After hearing Yang Fan's description, everyone was fascinated by the steam engine.
It doesn’t require manpower, animal power, or even wind and water, which are ubiquitous energies in nature. It can be powered by only fire and water. Many old craftsmen feel that if this thing can be made, wouldn’t it be great?
Things are going to change.
"Today is a day that will go down in history. We have boring machines. In the future, with the development of boring machine technology, we can not only manufacture guns more quickly, but also chamber cylinders. With precision cylinders, we can manufacture
Instead of relying on biological and natural energy, we can use machines to cross the ocean, fly into the sky, and travel from the capital to anywhere in the Ming Dynasty in two or three days."
The little girl's eyes were filled with little stars, and she looked at her husband infatuatedly, scolding Fang Qiu here.
He is so handsome like this.
I like the way he gives guidance the most.
"Sir, from now on, our cars won't need horse-drawn carriages?"
"Well, not yet. The steam engine is too heavy and is not suitable for powering carriages. We have to wait for better machines to come out. But with the steam engine, we can make trains. Although this is not as convenient as a car, it is
It can also greatly solve transportation problems.”
"Train, what is that?" Lin Yueru was a little confused. Is it a car driven by fire? Could it be Nezha's Hot Wheels?
The master actually knows magic. She looked at Yang Fan suspiciously.
"How do you explain this? You have all seen our mines and how we transport iron ore and coal."
"I know this. It uses a rail mine cart, which is pushed by horses and people. It has four iron wheels running on two steel rails. What is it called? By the way, it's called a railway." Mei Xiang chirped.
Seeing that everyone was discussing this seemingly powerful thing, she quickly spoke up and said that she was also following the master closely and was not left behind.
Mei Xiang is very anxious now. Now the women around the master are following his pace and learning new knowledge. Only she manages the back house with the help of her mother all day long, completely becoming a housekeeper.
This gave her a sense of crisis, as if she was a dispensable person.
Yang Fan looked at Mei Xiang approvingly and said: "The third lady said it very well. If we make the mine car bigger and install this steam engine, what do you think will happen? Isn't it shocking?"
Fu Laoliu has now become one of the first people to be awarded the title of engineer. He leads more than 300 apprentices and manages the gun workshop, mainly responsible for casting gun barrels and barrels.
After hearing this, he thought for a moment and said, "Master, the railway mine car has an amazing carrying capacity. It can reach the maximum of 20 tons according to the master's standard. If the horses are replaced by steam engines, it would be amazing."
The friction between the rails and the steel wheels is only one ten thousandth of the friction between the wheels and the road surface on the highway, so very heavy loads can be pulled with only a small amount of force.
The 20-ton minecart can be pulled by a heavy workhorse.
This is also the heaviest mine car currently used by Yang Fan's system. It was purchased by Er Lengzi from the scrap iron prices of small mines that were closed down in China. These ready-made mine cars and rails are directly taken and can be used after laying. It is very convenient.
They are all unpowered, the small ones are pushed and pulled by humans, and the medium and large ones are driven by animals. The unloading truck is directly tipped, which is very convenient. Since the mines used these equipment and explosives for blasting, Yang Fan's minerals quickly reached the Ming Dynasty in half a year.
half of the output.
"You have only seen small dump trucks in mines. There is still a difference between that thing and a real railway. Mine cars are narrow-gauge railway transportation vehicles in mines that transport bulk materials such as coal, ore and waste rock. They are driven by animal power or
The winch pulls and transports coal, gangue, equipment, equipment and personnel. However, the common track gauge used for mine cars is millimeters. This is really too narrow."
Lin Yueru had seen the largest coal mine owned by Yang Fan. Workers used gunpowder blasting to mine coal, which was loaded into mining trucks and transported out of the coal mine tunnels.
She was shocked by the 900mm track. She heard it was too narrow and said in surprise: "Master, with the 900mm track, the mine car can be 1.5 meters wide, and three people can sit side by side."
I’m a worker, but it’s still very narrow like this.”
"Of course, if we want to design a train, the track should be widened to 1.435 meters and the carriages should be 3.35 meters. This track is called a standard track. From now on, the tracks of the entire world will be unified to this width, uh, like
Qin Shihuang made the trains run on the same track. Under the sky, the width of all trains and vehicles is the same standard." Yang Fan said boldly.
Immediately, Yang Fan's wives and the beauties in the secretariat burst into admiration. The master is so stylish. He is so admirable. He is really a great hero and a great hero if he can do something that can be compared with Emperor Qin.
Chen Xi pushed up his glasses, yes, they were glasses.
Since the little beauty Chen Xi came to the Secretariat, she suddenly found that she didn't understand a lot of things. The little talented girl was severely hit. How can this be accepted?
So she started studying day and night, and she read almost all the books in the library.
She has a high salary, has nothing to do other than work, and has plenty of time to study.
Besides, she is in the secretariat and can see almost any information she wants. It is very convenient for her to study.
In addition, because the female records of the Chen family are all family members of the guilty ministers, they were sold to Mr. Chen. People in the Chen Fan system generally believe that this is the woman of the master, and no one dares to propose marriage. She has not been married at this age.
of bondage.
Chen Xi had nothing to do except work. She was eager to study day and night.
Even after the lights were turned off in the dormitory, he hid under the quilt and read with a flashlight. As a result, he became the first person to become myopic.
When Yang Fan discovered that there was something wrong with her eyes, he was very surprised. The work of the Secretariat was not so arduous. Moreover, the books and documents of this era were all with large characters. It was difficult for the eyes and the brush to write too small characters without straining the eyes.
After learning about the situation, Yang Fan couldn't laugh or cry. As a good boss who cared about his employees, he naturally had to solve the problem of Chen Xi's difficulty in seeing clearly through his glasses.
She had no choice but to entrust Yaoguang to customize a pair of modern glasses for her.
After bringing Chen Xi, a young talented girl, she became surprisingly temperamental and full of intellectual beauty.
Tu Shanyue and Lin Yueru quit, and they also clamored for glasses.
Yang Fan couldn't laugh or cry, why should he wear glasses if his eyes were so good?
The two of them acted recklessly and even refused to let Yang Fan go to bed. They threatened to refuse to perform their duties.
Yang Fan was so troubled that his brain hurt and he couldn't stand it anymore.
I had no choice but to get them some glasses without prescription. Later, my bad taste got the better of me and I got them a batch of sunglasses and sunglasses.
Only then did the fire in the back house be put out.
Chen Xi asked: "Sir, why should the standard track gauge be set to 1.435 meters?"
Chen Xi is not Tu Shanyue or Lin Yueru, she is a real scholar. Ordinary answers cannot get rid of her. When the time comes to ask questions, Yang Fan will have a headache.
"This is based on the width of the horse's buttocks. Our track requires horse-drawn horses. The distance between the buttocks of two horses is this. The track gauge of the double-horsed light carriage we are currently manufacturing is this width. In order to unify the standard, we continue to use this
Width. This principle is called path dependence. I will tell you in detail when I have time, this is very complicated."
Chen Xi nodded with satisfaction. This answer was very accurate. The standards for transportation should really be fixed and not come up with many standards, which would be too troublesome.
In fact, Yang Fan did not tell her the real reason. These things came from modern times, and modern times have accepted standard rails. As long as you get these things from modern times, you must use modern weights and measures.
The real reason why the standard rail uses this width is that this width is the wheelbase of ancient Roman chariots. This track gauge is determined by the width of the horse's buttocks when two Roman horses pull the cart side by side.
This rule was inherited by the ancient Germans, which caused their vehicles to have this gauge. The ruts on British roads all have this width.
If the wheels of the carriage are not made according to this standard, they cannot drive in the rutted grooves and will be damaged soon. Therefore, the road conditions force the carriage to continue to follow this track gauge.
The earliest train carriages were produced by a factory that manufactured carriages. The width of the train carriages was also designed based on the carriage carriages, so the trains inherited this standard.
There is a joke in later generations that the performance of Chinese rockets is determined by the horse's ass in Rome.
The diameter of Chinese rockets in later generations has been limited to 3.35 meters for a long time because after the rocket is built, it must be transported by railway, and railways and tunnels are designed according to standard rails.
The rocket is too thick to be transported. Unless it is shipped by sea, 3.35 meters is the maximum width. This is also the width of a train car.
"Sir, I want to leave the Secretariat. I think I prefer creative work. I want to study steam engines." Chen Xi pushed up his glasses and said.
Yang Fan was surprised that he actually met a real intellectual woman in Ming Dynasty.
Chen Xi was very smart, and Yang Fan tested the IQ of the women around him as a prank. He found that they were all smarter than him, which made Yang Fan unhappy for a long time.
Chen Xi’s IQ is over 150.
Generally, people with an IQ above 120 only account for about 8% of the human population. These people are suitable for high-intensity mental work. People with an IQ above 135 only account for 2%. These people are suitable for scientific research work. It is estimated that those with an IQ above 150
Not even one in a million people. (The average IQ of the Han people is over 105)
When she was in her boudoir, she studied music, chess, calligraphy and painting, the Four Books and the Five Classics, etc.
From the first time Yang Fan came into contact with her, he was shocked by her super intelligence and learning ability. Especially her understanding and insight into music.
Yang Fan suddenly discovered that she was only fifteen years old, the age of a junior high school student.
Although it is a bit old, it is not too late to learn now.
Yang Fan was a little reluctant to let her go.
She is sensitive to numbers and is the right-hand assistant of the Secretariat.
Xiao Niangpi is just a little confused, insensitive to numbers, and has no interest in mathematics, and Lin Yueru is not that good either.
However, this was a scientist's seedling. He couldn't delay her. Yang Fan hesitated for a while and agreed.
"Since you like machinery so much, then you can take charge of the steam engine project team. I will retain the position of the secretariat for you. As the section chief, it will be convenient for you to coordinate various resources."
Chen Xi was so happy. She had always envied those engineers who were doing research, but she didn't expect that the master actually agreed.
"Thank you, sir. I will arrest this project team and build a practical steam engine as soon as possible."
"Well, I'm optimistic about you, come on." Yang Fan gave her a victory gesture.
"Master, then you must support me. I need to select people to form a research team, and I also need a certain amount of funding."
"No problem. You go to factories and schools to select people. If they don't let you go, I will coordinate it for you. As for funding, I will first approve you 10,000 taels of silver as start-up funds. You will also be given the highest authority for books and materials.
If you don’t understand anything, go ask Yao Guang.”
"Really? Master, you are so kind." Chen Xi said happily.
Yang Fan touched his nose and didn't expect to receive a good person card today.
"Energy and power will change the world. This field is enough for you to study for a lifetime. Work hard and bring out more students. You will go down in history. When you build turbines and internal combustion engines, I will give you the Academy of Sciences and the
The honorary title of Academician of the Academy of Engineering."
There were little stars in Chen Xi's eyes. Although she didn't understand what an academician was at this time, the name sounded so noble and noble, and it was unclear how powerful it was. Yes, it was the word that the master always said.
Three days later, Chen Xi happily packed her luggage and left the secretariat. She went to a courtyard in the new city that Yang Fan had just granted her.
Chen Xi took the first batch of thirty skilled workers allocated to her and hung a plaque on the door.
"Power Research Institute, well, what a good name, it sounds very domineering." Chen Xi squinted his eyes, clasped his little hands behind his back, and muttered to himself.
What she didn't expect at this moment was that ten years later, this place would become the most mysterious and sacred research institution in the entire empire.
In the long years that followed, this place produced the largest number of academicians of the Imperial Academy of Sciences and the Imperial Academy of Engineering.
