When the Saintess Arrives, No King Exist-Chapter 900 - 851: The Sea of Flowers, the Difference Engine, Education, the Punched Card Machine, the Household Registration System, the Lathe, and the Scales Hermitage

As the Wolf Woman was observing the sliced Red Knight, Horn quietly left the room.

He knew that the Wolf Woman hated being disturbed during her research.

Being with Horn and interruptions during research were rare moments when the Wolf Woman showed facial expressions.

Walking out of the Mechanical Palace, Horn stretched lazily.

He hadn't had leisure time for a while, and now the front of the Mechanical Palace had been transformed into a vast sea of flowers for aesthetic purposes.

On a plot about the size of a football field, a variety of flowers bloomed, with red roses winding along the fence, and freesias standing upright.

At the base of the fence, white daisies competed with purple irises for attention.

Under the warm spring sun, the fragrance of flowers overwhelmingly filled the air, making Horn tempted to jump in and roll around.

However, he was halted by Boned after just two steps.

"Your Grace, according to the schedule, our next step is to meet the Dwarves who converted to the Holy Path and inspect the differential machine. Do you want to change the plan?"

He looked at the peaceful and harmonious sea of flowers in front of him, and then at the research institute in the distance emitting a buzzing sound and the smell of lubricant, with a smile saying, "Let's go, do I really have a choice?"

"Should we meet those Dwarves first?"

"Let them meet us at the workshop. I remember the differential machine is right there as well. Let's go have a look."

...

Standing inside the spacious workshop, the dome was covered with roof panels made from mountain copper waste.

This mortar workshop, six meters high, didn't have a second floor, just an observatory passage encircling the walls.

Holding onto the wooden handrail, despite being over three meters away, Horn could still clearly see the details of this brass giant.

It stood over three meters tall and covered an area of six to seven square meters.

From afar, it was composed of numerous large gear towers and brass supports.

With rods, crankshafts, and chains placed interwoven, and on one side the control platform had brass levers densely arranged like piano keys.

In the bottom tier spring chamber, eight sets of mountain copper springs were evenly outputting energy under the control of the escapement mechanism.

The dial used to monitor spring energy storage ticked as it moved, with seven or eight operators pulling levers under the direction of the scholars holding calculating tables.

Then Horn could hear the echoing sound of gears turning and meshing inside the workshop.

The beauty brought by this order and machinery captivated not only Horn but also many of the dwarves as creators and designers.

"Driven by mountain copper springs, it can complete an operation every 10 seconds, as for complex higher-order differential calculations, it takes several minutes." The scholar introduced enthusiastically.

"This differential machine was crafted entirely by hand by us Dwarves, using numerous rare minerals for precision." The converted Dwarves also came to claim credit.

"How much did that cost?"

"Over 2000 gold pounds."

Horn's cheek near the molars swelled: "Worth it."

In this world, mathematics is also a hurdle in the way of scientific progress.

With this machine, they could quickly calculate more weak points in the astral realm, and even derive formula patterns based on these weak points.

But before this, they were still in the phase of observing phenomena, having to mine one by one to uncover each weak point in the astral realm.

This was not something that could be achieved overnight, nor could Horn use his knowledge from a previous life to guide it.

"That mathematical problem Hilov gave you last time, have you solved it?"

The scholar, not understanding what the math problem was for, still nodded and said: "With the hand-cranked calculator, the speed of solving those star trajectory formulas is extremely rapid.

The astrology mathematics problem you gave us, we can solve it in about three to five days."

"Great."

"Do you still need this differential machine prototype within this month?"

Horn blinked, quickly understanding.

Not only Horn had mathematical problems to solve, but even these scholars did too.

The current research in natural theology initiated by the Holy Path has already entered the revival of the Ancient Aier Empire's quantified learning.

Especially with the promotion of the sacred unit, this tendency is becoming even more apparent.

Various reasoning based on mathematics, as long as the mathematics itself is error-free, the conclusion is very likely to be correct.

A large number of scholars at the Holy Machinery Court Pope University, amidst this trend, have chosen to try using mathematics to tackle the challenges present within the empire's academic circles.

One must admit that Horn's approach of "observing phenomena—boldly hypothesizing—conducting experiments—summarizing rules" is quite effective.

To Horn, it seemed ordinary, but among scholars, it was extremely significant with research outcomes progressing swiftly.

It is anticipated that in the next four to five years, the Holy Machinery Court Pope University will experience a surge in research achievements.

"In the coming period, let me think, I can lend it to you for a month. Remember to submit an application..." Horn pondered for a moment, "Then it will be used for census statistics and the third astrological breakthrough point..."

"A month's time is acceptable. I'll stay here temporarily."

Horn couldn't help but laugh. Actually, letting the scholars use it a bit longer wasn't an issue.

The upcoming autumn census calculation is of utmost importance.

Currently, the Holy Alliance comprises two parts: the Thousand River Valley and Black Snake Bay. Let's set Black Snake Bay aside for now and take it slowly in the future.

As for the Thousand River Valley alone, it currently has an estimated population of around 4.5 to 5 million people.

The registered population in the Hundred Households District is approximately 4.28 million, with updates occurring every four years by the County Monastery and every eight years by the Imperial Court Order.

A census register is divided into four parts: one for the household head, one for the Village Monastery, one for the County Monastery, and one for the Imperial Court Order.

For the Monastery, if any part is lost, it must be reported immediately for replacement.

For commoners, if the census register is lost during inspection, they must perform one week of public service.

This means, unless someone can navigate through to the Mechanical Palace from the bottom, it is very difficult to alter this critical information.

Moreover, unlike other contemporary tax records, Horn's census register is more detailed.

It records birth date, gender, origin, occupation, and even how many assets a household owns, among other information.

When the first census was completed last year, the registers were transported to Autumn Dusk Island, initially by several horse-drawn carriages, then by ship to the grand library.

Currently, it's just census registers. After mapping is completed, there will be map atlases, and once land clearance is completed, there will be land records as well.

With industrialization, the rapid movement of urban and rural residents and foreign immigrants will lead to even more complicated census changes in the future.

On the banking side, there are bills and savings books, and in the future, not only is there a plan for banknotes, but Horn is also contemplating identity information cards, which may become cumbersome.

Processing all this information with the original written documents would exceed the limits of capacity.

To govern deeply at the grassroots level, it's essential to eliminate local forces like the nobility.

But with equivalent responsibilities, Horn must bear the task of grassroots governance.

The future second difference engine and the punch machine under construction are prepared for the step towards modernization.

This is very necessary.

In this era, apart from the Church using them for tax collection, most lords neglected the immense power contained within the census registers.

In the real world, ruling a country is not a game, and an entire nation's corners can't always be seen.

If a warehouse in a game contains three million gold coins, then that's genuinely three million gold coins.

If one assumes that the three million gold coins recorded in the account books exist in reality, they might find only thirty thousand copper coins available when needed.

Horn could withstand the pressure from the Leia Kingdom and the Church's nine territories by solely relying on detailed control over population and other resources in the Thousand River Valley and Black Snake Bay.

Initially, he was willing to compromise with the nobility just to implement the Hundred Households District and census register for this purpose.

He knew where there were more people who could be mobilized, where there was a bumper grain harvest, where Tin Craftsmen's Crossing produced tinware, and where Mason District was rich in timber...

Under the coordination of Petier and the Meigedi Commerce Association's talents, the Holy Alliance's resource utilization rate was extremely high.

This was the unseen factor behind the repeated victories of the Thousand River Valley Holy Alliance.

Horn could unite his five fingers into a fist, while the Leia people, with three heads and six arms, behaved as if afflicted by Parkinson's.

If the old era's Thousand River Valley were independent, Raffel's first wave of attacks could likely break through.

This was because the nobles were united but not coordinated, and the logistics couldn't reach the front lines.

Just like in the now Leia-ruled Hotam County, where one village responsible for grain transportation was on the brink of death, while the neighboring village idly amused themselves daily.

After inspecting the difference engine, Horn toured several research institutes nearby.

Including the Dwarves' lathe workshop, where currently only these dwarves and human masters could handle the technology of dragon bone steel and the precision component polishing.

The current market lathes rely on superior lathes for parts grinding, yet superior lathes and tools can only be hand-polished by dwarves.

Fortunately, with spring mechanism drive, the efficiency of numerous miscellaneous tasks could be significantly improved. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

However, many reformist dwarves still held conservative views, unwilling to use machinery driven by spring mechanisms.

They believed excessive use would lead to a degradation of craftsmanship.

It wasn't until dinner time that Horn was hurriedly called away by the Attendant Officer.

"Why the rush?" Horn asked Zhongsi while wiping lubrication oil off his hands with a handkerchief.

Without needing an answer, as soon as he saw the crowd from the Scales Hermitage staring wide-eyed at the Attendant Officer at the doorway, Horn understood.