Chapter 352: Ways to Use the Steam Engine
Chapter 347 of "The Great Ming in the Box" starts here: Li Daoxuanâs question made the little people lower their heads awkwardly.Young Master Bai explained, âDeity,... Discover what happens next!
Li Daoxuanâs question made the little people lower their heads awkwardly.Young Master Bai explained, âDeity, this âsteam engineâ you bestowed upon us is too big. To get it burning requires an enormous amount of fuel. During our experiment earlier, we ran out of fuel. Everyone threw in everything we could find that was flammable⌠And so we ended up with black smoke billowing into the sky.â
Hearing this, Li Daoxuan understood.
He had initially provided them with an âalcohol beakerâ filled mostly with alcohol, thinking it would last a long time.
But he had underestimated the research frenzy of Song Yingxing and Young Master Bai. These two had burned through the alcohol in just a few days. How could they continue experimenting?
Song Yingxing didnât have the bad habit of constantly begging the Deity for everything. So he prepared his own fuelâwood, coal, dry grass⌠all sorts of chaotic equipment for ignition.
What seemed like a miniature steam engine to Li Daoxuan was a terrifying, colossal machine to the little folk. Getting such a massive contraption burning demanded an immense amount of fuel.
Naturally, once they were short on fuel, they started burning whatever they could find! It was no wonder they ended up with soot blackening the sky.
Scientists had always loved creating troublemakers since ancient times. This was unavoidable.
Without their making trouble, the world wouldnât make progress.
Understanding this, Li Daoxuan couldnât help but laugh heartily. âAs long as thereâs no fire, itâs fine. So, is the steam engine fun?â
Song Yingxing replied excitedly, âMore than fun! Itâs simply miraculous! Just using the power of boiling water can move enormous rocks. The sheer force of this thing can topple the whole world!â
âHmm!â Li Daoxuan said. âI see youâve basically figured it out. By using a gear assembly to redirect the force, you can transform the power from boiling water into various types of force to drive all kinds of machinery. So, what was the first thing you thought of using it for?â
Song Yingxing pondered carefully for a moment. âI thought about moving heavy things. It could be used to draw water from wells, turn millstones, aid in smelting and weaving⌠any place requiring mechanical motion could use a steam engine.â
Li Daoxuan nodded. Excellent.
He then turned to Young Master Bai. âYoung Master Bai, what did you think of?â
Young Master Bai grinned and pointed towards the distant electric small train. âThat strange giant train was conjured by the Deityâs divine power, running on batteries. I always wondered why, even without burning fuel, you called it âfire trainâ until I saw the steam engine. This steam engine is the perfect solution to power the train. Mount one inside the engine, burn fuel to generate power, haul those enormous train cars along⌠So, you deliberately named the celestial car âfire trainâ! The word âfireâ was a hint for me, guiding my research in that direction.â
Li Daoxuan thought: Youâre brilliant! Thatâs how you explain it? Your brain fills in the blanks like a pro!
Young Master Bai laughed excitedly. âWe are mortals. We canât conjure strange powers like the Deity to operate such giant vehicles. But this steam engine is the marvelous tool bestowed upon us mortals to achieve heaven-defying strength. Used properly, even parting mountains and draining seas becomes possible for us.â
âVery good!â Li Daoxuan praised. âAn excellent direction. Proceed with that research. With your brilliance, scaling down this massive steam engine until it fits inside a train shouldnât be difficult. Then, feel free to unleash your creativity.â
After speaking, Li Daoxuan secretly admired Young Master Bai. Song Yingxing was brilliant, but his age perhaps limited his wildly innovative ideas. Young Master Bai, however, was young, daring enough to dream big. He thought of adapting the steam engine to the train before Song Yingxing did.
This was probably the advantage of youth!
âYoung Master Bai, your imagination and creativity are truly excellent. Keep that up!â
âWow! The Deity praised my son for having great imagination and creativity!â Madam Bai suddenly popped up from somewhere, overjoyed. She grabbed the person next to her and started shaking them vigorously. âThe Deity praised my son! The Deity praised my son again! HahahaâŚâ
Later, Madam Bai bragged to everyone she met that the Deity had praised her sonâs wonderful imagination and creativity, repeating it proudly for her entire life.
Young Master Bai thanked the Deity but soon looked awkward again. âHowever⌠to power a steam train, weâd need vast amounts of fuel. Just one trip might consume an enormous quantity of coal. This is a major headache. Without the fuel bestowed by the Deity, weâd have to rely on things like coal and wood. Wood burns poorly, and while coal is better, Gaojia Village doesnât have much.â
Li Daoxuan smiled. âWhat a coincidence! Coal is precisely what I wanted to discuss with you. Yiye, set off immediately. Find Thirty-Two and head to Heyang County. Weâre going there for coal.â
Gao Yiye obediently answered, turned, and ran downstairs.
Qiu Ju and Dong Xue followed close behind, urgently calling out, âSaint Lady! You havenât washed your face! Youâre still smudged!â
Gao Yiye: âEh? Is my face dirty?â
Qiu Ju: âLook at me!â
Gao Yiye turned to look and burst out laughing. âQiu Ju! Your face is covered in black soot!â
Qiu Ju: âSaint Lady, yours is exactly the same!â
âAh? Mine too?â Gao Yiye felt a little flustered. âOh no! That means the Deity just saw me looking terrible, didnât he?â
Dong Xue nodded. âHe saw you.â
Gao Yiye went âthumpâ and collapsed face-down onto the floor. orz.
âHurry and wash up! Donât lie here like that!â
The two young ladies, Qiu Ju and Dong Xue, dragged Gao Yiye up and dashed off. In the blink of an eye, they disappeared into the watchtowerâŚ
At this point, Li Daoxuan felt it was inappropriate to continue ânoticingâ her and quickly shifted his ânoticeâ elsewhere. He would look back again a little later.
Gao Yiye emerged from the watchtower, freshly bathed and changed. She was dressed in dignified, formal attire, exuding the aura worthy of the Li Familyâs masterâs wife.
Three years serving as the Saint Lady, coupled with learning reading and writing, acquiring knowledge, reading novels, listening to storytelling operas, and experiencing various eventsâŚ
Knowledge refines oneâs bearing, purifying one from within.
Dressed finely and carrying herself regally, she now truly resembled a wealthy lady, no longer the awkward girl who could only sit silently without speaking.
Her preparations to depart meant the Gaojia Village Militia had to mobilize immediately.
The Saint Ladyâs safety was no joke.
The escort team also immediately followed suit. Ground Rabbit and Zheng Gouzi assembled a hundred-man team to surround Gao Yiye. Gao Yiye and the two girls, Qiu and Dong, got into a carriage. Thirty-Two mounted a tall horse. The escort team flanked them. The entire group set off towards Heyang County.