Back to the Warring States Period as Zhao Kuo

This rhetorical question also made Xiang Yan's expression freeze for a while.

But immediately Xiang Yan said very seriously: "Don't worry, our Majesty is the most powerful Majesty in history, and his wisdom is beyond the reach of anyone.

With it, all things will not be the same thing, you and me. "

The girl nodded, and then asked another question curiously: "Does your majesty care what kind of woman you are looking for?"

Xiang Yan was a little embarrassed, hehe smiled, and didn't speak.

What he didn't say, in fact, according to the normal regulations, the general should not go to do things like taking concubines during the war.

Although it is true that the situation of conquering the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau this time is quite special, Xiang Yan is not sure at this time, whether Zhao Kuo will punish him after returning there?

Thinking of this, Xiang Yan suddenly felt a little annoyed.

Men, this life is nothing more than a few things, the first is career, the second is women, and the third is offspring.

Obviously, when it comes to women, our well-known General Xiang Yan now feels a bit of a headache.

When Xiang Yan had a headache, Sima Shang also had a headache.

It's just that, unlike Xiang Yan, Sima Shang's head really hurts.

"This damn place has too little oxygen."

Sima Shang looked at the plateau in front of him and couldn't help muttering slowly, his eyes fell on the endless snow-capped mountains, and he didn't speak for a long time.

Compared with Wang Jian and Xiang Yan, Sima Shang's advance was not so smooth.

This is mainly because the farther west the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau goes, the fewer people live here.

Especially there is a very long place, Sima Shang came all the way with 2 troops, and he didn't even see a single person.

It wasn't until after walking out of this place that Sima Shang learned from the nearby native captives that this was an uninhabited area called "Ali".

For this reason, Sima Shang also paid hundreds of people for non-combat attrition.

After finally getting out of Ali area, Sima Shang originally wanted to build the city, but at this time there was another news that Sima Shang stopped building the city and wanted to continue to move west.

The news came from a prisoner who declared that he could start going down the mountain after walking west for about a month.

What does downhill mean?

Simply put, it is to leave the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and arrive at the northern plains of the South Asian subcontinent.

Now that he has this possibility, Sima Shang will naturally not miss it. He is determined to build a city on the northern plain of the South Asian subcontinent.

So Sima Shang continued to move towards the west all the way until he was trapped in this place by heavy snow.

Sima Shang stared at the snow-capped mountains, and looked back at the camp behind him, feeling a little regretful in his heart.

If it was said that the city could be built earlier, then the cold defense ability of the city must be much higher than that of the camp.

But now, it is basically too difficult to build a city in the ice and snow, so we can only endure it temporarily and wait until the temperature drops a little before making plans.

But this does not mean that Sima Shang gave up completely. On the contrary, Sima Shang actually sent several small teams to continue westward, hoping to find the legendary exit.

Suddenly dozens of small dots appeared on the horizon, speeding towards the camp.

After a while, an officer appeared in front of Sima Shang out of breath.

"General, we found out, we finally found out."

When Sima Shang was stunned for a moment, he thought of something. He was surprised and delighted, and said in disbelief, "Did you find the way to leave the plateau and lead to the southern plain?"

The officer showed a smile on his face, nodded very seriously, and then said: "What the captive said is indeed true. We found the mountain with red flowers that he described, and then we followed the red flowers all the way. We moved forward, crossed the area where the wolves were, and then the terrain was obviously all the way down, and after about two days, we did reach the plain."

Sima Shang was stunned for a while, then suddenly burst out laughing.

"God helped me, it seems that the end of the rush to the South Asian subcontinent is just ahead.

Come on, send an order, we will spend two days to prepare.

After two days, all of us will leave this place and continue westward. We will not spend the winter in the mountains, but let us spend the winter in the plains! "

When Sima Shang spoke, his face was full of a happy smile that couldn't be concealed.

The first passage between the Great Han Kingdom and the South Asian subcontinent was just opened.

Chapter 1214 The World's First Steam Locomotive Appears

Due to the heavy snow that blocked the road, it was already the spring of the second year when the news was received in the imperial capital thousands of miles away.

Zhao Kuo was very happy when he heard the news.

The control of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau means that the last trouble between the Han Dynasty and the South Asian subcontinent has been completely resolved.

In Zhao Kuo's heart now, he can't wait to conquer the South Asian subcontinent.

For Zhao Kuo, the priority of conquering the South Asian subcontinent is even higher than conquering Southeast Asia.

Why do you say that?The answer is actually very simple.

The South Asian subcontinent is basically a plain, and only in the southern part of the Indian peninsula are there plateaus and mountains.

These plains in the northern part of the South Asian subcontinent are the land of fish and rice in the true sense. As long as this place can be occupied, it can provide a new granary for the Han Kingdom.

Southeast Asia is different. These places are basically filled with tropical rain forests, and the climate is very sultry. At the same time, there are forests everywhere, and there is also a lack of cultivated land, so they are not suitable for being a granary.

For the current Han Kingdom, if it wants to develop a larger population, it needs more granaries, so of course the South Asian subcontinent has a higher priority at this stage.

;It seems that it is indeed time to prepare for the demise of the Seleucid Empire. Zhao Kuo secretly made up his mind in his heart.

It is true that it has been three or four years since the last war with the Seleucid Empire. During these three or four years, the caravans of the Han Kingdom have blossomed everywhere in the Seleucid Empire.

You must know that at the beginning, many of these caravans were actually Nightingale's spies, and they were originally responsible for spying on information. Therefore, after the past few years, the Han Kingdom's information on the Seleucid Empire was not That can be said to be very detailed.

Before the war started a few years ago, the Han Kingdom knew almost nothing about the country except for the name Seleucid Empire, but now, in the Seleucid Empire, almost anyone with a decent reputation His information will be recorded in detail and sent back to the imperial capital.

Now the Han Kingdom's understanding of the Seleucid Empire may not have reached the realm of knowing oneself, knowing the enemy, and winning every battle, but it is also very impressive.

What's more, the Han Kingdom itself does not need to understand the Seleucid Empire so thoroughly, because with the powerful military power of the Han Kingdom, it can easily overthrow the Seleucid Empire, just like the Mongol Empire was very easy back then. Khwaraz was completely defeated.

When the fighting on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau ends, the situation in Yunnan should be similar.

In that case, like Li Mu, Sima Shang, Xiang Yan, and Wang Jian, these four generals can all free up their hands at the same time, and follow the soldiers and horses of the Han Kingdom to attack the Seleucid Empire.

At that time, the territory of the Great Han Kingdom will once again expand by leaps and bounds, and extend the tentacles of the Great Han Kingdom directly to West Asia in one fell swoop.

Just thinking about all this makes Zhao Kuo quite happy.

But then came another problem, which made Zhao Kuo start to have a headache.

This problem is actually very simple, that is, with the continuous expansion of the territory of the Han Kingdom, the speed of uploading letters from the local area to the imperial capital has also slowed down significantly.

But now, if he wants to send an official document from the Western Regions, it will take at least a month to get to the Imperial City.

Then Zhao Kuo transferred back to the Western Regions after reviewing the official document, and it took another month.

This is only where the Western Regions are relatively close to Central Asia. If the territory of the Han Kingdom expands to West Asia or even Europe in the future, this problem will become even more serious.

If it is in the modern world, this is actually not a big problem. The plane will arrive in just a few minutes, and all kinds of official documents can be directly faxed and networked. If there is any urgent matter, just make a phone call. up.

But in this ancient time, these things will become a huge problem. In the long run, it will weaken the control of the Han Dynasty over various border areas and generate various centrifugal forces, which is definitely a very bad thing.

There is one and only one way to solve this problem, and that is to develop the social productivity of the Han Kingdom as soon as possible, so that the Han Kingdom can enter the modern society as soon as possible, so that this problem can be solved.

Just when Zhao Kuo thought of this, the eunuch Ling's report suddenly sounded.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, Fuzhen, the Minister of Science and Technology, has sent another urgent memorial. ;

After Zhao Kuo heard this report, his heart moved slightly.

Generally speaking, if there is no such thing as a better invention, I really would not submit such an urgent memorial.

Zhao Kuo didn't talk nonsense, so he asked eunuch Ling to bring this memorial, opened it and read it.

This memorial is actually very short, with only a few simple sentences written on it, but after reading these few sentences, Zhao Kuo was overjoyed and immediately issued an order.

; Immediately find the prince and ask him to follow me to the Ministry of Science and Technology. ;

Half an hour later, Zhao Kuo took Prince Zhao Qian and left the palace in a carriage and went directly to the Ministry of Science and Technology.

The Ministry of Science and Technology is a newly established department. Unlike other departments, this Ministry of Science and Technology is not located around the imperial palace, but is located in the outskirts of today's imperial capital, which is considered to be quite a wilderness.

This is also Fuzhen's own consciousness. From the perspective of Fuzhen's explanation, the main reason is that he feels that there are many inventions in the Ministry of Science and Technology, and many of these inventions are dangerous. It would be better if the city was farther away, and it would also help keep it secret.

The carriage soon arrived at the Ministry of Science and Technology, and it was obviously not the first time Zhao Kuo had come here, so he said he was familiar with driving, so he directly sent Yujia to the factory inside.

After arriving at the factory, Fuzhen came immediately upon hearing the news.

;I have seen His Majesty, I have seen the Prince. ;

Zhao Kuo nodded, smiled at Fuzhen and said: "Ai Qing, after hearing your words, I rushed over without stopping at all."What about the thing you want to show me? ;

Fuzhen also smiled when he heard the words, and said to Zhao Kuo: "Your Majesty and the prince, please follow the minister to this side, that thing is in front." ;

Zhao Qian looked at Zhao Kuo curiously, and then Fuzhen curiously. He actually didn't know what he was going to see this time.

But soon, Zhao Qian got the answer.

In the factory of the Ministry of Science and Technology, there is a large open space, which is about the same size as the playground in Houshi. At this moment, there is a very huge thing made of steel lying there.

The moment Zhao Kuo saw this thing, he couldn't help but subconsciously compared it with the things he had seen in later modern times.

Although this thing looks quite rough, and it can't be compared with the modern counterparts of later generations, there is no doubt that it is indeed a steam locomotive.

Yes, the reason why Zhao Kuo rushed here in such a hurry is because Fuzhen said in this memorial that he has built the world's first steam locomotive.

As we all know, the train needs to be driven by the locomotive, so as long as the locomotive can be built, the next thing to do is to add the carriage to create the train.

Zhao Kuo looked a little fascinated, staring at the first steam locomotive in front of him.

Under the locomotive, there is the first railroad track of the Han Dynasty, and this railroad track is also an oval, which is similar to the closed loop of the playground runway in later generations.

Zhao Kuo said: "It should be able to start, right?" ;

After listening to Zhao Kuo's words, Fuzhen also laughed, and said with certainty: "Please rest assured, Your Majesty, of course it can be activated." ;

While speaking, Zhao Kuo walked into the only compartment behind the front of the car.

This carriage is not so much a carriage as it is simply modified from the body of a carriage.

But Zhao Kuo didn't care about this at this moment, he just urged Fuzhen: "You start it quickly, let him run up and have a look." ;

Zhao Qian, who was behind Zhao Kuo, was shocked when he heard this sentence.

As far as Zhao Qian is concerned, he himself doesn't know the concept of trains, and he has never been in contact with similar things, so he is actually very confused at this time.

If Zhao Qian were to understand Zhao Kuo literally, it would mean that Zhao Kuo hoped to make this weird-looking big iron lump in front of him run.

But the problem is that Zhao Qian didn't see horses and cows nearby, or other things that could pull this big iron lump.

So here comes the question, how can this big iron lump run by itself?

Soon Fuzhen gave Zhao Qian the answer with practical actions.

I only saw that the engine inside was started familiarly, and then began to add coal to the furnace of the engine.

When a sufficient amount of coal was added, Fuzhen pressed a certain switch, and then something completely beyond Zhao Qian's imagination happened.

The big iron chimney above the head of the steam locomotive suddenly emitted bursts of smoke, and then amidst the deafening roar of the steam engine, the train began to move slowly on the rails.

Frankly speaking, the speed of this train is actually not fast, it is almost equivalent to the speed of a human walking, but when Zhao Kuo watched the steam engine train running, the joy in the whole heart was beyond words , and even had an urge to cry up to the sky.

Finally built the train.

The significance of the train to the industrial society is unmatched by any other means of transportation.

It is precisely because of the existence of trains that it is possible for people to connect to any corner of the world, and it is possible to continuously transport a large amount of goods produced.

At this point, the convenience of trains even far exceeds that of ships. After all, ships can be transported on the sea, but the place where human activities are performed is land.

When the train appears, the industrial society of the Great Han Kingdom will develop rapidly. Not only that, but as long as the railways continue to be built, the Great Han Kingdom's control over the territory will be further improved.

It is no exaggeration to say that in the future, as long as there is a place where trains can pass, that is where the army of the Han Dynasty can reach. Then absolutely no one can set off a successful rebellion in such a place.

To put it simply, the benefits of the train are so many that Zhao Kuo finally couldn't hold back his emotions after thinking about it for a while, and laughed out loud.

After the laughter was over, Zhao Kuo patted Fuzhen on the shoulder, and said very seriously: "Aiqing, you are destined to be recorded in the annals of history, praised and worshiped by all the descendants of future generations!" ;

At this moment, Zhao Kuo's tone can be said to be extremely affirmative.

Fuzhen was still nervously helping the train move forward. After hearing Zhao Kuo's words, he also turned around and showed a smile, and said to Zhao Kuo: "To tell you the truth, this train may also be made by the minister in this life." The most fulfilling thing. ;

Fuzhen’s words are also uttered. You must know in your heart that for so many years, human beings have been relying on livestock like cattle and horses. Occasionally, they will use the power of running water. This is really the first time that this kind of power has been transformed directly from nothing out of thin air.