Chapter 973
Royal Palace.
Manchu civil and military and their relatives, palace maids, and eunuchs were all shocked by the light in front of them.
In front of them, the street lamps laid along the palace were emitting bright light at this time, and each street lamp illuminated a large area, which was far from what the lanterns of the past could compare to.
Now the whole palace looks like day to them.
"Your Majesty, this electricity is really amazing. The old minister has lived for most of his life, and today is an eye-opener." Fiji's body trembled slightly with excitement. Although he had seen incandescent lamps, he had never seen such a large-scale lighting project.
Pang Yukun was also excited: "Su Liangcai said that electricity is a more efficient energy source than steam engine power. This sentence is true. Steam engines can't make street lights glow, hahaha..."
As the person in charge of this power-on, Su Liangcai breathed a sigh of relief. This time he was under a lot of pressure. The power transmission process is very complicated. As long as one link is not in place, the effect tonight cannot be achieved.
"This is natural. As long as the emperor and the cabinet vigorously support the construction of thermal power plants, this electricity can completely replace steam engines and will be more efficient than steam engines."
Xiao Ming nodded lightly. Today, only Qingzhou has built a thermal power plant in the Great Yu Country, and it is only part of the area to supply power, which is still a bit far from the second industrial revolution.
It is estimated that it will take ten or even twenty years of construction for the Great Yu Kingdom to fully enter the power era. After all, the technology spar provides knowledge and cannot speed up the construction of the project.
But what reassured him was that now the steam engine industry in the Great Yu Kingdom has spread throughout the country. As long as a strong steam industry is established, the transition to the second industrial revolution will still be smooth.
After all, these steam-engine factories, although not as efficient as those that use electricity, can always provide materials for building thermal power plants and infrastructure.
"After the new year, I will ask the cabinet to approve another fund for your Ministry of Electric Power. I don't expect the cities outside Qingzhou Prefecture to be covered by electricity in a short time, but the six states in Qingzhou Prefecture must be electrified as soon as possible. , especially Dengzhou, which is the shipbuilding center of the Great Yu Kingdom. Zhang Liangke has been relying on your electricity to build ironclad ships. After all, the first ironclad ship was too difficult to build. With electricity, the shipyard can use welding technology. "Xiao Ming said thoughtfully.
In this naval battle, the ironclads performed amazingly. In the traditional sailing warships, they almost rammed all the way, and the British fell into despair.
Such an excellent victory made Xiao Ming decisively prepare to speed up the construction of ironclad ships. With the expansion of the sea area of the Great Yu Kingdom, he needed more powerful warships to join the navy to fight against the sea power of Europe.
Su Liangcai was immediately overjoyed when he heard the words. Now there are too many places in Dayu that need to spend money, such as railway construction, road and bridge construction, factory construction, etc. It can be said that money is needed everywhere, and they are all big money.
Being able to deduct a sum of money at such a time has already demonstrated the importance attached to the Ministry of Electric Power.
Pang Yukun and Fiji did not hesitate this time, but nodded directly. In the past, they always quarreled about money from the cabinet, but now they rarely reach an agreement.
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Su Liangcai was also not good at words. He didn't have any rhetoric, just replied dully.
Xiao Ming smiled. What he likes most are upright researchers. It is easy to get along with these people, because they tend to go straight and don't like to go around.
After assigning the tasks for Su Liangcai after the year, Xiao Ming looked at the others at this time, and now everyone is still immersed in this light.
After clearing his throat, he said, "Everyone, Qingzhou City is officially powered. From now on, there will be no darkness in Qingzhou. For this matter, I will celebrate with you tonight, come here, and put on a banquet."
When everyone heard the words, they bowed to Xiao Ming and said, "Thank you, Emperor Longen."
The voice fell, and the officials and palace maids entered the Fulin Hall behind everyone with the delicious food just baked, and the New Year's Eve dinner was here.
At the same time, the interest of the people outside the city became more and more high. If it was before, they would have returned home early, but they were doomed to sleepless tonight.
After the street lights were turned on, they no longer had to worry about the dangers in the dark night, they could play to their heart's content at night, and the merchants also took the opportunity to take out their goods and sell them on the Imperial Avenue.
The performers and singers also began to show off their talents. For a time, Huangcheng Avenue became lively, and a night market appeared for the first time.
In this ecstasy, the people played to their heart's content, and when the palace bell rang at midnight, the people on the Imperial City Avenue gradually returned.
At this time, the officials also came out of the palace and went back separately. At this time, they looked at the bright and clear road back, and couldn't help but sigh again in their hearts about the rapid changes in the Great Yu Kingdom.
When the officials left, Xiao Ming, who was half-drunk, also returned to the dormitory. This year's New Year's Eve was the safest night he had ever lived in this world. He finally didn't have to worry about being invaded by foreign enemies in his sleep. The news woke up.
The next day, he woke up early. According to the rules, the first day of the new year was the court meeting of the imperial court. Unlike previous years, there were several different faces in the court this year.
They were the Dutch messenger, the Prussian messenger, the Goryeo messenger and the Japanese messenger respectively. After the congratulatory messages from the ministers, they congratulated Xiao Ming on the New Year and sent grand gifts at the same time.
Xiao Ming naturally accepted this, although the time to build a world system is still far away, but now at least heralds the formation of a new system in Asia, and after the year, this system will be gradually improved, realizing the transformation of Asia he sees. The wild vision of his own back garden of the Great Yu Kingdom.
After the regular court meeting was over, Xiao Ming was preparing to go back. At this time, his minister left, but the generals of the military machinery department stayed behind.
When the crowd dispersed, Niu Ben said: "Your Majesty, the last general has just received news from Zhu Sansi that the cavalry of the Golden Horde attacked the stronghold from Jianzhou to Yakesa, and the Golden Horde also appeared in the direction of Nerchinsk. China's cavalry, Zhu Sansi is now in a very passive situation. According to the plan, he was going to attack Nerchinsk, but the severe cold and heavy snow made the march very difficult, and it was not conducive to combat. The soldiers' rifles were often damaged due to frost. "
Hearing this, Xiao Ming rubbed his eyebrows. He thought he would have a pleasant Spring Festival this year, but he didn't expect people to be inferior to heaven.
"It seems that the Golden Horde is determined to follow Tsarist Russia."
Xiao Ming's eyes flashed a gleam of light, but the most important issue now is to solve Zhu Sansi's logistical problems.
The Golden Horde chose this time to attack the supply line of the Great Yu Kingdom, which is not bad, because according to Zhu Sansi's news, the blizzard has continued to snow in Kanto this month, which has made the already difficult supply even worse.