August of the 76th year of Dayao.
After the court session, the crowd didn't leave. Instead, they waited in front of the palace. A bunch of rare mounts were brought over by the guards. There was a white saber-toothed tiger, a five to six-meter-tall gorilla, a huge black feline with horns on its head, and a huge lizard that looked like a Western dragon …
The red-horned bull king, which was much larger than an ordinary horned bull, didn't stand out at all.
It was roughly equivalent to an Audi A4 squeezed into a row of sports cars.
There was also a high-spec Wuling Hongguang next to it. An Earth Wheel expert, Hei Langjun, was more than three meters above the ground. Two fangs protruded from the sides of his mouth as he anxiously dug at the stone slabs on the ground with his hooves. Not long after, he dug out two holes.
A nearby guard noted it down in a small notebook for a fine later.
If the palace was destroyed in front of other places, the whole family might have to reunite.
However, for Dayao, the imperial palace gate had been accidentally damaged countless times.
The stone slabs in the throne room had to be changed every few days.
Everyone stood outside the palace and chatted in groups of three to five. From time to time, they would hear people asking what they were going to see this time.
After all, the empress had made everyone stay with great fanfare, so they couldn't help but be curious.
The last time something like this happened was when they saw something called a steam train.
It had to be said that the steam train was indeed magical. One only needed to fill it with some burning stones, and it could run continuously without getting tired. Moreover, it was quite strong.
While everyone was chatting, the main gate of the palace opened, and the empress's carriage slowly came out. After a short pause, she set off for the east gate.
Along the way, the commoners cheered and then followed her majestically out of the city gate.
By the time the empress and her party left the city, there were already nearly 1,000 people following behind them.
At this time, there was an object that was a few meters long and wrapped in red cloth on the cement road outside the east gate. Ren Baqian was sitting at the side and looking up at the sky. There were many students following him, and they stood up to welcome the crowd.
"Zhao Prince Consort, what good thing do you have for us to see this time?" Tong Zhenye stroked his beard and laughed.
Everyone already knew that as long as there was something for them to see, it would definitely be made by Zhao Prince Consort.
Everyone was looking forward to seeing what he made.
Every time he made something, they would be amazed.
"You will know very soon." Ren Baqian smiled at the crowd, raised his head, and looked at the commoners who were following them from afar. This was a pretty good opportunity to promote their products.
With today's performance, the tractor would definitely spread throughout Lan City. After a period of time, the citizens of Lan City, who had been waiting for a long time, would be able to see its true appearance. Presumably, there would be people who would be willing to try it out.
The only question was whether anyone could afford it.
Even though he was prepared to sell it at a loss, his purpose was to promote this new technology, increase Dayao's transportation capacity, reduce the use of manpower in many aspects, and improve the current manpower shortage.
However, the promotion still needed time. Even if they were to lose money, the price was not a small problem.
For now, the biggest customers were still the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of War.
However, in Ren Baqian's opinion, the greatest value of a tractor wasn't just in transportation. In terms of transportation from Lan City to the Yun Nation, trucks were still faster and less technical than tractors.
In addition to being able to be used on muddy roads in the south, tractors could also replace manpower, liberate a group of laborers from the fields, and put them into factories or other places.
Ren Baqian wanted to reach out and support the empress, but she disappeared from the carriage in a flash. She landed on the ground behind Ren Baqian and said without turning her head, "Let's go and take a look at your new product."
Ren Baqian smiled helplessly. Even though she was 32 months pregnant, the empress was still the empress without any pretense.
"Everyone, this is an epoch-making product," Ren Baqian said as he walked forward.
"You said the same thing last time!" Qin Chuan chimed in from nearby.
"Epoch-Making technology is produced too quickly!" Ren Baqian laughed. "In other words, this era will change very quickly!"
Ren Baqian walked to the front of the tractor, pressed his hand on the red cloth, turned to the crowd, and said, "Everyone can see the potential of the steam train from last time. With the steam train, we can connect two distant places and transport 100,000 soldiers and matching supplies to the Yun Nation or even Great Xia within three days. This has completely changed the previous concept of war, where the army and horses have to be mobilized before the provisions are deployed.
In the face of war, we can have faster reaction speed and better mobility. "
"The problem is, where will the war come from, and who will it fight?" Qin Chuan spread his hands. If there was a war, only Great Xia and the Yun Nation would be left. However, at present, they couldn't even take down the Yun Nation, and Great Xia couldn't even take care of themselves. It was foreseeable that there wouldn't be a war for the next 10 to 20 years.
"War is just one example. The more important thing is transportation. With the Yun Nation, the price of iron in Lan City is only one-fifth of what it used to be, and the transportation of large quantities of supplies is still a problem. With the train, transportation will be easier and faster, and it will consume less manpower and material resources. In the long run, it will naturally be worth it. This is especially true for the transportation of fresh goods, which is incomparable to land transportation. "
"If it weren't for those big iron eaters, the price of iron in Lan City would have dropped to half of what it used to be," someone whispered.
Ren Baqian looked over and said, "You have to look at it in the long run! Iron alone isn't everything. Food, fruits, vegetables, cloth, and minerals — do you still want to bring back the iron produced by the Yun Nation with ox carts every year? "
Everyone immediately laughed.
The one who interrupted just now was an official from the Ministry of Revenue who was full of resentment.
In fact, it wasn't just him. The entire Ministry of Revenue was full of resentment.
The steel mills and the laying of steel rails were simply like monsters that swallowed iron, like bottomless pits. At least half of the iron ore mined in the Yun Nation over the past two years had been used, and not a single ripple had been seen.
One meter of steel rails weighed 100 kilograms, and the rails needed to be on both sides.
One kilometer of steel rails weighed 100,000 kilograms.
This was equivalent to the iron ore production of Dayao in an entire year.
This figure made the people from the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue feel a little dizzy.
The Yun Nation originally produced about 22 million kilograms of iron a year and less than 1.5 million kilograms of steel. Over the past three years, with the large-scale use of steam engines in various mines, the iron output had increased to 40 million kilograms, and the steel output was close to 10 million kilograms.
Most of the steel output had been invested in the railway.
Over the past two years, only 100 kilometers had been laid, which was equivalent to 200 kilometers.
Based on the current steel production rate, it would take at least another 10 years to finish laying this railway.
However, this was only for now. Ren Baqian estimated that the iron output could reach 80 million kilograms and the steel output could reach 30 million kilograms within five years.
It seemed like a lot, but after careful calculation, it was only 40,000 tons and 15,000 tons, respectively.
Not to mention compared to the Republic of China, it was far inferior to even the Song Dynasty.
The biggest limitation wasn't just the technology. The equipment and technology used in the mines and steel mills had at least reached the level of the middle stage of the Industrial Revolution.
However, the supporting technology and the number of personnel couldn't keep up.
For example, equipment manufacturing, equipment maintenance, personnel training, and so on had become shackles.
It would take at least three years for these conditions to be alleviated, and it would erupt in five years.
However, the investment in steel alone was an astronomical figure, not to mention the investment in manpower and material resources.
Even though the situation of the national treasury had improved greatly in the past two years, the annual investment was enough to make the people in the Ministry of Revenue feel heartache.
This was the case even though they knew the significance of the railway.
Therefore, no one found it strange that the people in the Ministry of Revenue were resentful.
Anyone would feel heartache!
Needless to say, the Ministry of Revenue had always been stingy.
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