(0651) [Today's second update is delivered! ] 】

The current science and technology department can be described as full of talents and talents. The more famous scientists in the late Ming Dynasty were almost wiped out by Xu Xingxia. Xu Xingxia provided them with sufficient research funds and resources, and also specified the general direction of their future research. For Xu Guangqi and the others, it was like a traveler who was groping in the dark, and a bright light suddenly appeared in front of him. Although this light is still far away from them, and there is still a long way to go in the middle, but, at the very least, they don't need to take a detour.

Moreover, taking advantage of the division between the north and the south, Xu Xingxia will continue to dig more cattle into his command. Since the Ming Dynasty was divided into two, the psychological impact on the people was very great. The original dynasty came to an abrupt end and ended without a problem, and it is estimated that many scholars, or people with other talents, are difficult to accept. When their minds are constantly impacted, and their original rigid thoughts are gradually shattered, their resistance to the white-clothed army will naturally gradually decrease. After all, a stable way out is the most important thing.

"Chairman."

"Your Excellency is here?"

"Chairman, long time no see."

The heads of the Science and Technology Department came up to say hello.

"What's the deal with white explosives?" Xu Xingxia asked straight to the point.

"Come with us, Chairman! We went to the lab to explain. Xu Guangqi said with a smile.

Under Xu Xingxia's initiative, the heads of the Science and Technology Department have established their own laboratories. Their laboratory, of course, is somewhat different from that of later generations, and the number of glass test tubes or something is much smaller. There is no so-called white coat either. However, the subjects they study are quite extensive. As long as it has a role in promoting real life, it is within the scope of their research. Or, if they have a strange idea on the spur of the moment, they can work on it. Maybe the final result of the research is nothing, and it doesn't matter.

Every laboratory has the power to read and control financial resources. Xu Xingxia threw a lot of money into every laboratory, and what he wanted was to accumulate and occasionally achieve one or two useful results. In the case of a clear general direction, the laboratory will always have some results through repeated exploration and repeated experiments. In this regard, Xu Xingxia absolutely believes in the wisdom of the ancients. This white explosive is an unintentional achievement.

"Your Excellency, please be seated!" The group came to Xu Guangqi's laboratory.

After Xu Xingxia sat down, Xu Guangqi began to report on the invention process of white explosives. In fact, the people in the Science and Technology Department really don't understand the principle of white explosives at all. At that time, China did not have complete knowledge of chemistry. Xu Xingxia's chemical knowledge is far from being able to invent white explosives. Therefore, it cannot be accurately described with chemical formulas. Anyway, they came up with it by mistake in the continuous experiments.

At that time, there was a helper who added some solution to a pile of powder when he was disposing of Wang Zheng's laboratory garbage, but he didn't expect it to cause a violent explosion. As a result, this helper was suddenly blown to pieces and disappeared. Even Wang Zheng's laboratory was destroyed. The rest of the people in the lab were also either killed or injured. Fortunately, Wang Zheng was not in the laboratory at the time, otherwise, most of them would have been crushed. Until now, Wang Zheng's laboratory has not been restored. The damage is too severe.

After the violent explosion occurred, Xu Guangqi, Wang Zheng and others immediately gathered relevant personnel to conduct a detailed understanding and analysis of the cause of the explosion. Fortunately, everything in the laboratory is traceable. Through repeated reverse scrutiny, they finally figured out the main components of the explosives. Subsequently, they made several copies of the explosives and conducted repeated trials. Eventually, they identified the main components of this white explosive.

Compared with ordinary black gunpowder, the power of white explosives is simply incomparable. A pound of white explosives can blow up many houses. If it is buried in the ground and detonated, a pound of white explosives can blow up a large crater with a radius of three feet. If five catties of white explosives were packed together and detonated, the power would be ...... It's scary. If the five-pound bag of white explosives fell in the ranks of the Tartar cavalry, it was estimated that there would be no living people. People within a radius of 30 zhang are likely to be hit hard.

It's just a pity that this white explosive is very dangerous, and it often explodes at every turn. Even after trial and error, the Division of Science and Technology still did not know under what circumstances it would explode, or under what circumstances it would not explode. Therefore, everyone who deals with it is simply dancing with death.

"Try adding some alcohol to the white explosives." Xu Xingxia frowned and said.

He vaguely remembered that the black sokin explosives of later generations seemed to increase a lot after adding ether and ethanol. What ether is, Xu Xingxia doesn't know for the time being. In fact, even if he knew, he probably wouldn't be able to make it for the time being. However, there should be a lot of ethanol in alcohol, that's for sure.

"Alcohol? What is it? Xu Guangqi asked suspiciously.

At that time, there was no word for alcohol, and he naturally did not know it.

Xu Xingxia hummed for a moment, covered up the slip of the tongue, and said casually: "It's high-strength soju." The higher the intensity, the better. Preferably above sixty degrees. ”

Wang Zheng, Xu Guangqi and the others glanced at each other and immediately took action. They are now obedient to Xu Xingxia's suggestion and have never doubted it. Sure enough, after the white explosives were mixed with high-intensity soju, the stable surname did increase a lot, and it would not explode so easily. However, from a security point of view, it seems that it is not enough. This is the disadvantage of not having complete knowledge of chemistry, and there is simply no way to change it in the short term.

However, Xu Xingxia didn't care. That's all he can do at the moment. He was desperate to think about the propellant that could be used to make a fixed load. Subsequently, Xu Xingxia summoned all the responsible persons of the Science and Technology Department to explain to them in detail the basic principles of breech guns, the characteristics of the surname, the principle of bullet firing, and the basic structure. During this time, Xu Xingxia will be in the Department of Science and Technology to answer various questions found in the research at any time.

…… After deploying the overall research task of the breech gun, Xu Xingxia immediately came to the steam engine laboratory. The steam engine laboratory, located next to Zhang Liangbao, is larger than all the other laboratories. As soon as Xu Xingxia came to the vicinity of Zhang Liangbao, he heard the sound of steam jetting steam from a distance.

The person in charge of the steam engine laboratory is none other than Xu Guangqi. This old man, well, I can't call it an old man yet, is quite interested in the steam engine, and the train, the railway. Not only was he interested, but Matteo Ricci was also quite interested. Xu Guangqi led a group of helpers, thinking about how to improve the efficiency of the steam engine day and night. After a period of exploration, they finally achieved certain results.

At that time, no one knew how to test the efficiency of the steam engine, let alone the concept of "horsepower". Xu Xingxia also didn't know how horsepower was tested. Therefore, the effectiveness of the steam engine is tested by the real thing. How to test the real thing? Of course, it was pulled by using war horses. This is the Chinese style of "horsepower". The power of a horse is a horsepower, and the concept of horsepower in later generations is completely different.

The maximum power of the latest model of steam engine can already reach 500 horsepower, which is equivalent to the power of 500 war horses to drag at the same time. Generally, when each war horse is dragging objects, it can drag about 500 catties on a flat road. On the general slope, you can drag about 300 catties. On a relatively steep slope, you can drag about 200 catties.

"Five hundred horses......" Xu Xingxia silently calculated. Five hundred war horses can drag 250,000 catties of objects on a flat road, which is about 125 tons. That's quite a lot of power. However, for a train, it's still a bit small.

The trains of later generations generally had more than 1,000 tons, which is 2 million catties. In other words, if the horsepower of this steam engine cannot be further increased, it needs to be equipped with eight steam engines to pull the entire train. This amount, a bit much. Four units are about the same.

Fortunately, the first train invented by Stephenson, the locomotive weighed only five tons, and all eight carriages combined, only thirty tons. All the weights add up, which is thirty-five tons, that is, about 700,000 catties. This is completely competent for the current steam engine. So, there is definitely a light at the end of the tunnel.

"Let's increase the horsepower to more than 1,000 horses!" Xu Xingxia suggested.

The 500-horsepower steam engine is far from meeting the needs of the future railway, and we have to continue to work hard. Since there is no big problem with the horsepower of the steam engine, the design of the locomotive and the design of the railway will be put on the official agenda.

In May of the 46th year of Wanli, Xu Xingxia formally established the Train Research Institute to coordinate the overall research work of trains. The site of the first section of the railway is between Ningxia City and Shizuishan. Shizuishan is the largest mining base in Ningxia Town, where a large number of iron ore and coal mines are produced. At the same time, it is also the largest steelmaking base built by the White Army, with a super-large steel plant.

These products basically have to be transported back to Ningxia City and other places. If a railway is built, transportation costs can definitely be greatly reduced. Before the technology of passenger trains matures, a lot of experience can be accumulated in the development of freight trains. At the same time, between Ningxia City and Shizui Mountain, the terrain is flat, there are no ups and downs, and the 500-horsepower steam engine is fully competent.

(To be continued)