While Prince Vorontsov was deep in thought, the special train he was riding on slowly stopped with a long whistle.
He suddenly woke up and asked: "Why did you stop? Where are you?"
Li Xiao looked at the stop sign outside the window and replied: "It seems to be Tver."
"Tver?" Prince Vorontsov seemed a little surprised, "Arrived in Tver so soon? It's not far from Moscow... The train is really fast!"
Li Xiao chuckled in his heart, a little disdainful of this, because the trains of this era really have nothing to do with speed. Strictly speaking, they are only slightly faster than horse-drawn carriages. Not to mention compared with the high-speed trains of later generations.
It's much slower than normal speed.
Of course, from the perspective of the times and progress, this is indeed commendable. At least for backward Russia, trains are indeed very fast means of transportation.
At this time Vorontsov's adjutant also came in: "Duke, the train needs to add water and coal. It will take about a few hours."
Well, the annoying disadvantage of trains in this era is that they need to add water and coal. After all, they are still steam locomotives, so they need to add water and coal every once in a while, and this is quite time-consuming.
And this will continue for quite some time until the railways are fully electrified and water and coal are no longer available.
"All right!"
Vorontsov stood up and moved his neck, legs and feet: "It's time to go down and move, my bones are stiff from sitting like this."
For Li Xiao, train travel in this era was not only too slow, but more importantly, it was bumpy. After all, the technology was crude and incomparable with the high-speed trains of later generations, which were as stable as old dogs. After sitting for a long time, the buttocks would become numb.
Vorontsov was about to get off the train and take a rest, but he was not able to do so, so the two of them left the special train one after the other.
Tver Station is not big, with only two platforms, and looks cruder than some small stations in remote areas of China in later generations.
Li Xiao took a look around and found that such a simple small station was built by rushing for work. The waiting room was not completed. The station was only surrounded by wooden fences, and there was not even a shelter on the platform to protect it from wind and rain.
"It's simple enough." Duke Vorontsov chuckled, "It's even simpler than some small train stations in the UK."
Even though Duke Vorontsov seemed to be complaining, Li Xiao could tell that he didn't mean to criticize. In fact, no one who had seen Russia's backwardness would criticize this simple station. After all, it was created from scratch, as the old saying goes.
Having said that everything is difficult at the beginning, I hope this will be a good start.
Li Xiao smiled and replied: "At least it's a good start!"
Duke Vorontsov nodded slowly: "Yes! I hope it is a good start, and I hope everything will develop in a good direction in the future!"
Duke Vorontsov looked very emotional, but Li Xiao could understand that only those who deeply love this country and only hope that their motherland will become stronger and stronger would sigh like this. It would be a heartless person like that.
Or they are extremely conservative, they don’t care about this, and may even hate it deeply!
Li Xiao and Duke Vorontsov were chatting about trains and railways, when Duke Vorontsov's adjutant suddenly came over again.
"Duke, His Highness Grand Duke Constantine invites you to come over and speak."
Duke Vorontsov was stunned for a moment and asked in confusion: "His Royal Highness Grand Duke Constantine? Is he here too?"
The adjutant nodded and replied: "Yes, His Highness the Grand Duke's special train is also resting. After seeing your special train, I specially asked you to come over and talk."
Duke Vorontsov nodded thoughtfully, then glanced at Li Xiao, and suddenly smiled and said: "Are you interested in meeting him together?"
To be honest, Li Xiao really has no interest in dealing with Grand Duke Constantine, because every time he interacts with this guy, nothing good happens. He either cares about him or is plotted by him. If possible, he would rather not have this cousin.
It's just that the invitation was issued by Duke Vorontsov. This Duke was also a reformist leader after all. It was impossible that he didn't know that his relationship with Grand Duke Constantine was tense. Knowing this, he still sent out the invitation, indicating that the other party was definitely
There is a reason.
In this case, we might as well see what Duke Vorontsov wants to do. Thinking of this, he nodded and smiled and said: "Okay, but my relationship with His Highness the Grand Duke is very ordinary. I'd better not embarrass you later."
Duke Vorontsov waved his hand nonchalantly and said: "No, he wants to give this old guy like me some face. Let's go and have a look and see what he is up to!"
Duke Vorontsov's words made Li Xiao feel at ease a lot. It was easy to tell from his tone that he did know that his relationship with Grand Duke Constantine was tense, and he didn't really approve of the other party, and he might even have some complaints about it.
Grand Duke Constantine did not stay on the special train, but booked a hotel outside the station. Obviously, he could not have sent out the invitation after seeing Duke Vorontsov's special train. He may have been waiting for Vorontsov.
Prince Rontsov.
This made Li Xiao feel relieved again, and Duke Vorontsov next to him also frowned. Apparently he also realized that Grand Duke Constantine had come with bad intentions.
"Your Excellency, welcome!"
Grand Duke Constantine personally greeted Duke Vorontsov at the door. The moment he saw Li Xiao, he was a little surprised and a little unhappy, but he quickly concealed it.
"Your Highness the Grand Duke," Prince Vorontsov smiled nonchalantly and said, "You still enjoy it and even booked a hotel to rest. Are you not used to traveling by train?"
Grand Duke Constantine also smiled and said: "That's not true. I feel a little tired after sitting in the car for a long time, so I took a short break... This is also to refresh myself and get on the road again."
"It makes sense, it makes sense," Prince Vorontsov seemed to mean something, but he didn't seem to say anything. "Then I will take advantage of you and take a rest."
"You're welcome," Grand Duke Constantine smiled, and suddenly said to Li Xiao, "Andre is here. Your Excellency, the Duke, is old and not in good health. Isn't it inappropriate for you to disturb His Excellency the Duke like this?"
Li Xiao's heart was indeed a family. When Grand Duke Constantine saw it, he deliberately teased and ridiculed him. He was the same as Alexander II. He was about to retaliate against him, but Duke Vorontsov said first:
"No need to disturb me. An old man like me likes to be busy. With His Excellency the Grand Duke accompanying me, the journey will be much more relaxed."
Grand Duke Constantine's expression changed. He probably didn't expect Duke Vorontsov to speak for Li Xiao like this, but he was really tired of someone, so he couldn't help but lectured: "That won't disturb your rest, let's talk about it.
, How can a soldier be so squeamish? How hard can it be to go to Moscow by carriage?!"