Guanzhong Shanglin Garden, Kunming Poolside Mint Workshop.

Ma Chao also wore a dark blue woolen coat, a hat stitched with wool felt, and a dusty mask on his face.

Tian Xin next to him is also dressed in the same way, and when he enters the workshop area, Tian Xin will wear a mask.

A dozen paces away in front of them, a steam carriage was moving slowly on the stone-paved ground; Instead of studying new carriages, the existing railcar carriages were used as experimental platforms for the design of steam engines.

The carriage can move forward stably and at a constant speed, and after the power is connected to the acceleration gear set, the gear will be increased to increase the speed; There is also a backshift in the gear train.

Very simple steam-powered cars, even steam engines, are only the second generation after being transplanted to the carriage.

Now that acceleration lights up the steam power, the difficulty of limiting the body has shifted to the bearing axles.

Ma Chao can already imagine that in a few years of development, when the two armies faced each other, someone stood on the carriage with a Fang Tian halberd in his hand, black soot on the left, and white water vapor on the right, slowly approaching the enemy formation against the background of this black and white cloud...... Can the other side still stand firm?

Contrary to what he thought, Tian Xin's eyes were in the eyes of the medium-sized steam car with better power and terrain adaptability...... Rushing into battle is even simpler, brute force collision is the most unpromising, two flying circular saws are installed on both sides of the front of the car, no matter what position you have, you can chisel out a bloody alley.

Now the biggest role of the steam engine is not to provide power to vehicles, but to increase the efficiency of machining, as well as to provide power for warships and carriers.

The Yangtze River water transport is convenient to swim downstream; But it's too tiring to swim up.

With the steam engine in the Yangtze River basin to provide power, it can accelerate the efficiency of material transportation in the south, greatly reduce costs, and transfer more labor to industry.

When the blast furnace can be used to make iron, and the production can produce hundreds of tons a day, the railroad track will be built and the wooden rail system will be fully upgraded.

Before this, there were two key directions for the development of steam engines, one was to provide stable power for the industry, so that the industry could get rid of water power and animal power; One is to power the boat.

Tian Xin waited for Ma Chao to digest this 'terrifying' great invention, and then came to the office together.

The office facilities of the various government offices built around Kunming Pool are all based on the rows of barracks and longhouses common in Beifu, and the office is no exception, which is a wide longhouse, which is subdivided into two rows on the left and right, with a corridor in the middle.

Therefore, in winter, because the windows are closed, only a small part of the skylight is opened, so the light is not good.

After Ma Chao's dark cyan military coat was hung on the hanger, he stood in front of the wall of fire and stretched out his hand to keep warm, and after a long time, he regretted slightly: "Male, the steam truck weighs nearly ten horsepower, but unfortunately I can't be there and control it in person." ”

"It's better not to."

Tian Xin took out the tea leaves to brew for each other, and warned Ma Chao: "The power of this thing is greedy for heaven, and since it was made, it has burst twice. Steam swells and accumulates in the boiler, and if there is a crack in the boiler, there is a sudden roar, and the metal and wood are all broken. It is difficult for people in close proximity to have a whole corpse, and if they are a little farther away, they will also be shocked and injured, and the serious ones will bleed from the seven orifices and die after suffering for several days; Light ones will also have tinnitus and mental trance. ”

How can it be as serious as he said, the two boiler explosions were the result of Ma Jun's test, and the wrought iron and pig iron boilers were blown up.

The melting point of wrought iron is higher than that of pig iron, but pig iron is brittle, which is not suitable for casting boilers; Therefore, at present, the boilers are cast with copper alloys with more mature alloy technology.

Seeing that Tian Xin said it was terrible, and there was a deep fear and awe between his eyebrows, Ma Chao put away his curiosity to hunt for curiosity.

Instead, he asked, "What other wonderful uses can this thing do to drive the carriage on its own?" ”

Tian Xin had already brewed tea and pushed a bowl to Ma Chao: "It can replace water power and animal power, and the best thing is that this thing is currently the most suitable for loading on boats." Now the skills are crude, to be initially perfected, can be assembled by the time of the time can not be until two years later. Two years later, the Weishui ship could be powered by steam. If it is possible, a steam manufacturing bureau will be set up in Wuchang. ”

Ma Chao grabbed the dried fruits on the plate on the table and tasted them, chewed them, and rolled his eyes: "How is the progress of Lingnan's development of Nanyang?" Do I need a steam engine? ”

Tian Xin shook his head without thinking: "The ocean has a fixed wind direction and undercurrent, and when the navy goes out and retreats, it either uses the strong sea breeze or drifts downstream. Therefore, there is no shortage of steam power at present, and it is not suitable for the promotion of steam engines. ”

Seeing Ma Chao's thinking appearance, Tian Xin also said: "There is Great Qin in the West, and its merchants enter and leave the South Seas. If the steam engine is introduced into other countries, it will be detrimental to us. What's more, Lingnan is remote, and the development of Nanyang will inevitably lead to the trouble of being difficult to control after a hundred years. Therefore, the transmission of this substance needs to be suspended. ”

Ma Chao's eyes wandered, thinking deeply about the influence of the steam engine, so he nodded slowly and asked: "What should I do when the imperial court moves into the capital?" ”

Seeing that Tian Xin was silent, Ma Chao asked: "The four states of Kanto have been traumatized by wars repeatedly, but the heritage still exists, and the land is fertile and the rivers are dense, which is very supportive. I thought that two generations later, the population of the four states in Kanto would be around 20 million. At that time, the population will be dense, the culture will be prosperous, and the talents will be produced in large numbers, how should it be suppressed? ”

This is not only a question of restricting the spread of steam engines to Lingnan and Kanto, but also a question of regional leadership after the unification of the world.

Kanto is also the land of the Central Plains, where water and soil support people, and after the population is dense, the natural economy is developed, and the developed economy will naturally cultivate various talents.

Counting the remnants of the family and Haoqiang, under the guidance of these people, the Central Plains will soon recover its economic vitality and talent competitiveness.

At that time, it will naturally infiltrate the court and compete for the right to speak and lead the court.

Ma Chao suffered too much at the hands of the Kwantung people, and Tian Xin asked rhetorically: "Then what is General Meng Qi's high theory?" ”

Ma Chao pursed his lips and said: "I have three strategies, one is to restrict the development of Qingzhou's textiles to weaken Qilu's wealth; the second is to promote the cultivation of silk and linen in the Central Plains, take silk and hemp and transport it to Guanzhong, weave it into cloth in Guanzhong, and then pass through the world; Third, it is strictly forbidden to privately run salt and iron. ”

The economies of the four Kanto prefectures want to be revitalized, among which the textile industry in Qingzhou is important, and the salt industry in Qingxu is also important.

The Xuzhou scholars were repeatedly tossed by the first emperor and the generals, and the reason was that in the past twenty years, Cao Wei was unable to effectively rule Xuzhou at all.

However, under the autonomy of the local scholars, Xuzhou has never been able to develop, and its population and economy are similar to those in the early years of Jian'an.

Therefore, the first emperor and the general tossed the Xuzhou scholars, not the people of Xuzhou.

Xuzhou has collapsed, lost its economic vitality and priority status, and is no longer the commercial state and county with a high concentration of wealthy merchants in the late Han Dynasty.

Therefore, among the four states in the Kanto region, Qingzhou is currently the leader.

Suppressing the development momentum of Qingzhou can establish Guanlong's dominant position.

In the Central Plains, more silk and hemp and cotton are planted, and there will be less grain...... As Ma Chao thought, a bigger plan appeared in Tian Xin's mind.

Compared with his original plan, Ma Chao's plan is more ruthless.

However, it is also necessary to accelerate the development of Guanlong, which is conducive to the spread and development of national strength to the west; If you go east, you will develop to the sea...... Now they are all poor outside, and they can't get anything meaningful except to grab some slaves, gold, silver, precious metals, precious stones, and spices.

There is no object that can suck blood and eat meat, which is also the disadvantage of the first civilization and the first echelon.

The advantage is also obvious, when the ironclad battleship drove past, the curly-haired baboons in those trees could only raise their hands.