"It only took more than an hour for the slave family to return to Zhenjiang from Jinling City, which is unbelievably fast!"

"It's a mesmerizing feeling to stand on a high-speed train and spread your hands to the sky as if you're flying above the clouds!"

"With the train, it will definitely be more convenient to travel in the future, at least when you go to Beijing from Zhenjiang in the future, you don't have to take a slow carriage, you don't need to take a boat in the past, you can take the train directly, it's fast and convenient!"

"It's hard to imagine, even now, the old man can't believe that there will be such a strange thing in this world, and it is not a dream to go back and forth to Beijing in the future!"

The train of the Jingzhen Line was opened to traffic, and its cruising speed was as high as 30 kilometers per hour, and it could run for more than two hours in a row, and it was able to run from Jinling City to Zhenjiang in one go.

This can be said to have shocked everyone!

All the passengers who participated in the opening of the train expressed their greatest admiration, while the others, although they had not yet ridden, were also impressed by the performance of the train.

The Department of Newspapers of the Ministry of Rites of the Tang Dynasty, which has long been prepared, has made a comprehensive report on the opening ceremony of the Jingzhen Line, and the report on the opening ceremony of the Jingzhen Line is on the second page, and this is almost the highest level of layout that other people or things can get except for the great and wise Son of Heaven.

Because the first edition in the Tang Dynasty is almost a special issue of Li Xuan, even if the empire is about to fall, this first edition has to be used to praise Li Xuan!

And other major current events are usually placed on the second edition, and when there are no major events, this second edition will still be used to praise Li Xuan like the first edition.

For example, it is reported that Li Xuan received and cordially expressed his condolences to the members of the palace dance troupe and the like!

The Jingzhen Line was opened to traffic, but it was on the second version, and the shock to people was even more shocking than the opening of the Jingzhen Line itself!

Because everyone knows that the Tang Dynasty newspaper is not an ordinary newspaper, but an official propaganda window, every article on it, even an advertisement, can be seen in the official attitude, at least, some goods or enterprises that do not conform to the official value orientation of the empire, no matter how much money is given, there is no way to advertise in the court newspaper.

The opening of the Jingzhen Line is on the second version, which declares the official attitude towards the train, and its attention is very high, at least it is comparable to the Northeast Campaign and the flight of the Tatars to the west.

In the Battle of Hetao, after the Ninth Army finally forced the Tatars to retreat westward through a continuous war of attrition, the Tang Dynasty newspaper also reported on the second page that the Tatars fled in disarray, and then celebrated the strategic victory of the Tang Dynasty's division in the Hetao area.

When the Northeast Campaign was launched, it was also reported on the second page.

This time, the opening of the Jingzhen Railway was also reported on the second page, indicating the official's high affirmation of the railway and its supportive attitude.

This kind of public statement is to let people know that the imperial government has begun to prepare for the large-scale promotion of the railway, and all yamen must do a good job in relevant work and work hard for the large-scale construction of the railway that the empire is about to begin.

For a time, the two words of railway and train became the most popular words in the Tang Empire, and even the news that the Northeast Campaign had achieved a phased victory and the army had completely annihilated the main cavalry of the Chahar Department failed to shake the status of the railway and train in public opinion.

If there is a hot search ranking this year, then in the last month of Xuanping's eighteenth year, the train is definitely the first place in the hot search list, and the railway is the second place, basically a person who pays attention to news and current affairs, most of them have said or heard of these two words.

This was followed by several other key words related to trains and railways and a vocabulary related to people's livelihood, such as the third phase of the Hongze Lake embankment project entering a period of intense construction, as for the Northeast Campaign, the collapse of the Chahar Department and other news, at most it can only be ranked more than ten outside.

It has to be said that as the strength of the empire increases, there are more and more military victories abroad, and the public's attention to military victories is also getting lower and lower.

There is no way, if you win the battle every day, people's livelihood will also be aesthetically fatigued.

If the military loses a battle one day, I am afraid that it will completely arouse public opinion.

In the hearts of today's people, the empire spends so much money every year to raise its army, and it should be won in a war, not news, and a lost war is called news.

When the national debate on railways was set off, the shipping industry, as the main competitor of the railway industry, was also surging at this time, but this turmoil was not made public.

At the Shanghai headquarters of the Yangtze River Shipping Company, more than 10 senior managers of the Yangtze River Shipping Company sat together, and most of these people were professional managers, except for a few who were officials of the Ministry of State-owned Enterprises appointed by the Ministry of State-owned Enterprises.

Whether they are professional managers or officials of the Ministry of State-owned Enterprises, these people wear square scarves on their heads, light-colored right jackets and black straight-leg pants, and a black woolen coat, which is the standard dress for professionals in the industrial and commercial circles in the Tang Empire today.

When they are outside, they often wear a long cape, or a long woolen coat that mimics a military coat.

Although the traditional Hanfu is still the only choice for formal ceremonial occasions or other important occasions, people are not dressed like this in their daily work, ordinary working people, their clothing is still the traditional short robes and the like, while the middle and upper class business people wear this kind of professional clothing with a strong imperial military uniform style.

These top executives of the Yangtze River Shipping Company are sitting together, naturally not to brag and chat, in fact, they are discussing the strategic development for next year.

The strategic development of the Yangtze River Shipping Company next year has only one keyword, that is: steamship!

"At present, we have placed more than 100 sets of orders for shipborne steam engines to Zhaoqing Machinery Company and Tianjin Youbang Company, all of which have been paid deposits, according to our calculations and the delivery schedule they gave, our orders are enough to squeeze out all the commercial shipborne steam engine production of these two companies next year and even the year after!"

"Yes, according to our understanding, the current shipborne steam engine production line of these two companies is still in the process of modification, and it is expected to be officially put into operation in February next year, and according to the news we have received, the navy has also placed orders with these two companies, and according to the principle of priority of national defense orders, they need to complete the navy's orders first, and the remaining production capacity can be used to produce commercial shipborne steam engines and supply them to the outside world, and our orders are enough to cover their remaining production in the next two years or even longer!"

"According to the plan, Zhaoqing Machinery Company will deliver the first set of shipborne steam engines to us in March next year, and maintain the delivery of at least two sets of steam engines every month.

"The same is true for Tianjin AIA, they will also deliver the first set of shipborne steam engines to us in March!"

"It is expected that the ships used for refit have been prepared in advance, and other related parts, such as paddle wheels, have also been arranged, and will be produced as soon as possible and sent to the shipyard for refitting!"

"By April, the steamships of our Yangtze River Shipping Company will be officially put into commercial use and operated in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River!"

"This time, we, the Yangtze River Shipping Company, will be ahead of all competitors!"

A group of managers, speaking of the plan, seem to have seen the wonderful scene of their own company's steamship being put on the market next year, and all the competitors will be defeated.

I even wondered if in addition to modifying ordinary inland river vessels, would I also put the company's top coastal passenger ships into modification, such as the Moon Palace, a top passenger ship, if a steam engine can be installed, then the sensation will be greater than that of ordinary passenger ships.

However, similar to the top passenger ship of the Moon Palace, it is not only the flag of the Yangtze River Shipping Company in the field of passenger ships, but more importantly, it also provides important and incomparable profits for the Yangtze River Shipping Company.

Because the steam engine in this year, its sound is still very loud, and the vibration is relatively large, in addition to the smoke is also very annoying, without finding a reasonable solution, rashly put the steam engine on the top passenger ship such as the Moon Palace, it is easy to damage the reputation of the Yangtze River Shipping Company in the field of high-end passenger transportation.

In this year, the reputation of doing business is very important, and it took more than ten years for the Yangtze River Shipping Company to erect in people's hearts that if the powerful people want to take a ship, then the first choice is the Yangtze River Shipping Company's top passenger ship.

It's hard to accumulate such a reputation, but it's easy to destroy!

Therefore, although some people proposed this, they still decided to wait for a while, first take ordinary ships to test and test, and after accumulating experience in use, then find out the problem, and solve it, and finally get a mature solution, directly move it to the top passenger ship like the Moon Palace, and continue to create the top and most luxurious riding experience.

The experience of a top-tier passenger ship must not be sacrificed for the sake of some convenience on the voyage.

Just when the Yangtze River Shipping Company thought that it could monopolize the production of commercial shipborne steam engines in the next two years, leaving all competitors ahead of the curve.

In the Fung No. 1 shipyard under the Fung Shipping Company, in a closed dock, many workers are working intensively, although the ship on the slipway has not yet been completed, but it can also be roughly seen the general shape of the ship.

It was obviously a passenger liner of about 300 tons, but this ship did not have the sails used on many modern ships, and it was flanked by two huge paddle wheels!

Wowly, this is a steam liner!

And it's a steam liner with no sails and pure steam power!