The beggar emperor at the end of Ming Dynasty - Chapter 568

The scale of the Tiangong Institute in Nanyang is not comparable at the beginning. After several years of development, there are nearly 20000 researchers.

Among them, there are Taoists who like alchemy, young craftsmen with flexible minds, and more teachers from all walks of life. They have studied hundreds of projects.

In the past two years, there have been more or less breakthroughs in technology, especially in agricultural tools, textile industry and steelmaking and casting industry, but several truly epoch-making studies have failed to break through.

These include steam engines, generators, various machine tools, and more powerful explosives. Qin Huan only provided a general idea and direction, which was completely made by the researchers themselves.

For example, the steam engine, Qin Huan told the researchers to make a boiler, boil the water to produce steam, and then use a pipe to guide the steam into another machine to drive the runner inside.

The principle is similar to that of a waterwheel. A machine is a waterwheel and steam is water. In this way, everyone will understand.

As for electricity, Qin Huan only compared lightning and told them the general characteristics of electricity.

Qin Huan really didn’t know how to generate and store electricity. The only thing he knew was that power generation seemed to be related to magnetism. The battery used to store electricity used sulfuric acid. Although he knew that it was very difficult to get it out, at least there was a direction, didn’t he?

What scientific research fears most is that there is no direction in the dark. As long as there is a direction, it will succeed in the end if it is willing to invest a lot of human and material resources.

All kinds of industrial machines and more powerful explosives are simple. In a word, industrial machines should be able to process iron blocks into any shape like wood blocks, which can be completed by more than a dozen machines. As long as we learn from carpenters’ rulers, saws, hammers, chisels, wood drills and other tools, we will know what they want to study, Therefore, Huaxia has a great advantage in this regard.

Because the carpenter’s tools are very complete, he can process wood into almost any shape, so the principle is the same, but iron is harder than wood.

As for more powerful explosives, those Taoists are entirely responsible. They can also learn from gunpowder. There is no way. If there were chemists in ancient times, it is undoubtedly those Taoists who like alchemy.

Moreover, for thousands of years, they have actually made a lot of chemicals. The most successful example is gunpowder, followed by concentrated sulfuric acid, that is, green mercury oil, and other things used to play tricks, but they don’t know what they can do with these things inadvertently, so they can only play tricks. After all, chemicals are magical.

The reason why Qin Huan was so anxious to return to Nanyang was that several major studies of the Institute of natural technology had made many breakthroughs after several years of experimental exploration. In some cases, he was only one foot away from the door, which forced him to give up all his work and come to give some advice.

After all, as long as one of those major studies is successful, it is of great significance. Although it is only one step away, scientific research is no better than others. Sometimes an idea may break through the next day, and sometimes it may not be solved for more than ten years and decades.

It is impossible for him to study in the laboratory every day, but he can still do it at the critical time. After all, he has the knowledge of his previous life and knows those things best.

As soon as Qin Huan arrived in Nanyang, he left Zhang Yan’s daughters and went directly to the steam engine research institute. This is a huge courtyard in the suburbs. There are huge brick houses like factory workshops, carpentry houses, blacksmith shops, food and accommodation.

From a distance, you can see the black smoke rising from the courtyard, the sound of beating iron and the sound of carpenters working, just like a noisy vegetable market.

There are thousands of personnel in the Institute. Except for more than 100 logistics personnel, others have devoted all their energy and time to the steam engine over the past few years. As for the funds, they can apply for as much as they want. There will never be excessive deduction. Special people will get what materials they want and deliver them as quickly as possible.

It can be said that for thousands of years, I’m afraid no dynasty or emperor has spared no effort to support these strange sexual skills.

Chinese craftsmen are not only industrious, but also never lack creativity. They have just been buried and suppressed. Even so, in terms of science and technology, they did not start to lag behind the West until the Ming Dynasty for thousands of years.

Now thousands of people have been fighting for three or four years, consuming millions of liang of silver. With the relevant theories provided by Qin Huan, the prototype of the steam engine has finally been found.

In a large warehouse, there was a copper high cauldron, three meters high, with a diameter of at least one meter. There was an iron pipe on the top connected to a wood iron combination machine on the side. Although the machine was small, it was similar to a small cabinet half a person high, but an iron rod stretched out inside was slowly rotating, with a wheel embedded on it, and the whole cabinet was wrapped by white fog.

And the big tripod on one side, the coal below is burning vigorously.

“Did you really get it out?” Looking at the wheel spinning in the steam, Qin Huan was also excited after he confirmed that no one was hiding behind and operated it manually.

“Your Majesty, this steam engine is really magical. It can be automatic without human and livestock. However, the effect is far from what your majesty said at the beginning.”

People may have been used to it, so they were embarrassed when Qin Huan asked a little excited, because it didn’t work.

“Oh, what do you say?” Qin Huan was quite satisfied, because as long as the wheels could rotate continuously, they had succeeded in theory.

“Your Majesty, please look…” a 30-year-old craftsman didn’t bother. He directly took his protective gear and grabbed the wheel with his hand. As a result, the wheel didn’t turn.

“So the force is too small?” Qin Huan also frowned. He could catch it with his bare hands. The steam engine was really of little practical use.

“Yes, your majesty, not to mention a strong adult, even a six-year-old can easily catch it. We have thought of countless ways, which can’t be solved.” An older craftsman nearby explained.

“Do you know what the problem is?” Qin Huan wanted to have a closer look. However, the white steam temperature was still very high.

“Your Majesty, since the principle of the steam engine is similar to that of the waterwheel, I guess there are two reasons why the power of the steam engine is too small. The first is that the power of the steam itself is too small, such as the water flow is too small and too slow. The second is that the connection of the machine leaks, resulting in steam loss, which can not completely impact the wind blades inside.”

A young man in his early twenties said that others nodded one after another. Obviously, they agreed with him. Compared with the waterwheel, it is easy to analyze why the strength is too small.

“Well, your guess is very accurate. According to the situation, the steam pressure is not enough, and the rotating machine leaks on all sides. As long as you find a way to increase the steam pressure and seal the connection, the horsepower will certainly come up.”

Qin Huan nodded and patted the young man on the shoulder with appreciation. He had already seen that the steam pressure was not enough, otherwise the white fog would diffuse the whole warehouse. Where could they stand here and talk?

“But your majesty, it is too difficult for the iron and wood to be completely sealed. Any adhesive will not work under the high temperature for a long time, and there is no way to increase the pressure of steam!”

The young man cried, scratched his head hard, and the others sighed. Obviously, they also thought of many ways.

“This is simple. I have a way to solve it. First put out the fire. I have to look at it carefully.”

Qin Huan waved his hand and smiled bitterly at the big tripod. These guys just turned a boiler into an alchemy furnace. It seems that it should be cast at one time, and the weight should not be less than 10000 Jin.

Although solid, if every steam engine should be equipped with such a big guy in the future, it would be better to pull it with horses and people.