After leaving the inn, everyone followed Li Fugui to the prefecture yamen. As soon as they arrived at the post office, several prefectures came out.

Yan Shu took a few quick steps, grabbed Fan Zhongyan's hand and said, "Xiwen, I haven't seen you for many years, can you always be good?"

Fan Zhongyan bowed: "It's okay, it's okay. Since I parted in the capital, I have been in the twilight years. Alas, before I knew it, you and I are already in the twilight years."

Ouyang Xiu stepped forward and said, "Grandpa Fan should be stronger, why do you say this? In a few years, the court should still use it."

Fan Zhongyan smiled and shook his head, met Song Qi and Liu Zhi, and walked to the yard together.

In late spring, the grass grows and the eagles fly, and the flowers and trees in the yard are blooming brightly. Several birds hanging among the trees pull open their throats and keep singing.

The guest and host took a seat, and Li Cheng, deputy envoy of the transfer of Jingxi Road, said: "After waiting for several days, all the magistrates have finally arrived. Tonight, we will welcome the judge Du Yun and the five magistrates. Tomorrow, we will discuss the matter of land camp together."

Everyone said it was. Du Zhongxiao was the judge of fortune transfer, and here, he and Li Cheng were his own people.

Li Fugui said: "My ministers have prepared some wine and food tonight when they arrive at the bad places. Don't blame me for not receiving any good hospitality in a small place."

Ouyang Xiu smiled and said, "Where did Li Zhizhou say anything? We came from the Iron Supervisor all the way, and the scene of Tangzhou was visible. I thought that I went to the capital from the Guanghua Army a few years ago. At that time, the fields were vast and sparsely populated, and it was depressed. This time it was different. The road was densely populated, and rice and mulberry were everywhere, so it was not the same. Like this rich place, I would not treat several husbands unfairly."

Li Fugui said: "This is all the contribution of the land camp under Du Yun. In more than a year, the people have doubled and countless fields have been opened. Now the land camp is still directly under the Transportation Department, and the local governments cannot intervene, so it is still not easy for Tangzhou."

Du Zhongxiao and Li Cheng looked at each other and smiled, without saying a word.

In more than a year, Yingtianwu has resettled more than 10,000 households in Tangzhou, built countless villages, and opened up large areas of fertile land. Not only that, Yingtianwu has also developed commercial business. Now Qingtai Town is prosperous, no less than Tangzhou City. Li Fugui only came to work in this prefecture after the New Year. In his eyes, he was extremely jealous and advocated that Yingtianwu transfer the built places to the places. Once these resources were obtained, Tangzhou's population and economy would immediately double, and his political achievements were quite large.

Du Zhongxiao discussed with the Transportation Department and advocated that according to the practice of opening land for three years of tax exemption, it would be stable after three years before handing over to the local area. Otherwise, the land, such as Tangzhou and other places had also operated land in the past, which failed to escape due to excessive plundering of prefectures and counties. Local land camps, whether presided over by the prefectures or counties, will be held by officials in order to achieve political achievements during their term of office, and how can they develop?

After a while, the wine and food were served and everyone drank happily.

After drinking for three rounds, Ouyang Xiu said: "Everyone, have you ever taken the train?"

Li Cheng said: "We went to the station the day before yesterday to see that a carriage carriage carried several carriages, which contained a lot of things. And it was faster than a carriage, which was very easy to run."

Ouyang Xiu said: "I dare to stop this. This car can run thousands of miles in one go with water and coal. Use a horse to pull the cart, and you have to prepare for food and drink water on the road, and you have to rest. How can you compare it! We came from the Iron Supervisor, and it took more than three hundred miles to arrive in more than three hours. Except for Xianggong Yan, who was a little more depressed because of motion sickness, the others didn't feel anything at all, so they arrived."

Wang Zhu smiled and said, "Can you still feel motion sickness? I have only heard of seasickness, so why do you feel faint when you take a car?"

Song Qi waved his hand: "You will know when you sit there. The car is swaying around, but it doesn't look like a boat. It's good that this car is burning coal and not using cattle and horses. Du Yunjue said that as long as there is a place to add water and coal on the road, you can run thousands of miles in one go."

Fan Zhongyan nodded slightly and said, "We saw a few cars pulling, each of which was full. I wonder how many stones this train can pull in one trip? In an hour, a hundred miles, can you really run thousands of miles at this speed?"

Du Zhongxiao said: "When you go back to your husband, you can get 6,000 stones at one train. One hour and a hundred miles are on the flat ground. If the mountain goes uphill, it will naturally be slower, but it will not be less than fifty miles at an hour. As long as the road is paved and there is a station to add coal and water, thousands of miles are not a problem. In fact, the train can run wherever the railway is paved."

Fan Zhongyan nodded again: "If the railway is spread to Jingzhao Prefecture and Qinzhou, can the train be reached within a few days?"

"After the road is paved, of course you can run there. However, if you have to cross Liupan Mountain to Qinzhou, this road is not easy to repair. I have considered this and go to the northwest. The road should go north from Zhenrong Army to Lingzhou. Then cross the Yellow River and turn to Hexi."

Fan Zhongyan nodded: "Yes, there is no need to cross mountains when going to the Zhenrong Army. The place is flat and it is easy to build roads."

After saying that, he looked sad and shook his head gently. He had already made peace with Dangxiang, and he could only think about these things. The golden swords and iron horses of the past had already gone far away. Even if he paved the railway to the northwest, Fan Zhongyan, who was over 60 years old, was unlikely to go to the frontier again.

Several old ministers here, such as Yan Shu, Fan Zhongyan, and Song Qi, have always been upset about Dang Xiang. The war with Dang Xiang was when they were in power, and it ended in this way, and everyone was unwilling to accept it. So what if they were unwilling to accept it? Fan Zhongyan fought in the northwest. If they couldn't win, they wouldn't win. To be optimistic, they would have more defense and insufficient offense.

If there had been such a railway, the army and materials could be transported to the northwest continuously, what would have been the result? As one of the Northwest commanders at that time, Fan Zhongyan could not resist thinking like this. Perhaps, he would not be so embarrassed, but if he wanted to defeat Yuan Hao, he always felt that it was still insufficient.

Seeing that everyone was interested, Du Zhongxiao said: "In fact, laying the railway and opening the train not only shortens the time for transporting personnel and materials, but also saves freight costs. More importantly, with this method, you can save a lot of money from other conveniences."

As the deputy envoy of transportation, Li Cheng was most interested in this. When he saw Du Zhongxiao talking, he hurriedly said: "The transportation judgment is that the railway and train are produced by your railway supervisor. If you take care of it, I think you can see clearly more clearly than us. What are the benefits? You might as well talk about it before."

Du Zhongxiao bowed and said, "Take the northwest I just mentioned as an example. If there is a railway, the Central Plains army can reach several days. Not only that, the Shaanxi Road army can be adjusted to hundreds of miles away in a few days. In this way, there is no need to build forts and set up defenses everywhere. There are police along the way, and a large army of thousands of miles can gather to fight the enemy, so that they will not be defeated by the Western thieves because there are not many troops and horses in each way. This is the military significance. In terms of the cost of the court, the Central Plains materials can be easily transferred to the northwest, so there is no need to rely on merchants. There is no need to enter China and France in Yanbian. This alone can save more than tens of millions of yuan. Moreover, transportation is convenient, the prices on the front line will not be too expensive, and a lot of money will be saved."

Li Cheng nodded: "It makes sense. A few days ago, Tian Jijun sent a letter saying that many people talked about the benefits of railways and wanted to pave the railway from Xiangzhou to Luoyang this autumn and winter. Let us discuss it. What do you think about the fortune judgment?"

Du Zhongxiao said: "There are two roads from Xiangzhou to Luoyang. One is to go to Dengzhou, Nanyang, Lushan Pass, and through Ruzhou to Luoyang. The other is to go to Tangzhou, and through Ye County to Ruzhou. The west line is short, and if it is easier to pave than the east line, there is no need to say this. However, the sixty-mile Lushan Pass is in the mountains. It is hard to say whether it can pave the road. To be safe, go to Tangzhou and Ye County. Although it is a little farther away, it is possible to go to flat land all the way."

Li Cheng nodded: "It makes sense. Lushan Pass has never been able to connect to large trucks, so it is not easy to pave, so it is safe to go to Tangzhou. Fortune judgment, if you pave such a road, I wonder if it can be completed in autumn and winter?"
Chapter completed!