Chapter 1894: The Pursuit of Art

Liu Dahao carried his luggage over, looked at the two people standing dazed at the doorway, and assumed they were stunned by the mansion he had built.

"How about it, Zheng? Isn't our home imposing now?"

Liu Zheng nodded blankly.

Then he made up his mind: this mansion had to be torn down and rebuilt!

Seeing his son's approval, Liu Dahao laughed heartily: "See that, Sanniang? You kept saying it was an eyesore, but our son understands me after all. You people simply don't understand what art is!"

Feng Sanniang, holding little Liu Qian, rolled her eyes at him.

Liu Zheng turned his head, looked at his father who seemed to want to write the word 'art' on his face, and said in a deep voice, "Well done. Don't do it again next time."

Liu Zheng walked inside and whispered to the housekeeper, "Get this gate torn down, melted, and remade immediately!"

"Yes, yes, Young Master."

The voice was neither loud nor soft, just enough for Liu Dahao and Feng Sanniang to hear.

Feng Sanniang looked at the stunned expression on Liu Dahao's face and laughed, "Our son understands you, alright."

Feng Sanniang carried little Liu Qian into the house with a patter of footsteps, and Xie Chan chuckled before following them in.

This time upon returning, Liu Zheng declined most people's visits.

Liu Dahao watched his son and his son's son playing together and laughed.

Liu Zheng looked at his younger brother and his own son, and suddenly thought, 'My uncle is two years older than me?'

But little Liu Cong didn't seem to think so; he was two years old and babbled, "Little brother..."

Little Liu Qian seemed to understand and babbled a response.

The whole family was stunned by this scene, and Liu Zheng complained inwardly: 'Is this going to develop into some kind of family ethics drama?'

Liu Zheng shook his head, dispelling the thought.

Just then, Liu Dahao, who was lying on a recliner, remembered something, jumped up, and said with fiery eyes, "Little Liu Qian's hundred-day celebration is coming up soon."

"Given our family's situation, we must do it in a big way!"

"Zheng, don't you worry, leave this to your father."

Liu Zheng was just about to speak when he saw his wife and mother shaking their heads like rattles; they were still not over the matter of the mansion Liu Dahao had built.

Liu Zheng thought for a moment and said, "Father, I'll leave this matter to you."

"Alrighty then." Liu Dahao slapped his thigh, stood up immediately, and went to make arrangements.

However, the expressions on Feng Sanniang and Xie Chan's faces were very unpleasant.

"Aren't you afraid your father will come up with another eyesore?"

Liu Zheng shook his head and said, "I'm not afraid. Let the old man fuss as he pleases; I can see he's bored."

Feng Sanniang said no more.

Ever since Liu Zheng became Chief Minister, Liu Dahao's status had risen with the tide; his business ran smoothly without him needing to worry, and he had earned enough money.

Aside from coddling the child, he had nothing to do and was bored all day long; letting him host the hundred-day banquet this time was fine.

Another day passed, and Liu Zheng, also feeling bored, came to the Liangzhou Laboratory.

He had to see how the current electricity research was progressing.

As soon as he arrived at the laboratory, he saw the researchers he had recruited engaged in a heated argument.

"Friction generates electricity; we should use the urgency of creating friction with wool to collect static electricity."

"That's wrong. What use is that kind of electricity?"

"What we need to create is electricity that can be put into practical use."

"Don't forget what Mr. Liu Zheng told us: use magnets. This is the hand-cranked generator I invented; it can already generate electricity continuously."

Liu Zheng's eyes lit up when he saw the hand-cranked generator the stranger had brought out.

Liu Zheng walked over, and the crowd, seeing him, immediately quieted down and stopped arguing; only this person continued to introduce his hand-cranked generator.

"I added magnets and coils made of copper wire inside. I've tested it: as long as you crank it by hand, it can generate electricity and attract paper scraps. Although it's very weak, it definitely exists!"

Seeing that no one was opposing him, Bikedong was slightly startled; he turned his head and realized Liu Zheng was standing right beside him.

He hurriedly bowed, and Liu Zheng waved his hand, looking at the hand-cranked generator as he said, "This thing you invented is quite interesting."

Liu Zheng walked over, picked up the hand-cranked generator, cranked it a few times, and said, "The structure is ingenious. Judging by the observation of these paper scraps, it can indeed generate electricity."

"Hmm, not bad."

Liu Zheng looked at him and asked, "What is your name, and why haven't I seen you before?"

Bikedong placed one hand on his chest and one behind his back, bowing slightly; this was the French greeting etiquette.

He said, "Hello, Mr. Liu Zheng. My name is Bikexi, an engineer from France."

Liu Zheng nodded. The Liangzhou Laboratory attracted not only Longyan scientists but also many scientists from other regions.

Although France was hostile to Longyan, many scientists still fled to Liangzhou.

After all, France was still a backward country with a Monarchy, and this kind of electrical development was almost defined as heresy. Liu Zheng had seen many Europeans persecuted for these issues during his trip to Europe; compared to Longyan, there was still a considerable gap.

"Longyan welcomes you," Liu Zheng nodded slightly and smiled.

He looked at the hand-cranked generator in his hand again and said, "The thing you've built can generate electricity, but it's far from enough."

"For this kind of Direct Current, it can only be produced and used immediately; otherwise, it will dissipate very quickly."

The crowd nodded; it was indeed true. Even with the invention of the Capacitor, the electricity they captured dissipated very easily.

Liu Zheng said again, "I have an idea."

The crowd assumed a listening posture, looking as if they didn't want to miss a single word.

Liu Zheng said, "Make this hand-cranked generator larger, use a Steam Engine as the power source, and let it generate more electricity."

"And at the other end, we will lay lines with copper wire to transport this produced electricity to the other side, and on that side, we will operate electrical appliances."

"As for what electrical appliances are, I think you have already invented them."

The crowd looked with puzzled gazes at the spot where Liu Zheng's finger landed; it was a simply made Measurement Instrument for detecting the presence of electricity, composed of countless small scraps of paper.

The crowd was stunned, and they heard Liu Zheng say: "Electricity can attract paper scraps, but if we could control electricity to attract certain small scraps of paper, could we manage to use this power to create a machine capable of sending or transmitting signals?"

The crowd muttered a few words to themselves, while Bikedong's gaze became increasingly fervent.

According to his observations, if the electric current became larger or smaller, different effects could be obtained on the paper scraps.

Or rather, if one designed something at the other end that could block the paper from contacting the electricity, then based on the length of time the paper was in contact, one could read a great deal of information.

For example, a letter!

This is just a line of thought, but based on this line of thought, countless ideas can be derived.

After thinking of this, the gazes of these research scholars became fervent once again!

The way they looked at Liu Zheng now was as if they were looking at a deity; Liu Zheng smiled and did not continue to reveal his thoughts.

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