amaotonovel Chapter 820 Damn it, transmigrating without a system is really tough.
Chapter 820 Damn it, transmigrating without a system is really tough.
The short, ugly man who was borrowed by the old Taoist priest with the bull's nose died.
He died on a stormy evening.
Because he was too close to the bronze alchemy furnace, a bolt of lightning flowed along the bronze rod toward the furnace, and then from the furnace onto the short, stocky man.
It's not fair to say the remains were completely destroyed, but they were charred on the outside and raw on the inside, their faces even darker than those two mud-covered guys from Hidden Village.
The old Taoist priests hiding under the shed in the distance, along with Zhu Biao and Yang Shaofeng, watched helplessly as a huge light appeared on the short, stocky man's body, and then disappeared in an instant.
Several old Taoist priests let out a wail and headed straight for the alchemy furnace as soon as the thunderstorm stopped.
Then, the wails grew even louder.
Yang Shaofeng laughed gleefully: "Serves him right, he won't be shouting about using lightning to refine pills this time!"
Zhu Biao breathed a long sigh of relief and said, "Thank goodness, thank goodness, it was just a shorty who died. If these quacks had used students from Dengzhou University to operate the alchemy furnace, I would be heartbroken right now."
After a slight pause, Zhu Biao suddenly asked tentatively, "Brother-in-law, do you think it's possible to store lightning?"
Yang Shaofeng was slightly taken aback, and Zhu Biao continued, "I think that since lightning can turn people into charred remains, the firepower it contains must be extremely high."
"If we could store them and release them gradually when needed, it seems we could use them to power steam engines or water pumps or something similar?"
"The problem is that I don't understand how lightning is stored and how to control its slow release."
"We can't rely on thunderstorms to attract lightning every time."
Yang Shaofeng stared blankly at Zhu Biao.
I am the one who time-traveled, right?
Why do these ancient natives seem to be smarter and more knowledgeable than this official?
The way you're acting makes me look stupid and a complete idiot, you bastards!
Yang Shaofeng was angry, but he was only angry for a moment.
Because Yang Shaofeng really was a poor student. He studied too many things in a very haphazard way, and he knew a little bit about everything, but only a little bit.
For example, regarding Zhu Biao's mention of storing lightning, Yang Shaofeng knew the concept of a battery, but had no idea how to make one; he only knew that it was related to sulfuric acid and lead-zinc.
Take power generation for example. Yang Shaofeng knew that generators used a rotor made of magnets and copper wires to generate electricity by cutting the magnetic field, but he didn't remember any of the messy details about how the rotor was wound or how many turns it needed to be.
After repeatedly confirming that he was ultimately just a poor student, Yang Shaofeng could only shake his head helplessly and say, "I only know that a rotor made of magnets and copper wire can generate electricity, and that this electricity can be stored and released. I don't know much else."
Zhu Biao's eyes lit up, and he quickly asked, "A rotor made of copper wire? How do you make that? And how do you store this kind of electricity?"
Yang Shaofeng's face immediately darkened. "I don't remember. I only remember what the rotor looked like and that I had to wrap copper wire around it. I don't remember much else."
"Also, the thing that stores electricity is called a battery, which is related to ferrous sulfate oil, and it seems to use lead and zinc or something similar, but I don't remember exactly how it's made."
"It seems like Apple has some unrelated connection to electricity and batteries."
Damn it, it's so frustrating to transmigrate without a system.
This is especially true for a programmer who is academically weak and has a humanities background.
Blue thin, shiitake mushroom.
Yang Shaofeng felt uneasy, and the gazes he cast at the old Taoist priests also carried a hint of hostility.
It's because of you old Taoist priests that the fact that I'm a complete academic failure has been exposed.
Yang Shaofeng winked at Zhu Biao and whispered, "I don't really understand these things, but I have a general idea. I'll talk to some old Taoist priests about it later and let them figure it out."
"Anyway, it's still the same old saying: if ten years isn't enough, then twenty; if twenty years isn't enough, then thirty or fifty. We have plenty of time to let them struggle slowly."
"At most, it's just a waste of some materials and short, ugly plants, nothing serious."
A very wicked smile immediately appeared on Zhu Biao's face.
In the past, when Zhu Biao heard the words "wasting some materials," his first reaction would have been that the national treasury was short of money.
But now, hearing those words again, Zhu Biao felt completely confident.
According to the Treaty of Gui Chou, the short and weak Ming Dynasty could not raise 200 million taels of silver for military reparations, so it had to extend the repayment period. During the repayment period, the short and weak Ming Dynasty had to pay 70 million taels of silver in interest to the Ming Dynasty every year.
For the Ming Dynasty's national treasury, this meant receiving approximately 70 million taels of silver annually for free.
Even if only 100,000 taels were allocated to Dengzhou University, wouldn't that be enough to cause trouble for these old Taoist priests?
Thinking of this, Zhu Biao immediately waved his hand generously: "Brother-in-law is right. Any problem that can be solved with money is not a problem. I will have someone allocate some money to Dengzhou University so that they can specifically work on the materials."
Yang Shaofeng was overjoyed and asked, "How much money does Your Highness plan to allocate? Materials are very expensive, and if it's too little, it might not be enough."
Zhu Biao immediately scoffed, "Is 100,000 strings of cash enough?"
Yang Shaofeng glanced at Zhu Biao and asked, "May I ask Your Highness, is this 100,000 strings of cash intended for the entire Dengzhou University, or is it allocated specifically to the School of Materials Science and Engineering?"
If it were given specifically to the School of Materials Science and Engineering, then 100,000 guan would indeed be a considerable sum. After all, Dengzhou University does not currently have a dedicated School of Materials Science and Engineering. Even if manpower were immediately transferred to establish a School of Materials Science and Engineering, there would be very few people in the entire school. 100,000 guan would indeed be enough to last for quite some time.
If this 100,000 strings of cash were allocated to the entire university, that would be a bit ridiculous.
From the School of Physics and the School of Chemical Engineering to the School of Mechanical Engineering and the School of Mathematics, the entire Dengzhou University has more than a dozen departments.
Each department receives 10,000 strings of cash, which averages out to less than 1,000 strings of cash per month.
What the hell is this enough for?
……
Just as Zhu Biao and Yang Shaofeng were discussing how much money to allocate to Dengzhou University, Emperor Zhu was also discussing with Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen how to spend the money.
"Seventy million taels of silver may seem like a lot, but our Great Ming Dynasty has more than a dozen provincial administration commissions, more than a hundred prefectures, and more than a thousand counties."
"On average, each county would only receive a little over 60,000 taels."
"To break it down further, each county receives about five thousand taels per month."
"Not to mention that the imperial court and the Grand Commandery are also watching closely."
Li Shanchang scratched his head and sighed, "If only we could sign more treaties like this with a few small countries."