In their eyes, the emperor's mind contained far too many things they could not even imagine.

If it weren't for the emperor's guidance, those things might not have been manufactured for hundreds of years.

What is most important for invention?

That one percent of inspiration is the most important!

Creating something from nothing is not the hardest part.

The hardest part is going from having no concept at all to having knowledge.

This means groping in a dark ocean, with no idea what lies ahead.

However, the emperor has now solved this problem by telling everyone that this thing exists and all you need to do is do as he says.

This greatly reduces the difficulty!

The prototype of the steam engine was completed, and the emperor gave the Academy of Sciences an instruction: he wanted to see a steam locomotive a month later.

He described the steam locomotive in his mind, which made Sima Qi's blood boil, and Chen Gui, who was listening to it, almost knelt down to the emperor.

After showing off at the Academy of Sciences, Zhao Huan turned around and left.

This feeling is amazing! It's so satisfying to show off in front of the top talents of the Song Dynasty every day.

Before returning to the palace, Zhao Huan bought a newspaper from a child selling newspapers on the streets of Tokyo.

The newspaper's headline: The emperor rereads "The people are the most important, the state is next, and the ruler is the least important."

Today's official gazette of the Song Dynasty almost entirely consists of articles discussing the current emperor's understanding of Mencius's saying.

The core idea is that the people are the most important thing in the emperor's heart, and the interests of the people should always be put first.

The fact that it was published in Tokyo means that it was published in every place in the country where there was a government gazette, including a particular village.

This is a top-down educational understanding.

In Zhao Huan's mind, his base of support would always be the common people and the army. He believed that by redistributing the interests of nobles, landlords, and gentry, and by increasing productivity, he could provide a way for the common people to survive. He believed that no matter how much trouble he caused as emperor, the common people would not rebel.

Five days later, Han Shizhong's army returned to Gyeonggi Province one after another.

After the unrest on Jingdong Road was suppressed, Duan Zhijie's appointment to office sparked a bloody storm.

He killed more than two hundred people in just one month after taking office.

These people were either from wealthy families or local gentry and nobles.

The reason for the killing was also irrefutable.

Not only that, he also went against the Imperial City Guard on Jingdong Road, verbally abusing Du Shaojun, the commander-in-chief of the Imperial City Guard on Jingdong Road, and subsequently sending one impeachment memorial after another to the capital.

It was the kind of situation that threw the entire officialdom of Jingdong Road into chaos.

This resulted in the replacement of five prefects within a month, infuriating Xu Churen so much that he slammed his fist on the table in the government hall and cursed Duan Zhijie as a rogue and scoundrel.

This situation not only caused complaints in the State Affairs Hall, but also in the Hanlin Academy. Some schools were under construction in Jingdong Road, and the frequent changes of prefects seriously hindered the construction of these schools.

Not only that, Tang Ke was also cursing Duan Zhijie, whose local government office, the Shangyusi, had been thoroughly investigated by Duan Zhijie.

Unfortunately, they couldn't find any evidence that Duan Zhijie had abused his power, leaving them helpless.

Meanwhile, the Inspectorate, which was already at odds with the Council of State Affairs, simply watched the show from the sidelines.

Zhao Huan would spend a fixed amount of time each day reading the memorials sent by Duan Zhijie.

They would also spend time reading Du Shaojun's memorials. In his memorials, the commander-in-chief of the Imperial City Guard of Jingdong Road vilified Duan Zhijie and accused him of abusing his power, but he could not provide any evidence.

The officialdom along the entire Jingdong Road staged a dramatic show due to the lingering issues after the flood.

From this dramatic scene, Zhao Huan also saw many problems existing in the Song Dynasty's officialdom.

The establishment of the Imperial City Guard was too rapid and had many problems.

The fact that Duan Zhijie was able to find out things that Du Shaojun hadn't been able to find before suggests that some of the Imperial City Guards were colluding with local forces.

Given this situation, the emperor's secret Qilin Guards along the route quickly infiltrated the Jingdong Road.

The intelligence obtained from the Qilin Guard confirmed the emperor's suspicions.

This matter caused quite a stir in the imperial court, but no one could produce any strong evidence to bring Duan Zhijie to justice for the time being, and the emperor's attitude toward the matter was ambiguous.

He is now focusing more of his energy on the Academy of Sciences, and a month has passed since Zhao Huan last inspected the steam engine.

By late August, the summer heat had subsided considerably, and the autumn sky was an endless expanse of blue, a blue that was breathtaking.

The emperor alighted from his carriage and entered the Academy of Sciences.

Everything was ready in the open space behind the Academy of Sciences.

The ground is covered with railway tracks that are unfamiliar to people of this era, and the tracks are arranged in a circle.

This railway track was built by fifty people working day and night for a month.

There was a heavy-looking car made of steel on the tracks.

It is called a car because it has wheels.

Unlike traditional horse-drawn carriages, its wheels are on the rails, fitting perfectly with both sides of the rails.

The steam engine was mounted on the vehicle.

When this thing was created, even the bigwigs at the Academy of Sciences and the Ordnance Supervision Bureau were quite taken aback.

They privately started brainstorming various uses for this thing and discovered that it actually has quite a few applications.

However, some people think this thing is too troublesome, as it has to travel on railway tracks and cannot run on the ground.

If the emperor wanted to promote this type of vehicle, he would have to lay a large number of railway tracks.

Even this short 100-meter section of railway track required the mobilization of a considerable number of people; one can only imagine how terrifying the number of people would be needed to promote its widespread adoption.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!