Although qualified steel was used, the steam engine still had other problems, so it only took less than two hours to stop again due to the shaft breakage, but this time Wang Shu was not frustrated, because this was already his best achievement after developing the steam engine, and it would be damaged in half an hour at most, and this time it was already a very huge progress.

Zhao Yan was also very satisfied with this, after all, he didn't expect Wang Shu and the other young people to be able to make a steam engine all at once, and now they can make a steam engine that rotates smoothly for two hours, so after slow improvement, they will definitely be able to make a steam engine that takes longer and has higher power.

At that moment, Zhao Yan and Wang Shu checked the damaged steam engine together, and after finding the problem, they summed up the experience, and finally Zhao Yan encouraged Wang Shu and them, and there were also some material rewards, after all, he knew that it was not enough to rely on spiritual rewards alone, and the material rewards should also keep up, so that the people who studied would work harder.

However, since the steam engine broke, Xu Yuan has not spoken, he has been thinking about what Zhao Yan said just now, but he really can't understand how the pile of iron bumps in front of him can help his crazy father win the world, let alone see what practical value this steam engine has, but he was very excited when he thought of Zhao Yan when he mentioned the steam engine before, as if this thing could change the whole world, which made Xu Yuan even more puzzled in his heart.

After leaving the Gewu Academy, Xu Yuan finally couldn't help but ask again: "Third brother, I've heard you mention the steam engine many times before, but as far as I can see today, the so-called steam engine is just a big iron lump that can swallow clouds and spit fog, why do you attach so much importance to it?" ”

Seeing that even Xu Yuan, who had always been erudite and talented, didn't understand the meaning of the steam engine, Zhao Yan couldn't help laughing. After a while, he spoke: "I didn't expect that there was Brother Xu, and you couldn't figure it out, but if I give an example, you will definitely understand!" ”

"Oh, what example?" Xu Yuan asked curiously again, he was really curious about the role of the steam engine.

Gewu Academy is located on the bank of the Pearl River, and Zhao Yan and the others walked out of the academy just to see the wide Pearl River, in which all kinds of boats come and go. There happened to be a very huge car and boat passing quickly from the river, which made Zhao Yan immediately point to the car and boat: "Brother Xu, you see, this car and boat rotate and paddle with the huge ships on both sides, which makes its ship very fast, but you also know that this kind of car and ship needs dozens of boatmen to pedal the wheel to row the big boat, but if the steam engine just now is installed on this ship, and the power of the steam engine is used to drive the huge ships on both sides of the car and ship, which will not only save a lot of manpower." It will also make the boat run faster and farther, as long as the fuel is enough and the machine is not broken, it can run without sleep. ”

Cars and boats have appeared as early as the Northern and Southern Dynasties, when they were all small boats, and by the Song Dynasty they had developed into large ships that could carry hundreds of people, and there were huge paddlewheels on both sides of the hull of this kind of boat, which could turn and paddle. It is very similar to the paddle steamers of later generations, except that this type of ship has two major drawbacks. The first is that you can't drive in shallow water, and the second is that you can't enter the sea, and you can only see it in some big rivers, and there are often such boats on the Pearl River on this side of Guangzhou.

"Steam engines? Travel? Xu Yuan was suddenly stunned when he heard this, and his footsteps stopped, as if he had realized something in his mind. Then his whole body trembled and finally came to his senses and said, "I understand, third brother, you want to replace manpower with a steam engine, as the so-called manpower is poor, but when the steam engine just now rotated, it was very powerful." It is possible to do things that many humans can't do! ”

"Haha~, Brother Xu is really powerful, and suddenly thought of the key to the matter, the biggest use of the steam engine is to replace manpower, to do many things that manpower can not do, among which it is one of the uses to install it on ships, and it can also make a steam car, maybe it will be able to reach the capital from Guangzhou in one day, in addition, the steam engine also has an extremely wide range of uses in ironmaking, textile and other industries, it can be said that as long as the steam engine is used, it can definitely change the status quo of the world!" When Zhao Yan said this, he also showed an ambitious expression on his face, he didn't care about the throne, but he was extremely interested in changing the historical course of the Great Song Dynasty, and the steam engine was one of his killer features.

Xu Yuan couldn't help but be silent when he heard Zhao Yan's words, thinking back to the huge force driven by the rotation of the steam engine just now, and then thinking about the impact of these steels when they were applied to all walks of life, which made him also couldn't help but be surprised, and then he finally understood why Zhao Yan attached so much importance to the steam engine, this thing can indeed promote a huge change.

In the next period of time, Zhao Yan once again increased his investment in the research of the steam engine, but he was limited by the technological level of the Great Song Dynasty, which made the research of the steam engine enter a bottleneck, and he has not been able to make greater progress. Maybe someone in it can solve the problem of the process.

In addition to the study of the steam engine, Zhao Yan was most concerned about the expansion of the water division during this time, after the previous disarmament, there were only 80,000 people left in the water division, and then Xu Yuan recruited 30,000 new soldiers in the south, but this number was far from meeting Zhao Yan's requirements, so the water division began to send people to recruit troops in various parts of the north, because of the previous drought, many people in the north were scrambling to eat military food, wanting to get rid of the poverty at home, which made the first batch of water divisions recruit 30,000 people, followed by the second and third batches, Zhao Yan estimated that after the expansion, the Great Song Dynasty would have 200,000 sailors, thousands of warships, and an army of 50,000 people, so that Zhao Yan could cope with the changes that might occur next.

Just when Zhao Yan was expanding the navy in the south, Zhao Ji in the capital was sitting in the vertical arch hall with a frown, and in front of him, a middle-aged man about forty years old was talking to him about political affairs.

"Your Majesty, His Royal Highness the King of Yue has expanded his army in the south, the number of sailors has doubled, and there are also 50,000 troops, all of which are under the command of His Royal Highness the King of Yue, coupled with the financial power of the sea trade, so many affairs are all pressed on His Royal Highness the King of Yue, which is too heavy, so His Majesty feels that it is better to send someone to the south to help the King of Yue share some affairs, so as to reduce the burden on His Royal Highness the King of Yue!" I saw Lu Huiqing saluting Zhao Yan, in fact, at the beginning, he wanted to directly say that the power in Zhao Yan's hands was too great, and it was really uneasy to stay away from the capital, but halfway through the words, he saw that the look on Zhao Yan's face was wrong, so he immediately changed his words and turned the reduction of power into helping Zhao Yan share affairs.

"No need, the third brother occupied a lot of fertile territory overseas, and then helped the imperial court move a lot of displaced people out, reducing the responsibility of various places, but these places are far away from the Great Song Dynasty, and they need to send sailors to garrison, so they will ask for the expansion of the army, and this matter is also agreed by me, so there is no need to mention it in the future!" Zhao Ji said with a deep face, of course he knew what Lu Huiqing was going to say, but he felt that the other party was also thinking about the court, so he didn't blame him too much.

"His Royal Highness King Yue is loyal to the country, and the minister is also very impressed, but the minister heard that Cai Jing, the governor of Guangzhou, has been very resistant to changing the law since he took office, and now there is almost no implementation of the new law in Guangzhou, and Cai Jing has relied on some relationships between the court and the central government, and has bullied local officials, and later His Royal Highness the King of Yue went to preside over justice, so the lower officials think that Cai Jing is no longer suitable to serve as the governor of Guangzhou, but should select an official who can implement the law change and can assist His Royal Highness the King of Yue!" As soon as Lu Huiqing saw Zhao Yan's attitude, he immediately knew that he would definitely not be able to move Zhao Yan in the slightest, but he was also very clever, and immediately transferred the artillery fire to Cai Jing, Cai Jing's younger brother Cai Bian is Wang Anshi's younger brother, maybe he can burn the fire to Wang Anshi through Cai Jing.

"Oh? Is it true that Cai Jing bullied local officials? Zhao Ji frowned again when he heard this, he naturally knew the relationship between Cai Jing and Wang Anshi, although Wang Anshi was reunited during this time, he still didn't have much to do in terms of changing the law, which made Zhao Ji also very dissatisfied, and even dissatisfied with the people around Wang Anshi.

"Absolutely true, this matter has been ascertained, when the horse Xu Yuan was attached, there was a female general under the command of the Guangzhou Navy, Cai Jing saw the other party's beauty after he arrived, and he wanted to marry the other party, and after being rejected by the other party, he was accused of retaliation, and almost forced Xu Yuan's old department, and later His Royal Highness the King of Yue arrived in Guangzhou, so that Cai Jing did not dare to be presumptuous, this matter is known to everyone in Guangzhou, and His Majesty will know it when he checks it!" Lu Huiqing immediately spoke, in order to crack down on Wang Anshi, he spared no effort, and the people around Wang Anshi were investigated, and Cai Jing's affairs naturally could not be hidden from him.

"Humph! Truly bold! Zhao Ji heard that Cai Jing almost forced Xu Yuan's old department to rebel, and immediately slapped the table angrily and said, The Great Song Dynasty has not had a rebellion by military generals since the founding of the country, but he didn't expect Cai Jing to be so bold that he almost forced a group of people to rebel.

"Cai Jing is indeed arrogant, and he has done nothing since taking office, if such a mediocre official is allowed to stay in office, he can only mislead the country and the people, so please punish Your Majesty severely!" Lu Huiqing once again added fuel to the fire. (To be continued......)