The scientific and technological strength, military strength, economic strength, and various other aspects of the Tang Empire were steadily increasing. The application of various new technologies allowed the Tang Empire to achieve comprehensive development.
Near the Spring Festival, the third batch of large steam ships to America returned to Laizhou, bringing back a large number of products from America to meet the needs of the Tang Empire in all aspects.
Sweet potatoes, corn, potatoes, and other crops began to be popularized in the Tang Empire. In the distant Jiaozhou and Yazhou, rubber trees began to be artificially propagated on a large scale, and adult rubber trees transplanted from America continued to be planted, so as to obtain the rubber resources urgently needed by the Tang Empire as soon as possible.
In addition, due to the opening of the Ezhou Yangtze River Bridge, various strategic materials and a large number of manpower needed to pave the railway could be quickly transported to the south through the railway line, which greatly accelerated the construction of the railway to Jiaozhou. Near the Spring Festival, the railway artery from Luoyang to Jiaozhou was fully opened.
When the news was sent back to the capital, Ang Lee excitedly went to the palace to meet the emperor and asked to go to Jiaozhou immediately to start collecting rubber resources and conducting research on rubber materials.
"Your Majesty, rubber materials are very important to the Tang Empire. The early development of various rubber materials will help improve the performance of various machinery and promote the rapid development of the Tang Empire. Therefore, I must go to Jiaozhou as soon as possible to see whether the rubber trees there are ready to be mined."
Ang Lee requested to inspect Jiaozhou.
Li Longji did not know how the rubber trees were used, but when he heard that they were trees, he naturally thought that they were made of wood. There were various kinds of wood in the Tang Empire, but could none of them be better than the rubber trees?
"Assistant Minister Li, what's the difference between the rubber trees and other trees? Why does Assistant Minister Li value them so much?"
Li An knew that Li Longji didn't understand, so he said, "Your Majesty, the useful part of an ordinary tree is its wood, but the useful part of a rubber tree is the colloid that flows out from its bark. This colloid can be made into a variety of useful materials, especially materials commonly used in machinery, which require rubber. After using rubber, machinery will become more reliable and stable. After using rubber, the tires of vehicles will become smoother, and people will feel more comfortable sitting in the vehicles. The vehicles can also run faster."
"Oh, so it's the colloid from the tree. There's colloid left on peach trees too. Can't we use it?"
Li Longji often admired peach blossoms, so he was naturally very clear about the matter of the peach tree glue.
"Your Majesty, the colloid on the peach tree can't be compared with the colloid on the rubber tree. The difference is too big. Moreover, the rubber material can be used to make soles. The soles made are strong and wear-resistant, much better than the soles made of thousand-layer cloth."
Ang Lee explained.
"Oh, the colloid from the rubber tree can be used to make shoes? This small rubber tree has such a big role. It's really unexpected!"
Li Longji sighed in his heart. He also wanted to go to Jiao Province in person to see how magical the so-called rubber tree was. However, it was almost the New Year, and there were many things in the imperial court that Li Longji needed to worry about. Naturally, he couldn't take the time to go to Jiao Province. Moreover, the Emperor needed a large number of guards when he went out, so it would be troublesome to mobilize a large number of people.
"Your Majesty, the role of rubber is more important than what I said. In short, if the Tang dynasty wants to become more powerful, it can't do without rubber."
Ang Lee affirmed again.
"In that case, Assistant Minister Li, go and come back as soon as possible. I'll assign two hundred Flying Dragon Imperial Army guards to protect Assistant Minister Li. In addition, let Guo Qiang lead a team of armored artillery vehicles to accompany the guards."
Li Longji agreed.
"Yes, Your Majesty. I'll go and make preparations. I'll set off for Jiao Province early tomorrow morning."
Ang Lee couldn't waste too much time. Before he set off, he still had a lot of work to do. In addition to the family affairs, there were various things to deal with in the R&D Center. In addition, he had to make preparations for the research and development of rubber materials so that after the rubber materials were transported back, he could start the research and manufacturing as soon as possible to produce rubber products that were urgently needed by various machines.
After preparing for a whole day, Ang Lee was so tired that his waist and back ached. When he returned to the courtyard at night, he didn't even have the mood to pamper Li Ya 'er. He directly lay down and fell asleep, which made Li Ya' er feel quite disappointed. After all, she was so intoxicated by Ang Lee's pampering. She had been used to being pampered by Ang Lee. Of course, she didn't feel good when she suddenly couldn't be pampered.
It was like being massaged by someone. When she was feeling itchy and comfortable all over, the other party suddenly stopped massaging her. This feeling was really devastating. Li Ya 'er was feeling like this now.
However, Ang Lee really didn't have the energy to pamper her. He could only let her suffer for a while. After all, it would take a long time to go to Jiao Province. He had to wait for ten days before he came back.
"Darling, if you go, you may not be able to come back during the New Year. Let us sisters celebrate the New Year alone at home!"
Li Ya 'er asked when she saw Ang Lee close his eyes as he lay down on the bed.
Ang Lee hadn't fallen asleep yet. Hearing Li Ya 'er's words, he replied with his eyes closed, "Ya' er, I'll try my best to come back during the New Year. Don't worry. The main thing is that the rubber industry is very important. I have to prepare it as soon as possible. It's very important to the Tang Empire. I can't delay it for a moment."
"Oh."
Li Ya 'er responded and asked again in a low voice, "Darling, are you tired?"
"I'm tired. I've been busy the whole day. I'm going to sleep first. Good girl, sleep early."
Ang Lee kissed Li Ya 'er's forehead and quickly fell asleep.
Li Ya 'er tightly wrapped her legs around Ang Lee and slept sweetly in Ang Lee's arms. Although they didn't have sex, it felt good to snuggle in Ang Lee's arms like this.
The next morning, all the preparations for the journey were completed. The Flying Dragon Imperial Army that the Emperor had personally sent, a group of armored cannon carriages under Guo Xiang, and the relevant accompanying personnel were all prepared. As long as Li An gave the order to set out, they could immediately set out.
Guo Xiang's armored artillery fleet consisted of ten armored artillery vehicles, three armored command vehicles, two armored reconnaissance vehicles, and dozens of supply vehicles. There were less than fifty vehicles in total, and one freight train could accommodate all of them.
The Flying Dragon Imperial Army had two hundred people, which took up three soft seats. Of course, their core mission was to protect Ang Lee's safety. At the same time, they were also responsible for protecting all the relevant technical personnel. Many of the technical personnel accompanying Ang Lee were also the treasures of the Tang dynasty.
The railway bureau had prepared two separate trains for Ang Lee's trip. One was a passenger train, and the other was a freight train.
The passenger train was mainly used to carry people, while the freight train was used to carry the accompanying vehicles and supplies. For example, the armored artillery vehicles had to be loaded on the freight train. Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to keep up with the speed of the team.
"Assistant Minister Li, everyone is ready. We can set off now."
Guo Xiang walked up to Ang Lee and reminded him at the Changan City Railway Station.
"This mission to Jiao Province is extremely important. The sooner we arrive, the better. Give the order to set off! Get on the train. "
Ang Lee had planned to finish his business and come back for the New Year. Therefore, he naturally wouldn't delay the trip.
In addition, the railway system had been improved several times. Its speed had increased by at least fifty percent. It would only take twelve hours to reach Luoyang City. Even if it was a place as far away as Jiao Province, it would only take two or three days. This naturally referred to the express train. Normal trains wouldn't have such high speed.
After the order was given, the two trains set off one after another, rushing towards their destination, Jiao Province.
After getting on the train, Ang Lee had already started the relevant preparations. He recalled all the knowledge about rubber from his previous life and recorded it on paper. Then, he analyzed this knowledge and found out the parts that were useful and worth studying. He started to seriously study them.
"Assistant Minister Li, what kind of things are you writing?! How come I've never seen this before? What a strange writing. "
Guo Xiang stood at the side and saw Ang Lee writing and drawing. When he leaned over to take a look, he was instantly dumbfounded. He didn't know what Ang Lee was writing at all. In other words, he had no idea what Ang Lee was writing.
In fact, what Ang Lee wrote was the simplified characters of the future. It was very different from the characters of the Tang dynasty. It wasn't strange that Guo Xiang didn't know. Moreover, there were many chemical equations mixed in, so it was even more impossible for Guo Xiang to recognize them.
Guo Xiang didn't know the characters and scientific knowledge of the future at all. Therefore, Ang Lee couldn't explain it and could only find a random excuse.
Guo Xiang didn't understand these things, so he could only sit aside and watch the scenery outside the train window.
The advantages of the train were too obvious. It was very stable inside and didn't stop frequently. The speed was always uniform. Therefore, Ang Lee felt like he was in his own office when he stayed in the train carriage. He could calmly think and do all kinds of experiments.
When they arrived at Luoyang, the train stopped for a short quarter of an hour. After everything was settled, it changed tracks and entered the railway to Jiao Province, continuing to move quickly.
At this time, it was Chinese New Year, so the weather was relatively cold. However, the train kept going south. In other words, the further south they went, the warmer the weather became.
Soon, Ang Lee couldn't wear the cotton-padded clothes anymore. In the end, even wearing autumn clothes was so hot that his forehead was sweating. He could only wear unlined clothes to be comfortable.
After arriving at Jiao Province, the officials of Jiao Province all ran to the train station to greet Ang Lee to show their importance and respect. These officials of Jiao Province were all very grateful to Ang Lee. They were all demoted to Jiao Province, a barren place. Since Ang Lee requested to build a train to Jiao Province, Jiao Province suddenly became a star city. It was no longer a barren place. After all, with the entry of the railway, a large number of businessmen poured into the city, bringing goods from all over the country. At the same time, they also purchased a large number of local products, so that Jiao Province began to prosper. They didn't feel that being an official in Jiao Province was demeaning.
Ang Lee didn't have much interest in these superficial pleasantries. He first inspected the Jiao Province Railway Station and vigorously affirmed the construction results of the Jiao Province Railway Station.
This Jiao Province Railway Station was built very well. Whether it was the scale or the appearance, it was first-class. At least, it was much more imposing than the yamen in Jiao Province. It was a landmark building in the entire city.
The employees working at the Jiao Province Railway Station were quite arrogant. They seemed to be more arrogant than the people in the yamen, especially the eunuch station master. His momentum was even above the Jiao Province's provincial governor. When the Jiao Province's provincial governor and other highest local officials met the station master, they had to nod and bow as if they were meeting their superiors.
Of course, no matter how arrogant the eunuch station master was, he still had to be respectful in front of Ang Lee. After all, Ang Lee's status was very high. It was almost lower than Li Longji. Even the highest leader of the Railway Bureau was very respectful when he met Ang Lee, let alone the station master of the small Jiao Province Railway Station.
After visiting the Jiao Province Railway Station, Ang Lee couldn't wait to go to the rubber plantation. After all, the main purpose of this trip was to inspect the rubber plantation. Everything else was not important.
What Ang Lee didn't expect was that the rubber plantation in Jiao Province was very large. It was at least thousands of acres of land. Although most of the rubber seedlings were very small and couldn't be harvested for the time being, in a few years, when these rubber seedlings grew up, they could provide an endless supply of rubber materials for the Tang dynasty.
In addition, there were also many mature rubber trees that had been specially transplanted from America. After a period of adaptation, they had completely survived and could even start harvesting rubber.
"Assistant Minister Li, these are the rubber trees! They don't look very good! "
Guo Yi walked in the rubber plantation and looked around. He felt that the rubber trees were very ordinary and even a little ugly. They were very unremarkable trees.
"Haha! The rubber trees don't look very good, but they are very useful. It won't be long before you know the great use of rubber trees. Especially your Iron Armored Artillery Brigade, they can't do without rubber products. "
Ang Lee said with a smile.
"These rubber trees can be used on our Iron Armored Artillery Carriages. Can they really be used?"
Guo Yi asked with a curious face.
"Of course. The iron wheels of the Iron Armored Artillery Carriages are really bad. If you use rubber pneumatic tires, the effect will be much better."
Ang Lee said and explained the great changes that the pneumatic rubber tires could bring to the Iron Armored Artillery Carriages.
After listening to Ang Lee's explanation, Guo Yi didn't dare to look down on the rubber trees. He was even very respectful to them. He was afraid that he would be careless and hurt a small sapling, which would be a great loss.
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