Thief Emperor

Chapter 1087 Son of Haotian
In the afternoon, in a workshop outside Luoyang, Minister Du and Minister Zhuo stared blankly at an iron block in the open space of the workshop, speechless for a long time.

This metal box is walking in circles in the open space, without anyone driving a car, or pulling it with horses or cattle.

It walked around in circles on its own, and a round chimney protruded from the front of the iron box, emitting white smoke.

Du Xiangong remained silent for a long time.

Minister Zhuo stared intently at this novel contraption, then turned to Li Yun and blinked, "Your Majesty, this is…"

At this moment, even His Majesty the Emperor was lost in thought.

Even he had never imagined that this thing could appear so quickly.

Steam locomotive.

This project, or rather the steam engine project, was initiated more than a decade ago when he first established his workshop. However, until he founded the country and became emperor, the project remained only on paper and made almost no progress.

For nearly ten years, the workshop devoted the vast majority of its productivity and ingenuity to gunpowder and firearms.

Based on that pace, Li Yun estimated that it would take at least half a century to develop this thing.

However, the situation after the founding of the country surprised Li Yun greatly.

Before he became emperor, he underestimated the capabilities of the emperor's profession, or rather, he underestimated the capabilities of the emperor's profession.

As emperor, he could arrest or kill whomever he wanted with just a document or even a single word, and countless people would rush to do his bidding.

Wu Heng, the former King of Chen of the Zhou Dynasty, was captured in this way.

The same applies to the workshop.

During the Jiangdong period, Li Yun supported thousands of artisans in the workshops. After arriving in Luoyang, with the income from the Liulichang factory to support them, the number of artisans in the workshops not only did not decrease but increased, and the quality of their work improved significantly compared to before.

Emperor Li provided them with a sufficiently favorable working environment and treatment, as well as ample time, coupled with the appeal of imperial power.

Even ten years ago, Emperor Li only proposed an idea in the workshop and told them about the principles of steam engines and concepts such as gears.

Ten years later, this primitive steam locomotive appeared before Li Yun.

Moreover, the artisans in the workshop, following Emperor Li's idea, built a section of railway track in the open space of the workshop, which was then looped around in a circle.

Today, this extremely primitive steam locomotive is moving steadily along the tracks.

To Du Qian and Zhuo Guangrui, this scene was merely novel and somewhat amusing.

However, Emperor Li was somewhat moved, and even felt a surge of emotion that brought tears to his eyes.

Leaving aside whether this thing can actually carry people across the land, and whether it can propel the Li Tang dynasty into a new era.

There's no need to even consider when or whether this thing will become widespread.

The fact that he managed to produce this thing means that Li Yun's trip was not in vain; he has indeed brought something new to this era.

Even if it can't be of use in the short term.

When His Majesty heard Zhuo Guangrui's question, he was lost in thought for a long time before he murmured, "The day before yesterday, the workshop reported to me that they had produced a steam engine and asked me to come and take a look. This is the first time I have ever seen such a thing."

He took a deep breath and summoned the workshop's manager.

Today, this workshop is nominally affiliated with the Ministry of Works and is called the Workshop Division, but it is not on the same level as other divisions of the Ministry of Works. It is just a sixth-rank division office, and the head official is called the Division Chief.

The head of this workshop is Deng Heng, the former master craftsman of the Jinling workshop. He has been with Li Yun for many years. Although he is only a sixth-rank head, Li Yun has given him a fourth-rank honorary official position, which has elevated his status. The two vice ministers of the Ministry of Works are only at the same level as him.

The reason for elevating people rather than officials is that the workshop unit should not be of too high a rank, otherwise some scheming people will try to get into this government office and then use it as a springboard to jump to higher positions.

Although Deng Heng was only a sixth-rank official, Emperor Li valued the workshops highly, so he saw Li Yun more often than the vice ministers of the Six Ministries. When Li Yun summoned him, Deng Heng hurriedly ran over, bowing his head and saying, "Your Majesty."

The emperor pointed to the chariot, but before he could speak, Deng Heng quickly said, "This was made by Zhang Qiao. I mentioned him to Your Majesty before. He joined the workshop in the second year of Zhangwu. Originally..."

"He was originally a carpenter and I heard that he had learned the art of Lu Ban. After entering the workshop, he only did some basic work, and sometimes he didn't work at all. In the fifth year of Zhangwu, he created a new bellows, which made smelting much easier. After that, I didn't pay much attention to him and let him come and go as he pleased."

"About half a year ago, he drew up the blueprints for this motorcycle and approached me. I arranged for nearly two hundred people from all sides to work on it, and it took him more than half a year to finally get it done. However..."

Deng Sizheng looked at the moving motorcycle and said, "Zhang Qiao said that this thing is not very useful right now. It can't pull people, and it doesn't last long. After running for a while, some parts will wear out."

"We also need to find a sufficiently strong replacement part and ensure proper sealing to prevent steam leakage before it can be used."

He said it would probably take several more years.

Emperor Li patted Deng Heng on the shoulder and asked, "Where is he?" "He didn't know Your Majesty was coming today, so he's not in the workshop; he's gone out for a walk."

His Majesty the Emperor was very pleased and said with a smile, "He shall be appointed as Deputy Director, a seventh-rank official, and awarded a reward of one thousand strings of cash. All the artisans who participated in the production shall be rewarded with five hundred to one hundred strings of cash each."

"You and Zhang Qiao shall distribute the funds as appropriate."

His Majesty the Emperor turned to look at the prototype of the motorcycle and murmured, "From now on, these two hundred people will specialize in making this until it reaches the level I told you about."

Deng Sizheng quickly bowed his head: "Your subject understands."

"Replacing oxen and horses, traveling to all corners of the world."

Li Yun hummed in agreement, his eyes shining brightly.

Deng Sizheng looked at the locomotive and said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, laying rails on flat ground is not difficult, but it is too difficult on slopes. This thing may not be able to travel the whole country."

"Ten or twenty years is very difficult."

Emperor Li said with a smile, "Fifty years or a hundred years is certainly possible."

Without allowing Deng Heng to argue, he continued, "No need to say more, just do as I say. Even if these two hundred people make no progress during my lifetime, as long as they succeed in the future, this money will not have been wasted."

At this point, Emperor Li waved his hand, signaling Deng Heng to step back. Then he walked back to Zhuo Guangrui and answered Zhuo Guangrui's earlier question: "Brother Zhuo, have you understood?"

Emperor Li's eyes gleamed: "This thing can run on coal alone and can go on for twelve hours a day without sleep. Once the railway is laid, it will be able to carry people and goods a thousand miles a day with ease."

Emperor Li smiled and said, "If they mature a bit more, traveling two thousand li a day is no problem."

Minister Du had been watching for a while when he heard this and said, "His Majesty ordered the Ministry of Works to begin repairing the official roads in Henan Province and Jingzhao Prefecture, just for this?"

"Just a part of it."

Emperor Li looked at the still-running motorcycle and said with a smile, "Actually, I'm not sure if this thing will actually become common in our lifetime. In the past, I even thought that I probably wouldn't see it in my lifetime."

"However, the workshop is progressing far beyond my expectations. It seems that if we live a few more years, we might be able to see this kind of object running between heaven and earth."

Zhuo Guangrui looked at the moving motorcycle, lost in thought.

Minister Du also seemed thoughtful: "His Majesty had a preconceived notion about this..."

He looked up at Li Yun and slowly said, "Your Majesty has seen this before."

This is not a question.

Clearly, this Minister Du had already gleaned some fairly certain answers from Li Yun's words.

He already knew Li Yun very well, so he didn't even question this statement.

He looked at Li Yun quietly.

Emperor Li then turned his gaze from the motorcycle back to Du Qian, and smiled: "If that's what Brother Shouyi thinks, then let's pretend I really did see him."

He said slowly, "However, it's hard to say whether we'll ever see each other again in this lifetime."

Du Qian nodded silently and didn't ask any more questions.

Emperor Li looked at him and said with a smile, "Since Brother Shouyi says I've seen this before, aren't you curious where I've seen it before?"

Du Qian thought for a moment and replied, "There are many things that His Majesty seems to have seen before, such as gunpowder and firearms, as well as some policies that have never appeared in this world before."

He said calmly, "We are used to this."

"We believe that Your Majesty is perhaps born with knowledge, naturally divine, or perhaps..."

He looked up at the sky and said slowly.

"It was taught to me in a dream by Haotian."

Emperor Li was speechless: "If Brother Shouyi says so, then I really am the son of Heaven."

He looked at Zhuo Guangrui and said with a smile, "Brother Zhuo, do you think so too?"

Zhuo Guangrui glanced at Li Yun silently, then slowly nodded.

"Ah."

(End of this chapter)