69: Chapter 69 Shocking the Nation: Qin Dynasty Could Build Steam Engines!

Li Si had such doubts because, according to Zhao Fusu's intentions, even matters as important as the Great Qin Empire's constitutional monarchy and the principle that the Son of Heaven is subject to the same laws as the common people had been relegated to the third page.

Therefore, the content published on the front page of the newspaper must be even more important than both the constitutional monarchy and the equality of the Emperor before the law!

What could that possibly be!

Li Si truly had no clue, which was why he wanted to ask Zhao Fusu.

"Hahaha."

Zhao Fusu laughed loudly but was not prepared to reveal it immediately.

He said, "When General Wang Li returns, you will know."

"I see!"

Li Si responded.

Li Si's heart grew increasingly curious.

...

At this time, General Wang Li was on the Qin Straight Road, rushing back to Xianyang...

Zhao Fusu gave Li Si more instructions regarding the details of the newspaper.

For example, he suggested recruiting more reporters to inquire about major events happening in various places, and then selecting interesting and bizarre stories to write for the newspaper.

A newspaper still needed news to open up the market.

If it only contained political and ideological content, the common people would not enjoy reading it.

Zhao Fusu thought to himself that if he had time, he would also write a chapter of a novel for Li Si to publish in the newspaper.

If he didn't have time, then it would have to wait until later.

Zhao Fusu asked Li Si to find a vacant palace to serve as the office for the Great Qin Empire General Administration of Press and Publication.

Li Si selected several people with the best writing skills from among his disciples to serve as editors.

He had them write the content according to Zhao Fusu's instructions.

Li Si also had well-informed people act as reporters, investigating many anecdotes and major events, which were then written into articles after being reviewed.

Zhao Fusu guided them on how to arrange the layout and how to write headlines to catch the readers' attention.

For example: Shocking the Nation! The Court Assembly Exposed! Shocking Great Qin! A Heaven-Shattering Secret!

Or: After Reading This, I Was Stunned!

Also: All Thirty Million People in Great Qin Are Watching This Like Crazy!

And: Cowards, Don't Look!

All Thirty Million People in Great Qin Have Broken Down!

Secrets from the High-Level Officials Revealed!

A Thrilling Scene!

Unexpected!

You'll Break Down After Seeing This!

...

With every headline Zhao Fusu spoke, another question mark appeared on the faces of Li Si's retainers.

You call this writing an article?

Articles can be written like this?

No, who writes articles like this!

Disdain appeared on the faces of Li Si's retainers.

They were too proud to write such articles.

They were even too proud to associate with people who wrote such articles.

"Those who write well will be heavily rewarded by this Young Master!"

As Zhao Fusu spoke, he pulled out ten gold pieces from his robe and slammed them heavily onto the table.

Ten gold pieces—that was equivalent to 1.8 million RMB!

The eyes of Li Si's retainers gradually became clear.

Isn't it just writing 'shocking' headlines?

They'd write it!

They would write it immediately!

They absolutely loved writing shocking articles.

Seeing that they had caught on, Zhao Fusu showed a satisfied expression.

After leaving the Great Qin Empire General Administration of Press and Publication, he went to the Great Qin Empire Bank headquarters to train the prospective bank personnel in Mental Abacus.

To make work more convenient, when Zhao Fusu chose the locations, the General Administration of Press and Publication and the Bank headquarters were not far from each other.

Time flew by, and three days had passed since Zhao Fusu left the paper mill and returned to Xianyang.

During these three days, through his daily check-ins, Zhao Fusu obtained the design blueprints for the steam rotary tiller, steam tractor, and steam thresher.

The corners of Zhao Fusu's mouth curled up.

The system seemed to know he needed these three types of agricultural machinery and sent them to him via the check-ins.

Having the design blueprints for the steam rotary tiller, steam tractor, and steam thresher was much better than trying to figure it out blindly.

Zhao Fusu decided to visit the Forging Workshop to see if Elder Mo's technical team had successfully replicated the Steam Engine.

When Zhao Fusu arrived at the Forging Workshop, he happened to come across Elder Mo's technical team testing the first Steam Engine they had built.

This Steam Engine was about the same size as the one Zhao Fusu had obtained from his check-in.

Zhao Fusu learned that Elder Mo's technical team had already built palm-sized miniature Steam Engines.

They had even built quite a few Steam Engines for experimental use.

While making the Steam Engines, Elder Mo's technical team discovered that the airtightness between the piston and the cylinder was insufficient, resulting in serious leaks.

The larger the Steam Engine was made, the more serious the leakage problem became, and the more coal was required.

This was not conducive to the promotion of Steam Engines!

After their discussions, they decided to use a plant called Eucommia as the raw material for the airtight material.

The Eucommia plant contains rubber filaments. The material made by refining these filaments is not only heat-resistant but also airtight. It can be made into sealing rings to improve the airtightness of the Steam Engine's piston and cylinder.

Zhao Fusu hadn't expected Elder Mo to find a substitute for rubber; otherwise, since rubber was in South America, he didn't know how long it would take to find it.

Originally, according to Zhao Fusu's idea, it was fine as long as the Steam Engine could move, even if the energy consumption was a bit high.

But he hadn't expected Elder Mo to find a substitute material for rubber.

With airtight materials, the Steam Engine would have a soul, and the energy consumption would not be so high.

A Steam Engine with airtight materials would greatly promote the Great Industrial Revolution!

Zhao Fusu's heart was incredibly excited.

After Elder Mo and the others had thoroughly mastered the technology, they decided to build a Steam Engine of roughly the same size as the one Zhao Fusu had obtained.

Even though they had mastered the technology and built small-scale Steam Engines,

it was still their first time building such a large Steam Engine.

Elder Mo could not guarantee that there wouldn't be any problems when this Steam Engine was running.

They poured water into the boiler.

Then they lit a coal fire beneath the boiler.

Water vapor gradually generated inside the boiler.

Wisps of water vapor gathered, gradually forming high-pressure steam within the enclosed space. It entered the left side of the cylinder through an opening, pushing the cylinder piston to move to the right.

At this point, the piston caused the flywheel to rotate through a crankshaft and connecting rod mechanism.

The rotation of the flywheel would in turn drive the connecting rod, causing the reversing valve to move to the left.

The reversing valve blocked steam from entering the left side of the cylinder.

At the same time, a path was formed between the cylinder's intake and exhaust ports, allowing the steam inside the cylinder to be discharged through the exhaust port, releasing the pressure within the cylinder.

When the pressure of the high-pressure steam on the right side of the cylinder was greater than on the left, the piston would move to the left.

The reversing valve above, driven by the flywheel, moved to the right, thereby closing the right intake port.

By cyclically changing the path of the steam intake in this way, the Steam Engine was made to operate in a continuous cycle.

*Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...*

*Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...*

The flywheel's rotation was constantly accelerating.

*Creak, creak, creak...*

The reciprocating left-and-right motion of the crankshaft and connecting rod also emitted a rhythmic sound.

"It's a success!"

"We've succeeded!"

Elder Mo and his technical team all wept with joy.

"Head of State, we've succeeded!"

Elder Mo said to Zhao Fusu with a face full of excitement.

Even though it was just a replica of a Steam Engine, Elder Mo was still very thrilled.

As a scientist, Elder Mo had always wanted to know the operating principles of the Steam Engine and wanted to build one with his own hands.

After his tireless efforts and overcoming many technical difficulties, he had finally managed to manufacture a Steam Engine that was almost identical to the one Zhao Fusu had obtained. How could he not be excited!

"Thank you for your hard work!"

Zhao Fusu patted Elder Mo on the shoulder.

He was not surprised at all that they had replicated the Steam Engine.

With the structural blueprints of the Steam Engine and Elder Mo's team being the top scientific and technical team in Great Qin, it was perfectly normal for them to be able to replicate it.

"Thank you for your guidance, Head of State,"

Elder Mo said gratefully, "only then were we able to replicate the Steam Engine!"

"Head of State, whenever you have a use for this old man, please do not hesitate to give the order!"

"Haha, Elder Mo, then I won't be polite."

Zhao Fusu said with a smile, "I really do have some agricultural machinery that I need you to build, Elder Mo."

"Agricultural machinery?"

"Correct!"