Chapter 66 Triggering the First Industrial Revolution!

As Fusu's words fell, everyone's breathing turned rapid, and they fell into a state of utter daze.

Some simply could not wrap their minds around it, their brains stalling completely, while others understood and seemed to have stumbled upon something so inconceivable that they were stunned into silence.

Observing their expressions, Fusu said with immense satisfaction, "Splendid!"

"Let us take a bolder hypothesis: what if this device were applied to carriages?"

"Use your imaginations. One day, if a carriage no longer requires horses, but merely needs such a heating and cooling device to travel along the road, what kind of scene would that be?"

Everyone remained silent, yet the way they looked at Fusu had completely changed. They simply could not fathom what sort of contents were stored inside this Prince's head that could be so profoundly inspiring!

Fusu picked up a model, placed it before them, and said, "I call this thing a steam engine, though it is still very crude—merely a piston moving back and forth between two chambers!"

"I hope you can all unleash your imaginations, combine your strengths, work as one to perfect this steam engine, and then deploy it across every aspect of our Great Qin!"

The moment these words were spoken, the elderly man holding the mechanism bird widened his eyes abruptly and exclaimed, "Your Highness, if we were to attach this steam engine to the mechanism bird, would it be able to soar through the skies indefinitely?"

Fusu glanced at the old man leaning on a walking stick, smiled, and nodded. "Expand your imagination even further, open up your train of thought."

"For instance, what if you were to magnify this mechanism bird by dozens of times, creating a spacious interior for people to sit inside, while the steam engine carried them flying through the sky?"

"What?!" The old man's walking stick struck the ground hard, and his body staggered so violently that he nearly collapsed to the floor.

Clutching the mechanism bird with trembling hands, he asked in sheer agitation, "Your Highness, what did you say? The mechanism bird can carry people in flight?!"

Fusu smiled and nodded.

Having received Fusu's affirmative reply, the old man immediately bowed with utmost excitement and said, "This old man, Gongsun Teng, is immensely honored to receive Your Highness's guidance today. It is truly an utter enlightenment!"

Suddenly struck by a thought, Fusu said, "Elder Gongsun, if this mechanism bird of yours is already capable of brief flights in the sky..."

"I happen to have an idea. Would you be willing to give it a try?"

Gongsun Lei paused, then immediately cupped his fists and said, "We are entirely at Your Highness's disposal!"

Fusu stepped forward and said, "I possess a kind of heavenly thunder. If this mechanism bird were to carry it, flew unexpectedly into the enemy's formation during a battle, and detonated a few heavenly thunders..."

"Would that not instantly throw the enemy's ranks into chaos, thereby creating the perfect opportunity for a surprise attack by the soldiers of Great Qin?"

Gongsun Teng's eyes lit up brilliantly. Staring intently at Fusu, he asked, "Your Highness is not jesting with this old man, are you? What... what did you call it? Heavenly thunder?!"

"Ding!"

"Congratulations to the Host for proactively triggering the main quest ahead of schedule: The Era of the Industrial Revolution has arrived. Persuade the disciples of the Mohist school to research the steam engine and achieve tangible research results. Reward: A complete set of modern steam engine technology blueprints!"

"Ding!"

"Gentle reminder: The Industrial Revolution is not merely as simple as the invention of the steam engine. Please trigger more related side quests to acquire further technologies!"

"Additionally: If Great Qin successfully enters the era of the First Industrial Revolution, you will be rewarded with a complete set of modern power generation technology to prepare for the Second Industrial Revolution!"

"Please continue to work hard, Host!"

Fusu was slightly stunned.

Proactively triggered?!

Indeed.

Thinking that no technological rewards had arrived in the past few days, he had been planning to develop things on his own.

Never did he expect that it would actually be triggered.

The Industrial Revolution!

Fusu recalled the First Industrial Revolution of his past life, during which handicraft industry development had reached unprecedented heights.

Yet, looking at the current society of Great Qin, the preconditions for initiating the Industrial Revolution did not seem to have been met yet!

Certainly not!

Fusu reviewed the system notification once more; indeed, the conditions had not been met.

This time, he had triggered it prematurely.

It seemed that completing this main quest would be a long and arduous journey!

The Second Industrial Revolution...

The path is long and fraught with obstacles!

Fusu had hoped to enjoy an electrified life sooner.

It appeared that would be impossible in the short term.

As Fusu was deep in thought, Gongsun Teng could wait no longer. He cried out again, "Your Highness! Your Highness! What is heavenly thunder?"

Fusu glanced at Gongsun Teng and the others, smiling as he said, "There is no rush, no rush. Let us study steam first!"

"Whoever manages to achieve tangible results shall be rewarded by me with a hundred taels of silver!"

At these words, Gongsun Teng's eyes brightened. He nodded immediately and declared, "Your Highness, my Gongsun lineage is willing to dedicate ourselves entirely to researching the power of steam!"

On the other side, the middle-aged man chimed in, "My Fu lineage is also willing to research the power of steam for Your Highness!"

Fusu looked at the gathered crowd, realizing they seemed to be divided into two distinct factions.

One faction was led by Gongsun Teng, while the other was led by this middle-aged man.

"Fuge, let us have a competition with this to see whose Mohist techniques are superior—your Fu lineage or our Gongsun lineage?" The middle-aged man stood behind Gongsun Teng and laughed.

Before Fuge could reply, a bearded man beside him chuckled and said, "Gongsun Tie, do not be so arrogant. Wasn't the weapon you forged last time sliced clean in half by my ring-pommled saber?"

Upon hearing this, Gongsun Tie's eyes bulged in fury.

He roared at the bearded man, "Fu He, do not be so smug! My Gongsun family is not specialized in blacksmithing; why don't we compare our expertise in mechanism arts instead?"

"Enough!" Gongsun Teng struck the ground fiercely with his walking stick and let out a sharp reprimand.

Fu He also glanced at Fu He and said, "Do not aim too high and lose sight of reality. Focus properly on researching this steam!"

"This is something capable of subverting the entire world!"

Gongsun Teng looked at Fuge and asked, "How is your grandfather's health?"

"Quite well," Fuge replied, offering a disciple's bow.

Seeming to hold no hostility toward Fuge, Gongsun Teng smiled and said, "Go tell your grandfather that it is time for our two families to settle this rivalry once and for all."

"This time, whoever wins shall claim the title of the Mohist leader!"

"What do you say?"

A pensive look appeared in Fuge's eyes.

Ever since his grandfather had executed his own father for breaking the laws and then washed his hands of the world, the position of the Mohist leader had remained vacant.

Now that Gongsun Teng brought this matter up again, it meant the conflict between the two families had reached a point where a definitive victor had to be decided.

After a brief hesitation, Fuge nodded in agreement. "Very well, let our two families determine the victor then!"

"I shall speak of this with my grandfather!"

"Good!"

Gongsun Teng stepped forward and said, "Then shall we ask His Highness Fusu to serve as our referee?"

"No objections here!" Fuge replied, full of confidence.

Both men then turned their gazes toward Fusu, their faces filled with eager anticipation.

Fusu had not expected such a turn of events, but he smiled and nodded anyway. "Gentlemen, since you possess such enthusiasm, I shall gladly act as your referee."

"However, before we delve into the research of steam, I need to impart some fundamental conceptual knowledge to you all."

"Oh?" Gongsun Teng's interest was piqued even further.

Fuge immediately instructed his men, "Go fetch paper and brushes to take notes!"

Seeing that both families were genuinely serious about listening to him, Fusu began to explain the chemical theories he had learned in his past life. "Water, you see, is actually composed of water molecules!"

"You cannot see water molecules with the naked eye!"

"Whether water evaporates into vapor or freezes into ice, both are simply different states resulting from varying combinations of water molecules. By utilizing changes in these states, we can generate tremendous force!"

"I call this vapor power!"

"Of course, a single water molecule is extremely tiny, but you can simply understand it as water being made up of vast combinations of water molecules."

"Furthermore, if you wish to study it in microscopic detail, water molecules are actually composed of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom!"

At this point, Fusu realized he might have said too much.

He already noticed the expressions of shock and bewilderment on everyone's faces.

Therefore, Fusu immediately reined himself in.

"Never mind, never mind. Let us focus first on water vapor as our primary direction. As for the rest, it is enough for you to merely be aware of it and hold that consciousness."

As Fusu continued his lecture, the members of both the Gongsun and Fu lineages became thoroughly convinced and submissive.

The way they looked at Fusu was as if they were gazing upon a priceless treasure, their eyes glowing with brilliance.

Fusu had guessed correctly.

Great Qin did indeed possess a group of talents dedicated to researching various apparatuses—the Mohist disciples.

However, he had not anticipated that the Gongsun lineage would also be present here. In his past history studies, he had only ever known of the Fu lineage as the primary Mohist faction, with very little knowledge regarding the Gongsun lineage.

This worked out perfectly.

The competition between the two families would only serve to better stimulate their respective potentials.

Thus, in order to secure the complete modern steam engine technology blueprints, Fusu threw himself entirely into popularizing basic scientific knowledge among them.

He remained there until evening, patiently answering questions over and over again without the slightest sign of weariness.

It was not until nightfall descended that he hurried back to his manor accompanied by his guards.

........

By this time, Fusu had just returned and eaten a simple meal.

Chunyue, who had been waiting for him all day, walked in and said, "Your Highness, this old servant believes the time has come to implement the commandery-province system!"

Fusu glanced at Chunyue without uttering a word.

With a gleam in his eyes, Chunyue continued, "Your Highness, our Great Qin now encompasses thirty-six commanderies. Not only is the sheer number massive, but managing them is also extremely cumbersome."

"If we implement the commandery-province system, it will at the very least reduce local administrative affairs by a third."

Fusu frowned and called out, "Xiaolan, boil an egg for me later."

"I feel like eating a boiled egg."

"Please wait a moment, Your Highness!" Xiaolan's voice came from outside.

Seeing that Fusu did not take up the topic, Chunyue pondered for a moment before voicing his true thoughts, "Your Highness, if the commandery-province system is implemented, then the post of the Prime Minister should accordingly be abolished."

"Currently, within the imperial court, the Prime Minister holds immense power. If this continues unchecked, it will prove detrimental to Great Qin!" T
"You yourself have said that Li Si harbors rebellious intentions. If His Majesty were someday..."

Fusu then spoke up with a trace of irritation, "Teacher, when did I ever say such a thing?"

"I never said Li Si harbored rebellious intentions, did I?"

Chunyue was left dumbfounded. What was happening?

He felt his state of mind was somewhat off today. Was his posture upon entering the room incorrect?