Chapter 87

The cotton cultivation finally came to an end, and the cotton plants were successfully sold. It was this transaction of the plants that gave Yang Yue a glimpse of the future. Originally, after returning to China, he had been quite lost. He didn't know how to apply what he had learned, and his family did not support his ideas. In many wealthy households, farmers were more often seen in a negative light than a positive one. No family would let an heir go into farming.

Because of this, without his family's support, Yang Yue's plans for fertilizer and cotton also suffered a major setback. Without Yang Yuanzhao's appearance, he might have obediently returned to his family to do things he was unwilling to do, and the years of study and research abroad would have been in vain.

The large-scale sale of cotton plants made him realize that agriculture still had great potential in China. If they had not cooperated to complete the cotton cultivation, just by selling the cotton plants, they would have received several times the return on their investment. The price of 1.2 yuan for 5,000 plants was definitely considered high, and the investment was only a fraction of that. If all 21,000 acres of cotton plants were sold, the minimum would be 25,000 yuan.

The reason no one bought his cotton seeds before was not that the farmers had no money, but that they didn't know what the outcome would be after spending the money.

These cotton plants were different. Their growth could be seen, and as long as there were no problems during transplantation, success was guaranteed, and the yield would increase several times over.

Yang Yue was determined to continue his research in this direction, and Yang Yuanzhao was very pleased. His goal was originally focused on industry, specifically the steel industry and power industry, but he could not abandon the primary sector of agriculture. The knowledge he had from the future was definitely forward-looking for this era. Interacting with Yang Yue was partly to integrate into the local elite in Baotou and partly to find a partner in agriculture.

Yang Yue specifically sought out Yang Yuanzhao to help him order a batch of agricultural research equipment. He based it on the equipment he had learned about in the United States, adding some innovations, making it some of the most advanced in the world.

Yang Yuanzhao, of course, met Yang Yue's request, providing some of the equipment he had purchased from Shanghai, even adding his own modifications to make it more suitable for agricultural research. For the more advanced and precise experimental equipment, they would need to purchase it from Europe and the United States. Soon, Habby would come from Shanghai to Baotou, bringing a batch of machines and making the final confirmation before going to Europe.

Habby's plan to go abroad had been determined in Shanghai. Yang Yuanzhao, using the information he had at the time, had compiled a list of machines to purchase. Due to the rush, there might be some omissions, and some of the machines might differ slightly from the best available. Habby had received this information.

After the business in Shanghai came to a close, Habby proactively sent a telegram to Yang Yuanzhao, offering to come over and bring a batch of machines.

China is vast, and the journey is long, but Yang Yuanzhao did not stop Habby. It was time to come and see. Shanghai was currently the economic center of China with more potential, but Baotou was Yang Yuanzhao's root. Without a solid foundation, how could he talk about rapid development? It was foreseeable that Habby would travel to Baotou many times in the future, so this visit was normal.

After a period of adjustment, Yang Yue's laboratory was finally completed. A few simple experimental machines and a dozen clever assistants formed the Baotou Plant Research Institute. For now, the research focused on wheat and cotton. In the greenhouse, they began to experiment with growing off-season vegetables, using the greenhouse to replace the different seasons, allowing plants to grow and sprout. This was a larger topic, involving many more aspects, and even Yang Yuanzhao couldn't explain it clearly. He could only let Yang Yue experiment slowly.

The cotton transplantation was completed, the laboratory was basically finished, and Yang Yuanzhao's new home was quietly completed. After Sun Fusheng and his team moved in, the Yang residence underwent subtle changes every day. Yang Yuanzhao, an engineer, was meticulous in his work, allowing no errors, but in life, especially in this era, he was unfamiliar with many things. The minor issues in the design of the residence were gradually pointed out by Sun Fusheng and his team.

Yang Yuanzhao was not particularly concerned with the details of daily life. Whether life was comfortable or not, whether there was a home or not, was more of a habit. Making the home more comfortable and allowing others to enjoy this comfort was more important. He did not pursue absolute control and dominance in many things, focusing more on the machines themselves.

From Shanghai, Wuhan, and Tianjin, he obtained tens of thousands of various blueprints, more than half of which were very useful. He did not plan to blindly copy all of them. With the existence of the integrated machine, he could flexibly modify these parts, creating better products on the original basis. The most obvious example was the steam engine.

The most commonly used and practical steam engine in Yang Yuanzhao's hands was the 20-horsepower ship steam engine, the smallest of all steam engines. In terms of miniaturization, it had reached the extreme.

From the perspective of his future knowledge, there were still some issues, such as sealing. In this era, vulcanized rubber had not been invented, and the sealing performance of rubber was poor. This steam engine used a combination of rubber and cork for sealing, which could lead to leaks, affecting the overall thermal efficiency.

Through several comparisons and experiments, Yang Yuanzhao found suitable sealing materials from the sealing materials of thermos bottles from the future and optimized the entire steam engine. The cylinder of the steam engine was expanded by 30% without increasing the weight, doubling the pressure it could withstand. The temperature efficiency also increased from around 300 degrees to 500 degrees. This simple improvement transformed the 20-horsepower steam engine, reducing energy loss by about 25% due to better sealing and lubrication. The 30% expansion of the cylinder provided more powerful output, and the increased temperature efficiency allowed the steam engine to remain stable at higher temperatures without the need for a water tank to cool it down. After this modification, the smallest steam engine's power increased from 20 horsepower to 35 horsepower, and subsequent models could even reach over 50 horsepower.

This breakthrough in the small steam engine project almost doubled the horsepower. When applied to small warships and torpedo boats, the speed of the torpedo boats would increase by about 15%, a significant leap for these speed-sensitive vessels. High-speed, highly stealthy torpedo boats posed a nearly doubled threat to warships in coastal waters.

The finished small engine was immediately used in the nearby power plant, increasing the installed capacity from 3,600 kilowatts to 5,400 kilowatts. The same amount of coal produced more electricity, supporting the entire residence's renovation. The front yard and corridors were almost entirely lit by electric lights, making the place as bright as day even in the darkest night. The backyard was much softer, with blackout curtains and window shades made from fabric and fuel extracted from future clothing. Closing the curtains, even in broad daylight, the room would be completely dark.

On the first weekend of June, encouraged by Yang Yue and Liu Shu, and with the growing prosperity of the Baotou New Flour Mill and the profitable Baotou Cultivation Company, Yang Yuanzhao celebrated his move by hosting a dinner at his residence, inviting familiar guests to visit.