After receiving the advice, Li Xi rushed to Hong Jinglai's house in Diandong. He was not used to riding in a sedan chair, so he rode a fast horse at full speed. When he finally arrived at the border, he was really filled with guests.

When other people came to see Hong Jinglai, they naturally had to queue up to register and submit their names. They might not be able to meet each other for three to five days. Li Xizhu threw his riding whip to the guard guarding the gate. Jin Shilong, who was circling in the courtyard, immediately came up to him. It is well known to everyone that Li Xizhu and Hong Jinglai were friends in times of adversity and were above all the generals. No one could stop him if he came.

"The supervisor is meeting with Pu Zhouming, the chief minister of Songshang. Please wait a moment." Jin Shilong either blocked the way or told Li Xizhu that Hong Jinglai was busy with something now.

"Songshang Dafang Pu Zhouming?" Li Xi repeated it with some certainty.

"Yes."

"Alas, it's too late after all..."

When Jin Shilong heard what Li Xi said, why was he so late? Isn't it just to meet the leader of a business group? Laishang, who has just swallowed up half of the business rights of Beijing merchants' store personnel, is the powerful business group among the eight roads. He is just a second-rate pine merchant, so why does he look so lost?

After waiting for a moment, Pu Zhouming, the head of Songshang, bowed out of the flower hall with a happy face. Although he was a little surprised to see Li Xizhu walking in the courtyard, he still hurried over and bowed his head to Li Xizhu. salute.

"Park Dafang has taken the lead!" Li Xi said with a hint of envy in his words.

"Don't dare, don't dare, I will have to rely on you more in the future." Pu Zhouming bowed his head and saluted again.

This is also a big businessman who has been in the shopping mall for 20 to 30 years. He is keenly aware that after the decline of Beijing merchants, both Gulf merchants and Laishang merchants are too full. Hong Jinglai may not have the idea of ​​​​checking and balancing. Although he is not very sure, but in the spirit of With a certain boldness and adventurous spirit unique to commercial capital, he came to Hong Jinglai's house and was received immediately.

Naturally, the result was Hong Kyung-rae's entrustment to integrate Han River shipping and participate in the construction and utilization of new projects from Jemulpo to the south bank of Han River.

Li Xi actually came a step too late to get the commission. Although Song Shang did not say that he had any exclusive interests, his decision to stand up first and be willing to be driven by the imperial government was appreciated by Hong Jinglai. This will naturally have consequences.

Originally, Hong Jinglai didn't go out of the house. He probably heard Park Joo-myung salute and say hello to Lee Hee-joo, so he opened the door. He saw the two of them with programmed smiles, which looked a bit like a stage play. Feel.

"Xi Zhu is here, just in time, so I don't need to tell you." Hong Jing waved to Li Xi Zhu and went back to the room to sit down.

Another person was welcomed into the outer porterhouse, who could it be if it wasn't Ding Ruoyong. Now Ding Ruoyong has been pardoned and temporarily returned to Hanyang as an idler. Previously, he had contributed a lot to the steam engine and ship affairs, and he had been researching the steam engine for several years. , which is exactly the time to use it.

"You blame me?" Seeing Li Xi's appearance just now, Hong Jinglai asked warmly.

"I understand what you mean. It's because my structure is too small..." Li Xi was an open-minded person. He analyzed what Chen Yaozu told him when he was at home and combined it with the situation in Hanyang, and he understood the inevitability of it. , so I know that this is a good choice for Laishang.

"As long as you understand, that's good." Hong Jinglai nodded, which means his brother is sensible.

This is the benefit of brothers fighting together. They can understand everything, understand the importance, and know whether it is feasible or not. There is no exchange of interests or dirty power and money transactions. The world created by everyone on the battlefield has ideals. Have a goal and be clear about it.

"I'm calling you two here this time because it's not about the ship."

"What do you mean?" Li Xi was more anxious and asked proactively.

"I have commissioned Chashan to research steam engines before. Now I think that since I can drive a ship, I can also drive a large car." Hong Jinglai knew that the locomotive of the train was a big project that could not be completed overnight and required a long period of experimentation and improvement, so he recruited the two of them. , discuss the matter.

"I'm sorry to say that I have previously designed a cart to house a steam engine, but because the steam engine itself is heavy, it cannot carry much cargo." Ding Ruoyong told the truth. The weight of the steam engine itself is a big problem.

If you want more horsepower, you need a bigger steam engine. The bigger the steam engine is, the heavier it is. The less things you can load and transport, the more horsepower you need. This is simply an endless cycle.

The conversion efficiency of the machine must be increased to increase the power it can provide!

"Is there any way to improve it?" Hong Jinglai still believed in this great scientist. As long as he was given enough time, he should be able to solve this problem.

"It's still under testing, I'm really sorry!" Ding Ruoyong knew that Hong Jinglai had great hopes, but he had no specific feasible plan.

The ship uses a paddle wheel to pump water forward, which somewhat means borrowing force, but how does a train and locomotive borrow force? When installed on a cart, what force does it borrow?

What's more, the road conditions in North Korea are so poor. Even if a steam locomotive is invented, how to walk on the dirt road will be a huge problem. It may take one hour to drive and fifty minutes to build the road.

"Another way of thinking, don't try to load cargo on the steam locomotive, but use it as power to drag the cargo-laden vehicle behind the locomotive. Moreover, I have seen it before in the pit smelting of Iron Mountain, using ponies to move the iron It is very labor-saving and simple to pull a cart full of ore on the rails. Can this be used on a steam locomotive?" Hong Jinglai gave an example casually.

In the past, when mining ore in Tieshan, steam engines could help solve many mining problems, including water seepage in the mine. However, transporting the ore out of the mine was still a big problem. If you relied on manpower to carry it, you would really have to catch slaves. The work came to do. Later, mine carts were installed and dragged by ponies, so that a large amount of ore could be transported out of the mine and a large amount of steel could be refined.

"Set up rail lanes?" Ding Ruoyong thought thoughtfully.

"Test the feasibility. In addition, after the Lord succeeds to the throne, Hanyang's old army will first send 2,000 people to Jemulpo, and you can help suppress it. This is not to dig the canal immediately, but to move Jemulpo The road from Pu to Hanyang should be completely widened and repaired, the roadbed should be built, and drainage ditches should be built on both sides. They must be strict." Hong Jinglai turned to Li Xi and told Li Xi.

"It's not about digging a canal? It's just about rebuilding official roads?" Li Xizhu was somewhat confused.

"Yes! Reorganize officialdom, and we must cut corners and find straight lines. We don't have to rely entirely on villages and towns."

"Then it means occupying civilian land?"

"As for the occupation of private land, Jifu has confiscated quite a lot of land from the Jin and Pu families. Can you promise twice the compensation!"
Chapter completed!