Chapter 730: Steam Machinery

"Agricultural machinery?" Wang Chong was stunned for a moment.

In the mechanical design blueprints Yan Wang had given him, there were indeed many steam-powered agricultural machines.

It was only because of the need for expediency that he had placed these machines behind the other research and development plans.

"Yes, this matter is very important for farming, and it is also beneficial to industrial development." Zhao Xu nodded.

Given the current situation, industry was already about to occupy a massive amount of the population.

He could not spare any more population for the farms, so he had to find a way through agricultural machinery.

According to the knowledge in his mind, in fact, during the Steam Age, Steam Tractors had already appeared.

After all, once a Steam Locomotive was built, modifying it to be slightly smaller would result in a tractor engine.

Using a Steam Tractor, one could plow the fields, or attach a carriage body to haul grain; it had many uses.

Of course, for an individual, they naturally could not afford such a coal-guzzling machine.

But on a farm, the Steam Tractor definitely had a future.

Besides the Steam Tractor, there was also the Steam Thresher.

This thing had appeared in the contemporary year of 1837, and with Yanzhou's current industrial capacity, it could definitely be built.

Beyond that, there was the Combine Harvester.

In the contemporary year of 1831, a farmer named McCormick designed and built the first Combine Harvester pulled by two horses, and its harvesting efficiency exceeded that of 30 manual laborers.

Since then, McCormick had been continuously improving it, creating a Combine Harvester pulled by 40 horses with a cutting width of 30 meters, which even featured a straw-baling device on top.

Inspired by this farmer-inventor, steam-powered self-propelled harvesters also appeared.

With this thing, large farms could achieve initial steam mechanization.

Although for him, the next step was the era of Electricity and Internal Combustion Engines.

But he could not keep waiting.

Even if machines driven by Internal Combustion Engines appeared in the future, these steam machines could be sent to more backward places to be used until they were scrapped.

In the contemporary twenty-first century, some backward regions abroad still had no traces of industrialization.

"Yes, Your Highness. This subordinate has roughly looked over these agricultural machines. In fact, once the Steam Locomotive is built and the power problem is solved, these machines will no longer be a major issue." Wang Chong said thoughtfully, "This subordinate will try his best to spare people to build the agricultural machinery Workshop."

"Excellent." Zhao Xu laughed, "This agricultural machinery belongs to one of the types of civilian machinery. Besides this, there is also construction machinery; let's just build them together."

Yanzhou's major infrastructure projects had been ongoing, which also consumed a massive amount of labor.

If other states in the North also began infrastructure projects, even more labor would be poured into them.

And now, he only wanted to save population and enter industry.

For this purpose, he naturally had to set his sights on construction machinery as well.

In the Steam Age of 1833, the Steam Excavator was born, known at the time as the Steam Shovel.

This type of Steam Shovel operated through a structure composed of wheels,

pulleys, and iron cables.

By pulling and releasing the iron cables with the wheels, one could make the shovel at one end move to excavate soil.

The excavation of the Suiyi Shi Yunhe had utilized this kind of Steam Shovel.

With this kind of machinery, whether it was for mines, Railway laying, or even digging ditches and canals, it would be very easy.

"Yes, Your Highness." Wang Chong replied.

Although the burden on his shoulders had become heavier again.

He was also looking forward to the arrival of the Steam Machinery Age.

This was his romance.

Following that, the two chatted about the progress of various technologies at the Research Institute.

Wang Chong mentioned that Qu Sheng was recently researching Mercury Fulminate and had made some headway.

This piqued Zhao Xu's interest.

"Tell him to be careful, don't blow himself up like last time." Zhao Xu said.

Mercury Fulminate was very important for the improvement of firearm standards.

Because this was a type of primer, mainly used in the nineteenth century to manufacture Percussion Caps.

During the contemporary Opium War, the British army already had Rifled Muskets using Percussion Caps to replace Flint.

Compared to Flint ignition, which still had a chance of misfiring, Percussion Cap impact ignition was more stable.

Most importantly, this could further lead to the manufacture of impact-ignition Breech-loading Rifles.

Twenty years after the appearance of Mercury Fulminate, in 1836, the Dreyse Breech-loading Rifle appeared and was subsequently purchased by the Prussian army.

Therefore, once Qu Sheng's Mercury Fulminate was produced, they would establish a production line.

Yanzhou would then be able to conduct its own research and manufacture of Breech-loading Rifles.

Although the Breech-loading Rifle was developed in 1836 and equipped by Prussia.

At that time, due to a deep-rooted obsession with Front-loading Rifles, contemporary Britain and France had never adopted the Breech-loading Rifle.

It was not until the 1864 Danish-Prussian War that it shone brilliantly, and Xitu Guo one after another began to equip Breech-loading Rifles.

Therefore, he believed that once the Prince's Personal Army was equipped with Breech-loading Rifles, they would maintain an advantage for a very long time.

Enough for him to beat the colonists of Dongtu until they were scattered.

Lincheng.

While Zhao Xu and Wang Chong were laying out plans for steam machinery.

The second contract-signing ceremony of the Eastern Land Alliance was held here.

Unlike the last time when there were only four families, this time there were seven people sitting at the square table.

There were more: Han Zheng, Wang Zi'an, and Xie Duan.

After signing his name, a flash of gloom crossed Liang Kai's eyes, but he immediately concealed it.

By rights, Han Zheng, Wang Zi'an, and Xie Duan had already pledged allegiance to him.

However, under the demands of Dongying, Sam Country, and Britain, he was forced to allow the three to sign a contract and become members of the Eastern Land Alliance.

He knew clearly in his heart that doing this was clearly intended to let these three parties keep Wu in check, so as to prevent Wu from becoming arrogant due to favor.

Compared to the others, the three of Han Zheng looked excited.

Submitting to Wu was something they had done out of necessity.

Now, with the support of the three countries including Dongying, they suddenly had courage.

At the very least, they would not be overly servile in front of Liang Kai.

"Now that the Southern Liang troops have retreated to Yizhou and the land of Jiangbei has fallen entirely into the hands of Yan Wang, if we wait for him to develop and grow stronger, it will be even harder to defeat the enemy; we must find a way to make him constantly lose blood."

Once the contract was signed, Sato Masahisa said loudly.

Now, he had replaced the Dongying envoy from previous days and officially taken charge of Dongying's affairs within the Eastern Land Alliance.

"It is just that you have seen the prowess of Yan Wang's troops, my lord; wouldn't crossing the river for the Northern Expedition now be a death wish?" Liang Kai said.

Xie Duan, Han Zheng, and Wang Zi'an nodded; they likewise did not want to continue fighting against Yan Wang.

After all, this battle made them realize the gap in firearms between themselves and Yan Wang.

"Unless you are willing to provide us with firearms equal to those of Yan Wang's troops; since it is an alliance, you cannot expect us to provide the men while you show nothing at all," Han Zheng said slowly.

Liang Kai nodded at him; this was also his thought.

He had tasted the sweetness from Yan Wang's hands and naturally also wanted to obtain benefits from the hands of Dongying and the Westerners.

Even if Han Zheng did not speak up, he would have to speak up himself.

Upon hearing this, Wolf said: "That is nothing difficult; as long as you are willing to pay Silver, we in Britain are willing to sell firearms to you."

When he came to Lincheng, he had also seen the Warship of Yanzhou through a Telescope.

This made him feel a sense of crisis.

Never before had a country outside the Western Lands been able to independently build a Sailing Warship.

They must take this Yan Wang seriously.