Chapter 72 Technology Tree
Zhao Xiao waved his hands and the soldiers immediately tied him up.
Gong Yangqing struggled and said angrily: "General, what are you doing? I don't know what I have done wrong, why do you want to tie me up!"
"Don't worry, you'll know soon." Zhao Xiao took out the silver and paid the bill.
When Gong Yangqing walked out of the inn, he found that Zheng Jia was also tied up with shackles on his hands and feet.
The two men looked at each other, and Gong Yangqing saw that there was a darkness in his eyes. He lowered his head in fear and had guessed something.
Zhao Xiao took the two of them to the salt field again. As soon as the army arrived, the supervisor in the salt field felt something was wrong and immediately dropped his things and ran away.
However, his feet could not outrun the horses, and he was soon caught up by the cavalry, who put a rope around his neck and pulled him back.
"Go get some people to dig up the pig pen."
"yes!"
When Zheng Jia heard that they had to dig up the pigpen, he was so scared that his legs went limp and he sat on the ground. He actually knew everything!
Gong Yangqing's face turned pale and he said, "It's none of my business, General. It's really none of my business. I don't know anything."
Zhao Xiao ignored him. As the pigpen was dug up, the bodies buried underground were exposed to the light of day.
The soldiers were all veterans who had experienced many battles, but their eyes still turned red when they dug out the bodies.
Among them there are underage children, elderly people over 70 years old, and more are men and women of the same age.
The corpses were piled densely on the ground, which made Gong Yangqing's scalp tingle. He didn't know that Zheng Jia could be so cruel as to kill everyone.
Zhao Xiao walked up to Zheng Jia, looked at this man who was so scared that he couldn't speak, and kicked him into the pile of dead bodies.
Zheng Jia spat out a mouthful of blood, then fell to the ground and kowtowed: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry... I shouldn't have killed you... I can't do anything else..."
Zhao Xiao stepped on his head and said, "Don't be in a hurry to apologize. Wait until you go to hell and explain it to them in person."
Zheng Jia's whole body twitched and he made a hoarse sound. After a while, his eyes widened and his body froze. He was actually frightened to death!
Zhao Xiao said coldly: "You are really lucky."
Gong Yangqing over there was so frightened that his eyes rolled back and he fainted.
The soldiers dug until noon before they dug out all the bodies. Together with those who had died earlier and those who were killed later, the total number of bodies was 7,347.
Zhao Xiao ordered his men to pile the corpses together, pour kerosene on them and burn them.
When dealing with corpses on the battlefield in the past, Song Yuzhu once told him that if the corpses were not handled properly, they would rot in the hot weather the following year, and the mosquitoes attracted would spread the plague.
The fire burned until midnight, and all the soldiers spontaneously walked to the corpse fire and bowed to see it off. After the fire was extinguished, Zhao Xiao had a huge grave built here and a blank stone tablet erected, hoping that these unfortunate people could be reincarnated as soon as possible.
The last thing to do is to deal with Gongyang Qing. This man is extremely evil. If he had not helped the tyrant, how could Zheng Jia, a mere businessman, have such courage?
On the second day, Zhao Xiao ordered his men to make public what Gong Yangqing and Zheng Jia had done, and then imprisoned Gong Yangqing in a car and paraded him through the streets for public display.
The common people did not know that such a big thing had happened in the salt field at first. Now they heard that those who went to work in the salt field had lost their lives, and they could not help but feel lucky that they did not go there. More people were angry at what Gong Yangqing had done.
Everyone chased the prison van, cursing and spitting at him, and some even threw rotten eggs, dog feces and rotten vegetable leaves at him.
Gong Yangqing huddled in the prison van, shivering, completely losing his former majestic appearance.
When the prison van arrived at Caishikou, Gong Yangqing realized that all his family members were kneeling there!
"Dad! Dad, save me!" Gong Yangqing's teenage son looked terrified and kept struggling and shouting.
The soldier next to him kicked him and said, "Behave yourself!"
Gong Yangqing's tears were streaming down his face. He knelt on the ground and kowtowed: "Zhao Xiao, General Zhao! I beg you to let my family go. This is all my fault. Please spare them."
Who spared those innocent people?
Zhao Xiao waved his hand expressionlessly, and the soldiers raised their butcher knives and beheaded all 41 people of the Gongyang family and threw them into the streets.
Zheng Jia's family was not in Dongzhou. He was very cunning and was afraid that the matter would be exposed and would bring disaster to his family, so he transferred his people and half of his property to another place in advance.
Zhao Xiao had his subordinates interrogated and learned that Zheng Jia had hidden his family in Huizhou, but he didn't know exactly where.
Zhao Xiao decided to look for them on his way back, and he would not let any of them go.
*
Song Yuzhu, who was far away in Shangjing, opened his eyes and woke up from the system.
The deaths of Gongyang Qing and Zheng Jia are not a pity, but it is a pity for those civilians. If they had discovered it earlier, perhaps they could have been rescued.
However, it was no use thinking about this any further, and the only option was to send reliable officials to take over Dongzhou.
With such a big problem at the salt field, the local people will certainly be traumatized psychologically, so the newly appointed officials will have to appease them before reopening the salt field.
Song Yuzhu sighed, fortunately he had checked the situation in Dongzhou at the beginning, otherwise no one would have thought that the provincial capital that seemed prosperous on the surface actually hid such a dark side.
Song Yuzhu decided to patrol the national map every day, especially the mines. Once something wrong was found, it would be solved as soon as possible. Never let the root of disaster grow.
Zhao Xiao should be back soon after dealing with Dongzhou's affairs, and he will have time to take a look at what that technology tree is.
I opened the book in my mind again. The first page was a map, and the second page turned into a small tree.
There were many small green apples on the tree. Song Yuzhu touched it with his hand, and the whole tree began to tremble. Then a message was displayed on the trunk: Your technology value is insufficient, and you cannot pick the apples. Please upgrade and try again.
Song Yuzhu keenly noticed a word - technology value. Does it refer to the level of technological development in this era?
There is a line of small words under the tree, the current technology value is: 506. When it reaches 10,000, you can pick the ripe fruits. (Note: The rewards in each apple are different and are randomly distributed according to the current technology level.)
Song Yuzhu touched his chin. It seemed that the apple was the reward of the technology tree. The apple should not be an ordinary apple, but what kind of reward it was would only be known after the technology value reached a certain level.
*
After the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the officials’ vacation ended and the scientific research department officially started operations.
As the head of the scientific research department, the first thing Chen Lun did was to ask for money, because there was nothing here.
Song Yuzhu directly allocated him one million taels of silver, all of which was used for scientific research and development. He also specifically instructed him that if something could not be bought, he should ask the Ministry of Industry to help make it.
Soon he led his men to research and found a way to invent a steam carriage. It did not require manpower, but only needed to light coal in a tin bucket to drive the carriage.
This steam car is similar to the steam locomotive of the 17th century. Both use coal to boil water and use the principle of water vapor expansion to push the piston to do work.
Song Yuzhu was so excited when she heard the news that she almost jumped up from her chair! You know, in the previous life, Western countries entered the industrial revolution starting with the steam engine!
"Hurry up and prepare the car. I want to go and see it myself!"
*
"Turn left, turn left, yes, yes, yes, slower, slower..."
"Master, this is so much fun!" Jiang Yida, Chen Lun's apprentice, was driving a steam car in the yard to do experiments.
Chen Lun pinched his waist and said, "Don't just have fun, pay attention to the heat below!"
"Hey, hey!" Jiang Yida threw a few pieces of coal into the coal-adding hole below. The flames jumped up and the speed of the wooden cart gradually increased.
"The Emperor has arrived!" A sudden shout came from outside the door, scaring Jiang Yida so much that his hands and feet went numb and he couldn't turn, and he drove straight towards the gate.
Although Song Yuzhu was prepared, he was still shocked by the strange-looking "carriage". It was very different from the cars he had seen in later life.
The front of the carriage was a huge oval iron stove with a chimney above it. White steam came out of the chimney, driving the carriage forward.
When the eunuch saw such a huge creature walking towards him, he was so frightened that he collapsed to the ground.
Shen Lun shouted, “Your Majesty, please get out of the way, the car can’t stop!”
Song Yuzhu quickly pulled up □□ and stepped aside. With a crisp "clang", the first steam car crashed into the wall and was scrapped on the spot.
Shen Lun ran over and asked with a horrified look: "Your Majesty, are you okay?"
"It's okay, go check on the guy driving the car."
The iron can is full of boiling water. If it leaks, the water will flow all over the floor. I hope no one gets scalded.
The people nearby quickly gathered around and pulled Jiang Yida off the car. The boy was lucky, as the water from the steam bar had all flowed out the other side, and only his hands were slightly scalded by the splashing hot water, and his body was not injured.
But he was so frightened that he almost bumped into the emperor. He didn't know whether he could save his life.
Unexpectedly, Song Yuzhu came over and asked in person: "Are you injured?"
Jiang Yida raised his head and saw the handsome man in front of him wearing a golden crown. He nodded stupidly, then immediately shook his head: "No, I'm not injured."
Shen Lun kicked his arm: "Then hurry up and greet the emperor!"
Jiang Yida finally reacted and immediately stood up and kowtowed: "Greetings, Your Majesty!"
"Get up, I saw it all just now. This car is indeed novel, but why doesn't it have brakes?"
Shen Lun was stunned for a moment: "What is the brake?"
After all, the carriages in the past were all horse-drawn carriages, with people driving horses and giving commands, and no one had ever heard of brakes.
Song Yuzhu thought for a moment and said, "Install an emergency stop device on the car, so that when it is pulled down, the car can be stopped in time to avoid hurting anyone."
Jiang Yida's eyes lit up: "Ah! This thing is good, I will make it right away." After saying that, he turned around and ran into the house.
Chen Lun's eyes twitched: "Your Majesty, please forgive me. My little apprentice is a little bit brainless and has been concentrating on this steam car."
Song Yuzhu smiled and said, "It's okay, he's a talented person." He understands everything about scientific madmen.
Chen Lun said, "Although this cart is good, it is not very practical." Because it needs to burn coal and firewood to go far, is it really too laborious to pull a cart of coal and burn it while walking? Not only is it too expensive, it is not suitable for ordinary people to use. Besides, the carriage is so small, how much coal can it carry at a time?
"Wait a moment." Song Yuzhu thought of the steam locomotive, and he ordered people to take out paper and pen and start drawing on the table.
Soon Song Yuzhu handed him the finished drawing and said, "If we build a track like this and run a train like this on it, can we achieve twice the result with half the effort?"
Shen Lun was stunned when he looked at the blueprint. If the car could run on such a specific rail, it would not only save energy but also speed up. As long as the steam engine in the front is made big enough, how much stuff can be loaded in the carriages at the back!
The more Shen Lun thought about it, the more excited he became, as if he had already seen the huge monster speeding along the rails.
Song Yuzhu knew that he understood what she meant, so she patted Shen Lun on the shoulder and said, "If you don't have enough funds, you can ask me for it and find a way to make this car."
"I obey your command! But this car looks strange, I don't know what to call it, please give it a name, Your Majesty."
Song Yuzhu smiled and said, "Let's call it a train."
Chen Lun repeated several times: "Train, a vehicle driven by fire, very good, very good!"
(End of this chapter)
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