Chapter 993:

Chapter 993:

The Capital of Wanderers.

This had been the capital of Big Tang, with a population exceeding 1.5 million. In terms of population size alone, it had been the largest city in the entire world, even surpassing Robbs Westwind City and Shuangqing City.

The enormous population had brought great potential to this city, as well as the pride of the Celestial Empire.

At that time, Shang Hui had been summoned by the emperor and had arrived at the imperial palace. Due to Shang Hui and Godfathers unique statuses, the emperor of Big Tang had not dared to neglect her. He had arranged two rows of civil and military officials for the meeting in the main hall, which had been quite an honor.

Shang Hui had walked past the two rows of civil and military officials and had come before the throne. She had respectfully saluted the emperor, saying: Long, live, long live the Emperor!

The Emperors face had shown a warm smile: You may rise! I hear you have something interesting to present to me. What is it?

Shang Hui had replied: Your Majesty! What I would like to present is a steam engine. It can help us complete a variety of tasks. It has already started to be widely used in the Western world. I wish to offer it to Big Tang without charge so that our kingdom may advance by leaps and bounds with the help of this steam engine.

Oh? The emperor had found it interesting: Bring this steam engine for me to see.

The palace guards had gone out and passed on the command. Soon, a group of laborers had carried in a huge machine.

The massive machine had looked quite heavy. It had been placed on the palace floor, and the emperor had been a little concerned that his beautiful marble floor might get damaged. However, he had thought better of it, considering his status as the emperor. If the floor was damaged, he could simply have artisans replace it. After all, there was plenty of fine marble in the Celestial Empire; he couldnt appear petty.

Once the steam engine had been set up, not a single person among the literati or the warriors had understood what it was.

At Shang Huis command, the laborers had begun the demonstration.

Coal had been added, fire had been raised, gears had been connected to the turning axle, and ropes had been attached. The steam engine had started, rumbling as it turned, pulling the ropes. Then the ropes had pulled a large millstone, which had started grinding tofu.

The Emperor and a group of ministers had widened their eyes, ready to see something extraordinary, only to discover that this machine was merely grinding tofu.

One of the ministers had said in disbelief: Ms. Shang, this machine looks impressive, but its just for grinding tofu? We could use an ox or a donkey to turn the millstone for that. If theres neither, humans can do the work.

Shang Hui had smiled: The invention of this machine is meant to save human labor.

The minister had looked disdainful: Save human labor? Why use a machine for something that humans can do?

The ministers nearby had all nodded in agreement: Exactly! This machine only knows how to spin; it doesnt know how to adapt. But when people operate a mill, its far better. You can control when to spin, when to stop, speed up, or slow down. Human intelligence is far beyond what a machine can achieve.

Shang Hui responded, Thats not the way to see it. Human labor has its limits. By saving manpower through machines, people can free up their hands to spend more time on more creative and artistic endeavors.

Pshaw! Nonsense! the ministers expressed their boredom. This machine is just a toy, utterly useless.

A military official nearby quietly cautioned them: Be careful what you say to Ms. Shang Hui. She is the woman of thatthat man. If you disrespect her like this, you should worry about that man coming after you.

As she had finished her sentence, a wooo wooo wooo sound of a steam whistle had come from the distance. Two enormous steel ships had charged from the distant seas. Both ships had been black, with large steam wheels on the sides, rotating quickly, stirring the waters, and making the ships incredibly fast.

The Big Tang officials had gasped in surprise, contributing once again to global warming awareness.

Such large ships, made of steel!

So terrifying!

How do these ships move?

Smiling, Shang Hui had explained, Inside the belly of these ships, we have installed the steam engine that I demonstrated to you before. It turns the water wheels, and the wheels paddle through the water, making the ship move incredibly fast.

The officials had exclaimed, So thats how it is! Truly impressive.

A military official had scrutinized the two large ships for a while and couldnt help but ask, Ms. Shang, why are there no cannons on your ships? Um they seem like two civilian merchant ships.

Shang Hui had smiled, I apologize! I couldnt arrange for warships. My family head disagreed with sending steel warships to fight against the Ghost Nation. He said that the existing steel warships all fly the flag of the Kingdom of Gran. If I brought those over, it would drag Kingdom of Gran into the war, something he didnt want to see. So, I could only use these merchant ships that belong to our family, under the identity of an Eastern Tang citizen, to fight in this battle.

Upon hearing this, the faces of the people around had turned pale: These are your familys private merchant ships?

Yes, Shang Hui had replied, Merchant ships dont have much in the way of weapons, so lets just use them to ram into the enemy ships.

The crowd had been perplexed: ???

The sight of them charging had been terrifying.

The people of the Ghost Nation had started shouting in surprise: What the hell is that?

Its a ship, a huge ship, a ship made of steel.

Ahhhhh!

With a crash, one of the steel merchant ships had collided with a Ghost Nation iron-clad ship. Although the ships name was iron-clad, it had actually just been a wooden ship with some iron plates nailed onto itcalling it iron-clad had been quite audacious. A true steel warship had rammed it at full force, reducing it instantly to splinters.

The next day, a Big Tang minister with the surname Xu had stepped forward, proposing a policy of learning from the barbarians in order to subdue them. With Shang Huis assistance, they had fully adopted steam engines and started learning advanced science and technology, thereby embarking on a path to catch up with the world.

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