In the sixth year of Chongzhen, it was the morning of March 14th.
In Yangzhou Prefecture, there is a cement road leading to Rugao County.
There was a group of five people riding big horses, traveling on the road at a very fast speed, the horses' hooves making a crunching sound on the road.
At the intersection ahead, a road sign appeared. In addition to arrow patterns, there were also some simplified Chinese characters and Arabic numerals.
"What does the road sign say?" A thin man in a gray robe, riding on a white horse at the front, reined in his horse and asked.
"Jiandou, what it says is that the distance ahead to Harbor City is 13.5 kilometers, about 27 miles, no more than 30 miles." Riding on a variegated horse behind him, this man was wearing a square scarf and a
A middle-aged scholar in a blue Confucian robe said.
"It's less than thirty miles, we can arrive at noon, and we can still find a place to eat." Another young scribe on horseback said that the destination of this trip was about to arrive, and his tired face was filled with anticipation.
.
"Okay, speed up and try to arrive at noon!"
Lu Xiangsheng urged the white horse to sit down again, waved the whip in his hand, and continued to move along the cement road, followed by four people on horseback.
It is said that Lu Xiangsheng, who is a daimyo prefect (mayor-level official) and Tianxiong military envoy (military district-level leader), has time to come to Jiangnan, travel lightly, and only has a few staff and entourage with him.
Heading towards Xujiazhuang Harbor City.
If the civil servants of the Ming Dynasty found out about it, they would probably be criticized a lot. Not only would they prove that Lu Jiandou was involved in Xujiazhuang, but they would also suspect him of betraying the court and becoming a hawk of Xujiazhuang, which would lead to even more serious consequences.
Although the risk of public opinion for this trip was very high, Lu Xiangsheng still made the decision to come to Jiangnan in person. He took only a few trustworthy followers with him and traveled two thousand miles in seven days without resting, just to get there in the shortest time.
, finish handling this matter.
What does he have to deal with?
Buy a car.
Purchase a bicycle from Xujiazhuang.
The purchase quantity is about 10,000 vehicles, and then he will build his Tianxiong Army into a highly motorized bicycle army, so as to better serve the court and serve His Majesty.
How come Lu Xiangsheng suddenly had such an idea and took decisive action to go to Harbor City to turn this idea into reality.
Not to mention expensive bicycles, can he afford tens of thousands of them? Even if he can, the Tianxiong Army with high motorization capabilities will be extremely powerful and invincible in the world?
It is definitely impossible to be invincible, and any army may fail.
But after research, Lu Xiangsheng discovered that if bicycles could be used in the field of warfare, the advantages would be huge.
First of all, the back seat of the bicycle can carry grain and grass baggage, at least hundreds of kilograms, which is almost equal to the amount of baggage carried by a civilian.
Secondly, bicycles are fast. Although bicycles cannot run fast in rugged mountainous areas, poor road conditions, areas with dense water networks, etc., in plain areas, in areas with good road conditions, in grassland environments, the speed of bicycles will never be faster than that of cavalry.
No matter how slow you run, you can even run faster and have more endurance.
The most important thing is that bicycles are easier to maintain and rely less on logistics.
Because bicycles don't need to eat a lot of grass and beans like war horses, they don't need many people to wait on them, and they won't be frightened and run away, so it is much easier to manage.
That is to say, apart from the disadvantage of being expensive, bicycles have almost all advantages.
As for an army, if it can get a bonus for carrying baggage and grain, a bonus for high mobility, and omit forage and beans, its logistics will be greatly simplified, and it can travel two to three hundred miles a day on plain terrain.
What would such an army mean?
Even if they are not invincible, they are at least one of the strongest armies!
Last winter, the remnants of the bandits in the Taihang Mountains would not be able to catch up after running away with more than a hundred people - yes, after the remnants of the bandits in the Phoenix Mountains were dealt with, considering the freezing weather, Yang
The army of Wang and Deng's court chose to stop temporarily and found a place to camp for the winter.
But Lu Xiangsheng's Tianxiong Army did not choose to give up. Not only did they continue to pursue the remnants of the rogue bandits, they also divided multiple forces and raided the Taihang Mountains again. In more than two months, they actually captured more than 20,000 rogue bandits who slipped through the net.
After all the fish were traded to the Xujiazhuang Caravan, the Tianxiong Army, which consisted of tens of thousands of people, completely changed its armor into half-plate armor alloy Yan Ling Dao, and its combat effectiveness and military morale were greatly improved.
but……
Because of the loss of the trust and support of the court, the Tianxiong Army's logistical supplies became more and more difficult. Although everything could be purchased at the Xujiazhuang Caravan, the prices were too high. Lu Xiangsheng had to cancel three
In Yue, he fought his way out of the Taihang Mountains, crossed the Yellow River south, and entered Henan. He planned to continue the suppression of bandits in Shaanxi Province, and because the army was worried about returning home, he had to withdraw his troops and return to Damingfu.
Lu Xiangsheng wanted to serve the imperial court and pursue the bandits relentlessly to prove his loyalty to the Ming Dynasty, but he had no choice but to fail.
But he didn't give up just yet.
He discovered that the bicycles that the Xujiazhuang caravan members used very frequently were simply artifacts. If he could also build an army of bicycles, they could then use them in the pursuit of the bandits, using bicycle wheels to crush the iron feet of the bandits.
, chase them with nowhere to escape, and complete the task of completely wiping out the bandits. By then, the court will definitely trust him again, and His Majesty the Emperor will also clear up the misunderstanding and believe that Lu Jiandou is a reliable and useful loyal minister.
It was out of this dog-like loyalty to the court and the emperor that he drove Lu Xiangsheng to personally come to Jiangnan to negotiate in person and strive to obtain a large number of bicycles from Xujiazhuang.
…
soon.
At noon.
The harbor city ahead, which had expanded to a population of half a million, appeared in front of Lu Xiangsheng and his party.
They had to stop, and like all outsiders who came to Harbor City for the first time, they all looked dumb and dumbfounded.
The modern city in front of them gave them the same feeling as the ancients traveling to the modern city. Everything in this city was shocked, novel and strange.
They all turned into bumpkins and felt extremely at a loss. The common sense in their minds could not serve as a reference.
Fortunately, in Harbor City, there are guides that specialize in serving bumpkins like them. Immediately, a young man with a cockscomb haircut and a cool look came over and asked if he needed a guide. He only needed to give him 1 silver dollar.
You can take them around Harbor City and introduce them to everything about Harbor City.
"One silver dollar is too expensive. Can it be cheaper?" Zhang Huayu, an aide beside Lu Xiangsheng, asked.
"This price is great value for money. With my understanding of Harbor City, I, Liu Sanbao, can help you reduce the losses caused by not understanding Harbor City. It will definitely be more than ten silver dollars." The local young man said.
"We are recruiting local guides. Is there anyone who offers a lower price? Can you do it for half a silver dollar?" Zhang Huayu asked in a loud voice. Every time he went to a strange city, this trick always worked, and the local guides would compete to lower the price.
But this time he miscalculated. Although there were many guides around, but facing the high salary of half a silver dollar, no one stepped forward to take the order. Even if he could see someone's face showing signs of movement, they still turned around.
spread.
"Sir, Xujiazhuang does not encourage vicious competition. If you don't like me, you can clearly refuse. But if you provoke bidding like this, the guides around me will only offer the same price as me, unless you can find someone who is not present.
Guide.”
Liu Sanbao said with caution, in fact, the previous guides in Harbor City also had a serious phenomenon of lowering prices to grab orders, which even caused conflicts and fights. However, after the owner learned about this, he had people set up a guide guild and formulated a policy not to maliciously grab orders.
, the rules of malicious bidding, unless the customer explicitly rejects a certain guide, other guides will have the opportunity to bid...that is, the locals must unite and must not get involved with each other.
"It's up to you, just one silver dollar."
Lu Xiangsheng opened his mouth and asked his attendant Li Chongzhen to take out a silver dollar. At the same time, he was very surprised. He had never expected that the people of Xujiazhuang could be so enlightened and could use an invisible rule to protect everyone's interests. Outsiders thought that
Provocation of interests is also ineffective.
There are indeed many extraordinary things about Xujiazhuang.
Later, under the arrangement of the guide Liu Sanbao, the five people in the group first stored the horses in an isolation storage place for livestock outside the city. There will be dedicated personnel to take care of the horses and disinfect and clean them to avoid bringing in external epidemic diseases.
I went to the big bathhouse again, and took five people to take a disinfectant bath, and slightly trimmed their beards and hair. Everyone was much cleaner and refreshed.
Only after registering the personal information of five people at the city entry and exit management department, and having someone take pictures of their faces with a camera, did they finally get a passport and have the qualifications to enter Harbor City activities, but they can only stay for a maximum of thirty days.
.
What's more, it's extremely complicated and troublesome.
Enter Harbor City.
Walking on the wide, flat and solid cement road, Lu Xiangsheng and other people asked all kinds of questions about some things they had never seen before in the city.
"Liu Sanbao, what is this white pole on the roadside? Why is it erected here? Why is there a black board and a fan on it? Is this a fake tree used for shade?" asked Sun Yuanhua, an aide.
.
"This is a street light pole, the black board is a solar panel, and the windmill fan is a wind turbine fan. Both can generate electricity, allowing the street lights to shine brightly at night, making it easier for pedestrians to move around at night."
"There are probably thousands of these street light poles in the city. If they are lit up at the same time, wouldn't it be a city that never sleeps?" Zhang Huayu, an aide, asked.
"It's much more shocking than the city that never sleeps. You'll be able to see it at night." Liu Sanbao pretended.
"Why are all the brick and stone houses in this city so high? And that big white house is actually much higher than some towers."
"That's the White Castle, where our owner lives. It's twenty-nine stories and thirty-six feet high. It has a reinforced concrete structure that can last for hundreds of years without rusting or deteriorating." Liu Sanbao said with a proud look on his face.
"There are many thunderstorms at high places, which can easily cause fires. How can we avoid this?" Sun Yuanhua shook his head and asked.
"There is a lightning rod installed on the top of the White Castle, which can guide lightning into the ground. Even if lightning strikes millions of times, there will be no damage at all."
"Lightning rods are so magical. They are not afraid of thunder and lightning. If the fire caused by thunder can be solved, I don't know how many houses can be destroyed. I want to enter the White Castle to see the structure of the lightning rod. Is it allowed?" Sun Yuanhua asked excitedly.
"I, Liu Sanbao, am just a small person. I can't decide this matter. You can ask someone else." Liu Sanbao shook his head.
Next, there are the electric three-wheelers running around on the road. How do they rely on the power of lightning to drive them?
Why can the sea embankment outside the city and the hundreds of wind turbines erected on the embankment convert wind energy into electricity?
There are also public toilet systems, tap water systems, power supply systems, drainage and sewage systems, and a gas supply system based on a giant biogas tank buried underground.
They also asked about the purpose of the trash cans placed on the roadside.
It wasn't until Lu Xiangsheng and others' stomachs growled that they were really hungry, so they temporarily put aside their curiosity, found a signature seafood restaurant, and ate some food there, especially the local specialty sea fish and seafood. Not only were they cheap and plentiful, but they also tasted great.
It was so delicious that people like Lu Xiangsheng and others who had never eaten seafood were full of praise and devoured it until they couldn't eat anymore.