Datang: Just been appointed as the crown prince, the counterattack system is here

Chapter 291 A Historic Moment in the Seventh Century [Seeking Monthly Tickets]

"Hahaha!"

Standing in front of the gate of the Academy of Sciences, Li You laughed so hard he almost fell over: "I knew the Crown Prince would make a move! This is hilarious!"

"Hehe, I don't even dare to pass by the Yue Prince's mansion now, afraid that the smell is too strong and I'll feel disgusted and throw up in front of his door!" Li Yuanchang joked with a laugh.

Upon hearing this, several spoiled young men standing nearby immediately echoed his sentiments.

"Yes, I never expected His Highness the Crown Prince to be so playful, sending stinky tofu as a housewarming gift!"

"You know what, that stinky tofu smells unbearable, but it tastes really good."

"Uh, you have really strange tastes, stay away from me."

"Hahaha, no, no, no, what I mean is, perhaps the King of Yue likes that taste? Your Highness is just trying to please him."

"Yeah, the fact that he can hang out with those scumbags means they're birds of a feather."

"Who are you calling birds of a feather? Are you looking for death?!"

Just as the group of spoiled young men were mocking Li Tai, an angry shout suddenly came from behind.

The group of spoiled young men were taken aback for a moment, then immediately looked in the direction of the sound.

It's okay if you don't look at it, but you'll be shocked when you look at it.

Li Tai, his face ashen, led Su Xu and Liu Yuan from a distance.

The person who spoke was none other than Liu Yuan, who had opened the gift box for Li Tai that day.

Because Liu Yuan's father, Liu Xuzhi, was the governor of Yangzhou, and Li Tai was the Grand General of Yangzhou appointed by Li Shimin, Liu Yuan's father was essentially Li Tai's subordinate. Therefore, the two were closer than other sons of officials.

But the纨绔子弟 (sons of wealthy and powerful families) in Chang'an City were not like the sons of local officials. They didn't care about a lackey like Liu Yuan at all, but were worried about Li Tai's revenge.

"Oh, isn't this Fourth Brother? What brings you out? Is the mansion smelling bad, so you've come out for some fresh air?"

The spoiled young men were worried that Li Tai would retaliate against them, but Li You was not afraid.

He was initially surprised by Li Tai's appearance, but then he chuckled and teased Li Tai.

Li Tai completely ignored him, walked directly to a spoiled young man shorter than himself, looked down at him condescendingly, and said in a deep voice, "Why don't you bow to me?"

"Your Highness, the King of Yueyue, is a lowly man."

"Snapped!"

Before the spoiled young master could even tremblingly bow, Li Tai raised his hand and slapped him across the face, scolding, "Is this how your father taught you manners?!"

"Li Tai! What do you mean?!"

Seeing his men being attacked, Li You rushed up to Li Tai, glaring at him and shouting, "This is my elder brother, the Crown Prince's, territory! How dare you act so presumptuously?!"

"Li You, I don't care whose place this is. If you don't know manners, you must be taught a lesson!"

Faced with Li You's anger, Li Tai remained remarkably calm: "Furthermore, in private, you may call me Fourth Brother or address me by my given name without question. However, in front of outsiders, what should you address me by?"

"you!"

Just as Li You was about to lose his temper, Li Yuanchang, who was standing to the side, pulled him back with a smile and said calmly, "If we're talking about manners, it seems that Qingque has forgotten something, hasn't she?"

"Ok?"

Li Tai was stunned for a moment, then immediately realized that the sins committed by his grandfather, the retired emperor, were also here.

There was no way around it; that retired emperor was too cunning, managing to have over a dozen junior princes as his uncles.

Li Yuanchang was one of them.

Ever since.

Li Tai could only pinch his nose and reluctantly bow to Li Yuanchang: "Qingque greets Uncle Yuanchang!"

Snapped!
Li Yuanchang slapped Li Tai's chubby belly with a loud thud, showing that the force was considerable.

Ignoring Li Tai's pained expression, he immediately chuckled and said, "That's more like it!"

"We, the Li Tang dynasty, value etiquette the most, don't you think, Li You?"

"puff--"

Li Yuanchang didn't see Li Tai's pained expression, but Li You saw it clearly and burst into laughter: "Hahaha!"

The other spoiled young men, though they didn't dare to laugh, had completely shaken off their earlier frustration.

As for Li Tai, and Su Xu and Liu Yuan behind him, their faces were extremely ashen.

They all seemed surprised that Li Yuanchang would support Li You so much, even at the cost of offending Li Tai for his sake.

Could it be that Li Tai has lost power, and everyone wants to kick him while he's down?

This further strengthened their determination to bring Li Tai back to his peak!
at the same time.

Although the surrounding ministers saw what was happening, none of them dared to pay too much attention to it.

After all, power struggles among princes have occurred in every dynasty, and ministers rarely get involved unless their own interests are at stake.

Even Cheng Yaojin and Yuchi Gong, who usually loved to join in the fun, only glanced in their direction before looking away.

But then Yuchi Gong said in a somber tone, "Let me make this clear: I do not agree with military reform. Think about it carefully. If we don't have an army, how will we fight in the future? Are we just going to be idle military officers in the court?"

"Yes! What do you mean by separating soldiers and generals! Can soldiers and generals be separated? It's easy to say, let the soldiers train separately, and then we command them when we fight. But since ancient times, which general hasn't commanded the soldiers they trained?"

Cheng Yaojin retorted angrily, "How can we win a battle when we don't even know each other?!"

"Alright, you two, shut up. The reforms haven't even started yet, have they?"

Qin Qiong interrupted the two with a serious expression, then changed the subject: "Besides, the reform was proposed by His Majesty. If there are any problems, we can just go to His Majesty. What's the use of talking about it here?"

"Oh, Brother Qin, didn't we hear that the Crown Prince will be in charge of military reform?"

Cheng Yaojin quickly said, "We came to this Academy of Sciences today to have a conversation with the Crown Prince and see if we can persuade His Majesty to rescind his decree!"

"I think the Crown Prince probably wants to implement military reforms. Have you forgotten the three reforms he implemented? There's the military examination!"

Chang He, who was standing to the side, couldn't help but chime in: "If the imperial court continues to implement the military examination system, we will be eliminated sooner or later!"

"So, going to the Crown Prince is useless."

"This"

The generals exchanged glances and then fell silent.

At this moment, Yuchi Gong suddenly seemed to remember something and said, "Hey, do you think General Li Jing and the others would agree to the army reform?"

Qin Qiong frowned and pondered, "General Li Jing is hard to say, but Hou Junji will definitely agree. I heard that His Majesty consulted with him about the reform plan. As for Li Ji, Li Daliang, and Zhang Gongjin, they are either still stationed abroad or don't have many troops, so I'm afraid they won't be affected in the short term."

Upon hearing this, the generals fell into deep thought.

the other side.

Li Jing and his wife, along with Zhang Ping, had just stepped down from the carriage and looked at the towering Academy of Sciences with expressions of astonishment.

But then Hong Fu Nu spoke first: "This is the Academy of Sciences that His Highness the Crown Prince ordered to be built? Why does it look different from the building I remember?"

“Yes! That roof looks like a tiled roof, right? But why is there a wall instead of pillars underneath it? And why are the surrounding pillars so big? Are there really such big pieces of wood in this world?” Li Jing chimed in, also somewhat curious.

Zhang Ping, who was standing to the side, smiled and then explained, "Uncle Li, Madam Li, this Academy of Sciences was designed by His Highness the Crown Prince himself. It uses a variety of materials, not just wood, but also tiles and bricks."

"If I remember correctly, those craftsmen should be from Jiangling. They have now learned to use cement, mix sand and gravel, stir it into concrete, add steel bars, and build reinforced concrete buildings. And those pillars that look like wood are actually reinforced concrete pillars with a layer of paint on the outside!"

"Reinforced concrete?"

Hong Fu Nu and Li Jing exchanged a glance, seemingly hearing about such a thing for the first time, and couldn't help but ask again, "You mean those pillars were reinforced with steel?"

“Normally, if we want to be a bit more luxurious, we’ll add steel, but if we want to reduce costs, we can add bamboo strips!”

"Doesn't that mean these pillars are very sturdy?"

"Definitely!"

Zhang Ping said with great confidence, "I'm not just boasting in front of you, but even the most powerful crossbow in the Tang Dynasty cannot damage it in the slightest."

"Of course, using firearms might cause some damage, but similarly, we can't completely destroy it!"

"This"

Li Jing and his wife exchanged another glance, seemingly both seeing the horror in each other's eyes.

Such sturdy building materials would be incredibly effective for building military fortresses, providing maximum defense.

But then Li Jing asked with great interest, "How much time would it take to build such a pillar?"

Zhang Ping thought for a moment and said, "If all the materials are available, it will take at most ten days. The first two days will be used for modeling, and the last day for pouring. It will take about seven days to complete the process."

"What!?"

Li Jing's eyes widened in astonishment: "You're saying you can build such an indestructible pillar in just ten days?!"

“Yes, Zhongyu, even if we believe in the Crown Prince’s abilities, you can’t lie to us! How is it possible to build such a large pillar in ten days?” Hong Fu Nu looked at Zhang Ping with disbelief and suspicion. Zhang Ping chuckled and said, “Why would I lie to you? If you don’t believe me, ask His Highness the Crown Prince later. He’s used a lot of concrete to build houses in Jiangling. Even the current Jianghu Villa in Jiangling is built with concrete!”

"Oh, by the way, His Highness the Crown Prince said that he's going to build a cement road from Jiangling to Chang'an. It'll be so smooth, smoother than any of our current roads!"

"This"

Upon hearing this, Li Jing and his wife were at a loss for words. So they slowly walked to the nine pillars, carefully examined them, and touched them.

It must be said that the moment they touched these concrete pillars, they felt as solid as a rock and indestructible.

Moreover, it feels cool to the touch, very smooth, and quite unique.

But then Li Jing exclaimed with admiration, "This stuff is wonderful!"

"Yes, if we use this to build a military fortress, it would not only be sturdy but also durable. It would truly be a powerful tool!"

"Hehe, His Highness the Crown Prince is indeed extraordinary!"

The admiration that Li Jing and his wife held for Li Chengqian deepened further.

Meanwhile, Li Chengqian was discussing the possibility of a simple telephone with researchers from the Academy of Sciences.

But then he said thoughtfully, "You should all know the principle of a megaphone: take two paper cups, make a hole in the middle, and connect them with a thin thread to form a sound transmission device."

"However, if we increase the length of the line, even by one zhang, the sound transmission effect will be greatly reduced. If we increase it by two zhang, it will have almost no effect."

"What I'm thinking about now is how to transmit sound over long distances, for example, from the front lines of the battlefield to the command post."

"This"

The researchers exchanged glances, then turned to look at their teacher, Zhang Tie.

The current Zhang Tie is no longer the former head of the military equipment workshop of the Governor's Office, but a senior researcher at the Academy of Sciences, equivalent to a master craftsman in the Ministry of War.

However, unlike the master craftsmen, Zhang Tie was among the first craftsmen to embrace scientific ideas, and his knowledge far surpassed that of the master craftsmen in the Ministry of War.

But then he pondered and said, "I read the physics book His Highness the Crown Prince sent. There's something called electricity, which travels extremely fast. If we could conduct sound using electricity, the loss wouldn't be much greater than that from a wire."

"Ok?"

Li Chengqian's eyes lit up, and he suddenly seemed to remember something, saying, "You're right, if we could use electric wires instead of cotton thread, the effect would definitely be better than it is now!"

"But what is this electricity?" one researcher couldn't help but ask.

Li Chengqian glanced at him, then looked around at the objects, walked to a bottle labeled sulfuric acid, and asked, "Do you know how this stuff was obtained?"

“I know! It’s obtained by calcining copper sulfate!” a slender researcher quickly interjected.

Li Chengqian smiled and nodded, then said, "Bring me a copper sheet, a carbon rod, and two thin iron wires, the softer kind."

"Alright! Your Highness, please wait a moment, we'll go find it right away!"

Soon, the surrounding researchers ran around with great interest, rummaging through drawers and cabinets, searching for what Li Chengqian had asked for.

After all, such rare opportunities are extremely rare.

Although they had heard that Li Chengqian had taught the craftsmen to conduct experiments while they were in Jiangling, they had never seen the Crown Prince Li Chengqian conduct experiments himself, so they were all very excited.

Seeing them like this, Zhang Tie couldn't help but recall Li Chengqian's time in Jiangling, and chuckled, "They are much better than we were back then. They were exposed to new learning much earlier, so Your Highness doesn't need to worry about them anymore!"

"Talented people emerge in every generation, and each generation is better than the last; this is a good thing."

Li Chengqian smiled noncommittally and said, "From now on, you will all be elders of the Academy of Sciences. I hope you can train more scientific talents. That way, even if you die, your portraits will be painted and hung on the wall of the Academy of Sciences for future generations to admire!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Tie shook his head and smiled wryly, thinking to himself that it had been a long time since he had seen His Highness the Crown Prince, who was still as witty and humorous as ever.

However, the thought that he could actually do such a great thing filled him with immense excitement.

Meanwhile, the researchers returned in a flurry of activity.

"Your Highness, here are the charcoal sticks you requested."

"Your Highness, here is the wire you requested."

"Your Highness the Crown Prince."

"Alright, alright, all of you put the things on the table and watch me operate from a distance. Don't overlook any detail!"

Li Chengqian gestured to the researchers, then put on a mask and leather gloves. He first poured the sulfuric acid solution into a glass tank, then tied a thin iron wire to a copper plate and fixed it to one end of the glass tank with a clip.

Then, using the same method, the thin iron wire was tied to the carbon rod and clamped to the other end of the glass tank.

As the carbon rod was lowered, the sulfuric acid solution in the glass tank began to react rapidly around the copper sheet, producing many small bubbles.

At this moment, Li Chengqian picked up a wire and smiled at the researchers around him, saying, "Who wants to experience what it feels like to be electrocuted?"

"Me! Me! Me!"

None of the researchers around were intimidated; they all eagerly raised their hands.

But soon a researcher wearing glasses exclaimed, "I think the first person to experience being shocked should be Professor Zhang. He taught us so many new things and deserves this honor!"

Zhang Tie's lips twitched, thinking to himself that there was no need for that.

Because he had studied more physics than these researchers, he knew that electricity could kill people.

Although he didn't know if the electricity Li Chengqian had created could kill people, he really didn't want to be the first to experience it.

However, the researchers around him seemed to realize what was happening and started jeering at him.

"Teacher Zhang! Let's have one!"

"Teacher Zhang! Let's have one!"

Hearing the jeers, Li Chengqian couldn't help but laugh, and then jokingly said to Zhang Tie, "Teacher Zhang, it's hard to refuse such hospitality, come on over?"

"Ugh!"

Zhang Tie sighed helplessly, then reluctantly walked up to Li Chengqian and said in a trembling voice, "Your Highness, please give your instructions!"

"Hmm, don't be afraid, this little bit of electricity is nothing. Come on, hold this wire, I'll let you experience the first wire of electricity in the Tang Dynasty!"

"Yes!"

Zhang Tie nodded solemnly, holding his breath, then picked up another wire and watched Li Chengqian's actions nervously.

Li Chengqian chuckled and picked up the wire, then touched the back of his hand.

"hiss!"

In an instant, Zhang Tie felt the hairs on his body stand on end, and his body even trembled involuntarily.

An experience unlike anything he had ever had before struck him to the depths of his soul, leaving his mind blank.

I thought to myself, "So this is what electricity is!"

This is much more vivid than the descriptions in the new textbooks.

"How is it? Can you feel it?"

Seeing Zhang Tie standing there, staring blankly, Li Chengqian couldn't help but ask him curiously.

The other researchers gathered around Zhang Tie, eager to hear how he felt about being electrocuted.

He stood there stunned for a full moment before snapping out of his daze, looking around at the researchers, and exclaimed, "Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!"

"what?"

The researchers looked completely bewildered.

But soon, researchers were eager to try it out.

"Your Highness, let us get electrocuted too!"

"Yes, Your Highness, we also want to be electrocuted!"

"Alright, alright! You can take turns, but be careful with this sulfuric acid, don't spill it!"

"Your Highness, please rest assured, we will be careful!"

And so, one by one, the researchers experienced the sensation of being electrocuted.

Some reacted strongly, screaming loudly after being shocked.

Some people are slow to react and don't feel anything at all.

Even more bizarrely, some people were so shocked by the electric shock that they urinated.

In short, the birth of electricity in the seventh century was a very historically significant moment.

"Your Majesty has arrived——!"

Just as the researchers were filled with curiosity about electricity, a high-pitched voice suddenly came from outside the door to announce something.

(End of this chapter)