With the steam engine, we began to try to forge seamless steel pipes and imagined the possibilities of flintlock rifles. What should we do next?
Is it the rifling? Is it preparing to manufacture optical sights? Or is it preparing to manufacture Minié bullets?
Neither. Lu Chen decided to develop the sugar industry first.
Many technologies are not achieved overnight. Even if there is a real miracle, it will take a long time to accumulate technology to mass-produce flintlock rifles.
He would be satisfied if he could produce a finished product within a year.
So the question is, what if the enemy attacks before this?
How can we use the technology we have at this stage to create a generational advantage in weapons?
Lu Chen thought about it and came up with an idea: turn into a big bang!
Such as Fire Crossbow Meteor Arrow, Swarm of Bees, White Tiger Running Arrow, Fire Dragon Emerging from Water, Fire God Flying Crow and so on.
Compared with flintlock rifles, these things are not difficult to develop and are very effective.
As long as it doesn't rain, they are all killer weapons.
Even if it rains, it can still play a certain role in defending the city.
An elder once told us that explosion is art.
In this era, being able to master the use of explosives is equivalent to being invincible.
Although the Gunpowder Research Institute has been researching this thing, the progress is not satisfactory to Lu Chen.
So far, they can only think of using sugar to increase the power of gunpowder.
Therefore, the demand for white sugar in the entire Chinese Academy of Sciences has greatly increased. How to make sugar more efficiently is the problem that everyone has to face now.
Two months ago, someone put this problem in front of Lu Chen. At that time, Lu Chen thought it was not a big deal and asked the Chinese Academy of Sciences to take the lead and find some major sugar merchants to discuss it.
They purchase in large quantities and hope to keep the price as low as possible.
Unfortunately, after a full month of negotiations, the price offered by the sugar merchant could not satisfy Lu Chen.
Lu Chen also understood that in this day and age, sugar was a top luxury item, a delicacy that only the rich and powerful could afford.
It's indeed a bit too much to want to buy luxury goods at a bargain price.
But what Lu Chen was best at was turning luxury goods of that era into bargains. When he saw that the price could not be lowered, Lu Chen had no choice but to set up a set of sugar production technology himself and started a factory.
All businessmen who come to attend the conference will receive a large bag of sugar when they leave. The main point is that it is large in quantity and can fill you up. If you run out of it at home in the future, you can come back to get more as long as you don’t mind the trouble.
Not only these businessmen could get sugar, but everyone in the entire Chinese Academy of Sciences, even the old ladies who cleaned, washed clothes and cooked, got a share.
White sugar is really a good thing in this era. It not only replenishes energy quickly, but also can be used to pickle food and prevent it from spoiling.
The most important thing is that this thing is valuable. Many people who work as odd jobs at the Chinese Academy of Sciences sell the sugar as soon as they get it.
A large amount of white sugar appeared on the market in the capital area, which naturally caused the price of white sugar to fluctuate.
The sugar merchants never dreamed that Lu Chen would steal their homes secretly!
For a while, the entire capital, and even sugar merchants across the country, had a sense of impending disaster. The miserable plight of the medicinal material merchants in the past few months was still vivid in their minds.
Everyone felt that it was necessary to do something, otherwise they might really follow the same fate as the medicinal material merchants.
After much thought, this group of people actually came up with a solution, which is to control the raw materials above.
These businessmen control almost all the raw materials. As long as they tighten the supply of raw materials, the Chinese Academy of Sciences will be left with nothing.
Then a strange phenomenon appeared in the market of Da Qi again. The prices of beets and sugarcane used to refine white sugar suddenly became ridiculously high.
Everyone thought they had Lu Chen under control and had finally secured their own fenced gardens. However, the good times didn't last long. Before long, a large amount of sugar beets and sugarcane appeared on the market, causing unrest among the sugar merchants.
As for where these sugarcanes and beets came from, do you remember that some of the land of Taoism and Buddhism was in Lu Chen's hands?
As his relationship with Buddhism and Taoism improves, he really has the final say on what to plant on those lands!
Just like the last Artemisia annua incident, this time the matter became a big deal, and Lu Chen actually made a fortune again.
Fortunately, with the lessons learned from the medicinal material merchants, the sugar merchants saw that the situation was hopeless and retreated one after another, at least in the market.
After settling these sugar merchants, the explosives issue would not be a big deal, at least that's what Lu Chen thought.
So he actually attended the morning court that day, which was a rare sight.
While waiting outside the palace gate, all the civil and military officials showed a look of surprise on their faces when they saw Lu Chen was there too.
What puzzled Lu Chen was that this group of people did not surround him and ask about his well-being like they did before.
Just as Lu Chen was puzzled, Wei Yong stepped up to his side and asked in a low voice, "What did you hear?"
"What rumor? About me?" Lu Chen was really confused at the moment.
Wei Yong nodded solemnly and said, "I heard that you invented a machine that can be used to replace horse-drawn carriages. You've been looking for people to join you lately. Are you planning to make a big move?"
Lu Chen nodded. There was nothing to be shy about with this kind of thing. It had been made very clear at the press conference. Anyone interested could find out by just checking.
Wei Yong shook his head imperceptibly and said, "Be prepared, this won't be easy."
Lu Chen looked at Wei Yong in surprise. A large project of this magnitude would not be passed casually even in later generations. It would take several years for experts to conduct research and demonstration alone.
Lu Chen was not in a hurry. The technology of steam engines was not yet perfect. Even if the court approved it, he would not be able to produce a finished product.
The purpose of going to court today was to inform Li Zhuo and to see the reactions of the civil and military officials.
Besides, is it really appropriate for a censor like you to come and tell me something like this? Shouldn't you be the one leading the charge to expose me?
Just when Lu Chen was puzzled, the gate of the imperial city opened, and civil and military officials lined up on the left and right and slowly walked into the hall.
It was still the familiar smell, still the familiar process, the only difference was that there was more than just Lu Chen, a Taoist priest, standing in the hall.
Looking at Yangxuzi who was standing opposite him and smiling at him, Lu Chen raised his eyebrows.
This should be the first time they met, and they had no correspondence before. Logically, they should be complete strangers to each other.
But for some reason, looking at Yangxuzi's smile, Lu Chen wanted to kill him!
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