Great Wei Overlord

Chapter 999 A Difficult Problem

Chapter 1006 A Difficult Problem
Regarding the size of Wei's army, Ran Ming also felt that it was feasible to maintain the current size.After all, the population of Wei State is still too small. After the census in the second year of Hongshi (4795 of the Yellow Emperor), Wei State currently has a total population of more than 180 people, of which the Han population is 960 million. people.If a larger army is maintained, it will definitely affect the construction and development of Wei.

Although Wei’s overseas colonization and trade gained a lot of wealth, most of this wealth was used in education and infrastructure construction. Due to the decades of war in the Central Plains, the official roads in various places were basically in ruins. Restoring these road constructions is a bottomless pit, not to mention that there are too many things Wei needs to do, such as roads, water conservancy, sanitation, medical care, education, and more costly scientific and technological research. Originally, these things were all taken by Ran Ming himself. Money is being made, but when Wei State’s financial revenue allows, Ran Ming gradually handed over all these scientific research projects to internal management. Of course, this has also increased the burden on Wei State’s finances. Wei State needs money. There are too many places.

Of course, the State of Wei has established a gradual and perfect reserve system, and if there is a war, it can be further mobilized.Wei State currently has 45 infantry divisions, but there are 39 infantry divisions and 40 cavalry divisions. Among them, infantry No. 35 20th to 35th divisions, a total of 300 infantry divisions are reserve divisions, except for one Outside the framework of officers, less than [-]% of the soldiers.As for cavalry No. [-] Division [-] to Cavalry Division [-], these [-] divisions are also reserve divisions. Once the scale of the war requires the mobilization of the Wei State, the Armed Mobilization Department under the Wei State General Staff will mobilize these [-] divisions within three months. More than [-] infantry divisions have been replenished. After one to three months of restorative training, these soldiers who were originally retired from the regular army will be able to resume combat effectiveness.If the scale of the war continues to expand, the State of Wei will further mobilize for war, and can arm at least [-] million troops in the limit time. Of course, by that time, the State of Wei will also be at a critical moment of life and death, and the construction and production of the State of Wei will basically come to a standstill.

Ran Ming was very satisfied with the plan of the staff department, but he also gave instructions: "In the battle against the Western Regions, we must pay attention to several other aspects. The first is the logistics. Because of our expressway construction work, we have been delayed too much in the Qinling Mountains." Too much time, the progress has been unsatisfactory. Now it has just been repaired to Qinzhou, and it is expected to be completed next year from Qinzhou to Didao (now Lintao) in Longxi County. Therefore, the supply of the army will be a very big problem. The logistics department must Try to meet the needs of the troops. The second is the ethnic issue. The tribes in the Western Regions are a group of tribes who are afraid of power but not mighty. When dealing with ethnic issues, we must be tough."

Ran Ming is a giant standing on the shoulders of history. He will not do things that are not thankful for his efforts. It's not that Ran Ming is particularly bloodthirsty and easy to kill, but that Wei State is in great need of labor, and Wei State's steam engine project has achieved a breakthrough. The progress of the steam engine test machine is expected to pass the verification by the end of next year. By that time, Wei Guo will definitely need to build a large-scale railway. It is unknown when the railway network will be repaired just relying on the manpower of Wei Guo, so Ran Ming must Let the army plunder enough free labor. Although the overall population of the Western Regions is not large, these ethnic groups have good physique, so they are the most ideal slave labor in Ran Ming's eyes.

After Ran Ming led the cabinet prime minister and cabinet ministers and other entourages, after leaving the Wei State General Staff, he went to inspect the Wei State Emperor Academy of Sciences.The Royal Academy of Sciences of the State of Wei is located in Fengle Town, the eastern suburb of Yecheng. These originally had [-] acres of land ([-] mu), and later the construction of Fengle Academy (now the Imperial University of Wei State) took up more than [-] acres. However, There's just too much land left.Ran Ming did not set a bad example for future generations, so he felt that the royal family should not occupy a large number of royal estates, so Ran Ming's previous private land was used by Ran Ming for construction. Except for the Imperial University, Wei Guo's weapons The land occupied by the Research Institute, Wei Guohua College, and the current Wei Guo Academy of Sciences is all Ran Ming's private land.

At this time, the Wei State Royal Academy of Sciences has nearly 3000 people, including more than six hundreds of scholars, and more than 2000 students, who are doing research and study on various projects. The Ministry of Finance gave seven large-scale grants to the Royal Academy of Sciences of the State of Wei, with a total of more than 500 million gold.This is more than the sum of Wei Guoyongxing's four-year fiscal revenue. If we only rely on the traditional development model, this is undoubtedly a difficult problem that cannot be realized.

However, these funds are actually only a small part of the appropriation by the Ministry of Finance, and most of the funds are in Ran Ming's small coffers. However, Ran Ming owns too many patents and shares, so the annual income is also a very large number.The Chinese nation has always been the world leader in science and technology, except for the backwardness in science and technology in modern times. Of course, Ran Ming is not complacent, but is committed to widening the distance from the world.The ban on Confucianism was lifted, and those reclusive talents gradually came out of the deep mountains and old forests. Although they still did not fully trust Ran Ming at this time, since the talents who have become officials, they are only a part of them, but as both sides become wary Elimination of these hidden talents will also appear in the Wei Royal Academy of Sciences more and more.

What's even more intriguing is that Ran Ming put a considerable number of Mohist scholars into the Metropolitan Procuratorate, acting as censors to supervise the officials.You must know that Mohism and Confucianism have never dealt with each other. Mohist scholars supervise Confucian officials, and they will definitely not practice favoritism, or even raise their eyebrows or eyes.Moreover, the Mohists are a group of truly noble people. Although their slogans are not as lofty as Confucianism, they are the most pragmatic people. Even if these officials want to bribe the Mohists, they are probably shooting themselves in the foot .

Ran Ming has always been very concerned about the scientific research of the Royal Academy of Sciences of the State of Wei, and will come to inspect it almost every once in a while. At the same time, Ran Ming is also asking the Royal Academy of Sciences to carry out some key projects, the first is power technology research, and the second is airship technology. Research, metal materials technology.

What makes Ran Ming very speechless is that China had memory metals as early as the Qin Dynasty, and also had advanced anti-oxidation technology, but with the war and the sinking of China three times successively, all the advanced technologies were lost this time. During the Ming Dynasty, China's technology has begun to lag behind the world.Especially in the material science and technology industry, the biggest impression of Chinese products in later generations is not that the functions are not advanced enough, but that the quality is too poor.When it comes to quality (I have been engaged in quality inspection for nearly eight years), the most fundamental reason is that the materials are not good.The first is steel. In today's electronic technology products, a considerable part of the metal micro-components cannot be manufactured in China. To give a simple example, the rolling steel ball in the ballpoint pen refill, there is still a big gap between China's production and the world's.

Of course, the reason for this is actually related to the system. In the collective period, once a company has an invention, other companies in the same industry will go to learn from it. There is no such thing as a patent fee. Therefore, companies with invention patents will not only not enjoy the benefits of professionalism, but will bear considerable reception costs.Over time, no one is willing to invest in science and technology. As a result, all their money is eaten up, and the entire country's science and technology are completely outdated.It has to be said that this is a very big tragedy.

Naturally, Ran Ming would not allow this tragedy to repeat itself. No one is allowed to infringe on the various inventions of the Wei State. Once the patent owner sues, the infringer will suffer a lot of losses, and the worst one will go bankrupt.Of course, this still cannot guarantee the interests of patent owners. The government of Wei State also assumes a role, which is to protect the interests of patent owners. Once a company needs patented technology, the government will get a certain percentage of patent fees from the product. The period of use of the patent fee is at least 20 years. Of course, under the stimulation of such huge profits, countless craftsmen have also exchanged their unique skills for money.

In particular, a native of Qingzhou named Cui Shisheng, under the influence of Ran Ming Quyuanli, improved and perfected the plowshaft, shortened and bent it, and reduced the parts such as the forehead and the pressing shank. It is also more efficient.This kind of plow is actually close to the most perfect way of animal plow, and its working efficiency is much higher.Therefore, large-scale production of this new type of plow was carried out in various parts of Wei State. Although this is only a small change, the overall production of new type plows in Wei State reaches hundreds of thousands of plows every year. tens of millions of dollars.Let him change from a poorest craftsman to a moderately wealthy family in an instant.

Therefore, the role of role models is infinite. Under the stimulation of Cui Shisheng, a large number of new inventions also emerged in the state of Wei. There is also a Yanzhou blacksmith named Jia Shigui. He originally ran a very small iron shop, and his main product was ordinary kitchen knives. .Scissors or hatchets, because he inadvertently improved the quenching technology, the knives he produced increased the rigidity, hardness, wear resistance, fatigue strength and toughness of steel.After applying for his patent, Wei Meng, a master craftsman, came forward to buy Jia Shigui's quenching patent in the name of the Wei court, which significantly improved the quality of Wei's horizontal knives, mo knives and various weapons and equipment. As a result, he obtained ten thousand gold and family wealth, and thus became a man of the hour in Wei State, and made the headlines of Wei State's major newspapers for three consecutive issues.

When Ran Ming arrived at the Wei State Royal Academy of Sciences, the president of the Royal Academy of Sciences was already waiting for Ran Ming at the door.The dean of the Royal Academy of Sciences is appointed by the imperial court, and the rank is relatively high, even one level higher than that of Guozijian and Taixue Jijiu, and he is a third-rank official.You must know that this level is the level of the ministers of various ministries of Wei State.One can imagine how much Ran Ming attaches importance to the Royal Academy of Sciences.Although, he is not a scientific research talent.However, he mainly provides logistics support for the scientists of the Academy of Sciences, and he can be called the logistics manager of the Academy of Sciences.The defense and security work of the entire Academy of Sciences is under the responsibility of the Wei Guo Imperial Guard.

In fact, not only the Academy of Sciences, but also the Wei State Imperial University, the Wei State Weapons Research Institute, and the Academy of Sciences are responsible for the security work of an infantry regiment of the Imperial Guard, and even directly stationed in an infantry battalion of the Academy of Sciences.In addition, a cavalry battalion of the Imperial Guard is only ten miles away from the Academy of Sciences.Once the Academy of Sciences is attacked.They could be there in a quarter of an hour.Any hostile force wants to break through the Academy of Sciences defended by an infantry battalion in Wei State within 10 minutes.That is certainly impossible.In addition to the army, there are also the security personnel of the Royal Secret Service, which is responsible for the conspiracy against the Academy of Sciences.The entire Academy of Sciences is completely under the strictest protection, and the security level is no lower than that of Ran Ming's palace. Unless the army is dispatched, it is impossible to break into it.Of course, here is in the outskirts of Yecheng.It is also impossible for the army of other countries to appear.If the armies of other countries have come here, then the empire is really not far from being destroyed.

"Your Majesty, the leaders of several projects are ready!"

"Well. Let's go to the airship department first!" Ran Ming is most concerned about the research and development of transport airships. At this time, Wei's Western Expedition will start soon. It can be imagined that the conditions proposed by Wei will definitely not be accepted by countries in the Western Regions. is unavoidable.For the remote Western Regions, transportation is the biggest problem.During the Tang Dynasty, the combat effectiveness of the army was no worse than that of the Wei army at this time, but relying on the national strength of the Tang Dynasty, they could only maintain [-] troops in Anxi. There was no way, and the transportation of more troops could not keep up.

However, the heavy-duty transport airship can completely ignore the almost deserted roads in Hexi. In later generations, Ran Ming did not dare to expect heavy-duty airships with a load of tens or hundreds of tons, but he could develop a load-bearing airship of several tons, or tens of tons Ran Ming is satisfied with the airship, and the airship can fly three to four hundred miles a day, which can greatly speed up the transportation capacity of Wei State, and can also support Anxi to better complete the great cause of conquering the west.

The Mo family has an almost morbid obsession with Feitian.At the beginning of the fifth century BC, it was the era of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period in my country.At that time, academics were very developed, showing a prosperous scene of "a hundred schools of thought contending".In particular, production technology has been further developed, and iron tools have begun to be widely used; the basic principles of mechanics, physics, and military engineering have also been mastered by some people.On the basis of this idea and matter, the flying wooden bird made by Mozi appeared.This matter is recorded in many ancient books in our country.Some said: "Mozi is a wooden kite. It took three years to form, and it flew (fly) for one day before it was destroyed." Some said: "Mozi cut bamboo for three days." Some praised that It is said that it reflects the highest level of production technology at that time.Some laughed at Mozi, saying that he wasted three years making a wooden bird that broke down after flying for a day.

But the influence of this wooden kite on the Mohists is really too great, like Yang Zheng of Xianzong, who always wanted to make a wooden bird that could fly, even after hundreds and thousands of failures, he was still not discouraged and continued to experiment.When Yang Zheng and other Mohists were almost desperate, Ran Ming's hot air balloon went up into the sky, so these Mohists turned to the field of steam balls for research.

Needless to say, after the research of the Mohists, they have really achieved good results.At best, the hot air balloon made by Ran Ming can barely be regarded as the miniature hot air balloon of later generations, because the load capacity is less than a thousand catties, and the practical effect is not great.However, after repeated experiments by Mohist scholars, at this time, they had created a hot air balloon that could carry tens of thousands of catties.

"Your Majesty, this is the largest hot air balloon we have made so far, with a load capacity of 1 jin, but it's too big, and we can't turn as we like in the air!" The person in charge of the flying project is Wei, a contemporary giant of the Mohist school. noon.

Ran Ming nodded and said, "Has it been tested? How about the safety performance?"

Wei Wu said: "Reporting to Your Majesty, it has been tested. We have conducted five test flights and can carry 1 jin of cargo. However, the shortcomings of the current hot air balloon are also very obvious. One is that it is too large and requires too much fuel. The second is that the burning consumption is too fast, the fuel is loaded with [-] kg, and the flight distance is too short. The third is that the stability and reliability need to be further improved. It is not easy to control. When we are transporting, the wind direction may not follow our predetermined direction, so this still needs massive improvement.”

Ran Ming has nothing to do with this manipulation problem.In addition, although Wei Guo invented sulfuric acid at this time, a certain amount of hydrogen can also be obtained under experimental conditions, but although hydrogen is light in quality, it is not safe.Ran Ming knows that for the safety of airships in later generations, most countries have given up the use of hydrogen and adopted safer helium, but for helium, Ran Ming only knows one name, and it needs to be researched on how it came about. .What's more, the control problem is still the biggest problem restricting the development of airships. At this time, an internal combustion engine with higher power must be invented, but if the problem of the internal combustion engine can be solved, Ran Ming can directly manufacture the original propeller aircraft.

At this time, Wei Guo didn't talk about the internal combustion engine, even the steam engine had just seen the light of day, but Ran Ming comforted Wei Wu and said: "Don't be discouraged, I hope you will intensify your research, the huge steam engine will definitely not be able to be carried on the airship, However, as long as we can manufacture a machine with high kinetic energy and low weight, we can solve this problem. Of course, Wei Qing should also focus on the research of steam engines. Once the research results are achieved, it will be difficult for Wei Qing to leave his name in history. "

Wang Jian also took the opportunity to say: "Although Jane doesn't understand technology, Lord Wei can rest assured that no matter whether money, material or talents are needed in the research, Jane will definitely find ways to meet all the needs of Lord Wei, and will definitely not hold back in this regard.

Hearing the conversation between Ran Ming and Wei Wu, the General Staff Ji Quan's eyes lit up even more.Since Ran Ming invented the hot air balloon, he has realized the application of the hot air balloon in the military. Of course, the effect of the original hot air balloon is limited.General Xie Ai, the former general of Zhenxi and now the Chief of Operations of the Wei State General Staff Department, once conducted a hot air balloon raid test in the Battle of Chengdu, and the effect was not bad.

(End of this chapter)