Qianqing Palace, South Study

In the hall, there is a long case of red lacquer carving, on which there are a number of treasures presented by the red-haired country in an orderly manner.

Emperor Qiande picked up one by one with great interest and watched.

Next to him, Zhang Changlin, a university scholar, accompanied the introduction.

Emperor Qiande looked at the gilded sphere placed in the middle of the case, and asked, "What is this?" ”

Zhang Changlin smiled and said, "Your Majesty, this is the Celestial Cycle Modeler. ”

King Zhongshun said: "What is the use of this thing? ”

Emperor Qiande couldn't help but be curious, Zhang Changlin stepped forward and gently turned the sphere, pointed to the various marks on it, and introduced: "Emperor, prince, please look - this small red dot is the sun, the black dot is the moon, and the blue dot is the world we live in. ”

King Zhongshun shook his head and smiled: "I'm afraid it's just a fool's errand, where can they know where the sun and moon are?" Could it be that the gods can't do it. ”

Zhang Changlin smiled and said: "The prince is reasonable, but the foreigner does have a thing, called an astronomical telescope, which can be seen thousands of miles away, and the moon and stars in the sky can be seen clearly. ”

"Oh?" King Zhongshun frowned and looked at him and said, "You mean that this king is lonely and unheard?"

Zhang Changlin hurriedly arched his hand and said: "Lord Mingjian, the minister did not mean this. ”

Emperor Qiande waved his hand: "Okay, the world is so big, there are no surprises, this Westerner can not only create these things, but also learn from the strength of its forging."

Just like the first emperor of the year, he didn't know that there was a truth outside the sky thousands of miles away. ”

Zhang Changlin said: "Your Majesty Shengming! ”

King Zhongshun then fiddled with another slightly larger object on the case and asked, "What does this black pimple do?" ”

Zhang Changlin said: "Back to the prince, it is a model of a steam train, which can be used as a raw material through the principle of a steam engine, and after the water boils, these wheels can be driven to rotate through steam, so as to achieve fast running without horses." ”

Zhongshun Wang Qi said: "This thing is really so powerful?"

Zhang Changlin nodded and said: "Yes, as far as the minister knows, this train has been tried by foreigners ten years ago. ”

Emperor Qiande frowned and asked, "How many people can sit this time?"

Zhang Changlin said with a smile: "Back to Your Majesty, this train can carry at least a thousand people. ”

King Zhongshun exclaimed, "So much?" I couldn't help but turn my head to look at the emperor.

Zhang Changlin continued: "And this train can not only pull people, but also transport all kinds of light and heavy goods, which is very convenient. ”

Emperor Qiande frowned: "This Westerner can actually make such a transport toilet..."

After pondering for a while, he asked Zhang Changlin: "Aiqing, if we also build it, how long will it take?" ”

"This...."Zhang Changlin pondered for a moment and slowly opened his five fingers.

Zhongshun Wang Pan said happily: "Five years?"

Zhang Changlin shook his head and sighed: "Back to the prince, I'm afraid it will take at least fifty years." ”

Emperor Qiande's face sank when he heard this, and he said in a half-loud voice: "If I am responsible for you to build, how long will it take?"

Zhang Changlin's face was stunned, and he hurriedly knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, if you really want to make this thing, I'm afraid it will cost a lot."

Not only do we have to introduce foreign machines, but we also have to invite their craftsmen, this layer of huge empty expenses, we are afraid... I can't afford it! I hope Your Majesty will think twice. ”

King Zhongshun said impatiently: "Zhang Changlin, don't make any turns, you just say how much silver you want?" ”

Zhang Changlin frowned and calculated, and stretched out two fingers.

King Zhongshun said in a deep voice: "Twenty million taels?"

Zhang Changlin shook his head and said: "This is only an estimate of the cost of introducing major machinery, not counting the cost of building factories, ferrying, iron-making tracks, steel and copper, labor costs, and so on. ”

Emperor Qiande frowned, thought for a while and sighed: "If you don't accumulate steps, you can't reach thousands of miles; If you don't accumulate small streams, you can't become rivers and seas—that's it! There is no urgency. ”

Zhang Changlin arched his hand and said: "The saint is wise! ”

Emperor Qiande's eyes glanced at the long case again, and from the dazzling array of items, he picked out the firearm that resembled a handcuff.

It's just that it looks more delicate and small than a handcuff.

Emperor Qiande looked at it repeatedly for a while, frowned, and said, "This is a foreigner's firearm?"

Zhang Changlin replied: "Your Majesty, this is a revolver, which can be fired directly with a special bullet made by foreigners, but this gun can only hold six rounds." ”

With that, he picked up a few more bullets from the table, took the revolver and loaded it into the magazine.

Emperor Qiande took the pistol with great interest, and meowed at the king of Zhongshun with a single squint.

King Zhongshun's face was slightly stunned, and he suddenly chuckled in his heart.

Emperor Qiande laughed, then took it back and played with it in his hand, and said curiously: "This little thing can still fight?"

Zhang Changlin said with a smile: "Back to Your Majesty, this revolver is slightly more powerful than our handcuffs, and it is easy to reload special ammunition, so we are loaded with gunpowder, so it is slightly worse." ”

King Chungshun asked, "How much silver does it cost to make a handful?"

Zhang Changlin replied: "This revolver, the minister has studied it earlier, the actual internal structure is not complicated, we Dashun want to build it, but it is not difficult, but it is ......."

"It's just what, Zhang Changlin, can you finish it in one breath." King Zhongshun said impatiently.

Zhang Changlin hesitated and glanced at the emperor sitting at the back of the imperial case, thought about it, took two steps forward and arched his hand: "Your Majesty, the minister is about this important matter. ”

Emperor Qiande put down the revolver, frowned at him and said lightly: "But there is no money again?"

The tone is direct and normal.

King Zhongshun also said angrily: "I asked you to transform a firearm, and there was no sound after grinding it for more than half a year, and the imperial court only allocated you a million taels three months ago, so it is gone?"

Zhang Changlin said sadly: "Your Majesty, Lord Wang, the transformation of firearms has made progress recently, but if we want to make our own firearms, we need to build a factory like Westerners. ”

King Zhongshun waved his hand and said, "Okay, how many times have you said this?" ”

Zhang Changlin was dumbfounded and didn't say anything more.

Emperor Qiande pondered for a long time and said, "What is the most important thing to lack now?" ”

Zhang Changlin hesitated for a while before he spit out two words: "Drawings and lathes." ”

Emperor Qiande frowned, and King Zhongshun couldn't help but say, "Before, didn't you say to Gu that the transformation drawings of firearms have been formed?" How could this not work? ”

Zhang Changlin sighed and said: "The prince doesn't know, the minister inquired, the firearms that the Westerners are now equipped with have also been renovated and replaced, called "firing guns", the principle is the same as the revolver in the hands of His Majesty, and ..... Just like the drawings we designed. ”

King Zhongshun was stunned and said, "You mean, the red-haired foreigner made it first?" ”

"Exactly, alas~" Zhang Changlin lowered his head and sighed.

King Zhongshun said angrily: "Why didn't you say this earlier! ”

Zhang Changlin sighed and said, "Lord Wang, minister... It was also because of this imitation of the envoy of the red-haired country that I learned about it...."

When Emperor Qiande heard this, he sighed darkly, and then closed his eyes and pondered.

I never thought about it...... There is such a big gap between my Dashun and the world powers.

Father's ...... Do you really have to force me to become a great shun sinner before you can give up?