In the Funiu Mountain in the Xixia Gorge of Nanyang, there is an abandoned small railway, and many donkey friends love to take pictures with them. Small railways are quite similar to modern railroad tracks: double tracks, sleepers, but the rails and sleepers are made of wood. Appraised by relevant experts, it is the remains of the Daqin Empire more than 2,200 years ago. The principle of the Qin State Railway at that time was no different from that of modern railways. Not only that, Qin also had a huge railway network. But the cars traveling on this railway were not towed by steam locomotives, but pulled by horsepower. Seeing such a railway, we are all amazed that China had such advanced transportation facilities before 2,200 years ago. Let's follow the editor to reveal the little-known secret of this huge railway network that is even more amazing than the terracotta warriors.

Horsepower trains can travel up to 800 miles a day? 

Of course, Qin Shihuang's railway was not cast iron, but was paved with wood. The wood material used for the rails is hard and has been preserved. The railway roadbed was rammed so strong that the sleepers were laid on the roadbed. The relatively soft sleepers can be closely combined with the rammed very hard roadbed, so that the track is stable, and the car can run quickly and smoothly on it.

Anyone who walks on the railroad sleepers understands that the distance between the two sleepers and people's steps are not suitable. Striding one at a time seems too small, and straddling two is too big. Walking on the sleepers is slow and unaccustomed. However, after measurement, I was surprised to find that the distance between the sleepers of Qin Shihuang's railway was exactly in line with the steps of the horse.

Once the horses pulled the car onto the track, they could not help but "self-excited oscillation". They couldn't help but run fast and could hardly stay. So how did you stop in the end? The opinions of the experts are: there must be a special station, and the wood between the station sleepers is leveled. The horse is fed here and rested well. Once you need it, you can set it up and run non-stop. At the next station, the horses can gradually slow down and stop because the sleepers are filled and leveled. Switch to another horse that is full and rested, and continue to speed forward, so that you can reach a very fast speed. Because the friction is greatly reduced by using rails, horses can also pull many loads at once, which is an extremely efficient method. The recognized speed is 600 miles per day, at least 600 kilometers a day and night, and some people think that it is 700 kilometers. This is more than double the speed of eight hundred lilies.

Reasons for the railway network

This huge railway network was built by Emperor Qin Shihuang during the annihilation of the Chu Kingdom, for logistics supply. Qin destroyed Chu and used 600,000 troops. The logistics supply must be in great demand, so this nationwide railway network was built. 

In the past, the road built by Qin Shihuang was generally considered to be a highway. Now it seems that it should be a railway. Because the horses are galloping on it, it is called a road. Historical records show that Qin Shihuang built a nationwide road after reunifying China. Based on this, he actually built a railway network across the country before 2,200 years ago. Why must the same wheel spacing be used on the highways of the Qin Dynasty? Moreover, Qin Shihuang's own car was pulled with six horses, which is obviously not the same as the wheel spacing of an ordinary one or two horses. Now that Qin Shihuang's railway is discovered, everything is solved.

But according to this statement, it is not only Qin Shihuang who built the "railway". Even if not all of the other six countries have built "railroads", there should be at least one or some countries that repair "railroads". It is as if the distance between railway tracks is not necessarily the same now. At that time, the "railroad" track spacing between countries was not the same. This is also a need in national defense. At present, the national standard railway gauge of 1.435 meters is used uniformly throughout the country. Then Qin Shihuang unified the distance between the same cars after the unification of China. Moreover, the scale of construction in other countries during the Warring States Period was relatively small. After Qin Shihuang unified China, it was built on a large scale throughout the country, so that it became a dense railway network. Zh

At that time, the vast land of China was densely covered with forests and good wood, which provided material conditions for the construction of railways. If there is damage, wood repair can be obtained at any time and place, which is the material condition of the Qin Dynasty railway network.

Why hasn't the Qin State Railway network passed down? 

The Qin Dynasty's car had very strange wheels, and it had not been noticed or thought of any mystery in the past. Now comparing everything with the Qin Dynasty railway, I understand everything. The original characteristics of the wheels made it possible to run on ordinary roads and enter the railway at any time. This is also a feature that current railways do not have. We can't get cars on the railway line, nor can we get trains up and down the tracks to the highway.

Why didn't Qin's railway network pass down? Experts believe that the successive wars in the last years of the Qin Dynasty caused a lot of damage. The Emperor of the Han Dynasty did not have the ability to equip his imperial vehicles with horses of the same color, and many generals could only ride in ox carts. The railway was abandoned due to a severe lack of horses. The railroads with no cars running on them have hindered traffic, so some of Qin Shihuang's railroads were destroyed during the war, and most of the rest were demolished after the war to become ordinary highways. The economy of the Han Dynasty only recovered after a long time, and it continued to do nothing for a long time, so there was no labor to mobilize people to rebuild the railway. 

Another reason is that the roads of the Qin Dynasty were too wide, so in the later economic recovery, many roads were reclaimed as arable land, narrowed, and even ceased to exist. The Qin Dynasty's railway was obviously used for long-distance transportation. However, the Han Dynasty had long sealed off the vassals, and the local people did not have the need for long-distance transportation. The transportation lines became shorter and the necessity of building railways was lost. The sparsely populated long-distance transportation must pass through, and it has lost its importance. Probably only these places can be exempted from artificial demolition and reclamation and left over. But it is also because of the sparse population that people are not paying attention. Qin Shihuang's railway was gradually lost in this way, so that people no longer remember such glory. 

It is regrettable that the track network established by Qin Shihuang will continue to be carried forward. However, if we now go to Chidao, we will still be amazed by the wisdom of the ancient ancestors. This is the pride of the Chinese! The wisdom of the Chinese, even 2,000 years ago, was at the forefront of the world. Editor / Zhao Yongjing