People in the Three Kingdoms: Starting from Preaching

Chapter 99: This leader is worried

From the very beginning, Xu Chen understood very well that in order to make science take root in this era, it was not something that could be achieved by making some advanced little inventions, but rather it was necessary to change the way of thinking of millions of people. To achieve this, he relied on the "Nature's Book".

If one day the Way of Nature can spread throughout the world along with the Yellow Turbans, the way people view the world will also change along with the Way of Nature.

But this alone is still not enough. To accelerate this process, we need not only comprehensive basic education, but also the construction of a scientific research system, and a certain industrial environment to provide a stage for scientific applications.

If all these necessary conditions can be met, then even if one dies, this civilization will still be able to move forward on its own scientific exploration path.

The overall progress of science and technology is not something that can be achieved by one person alone, but it requires the joint efforts of the whole world.

Xu Chen understood that this matter was difficult, and he himself was not sure how far he could push things in this lifetime.

His eyes fell on the craftsmen in front of him, and he felt an inexplicable sense of urgency in his heart. Although he was only sixteen years old, it could be said that he still had plenty of time to do things.

But in the context of the historical torrent, a person's life is really too short. Perhaps before you have time to do anything, your life will be over.

The road ahead is long and difficult. I am really worried.
These craftsmen in front of him are naturally the result of Xu Chen’s efforts to build a scientific research system.

Although this kind of business seems a bit ridiculous for these illiterate craftsmen, if they succeed in digging out well water one day, then the beginning of things must be the first handful of soil now.

In this era, there are no native scientific and technological talents. If you want them, you can only cultivate them yourself.

Craftsmen are the most suitable group in my opinion. Although they do not have scientific thinking and professional theories, they at least have enough practical experience.

Teach them the scientific experimental methods yourself and then see what results they can produce.

Xu Chen's speech undoubtedly confused the craftsmen. They were still unable to realize what position they occupied in the Great Heavenly Master's plan.

Craftsmen have always been regarded as menial workers and have not been taken seriously at all.

The fact that Xu Chen had such high expectations for them at this time made them flattered, but it also meant greater pressure for them.

What if I can't learn it in the future? What if I delay the work of the Great Heavenly Master?
In such a confused and fearful mood, the craftsmen began their life in Yuyang. According to the arrangement of the Yellow Turbans, they would have to work and live in Yuyang for a long time.

Near the Yuyang government office, there was originally a manor of a powerful family. The outer walls have been demolished by the Yellow Turbans, and one of the inner courtyards is now used to accommodate these craftsmen.

Soon a doorplate was hung on the doorpost of the inner courtyard. The three words on it were the first three words the craftsmen recognized after coming here. They were called "Gongshiyuan". From now on, they were all considered to be people of this Gongshiyuan.

The reason for the temporary situation is because of an elimination system established by the Great Heavenly Master.

Once they enter the Institute of Engineering, they can enjoy relatively good treatment and prospects, but if their subsequent performance is not good, the Institute of Engineering will send them back home.

The director of the Institute of Engineering is now the Great Heavenly Master himself. This means that the craftsmen are directly under the jurisdiction of the Great Heavenly Master, and they have a relatively special status at the moment.

After entering the Engineering Institute, they work for wages every day, and such a stable source of income is very attractive to them.

Whether a craftsman's life is good or not depends entirely on whether he can find work on weekdays. His actual income is extremely unstable. He also has to take into account a certain amount of agricultural production to make a living.

Now that the Institute of Works pays them a stable salary, they are of course overjoyed. Not to mention that the Institute of Works also has a grade and promotion system. As long as they work hard, they can continuously improve their grade and treatment.

However, although they can now enter the Institute of Engineering, whether they can stay there in the end depends on their subsequent work and study performance.

During this period, the craftsmen worked under the arrangement of the Grand Master during the day, and at night, they lit a circle of torches and gathered together with the officers of the Yellow Turban Army to learn how to read and do basic calculations with the Grand Master.

After arriving at the Engineering Institute, the director, also known as the Great Taoist Priest, assigned them two tasks. One of them was to let them work together with their talents to build a papermaking workshop.

But this papermaking workshop really left them at a loss.

Papermaking technology was not yet popular at that time, and it was even more difficult to find craftsmen familiar with these techniques in their small county. In the end, it was only after the great master explained the process to them that they were able to get a clue.

So, under the guidance of Xu Chen and with the craftsmen using their ingenuity, the workshop started to work little by little.

Xu Chen only designed the basic layout of the workshop for them. After the necessary pulp pool, water channel and kiln were determined, the subsequent construction was entirely up to the craftsmen. After giving the craftsmen a requirement to optimize the process and increase the output efficiency, Xu Chen left the matter alone and only came to inspect it after the workshop was completed.

According to Xu Chen's estimation, it would take at least half a month to complete the workshop and put it into use.

Once the papermaking workshop is up and running, Yuyang will be able to produce books, and movable type printing can be introduced earlier. Even if the output will not be too high, it can reduce the workload of teaching craftsmen and soldiers. Now there is not even a teaching material for teaching, which is really not a good thing.

Although he could make use of those demoted officials in order to impart knowledge, firstly, Xu Chen did not trust these guys that much, and secondly, those guys simply could not do what he taught.

For example, mathematics was not something they could teach. Although the level of mathematics in this era was not low, only a specific group of people who had inherited mathematics from their family had high levels of mathematics. Scholars who were proficient in this field were quite rare.

Not to mention that the mathematics that I teach also uses a lot of formulas and symbols, which is very different from the mathematics of the original era.

Even for characters, in order to improve teaching efficiency, Xu Chen naturally taught his own simplified characters, and no one else could teach except himself.

As a result, Xu Chen had no choice but to suffer and take all the responsibilities of teaching and educating on his own. Perhaps he would not be able to break away from the role of a teacher until he had trained the first batch of talents based on the natural Tao knowledge system.

Xu Chen, who had just returned to the office from the workshop, was grabbed by someone before he had time to catch his breath.

"Master, you are finally back. I have been waiting for you for a long time. Now this big sky lantern has taken shape. However, after I tried to light it, the effect was not ideal. Please give me some advice, Master!"

Zhang Zhongjing grabbed Xu Chen's hand, his brows were furrowed into a knot. One could imagine how troubled he was about this problem.

Although he is a doctor, things like human ability to ascend to heaven still have a fatal attraction to him.

Especially when he learned the principles of hot and cold air and knew that this was theoretically feasible, he became even more anxious. At present, the production results of the big sky lantern were not ideal, which made him very worried.

I, Zhang Zhongjing, also want to try the feeling of looking down at the earth from the sky, but I can’t wait, not even for a quarter of an hour!

"I know Zhongjing is very anxious, but don't be anxious yet." Xu Chen nodded helplessly.

But before he could continue speaking, Zhang Zhongjing had already pulled him to the other side.

Due to his eagerness to succeed, Zhang Zhongjing tried to make the sky lantern bigger as possible, so the construction site was naturally in the parade ground in Yuyang.

What Zhang Zhongjing brought all the way here and entered Xu Chen's field of vision were Zhang Zhongjing's achievements during this period.

At first glance, it actually looks very much like a hot air balloon. This is because the structure of the Kongming lantern is almost the same as that of a hot air balloon. Now that a larger one is made, the structure is of course no different from that of a hot air balloon.

You can see that there is a large wooden basket underneath the hot air balloon, and next to it is a bracket that lifts up the entire large airbag above, keeping it in a relatively expanded state. The basket and the airbag are connected by ropes, and of course there are some light branches inside to support the shape of the airbag.

When you take a closer look, you can see the material of the airbag, which is actually soft silk cloth, which is considered a huge expense in this day and age.

If Xu Chen had not plundered a large number of powerful families and was willing to support Zhang Zhongjing in doing this, I am afraid that Zhang Zhongjing would not even be able to get the right materials.

As for the bundles of hay nearby, they are actually the fuel for the hot air balloon. (PS: The fuel for the first successful hot air balloon launch was straw. Now it is just to verify the feasibility of flying. There is no need or conditions to find a better fuel.)
At first glance, all the elements are present. It seems that Zhang Zhongjing is really capable when it comes to doing things.

However, it seems that there is nothing wrong with this, so why is the effect not ideal?

Xu Chen asked him: "What exactly is going on?"

Zhang Zhongjing sighed and said, "Master, please watch carefully while I demonstrate it to you!"

After saying that, he turned around and started to tinker with it. Two Yellow Turbans also helped him. Zhang Zhongjing jumped into the hanging basket, put hay into a large metal stove in a barrel fixed above his head, and lit it.

A wisp of green smoke came out of the hay, and soon a raging fire began to appear. Zhang Zhongjing just stared at the fire. Whenever the fire was not strong enough, the yellow turban next to him would hand him new hay to keep the fire going again.

After a while, Xu Chen saw the air bag in the silk cloth slowly begin to swell, which made him unable to help but nod his head. Isn't this okay?
But Zhang Zhongjing just sighed at such a scene. In fact, when he saw this reaction for the first time, he almost cried with excitement. He thought he had a chance to ascend to heaven, but as time passed, he only saw the airbag inflating, but there was no sound of taking off.

After being disappointed once, he naturally wouldn't be so excited when he saw such a scene again.

(End of this chapter)