The mage in the late Qing Dynasty

After finishing the work, Zhao Chuanxin was very relaxed and took a walk.

There are row upon row of merchant shops along the street, and it’s not called Shili Foreign Market for nothing.

Zhao Chuanxin even saw a woman pushing a stroller and shopping with a half-grown child.

This made Zhao Chuanxin look strange. The stroller was made of bamboo, with four small wheels that stuck to the ground. The child wearing a heavy cotton-padded jacket could only stand in it, with his arms stuck outside.

Flatbreads, fried dough sticks, rice noodles, and tofu paste—these four breakfast shops have mostly closed down after noon.

The sun was shining warmly, maybe because of the starry sky, Zhao Chuanxin didn't feel too hungry.

Watching the excitement and walking without feeling tired, Zhao Chuanxin suddenly saw a green-painted car parked outside a noodle shop on the roadside after walking four miles. It had two rows of seats at the front and rear, with a cabin. The steering wheel was on the right side. Get on the car on the right side. There is also a spare tire in the middle of the car, which seems a bit in the way.

Inside the spare tire, next to the front seat, is the gear lever.

The wheelbase of the car is about 3400mm.

There is a wind light hanging under the left and right rearview mirrors, a wind light hanging on the left and right sides of the carport, and two headlights at the front.

The emblem on the front is raised, with the "meter" of the British Union Jack flag on it.

Zhao Chuanxin dared to say that this was the least tractor-like car he had ever seen, and it was also the best-looking car he had ever seen.

The most important thing is that other cars start manually and you need to crank the handle. But this car has an electric start.

He stopped and circled the car twice, feeling a little excited. Would you like to...

He looked around and saw that the driver had gone somewhere. Zhao Chuanxin was about to go up and encourage him to see if he could buy it for zero yuan.

Just as his feet were already stepping forward, a familiar voice came from the noodle shop: "Master, we are here."

Zhao Chuanxin was surprised and found that Benjamin Goldberg and Zhao Yixian were eating noodles in the noodle shop. There were two people sitting next to them, one was Tang Guoan and the other was a foreigner.

Next to the oily table, there were three iron barrels, which smelled of gasoline.

Tang Guoan and the foreigner stood up quickly: "Mr. Zhao."

Zhao Chuanxin coughed, stepped on the pedal of the car, reached out to adjust the shoelaces, then retracted his feet, put his hands behind his back and entered the noodle shop.

Don't get me wrong, I just untied my shoelaces.

He looked serious and said, "Did you drive this car?"

Tang Guoan pointed at the foreigner: "This is the Dutch diplomat Van Halen, and the car is sent by Mr. Van Halen specially for Mr. Zhao."

Zhao Chuanxin was surprised: "Given it to me?"

This is a bit embarrassing.

Van Halen nodded respectfully: "Yes, it was our Queen Wilhelmina who specially sent me to express her respect for Mr. Zhao's anti-smoking work.

This is the British Rolls-Royce car. It was only exhibited at the Olympia Auto Show last year. The Rolls-Royce Silver Phantom, with six cylinders and three-speed transmission, is currently the best car in the world.

The Queen also gave a special warning. "

Zhao Chuanxin raised his eyebrows: "What did the queen of your country say?"

Van Halen solemnly said: "The Queen said - this is a good car. Remember to maintain it after driving it."

"..." Zhao Chuanxin's face became solemn, and he said like a serious diplomat: "The queen is right. Please tell her that the car does need to be lubricated with oil for a long time, otherwise it will rust and the car will be damaged. Failure will occur, especially for a noble car like the Rolls-Royce Silver Phantom. Please be sure to tell her that Zhao invited her to China as a guest. It will be fun, and Zhao will definitely take her to drive and play. Here During this period, Zhao will practice various driving postures, which will make the queen feel at home and she will be very happy. I also hope that the queen can think more about driving skills and introduce new ones so as to achieve the state of integration of human and vehicle. I hope she can make People are impressed.”

Van Halen smacked his lips, feeling a little weird no matter how he heard it, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

Also, what kind of oil is Kun oil?

He nodded carefully: "No matter what, Mr. Zhao, the message will be brought to you. In addition to the car, there are three barrels of gasoline here."

The seriousness on Zhao Chuanxin's face disappeared, and he bared his teeth and said with a smile: "I'm determined. Guys, bring me a bowl of Yangchun Snow Noodles and a plate of tofu mixed with green onions. The color should be completely white, and the tofu should be white and tender. Full and slippery..."

The guy was stunned: "Okay, here we go..."

I mean, I'm not a rich person. What nonsense are you talking to me about?

They have all eaten.

Seeing Zhao Yixian's sluggishness, Zhao Chuanxin asked, "What's wrong with you?"

Zhao Yixian said bitterly: "This is what happens to people who didn't eat in the morning and stayed up all night and couldn't walk."

Zhao Chuanxin disagreed: "Is it because I don't have a mouth to eat? Is it because I can't walk or ride in a car?"

Benjamin Goldberg turned his pocket out and said, "Master, why don't you eat minced meat? We don't have any money."

"No money?" Zhao Chuanxin then remembered that Zhao Yixian was a poor man and Benjamin Goldberg never brought any money. "If you don't have money, won't you get credit? If you don't give credit, won't you get robbed? Look, as long as anyone dressed like these two brothers is a rich man, just kidnap them."

Tang Guoan and Van Halen: "..."

It's so lawless.

Zhao Chuanxin finished his meal in a hurry, his sleeves and robe were rolled up, and the three barrels of gasoline disappeared from the ground.

Tang Guoan and Van Halen were stunned for a moment.

Zhao Chuanxin wiped his mouth: "Why are you still standing there? Go out and tell me how to operate this car."

Van Halen said to her heart that you are so rude.

At this time, cars were of all kinds, including brakes, accelerators, clutches, and joysticks.

Only these two Rolls-Royce Silver Phantoms have the same layout as later cars.

Zhao Chuanxin is a veteran, and he will understand after a little research.

He suddenly had a question: "That's not right. Your queen gave me this car, but I just proposed that all countries jointly ban smoking, and the car was delivered the next day. This..."

Van Halen lifted his top hat and scratched his bald head: "This... was shipped to Hong Kong Island earlier, and it was only shipped to Shanghai in the past few days. I don't know the details."

Why doesn't he feel strange? And the ban on smoking requires a car? This may seem like the Netherlands is trying to lower itself a bit.

But he was just following orders.

Zhao Chuanxin understood.

Her Majesty the Queen must have been thinking about him. She had already prepared a car and traveled thousands of miles to deliver it to him. When I arrived at Hong Kong Island, I found that he had left and was transported here again.

Perhaps it was purchased and shipped back to the Netherlands from Wilhelmina.

It sounds simple, but it definitely takes a lot of effort.

Zhao Chuanxin waved his hand: "Okay, get out of here, I'm going to drive."

Benjamin Goldberg squeezed into the front row with Gan Fan, next to Zhao Chuanxin.

Zhao Yixian went to the back row.

Zhao Chuanxin started the car, skillfully shifted into reverse gear, and turned the car around. Shifting into forward gear, the car suddenly sped away with a puff of black smoke.

Van Halen said, "Why is Mr. Zhao so good at driving for the first time? When I was just learning, the car overturned into a ditch."

Tang Guoan watched the car drive away and said with a smile: "A capable person can do anything."

In fact, he was also curious, but he just didn't say anything.

…

In the car, Zhao Yixian looked at the scenery passing by outside the window and couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "Technology is changing with each passing day. It's amazing to see such a machine that doesn't require human or animal power."

The people outside cast curious glances.

This somewhat satisfied Zhao Yixian's vanity.

The first car in China was shipped to Shanghai from Hong Kong Island by a Hungarian. That was in 1901.

So people in Shanghai have already seen cars.

In 1902, Yuan Datou bought a car on Hong Kong Island and gave it to Cixi as a gift. There were also cars in the capital.

By 1907, coastal cities even had automobile passenger and freight transportation.

Maybe seeing a car on the street is still a new thing to ordinary people, especially these two Rolls-Royce Silver Phantoms.

At this time, a car with a roof is called an RV.

Driving in winter without the cold wind blowing on your face is already a pleasure.

Ford cars cost only three to four hundred dollars each.

But this Rolls-Royce Silver Phantom saloon costs more than 700 pounds.

Converted into U.S. dollars, it costs several thousand U.S. dollars, a complete luxury item.

Even so, Zhao Chuanxin also felt that his muscles were shaken so much that it felt like he had been hit with a fascial gun.

He bared his teeth and said, "It seems that I have to take some time to study the car."

Is it difficult to build a car?

Disaster.

Is it difficult to build a car like this?

Zhao Chuanxin found it not difficult.

Ford Company in the United States, how does Ford make cars?

A laboratory that can be accessed by a car, a blackboard, a drafting table, and a rocking chair were all that was available in the early stages of design.

Later a grinder, a drill press and a lathe were added.

Chassis parts are made in the laboratory, and engine parts are made outside the laboratory, including assembly, inspection, debugging, and improvement.

Platinum steel material is the core.

They used these to create the ugly but durable Model T car.

Because he wanted to make a gun, Zhao Chuanxin not only had gold-plated steel, but also the best various special steels in the world.

Unfortunately, the quantity is not large, and domestic replenishment is also difficult.

At present, the best iron factory is in Hanyang.

When Zhang Zhidong was proficient in practical matters, Cixi sent him to imitate the West in introducing the steel industry. In fact, this was a very forward-looking idea for the Qing court.

Zhang Zhidong understands practical matters, but he is very unfamiliar with the steel industry. At first, he felt that China was a vast country with abundant resources and was no worse than the West. The ores were used as they came without testing the properties of the ores at all.

This is the consequence of not learning mathematics, physics and chemistry.

As a result, the boilers erected in the early stage could not be used, and the first batch of molten iron became waste.

Zhang Zhidong's mentality exploded at that time. The Qing government saw that this was not going to work, so it tightened the allocation of funds.

The Qing government did not allocate money, so Zhang Zhidong raised funds from Japan and Germany.

This gave Hanyang Iron Works a shadow of Japan and Germany, but it also gave rise to China's first steel enterprise in modern times.

Most of Hanyang's steel is used in rail and gun manufacturing.

Benjamin Goldberg had never been in a car before and said excitedly: "Master, I think it's very good. Why do you need to recreate it?"

Zhao Chuanxin's body was shaken by the jolt: "The leaf spring is too hard and it shakes badly. We have to improve the suspension. Forget it, there are too many problems and it can't be solved in a day or two."

Benjamin Goldberg watched the car speeding under the control of his master, and couldn't help but feel proud: "Master, let me drive it for a try."

"I'll teach you how to drive it when you get to a place with few people."

Zhao Yixian's eyes lit up: "Mr. Zhao, would you like me to open it too?"

Zhao Chuanxin: "You have neither a car nor money to buy a car, so what should you drive?"

"..."

The Rolls-Royce Silver Phantom is not slow and can drive up to 40 mph, but the road is not strong. Zhao Chuanxin is only wandering around 30 mph, but this speed is already considered lightning fast on the streets of Shanghai at this time, and there are constant rickshaws. , the chariot is overtaken, and the horseman cannot compare with it.

Every few hours of driving, Zhao Chuanxin needs to stop to add water.

But after two and a half hours of boiling, the pot was still boiling.

After struggling for a long time, we waited for the engine to cool down and continued on our way.

We only arrived at Chenghu Lake, where the sun was setting in the west.

There are crab sellers carrying burdens on the roadside shouting: "Fried crabs, fried crabs, fried crabs, fried crabs..."

Zhao Chuanxin parked the car, opened the door and put his head out and shouted, "Bring it to me and take a look."

The crab seller said that the car was driven by a foreigner. Seeing that it was a Chinese, he breathed a sigh of relief, walked over with a smile on his shoulders, and opened the curtain.

Zhao Chuanxin glanced at it: "Isn't this just steamed crab? Why did you say it was fried?"

The crab seller said innocently: "This is fried crab."

Zhao Yixian traveled all over the country and learned a lot, so he quickly said: "Zhao Shenxian, in Suzhou, steamed crabs are fried crabs. The local crab meat is fat and yellow, and a big crab weighs a pound. Li Bai once praised - crab claws are gold liquid, and the crab claws are gold liquid. Penglai. You must drink fine wine and get drunk on the high platform by the moon."

In fact, they are Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs.

The crab seller raised his thumb and said: "Sir, you are very knowledgeable. That's right. I just came out of the bamboo gate and picked the biggest crabs for sale. They are all deep-fried. It's best to use them directly with wine."

When Zhao Chuanxin saw an ancient temple without a plaque on the side of the road, he said, "Seeing as you don't have many crabs left, I'll cover them all. We'll just spend the night here."

Zhao Yixian was still reluctant and said: "Suzhou is prosperous and there are many inns."

Zhao Chuanxin emphasized: "We are traveling on a budget. We stay in inns and eat out every day, and our money suffers."

"..." Zhao Yixian said to his heart that it is said that you have made a huge fortune in the United States. Why are you so stupid?

Benjamin Goldberg doesn't care, he has very little materialistic aspirations.

However, Zhao Chuanxin had already jumped out of the car: "Stop the ink stains. Hurry up. I'll light a fire and burn charcoal. I don't have rice wine, but I can get two taels of sorghum wine."

He took out the things and left the rest to his apprentice and Zhao Yixian.

Zhao Chuanxin took out the "Old God Code", thought about it, and decided to do the experiment after dinner.