someone accidentally walks next to the railway.

At this time, there were no longer just four simple carriages parked on the railway, but two locomotives were added one in front and one behind.

Guo Tianwen and Qiu Qichi, the two heads of the Science and Technology Department, were busy on the train with the main staff of their respective project teams.

When Liu Kuan and others appeared, Qiu Qichi was the first to react and immediately came over to greet them.

Guo Tianwen's side was slower, and they arrived after Qiu Qichi's group had finished their greetings.

After the ceremony, Zhu Biao did not take the lead, but signaled Liu Kuan to ask questions.

Liu Kuan looked at Guo Tian and asked, "Is the experiment ready? When can it begin?"

Guo Tian asked, "It will probably take another moment."

"Can you guarantee the safety of the experiment?"

Guo Tianwen said speechlessly, "Of course not. Deputy Liu should know that under the current conditions, it is difficult to eliminate all unexpected situations in the experiment."

The princes beside him, such as Zhu Ying, were secretly surprised when they saw this. They didn't expect that a small official would dare to speak to Liu Kuan in such a way. You must know that Liu Kuan is now a big shot in Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes.

Liu Kuan had long understood Guo Tianwen's character and didn't care. He asked again, "What are the main accidents? Even if they can't be ruled out, can you at least guarantee a certain level of safety?"

Guo Tian asked, "The main danger is still boiler explosion, but we've spent the past two or three months making improvements based on the information you provided. We've installed more reliable safety valves and other pressure-regulating devices. The possibility of a steam engine boiler explosion has been minimized under current conditions."

"Another major risk is derailment and loss of control caused by boiler explosions or other accidents. However, the possibility of this happening is also extremely small. We have repeatedly checked this experiment and there are no omissions."

Guo Tianwen's words were somewhat absolute, but Liu Kuan did not dare to be arrogant.

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and the other princes are going to watch this experiment. How far away do you think we should stand to be safe?"

Guo Tianwen glanced at the young princes and said, "The farther the better."

Liu Kuan touched his forehead and said, "Give me an approximate distance."

"At least ten feet away."

So Liu Kuan took Zhu Biao and others and stood on a high slope about twenty or thirty feet away.

Zhu Biao looked at the steam train on the railway below and said helplessly, "Are we standing too far away? We can't even see clearly what those craftsmen are doing."

Liu Kuan took out a telescope like a magic trick - this was what he had asked Lao Zhu for.

"Your Highness can use this to see."

Now, even if Zhu Biao wanted to get closer, he had no reason to do so, so he could only stand at a safe distance with the telescope.

At this time, Guo Tianwen and several craftsmen were busy working on the locomotive - the locomotive only had a chassis, no carriages, and the steam engine and other things were exposed outside.

In less than a quarter of an hour, Guo Tianwen said a few words to Qiu Qichi and others, and then an official came to the slope and reported loudly.

"Your Highness, the Crown Prince, and Vice-Minister Liu, preparations for the steam train trial are complete. The powertrain and carriage project teams are jointly requesting the first official test!"

After hearing these words, Zhu Biao, Zhu Ying and others just felt curious.

Liu Kuan became inexplicably excited, not only because of the steam locomotive, but also because he remembered the countless major experiments in his motherland in later generations to catch up with the technology of the great powers, as well as the moments when those experiments were successful.

Seeing Zhu Biao looking at him again, he took a deep breath and said loudly: "Okay! I order, start the experiment!"

"Order!"

The official ran back and conveyed Liu Kuan's order.

Then everyone saw that the boilerman on the locomotive added the burning coal directly into the fire compartment.

On the other side, craftsmen used special pipes to directly pour boiled water into the boiler.

Even so, everyone still had to wait for more than a quarter of an hour before they heard the sound of the whistle and saw a puff of white steam rushing out from above.

Then the steam engine started to run, and the huge flywheel exposed outside drove the wheels of the locomotive through the connecting rod, and slowly turned.

Zhu Ying was already getting a little impatient waiting, and seeing this, he couldn't help but ask, "Is this a train? It's so slow, even slower than walking. What's the point?"

Zhu Biao also looked puzzled.

Liu Kuan did not explain because Zhu Tan spoke first.

"Third brother, it seems that Teacher Liu asked you to borrow the class notes to make up for the science class you missed earlier, but you didn't make up for it."

"This train has just started, so it's naturally moving slowly. It's just like when you ride a horse, it's impossible to make the horse run faster instantly, it always takes a certain distance to accelerate. Do you understand?" Although Zhu Ying's riding skills were not as good as Zhu Di's, they were also very good, so he naturally understood the reason. After hearing what Zhu Tan said, he realized that the train started slowly for the same reason.

Then the fierce general's face turned red with shame.

Zhu Biao also looked a little embarrassed, and thought to himself: Fortunately I didn't question it, otherwise I would have been embarrassed too.

Then he decided to find Zhu Tan when he had time and borrow his science class notes to study, so that he would not forget the natural knowledge that his younger brothers knew in the future.

After that, no one said anything, everyone just watched and waited quietly.

After the train started moving, Guo Tianwen, Qiu Qichi and others who were gathered around the railway did not cheer.

Although the person who just reported said that this was the first formal experiment, they had already conducted many experiments privately, otherwise they would not have invited Liu Kuan to watch. Therefore, the excitement of seeing the steam locomotive move for the first time was not much.

On the contrary, they were all very nervous at the moment.

Because Liu Kuan and even the prince and others were watching not far away, if the experiment failed, it would be extremely embarrassing.

At Qiu Qichi's call, the staff who did not need to work on the train moved away and ran after the train, as if they were ready to go up and remedy the situation if there was any problem with the train.

This is of course dangerous, but no one cares.

Just like that, followed by the two experimental group staff members and watched by Liu Kuan, Zhu Biao and others, the first train of the Ming Dynasty clanged towards Xuanwu Lake, speeding up!

Seeing the train going away along the railway and the occasional whistle sound disappearing, Zhu Biao and others withdrew their gaze.

Zhu Biao then turned and stared at Liu Kuan, asking excitedly and expectantly, "Is this done?"

Liu Kuan was also very excited, but he still remained rational.

He smiled and said, "It should be considered a success, but the experiment will only be considered successful after the train runs to the train station by Xuanwu Lake and then runs back."

Zhu Biao was a little impatient, so he said, "Why don't we ride on horseback and follow them?"

Liu Kuan was also worried and wanted to witness the entire process of the successful trial run of the first train in the Ming Dynasty. He said, "Your Highness the Crown Prince and Your Highness the Prince of Jin, please follow me on horseback and take some of your entourage with you. The other young princes should not go."

"what?"

"Teacher Liu, we can also ride horses, let's go together."

"Yes, we will all pay attention to safety."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Tan and other young princes showed disappointment and began to plead again.

Liu Kuan and Zhu Biao were unmoved, while Zhu Ying laughed heartily and said, "Brothers, just wait where you are."

After laughing, he rode on horseback with Liu Kuan and others towards Xuanwu Lake.

Because it was the first official trial, and Lime Mountain was only a few miles away from Xuanwu Lake, the train speed was not very fast. Liu Kuan and others rode their horses to chase it for a while and actually caught up with it.

At this time, the train was approaching Xuanwu Lake and had already slowed down, and then it slowly stopped in the eyes of everyone.

Then there was another quarter of an hour of waiting before the steam engine on the other locomotive started up, driving the train slowly towards Lime Mountain.

Everyone then ran back, but they were no longer as nervous and anxious as when they came.

On the way, Zhu Biao asked, "Is that the train's top speed?"

Liu Kuan pondered and said, "Probably not."

If the train was really built from scratch, the first generation of trains would probably be quite slow and would not be able to reach very high speeds.

But the Ming Dynasty had the information support provided by Liu Kuan, so not only did it not have to take detours, but many mature steam locomotive technologies were directly provided to it.

In this way, even for the first train, its speed limit will not be too low.

Zhu Biao nodded and sighed, "Even if it was at its fastest speed just now, as long as it can keep running, it's pretty good. Not only can it carry a lot, but it doesn't need to consume food and fodder like oxen, horses, and laborers. It only needs to burn coal, which is enough to carry the heavy responsibility of transporting food and fodder to the northern army."

Liu Kuan listened thoughtfully and asked, "Your Majesty, are you considering another northern expedition?"

Liu Kuan remembered that in history, Zhu Yuanzhang's fourth campaign against the Northern Yuan Dynasty, that is, to eliminate Nahachu, the Northern Yuan Taiwei who ruled the northeast, was during the 19th and 20th years of the Hongwu reign.

Now it seems that this time will most likely be brought forward.

Come to think of it, with his help, the Ming Dynasty's military strength has been significantly improved, and even its economic strength is rapidly increasing.

In addition, with the plan of great voyages behind, it became natural to carry out the Fourth Northern Expedition a few years earlier than in later history.

Zhu Biao trusted Liu Kuan very much. Considering that this matter was not a major secret, he nodded and said, "Yes, if the war in Yunnan goes smoothly, the court only needs to delay for a year before launching the Fourth Northern Expedition!"

When he mentioned the word "Northern Expedition", Zhu Biao's voice became unusually sonorous and powerful.

This shows that the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty was very determined to defeat the Northern Yuan Dynasty.

During the conversation, the train slowed down again and finally stopped slowly near Lime Mountain, in front of the carriage project team compound.

Guo Tianwen and Qiu Qianchi each led their staff to inspect the front and rear trains and the bottom of the four carriages.

After a while, when these staff members came out one after another and talked to each other, a burst of warm cheers broke out beside the train!
Immediately, Guo Tianwen and Qiu Qianchi led all the staff of the two working groups to the slope.

Liu Kuan has returned here with Zhu Biao, Zhu Ying and a group of followers.

Guo Tianwen and Qiu Qianchi took a few steps forward and saluted together. Then Qiu Qianchi cupped his hands and said loudly, "Your Highness the Crown Prince and Vice Minister Liu, the first steam locomotive test in the Ming Dynasty has been successfully completed! Please give your instructions!"

　First update.

　　The second update today will be very late, so I’ll just say it here.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)