Chapter Forty: Su Ziye's Vision

Ye Night Academy, Ye Tower.

Su Ziye was engrossed in a book.

Ye Tower was the tallest and grandest tower in Ye Night Academy, primarily serving as a repository for books.

Within its walls were nearly every first edition or manuscript—published or unpublished—collected from across the world. On one hand, it safeguarded the most precious knowledge treasures for the entire realm; on the other, it served as a vital channel for obscure novelists to break into retail markets.

Of course, Su Ziye had not read every book in the world. In truth, he had read very few. Most of his knowledge came from remnants of the world he had crossed from and from expanding his understanding through his own talents and abilities in this world.

At present, he was reading about coal.

He was seriously considering the construction of a steam engine. However, even the most skillful cook cannot prepare a meal without rice. Though the steam engine was famously undemanding—so long as fed enough fuel, it would work faithfully—the problem was that coal was not yet the mainstream energy source in this world.

Due to the prevalence of magical civilization, the primary energy source here was mined magical crystals. Even when their magical power was depleted, mages could artificially recharge them for reuse. Currently, the machinery in Su Ziye’s instant noodle factory ran on these magical crystals, and the flour mill under construction was expected to use them as well.

While magical crystals were costly, given current demand, their cost remained relatively low.

Yet, if Su Ziye’s vision ever came to pass—industrial production spreading worldwide and productivity soaring—the inherent shortcomings of magical energy would be exposed.

Magical energy was indeed a renewable resource, as mages could meditate to restore and recharge the magical crystals. However, this was essentially a handcrafted, workshop-level production method—no different in essence from hand-cranked generators.

Su Ziye’s ideal scenario was to design solar magic panels that would harness the sun’s energy to recharge magical crystals. After all, sunlight was a form of magical energy. Unfortunately, this field was far too advanced, requiring immense investment of time, effort, and capital—beyond anything Su Ziye could currently undertake.

Therefore, for now, Su Ziye planned to proceed steadily. He intended to first secure sufficient coal supplies through mining, then build steam engines to replace some of the less delicate mechanical energy needs—such as the grinders in the flour mill. Steam engines were well suited for this, while magical crystals would be somewhat wasted in such applications.

Later, if time permitted, Su Ziye would consider researching the conversion between magical power and electrical energy—a concept separated only by a thin veil. Magic and electricity shared many similarities: magic could indeed conjure lightning from thin air, and the way magical power was stored and utilized bore resemblance to electrical circuits.

If this connection could be bridged, industrialization in this world could accelerate rapidly, potentially ushering in an era of magi-electricity. At that point, Su Ziye could rightfully claim he had changed the world.

However, these were long-term developments measured in years. For now, Su Ziye could only initiate a few creative flagship products to herald this new era. To truly bring them to widespread use, he would likely have to wait until he became emperor of the Stern Empire.

A truly distant dream.

With this in mind, Su Ziye carefully flipped through the coal-related tome. The book detailed coal’s distribution, mining conditions, and current uses. As he had suspected, coal’s primary role was as fuel. However, only shallow, surface coal seams could be mined, and due to transportation challenges, no one treated this combustible rock as anything more than a common commodity. After all, burnable wood was abundant across the mountains. Transporting coal into cities was less practical than lightweight, refined charcoal.

A small portion of coal was used for iron smelting, but this remained minimal. Ironware was mainly employed for weapons and utensils. Large-scale iron use had yet to spread due to production inefficiencies. The academy’s lathe masters had achieved remarkable ironworking techniques, capable of producing high-grade alloys, but they focused more on rare metals to craft superior spirit artifacts. Iron, the most basic and widely used metal, remained an entry-level standard.

If Su Ziye were to list inventions he wished to create, the steam engine would top the list—an urgent necessity. Next would come the applications of gunpowder and large-scale iron smelting—transformative developments capable of fundamentally altering national power—but these he was in no rush to pursue.

As mentioned earlier, such ambitions were reserved for after he ascended as emperor. Attempting them prematurely risked losing the fruits of victory.

Currently, standard light industries and fast-moving consumer goods like instant noodles and soda were more suitable for Su Ziye’s current research and application.

Food, clothing, shelter, and transportation—soda and instant noodles fell under the food category. Regarding clothing, Su Ziye’s focus was on large-scale cotton textile production. If he could mass-produce cotton fabric—a daily necessity—there would be no shortage of demand. Bulk, durable textiles were accepted as a form of currency in most places. At present, production remained at workshop scale. Once spinning and weaving machines paired with steam engines were established, they could sweep away handcrafted workshops.

If future opportunities arose in petrochemical development, synthetic fibers would also hold great promise—but that was a matter for after his imperial ascent.

As for construction, most buildings in this world used natural materials like stone and wood. Though the ceramics industry had advanced to producing bricks by firing clay, large-scale brickworks did not exist, mainly due to transportation issues.

Much like coal, this world still lacked the capacity to transport heavy, low-value goods over long distances profitably.

Su Ziye could easily identify concrete technology, though even bricks lacked the potential for widespread short-term adoption. Reinforced concrete was even less feasible.

He had no plans to build a brick factory himself—the investment-to-yield ratio was simply too low.

However, if grand construction projects were ever planned, cement, concrete, and brick production would have to be on the agenda.

Finally, transportation came to mind.

At the mention of travel, two things sprang immediately to Su Ziye’s mind: vehicles and ships.