Li Shimin can naturally see the problems that Li Zhi can see clearly.

However, if you are not in charge of your business, you don’t know that the food, food, oil and salt are expensive.

Li Shimin was well aware of the importance of tax revenue to the court, and the construction of railways obviously required very strong tax support.

Otherwise, spending money here would be a bit unworthy of the loss.

The court cannot transfer funds for the original development of people's livelihood and construction of irrigation facilities to the construction of railways, right?

"That's true. I wonder if my second brother has any way to solve this problem."

...

"The purpose of the steam engine is not only to build railways and transport goods, but it can also be loaded on a ship to drive the ship forward and make the canvas a history!"

Before everyone could digest the railway matter, Li Kuan posted a bigger news.

Let sailing become history and let steam engines drive ships.

This is something that everyone has never thought about.

"I can still understand that steam engine is walking on the railway. After all, wheels can be installed under the steam locomotive, but what is the use of installing it on a boat? The boat can walk, either rely on sails or slurry. What is the use of steam engines?"

Xiao Kai and Cui Qing are the heads of Ping An Trade, which was established by the two families in cooperation. They are among the nobles in Chang'an City who have a relatively good understanding of sea trade.

"Well, if the Donghai Fisheries Dengzhou Shipbuilding Workshop can produce such a sea boat, even if the price is twice as expensive as it is now, it is worth buying. I just don't know how long it will take for such a ship to be produced."

Cui Qing could naturally realize the benefits of the steamboat that Li Kuan mentioned.

But he did not think that Ping An Trade could use such a ship in a short period of time.

"Guanshishan Academy has been engaged in steam engine research for ten years. In the past ten years, they have accumulated a lot of experience. Li Kuan has never awarded the Survey Award to Li Yan before, but has not given it to him this year. In fact, it means that the steam engine has been basically developed this year.

Since it has been a product that has been developed and needs to be moved to the ship, it may take less time than we imagined. According to my estimate, within the next three years, we will be able to see a steamer installed in the waters of Datang."

Xiao Kai is very clear about the technical level of the Dengzhou shipbuilding workshop in Donghai Fisheries.

If there is a ready-made steam engine that can be used and only transformed the ship, it is very likely that the sea ship equipped with steam engines will be seen next year.

"I arranged for someone to focus on the Steam Engine Research Institute and the Donghai Fishery Shipbuilding Workshop. If there is any movement, I will definitely know in advance."

Cui Qing did not argue with Xiao Kai.

Because in the shipbuilding industry, the Xiao family obviously has a greater say than himself.

...

"Some people may think it only takes three months to get from Chang'an City to Guangzhou, and sometimes even two months to arrive, which is much faster than before. But if one day it only takes half a month to get from Chang'an City to Guangzhou, and less than half a month to get from Guangzhou to Puluozhong, then will everyone no longer be so afraid of going to Lingnan and Nanyang?"

"Nanyang countries contain great business opportunities. Whether for the Tang Dynasty or for the people and merchants, selling more goods abroad at high prices in exchange for what we need is a very cost-effective thing.

For example, porcelain is known to be made of soil, but people from other countries cannot make such exquisite porcelain at all.

In this case, wouldn’t it be very cost-effective if we could transport more porcelain to various countries in exchange for gold, silver, food and spices?”

"These things can also be made when there is no steamboat. But with steamboats, we can make things for two years in a year. Time is money, and time is life."

The more Li Kuan said, the more he felt, and kept throwing out some fresh things.

The crowd who were originally whispering and constantly commenting slowly kept their attention on Li Kuan.

Because you are distracted, you may miss some important information.

...

"Time is money, this is too vulgar; but time is life, this is quite reasonable. At that time, we can post this half sentence in the school to encourage more students to study hard."

Kong Yingda listened for so long, and finally heard half of what she loved to hear.

"Well, His Highness the King of Chu always speaks a few famous sayings from time to time, and he is worthy of being the 'No. 1 talented man in Chang'an City'. However, it seems that he hasn't read his works for a long time."

"How come I haven't seen his works? Didn't he write "Ximen Chong" a while ago?"

The good sentence "The 28-year-old girl's body looks like a crisp..." immediately appeared in Kong Yingda's mind, which made him feel a little reminiscent of the concubines he took at home.

...

"Kuan'er really doesn't give any effort to develop maritime trade. However, over the years, we have brought back a lot of gold and silver to the Tang Dynasty through maritime trade, making the lives of the people much better."

When Li Shimin heard Li Kuan talk about steamboats there, he knew that this guy wanted to fool everyone to go out to sea again.

The people of the Tang Dynasty are now quite enthusiastic about going to sea.

Of course, this is relatively high, just compared to previous years.

Overall, there are still a few people who are willing to go out to sea.

Only those who are full of fantasy and passion for the sea, or who are forced by life, will be willing to go out to sea.

"The overseas world can bring endless imagination and let the barbarians from overseas feed back to our Tang people. This is a good way. Especially the discovery of Australia and America proves that the globe mentioned by the second brother is very reliable, which means that there is a large amount of land in the west, and there are many barbarians living there.

If we can make money from all the barbarians, then the court can consider further reducing the tax burden of the people. The situation in the Tang Dynasty will definitely be more stable, and the country will never be just a dream for generations."

After all, Li Zhi grew up hang out in the Chu Palace since he was a child, and he still has a relatively accurate grasp of Li Kuan's ideas.

Relatively speaking, the prince actually supported the exploitation of barbarians.

Anyway, it was not the people of the Tang Dynasty who suffered losses. What does it matter if they were exploited more powerfully?

...

"Shuijun, His Highness of Chu is so optimistic about steam engines. You have not considered setting up a workshop for the Steam Engine Research Institute to produce steam engines related parts?"

Chen Xing and Shui Jun sat behind the lecture hall, thinking about the business opportunities behind the steam engine.

As one of the most representative workshops in Chang'an City, Shuijun Production and Chang'an Precision are both representatives of new industrial enterprises, and the parts produced have never appeared before.

"This depends on how Li Yan is preparing to consider. If the Steam Engine Research Institute specializes in building a workshop in the workshop city to produce steam engines, then I naturally have to consider building a workshop to support it next to it.

But if you only maintain small-scale production and only build a few or more than a dozen steam engines every year, then the current workshops will be completely corresponding."

Water weighed the pros and cons, thinking about how to deal with the next move of the Steam Engine Research Institute.

On the contrary, Chen Xing didn't have to worry about his Chang'an precision craftsmanship.

Because Changan Precision, which mainly sells bolts, nuts, and screws, no matter where the bolts and nuts are installed, the processing technology is similar, and basically the same production line can be used to produce.

"His Highness of the King of Chu has planned such a great future for the steam engine. Li Yan cannot build a large workshop without using this. According to my estimate, building a steam engine workshop in the workshop city is only the first step. It is very likely that someone will build another steam engine workshop in Dengzhou immediately, specifically for producing steam engines loaded on ships."

Chen Xing combined Li Kuan's words and concluded his own conclusion.

"Well, if that's the case, I'll consider setting up a workshop in Dengzhou to provide special facilities for steam engine workshops."

Shui Jun did not hesitate at all and immediately had an answer in his heart.

...

"The emergence of steam ships will completely bring a revolution to the shipbuilding industry in Datang. Today's ships are all made of wood, and after using steam engines as power, the emergence of iron ships will also become possible."

Li Kuan almost did nothing to stop and continued his speech.

"At that time, our Tang Dynasty would build docks at various coastal ports, and we could allow our sea ships to run from Chang'an City to Puluo, to Yongping Port, and to Hope Port. We would not have to worry about the coal on the ship being gone and the steam engine would not be used."

Steam engines are naturally not omnipotent.

Without waiting for others to question the steam engine's coal supply, Li Kuan threw out the result himself.

"When the sea ships hanging with the dragon flag of the Tang Dynasty run around the oceans, and when the ports affiliated to our Tang Dynasty are spread all over the world, then our Tang Dynasty will become an empire that never sets!"

As soon as Li Kuan finished speaking, Li Shimin in the audience was immediately excited.

The sun never sets the empire!

What a loud name!

Knowing the structure of the globe, Li Shimin could immediately understand the meaning of the Empire of the Sun never set.

"When the sun sets from the west of Chang'an City, the Tang Dynasty has just ushered in the new sun in other areas overseas. Father, if the empire that the second brother said does not set becomes a reality, then our Tang Dynasty will definitely become an existence beyond any dynasty."

Li Zhi was also very excited.

As the crown prince, the country of the Tang Dynasty will belong to him sooner or later.

The reputation of the Empire that the Sun never sets is most likely realized when he was emperor.

So his reaction was a little more excited than Li Shimin.

"Just for Kuan'er's empire, I will strongly support the development of the steam engine. I was worried that Kuan'er's seedlings would be used to encourage growth. The stubborn promotion cost is high and the efficiency seems to be not very high. Now, Kuan'er is definitely considering more comprehensively than us, as long as he supports it behind his back."

Li Shimin suppressed his excitement and felt that it was too valuable to attend this award ceremony today.

At the age of Li Shimin and with his current achievements, he has not wanted to pursue many things.

However, the Sun-Don't Setting Empire given by Li Kuan had a fatal temptation, which made Li Shimin unable to stop.

After all, no matter which emperor it is, he hopes to become an existence that future generations look up to.

"Well, what my father said makes sense. I want to visit the Steam Engine Research Institute in the afternoon and have a good understanding of the Steam Engine."
Chapter completed!