A thousand-year-old family begins with one fighting against ten thousand.

Boil water?!

Yang Jian recalled the image of him boiling water. "Of course I've seen it, but what does that have to do with boiling water?"

"This is a very big deal."

Mo Li smiled broadly, stroking his beard. "In common parlance, people boil water in kettles. Once the water boils, the steam will lift the kettle lid."

"This steam engine is based on this principle."

Yang Jian: ? ? ?

What the hell?

How is boiling water connected to such a large steam engine?

Is there any connection whatsoever between them?

What does it have to do with anything?!

Mo Li watched Yang Jian's horrified expression with amusement, his mischievous pleasure thoroughly satisfied.

"Think about it, if steam can lift the lid of a kettle, then steam can also lift other things."

Yang Jian's expression crumbled. How could these two things be compared?

How heavy is a kettle lid? A three-year-old child could lift it.

But this iron thing of yours is many times larger than a kettle lid.

To make this happen, wouldn't it be necessary to boil the water of at least one lake?

Just for such a short distance?

And you don't have a lake that big here.

"Master, you must be joking."

"What could be the reason for this?"

Yang Jian asked with a wry smile, taking it as the leader of the Mohist school teasing him.

"I'm not kidding you, it's true."

Mo Li led Yang Jian to the front of the vehicle and personally showed him how the vehicle operated.

Yang Jian looked at the front of the car, where a worker was constantly putting coal into it, and the lever on the wheel would push the wheel forward.

He still couldn't understand it.

"These coals will boil the water, producing a lot of steam. As the steam accumulates, it will push the cylinder forward, which in turn will pull the wheel forward through the levers on the wheel."

"The steam car naturally moved forward."

"This vehicle is not only more comfortable than riding a horse, but it also doesn't cause fatigue and can run day and night."

"If this vehicle could be deployed, travel would become extremely convenient."

"Moreover, you can set up several carriages in the back, just like people, and you can stack a lot of goods on the carriages."

"People-to-people and material exchanges across the country will no longer be difficult."

"From south to north, from east to west, the Great Qian Empire can be reached in ten days!"

Mo Li's face was filled with a fanatical light, which then dimmed.

The cost of a steam engine may not be much for the Great Qian Empire, but the important thing is never just a steam engine.

What was needed was a large number of steam cars, and even more importantly, tracks.

To make a steam engine run, a large number of tracks are needed.

Ordinary roads simply cannot withstand the weight of such a vehicle.

However, the amount of steel and labor required to lay tracks across the entire country is astronomical.

Even though the Great Qian Dynasty is now a large and powerful nation with unprecedented advancements in smelting technology and numerous mines overseas, it would still take at least a century to complete such a massive project.

Over a century, it would take at least three emperors and several dynasties to complete such a project.

And even if it's completed, he definitely won't be able to see that scene.

Yang Jian's eyes lit up, but he quickly realized the same thing.

"Master, what was the cost of this vehicle and the tracks beneath it?"

"It appears to be made entirely of high-quality steel?"

"If we want to cover the whole country, that would naturally be an astronomical figure."

"However, we can first build two main roads that span the north and south and east and west of the world. The Gongshu family is improving their iron smelting techniques, and they have probably finished their research by now. If that's the case, building these two main roads will not be too difficult for the national treasury."

Mo Li said slowly.

Although he also hoped to spread this main road throughout the country as soon as possible, as the leader of the Mohist school, he also did not want to cause people to be displaced and subjected to forced labor in order to lay the tracks.

Yang Jian breathed a sigh of relief. If he could have repaired these two main roads during his term in office, it would have been an enormous achievement.

He then inquired in detail about the labor and materials required for the production from Mo Li, and left the factory in a daze.

On the way back, Yang Jian felt dizzy. According to Mo Li's calculations, the amount of steel needed would terrify anyone who heard it.

This is a project that requires the full support of the entire nation.

Should we do it?

Yang Jian kept pondering the answer to this question in his heart.

Even after returning home, he still couldn't make up his mind.

In the main hall of the Yang residence, his father, Yang Zhong, was waiting for him.

"You've been gone so long, how's it going? Any answers yet?"

When Yang Zhong saw his son return, he unconsciously tightened his grip on his cane.

Yang Jian described in detail what he had seen and done to his father.

Yang Zhong's face showed horror. If it weren't for the fact that the person standing in front of him was his most trusted son, anyone else who dared to say such things in front of him would probably be beaten by him with his cane.

If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, it would have been an unbelievable fantasy.

Yang Zhong paced back and forth in the mansion, occasionally turning back to look at his son.

Yang Jian watched his father with great patience, and it took a full half hour before Yang Zhong finally stopped.

"Are you sure what you're saying is true, and not just delusional?"

Yang Zhong asked in disbelief, still finding it hard to believe.

"He is a true father."

"Do you mean I should fully support his construction efforts?"

A rare look of confusion appeared in Yang Jian's eyes.

Yang Zhong was silent for a moment, then asked, "Child, what is your goal?"

"Does this contribute to your goals?"

"How much effort and reward is involved in achieving your goal?"

His goal?

Ascend the throne and declare yourself emperor!

However, he did not want to be remembered in history as someone who bullied orphans and widows. Therefore, he had to perform great deeds and leave his name in history in order to overshadow this reputation.

If he can accomplish this feat, he can use steam engines to quickly send troops to the border, expand territory, and gain actual control over the former Go region.

The entire territory of China will expand again after hundreds of years.

The distance to the Imperial Wall will be increased by nearly half by the steam vehicle.

In addition to the contributions of steam engines to global communication, their historical status will approach that of Qin Shi Huang and Emperor Wu of Han.

What he has to give up is to mobilize a large amount of the country's resources to promote this matter.

Is it a waste to use the entire country's money to help him gain fame?

It's worth it!