Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

Chapter 197 009 Rail transportation, but with horse carriages

After the steamboat was demonstrated at the Tauride Palace last year, a second demonstration was held on the Neva River, and it was very successful. The boiler did not explode, and the boat did not capsize. It also successfully reached the palace embankment near the Winter Palace.

Alexander was very satisfied with this, and another project, the "rail transportation" from Pavlovsk to Tsarskoye Selo, has now been laid, making it more convenient to move between these palaces.

It will take time to tinker with the steam locomotive, but the track has been made, and the rails are made of raw materials from Lugansk, and there are sleepers and roadbeds, which is also the basic railway configuration.

It's just that there is no locomotive, so what kind of transportation is going to be made, it goes without saying, it's a rail carriage again.

And the track spacing of the carriage is also very interesting, which is the design indicator of the future Russian broad-gauge railway.

This is not the introduction of British railway standards. Of course, the Russian rail spacing must be adopted. In the future, when the technical level rises, the carrying capacity will be stronger. At the same time, when all countries can master this technology, it will also prevent foreign enemies from invading.

As for the construction of railways, it also involves that the roads in Russia are already so long, and there is no spare capacity to build abroad. Considering that the world is now crossing the river by feeling the stones, and the later ones cross the river by feeling the front, they can only make such arrangements first.

However, when Solovyov came back, he always felt that in a country with such a vast territory, as long as it is a monarchy, it must be demonstrated to the old lady first, which is indeed a farce.

However, in 1865, the Qing Dynasty did not even let go of the one-mile-long "demonstration railway" and directly ordered it to be demolished. On the Russian side, it was the edict of road construction left by Paul. Although the old emperor was gone, the money that had been invested always had to be seen.

So, such a railway was prepared for Queen Mother Maria, hoping to get her support.

To be honest, it was easy to tell this to the queen mother, who was a good machinist. The demonstration railway to be used was a special royal carriage, so she thought it was "feasible", especially because the carriage was driven by Ilya Bekov, a strongman beside Alexander, and it was more reliable in operation.

The crowd watching the ceremony, that is, a group of nobles who were watching the excitement, saw Bekov appear on the carriage. The strongman himself didn't know that the guest he was carrying today approved the project of military canned food because of the snacks he usually brought during the conversation with the emperor.

"Ilya Ivanovich, what a strongman! I am relieved that the emperor asked you to pull the carriage."

"I said, Mr. Major, if you think my carriage is running fast, just pat your shoulder and shout it out, and if it is slow, it's okay!"

"It doesn't matter, as long as we finish this smoothly. Just get off. Besides, why do you want me to yell out? "

"This is when the emperor is sitting in my carriage. He never gives a definite answer!"

Soloviev then knew why Alexander always quarreled with his coachman.

When traveling in a carriage, Alexander often gave orders to Bekov by gestures, but Bekov always drove an open carriage. Even if he changed to a carriage with a carriage, he could not see the Tsar's gestures, and Alexander always spoke in a low voice in the car, so he had to look back frequently.

They will be together for twenty-five years. Bekov, a hot-tempered strongman, is still capable of staying with Alexander all the time.

Bykov is also a smart man. He is the only serf and servant of his friend, Lieutenant Dmitri Lukin of the Navy. His former master is also a strongman. The two are master and servant but also friends. Lukin gave Bekov freedom after joining the army. After being freed, Hercules became a citizen of St. Petersburg. A few days before Soloviev's accident last year, he officially became Alexander's full-time coachman.

Before that, he had some fame, and he was a man with a rough but delicate mind. When he saw that the major adjutant beside the emperor was coming, he greeted him in advance, which was much more convenient than dealing with the emperor who was deaf in one ear.

Soloviev actually knew what he meant. Anyway, Alexander couldn't "listen to both sides and then understand", so there was only this way.

Let's talk about this rail transit. Now he came up to demonstrate. After all, he designed all the mechanisms on the route, including a turnout, and Bekov's strength was enough to stop the four-horse carriage at the end of the track.

"Your Majesty, are you going to start now?"

"Go ask Bekov if he is ready?"

After seeing that everything was fine, Bekov threw away the whip and drove the carriage forward. Although Alexander would always complain that "my groom only knows horses", he still liked such a warrior, and he drove very steadily.

Solovyov, who was in the carriage, felt that the strong man's driving skills could indeed make the carriage fast and stable. It was a pity that he couldn't measure the speed. However, he could judge from experience that the speed of this carriage was faster than any other carriage he had ridden before, and it was almost as fast as a horse's trot!

"Ilya, you should run slower, too fast!"

"Okay, Mr. Major!"

The carriage continued to move forward, and Solovyov's only worry was the switch. If it could not fit perfectly, it would be a very dangerous test for the two of them.

During this time, he traveled to many places and did not focus all his attention on the construction of rail transit. Moreover, there were so many coachmen in Petersburg, and it was not suitable to build rail tracks in the city. However, it was more or less suitable to place it between towns and villages. Still somewhat useful.

But if there was a problem with this design, he personally sat on it to test it today. He trusted Bekov's technology and this sturdy royal carriage, but he still expressed doubts about the precision of the rail device produced by the iron factory. Doubtful.

Fortunately, there was no problem. Bykov successfully passed the switch. Now they came to the curve, where of course they had to slow down.

Bykov is also very skilled in corners. If it were someone else driving the car, he might not be able to control it like this. Solovyov felt that if he was given a car, he would be able to drift. !

"Okay, Ilya, slow down, the end is right in front of you where the emperor is!"

There were many people who came to see the excitement, and they were also amazed when Ilya Bykov drove the carriage quickly past.

After all, he chose a good horse, and it was driven by the strongest and most skilled coachman in the palace. The speed of running like this must be 25 to 30 miles per hour, and there is only one passenger. This is not a rail carriage on a mine. , the effect is pretty good anyway.

Especially when the car was parked at the end, Bekov made the four horses stop quickly with just "light force" and even pulled the brakes smoothly.

"What a strong man, Ilya Bykov, you haven't drank any 'Potion magique' (magic potion), have you?"

"'Potion magique'? What is that? You don't seem to be speaking Russian, Mr. Major, I don't understand foreign languages!"

"Sorry, Ilya, you're not Gaulish either."

Solovyov was a little confused here. After all, seeing such a strong man, his strength was a bit unscientific, and he would make random guesses about druid-related content.

"Are all educated people as joking as you?"

After Bykov stopped the horse, the grooms who had been waiting here came to take over. The driver and the passengers bowed in front of the Tsar together.

"How is it, Bykov, and Solovyov, how does this trip feel?"

"Your Majesty, I think at this time, it should be attributed to Ilya Ivanovich's natural power and driving skills. He made this test a complete success. We can run faster on the track carriage than ordinary carriages. , but there are still some safety issues that may need to be improved in the future.”

Bykov just smiled and didn't want to say more. If the passengers' experience was good, then there would be no problem.

"Very good, but we also need time now to complete this great project."

Alexander often did not give a clear answer, but at least he said he would complete it. No matter if it was ten years or twenty years, or when someone came to replace Alexander as Tsar, he always came to a conclusion, which was already a good thing. .

Compared with rail transportation, the sail-steam-powered transport ship is the project that Alexander is more concerned about now. After all, there are fewer places that need to be changed, and the first one can be used for transportation between Kotlin Island and Petersburg. "Neva" is already under construction.

There are projects on the left and right that were instigated by Solovyov. It is already thankful that Alexander is interested. After all, it is not easy for this actor to agree to two big projects. Everyone knows him. That complicated thought process.

"Your Majesty, I think it will be possible to connect Petersburg to Moscow and Moscow to Kharkov in the future."

"This is good, but we need a lot of time and a lot of money. Now we have to complete the steam locomotive. Next time we will be able to drive a real steam locomotive from Pavlovsk."

"Your Majesty, I think so, we still need technical personnel."

"Yes, Solovyov, we do need technical personnel. Once your mission of escorting the queen to Stockholm is over, you can look for talents in this field."

"Especially to Scotland, Your Majesty. I want to make them an offer they can't refuse, and someone will come to Petersburg."

"You can also handle this matter. I know that although you are talented, you can't do everything by yourself. Find someone, and the conditions are very good. If you have difficulties, you can When you arrive in London, you can talk to Count Vorontsov and Semyon Romanovich will definitely help you. "

In this regard, the diplomats sent by Alexander to London have already given instructions.

If someone from the embassy went there, it might even arouse the vigilance of Britain and France. However, a young major went to the two countries under a pseudonym, but his actions were hidden and difficult to detect.

In particular, when Solovyov spoke, no matter which language he spoke, he sounded very correct.

As for Louisa, she was an audience the whole time today, but when she thought about the appearance of the steamship, she was also thinking about what the steam locomotive looked like. It must also be emitting white smoke. It was just her imagination and reality, maybe It's not a thing yet.

After all, although the young queen has learned a lot of knowledge, her understanding of engineering is still superficial, which cannot be compared with the natural history, history, geography and philosophy she is familiar with.

Bekov was rewarded with a silver pocket watch for his excellent driving, but Solovyov did not need such rewards. He also wanted to dig out talents, especially the Scots who always came to Russia to make a living, and there were people from all walks of life. Among them, there were many technical professionals. Russia has always welcomed adventurers.

And Alexander always wanted to show that he was open-minded and progressive, and he had not forgotten the wishes he made in his youth. To start his rule, he really needed to attract a lot of talents.

It was just a question whether he could control it.

The Russian court was a strange place. There were always all kinds of people who liked to flatter. Some people had real skills, and some people relied on their mouths and their ability to serve people. People who relied entirely on real talents and knowledge were now rare animals.

Soloviev felt that he was only able to successfully implement his plans with the support of several nobles who were not easy to fall.

In particular, we have to thank the handsome Count Stroganov, who is Alexander's close friend, born with a handsome face and very modest.

Logically speaking, with his face, he can wake up handsomely every morning, and in the social scene of Petersburg, even if you use a magic mirror, you can't find such a handsome and talented man, who is also the son of the richest man in Russia.

He and the old count are very interested in promoting Russia's enlightenment and progress and getting rid of the stereotype of "barbaric and backward". The old count is also an amateur chemistry enthusiast. He also believes that it is necessary to introduce new machinery and various technologies to Russia.

In this regard, the old count is even willing to offer an irresistible amount as a reward to the first designer who successfully runs a train on the Pavlovsk-Tsarskoye Selo Railway.

However, this public bidding will have to wait until Solovyov leaves. He can go to Scotland according to the list and letter of introduction provided by Mr. Gascoigne, the manager of the Lugansk factory from Scotland. After all, not all information can be quickly transmitted to the UK, and many people are actually unwilling to move, so someone needs to lobby them in person.

Dealing with technicians is still easy to talk to, except for those guys who bully others with patents.