This question was a bit tough, so Zhang Yi shook his head and said, "I don't know!"
Xu Pu looked at Yang Shan and Cao Nai again, and they both shook their heads. There was nothing they could do, they really didn't know.
It's no wonder that most Manchu officials, except for the Academy of Sciences, only know that science and technology are very good and powerful, but they don't know some specific working principles.
Xu Pu did not give in and said: "I'd better answer it as a lower official. The first thing is food!"
When the three of them heard this, they all frowned. Could it be that the steam train was not made of steel but of grain?
When Xu Pu saw this, he explained: "If you want to develop science and technology, you first need a lot of manpower. The people in the world are tied to the land, so naturally it won't work. That's why the emperor will spend great efforts to clear the land and improve the tax laws.
At the same time, improved varieties are introduced to increase grain production and free a large amount of manpower from the land."
"The next step is steel. If you want to make steel, you need iron ore and coal mines. From exploration to development to transportation, this process not only requires a large number of surveying technicians, but also requires more manpower to excavate and mine."
"Now that we have steel, we can start assembling it... Of course, the premise is that we have design drawings and assemble them according to the drawings. Then there is a lot of testing to constantly discover problems and find ways to solve them. A large number of scientific researchers are still needed.
Proficient in complex knowledge such as arithmetic, physics, chemistry, etc.”
"To complete all of this, we need countless amounts of money. To use an analogy, every test is equivalent to throwing money into the water, and then... poof, just listen, and it's gone!"
"You three adults know that the development process of the first steam locomotive, in addition to a large number of iron ore and coal mines, also involved hundreds of workshops for manufacturing accessories, and a total of tens of millions of taels of silver were spent!"
"However, all this still needs to be based on luck. If you have bad luck, fail repeatedly, or you can't find a breakthrough for some technical problems, the cost will be more, twice, or even ten times.
!”
"Technical problems are very complex, and the correlation between many links is very strong. During the test process, as long as one link goes wrong, all previous efforts will be in vain, and everything will have to be overthrown and started all over again!"
"You three adults, do you still think it is easy to build a steam train?"
Zhang Yi listened carefully and nodded repeatedly, saying, "You mean, even if Ichigo Kaneryoshi brings the blueprints back to Japan, they won't be able to build a steam train?"
"Exactly!"
Xu Pu continued: "Not to mention the steam train, even the rails laid under the train look simple. They are just made of steel tracks and laid on the sleepers. In fact, the technical content is very high. The Japanese projectiles
Even with all the efforts of the country, we can’t build it!”
Zhang Yi couldn't help but nodded and said: "No matter what, it is better to keep these new technologies to less outsiders, so as to nip them in the bud!"
"Xiaguan actually feels that it is not a bad thing to let them have some proper contact."
"How?"
Xu Pu said: "Science and technology will develop sooner or later, and guarding against them is the worst policy."
Zhang Yi asked back: "In that case, do you have any other suggestions?"
Xu Pu smiled slightly and said: "When foreigners come to the Ming Dynasty, they will be shocked when they see the railway network extending in all directions and the steel giants spitting out billowing smoke and carrying countless people and goods quickly.
, which then creates a desire for it!”
"It's exactly this principle that Ichigo Kyōryō also has this idea."
"Then let him have a good visit. After he returns to China with great respect, he finds that the domestic industrial base is really poor. There is no steel, no coal, and no talent. At this time, they want to create
The only way to get out of the steam train is to ask me for help."
Zhang Yi frowned and said: "How can you give away the important weapon of the country to others so easily?"
"Hey, Zhang Butang's situation is too small!"
Xu Pu waved his hand and said: "You can give it, but you can't give it in vain."
"The Japanese are very ambitious. If they learn their skills and turn against our country, wouldn't they be raising a tiger's head?"
"Zhang Budang is looking up to them. They are not tigers, they are just a bunch of white-eyed wolves at most!"
Xu Pu chuckled and continued: "Steel can be sold, coal can be sold, but technology cannot be sold. We can send people to help them build trains, or build finished products and sell them directly."
"Steam trains are not finished once they are built. To operate normally, a large amount of coal is needed. Japan does not produce coal and can only continue to import it from China. Moreover, the subsequent maintenance of the train also requires a large amount of steel, and steelmaking requires a lot of steel.
More coal."
"As long as we firmly control these supplies, it is equivalent to controlling the lifeblood of the Japanese country. Let them go east and never dare to go west!"
Zhang Yi finally came to his senses, this move is powerful!
People from the Academy of Sciences are not only good at inventions, but they are also as good at tactics as anyone else.
These methods are so clever that even Confucian scholars who are familiar with the Spring and Autumn Period and are well versed in the art of comprehensive control may not necessarily have such a strategic vision.
Yang Shanze had a different idea and asked: "If it is true as Xu Shidu said, the Japanese state is completely dependent on the resources of our dynasty, then we can fundamentally control them. However, if the Japanese state is unwilling to be controlled and voluntarily gives up these resources, then what will happen?"
Wouldn’t it be empty talk?”
Xu Pu said with a smile: "When a person has tasted the delicacies of mountains and seas, and then asks him to go back to the days of eating bran-thick vegetables, he will definitely refuse. The same is true for the Japanese country. As long as they taste some sweetness, everything will be fine.
Give it what you want!"
Yang Shan didn't speak anymore because he had nothing to say.
What shocked him even more was that Xu Pu's qualifications in the Academy of Sciences were not very deep, or even very shallow. Before the imperial examination in the 19th year of the orthodox year, he had been reading the Four Books and Five Classics, and he switched to studying natural sciences for only one year.
time.
I really didn’t expect that in just one year, I would have such a profound understanding and such deep scheming. Do people who work in science have to learn Sun Tzu’s Art of War every day?
Cao Nai said earnestly: "Listening to your words is worth ten years of reading. I have learned a lesson."
Xu Pu hurriedly said: "I don't dare to take it. I don't dare to take it. Duke Cao will kill me!"
Cao Nai smiled faintly and said: "The descendants are scary. Seeing that there are successors to the Ming Dynasty, I feel relieved!"
Xu Pu repeatedly clasped his fists and saluted: "This junior is so ashamed!"
Cao Nai changed his mind and asked: "Xu Shidu, are you interested in developing a career in the Ministry of Civil Affairs?"
"ah?"
Xu Pu was stunned, what was going on?
Cao Nai laughed and said: "The emperor issued a decree to restructure and reorganize the ministries. One of the most important ones is to add various research institutes. I always thought that the Ministry of Personnel did not need the support of the Academy of Sciences. Today I understand that I am shallow!"
Zhang Yi reacted immediately and hurriedly said: "In fact, the Ministry of Rites also needs talents like Xu Shidu."
Seeing the two people starting to recruit, Yang Shan stopped holding on and said with a smile: "The position of Shaoqing of Honglu Temple is still vacant. Xu Shidu should consider it?"
——
PS: Thanks to the book friend "Lone Star Pendant" for the reward!!
Thanks to book friend "Meng Lao" for the reward!!
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