Time has entered July, the season of fire, but Li Xiao's study is very cool. There are two huge copper basins on the ground, with strips of ice inside. Two electric fans are blowing fiercely against the copper basins.

Li Xiao is enjoying the simple air conditioner comfortably, but there is no way to build an air conditioner host yet.

In the past, Li Xiao was not willing to admit the matter of blood. There was no reason why if I did well, my son would also do well. Just like Zhao Kuo in the Battle of Changping, his father, Zhao She, was a famous general.

However, in the face of the facts, Li Xiao had to accept defeat.

Xu Guangqi was a famous scientist in the late Ming Dynasty. He wrote "Elements of Geometry", "Encyclopedia of Agricultural Administration", "Chongzhen Almanac" and "Explanation of Kao Gong Ji". When the old man died of illness, Li Xiao asked Li Xiu to express his condolences on his behalf. By the way,

Let's see if the Xu family has anything to build upon.

In the end, Li Xiu really tricked two people back, Xu Erjue and Xu Ermo, the grandsons of Xu Guangqi. I have to admit that the role of genes is powerful. Li Xiao just taught two people the most basic left-hand theorem and right-hand theorem. And connected his own

The knowledge of parallel connection told them that these two guys had created many scientific and technological achievements in just eight years.

Because the Ming Dynasty had the best steam engine technology in the world, thermal power generating units were the first to be built. Now Jinzhou, Jingcheng, and Jinan have built two each. The residents of these three cities have become the world's first

Only those who have access to electricity. Of course, factories use the most electricity.

Workers in cotton spinning mills no longer have to work under oil lamps or candles. A series of incandescent lamps illuminate the workshop brightly. In the past, the defective rate of night shifts was very high, but now it has dropped to about the same level as during the day.

I heard that with the support of the Zheng family, the Xu family brothers are studying hydroelectric generating units. It is said that they have already taken a prototype and are currently being put into experiments on some small rivers.

Zheng Zhilong now makes money every day and smiles when he sees people. The Zheng family also praises the wise decision of the head of the Zheng family. If Zheng Zhilong hadn't decisively handed over the sea, how could such a good thing happen to the Zheng family.

Of course, Li Xiao is also happy to see the Zheng family making money. Although the Zheng family earns money from electricity bills every month and gets cramps in their hands, the Zheng family has to pay taxes according to regulations. Besides, the Zheng family's transactions include shares of the household department. Every year, the household department

They can all get a good share of the Zheng family's income.

Ming Dynasty's current finances are not considered rich, they just have enough money to spend. This money for electricity is the few mobile funds Ai Husheng has.

After a conversation with Li Xiao, an idea suddenly flashed in Xu Erjue's mind. After returning home and studying with Xu Ermo for several months, the telegraph was born. As a result, telegraph poles were erected on the roadsides of the Ming Dynasty. Now,

Li Xiao receives telegrams from Zhejiang and Guangzhou every day.

At the celebration banquet, Li Xiao just said something casually. Wired telegraphy was too troublesome, so the two brothers plunged into the laboratory. Li Xiao thought that he might be able to use radio in a few years. Who knows, anyway, he

Regardless of research and development, we must give full play to the ingenuity of these two!

"Brother! Can you give me the right words?" Zheng Zhilong was a little panicked when he saw that Li Xiao was suffering from hysteria, for fear that the business would be ruined.

What a good investor! Zheng Zhilong is planning to build power plants in Tianjin, Xi'an, and Zhengzhou. He doesn't need to invest a penny from the Ministry of Users. All he needs is an approval from the Ministry of Household Affairs. The Zheng family is willing to bear all the costs!

Li Xiao was happy to give this favor, but the share was changed to half and half. The Zheng family needed to turn over more income to the national treasury, although it was 10% more than the original 46. They were willing to put money in their pockets, and they were willing to let the money go out.

I feel bad, I have to do a good job in ideological and political work.

"Brother! It's not impossible, it's just that the share needs to be re-determined." Li Xiao lit a cigarette and smoked it slowly.

"Brother! We made an agreement at the beginning. I will hand over the maritime interests and you will let our Zheng family get electricity. In the past, it was 40-60%. The Ministry of Revenue took away 40% a year without caring about anything. And our Zheng family

You still have to pay taxes! Ask around, when did our Zheng family pay taxes in the past? We know it’s the new dynasty now, so we follow the rules. For Sen’er’s sake, you can’t cheat us Zheng.

Home." Zheng Zhilong was unhappy when he heard that the share of the income was going to be changed.

"It's also difficult at the Ministry of Household Affairs. We have to pay for schools and hospitals. It costs money to build roads and railways. In the first half of the year, I went to the west and fought a war. The Mongols didn't kill many. But I can give it a try.

Abacus, he spent hundreds of thousands of silver coins on his military expenditure.

This year, Shaanxi has another Uighur attack, which has caused great harm to Guanzhong. Post-disaster reconstruction, or relocation of people from other places, will not even cost money. Ai Husheng said that the financial pressure in the next fiscal year will be great

.

You take the lead, after all, when everyone is well, our little family will be well!" Li Xiao said in an official tone without saying a word.

"But the 40-60% account is already very high. We have to bear all the initial investment and lay pipelines...!" Zheng Zhilong was a little anxious.

"Brother! Because your Zheng family invested money in the early stage, you are eligible to receive the future share. If you don't agree, brother, then open bidding. I heard that Shi Kefa is also very interested, and our fifth son in the capital is also

Very interested.”

"How did that happen? We did...!" Zheng Zhilong jumped up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

"What I said at the beginning was that the electricity in the capital belongs to your Zheng family. I said it, and I did it. How about it?" Li Xiao spread his hands and leaned on the back of the sofa. He put his feet on the coffee table and kept swaying.

.

"Brother! If you have anything to say, for Sen'er's sake, the benefits can't go to outsiders, right? Look at the historians, everywhere the railways are built, the Ministry of Household Affairs pays for them. I do it all myself.

Take something out of your pocket!" When Zheng Zhilong saw Li Xiao's calm expression, he immediately sat down, and the fierce look just now disappeared.

A gangster with many years of experience knows when to be tough and when to be soft.

"Brother, let's talk about family now. The split has been decided, it's still 46. It's just the court's 6th, and you, the Zheng family, are the 4th." Li Xiaoxiong opened his mouth and suddenly increased the split by 20%.

"This...!" Zheng Zhilong suddenly became anxious. The price was too high.

"Wait a minute! Brother, you just said it. Look at the Buddha's face without looking at the monk's face. After all, Zheng Sen is also my student. I can't let your Zheng family suffer! Look at these places, they are all places that need heating in winter.

.

Thermal power generation wastes a lot of hot water every year. You said that if you inject the hot water from thermal power generation into heating pipes and use your hot water for heating, you don't need to invest extra. Of course, you have to invest some water money. But

The heating bills you charge are real money. Think about it, our capital city has a permanent population of over five million. How much does the heating bill alone cost per year?

And you can do this in Jinzhou and Jinan this year. You should settle the account carefully!" Li Xiao raised his eyebrows at Zheng Zhilong.

Zheng Zhilong's eyebrows were moving, and his thumbs were constantly rotating against each other. His eyes were chattering around, and he seemed to be making calculations.

"How to calculate the share?" Zheng Zhilong asked after thinking for a while.

"Half of the family is enough!"

"Half?"

"What! Don't do it? I said it, but there are a lot of people waiting for me to spit."

"Sure! Let's do it. The power plants in Xi'an, Zhengzhou, and Tianjin will all belong to our Zheng family."

"From now on, we will no longer call it a power plant, but a thermal power plant. Let me give you another idea. You can sell the hot water in the summer to bathhouses at a cheaper price. Although it won't sell for much, mosquito legs are still worth mentioning no matter how thin they are.

Meat. If you accumulate it over time, it will be a good sum of money."

"Brother! You don't do business. If you do business, you must be the richest man in the Ming Dynasty. Okay! That's it! There is a new restaurant in the capital called Fengzeyuan. I heard that the chef is very authentic. I will be the host tonight.

Please give me a good meal."

"Sure! Call Zheng Sen up."

"This kid is back? I haven't seen him for more than half a year. This kid didn't even say he would go home to see you when he returned to the capital. He is closer to you as a teacher than to me as a father."

After sending away the smiling Zheng Zhilong, Li Xiao sat down on the sofa again. Looking at the huge map on the wall in a daze, he was very worried about Li Hu's whereabouts. If he really went to the Middle East, Li Hu would definitely get into big trouble with his temperament.

just in case……!

The door opened and Shunzi walked in, saying that Li Yongfang wanted to see him for something.

"What's going on?" Li Xiao saw Li Yongfang walking in with a happy face and knew it must be a good thing. Could it be that Li Hu had found it? This guy still has a sharper nose than Luo Yangxing!

"Commander! It was Wu Sangui who stole all kinds of information from us in the past. After several years of continuous investment, we have also bribed some Indians. From now on, we can also collect useful information from Wu Sangui." Li Yongfang smiled.

, a pair of watery little eyes were almost squeezed out.

"Oh! What good things did you get back?" Li Xiao was very interested.

"This thing is called a gasoline engine. I heard that it was made by a professor from Oxford University. I have seen the size and it is much smaller than ours. It is said that a prototype has been built now!" Li Yongfang spread out the drawing in his hand.

.

The drawings are made of heavy parchment paper, which is very thick and bulky. But the biggest advantage is that it is waterproof! It is said that this kind of paper is generally used for drawing nautical charts!

Li Xiao unfolds the drawing!

It is different from the hand-drawn drawings circulated in the Ming Dynasty. This drawing is a standard industrial drawing. The dimensions are clearly marked on it, and there are even enlarged perspective drawings in some places.

This surprised Li Xiao. He didn't expect that the British could already make such precise mechanical drawings. And they could even draw perspective drawings!

"Commander! You see, this size is the British size. They call it inches! I asked someone to do the conversion and translated the words above. This is a copy." Seeing Li Xiao.

With a surprised expression, Li Yongfang thought Li Xiaoka didn't understand. He immediately took out a drawing from his briefcase to show the carefulness of his work.

Li Xiao glanced at Li Yongfang. Although he had learned English, he was already unfamiliar with it after so many years of not using it. In addition to the Arabic numerals above, he could only recognize a few human words. Li Yongfang, this guy, really

Damn considerate.

"Commander, look, this gasoline engine is much smaller than ours. And according to the drawing, the power is about the same as ours." Li Yongfang pointed to the drawing and explained it to Li Xiao carefully.

"Well! The size is much smaller, and the power is indeed no worse than ours. But this requires more precise processing. Could it be said that their machine tools are better than ours now?" Li Xiao asked strangely.

Machine tools are the mother of machinery. Logically speaking, the British machine tools should not be more advanced than those of the Ming Dynasty. Although skilled workers can make up for the shortcomings of machine tools to a certain extent, Li Xiao does not think that Indian workers are better than those of the Ming Dynasty.

Deep down, Li Xiao still looked down on Ah San who smelled like curry.

"Their machine tools are actually on par with ours, not better than ours. But they have a group of craftsmen from Europe. I heard they were originally from Prussia and Switzerland. They seem to be very good at machine tools. It is said that this drawing

Samples of the above items have been produced. However, the price is a bit high and the labor hours are also high. Therefore, we cannot mass-produce it yet." Li Yongfang actually took out another drawing of a lathe from his leather bag.

Li Xiao dodged Li Yongfang's bag and shook it down.

Sure enough, there were several drawings in the leather bag, one of which seemed to be a miniaturized steam engine, and the other was a structural diagram of a locomotive.

"Did you get these from Wu Sangui?" Li Xiao looked at these drawings and suspected that someone from Ming Dynasty had leaked the secret again.

"It's all! Wu Sangui got many PhDs from the UK, Sweden, and other European countries. There are also scholars from Oxford and Cambridge. They are all concentrated in Bombay, doing research all day long. For this reason, Wu Sangui

Gui spent a lot of money, but he didn't seem to be stingy with the money. No matter how difficult the finances were, these people always allocated enough money."

"Damn it, I didn't expect this kid to have a far-sighted vision." Li Xiao gritted his teeth. He really should have killed this kid the first time he saw him. Even if it provoked Zu Dashou and Wu Xiang to rebel!

It seems that this guy gathered cutting-edge talents from Europe and studied according to the sketches passed down by the Ming Dynasty. With so many smart people and constant financial support, it is inevitable that results will be achieved, and failure to achieve results is accidental.

"The British royal family was also dissatisfied with Wu Sangui's failure to hand over the proceeds from India, but Wu Sangui and George had already taken control of India's military and political power. The last time the Queen sent a naval marshal named Drake, they wanted to take away Wu Sangui's military power. Unexpectedly, that

Drake was actually beaten to death by the second master in Singapore."

"Drake!" Li Xiao remembered this old pirate, but he didn't expect to die in Singapore.

"Oh, by the way! They also found a man named Franklin from a place called the North American Territory, who is studying electricity. It is said that they don't have a clue yet, and they don't know when they will be able to study it. I have already ordered people to

He made some completely wrong drawings and sent them out through Jiang Guoliang's channels.
Chapter completed!