The imperial court sent people to Yangzhou for the purpose of opening the canal.

The fundamental reason why the Manchu court attached so much importance to the canal was that with the development of Chinese society, the economic status of the south continued to rise, and the basis for the relative economic balance of the division between the north and the south that had existed before the Song dynasty no longer existed.

Since the Yuan Dynasty, the northern region with Beijing as the center, from the imperial court, dignitaries, to some military and civilians, have relied on grain and other materials transported from the south, and this economic dependence cannot be solved by the south alone in the form of "annual coins" to provide agreed gold, silver, silk, and the like.

At this time, the economic exchanges between the north and the south were extremely dependent on the canal, if the Yangzhou army blocked the canal, firstly, the Manchu royal family and nobles who had been accustomed to a luxurious life would not be able to obtain material sources, and secondly, the north was in drought for many years, and the grain was no longer self-sufficient, so it was necessary to transport grain from the south to replenish it, which was also the fundamental reason why Duoduo led his troops to the south for the second time without absolute certainty.

Hubei, which the Manchus had already occupied, and Hunan, which was about to be occupied, were both major grain-producing provinces, and the Manchus had to transfer grain from these provinces if they wanted to solve the grain problem in the north, so the position of the canal was extremely crucial.

The Manchu Qing Dynasty really hated the Yangzhou army, and they couldn't fight it, and they couldn't resist it, and they couldn't accept it, thinking that relying on the Southern Ming Dynasty court to force Yangzhou to open the canal could also be a temporary urgency.

Luo Jian knew that with the end of the Xiaoice River period next year, the drought in the north would also end, and the food output of the north would not be a problem, which meant that the materials coming and going on the canal were very likely to meet the luxury materials of the Manchu royal family and nobles, which was also the fundamental reason why Luo Jian did not absolutely refuse the Manchu Qing Dynasty's request to open the canal.

Feng Quan knew that the Yangzhou army was the mortal enemy of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and if the Yangzhou army was allowed to set up a checkpoint, the canal would be open to the Manchu Qing Dynasty.

Luo Jian and Shi Kefa discussed for a long time and finally agreed to this request.

Now the main sales place of Liulan's perfume is the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and the glass products are also sold in large quantities to the Beijing area, and there will be more and more factories in Yangzhou in the future.

The imperial envoy went back to Nanjing with satisfaction, Luo Jian told Shi Kefa about the possible flood next year, and the two began to convene relevant officials to study countermeasures, and use the winter slack to seize the time to build water conservancy, and when everything was arranged, it had taken a few days.

An autumn rain and a chill, after several autumn rains, the weather is obviously cold, and the first batch of cotton clothes from the clothing factory outside the city has been loaded and shipped to Huai'an.

Luo Jian thought about the steam engine, and went to Guazhou with the guards, this time he went to Guazhou, Luo Jian wanted to find out the current industrial production capacity of the entire Guazhou, so as to think about the next development.

It's better to come early than to come by chance, but today it was just in time for the steam engine test machine, and a steam engine that was not much smaller than a warrior car was placed in the middle of the wide workshop, and a large group of people were around, Song Yingxing and Fang Yizhi were also among them, obviously ready to start.

"Stop! Stop it! When Luo Jian saw it, he hurriedly shouted.

"Xinghua, are you here? It's all done, and it's going to be tested right away, so why stop? Song Yingxing greeted Luo Jian, and was a little dissatisfied with him for shouting to stop.

Hearing Luo Jian's shout, everyone still stopped, staring at Luo Jian, not knowing why he wanted to stop.

"I said you were so confident in the steam engine you built? Why is there no security awareness at all? If this thing explodes, the power is comparable to that of a bomb. This Xiao Liu is also yes, why don't you teach you safety norms? Luo Jian stepped forward and said.

"And that said?" Song Yingxing looked at Luo Jian suspiciously.

"Come, everyone come here, let's not rush this moment." Luo Jian called everyone away from the surroundings of the steam engine, although the boiler had burned at this time, the steam had not yet been delivered.

"If you look at this design of the steam engine, it will create a lot of pressure in the cylinder, and it is these pressures that push the piston to reciprocate, so that the steam engine works. Once this high-temperature and high-pressure steam is blocked, an explosion accident will occur. ”

Luo Jian pointed to the steam engine and said, Song Yingxing and they directly used the design of the watt steam engine provided by Xiao Liu, which is much more efficient than the vacuum steam engine, but the danger has also increased greatly, and there have been many major accidents in history.

"Because it is unsafe, we must be as careful as possible when operating, especially when doing the maximum output power test, we must be very cautious, as it is absolutely not allowed to be surrounded by people like this today."

Seeing that everyone listened very carefully, Luo Jian continued: "I don't know if you have done the maximum pressure test on the cylinder, if not, I suggest that you don't rush to test the machine first, or do this test first, so that you know the maximum pressure that the cylinder can withstand, so that the safety is greatly improved." ”

"I haven't done this test, Xiao Liu is so busy that no one can find it, we can only rely on our own exploration, if Xinghua doesn't come today, maybe something big will happen, hurry up and turn off the boiler, let's do the test first." Song Yingxing listened to what Luo Jian said, but he was not stubborn, and quickly asked people to stop.

"In this way, let's gather the heads of each factory today, let's use this opportunity to hold a safety production meeting, Song Lao, what do you think?" Luo Jian saw that everyone's sense of safety was very weak, and he was a little anxious.

"Okay, Xinghua, good things are not busy, once there is a big accident, it will be wasted, I see that other factories also have these problems, it is necessary to let Xinghua tell you about it." Song Yingxing nodded yes.

An hour later, Xiao Liu and Chen Zilong, as well as the heads of the gunsmiths, artillery factories, gunpowder factories and other factories and workshops, all arrived.

"Chief, the main responsibility lies with me, I'm only busy with my own affairs, and I've been scrambling for time some time ago, but I didn't expect this." As soon as Liu Weimin arrived, he hurried to do an examination.

"Isn't there nothing going on? Don't rush to do the test, you also think about it, and you will talk about it later. Luo Jian said with a smile.

The meeting on safety production lasted for nearly two hours, and everyone found out the potential safety hazards in their own factories, and promised to rectify them immediately after going back.

"Chief, I'm almost successful." After the meeting, Xiao Liu quietly pulled Luo Jian and said.

"You're saying that ammonia production is almost successful?" Luo Jian asked.

"Yes, a small production line has been set up in the laboratory, and it will be almost in a week or two, and when the laboratory is successful, we will consider industrial production." Xiao Liu said.

Luo Jian had been looking forward to this news for a long time, and said happily at the moment: "Let's go, go to your place to have a look, dinner will be eaten at your place." ”

"Xinghua, don't be in a hurry to leave, I still have something to do here." Without waiting for Luo Jian to walk out of the factory, Chen Zilong came over and grabbed him.

"Xinghua, the current output of the steel mill can no longer meet the needs, we are ready to build another large blast furnace, now this blast furnace is ready to be used to specialize in smelting all kinds of special steel, I already have some eyebrows, and then allocate some silver to us, and when the new blast furnace is completed, our steel can also be provided for civilian use, let's build another farm tool factory."

When Luo Jian heard this, it seemed that Chen Zilong was not just managing the steel mill, but doing different research, and he was really happy.

"Okay, I'll talk to the overseer when I go back and try to meet your requirements." Luo Jian said with a smile.

"Brother Chen, let's go over for a meal together?" Xiao Liu asked with a smile.

"You go and eat, how can I have that time, there are many things, and I will invite you to eat when I am done." After Chen Zilong finished speaking, he left in a hurry.

Luo Jian and Xiao Liu chatted while walking, and soon arrived at Xiao Liu's small courtyard.

"How are the two girls?" Luo Jian remembered the two palace maids sent last time.

"There is one left, and the other one is probably going to become a chemist, and he can't get out of the book directly." Xiao Liu said with a smile.

"Oh? What's going on? Luo Jian was a little surprised.

"After Liu Cui'e studied chemistry, she was completely obsessed, she stayed in the laboratory all day and couldn't come out, the books were about to be rotted by her, and she asked me for a higher level every day, so I just found a room next to the laboratory and moved in."

"You mean it's possible for us to produce a 'Marie Curie'?" Luo Jian asked with a smile.

"Who knows? What if one day her interests change again? Xiao Liu also said with a smile.

"You have to take the time to guide her, it's not easy for us to cultivate a talent."

"Pestering me all day long to ask questions, I don't need to take the initiative to guide her." Xiao Liu said helplessly.

Walking into the courtyard, Li Yue greeted him and stood aside after saluting Luo Jian.

"You let them fry two dishes, and I'll have a drink with the chief in the evening." Xiao Liu explained to Li Yue, and Li Yue agreed to say hello.

"Chief, we've been here for more than half a year, haven't we? Why do I feel like more than ten years have passed? Xiao Liu said with emotion.

"Why not? Isn't what we've done in the past six months just what others have done for more than ten years? Luo Jian said with a smile.

"Chief, how long are you going to solve the Manchu problem?" Xiao Liu thought for a moment before asking.

"That's up to you, if everything goes well here, our time to solve the problem can be greatly advanced, if according to the current combat capability of the Yangzhou army, I'm afraid it can only maintain a basic balance, more than self-preservation, and the attack is insufficient."

"Chief, now there is such a problem, the production of the Mini gun, that is, the Yangzhou type of rifle, really gives me a headache, and now the firearms factory is developing rear-loading rifles and bullets, and so on I have a large amount of nitric acid here Once successful, all will be replaced with rear-loading ones, then this front-loading Mini gun will be quickly eliminated, which will not cause a lot of waste?"

"I said you're doing technology and making your head a lot stiffer! In the past, did the United States sell the most advanced weapons? What we eliminated can be sold, Japan is in the Warring States period at this time, and we are having a lot of fun, we just sell it to them, as well as Annam, Southeast Asia, where can we not sell it? Why are you worried about this anymore? ”

Xiao Liu patted his head vigorously, "Chief, my head is really a lot stiffer now, I will inform them tomorrow to start all the horsepower and produce at least one division first." ”

Li Yue, who had just walked into the house, looked at Xiao Liu patting his head strangely, wondering why he wanted to beat himself, could it be that the Metropolitan Governor punished him?

Seeing Li Yue coming in, the two no longer talked about sensitive topics, but just chatted about some homely things.

"Chief, I heard that Xing'er is very interesting to Xiao Wang, and now that Xing'er is back, how are the two of them developing?" Xiao Liu asked.

"I don't know, I haven't seen either of them in days, by the way, what's going on with the shipyard?" Luo Jian didn't know about the two of them.

"The craftsmen said that they couldn't start work in the winter, and now they are just preparing various materials." Xiao Liu said.

"It's not enough to just prepare materials, you have to carry out the overall design, I think the steam engine is almost done, we must do it in one step, directly make it into steam power, this design needs to be modified a lot, you will go to find the information another day, and then go to Song Lao and Fang Yizhi to discuss with them, and make an overall design plan, what we make must be more than a hundred years ahead of this era, right?" Luo Jian said.