The day after arriving in Longchuan, Fang Bingsheng was going to visit the mayor. The main saying was to look at the pre-examination, see how many candidates were, who were there, and whether there were any thorns.

For this reason, he specially asked Shan Ji to go to the bank to exchange 500 yuan banknotes and carry them with him.

Although he and Mayor Liu Guojian of the city are both old friends because of the railway project, he plans to give a good bribe this time.

Railways are extremely important to the economy of a place. After the Haigan Line was opened to traffic, the industrial and commercial development along the line has been changing with each passing day, which has made all adults with railways in the area happy, and in turn is very polite to the people of the railway company.

As for giving Lord Liu a lot of bribes, Fang Bingsheng didn't have to be so polite, but the violent fight caused by the last Shaoguan election made Fang Bing feel alert: the same rice raises hundreds of people, what kind of heroes, freaks, and perverts in the city are not? If the same thing happens this time, it's not up to the hard relationship with the adults, so it's better to be polite in advance;

In addition, there were bandits shooting trains outside Longchuan City. This was so hateful. This wind must not last! The adults in the city must come forward to search for the murderers.

After adding up the three considerations, Fang Bingsheng had a general idea of ​​the amount of bribery required in advance. After all, although the budget for this campaign is quite large, compared to the future of the railway, it is considered a drop in the bucket. The boss Weng Jianguang respects the boss of Zhong Jialiang. Since it is his own company's money, he has to spend it leisurely.

If Weng Jianguang is unhappy if bribery and dereliction of duty or even poor work within the company, he will chop off your fingers, and he will be the chairman of the company that was born. However, Fang Bingsheng did not have such concerns. What he needed is a bright future, which requires the trust of the boss and the evaluation of his expert in doing things.

Zhong Erzai, the opium party in Longchuan, was very enthusiastic about accompanying Fang Bingsheng to meet the adults, but Fang Bingsheng refused.

He said that first of all, he was originally a local, and he was very familiar with the place, and he was also very familiar with the adults. Secondly, he wanted to take a look at the new look of Longchuan, check the people's conditions, and estimate the difficulty of the matter.

Since Fang Bingsheng insisted, it would be difficult for others to follow him.

When he was dressed neatly, the brand new Western four-wheeled six-horse cart had already stopped at the gate of the yard. Li Meng stood at the door of the carriage and opened the door for Fang Bingsheng.

Looking at the shining car, Fang Bingsheng smiled and said, "Thank you brothers Longchuan for being so thoughtful. But I don't want to ride a carriage this time. I'm too bored and can't see clearly..."

"Mr. Fang depends on the people's sentiment! Hurry up and pull my emperor car!" Before Fang Bingsheng finished speaking, Lin Liuming shouted.

Within one minute, the emperor car with silvery spokes of the two cars stopped in front of Fang Bingsheng and Shan Ji.

"Okay, Lao Lin, your car is really well maintained!" Looking at the spotless car body, the shiny wheels, and the soft cowhide cushion, Shan Ji smiled, took a step forward, opened the rain curtain to cover the sun, and then used his hat to hit the dust on the foot pad. The other party Bingsheng said flatteringly: "Brother Sheng, please!"

But Fang Bingsheng's steps did not move, his face was full of a bitter smile, and turned his head and said, "I actually want to ride a slider and carry the sedan chair. I wonder if there is any?"

"Carry the sedan chair with a slide rod?" Everyone was stunned.

In the past, slide rods were a very common means of transportation for people in Qing Dynasty. They were lighter and less expensive than official sedans. They placed a seat similar to a basket between two bamboo poles. Two coolies carried them and left swayingly. This was once the main means of transportation for people or women who had some money.

The poorer people choose to ride a wheelbarrow, which is cheaper and has a lot of loads. A coolie can push goods with a mountain high. A rope cover is tied on both sides of the car board, which becomes a pedal, so you can sit on the person and not fall off.

Moreover, a wheelbarrow is like a slider. The biggest strength of the terrain is that it ignores all terrain: whether it is a muddy mud road or a rugged mountain road, there is no obstacle to traffic.

But now in various cities in Haijing, there are fewer and fewer sliders and unicycles.

This is because the Haijing imperial court vigorously built the road.

In the past, the Qing Dynasty did not know about road construction technology. Not to mention outside the provinces, there was no solid road surface inside and outside the capital. Even the road from the capital to the Emperor's Summer Resort outside the suburbs was built by royal convoys as they passed by. When the emperor was about to come out, pave the road quickly. This kind of road was crushed after being used once. The only durable road was left by the Ming Dynasty.

The road surface in the city is even more terrifying, but it is simply flattened with earth. After a while, the wheels will plow out of two large ditches. When it rains, it will turn into mud pits. When it clears, it will dry and solidify into a coral reef-like road surface.

The so-called newly built road is a trapezoidal earth slope higher than the ground, but all the old roads in Beijing are sunken towards the center of the street, which is the result of long-term hardships. This is also very beneficial: after it rains, it is convenient for pedestrians to walk like a tightrope from the corner of the roadside wall; it is more convenient to throw away garbage and pee at night. If you splash it out at your doorstep, the yellow and white things from last night will automatically roll to the center of the street and become a roadbed.

This is why the car has the same track: good roads have two deep big ruts. If you have different tracks and the axles are different, you can't crush them into the ditch at the same time.

As the saying goes, the Yuan Dynasty does not build a city, and the Qing Dynasty does not build a road.

This kind of road is undoubtedly the most suitable for human-powered sedans, sliders and wheelbarrows with only one wheel and no matter the same track.

But the Emperor of Hai vigorously built roads and used Western methods to cast Western highways that were not deformed even if they were raining and sun-dried.

This road not only no longer has the natural stench of the Qing Dynasty roads, but also is suitable for four-way carriages to run wildly.

At this time, the smart emperor Haihuang, who even foreigners admired, invented a two-wheeled car, which looked like he used a knife to split a Western carriage into two, and half a paper-shaped pole in front, allowing a person to run by pulling it.

This kind of car is not the invention of the Sea King. It was originally available in Japan, but the Sea King had never been to Japan. The court yelled that this was the invention of the Saint King, and registered patents for everything: car body, patent! Folding canopy, patent! Sea King added a bell, patent! Sea King wrapped the wheels with rubber, patent! Sea King added a hook to the handlebar, which could hook the oil lamp to lighting, absolutely patent!

This is the popular patent theft in the international world! You have created a person, which is good! But I have registered all the accessories from underwear to socks to coats. Do you think it out? Yes, come out naked!

If the Japanese who first invented the rickshaw came, they would probably have to infringe the defendants, and Chao Haisong paid the patent fee.

As soon as this kind of car appeared, it squeezed away all the wheelbarrows and slider double-person carriages in all places with western roads.

It's very simple. On a good road, this kind of cargo cargo is no less effective than a wheelbarrow, and the speed is n times faster.

As for the slide rod, let alone the slide rod. In the past, two people carried a customer and collected two people's money. This kind of rickshaw could do the previous work of two people. Besides, it would take an hour to carry a slide rod ten miles. Now, if the road is good, you can pull the emperor cart and run for half an hour. You can do twice the work at the same time, and the same job makes four times more money.

I think this kind of emperor car is expensive and can't afford it. I want to trade sliders and unicycles. I'm sorry, there are two more terrifying groups of people waiting for you, that is, the sheriff and black/dao who monopolize the emperor's license plate and operation.

Naturally, in the city, as long as there is a Western Road, all those who originally did the transportation work will go to pull rickshaws and four-wheeled carriages.

This kind of rickshaw is respected as the "Emperor's Car". First there is a road, then there is an emperor's car.

Longchuan, a city at the junction of Guangdong and Jiangxi, was indeed very backward, and even the city walls were crooked, as if they could be kicked through with one kick. However, after the railway was built, it became the junction of Guangdong and Jiangxi, with extremely large freight traffic. Moreover, according to the plan, a branch from Longchuan was to be opened to Chaozhou, which was an outpost and land freight node in Fujian, the status of Longchuan was even more important.

This dilapidated city has become increasingly prosperous with the construction of the railway, and has been upgraded from a small county to a small city. In places with prosperous commerce, transportation is more and more important, otherwise how will bulk goods be transported and how will so many people move?

Therefore, the roads in the city quickly drove away the dirty, smelly dirt roads with changing soil and soil. Without the dirt roads that show the hard work of the Chinese, there were naturally no wheelbarrows and carriages.

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Hearing Fang Bingsheng's strange retro request, several Longchuan opium parties no longer had the usual "wrapped me" spirit of "putting it on me" and looked at each other, recalling how many months ago they had seen the two people carrying the swaying simple sedan chair.

"It seems that I haven't seen that thing for a long time." Li Meng said, scratching his scalp.

"There are in the countryside... Our Longchuan is not considered a countryside..." Zhong Erzai said with a bitter face.

"Forget it, it's great to have a ride in the emperor's car." Seeing that there was no one, Fang Bingsheng smiled and wanted to raise his foot to the emperor's car.

At this moment, the driver who was bent in front suddenly straightened up and smiled, "If this master wants to ride a slider, I have one at home. I used to carry a slider, but now I am a chartered driver of Mr. Lin, so I don't do that job."

"Lao Zhang, why didn't you say it earlier?" Lin Liuming was surprised and happy, and quickly waved his hand to ask a few servants to follow the coachman to get the slider.

Half an hour later, Fang Bingsheng got on the swaying slide rod and left the home from the Zhong family's mansion. Shan Ji was sitting in the emperor's carriage and slowly followed behind, and several of his men walked.

The weather is very hot now, and the slider in front is carried by people, walking like a snail, and the emperor car that followed closely behind naturally also walks like a snail. The pheasant sits on it. Although there is a pergola on the car, it cannot withstand the wind and does not rush. Even the few people accompanying him are sweating profusely.

Looking at Fang Bingsheng's butt like a fishing net leaking out of the slider net pocket in front, the pheasant wiping sweat while cursing in her stomach: "Damn it! Is this scholar crazy? Damn, if you don't sit in an emperor's car, you have to sit in that old cultural relics that are buried!"

Fang Bingsheng felt uncomfortable sitting on the slide rod. Although he was holding an umbrella in his hand to protect himself from the sun, in the blink of an eye, sweat soaked his shirt on his chest. In addition, this slide rod had not been used for many years. Although he wiped it again and again, it still had a stinking smell of years of sweat.

However, Fang Bingsheng was very excited - he had long wanted to sit on a slide rod in Longchuan one day, but he never had a chance.

He clearly remembered that when he was seven or eight years old, people still had big black braids, and this place was the territory of Emperor Xianfeng of the Qing Dynasty. He followed his father to visit Longchuan City for the first time. At that time, the county town was so sacred and majestic: the first time he saw such a high city wall, the first time he saw such a strong brick house that looked like a brick house that would collapse at any time, the first time he saw so many people walking around the road, and even the puddles in the middle of the road were trampled into black water, and the first time he smelled the unique smell of the city; of course, it was not the first time he saw the slide rod, there were also in the countryside, but that time was impressive.

A slider came over, and my father pulled him away, pointed to a person with a big belly and slapped in the top and said, "See, that's Mr. Lin, a high school scholar from our neighboring village. He is a master of high school talent. Now he is a famous master! He is a famous person here. When can you have such good knowledge? If you have fame and fortune, someone will lift you up. You will be a true master. If you don't read the big butt, high back and slider in Piao Tianwen's pocket, and the slider will be left in Fang Bingsheng's heart.

A long time later, he just wanted to sit on the slide rod, but never thought about the sedan chair. The sedan chair was even greater than the slide rod, so great that Fang Bingsheng dared not think about it.

Today, he finally realized his dream - he sat on the slider and walked in this "great" city, sitting on the slider and browsing this place that had become a little country bumpkin in his eyes, but the slightly sad warmth in his heart that reminiscent of childhood made him unable to help but cry.

After being sad for a while, Fang Bingsheng wiped his wet eyes with the back of his hand. His eyes rolled over and a fierce light like a wolf came out again: He would not forget his mission, observe this place.

Because this place has been connected to the railway, it is a node at the junction of Guangdong and Jiangxi, and has developed rapidly: I haven't been back for a year. Now, it looks different from a year ago.

The Western roads were so domineering that they could no longer see the dirt roads. The emperor's car had even conquered the alleys.

The streets were bustling like waves, the emperor's carriage and dolphins were rising and falling in the crowd. From time to time, the Western carriage plowed the sea of ​​people under the roar of the coachman, like an arrogant shark.

There are newly opened shops everywhere on the street, and they all use signs to seize the eye. The signs are getting bigger and bigger and higher. Looking around, people are like rivers, and the streets are like river roads. The river is covered with dense forests, all of which are signs; there are antique seal scripts as signs, and strange letters rush out, and the illiterate and low-quality idiots promoted by the emperor actually crawled out of the pile of signs with a shy face, making Fang Bingsheng wish he could throw a stone into the damn illiterate shop.

If you listen with your ears, not only Cantonese, but also Jiangxi dialect can be seen everywhere on the streets. Who said this is the first stop for Jiangxi people to come to Guangdong?

Looking up, I saw more and more Western buildings emerge from dilapidated Qing Dynasty buildings, including white Western villas and residential buildings, as well as red brick high-rise factories that copied the British.

If you look up a little longer, the sky will no longer be as clear as before. From time to time, you will see the big chimneys that are several stories high, domineering black smoke, and there are also rising smoke columns in the distance, as if this city was built on a dragon's cave, which are all emerging industries. These things require coal to drive strange machines, and then spit out tons of cotton, glass, wooden boards, and rails from the steel...

Just as he was watching, something roaring over, Fang Bingsheng turned his head to see, and saw a ray of black smoke coming, like Zhu Bajie rushing into the evil wind and black clouds of Gao Laozhuang. However, seeing this strange wind, Fang Bingsheng smiled. It was a train that had entered the station.

"Longchuan is becoming more and more like Haijing and Hong Kong. I wonder when I can use my steamer iron truck to smash the Nanchang city wall?" Thinking of the majestic and spectacular Nanchang city wall, Fang Bingsheng swallowed hard, as if he was thinking of a weasel who was a chicken.

At this time, Fang Bingsheng looked up and hurriedly reached out and said, "Stop! Stop! Stop!"

"Master, the county government has to walk one street." The slider lifter in front turned his head and wiped his face full of sweat, and turned to Fang Bingsheng.

"Just stop here. I'll walk over and take a look." Fang Bingsheng said.

"That's true. This is the center of Trinity, which is the dragon cave in our city." The husband shouted, and the bamboo pole slid down from the two of them's dark and strong muscles, and then the sedan chairman who turned around was held firmly in his hand and slowly placed on the ground.
Chapter completed!