The Zhizhen Taoist priest ran to do another experiment. This time he had to change his standing position and only use a long wooden stick to stir the solution.
As a result, the Taoist priest collapsed and had to re-examine his alchemical rules.
Wang Yan led Wang Yuan forward and came to a courtyard near the base of the city wall. There were several steam engines there, but only one person was tinkering with them. The other students had long since given up.
"Sir, this is Ling Xia, whose courtesy name is Zhongshi." Wang Yan introduced.
Ling Xia was born in a craftsman family, with an older brother named Ling Chun and a younger sister named Ling Qiu. He originally wanted to take the imperial examination, but after passing the examination, he failed to pass the examination. Coupled with family difficulties, he could only learn from his father and brother.
Making a living by crafts.
In the Ming Dynasty, in principle, anyone who was not a lowly citizen could take the imperial examination. In the Ming Dynasty, there were Jinshi from craftsmen households, second only to civilian households and military households.
Wang Yuan felt that this person looked familiar, and suddenly remembered: "Have you helped me polish the crystal mirror?"
Ling Xia got up in disgrace, her body covered in soot and oil stains, she grinned and said, "Ling Xia has met you sir!"
This man earned some money by helping Wang Yuan polish mirrors, and secretly followed him to learn mathematics. Then he became a disciple of Wang Zheng, and systematically studied physics knowledge, so he was regarded as Wang Yuan's disciple.
Wang Yuan asked: "What difficulties did the steam engine encounter?"
Ling Xia said: "At first there was air leakage everywhere, but now it is a little better. The disciples used cotton to make multi-layer gaskets. Although the air is still leaking, the steam engine can now work."
Wang Yuan asked again: "What then?"
Ling Xia pointed to the steam engine and said: "Theoretically, the best state for the steam engine to do work is when the evaporation power of the boiler is infinite, while the friction, heat loss and air leakage are infinitely small. But this creates a contradiction. If we want
To reduce the friction, the gap between the piston and the sliding rod must become larger. When the gap is larger, there will be more air leakage, and the evaporation capacity of the boiler will also increase. Therefore, the key to making a steam engine is to improve the air tightness and reduce the
Friction!”
Wang Yuan was very pleased and praised: "It's a good summary."
Ling Xia continued: "The disciples have done a lot of improvement experiments. Under the existing conditions, the air tightness has been achieved to the extreme, unless there is some new material that can replace the cotton gasket. The piston and sliding rod have also been repeatedly improved and then coated with grease.
, the friction force can no longer be reduced.”
"In other words, the steam engine has been built?" Wang Yuan asked.
"It's done, but the power is not ideal," Ling Xia said. "I carefully calculated the labor and raw material consumption. If I use a steam engine to spin yarn and weave cloth, it is better to use human labor directly."
Wang Yuan studied this machine carefully, but unfortunately he was not a steam enthusiast, otherwise he could tell at a glance that this thing was similar to a Newcomen steam engine.
A very simple cylindrical boiler uses steam to make a piston move. It must be improved to have commercial value.
But everyone didn't know how to change it, so they all backed down, leaving only Ling Xia who continued to fight against the steam engine.
Wang Yuan asked: "Do you have any ideas for improvement?"
Ling Xia nodded and said, "Yes. The current thermal efficiency is low because it condenses inside the cylinder. If the steam is allowed to condense outside the cylinder, the power may be greatly increased!"
"Are you doing it?" Wang Yuan continued to ask.
Ling Xia picked up a thing from the ground: "This is a regulating valve made by a disciple. It can connect the condenser to the cylinder. According to the design, the steam after doing work can be introduced into the condenser outside the cylinder, and at the same time, the cylinder can generate
The vacuum prevents the cylinder from consuming heat when it is cold or hot. According to theoretical calculations, with this equipment, the efficiency of the steam engine can be increased by more than three times."
Wang Yuan said happily: "A very good idea."
Ling Xia sighed and said: "It's a pity that after adding this device, the air tightness has been greatly reduced, air leaks everywhere, and the efficiency is not as good as before."
Wang Yuan encouraged: "Then continue to think of ways to improve the air tightness."
Ling Xia looked at Wang Yan and then at Wang Yuan: "The college is unwilling to subsidize any more funds, and all the money earned by the disciples from polishing crystal mirrors has been thrown into it. The biggest problem now is that there is no money..."
Wang Yuan smiled and said: "I will sponsor the college with one hundred taels of silver to improve the steam engine for you. When the money is used up, I will withdraw it from my house."
"Thank you sir!" Ling Xia was overjoyed.
Ling Xia was born into a craftsman family, and his biggest dream was to get a spot on the gold medal list. After passing the provincial examination many times, he no longer had any pursuits in life and just returned home to work as a craftsman.
At this time, Wang Yuan asked him to grind crystal mirrors, exposing him to a whole new world. Ling Xia didn't like to study theory, and had no interest in astronomy, chemistry, etc. He was keen on using mechanical knowledge to make
mechanical.
He always believed that he could build a steam engine and bring about earth-shaking changes to the Ming Dynasty.
In fact, even if Ling Xia follows the idea and completes the improvement of the condenser, it still cannot reach commercial grade and is only equivalent to a incomplete version of the Watt steam engine. The piston power must be improved and the cylinder must be changed to a bidirectional cylinder. Only then can
Is the complete version of Watt's steam engine.
Wang Yuan really couldn't be of much help. He knew the basic principles of steam engines, but he didn't know the specific details. Apart from steam enthusiasts, who in modern times would study that stuff?
After encouraging Ling Xia again, Wang Yuan returned to the academy lecture hall and summoned all the disciples for lectures.
As Wang Yuan was promoted to the position of minister and accomplished the task of destroying the country in the Western Regions, the disciples of the Physics School were also full of enthusiasm and confidence in their future. At this moment, Wang Yuan stood in the lecture hall, and everyone's eyes were full of excitement.
Full of adoration.
Liu Mei, a student from North Korea, also admired it with a hint of awe. Because he heard that Turpan, which was destroyed by Wang Yuan, had a land area larger than North Korea!
Wang Yuan gave lectures in the morning, had lunch in the academy, and went straight to the Ministry of War in the afternoon.
Wang Qiong, the Secretary of the Ministry of War, heard that Wang Yuan was coming, and came over personally to get close to him: "Wang Shilang's contribution to destroying the country has shocked the past and the present, and a man should do the same!"
"Wang Shangshu is too polite." Wang Yuan cupped his hands and smiled.
Although Wang Qiong is extremely capable, he likes to cling to powerful people. He has already fawned over Jiang Bin and has a good relationship with Qian Ning. Although Wang Yuan is his subordinate, he is also a popular figure in the imperial court. This guy speaks with ease
Please use three points to please.
When the two were complimenting each other, their father-in-law Huang Ke also came.
Wang Jing, the left minister of the Ministry of War, has been transferred to the Metropolitan Procuratorate to serve as the censor of the right capital, becoming the second-in-command of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. Now, Huang Ke is the only left minister in the Ministry of War. He and Wang Qiong join forces to control the Ministry of War.
If they really join forces, Huang Ke's role changes very quickly. He used to be Yang Tinghe's confidant, and Yang Tinghe won't come back for another two years, so why not use his identity as son-in-law to join the team again?
This is not a shame, Yang Tinghe's absolute confidant Lu Wan has also finished re-joining the team.
When Yang Ting and Ding You returned to the court after their terms expired, the situation had completely changed and they needed to promise more benefits to win over the officials.
The three of them chatted there for a while, and two more right-hand ministers came over to make friends.
It wasn't until everyone dispersed that only Huang Ke and Wang Yuan were left. Huang Ke changed his personal address and said in a low voice: "My good son-in-law has been in the Western Regions for a long time, and I miss him so much at home. Tonight you take Mei'er (Huang E) to my place."
Let’s have a couple of drinks and talk about our relationship with our husband-in-law.”
"That's right," Wang Yuan asked, "Master Taishan, where is the Ministry of War warehouse?"
Huang Ke smiled and said, "I'll take you there. Is there any document that my good husband is looking for?"
Wang Yuan said: "Look through it casually."
The warehouse is the archives room. Huang Ke took Wang Yuan there and went back to work.
The treasurer asked: "I wonder what documents the King is looking for?"
Wang Yuan smiled and said: "The navigation chart of the Three Treasures Eunuch."
The treasurer was stunned for a moment: "Wait a moment."
During the Chenghua period, some eunuchs suggested that they follow the Yongle story and sail to the West to obtain treasures and money. As a result, Liu Daxia, a doctor in the Ministry of War, secretly hid the navigation chart so that the treasurers could not find it.
Xiang Zhong, Minister of the Ministry of War, was unable to deliver the mission, so he blamed the treasury officials. Liu Daxia said beside him: "The eunuchs of the Three Treasures went to the West, spending tens of millions of money and food, and tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians died... Even if the case exists, it should be destroyed..."
This means that even if the nautical chart is still there, it should be destroyed.
But during the Wanli period, Gu Qiyuan wrote "Guest Words" and directly changed it to "take and burn", saying that Liu Daxia burned the navigation chart, and Liu Daxia became a national sinner on the Internet.
In fact, it’s a waste to burn it. Navigational charts are important documents. Liu Daxia didn’t even dare to destroy them privately even if he had the courage to do so. At most, he would just hide them temporarily.
Zheng He's nautical charts were still there until the Chongzhen period. Mao Yuanyi compiled "Wu Bei Zhi" and included the nautical charts in it, and recorded a total of forty-four pages!
Even if the nautical charts were destroyed, they were burned during the Qing Dynasty. Chongzhen was still fine at that time.
The treasurer followed the index and quickly found the navigation map. Lying in front of Wang Yuan was a huge map, the full name of which was "From the Bao Shipyard to Longjiang Pass and Directly to Foreign Countries".
In addition to nautical charts, there are also some written materials recording the customs and customs of various countries along the way, as well as the special products of each country.
Wang Yuan directly called two scribes to copy the entire text of these materials, and also copied a copy of the nautical charts.