Although Xue Fengzuo was also a member of the Donglin Party, he and Fang Yizhi were actually a little similar, and his interest in scientific research far exceeded the constraints of physical thought. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 infoAfter seeing the steam engine, Xue Fengzuo threw himself on the steam engine.

Twelve coppersmiths started work at the same time to build two sets of brass linkage control valves, and Xue Fengzuo's student Mei Wending was personally guiding the coppersmiths to start construction.

"Vernier calipers are a good thing!" Mei Wending couldn't put it down, stroking the vernier caliper in his hand. With this thing, different craftsmen can create parts of the same size, and the goal of standardized production can be achieved. Standardized production not only plays a great role in the production of gun calibers, but also plays a very important role in processing parts, manufacturing precision machinery and instruments.

Without standardized production, there will be several valves of the same specification that would otherwise need to be used in a steam engine of different sizes, which will cause great difficulties in assembly.

On the other side, Xue Fengzuo and his new apprentice Liu Feng are instructing craftsmen to build a high-pressure boiler.

Song Yingxing, Dai Cang, Dai Zi, Xu Zhengming, Song Shihui, Song Shiyi, Mei Wending, Mei Wending and other contemporary greatest oriental scientists, plus a group of Wang Xinyu high-tech hired from Europe Italian instrument craftsmen, Swiss watchmakers, as well as Chen Shuijie and his son, as well as thousands of skilled craftsmen from Fujian and Jiangnan, all of them were put into the development of the steam engine.

Even though a lot of manpower and material resources were invested, and Wang Xinyu also gave 500,000 taels of silver for the development of the project, according to Xue Fengzuo's conservative estimate, it was impossible to complete the work of improving the steam engine in a year.

The original old-fashioned boiler was no longer usable because of its poor sealing, and Xue Fengzuo was ready to rebuild a new set of high-pressure boilers.

In this era, high-pressure boilers can be said to be a kind of high-tech, with very high requirements for materials, and if you are not careful, it will cause an accident of boiler explosion. There are also requirements for welding, tightness and other aspects of the connected pipes.

Although the boiler of Nanhuairen trolley was a high-pressure boiler, the power of that boiler was very low and the size was small, so the requirements for materials were much lower. Now it is necessary to enlarge the boiler of Nanhuairen trolley dozens or even hundreds of times, according to the mathematical formula of volume and surface area, the larger the volume of the object, the smaller the surface area required per unit volume. Large boilers that need more water require more materials.

Therefore, Xue Fengzuo did not think about ascending to the sky in one step, but planned to build a small high-pressure boiler that was ten times larger than Nan Huairen's car, first build a small steam engine that could be put into practice, and then slowly improve it on the foundation.

For the control of water pressure and temperature, Wang Xinyu put forward a suggestion: "We can make water temperature gauge and pressure gauge, we can first test the boiler to see how high the pressure can withstand, and then build a boiler according to this standard, and set a red line on the pressure gauge, that is, the warning line, below the red line is safe, and there is danger if it is exceeded." In addition, a safety valve can be built according to the amount of pressure it can withstand. ”

After all, Wang Xinyu did not study mechanical manufacturing in his previous life, but studied chemical engineering, and he didn't know anything about the structure of the safety valve.

Once the steam pressure in the high-pressure boiler exceeds the pressure, the safety valve can be automatically opened to discharge the excess steam in the boiler.

However, thinking of the pressure cooker of later generations, Wang Xinyu made a suggestion: "You can use a heavy hammer, yes, build a heavy hammer of a certain weight to control the steam pressure can be discharged when it exceeds!" This all involves mathematical calculations, and Ben Fan thought, Mr. Xue must be able to do this job! ”

The high-pressure boiler is a very complex project for the technology of this era, which requires all kinds of skilled craftsmen, as well as hands-on scientists like Dai Cang and Xu Zhengming, as well as design and calculation scientists like Xue Fengzuo and Mei Wending, and European craftsmen who are good at manufacturing precision instruments.

As for the problem of pressure gauges, the watchmakers from Switzerland quickly came up with the design drawings, in fact, the internal structure is still somewhat similar to the clock, but through the amount of pressure, the scale pointed by the pointer, the basic principle, the watchmakers can solve. However, the control elements behind the pressure gauge need parts that can withstand high pressure and high temperatures, so it is not the work of the watchmakers, but the work of Dai Zi and Song Yingxing.

The initial design calculation, the intermediate adjustment calculation, and even the final general installation work are what Xue Fengzuo and Mei Wending are good at.

In fact, what Wang Xinyu did was to gather the greatest oriental scientists of this era together, coordinate them, and work together, so that it is not a dream to build a steam engine!

"It's been almost six years! It took almost six years to build a steam engine! If you can build it in two years, it's already a success! Even if it's a little longer, four years, five years, it doesn't matter! That's a long-term thing, and it can't be rushed. Wang Xinyu gave Xue Fengzuo enough time.

There are too many aspects involved, steel materials, sealing, rubber, and there is no rubber at the moment, so it is replaced by eucommia gum. Build a small steam engine first, and then build a big one.

While building the steam engine, Wang Xinyu also discussed the manufacture of batteries with Song Yingxing's two sons, Song Shihui and Song Shiyi.

A large sulfur plant is under construction, and when there is industrial production of sulfur suan, there will be enough acid to make batteries. However, generators are high-tech, and with the technology of this era, there is no way to build a generator in a hundred years. The purpose of the battery was to communicate.

In this era, the communication technology was so backward that when the fleet reached the sea, it was almost impossible to communicate with the shore; On land, an order was sent from Dongfan, and the order was to be received in Hunan, and it would take seven days and seven nights to get it at the earliest. Wait for the other party to receive it, and then give it back, and it will be half a month to come back and forth.

What if there was a telegram? That will be a leap forward in command and operation, and we will be able to truly achieve it: We can win a decisive victory thousands of miles away in the midst of strategizing.

With the current level of communication, the only way to win a decisive victory thousands of miles away is just what the ancients said in their books, and the real battlefield situation is ever-changing, and it is not possible to win a battle by a few civilian officers and military divisions sitting in the rear and pointing fingers.

It was also during the period when Wang Xinyu temporarily stayed in Dongfan that Li Guangdi returned from Dongying and brought back good news: the Japanese kamikaze special attack team formed with their help not only drove away the red-haired ghosts, but also captured and salvaged four battleships, nine cruisers and three large merchant ships.

"The giant ship of the red-haired ghost is almost intact, and it didn't run away, and it was captured by us. Also, we salvaged five giant ships, except for two that could not be used, three of which could still be used if they were repaired. Li Guangdi reported the situation.

"What kind of ship was salvaged?" Wang Xinyu is very interested in this.

In the First World War of Singapore, the Qiongzhou Army also salvaged two Dutch battleships, one of which was seriously damaged and could only be placed on the shore as training equipment for sailors; The other has been restored and is ready to go to sea and is currently being used as a training ship.

The battleship, which the shipyards of the Nanyang Company itself are preparing to build, has already laid the keel. After five years of drying, the Nanyang Company already had oak that could build battleships. At present, construction is under construction of two 1,200-ton second-class battleships and six 800-ton third-class battleships.

Wang Xinyu doesn't plan to build a first-class battleship now, that thing is too expensive, and in Europe, a first-class battleship is actually a deterrent. Due to the high price and the small number, the first-class battleships actually did not play much role in the real naval battle, and the main force of the real naval battle was the 800-ton third-class battleship.

Li Guangdi replied: "The four giant ships we got in Dongying are oak structures, giant ships with seventy cannons!" ”

"It's a seven-provincial seventy-gun battleship! Good! That's great! How long will it take to build combat effectiveness? Ben Fan thought that by the time of next summer, we would have five battleships that could enter the Yangtze River, shell Jiangning, and attack Anqing! I wonder if these ships will be repaired and put into service by then? Wang Xinyu asked.

Li Guangdi replied: "The salvaged ship is being repaired, and it will be all repaired in another month or two." It's just that the training of the crew is not so fast. ”

"The crew doesn't matter, we transfer it from other ships and give priority to ensuring the number of battleship crews! As long as our giant ships enter Jiangning and Anqing and shell the Tatar naval divisions, then the lower reaches of the Yangtze River will be completely controlled by us! Wang Xinyu said.

"To enter the Yangtze River to shell the Tatar Naval Division, there is a Tartar Guazhou battalion that needs to be pulled out, and the Tatars have set up barrage ropes and a large number of underwater hidden piles in the Guazhou area, and our boats cannot go up." Li Guang said.

"Neither the barrage nor the underwater piles are a problem, we have mines to blow up! The key is to have enough boats! If the Tartars appoint Shi Lang as the commander of the Yangtze River Naval Division, then our giant ships will face a large number of Tartar fire attack ships. But if we had enough ships, the Tartar fire attack ships would not be able to get close at all. Wang Xinyu said with a serious expression.

"By the way, Dashuai, what to do with the red-haired ghost we captured?" Lee Kwang-di remembered another question.

The Dutch, who had been captured by the Japanese kamikaze, were still in the Edo Japanese captive camp, and it would be of little use to kill them, so it would be useful to keep them. However, the Qiongzhou army was not at ease with Dutch captives to help them fight, and these people were very unreliable compared to the British, Spaniards, and Portuguese.

Wang Xinyu replied: "Send them to the British East India Company!" The red-haired ghosts are at war with the British, and these captives are given to the British, and we can exchange them for silver and weapons from the British! ”

……

Thousands of miles away in Edo Bay, Japan, there are three seven-province battleships on the beach, and there is also a seven-province battleship in the sea, which are all trophies of kamikaze.

In the Battle of Edo Bay, the Dutch suffered a big loss in front of the Japanese kamikaze and suffered heavy losses. After the defeat of the Dutch fleet, the Dutch warships sunk in Edo Bay were salvaged under the organization of the Ming army. Excluding those heavily damaged ships, some ships can still be used even if they are repaired.

And the intact battleship was too late to run away in a panic, and as a result, it was knocked off the sail by two hexagonal fast battleships of the Ming army and lost power. Subsequently, a large number of Japanese samurai, led by the special combat team of the Ming Marine Corps, boarded the stern of the Dutch battleship, which had little defense, and captured the battleship.

Originally, Tokugawa Ietsuna wanted to leave a few ships, but Emperor Hu Dedi was unwilling to give them.

Li Guangdi also helped to coordinate, the battleships of the Ming Army must be left behind, and the other small ships can be left for the Japanese. Anyway, the battleships did not have any role for the Japanese, Japan did not need a strong navy, it was enough for the navy of the Ming army to protect Japan.

At this time, Takashi Nobuko, who was in fact already Wang Xinyu's concubine, helped Ming Jun speak: "We in Japan don't need this kind of big ship, but need more small boats." We don't sail on the oceans, what we need is more kamikaze ships so that the Europeans don't dare to come in! ”

With the help of the Nanyang Company, the Japanese improved the kamikaze boats, from the original single-use, simple suicide boats, to reusable pole mineboats!

The so-called pole mineboat is the predecessor of the torpedo boat, and a long metal rod can stick out of the front of the boat, and there is a mine at the end. The pole mineboat is also a slender hull, the oarsmen sit in the paddling deck, which is protected by thick wooden planks, and the pole mineboat is small in size, but also very strong, fast, and not easy to be hit. The ship has a thick deck to protect the oarsman from shotguns and grapeshot.

After the pole minecraft approached the opponent's battleship, the sailor in charge of operating the mine shook the handle, stretched out the metal rod and the mine, sent the mine to the opponent's battleship, and then retreated and left at full speed. The slender pole minecraft can walk on both ends, and when retreating, the bow becomes the stern and the stern becomes the bow.

Although the pole minecraft is said to be reusable, the survival rate of the pole minecraft in naval battles is very low, so the Nanyang Navy itself will not use this kind of suicide attack weapon, but is trying to find a way to develop a mine that can walk on its own in the water.

However, it is not an easy task to build a self-walking mine, that is, a torpedo, and perhaps it will not be until there is a breakthrough in the technology of the steam engine that a real torpedo boat will appear.

On the beach, Hatdedi commanded a group of Japanese shipwrights repairing three battleships that had been salvaged not long ago.

"Tear down the unusable boats, and use the oak wood to mend the holes!" A shipbuilder from the Nanyang Company is instructing Japanese craftsmen to do their work.

The same was true of the several Dutch warships that were salvaged in the waters of Singapore, and the ships that were so badly damaged that they could not be used were simply dismantled, and the oak that was removed was a good thing to be used to repair the ship.

In addition to repairing the holes, the removed oak was used to add compartments to the battleship. (To be continued.) )