The piece of aluminum that Deng Ming gave to Zhou Kaihuang went through a number of processes such as electrolysis and replacement, which confirmed a hypothesis that had been circulated among people earlier, that is, the elements had lively properties (because Deng Ming did not have the ability to rank the elements, the proposer of the hypothesis did not have this ability, and could only put forward a general concept). In order to obtain this piece of aluminum, it stimulated the research of Fifty-one Pavilion on purification and sealing reaction, so it is the representative of Fifty-One Pavilion's highest level of science and technology. Because it is not directly electrolyzed, the cost is very expensive, Deng Ming knows that it is impossible to use this thing to make military kettles, tableware and other various kinds of ordnance for the time being, and consumable incendiary weapons (Deng Ming has heard the term thermite bomb from the movie) do not dare to try to study it. Other reverse extrapolation work that knew the conclusion was very easy, but Deng Ming instructed the alchemist to electrify for a long time, but he couldn't directly elect the aluminum, and Deng Ming estimated that this was because he didn't know the complete conclusion. Now the elemental hypothesis is also widely accepted by the alchemists of the Fifty-One Pavilion, many alchemy furnaces are working day and night to electrolyze various liquids, and then put the hard-earned things in the fire or burn them with other things, and the warlocks carefully observe what they become or what they can bring. Without Deng Ming's support at any cost, the Warlocks would not have been able to explore the unknown world of chemistry in such a luxurious way.

It is a hundred times easier to know the correct conclusion and then verify it backwards than to grope your way forward in the dark. Like electricity, after Deng Ming instructed others to throw out the Elemental Theory, it was quickly accepted by the people of Area 51, and it was even smoother than Deng Ming's most optimistic estimate. Later, Deng Ming figured out that because these people did not have a preconceived ready-made system in their minds to explain what they saw, if it was a normal theoretical evolution, all kinds of hypotheses would appear, most of which would be wrong.

With the level of education of the researchers of the Fifty-One Pavilion, Deng Ming suspected that all kinds of demons and monsters might take advantage of the situation, and a large number of myths that could justify themselves or barely justify themselves would be created, and perhaps several new beliefs and religions would be established as by-products of electrical energy. But it takes a while, even if it is a demon or a monster, it takes time to gradually form and plump up. Even before these mythological tales and religious beliefs were conceived, the elemental hypothesis and the metakinetic hypothesis were already present, and they could explain phenomena, and humans instinctively had to use a theoretical system to understand the world they saw. Therefore, the alien technology brought by Deng Ming quickly became dominant (for the earthlings of this universe, Deng Ming may have become a real earthling through metabolism, but this set of theories is still outright alien technology), and the alien technology did not encounter the slightest resistance at all, and other explanations and all kinds of demons and monsters were stifled before they were imagined.

If Deng Ming's teaching was aimed at some scientists, their acceptance speed would not be as fast as that of the group of people in the Fifty-One Pavilion. Because scientists will form their own independent opinions in the process of exploring the laws of nature, they may already have a solid system of thinking to explain the world - although it is likely to be wrong, the inherent ideas will resist the invasion of extraterrestrial technology, and will go through a painful process of "resolute resistance, self-denial, and gradual acceptance". However, there are many skilled craftsmen in the Fifty-One Pavilion, and all scientific training began when they arrived here, and they were exposed to alien technology from the beginning.

The craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty in the Fifty-One Pavilion, full of faith in the law of conservation of energy, discussed the composition of the microcosm at the dinner table, and everyone felt that it was normal. Even Zhou Kaihuang will occasionally interject curiously to ask a few words, whether he understands it or not, he will not feel the slightest inappropriateness, and there is probably only the source of all this-Deng Ming himself will have an inexplicable sense of absurdity.

"I wonder if Area 51 is really researching alien technology?" When Zhou Kaihuang put away the aluminum wine jug, Deng Ming suddenly had such a thought in his mind, remembering the prototype of the fifty-one pavilion he had established: "If it's true, I don't know if the person hosting is a latent alien, maybe also an art student?" Presumably, he will also struggle with how to repeat the physics and chemistry experiments he did in junior high school? The group of people in the Manchu court in Beijing must not have imagined that they would be crushed by alien technology, right? ”

Deng Ming realized that his thoughts had drifted too far away, and ended his reverie.

When Zhou Kaihuang was chatting, he talked about a trend of thought in the academy, that is, he believed that the battle of Burma was not very in line with the interests of western Sichuan. Although Deng Ming explained this issue to the Imperial Diet, many people still felt that it was inappropriate to waste troops on Burmese territory when the Qing court still controlled ninety percent of China's territory; Although rescuing the Son of Heaven was a necessary action, Deng Ming still did not fully achieve this goal, so the doubts about the battle of Burma became louder.

As for the dividends of the first war in Burma, in fact, Sichuan Tongxiucai also got a limited share, although the people who went out with Deng Ming made a fortune, but it was only a few thousand people. Even with the addition of jadeite and ivory, more than half of the people in Sichuan do not feel that they have benefited from it. In particular, the new immigrants who had just arrived in Sichuan were more receptive to the traditional idea of great unification, believing that only actions that were conducive to territorial unification were the right ones.

"It's too difficult to explain to them that attacking Burma is also good for reunification. The key is to make more Tongxiu feel that this war is beneficial to them, and hope that they can also benefit from foreign wars in the future. Deng Ming thought about countermeasures in his heart, although Zhou Kaihuang did not take this seriously, but Deng Ming realized that as more and more people poured into Sichuan, the traditional concept was fighting back, and there was a collision with Deng Ming's development concept.

According to Zhou Kaihuang's description, the two factions that were arguing at the academy had the same view on this issue, that is, attacking Burma would not outweigh the losses, and it would be a foolish act of reckless militarism. This is not too surprising to Deng Ming, presumably they will not agree to do business with the Manchu Governor, good and evil are not mutually exclusive. In Deng Ming's view, negotiation and trading are all part of the war, and the benefits that cannot be obtained from the battlefield must be obtained from the negotiation table, and when the war cannot obtain more benefits, it is necessary to rely on transactions to further strengthen oneself and weaken the enemy. The same is true for the war against Burma, where imperialists and war maniacs are two very different concepts. As long as the profit is high enough, Deng Ming doesn't mind playing the role of the aggressor, but the cost of the aggression must be calculated in advance, and if the investment is too large and the risk is too high, Deng Ming is still very peace-loving.

"What do they say about the battle for Burma?" On the way back to Chengdu, Deng Ming repeatedly asked Zhou Kaihuang about this question.

"Many professors in the academy began to believe that the Admiral had only won a miserable victory in Burma, that more than 1,000 of the 8,000 soldiers who went out had lost more than 1,000 of them, and that the emperor had not taken them back, and that Burma had not been conquered, but had only lost money." Zhou Kaihuang didn't understand why Deng Ming was so concerned about this issue, in his opinion, starting a war had nothing to do with the professors of the academy.

"But they will affect Tong Xiucai's perception of the war. We did win this battle, and it was a great victory, we obtained tens of thousands of taels of gold, and a steady stream of jadeite trade profits. If Tongxiucai is tired of war because of defeat, it is just that, wars that outweigh the losses should have been avoided, but it is not appropriate to say that profitable wars are also reckless and militaristic, and such wars should be fought as many as they want. Deng Ming hesitated for a moment when he said this, and he suddenly realized that he also had a lot of responsibility for this.

The Sichuan government's revenue from the war was one-fifth of the tax paid by the expeditionary force, and the indemnity money was all diverted by Deng Ming. Subsequently, the jadeite and ivory business was also monopolized and controlled by Deng Ming. Now no one in western Sichuan can interfere with how Deng Ming spends his money, and no one can even ask Deng Ming how much private money he has, and it is difficult for anyone to give up the power he has already acquired. Since such a large sum of money was at Deng Ming's free disposal, he could support the two personal guards of the Three Walls and the Rangers without the financial allocation of the government, buy expensive military uniforms and the best weapons for them, and almost all the war horses produced by various horse shops in Sichuan this year; In addition to the personal guards, Deng Ming could also allocate a large amount of money to the Fifty-One Pavilion, and take out funds that the trading houses could not compete with to select the best craftsmen.

Therefore, although the benefits of the battle of Burma were huge, the benefits of the Tongxiu in Sichuan were indeed disproportionate. Thinking about it this way, Deng Ming suddenly felt that the evaluation of the battle in Burma by Sichuan public opinion was reasonable—if the citizens did not get enough benefit from the war, they would of course think that this victory had nothing to do with them.

After discovering the problem, Deng Ming pondered how to solve the problem on the next road. The easiest way is to hand over a large amount of war dividends to the Sichuan Domain, and then distribute dividends to the same Xiucai in Sichuan. However, it is not interesting for each person to divide a few dollars or a dozen yuan, and they will not feel that the battle of Burma has brought them much benefit because of this. And if every fellow talent gives a large dividend, it can have some effect, but the cost is too great. According to 500,000 Tongxiucai, 200 yuan per person is also 100 million yuan, which is equivalent to 100,000 taels of gold or 1 million taels of silver. Moreover, this kind of dividend does not have the slightest benefit to the immigrants who came to Sichuan after the Battle of Wanxian, 200 yuan is a lot less, but more is not a lot, if you want to continue to expand the scale and increase the amount of dividends, the price to be paid is an astronomical amount.

Such a large sum of money made Deng Ming very distressed, and he was unwilling to take out so much private money out of his pocket - such a large amount of expenditure could wipe out most of his profits from selling jade and ivory. Moreover, Deng Ming is still very suspicious of the role of dividends, and the talents of the same show get a dividend of one or two hundred yuan, and put it in their arms, and they may quickly forget this benefit. And Deng Ming is still very much in need of money, Fifty-one Pavilion is a bottomless pit for burning money, at least in the next one or two years, Deng Ming estimates that it will only bring more and more serious huge losses. Now that Deng Ming has undertaken all the scientific research funds, and has also allowed the research society to give priority to the use of research results, Deng Ming estimates that with the expansion of the 51 Pavilion, in addition to the compensation from Myanmar to western Sichuan, he also needs to find money for this alien science and technology research base. Deng Ming asked himself: "Do the aliens who preside over Area 51 have similar troubles?" ”