On the one hand, it is the request of the People's Army, and on the other hand, the spring ploughing is about to begin, and if the merchants plan to build a cement plant after the spring ploughing, there will undoubtedly be a lot of trouble.

Even if the cement factory is occupied before the spring ploughing, as long as the businessmen make some compensation, the local people's military government will replace the farmland for the peasant households, so that the interests of the peasant households will not be damaged.

Time passed day by day, and in less than half a month, all the businessmen had already determined the location of the cement plant, and the matter of occupying the common people's cultivated land was also solved with the help of the people's military government.

However, the cement plant is still in preparation, the people began spring ploughing, and the merchants could not hire many people to build the cement plant, and they had to wait for the end of the spring ploughing, and the male labor force could be hired by the merchants when they were idle, and the cement plant could start construction and subsequent production of cement.

Soon, in May, the cement plants in various parts of the People's Army have been completed and will soon start production, and other cement plants will be built within a month at most.

The cement plant of the businessmen was about to be put into production, and the plan of the People's Army to build cement roads and water conservancy facilities would also be accelerated.

Compared with cement, Fang Nan attaches more importance to another thing, which is also one of the important tasks of the Ministry of Industry, and even Fang Nan is involved in it, which is the key to the industrial age - the steam engine.

Tang Bei and Wang Dazhui project team began to study the steam engine after finishing the work of the hydraulic machine tool, relying only on Fang Nan to provide a principle and a few sketches, the project team basically studied the steam engine from scratch.

The difficulties of conducting research on the steam engine from scratch can be imagined.

The world's first steam engine was invented by the ancient Greek mathematician Hero of Alexandria in the 1st century AD, which is the prototype of the steam engine, which is very simple, and no one knows the purpose of this device.

Until the end of the 16th century to the late 17th century, the British mining industry, especially the coal mines, has developed to a considerable scale, relying on manpower, animal power alone has been difficult to meet the requirements of the removal of groundwater from the mine, and there is abundant and cheap coal as fuel on the site, the practical needs prompted many people, such as the British Papan, Safrie, Newcomen, etc., to devote themselves to the exploration and experiment of "lifting water by fire".

Finally, around 1679 the French physicist Denis Barpen built the first working model of a steam engine after observing steam escaping his pressure cooker, followed by the early industrial steam engines by Thomas Seville in 1698 and Thomas Newcomen in 1712.

The steam engine that has just appeared is very rudimentary, and unlike the high-pressure steam engine of the industrial age, it is a vacuum steam engine, and the principle is very simple:

After the steam is introduced into the cylinder, the valve is closed, and then the cold water is sprinkled into the cylinder, when the steam condenses, it creates a vacuum, and the air pressure on the other side of the piston pushes the piston, and a rod deep into the shaft is connected to drive a pump in the mine, and the movement of the piston of the steam engine is transmitted to the piston of the pump to pump the water out of the well.

Early vacuum steam engines had limited efficiency, but they were safer because their pressure was relatively low, the machine contracted inward rather than exploding outward in the event of material damage, and their efficiency was limited by external air pressure, cylinder deformation, combustion and boiling efficiency and condensation capacity, and the theoretical maximum efficiency was limited by the relatively low boiling temperature of water at ordinary atmospheric pressure.

It was not until 1765 that James Watt, a British instrument repairman, improved the Newcomen steam engine on the basis of the steam engine, making the original machinery that could only lift water into a steam engine that could be widely used, and doubling the thermal efficiency of the steam engine and greatly reducing coal consumption.

It can be said that in history, from the study of steam engines to steam engines can begin to be widely used, it took about a hundred years, and the foundation was laid step by step in a hundred years, before there was the final Watt steam engine, and the industrial age was opened by the Watt steam engine.

Obviously, the Watt steam engine that can be widely used is what Fang Nan wants, with this steam engine, with a steam-powered machine tool that is more efficient than hydraulic machine tools, the production of firearms of the People's Army can be greatly increased, even if the Ming court forms an army of millions, it is impossible to be the opponent of the People's Army equipped with a large number of firearms.

However, it is very unrealistic to directly build a practical Watt steam engine, Fang Nan is also involved in the research of steam engines, and will go to Foshan Town every month to guide the researchers of the project team, even so, the research progress of the steam engine is very slow.

From building models of steam engines out of wood to study the principles of steam engines, to trying to build practical steam engines out of steel, there have been countless failures.

With the arrival of May, the project team, which has been studying the steam engine for more than half a year, finally brought good news to Fang Nan, the project team has successfully created a practical steam engine, or a steam engine that can be relatively stable in work, and will not run a few times before lying on the ground.

After getting the news from Foshan Town, Fang Nan raised his eyebrows, his face was full of joy, and he thought about going to Foshan Town to see the steam engine, but Guangzhou City is some distance from Foshan Town, and it is already afternoon, even if he rides to Foshan Town, it will not be until evening, and there are still things in front of Fang Nan that have not been dealt with.

Thinking of this, Fang Nan shouted "Xiao Dong" towards the outhouse.

A few seconds later, Dong Zhenye, one of the secretaries of Fang Nan, who was working in the outhouse, walked over.

"Xiao Dong, you go and tell Wang Mu that tomorrow you will take a day to go to Foshan Town with me."

"Yes, Grand Duke."

With Fang Nan's order, Dong Zhenye left the room and went to the office of the Ministry of Industry where Wang Mu was.

Fang Nan only planned to go to see the steam engine with Wang Mu, who was the minister of the Ministry of Industry, the steam engine People's Army was very important, but it was still early to be put into use in large quantities.

Fang Nan has been involved in the research of steam engines, and knows that the first practical steam engine created is similar to the Newcomen steam engine, and even more rudimentary, only this kind of simple steam engine, Tang Bei and Wang Dazhui project team can study it in more than half a year.

In more than half a year, it is impossible to study the Watt steam engine, which can be widely used, given the current situation of the People's Army.

However, the first steam engine has been built, and if you study it further, you may be able to create a widely used steam engine like the Watt steam engine in a few years, of course, Fang Nan's guidance is indispensable.

If Fang Nan devoted himself to the study of the steam engine, then the efficiency of the People's Army's research on the steam engine would be greatly improved, but as the Governor of the People's Army, Fang Nan would not be able to do so.