Chapter 336: Want to Invent Something

Liberating women’s productive forces was definitely necessary!

Due to the war causing a sharp decline in the male population, if women did not enter the workforce, it would be hard for social productive forces to recover swiftly—this was true not only at the end of the Great Ming but also in modern times.

After liberation, didn’t our country also shout the slogan “Women hold up half the sky” to boost productivity?

Li Daoxuan knew that in the Great Ming now, relying on his golden hand for providing food and materials, the productivity issue was manageable. If one day, due to some accident, he stopped helping, the miniature post-war world would need both men and women to work together to restore productivity.

Relying solely on men was surely not enough! After the great chaos of war, how many men could remain?

So it was necessary for him to deliver some motivational advice early, planting a seed of “liberation of thought” in the women’s hearts, giving them time to grow slowly.

“Yiye, come here.”

Gao Yiye knew she was needed for relaying messages, and quickly ran out from the fabric shop. Following Li Daoxuan’s directions, she came to the school, went straight to the fifth floor, and arrived at the library.

The atmosphere in the library was as chaotic as ever, with draft papers flying everywhere.

But that day, Young Master Bai was not present; only Song Yingxing was there alone.

Young Master Bai had now started teaching the children “Physics class”; some children with quicker learning progress had finished “Elementary Math” and were advancing to the “junior high” level, so they could start learning “Physics.” Naturally, Young Master Bai could no longer spend every day in the library with Song Yingxing doing strange things.

When Gao Yiye walked into the library, Song Yingxing was crouching, lying on the ground, busy drawing on a huge piece of paper.

Li Daoxuan looked closely—Song Yingxing was drawing an “electric small train.”

“This isn’t scientific!” Song Yingxing shook his head while drawing. “This thing is absolutely unscientific; it fundamentally can’t run. Its mass would cause it to fall apart; how could it possibly move?”

Li Daoxuan laughed. “Tell Mr. Song that it was created with my immortal methods and doesn’t obey physics.”

Gao Yiye began to relay the message.

Song Yingxing let out an “ah,” jumped up from the floor, and said, “Saint Lady, when did you arrive?”

Gao Yiye replied, “I’ve been here for a while, and the Deity has also been here for some time. Seeing you drawing things, we didn’t disturb you.”

Song Yingxing showed an awkward expression. “Ahem… I’m very interested in this electric small train, but sadly… it can’t be made just by studying physics.”

Gao Yiye smiled. “The Deity is a deity; deities follow ‘divine principles,’ not ‘physics.'” That explanation was perfect!

Song Yingxing stopped dwelling on it. “What did the Deity want with me?”

Li Daoxuan asked, “Do you know the production method of the Red Flag Cannons?”

Song Yingxing paused. “Actually, I do know that. But… why should our village build this? It’s a firearm used only in large-scale combat or siege battles. If we’re just repelling bandits, firearms and grenades are already enough.”

Li Daoxuan said, “Just for fun. Whether it’s useful or not, playing around with it and studying the technology is still worthwhile.”

Such words would be unbelievable even to a dog, but Song Yingxing had no doubts, since he himself enjoyed fiddling with chaotic equipment for fun.

He pulled out a paper, picked up a pen, scribbled quickly, and in little time drew the production method of the Red Flag Cannons on the paper.

Li Daoxuan didn’t speak, but Gao Yiye couldn’t help but marvel. “Mr. Song, how many bizarre things do you actually know? Why, every time we seek you out, you can always draw blueprints?”

Song Yingxing said, “Knowing how to draw these blueprints isn’t remarkable. These are inventions by others; I just copied them. It’s not impressive at all. If I could invent something interesting myself, that would be genuinely exciting. Alas…”

At this, he felt a bit sorrowful. “Right now, what I most want to invent is a small train. How amazing it would be if we could build the small train the Deity made with immortal methods using our mortal power. Sadly, I can’t figure out any way to propel such a huge vehicle.”

Hearing that, Li Daoxuan inwardly stirred—was he thinking of that?

For the late Ming Dynasty, this was indeed too early.

With the technology and productivity of that time, not only could they not create a train, but even with one, the materials for laying rails could not be secured. Given the Ming Dynasty’s mining capabilities, where would they get enough iron to build lengthy railways?

Luckily, he was there! Simply tossing in a few lumps of iron would be enough for them to pave railways from Australia to the Maldives.

A steam train, though, could be made now with sufficient technology, but if he just handed over blueprints, Song Yingxing would merely “copy” it, not truly “invent,” which would harm scientific enlightenment.

Better to give him just the core idea and let him imagine the rest himself.

Li Daoxuan rummaged through his pile of toys and soon found a fun little thing—a “mini steam engine.” It had been bought from an online shopping site for only a few dozen yuan, standing just a few centimeters tall.

He directly placed this item on the terrace of the teaching building. “Yiye, take Mr. Song to the terrace to show him a little thing.”

Song Yingxing climbed to the terrace as instructed and immediately saw a massive machine in front of him, with water pipes and strange large wheels…

In front of him, Li Daoxuan poured some clean water into the water pipes, then lit an alcohol lamp beneath them.

A flame flickered up, heating the water in the pipes. Soon, the water boiled, steam rushed along the pipes, driving the large wheel. The big wheel started spinning wildly.

Li Daoxuan smiled gently. “Did you understand?”

Song Yingxing watched in a daze. “I think I get it, I get it… This matches what’s taught in Physics class: water heated turns to gas, and the gas, compressed in a tiny space, generates immense force, pushing that large wheel to turn.”

“Exactly!” Li Daoxuan said. “This is a steam engine. Its principle is simple—you got it instantly. With a steam engine, you can drive wheels. For wheels, you’ve studied gear principles: gears driving gears can amplify power several times.”

Song Yingxing seemed enlightened. “I understand now, I do, haha! As long as there’s enough steam and enough wheels, I can move incredibly heavy things.”

Li Daoxuan said, “That’s right. Keep researching. With your smarts, try to invent something using this principle.”