In an open space below the dormitory of Daming Imperial College of Technology in Xincheng, South District of Beijing, employees of Daming Telecommunications Company are constantly busy. They are going to build a phone booth here to facilitate calls between students of Ming Imperial College and their relatives.
"What is this being built?"
"I heard that a phone booth is being built."
"Telephone? Is it the phone invented by Professor Kuang Xiong of the Ming Dynasty Royal Institute of Technology next door?"
"Yes, yes, telephone calls are very popular now. I heard that Daming Telecom Company has already transferred the phone lines to Songhu. It is estimated that it will soon cover the entire mainland of Daming. By then we can be here
When I called home, I could hear the voices of my relatives in my hometown even though they were thousands of miles away."
"real or fake?"
"Of course it's true. The day before yesterday, I went to Wang Wei's house as a guest. His house had money to install a telephone, so we tried calling. It was indeed very convenient."
"Wang Wei, have you installed a telephone in your home?"
"Well, it was installed just a few days ago. Because my family has a branch factory in Tianjin, it was also installed at the factory. In this way, if anything happens, you can call us and you will know immediately. It is really convenient.
.”
There were many classmates watching the excitement, and everyone was constantly discussing with each other.
"Wang Wei, how do you use this phone?"
"Yes, after it is built, can you teach us how to use it?"
"It's actually very simple. There are numbers on the phone, and each phone has a separate number. We only need to dial the other party's number, and then the operator of the telecommunications company will receive the corresponding number, so that we can get through to the other party.
As long as someone on the other side answers the phone, you can talk."
A classmate named Wang Wei also explained in detail to the classmates around him.
"Wang Wei, can we go to Songhu?"
"It would be great if I could go to Songhu, so that I could hear the voices of my parents, wife and children. Even if I can't see anyone, it would be great to be able to hear the voices."
Hearing Wang Wei's words, Zeng Jiajun on the side suddenly became excited.
He is from Songhu. There is a long distance between Songhu and the capital, and it is extremely inconvenient to travel there. During the Chinese New Year, he was busy with studies and research, so he did not go home. He missed his parents, wife and children at home very much.
.
"Of course you can. Now everyone in Songhu has a phone call. I guess there must be a public phone booth in Songhu. Or you can just find a relative or friend who has a phone at home. If you know that the other party's number can't be reached, you can
That’s it.”
Wang Wei nodded and said.
"Very good!"
Zeng Jiajun immediately started dancing excitedly. He missed his family too much, especially his wife. These are all young people. Naturally, the beautiful wife at home is the one he cares about the most. Unfortunately, this is not allowed in colleges and universities.
He brought his wife and husband in.
However, many students in the school have come to the capital with their wives. Although they cannot enter the school, they all rent houses near the school.
There is no legal age for marriage in the Ming Dynasty. Generally, when you reach the age of studying in college, your family will make arrangements to start a family, especially for students from the Imperial College of Technology in the Ming Dynasty.
Although they are not as good as those who took the imperial examination, they are still the new academic elites and talents selected from thousands. They are also very popular in society. After graduation, their income and benefits are very good in all aspects.
There are so many people who are willing to marry their daughters to them, and basically all of them are already married, but most of the female classmates in the school are not yet married.
It’s just that the number of female classmates is very small. After all, this era is still dominated by men.
Not many families are willing to send their daughters to study. Even if they do, elementary school and middle school are enough, and there are really few who go to university.
Generally, the girls sent here to study in college are those whose families are rich and powerful, and who are not in a hurry to marry their daughters. There is nothing wrong with treating their daughters as precious, studying for a few more years, and raising them up.
.
Nowadays, the royal family and nobles of the Ming Dynasty have begun to popularize and advocate late marriage and late childbearing, which will be arranged after the age of eighteen, because studies have shown that marrying and having children after the age of eighteen is good for the body, and the children born are healthier and better.
feed.
This trend is also gradually spreading. For the health of your children and the health of future generations, it doesn't matter if it's a few years later.
"Brother Zeng, you need to write or send a telegram to your home first, make an appointment at a time, and know the number, so that you can make a call within a certain time."
"The phone booth hasn't been built yet, so hurry up and write a letter and send it back."
Wang Wei looked at the excited classmates around him and quickly reminded him.
"Yes, yes, hurry up and write a letter!"
“I don’t know when we will be able to make phone calls in my hometown of Chengdu, Sichuan.”
"It will probably be in the second half of the year."
"Has Henan got a call?"
"Henan seems to have been connected, and most places in Liaodong have also been connected. Basically, places close to the capital have telephone connections. By the second half of the year, basically all of us in the Ming Dynasty can have telephone calls."
"Is it expensive to make a phone call?"
"It must be expensive to make a phone call. It won't be cheap anyway."
Many students were discussing constantly, and at the same time they were looking forward to being able to contact their families after the phone call.
Zeng Jiajun was even more excited and missed his family too much.
He also sent a telegram directly to Songhu's home.
The Ming Telegraph Company has already established a global telegraph business. The price of sending information through the Ming Telegraph Company is not cheap. Each time a message is sent, it costs several hundred words. If the content sent is long, the fee will be high.
More expensive.
The cheapest way is to write letters. There is also a special Daming Post Office in Daming. Not only can you write letters, but you can also mail some items. The price is also based on the weight and size.
Generally speaking, information exchange in Daming is still very convenient.
One day half a month later, Zeng Jiajun arrived at the phone booth half an hour early.
There are more than a dozen phones in the phone booth. At this moment, every phone is very busy. With the opening of the telephone service, this emerging communication method is the most popular among young people here.
"Why haven't you finished the fight yet?"
Zeng Jiajun looked at the classmate in front of him who was chatting non-stop with his family. He was also very anxious. There were only 10 minutes left before the appointed time.
But the classmate in front of him was reluctant to leave while chatting with his beloved wife at home, with no intention of hanging up. Even though the call time was charged by the minute, it was very expensive.
One minute is charged 20 cents, and 10 minutes is 200 cents. One tael of silver is not even enough for an hour. Such an expensive charge is really too expensive.
But even with such an expensive charge, there are still a lot of people in this phone booth, because it is very rare to be able to talk to your home over a long distance. There are many people here every day.
"Can you hurry up, classmate?"
Zeng Jiajun couldn't help knocking on the door and urging him. Through the glass, he could see the smile on the other person's face. There was no doubt that he was talking on the phone to the young lady at home.
After waiting and waiting, when the other party finally hung up the phone and walked out, Zeng Jiajun also hurried forward, took out 2 silver dollars and said: "Take 2 silver dollars first, and the more will be refunded and the less will be compensated."
When the staff at the phone booth heard this, he immediately put away the silver dollars happily and said, "Okay, if you have any questions, you can come to me."
"Okay, thank you!"
Zeng Jiajun picked up the phone, then took out a piece of paper with a number written on it, and then pressed the Arabic numerals on it according to Wang Wei's instructions.
Soon, a voice came from the phone and asked: "Do you want to call Songhu?"
"Yes, please wire it through."
When Zeng Jiajun heard this, he quickly said, this is the operator's voice.
"Okay, please wait a moment."
On the Songhu side, Zeng Jiajun's parents, wife and son also arrived at a relative's house early, chatting with the relative and waiting patiently.
My son went to Beijing to study, and it has been almost a year since he came back. Everyone misses him very much. I heard that this phone can hear calls and sounds, so I came here to try it out.
"Jingle Bell!"
While everyone was waiting, the phone rang.
"I'm coming!"
When Zeng Jiajun's relatives heard this, they also hurried to answer the phone. Installing a phone is not cheap. Usually when a call comes, the family will rush over to answer it.
"I'm Zeng Jiajun!"
"It's really Jiajun, I'm your aunt."
"Auntie, it's really your voice."
"Of course that's my voice. Your parents, wife and children are all next to me. I asked them to answer the phone."
Hearing the voice on the other end of the phone, Zeng Jiajun was extremely excited. It felt great to be able to really talk to his family and hear the voices of his relatives across a long distance.
"Jiajun?"
At this time, my father's voice came from the phone.
"Father, it's me, I'm Jiajun."
When Jia Jun heard this, he couldn't help but burst into tears.
"Jiajun, Jiajun, I am your mother."
At this time, the voice of Zeng Jiajun's mother came again. She also missed her son very much.
"Mother, mother, are you okay?"
Hearing his mother's voice, Zeng Jiajun became even more excited and shouted quickly.
"Okay, okay, everything is fine at home. Don't worry too much. You should study hard and take care of yourself."
"It's very good here. I eat well, sleep well, and I'm studying some new things with my classmates at school."
"Well, okay, that's good, study hard."
"Ms. sir!"
At this time, Mrs. Zeng Jiajun's voice came from the other end of the phone.
"Madam, are you okay?"
"I am fine, and you?"
"I'm fine too, I just miss my wife so much."
"Well, you should take care of yourself, study hard, and don't worry about things at home. I will be filial to my parents-in-law and take good care of the children."
"Thank you for your hard work, madam. I will be back during the summer vacation."
"It's not hard, this is what I should do."
"..."
Zeng Jiajun and his family kept chatting, and before he knew it, an hour passed. When he heard the voices of his parents, wife and children, time passed very quickly while they were chatting.
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