The True Daoist went to the experiment again, this time he had to change his standing position, stirring the solution only with a long wooden stick.

As a result, this Dao Master was very devastated, and he had to re-summarize his alchemy laws.

Wang Xi led Wang Yuan on his way to a courtyard near the base of the city wall. There were a few steam engines there, but only one person was tinkering with them, and the other students had long since given up.

"Sir, this is Ling Xia, the word is Zhongshi." Wang Xi said.

Ling Xia was born in a craftsman family, has an older brother named Ling Chun, and a younger sister named Ling Qiu. He originally wanted to take the imperial examination, but after taking the middle school entrance examination, he couldn't pass the exam, and coupled with family difficulties, he could only follow his father and brother to learn the craft to make a living.

In the Ming Dynasty, as long as it was not a lowly status, in principle, it was possible to take the imperial examination. In the Ming generation, the Jinshi who were born in a craftsman family were second only to civilian households and military households.

Wang Yuan felt that this person was a little familiar, and suddenly remembered: "You helped me polish the crystal mirror, right?" ”

Ling Xia got up with a dirty face, his body was covered with soot and oil, and he grinned, "Ling Xia has seen Mr. ”

This person helped Wang Yuan make some money by grinding mirrors, and quietly followed to learn mathematics. Then he entered Wang Yuan's disciple and systematically learned physics knowledge, which can be regarded as Wang Yuan's apprentice.

Wang Yuan asked, "What difficulties does the steam machine have?" ”

Ling Xia said: "At first, there was air leaking everywhere, but now it's a little better. The disciple made a multi-layer gasket out of cotton, and although it still leaked, it was already able to make the steam engine work. ”

Wang Yuan asked again: "Then what?" ”

Ling Xia pointed to the steam engine and said: "Theoretically speaking, the best state of the steam engine is that the evaporation power of the boiler is infinitely large, and the friction, heat loss and air leakage consumption are infinitely small. But this creates a contradiction, if the friction is to be reduced, the gap between the piston and the slide rod must be larger, and the gap is larger, the more air leakage, and the boiler evaporation must also be larger. Therefore, the key to making a steam engine is to improve air tightness and reduce friction! ”

Wang Yuan was very pleased and said approvingly: "It is very well summarized. ”

Ling Xia continued: "The disciple has done a lot of improvement experiments, and with the existing conditions, the airtightness has been achieved to the extreme, unless there is any new material to replace the cotton gasket. The piston and slide bar have also been improved repeatedly, and the friction can no longer be reduced by grease. ”

"In other words, the steam engine was made?" 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 you use a steam engine to spin and weave, it is better to use manpower directly." ”

Wang Yuan studied this machine carefully, but unfortunately he was not a steam enthusiast, otherwise he could see at a glance that this thing was similar to a Newcomen steam engine.

A very simple cylindrical boiler, which uses steam to do piston movement, must be improved to have commercial value.

But everyone didn't know how to change it, and they all retreated, leaving only Ling Xia who continued to fight with the steam engine.

Wang Yuan asked, "Do you have any ideas for improvement?" ”

Ling Xia nodded and said, "Yes." The current low thermal efficiency is due to condensation inside the cylinder, and if the steam is condensed outside the cylinder, the power may be greatly increased! ”

"What are you doing?" Wang Yuan continued to ask.

Ling Xia picked up an object from the ground: "This is a regulating valve made by a disciple, which can connect the condenser to the cylinder. According to the design, the steam after the work can be introduced into the condenser outside the cylinder, and at the same time, the cylinder can generate a vacuum, so as to avoid the cylinder from consuming heat in one cold and one 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: "Very good idea." ”

Ling Xia sighed and said: "It's a pity that after adding this set of devices, the air tightness has been greatly reduced, and the air leaks everywhere, and the efficiency is not as good as before the improvement." ”

Wang Yuan encouraged: "Then continue to think of ways to improve the air tightness." ”

Ling Xia looked at Wang Xu, and then at Wang Yuan: "The academy is unwilling to fund any more funds, and all the money earned by the disciples by grinding the crystal mirror has also been smashed into it. The biggest problem now is that there is no money......"

Wang Yuan said with a smile: "I will sponsor the academy with one hundred taels of silver to improve the steam engine for you, and when the money runs out, I will go to the mansion to withdraw it." ”

"Thank you, sir!" Ling Xia was overjoyed.

Ling Xia was born in a craftsman's household, and his biggest ideal is the title of the gold list. After landing many times in the township test, he no longer has any life pursuits, and honestly goes home to be a craftsman.

At this moment, Wang Yuan took him to the Crystal Grinding Mirror, allowing him to come into contact with a whole new world. Ling Xia didn't like to study theories, and he had no interest in astronomy, chemistry, etc., and he was keen to use his knowledge of mechanics to build machinery.

He always believed that he could build a steam engine and bring earth-shaking changes to Daming.

In fact, even if Ling Xia completed this condenser improvement according to his ideas, it still could not reach the commercial grade, and it was only equivalent to a broken version of the Watt steam engine. The way the piston does the work had to be improved, and the cylinders had to be changed to two-way cylinders, and then the full version of the Watt steam engine would be available.

Wang Yuan really couldn't help much, he knew the basic principle of the steam engine, but he didn't know the specific details. Except for steam enthusiasts, who is going to study that thing in modern times?

Another good student encouraged Ling Xia, and Wang Yuan returned to the lecture hall of the academy and gathered all the disciples to give lectures.

With Wang Yuan's promotion to the rank of squire and his contribution to the destruction of the country in the Western Regions, the disciples of the Physics School were also full of confidence in their future. At this moment, Wang Yuan was standing in the lecture hall, and everyone's eyes were full of worship.

Yoo Mae, a North Korean student, was equally adored and in awe. Because he heard that Turpan, which was destroyed by Wang Yuan, has a land area larger than North Korea!

Wang Yuan lectured in the morning, had lunch at the academy, and went straight to the military headquarters in the afternoon.

Wang Qiong, the secretary of the Ministry of War, heard that Wang Yuan was coming, and came over in person: "Wang Shilang's work of destroying the country is shaking the past and the present, and the husband should be like this!" ”

"Wang Shangshu is polite." Wang Yuan smiled with a smile.

Although Wang Qiong is extremely capable, he likes to cling to the powerful, he has already befriended Jiang Bin, and he has a good relationship with Qian Ning. Although Wang Yuan is his subordinate, he is also a royal celebrity, and this guy speaks with three points of flattery.

When the two touted each other, the old man Huang Ke also came.

Wang Jing, the left attendant of the military department, has been transferred to the Metropolitan Inspection Academy, serving as the imperial history of the right capital, and has become the second-in-command of the Metropolitan Inspectorate. Now, there is only one left squire in the military department, Huang Ke, and he joins forces with Wang Qiong to control the military department.

really joined forces, and Huang Ke's role changed very quickly. He used to be Yang Tinghe's confidant, and Yang Tinghe would have to come back for two years, so why not take the role of son-in-law to re-align?

This is not a shame, Yang Tinghe's absolute henchman Lu Wan has also completed the re-alignment.

When Yang Ting and Ding Wei returned to the court again, the situation at that time had completely changed, and more benefits needed to be promised in order to win over the ministers.

The three of them chatted there for a while, and two more right waiters came over to make friends.

Until everyone dispersed, only Huang Ke and Wang Yuan remained. Huang Kecai changed his name to a private title, and said in a low voice: "The virtuous son-in-law has been in the Western Regions for a long time, and his family misses it very much. Tonight, you take Mei'er (Huang E) to my place for two drinks, and let's talk about the love of Weng and son-in-law. ”

"Yes," Wang Yuan asked, "Lord Taishan, where is the treasury of the military department?" ”

Huang Ke smiled: "I'll take you there." Is there any paperwork that the virtuous son-in-law is looking for? ”

Wang Yuan said: "Just flip through it." ”

The warehouse is the archive room, Huang Ke led Wang Yuan there, and went back to work by himself.

The treasurer asked, "I wonder what documents the king is looking for?" ”

Wang Yuan said with a smile: "Three Treasure Eunuch Nautical Charts." ”

The treasurer was stunned: "Wait a minute." ”

During the Chenghua period, some eunuchs suggested that they follow the story of Yongle and go to the West to obtain treasures and money. As a result, Liu Daxia, the commander of the military department, quietly hid the navigation chart, and the treasury officials could not find it.

Xiang Zhong, the secretary of the Ministry of War, couldn't make a difference, so he blamed the treasury officials, and Liu Daxia said beside him: "The eunuchs of the Three Treasures went to the West, and they spent tens of millions of dollars and food, and the soldiers and civilians died in tens of thousands...... Even if the case is there, it should be destroyed......"

This means that even if the nautical charts are still there, they should be destroyed.

But in the Wanli period, Gu Qiyuan wrote "Guest Words", which was directly changed to "take it and burn it", saying that Liu Daxia burned the navigation charts, and Liu Daxia became a national sinner on the Internet.

In fact, burn a fart, the nautical chart is an important document, and Liu Daxia's eight dares dare not destroy it privately, at most, it is just temporarily hidden.

Zheng He's nautical charts were still there until the Chongzhen period. Mao Yuanyi compiled the "Wu Bei Zhi" and recorded the nautical charts in it, and recorded forty-four pages!

Even if the nautical chart was destroyed, it was burned in the Qing Dynasty, and Chongzhen was fine at that time.

The treasurer followed the index and quickly found the chart. Lying in front of Wang Yuan was a huge map, the full name of which was "Map of the Origins of the Treasure Shipyard from Longjiang Pass to Foreign Countries".

In addition to nautical charts, there are also some written materials that record 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 full text of these materials, and also copied a copy of the navigation chart.