"Your Highness, building railways will surely require a great deal of manpower and resources for rapid construction!"
"Great Qin doesn't have that many people right now!!"
"Indeed, Your Highness. Most of our able-bodied men have joined the army. In such a situation, we fear we won't have many people to participate in the construction of the railways!!"
"Your Highness, if the issue of manpower is not resolved, Great Qin will undoubtedly face significant trouble! Therefore, this matter must be resolved quickly!!"
Having understood the convenience of trains, these ministers were eager to quickly lay tracks and build them.
This way, trains might even be built to their homes.
However, such rapid construction undeniably required a large labor force.
Under these circumstances, it was clearly impossible for them to quickly mobilize so many people.
Especially when it came to mobilizing Great Qin's able-bodied men, it was even more difficult.
Currently, many of Great Qin's men were already in the military camps.
The soldiers in the camps were not even enough, let alone being able to lay railway tracks.
Therefore, they all turned their gaze to Lin Tian, hoping he could find a good solution.
Lin Tian had already anticipated this.
"If we rely solely on Great Qin's manpower, it will certainly not be enough!!"
"But let's not forget, Great Qin has conquered vast territories, and those places have large populations!!"
"Population is also a form of wealth for us!!"
"They labor and work in their own lands, and they will also labor and work in Great Qin!"
"Since that is the case, then it is not unreasonable for them to come to Great Qin to work!!"
Upon hearing Lin Tian's words, the ministers in the court were startled.
Before Lin Tian brought back captives, they had thought those people were left in their own countries, producing wealth for Great Qin.
Now, it seemed Lin Tian had no intention of letting those people have it so easy.
In Lin Tian's mind, he would still make use of those people.
As for the use of those people, it was very simple.
Every single one of them would be put to manual labor.
It was just that before, their manual labor was in their own countries, and now, their manual labor would be in Great Qin.
And the arrival of those people would also greatly increase Great Qin's labor force.
After their initial surprise, everyone could not help but praise.
"Excellent, this is wonderful! Great Qin truly needs those people to come. Many of Great Qin's construction projects require them!!"
"If they come, it will indeed significantly reduce our burden!!"
"Their arrival will also allow more of Great Qin's soldiers to join the army and serve Great Qin!!"
The entry of people from other countries into Great Qin also brought certain benefits to Great Qin's officials.
One of these benefits was the increase in their servants.
Those who originally belonged to other countries were already laboring for Great Qin. Their social status was inherently not high.
Under such circumstances, they were more easily turned into servants.
In fact, for them, having servants was a form of preferential treatment.
After all, servants did not have to do the hard labor, but if they were to labor, they would inevitably do the heaviest work.
Thinking of this, many ministers were already prepared to find people to be servants as soon as those people arrived.
Lin Tian was unaware of the ministers' thoughts.
After confirming the subsequent plan, Lin Tian immediately dispatched people to the Peacock Kingdom to bring people over.
The Peacock Kingdom was the closest country to Great Qin and had a large population.
Once they arrived in Great Qin, many of Great Qin's projects could advance to a new level.
Especially since those people were laborers. Although they needed to eat and consume provisions, the amount of provisions they consumed would be much, much less.
Under such circumstances, Great Qin was naturally happy to see these people arrive.
Therefore, many eyes were fixed on the people from the Peacock Kingdom.
Only Ying Zheng's gaze remained on the train, still filled with curiosity.
"How does this metal carriage run??"
Ying Zheng knew that this metal carriage had no life; it was merely a tool.
However, for a tool to run like a living being directly was truly perplexing to Ying Zheng.
It also made Ying Zheng unable to understand how Lin Tian had achieved it.
Ying Zheng was even more curious about the internal structure of the train.
Lin Tian concealed nothing. He led Ying Zheng directly to the front of the carriage.
At the front of the carriage was a complex machine, the steam engine.
Of course, this was not the most important part. The most important thing was that there was a person in the engine room, constantly shoveling coal.
Large amounts of coal were fed into the steam engine, and fierce flames burned within.
Anyone looking at it could understand that it was fraught with danger.
The actions of the person continuously adding coal made Ying Zheng understand that the train ran because of this fire.
And the name of the train was also derived from this fire.
However, he couldn't understand why this fire could make the train move.
"How does this fire do it??"
"Father, this principle is not difficult. We simply burn fire beneath water, causing the lid above the water to move. The faster the lid moves, the faster our carriage moves!!"
"Therefore, the more intensely our train burns, the faster it runs!!"
"Is that so? Could it be used elsewhere?"
It was evident that Ying Zheng's gaze was not solely focused on the train.
He felt that this steam engine was extraordinary and must have other marvelous applications elsewhere.
It had to be said that Ying Zheng's insight was beyond that of other ministers.
With just a glance, he could roughly tell that the steam engine could indeed be used in other places.
Precisely because he understood this, it became even more difficult for Lin Tian to explain.
"That's right, this steam engine can be used in many places. It can be used on ships, on other carriages, and even on machinery!!"
"With its addition, not only will our trains and ships run faster, but our machinery will also become more convenient and efficient in producing things!!"
If not for the current limitations and the restricted understanding of the people, Lin Tian would have loved to build a world of steel.
...