245: Chapter 245 The Immense Strategic Significance of Railways!

The First Emperor's Manor.

The First Emperor, Li Si, and General Wang Jian sat in the courtyard, taking turns reading a newspaper that published reports on the war with the Xiongnu people.

After the Black Ice Platform was merged into the Ministry of State Security, Zhao Fusu also learned that Zhao Gao had been hiding in the First Emperor's residence all along.

Zhao Fusu could tolerate others, but he could not tolerate Zhao Gao.

Keeping him alive, there was no telling what further harm he might cause to Great Qin.

He had Zhao Gao killed in secret.

The First Emperor said nothing.

After having that dream, he knew very well that Great Qin had fallen so quickly because Zhao Gao, in his quest to control the imperial court, had murdered too many of Great Qin's pillars of state.

His purpose for keeping Zhao Gao alive had originally been to let Zhao Fusu kill him.

“Your Majesty,”

Li Si said, “With Young Master Fusu in Shangjun, it won't be long before the Xiongnu lands all belong to our Great Qin!”

“Mhm.”

The First Emperor nodded.

With the support of mortars and revolvers, the Xiongnu people had little power to resist.

“If Young Master Fusu had developed the mortar and explosive pack a few years earlier, conquering the Six Kingdoms would not have been so difficult!”

“Indeed!”

Both Li Si and the First Emperor nodded in agreement.

“It is reported that Young Master Fusu plans to build a railway.”

The cost of building a railway was too high for Zhao Fusu to pay for it all himself.

Therefore, he sent the proposal for the railway construction to the National Assembly to crowdfund the project together.

As for the railway's profits, dividends would be distributed based on the amount of investment.

“A railway?”

The First Emperor became curious.

Many of the things Zhao Fusu did shattered the First Emperor's worldview, so the First Emperor truly didn't know what Zhao Fusu was up to this time.

“Lord First Emperor,”

Li Si said respectfully, “According to His Majesty the Head of State, this railway uses steel to make two parallel tracks for a train to travel upon.”

“A train?”

“A train is similar to a steam tractor, but it has greater traction and can carry more goods.”

“This time, the speed of the steam tractor on the Straight Road was ten kilometers per hour, but this train can travel twenty kilometers per hour on the railway!”

“Besides transporting goods, the train can also transport passengers and soldiers!”

The First Emperor fell into silence as he listened to Li Si.

Through the newspapers, he had learned that the steam tractor had played a vital role in transporting supplies this time.

The steam tractor could travel not only during the day but also at night.

In just two or three days, large quantities of supplies could be transported from Xianyang to the front lines.

If this railway were laid down, wouldn't the train only need a day or two to bring massive amounts of supplies and soldiers to the front lines?

What was his purpose for building the Straight Road? Was it not to shorten the time it took to transport troops from the center to the borders?

The strategic significance of this railway was far too great!

“Li Si, you must ensure the railway construction is handled well!”

The First Emperor said with a solemn expression.

“As you command!”

Even without the First Emperor's order, Li Si would have ensured the railway construction was done properly.

With his vision, how could he not see the importance of the railway?

Zhao Fusu's next focus of work was to build a railway from Xianyang to the Xiongnu territory.

With the railway, transport capacity would increase, greatly strengthening the connection between Great Qin and the Xiongnu lands.

After spring, when the decisive battle with the Royal Court occurred, shells and bullets could also be transported from the munitions factory to the Xiongnu territory via the railway, ensuring the army's logistics.

After obtaining the blueprints for the train through his sign-in, Zhao Fusu had already ordered Old Mo to lead a technical team in research.

In principle, steam trains and steam tractors were the same; both generated power by boiling water and shared similarities in structure.

However, there were still significant differences between the two.

The biggest difference lay in the design of the wheels.

The unique wheel design made the train a genuine 'automatic transmission'; just by operating a single handle in the cab, the steam train could move forward or backward with continuously variable speed throughout.

The secret lay in the ingenious design of the wheels.

A steam locomotive has three driving wheels on each side. A connecting rod, pushed by a steam piston, is attached to the third driving wheel, driving a crank on the axle to make the wheels turn.

This crank also drives the two front driving wheels to rotate synchronously through coupling rods.

An eccentric crank is also installed at the head of the crank.

When the wheels turn, they drive the eccentric rod to swing back and forth, which in turn drives the expansion link to swing on its bracket.

As the expansion link swings, it pushes and pulls the radius rod back and forth, driving the combination lever to move the valve in the steam chest.

The other end of the combination lever is connected to the union link.

The iron rod on the union link is connected to the crosshead on the slide bar.

The crosshead is pushed by the cylinder's steam piston, also known as the cylinder plunger.

The union link is connected to the piston rod at one end and the connecting rod at the other to transmit power.

There is an identical set of linkage mechanisms on the other side of the steam locomotive.

During operation, high-pressure steam discharged from the boiler enters the steam chest through pipes.

There are two communication channels in the steam chest. Under the back-and-forth movement of the slide valve, they serve as inlets and outlets, allowing the steam to push the piston back and forth.

When the regulator valve blocks both communication channels, the train loses power and stops.

Specifically, the driver sets the reversing handle to the neutral position.

Through the pull rod, the radius rod on the expansion link is moved to the center of the slot, no longer swinging with the expansion link.

At this point, if the wheels are turning, the combination lever can only be driven independently by the union link, causing the slide valve to vibrate slightly without exposing the inlet to admit steam, so the steam train stops.

When starting forward, the driver pushes the reversing handle forward, moving the radius rod down and increasing the slide valve's stroke.

Regardless of the positions of the other rods, the exposed inlet of the slide valve allows steam to push the piston and turn the wheels forward.

Simultaneously, steam from the other side of the cylinder is discharged through the exposed inlet. When the piston reaches its dead point, the slide valve also begins to reverse the intake, continuing to push the piston.

If the reversing handle is pulled back, moving the radius rod past the center to the upper dead point, the slide valve's stroke first decreases and then increases again.

Regardless of the other rods' positions, the exposed inlet allows steam to push the piston to turn the wheels in reverse, thus starting the backup.

This principle is actually the same as that of a Steam Engine.

The expansion link, eccentric rod, radius rod, union link, and combination lever constitute the reversing gear of the steam train, while also serving as a continuously variable transmission.

If a heavy train is starting and requires maximum torque, the radius rod must be pushed to the limit to maximize the amplitude of the slide valve.