Chapter 83 Epidemic
Song Yuzhu didn't expect that a train experiment would suddenly increase her technology value by 8,000 points. Combined with the 1,500 points added when Jin Yan researched the gunpowder ratio, it was just over 10,000 points.
The first apple of the technology tree is finally ripe.
After returning to the palace, he couldn't wait to open the technology tree in his mind, and a red apple was hanging on the treetop.
With a tap of the hand, the virtual apple will fall out shaking.
The apples are in perfect condition and you can even smell the faint aroma of the fruit.
Song Yuzhu looked at the bright red apple in her hand and fell into deep thought. Could it be a real apple? That would be a bummer!
He tentatively broke the apple open, and suddenly a golden light flashed before his eyes, and a piece of paper fell to the ground.
I quickly opened it and took a look. It was an ordinary A4 paper, but the picture on it was not ordinary at all. It was a detailed structure diagram and annotations, and next to it was written: Hand-cranked DC generator.
Song Yuzhu was stunned, muttering: "This cheat is really powerful..."
After being shocked, Song Yuzhu folded up the drawings of the generator and put them in the book. At present, he has no plans to build the generator.
Because building trains has already consumed too much financial and material resources, and the country does not have enough strength to develop too much modern technology, he is afraid of taking too big a step and hurting his crotch.
*
After the train test was completed, casting was also put on the agenda.
The amount of iron needed to cast a train is not much, but a large amount of iron is needed to build a railway. The Ministry of War cannot provide hundreds of thousands of tons of pig iron, and even if it can, it cannot be given to the Research Department.
As a result, a vigorous steel-making campaign was launched across the country.
After the autumn harvest, the people spontaneously picked up hoes and pickaxes, carried bamboo baskets and went to the mountains to mine minerals.
The imperial court stipulated that every stone of iron ore mined would receive a subsidy of ten coins, so the common people could earn at most thirty coins a day. Although the money was not much, even a small amount was still meat, and for the poor people, it was a good job to supplement their family income.
For a time, mining became the most popular topic among the people.
When everyone meets, they always ask: "Did you mine today?"
"How many stones did you dig?"
If there are lazy people who don't go mining to make money, they will be laughed at by the people in the village.
The large-scale ore mining made it difficult for the original smelting department to keep up with the pace, and steel mills came into being.
The two largest steel mills were both funded by the imperial court. One, called Guangxing Steel Mill, was located in Jizhou, and the other, Chang'an Steel Mill, was located in Zhongzhou.
The Chinese people's iron smelting can be traced back to three thousand years ago. As early as the beginning of the Warring States Period, they had already mastered the techniques of decarburization and heat treatment.
The steelmaking technology used in this era is the most advanced water-drained steelmaking method after thousands of years of improvement, also known as the lump steel method. This steelmaking method is simple, has high output and is easy to master.
The ironworks was managed by a person sent by the imperial court. Workers were hired to work six hours a day. Food and accommodation were provided, and workers could receive two taels of silver a month. That was not all. At the end of the year, workers would be given a big bonus based on the output of the steelworks!
When the local people heard about such good treatment, they all signed up to apply for the job.
The person in charge of recruitment did not dare to slack off. According to the requirements from above, he only recruited young and strong men, and did not accept those who were too young or too old.
These two steel mills can produce 3,000 to 4,000 shi of refined iron every day, a number that was unimaginable in the past.
Some of this steel was used to make rails, and the rest was made into tools and farm implements, which were sold to the people at low prices. Iron tools that were unaffordable in the past are now available to every household.
The workers built the railway bit by bit like ants building a nest. Although the efficiency was slow, thousands of people joined in the iron-making work.
I believe that it won’t be long before Daqi’s first railway will be completed!
The construction of railways was no longer the responsibility of the Research and Development Department, and they also started a new research project - steamships.
Food is the most important thing for people. Before people have enough food and clothing, all their ideals are just fantasies.
Song Yuzhu wanted to build a ship as soon as possible to import corn into the country and solve the people's food problem.
*
Time flies and it is already the third year in Changzhi.
In spring, all things come back to life. Sinongsi successfully cultivated the first batch of potato seedlings. They buried them in the ground and waited for the harvest in a few months.
After one year of study, the European named Antonio can already speak simple Chinese.
Song Yuzhu often summoned him to the palace to chat. This man was very interesting. Although he spoke incoherently, he said a lot of useful things.
For example, potato flowers need to be pinched off in order to produce more fruits, and what is the structural principle of his simple monocular telescope?
In fact, Song Yuzhu had made this thing when she was doing handicrafts in elementary school, but she couldn't remember it when she came to ancient times. Now that she saw it, she improved it and made it into binoculars.
For some reason, the glassmaking technology of this era was very advanced. In the heyday of the dynasty, large pieces of smooth glass could be fired. Even mercury mirrors were made, but the West did not have such technology.
Song Yuzhu asked the Ministry of Works to help grind a few convex and concave mirrors, and made a few telescopes by himself. He gave one to the Imperial Astronomical Observatory for them to use for night celestial observation, and sent a few more to the military camp.
When the telescope was delivered to the military camp, several generals went crazy with it.
This thing is so powerful! Du Chong nicknamed it "Clairvoyance".
Things that cannot be seen with the naked eye from hundreds of feet away can be seen clearly with this!
If we had this thing when we were marching and fighting, wouldn't we be able to see everything the enemy did?
When Zhao Xiao returned from the military camp at night, he put the telescope back in his pocket, for fear that those rough guys would accidentally break it.
"Yuzhu, this telescope you made is amazing. I wish we had it when we were fighting."
"Antonio taught me to do it." Song Yuzhu took off her hair crown, changed into pajamas, leaned on the bed to read a book, and was embarrassed to say that she didn't think of it at the time.
Speaking of that foreigner, Zhao Xiao said sourly, "I heard that you've been summoning him to the palace recently."
"Well, I want to learn more about Western culture from him."
"What's the point of knowing that?"
Song Yuzhu put down the book and said, "Binzhou's ship is almost finished. I plan to send someone to go back with them in a while."
"Who are you going to send?"
Song Yuzhu was also troubled by this matter. Under normal circumstances, he should have sent officials from the Honglu Temple as envoys, but this time the destination was the distant West.
It would take several months by ship to get there, and no one knew what would happen along the way, so Song Yuzhu was worried about sending someone else.
Zhao Xiao said: "If there is no one to choose, how about letting me go?"
Song Yuzhu refused without even thinking, "No!"
"Why?"
"Axiao, sailing on the sea is different from sailing on land. The sea water changes rapidly. If an accident happens, there is no way to survive." Even in later generations, cruise ships are in danger of sinking, let alone the simple steam-powered ships of today.
Zhao Xiao said: "Those yellow-haired people were able to arrive safely, am I not as good as them?"
"This is not the same thing. What do you want me to do if something unexpected happens?"
Zhao Xiao knew that he cared about him, so he quickly comforted him, "Okay, if you don't let me go, I won't go. Don't be angry."
Song Yuzhu sighed, held his hand and said, "Maybe I'm too selfish, but I really don't want you to be in danger. Let's talk about this later. If there is really no other candidate, it won't be too late for us to discuss it again."
Zhao Xiao bent down and kissed his forehead: "I'll do whatever you say."
*
After the Dragon Boat Festival, the weather gradually became hotter.
Early in the morning, Song Yutong came to the palace in a carriage.
"De, de, de! Look what I brought you!" The two-and-a-half-year-old little Yutong stumbled towards the study, holding up her skirt.
"Oh, little ancestor, please slow down, don't fall!" Li Desheng followed closely behind Princess Changle, fearing that she would fall.
Song Yuzhu put down the letter and picked up her sister. "Let me see what Tongtong brought."
Xiao Yutong held up a katydid cage, which contained a large emerald-colored katydid. It had a beautiful color and a pleasant chirping sound.
Song Yuzhu picked up the handkerchief and wiped the sweat off her sister's forehead. "Wow, who gave you this?"
"Uncle Zhao!"
Song Yuzhu looked helpless. Yutong called her brother, but called Zhao Xiao uncle, making him seem like a generation older than her.
"That's Brother Zhao."
"Daddy said that those with beards should be called uncles."
Zhao Xiao was promoted to a senior just by having a little stubble on his chin.
Song Yuzhu pinched Tongtong's little nose and said, "If brother grows a beard, will he also become an uncle?"
Song Yutong shook her head: "De de is de de, it will always be de de." This two-year-old girl still can't straighten her tongue.
"Yes, even if my brother has a beard, he is still my brother. Then how can Brother Zhao become Uncle Zhao if he has a beard?"
Tongtong nodded as if she understood, but soon put the matter behind her.
"Okay, I can recite the multiplication tables you taught me now!"
"Oh? Recite it and let me hear it."
Tongtong put her hands behind her back, closed her eyes and began to recite: "One plus one equals one, one plus two equals two, two plus two equals four... eight|nine equals seventy-twelve, ninety-nine equals eighty-one! Am I reciting this correctly?"
"Yes, not a single word missed!" Song Yuzhu touched his sister's head in surprise and asked the eunuch to bring his sister a smoothie.
Song Yutong was thinking about this bowl of smoothie. Jiang Rong at home didn't allow her to eat ice for fear that she would catch a cold, so she could only get some at her eldest brother's place.
The plum-flavored smoothie contains milk, red beans, raisins and crushed peanuts. It tastes sweet and sour and is refreshing. Children can't resist it at all.
Tongtong ate the smoothie in small sips, with a satisfied expression on her face.
I taught her the multiplication formula a few days ago, but I didn't expect that my sister could recite it all in one breath. This child is three years old in age, but only two and a half in years. She is too smart!
Song Yuzhu discovered that her sister had a much better memory than other children of the same age when her sister turned two years old.
I taught her to recite the Three Character Classic a few times, and when we met next time, I found that Tongtong could recite it word for word.
Song Yuzhu has never raised a child, so she doesn’t know if other children have such good memories.
He tried to teach Xiaomei's daughter, but found that Ping'er, who was half a year older than Yutong, could not remember a single word.
He told his parents that he wanted to take Yutong with him and teach him personally.
Jiang Rong and Song Bai naturally agreed. The couple only had two children, and there was such a big age gap between them. They would feel at ease only if the siblings had a good relationship.
However, Song Yuzhu has not taught her to write yet, because the child is too young and her hand bones are not well developed. Writing too early will cause her fingers to be deformed.
The weather was hot, so Song Yuzhu put her sister on a chair next to her and fanned her with a fan.
After Song Yutong finished a small bowl of smoothie, he licked the corner of his mouth and showed a sly smile: "Don't tell mother that I ate smoothie."
"Okay." Song Yuzhu rubbed her head lovingly.
Suddenly, hurried footsteps were heard outside the door. Song Yuzhu looked up and saw Xu Bing, Qin Fengtu, Liu Lin and others had entered the palace for some reason.
He quickly ordered the eunuch to take his sister out to play.
"Come in, what happened?"
Xu Bing said with a pale face: "Your Majesty, there is an epidemic in Jizhou!"
(End of this chapter)
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