After listening to Xu Shou's words, Feng Yunshan asked with interest: "Xu Aiqing, tell me in detail about the achievements of your Ministry of Science and Technology!" ”

Xu Shou suddenly received great encouragement, nodded excitedly, looked at Feng Yunshan and the ministers with some gaffe, and said loudly: "Your Majesty, when Your Majesty set up the Ministry of Science and Technology, and Weichen was added as the vice minister of science and technology, in the past few years, except for improving the machine factory and machine tools, and compiling a few popular books and periodicals, there has been no achievement. Wechen is terrified, for fear of losing the grace of God! To this end, our subordinates of the Ministry of Science and Technology have really found a way to improve the performance of the steam engines on the newly purchased trains and ships of the Empire and improve the performance of the steam engines! ”

"The details, Weichen didn't say much. Our Ministry of Science and Technology has built an experimental base on the riverside outside the city of Guangzhou, and specially used the best high-quality special steel to manufacture several improved steam engines, which are put into trains and ships. Xu Shou said excitedly: "Your Majesty, my lords, the train powered by our improved steam engine will travel faster and have more power. The original Quwubao Railway was connected with the Shaozhou-Nanjing (Guangzhou) railway and opened to traffic together. But the freight train that transports coal only travels at a speed of about 20 miles per hour, and even if you try to add coal, you still can't increase the speed. But after replacing our new steam engine as power, the driving speed has more than doubled compared to the original, directly increased to more than 20 kilometers per hour! Moreover, this is because of the fear that the quality of the train's wheel hub and crankshaft and other mechanisms is not up to par, and the speed is too fast to cause damage, and there is no further speed, the next step, our Ministry of Science and Technology will build its own locomotive, the key load-bearing mechanism and activity accessories of the train such as the wheel hub and zigzag connecting rod are all made of special steel with better performance developed by ourselves, I believe that the train speed can be directly increased to 40 kilometers or even 50 kilometers per hour! ”

"Good! That's great! Xu Aiqing, I want to make a contribution to you and the Ministry of Science and Technology! Feng Yunshan was very happy, to be honest, he was very uncomfortable with the 20 miles per hour truck, although in this era, it was very fast, but compared with later generations, it was like a snail. However, he knew that he had to adapt to this era, and he had to take his time. Therefore, how could I not be happy when I heard Xu Shou talk about the train finally being able to speed up to forty or fifty kilometers! Much faster than a horse, it is bound to impact the traditional conservative thinking of the entire empire and set off even greater changes! Even, because of this speed, the various lifestyles of the people of the entire empire will change because of this!

"Thank you, Your Majesty! This is what Wechen and colleagues in the Ministry of Science and Technology should do! Xu Shou was not arrogant or impatient, and was praised by the emperor, but he was not so excited: "Your Majesty, in terms of steamships, it is also because of the improvement of the steam engine, which is more powerful, and drives the wheel pulp to rotate faster, and the sailing speed can be about one-fifth to one-third faster than the original Western-style steam engine equipped with a steamer. ”

Feng Yunshan praised a few more words. For Xu Shou and the Ministry of Science and Technology, it is undoubtedly the right path for them to find their own position and take the initiative to help the empire improve its industries and facilities. As later generations said, science and technology are the primary productive forces, but science and technology must serve the productive forces. Otherwise, what is the point of researching no matter how profound the knowledge cannot be transformed into productive forces and cannot be applied to actual production and life?

The Ministry of Science and Technology can take the initiative to find something to do, improve the overall level of the empire's steam engine, and let the empire's steam engine get rid of its dependence on Western countries, and even lead the era, which makes Feng Yunshan very pleased.

And Xu Shou, on his side, also breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

Indeed, as early as the period of the Holy King's Palace, there were rumors that the Ministry of Science and Technology set up by the Holy King was a useless yamen, and Xu Shou and they were just eating white food. For this reason, Xu Shou and the entire Ministry of Science and Technology held their breath. Now that they have achieved something, the mere achievement of improving the steam engine will make an unpredictable contribution to the Empire. This is still the case of a dozen people in their Ministry of Science and Technology. As long as there is this kind of end and this heart, with the growth of the team of the Ministry of Science and Technology and the development of talents, I believe that in the future, their achievements and contributions will be more and more.

After the episode of the Ministry of Science and Technology, Feng Yunshan returned to the development plan of the General Telegraph Administration.

For the establishment of this telegraph bureau, there was no need for a pilot project at all, and Feng Yunshan also knew that telegraph had developed greatly. In the end, however, the General Telegraph Office only laid this section of the cable line from Seikyo to Tokyo, due to the shortage of insulated cables. These waterproof insulated cables were purchased by Nanyang Company in the United States at a price 50% higher than the market price. Nowadays, the entire Western country is laying cables everywhere, and the market is in short supply, if it were not for the strength of the Nanyang Company, Big John could not save face, and he could not even buy this cable for a thousand miles. Ordinary cables are available, but the insulation performance is poor, and they can only be laid in the dry northern sand, which is not suitable for the Jiangnan water town at all.

However, even if this kind of waterproof and insulated cable can connect the telegraph in these cities, and whether it can successfully communicate, Feng Yunshan is really a little uncertain. He understood all these technical principles, but he couldn't figure out how those foreigners did it!

So long-distance cables to ensure that they are not destroyed, and under the technical conditions of this era, it is not easy to lay a cable of hundreds or thousands of kilometers, even if the cable is properly protected, there is no worry of breaking or being damaged, but long-distance laying, crossing rivers and lakes, especially across the ocean, the insulation performance and transmission signal attenuation problem, how to be foolproof?

It is true that Feng Yunshan knew the great benefits of telegraphy. Even with these unresolved problems, he still knew that no matter what, the Chinese Empire must vigorously develop the telegraph industry!

He knew very well that the invention of the telegraph was of great significance to a country's military strategy!

In modern times, the invention of the telegraph brought about the brunt of the great changes in the traditional concept of time and space under the impact of the telegraph. The invention and application of the telegraph in modern times was accompanied by the history of the conquest of the world by Western countries. The British, in particular, played a huge role in becoming an important means of colonial conquest and colonial control.

And the mutual application of railways and telegraphs made the colonists even more powerful! Often, in the course of the war, the telegraph laying personnel in the British army laid cables to the enemy's front line, and as soon as the enemy army moved, they were immediately informed by telegram to the battlefield command and even the British mainland, so that they could adjust their strategy in time and dispatch troops.

For an old colonial empire like Britain, which has the title of "the sun never sets", the use of the telegraph has made its control over the colonies more tight, and through the continuous laying of telegraph lines, the tentacles of Western colonists have continued to extend to all corners of the world. It can be said that throughout the second half of the 19th century, the telegraph was a key factor in the colonial expansion and domination of the British Empire.

Long-distance high-quality cables were the prerequisite for the development of the telegraph industry in the empire in the future. Feng Yunshan was born in chemical machinery, and he only knew a little bit about electrical, and he still relied on the basic knowledge of physics in high school, and the basic knowledge of electronic technology and electrical engineering he learned in college had already been completely lost. Therefore, he can't imagine how he can make cables with excellent insulation performance without synthetic insulating rubber technology.

He's just learned,

Thinking of this, Feng Yunshan called Mo Ke, the chief engineer of the Telegraph Bureau, and asked about this cable through an interpreter.

Mo Ke also understands it and introduces this kind of insulated cable: "Your Majesty, this kind of insulated cable, the surface of the insulation material is Guta glue, which has a high degree of electrical insulation and water resistance. At present, the world's Guta gum is basically supplied by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. This guta gum is actually a natural rubber, which is cut from the bark of the guta tree in the Malay Peninsula, and the gum that flows down is made into latex, and then wrapped with copper wire to make a cable. Most of the main raw materials are purchased from the Straits Settlements of the United Kingdom, namely Penang, Malacca and Singapore. ”

I see! Feng Yunshan finally understood! What kind of ancient tower tree, isn't this the first type of rubber tree? It's just that this kind of rubber has excellent insulation and waterproof properties.

By the way, I asked those Hakka people to plant rubber trees on Hainan Island, and now two or three years have passed, and I don't know what happened! Next time, ask Liu Changyou of the Ministry of Agriculture.

Wait a minute! Malaya! Straits Settlements! Feng Yunshan immediately made a decision. Since this Guta glue is so important, I can't say that I have to fight the idea of this thing!

Originally, Feng Yunshan sent troops to Annam, and ordered Li Kaifang to support Burma, the fundamental purpose was to find a way to occupy the Malay Peninsula, once the British army wanted to invade China, it must pass through the Strait of Malacca for supplies, and Penang, Malacca, and Singapore, the three colonial strongholds, were their must pass through and supply bases. But these three bases are all dependent on the Malay Peninsula for survival, and it can be said that as long as the Malay Peninsula is occupied, even if they do not directly capture these three bases, they can indirectly control these three colonies, after all, their daily supplies, and even fresh water food, must be provided by the adjacent Malay Peninsula.

Now with the addition of this ancient tower tree, Feng Yunshan feels that it is even more necessary for him to seize the Malay Peninsula. Moreover, he knew that the Malay Peninsula today, except for the three Straits Settlements, the rest of the country, not only the original Netherlands, but now the United Kingdom, did not pay attention to it, and let it go, because it is all tropical rainforest, the living environment is not good, and even the indigenous population is very sparse. Moreover, the local indigenous people are still tribal, so it can be said that if you want to occupy it, apart from environmental factors, the rest is not a big problem at all.

Therefore, Feng Yunshan asked Zuo Zongtang to formulate a plan for the General Staff, immediately send troops to actually control the Malay Peninsula, and control all the Guta trees and the Gum trade in the Malay Peninsula in his own hands. By obtaining raw materials for the manufacture of insulated cables, it is possible not only to manufacture the cables themselves, but also to slow down the telegraph industry in Western countries, especially the laying of cross-sea cables. Feng Yunshan remembered that in history, one of the reasons why the Great Indian Uprising was so easy to suppress was that the British army had the advantage of land telegraphs. After quelling the Indian rebellion, Britain quickly planned to lay a long-distance cross-sea telegraph cable from Britain to India, and finally firmly held India in its hands.