It was precisely because the reliability of the flying machine had never satisfied the Imperial Court of the Tang Dynasty, so at this time, the Imperial Court of the Tang Dynasty was mainly responsible for delivering important information through the railway system, which was much faster than delivering information by horse. In places where there was no railway, they could only continue to use horses to deliver information.
The speed and sustainability of the train were higher than that of horses. Therefore, since the Imperial Court of the Tang Dynasty had the help of the railway, the efficiency of the posthouse system had been greatly improved. The efficiency of delivering important information of the Imperial Court had increased many times, and the work of the posthouse staff had also been greatly reduced. They all remembered Ang Lee's kindness.
But since ancient times, all important information had to be delivered by horses and not by people. In other words, the messenger had to keep rushing and changing horses without any delay. In this way, the speed was not much slower than that of the train. That was to say, after the introduction of the train, the speed of delivering letters had increased by several times. According to different situations, the increase in speed was also different.
This speed of improvement was a great improvement for the entire Tang Dynasty's posthouse system. The Imperial Court was very satisfied, and even the Emperor was very happy. However, for Ang Lee, the increase in speed was still too small and could not satisfy Ang Lee at all.
When Ang Lee raised this question, the first thing that came to Li Longji's mind was the big guy, the plane. After all, he had seen this huge monster, but it was not very reliable and many people had fallen to their deaths. Therefore, the Emperor always had some lingering fear in his heart.
Ang Lee knew that the Emperor would have this reaction. He smiled slightly and said, "Your Majesty, you guessed wrong. No matter how fast the flying machine flies, it will take a long time to reach Luoyang. It's too slow, really too slow. It has to be faster."
"Oh, my dear minister, you can make something faster."
As expected, the Emperor was very interested. If he could really make something that could greatly increase the speed of communication, then the administrative efficiency of the Tang Empire could be greatly improved. Officials from all over the country would no longer have to personally come to Chang 'an to report on their governance. Important things that happened in various places could also be informed to the Imperial Court as soon as possible.
Ang Lee saw a cup of tea on the table next to him and said, "Your Majesty, the thing that I want to invent can send Your Majesty's decree to Luoyang in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea. Of course, if possible, there are more powerful things that can reach Luoyang in the blink of an eye."
"What? In the time it takes to drink a cup of tea? In the blink of an eye? I only need to blink and the people in Luoyang will know my decree? This is too amazing. My dear minister, you can really create such a magical thing."
Although Li Longji was the monarch of a country, he still lost his composure when he heard such shocking words. If he didn't know Ang Lee well, he would have taken Ang Lee as a lunatic and beaten him to death.
The Emperor was full of trust in Ang Lee because he had invented a lot of good things before. He believed that Ang Lee would never speak carelessly. Since Ang Lee said this, it must be true. For so many years, Ang Lee had never disappointed him. Every time he boasted, Ang Lee would miraculously complete the task.
Because of the many previous examples, Li Longji had to believe what Ang Lee said even though he didn't dare to believe it. Once such a magical weapon was really invented, it was impossible for him not to know what it would mean for the Tang Empire. It could improve the administrative efficiency of the Tang Empire by a hundred times. It was simply terrifying.
Seeing the Emperor like this, Ang Lee smiled and said respectfully, "How would I dare to deceive Your Majesty? In order to improve the administrative efficiency of the Tang Empire and make it easier for Your Majesty to rule the country, I will do my best to develop such a magical weapon no matter how difficult it is."
Since he had already said this idea, Ang Lee would develop this magical equipment at all costs.
The magical weapon Ang Lee mentioned was just the telegraph and telephone of the later generations. These two things were not worth mentioning at all for the later generations. Once they were brought to the Tang Empire, they would be magical weapons enough to shock everyone.
"Good, good, good. If you can develop such a powerful machine, it will be of great importance to the Tang Empire. How long will it take you to develop it?"
Li Longji asked with great concern.
Ang Lee thought for a moment and replied, "Your Majesty, it is not easy to develop such a machine. Moreover, it needs to be improved constantly. In a year and a half, there should be results. In short, I will do my best."
"Good, that's great. You are really a pillar of the Tang Empire. By the way, what does such a machine look like? How big is it? Do you have a sketch?"
Li Longji wanted to see it quickly, so he asked.
Ang Lee did not have a sketch with him, so he said, "Your Majesty, I am not sure what such a machine will look like when it is finished. However, as long as it is completed, it should not be very big. It should be about the same size as this food box!"
Then he pointed to the food box next to him, which had just been sent by Yang Yuhuan. It contained Li Longji's favorite snacks.
"It's only so big. Will it be in the shape of a bird?"
Li Longji guessed.
Ang Lee smiled and said, "Your Majesty must be joking. No matter how fast a bird flies, it can't send a message to Luoyang in the blink of an eye. The machine that I want to invent does not need to move at all. It only needs to be tapped a few times, and Luoyang will know."
With that, Ang Lee boldly walked to the food box, put his finger on the lid of the food box, and tapped it a few times.
Li Longji did not blame him. He said happily, "If you can really invent it, that would be great. You will do your best to do it. If you need anything, just tell me. By the way, here are some pastries. They were made by the Imperial Concubine herself. Take them back and try them!"
"The Imperial Concubine is made for Your Majesty. I dare not."
Ang Lee felt that it was a little inappropriate, so he refused.
"It's okay. The Imperial Concubine also likes you very much. If she knows that you have eaten these pastries, she will be very happy. Just take them!"
Since Li Longji was sincerely giving them to him, Ang Lee could only accept them.
Later, many generals and officials who followed Ang Lee to the south all entered the main hall. The Emperor also announced their rewards on the spot. Many officials were promoted because of their contributions and received even more rewards.
The news of Ang Lee and his group returning to Chang 'an naturally caused a sensation. A few days before their return, the newspapers in Chang' an all reported the achievements of Ang Lee and his officials on the front page. Even after Ang Lee's return, these reports did not stop. They simply dominated the front page.
The nobles and officials in the capital were all very concerned about Ang Lee's return. On the day Ang Lee returned to the capital, a large group of people ran to Ang Lee's residence to give gifts. They almost broke the threshold of Ang Lee's residence.
Li An only had one principle when it came to these people who gave him gifts, and that was to accept all of them. This was because other nobles did the same, and Li An couldn't be an exception. If he made himself seem too virtuous, it would instead bring him great trouble.
Of course, he did not need to personally accept the gifts. The servants in Ang Lee's residence could do this task. Ang Lee only needed to occasionally look at the account book to see who gave what gift and how valuable the gift was.
The people who gave gifts were friends, and the people who did not give gifts were also friends. Ang Lee would not deliberately target some poor officials because they did not give gifts, nor did he have the leisure to do so.
Ang Lee's main task was to do scientific research. He did not care about the affairs of the officialdom, nor did he have the power to punish other officials. However, Ang Lee was too powerful and had a close relationship with the emperor. He was the most special person in the entire Tang dynasty. Therefore, although Ang Lee did not have the power to kill these officials, they did not dare to offend Ang Lee, nor did they dare not to give gifts.
The officials and nobles would give gifts to Ang Lee according to their status and wealth. Some people gave gifts that were very valuable, while others gave gifts that were not very valuable. Ang Lee had already told the servants to give a certain return gift according to the different gifts. He could not let these people who gave gifts suffer too much loss.
Naturally, the return gift would not be the same as the items given. They were all things that were worthless to Ang Lee, but very important to outsiders. For example, things like mirrors were very cheap, but the market price was very high. Ang Lee regarded mirrors as return gifts.
For those who gave fewer gifts, they would give a very ordinary small mirror. For those who gave more gifts and had better drinks, they would give a bigger, high-end mirror with a gold-rimmed nanmu frame to show that the gift-giver's status was different from others.
Of course, if he met someone with a particularly high status, Ang Lee would also specially customize a return gift for them, which was a unique return gift.
For example, Yang Guozhong, King Qi, King Zhao, Yang Yurou, and other guys also sent their housekeepers to Ang Lee's mansion to give gifts. They also gave expensive things, including antique calligraphy and paintings, big antlers, thousand-year-old ginseng, and fist-sized gems. In short, there were all kinds of gifts. Ang Lee could only give them mirrors or various interesting glass balls.
These things were very cheap, but they were really difficult to buy on the market. If they were custom-made, it would be even more precious. For example, the glass ball inlaid with objects in the middle could be inlaid with animals and objects. At the same time, it could also be inlaid with paper with words and patterns. It could even be inlaid with three-dimensional Chinese characters. In this way, it would be very beautiful.
Different people had different preferences. Therefore, for different big shots, Ang Lee's return gifts were different. For example, the return gift he gave to Yang Guozhong was a palm-sized glass ball inlaid with a running horse carved in white jade. The horse was also inlaid with four big words carved in yellow jade. The horse and the Chinese characters were clearly visible, but they could not be touched. It was very artistic.
As for the gift he gave to a woman like Yang Yurou, it could not be a horse or an eagle that represented sunshine. Instead, it should be a small flower like a peony. Of course, it had to be carved in jade. Yellow jade could be used to carve flowers, green jade could be used to carve leaves, and then it would be matched with a euphemistic poem carved in black jade. He even had to carve two butterflies above the flower. That would be perfect.
The bigger the glass ball, the more objects it contained, and the more difficult it would be to make. Of course, after the completion of the production, the more precious the handicrafts would be, and the higher the cost.
However, even if the cost was higher, for Ang Lee, it was far less valuable than the gifts these local tyrants gave him. In Ang Lee's eyes, glass was a very worthless thing.
For those who gave gifts to Ang Lee, Ang Lee would give gifts in return. For some people, even if they did not give gifts, Ang Lee would still give gifts. For example, especially important people, such as the Emperor and the Kings.
For the various objects inlaid in glass balls, Ang Lee had been very mature in his research. Moreover, the handicrafts he made were becoming more and more exquisite and complex. However, in order to maintain the rarity, the glass balls sold on the market were generally rarely inlaid with complex objects. It was not bad to be able to put a small bug in it. Moreover, the size was generally relatively small. A glass ball the size of an egg was already very big.
However, such a small glass ball would inevitably be unable to carry a variety of complex objects. Therefore, many exquisite and complex glass balls had to be at least the size of a bowl in order to accommodate enough inlay objects to reflect the value of this luxury.
Since the invention of this kind of large glass ball, Ang Lee had made no more than a hundred glass balls that were larger than the size of a bowl. Each of them was a fine product. Moreover, the more he made, the more complex and beautiful they were.
Of course, the initial technology was Ang Lee's, but the later production became more and more complex. This was the credit of the craftsmen. Under Ang Lee's careful guidance, they explored bit by bit and were able to make larger and more complex glass balls, which surprised Ang Lee.
In the back garden of the Great Ming Palace, the Yang sisters, who had nothing to do, sat together and chatted casually. This was their daily life. The Imperial Palace had almost become the private garden of the Yang sisters. They could come here whenever they wanted.
"Sister! Sister recently got an interesting treasure. Today, I brought it to you to see. "
Yang Yurou took out a small square box made of red sandalwood and then carefully opened it. Inside was an exquisite glass ball.
Glass balls were not rare. However, with such a large size and such a complex and precise internal structure, it was a treasure that could not be seen on the market.
"A white peony. It's quite unique. The green leaves set it off very well. There's also a bee collecting honey on it. The bee isn't made of jade, it's a real bee. There's also a poem, 'Guan Guan Ju Dove'. In the river, a fair lady is a good match for a gentleman. 'They're all carved from high-quality jade."
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