"Really?" When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, his eyes suddenly lit up and he quickly confirmed.
"Of course!" Liu Weichao heard this and said without thinking, "Rubber has a wide range of uses. As long as you can think of it, it can be used in basically anything. Flying in the sky, swimming in the sea, running on the ground, and even in the development of weapons.
, everything from daily wear to even things between men and women are made of rubber..."
"..." Emperor Chongzhen was stunned when he heard this. The wide range of uses of this rubber was obviously beyond his understanding.
However, Liu Weichao still whetted his appetite and said: "Not to mention other things, there is only one application, which is to make silk stockings. At least in my world, this thing has a very low cost, but it is very popular with women. The profit is definitely
Very high!”
Upon hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen couldn't understand why silk stockings were so popular, but it didn't stop him from knowing how profitable this rubber was, so he immediately made a decision and said, "Okay, I'll wait until Zheng Zhilong arrives in the capital.
Let him send someone to South America to get this rubber!"
"Oh?" Liu Weichao was a little surprised when he heard this, "Zheng Zhilong is coming to the capital?"
Upon hearing this question, Emperor Chongzhen smiled and explained: "Don't we need to rebuild Dongjiang Town? Without a navy... the navy can't do it. Now I actually don't have many ships here. The ships that used to transport troops to Ningyuan,
I recruited them all at short notice. Therefore, I sent an order to Zheng Zhilong, asking him to come to the capital to discuss the matter of the Denglai Navy!"
When Liu Weichao heard this, he gave advice to Emperor Chongzhen: "I feel that we should treat Zheng Zhilong with both kindness and power. We can't let him think that the Ming Dynasty's navy can't do without him. At least let him realize that even without him, or that he is an enemy of the imperial court.
, the imperial court can also destroy him. Under such a premise, he will obey your arrangements well."
When he said this, he smiled again and added: "Of course, I'm just guessing on my own. You can figure it out for yourself!"
After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen acknowledged: "Applying kindness and power at the same time has always been an effective way to control your subordinates. Now in terms of the army, I already have a strong army. However, in terms of the navy, I have to prepare a Denglai navy."
Discuss with Zheng Zhilong. Moreover, in the short term, the court’s money and food will be used on the army and people’s livelihood. Even if we take a step back, warships will not be built in a short time.”
At this point, he said to Liu Weichao helplessly: "How can I do both kindness and power? I still have to think carefully about it!"
The implication is that Emperor Chongzhen does not have many bargaining chips on the sea!
When Liu Weichao heard this, he smiled and immediately said to Emperor Chongzhen: "This is simple! That Zheng Zhilong is obviously a smart man. You don't even need to have a navy to threaten Zheng Zhilong, as long as you tell him the plan
, tell him about the steamship, and show him the power of the artillery made of steel. He will naturally know that even if he feels that the maritime power is stronger than the imperial court in a short period of time, he will definitely understand that in the future, the Ming Dynasty's maritime power will
Only the Imperial Navy exists!"
"In fact, it is more accurate to say that he is a maritime merchant than a pirate king. I feel that after Zheng Zhilong understands his situation, he will sell it for a good price while the court still needs him, so as not to be settled by you in the future!"
Emperor Chongzhen couldn't help but smile when he heard this, nodded immediately and said: "Yes, you are right!"
"That's right!" Liu Weichao suddenly remembered something and immediately said to Emperor Chongzhen, "In your era, how to cross the Pacific from the Americas to Asia, and how to return from Asia to the Americas, this route is currently only in the hands of the Spanish. However,
With me here, I can give you the position of the ocean current and so on. When the time comes, you can give it to Zheng Zhilong, which will also reduce his worries and shock him at the same time!"
When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, a smile that you know immediately appeared on his face, and he immediately responded to Liu Weichao: "Hey, I know!"
After saying that, the two couldn't help but look at each other and smile.
After a while, Liu Weichao first said to Emperor Chongzhen: "Actually, there are better applications of electricity than electric lights, such as wired telegraphs, telephones, etc. However, your wires cannot be stretched over long distances in the wild, and there are various problems.
For such a problem, the cost is too high for you in the short term. And your current income and expenditure are not balanced. I don't recommend using your limited manpower, material and financial resources in places that cannot be used temporarily."
Emperor Chongzhen felt a little regretful when he heard this. However, he also admitted that what Liu Weichao said made sense.
As far as he is concerned, the most important thing now is to reorganize the court's fiscal revenue, that is, to rectify the local area and re-establish the tax system.
The second is to put down the rebellion, at least to ensure that there are no more wars in the pass, so that people's livelihood can be restored.
The third is to recuperate and recuperate so that the world can recover after the chaos.
On the basis of these three things, we will go to regain Liaodong and at the same time expand outward and open up new territories.
It is also on the basis of these three things that we can use technology to improve productivity if we have room for it.
Otherwise, how can we use technology to improve productivity without even a foundation?
At this time, Liu Weichao saw that Emperor Chongzhen agreed with his point of view, so he said to him: "I have compiled a document about the application of power generation and electric lights, most of which are what I just said. You can take a look first
, if you don’t understand anything later, you can ask me.”
At this point, he paused and then added: "By the way, I have to take the unified postgraduate examination in January, and it's a critical time for review. My phone has been set to silent. If you contact me, if I don't receive it for a while,
Don’t worry, I’ll call you back when I see it later!”
"January? It's almost here. It's only two months away!" When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he immediately nodded and said, "I understand!"
After hearing this, Liu Weichao smiled and said: "I'm talking about the Gregorian calendar, but you're talking about the lunar calendar. The lunar calendar is one month later than the Gregorian calendar. I have to take the exam next month!"
"Ah?" Emperor Chongzhen was a little surprised when he heard this.
In fact, ancient China also had a solar calendar, and what Liu Weichao is familiar with is the Western calendar, also called the Gregorian calendar, which the ancient Romans learned from the Egyptians and popularized.
Liu Weichao had no intention of explaining this.
In fact, if he wanted to explain, he would have to search for information on the Internet. The reason why he was able to talk about the electricity thing just now was because he had done his homework before.
Otherwise, how could an ordinary person know these things so clearly?
Emperor Chongzhen wanted to ask again, but seeing that Liu Weichao didn't seem to be interested in what he said, he also felt that he had learned a lot from Liu Weichao after chatting with him for such a long time and needed to digest it, so in the end he did not ask again.
This time the conversation has come to an end.
As the video communication ended, Emperor Chongzhen received the document sent by Liu Weichao and immediately opened it and started reading it.
After reading it about once, he couldn't help but feel very happy.
In this document, Liu Weichao designed a lighting system for the Forbidden City.
It is thermal power generation and the electric lights delivered to various government offices for lighting at night.
The power of thermal power generation is determined based on the amount of electricity consumed.
After everything is stable, you can even provide electricity to people outside the palace. Of course, if you want to connect to the power grid, you will naturally have to pay. The price is definitely not cheap!
But as Liu Weichao said, it is just such a lighting system that involves many aspects.
Emperor Chongzhen did not want to delay, and immediately sent an order to Song Yingxing, the chief minister of science and technology, as well as the master craftsmen in glass, machinery, paint, etc., to come to the Wenhua Palace to meet him.
Song Yingxing was not at the military battle station, but at the Royal Academy of Ming Dynasty. When he rushed to the Wenhua Hall and found those master craftsmen, that is, skilled craftsmen, he immediately knew that the emperor had something good. He immediately knew that the emperor had something good.
So happy!
When Emperor Chongzhen arrived and announced the situation, he saw how happy Song Yingxing was and poured cold water on him: "This matter sounds simple to say, but there are still many problems in actually realizing it!"
As he spoke, his expression became serious, and he looked at the technical talents below and said: "First of all, as conductive copper, there should be no impurities as much as possible, and the copper wire should be as uniform in thickness as possible, and it should be able to draw wires on a large scale.
."
"It can be painted with green paint for insulation, but it also needs to be waterproofed. Ceramic pipes must be used in the palace. In addition, you can also try jute asphalt instead. This is probably the best at present."
"The carbon filament must be carbonized bamboo filament. There is no bamboo in the north, so we have to have some transported from the south."
"In the palace, light bulbs must be made by burning fire to remove oxygen. You can also make some by vacuuming the mercury, but remember that such light bulbs are dangerous."
"The base of the electric lamp must be made of ceramic, and it must be confirmed!"
"..."
Emperor Chongzhen mentioned many points in one breath. Of course, Liu Weichao had reminded them in the document. Otherwise, he would not have been able to find so many points that needed attention after reading the document.
However, from what Song Yingxing and others heard, they felt that Emperor Chongzhen was quite familiar with the application of electricity and could be called a master. Everyone admired him.
Finally, Emperor Chongzhen said to them: "I will not give you a time limit for this matter. Start doing it first. Test all aspects. Once you have figured it out, you can start renovating the Forbidden City later!"
"Wei Chen accepts the decree!" Song Yingxing was very excited after hearing this and eager to try. He quickly took the lead and loudly announced the decree.
Then, he was eager to study this new good thing.
As a result, Song Yingxing stopped him again and asked the master craftsmen to retreat first. Obviously, he still had something to talk to Song Yingxing.