Precisely because studying was expensive in ancient times, the literacy rate was generally very low, with only one or two adults literate.

 Even if you are literate, you may not be able to read and write proficiently.

 Especially for women, the literacy rate is even lower than that of ordinary people. Even many of the concubines in the palace have not even read the Four Books and Five Classics. They have only read "The Book of Filial Piety", "The Story of the Martyr Woman", and "The Supreme Influence Chapter".

Just like Wang Xifeng in "A Dream of Red Mansions", such a smart and capable person, but not very literate.

 So in order to improve the literacy rate of the whole people, Xiang Nan can only rely on financial allocations to exempt tuition fees and book fees, so that children from poor families can also afford to go to school.

As a result, the state will allocate tens of millions of taels of silver just to build schools, and it will also allocate about six million taels of silver every year to maintain the operation of these schools.

 But all of this, Xiang Nan thinks it is worth it.

  Once the literacy rate of the people increases, it will help to open up the people’s wisdom. The wisdom of the people is infinite. In a country with a population of 120 million, if the literacy rate increases to more than 50%, there will be 60 million readers, equivalent to the total population of Europe.

Xiang Nan simply couldn’t imagine how powerful such creativity could be unleashed by so many people.

Just like China entered the 21st century, the rapid development of science and technology is closely related to the expansion of university enrollment.

 You must know that geniuses are only a minority after all. Most scientific and technological innovations and scientific research projects are actually built by relying on crowd tactics.

 Because the technology tree has many forks, no one knows which path will lead. The only way to choose the right path is through constant trial and error.

 The expansion of university enrollment has just produced a large number of cheap scientists and engineers for society. Through trial and error, they eliminated incorrect options and finally arrived at the correct answer. This is how many technological innovations come about.

If there were no expansion of university enrollment and there would be only a few million college students every year, the cost of trial and error would be incredibly high.

 To take a step back, even the human sea tactic has little effect in the core scientific research field. But increasing the literacy rate of the people can also uncover geniuses to a greater extent.

 Because many geniuses probably did not go to school, their talents were buried. Xiang Nan will give them a chance now.

 …

 In the first month of the thirteenth year of Qianlong's reign.

Sotsoro Jilan and Xie Lingzhi successively announced good news, adding a bit of New Year's joy to the palace.

In the same month, the first steamship designed by Xiang Nan himself and built by Tiangongfang was officially launched for trial sailing.

  Xiang Nan led many high-ranking officials and princes to Jinmen to personally preside over the launching ceremony of the warship.

　　When people saw this huge steel ship docked in the dock, they were all stunned and stunned.

“This is actually made of steel, will it sink?”

“This is an ironclad ship with many cannons on it.”

“Why is there no mast or oars on this ship? How should it move?”

“What is this big pipe erected on this ship? If this is a mast, why is there no sail?”

The ministers looked at this huge ship and asked in confusion, because the shape of this ship was so strange that they had never seen it before.

“My fellow servants, this is the first iron-clad ship built by our Qing Dynasty. Today is the day when it will be launched into the water for trial sea trials. Please wait and see.” Xiang Nan smiled and then ordered the ship to be released.

As the craftsmen cut the ropes tied to the iron-clad ship, the ship slowly entered the sea along the **** and the rolling logs placed under the hull, and then stirred up a huge wave.

 “Okay, let’s go on a trial voyage!” Xiang Nan immediately ordered. Then the boatman filled in the coal, ignited the boiler, and started the steam engine. Under the action of the steam engine, the propeller began to rotate, and then the large pipe on the deck spewed out bursts of thick smoke.

With a deafening whistle, this huge ship actually moved automatically without wind, running over the waves and running on the sea. The speed was actually very slow, much faster than a sea-going ship that relied on sails to move.

 “Oops, how did it move?”

 “It’s really strange that you can run so fast without using a sail or an oar.”

“Prime Minister Zhuge’s wooden ox and flowing horse are nothing more than this.”

 The ministers all thought it was incredible when they saw it.

Xiang Nan was even more excited when he saw it.

 If the Qing Dynasty did not want to be bullied by foreign powers, it must build a strong navy, otherwise, it would only be passively beaten.

Today, North America, South America, Australia, Africa, Tianzhu, and Southeast Asia have all been invaded and occupied by foreign powers, not to mention that the Rakshasa Kingdom continues to exert force in the northwest and northeast. It can be said that the foreign powers have surrounded the Qing Dynasty.

At this time, if the Qing Dynasty is not proactive, then in less than a hundred years, it will become a fish on the chopping block of the great powers.

 This giant ship was the starting point of the Qing Dynasty's conquest of the ocean.

 Subsequently, the ship was tested for speed, bombardment, and cargo capacity. The test results of each item made Xiang Nan very happy.

 When the ministers saw such a huge ship on the sea, galloping freely on the sea, going back and forth without any hindrance, and even the waves of four to five meters could be handled without incident, they couldn't help but admire it.

In the past, maritime transportation in the Qing Dynasty was not smooth because the ships were not highly resistant to wind and waves. A slightly larger storm would cause the ship to sink. Therefore, most of the transportation of grain and goods had to rely on river transportation, which was time-consuming, laborious and expensive.

 If such large ships are used for transportation in the future, the cost of sea transportation will be greatly reduced and the safety will be greatly improved. This is a good thing!

 …

 After final testing, the steamship had a displacement of 3,500 tons.

　　Although it sounds low, considering that in the mid-18th century, the main warships of the great maritime powers such as Britain, Portugal, the Netherlands, and Spain had a displacement of only more than a thousand tons, and they still relied on wind power to sail.

In comparison, this steamship is powered by a steam engine, and its speed is greatly improved. It can reach 12 knots, which is 22 kilometers per hour, and can travel 500 kilometers in a day.

 If it was used to transport grain, taking the eleventh year of Qianlong as an example, a total of more than 231,000 stones of rice, wheat, beans, etc. were collected. The grain ships used to transport grain at that time could only carry 30 to 40 tons.

More than 300 grain ships were mobilized for each grain transportation. If we took the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, the transportation alone would take three months. The entire grain transportation process would consume up to 110,000 taels of silver.

  Comparatively, using steamships to transport 2,000 tons of grain each time, which is equivalent to 33,000 shi, would be enough to transport it seven times.

The distance between Jinmen and Ningbo is only over a thousand kilometers. If there is a favorable wind, it can be reached in two days. It only took half a month to transport it seven times. It was really convenient and fast.

And the silver cost does not exceed ten thousand taels, which is naturally much cheaper than river transportation.

 The most critical thing is that this ship is equipped with one hundred artillery pieces, including six heavy artillery pieces, with a range of more than ten kilometers. It is the most powerful artillery piece developed today.

In addition, the hull is made of fine steel, which is more solid and reliable than a wooden sailboat. Therefore, it can truly be called a sea giant, an invincible mobile fortress on the sea.

So Xiang Nan excitedly named it Zhiyuan to commemorate the immortal battleship that sacrificed its life for the country in history.