At the house of the privy deputy envoy Wang Yiyong, Du Zhongxiao commanded a group of subordinates to steam wine, and Su Song watched from the side.

Everything was ready to stop, Du Zhongxiao and Su Song sat in the shade under the tree together, watching the people of the Wang family busy and gossiping.

Su Song said: "I heard that Wu Kejiu, who came from Xuzhou with you, has also helped the ministers of the DPRK and China to steam wine these days. This person is very well-behaved, I don't know who he trusted, he will go to Lu Xianggong's mansion in a few days, and he will say it when he sees people. ”

Du Zhongxiao said lightly: "Let him go." Is this a good errand? We scholars don't study well, and we help big families do these chores, which is a waste of delay. Although every family has Xie Yi, how can I make this money when I come to the capital? ”

Su Song said: "Listen to Brother Du, this thing is annoying." Also, some people are okay and can point out articles and broaden their paths, while some rich and noble people just give some money, so they don't have much meaning. ”

Du Zhongxiao took out a booklet from his arms and handed it to Su Song: "How to steam wine from wine lees, I wrote a booklet and dedicated it to the court in a few days, and the matter is over." In the future, the imperial court will collect the lees of each family, and the official family will make the wine, so there will be no need for me to get it. This time I came to Beijing to travel to learn more, and by the way, I bought some books that are difficult to see in the state and county. These days, I live in Daxiangguo Temple, and I can buy almost all the books I can buy, and the people who can talk about it are only a few people from Brother Su, and it is not interesting to stay in the capital any longer. ”

Su Song nodded and took the booklet handed over by Du Zhongxiao to read. He has learned from his family since he was a child, not only a subset of classics and history, but also all kinds of miscellaneous studies. Du Zhongxiao's steaming utensils are constantly improving, and many things in it are very interesting, Su Song is interested in technology, and the two came together.

After flipping through the booklet for a while, Su Song said: "It is specifically mentioned here that the top of the retort should be empty, the bamboo pipe for leading the wine should be thin, and the wet cloth wrapped in the bamboo pipe should be replaced." I don't think that's how you first steamed your wine, but why did you change it to this? ”

"In the pot, the wine is mixed with the water, and when it is heated, it becomes water vapor. This water vapor has wine and water, and the place where it stands is large, so that the top of the retort should be empty, so that the wine can be filled and mixed. If the bamboo pipe is thin, the water vapor will come out of the retort and become dense in the bamboo pipe, which will easily condense into wine. Water vapor should be condensed into wine, one is to be dense, and the other is to be cool, so the wet cloth wrapped in the bamboo pipe must be changed from time to time to be useful. ”

The wine is actually the process of vapor condensation, cooling is one thing, and volume compression is another. Therefore, the steam comes out of the retort and quickly enters the thinned bamboo tube, and the cooling effect of the damp cloth greatly improves the efficiency of the sake. This is the inertia of Du Zhongxiao's thinking in his previous life, and if he keeps doing this, he will habitually continue to improve. Therefore, Wu Kejiu learned the method of steaming wine in Du Zhongxiao, but the efficiency and quality have always been far behind.

But this matter is not very interesting, Du Zhongxiao has been doing it for more than half a month, and he doesn't want to do it. Every time you give a steamed wine, you will give a thank you gift, which is very expensive. But Du Zhongxiao didn't come to the capital to make money, for a study tour, how to do this kind of thing every day.

Wu Kejiu was greedy, especially when he could take this opportunity to meet many officials in the DPRK and China, he couldn't help it after all, so he recommended himself to steam wine for others. There is no need for Du Zhongxiao to let Wu Kejiu be a good person with his own technology, just write the technology into a booklet and wait for the right time to present it. According to the habit at this time, with this kind of technology, the Du family's monopoly position in the Xuzhou area is unbreakable. With a restaurant as the foundation, Du Zhongxiao has no worries about food and clothing in this life, and he can use all his energy on his future.

In this era, it is unprofitable to be a big businessman, not to mention whether you can keep the money you make, it is difficult to do daily business. At this time, business was not centered on merchants, but on tooth people. Analogous to Du Zhongxiao's previous life, it is most similar to the market such as renting, and it is the intermediary who really controls the lifeblood of the industry, not the person who owns and rents a house. Yaren has a special identity and has close ties with the government, and Du Zhongxiao's business experience in his previous life is basically useless.

If you want to build an industrial and commercial empire in this era, at least not now, reality and the law do not allow it. Therefore, the family business is coarse, and Du Zhongxiao thinks about Jinshi wholeheartedly, because this is the only way out in this era.

Su Song has a natural interest in technology, and while flipping through Du Zhongxiao's booklet, he asked about technical details. Du Zhongxiao patiently explained, and was not impatient. This is a great scientist who will leave a name for himself in later generations, and it is rare that he was born in a family of eunuchs and has endless benefits for making friends.

After reading the booklet, Su Song got up again and went to the place where the wine was steamed, read it carefully, and memorized the technical details in his heart.

Du Zhongxiao sat on the chair, picked up the poems of the previous imperial examinations that he bought a few days ago, and flipped through them casually. At this time, the reference books for the imperial examination were roughly divided into two categories. The first category is the real questions from the Tang Dynasty, and the excellent works in the poems and fufu in each imperial examination. The other type is the writer's work, some of which are based on historical topics, and some of which are written by themselves. Reading these articles is the real test-taking education, which is much more useful than memorizing the classics. There are only a few classics for the imperial examination, and in Du Zhongxiao's opinion, there is no need to work too hard.

Su Song looked back and suddenly said, "According to what Brother Du said, when the water is hot, it turns into water vapor, and the area it occupies becomes much larger. So, what if it's a closed pot and just heats it? Is it going to blow it up? ”

Du Zhongxiao was stunned for a moment, and then laughed: "Nine times out of ten, it will blow up." If you have time, Brother Su can give it a try. ”

When it is heated, the steam expands when heated, and as long as it is sealed well enough, it will of course blow up. And if it is opened and closed, it is the most primitive steam engine. Du Zhongxiao studied engineering, of course, he knew that the steam engine in history had actually undergone a long period of development, and Watt had only made sufficient improvements to make the steam engine a general power, thus opening the industrial age.

The primitive steam engine is not difficult to make, but it is too inefficient and not of high practical value. In this era, there are no insurmountable difficulties to really do, but it is impossible to say which step can be achieved.

This matter is quite interesting, Du Zhongxiao put down the book in his hand, closed his eyes and thought for a while. Boilers can be cast, presumably with this technique of casting bells, or forged, using brazing techniques if necessary. The most difficult thing is the sealing, especially the sealing of steam, which must be resistant to high temperatures. However, by this time, the technology for making brass had matured, and it was possible to use brass as a gasket that could withstand high pressures.

After thinking about it carefully, Du Zhongxiao felt that it was actually feasible to build a steam engine by hand, but it would take a lot of time and energy, and of course sufficient material support was even more indispensable. With the steam engine, it may not be possible to open the industrial age, industry needs the support of the entire social system, and the whole society needs to develop to a certain extent. But with the steam engine, many of the problems of this era could be solved.

Opening his eyes, Du Zhongxiao looked at Su Song and couldn't help laughing. The person in front of him is a technology madman in this era, and he doesn't have the energy to do this, but Su Song may not have it. As long as he tells him the principle, Su Song doesn't know where he will go. I still have to stay in the capital for a while, so it is better to discuss this issue with Su Song and build the basic principle framework first. As for when it will be able to blossom and bear fruit, only God knows, Du Zhongxiao needs to chase his future in this world, and there will be no time in a few years.

After thinking about it again, Du Zhongxiao said to Su Song: "The matter mentioned by Brother Su is actually quite interesting. When the water is hot, it turns into water vapor, and it becomes much larger. If it's sealed, there's pressure. As long as you open an opening and let the water vapor go out as required, you can do a lot of things. We are steaming and stuffy these days, why don't we just do such a thing and talk about it? ”