The "first batch of steel" came out smoothly, and the quality was excellent. Under the witness of Academician Philip, the first batch of molten steel emitting terrible heat was tested. Of course, it was not the electrochemical method or even the sensing technology of later generations.

For testing, nowadays it is relatively primitive to forge it into a billet shape to test its hardness, material, etc.

After a busy day, Academician Philip left with great satisfaction.

This good news will naturally be quickly passed on to several major shareholders.

As for the "Huanghe Industrial Machinery Factory" which is very close to the steelmaking plant, the first batch of orders will be for the production of steel rails for steam trains.

The longest railway in the empire will be built from the imperial capital to North Cedon Castle, the capital of the Principality of North Cedon, with a total length of more than 300 kilometers.

The Duke of North Cedon was an extremely enlightened nobleman, as he supported Academician Philip to establish the Mechanical Department at the university and participate in the "Yellow River Industry". The long-distance railway from his principality to the imperial capital also received his strong support.

Of course, currently, the start of construction of this railway line is still a little far away.

In fact, the empire's first railway, which is about to be built, will run from Huanghe Industrial to the "Lu Gongguan" manor, more than ten kilometers. It can be regarded as a kind of test product, an accumulation of experience, and it can also be regarded as a

kind of propaganda.

During this process, we will pass through several small towns and villages, and some of the workers recruited from these villages will be the first batch of regular customers.

When spring comes, the railway is officially completed.

In fact, Lu Ming naturally relied on the mechanical power in the storage ring that he now calls "Long Yuan Realm", which is why he was so fast.

…

Bang, bang, bang, and the train was struggling to walk along the railway line while billowing smoke.

Despite this, the railway line and its locomotives have been stealing the show in the past month.

Even the elderly Emperor Falcon came to join in the fun and take a ride on this "steel carriage".

Although the locomotive was nominally imported from the Styx Empire in the north, Lu Ming actually made improvements. Of course, it couldn't be too out of the ordinary.

Nowadays, it pulls ten carriages full of passengers at a speed of 14 kilometers per hour, which means it takes almost an hour to get from the starting point to the end of this railway line.

With the addition of Lu Ming's exclusive carriage, the speed is almost the same.

When Emperor Falcon first came to visit, he rode in a trailer.

Now Lu Ming is in the extra luxury carriage, and sitting opposite him is Snow Lion Grand Duke Kang Ruide. Until now, because many principalities have not reached a consensus, he has not yet obtained the official status of crown prince.

He was in his forties, in the prime of life, and having a daughter like Princess Constance, the most beautiful woman in the empire, he was naturally a handsome man.

However, he may not have seen the wind and rain outside. He grew up in a greenhouse, and his father had extremely high standards for his moral character. He is indeed as honest and kind-hearted as the rumors say.

On the long blue glass table between Lu Ming and him were various rare fruits and delicious pastries.

Conrad was extremely curious about the origins of this "Director Yuan" and asked about the "Yuan Family" from the far south.

He is open and honest, and when he has questions, he asks them, and he is not a spy or a hint.

This made Lu Ming a little overwhelmed, and he smiled bitterly. It seemed that honest and upright people really deserved respect.

"Director Yuan, your subordinate's musket looks very small..." Kang Ruide looked at Debaya who was standing not far behind Lu Ming.

Today, this fierce woman from the extreme southern wilderness tribe is the commander-in-chief of the slave musketry team in Lu Ming Manor.

In fact, this armed force cannot be called a "musketeer team".

Just like the eight slave guards on the vehicle today, not only are they all equipped with long and short guns, short and micro-blast long guns and fully automatic rifles, they are also equipped with grenades and other individual weapons as standard. This combat team also includes snipers, heavy machine gunners and other combat units.

At the end of the exclusive carriage, there is an area separated by a door, which is the guard area, several rows of very compact seats, and space for placing various firearms and ammunition.

In fact, the current slave musketeers have been purchasing slaves from the seventy-two city-states for expansion and training. Now they have more than 2,000 people. They are almost a regiment of special forces. The weapons are not even from the second continent, but from the first.

The equipment of the special operations forces of the Han Federation Empire on the mainland. There are ten helicopters parked in the hidden part of the manor, not to mention the ones in "Longyuan Realm". In addition, there are some improved motorboats used as air tools. Motorboats derived from the technology of the Han Empire, such as

The safety, mobility, etc. during wartime are no longer the same.

Diba Ya was dressed in a military uniform that looked like a vintage British Redwood Army aristocrat, but the style was for women. She wore a dark red military uniform skirt and an extremely thin waistband. In the holster was a Han Empire "Type 79 automatic pistol"

, this kind of pistol is not the kind of small pistol produced by the Han Empire that is only used for personal use. It has an effective range of 200 meters and is relatively large. It is the "big fat" among pistols.

But compared to the hand-held firearms of this third continent, this pistol is very small. It's no wonder that Grand Duke Conrad is curious.

Lu Ming smiled slightly: "It's a technology from my hometown. My hometown has some expertise in the production of firearms because of its long-term fight against soul-eating beasts."

"Oh, Director Yuan, I heard that you are the first in line of succession in your hometown city-state?" Grand Duke Conrad asked with more interest.

Grand Duke Conrad received the news from his daughter that Lu Ming came from a city-state in the far south that had been separated from the imperial mainland before the proliferation of soul-eating beasts.

He is the eldest son of one of the city-state lords and the first in line of succession.

When the soul-eating beasts overran, the empire was cut off from parts of the southern region. At this time, the land of Lu Ming's hometown had access to the southern region of the empire.

As a result, it has been under threat from soul-eating beasts and marauders for a long time.

Until the weather has changed dramatically in recent years, the number of soul-eating beasts has been greatly reduced. Last year, the passage between the empire and the southern region was finally opened, but the raiders did not want to take the opportunity to attack the Principality of Fort Linton in the southernmost part of the empire, causing the Principality of Lintonburg to suffer huge losses.

, it was only with the help of this "Director Yuan" that the looters were defeated.

From this, "Director Yuan" entered the empire to travel.

These are secret information that the daughter got from Fatima, the lover of "Director Yuan". To the outside world, "Director Yuan" is a visitor from the south of the empire.

Over there, when Grand Duke Kang Ruide asked, Lu Ming nodded and said: "My hometown has a small population, and it is in the bitter cold of the extreme south. Only when I came to the imperial capital did I realize how vast the world is and how bright spring is..." Looking at the train

Outside the glass window, you can see the green fields and sigh softly.

Grand Duke Kang Ruide's eyes lit up slightly and he said with a smile: "So, does Director Yuan have any plans to settle here for a long time?"

Lu Ming shook his head gently, "It's hard to leave my homeland, and I will have to go back sooner or later. Besides, Grand Duke, you also understand that there are tens of thousands of citizens in my city-state, and they also hope that after my travels, I can bring back the power to promote the progress of the city-state."

Grand Duke Kang Ruide nodded understandingly, and then smiled and said: "Director Yuan brought fresh air to our imperial capital first. No matter what, I want to thank you and express my support for your career..." After thinking for a while, he said

: "I am going to grant you the title of Marquis of our Snow Lion Grand Duchy. Are you willing to accept it?"

In the ancient aristocratic system of the Third Continent, a marquis is a nobleman without a fiefdom, but his status is extremely high. Usually, only important ministers such as the prime minister and the finance minister, who are not nobles, will be awarded the title.

Its status is second only to the Duke. However, it cannot be passed down to future generations.

Moreover, the titles under this ancient system have long since disappeared in the long river of history.

Conrad was still explaining sincerely, "The words of the Marquis of the Empire need to be approved by the National Assembly. Now I am afraid that it will be difficult to pass my personnel proposal, but I can make decisions on the affairs of the Grand Duchy."

Lu Ming was stunned for a moment.

"Director Yuan, I am definitely not trying to force you to stay here, nor am I belittling your identity as the heir to the city-state, nor am I thinking about any future ambitions of the Snow Lion Principality to incorporate your city-state into its territory. I just seem to see it in you.

A shadow of my youth. Unfortunately, I am far inferior to you. My passion for traveling around the world in pursuit of knowledge has long been extinguished..." As he spoke, Conrad sighed deeply.

"Director Yuan, how about we sworn brothers?" Kang Ruide said suddenly, "In the future, our country will always be a country of brothers and a country of close friends!"

Lu Ming was even more stunned. There was a custom of sworn worship in the third continent.

But the question is, how could this Conrad come up with such a ridiculous proposal.

From his point of view, it was too condescending. Even the Snow Lion Principality was a powerful country with a population of tens of millions. Furthermore, he had a better chance of becoming the emperor of this huge empire, the Lion Heart Empire.

The heir to his own small city-state with a population of tens of thousands was completely different from his status.

At least on the surface, there is an insurmountable gap between their status.

"Grand Duke, I don't understand something..." Lu Ming looked into Kang Ruide's eyes lightly.

There was something moving in my heart, because forming a causal relationship with a ruler who legally ruled over tens of millions of people meant that on the invisible battlefield, my divine power could cover the land with greater efficiency.

"I just feel that you are trustworthy..." Conrad smiled bitterly, "Isn't it still possible after all?"

The guard behind him was stunned for a long time. His master's sudden and ridiculous suggestion made him think that his master, who always had a very step-by-step and calm personality, had been drugged by the other party.

However, it seems that this country bumpkin was not very willing, causing his master to suffer an emotional blow.

"This is your intuition, but are there any logical reasons that can be explained?" Lu Ming continued to ask.

Kang Ruide was stunned. He probably didn't know what he was really thinking. At this moment, he thought about it seriously and nodded: "I don't know why, but I am a little afraid of the future. I hope to find someone for my children, or their descendants."

Just have a place to stay, even in the worst situation, you can still have a place of refuge..." The more he said it to the end, the heavier his tone became, and finally he sighed deeply.

Lu Ming nodded silently. Apparently, Konrad subconsciously realized how powerful and terrifying the Styx Empire was.

Especially after seeing the railway locomotive, I thought that these technologies came from the Styx Empire.

So how terrifying is the current military power of the Styx Empire?

He suddenly came up with the idea of ​​what would happen if the empire was completely defeated by the Styx Empire in the future?

The Snow Lion family is afraid of becoming the biggest scapegoat. Even if the Styx Empire does not require it to hand over the responsible prisoners of war, the fanatical people in the country will vent their fanatical emotions on the scapegoat after the empire fails.

"Now that we are working hard to catch up, the outcome is still hard to say."

Kang Ruide obviously understood Lu Ming's words. He pondered silently and sighed softly: "It's a pity, how many people have seen the great changes in the outside world? Just follow fate!"

Lu Ming nodded silently. Today, he seems like someone from his true hometown, someone who opened his eyes to see the world in the late Qing Dynasty.

However, within the empire, there are all kinds of struggles for power and profit. In this edifice that is about to collapse, people are still fighting for their own prosperity, and they even do not hesitate to collude with foreign enemies for the sake of their own glory.

He has the possibility of being the future emperor of the empire, but his abilities are limited. Even in his Snow Lion family camp, he does not receive the maximum support. You can imagine the pain in his heart.

"The interests of the enemies are not so consistent. I don't think the Grand Duke has a chance to turn the tide."

"Learning from the barbarians and developing skills to control the barbarians is a strategy."

Lu Ming's words were more straightforward, and they also meant that they had finally chosen a spokesperson for the ambassador in this continent.

Kang Ruide looked up at Lu Ming and smiled: "You are indeed my best friend. I must sworn sworn brothers with you, my dear brother!"

Lu Ming smiled: "Okay, brother, but since you and I have a heart-to-heart relationship, the ceremony is not necessary."

The normal ceremony involves going to the Temple of Light and kneeling on one knee under the statue of the God of Light to take the oath.
To be continued...