Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 738 The Significance of Technological Progress
The huge orders propelled the Central Empire's military production capacity to a new level, while also creating space for the development of new technologies and inventions.

The Royal Army Academy decided to send 300 new students to Donghua for internships and to conduct specialized research on the impact of new weapons on tactics.

Even though he was over sixty years old, Jia Lian still went to the cabinet to report for duty every day as usual, and then went out to take care of other things.

Our first stop today is the military academy. The tactical research project on the emergence of new weapons was initiated at Jia Lian's suggestion.

According to various statistics, the new artillery was extremely powerful on the battlefield, especially against enemy lines, where its high-explosive and grenades were highly effective. Coupled with heavy machine guns unfamiliar with fortified positions, the attacking side's continued use of line formations would undoubtedly be a disaster.

Since the linear formation currently popular in Europe is clearly unsuitable when acting as the attacker, skirmish lines emerged.

The coordination between infantry and artillery during an offensive requires training. How to set up machine gun positions for cover also needs to be studied. Heavy machine guns are inconvenient to accompany infantry advances, so the arsenal needs to develop a lightweight machine gun that can accompany infantry squads.

This tactical research center is not a single group, but rather divided into multiple subgroups that conduct independent research, engage in adversarial exercises, and then analyze and summarize their findings afterward.

When Jia Lian arrived at the military academy, a simulated attack was taking place on the training ground. A company of infantry was besieging a platoon holding a position.

Jia Lian remained silent, patiently observing the battlefield through his binoculars. After two hours of experimental exercises, the attacking side, under the cover of mortars and heavy machine guns, failed to breach the defenders' positions.

The researchers from the military academy looked very unhappy. The executive principal stood next to Jia Lian and gently tried to smooth things over for them: "You've only just started your research, you lack experience, and you've made too many assumptions."

The unique feature of this exercise was that the defending side neutralized the entire offensive by using two sturdy bunkers and two heavy machine guns.

Jia Lian called over several researchers. Among them, some looked happy, indicating they were on the defensive, while others looked somber, indicating they were on the offensive.

"Gentlemen, you are all experts in tactics. What insights have you gained from this offensive and defensive battle?"

The attacking expert said with a wry smile, "This is a completely new subject! Judging from the process, the attacking side lacks direct-fire weapons that can destroy bunkers, which is an area that needs to be strengthened."

Jia Lian remained silent, his face devoid of a smile. He calmly observed the assembled experts. Another expert said, "That's enough. You're all veterans with years of military experience. You take people's respectful title of 'expert' too seriously. Why pretend to be so profound in front of Minister Jia? In my opinion, the attacking side was unprepared and failed to fully consider the difficulties, assuming that three times their strength would easily capture the position. Furthermore, the machine gun cover during the attack was inadequate, and the mortars were largely ineffective. Considering these two points, if smoke grenades had been used to obscure visibility, the attacking side should have been able to approach the enemy's position more easily."

Jia Lian then looked at the smiling "expert." These people were all veteran sergeants with many years of experience, belonging to the most experienced group in the army.

“Your Excellency, when designing the defensive positions, I initially considered the placement of the machine gun emplacements. Placing them in the middle felt awkward no matter how I arranged them. In the end, placing them on the sides was much more comfortable. The same applies to the attacking side. My two colleagues just mentioned direct-fire artillery and smoke grenades, which I believe are important considerations. I also have another suggestion: try to shorten the distance for launching an attack. In other words, after the artillery preparation is over, the attacking side should be able to throw grenades into the defending side's positions.”

"Your idea is too idealistic. What if the artillery accidentally hits its own side?"

"If the damage from accidental injury is not significant, it is acceptable."

"Nonsense! If the soldiers' parents knew you were saying this, they would beat you to death."

Several people couldn't help but start arguing. Jia Lian watched with a smile. These experienced sergeants were really put to good use by being placed in military academies to conduct tactical research.

The group continued arguing heatedly, but Jia Lian quietly left; he had other things to do.

In a photoelectric laboratory at Peking University, a young man nervously stared at the equipment in front of him. He glanced back at the bigwigs like Jia Lian, licked his chapped lips, and said in a calm tone, "Close the switch!"

As the power switch was turned on, a light suddenly lit up. This was an electric light, a product that had finally been mass-produced after thousands of experiments.

The young man, trembling, explained to Jia Lian: "Your Excellency, I used more than a dozen materials and conducted thousands of experiments, and finally selected tungsten wire as the light source. After experiments, it can work continuously for more than 300 hours, and the longest time reached 510 hours."

Jia Lian then smiled and asked the school leader beside him, "Have all the experimental records been finalized?"

The school leaders nodded solemnly, and Jia Lian smiled and said, "Then let's start promoting it. I'll go see His Majesty, and we'll begin installations at the palace. Right now, the most crucial factory is not very meaningful if it can't achieve mass production. I suggest that the Royal Fund take a small share in this electric light company, only receiving dividends and not participating in management. For the other shares, we must fully consider the interests of the patent holders."

Jia Lian's words made the head of the laboratory blush. With these words, the school dared not ignore his interests as the head of the laboratory.

"Don't worry, sir. The school has always encouraged the emergence and application of young people's scientific research results and will definitely protect the interests of inventors."

Jia Lian first gave the school a warning, and then said to the young man, "Your name is Wen Youliang, right? I think you should be called Wen Youcai! Hahaha!"

Now that we have electric lights, do we still need to operate the motor?

Young Wen Youcai's face flushed red with excitement, and he could only nod vigorously. After waiting for him to calm down for a while, Jia Lian smiled and said, "You have great talent in this area, and you can't let it go to waste just because you're making money. I had an idea before that a coil could be energized to make an shaft rotate. You can try this direction next. Also, we're using direct current now, right? If alternating current technology emerges in the future, we must not suppress new technologies for the sake of profit."

Jia Lian, who understood some basic principles, seemed to be making a casual remark, but for Wen Youcai, it was a guiding light in the darkness. At the same time, it served as a subtle but effective warning, preventing a repeat of the Tesla tragedy. After all, capitalists, in their pursuit of profit, don't care about the latest technology.

This is a very real problem. You know, back in the 1980s, the United States built a true electric car. It looked beautiful and had a long range, but it eventually disappeared without a trace.

The reason, I guess, is due to the interests of the oil giants.

Right now, Trump is still promoting petrochemical energy. What trend is this? What's more important than personal interests?
When Jia Lian was still alive, he could ensure the practical application of new technologies. Now that Jia Lian is gone, who knows if the current system in this country can guarantee that such disgusting things will not happen?

Jia Lian didn't know how long he would live. He was already over sixty, considered old in this era. Looking in the mirror, he looked no more than forty. It was quite amazing! Perhaps it was the comfort of power that kept him alive; who knew?

Having visited two places in one day, Jia Lian went to the palace the next day and talked to Li Wan about the wonders of electric lights. Li Wan was indeed very interested and immediately agreed to make the palace her first customer.

He added, "Sir, the end of the year is approaching, and on New Year's Eve this year, the palace will become a city that never sleeps."

The construction team came to the site and did their work very carefully. They also held training sessions to teach everyone relevant precautions, since electricity is dangerous and you can't touch the wires directly.

On the night of the 29th of the twelfth lunar month, Li Wan hosted a banquet for officials in the palace. Before it was even dark, the officials arrived one after another. The main hall was filled with tables, and two long rows of tables were also set up in the open air outside the door.

As dusk fell, Li Wan appeared, and after receiving the homage of the officials, he laughed and loudly proclaimed, "My lords, please pay attention, the moment to witness a miracle is about to begin!"

Everyone was a bit confused. What is this thing?

As soon as he finished speaking, the surroundings suddenly lit up, and everyone was stunned. When they turned to look around, they found that one by one the lights were on, and the main hall and the outdoors had truly become a place that never sleeps.

The crowd stirred for a while before calming down. They shouted "Long live the Emperor!" three times to Li Wan. Li Wan looked at the quiet and continued, "Since the reign of Emperor Chenghui, our dynasty has always encouraged technological progress. During the reign of the late Emperor, the status of scientific and technological personnel was established. As everyone has seen, technology is not only reflected in our invincibility on the battlefield, but also in our daily lives. Making the country stronger and more invincible, and improving people's lives, this is the significance of technological progress."

With the emperor personally advertising for electric lights, Wen Youcai's Beijing University Electric Light Company quickly became the most successful and profitable company in the capital.

With the royal fund backing it up, those wolves and tigers outside can only watch and drool but dare not easily reach out. They can only patiently wait for the company to go public.

Want to invest in advance? Sorry, they're not short of funds. After all, the Big Five banks have been eyeing them for a while now.

Ultimately, the company offered 10% of its shares, raising 20 million yuan with a valuation of 200 million yuan. The five major banks didn't even blink and quickly divided them up. With the funds, the light company was able to develop rapidly.

The company launched an electric motor the following year, which was widely used in various industries, but that's another story.

At the beginning of spring, at the Tianjin Shipyard, a machine was being debugged. Jia Lian also came to the site. Watching the tense operator light the first spark with the welding gun, he raised his hand to adjust his sunglasses.

Stay calm, you must stay calm. Actually, it hasn't been decades earlier; the world has just been accelerated.

The invention of electric welding solved many technical problems. Its role is particularly significant in shipbuilding.

The first iron ship built by Tianjin Shipyard was officially launched, and it also adopted new steam turbine technology. Although it was an experimental ship, it was still highly valued by Jia Lian, who personally came to the groundbreaking site and delivered a congratulatory speech.

There was another enterprise in Tianjin that Jia Lian valued highly: the Tianjin Arsenal, which manufactured cannons.

The installation of the breech-loading cannon was only the first step in realizing the development of breech-loading artillery. In terms of sales, more than 5,000 cannons have been produced since its inception, equipping the troops and navy throughout the country, and also being exported to Ottoman Türkiye.

They're selling tens of thousands of artillery shells every year now; the Ottoman Turks really can't produce enough shells. They can't just throw away the two hundred new cannons they bought; they have to keep selling shells.

With this batch of artillery, the Ottoman Empire's deterrent effect on Tsarist Russia was greatly enhanced, and Tsarist Russia dared not start a war for a short period of time. After all, it had suffered too many losses.

Another major customer is Donghua State, which placed an order last year for 20,000 artillery shells and 200 cannons.

The current experiment is with a cannon that can be fired without returning to its original position. The idea came from Jia Lian himself, which is to explore whether it is possible to use a device to make the cannon fire without returning to its original position.

The disadvantage of using a recoil-mounted cannon is that after firing, the cannon must be returned to its original position. This doesn't seem like a problem now, since other cannons, even muzzle-loading cannons, fire solid shot in the same way.

But what about the future? Technology can only keep progressing; it absolutely cannot stagnate.

Another question is whether 105mm is the limit for guns. Could the gun barrels be made thicker and placed on warships?

The world is not peaceful right now. The Americas are in an arms race, and the reason for the temporary peace in Europe is that several powers are busy colonizing Africa.

When it comes to colonizing Africa, the biggest threat wasn't the indigenous people or the rainforest, but malaria.

The Central Empire produced a highly effective drug for treating malaria, and the Xue family's pharmaceutical factory made a fortune every year just from selling this drug.

At present, Europeans are engaged in large-scale colonization of Africa, with the main players being Britain, France, Prussia, and Austria, who are also vying for leadership in Germany. They are not currently preoccupied with this. However, Prussia's industrialization process is accelerating; they are sending a large number of students to study in the Middle Kingdom, and at least half of them choose to return home after graduation, bringing back many new technologies.

From this perspective, Prussia was the most progressive country in Europe.

France benefited from the presence of Paris, which attracted a large influx of talent and facilitated rapid technological progress. Similarly, Britain, which had taken the lead in the Industrial Revolution, also developed rapidly.

The technology for mass-producing percussion caps and rifling was developed by the British themselves. However, the British technology had little room for development. After learning that the British had solved the problem, the Central Empire exported a batch of equipment and technology to Prussia, Austria, and France at extremely low prices. The things the British produced could only be used by themselves, and even they didn't like them because the technology was still immature. Some factories directly purchased equipment from the Central Empire. The Armstrong Arsenal did the same, using loans provided by the cabinet to purchase equipment, which was a truly laughable scene.

With everything ready, Jia Lian stood behind a breastwork, holding binoculars and looking into the distance. The factory manager beside him said, "Let's begin!"

(End of this chapter)