Alexander VII was dumbfounded and speechless, and the papal priests and Portuguese servants on the dozen or so carriages behind him were even more dumbfounded. All the Europeans looked at the brightly lit port of Dagu with wide eyes as if they had been demented all of a sudden.

In Europe at this time, torches and oil lamps were the only things to illuminate. These open flame light sources are very inefficient, a lot of energy is wasted on heat generation, and the distance that can be truly illuminated is very limited. So in Europe, at night everyone went home and went to sleep. Only a very small number of crowded areas, such as the liveliest bars in large marinas, are lit with oil lamps.

For large workplaces that require cooperation, such as docks, such as factories, it is not possible to use oil lamps and torches to illuminate at night. For Europeans, as soon as the sun sets, it basically means the end of the day.

However, in Tianjin Dagu, they saw the industrial miracle brought by electricity.

The sun had completely disappeared below the horizon, but the hustle and bustle on the docks had no intention of stopping. Each incandescent lamp illuminates an area of more than ten meters in the vicinity, and dock workers push all kinds of trucks to carry containers, supplies, and fresh water without hindrance. The laws of nature that Europeans believed to be laws of life have been completely shattered by the magic technology brought about by these electric powers.

Suspecting that he was dazzled, Alexander VII rubbed his eyes and looked around again.

However, he was not mistaken, it was extremely bright on all sides.

The Pope looked at John Tong beside him.

John Tang smiled and said, "Your Excellency, this is an electric lamp invented by His Majesty the Emperor. ”

"Electric... Lamp? ”

"It's the electric light."

John Tang said: "This lamp does not use oil or firewood, this lamp uses electricity. After a pause, John Tang said: "Your Excellency, with my rank and authority, I can't know the specific power generation process, but judging from the published newspaper information, this magical thing is obtained from dams and flames, and after being converted into controllable energy through a series of complex processes, it is fed into an incandescent bulb through wires for illumination. ”

Hearing John Tong's introduction, Alexander VII was stunned for a moment. His face was cloudy, and he didn't speak for a long time.

But the cardinals beside the Pope's face rose blood-red, and his eyes were a little red. He was a little frightened by the light of the street lamps around him, as if he was afraid of these magical electric lights that would glow, and he was afraid that this thing would shoot him suddenly like the legendary witchcraft.

He lowered his voice and said, "Pope, there is no need to doubt this, this is Satan's magic. Those wires are the channels through which magic transmits energy! ”

Alexander VII glanced at the bishop with some panic. There is no doubt that seeing such a technology far beyond the level of the times, the Pope's opinion of Tianjin was also shaken.

Is this magic and witchcraft?

Tang Ruowang looked at the Pope's face, thought for a while and said, "Pope, this is not magic, let alone witchcraft, this is technology. ”

Cardinal Klaus cried out in a suppressed voice, "This is magic, Joseph! You've been in Satan's land for too long! When you say technology, it's magic! ”

Hearing Klaus call his religion by his first name, John Tong knew that Klaus was already angry. Yes, in the eyes of a bishop who has studied theology all his life and has never seen modern science, Li Zhi's electric light is a little too advanced.

John felt that if he explained the difference between science and magic, he would be beaten as Satan's minion by Bishop Klaus.

Going to the devil and betraying the Holy See is no fun.

John Tang didn't dare to say any more, and Pope Alexander VII's face was also very ugly. The car drove forward slowly, and the three people sitting in the vehicle did not say a word, and drove out of Dagu Port little by little.

There is a train between Dagu Port and Tianjin Acropolis and Fanjiazhuang, and this railway line is the main artery for the exchange of products between Tianjin's industrial center and overseas colonies, and the train traffic is very busy. In fact, there are 17 double-track railways connected to the periphery of Dagu Port, each of which transports goods day and night.

John Tong's convoy came to a halt at the junction of the railway line and the cement road. The road ahead is blocked by a barricade.

Alexander VII was wondering why the convoy had stopped when he suddenly heard a loud boom. Those rumblings grew louder and louder from far to near. The Pope didn't know what could make such a loud noise, like an invincible monster rushing at him from afar.

Then there was a "woo~~", a huge whistle.

A huge train dragged a long carriage and passed through this small exit road at a speed of more than 50 kilometers.

The Europeans on the convoy were all stunned for a while.

It has been a long time since the train was invented by Li Zhi, and the trains running on the railway now are all fourth-generation locomotives. This locomotive has eight or nine times the traction power of the first generation locomotive, hauling more than 20 wagons, so the length of the entire train reaches an astonishing 500 meters.

So although the train passed the intersection at a highway of 50 kilometers, it took more than 30 seconds to pass through.

As the train passed, it brought up a gust of wind that blew the collars of the Europeans in the convoy. But none of the Europeans closed their eyes to hide from the wind and sand, and everyone seemed to have seen a ghost, watching the mile-long industrial machine pass by at great speed.

When the train passed and disappeared into the distance of the tracks, the barricade on the concrete road was lifted. The roadside keepers began ringing bells to signal that the convoy could move forward across the railroad.

However, the Europeans in the convoy still failed to react.

After a full minute, the convoy restarted and slowly passed through the train fork, and Alexander VII came to his senses and looked at John Tong in surprise.

"That's... That... What is that? ”

John Tang coughed and said respectfully, "Your Excellency, that's the train. ”

"Trains?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, it is a train, which can carry two million catties of cargo at a time. If it is to transport people, one train can transport five thousand people. You can run 2,000 miles in one day and one night. ”

Hearing John Tong's words, Alexander VII did not speak for a long time.

His words sent the pope of the Holy See into a panic.

Alexander VII's body began to tremble, and the whole person seemed to fall into extreme anxiety and nervousness, like a gambler who suddenly found that the gambling game was unfavorable after pressing all the chips on the game, and the whole body shook violently.

He looked ahead in a panic, as if he had lost his mind.

John Tang was surprised to hold the Pope and whispered, "Your Majesty! Your Majesty! “

It took a long time for the Pope to come back to his senses at the call of John Tong. His face was snow-white, and he looked at John Tang.

John Tong didn't know why the Pope looked at him like this.

After about ten seconds, Alexander VII suddenly asked, "Joseph, are you still willing to go back to Rome?" “

Tang Ruowang was stunned, his face was a little embarrassed.

After a long time, he coughed and said, "Your Majesty, my subordinates have learned a lot of things in Daqi that they didn't know before. It's like a new world, and every day benefits your subordinates. subordinates..."

"The subordinates have no intention of going back to Rome."

Hearing John Tang's words, Alexander VII took a deep breath and looked at the city of Tianjin in the distance.