Chapter 1069: Planning

Yancheng Station.

The kings of the various nations departed from Wuji Palace and came straight here.

They prepared to travel from here to Jinghai, then board ships to return to their respective countries.

At this moment, the station appeared extremely crowded, because in addition to the delegations brought by the kings, there were many youths from various countries already studying in Great Song who had come to see their kings off.

Of course, these youths who could be sent to study in Great Song were naturally not ordinary youths; they all came from the prominent, powerful families of their respective countries.

"Zhengxian, you must keep our Goryeo students in check while in Yancheng; do not let them cause trouble and damage our Goryeo reputation, otherwise, even I will not be able to save them when the time comes." Just before boarding the train, the King of Goryeo said to the youth who had come to see him off.

This youth was none other than his favorite son, the current Goryeo Crown Prince.

He knew very well that who would succeed as the next King of Gaoli was not for him to decide, but for the Emperor of Great Song to decide.

Letting his son stay in Great Song to study governance would, on one hand, be beneficial for Gaoli's future reforms once he achieved success in his studies.

On the other hand, it was to let his son become a familiar face before Emperor Zhao Xu.

If he could gain the appreciation of Emperor Zhao Xu, his succession to the position of King of Gaoli would be secure.

"This child will keep Father King's teachings in mind," Piaozhengxian said, bowing.

He had been in Yancheng for a year.

Upon first arriving in Yancheng, his pride as the Goryeo Crown Prince was instantly shattered, and he felt in an instant that he was nothing more than a country bumpkin who had never seen the world.

From getting off the Steam Locomotive to the residence Gaoli had purchased in Yancheng, he had not closed his mouth the entire way.

After spending more than half a year of his student life here, he had returned to the Gaoli royal capital, Rang City, before the new year.

Seeing his familiar royal capital again, he suddenly felt somewhat uncomfortable.

This discomfort was just like when Dongying had attacked years ago and he and his father had fled the royal capital to hide in the remote countryside; everything appeared crude and vulgar.

Therefore, after the new year, he could not wait to return to Yancheng.

There were many other Gaoli students who felt the same way.

It was just that everyone understood it without speaking, and was unwilling to discuss it.

And at this moment, they finally realized that Great Song attracted them like a lighthouse.

They were like moths, unable to refuse.

Great Song's steam machinery, the vastly different knowledge in the College of Great Song, the wide variety of Great Song's mouth-watering, exquisite dishes, and so on.

However, most importantly, Great Song was still constantly developing, and almost every few days there would be new things appearing; this was what fascinated him the most.

The King of Gaoli nodded and turned to board the Steam Locomotive.

Sitting by the window, he looked toward the kings of the four Dongying nations and others, his mouth twitching.

He was respectful before Yan Wang, but he was not so polite to the kings of other nations.

Because they were all competing in secret, wanting to obtain the favor of Emperor Zhao Xu.

After all, whoever could receive the favor of Emperor Zhao Xu would surely benefit more and become more powerful.

Of course, their goal in becoming powerful was definitely not for the sake of Great Song, but so that they would not be bullied by the other party when conflicts arose between their nations.

Especially Dongying; they were mortal enemies.

Furthermore, if they could follow behind Great Song to conduct trade outside of Dongtu in the future, naturally, within the scope designated by Great Song, the stronger their strength, the more they would be able to eat.

At this moment, the kings of the various nations were also giving instructions to the students of their own countries.

From time to time, they cast unfriendly glances at one another.

When it was time for the Steam Locomotive to depart, everyone finally boarded the train.

As the Steam Locomotive emitted a clear whistle, the train headed east.

At the same time.

After the kings had departed, Zhao Xu summoned the Minister of Construction, Zou Rong, to inspect the construction within Yancheng with him.

Simultaneously with the installation of electric poles was the laying of tap water pipes within Yancheng.

This was part of the Yancheng water supply and drainage system project.

As for the rainwater and sewage pipes, they had been completed during the major infrastructure construction of the past few years.

However, because Yancheng was now constantly expanding, many places had begun the construction of underground pipes again.

Therefore, if one took a tour around Yancheng, one could see workers under construction at any time.

"This subject truly did not expect that one day we would actually not need to go to the river to fetch water to eat." Emerging from Wuji Palace, there was a tap water pipe being laid.

This tap water supply pipe was spliced together from cement pipes with a diameter of one meter and a length of 1.2 meters, used to form the main pipeline.

The pipes leading into the buildings were galvanized iron pipes; these were the most old-fashioned tap water pipes, and the galvanized iron pipes were connected to the main pipeline through a transition joint.

Looking at the pipes being laid in the trench, Zou Rong sighed with emotion.

He truly had not expected that there could be such an automatic water supply facility.

"There will be many things you cannot imagine in the future," Zhao Xu laughed.

Every Industrial Revolution meant the birth of a large number of new things.

This tap water was merely the most ordinary one.

Moreover, at present, he was only taking precautions, laying the pipes down first.

It would take time to build a water treatment plant, and the water pumps from the Research Institute would also need a little time.

However, it would not be long, because the structure and principle of the water pump were very simple.

With the level of the Steam Industry, the water pumps could be manufactured.

In fact, the first centrifugal pump equipped with an impeller was born in 1818.

However, at that time, it was still powered by a steam engine, and the efficiency was not high.

This time, he naturally let the Research Institute get it right in one go, manufacturing large water pumps driven by electric motors to supply water for the entire Yancheng.

The two of them spoke while inspecting along the pipeline.

After watching the construction of the water tower for a while, he arrived in front of a high-rise building currently under construction.

The height of this high-rise is expected to be around eighty-six meters, with a total of thirty-three floors.

It is the tallest building in Yancheng to date.

Once completed, it will integrate functions such as meeting rooms, wine houses, and offices.

This building adopts a steel bar and concrete structure, so structural strength is not an issue.

To make the building's style match traditional Great Song architecture.

The roof of this high-rise adopts the ridge-shaped roof of traditional Great Song architecture.

Besides this, construction is also underway in many other areas of Yancheng.

According to the plan, the layout of Yancheng is orderly and well-organized.

The commercial district, residential district, leisure district, and scenic area are clearly distinguished.

For instance, high-rise buildings are mainly concentrated in the commercial district.

For the residential districts within Yancheng, the unified plan is to build garden-style villas in the Great Song style, which must not exceed two stories in height and must have a courtyard.

As for the leisure district, it is naturally being built with facilities like parks, libraries, and stadiums.

For convenience, the residential and leisure districts are intertwined, making it easy for the common people to visit.

Inspecting along the way, Zhao Xu and Zou Rong made a full circle around Yancheng before returning.

Although he is now the Emperor, it does not mean he must dwell deep within the palace from now on.

When Zhao Heng departed at the Abdication Ceremony, he said one thing to him.

He said that as an emperor, the things one must least believe are the Memorials, and the mouths of the officials are just ghosts that deceive people.

His mistake was treating these words as wind passing by his ears.

Zhao Xu does not care for Zhao Heng, but he deeply agrees with this statement.

Precisely because of this, he would rather come out and look around more, believing that seeing is believing.

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