Li Longji was used to seeing Ang Lee invent something every once in a while. This would make him very excited. But now, Ang Lee had not presented him with any new inventions for a long time. This made him a little surprised, and of course, he was also a little unhappy.
Although he had arranged guards around Ang Lee, these guards were not qualified to enter the R&D Center. They could only stand guard outside every time. Thus, Li Longji only knew that Ang Lee was busy in the R&D Center every day, but he did not know what exactly he was busy with.
As for what Ang Lee was busy with, Li Longji naturally had to ask the officials of the Ministry of Works. After all, whether it was the laying of the railway or the R&D Center, the officials of the Ministry of Works were involved. And these two things could not be done without Ang Lee. Therefore, these officials of the Ministry of Works should know the whereabouts of Ang Lee and what he had been busy with recently.
"Your Majesty, Assistant Minister Li has been busy with the development of the steam locomotive recently. He has completely stopped overdoing the laying of the railway. He said that as long as the steam locomotive is successful, it will bring earth-shaking changes to the Tang dynasty, and the national strength will be greatly enhanced."
The official of the Ministry of Works answered truthfully.
They had also repeatedly asked Ang Lee to inspect the railway, but Ang Lee had always used the reason that the development of the steam locomotive was extremely important as an excuse to completely leave the laying of the railway to the officials of the Ministry of Works. He was only responsible for the development of the steam locomotive.
"Steam locomotive?"
Li Longji and the other officials all knew that this thing was very important, but they had never seen how powerful this thing was. Only after Ang Lee invented it would they be able to properly verify the great usefulness of this thing.
"How is the development progress? Did Assistant Minister Li say when it will be successful? "
Li Longji asked with concern.
"Your Majesty, Assistant Minister Li did not say a specific date, but this humble subject guesses from his expression that it will be soon!"
The Ministry of Works official replied.
Li Longji nodded. He was powerless to participate in Ang Lee's research and development project. He could only passively wait for the results of the research and development. Fortunately, Ang Lee was in the capital, right under his nose. As long as Ang Lee invented something good, he would be the first to know, so these good things would not be out of control.
After continuing to emphasize the importance of the autumn harvest, Li Longji announced that the court was dismissed and allowed the officials to prepare for the autumn harvest.
Fifteen miles south of Chang 'an City, Ang Lee was accompanying Yan Ruyu for a stroll in the mansion's orchard. It was the autumn harvest season, and all kinds of fruit trees were full of attractive fruits. Many of them were ripe and gave off an intoxicating fragrance.
Yan Ruyu's belly was even bigger. It was obvious that she was pregnant. Although it was inconvenient to walk with a big belly, she still insisted on taking a walk in the orchard.
Because smelling the fragrance of the fruits in the orchard made her very happy and blissful. Moreover, Ang Lee was accompanying her.
Due to the development of the steam locomotive, time was tight. Therefore, Li An could only come over every other day at dusk to accompany her and pick fruits to eat.
"Madam, this apple is the biggest in the entire orchard. Here, I'll give it to you."
Ang Lee plucked a bigger apple and handed it to Yan Ruyu.
"The biggest one? How can Husband be so sure? There must be bigger ones on it. "
Yan Ruyu did not believe that the apple in her hand was the biggest one.
"The one I plucked is definitely the biggest. If Madam doesn't believe me, you can pick a bigger one."
"You're bullying me. How can I climb trees and pick fruits in this state?"
Yan Ruyu acted coquettishly.
"Okay, okay, okay. If I find a bigger one, I'll definitely pluck it and give it to Madam."
Ang Lee coaxed her.
"Husband, you used to have a lot of free time. Why are you so busy in recent months? Will you be so busy in the future?"
"No, I've been working on a big project recently, and I need to be there to supervise it all the time. Moreover, it will be successful soon. At that time, the Tang dynasty will undergo earth-shaking changes."
Ang Lee looked forward to it excitedly.
"Earth-shaking changes? Will it be successful soon?"
Yan Ruyu was also very curious. She also hoped that her husband could benefit the Tang dynasty and be a very useful person.
"Soon. If everything goes well, it will probably be in the next few days."
In order to build a reliable steam locomotive, Ang Lee had spent a lot of time and energy. He had built more than a dozen locomotive test platforms one after another, and each one was more complicated and advanced than the last.
The last two locomotives built were already very successful, but there were still some shortcomings in reliability. It was easy to break down on the way, which would inevitably greatly reduce the practicality of the train.
After making a full summary, Ang Lee found the problem and spent a lot of time and energy to improve it. Now, the improvement work was in progress. As long as a few key parts were manufactured and assembled, the new locomotive would be successfully built.
"The autumn harvest is coming. Before the autumn harvest, I must build the steam locomotive and immediately put it into action to transport grain."
Ang Lee set the most basic goal for himself.
Two days later, good news finally came from the R&D Center. The steam locomotive test was a complete success. The newly built locomotive ran continuously for 12 hours along the rails laid inside the R&D Center without any malfunctions. At this point, the steam locomotive was completely built.
Because a lot of experiments had been done during the R&D process, Ang Lee knew where the steam locomotive would have problems. For this reason, he had prepared a lot of spare parts. Once there was a malfunction, the parts could be quickly replaced to ensure that the locomotive could continue to move.
Of course, in order to prevent the locomotive from being damaged halfway, the locomotive had to be checked regularly. As long as there were parts that were seriously worn out, they had to be replaced in a timely manner.
The test was a complete success, and all the talents involved in the R&D and manufacturing were suddenly excited. For all the people involved in the R&D, the huge role of the steam locomotive was naturally clear. They understood the huge role of the steam locomotive too well. They even had the same vision as Ang Lee.
"The steam locomotive is built!"
"The steam locomotive is built!"
"Whoa whoa whoa …"
The entire R&D Center went crazy. Even the relevant departments participated in the celebration. The cheers were so loud that even the guards at the South Gate of the Capital could hear it.
"Congratulations to Assistant Minister Li. It's finally a success."
Yu Chaoen was originally urging the craftsmen to hurry up and build the solar stove. When he saw the cheers outside, he hurriedly ran out to watch the fun. Although he still didn't know much about the steam locomotive, he knew a little about it and understood that it was a very powerful technology.
"Fish Ambassador, the use of this steam locomotive is far more useful than the solar stove. The profits it can earn in the future are far from what the solar stove can compare to, haha!"
Li An said with a happy smile.
The steam locomotive was a success. In the future, it would inevitably become the main force of passenger and freight transport. The profits it could earn would also be astronomical.
Such an important industry, of course, could not be taken away by the aristocratic families. Otherwise, their wealth would be comparable to that of a country and would be a huge threat to the court. If this industry was handed over to the Emperor and controlled by the eunuchs, it would greatly reduce the benefits that the aristocratic families could gain.
Although eunuchs were not good people and would certainly embezzle and cause losses to the court, eunuchs had no descendants and no family support. It was meaningless to be too greedy.
The most important thing was that eunuchs were by the Emperor's side. Everything was under the Emperor's control. No matter how greedy they were, in the end, they were just fattened lambs. Killing them could get all their property. At the same time, the people in the world would applaud.
Ang Lee's reminder meant that Yu Chaoen was in charge of the railway work. After all, after such a period of observation, he found that Yu Chaoen's ability to handle affairs and management was very strong. Moreover, his principles were not bad. Even a cunning old man like Guo Ziyi couldn't cheat him of anything. He was very suitable to be in charge of the railway work. A lot of money was controlled by Yu Chaoen, which posed no threat to the Tang dynasty. However, if the aristocratic families were as rich as a country, it would be troublesome.
"Assistant Minister Li means to let Xiaonu be in charge of the operation of the railway in the future?"
Yu Chaoen's heart pounded.
"That's right. I can see that Envoy Yu is very capable. If Envoy Yu is in charge of the railway work in the future, His Majesty will be assured."
Ang Lee smiled, hinting that he would support Yu Chaoen.
"Oh! If Xiaonu can be given this job, Assistant Minister Li will be Xiaonu's second parent. "
Yu Chaoen was so excited that his voice trembled.
"Envoy Yu, don't be so excited. It will take some time. I will meet His Majesty in person and recommend Envoy Yu to be in charge of this matter."
Ang Lee smiled and reassured Yu Chaoen. He extended his hand and invited Yu Chaoen to celebrate the success of the steam locomotive with him.
Yu Chaoen was so excited that he didn't know what to do. He eagerly followed behind Ang Lee and joined in the celebration.
The steam locomotive's role was too great. For this reason, the people who participated in the celebration were all indescribably excited. There were people who shouted, sang, and danced.
In order to give them material rewards, Ang Lee ordered that pigs and cows be slaughtered, wine and food be bought, and prepared to hold a big banquet in the R&D Center.
Of course, Ang Lee didn't need to organize the banquet himself. Naturally, someone else would be in charge. Ang Lee had to tell Li Longji the news of the steam locomotive's success. He had to lead a group of people as soon as possible to test the steam locomotive at the Northern Gate of the Daming Palace. He wanted to see how many carriages the new steam locomotive could pull and how fast it could run after loading.
The celebratory banquet went on for an entire day. On the morning of the second day, Li An led the relevant personnel from the research and development center. They followed the railway around the city and transported the steam locomotive and the carriages to the north gate of Daming Palace.
As this new railway was from the R&D Center at the Southern Gate, it made a big detour to the station at the Northern Gate of the Daming Palace. For this reason, the speed couldn't be increased at all. Naturally, it couldn't be tested. As for the flat railway line, it could better display the power of the steam locomotive.
"Assistant Minister Li, the steam locomotive and 30 carriages are ready. We can start the test now."
Ang Lee waved his hand and said, "Get on, get on."
As the highest commander, Ang Lee boarded the soft-sleeper carriage at the front. Some of the people accompanying him were officials, and some were R&D talents. In short, they were all famous people.
All the curious people all stood around, looking at the huge monster in front of them and talking about something with each other.
"Get on, get on, get ready to drive."
An official shouted loudly and asked the relevant people to get on as soon as possible.
"Assistant Minister Li, everyone has boarded, and the hook has been pressed."
Ang Lee nodded and said, "Okay, let's drive!"
"Dirty dirty dirty …"
As the coal was gradually filled into the boiler, the steam locomotive roared loudly and slowly moved forward, driving the carriages behind it towards Luoyang City.
Soon, all 30 carriages were driven, and the speed was gradually increasing. At the highest, it was already at the speed of a warhorse.
In order to ensure the safety of the steam locomotive, Ang Lee designed the maximum speed for the train when he was building it. It couldn't exceed 40 km/h in the future. Under normal circumstances, it would be very good if it could reach 25 km/h.
In this way, it could travel 100 km in two hours. It could travel 1000 km in one day and night without any pressure!
The train moved very smoothly. Through the jade medicine window on the side, one could clearly see the bright yellow millet fields on both sides. The soil in Guanzhong was yellow, which was very suitable for growing millet, also known as millet in the future.
However, the production of millet was not high enough to sustain the large population in Guanzhong. Especially in Chang 'an, there were millions of people, and the demand for food was very high. Therefore, the rice in the south had to be transported to the capital through water and land transportation to maintain the survival of the population in Guanzhong.
It was a wonderful feeling to sit in the fast and steady train and look at the large mature millet fields outside the window. Everyone in the train had this feeling of being superior to others.
"The autumn harvest is coming. In a few days, we can see the busy scenes on both sides."
"Yes! This year is another year of good harvest. The people will have a good life. "
"God bless the Tang dynasty. Our Tang dynasty is thriving now. With the train, it will be much more convenient for the people to travel in the future."
Everyone began to mutter softly.
"Assistant Minister Li has arrived at the Hot Spring Palace."
Hearing this, Ang Lee looked up. The Hot Spring Palace was right in front of him. Without realizing it, they had traveled 70 to 80 km.
"Stop the train and get ready to return to the capital."
Ang Lee ordered.
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