Bright sunlight streamed onto the spacious streets of Qingzhou Province.
After refusing the Prince of Yong’s and the Prince of Huainan’s feigned requests to retire from court, he and Qian Dafu, dressed in plain clothes, traveled by carriage to Bowen Academy.
This incident seemed to be stirred up by the officials, but it clearly also had the encouragement of the Prince of Yong and the Prince of Huainan behind it.
Now, they were evidently very afraid. A strong emperor was undoubtedly a disaster for the feudal lords, which was why they made a small test to gauge Xiao Ming’s attitude.
Xiao Ming did not take this interlude to heart. For him, neither the Prince of Yong nor the Prince of Huainan was a significant threat; peaceful means could naturally resolve the situation.
Compared to this matter, what he valued most was the Great Yu Empire’s education. Now, the Great Yu Empire had entered the age of steam industry. With this foundation and corresponding technology, the Great Yu Empire could move towards a higher direction in technology.
And most importantly, he now felt a vague sense of worry. It had been almost seven years since he came to this world. How many seven-year periods could a person’s life have? Living another life, he did not want to leave regrets.
If he did not fully utilize the technology crystal, most of the technology within it would likely be buried with him, and this was not what he wanted to see. Moreover, the technology crystal also contained black technology.
As a builder of civilization, failing to fully realize technology would be a failure. It was with this consideration that he decided to accelerate technological development as quickly as possible.
After all, previously, with a poor industrial foundation, he possessed technology but could not implement it. But now, all conditions were ripe; what was lacking was only his technological knowledge.
Thinking about these matters all the way, the group arrived at Bowen Academy.
At this time, Chao Zhengwen was already waiting for him. As the chief official of the Great Yu Empire’s education department, he had been working at the Ministry of Education, next door to Bowen Academy.
“Your Majesty, Lin Wentao, Lu Tong, and a group of elite students are waiting for you in the great lecture hall,” Chao Zhengwen said excitedly.
Throughout history, never had an emperor personally lectured. Their Emperor was setting a precedent, which also brought honor to their Ministry of Education.
Xiao Ming smiled. The great lecture hall was now filled with the Great Yu Empire’s most outstanding students from the past seven years. These students had already mastered basic technological theories, meaning their scientific literacy was already very high.
Precisely because of this, they could easily understand what he was teaching.
“Excellent. I have an idea. This great lecture hall will henceforth be renamed the ‘Son of Heaven’s Academy.’ Only the most outstanding students will be allowed to enter the academy, and all students who attend lectures in the academy will be considered disciples of the Son of Heaven,” Xiao Ming said to Chao Zhengwen.
“To have the honor of listening to Your Majesty’s teachings is a tremendous privilege. I, your old servant, am also very envious. These students will be overjoyed when they find out,” Chao Zhengwen said, bowing with a smile.
Xiao Ming nodded and followed Chao Zhengwen to the great lecture hall. At this time, over five hundred people were waiting for him in the lecture hall.
Seeing Xiao Ming, all the students in the lecture hall stood up and bowed, saying, “Greetings, Your Majesty.”
Stepping onto the platform, Xiao Ming leveled his hand and said, “Dispense with the formalities. Having entered the academy, I and you shall be as teacher and student, not ruler and subject. I hope you will not be timid in seeking knowledge due to my imperial dignity.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Lin Wentao and Lu Tong exchanged excited glances.
Although they were the most outstanding students of Qingzhou University, the two knew very well that compared to Xiao Ming, they were nothing.
Ministers might revere this Emperor out of awe for imperial power, but they admired him because of science.
On normal days, they most enjoyed listening to Xiao Ming lecture. Whenever they had a question, Xiao Ming would simply say a few words, and they would suddenly understand.
Over five hundred people sat down. Xiao Ming said, “It’s the old rule: this time, you will ask questions based on what you have learned, and I will answer in detail.”
Because there were five hundred people in the lecture hall this time, and their studies were varied, he couldn’t lecture uniformly. He could only answer their questions to address their confusion during their studies and elaborate on some difficult points.
As his words fell, a student suddenly stood up and asked, “Your Majesty, I, your humble commoner Su Liangcai, have been engaged in electricity research. Now, with the help of the Mining Department, I have successfully completed an electricity experiment using magnets and coils. I believe that generators can be developed using this principle, using steam engine power to rotate generators to generate electricity. However, I still have one point of confusion: the magnets in the generator are not yet sufficient for the generator to produce enough current.”
Xiao Ming was startled. This first question surprised him. Seven years of modern education still brought him some pleasant surprises. Many students’ knowledge levels had basically reached the technology equivalent of the 19th century in modern times.
He had heard of this Su Liangcai from Lin Wentao last time. Now, looking at him carefully, he was indeed a gentleman.
It must be said that Xiao Ming was very much looking forward to electricity, because once electricity was available, the entire society would undergo a greater transformation than the age of steam.
However, without the age of steam, it was impossible to directly transition to the age of electricity. The reason was simple: as Su Liangcai said, generators needed steam engine power to generate electricity, and this was the basic principle of a thermal power plant.
After a moment of contemplation, Xiao Ming said, “Ordinary magnets are not capable of generating electricity in a generator. What you need are rare earth magnets.”
“Rare earth magnets?” Su Liangcai was startled.
Xiao Ming smiled, “Lin Wentao and I discussed you. I have always been very interested in your research. I didn’t expect your progress to be so fast. If that’s the case, I will have the Mining Department find rare earth magnets as soon as possible. But you can’t be idle now. I hope to see a complete set of power generation machinery before the rare earth magnets arrive.”
Su Liangcai’s clean face broke into a smile. He bowed and said, “Yes, Your Majesty, I will do my utmost.”
The students all showed envious expressions upon seeing this. Being praised by the Emperor showed that Su Liangcai was on the right track.
After Su Liangcai, Lu Tong and Lin Wentao respectively raised questions about chemistry and steam engines. Lu Tong’s question was about vulcanized rubber, and Lin Wentao’s was about the triple-expansion steam engine.
These two questions were also crucial to the current technological development of the Great Yu Empire. Drawing on the knowledge from the technology crystal, he explained in detail to the two the problems of preparing rubber and the triple-expansion steam engine.
Under the effect of the technology crystal, the two seemed to personally experience the manufacturing process of rubber and the triple-expansion steam engine, and some technical difficulties gradually became clear.
After the three had asked their questions one after another, the lecture hall immediately became lively. Every student eagerly asked questions. Although some questions made Xiao Ming laugh and cry, he still explained them in detail.
However, relatively speaking, many of these questions were still valuable, and from the questions, he also learned about the current state of technological development in Qingzhou Province.
Roughly, most of the substances in the periodic table had now been verified by the students. Chemical elements like cobalt, manganese, and boron were no longer just symbols in books.
The question-and-answer session began at ten in the morning and continued until three in the afternoon, when Xiao Ming returned. In addition, Xiao Ming also personally participated in experiments to promote technological development. After all, while the Great Yu Empire was developing, the West was also developing. If he were still left behind by the West despite possessing the technology crystal, he would truly be a disgrace.
The novel has already been fully translated up to the final chapter. You can access it on my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/c/caleredhair