"What Brother Wang said is very true, those old stubborns in the clan can let them go, you and I have been in Dengzhou for several months, and we have already been convinced of the methods of His Royal Highness the King of Qi, and you and him are old acquaintances, why don't we take advantage of His Highness to come back now, how about we go and visit?" Another young man, who was obviously younger, spoke, as if he was impatient to get acquainted with Li Su.

The young man who spoke was a few years younger than the short-bearded young man next to him, he looked no more than twenty years old, and he was shorter, but he was extremely handsome with red lips and white teeth, and even looked a little more handsome than the woman, which also caused some girls next to him to point at him, and snicker a few times from time to time. And the handsome young man seemed to be used to this situation for a long time, and he didn't care at all.

"Brother Cui, with my experience, don't disturb His Royal Highness the King of Qi now, otherwise we will have a hard time!" After listening to his companion's advice, the short-bearded young man immediately said with a wry smile. If Li Su could see this short-bearded young man in the crowd, he would immediately recognize that this person was the prince of the Taiyuan royal family.

"What did Brother Wang say about this?" The young man surnamed Cui asked with a puzzled face, they came to Dengzhou to express their goodwill to Li Su, and there is a big secret to report to him, if Li Su knows their intentions, it will definitely be too late to thank them, how can they still give them hardship?

"Brother Cui doesn't know, don't look at His Royal Highness King Qi on the stage, in fact, there is a trace of anxiety in his eyes, and you look at the palace wall behind, although you can't see clearly, but Princess Qi should be there, everyone knows that King Qi and his wife are very affectionate, this time His Royal Highness went to Goguryeo, and they were separated for several months, and the husband and wife naturally had endless lovesickness. If we don't understand the amorous feelings at this time, we will go to see you. Although His Royal Highness King Qi will definitely attach great importance to it, with his careful eyes, it will definitely make us suffer a little afterwards. So let's come back in two days, anyway, we don't have to rush our affairs for a while. ”

When Wang Guo spoke, he kept a faint wry smile on his face. Back then, he just wanted to get acquainted with Li Su, and then played a little trick, but he didn't expect to be written down by Li Su, and later for this matter, he didn't suffer less, if he wasn't forced to be helpless, he really didn't want to deal with this cautious prince anymore.

Hearing Wang Guo's explanation, the young man surnamed Cui was also stunned, thinking of his wife at home. There was also a feeling of longing in my heart. smiled at the moment of understanding, and smiled at Wang Guo: "It's still Brother Wang's thoughtfulness, and the younger brother is too calm." Since you can't visit now. Then let's go to the port, I heard that His Royal Highness the King of Qi brought a lot of slaves from Goguryeo this time. You and I are short of manpower in the mines, so let's pick some now, they must be much cheaper than inland! ”

"Hahaha~, just what I want!" Wang Guo also had this plan, and at that moment the two left the square hand in hand, and together with some shrewd merchants, they began to converge in the direction of the port, and began to share the delicious booty brought by Li Su with the knives and forks that had already been polished.

When Li Su finally memorized the speech, and appeased the people who were in high spirits, he couldn't wait to return to the house, and saw Wen Xin and Xijun They were naturally inexhaustible lovesickness.

Originally, Li Su wanted to accompany Wen Xin and them for a few more days, but he didn't expect that early the next morning, before he got up, someone reported that Yifan and Yuan Tiangang had something important to see, Li Su was helpless, and as soon as he arrived in the hall after getting dressed, he saw Yifan shouting loudly with a happy face: "Liulang, good news, our steam engine is finally usable!" ”

"What~, this ...... It's true? When Li Su heard this, his brain, which was still a little confused just now, immediately sobered up, ran a few steps in a row with an unbelievable face, stepped forward and grabbed Yifan's arm and yelled.

"Of course it's true, we've been testing it for days in a row, and it's still spinning!" Yifan has a stinky expression on her face, and she is also extremely proud of the steam engine, a work that has cost her a lot of effort.

"Great!" When Li Su got an affirmative answer, he was immediately excited and couldn't help himself, and suddenly reached out and picked up Yifan and spun around in place a few times, frightened Yifan screamed again and again, and at the same time instinctively slapped Li Su's head with both hands. When Li Su found out that it was inappropriate to let her down, the other party's face was already red with shame, and even Yuan Tiangang next to him was shocked, and the atmosphere became a little embarrassing for a while.

Fortunately, Li Su has always been anxious and wise, and there are many crooked ideas, after putting down a sail, he immediately turned to Yuan Tiangang again, and in the shocked eyes of the old god, he reached out and picked him up and turned around a few times, and after putting it down, he grabbed the other party's dry hands, and said excitedly: "Thank you!" Thank you Daochang Yuan and Yifan for their hard work and hard work during this time! ”

Although Li Su's approach was a bit shocking, it finally alleviated the embarrassment of the scene, and Li Su also took the opportunity to divert the topic and asked them to take themselves to see the developed steam engine. As soon as he mentioned this, Yifan immediately forgot about the embarrassment just now, and ran to the Academy of Sciences with great interest. It's a pity that Yuan Tiangang suffered, and after living at such an age, it was the first time he was held in a circle by a man.

The Academy of Sciences is built in the back of the Qi Palace, separated from the Qi Palace, there is a small alley separated from the Qi Palace, now in addition to the steam engine development team led by Yifan, in addition to the ship design institute led by Wei Heizi has also been incorporated into the Academy of Sciences, and there are still some papermaking, textile, agriculture and other research groups, the personnel in these groups are professionals hired by Li Su from all over the country, to analyze and study the existing technology, find out ways to improve, and some groups have produced results.

Entering the Academy of Sciences, turning around a few courtyards, before he walked to the place where the steam engine research and development team was located, Li Su heard a strange and familiar roar, which was the sound of rapid rotation of machinery, in his previous life, it could be heard almost everywhere, but after coming to Datang, this was the first time Li Su heard this kind of noisy roar.

Although this kind of sound is not beautiful, in Li Su's ears, it is tantamount to Xianle, because it heralds the arrival of the era of great industry, and the goal he set at the beginning will be completed at an incredible speed because of its appearance.

Thinking of this, Li Su couldn't hold back any longer, and almost ran into the yard, and what was presented in front of him was the steam engine that was designed according to Yifan and asked for by him from the Ministry of Works, and it took countless time and energy to complete the steam engine.

I saw that the iron guy in front of me was more than two people tall, and the most conspicuous thing was the huge flywheel, and then the cylinder that was built with great difficulty. Now the steam engine is running, and there is a shirtless worker standing in the boiler next to it, who is working hard to add coal to the inner furnace, and after the high-temperature steam enters the cylinder, it pushes the piston to reciprocate, and transmits the kinetic energy through the crank shaft outside, driving the huge flywheel to rotate.

"Your Highness, how about it, I made the steam engine!" Just as Li Su was looking up and down at the steam-spitting steel monster in front of him, Yifan and Yuan Tiangang also walked over, pointing to the running steam engine and saying to him with a smug expression.

"Yifan, you are such a genius, I don't even know how to praise you!" Li Su looked at the steam engine in surprise, in his previous life, in the era he was in, the steam engine had almost been eliminated, so this was the first time he saw the real thing, and he felt really shocked.

"By the way, what about the power of this thing, have you ever tested it?" Li Su thought of a key question and hurriedly asked, because he knew that the steam engine was not good enough to rotate light, and it had to produce enough horsepower to have practical value.

When Yifan heard this, he immediately puffed up his small chest and said proudly: "Of course we have tested, the power produced by this steam engine when it rotates is enough to compare with that of an adult horse!" ”

"What? Can such a big man compare to the strength of a horse? Li Su couldn't help but be greatly deflated when he heard this, although he didn't know what the horsepower of the steam engine in later generations was, but with the volume of the steam engine in front of him, even if it was installed on the corresponding big ship, the power generated would definitely not be able to carry the ship.

"Be content, when the steam engine was first developed, the power was smaller than now, mainly because the air leakage was too serious, and later after the improvement of the craftsmen, the strength was increased a lot, but the problem of air leakage has not been solved." Yifan also heard the dissatisfaction in Li Su's words, and couldn't help but become very aggrieved.

"Air leaks?" Li Su was also stunned after hearing this, this problem was his omission, in his memory, the steam engine of later generations was to use rubber, it is estimated that it is to solve the problem of air leakage. Thinking of this, Li Su hurriedly talked about the characteristics of rubber, and then asked if Yifan could use it?

"If this thing is really wear-resistant, it can solve the air leak, but we have used many materials during this time, but none of them can meet the requirements of a steam engine." Yifan said very frustratedly, she also knew that if the air leakage problem could be solved, it would definitely be able to greatly improve the power of the steam engine, but unfortunately due to the limitations of the material, it has not been successful, as for the rubber that Li Su said, she has no confidence.

"Rubber is definitely good, but ......" Li Su is very confident in rubber, after all, this is the experience gained in later generations, but he immediately thought of a question, rubber is a good thing, yes, but if he remembers correctly, rubber trees and peppers are all specialties of the Americas, where can he find rubber trees now?

Thinking of this, Li Su was deflated all of a sudden, he couldn't build a practical steam engine without rubber, he couldn't build a steam ship without a steam engine, and although he could go to the Americas without a steam ship, God knew that he wouldn't be able to come back until the Year of the Monkey.

Is there no substitute in the world except rubber? At this moment, Li Su suddenly had a flash of inspiration and thought of this question.