On the sea surface of the Taiwan Strait, there is a flying clipper passenger ship with a luxurious interior. The pale yellow wood hull of the pen &www.biquge.info amp; fun & pavilion, the brass bow wrapped, the white sails, and the streamlined and slender hull make this boat look and feel pleasing to the eye.

When Xue Fengzuo, Mei Wending, and Liu Feng boarded the ship in Guangzhou, they were curious about everything about the ship: the ship with a displacement of more than 500 tons was a behemoth in this era, the cabins inside the ship were luxuriously decorated, and the handrails of the stairs up and down the stairs were covered with brass.

The lavishly decorated aisles are covered with a large red wool carpet, and the walls are fixed with transparent glass oil lamps, and whale oil burns to emit a delicate fragrance.

Xue Fengzuo took the first-class cabin, the cabin was covered with dark green carpet, the bulkhead had a large window that could be opened, a soft and comfortable bed was placed on one side, a rattan soft chair was placed on the other side, there was a large table in the hall, and there was a study and a separate bathroom for the exclusive first-class cabin on the side.

Open the door to the bathroom, the floor and walls are covered with tiles, and there is a flush toilet, which is very convenient to use, and it can be automatically flushed with the help of a flip switch.

Xue Fengzuo was curious about everything on this ship, and after getting on the boat, curiosity made him walk back and forth on the ship. On board there is a luxuriously decorated restaurant, cabins of various classes, and storage rooms.

Mei Wending and Liu Feng live in the second class, although the room is not big, there are two single beds in it, but the decoration in the cabin is very warm, and it makes people feel very comfortable when they walk in. The second class cabin does not have a private bathroom, and uses a shared bathroom, but the shared bathroom is very clean.

However, there was no awareness of environmental protection back then, and the wastewater and sewage discharged flowed directly into the sea through the drainage pipes.

In order to get to Dongfan as soon as possible, Wang Xinyu took the three of them to Hengzhou by boat in Changsha, then changed to a carriage to Shaozhou, and then changed to a boat to Guangzhou, from Guangzhou to Shanghai.

The flying scissor passenger ship slowly left the dock and sailed on the Pearl River. When it gets dark, the ship sails out of the mouth of the Pearl River and into the sea.

The speed of the ship was very high, reaching a speed of fourteen knots. There are no typhoons in winter, but there are strong winds and waves in winter, and the high-speed passenger ships are very bumpy, and the tilt angle can reach 20 degrees! Xue Fengzuo, Mei Wending and Liu Feng, who had never been to the sea, were all lying on the bed unable to move, and they vomited all over the ground.

After more than 30 hours of sailing, the ship finally arrived at Anping Castle on Dongfan Island.

The boat entered the calm inland sea, and finally stopped being bumpy, and the three people who were severely seasick also felt much more comfortable. When the boat docked on the dock, the three were carried off the boat from side to side.

After going ashore, Xue Fengzuo still felt that the world was spinning, and even the elderly Song Yingxing personally brought a group of scientific and technological personnel to greet him.

According to the original history, Song Yingxing still has less than half a year of longevity. But because of Wang Xinyu's arrival, Song Yingxing was well taken care of. The artificial cultivation of shiitake mushrooms and fungus has made these things that only the royal relatives and powerful and wealthy can afford to eat now into the homes of every technician in the Dongfan Gun Factory, the consumption of these longevity dishes, plus Song Yingxing developed the habit of drinking tea, plus he was engaged in farm work in middle age, and his physical fitness was originally good.

Seeing Xue Fengzuo, Song Yingxing smiled: "Mr. Jizhai is here!" The old man can also resign from the position of president of the Eastern Academy of Sciences, or Mr. Jisai will take the position! ”

Only then did Xue Fengzuo see clearly that it was Song Yingxing, and hurriedly reached the ground: "I didn't expect Mr. Song to come to greet the younger generation in person!" The younger generation is really deserved! ”

"Hahaha!" Song Yingxing stroked his snow-white beard and laughed, "Mr. Jizhai is much stronger than the old man!" He studied under Mooney Court, James Ro, John Tong and other celebrities of Taixi. If you talk about seniority, speaking of which, Nan Huairen, the Taixi teacher of the little emperor Kangxi of the Tatar court, is also a brother with you. Mr. Yosai is proficient in mathematics, astronomy, water conservancy, firearms and other aspects, and can be described as very knowledgeable! Even compared to John Tang, it is better than blue! ”

"Mr. Song's heavenly creations, the younger generations have benefited a lot from it! Mr. Song exalted the juniors so much, the juniors really blushed! What Mr. Jizhai, I really don't dare to be! Xue Fengzuo's face turned red.

In the real history, during the Qianlong period, there was a compilation of "Biography of the Domain", which included scientists in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, and Xue Fengzuo ranked first in it, ranking still in front of Xu Guangqi! It shows how good this person is.

Song Yingxing saw that his seasickness had not yet recovered, so he asked Xue Fengzuo to take him to rest first.

The seasickness was uncomfortable on the boat, and after arriving on land, they rested and drank some porridge, and the three of them recovered one after another.

Next, Song Yingxing first took Xue Fengzuo, Mei Wending and Liu Feng to visit the Dongfan Railway under construction. Part of the line has already been opened to traffic, and the railway line from the dock to the gun factory is busy, although it is a narrow-gauge railway, but the width of the carriages is not too narrow, eight feet wide and more than five zhang long.

Mules and horses pulled vehicles full of weapons and ammunition from the Dongfan Gun Factory and towed to the docks, where they would be loaded onto ships and sent to Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang and other places to equip the Ming army.

When Xue Fengzuo saw that a mule could actually pull such a huge vehicle, his eyes widened in shock, and he asked after a long time: "A mule can actually pull so much cargo?" What a miracle! ”

When I walked to the railway, I saw that the ground was paved with ballast, on which there were sleepers, and on the sleepers were two wooden tracks, and the wooden track surface was covered with a thin iron sheet. The wheels of these trucks are also made of wood and iron, and the rolling friction between the iron and the iron is very small, so the mule can pull more heavy loads, and the track is smooth, not as bumpy as the road, and can pull more heavy objects than the vehicles driving on the road.

The group walked into the Dongfan Gun Factory and visited all the way, Xue Fengzuo was very surprised by all the facilities in the gun factory: "What a skillful workmanship!" Build sluices and use hydraulic machinery to make steel, it's ingenious! The younger generation really admires Mr. Song! ”

Song Yingxing said: "This is not the old man's strength alone, but everyone's concerted efforts!" Speaking of which, the original intention of the design of this gun factory was still proposed by the king of Nanhai County! ”

Xue Fengzuo was taken aback: "It's General Wang?" All he came up with? ”

Song Yingxing smiled and nodded: "The design of this gun factory, the hydraulic machinery and this railway are all the ideas of the prince, after he comes up with it, we will do what he envisions." ”

Who knew that Mei Wending said: "The emperor of the capital also loves skills and mathematics, and the emperor also let Nan Huairen be a teacher, and learned a lot of Taixi skills, astronomy, geography and mathematics." ”

Song Yingxing didn't know how to answer, Wang Xinyu picked up: "The Tartar Emperor learned Taixi science, it's just fun, he regards Taixi science as a kit kat yin skill, and simply as a toy." Let's just say that Nan Huairen's car, the Tartar Emperor used it for fun, but forbade others to learn Taixi science! And this domain is to let the steam engine serve my Huaxia and make my Huaxia invincible! One day, my Huaxia steam ironclad ship can sail to the side of the Taixi people! ”

"Is it true that the emperor of the capital would forbid others to learn the science of Taixi?" Mei Wending was a little unconvinced.

"Those who are not of my race will have different hearts! He feared that we Han Chinese had learned science and would use the power of science to overthrow his Manchu Tatar rule! They only want us Han Chinese to be slaves for them for generations! Wang Xinyu said.

As they spoke, the group stepped into the steam engine laboratory.

Xue Fengzuo saw the boiler and cylinder and asked, "This is the steam engine you built?" ”

"Exactly!" Wang Xinyu pointed to the steam engine and explained, "The steam turbine built by Nan Huairen has poor sealing, low power, and too high requirements for blade materials, which cannot be reached with the current smelting technology. So we came up with a solution, which is to let the steam into the sealed cylinder, which is used to push the piston to move, and then through the connecting rod crankshaft, the linear kinetic energy is converted into the kinetic energy of rotation, so that we can drive the vehicle and the boat. ”

Xue Fengzuo carefully looked at this set of steam engines, and stroked it with his hand, carefully looked at every structure, and looked at it for half an hour before turning his head and sighing: "Wonderful!" Wonderful indeed! Through various valves, the direction of steam flow is controlled, which is used to realize the piston to move back and forth, and then drive the connecting rod crankshaft to push the flywheel, which is really wonderful! ”

"It's theoretically possible, but when it really works, it's not like that, it doesn't work at all." Song Yingxing shook his head and said.

Wang Xinyu said: "Let's light the fire!" Let Mr. Xue take a look. ”

Several workers lit the boiler, after half a day, after the water boiled, this steam engine was not much better than last time, although the valve has been improved, there is no need for people to turn the valve to control the direction of steam flow, it can already be controlled by the automatic linkage valve, but the cylinder runs to the end, and it cannot be moved for half a day to go back.

Xue Fengzuo is really a great scientist, and he can see the problem at once: "The sealing is not enough, and the steam pressure generated by the boiler is too low; In addition, the valve structure is not tight enough; Also, after the steam expands, it stays in the cylinder and has to wait for natural cooling before it can be retracted. An extra valve should be added to direct the steam out of the cylinder! ”

"Good!" Wang Xinyu was overjoyed, "Since that's the case, then let Mr. Xue preside over this steam engine!" ”

But Xue Fengzuo said worriedly: "Mr. Song, General Wang, and the grass people are all in the north. If you let the court know that the grass people are doing things for you, I am afraid that something will happen to your family. ”

Wang Xinyu said: "As for this problem, you don't have to worry! Mr. Xue, and Mr. Mei, your family, this clan will send someone to take them to a safe place, so that they will not be poisoned by the Tartar court! You can study this steam engine in peace! As long as you can improve successfully, you will be my first hero in China! ”

"General, I'm afraid it will take quite a while for this to really change." Xue Fengzuo said.

"Time is not a problem! The key is to be successful! (To be continued.) )