Crown Prince of the Empire, I quit!

"This... I just think it's a bit outrageous, but whether it can be done or not, we still have to try it to know."

Wu Shizhong was silent for a moment.

Qin Ming patted his shoulder and said:

"Next, it's time to expand the factory on a large scale. You need to help send a group of people to the Japanese island."

"I can probably spare three hundred men."

"enough."

After Qin Ming discussed the matter with him, he returned to Qiantang City alone.

As soon as he returned here, he found that Wu Qingye had also returned with countless ores.

"Your Highness, Nanman's ore production has tripled!"

"Yes, it seems that the improvement of digging tools is useful."

Qin Ming nodded slowly.

Originally, they had studied various types of excavation equipment in the workshop.

These things can improve their efficiency, and combined with the several additional mines they occupy, they already have very considerable output.

"What are these things going to be made of?"

At this time, Wu Qingye looked at Qin Ming curiously.

Qin Ming thought for a moment and said:

"Let's support construction in various places first. Without technological breakthroughs, nothing can be done."

"But technological breakthroughs can't be achieved in a short period of time."

Wu Qingye looked at Qin Ming hesitantly.

Qin Ming slowly shook his head and said:

"No, it can be done."

Qin Ming remembers that one of the signs of the First Industrial Revolution was that people entered the steam age.

The second was the electrical age.

In a feudal dynasty where all kinds of supplies are scarce, it is very difficult to achieve success overnight.

But they already have some high-strength materials and have trained a large number of skilled craftsmen.

If they were allowed to take action, they might be able to try to make a steam engine.

This thing is much more precise than a musket.

If it can be done, it will definitely be able to suppress Daqian in terms of technology, and help itself solve many production and transportation problems.

"teacher!"

Pushing open Chen Shimao's door, Qin Ming told Chen Shimao his thoughts.

Although Chen Shimao was a scholar, he quickly understood Qin Ming's statement.

"You mean... using the method of burning a boiler, letting the heat drive the mechanism to rotate, thus generating power?"

"Yes."

Qin Ming nodded.

Chen Shimao fell into deep thought and soon thought of a question.

"Is there anything that can keep burning without taking too much effort?"

"coal!"

"Um?!"

Chen Shimao suddenly took a breath.

He understood what Qin Ming meant.

"You can try it."

That night, everyone called the craftsmen together for a meeting.

Because the money and materials had already gone to Jiangnan, Qin Ming asked Fang Qingyuan to take some time to discuss it carefully with the craftsmen in the workshop.

Eventually they all decided to try this approach.

Seeing this, Qin Ming handed them his ideas and some drawings he had drawn.

"Everyone, if there are no other problems, I will begin laying the railroad tracks. Next, we will also put our bulletproof vests into production."

Qin Ming immediately spoke to everyone.

Hearing this, Fang Qingyuan immediately stopped him.

"We haven't even built the steam engine you mentioned yet, so why are you talking about railroad tracks?"

Qin Ming had told them before that if the steam engine was made, it could be put to some use, such as building some special tracks and using steam locomotives to pull goods.

In this way, goods can be transported back and forth all day long without sleeping. Just a few people are needed to watch over them, and several carriages can be filled with goods, and the speed is not slow.

Seeing that they were still hesitant, Qin Ming began to explain:

"Everyone, a steam engine is not difficult to make."

"Then why did you gather everyone together to discuss this?"

Several craftsmen also noticed something was wrong at this time and looked at Qin Ming curiously.

Qin Ming explained slowly:

“The difficulty of the steam engine lies in efficiency!”

"We have discovered quite a few coal mines within our territory. Adding to that what we purchased from the Nanman, there is more than enough for you to use at will."

"My initial expectations for you are not high. As long as we can use coal to burn the boiler and drive our steam train, that will be enough."

"But in the later stages, I hope you can improve combustion efficiency, which is the most important thing."

As a top student who traveled through time from modern society, Qin Ming is quite familiar with this kind of thing.

Steam engines are indeed not difficult, but in order to convert the heat energy of combustion into the kinetic energy they need as much as possible, it requires many improvements and attempts.

Fortunately, they have enough resources at hand, and the coal mines of this era have not been consumed extensively, so they are completely sufficient for their use.

"I see."

Everyone was extremely excited and immediately turned around to go to the workshop to try it out.

The huge investment Qin Ming made in them paid off.

This allowed him to train a group of extremely pure craftsmen.

Under Qin Ming's command, they can freely create all kinds of strange and bizarre gadgets.

Watching them all leave, Fang Qingyuan did not leave.

After Qin Ming and him were left alone, Fang Qingyuan took the initiative to speak:

"Your Highness, what kind of cargo would require you to build a dedicated railway for transportation after you build the road?"

Qin Ming smiled helplessly.

Fang Qingyuan is the person most like Chen Shimao, and can always guess Qin Ming's hidden thoughts.

“Countless resources.”

"You mean overseas?"

"Yes."

"Just Japan and the other countries in Southeast Asia, can you increase your transportation capacity by dozens of times to wait for them?"

Fang Qingyuan still didn't believe it.

In his opinion, the existing cement roads have been built to extend in all directions.

Some local people can even travel hundreds of miles in a day by bicycle.

This is already very impressive and can also make their local economic circulation extremely fast.

But Qin Ming still felt it was not enough.

What kind of country does he want to build?

Noticing his expression, Qin Ming said calmly:

"It goes without saying that Japan is resource-poor. If the countries of Southeast Asia could come to trade with us with all their might, I could indeed increase my transportation capacity and trade with them, but that still wouldn't be enough."

"not enough?"

"Yes, are you aware that the battle among the Nanyang nations has already begun?"

"Have heard a little bit."

When Qin Ming originally traded with the countries in Southeast Asia, Fang Qingyuan was helping them transport goods from the rear.

So I also know a lot of news about the South Sea countries.

"Then do you know why the Fire Worship Nation was able to single-handedly instigate wars among multiple nations?"

"I don't know."

"Because there is an extremely powerful force behind them, which can control the Fire Worship Nation from a very long distance and influence the entire Nanyang countries!"

Qin Ming's words made Fang Qingyuan suddenly stunned.

He discovered that while he and his people were limiting their vision to the territory of Daqian, Qin Ming had already cast his gaze to places far beyond the sea.

"Does that place have anything to do with us?"

Fang Qingyuan swallowed and asked doubtfully.

“Yes, and it’s very important.”

Qin Ming said to him in a decisive tone.