Father, I really don’t want to be the emperor

"Your Majesty, why did you suddenly think of buying those deserts? You must know that those deserts are filled with endless sand. It can't be used for farming, there is no water, and it can't even plant trees. What do we do with that barren desert? "

Song Chengzhou was puzzled by Ning Fan's decision. He didn't understand why Ning Fan was willing to spend real money to buy these deserts, or even exchange grain for these useless lands.

"Master Song, you don't know something. Although there is no grass growing in the desert, there are black gold treasures under the desert. Master Song should know about coal. This coal is dug out of the ground."

Ning Fan said with a smile.

Hearing what Ning Fan said, Song Chengzhou was immediately surprised. Then he stared at Ning Fan with a smile and said, "Your Majesty, you mean that there is something more important than coal buried in this desert?"

"That thing is called petroleum. After decomposition and distillation, the product is the same as water, but it can be ignited, used as lamp oil, and can also drive trains forward. This kind of thing is very important for our future development."

Ning Fan did not deceive Song Chengzhou, but directly told the truth.

Song Chengzhou took a steam train to the Northwest, and then through the Northwest to various desert countries in the south. He went there with a mission, and Ning Fan also gave Song Chengzhou great authority.

Ning Fan, on the other hand, went directly to Jiangnan Shipyard.

Ning Fan is playing a big game. In fact, over the past year, Ning Fan has wanted to improve his shipbuilding skills to a higher level, but helplessly, Shen Mengxi and others have put in all their efforts, but they still can't see the results.

Shipbuilding requires more than a day. The blueprint structure provided by Ning Fan was just basic shipbuilding. If you want to improve shipbuilding to a higher level, it will take more than ten years or even decades of technical accumulation. In this regard, Dakang is far inferior to the British.

But now the situation may have changed. Brad brought back more than 200 top experts from Western countries at once, including more than a dozen shipbuilding weapons experts. These experts were brought to Jiangnan Shipyard by Ning Fan. , the bearded people with high noses were all amazed when they saw the advanced turning equipment in the shipyard.

In fact, in this era, the technology trees of the East and the West are different. Judging from the judgments of these Westerners, Dakang's technology is far more advanced than the British in many places, such as Dakang's radio technology. Kang's electrical appliance technology, etc., and Dakang's internal combustion engine technology are far behind the British.

Even English shipbuilding basically relies on the craftsmanship of blacksmiths. But when they came to Dakang and saw Dakang's advanced lathes, these technical experts were all shocked. They felt like they had found a treasure. They had never seen it before. I have never seen such advanced equipment.

"Your Majesty, these experts have already said that with these advanced equipment, Dakang will soon be able to build steel battleships that are far more advanced than the British."

Brad came to Ning Fan excitedly and reported the results to Ning Fan.

Ning Fan looked at Brad, who was as excited as a child, with a smile on his face. At first, he just accidentally met a down-and-out missionary at the port, but he didn't expect to find a hidden gem in the ocean.

Over the past year or so, Brad's contribution to Dakang has been astonishing.

"Mr. Brad, I have a gift for you."

Ning Fan smiled mysteriously and took an exquisite wooden box from Luo Cheng, the commander of the Jinyi Guards next to him.

When Brad saw the small and exquisite box in Ning Fan's hand, he was a little surprised because he didn't know what was in the box.

It's just that the emperor wanted to reward something, and the box contained something definitely not ordinary. Brad's eyes looked expectant.

"Mr. Brad, open it and see for yourself."

Ning Fan handed the wooden box to Brad, and then looked at Brad with a half-smile.

When Brad opened the box and saw the exquisite pocket watch inside, he didn't know what it was at first, but when he carefully looked at the scale on the pocket watch, Brad was quickly shocked.

"Time, Your Majesty, this is time!"

Brad was as excited as a child, waving his pocket watch vigorously in his hand, his face flushed with excitement.

"Yes, this is time. This is the first batch of precision pocket watches made by Dakang's craftsmen. Shen Mengxi has already tested it. This pocket watch is very accurate. It can be wound up every three days and it can accurately set the time every day. It’s time to take control.”

Ning Fan said to Brad.

Brad was simply stunned. He didn't expect that Dakang could even make such a precise timepiece. He looked at this exquisite pocket watch and the hands that kept beating, and he was dumbfounded.

"Mr. Brad, the pocket watch I gave you is the second one. The first pocket watch is with me."

Ning Fan said to Brad.

Brad's eyes widened in shock again, and he stared at Ning Fan in disbelief. He didn't expect that the second pocket watch in the world would be his own. He was so moved that he couldn't even speak. .

"Actually, I originally planned to give the first pocket watch to you, but it was met with widespread opposition. In fact, in my mind, your contribution to our great prosperity is as important as a mountain. ”

Ning Fan said to Brad.

Brad held the pocket watch in his hand and looked at it over and over, and then asked Ning Fan how to use it. When Ning Fan explained how to wind up the clockwork and maintain the pocket watch, Brad was even more concerned. Zhenbao hung the pocket watch around his neck.

"Your Majesty, with this magical item that controls time, I can control the time on cloudy days. Even at night, I know when it will be light and when it will be dark. This is amazing."

Brad was as excited as a little kid.

Just as Ning Fan envisioned, when the first batch of pocket watches came out, they were greatly welcomed, especially within Dakang. Everyone from the upper class to the slightly wealthy businessmen donated generously. .

Even though the pocket watch has been worth thousands of taels of silver, they don't even blink an eye.

Pocket watches instantly became the most sought-after commodity, even more popular than those gold and jewels. Nowadays, it has become hard to find a watch within Dakang.

Ning Fan even heard that when these pocket watches were transferred to Western countries along the trade routes, the value of one pocket watch was already more than tens of thousands taels of gold.