Surprised, He Fengsheng and others rushed out to take a look despite their abilities at their age and their image as the most senior officials of the Ming Dynasty.
Sure enough, in their field of vision, they saw the steam train, puffing out thick smoke, slowly driving into the train station.
As for the carriage they hoped to outrun the steam train, there was not even a shadow of it!
This...how is this possible!
It can be said that He Fengsheng and others were stunned as they watched the steam train slowly stop on the platform!
"puff……"
This steam train seemed to have let out another long "fart". In the smoke, the door of the passenger compartment opened, and Wang Cheng'en, the eunuch of the Chief of Ceremonies, came out with several factory guards.
When he saw the stunned expressions of He Fengsheng and other foreign court officials, his originally good mood became even better. He immediately smiled and joked: "Master Chief Minister, we don't have any flowers on our faces, right?
What you see makes our family feel embarrassed!"
When he said this, He Fengsheng came back to his senses and ignored his words. He just pointed at him, or rather, pointed at the steam train behind him, and said with a very surprised expression and a little stuttering:
"Is... coming back now?"
"Is it possible that our family didn't come back?" Wang Chengen touched his nose, a little surprised that he said such mysterious and mysterious words.
Then, he ignored them, turned around immediately, walked quickly to the stationmaster's office, and hurried to see Emperor Chongzhen.
After a while, Emperor Chongzhen came out with his wife and children with a smile.
He looked at He Fengsheng and others with surprised expressions, and said with a smile: "How about it, I won, right?"
"This..." He Fengsheng and others found it a little difficult to accept this conclusion. For a moment, they did not directly answer Emperor Chongzhen's words, but turned to look at his colleagues.
Emperor Chongzhen didn't take it seriously when he saw it. He immediately stretched out his hand and said: "You can take a look at it. Everyone has arrived in Tongzhou and the goods have been unloaded in Tongzhou. Now there is no one in the car and there is no goods!"
After hearing what he said, He Fengsheng and others had to go over and check.
They didn't dare to get in the car, so they just looked inside through the glass window, but there was really no one there. Then they walked to the open door of the truck and looked inside, but they also saw that there was no goods.
shock!
Absolutely shocked!
In their opinion, how could such a heavy vehicle, pulling such heavy goods, be so fast? When they watched the steam train going out before, it was clearly not fast!
Why do you have to rush back before the very fast carriage?
Thinking this, Huang Zongzhou, the censor of Zuodu, suddenly raised his head and looked at the sky. After thinking about it for a moment, he said flatly: "This is wrong, there is fraud in it!"
As soon as they heard what he said, everyone else turned to look at him, all with a little curiosity, wanting to know what Huang Zongzhou had discovered that would make him feel that he was being deceived.
When Huang Zongzhou saw them looking over, he immediately said seriously: "I pay attention to the time. I have estimated that this...it only takes about an hour for this steam train to go to Tongzhou and back. Have you noticed it?
How is it possible to go to Tongzhou and back in one hour?"
Hearing this, He Fengsheng also felt that he understood, and immediately agreed: "Yes, this speed is comparable to riding a fast horse alone! You tell me, how is it possible to be so heavy? How is it possible?"
After hearing this, the others nodded, thinking about this in their minds.
When the steam train arrives in Tongzhou, it still needs to unload the goods inside the train, which also takes time!
In other words, the speed of this steam train will be faster than they just thought!
This is absolutely impossible!
Then, there is only one possibility to explain this: the steam train did not reach Tongzhou at all. It unloaded the goods, kicked people off, and then returned immediately!
For people like them, the steam train is an alien thing. They have never seen or heard of it before. Especially this steam train is simply beyond their knowledge. Therefore, they are questioning the nature of this steam train.
Sometimes, many common sense issues are ignored.
For example, they thought that the train was unloading the goods in the middle of the journey and ran back in vain. However, they never thought that steam trains are different from horse-drawn carriages. It is impossible to adjust the U-turn at all. When turning back halfway and there is only one locomotive, it is even more difficult.
impossible!
However, at this time, they felt that they had discovered the truth of the matter.
However, facing the cheating emperor, few people dared to question him directly.
After they looked at each other, Huang Zongzhou, the censor of Zuodu, finally took the risk. After returning, he reported to Emperor Chongzhen with a serious expression: "Your Majesty, I am not convinced. If you have not seen it with your own eyes, I will not accept it."
I believe this steam train has been to Tongzhou!”
He himself is known for his integrity and outspokenness, but now the emperor is suspected of using unfair means to win the bet. This is really unworthy of his status as emperor, and he is convinced this time.
The others listened and did not speak. They looked at Emperor Chongzhen and thought in their hearts that not giving the emperor face at all was tantamount to exposing the emperor's tricks in front of his face, which would probably make the emperor unhappy.
As a result, they did not expect that after hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen laughed and said: "In that case, it just so happens that I want to take a ride on this steam train. In this case, you can come with me and go shopping in Tongzhou!"
Wang Chengen listened on the side and immediately followed with a smile: "My slaves have been put under martial law at Tongzhou Railway Station. They are safe!"
Concubine Tian couldn't wait any longer. She was afraid that these old stubborns would raise some stupid questions and ruin their long-awaited thing. Not only could they take the legendary steam train, but they could also leave the palace compound, the capital, and go to Tongzhou.
One trip.
Therefore, she also said: "Then let's go!"
Anyway, we are not talking about political affairs. If we press, we will press. What else can we do!
When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he couldn't wait any longer, so he told Song Yingxing: "Then prepare to go to Tongzhou again!"
"Wei Chen receives the order!" Song Yingxing heard this and hurriedly went to the front of the locomotive to convey the order in person. Changing the order was a more troublesome matter.
And this time, the emperor, empress, and other members of the family, as well as the most senior officials of the Ming Dynasty, were all going to ride. He also had to check the steam train again.
Seeing this scene, especially seeing how confident Emperor Chongzhen was, and seeing how troublesome it was to turn around the steam train, some of Zuo Maodi and others came to their senses and felt that Emperor Chongzhen was not cheating?
However, if you really want them to believe that such a heavy vehicle, pulling such heavy cargo, can run so fast, they still can't believe it!
Of course, it would be unfair to say how stupid they are!
These people were undoubtedly one of the smartest people of that era. However, it was really difficult for them to believe things that were beyond their knowledge!
This is just like someone saying that there will be no means of transportation such as planes and trains in the future. You can just set the coordinates of where you want to go and then just step through a time and space gate to get there. It is almost impossible for anyone to believe it.
Compared with this example, at least people today know that sci-fi things like time and space gates are not unknown before. For He Fengsheng and others, steam trains are the kind of things that they know nothing about, and suddenly they will
Something that changes their worldview.
When they were doubtful and even a little overwhelmed, the steam train was ready again and Song Yingxing came back to reply.
So, Emperor Chongzhen smiled and said to He Fengsheng and others: "In that case, please get on the bus. I would like to remind you that those who get on the bus first can occupy a seat by the window first, so that you can enjoy the scenery along the way!"
After saying that, he no longer cared about these courtiers, and immediately took the first step with a smile and boarded the first passenger car of the train.
Empress Zhou and others followed Emperor Chongzhen into the passenger compartment one after another according to their status.
He Fengsheng and others looked at each other, and in the end there was no confusion about their identities. He Fengsheng got into the second passenger car first, and the others filed in according to their official positions.
When Wang Chengen saw it, he invited Song Yingxing with a smile, and then entered the third passenger car with a group of factory guards.
Although the cargo compartment at the back was no longer stocked, many soldiers from the Yongwei Battalion escorted the truck.
After everyone got on the train, they heard another long whistle from the train.
In the first passenger carriage, as the train swayed slightly, a low cheer suddenly erupted from inside the carriage. There was a roar of birds and birds, and the chirping suddenly began.
This is Emperor Chongzhen's presence, otherwise, he would probably be even more delighted.
After all, for them, they originally thought they would be in the palace for the rest of their lives, but they didn't expect that not only could they leave the palace, but they could also travel on an incredible steam train and leave the capital. They were really as happy as they could be.
So happy!
In the second passenger carriage, as the train swayed slightly, He Fengsheng and others couldn't help but feel nervous, the kind of tense feeling.
Then through the glass, they knew that the train under their butts began to move slowly.
So they looked at me and I looked at you, but they didn't say anything.
Just when the steam train left the train station, Zuo Maodi suddenly pointed his finger through the glass window in surprise and said: "Look, the carriage is back!"
After hearing what he said, everyone turned around and saw that the carriage from the competition had returned. And they could see that the horse pulling the carriage was probably dead.
Afterwards, they looked at each other again without saying anything. Everyone looked out the window and felt quietly that the train seemed to be slowly and continuously accelerating.