Song Dynasty: Yuan Dynasty, you didn't expect this, did you? I'm still alive.

The first year of Yongchang (1347).

Gongshu Yan was appointed Left Chancellor.

With the combined efforts of him and Right Chancellor Lu Junyao, the imperial court finally finalized the selection of the Minister of Revenue—Cui Jichuan, a master from Tsinghua Academy.

As early as when Zhao Wen was still the second prince, Cui Jichuan devoted himself to studying the so-called "heavenly book" and repeatedly helped Zhao Wen gain the favor of the late Emperor Zhao Shi with his Taoist insights. He can be considered a true minister who followed the emperor.

Following closely behind, the position of Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue was also finalized, with Luo Xinzhai of the Gewu Academy taking up the post.

In addition, all other key positions in the Ministry of Revenue were occupied by people with a background in Confucianism.

The announcement of this personnel list immediately caused a huge uproar in the imperial court.

The officials whispered among themselves, their expressions varied.

Previously, Daoxue had already taken control of the Ministry of Works, and now he has also brought the Ministry of Revenue under his control. Who can guarantee that the next one won't be the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Justice, or the Ministry of War?

Confucian officials were all on edge, with a huge weight hanging over their hearts—the task of writing the "Ode to the Way" was not yet completed, and would the Way believers use this as an excuse to expand their power again?

In officialdom, there are only so many positions; for every person who gets promoted, someone else falls.

In desperation, several Confucian officials resolutely refused to write "Ode to the Way," vowing to defend the orthodoxy of Confucianism with their lives.

Upon seeing this, Zhao Wen's face darkened, and he issued an order without hesitation: Since you are determined to defend Confucianism, then send your people to the Americas to educate the local barbarians and spread the teachings of the sages far and wide.

The news quickly spread among the public, instantly causing a huge uproar.

The imperial examinations in the Eastern Song Dynasty were already fiercely competitive, with thousands of candidates vying for a single spot. Now, the rise of Neo-Confucianism and its displacement of Confucian positions made countless Confucian scholars who had studied diligently for years lose all hope.

In Xinxiang City, a group of hot-blooded candidates could no longer contain themselves and gathered to make a scene in the streets, denouncing the imperial court for "valuing Taoism over Confucianism".

Fortunately, Lu Junyao had anticipated the potential turmoil this matter might cause and had prepared a countermeasure in advance.

He advised Zhao Wen to create more official positions and change the system where the heads of grassroots organizations such as townships, villages, and baojia, who were originally elected by local authorities or appointed by prefectural and county officials, were directly selected and appointed by the central government.

This approach not only provides more career opportunities for students from the general public, alleviating their employment anxiety, but also centralizes power at the grassroots level, strengthening centralized rule—a win-win situation.

Zhao Wen immediately granted the request.

As soon as the decree was issued, the unrest in Xinxiang was quickly quelled, and the students' resentment dissipated.

In fact, Zhao Wen had no intention of further expanding the influence of Taoism.

In his view, the Ministry of Works, which was in charge of engineering and manufacturing, and the Ministry of Revenue, which was responsible for finance and people's livelihood, were the most suitable for Confucian scholars who valued practicality and the investigation of things. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Personnel, which was in charge of official assessment, the Ministry of Rites, which was responsible for etiquette and education, the Ministry of Justice, which was in charge of judicial and criminal matters, and the Ministry of War, which was in charge of military and national defense, were still more likely to be in charge of Confucian scholars who were well-versed in the system of laws and regulations.

Just like last time when the Ministry of Personnel used "ancestral rules" to prevent him from directly appointing officials of the Ministry of Revenue, after careful consideration, Zhao Wen was not angry at all, but rather quite appreciative—it was precisely this adherence to the rules that could restrain imperial power and ensure the stability of the court.

Of course, this is on the premise that they can consistently adhere to the rules and not engage in favoritism or corruption.

After stabilizing the situation in the court, Zhao Wen turned his attention to Tsinghua Academy and Gewu Academy.

Previously, due to the need to protect state secrets, many research results of the two academies were kept on the shelf and not made public.

But now that the Eastern Song Dynasty is powerful and invincible, why should it fear the leakage of technology?

Therefore, Zhao Wen issued an imperial edict to establish the "Department for the Examination of Things" within the Ministry of Rites, specifically responsible for reviewing the research results of the two major academies and clearly distinguishing which were state secrets and which could be disclosed to the public.

For results that do not involve secrets, the imperial court not only encourages their publication but also rewards them, thereby stimulating the public's enthusiasm for studying Taoism and investigating things.

This matter did not involve a core power struggle, and there was not much opposition in the court. It was quickly passed smoothly.

……

In the second year of Yongchang (1348), the Qinghua Academy was lush with vegetation and filled with the sound of students reciting their lessons.

Twenty-year-old Lüte had been studying here for two years. Compared to some of his classmates who were enthusiastic about their careers, his mind was entirely on those strange and wonderful machines.

Since the Eastern Song Dynasty mastered the technology of water-powered chamber pots in the 46th year of Jingyan (1321), the imperial court and academies have been seeking a more stable and powerful source of power.

The debate about motivation has never ceased in academia:

One school of thought believes that the most stable driving force in the world is human power. There are large populations in places like Africa, India, and Japan, which can be directly conscripted without the need to spend effort developing new machines.

Another school of thought believes that as national power develops, labor costs are rising, and only by inventing new power machines can all industries be further developed.

In fact, the Song people had already explored the basic principles of the steam engine.

The Tang Dynasty book "Huainan Wanbishu" records the "soup pot" experiment: "Take an egg, remove the juice, burn mugwort and put it into an empty egg. A strong wind will lift it high, and it will fly away on its own."

This was an early attempt to utilize the lift of hot air, similar to the principle of later Kongming lanterns.

The book also records "thunderous sound from the bronze urn". The commentary mentions that boiling steam can be used to make a sound in a sealed container, similar to the phenomenon of "steam whistling". This is a preliminary observation of steam pressure, but it was not converted into mechanical work.

The Southern Song Dynasty book "Old Tales of Wulin" records a performance of "water puppets" in the palace. This device used hot steam to drive the puppets and can be regarded as an early prototype of steam machinery.

With this foundation, the students of Tsinghua Academy quickly developed an early steam engine.

This type of steam engine relies on the condensation of steam to create a vacuum, and uses atmospheric pressure to drive the piston to do work.

However, it has a fatal flaw: it requires repeated heating and cooling of the cylinder, which not only consumes a lot of fuel but also causes serious air leakage problems and is extremely inefficient.

Fortunately, Southeast Asia was rich in rubber, and the scholars at the academy tried to use rubber to improve the sealing performance of the piston, which improved the efficiency of the steam engine to some extent. However, even so, it could not be put into actual industrial application and could only serve as a research model for the academy.

When Rutte first saw the roaring steam engine in the academy's science laboratory, he became completely fascinated by this "giant toy".

For the next two years, he devoted himself to studying the profound Taoist knowledge of Tsinghua Academy and solidifying his mathematical and physical foundation, while also devoting all his spare time to improving the steam engine.

In the laboratory, you can always see him busy at work, his hands covered in oil and his forehead covered in sweat, but his eyes are bright and he is full of enthusiasm.

Addressing the core problem of repeated heating and cooling of steam engine cylinders, which wastes a lot of heat, Lüte racked his brains for many days and finally had a flash of inspiration, designing an independent condenser—allowing the steam to be cooled in a condenser outside the cylinder, thereby keeping the cylinder at a high temperature without repeated heating.

After numerous experiments and adjustments, the improved steam engine achieved a fuel efficiency increase of approximately 70%, a breakthrough that directly propelled the steam engine from a "laboratory toy" to a practical application.

After developing the improved steam engine, Lü Te immediately sought out his father, Lü Chuan.

Lu Chuan always doted on his youngest son, who was obsessed with mechanics.

Upon hearing about his son's research findings, he immediately spent a large sum of money to buy two textile factories, specifically for Lütt to conduct industrial application experiments of the steam engine.

One went bankrupt, but there's another one. Anyway, his family digs up silver, so they're not short of money.

Persistence pays off. After repeated adjustments, Lütt finally succeeded in combining the improved steam engine with textile equipment.

Experimental data shows that one improved steam engine can drive 20 water-powered spinning wheels, which is equivalent to the workload of about 200 hand spinners.

This directly reduced the textile mill's production costs by 40%—meaning that Rutte's textile mill could make a profit by selling the fabrics it produced for only 60% of the original price.

It should be noted that the handicraft industry in the Eastern Song Dynasty was already highly developed, and the price of cloth produced in factories was already low. Now, with a further 40% price reduction, it is nothing short of a devastating blow to the entire cloth market!

If sold at the original market price, profits would increase several times over, and more importantly, production capacity would also see an explosive increase.

For Lü Te, money was just a number; what he truly cared about was that his name would resound throughout the Eastern Song Dynasty because of this invention.

He was well aware of the importance of patents, and immediately applied to the imperial court for a patent for the invention of the steam engine.

He then sought out his mentor, Xie Xu, at Tsinghua Academy, and described in detail the working principle and application effects of the improved steam engine.

Xie Xu was greatly shocked after hearing this, and immediately followed Lü Te to the textile factory for an on-site inspection.

Seeing firsthand the roaring steam engine driving the spinning wheel at high speed, producing cloth in an endless stream, Xie Xu finally became convinced of the immense value of this invention.

He dared not delay and immediately took Lü Te to the Ministry of Revenue, where they found the Vice Minister of Revenue, Luo Xinzai.

Upon hearing this, Luo Xinzai also attached great importance to it and immediately summoned Xu Xiuyuan, the Minister of Works, to discuss it together.

After some discussion, the two decided that the Ministry of Works would take the lead in establishing a factory specializing in the production of steam engines.

Ultimately, the two sides finalized the cooperation plan: Lü Te would contribute his improved steam engine technology as equity, holding 30% of the shares; Luo Xinzai and Xu Xiuyuan would invest their private funds, holding 20% ​​of the shares; and the remaining 50% of the shares would be jointly held by the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works.

After all, it was already the Yongchang era, and the Daoist officials of the Eastern Song Dynasty had long since disdained to amass wealth through corruption.

Since the vigorous development of Tsinghua Academy and Gewu Academy, it has become common for officials and inventors to cooperate in building factories and sharing profits.

For inventors without connections, collaborating with the government provides stable financial support and allows them to leverage official power to promote their technology and generate consistent returns. Meanwhile, officials can use firsthand information to invest in promising inventions in advance, reaping substantial profits.

Tracing back to its origins, the originator of this model was the Royal Chamber of Commerce under the late Emperor Zhao Shi. Most of the early research results of the Gewu Academy were first industrialized by the Royal Chamber of Commerce, which made a fortune.

It's understandable that officials nowadays follow suit.

Thus, the first steam engine manufacturing plant in the Eastern Song Dynasty was officially established.

Rutte didn't even need to advertise; he simply needed to continuously supply the market with fabrics priced 40% below market value, and he immediately attracted the attention of countless merchants.

Are you trying to make enemies of all fabric merchants by selling at such a low price?

What?

You can teach us a method that costs so little?

Hey bro, let's head to the brothel tonight.

Thus, the first textile factories using steam engines were established in Xinxiang.

Subsequently, the application of steam engines expanded rapidly, spreading from the textile industry to various fields such as mining, steel manufacturing, and food processing.

The Industrial Revolution in the Eastern Song Dynasty thus officially began.

This powerful empire in the East is accumulating enough energy to shake the world by harnessing the power of steam—the world is about to face a blow from the Song Dynasty.