Chapter 227: The advent of the steam engine, a new era of immortality?
Seeing Xu Qing take the initiative to request the order, the chief minister breathed a sigh of relief. The next step was nothing more than the cabinet drafting the decree, the emperor seeing it, and the ceremonial supervisor using the seal and other tedious matters.
After the court meeting, Xu Qing and his chief assistant came to Yanyue Hall.
Before leaving the cabinet, the chief minister was still a little sentimental and pointed out to Xu Qingyi: "I wonder if I can return to the cabinet in this life?"
Xu Qing laughed and fooled him.
Inside the Yanyue Hall.
Chief Assistant: "Gong Ming, there are things I just said that I couldn't say in front of everyone. Let's explain it first. What do you think is the focus of water control this time?"
Xu Qing immediately cheered up, "It depends on what Grandpa Grandpa cares about. Sea transportation or water transportation?"
Over the past hundreds of years, the Yellow River has flooded, causing countless casualties. However, the biggest difficulty in regulating the Yellow River lies in the canal.
Since the construction of the Grand Canal in the previous dynasty, although it has connected the north and south and is conducive to maintaining the central government, the water system along the Grand Canal has often flooded.
In places where flooding occurs frequently, the biggest problem is that the land will gradually become saline and alkaline, making it unsuitable for farming.
There are countless people living on both sides of the canal. If they can't farm, they have to have a place to go, otherwise they can only riot.
This is an important reason why millions of tankers depend on their food and clothing.
In fact, many of the dynasty's shortcomings and seemingly outrageous solutions actually have even more outrageous reasons behind them.
If the livelihood of millions of water workers cannot be solved, then the Yellow River floods, and the priority must be to protect the canal. Otherwise, once there is a problem with the canal, not only will the north-south logistics be disrupted, but millions of organized water workers' unions will be thrown into a situation of losing their jobs, and the people will lose their jobs. Food is heaven.
Even if the victims affected by the flooding of the Yellow River rebelled, they were still lambs in front of the imperial officials and soldiers.
But a large-scale group rebellion like the Caogong Group with certain organizational capabilities is enough to plunge the world into chaos.
Therefore, this is the important reason why the Yellow River was provoked to rebel in the world.
It is precisely because of the importance of the canal that the first assistant is very cautious about shipping. Even now, the shipping capacity of the sea is much less than that of the canal, and it has not even reduced the original canal capacity.
In addition, behind the canal are the wealthy gentry and nobles of Jiangnan. Relying on the canal to connect the north and the south, these people all made a fortune.
If Xu Qing hadn't divided some parts and made huge profits from sea trade. It is difficult for the imperial court to survive by sea now.
It can be said that Xu Qing can use fairy coal to solve the livelihood problems of some disaster victims, but he is still powerless when it comes to the livelihood of millions of tankers.
However, water transport is actually lagging behind compared to sea transport in many aspects. The most critical point is that the transport capacity of water transport is limited, but the transport capacity of sea transport can have a very high upper limit.
The chief assistant is naturally aware of these reasons. He has now temporarily relieved his burden and said: "Xu Qing, don't fool me. Is there a way to protect both water transportation and sea transportation?"
He made it clear that he had to grasp it with both hands and be strong with both hands.
Xu Qing: "The hardships of trackers are caused by farming. If they are not even hired as trackers, I don't know what they will do. Therefore, water transport cannot be cut. I believe that the protection of water transport should be the first priority, and that of sea transport We can’t proceed any further for the time being.”
He is telling the truth. The profits of shipping are now very high, but the most exaggerated thing is that the upper limit of shipping is far from being reached.
If the imperial court continues to increase investment in this area, the benefits of sea transportation will be very considerable, but the benefits of water transportation will also be greatly damaged. How will the millions of water transport workers be accommodated?
This does not mean just giving money.
Because of the existence of the Grand Canal, the land along the river system has become unsuitable for farming in many places. Even without the Grand Canal, it will take many years to restore soil fertility.
The huge cost was definitely beyond the reach of the imperial court.
But there is also a problem for the court. If we continue to increase the development of maritime transportation, at least the money and food will not be choked by the Jiangnan gentry and nobles, which will be more conducive to the central government's rule.
Everything in the world always requires repeated weighing to find a compromise.
Compromise is not a good idea, but at least it can fool you temporarily.
When you really can't fool yourself, then just tear everything down and start over.
Chief Assistant: "I have read the charter of the Ministry of Industry. What is the use of that steam engine that you and Gu Daoren are studying, and is it worth spending so much money and manpower on it?"
Xu Qing: "With Yuan Fu's wisdom, it should be seen that this thing can actually replace a certain amount of power of cattle and horses."
The first assistant nodded: "What I can think of right now is to use this thing to replace the oxen and horses to drive the carriage? In this case, can we build the track like the old system of Qin?"
There are many plains in the north. If the carriage tracks are built and the oxen and horses are replaced by mechanisms, they can run around the clock. By then, the court's control over the place will be much deeper.
Xu Qing: "This matter cannot be accomplished overnight, but as long as the steam engine is completed, the rest will fall into place, but we may not be able to see that day."
"It's good to have a start. It seems that we still have to solve the food problem first before we can ease the pressure on water transportation." The first assistant sighed.
It seems that after Dingyou, he needs to pay more attention to high-yielding crops.
With food, many problems can actually be solved.
…
…
After Xu Qing confessed to his chief assistant, he went to Gu Laodao's place.
He can only accelerate the process of history, but cannot reverse it. This time for water control, we still have to protect the canal first. To protect the canal from flooding in the Yellow River, it must be blocked in the north and dredged in the south.
The result of this is that the floods will flow southward, and more and more sediment will accumulate in the south. Therefore, since the founding of the Yu Dynasty, the course of the Yellow River has always moved northward.
In fact, when the Three Gorges Dam was built in the previous life, there was also the problem of sediment accumulation.
But how to solve it?
Carry out major infrastructure construction.
Because large infrastructure will consume huge amounts of sediment, the problem of sediment accumulation caused by dams will naturally disappear.
People in this world probably wouldn’t have imagined that mud and sand could be sold for money and make a fortune.
"The Ministry of Industry is already studying cement. I don't know when the results will be produced. Even if the results are produced, a large amount of sediment will be excavated, and the agency is also very important. Just relying on manpower will be too costly." Xu Qing can only be happy. , fortunately there are still soul stones.
Using soul stones to drive Fang Xiandao's mechanisms can also exert the effects of some machines in his previous life.
However, soul stone veins are rare, making it difficult to develop and transform the world on a large scale and sustainably. Fortunately, it is enough to pave the way for early industrialization.
He now gradually felt a strange power being born.
"Cultivation of immortality through mechanisms?"
The combination of Taoism, mechanisms and physics, I don’t know what kind of era of immortality can be born.
Xu Qing was looking forward to it.
The sense of accomplishment in creating a new era is indescribable.
In the face of this great sense of satisfaction, the false sense of life and death will actually become much lighter.
People living in this world really need a career to support and fill the emptiness and emptiness of life.
In previous lives, power was the best elixir of longevity.
Many old men, in their 70s and 80s, can run for president, and they are full of energy.
Arrive at Gu Laodao.
Gu Laodao was very excited, "Xu Gongming, I have become a Taoist master."
He pointed to a well with a strange mechanism next to it that was continuously pumping water, and the source of power was the burning of fairy coal.
"This thing can pump water three feet deep and can be used in mines in the future."
The prototype of the steam engine had already been researched by Xu Qing and Gu Laodao, and this time it was further improved to make it practical.
Three feet deep is still too shallow.
But this is a crucial step.
Gu Laodao took out the drawings and kept drawing.
"It's a pity that my magic skills are not very good. When a few of my brothers and sisters come over and calculate together, this thing can be further improved."
"Nowadays, the most powerful place in magic is not in our middle-earth, but in the far west." Gu Laodao sighed.
Xu Qing rolled his eyes, you overseas barbarian, how long ago did you call yourself a Chinese?
Regarding magic, Xu Qing, as a liberal arts student in his previous life, was not very good at it. He vaguely remembered some formulas and handed them all to Gu Laodao, but the actual understanding, digestion and application naturally required further research. Xu Qing's time is precious, and professional matters should naturally be left to professionals.
In fact, as long as they have motivation and financial support, people from Middle-earth can still do magic well.
The most important thing at the moment is that with the soul stone mechanism, the rudimentary steam engine, cement and other things, Xu Qing can be regarded as having the capital for the lowest level of industrialization.
To industrialize, there must be primitive capital accumulation.
Therefore, sooner or later, shipping will have to expand to facilitate in-depth plunder overseas.
Another point is that there are also various supernatural powers overseas. If you want to achieve success, cultivating practitioners in Middle-earth is essential.
A series of operations will definitely make the world become more and more interesting.
Xu Qing naturally had a kind of enlightenment, as if he had a higher-dimensional perspective.
He was in a daze, and then quickly returned to reality.
Bang!
Lao Gu's steam engine exploded.
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Gu Laodao's smile suddenly stopped.
"Accident, accident!"
Xu Qing smiled.
Dreams are beautiful, but reality is cruel.
Development is still difficult.
He immediately said: "It should be a matter of materials."
In previous lives, materials science was even ridiculed as alchemy.
This can be regarded as Fang Xiandao's specialty.
Xu Fu was also very talented in alchemy, so Xu Qing also brought him to the Ministry of Industry to give full play to his talents.
Gu Laodao nodded, "We have to keep trying."
Producing materials is the same as refining alchemy. It is a costly job and cannot be saved.
Fortunately, the Yu Dynasty had a vast territory and abundant resources, and its advantage in this regard was much greater than that of Fang Xiandao.
Moreover, when Xu Qing and Gu Laodao engage in physics, they actually have a specific clientele, which is to find the sons of noble gentry as financial backers.
To be honest, regardless of whether the children of noble gentry in the north or the south, except for the heirs who established their families, the other children are very boring. Apart from playing women fighting crickets, they just listen to the opera...
These are pretty good. They bully men, dominate women, and do all kinds of inappropriate things.
There are also those children of wealthy businessmen who became addicted to gambling, were cheated by others, and lost all their family property...
Therefore, some cruel family heads even consciously made these disciples take Wushisan or similar psychedelic things...
In this way, at least it won't be easy to go out and cause trouble and ruin the family.
Five stones only costs a few bucks, and even if you have enough money, you won't lose your family fortune.
Nowadays, Xu Qing and Gu Laodao are working on physics machines, and many gadgets are very interesting. It is perfect to consume the idle funds of these talented people.
Moreover, some people are really talented in related fields, and they have no worries about food and clothing. Once they indulge in this way, it is easy to achieve results.
Coupled with the support from the Physics School and Xu Qing behind the scenes, these senior students are addicted to it and can be praised by their elders.
After all, that was the school of thought supported by Wenquxing.
Even if they are finished in this life, they might be able to improve the next generation if they get a little bit of culture.
This is what the old people in the big family think.
…
…
Xu Qing went to Beijing to control floods in the name of imperial envoy, and was mainly responsible for supervision.
The previous persons in charge of water control, Zhu Ling, Minister of Industry, and Liu Quan, Governor of River Channel, essentially became Xu Qing's deputies.
Su Lianqing and Xu Qing met in Qingzhou where the embankment burst.
"Sir, the slave family was ordered to investigate the matter of Weiyang Sword and found an unreliable legend."
"You said."
"It is said that Weiyang Sword may be the key to King Yu's treasure house, and King Yu's treasure house is said to be in the place where the ancient water demon sealed it." Su Lianqing replied.
Xu Qing thought of the strange movements of Weiyang Sword before, and knew that this news was probably not groundless.
But it doesn’t matter whether you open King Yu’s treasure house or not.
The main purpose of this water control is to further control water transportation.
With his left hand for water transport and his right hand for sea transport, he could surpass Wei Guogong in influence and become the undisputed leader of the gentry and wealthy families in the south of the Yangtze River.
The Yellow River burst in Qingzhou has actually greatly affected water transportation.
When Xu Qing arrived, he discovered that water transportation in this area had been cut off for two months.
Bully the superiors and conceal the inferiors!
Xu Qing's imperial envoy's honor guard was unable to get through when they arrived in Qingzhou, and they were surrounded by disaster victims.
He finally arrived at the inn, where local officials came to greet him.
Xu Qing lost his temper and scolded these people.
Xu Qing was not a fool. When an imperial envoy went to inspect a local area, the officials would definitely pretend to be peaceful. However, when he came down, he was blocked by a group of victims, who clearly wanted to kidnap him morally.
Who calls him a contemporary music star?
Xu Qing could think with his feet that Huo Jing and those guys were already instructing Qingliu to write a memorial to impeach the reform. Without reform, how could there be so many victims?
Moreover, after Xu Qing returned, he had to acknowledge the disaster in Qingzhou.
As for how these things are related to the reform.
If everyone is clear, there will naturally be a way.
After Xu Qing scolded these people, he then called on the members of the Fushe and the disciples of the Physics School who came with him, and asked them to collect information about the flood.
As for Xu Qing, when he was resting at the post station, he directly escaped from his soul and observed the specific situation of the flood in Qingzhou.
Observe with your soul, overlooking the earth, and looking up from a high building.
Xu Qing quickly gained a general understanding of the floods in Qingzhou.
There are nine seals in the entire Yellow River, forming a large formation to suppress the ancient water demon.
This is the grand formation arranged by King Yu when he was controlling floods.
All dynasties have blueprints, which are extremely confidential.
Because the Yellow River is related to the foundation of the world, all dynasties have not been careless.
It can be said that no matter how stupid the emperor is, even if he faces a huge rebellion in the last years of his dynasty, he will not take the initiative to destroy the seal or let the Yellow River burst to resolve the rebellion.
There is a big gap in Qingzhou's seal, and water monsters are constantly appearing.
The seal has a tendency to expand further.
"Is it like a man-made disaster?" Xu Qing came to a conclusion after a rough observation.
…
…
"Sir, Duke Yan Sheng is here to visit." Su Lianqing saw that Xu Qing's soul had returned and quickly reported.
This Duke Yansheng was the original head of Nankong's family.
(End of chapter)