After returning to the firearms factory, Ding Kui said again: "He Gongzi, we have already made some grenades that you arranged to make when you left last time, and I don't think they are as practical as guns." Throwing it out can only blow up two or three petals, the power is too small, and it wastes gunpowder. The gunpowder of one grenade is enough for a rifle to hit ten times, which is not cost-effective. ”

He Zhiyuan said: "Each has its own use, although the power is small now, it is better than nothing." Later, when the Institute of Chemistry developed a new type of explosive, the power of the grenade was brought into play. ”

"Do you want to continue building now?" Ding Kui asked He Zhiyuan.

"How much has been built now?"

"There are three or four hundred."

"Then let's stop for a moment, that's enough." Then he went on to ask, "How many long rifles have been made now?" ”

"More than 1,500 were made, enough for each person." Ding Kui replied.

"It's not enough, at least fifteen hundred more." He Zhiyuan knows that guns are consumed, and in daily training, there will be a large number of guns to be scrapped. Besides, Ken will expand the army in the future, and the guns are far from satisfying the requirements.

"Ah, do you want to rebuild?" Ding Kui asked in surprise. immediately understood that He Gongzi was a person who did big things, and it would never be possible to nest in such a small place in the future. Since let's continue to build, then let's build, people have their own plans.

"But now it's not so urgent, and a few experienced people can be called in to prepare for the cannon casting." He Zhiyuan said to him.

"Cast cannons? Is it that kind of general cannon? Ding Kui asked again in surprise.

"The general's cannon will be cast later, and now some small and medium-sized cannons will be cast first. Do you have a master here who can forge cannons? ”

Ding Kui said in embarrassment: "I have cast the Tiger Venerable Cannon, but the process of that kind of general cannon is too complicated, I'm afraid no one here will cast this kind of cannon." ”

He Zhiyuan looked at him embarrassed, and said to him with relief: "Master Ding doesn't need to be embarrassed, you can study it slowly." After this time, I will also come over to study the casting process with you. ”

When Ding Kui heard this, he was relieved. As long as He Gongzi studies together, there is nothing that cannot be done.

After the affairs of the firearms factory were busy, He Zhiyuan went to the Academy of Sciences not far from the firearms factory, and as soon as he entered the gate of the research institute, he heard the clanging sound of the physics research institute.

After He Zhiyuan left, he found that Wang Zhixue was digging a well in the yard with three or four migrant workers. He Zhiyuan was puzzled, so he asked Wang Zhixue: "What are you doing digging a well in the yard?" ”

Wang Zhixue looked for the voice, and saw that it was the master standing on the side, so he replied respectfully: "The steam pump is almost done, let's dig a pit here, fill it with water, and then test the actual efficiency of the pump." ”

Hearing that the steam engine was almost built, He Zhiyuan was very happy and hurriedly asked Wang Zhixue: "Where is the steam engine?" ”

Wang Zhixue pointed to a stove-like thing next to the well with his hand and said, "That's it." ”

He Zhiyuan almost laughed out loud when he saw that strange-looking thing, he saw a cylindrical boiler, with an iron pipe connected to a piston, and several iron pipes connected to the piston. There is indeed a stove built with green bricks underneath the boiler! This steam was fixed on this stove, and He Zhiyuan thought to himself that this was probably the most earthy steam engine he had ever seen. If those people who traveled through the crowd knew that his apprentice had built such a dirty steam engine, wouldn't they laugh like a pig again!

He Zhiyuan didn't hold back his laughter and asked Wang Zhixue: "Have you experimented that this piston can move under the impetus of steam?" ”

"I've tried it, and it really works. This piston is wrapped with cow tendons, and the steam leakage is already very light. Or the master has a way. "Wang Zhixue actually praised the master, he rarely praised the master in person. He Zhiyuan heard him praise himself to his face, and he felt very face-saving.

"Today

Can you try again? He Zhiyuan asked Wang Zhixue.

"Yes, as long as the water in the boiler is boiled, this piston can move." Wang Zhixue replied, and after speaking, he asked Master Qi to start pulling out the flames in the stove, adding coal and burning it.

After a while, the water in the boiler began to boil slowly, and the piston on the boiler began to move slowly, and when it moved to the bottom, after a slight pause, the piston began to descend again, and when it came to the bottom, it began to move upwards under the action of steam. After a while, the speed of the piston movement stabilized at one frequency. In general, the piston was not moving very fast, and there were leaks of steam between the various connecting lines. But in general, the purpose of driving the piston movement was indeed achieved.

Wang Zhixue introduced on the side: "When the well is dug, press and install a piston on the well, and then connect the two pistons with an iron rod, and put a bracket in the middle, so that you can pump water." However, it will take a few days to install it, and the master will come to check it in a few days, but I can't see it yet. ”

He Zhiyuan nodded and said, "Okay, I'll check it out after you install it." ”

Later, He Zhiyuan came to the Institute of Chemistry to find Li Zhigang and inquire about the progress of the work here. Li Zhigang said ashamedly: "Now the people in the institute are all using their energy to prepare three acids and two alkalis, but they have not yet made a breakthrough. ”

He Zhiyuan comforted: "It doesn't matter, it's only been a long time, how can there be results so quickly." Chemistry is a discipline that is constantly experimenting, failing and groping, and it requires people to have enough patience. Even if it is produced in the laboratory, it is still a long way to go to mass production. ”

After I came out of the Chemistry Institute, it was time for lunch.

He Zhiyuan did not go home to eat, but dealt with a little casually in the canteen of the Academy of Sciences. In the afternoon, he had to go to the optical laboratory to have a look, since the establishment of this laboratory, He Zhiyuan has not been there, and the ancestors and grandchildren of the Ren family have never looked for him.

Studying astronomical telescopes and microscopes is not a very urgent research task, so he is not in a hurry. And he is not good at these equipment, and he can't make reasonable suggestions, so he can only let them study them. It's been so long, and I don't know if they have research results.

After lunch, he and Yan Jihai came to the Institute of Optics, which was located in a somewhat remote location. In addition to the two ancestors and grandchildren of the Ren family, there are several miscellaneous servants and several craftsmen here, adding up to less than ten people in total. It is the least populous, the smallest and quietest place in the Academy of Sciences. Unlike the other two, they make a big move at every turn.

Ren Guocheng, who was busy in the house, saw He Zhiyuan coming, put down the things in his hand, hurriedly greeted him, bowed and saluted: "Master, you are here, my grandfather went to Hejia Town to look for you a few days ago, and the family said that you went to Qingzhou and said that it would take a few days to come back, but I didn't expect to come so soon." ”

"Are you looking for me, do you need my help with something, or is there any progress in your research?" He Zhiyuan asked Ren Guocheng.

"I have a lot of questions to ask the master, since moving here, this is the first time the master has been here, I heard that the master has been to those two institutes two or three times." Ren Guocheng complained.

"Cheng'er, shut up!" His grandfather, Ren Guiqi, interrupted him by walking in from outside. Then he quickly explained: "The other day he asked me if there was any way I could save the images I had observed on paper. I said that I could draw it, but what he said was not real, and I had to find another way to preserve the most realistic image. He Gongzi, don't you say that my grandson is not wishful thinking? Is there any way to preserve the true image? ”

When He Zhiyuan heard him say this, he said in his heart, isn't this just a camera? This thing is much more practical than the astronomical telescope, and if the camera is invented, it can be used in various aspects such as military, research and research, and civilian use

It's too big. But inventing a camera is not easy, first of all, it is a photosensitive material, and he knows a little bit about this, as if materials such as silver iodide and silver bromide can be used as photosensitive materials, and he doesn't know any more. This requires the cooperation of the Institute of Chemistry to develop, and it is not a job that a single optical research institute can do. But no matter how difficult it is, it's easier than a steam engine, right? So the study still needs to be studied.

Thinking of this, he smiled and said to Ren Guiqi: "How can it be wishful thinking, only if you can't think of it, you can't do it." I support him in doing this kind of research. ”

When Ren Guocheng heard his master say this, he jumped up happily, after all, he was still a fifteen or sixteen child. Then He Zhiyuan asked Ren Guocheng again: "Have you started to do research on this method now?" ”

"I did a little bit, but I didn't have a clue and didn't know where to start." Ren Guocheng replied honestly.

"Do you understand the optics part of the physics textbook?" He Zhiyuan asked.

"I understand, but I still don't have a clue." Ren Guocheng replied.

"Have you done any experiments with small hole imaging?"

"I did, but the image didn't stay on paper."

"Let me give you a hint, if you want to leave the image, you have to find a photosensitive material."

"What is a photosensitive material?" Ren Guocheng asked suspiciously.

"It's a light-sensitive material. I tell you, this photosensitive material can be extracted from seawater. But you'll need someone from the Institute of Chemistry to help you. He Zhiyuan said to them slowly:

"Using the principle of small hole imaging, an upside-down image is obtained in the camera obscura, and the image is left on a metal plate or paper coated with photosensitive material, which is considered a successful first step. As a teacher, I don't know much about this aspect, and that's all I can tell you, and the rest needs to be studied slowly. ”

"I'll call this kind of machine a camera first, if you can research this kind of machine, it will definitely go down in history, and you will also get a big reward!"

When the two grandparents heard that they could leave a name in history and that there would be a rich reward, they immediately became excited. Ren Guocheng then asked, "Will the astronomical telescope continue to study?" ”

He Zhiyuan waved his hand and said: "That's not in a hurry, let's put it first, you study the camera first, this is more useful." ”

"Master, you said that you can use seawater to propose photosensitive materials, can you be more specific?" Ren Guocheng asked.

He Zhiyuan actually doesn't know much, according to his previous life, silver iodide and silver bromide can be used as photosensitive materials, especially silver bromide has a shorter exposure time and is more suitable for photosensitive materials, but the extraction of bromine is more troublesome. So it's still a step by step. If the best way to extract iodine is from kelp, which is much simpler than extracting it from seawater.

So he said to Ren Guocheng: "This research is not your professional scope, you don't have to care, I will extract it according to the people at the Institute of Chemistry for your use, you are now concentrating on how to use optical principles to project clear images into the camera obscura, which is much more complicated than small hole imaging." ”

After bidding farewell to Ren's grandfather and grandson, he returned to the Institute of Chemistry. He found Li Zhigang and briefly explained the method of extracting iodine from kelp.

The iodine content in kelp is very high, and extracting iodine in the laboratory is not very complicated, so it is not difficult for these professionals.

When these things are arranged, it will be dark. He Zhiyuan stayed in the Academy of Sciences for almost a day, and now the research of various projects is in full swing, the steam engine with practical value is about to come out, and the research and development of new explosives has also made breakthroughs. What surprised He Zhiyuan even more was that the development of the camera, if nothing else, would have made progress within a year or two, all of which was the prelude to the first industrial revolution.

(End of chapter)

The little people of the Ming Dynasty

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