Chapter 370: Trends in Yanshan

"Very good."

Looking at the neat and beautiful soap placed before him, Zhao Xu revealed a satisfied smile.

This time he truly observed the entire process, yet the students had given him a perfect answer sheet.

A sense of self-satisfaction as a teacher rose within his heart.

Wang Chong, Qu Sheng, and the other students exchanged glances.

They had been very nervous throughout the process, fearing they might fail.

Now that they had succeeded and received the approval of Yan Wang, a sense of joy welled up from within their hearts.

Most importantly, this time they had personally manufactured soap from nothing.

This was a verification of the knowledge in the textbooks.

Everything Yan Wang told them was true, without a shred of falsehood.

"It is truly magical; all of this is invisible and intangible, yet it just happened like this." Qu Sheng and Wang Chong stood side by side, still savoring the moment.

Quicklime dissolves in water and becomes Calcium Hydroxide.

Calcium Hydroxide and Soda Ash then become Sodium Hydroxide; this is the Caustic Soda needed for the Saponification Reaction.

Finally, the Saponification Reaction yields soap and the byproduct Glycerin.

And from the knowledge he possessed, this Glycerin would have very important uses in the future.

"This is just a small thing; in the future, you will continuously witness even more astonishing things," Zhao Xu said with a smile.

Wang Chong's expression was excited, "Having learned these things taught by His Highness, this subordinate will have no regrets even in death."

"Hahaha..." Zhao Xu laughed.

This was exactly the attitude he wanted from the students: to hear the Dao in the morning is enough to die in the evening.

He then exchanged thoughts with the students regarding this soap manufacturing experience.

Zhao Xu said to Wang Chong, "This Saponification Reaction is just the beginning. This King wants you to personally go to the Beifang District of Chengde Workshop to establish a Soap Workshop, and from now on, provide a steady stream of soap to the merchant firms."

After thinking for a moment, he said to Qu Sheng, "Let Qu Sheng lead this task, how about that?"

The other students did not speak.

Naturally, they could not offer any objections.

After all, Qu Sheng was recognized among them as the one who learned the best.

Usually, when they did not understand something, they would also ask Qu Sheng.

Upon hearing this, Wang Chong pulled a bitter face, "Your Highness, has this subordinate fallen out of favor?"

"Hmm, you guessed right," Zhao Xu chuckled.

"Don't say that, Your Highness," Wang Chong feigned a pitiful appearance.

Zhao Xu could not be bothered to pay him any mind; compared to Qu Sheng's plainness, Wang Chong was clearly much more lively and often played the fool in front of him.

Turning to Qu Sheng, Zhao Xu said, "Do you have this confidence?"

"I do." Qu Sheng's tone was very firm.

He knew in his heart that Yan Wang giving him this opportunity meant he valued him.

But for now, Yan Wang only felt he learned well, and ordering him to establish the Soap Workshop was to verify his ability to put things into practice.

Only if this matter was done well could he be entrusted with important tasks like Wang Chong.

"Good, this King will have a word with Manager Wang; whatever you need, just ask him for it," Zhao Xu said.

Then he looked at the group of students, and seeing that every one of them had envy in their eyes, he added, "This King knows what you are thinking. Do not worry; as long as you learn the things in the textbooks well, in the future, this King will let you all take charge of your own affairs."

Upon hearing this, the students became excited at once, and it was as if there was light in each of their eyes.

Having given these instructions, Zhao Xu returned to the Prince's Mansion.

After eating dinner, he went to the study.

After working for an hour, he folded several blueprints.

These were the Mineral Maps of Yanzhou, as well as methods for distinguishing various mineral deposits.

After fussing for so long, this thing was finally completed.

Now he intended to let the students of the Technology Academy gradually establish various industries in Yanzhou.

And another obstacle hindering industrial development was mineral resources.

In ancient times, only a very small portion of the various elements in the Periodic Table of Elements were applied, mainly things like gold, silver, and copper.

But other elements were equally important, even relating to the rise of industry.

Now, it was necessary to find all these mineral resources.

In this way, there would be no need to panic when they were needed.

Thinking about handing these maps to the Government Academy the next day to organize the students to study, he began to compile textbooks again.

In his view, this batch of students would basically be able to master junior high school level knowledge by the end of the year.

Next, they would need to learn more profound things.

This would involve high school level knowledge.

Besides this, the Government Academy and the Military Academy both had corresponding upgrades.

Taking advantage of his free time at night, he naturally had to busy himself with this matter.

After all, one could never be sure when war might break out again.

The next day.

He first went to the Armory Department and lectured on some things, then Qu Sheng went to Chengde Workshop to personally establish the soap production.

Next, he went to the Government Academy.

After lecturing, he summoned the students of the Mineral Prospecting Department selected by Liu Fu and specifically displayed the Mineral Map and the characteristics of various mineral deposits to them.

Over the next few days, he kept an eye on Qu Sheng's Soap Workshop while lecturing the students of the Mineral Prospecting Department.

On this day, Zhao Xu headed to the Government Affairs Division as usual.

Suddenly, Chang Wei and Yang He found him together.

"It is rare to see the two of you appear at the same time," Zhao Xu said with a smile as he reined in his horse and stopped.

Then, realizing something, his expression suddenly changed, "Don't tell me something has happened at Yanguan?"

Yang He nodded gravely, "Northern Di scouts appeared outside Yanguan and told us that the Border Market trade has ended."

"I received news sent from Wuan County that over a thousand Northern Di Infantry from the Black Iron Royal Tent attempted to cross Yanshan to enter Yan Commandery, but they were blocked by our Fortress. They launched an attack on the Fortress but were driven back by our Artillery," Chang Wei said, "Your Highness, it seems the Northern Di are about to tear up their treaty with the Great Song."

"Hmph, I said long ago that this so-called treaty is no different from a scrap of paper. The Northern Di were merely using a delaying tactic back then, with the goal of spying out intelligence on our Artillery," Zhao Xu's eyes narrowed.

Looking toward the North Territory, he continued, "Now that the Northern Di have had the dumb luck to find someone who can build Artillery for them, they are likely waiting to gather enough of them before launching an attack on the Great Song, after all, another winter is approaching."

Chang Wei nodded, his eyes filled with worry, "If the Northern Di have Artillery, it is undoubtedly terrible news for the Great Song, and it will also negate the advantage of our Prince's Personal Army."

"That is not necessarily true," Zhao Xu said.

For soldiers, confidence is very important.

He did not want the news of the Northern Di having Artillery to spread and stir up fear of the Northern Di in the hearts of his soldiers.

Chang Wei realized there was more to what Yan Wang was saying and hurriedly asked, "Does Your Highness have a solution?"

Zhao Xu decided not to keep him in suspense and said, "I am currently having Wang Ying improve our current Artillery; both the power and range will be increased."

In truth, Zhao Xu was very confident in his own Artillery.

First, the material of his Artillery is steel.

In this era, Steel Cannons would not appear until the mid-nineteenth century.

Secondly, there is the Bore Reaming; this basically puts his Artillery at the level of the top-tier Artillery of the mid-nineteenth century, the period of the Opium War.

And this Missionary, having managed to end up in the Extreme North, certainly does not belong to the class of high-level scholars in that Ross country and basically would not have mastered the most advanced cannon-making methods of his home country.

Perhaps he understands the principles of building Artillery, but whether he can reach the level of Yanzhou's Artillery is open to question.