novelonline Chapter 1638 The past is like smoke
Chapter 1638 The past is like smoke
Chapter 1638 The past is like smoke
Lu Ping'an and Miss Li Na came back on a special train. To be more precise, it was a temporary train that added a passenger carriage to a freight train.
Lu Ping'an has never liked the trains of this era. He is very unhappy with the so-called express trains that run at speeds of 30 to 80 kilometers per hour. But if nothing unexpected happens, such trains are destined to be the main axis of the era.
The other side of the difference between the two world lines is that certain technologies will inevitably diverge. This is a subtle difference in the laws of physics, but more importantly, it is the essential difference in "demand".
In a peaceful world, a world pursuing development, high-speed trains are undoubtedly an important infrastructure to drive the economy.
But in today's world, capacity and stability are the first requirements. High speeds are more prone to various serious accidents. The annual maintenance costs of several major trunk railways are astronomical.
It is good enough to be able to build a railway. The main expense is not the construction cost, but the security maintenance fee along the way. A large number of guard posts must be built along the way and enough high-level combat forces must be hired to ensure safety.
What to do if the speed is not fast enough and the transportation capacity is not enough? The world has creatively provided the answer
"There has been a lot of traffic lately. Have we placed additional orders there?"
"Well, metal ore is one thing. I heard that the National Defense Committee bought a lot of contraband, many of which are ancient forbidden weapons that can still be used."
Trains whizzed past on both sides. When Lu Ping'an saw the eight-lane train for the first time, he was a little confused, but when he thought about it carefully, it seemed to be the inevitable path for the development of this world.
Compared with another world line, the trains here are longer, thinner and slower. With a little calculation, its cargo capacity is even higher than that of the previous world line.
This is mainly because this type of transportation is relatively safe and fast, and the cost is much lower than that of large trucks.
But the price is that the train lines in this world are relatively scarce. For example, when Lu Ping'an went to the "state capital" by himself, he mainly took the bus instead of the train. The maintenance cost of a train line is too expensive, and it is difficult to cover all the state capitals. Only some municipalities and first-tier cities have this treatment.
This is also the reason why third-tier cities like Gucheng are struggling to upgrade to first-tier cities. Under the premise of limited infrastructure and policy resources, state capitals and municipalities can take too many advantages. Once a city in the same state has taken advantage of this aspect, a siphon effect will be formed within the state, and third-tier cities will only get worse and worse.
This is a project that will not be changed by subjective ideas. The entry and exit of raw materials and commodities require the support of freight, and industrial projects are the foundation for driving employment and the local economy. When local people have wages and money to consume, the cycle can be further circulated.
Because of this, the conflicts among various regions in the East Country of this world line have become more acute. It is really a matter of if you eat me, I will be gone.
From another perspective, in another world line, the high-speed rail network that spans the entire country may also be the greatest development opportunity and national support.
Without considering events that are too far away and returning to the present, for a veteran like Olga, just by looking at the busyness of the railway network, one can find out a lot of intelligence, including current development points, resource supplies, etc.
"You can see that all the carriages marked with the East Grain are heading over here, and the ones coming over here are mainly coal mines and metal mines. It seems that their grain industry has collapsed, and now they are waiting for us to provide disaster relief. In this regard, you can actually look at the railroad tracks along the road. There are a lot of slag, right? The prices of the towns along the road are also a reflection of the Red Star's discipline. It would be strange if there were no escorts reselling goods. You can go to the town and take a walk around."
Following her who was so bored that she was making plastic bubbles, Lu Ping'an also learned some knowledge that sounded interesting but was actually of no use in his life.
She taught Lu Ping'an a lot of basic spy and intelligence tips, many of which were also useful to top-level fighters like Lu Ping'an. After all, she could investigate his surroundings and determine his intelligence.
Lu Ping'an learned some skills and found that he might not be able to use them to gather intelligence, but it would be much more difficult for others to use these skills to gather intelligence on him.
What surprised Lu Ping'an was the friendliness of the Countess. According to the rumors he had heard, she was quite difficult to deal with.
Lu Ping'an didn't think his ability would change their attitudes. Those top fighters were more and more rude than the others.
The two of them killed time while chatting and exchanging information.
The Countess was also very interested in the Sakura Kingdom, but she had more standard "old father generation ideas" such as "Why not just send them to the mines, there is a shortage of people there", "I have suggested a long time ago that we should shut down their energy pipelines, they are simply wolves that cannot be tamed".
It seems that, having experienced the two wars between the Red Star and Sakura Kingdom and the Sakura Kingdom and the East Kingdom, she really has no good feelings towards that country and nation.
".Heh, in the 1850s, you don't know how honest they were. Later, haha, I mean before , they found that the dynasty was very weak, so they became like mad dogs. Without the subsequent naval battles, the East would not have declined so quickly."
Well, probably the only thing more intolerable than the victims of war is the pure betrayer.
From this predecessor's perspective, not throwing the victims directly into the sea makes the current generation of East Kingdom decision-makers appear too kind.
Talking to those who have had such experiences, I know that times have changed. If you want to let go of hatred, you should not experience the pain of others. It is better not to do stupid things that will get you struck by lightning.
Lu Ping'an also enjoyed listening to the stories of his predecessors.
She was a fourth or fifth level mysterious person back then, and as one of the last princesses of the Tsar, she was a true historical legend. In her eyes, history was just stories of the past, which was completely different from the honest history books.
The top leaders of some dynasty were obsessed with the mysticism, and were fooled by both Eastern and Western scammers, resulting in a huge amount of resources being wasted. In the end, the super artifact magic circle they created was not activated, and the twelve core components were snatched away by the coalition forces and sold abroad.
What? The ships the navy bought back then were all junk, discarded goods from others, and she had to work hard to find connections with the old Tsarist dynasty to get them.
".Over the years, I have been tracking down the twelve animal heads and the Tsar's artworks. Unfortunately, there are too many people who don't know the value of them. Many of the antiques are actually extraordinary plug-ins from the old times."
Lu Ping'an was very interested, but the old senior became more and more surprised as he spoke.
"Oh, you're wondering why I'm telling you so much? Haven't you noticed? You're concerned about the prices and employment situation in the East Country and Red Star. Oh, isn't this also clearly an anomaly?"
"Isn't this quite normal?"
"It's normal for other people, but do you really need to eat? Do you need to consider food, clothing, shelter and transportation? You spend most of your time thinking about the impact of the war on the country. Other top professionals may do the same, but they only think about themselves, at most they consider their own power, and they will never start from the people's lives like you do."
The Countess actually showed an expression of appreciation. Having seen countless people, she could tell what was disguised and what was real. The little guy in front of her had a rare "citizen mentality" among the top combat forces.
That is not a disguised approach to the people, or the verbal "I am one of you", but putting oneself in the perspective of ordinary people in all aspects and thinking about the continuation of the race and the country.
“Maybe I’m still young.”
"Maybe. Haha, those guys didn't treat ordinary people as human beings when they were young."
"Times have changed. The new generation is more anthropomorphic."
Lu Ping'an felt that he was already not a human enough, but after considering the big cat and those high-level people he had met, he probably still could be considered a human being.