Lin Yuan said: "We can be responsible for the military aspect, and as soon as our factories are established, we can have new equipment and armament." ”

"One of our big problems is that we don't have talent. According to my observation, most of the people in this country are illiterate, so I suggest that literacy classes be opened; In addition, we have to build a number of schools where seven-year-olds must be enrolled; During the time of the Japanese, a number of schools were opened in Shuri in order to carry out slave education, and the level of education in these schools was relatively high, so some students could be selected from these schools and sent to study abroad. ”

Lin Yuan said: "The development of the economy and education requires a lot of specialized personnel, and we should hold another meeting, and the opinions of all strata should be widely listened to at the meeting." ”

Fifteen days later, on November 1, 1894, a meeting known to later historians as the "First Founding Conference of the Ryukyus" was held, at which Shotai proposed the economic development of the Ryukyu Kingdom based on Hayashi's proposal, with a service industry as the leading economy and equal emphasis on industry and agriculture, and made preparations for the formulation of the Constitution, the national flag, and the national emblem.

Historians believe that Shang Taineng's ideas for the development of the banking and insurance industries were due to his acceptance of Western economic ideas during his time in Japan, and Lin Yuan's achievements are not mentioned, because compared with the later historical progress, Lin Yuan's contribution to the development of the Ryukyu economy is simply too insignificant.

Lin Yuan left the place where the meeting was held, and his mind was thinking quickly: "Talents, we do need a lot of talents, the nine captured Japanese warships are still parked in the harbor, no one knows how to operate those guns, and the Japanese didn't even leave a piece of paper for the operation manual when they left!" If there are no knowledgeable people and laymen who don't know how to operate those 100 mm guns, if they try to operate it, if there is a problem, many people will die! ”

"Where is the person who understands these things?" Lin Yuan instinctively thought of the Beiyang Fleet far away in Weihai, "They definitely can't count on it!" Lin Yuan shook his head self-deprecatingly.

"Now is not the time to worry about this, what about our chemical industry?" Lin Yuan remembered Su Zhengming's words.

The chemical industry is one of the foundations of the national defense industry, a relatively large use is to make gunpowder, without gunpowder, the development of weapons and equipment is impossible to talk about, from nitroglycerin, trinitrotoluene (that is, TNT) to the more powerful cyclotrimethyltrinitroamine (that is, black sokin), are inseparable from the chemical industry.

"One sulfur, two nitrates and three charcoal, the formula of this black powder has been passed down for thousands of years, without saltpeter, let alone those high-power explosives, we can't even make black powder." Lin Yuan thought to himself, needless to say saltpeter, now there is no sulfur, in the 21st century, the main sources of sulfur are oil and natural gas, now obviously there is no such condition, it would be good if you can find pyrite, the main component of pyrite is iron sulfide, this substance is an important raw material for the generation of sulfur.

In fact, finding pyrite and saltpeter ore is equivalent to getting a key to open the inorganic chemical industry, because many chemical products use sulfuric acid or nitric acid in the production process.

As he walked, he suddenly noticed a porcelain shop on the side of the road, and through the open door he saw a beautiful piece of porcelain, and the glaze on the porcelain made his eyes shine, it was a beautiful peacock green.

He knew that saltpeter would be used in the firing process of this glaze.

It is said that "antiques in prosperous times, gold in troubled times", and now porcelain shops can also open for business, indicating that the country is stepping on the track of prosperity.

Lin Yuan asked straight to the point: "Boss, where did you get these porcelains from?" ”

The boss smiled: "These porcelains are all transported from the Cheng family on the North Mountain. ”

Lin Yuan asked, "Cheng family?" ”

The boss was shocked and said, "You can't be Japanese, right?" How can you not know the Cheng family! ”

Lin Yuan knew that the appearance of the boss was the sequelae of the "Okinawa Massacre", but he spoke Chinese, and besides, I don't know if the Cheng family must be Japanese? This boss is really timid.

Lin Yuan hurriedly said: "No, no, no, I am Chinese, who is the Cheng family?" ”

The boss breathed a sigh of relief and said: "This Cheng family came here at the end of the Ming Dynasty to escape the war, and their ancestors fired ceramics, and now the porcelain of a little grade on the entire Ryukyu is fired by their family." ”

Lin Yuan asked, "Where is this North Mountain?" ”

The boss said: "In Ishikawa Town, that Kitayama is their family's, and outsiders can't easily go up, so with their family's porcelain firing skills, even the Japanese give them face." ”

Lin Yuan said: "Their porcelain is so good, no one can make porcelain like theirs?" ”

The boss smiled and said: "This master must not be in this line, look at this colored glazed mountain bottle." He pointed to the porcelain that Lin Yuan had just seen, and then said: "Don't talk about this painting, just talk about this glaze, you see this peacock green, so green that it is translucent!" This color alone, not to mention the Ryukyus, no one has made it in the Qing Dynasty. ”

The boss said: "You said that their family can make this color, legend has it that Beishan is a treasure place where their ancestors are buried, and every time they burn porcelain, there will be the souls of their ancestors to help them color." ”

Lin Yuan knew that eighty percent of the saltpeter on the North Mountain was produced, and he didn't know why there would be such a legend flowing out, he thanked him and left, and the boss was quite disappointed when he saw that the deal was not done.

The next day, he rushed to Ishikawa Town, he wanted to find the Cheng family to see if the saltpeter in Beishan could supply industrial production. Ishikawa Town is located more than fifty miles east of Shuri, and there is no car powered by an internal combustion engine in this place, so Lin Yuan had to borrow a horse and head towards Ishikawa Town, less than fifty miles away, Lin Yuan walked for a morning, and at noon, he finally arrived at Ishikawa Town.

This town is the porcelain distribution center of the entire Ryukyus, there are many porcelain bottles, porcelain bowls, these things are used in the lives of ordinary people, there are also some exquisite porcelain, originally to be sold to all parts of Southeast Asia, due to a while ago, now are hoarded in the hands of the shopkeepers.

Lin Yuan went to the town to inquire, and no one knew about the Cheng family, but when everyone heard that Lin Yuan was going to find them, they all shook their heads and said, "You can't go to them, the people of their family have strange temperaments!" Especially Cheng Jiuzhen, the head of the Cheng family, has a weird temperament, and none of the people who come to the door can see him. ”

Lin Yuan inquired and found Beishan, this mountain is very big, there are not many trees on it, halfway up the mountain is the Cheng family's house, he went up the mountain road, walked a few steps and was stopped by two big men with guns on their backs, a big man asked politely: "This master, I don't know who you want to find?" ”

Lin Yuan saw that this big man had a rough appearance, but he spoke politely, and he felt a little strange in his heart, and said, "I want to find the head of the Cheng family." ”

When the big man heard this, he smiled and said, "Are you looking for Cheng Jiuzhen and Nine Masters?" ”

Lin Yuan nodded yes, and the big man smiled: "He has passed away." ”

Lin Yuan was stunned for a moment, thinking that this could not be true, if Cheng Jiuzhen was really dead, how could the people in the town under the mountain not know what to do. He knew that this must be an excuse that Cheng Jiuzhen deliberately made because he didn't want to see outsiders.

Lin Yuan said with a smile: "Then I want you to report it, I want to see the person who is in charge of the Cheng family now." ”

The big man smiled again: "The Cheng family has no principals, they are all dead." ”