Datang: What's wrong with my fief being a billion points larger?

The dream of a train, although it was just an idea, and a steam train at that, made Li Yuanji's heart burn with excitement.

Once the steam engine is officially put into use, the many industries and factories he had previously arranged will be improved.

As long as steam technology can be matured and mastered, it will only be a matter of time before it is applied to all walks of life, and it will not be too difficult.

Duan Shilin was shocked as he listened to Li Yuanji's words and looked at the drawn drawings.

Although they had made the steam engine, driving such a large iron vehicle was still a bit beyond his imagination, especially the railway track. He had never thought that it could be possible like this.

Duan Shilin's heart was filled with excitement. The more unknown it was, the more he wanted to make it. He also wanted to see the scene of pieces of iron moving under the power of a steam engine.

"Your Majesty, I will start researching right away. Please rest assured that once it is manufactured, I will inform you immediately!"

Li Yuanji nodded, obviously very satisfied with Duan Shilin.

Li Yuanji was indeed satisfied. With the steam principle technology and some directions he explained, he was able to use the steam engine. How could he not be satisfied? This saved him a lot of contribution points.

“Okay, I’ll leave this to you, now I’ll talk about the other things.

In addition to cars, have you ever thought about putting this steam engine on a ship to replace human power and let the ship sail on the sea? "

This was another desire of Li Yuanji, ironclad ships and battleships.

Before the steam engine could be used, industrial technology was always limited, but after the steam engine was used, steel smelting and firearms technology would undergo a great change.

Battleships, when equipped with more advanced and powerful firearms, will be truly giant and invincible when sailing on the sea.

The reason why we cannot make ironclad ships now is that if the power system is not solved, we cannot use ironclad ships because it is too difficult to drive them manually.

As long as the power problem is solved, ironclad ships will no longer be a dream.

After listening to this, Duan Shilin thought for a moment and spoke excitedly.

"Your Majesty, theoretically, a steam engine can drive wheels to propel an iron cart forward, so it can also drive a large ship to sail on the sea.

It’s just that the amount of energy provided by the steam engine needs to be changed. We have to manufacture larger steam engines that provide more energy.

At the same time, how to connect the forward movement of the ships also needs to be solved.

I will start allocating manpower after I leave, and the three experiments will start at the same time, so that we can produce results as soon as possible!"

In Duan Shilin's mind, the steam engines used in iron cars and ships are not small and they all work on similar principles. As long as one is successful, he is confident that all will be successful.

Li Yuanji then took a look around and went back straight away. Now the research institute's energy was focused on the steam engine, and there was not much else to see. He could also see that Duan Shilin and others wanted to continue their research and development, so he didn't want to disturb Duan Shilin and others.

Walking out of the research institute, Cen Wenben sighed: "Your Majesty, this steam engine is really extraordinary. If everything you said is developed, I can't imagine what the scene will be like."

Li Yuanji laughed immediately after hearing this.

"Jingren, you have never heard of these things before, so it's normal that you don't know.

As for imagination, you might as well think about it boldly. You will be able to walk on the ground, swim in the sea, fly in the sky, and hide in the ground. You will be able to do everything.

The times are progressing, and what we see now is not the final version. How far we can achieve it depends on people like Duan Shilin. "

Li Yuanji was also filled with emotion. The top people of every era were actually very outstanding. Nowadays, people like Duan Shilin were limited by their thinking and could not imagine these things.

But with what he provided, after the ideas were opened up, the progress of research and development was not slow at all. He had underestimated these people and thought it would take longer, but these people adapted very quickly.

Looking at Cen Wenben who was still somewhat shocked, Li Yuanji spoke again.

"Is the establishment of the college under the Research Institute almost done? Have they started recruiting students?"

The establishment of the School of Engineering was decided one year before he went on the expedition. Now, after such a long time, Li Yuanji had no idea how the school was developing.

This engineering college was established to train scientific and technological talents, and its customers were mostly craftsmen and professionals from the Tang Dynasty and other small countries.

As for popularizing it, it is still too early for this academy, and Li Yuanji has no idea of ​​popularizing it for the time being. Insufficient teaching staff is one reason, but more importantly, he has not yet met the conditions for full-scale expansion.

Cen Wenben gradually came back to his senses and said solemnly: "Your Majesty, the School of Engineering has been established. It is now located in Haikang and Panyu. Currently, only two schools have been established.

The college here in Hikang can accommodate 500 students, and the college in Panyu can accommodate 300 people.

All those who entered the academy have been investigated and found to be loyal to the king. They have also been told that after graduation they will enter the Research Institute, Firearms Bureau, Iron Bureau, Navigation Bureau, Water Conservancy, Road and other departments.

One must be loyal to the king to enter, and the knowledge learned must be kept secret from outsiders throughout the process.

As for teachers, personnel have been drawn from various departments and research institutes to start teaching.

The students for both colleges have been enrolled and teaching started three months ago."

After Cen Wenben finished speaking, he said helplessly: "For these two colleges, 800,000 taels of silver were allocated. After Kong Yingda found out, he came to me all day long. I am almost fed up with him. Your Majesty, you have to take good care of him."

Cen Wenben and others were not optimistic about the College of Engineering at first. The government treasury allocated a lot of money for the two colleges. Kong Yingda in particular often came to trouble him because of the allocation of funds to the College of Engineering.

In Kong Yingda's eyes, this money should be given to the Ministry of Education to popularize provincial schools in all states, and then county schools should be gradually opened to use the money on education.

As for the College of Engineering, Kong Yingda totally disapproved of it. In his eyes, only the serious interpretation of the classics was knowledge.

Engineering College, how does it look like that?
The most important thing is that the School of Engineering is not affiliated with the Ministry of Education, but is divided into the Research Institute, which makes Kong Yingda even more unhappy.

When Cen Wenben said this, Li Yuanji also laughed.

"Chongyuan is the 32nd generation descendant of Confucius. As a descendant, it is normal for him to refute. Just explain it to him.

Although Chong Yuan is sometimes pedantic, he is not a stingy person. Now that he is in charge of the Ministry of Education, he naturally hopes that the Ministry of Education can get more support.

I'll talk to him about this after it's over. If he doesn't come to me, I'm afraid this matter won't stop."

Li Yuanji knew that Kong Yingda had no ill intentions, nor was he narrow-minded. As the Minister of Education, he was fighting for the interests of the Ministry of Education, and there was nothing wrong with that.

Now there are wars on all sides and money is tight. The money allocated is limited. It would be strange if Kong Yingda did not fight for it.

But Li Yuanji was helpless. Kong Yingda repeatedly looked for Cen Wenben in the hope of bringing the matter to him. He could already imagine the scene of Kong Yingda asking him for money.

Cen Wenben immediately agreed happily. He had been annoyed by Kong Yingda, and now that Li Yuanji was willing to take over, he couldn't ask for more.

Li Yuanji returned to the carriage and immediately pulled Cen Wenben up. "Jingren, this isn't the first time you've ridden in my carriage, why are you still so reserved?"

Seeing Cen Wenben being so cautious, as if afraid of encountering something, Li Yuanji felt helpless.

Cen Wenben was indeed the person with the most riding on his bicycle. Logically, he should have gotten used to it, but the result was still the same. Li Yuanji didn't know what to say.

"Your Majesty, I am not reserved. I have always been like this."

Cen Wenben was also helpless. Now in Li Yuanji's fiefdom, he was extremely powerful. He did not want to leave a bad impression on Li Yuanji because of some of his actions, lest people mistakenly think that he was arrogant and did not take Li Yuanji seriously.

Where there are people, there are interests. What's more, in the case of Li Yuanji, even though he has great power, it does not mean that he can do whatever he wants.

Cen Wenben knew very well that the higher the position, the more careful he had to be and not give people a chance to criticize him. Otherwise, the higher his position now, the harder he would fall in the future, even to pieces.

Cen Wenben then continued speaking.

"Your Majesty, there are a few important matters here that require your decision."

Cen Wenben took out the memorial and Li Yuanji took it and began to read it.

After reading all the memorials, Li Yuanji closed the book and pondered for a while, then looked at Cen Wenben.

“All grain is prohibited from being exported to the Tang Dynasty. No matter how high the price offered by the Tang Dynasty is, it cannot be sold.

According to the intelligence you have obtained, the Tang Dynasty did not use military force against the Western Turks. What does this mean? It means that the Tang Dynasty is preparing for a war with us.

Now we also need to stockpile supplies. We cannot aid the enemy and cannot allow the Tang Dynasty to stockpile enough food."

Among these memorials of Cen Wenben, these two things were placed at the top, which shows that Cen Wenben also attached great importance to this matter, especially that Li Er did not send troops against the Western Turks.

He remembered the agreement he had made with Li Er. Now he could guarantee that Li Er was preparing for a big battle with him. After all, the external threats around the Tang Dynasty had been eliminated, and there was no threat to the northern part of the Tang Dynasty. The army in the north could be withdrawn to the south.

As for food, there are now varying degrees of famine in various parts of the Tang Dynasty. This matter is also Li Er's business. If he really exports food to the Tang Dynasty, it is still unclear how much of it will actually end up in the stomachs of the people.

Especially now that Li Er is obviously going to stockpile supplies, he can't give Li Er another chance.

Li Yuanji's voice did not stop, and he continued: "In addition, all countries must also control the grain trade of the Tang Dynasty.

Now, except for this channel in the north, all other channels, especially sea transportation, are controlled by us, so we should prepare for the blockade.

As for trade, except for necessities such as salt and iron, nothing else needs to be controlled.

As for the materials that need to be imported from the Tang Dynasty, we should intensify our efforts and start collecting them.

The Tang Dynasty is stockpiling supplies, and we must also step up our stockpiling of supplies to prepare for the war that will break out in the future."

Cen Wenben also nodded.

"I think so too. Trade control has already been implemented. The export of necessities such as salt is not only restricted to the Tang Dynasty, but all merchants are restricted to prevent people from smuggling it to the Tang Dynasty.

Three months ago, I asked the princess for permission to allocate an additional one million taels of silver for the storage of supplies that are lacking here.

Fortunately, there are silver mines in Dongzhou Prefecture and Jiaozhou Prefecture. Even though money is needed in all aspects, there is still a portion of silver in the treasury for emergency use."

Li Yuanji did not smile, his expression remained solemn.

“The silver mines in Dongzhou and Jiaozhou are relatively easy to mine in the early stages, but as the difficulty of mining silver increases, it is difficult to provide it like it is now.

Moreover, the wars between the various parties have not stopped yet, which is a big test for us.

Li Er has already started making preparations, but we are still dealing with wars from all sides. We are already in a passive position.

You must be prepared later. After this war, the army will inevitably suffer heavy losses, so you must be prepared to expand the army later.

Now that our fiefdom has grown in size, we need to send troops to garrison everywhere. Currently, our military strength has begun to become insufficient.

When the wars in other areas are over, we will decide on the specific number of troops to be expanded. You will be responsible for keeping up with the financial matters."

Li Yuanji was very worried. He had the advantage in the western and southern battlefields, but even so, the losses in logistical supplies, money and food were still huge.

Especially on the eastern battlefield, the war with Goguryeo has gradually subsided, but Yu Ming and there have been driven to a corner of the eastern grassland. It was only because Feng Ang sent the army in time, otherwise his influence in the grassland would have been completely eliminated.

For him, the only good news is that once these wars are over, there will be basically no more wars in the surrounding areas, and no one will be so blind as to invade his fiefdom.

After all, in these four-way battles, there are hundreds of thousands of enemy troops on each battlefield. Except for the east, the other three directions have battles with a scale of 200,000 to 300,000. He can win them all. Who else would dare to touch his tiger's whiskers?

Cen Wenben kept all this in mind and then looked at Li Yuanji.

“Your Majesty, Luzhou Prefecture and Songzhou Prefecture had another bumper harvest last year, with both rice and cotton yields being very good.

Wang Xuance has already put the affairs of the two governments on track. Can we recall him?"

Li Yuanji thought for a moment and nodded slowly.

"Let Xuan Ce arrange all the affairs for this year, and you select two people to take charge and bring Xuan Ce back.

In the past few years, I have been busy in Yuezhou Prefecture for three years, and stayed in Luzhou Prefecture and Songzhou Prefecture for more than a year. It is time to bring him back."

After Cen Wenben had taken note, Li Yuanji continued speaking.

“There is one more thing. When you go down, start making arrangements immediately. The minimum requirement for each prefecture capital is to build a city that can accommodate 50,000 people, and complete the construction of 50,000 people as soon as possible.

I am at ease with all the previous prefectures, except for the newly conquered prefectures, Dongzhou Prefecture and Andong Prefecture, as well as the conquered Pyu Kingdom, which will be renamed Xitai Prefecture.

Xitai Prefecture can be slowed down temporarily, but Dongzhou Prefecture and Andong Prefecture must be resolved as soon as possible."

This matter is related to his mission. If he completes it as soon as possible, he will not only get a lot of contribution points, but more importantly, he can start a new mission.

The development of the steam engine is gradually taking shape, but there are still many follow-up, which may require the use of the system to redeem.

Especially since he also wants to develop in other aspects, just relying on a few words from him is too pale, and he also needs the most basic to lay the foundation before he can develop.

Just then, Yang Jianhe's voice came in.

"Your Majesty, Wei Yunqi sent an urgent military report!" (End of this chapter)