To the First Emperor of Qin: The state has decreed this!

Chapter 384 The so-called bearing, Zong Yu pulled the cart!

"Alright, I'll be waiting." Ying Zheng stared at the train.

Not long after.

A hissing sound came from under the car.

Immediately afterwards, a loud bang was heard, and a large amount of water vapor, along with coal smoke, shot into the air from the chimney.

The backyard was instantly filled with a roaring sound, which was quite spectacular.

Zhang Fan stood to the side, smelling the coal smoke and looking at the black smoke, feeling a little scared.

"This first-generation machine had low combustion efficiency and caused serious pollution."

Zhang Fan thought to himself, "I hope the greening efforts of future generations can hold up. For the sake of the Qin Dynasty, we have no choice but to pollute first and then clean up later."

Just as Zhang Fan was pondering.

"Clang... Clang..."

The steel connecting rod began to slowly push, and the iron wheel, driven by steam, actually started to turn.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, the train, weighing tens of thousands of kilograms, roared forward in the yard without the help of animals.

"It moved...it really moved by itself!" Li Si exclaimed, dropping his scepter.

Zong Yu was greatly alarmed.

His eyes widened, his mouth gaped open, his whole body trembled, his legs gave way, and he collapsed to the ground.

"Impossible...this is impossible!"

Zong Yu's face turned pale. Pointing at the moving train, he stammered, "How can iron walk by itself? There are no horses... no oxen... what kind of sorcery is this?"

Zong Yu's common sense was shattered at this moment, and his previous confidence turned into fear.

In contrast, the Mohist disciples around them seemed unfazed and stood tall with their chests puffed out.

They have watched the ironwork being assembled over the past month.

Ying Zheng stared at the moving train, breathing heavily, his fists clenched.

With this, the territory of the Great Qin will no longer be limited by distance.

But soon, Ying Zheng noticed what was under the train.

"Zhang Qing!"

Ying Zheng pointed to the ground and asked, "What are these two iron rods on the ground? This chariot seems to have been driving on these iron rods the whole time?"

Zhang Fan stepped forward and explained, "Your Majesty, this is called a 'railway track.' Trains are too heavy, and if they were to travel on a dirt road, the wheels would get stuck in the mud and become immobile."

Only by laying these two parallel rails on the ground to bear the weight and reduce friction can a train travel at high speed, covering thousands of miles a day.

Upon hearing this, Zong Yu, who had fallen to the ground, shuddered.

A look of wild joy flashed in his eyes.

"Hahaha! The railway tracks! So that's how it is!"

Zong Yu scrambled to his feet, his legs still trembling, and pointed at Zhang Fan with a sneer: "Zhang Fan! Stop trying to pull this stunt!"

Zong Yu turned to Ying Zheng and reported, "Your Majesty! This iron chariot is indeed amazing; it can move on its own. But Zhang Fan just said that this thing must rely on the rails on the ground to move!"

Zong Yu stared at Zhang Fan, pressing him step by step: "Zhang Fan, let me ask you, it's more than two thousand miles from Xianyang to the northern border!"

How much pig iron would it take to lay the railway tracks to the North?

How many laborers will be conscripted? How long will it take? One year? Or three years?

Zong Yu said loudly in the courtyard:

"Your Majesty! The northern expedition is imminent, and our 300,000 soldiers are desperately short of provisions! Even if the Immortal Master's creation is fast, by the time the railway reaches the northern border, the Qin soldiers will have already starved to death along the Great Wall! He hasn't solved the immediate problem of supplying provisions!"

"Zhang Fan, you have failed His Majesty's mission! This iron chariot is of no use to the Northern Expedition at present!" Zong Yu roared angrily.

Seeing this, Li Si stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, laying the railway tracks will indeed take time. But the Immortal Master's ability to develop such an iron cart is truly a miracle, and his contribution is immense."

Ying Zheng ignored Zong Yu's question.

He stared intently at the train traveling on the tracks, his expression excited, his fists clenched.

Zhang Fan chuckled and said, "Who said I'd be using trains to transport grain for this Northern Expedition?"

The moment these words were spoken, the courtyard fell silent.

Li Si stood there, stunned, his eyes wide, unsure how to react.

Ying Zheng turned his head, shifting his gaze from the train to Zhang Fan, his eyes filled with confusion.

Zong Yu was stunned, the words he had just prepared stuck in his throat.

He stared at Zhang Fan, his mind blank.

Why not use these iron carts to transport grain?

It took a month to build such a heavy object, and now you're saying you don't need it?

The three were deeply shocked and completely unable to understand Zhang Fan's thoughts.

If you don't need a train, why spend a month building this thing at the Gewu Institute?

Zhang Fan waved his hand and shouted to the Mohist disciples in the distance, "Pull the stuff up."

Before long, several Mohist disciples pulled a carriage forward and stopped in front of the crowd.

Zong Yu looked at the carriage, his brows furrowed, a look of confusion on his face.

Ying Zheng and Li Si also examined the carriage and found that apart from the strange iron parts covering the axle and the slightly wider wheels, it was not much different from an ordinary carriage.

"Zhang Fan, why did you bring a horse-drawn carriage?"

Zong Yu questioned, "Using these carts to transport grain? What's the use? Doesn't Qin have enough carts already?"

Zhang Fan did not answer, but turned to Ying Zheng and requested, "Your Majesty, I would like to request that Lord Zongyu personally test this carriage. We don't need horses; let Lord Zongyu pull it himself."

Ying Zheng glanced at the carriage and nodded, saying, "Granted!"

Upon hearing this, Zong Yu's face turned ashen!

He knew Zhang Fan was up to him. A simple carriage was extremely heavy, and sending a civil official like him to pull it was clearly an attempt to embarrass him. But he dared not disobey the imperial order.

Zong Yu gritted his teeth, walked to the front of the carriage, gripped the shaft, lowered his body, exerted force with both arms, and pulled forward sharply.

The next moment, Zong Yu was stunned.

He did not feel the expected resistance; the carriage rolled forward directly with his movements.

Zong Yu was filled with disbelief. He tentatively took a few more steps, and the carriage followed closely behind, moving with unusual lightness.

He refused to believe it and pulled the carriage around the courtyard once, then several more times.

Then, his pace quickened, and eventually he pulled the carriage and ran around the courtyard.

The wheels turned smoothly, with almost no friction noise.

Ying Zheng and Li Si were astonished by what they saw.

The wooden carriages of the Qin Dynasty had extremely high resistance; it was difficult for one person to pull them with their bare hands, let alone pull them to run.

Looking at Zong Yu, who was sweating profusely from running, Li Si couldn't help but praise him, "Your Excellency is both a scholar and a warrior. With such strength, it's a waste for you to be a civil official."

Upon hearing this, Zong Yu, who was pulling the carriage along, stopped and his face immediately darkened.

Zong Yu ignored Li Si's teasing from the side.

He turned around and stared at the carriage behind him.

Due to the momentum from running, after Zong Yu released his grip, the carriage slid forward for a distance until the wheels hit a protruding stone slab in the courtyard and came to a stop.

Zong Yu was deeply shaken.

He was very familiar with the allocation and transportation of supplies throughout the Qin Dynasty, and he knew exactly how much weight the Qin chariots weighed and how much traction they required.

Even an empty standard supply wagon requires a strong horse to pull it due to the friction between the wheels and the axle.

If the load is full of grain, it requires two to three horses to work together.

But now, he, a civil official, actually pulled a horse-drawn carriage around the courtyard.

Zong Yu stepped forward, stretched out a hand, placed it on the edge of the carriage, and pushed it forward.

The wheels turned, and the carriage moved forward two steps along the force.

"This...how is this possible?" Zong Yu's face was full of disbelief.