Lord Harland.

Chapter 284 Red Gum Grass

Before the salt lake was mined, the territory of Harland spent a lot of gold coins every year to buy salt from the Duke of Jonathan.

With the mining of salt lake mines, salt is now self-sufficient, which can be regarded as saving money for the territory.As for the sale of salt, it is still very difficult for Harland's territory.

Because there are many nobles from Nolan standing in the salt trade of each province.

Li Cha will not easily offend the big shots in the capital for some economic benefits.Offending Jerram because of the salt trade back then made the Harland family very uncomfortable.At that time, the Harland family had just started, and those with bare feet were not afraid of wearing shoes. In order to protect their own interests, they were forced to compete with Jerram and others.

If it wasn't for Duke Brenner's fake death, trying to lure Irina, the legendary magician of the Novenas family, to make a move, causing King Charlie's misjudgment and Nolan's political situation to change, the life of the Harland family must be difficult now.

If King Charles is in power and Prince Felix is ​​in charge, he will continue to drag his legs and play tricks in the capital Nolan. Maybe Richard's many years of business will be destroyed and the Harland family will lose their territory.

Although these people are not enough for success, they are more than enough for bad things.

Although Li Cha didn't like such a person in his heart, and didn't like to contact the nobles of the capital, on the surface, he would not tear himself apart with these people and go to the opposite side.

After suffering a few dark losses, Li Cha has already learned his lesson, and will not easily touch the interests of the nobles of the capital and break out conflicts with them.

As the North Boundary Fort began to be built, the garrison in Salt Lake County basically left Fort Salt Lake and moved to the north.

Salt Lake County is the focus of the defense of Harland's territory. The sixth and seventh brigades are stationed in the territory, and the number of regular troops exceeds 800.In addition, the training of auxiliary soldiers has been strengthened this year. It is expected to train for three months in winter and train [-] reserve personnel.Coupled with some second-line armed personnel to maintain law and order, the defense strength of Salt Lake County exceeds [-].

The North Boundary Fort is located in the middle of the valley, and on both sides of the mountain ridges, all military camps were built. Heavy trebuchets were installed in the military camps, and a large number of alchemy bombs were stored. With [-] defenders, even half an orc army would attack. It is inevitable that you will be bloodied and disheveled. The terrain here is more dangerous than Fort William.

If the orcs were smart, they would not attack such a fortified stronghold with dangerous terrain and heavy defenses.

Li Cha has been wandering around Salt Lake County for seven or eight days, and he already has a good understanding of the situation below.He said to Bernard with a serious face: "Your county has a heavy construction task, and the material security is not sufficient. This year and next two years will be a little bit harder. Now the climate has turned cold and it will snow soon. You want Grasp the construction of the sheds of the indentured slaves, and don’t freeze people to death in winter. As a high-ranking civil servant in the territory, you must know that population is the most important resource in the territory. When you govern daily, you must have kind thoughts in your heart.”

Bernard did not dare to neglect the matter that Li Cha personally instructed.On the second day, he mobilized some manpower and material resources, stopped some official projects, and started the construction of camp sheds.

Although wooden houses are not very warm, they are also less fireproof.However, the materials are simple, the construction is quick, and the warmth retention is far better than that of tents. In addition, there are coal stoves in the Harland territory for heating, so few ordinary people will freeze to death during the winter.

In the ten years since the establishment of the Harland Territory, the standard of living has been greatly improved.Today's indentured slaves basically don't suffer from cold and starvation, and entering Harland's territory seems to them to have come to heaven on earth.

Richard has traveled through 20 years and has brought some changes to the world.

After patrolling the territory, the time has entered September.This year, the snow fell earlier in northern Xinjiang, and the first snow fell in the territory of Harland on the third day of September.

Fortunately, the first snowfall was not very heavy, and the temperature rose a little on the fifth day of September, which did not cause too much difficulty to Harland's territory.

Richard is a person who can't stay idle. After returning to Fort William, he began to enter various research institutes to inquire about the development of various researches.

The Institute of Optics has produced a microscope with a magnification of more than [-] times. With the help of the magician's visual magnification spell, it has already shown great power in the research.

In recent years, the Institute of Optics has used the method of hand-grinding mirrors to produce dozens of microscopes. Through the accumulation of experience, mirror grinders are getting better and better, and almost all official magicians buy one.

Even though the price of the microscope was very high, and the internal price exceeded [-] gold coins, it couldn't stop the enthusiasm of the rich and powerful magician.Even if you just become a magician with a low salary, you have to save money for two years without food or drink to buy a microscope.

Because microscopes are very useful for magicians and scientists to understand the world and summarize laws, the intelligence department of Harland Territory also set restrictions to prohibit the sale of high-power microscopes to the outside world.

Every time the Institute of Optics manufactures a high-power microscope, it must be numbered, and it often faces spot checks by intelligence agencies.After the mirror is worn, it must be destroyed by special personnel.

Through a high-power microscope, the magicians of Harland's territory discovered hundreds of bacterial viruses, which promoted the great development of biology.In recent years, doctors in Harland Territory have written hundreds of papers on bacteria and viruses.

Although the Institute of Optics has developed rapidly, there have been no heavyweight discoveries in recent years.After listening to the report, Li Cha came out of the Institute of Optics, saw that it was still early, and quickly entered the nearby Institute of Botany.

As soon as he entered the door, Richard said to Cartman, the director of the Botanical Research Institute: "Some time ago, I heard that you made a big discovery?"

Cartman was born in an ordinary family. He was a child of a serf. He entered the territory of Harland in 3255, and it has only been 11 years since then.Relying on his elder brother who died in the army, Cartman became a free citizen in 3257. With the support of his relatives, he went to Riverside Primary School and was the first batch of students in Riverside Primary School.

Compared with the students of the same period, Cartman started school at the age of 17, almost an adult.He cherishes the opportunity to change his destiny by studying and going to school. He also worked very hard in school. In just one year, he taught himself five years of elementary school courses and graduated from He'an Primary School.

After graduation, Cartman joined the just-prepared Botanical Research Institute, began to collect plant specimens outside, and compiled a series of plant books.

In order to collect rare plants, Cartman even went deep into the Eagle Mountains and entered the territory of the Beastman Empire twice, making outstanding contributions to the development of the Botanical Research Institute.

After the former director of the first Institute of Botany died of illness, Richard tried his best to promote Cartman, who was only 21 years old, to take over as the director.

Sure enough, in just a few years, Cartman lived up to everyone's expectations. This year he personally led a team to investigate and discovered a very important economic plant.If this plant is successfully planted in large quantities, it will greatly promote the industry in Harland's territory.

"You are right, dear Earl, we have indeed discovered a special plant red gum grass in the western part of the Eagle Mountains. After our research, the gum content of this plant exceeds 20.00%. Glue should be able to meet the Lord Lord's request."

About ten years ago, when Harland's territory had just stabilized, Li Cha started the pre-research of the steam engine.

In the past ten years, I have been investing money in this project.

At the beginning, the steam engine research team only had two or three students, and the research process almost completely relied on Richard's guidance.

Because of unqualified workmanship, the casting of the steam engine block was stuck for two years.

With the development of the iron and steel industry in the territory of Harland, the steam engine research team has successively overcome difficulties such as manufacturing cylinder blocks, grinding and polishing, and gear alloys.

A prototype was produced two years ago, but the sealing problem could not be solved, and the steam engine could not run for too long at all.

In the past three years, Li Cha has been offering huge rewards, hoping to find something like natural rubber, but unfortunately nothing has been found.

If he doesn't find it for a long time, Li Cha even plans to send people to the south of the Dawn Continent to search for it, and arrange for some members of the Harland family to develop in the southwestern magic kingdoms to see if they can find the rubber tree from another world.

There was no progress in three years of bounty offerings. Li Cha had given up hope, but he didn't expect to find something this autumn.

The natural red gum extracted from red gum grass, the red gum product made after vulcanization, has stronger performance than vulcanized rubber.Not only has very high elasticity, but also has strong mechanical strength, wear resistance and corrosion resistance, and is a very good sealing material.

The sealing problem has been solved, and it is not far from producing a qualified steam engine.

The Dawn plane has a magic factor, and the magic crystal contains powerful energy. It is quite simple to burn the magic crystal through special runes. The magic hot air balloon made in Harland's territory can easily do this.

After the steam engine is successfully manufactured, Li Cha can further determine the technical route and manufacture a smaller magical steam engine, making the steam engine very convenient to use.

After the mana steam engine and the red glue are successfully manufactured, the power problem is solved, as long as a large amount of funds and personnel are invested to solve some troubles in the mechanical transmission.It is not difficult to manufacture steam trains, steam cars, and steam ships.

The emergence of trains and telegraphs is subversive to the development of a territory and a country, which means that information and materials can be transmitted quickly, the cost of ruling remote areas becomes lower, and the addition to national power far exceeds that of alchemy bombs.

"How much red gum is extracted in your laboratory?"

"It's less than six kilograms, and half of it has been vulcanized according to the lord's instructions. The vulcanized red rubber has stable performance, and we made some red rubber sealing rings."

Li Cha suppressed the excitement in his heart, and said to Cartman: "Now you take these sealing rings, and follow me to the steam engine research institute to see the sealing effect."

When everyone came out of the Botanical Research Institute, it was almost evening. The Steam Engine Research Institute was about three kilometers away from the Botanical Research Institute. When they arrived at the Steam Engine Research Institute, it might already be night.

But Li Cha was so impatient that he couldn't wait for tomorrow.

A group of people brought red rubber sealing rings to the Steam Engine Research Institute, and the sun had already set.

Under Li Cha's command, everyone installed the red rubber sealing ring on the huge steam engine. As the wood was ignited, the water was boiled within a short time. Driven by a large amount of hot steam, the steam engine started to work.

Li Cha stayed by the steam engine and waited for about four hours before burning out a conduit part.

"Although the steam sealing problem has been solved, the smoothness of the cylinder and the piston is not enough, and the vibration is too large. There is still room for improvement in the steam engine. In addition, the materials of the conduit, gear, piston, and bearing still need to be strengthened. In this regard, you need to cooperate with metallurgical research. If you cooperate, if the funds are not enough, I will find a way.

Today's experiment is enough to show that the steam engine is very practical. I think it can be used to pump water in mines, and it can also be used to pump water to irrigate farmland in case of drought.

The steam engine research institute should split some of its strength, the research institute with high technical level will continue to conduct research on steam engine improvement, and the research institute with low technical level will serve as steam engine maintenance personnel.

We want to use the steam engine in production as soon as possible, and find and improve problems during production and use.

The steam engine has a wide range of applications. It can not only pump water, but also grind flour. It can be used as the power of machine tools. It can be used in the machinery manufacturing industry, and in the future, it can also be used to manufacture steam cars and steam boats. This invention of ours will change the world.

I will let the painters in the territory paint and hang our portraits in the museum of the Harland family for future generations to visit.Medals will also be awarded to meritorious personnel and generous subsidies will be issued.

From today onwards, you will be the heroes of Harland's territory, and your names will be recorded in the history books, and you will become great men who are admired by others. Let us cheer, history will remember this day. "

Richard's speech was very passionate, which made the researchers present feel excited.

Even at twelve o'clock in the middle of the night, Li Cha's orders continued continuously.He first sent someone to wake up the sleeping Harland painters and ordered them to paint a huge portrait called "The Great Invention" to record this great moment. The researchers who played an important role in the study of the steam engine, Each has to be featured in the portrait.

The painting will hang on the front of the entrance to the Harland Land Museum.

Last winter, the Harland Territory Museum was completed. Due to the rapid expansion of the city, the museum was built outside the back city, not far from the Riverside Primary School.

In order to build the museum, the territory of Harland also carried out a demolition, demolishing [-] houses and courtyards, and then built this tall and majestic museum.

Because the history of the Harland Territory is very short, the museum does not have many antiques for the time being, but the materials left during the construction of the Territory are basically preserved in the museum.

In the museum, there are also some very meaningful items, such as pots and pans used by Richard, Powell and others when Fort William was built, and straw mats and quilts for sleeping.The letters and orders they wrote, the manuscript paper used for planning the city, the first bottle of distilled liquor produced in the territory, the first furnace of iron slag smelted by the iron and steel department, the first scalpel made by doctors, and so on.These useless things were collected and preserved by Li Cha and put on display in the museum.

(End of this chapter)