In mid-December, the capital city was hit by its third heavy snowfall.
Heavy snow fell, turning the entire capital city into a white wonderland.
Inside the Forbidden City, the red walls and yellow tiles of the buildings are covered with a thick layer of snow, creating a unique and beautiful scene.
Inside the Wuying Hall, a coal stove was burning, and several braziers were placed nearby.
The entire hall was warm and cozy, like springtime.
On one side of the main hall sat a dozen or so people, the one in the lead being an elderly man with graying hair and beard.
If anyone from the arsenal were present, they would surely recognize the old man as Wang Zheng.
These people were all researchers from the Ordnance Institute who had recently come to Beijing from Dongning.
A short while later, Li Xin walked in.
"His Majesty has arrived!"
A waiter called out loudly.
The people in the hall quickly stood up, preparing to perform a grand ceremony.
Seeing this, Li Xin quickened his pace, walked to Wang Zheng, and took Wang Zheng's arm, saying, "Elder Wang, there's no need for formalities. And you all, please get up, sit down and let's talk!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
The group quickly replied.
After sitting down, Li Xin instructed a servant to bring a chair and place it next to Wang Zheng.
Li Xin held Wang Zheng's hand and asked, "Old Wang, the journey from Dongning to the capital is long and the weather is freezing cold. Was the trip smooth?"
"Thanks to His Majesty's good fortune, things went relatively smoothly."
Wang Zheng smiled and replied, "It's just that it's freezing cold and the roads are icy. Otherwise, we could have taken a ride on the steam train."
"How's the laying of the steam train in Dongning going?"
Li Xin asked the question.
"It's still early."
Wang Zheng thought for a moment and said, "When we arrived, the railway construction team had already stopped work because of the heavy snow. However, the railway from Dongning City to Shuangcheng Prefecture has been completed, and the railway extending to Xiande Prefecture is under construction. It is estimated that it will not be completed until next year."
Some of these bridges may take even longer to build.
"That's pretty fast!"
Li Xin also knew that the construction of the railway would not be quick.
After all, this is no small project.
Exploring the terrain, building bridges, and laying railway tracks are all difficult tasks.
The railway from Dongning City to Shuangcheng Prefecture was able to be completed and opened to traffic so quickly because the tracks had been laid long before, and horse-drawn carriages had been used for transportation for a long time.
Therefore, after the steam locomotive was built, it could be officially put into operation with only minor modifications.
"The progress of steam locomotives has been quite fast!"
Li Xin looked around the crowd, found Xu Jianyin, and asked, "Xu Jianyin, how are the experiments with the steam engine going in other places recently?"
"His Majesty,"
Xu Jianyin replied, "Tests have already been conducted on machine tools and textile machines, and the results have been positive. The Dongning Manufacturing Bureau has also begun mass production, and it is expected that some of the existing equipment will be able to be replaced after the spring of next year."
"Not bad, not bad!"
Li Xin nodded in satisfaction.
Hearing that various technologies had made great progress during this period, Li Xin was somewhat satisfied.
However, he also knew that many things cannot be accomplished overnight.
For example, railway construction. A single railway in later generations took several years, or even more than a decade, to complete and open to traffic.
Therefore, Li Xin did not make any demands.
His purpose in summoning these people today was certainly not merely to inquire about their research achievements during this period.
In addition to overseeing the construction of factories such as the Beijing Manufacturing Bureau, the Beijing Ordnance Manufacturing Bureau, and the Beijing Steel Plant, Li Xin had another important task to entrust to these key personnel when he transferred them from Dongning to the capital.
That is, to establish an institution specifically responsible for scientific research and development, relying on the original ordnance institute and chemical institute!
This is the Da Gan Academy of Sciences!
"Old Wang,"
Looking at Wang Zheng, Li Xin said, "The production capacity of our various bureaus in Dongning is already very strong. We have even produced a number of talented people such as Xu Jianyin and Xu Hedou."
However, this is only production capacity; it lags behind in scientific research capabilities.
Therefore, I think it is necessary to establish a dedicated organization to coordinate scientific research matters.
Let's call it the Academy of Sciences. Mr. Wang, why don't you become the president of the Academy of Sciences?
Some forward-thinking plans and seemingly impractical ideas can be researched in this institution.
If the research is successful, has practical effects, and achieves unexpected results, it can then be transferred to various bureaus for production.
In this way, specialization can save a lot of trouble.
Mr. Wang, what do you think?
Hearing Li Xin's words, Wang Zheng felt somewhat flattered.
He thought about it carefully, then nodded and said, "As Your Majesty said, everyone has their own area of expertise. If we could gather a group of researchers separately, like we did with the Chemical Engineering Institute before, to be specifically responsible for research, that would indeed be a very good idea."
Your Majesty, I agree with your proposal!
"Alright!"
Li Xin nodded, looked at the people around him, and asked, "What are your opinions?"
"Agreed."
"Agreed."
...
Everyone nodded in agreement.
"Um."
Li Xin nodded slightly and continued, "Actually, in the past few years, the new schools in Dongning have also carried out some popularization of scientific knowledge. However, this is a very long process, and only after all these students have grown up can they take on important responsibilities."
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