Su Heng looked at Fang Zi'an helplessly, feeling that this person was a little too stubborn. But in his heart, he actually admires Fang Zi'an. He had returned to the city overnight last night and had arrived this morning. Running back and forth, not to mention, this night must have been uneye-catching. At this moment, his face is full of sweat and tiredness, and his heart should be very anxious. But he obviously didn't have the slightest idea of giving up, and his willpower was so strong.

"Do you think we're doing something wrong?" Su Heng asked with his spirits up.

Fang Zi'an slowly shook his head and said, "I don't know, I can only keep trying to find out." Maybe the grease is too thin, or maybe the gap is too large and not smooth enough. I think we're doing it more finely. The gap between the wooden shaft and the shaft barrel is smaller, and the leather cushion oil seal is added a few more layers. ”

Fang Zi'an started to do his work as he spoke, and some people around him stepped forward to help, but Fang Zi'an refused. He has to polish every detail himself. Half an hour later, three layers of gaskets and leather seals were added, and the finer-polished wooden shaft was combined with a sleeve with more space. Everyone watched in amazement as Fang Zi'an sank the device that had been infiltrated into the barrel into the water, staring at the surface of the water and waiting.

The frustration was repeated, but this time half an hour later. It took several times longer than the last time, but the result was not as good as it could be.

"It's really over this time." That's what everyone thinks in their hearts, tiredness and frustration hit, and everyone has lost hope. They walked to the shade and sat or lay in a daze. I suddenly found that everything I did before was meaningless, and the busy work the day before yesterday was now in vain. I don't know what to do next.

Fang Zi'an stood in a daze under the scorching sun and looked at the oily device in a daze, the beads of sweat on his body oozed out, and he was soaked.

"Childe, go drink saliva, don't torture yourself too much. Take your time and think about it. Shen Ling'er looked a little distressed, and stepped forward to persuade in a low voice.

Fang Zi'an didn't say anything, and said to himself: "It shouldn't be, why is it still leaking?" Why? ”

He reached out and stirred in the bucket full of oil and water, and he didn't care if his hands were all covered with oil. Suddenly, Fang Zi'an said loudly: "I understand, I understand, it must be so." The grease is too thin, and the weather is hot, and it becomes even thinner when heated. It also has to be boiled, and the more viscous it is, the better. ”

Everyone stared at him, and Fang Zi'an said loudly: "Take the iron pot and continue to boil." ”

Soon, someone brought a large iron pot to stand in the open space, and after lighting the fire, Fang Zi'an poured all the remaining half of the viscous grease into the pot, and began to stir and boil with a wooden stick in his hand. The viscous grease of most of the pot was constantly smelted again, and the water and oil in it evaporated and compressed again, and in the end, there was a black and extremely viscous semi-solid grease like a tanned black dough in the pot. Fang Zi'an's wooden stick could no longer be stirred, and the whole thing slipped out with the black oil wrapped around the wooden stick.

"Try again!" Fang Zi'an was busy again.

The barrel test device sank into the deep water of the river bay for the third time, and everyone once again stood by the river waiting, their hearts rising to their throats. Half an hour passed, an hour passed, an hour and a half passed, and the water was no different. Two hours later, Fang Zi'an asked people to pull the device up. When the barrel was opened, it was empty, and not a drop of water was leaking. The whole sealing device is intact and fixed. The experiment was a great success.

"Oh no, it's really a grease problem. But this thing seems to be solidified, and it is sticky, and although it doesn't leak, it doesn't seem to be able to turn its shaft. "The old boss found a problem.

Fang Zi'an smiled: "It won't stick to death, it's just hardened." As soon as the shaft is turned, the grease quickly becomes lubricated. When heated, it will be soft. With such a little adhesive power, how can it block the huge force of my steam engine. Ladies and gentlemen, I can say that we succeeded. ”

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and the gloom in their hearts was swept away. With Fang Zi'an's unremitting efforts, there was finally a good result. Although it is still unknown how it will actually work, at least there are greater possibilities and hopes.

"This kind of oil needs to be prepared, maybe you can replenish it in time when you sail. Don't be afraid of leaks. I suddenly had an idea. Make a small hole on the sleeve side. The leaking grease can be replenished by filling above the sleeve shaft. Usually use a plug to tighten tightly. What do you guys think? Su Heng is worthy of being a master of manufacturing, and he quickly thought of a further improvement plan.

"Good way! The filling grease can be replaced, and the filling can be squeezed or suction out with a bamboo tube. Simple and doable. Maintain at any time. Fang Zi'an immediately understood what he meant and loudly agreed.

In the evening of the next day, the intense assembly work came to an end. The steam engine was assembled in its entirety and fixed to a solid log base. The hoisting of the propeller began. The wooden crane was hoisting a large fan-like propeller, and everyone carefully connected it all the way with a sling pulley, and finally embedded it on the main shaft. At the beginning of the shift, Su Heng rammed the last fixed horizontal pin of fine iron into the shaft hole with a hammer, and after the propeller was completely fixed, everyone applauded thunderously and was in a very happy mood.

But everyone knows that this is just the beginning, and the real test is yet to come. Whether the steam engine can be started or not, whether it can propel a big ship. Whether it is easy to operate, and whether the sealing device can be effective. And so on, all the problems are still waiting for the actual test. Everyone actually has no bottom in their hearts, including Fang Zi'an. But Fang Zi'an understood that the steam engine he had spent a lot of money and manpower to build had to work, and this matter had to succeed.

Everyone slept very deeply that night, and Fang Zi'an couldn't sleep for a long time because of his anxious mood. The stars twinkled in the sky, the wind at night was cool and pleasant, the snoring of the people around was everywhere, the summer insects were chirping, and the water waves were sounding, all of which made Fang Zi'an, who was sitting by the dock looking at the big ship standing on the black tire frame, have thoughts in his heart, and it is difficult to calm down. At such a time, on a night like this, Fang Zi'an always had a sense of illusory. I came from the passage of time and space, and came to this era, sometimes I feel that all this seems to be a dream, as if I will be beaten back to my original form in the next moment, but sometimes it feels extremely real.

Look at everything in front of you, everyone who works hard together, look at Shen Ling'er who is sitting next to her, and Qin Xiqing in Lin'an City, who is pregnant at home. To say that it is vain is unjustifiable. All this real could not be more real.

It is this change of illusory and real emotions that keeps Fang Zi'an awake at night. He was not a sentimental person, but he couldn't help but feel like a dream in many cases.

I don't know how long it took, Fang Zi'an fell into a deep sleep in Shen Ling'er's warm arms.

The next morning, everyone got up early, had breakfast, and gathered by the pier. Liu Lao kept his head closely at the water level of the tide, calculating the highest position of the tide. Because the tire frame had to be removed at the highest point of the tide, the Dream was submerged as a whole for the final inspection.

The tide does not reach its highest level until the end of the day, and during this time, everyone is waiting for a solid anxiety. Halfway through the hour, the sound of carriages and horses came from the banks of the Qiantang River, and seven or eight carts arrived from the city, which was the arrival of Qian Kang's convoy returning to the city yesterday evening to carry charcoal.

Shen Ling'er's eyes were sharp, and she exclaimed in surprise the moment she saw the convoy coming: "Childe, isn't that the girl's carriage?" ”

Fang Zi'an was originally thinking about the boat and the tide, but he only glanced at the convoy and didn't care, and when he heard Shen Ling'er say, he hurriedly turned his head to look. Sure enough, I saw a black velvet luxury carriage, with floral curtains hanging and red silk floating at the four corners of the carriage, Qin Xiqing's carriage was driving behind the team. Fang Zi'an was overjoyed and hurried to greet him.

"Xiqing, why are you here?" Fang Zi'an shouted happily by the carriage window.

The curtain of the car was opened, and Qin Xiqing's pretty face appeared in front of Fang Zi'an, and said with a gentle smile on her face: "Come and see the excitement, listen to Mr. Qian, there is something big going on today, how can Xiqing miss this excitement?" ”

Fang Zi'an laughed and said: "I see, I thought Xiqing missed me, so I came to see me." It seems that I am self-inflicted. ”

Qin Xiqing rolled her eyes and said with a smile: "It's very smelly." Who misses you anymore. But by the way, you can also come and see. Why haven't you seen Fang Lang for a few days, have you become like this? ”

Fang Zi'an said: "What's the matter? ”

Qin Xiqing smiled: "Didn't you look in the mirror?" It's a lot darker, why is it so dirty. Is this rolling in muddy water? What about Ling'er? I don't take good care of Zi'an. ”

Shen Ling'er smiled: "Girl, is this the city?" They climb up and down every day and work day and night, isn't that what it is? ”

Qin Xiqing glared at her, got out of the car, came to Fang Zi'an, looked up at Fang Zi'an's face carefully, and sighed: "Don't work too hard, be careful." ”

Fang Zian took her hand and smiled, "Don't worry, I'm fine." Don't blame Ling'er, she took good care of me. ”

Qin Xiqing glanced at Shen Ling'er with a thoughtful expression. Just as he was about to speak, a shout came from the dock: "Young Master Fang, the tide is almost in place, and you are about to get ready to start." ”

Fang Zi'an took Qin Xiqing's hand and said with a smile: "Come on, the critical time has come." ”

The tide was raging, rushing in along the entrance of the bay, lapping on the shore, stirring up splashes. At the same time, the tide is at its highest, and the water level is also the highest at this time, which is suitable for dismantling the tire frame and letting the big boat fall into the water.

Dozens of men, under the command of the old leader, took action one after another to dismantle the tire frame one after another. The Dream was also soon completely above the water. Under the cabin, from the moment the hull fell into the water, Fang Zi'an Su Heng and the others gathered in the cabin, staring with bated breath at the position where the tail spindle passed, nervously observing whether there were any signs of water leakage. More than a dozen men were already waiting with barrels and basins to prevent temporary emergency treatment when there were signs of water leakage. But in fact, everyone understands that these methods do not work. If there is a leak, the water will gush in, and there will be no time to rescue it. The only way to do this was to quickly jack the rack and reposition the boat on the rack.

The air seemed to freeze, and anyone standing in the aft compartment seemed to hear the bubbling water around the hull, and felt some subtle sounds after the hull was under water pressure. But the worst feared situation did not happen, the tail shaft was unharmed, nothing happened. The seal is not leaky, and it is solid.

"It worked!" Su Heng muttered.

Fang Zi'an laughed and said, "God bless." ”

Su Heng said: "Don't be too happy, what will happen when the shaft rotates, I don't know yet." It's unknown how long it will last. ”

Fang Zi'an smiled and said, "Then let's try it, how do you know if you don't try?" ”

Liu Lao also laughed, raised his head and shouted to the deck above: "Measure the waterline, balance the counterweights." ”

The people who had been waiting on the deck for a long time answered loudly, and the men above the side of the ship and in the water began to measure the inclination of the hull with a hammer line, and instructed the people on the shore to lift the ship with sandbags and balance the counterweights. Everybody, it's busy.

S: The sealing problem of the stern shaft of the ship is a complicated problem, I checked the information, probably using the principle of hydraulic oil tank to neutralize the water pressure. The methods used here may not be useful, or only for small boats, everything is just for the sake of the plot. You don't have to dig deeper.

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