bullyxtreme Chapter 116 Skill Upgrades and Government Selection
Chapter 116 Skill Upgrades and Government Selection
Chapter 116 Skill Upgrades and Government Selection
San Francisco.
The entire city is under strict military control, and small patrols carrying guns can be seen everywhere on the streets.
Each street corner was marked with a checkpoint, with sandbags piled up to waist height as cover, and machine guns mounted on top of the sandbags, their dark muzzles overlooking the street and slowly turning with the gaze of the patrolling soldiers.
The houses on both sides of the street all had their doors tightly closed, and some even had their doors and windows boarded up.
Every now and then, soldiers would approach a house with a list, knock on or break down the door, and take the people inside away. Most of them were well-dressed, and some even tried to argue, but a touch of the butt of a rifle silenced them.
Chinatown is still a bustling place.
Although white-owned companies were closed and there were far fewer ships in the port, the unemployed Chinese laborers showed no signs of worry.
Because they had all seen Xinghantang's recruitment notice.
It doesn't matter who you work for, Xinghantang pays you more.
Inside the courtyard, Zeng Tai saw the long-awaited system upgrade interface pop up before his eyes.
【Name: Life for Life System】
[Host: Zeng Tai]
[Level: 13]
[Effect: Automatically generates 4,096 assassins daily, whose physical constitution is 2.3 times that of a normal adult Homo sapiens male.]
Times]
Current number of assassins: 108784
Number of summonable assassins: 4096
[Upgrade Requirements: Kill 8192 humans (156/8,192)]
[Currently Unlocked Sub-items]:
[Hive Consciousness]: ————
[The dead fear death]: ————
[Warspace Teleportation]: You can place a newly summoned assassin next to an already summoned assassin. After consuming a certain number of summoning slots, you can instantly teleport an already summoned assassin and its equipment to the side of another assassin.
Consumption quota = Total mass (kg) / 100
[Thirst for knowledge]: ————
[Exquisite craftsmanship]: ————
[Practicing medicine to help the world]: ————
Strategic Planning: ————
Lord of Humanity: ————
[The Angel of Death]: ————
【Soul of Ten Thousand Machines】: You can choose to summon assassins with this trait.
Those with this trait are the ultimate specialists in the fields of production and construction. With the aid of their skills, they can complete all mechanical tasks such as manufacturing, repair, and assembly at an unbelievable speed.
The cost is occupying four summoning slots.
"John and his team successfully took over the arsenal?"
Zeng Tai raised an eyebrow and casually clicked on the interface for upgrading the current skill.
Upgrade to "Thirst for Knowledge".
Select "Confirm".
[Sub-skill has been upgraded]
[Original effect: You can choose to summon a zombie with this trait. A zombie with this trait will have super learning and research capabilities, at the cost of occupying two summoning slots.]
Current areas of interest: Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering
New effect: Added physics direction.
Those who choose this path will possess exceptional mathematical modeling and physical intuition, enabling them to quickly deduce physical laws, design and verify experiments, and provide theoretical breakthroughs for other disciplines.
As new explanatory text appeared, Zeng Tai hadn't figured it out when he saw Guilliman walking over hurriedly.
"Why are you in such a hurry? Has something happened in the city?"
Guilliman shook his head upon hearing this and said, "You're overthinking it. There are 10,000 fully armed suicide soldiers patrolling San Francisco right now, so it's as solid as a rock."
"The politicians, wealthy businessmen, artisans, veterans, and lawyers in the city—those who are likely to incite riots—have been arrested most of them. In a few more days, the remaining white people and Mexicans will also be cleared out of the city."
Zeng Tai nodded, then suddenly remembered something and asked, "I remember there are consulates of various countries in the city, right? How did they handle that?"
Guilliman said, "We've surrounded them with troops, but haven't touched the people inside yet."
Zeng Tai said calmly, "Deport them all. Those people call themselves consuls, but they're no different from spies. They're just a menace if they stay in the city."
"Yes."
Guilliman noted down the instructions, then said, "My lord, I have come here for another matter."
"What is it?"
Guilliman said slowly, "My lord, we have now captured four cities: San Francisco, San Jose, Benicia, and Los Angeles. In the future, the entire state of California, the entire West, and even the entire North America will be ours."
"We are currently using military control, with checkpoints at every intersection and patrol teams on the streets. This system works well during wartime, but it cannot be used indefinitely."
Ordinary people need to make a living, merchants need to do business, factories need to operate, and farmland needs to be cultivated; all of this requires a government and a complete administrative system.
"You have an idea?" Zeng Tai asked.
"I have an idea, but I need your decision."
Guilliman looked into Zeng Tai's eyes and asked, "My lord, what form of government do you favor?"
Zeng Tai pondered upon hearing this.
When it comes to political systems, the first thing that comes to mind is naturally the imperial system.
After all, in the 19th century and even in the early 20th century, imperial rule was still the mainstream system in the world.
China was even the first country in Asia and the fifth in the world to overthrow the imperial system and establish a republic. Ahead of it were only San Marino, Switzerland, France, and now the United States.
He countered Guilliman's question with, "What do you think?"
Guilliman replied without hesitation: "The monarchy."
"What's the reason?"
"The reason is simple."
Guilliman considered his words carefully before saying, "Our future territory will be vast, and the larger the territory, the more diverse the people will be. Without a strong, centralized system, it will inevitably split sooner or later."
Zeng Tai raised an eyebrow: "A republic can also have centralized power; the two are not contradictory."
Guilliman shook his head and said seriously, "If you establish a republic, you will have to share power with Parliament. Opposition parties, elections, and changes in leadership will inevitably lead to internal strife."
Over time, they will try to challenge your authority, and you will no longer be able to guarantee absolute control over the country.
Zeng Tai's lips curled up slightly: "You certainly think ahead."
"I can't help but think about going far away," Guilliman said. "So you agree?"
"The emperor shall be the one with the strongest army and the most powerful horses."
Zeng Tai grinned and said, "To be honest, every boy dreams of being an emperor when he's young."
Guilliman nodded and pulled out a piece of paper: "I have drafted a preliminary plan. You will be the emperor, with a cabinet, various ministries, and local administrations. All key positions will be filled by loyalists. For minor positions, capable Han Chinese can be appointed."
The Cabinet will temporarily consist of nine ministries: Ministry of National Defense, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Civil Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Ministry of Agriculture,
Ministry of Health, Ministry of Science.
Local administration was temporarily set up at four levels: province, prefecture, county, and township. Police, tax bureau, civil affairs bureau, and court were also temporarily established, with some personnel recruited from Han Chinese.
Zeng Tai waved his hand, choosing to relinquish control: "A preliminary plan is enough; I trust you."
Guilliman sighed softly, "My lord, I will go back and refine and implement the plan. I will review the personnel appointment proposal in two days."
"Go."
Guilliman nodded, then turned and hurried away.
Zeng Tai sat back down in the recliner and closed his eyes.
His consciousness passed through that invisible bond and landed in the arsenal north of Benicia.
John was taking inventory of the stock, and the uncle was arranging the transport of the prisoners; everything was proceeding according to plan.
"Jianyuan," he called out.
Jian Yuan poked his head out of the kitchen, holding a spatula in his hand: "My lord, what is it?"
"Get the car ready, let's go to the factory."
Which factory?
"I heard that the guys at the machine shop who work on internal combustion engines have made some new progress. I'm going to check it out."
Jianyuan responded, threw down the spatula, wiped his hands, and went to prepare.
San Francisco, machine shop.
The factory is located in the south of the city, near the dock. It was originally a ship repair yard, but was acquired by Xinghantang and converted into a machinery factory.
The factory building is a brick and wood structure, spacious and bright, filled with lathes, milling machines and drilling machines.
These were all made by the dedicated researchers themselves, bit by bit.
At this moment, the research team members were gathered in a corner of the factory, a dozen or so people huddled together, their focus all on the machine that was running in the middle.
It was a square cast iron machine with several shiny copper pipes attached to it. Next to it was a round flywheel that was spinning rapidly, making a deep and even sputtering sound.
"What's going on?" Zeng Tai walked over and patted the shoulder of the person on the outside.
The man turned around, saw it was Zeng Tai, and immediately stood up straight: "My lord, you've arrived!"
"Stop talking nonsense and talk about the machine."
That man was Zhao Mingyuan, a die-hard member of the mechanical team, specializing in internal combustion engines.
He pointed at the machine, his eyes gleaming: "My lord, after more than ten iterations, the four-stroke internal combustion engine is complete!"
"It's done?" Zeng Tai raised an eyebrow.
"It's done!"
Zhao Mingyuan squatted down, pointed to an air intake valve on the side of the machine, and said excitedly, "This is the air intake, which is connected to the gas pipe. The gas and air are mixed in a certain proportion and then enter the cylinder. The piston compresses it, the spark plug ignites it, it explodes and does power, and then it exhausts the gas."
Four strokes, one cycle.
He stood up, patted the machine's casing, and said with pride, "This internal combustion engine has been running continuously for four hours without any problems. The valves, piston rings, spark plugs—all parts are working properly. If it continues to run smoothly, then it's a complete success!"
Zeng Tai looked at the internal combustion engine. The flywheel was rotating at a constant speed, emitting a deep and even sputtering sound, like a strong heart beating.
"What about thermal efficiency?"
"Fifteen percent!"
Zhao Mingyuan said, "Although it's still not as efficient as the 17% thermal efficiency of the triple-expansion reciprocating steam engine, as long as we continue our research, surpassing it is only a matter of time. It took the steam engine almost a hundred years to reach this level; how long have we been working on it?"
"Can it be scaled up?" Zeng Tai asked.
"able."
Zhao Mingyuan nodded, patting his chest as he assured, "The principle is clear; scaling it up is just a matter of time and materials. We're already designing a more powerful model, with a goal of over 100 horsepower."
"One hundred horsepower—"
Zeng Tai murmured.
A modern steam engine, even a high-powered one, can reach several hundred horsepower, but it is enormous and requires a boiler and a large amount of water. If an internal combustion engine could achieve one hundred horsepower, its size and weight would certainly be much smaller than that of a steam engine.
In that case, the research and development of vehicles such as cars, motorcycles, and airplanes can also be put on the agenda.
He turned to Jianyuan and said, "Where are those die-hards from the aerospace engineering team? Bring them over."
After upgrading his skills last time, he casually summoned three assassins specializing in aerospace engineering. Since technology hadn't advanced to that stage yet, he simply had the three of them assist in other groups for the time being.
Jianyuan nodded and began calling for people.
A moment later, three assassins dressed in white overalls ran over, the one in the lead being named Wan Hu.
"My lord." Wan Hu stood in front of Zeng Tai, panting heavily.
Zeng Tai pointed to the internal combustion engine and asked, "Can this thing be used to build airplanes?"
Wan Hu looked at the machine, squatted down, and examined it carefully. He checked the speed of the flywheel, listened to the sound, and then shook his head.
"My lord, no!"
Why?
"The thrust-to-weight ratio is too low."
Wan Hu pointed to the internal combustion engine and slowly said, "This machine weighs about 500 kilograms and has an output power of only a few horsepower. To drive a manned aircraft, it would need at least 20 to 30 horsepower, which would increase the weight of the machine several times over."
"Furthermore, this internal combustion engine uses natural gas, which has a very low calorific value, only a few thousand kilocalories per cubic meter. To produce sufficient power, it requires very large cylinders and very high speeds, which would increase the weight of the machine. Unless..."
"Unless what?"
"Unless you use liquid fuels. Gasoline, kerosene, and diesel have energy densities hundreds of times higher than gas. The same volume of fuel releases hundreds of times more heat than gas. Using liquid fuels can increase the power-to-weight ratio of an internal combustion engine by an order of magnitude."
"Oil," Zeng Tai whispered.
Wan Hu nodded: "Yes, oil. With oil, we can refine gasoline and kerosene. With gasoline, we can further optimize this internal combustion engine and make aircraft engines."
Zeng Tai squinted his eyes, and a new plan had already begun in his mind.
There were no readily available oil wells to seize in 1855. Therefore, he had to send people to explore and drill throughout California to build refineries and pipelines.
These things require money, people, equipment, and time.
But what he has in abundance is people and money.
"Zhao Mingyuan," he said.
"exist."
"We will continue to improve internal combustion engines. The goal is to increase the power-to-weight ratio. Regardless of the fuel used, we will first make the engine itself the best it can be. Lightweight, high strength, high speed, we will tackle them one by one."
"Yes."
"Ten thousand households."
"exist."
"I'll have someone handle the oil. You take your men and help Zhao Mingyuan continue improving the internal combustion engine, while also starting to design the aircraft's frame. Draw up the blueprints first, prepare the materials, and start building it as soon as the engine is ready."
"Yes."
Standing behind Zeng Tai, Jian Yuan hesitated for a moment and said, "My lord, our current expenses are already high. If we were to set aside another portion for digging wells, building factories, and manufacturing machinery, I'm afraid we wouldn't be able to manage the cash flow."
He started counting on his fingers: "Shipbuilding, buying ships, manufacturing guns, making cannons, raising troops, building roads, digging sewers, building schools, opening factories—"
Even if we had plenty of money, we couldn't afford to spend it like this.
Zeng Tai turned and glanced at Jian Yuan: "Jian Yuan, do you know what's the cheapest thing in this world?"
Jian Yuan was taken aback: "What?"
"It's just money itself."
Zeng Tai turned back home, saying, "Money is the cheapest thing. Once it's gone, just earn more."
"Dutch and Arthur should be almost done with their work. That will be another source of income, so don't worry."