Sima Qian
太史令
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2006
- Messages
- 732
Chapter 30: Water Power
While worldly matters take their turn,
Ancient, modern, to and fro,
Rivers and mountains are changeless in their glory
And still to be witnessed from this trail.
Where a fishing boat dips by a waterfall,
Where the air grows colder, deep in the valley,
The monument of Yang remains;
And we have wept, reading the words.
"On Climbing Mt. Yan with Friends," Meng Haoran (A.D. 689-740)
Mao had overlooked something, and it was not until after the excitement surrounding the theory of evolution had subsided that he remembered it. Only then did he notice that the Iron Works in Beijing was processing a rather absurdly large amount of coal. After asking economic advisor Liu Shaoqi about the situation, he finally realized that all this time, China was still importing Indian coal, even with reserves available right around the capital.
What an idiot I have been, thought Mao. We have basically given India free iron all this time. Not only that, but large shipments of saltpeter continued to arrive via rail, even though there was almost no demand for the resource. That would soon come to an end, thought Mao. He asked Minister Liu to inform the Mahatma that the resource deal would no longer be necessary at this point, but if he was still interested, he could still buy iron with gold.
India's treasury had been severely depleted from the continuing war with Japan, but Gandhi made a reasonable per-turn offer and it was enough to satisfy Liu.
Canceling the saltpeter trade freed up the luxury exports to India, which by now had nothing more to offer the Chinese. There was only one other market to which the excess dyes and gems could go, and that was to the Japanese.
Liu was wary of Shogun Tokugawa after remembering how the Japanese were quick to break the last luxury deal, so this time he insisted on a resource-for-resource trade. But the two Chinese luxuries were not enough to win over Tokugawa, who would not agree unless horses were added to the trade. Apparently the Japanese were still interested in training cavalry so late into the industrial age, but this did not bother Liu at all. It would, in fact, somewhat even the playing field between India and Japan, who both still relied on these obsolete military units in their war.
And so, after a sixty-four year hiatus, the luxury trade resumed, bringing celebrations to the Chinese cities.
But foreign minister Zhou Enlai was not quite so optimistic. At the signing of the Treaty of Izumo at the end of the Stinky Toilet War, he had learned the secrets of espionage from the Japanese, and was determined to put them to use, lest they be used against China someday. After quickly briefing Mao on the situation, he began to recruit talented Chinese to work in the newly established Ministry of State Security. There they would be trained in covert operations of information-gathering, propaganda, and sabotage.
In 1870 AD, the MSS took up residence in a rather ordinary-looking office building in the capital. But that was really just a headquarters, employing a tiny fraction of the intelligence operatives. Most of them were working in the field, both inside and outside of China's borders.
Mao, however, highly valued the trading relations with India and Japan at the time, and was not willing to jeopardize them by planting spies. He paid minimal attention to the MSS, allowing Minister Zhou to handle almost all of its day-to-day activities. Thus, the MSS kept a relatively low profile in affairs of the state for a long time.
What Mao was a lot more interested in was the gift that science advisor Deng Xiaoping brought to him one day, which, although it looked like a simple children's toy, still managed to amuse him.
"Actually, this electronics kit is a children's toy," said Deng, smiling. "But even I have been playing with it to no end."
Mao glanced over the instruction manual and started to connect the wires in intricate patterns around the circuit board. After a while, he got a frustrated look on his face, and complained to Deng. "I followed all the directions exactly," he said. "But it still won't light up."
"Oh, I forgot to give you this." Deng held out a small cylindrical object in his palm. One end seemed to have a slight knob on it. "This is a battery. It stores electrical energy. Just insert it into the slot at the end of the board, and watch."
Mao did so, and immediately the diodes on the board started flashing. "What a curious object this battery is," said Mao. "How did you get this electricity on it?"
"We used a generator in the lab," replied Deng. "But that is small and can only do so much at a time. What we really need is a large-scale plant that can generate electricity for the entire population. I already have the plans for one, which we will call the Hoover Dam."
After looking at the blueprints, Mao knew this had to be another Great Wonder. The city of Beijing had never before even conceived of a project of such magnitude. But as he ran his fingers along the diagram, tracing the path of the waters of the Yellow River as it spun the turbines to induce an electrical current, he knew this would be the key to powering the future.
A tremendous amount of iron and concrete would be needed to build the Hoover Dam, but the factories and Iron Works in Beijing could actually meet the demand. Deng estimated that construction would only take 14 years.
The Hoover Dam was nearing completion when once again Minister Deng announced that laboratory experiments at Newton's University had confirmed that adding carbon to iron could actually strengthen the metal, resulting in a much more durable material called steel. He caught up with Mao at the construction site on the Yellow River, where the Chairman was supervising the work.
"Chairman," said Deng. "You may remember that during the Stinky Toilet War, our navy suffered some rather heavy losses to the Japanese." He paused, as if waiting for some kind of response from Mao.
Mao continued to stare at the unfinished dam. "Yes, go on."
"If we build new ships with this new material, steel, I am certain that we will be able to withstand much more damage. Enemy ironclads will be no match for us."
"I see," said Mao. "Tell the factories to start producing this steel then, we will be using it soon to upgrade the navy. It might be nice to add some steel structure to support the dam as well, though that could be unnecessary by now."
Indeed it was unnecessary. The floodgates on the Hoover Dam opened in 1890 AD, unleashing a torrent of water downstream. Mao gazed in awe as he watched the deluge, through which he could barely hear the monotonous hum of the turbines in their power-generating exercise.
Transmission lines supplied the electricity to cities all over the continent, which soon boasted of remarkable increases in factory output. The industrious Chinese people were now by far the most productive in the world.
Mao followed the water from the Hoover Dam down the Yellow River, all the way to its mouth at Shanghai. He noticed a large crowd gathering at the harbor, and when he came closer, they were centered around none other than science advisor Deng Xiaoping.
"I present you the internal combustion engine," said Deng triumphantly. "At last, an alternative to burning that dirty coal for fuel. Now watch."
He motioned to an assistant, who pumped some gasoline into a device mounted on a small boat. Then Deng pulled a switch, and the engine started violently, splashing him with water and almost capsizing the craft.
"Oops. I'm quite bad at steering." After a quick adjustment, the boat sped out to sea as the crowd cheered.
Mao congratulated his science advisor for the achievement, but Deng humbly pointed out that it was engineers from Newton's University who had done all of the work. He suggested that it was now a good time to carry out the navy upgrades they had discussed earlier.
But there was more than just a combustion engine that would be the key to the modernization of the Chinese navy. Rather, it was a development that compounded on the scientific and engineering advances made during this time, one that would ultimately lead to the mass production of the biggest and most powerful battleships known to mankind.
And so for many years to come, no one dared challenge China on the high seas.
While worldly matters take their turn,
Ancient, modern, to and fro,
Rivers and mountains are changeless in their glory
And still to be witnessed from this trail.
Where a fishing boat dips by a waterfall,
Where the air grows colder, deep in the valley,
The monument of Yang remains;
And we have wept, reading the words.
"On Climbing Mt. Yan with Friends," Meng Haoran (A.D. 689-740)
Mao had overlooked something, and it was not until after the excitement surrounding the theory of evolution had subsided that he remembered it. Only then did he notice that the Iron Works in Beijing was processing a rather absurdly large amount of coal. After asking economic advisor Liu Shaoqi about the situation, he finally realized that all this time, China was still importing Indian coal, even with reserves available right around the capital.
What an idiot I have been, thought Mao. We have basically given India free iron all this time. Not only that, but large shipments of saltpeter continued to arrive via rail, even though there was almost no demand for the resource. That would soon come to an end, thought Mao. He asked Minister Liu to inform the Mahatma that the resource deal would no longer be necessary at this point, but if he was still interested, he could still buy iron with gold.
India's treasury had been severely depleted from the continuing war with Japan, but Gandhi made a reasonable per-turn offer and it was enough to satisfy Liu.
Canceling the saltpeter trade freed up the luxury exports to India, which by now had nothing more to offer the Chinese. There was only one other market to which the excess dyes and gems could go, and that was to the Japanese.
Liu was wary of Shogun Tokugawa after remembering how the Japanese were quick to break the last luxury deal, so this time he insisted on a resource-for-resource trade. But the two Chinese luxuries were not enough to win over Tokugawa, who would not agree unless horses were added to the trade. Apparently the Japanese were still interested in training cavalry so late into the industrial age, but this did not bother Liu at all. It would, in fact, somewhat even the playing field between India and Japan, who both still relied on these obsolete military units in their war.
And so, after a sixty-four year hiatus, the luxury trade resumed, bringing celebrations to the Chinese cities.
But foreign minister Zhou Enlai was not quite so optimistic. At the signing of the Treaty of Izumo at the end of the Stinky Toilet War, he had learned the secrets of espionage from the Japanese, and was determined to put them to use, lest they be used against China someday. After quickly briefing Mao on the situation, he began to recruit talented Chinese to work in the newly established Ministry of State Security. There they would be trained in covert operations of information-gathering, propaganda, and sabotage.
In 1870 AD, the MSS took up residence in a rather ordinary-looking office building in the capital. But that was really just a headquarters, employing a tiny fraction of the intelligence operatives. Most of them were working in the field, both inside and outside of China's borders.
Mao, however, highly valued the trading relations with India and Japan at the time, and was not willing to jeopardize them by planting spies. He paid minimal attention to the MSS, allowing Minister Zhou to handle almost all of its day-to-day activities. Thus, the MSS kept a relatively low profile in affairs of the state for a long time.
What Mao was a lot more interested in was the gift that science advisor Deng Xiaoping brought to him one day, which, although it looked like a simple children's toy, still managed to amuse him.
"Actually, this electronics kit is a children's toy," said Deng, smiling. "But even I have been playing with it to no end."
Mao glanced over the instruction manual and started to connect the wires in intricate patterns around the circuit board. After a while, he got a frustrated look on his face, and complained to Deng. "I followed all the directions exactly," he said. "But it still won't light up."
"Oh, I forgot to give you this." Deng held out a small cylindrical object in his palm. One end seemed to have a slight knob on it. "This is a battery. It stores electrical energy. Just insert it into the slot at the end of the board, and watch."
Mao did so, and immediately the diodes on the board started flashing. "What a curious object this battery is," said Mao. "How did you get this electricity on it?"
"We used a generator in the lab," replied Deng. "But that is small and can only do so much at a time. What we really need is a large-scale plant that can generate electricity for the entire population. I already have the plans for one, which we will call the Hoover Dam."
After looking at the blueprints, Mao knew this had to be another Great Wonder. The city of Beijing had never before even conceived of a project of such magnitude. But as he ran his fingers along the diagram, tracing the path of the waters of the Yellow River as it spun the turbines to induce an electrical current, he knew this would be the key to powering the future.
A tremendous amount of iron and concrete would be needed to build the Hoover Dam, but the factories and Iron Works in Beijing could actually meet the demand. Deng estimated that construction would only take 14 years.
The Hoover Dam was nearing completion when once again Minister Deng announced that laboratory experiments at Newton's University had confirmed that adding carbon to iron could actually strengthen the metal, resulting in a much more durable material called steel. He caught up with Mao at the construction site on the Yellow River, where the Chairman was supervising the work.
"Chairman," said Deng. "You may remember that during the Stinky Toilet War, our navy suffered some rather heavy losses to the Japanese." He paused, as if waiting for some kind of response from Mao.
Mao continued to stare at the unfinished dam. "Yes, go on."
"If we build new ships with this new material, steel, I am certain that we will be able to withstand much more damage. Enemy ironclads will be no match for us."
"I see," said Mao. "Tell the factories to start producing this steel then, we will be using it soon to upgrade the navy. It might be nice to add some steel structure to support the dam as well, though that could be unnecessary by now."
Indeed it was unnecessary. The floodgates on the Hoover Dam opened in 1890 AD, unleashing a torrent of water downstream. Mao gazed in awe as he watched the deluge, through which he could barely hear the monotonous hum of the turbines in their power-generating exercise.
Transmission lines supplied the electricity to cities all over the continent, which soon boasted of remarkable increases in factory output. The industrious Chinese people were now by far the most productive in the world.
Mao followed the water from the Hoover Dam down the Yellow River, all the way to its mouth at Shanghai. He noticed a large crowd gathering at the harbor, and when he came closer, they were centered around none other than science advisor Deng Xiaoping.
"I present you the internal combustion engine," said Deng triumphantly. "At last, an alternative to burning that dirty coal for fuel. Now watch."
He motioned to an assistant, who pumped some gasoline into a device mounted on a small boat. Then Deng pulled a switch, and the engine started violently, splashing him with water and almost capsizing the craft.
"Oops. I'm quite bad at steering." After a quick adjustment, the boat sped out to sea as the crowd cheered.
Mao congratulated his science advisor for the achievement, but Deng humbly pointed out that it was engineers from Newton's University who had done all of the work. He suggested that it was now a good time to carry out the navy upgrades they had discussed earlier.
But there was more than just a combustion engine that would be the key to the modernization of the Chinese navy. Rather, it was a development that compounded on the scientific and engineering advances made during this time, one that would ultimately lead to the mass production of the biggest and most powerful battleships known to mankind.
And so for many years to come, no one dared challenge China on the high seas.
... to be continued
You're into the modern age but can you afford the time needed to detour to anything other than the techs you need for wonders?? You have 99 turns left I believe, which is enough to research and build the needed techs but is it also enough time to deal with Japan and India, at what tech stage are they? I hope they dont get MI before you finish the wonders.
