Chapter 555: The Progress of Railway Laying

Zhaoze Town, this territory that was once the domain of Baron Leisen Sain, had begun its transformation ever since it fell into Luoning's hands.

With its dense population, newly built long streets, and bustling markets, Zhaoze Town, after these few years of development, no longer resembled the small town that once relied solely on Black Water Buffalo to survive.

The development of the marshlands, the construction of new water conservancy projects, and the railway construction project that began at the start of the year not only brought a massive population to the Wubei Territory, but also attracted people from surrounding cities like Muma City and Gelin Ling to come and work.

The gathering of people drove the development of commerce, and even the catering industry had taken on a decent embryonic form.

During this period, the residents of Zhaoze Town benefited greatly; they earned money they had never dared to imagine before, and most of them no longer worried about food and clothing, daring to purchase private property such as hoes, pigs, and sheep.

In fact, it was not just Zhaoze Town; Shanlin Town, Sanfang Town, and Heitu Town all had their own industries, which similarly brought decent employment and wealth to the local residents.

It was precisely because of this that Luoning, who had not appeared in public before the residents for Along time, could attain such sky-high prestige.

After all, the fact that the residents could live their current lives was entirely thanks to the Lord's blessing.

At this moment, in the woodland thirty li away from the coal base, a newly laid track cut straight through the forest toward the distance, with the rails, sleepers, gravel roadbed, and so on, all complete.

And further away, the massive figure of Kaierluosi crushed a large patch of forest trees; it was manipulating ultra-high-temperature flames to weld the rails.

With its current Mental Power and Magic Power, it could operate the welding of many rails simultaneously, and the efficiency was quite good.

In fact, when the Steam Train first appeared, there was no welding technology; the rails at that time used riveting technology, which was a bit worse than Kaierluosi-style welding.

"Duke, we officially started laying it in April. Now that more than four months have passed, the total length of the railway is about thirty li or so."

Mechanical Chief Engineer Ximeng was holding a blueprint and introducing the situation to Luoning, "Our current position is about here, still about a few li away from Heitu Town."

Luoning took the route map; this was the route that Ximeng and the assistants he recruited had spent two months surveying, going straight from the coal base in Zhaoze Town to the vicinity of Wubei Port, passing through Heitu Town along the way.

Back then, under Luoning's suggestion, the route was slightly biased to the west, creating an arc.

This was done so that a station could be built later near Heitu Town and Sanfang Town, facilitating the transport of grain, ceramics, and textiles from these two places.

"The speed is a bit slow!" Luoning said.

Ximeng acted as if facing a formidable enemy, "Duke, our speed is not slow! After all, everything is starting from scratch, and there are no objects to use as reference; being able to lay these thirty li of road in over four months is already very good!"

Luoning listened as if he hadn't heard, "The entire route is over a hundred li; can the speed of laying it later be increased?"

He put down the blueprint and looked at Ximeng: "Blanche is about to give birth soon. At that time, many nobles will come here to congratulate me, and I will take this opportunity to show them your achievements. I believe there will definitely be people interested in this big guy later, and the railway will also walk out of the Wubei Territory."

Luoning could not guarantee whether other nobles would build railways, but at least there would be a railway leading to the large iron mine near Wushan City.

If the hundred-plus li of railway in the Wubei Territory took a year to lay, then how long would it take to work the hundreds of li from the Wubei Territory to Wushan City?

Therefore, that was why Luoning said the speed was a bit slow.

"In these four months, the workers have gradually become familiar with the operation process, and many details have been mastered through my hammering; I have also brought up a few foremen, so the speed of laying should be able to increase later."

Ximeng clearly had not dealt with bosses much, speaking very honestly.

"Good, then increase the speed again; strive to complete this later section before next year's spring plowing!" Luoning said.

Ximeng felt the pressure, "The heavy snow in winter will cover everything, making it hard to operate. I don't mind, but these workers..."

"Then increase the salary investment and provide them with working conditions."

Luoning said: "Accumulated snow is also not a problem; just let Kaierluosi melt it away. The speed of infrastructure construction must be increased."

"But Duke, there is one thing that must be said in advance: we only have one Kaierluosi. It can help weld this railway in the Wubei Territory, but if it is the railway line that is hundreds of li long later, it won't be able to keep up."

This sentence made Luoning frown.

After pondering for Along while, he said: "We have also designed a riveting method; let's use this method for now. In addition, slow down the speed of the Steam Train and control the load weight to reduce the vibration and impact caused by the train's movement."

"I will go back and find Beiluola and Suofeiya to see if they can design a portable Magic Energy welding gun suitable for ordinary people to use."

One cannot become a fat man in one bite; without welding technology, the connection of the rails is indeed a problem.

Although Luoning knew that the thermite reaction could produce ultra-high temperatures to achieve the purpose of welding, he did not yet have the ability to produce aluminum powder.

As for gas welding, electric welding, and the like, it was for similar reasons.

Therefore, he could only turn his thinking toward Magic Energy.

Before finding a solution, he could only use the riveting method to get by.

While the two were talking, the earth was shaking, and the clanking sound penetrated the forest from afar.

Luoning couldn't help but look over, only to see a Steam Train locomotive pulling two carriages and a locomotive at the tail, approaching at a leisurely pace.

Toot-toot~

The sound of the whistle made Luoning feel as if he had returned to Earth; this scene brought him a huge sense of impact and also gave him a sense of accomplishment.

Hiss!

Steam sprayed, and the train's speed slowly decreased, stopping just not far from Luoning and Ximeng. A young man jumped down from it, rubbing his hands with an excited face.

Clearly, driving this big guy made him feel proud and excited.

This young man was named Xidun; he was clever, quick-witted, and learned new knowledge very fast, having been picked out by Ximeng.

Xidun, who came from a Free Citizen background, had come from Wushan City, thinking of making a name for himself here, and now it could be considered a very good start.

A train—this was something even nobles had never touched, and he had actually become the driver; I am afraid many people would be envious and jealous after knowing this.

Because of this, Xidun cherished his current job very much, even wiping the wheels several times himself after getting off work.

"Lord Duke, Chief Engineer Ximeng!"

Xidun trotted over, first bowing to salute, and then reported: "This is my third test run; I didn't encounter any problems from the coal base to here!"

"Well done, Xidun!"

Ximeng praised him while saying to Luoning: "Later, we will increase the load and the number of carriages and run a few more times; it will definitely be guaranteed that no problems will occur!"

Luoning laughed, "Then that will be hard work for you all!"

He wanted to show the "heavy equipment" of the Wubei Territory to the nobles from all over, so naturally, he had to ensure nothing went wrong.

If it flipped or went wrong on the spot, it would be a bit embarrassing.

Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, it was September 20th; Blanche had already gone into labor, a few days later than the expected due date.

It was precisely because of this that many nobles or retainers had already arrived at Zhaoze Town, waiting for the birth of the new life. (End of chapter)