Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 44: My Incident Happened? Four Projects [Seeking Follow-up Reading]

Guo Tianwen really wanted to go up to the bridge and take a look.

Unfortunately, he could neither fly like a bird nor use the invisibility techniques described in mythological stories, so he was unable to get past the imperial army guarding the bridgehead.

Therefore, after looking out for a while, he could only sigh and climb down the branch and go into the city.

He found an inn in the outer city, used a pass to prove his identity, and stayed there to rest.

The next day, he went to the perfect spot he had found yesterday and looked at the bridge from a tree branch. He felt even more regretful that he could not go up the bridge.

"The imperial court is really stupid. Since this cross-river bridge has been built, it is for people to cross the river. Why is it banned?"

"It's totally incomprehensible."

"How about I take advantage of the night, sneak past the guards and go to the bridge to take a look?"

Guo Tianwen was itching to do it, and suddenly a bold idea came to his mind.

As he returned to the city, this thought became more and more serious, and he could hardly suppress it with his rationality.

As a result, as soon as he entered the inn, he was surrounded by a group of personal soldiers.

"Are you Guo Tianwen from Wu County, Suzhou?"

"It's me." Guo Tianwen answered subconsciously.

"Very well, come with us."

After the leading sergeant of the imperial guards finished speaking, two people stepped forward and grabbed Guo Tianwen's arms.

Guo Tianwen's heart suddenly started beating wildly.

"I haven't even sneaked onto the bridge yet, how come I'm caught?"

"Could it be that I was caught checking the railway tracks during the guard patrol?"

"But no one saw it at the time, and I didn't tell anyone afterwards."

While feeling scared, Guo Tianwen was also very confused.

After leaving the inn, he calmed down and asked, "I am an innocent citizen. Why are you arresting me? Is there any law?"

The sergeant stopped and said with a smile, "Mr. Guo has misunderstood. We are not here to arrest him, but to find him."

Ordered to find me?

On whose orders?

It seems that no one who knows him has the ability to mobilize the personal army of the Ming Emperor?

"Who is looking for me? What's the matter?" he asked.

"Mr. Guo will know when he goes there."

···
Ministry of Industry, Science and Technology Department.

In the lobby, Liu Kuan was convening the first general staff meeting of the Science and Technology Department.

The participants included Langzhong Su Quan, Yuanwailang Liu Kuan and Zhao Chengzhu.

The principals are Yu Xian, Qiu Qichi, and Wang Buqun; the clerk is Fan Qin, and the bookkeeper is He Zhang.

There were also 19 officials - except for Liu Yan and other former officials and five people from the Imperial College, the other 10 were recruited from young and literate craftsmen in Yingtian Prefecture in the past two days.

Although the lobby of the court is large, it is still a bit crowded to accommodate more than 20 people for a meeting.

Zhao Chengzhu and Yu Xian had raised objections to allowing officials to attend the meeting, but Liu Kuan rejected them.

Of course, with so many people, except for Liu Yan, who was taking minutes and needed a seat for his work, all the other clerks had to stand.

After the meeting started, Liu Kuan stood up according to the custom of later generations.

He looked around at everyone and felt that the Science and Technology Department was finally not a makeshift team anymore, and that preparations in all aspects were almost complete. It was time to start the various projects to build trains.

It is a bit regrettable that Guo Tianwen, who was recommended by Su Quan, has not been found yet, so there is a lack of an engineer responsible for the trial production of the steam engine.

But he has been working in the Science and Technology Department for four or five days, and it is impossible for him to stop working just because of a vacancy.

The same was true when he personally took charge of the trial construction of the steam engine without an engineer.

"Among you all, the last person to join the Science and Technology Department was yesterday. I presume you should have read the minutes of the last meeting as I requested, right?"

As he spoke, Liu Kuan's gaze was mainly directed at the three persons in charge, and the ten clerks who came later.

Wang Buqun, who seemed the most tactful and experienced of the three officials, said, "Since Deputy Liu has given us instructions, we have carefully read them. I even copied a copy and plan to ponder it further."

Liu Kuan said, "The first task of our Science and Technology Department is to build a train. This is something that cannot be accomplished overnight and will definitely take a long time."

"You will all be the ones who get things done. If you don't understand the principles of trains, you might not be able to get things done. You should think more about the first meeting minutes."

After hearing this, some people who did not copy the first meeting minutes also planned to ask Liu Yan to copy one after the meeting and think about it more carefully.

"Now that you all understand the train situation, let's get straight to the point of the meeting."

"Building a train is a huge project, so I plan to divide it into four projects and carry them out simultaneously to shorten the time required to complete the entire project."

"The names of these four projects are tentatively decided as: steelmaking, power, carriages, coal..." Liu Kuan was about to explain the four projects in detail when a flagman from the Yiluansi suddenly came to the door of the hall.

"Doctor Su, the Eagle Guard's general flag brought a man, saying that Doctor Su asked his personal troops to look for Guo Tianwen."

"Oh? We found him so quickly?" Su Quan stood up in surprise.

Liu Kuan also looked surprised.

It should be noted that those days were not like the later generations where there was the Internet and cameras in many places. If Guo Tianwen did not stay in his registered place of residence but traveled outside, even if Zhu Yuanzhang ordered a search for him, it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

As a result, I found it in less than two or three days. It was really good luck.

Then, Su Quan said to Liu Kuan, "Deputy Liu, Guo Tianwen is quite arrogant because of his talent. Now that he has been forced to come here by the imperial army, I'm afraid he will be a little dissatisfied. Why don't you and I go to greet him and eliminate his resentment?"

Liu Kuan smiled and said, "As long as he is as talented as Doctor Su says, I would be willing to go ten miles out of the city to meet him."

In Su Quan's previous introduction, Guo Tianwen was a genius who combined the qualities of a scientist, inventor, and engineer into one. This made Liu Kuan both excited and afraid that Su Quan was exaggerating.

Fortunately, I am finally going to see the real person.

We will soon know whether Guo Tianwen is a mule or a horse.

Since Su Quan and Liu Kuan went out to greet the guests, the other officials would not stay in the hall peacefully, so they followed them out.

After leaving the gate of the Science and Technology Bureau, Liu Kuan saw a man looking up at the plaque of "Science and Technology Bureau" with a thoughtful look.

The man looked to be in his thirties, wearing a coarse cloth robe, slightly tall and thin, with messy hair.

When he looked at the people in the Science and Technology Department, he looked calm but doubtful, without any trace of the dissatisfaction that Su Quan had mentioned.

Su Quan, a step ahead of Liu Kuan, approached with a warm smile, bowing and saying, "I am Su Quan, a doctor in the Department of Science and Technology. I heard Su Ziyu mention the great talent of Kaozhi (Guo Tianwen), so I asked Your Majesty to send someone to find him. I hope Kaozhi will forgive me if I have offended you."

Guo Tianwen did not return the greeting, but asked directly, "Why did Doctor Su come to see me?"

Su Quan wasn't upset with Guo Tianwen's impoliteness, but he understood his temperament better, so he said bluntly, "After the cross-river bridge and railway were built, His Majesty established this Science and Technology Department and asked me to assist Vice Minister Liu in building the train."

"This matter requires a skilled worker. I have considered the person I know and believe that he is the most suitable candidate. Therefore, I would like to invite him to join the Science and Technology Department and work with us to accomplish great things."

After hearing this, Guo Tianwen's eyes lit up, and then he asked questions one after another.

"What is a train?"

"Who is Vice-President Liu?"

"If I join the Science and Technology Department, can I go to the cross-river bridge to take a look?"

Liu Kuan also saw that Guo Tianwen was a "true-natured" person, and his emotional intelligence didn't seem very high, but it was still unclear whether he had great talent.

He stepped forward and said, "I am Deputy Officer Liu Kuan. As for what a train is, you will learn about it once you join the Science and Technology Department."

"If you want to go and take a look at the bridge, it's just a matter of a word from me. However, whether you can stay in the Science and Technology Department depends on whether you have real ability."

Guo Tianwen blinked and nodded, "Okay, I'll join the Science and Technology Department - how will you verify my ability?"

Liu Kuan couldn't help but look at Su Quan with a strange look in his eyes.

The meaning is clear: where is his arrogance? Why didn't I feel it?

Su Quan smiled awkwardly.

He also understood that since Guo Tianwen had come to the capital, he must have seen the cross-river bridge and the railway.

Given his personality, he must be very curious about the railway and the bridge and want to study them carefully.

For this reason, let alone letting him work in the Science and Technology Department, he would probably be willing even if he were to marry into the family.

"Let him come in first and listen to our meeting." After Liu Kuan finished speaking, he turned around and entered the Science and Technology Department.

The general flag of the Eagle Guard who sent the person over gave some instructions to the quartermaster Fan Qin, then left Guo Tianwen behind.

The officials returned to the hall and the meeting continued.

At Su Quan's instruction, Guo Tianwen also got a chair and watched and listened with great interest.

The Guo family was considered Suzhou gentry, so Guo Tianwen had seen government meetings before. However, this was the first time he had seen officials gathered together, some with pens, ink, paper, and inkstones, to write something down.

"Let's talk about steelmaking first. Whether it's steam engines, train cars, or the upcoming railway renovations, steel is essential. It's even fair to say the demand is huge..."

As Liu Kuan spoke, he presented his ideas for the four projects of steelmaking, power, carriages, and coal one by one, allowing the officials to gradually understand his ideas and thoughts.

The more Guo Tianwen listened, the brighter his eyes became, and his expression became obviously excited.

He kept looking at Liu Kuan, as if a sex-hungry ghost saw a peerless beauty.

That gaze was almost sticky enough to be stringy.

Liu Kuan finished explaining the ideas for the four projects before he noticed Guo Tianwen's strange look. He looked into his eyes and felt a chill.

"Could this Guo Tianwen be a homosexual?"

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(End of this chapter)