However, this is only limited to economically and agriculturally developed areas such as Hebei, Henan, Sichuan, Jiangsu and Zhejiang. The situation is not so good in remote mountainous areas such as Hunan, Guangxi, Jiangxi, Fujian, and Guizhou. Many mountains still maintain their previous ecology, and the lives of the poor cannot be improved.
Perhaps the only change is that with the popularization of crops such as sweet potatoes, corn, potatoes, and peanuts, they used to struggle on the brink of life and death. Now, even if they are charged high rents in the mountainous areas, at least they can still have something to eat, and the number of people starving to death will be reduced a lot.
Zhao Jun further emphasized: "The best way to truly improve people's livelihood is to build infrastructure. The court can only urge local governments to work hard to improve people's livelihood and pull poor people from the brink of life and death to the poverty line. If we want to achieve prosperity, we still have a long way to go."
Fan Zhongyan asked, "Hanlong, what do you think we should do next?"
"Let's make a plan."
Zhao Jun said, "As everyone knows, at the end of last year, in order to appease the generals and nobles who had surrendered, the imperial court organized a new voyage fleet and set out. They are expected to return next year. This time, my goal for them is to bring back rubber and cinchona trees."
"The current problem with steam engines is that their sealing has not been resolved, so they cannot be mass-produced. However, the overall structure and power have completely achieved the effect I want, and they are almost ready for production once they are completed."
"Once the steam engine is put into use, cement plants will be able to automatically mix cement, and trains will be built. That will be the time for the Song Dynasty to launch nationwide infrastructure construction."
"It is estimated that in five years, we will be able to start large-scale infrastructure construction, which will require a huge number of people. Therefore, I believe that starting from this year, we should make plans in advance, fight the wars that need to be fought, and complete the reforms that need to be carried out, so that the Song Dynasty can enter a period of rapid development."
Zhao Zhen found a complete description of Watt's improved steam engine in history, including that the Academy of Sciences had actually built several prototypes, and the combustion efficiency, steam pressure, exhaust system, piston bridge, etc. had all been perfected.
But so far, it has not been put into mass production. It is not a technical problem, but simply because there is no rubber as a material.
Many people think that steam engines can be used without rubber and that rubber is not necessarily needed. This is actually a misunderstanding caused by insufficient understanding of the structure of steam engines and their development history.
In fact, before the invention of rubber, the role of the steam engine was extremely limited and could basically only be used to draw water.
Without the rubber pad, the previous lead ring was not sealed tightly, resulting in a large amount of steam leakage, low power efficiency, and easy to cause steam explosion.
The most important part of Watt's improvement of the steam engine was to change the original sealing ring from a lead ring to a rubber pad, which greatly improved work efficiency and safety and enabled steam engines to appear on trains and cars.
If Zhao Jun were to mass-produce steam engines without rubber, the only consequence would be explosions in the steam engine factory and constant "bang bang bang" explosions at the train station.
So although the principle of the steam engine is simple, and Zhao Zhen even found a way to make it, without rubber, it would be impossible to mass-produce the steam engine.
In the end, it was impossible to develop the steam industry step by step and then progress to the oil and gas industry and the electrical industry.
After all, the industrial system must proceed step by step.
It is a holistic thing. We cannot just suddenly think that since the steam age is so bad, we can just skip and develop to the oil and gas age.
That's impossible.
Many times, it is easy to go from one to ten, but it is difficult to go from zero to one.
For example, in the early days of our country, we skipped the steam era and went directly into the oil, gas and electricity era. That was because there were ready-made oil, gas and electricity industries all over the world. With the help of big brothers and our own introduction, we were able to find a way forward.
But when the whole world is a feudal agricultural society, how can you enter the oil, gas, and electricity era? Where will you get the industrial foundation, the materials, the technology, and the system?
Just extracting compounds from petroleum rubber requires basic chemical industry capabilities and countless experiments, principle explorations, etc.
Therefore, Zhao Jun could only develop the steam industry first. With the steam industry as a foundation, the road ahead would be much smoother. He might be able to witness mankind entering the second industrial revolution during his lifetime.
"Why, is there going to be a new policy this year?"
Fan Zhongyan was eager to try.
"Well, it's time to plan it out."
Zhao Jun nodded and said, "The most difficult road was the third Qingli New Deal, but we finally made it through. Even the palace assassination, we withstood the pressure. Things will get better and better in the future."
"What are you going to do?"
“Let’s begin planning for the Fourth New Deal.”
"What are the specific contents?"
"I'll finish it in the next two days, and we can discuss it later."
"Um."
Fan Zhongyan responded, very excited.
Their new policies have been implemented since Zhao Junjingyou's reform.
First, in the first year of the Qingli period, the performance evaluation system was enacted to rectify the officialdom and administration.
Then in the second year of the Qingli period, the country greatly reduced its burden, lightened corvée and taxes, encouraged commerce, and stabilized people's livelihood.
In May of the fourth year of the Qingli period, the national military was restructured, followed by cutting redundancies, downsizing the military, promoting development, and emphasizing science.
The entire country, from top to bottom, from the bureaucracy to the military, from the people to the court, was almost completely renewed.
The only reform that has not been completed yet is to solve the problem of land annexation.
This thing is also a big bomb. If it is not handled properly, there is a possibility of large-scale protests or even rebellion by landlords across the country.
So Zhao Jun did not take immediate action, just like he did when he dealt with the redundant troops.
Now.
It's about time.
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