At the end of Qin, I became a son of the plane

Chapter 671: The Beginning of the Second Technological Revolution and the Seleucid Situation

World Expo.

Xu Fan, Zhang Cang and Xu Aimin also boarded a small four-wheeled vehicle, which was the style of the tourist sightseeing vehicles of later generations. Weiwei Liu Chang was the driver, driving the electric car slowly in the venue. Shangshu Ling Li Qiang sat next to Liu Chang, vigilantly paying attention to the movements around him, and behind them sat Xu Fan and the other two.

Looking at the vigilant Li Qiang and Liu Chang, Xu Fan suddenly thought of the first time Cixi took a car in history. It is said that she first disliked the driver sitting in the front seat for being inappropriate, and then asked the driver to kneel down to drive. She almost had a car accident, and then the car was abandoned. Liu Chang was lucky that the Han Dynasty abolished all feudal etiquette. Otherwise, it would not be so easy to drive the car so smoothly. The etiquette of the feudal era was not designed for the industrial era.

Xu Aiming, who was riding an electric car for the first time, was extremely surprised and said, "Electric cars are easy to manufacture, stable in navigation, and quiet. With so many advantages, why did you still work so hard to study internal combustion engines?"

Xu Fan and Zhang Cang smiled at each other with gloating looks, which made Xu Aimin puzzled and asked, "My son, is there something wrong with what you said?"

Xu Fan said: "All of these are correct, but electric cars have an extremely obvious disadvantage, which is that the range is too short. This electric car will run out of power after driving for more than ten miles and will have to be recharged."

Zhang Cang said with a smile: "If this is a mature product, how could Your Majesty let these profiteers get away with it?"

Xu Fan said: "It will be difficult for electric motors to replace internal combustion engines in the next few decades."

Liu Chang was surprised and said, "How come such a good car only has such a short range? I want to buy one for myself."

Xu Fan said: "The main reason is that the battery technology has not yet been achieved. This depends on your efforts to develop the motor technology tree."

To some extent, electric cars have taken a detour, but Xu You and other masters who study electric cars do not think so. All the masters who have seen electric cars believe that the motor has a simple structure and strong power, far surpassing internal combustion engines.

In the dispute between electric motors and internal combustion engines, most of the Han Dynasty's craftsmen were more optimistic about the potential of electric motors. In fact, if Xu Fan had not been a person from later generations, he would also be confused by the high-efficiency electric motors. After all, compared with the complex internal combustion engines, electric motors have comprehensive advantages. However, Xu Fan knew that the trend of electric vehicles replacing internal combustion engines would not appear until a hundred years later.

Obviously, master craftsmen like Xu You underestimated the difficulty of increasing battery energy density, but Xu Fan did not stop Xu You and his team from verifying this technology tree. Firstly, if electric cars could not be made, efficient motors could be made. Secondly, the Han Dynasty now had sufficient resources to conduct experiments. Wrong choices were also part of exploring the world and were a valuable asset to the Han Dynasty's master craftsmen.

Xu Aimin said: "It's a pity. The efficiency of electric motors is much higher than that of steam engines, but I didn't expect that they have this defect of batteries."

Xu Fan smiled and said, "As long as the motor does not move, this is still ten times more efficient than a steam engine. The machines of our Han Dynasty are not limited to trains and steam trains. Most of the steam engines in the factory do not need to be moved. As long as the power grid system is built, the steam engines in our Han Dynasty factories can be replaced by motors."

In order to make Xu Aimin pay attention, Xu Fan said: "The steam engine brought about the first technological revolution, which increased the world's wealth by a hundred times. Electric motors powered by electricity will bring about the second technological revolution, and the world's wealth will increase a hundred times again. If the Han Dynasty wants to build a harmonious world, it must pay attention to the research and development of electric motors. Otherwise, even if the Han Dynasty becomes the world's hegemon with the help of steam engines, it will lag behind in the electric age, and the hegemony of the Han Dynasty will be shaken until it is replaced."

China in later generations was reluctant to give up the glory of the steam age and fell behind in the second scientific and technological revolution. Even though China had more than 30 million square kilometers of land and was the empire on which the sun never set, it was still caught up by latecomers.

From the two world wars, we can see that Niu Niu's military strength is no longer comparable to Hans the Cat. He had to lead the Gallic Chicken and the Russians to siege him to barely tie. The other bald eagle, on the other hand, has firmly held the top position in industrial strength. If it weren't for Hans the Cat taking the lead, it wouldn't be long before the bald eagle would challenge Niu Niu's global dominance. This is the advantage brought by scientific and technological achievements.

When Xu Aimin heard that his father attached so much importance to electric motors and even compared them to new steam engines, he immediately began to take them seriously as well. He grew up in a period when steam engines were widely popularized in the Han Dynasty. Naturally, he understood the role of steam engines in promoting the national strength of the Han Dynasty. Without steam engines, even if the Han Dynasty ushered in the Age of Discovery, the national strength of the Han Dynasty would not have been as strong as it is today.

Xu Aimin said solemnly: "I will ask the Prime Minister's Office to pay attention to the promotion of motors and make it a major government matter of the court."

Xu Fan said: "That's good. Your father can't help you for much longer."

Xu Fan's main job in recent years has been to develop the technology tree, so at the World Expo he was more curious about the products of other countries, so their fleet was sailing outward. And their fleet also aroused the curiosity of visitors, but in the entire venue, there were 300 such electric vehicles, and although everyone was curious, they only stayed at the point of curiosity.

Along the way, he saw Indian venues, the specialties inside were all Indian spices, there were various statues of gods, and he even saw quite a few Buddha statues, but the styles were somewhat different from those of later generations. However, these statues had quite a few customers. The people of the Han Dynasty believed in courtesy, and they would not suffer any loss by worshiping the gods. It would not cost much to buy a statue of a god, and if it really worked, then they would make back all the money.

In addition, there is also a bustling Egyptian venue. Compared with the anthropomorphic Indian statues, the Egyptian statues are more often in the form of animals, which is popular among the children. For example, the statue of Anubis, the god of death, is very similar to Dahuang, and many children cried and shouted that they wanted to buy one to take home.

Xu Fan was a little amused when he saw this scene. A good exhibition hall for statues of gods was turned into an exhibition hall for figures, and their business was still good.

They came to the exhibition hall of the Xiongnu Kingdom. The Xiongnu Kingdom was the second most powerful country in the world. Its industrial development level was not bad either, and it could beat all countries except the Han Dynasty. Therefore, in this exhibition hall, not only could you see various Xiongnu local specialties, but also a large number of various machines. Although they did not look as exquisite as those of the Han Dynasty, they were practical and cheap. Many people from the countries close to the Xiongnu Kingdom came to inquire about the price of the machines, and the coming and going of people seemed more lively than other venues.

When Junchen's eldest son, Prince Yu Shan, saw Xu Fan, Xu Aimin and others immediately went over to pay their respects, but Xu Fan immediately stopped him and said, "I came here just to watch the fun, you just mind your own business."

But how could Yu Shan really leave like this? Instead, he slowly came over and whispered, "I, Prince Yu Shan of the Xiongnu Kingdom, greet your Majesties."

Xu Aimin whispered, "This is Junchen's eldest son."

Xu Fan suddenly realized, "So he is Junchen's son."

Back then, he wanted to see if Junchen could become the "Peter the Great" of the Han Dynasty. Now it seems that Junchen is doing a good job. If the Han Dynasty had not changed its strategy, Junchen might really have been able to drink water from the Mediterranean.

Xu Fan became interested and walked to the Xiongnu Pavilion after getting off the electric bike. There were quite a lot of goods inside, including various cotton cloth and cashmere cloth. Among them, high-end cashmere cloth was one of the specialties of the Xiongnu people. Before industrialization, high-end cashmere was extremely precious. There was a saying that an inch of cashmere was worth an inch of gold. After the Han Dynasty started industrialization, the number of sheep increased greatly, and the production capacity of cashmere also increased rapidly, but the price of high-end cashmere did not drop much. The animal husbandry of the Xiongnu Kingdom was not inferior to that of the Han Dynasty. Every year, a large amount of high-end cashmere was imported into the Han Dynasty. Cashmere has become one of the pillar industries of the Xiongnu Kingdom.

The Xiongnu Kingdom brought various kinds of wine, saxaul and other agricultural products, which were not even rare. After all, 90% of the products at the World Expo were agricultural products. However, the Xiongnu Kingdom also brought a lot of small machines and various types of firearms, with even more varieties than those of the Han Dynasty.

Firearms can be said to be a unique technology tree developed by the Xiongnu Kingdom. Influenced by Xu Fan, the Han Dynasty manufactured various mechanical equipment and liked standardization. For example, the Han Dynasty used flintlock rifles at the beginning, and there were less than five improved versions. However, in the Xiongnu Kingdom’s exhibition hall, there were dozens of different styles of flintlock rifles and many types of rifles, such as Confucian rifles, carbines, multi-barreled rifles, shotguns, and many strange shapes of firearms. The highlight was the different styles. In the Han Dynasty, many people stopped to buy them.

The Han Dynasty was influenced by the Warring States Period and did not ban guns. However, anyone who wanted to own a gun needed a gun license, and the management of ammunition was also very strict. Therefore, it was not against the law to buy guns in the Han Dynasty. Most of the other vassal states of the Han Dynasty were still in a wild state, and guns were necessities. Therefore, the global atmosphere now did not ban guns. Instead, it became a symbol of personal bravery. There were many mass-produced guns and mid-to-high-end handmade guns, but the Han Dynasty was relatively more focused on mass production and standardization. Liu Chang looked at these long guns and curled his lips and said, "Gaudy."

Xu Aimin said that he had also seen a lot of Huns' weapons. When dealing with the Han people, the main thing was roughness. He was used to using the Han rifles, so he felt a little uncomfortable using the Huns' rifles.

At this time, Yu Shan came to Xu Fan with two men and said, "Grand Emperor, Prime Minister Zhang, this is a small gift from the junior."

His men handed over two cashmere coats to Liu Chang.

Xu Fan nodded calmly and said, "You are thoughtful."

Then he said to Xu Aimin: "This time I brought hundreds of Ferghana horses, among which there is a horse king named Wuzhui, who is the king of Ferghana horses. I would like to present it to Your Majesty."

Xu Aimin nodded and said, "That's thoughtful."

Even though it was now an age of firearms, the upper class of the Han Dynasty still admired BMWs extremely. Almost every large family had several BMWs, and the Ferghana BMW was the crown of all BMWs in the world, each of which was worth a fortune. The Han princes paid tribute to BMWs from all over the world, but his favorite was still the Ferghana BMW.

That is to say, relying on the pursuit of all the nobles of the Han Dynasty, the Xiongnu Kingdom could earn more than 10 billion yuan every year from the Ferghana horses. This was the most important pillar industry of the Xiongnu Kingdom, even surpassing oil. Although the output value of oil was high, the profit was not as high as that of the Ferghana horses. Therefore, the Xiongnu people attached great importance to the Ferghana horse industry and supervised it very strictly. Each horse had its own household registration, and when exported, they would try to castrate the horses to prevent the loss of stallions.

Seeing that Xu Aimin was in a very good mood, Yu Shan immediately took advantage of the situation and said, "Your Majesty, our country wants to buy the latest 10,000-ton fertilizer factory of the Han Dynasty, but the Dianke and Shaofu restrict the export on the grounds that the 10,000-ton fertilizer factory is not on the Han Dynasty's export list. However, we Xiongnu are also part of the Han Dynasty, as you have acknowledged. The people of our Xiongnu country also need to have enough food, and the fields also need fertilizer to increase production. However, the Dianke and Shaofu regard our Xiongnu country as an outsider and do not want our Xiongnu people to have enough food. You must make the decision for our Xiongnu country."

Xu Aimin was puzzled when he heard this. Shangshu Ling Li Qiang approached Xu Aimin and whispered, "Your Majesty, the Xiongnu Kingdom has once again thought about annexing the Seleucid Kingdom in the past two years, and has even annexed many border cities. Fertilizer can be used to make gunpowder. The Minister of Personnel and the Minister of the Imperial Household are worried that the Xiongnu will use the fertilizer factory to manufacture munitions, affecting the military balance of Daqinzhou."

This has to start with the development of the Seleucid rebel army. With the guidance of Han advisers such as Liu Ruyi in building the army, grassroots organizations, and grassroots governments, the Seleucid rebel army finally slowly emerged from the trough. Last year, the Seleucid rebel army raised an army of 50,000 and conquered the Seleucid capital of Antioch, and captured Antiochus V.

The rebels then launched a ruthless purge of the nobles of Antioch. The prime minister of the Seleucid Empire and a group of Seleucid nobles were beheaded under the attention of the whole nation. Antiochus V should have been beheaded as well, but Liu Ruyi saw that he was just a child under ten years old, so he pleaded with the rebel leader for mercy, and Antiochus V was put under supervision.

At the beginning of this year, the rebel army once again captured the city of Damascus, captured Demetrius I, and then beheaded Demetrius I and his nobles in Damascus. The Seleucid Empire officially perished.

The ruthless purge by the rebels caused panic among the nobles and powerful people of the entire Seleucid Empire, and even in Daqinzhou. It was the first time in Daqinzhou that a peasant uprising beheaded nobles and even the king. The sanctity of the royal power suffered a huge blow, and the aristocratic system that depended on the royal power also suffered a great impact.

The nobles of the countries in Daqinzhou began to reject the Seleucid rebels and cut off their trade with them. The original nobles of the Seleucids lived in fear, fearing that the rebels would attack their territory. Then they killed their entire family. They began to look for new backers to resist the invasion of the rebels. After searching for a long time, they found that only the Xiongnu Kingdom could help them, so they sent envoys to the Xiongnu Kingdom for help.

The Xiongnu Chanyu Junchen was overjoyed to receive help from the nobles of the Seleucid Empire. He had always planned to invade the Seleucid Empire, but he was taught a lesson by the Han army and had to suppress his expansionist ideas. But now that the nobles of the Seleucid Empire asked him for help, it was not an invasion, but he was protecting the Seleucid Empire.

So Junchen sent 10,000 troops to the south of the Seleucid Empire in the name of revenge for Demetrius I. The invasion of the Huns naturally aroused the dissatisfaction of the rebels. The rebels spread the fact of the Huns' invasion to the entire Seleucid Empire and called on the Seleucid people, young and old, from all over the country, to fight against the invading Huns together. At the same time, a battalion of soldiers was sent, and the two sides fought at the western beacon of the Seleucid Fortress.

The result was that the rebels were defeated and returned. After this battle, the nobles of the Seleucid Empire quickly realized that they could become nobles in the Xiongnu Kingdom, but if the rebels rose up, their entire families would be killed. So the nobles of the Seleucid Empire in the east had no choice but to surrender to the Xiongnu Kingdom.

The military officials also learned from the incident of annexation of Parthia which made the Han Dynasty vigilant. Instead of bullying the Seleucid nobles who defected to the Xiongnu, they recognized their identities in the Xiongnu and acknowledged the territories of these nobles as autonomous regions. The Xiongnu only had nominal rule over these places.

And Junchen's behavior also made the Seleucid nobles feel at ease. This situation was the best for them. They were protected by the powerful Huns and preserved their families, territories and noble identities. The Huns were much stronger than Seleucids, and it would be better for the Seleucids not to become Huns.

But for the Seleucid rebels, the nobles' behavior was a naked betrayal. They could not accept the fact that one-third of the Seleucid territory was annexed by the Huns. The two sides had already started a new round of arms race. The Seleucid rebels could not tolerate the fact that one-third of their territory was occupied by the Huns. And the Huns would not spit out the fat meat they had swallowed.

After Li Qiang's detailed explanation, Xu Aimin finally understood the detailed situation of the Seleucid Empire. Xu Aimin said angrily, "These nobles of the Seleucid Empire have no integrity at all. They are simply not worthy of being human beings."

Even though he had been educated by Xu Fan and understood that the interests of the nobility and the country might not be the same, he still felt furious when he heard that the Seleucid nobles had ruthlessly betrayed their homeland. If the benefits were sufficient in the future, would the nobles of the Han Dynasty betray the interests of the Han Dynasty?
He soon smiled bitterly, this was inevitable. In the late Warring States Period, Guo Kai, a treacherous minister of Zhao State, and Hou Sheng, a treacherous minister of Qi State, were already prime ministers of a country, and their status in their own country was second only to the emperor. However, for the sake of their own interests, they could ruthlessly sell out their motherland. Guo Kai became the fifth most famous general in the Warring States Period, and he single-handedly eliminated the two famous generals Li Mu and Lian Po. Hou Sheng persuaded King Jian of Qi to give up the entire Qi State without a fight, and 30 Qi troops surrendered.

Xu Aimin asked: "Can the Seleucid army defeat the Huns?"

Li Qiang shook his head and said, "From the intelligence we received, the fighting power of the rebels is far inferior to that of the Huns. Seleucid rebels may not even be able to keep their current territory, let alone regain their original territory."

Xu Aimin thought for a moment and said, "Can we introduce military forces from other countries in Daqinzhou? The Huns' invasion of the Seleucid Empire was also a huge threat to other countries in Daqinzhou. I remember that decades ago, the Huns invaded the Parthian Empire. At that time, the Parthians asked for help from other countries in Daqinzhou, and many countries also helped the Parthian Empire."

Li Qiang smiled bitterly and said, "Although there are republics in Daqinzhou, most of them still have kings, and the republics are also aristocratic republics. The Seleucid rebels killed their own kings and massacred their own nobles. This has caused resentment in most of the Daqinzhou countries. To them, the threat of the Seleucid rebels is even greater than that of the Huns. They are unwilling to help the Seleucid rebels."

The Huns and other countries in Daqinzhou only have national conflicts. Especially this time, Junchen used other nobles of the Seleucid Empire as an example to tell the nobles of Daqinzhou that they are all family members, while they have a life-and-death class conflict with the rebel army.

The nobles of other countries in Daqin Continent naturally knew what to choose. Even if the Huns really invaded the Mediterranean, they could still continue to live a wealthy life as Hun nobles. However, if they allowed the Seleucid rebels to grow stronger and deceived their own citizens, their lives would be difficult. So when the Huns invaded this time, the countries in Daqin Continent not only did not call for war and killing, but instead they all blocked the trade routes of the Seleucid rebels.

Xu Aimin said calmly: "Return the Ferghana horse to the Xiongnu prince, and tell the Xiongnu people that I don't like their behavior."

Li Qiang nodded and said, "Yes."

(End of this chapter)