"The axle has a slight crack, and it is estimated that it will break if you go there again. It is recommended to replace it in time." Menendes, a senior engineer at the Southern Vehicle Factory who arrived at Port Rochao, carefully inspected the vehicle body and said: "The cylinder on the right is not operating well. Maybe there is a problem with the graphite ring used for the sealing inside, so it is best to disassemble it and check it carefully. The rolling bearing is really good, and it is much better to use than the old-fashioned sliding bearings of the past. But maybe we really need to improve the processing accuracy of the grinder. Look at this bearing, the ball is still grinding. Forget it, this is an old problem, and it will not be solved in a short time. In general, the trial operation of our steam locomotive is still quite perfect, right?"

"Of course." The technicians and drivers and passengers of Zinan Automobile Factory all showed satisfying smiles on their faces. Yes, this is an epoch-making transportation tool that they have been working hard for many years and overcome countless technical problems before successfully developing. Although there are many problems, it will one day be perfect. Think about the steam locomotive Mercedes-Benz produced by the Southern Vehicle Factory, which is on the railway artery that runs across the east coast. What an exciting picture.

Xiling Regional Commissioner Shao Shude also took his family to sit in the newly repaired waiting room of Luochao Railway Station. His secretary took handmade whale oil cream, just-baked steak, fresh La Plata deep-sea cod and spiced whale jerky transported from the baleen whale port.

After stopping the secretary from opening a bottle of French brandy for him, Shao Shude took a bottle of river big songs and said with a smile: "Support domestic products. Start with me."

Li Yi, a naval captain who had already settled in Luoqia Port, smiled slightly when he heard this. Then he also opened a bottle of Xiangshan Dried Red for himself. He picked up a piece of dried spice whale meat and threw it into his mouth. After chewing it, he said, "It seems to be good. It should be because the seasonings are used well. It has been a while since the whale meat has been put on the market, and the market response is still very enthusiastic. At least in Luoqia market, the small amount of whale meat is basically sold out, which makes the trading companies and distribution vendors who spend a lot of money to import La Plata beef are crying without tears."

Speaking of which, since the beef crisis occurred more than a year ago and the prices soared across the board, the State Council has increased its support for farmers who breed beef cattle in the northern Forage Ridge area. Credit workers from Northwest Reclamation Bank traveled from village to village to alleys and worked with agricultural technicians at the agricultural technicians to solve practical difficulties for farmers. Among them, the credit workers in the village solved the financial difficulties of farmers, while the agricultural technicians solved various livestock diseases for farmers, and promoted artificial insemination technology (condoms made of whale intestines, massage the prostate of bulls, you know). These effectively ensured the reproduction and survival rate of young animals.

On the other hand, the State Council decided to put a large amount of whale meat into the market, and at the same time ordered the South African River Colony to increase the number of beef cattle sent to the central government every year by 20%. As for how to solve the problem, when the State Council decided to put a large amount of whale meat into the domestic market, it was strongly resisted by liberals led by Bai Siwen. Fortunately, the Executive Committee and the main leaders of the State Council were still very clear about this matter. They ruled out the interference of vested interest groups and firmly implemented this measure to benefit the people.

Although the people do not have the habit of eating whale meat, they cannot resist the cheap meat, so many people have bought it back to eat it one after another. Moreover, with the Southern Hemisphere frozen in mid-last year of last year, a large number of whales swam northward for warm waters, which led by Zhang Yun (2 whaling ships and 1 supply ship modified by transport ships) Dafali City. During the five-month golden whaling season, more than 10 whales were processed, all of which were huge in size and thick in fat and meat.

The country has obtained a large amount of valuable materials such as whale oil, whale skin, whale intestines, cod liver oil, whale meat, etc. In addition to industrial uses, whale oil from the East Coast people also sells unused excess whale oil into cream, high-end soap and other luxury goods in China and nearby La Plata and Brazil, making considerable profits. In addition to whale oil, puffy skirts and brasses made of whale baleen are all the rage in the domestic market. Countless female travelers, officers and ladies, etc., almost bought them all.

The Nanhai Fisheries Company, which has officially moved its headquarters and processing workshop to Luoqia Port, made a fortune by relying solely on whaling, and paid a lot of dividends to the national finance. At present, Zhang Yun, the captain of the former Hunter No. 1 whaling ship, no longer undertakes the task of whaling in seas, and instead serves as the executive deputy general manager of the Nanhai Fisheries Company (the general manager is an elderly traveler). This stinky guy once led Hunter No. 1 to enter the Weidell Sea floating with icebergs last year to hunt whales, and named this sea area that no one has discovered at this time Zhang Yunhai. Now he has taken off his captain's suit, put on a white shirt, and officially sat in the bright office, specializing in the processing and sales of the company's products. At the same time, he ordered new whaling ships from the modern special ship factory to expand the scale of the whaling fleet as soon as possible.

"The day before yesterday, a transport ship was driven back from the Baleen Whale Port of Horse Island, and brought back more than 100 tons of spiced whale jerky and pickled whale meat. These whale meat will be loaded overnight tonight, and then transported the cheap meat to seven or eight towns with dense smoke along the train, and then distributed and sold it out." Shao Shude also picked up a piece of whale meat and said while eating it: "In the past, whale meat or other imported goods were transported directly to the port, and then distributed to the inland areas by land or water. Due to insufficient transportation capacity, many commodities have to wait for a long time in the dock warehouse, and the storage fee is

It is already very expensive to use. Then, with less cheap freight, the prices of these goods can often be increased by more than 50% on the original basis. Now it is much more convenient to have trains. Let’s take a large amount of whale meat to the port as an example. The existing train can pull 60 to 70 tons of meat at an average speed of more than 30 kilometers per hour and then distribute it to various settlements along the railway. All it consumes is just some coal. Well, maybe some mechanical parts should be added to the loss of personnel and personnel salary, but it is definitely much more convenient than if you are struggling to transport it with a carriage.”

The advantages of trains mentioned by Shao Shude may not be particularly obvious in coastal areas with convenient transportation. But if you transport goods to settlements in inland areas, the advantages of trains can be greatly revealed. Because any train station is directly built on the edge of densely populated towns, it can easily transport a large amount of goods directly to the final consumers, and it is cheap, convenient to transport, and has great advantages.

"The Ministry of Transport has set up some tax checkpoints on the canal sections that have been manually excavated and dredged by Yihe, Lianghu Canal, Coal River, Dayu River and other canals. They have imposed toll taxes on ships that have come and collected funds to broaden the dredging river channels, build water lifting stations and sluice gates." After hearing Shao Shude's words, Li Yi also talked about a story he heard: "I heard that the guys at the Canal in the Ministry of Transport are deeply resentful to the State Railway Administration, because competitors have finally appeared in the canal under their jurisdiction, so they were all holding meetings to argue whether it is necessary to lower the canal tax. After all, no one has ever heard of the railway being able to set up checkpoints to collect taxes. Haha, the railway is really a killer. The bureaucrats at the canal have to face the competition. Gone are the good days of sitting on the ground and counting money in the past."

Currently, the Ministry of Transportation Canal has a tax card on the Coal River, a tax card on the Yakui River, two tax cards on the Lianghu Canal (one-way charge), two tax cards on the Dayu River, two tax cards on the Yi River, and a tax card on the Meilin River. The daily taxes that can be received are not small amounts. Although most of the taxes collected are taxes from inland steamboats of state-owned inland river transport companies, these taxes will be transferred to the goods they transport and will eventually be paid by the consumers.

In addition to widening and dredging existing canal channels, the taxes collected are also used to build new water raising stations, sluice gates and pay wages for workers who maintain these water raising stations. Although the remaining money is not much, it is a little income. Now that the railway has done so, it is inevitable to lower the canal toll tax in the long run. This is not good news for the people in the canal of the Ministry of Transport. After all, the money flowing into their own departments is much less, right?

Of course, they don’t have to worry too much in the short term. Because according to the existing national plan, railway lines, highway lines and canal lines are all staggered, that is, railways are not built for the time being in place where there are canals, and new canals or railways are not dug in places where there are highways. Railways will only be given priority in the most urgent places, such as the Northwest Railway Plan that is fully supported by the Executive Committee and the State Council. Only after the railways in these places are saturated will the Executive Committee consider building railways along the canal - such as the Yihe - in order to expand the transportation capacity of this transportation artery. Therefore, the canal will have a good time in the short term, but in the long run, it will inevitably face the threat of a decline in profit margins faced by railways after joining the competition.

On January 1, 1646, the maintenance of the first train in the history of the East Coast was completed. The workers of the Luoqia Railway Station mechanics replaced many unusable parts for the train, and then added enough coal and water to it. That night, the dock workers (the train station was built next to the dock) loaded more than 60 tons of whale meat on the train overnight, and shipped them out early the next morning.
Chapter completed!