Chapter 918

A wisp of autumn wind blew, and leaves rustled down, laying a golden carpet on the stone path of the imperial harem. In the imperial garden,

A wisp of autumn wind blew, and leaves rustled down, laying a golden carpet on the stone path of the imperial harem.

In the imperial garden, Xiao Ming was strolling and admiring chrysanthemums with Fei Yuer and others.

Xiao Yi was now five years old, robust and lively. In modern times, he would be nearing kindergarten age. However, he did not hire a teacher for Xiao Yi but left Xiao Yi’s education to Fei Yuer.

Following Xiao Ming, Fei Yuer was greatly influenced by Xiao Ming. Although she did not participate in any scientific research, in Xiao Ming’s view, the knowledge Fei Yuer possessed was no less than that of Lin Wentao and his colleagues; she was even a step higher. So, he was very confident in Fei Yuer personally teaching Xiao Yi.

He had always paid close attention to this recognized Crown Prince. He did not want Xiao Yi to reverse historical progress in the future.

Following behind Xiao Ming were Cui Xue’er, Lu Luo, and Ziyuan. The three had all conceived last year and had now successfully given birth to imperial princes and princesses.

Cui Xue’er gave birth to the Second Imperial Prince, named Xiao Tong. Lu Luo gave birth to the Third Princess, named Xiao Yusu. And Ziyuan’s child was the Fourth Imperial Prince, named Xiao Qian.

Now, the three were each pushing a baby carriage, following behind Fei Yuer. The four chatted and laughed. These baby carriages were designed by Fei Yuer and produced by dispatched artisans.

Although the materials were incomparable to modern baby carriages, they were, in the Great Yu Empire, a groundbreaking industrial product. Moreover, these baby carriages were very popular with Cui Xue’er and the other two.

Because this way, they could push their infants out to play. And with their influence, baby carriages quickly became popular in Qingzhou Province. Soon, a specialized civilian workshop for producing baby carriages was established. Baby carriages began appearing in the homes of some wealthy individuals.

“Your Majesty, Senior Grand Secretary Pang requests an audience.”

While everyone was playing, Qian Dafu walked over.

Fei Yuer chuckled upon hearing this. “This Pang Yukun just can’t stand to see His Majesty at ease. He’s only been with us for a short while, and here he comes.”

“Indeed. It’s rare for Your Majesty to have such leisure,” Cui Xue’er said, echoing her words while teasing the child.

Ziyuan and Lu Luo exchanged glances, pursing their lips and smiling.

Xiao Ming gently shook his head. Pang Yukun had now completely offended these four women. However, this Pang Yukun always had something come up whenever he was free.

But he also knew that every time this happened, something major would occur. And this time, he was basically certain that there had been a breakthrough in electricity.

“You two needn’t mock Senior Grand Secretary Pang. This time, I expect it’s something about the power plant,” Xiao Ming said calmly.

“Power plant.” Fei Yuer’s eyes lit up. She said, “So, we’ll be able to use electricity soon?”

Cui Xue’er and the others had long heard from Xiao Ming about the marvels of electricity. They couldn’t help but look on expectantly.

“Barring any unforeseen circumstances, yes,” Xiao Ming said with a triumphant expression.

Thermal power generation had always been something he cared deeply about. In his opinion, it was even more important than defeating Japan.

Fei Yuer nodded, said nothing more, and then sensibly led Cui Xue’er and the others away to amuse themselves.

Seeing this, Xiao Ming and Qian Dafu went to the imperial study. As he had expected, upon entering the imperial study, Pang Yukun immediately reported on the thermal power plant.

“Your Majesty, this Su Liangcai also developed something called a transformer. It is said that this item is very important for electricity transmission,” Pang Yukun said excitedly.

Xiao Ming showed a relieved expression. During the period of attacking Japan, he had been continuously correcting problems in the Great Yu Empire’s technological development. He felt there was no need to retrace the detours taken in technological development.

So, he directly researched a complete power transmission system with Su Liangcai. This system included the generator, transformer, and transmission lines.

Among these, the generator and power lines already had mature technology when the thermal power plant was being built. What was lacking was the transformer. So, he gave Su Liangcai the principles and structure of the transformer.

This made the production of transformers simple. After all, this type of transformer was the most primitive, having already appeared in the 19th century.

This transformer consisted of an E-shaped iron core and coils. The coils had two or more windings. The principle was similar to Faraday’s induction coil. It could transform AC voltage, current, and resistance.

With this, the thermal power plant could transmit electricity further. Thus, Qingzhou electricity could be said to have bypassed the initial experimental stage and directly entered the application stage.

And in these two years, Su Liangcai had also cultivated a large number of electrical talents. After the thermal power plant was put into production, he would lead the establishment of the Great Yu Empire Power Company, formally ushering in the age of electricity.

“Hmm, this Su Liangcai’s efficiency is quite good. Let’s go, let’s see what kind of electrical performance he can show me,” Xiao Ming said.

Pang Yukun was also very much looking forward to it. He and Xiao Ming rose together and walked out, heading to the thermal power plant in the western suburbs of Qingzhou City, protected by Imperial Guards.

Standing outside the thermal power plant, the first impression was that it was a huge chimney. However, this was precisely the standard structure of a power plant.

Su Liangcai, leading the workers of the thermal power plant, was waiting for Xiao Ming’s arrival. Seeing everyone arrive, he immediately stepped forward to greet them.

“Your Majesty, the Qingzhou Thermal Power Plant has officially generated electricity. Please come inside, Your Majesty,” Su Liangcai said with a proud tone.

Xiao Ming and Pang Yukun exchanged glances. The two followed Su Liangcai into the interior of the power plant.

Compared to modern thermal power plants, the current Qingzhou thermal power plant was still somewhat crude. Simply put, the entire thermal power generation system consisted of a large steam engine and a large generator. The steam engine was connected to the generator, and a huge boiler was connected to the steam engine.

At this time, large quantities of coal were continuously entering the hopper via a conveyor belt, then passing through the hopper into the combustion chamber. Above the combustion chamber, water was evaporated. Steam entered the steam engine’s cylinder, driving the steam engine to perform work and rotate the generator.

And the electricity generated from the generator passed through the wires connected to the generator into the transformer and then was transmitted to the power grid.

“Your Majesty, this way.”

Su Liangcai led Xiao Ming and Pang Yukun through the power plant’s production workshop into the western office area.

Stopping here, Su Liangcai pointed to the lit light bulb in his office and said, “Your Majesty, please look.”

“Your Majesty, this… this is an electric light?” Pang Yukun was dumbfounded.

At this moment, a glass-encased light bulb above his head was emitting a bright light, which utterly astonished Pang Yukun.

“Your Majesty, after experimenting with many materials, I, your humble servant, found that tungsten filament truly has the best effect and is also the most durable.” Su Liangcai looked at Xiao Ming with some admiration.

If not for his guidance, he would have taken many more detours. And fortunately, to manufacture cutting tools, the Great Yu Empire had begun using tungsten metal very early, so the tungsten filament light bulb did not encounter too many difficulties.