The next morning after Zhong Jinwei returned to Beijing, he regained his energy and came to the Wenhua Hall to meet the saint and discuss the use of the steam engine.
In the Wenhua Hall, there were already the Chief Minister of the Cabinet Wen Tiren, the Minister of Industry Xu Guangqi, the President of the Royal Academy Weibo Song Yingxing, and the Director of the Power Research Institute Fang Yizhi.
Emperor Chongzhen waited for Zhong Jinwei to see him and asked with a smile: "How was your rest yesterday?"
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for being considerate of me and allowing me to go home and rest first. I am in good spirits now." Zhong Jinwei bowed and replied.
Emperor Chongzhen smiled and shook his head and said: "Master Zhong's trip to the south not only solved the imminent food crisis for me, enabled various progress to be gradually carried out, but also solved a series of things. If I ignore it, I will be in a hurry.
It would be uneconomical to let Master Zhong come to discuss matters and tire you out, Master Zhong."
Hearing Emperor Chongzhen's funny words, all the courtiers in the Wenhua Palace laughed.
They also felt the same. Duke Xingguo must not be exhausted, otherwise everything will not be guided in the right direction. Song Yingxing even thought of a word, you are a lighthouse, shining in the direction of the Ming Dynasty!
After livening up the atmosphere, Emperor Chongzhen got back to the point and preached: "Master Zhong, what do you think is the best way to use the steam engine? After all, the cost of the steam engine is too high, and this good steel needs to be used on the blade."
Now this steam engine was hand-made by the most skilled craftsmen in the Ming Dynasty, and of course it cost a lot of money.
Zhong Jinwei had already thought about this matter when he was resting at home last night. So when Emperor Chongzhen asked about it, he immediately replied: "Your Majesty, I have several ideas about this steam engine."
"Well, please tell me, Master Zhong." This was actually nonsense, but Emperor Chongzhen still said it cooperatively.
Zhong Jinwei looked serious and said seriously: "The biggest advantage of a steam engine is to provide continuous power, which can be applied to many aspects. In other words, the application of steam engines is very wide, and it can be said that it is needed in all walks of life. Therefore, related
Regarding steam engines, I have three suggestions."
Having said this, he first turned sideways, trying to let everyone see his front. Then he stretched out a finger on his right hand and said: "First, we must organize people to find ways to reduce the current cost of building steam engines. This is very important.
Only by popularizing the application of steam engines can its greatest value be revealed."
"Master Zhong is right, so what about the second suggestion?" Emperor Chongzhen nodded and then asked.
Zhong Jinwei then extended his second finger and continued: "The second suggestion is that the research and development of steam engines cannot be stopped. We must continue to research, improve, improve and improve again. This steam engine is only the most primitive practical machine, and there will be countless more in the future.
Where there is improvement, we must improve it.”
When Duke Xingguo said this, Fang Yizhi, the director of the Power Research Institute who was originally very proud, couldn't help but feel a little ashamed. He was almost complacent.
"Third, as His Majesty said, the expensive steam engines must be used on the cutting edge. I believe that the most important thing at present is the improvement of ship power."
When Zhong Jinwei said this, he put down his hand and analyzed to Emperor Chongzhen: "Shippers are limited by wind power and have many inconveniences. If steamships can be developed, then from now on Ming ships will be less limited by wind power. Compared with Western ships,
Battleships are much more flexible. From now on, the Ming Dynasty will not have to learn from the West to learn their sailing ships. On the ocean, the world will be the Ming Dynasty."
Emperor Chongzhen became excited after hearing this. Since the situation of the enemy on land was controlled by Master Zhong, his attention gradually turned to the ocean. In this way, he found that the maritime power of Ming Dynasty was far from the opponent of the West. In this situation, what did Emperor Chongzhen do?
They couldn't be happy and kept worrying secretly.
After the Dutch warships were captured and the Ming Dynasty began to imitate them, Emperor Chongzhen was somewhat relieved. But no matter what, the warships of the Western Yi were better than those of the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty only imitated them from the Western Yi.
But it’s different now. Master Zhong said that steam ships will be far better than sail ships, and the ocean will be the ocean of the Ming Dynasty. How could Emperor Chongzhen not be excited and happy!
"The second is the improvement of land transportation. The use of steam power will greatly improve the transportation of the Ming Dynasty. I will provide ideas to the research institute to create trains and cars. Well, forget it, cars can be slowed down first.
Slow down. But the train is necessary..."
When Xu Guangqi heard this, his passion for scientific exploration made him feel itchy. He couldn't help but interrupt and asked Zhong Jinwei: "My lord, what is a train or a car?"
Others were also curious and looked at Zhong Jinwei, waiting for his explanation.
Zhong Jinwei smiled, turned to Xu Guangqi, and explained to him: "The train is equivalent to today's large carriage, but it is not horse-drawn, but pulled by a steam engine. The carriage is not one, but can be composed of many sections. It can pull goods,
You can also attract people.”
"As for cars, they are trains with only one section, but they are of little use in changing the Ming Dynasty, at least until the steam engine is no longer so huge."
"That's why I said that trains are necessary and must be developed, forget about cars." Zhong Jinwei concluded.
Emperor Chongzhen thought that the steam engine would pull many carriages of goods or people from south to north to the Ming Dynasty. This would have a great impact on the traffic changes in the Ming Dynasty. If there was something going on at the border, Beijing Camp would be able to arrive at the fastest speed.
He thought about it and said excitedly: "Okay, okay, Master Zhong, let's develop this train first."
Wen Tiren, on the other hand, thought from a civil perspective that it would be more convenient to transport goods from north to south in the future, which would greatly promote the development of commerce and improve the living standards of the people of the Ming Dynasty. He also became excited just thinking about it, and he stroked his fingers again and again.
With his own beard, he looked at Duke Xingguo with a smile.
Seeing that they were all so happy, Zhong Jinwei couldn't help pouring cold water on them: "It will take a lot of time to really develop trains and steamships. It can't be done in a day or two."
"Haha, Master Zhong, I'm not old, so I have plenty of time to wait for these two things to come out." Emperor Chongzhen heard this, didn't take it seriously, and said with a smile.
But Wen Tiren and Xu Guangqi were relatively speechless. Among the people present, the two of them were a bit older, and they didn't know if they could see the Ming Dynasty's steamships dominating the sea and the Ming Dynasty's trains running everywhere.
Seeing the warm atmosphere in the Wenhua Hall, Fang Yizhi, who was a little restrained at first, couldn't help but ask Zhong Jinwei: "My lord, you said that steam engines can be used in other walks of life. Are they really so versatile?"