For the steam engine, Liu Juntao can be said to be thinking about it, and finally under his own intervention, under the mobilization of all the skilled craftsmen of the Ming Empire, after spending millions of taels of silver research and development funds, it was finally successfully developed and began to be popularized!

Liu Juntao clearly remembers that Thomas Seville and Thomas Newcomen in England made early industrial steam engines, and they made their own contributions to the development of steam engines, but that was already in the 16th century, and now the Ming Empire has advanced this time by nearly 300 years!

Later, in 1807, Robert Fulton of the United States was the first to successfully use a steam engine to drive a ship, and since then, various machines using steam engines as a power source have emerged one after another, completely opening the era of steam engines.

Liu Juntao believes that this kind of grand event will be staged on the land of China hundreds of years in advance, because of the drive of capital, coupled with the guidance of Liu Juntao and the imperial court, Liu Juntao believes that it will not be long before all kinds of steam engine-powered machinery will spring up like mushrooms after a rain, and the productivity and national strength of the Ming Empire will expand rapidly, reaching an unprecedented height!

However, Liu Juntao also understands that the steam engine developed by the Ministry of Industry at this time is only the first generation of products, the power is not very large, there are many deficiencies, and the role it plays in production is also limited, but this is a good start after all.

In the past few days, Liu Juntao has constantly recalled the various shortcomings of the steam engine in later generations, and listed them one by one, ready to be transferred to the Ministry of Industry for reference.

In later generations, Watt of England used scientific theories to gradually discover the shortcomings of the steam engine, and from 1765 to 1790, he carried out a series of inventions, such as a separate condenser, an insulation layer outside the cylinder, an oil-lubricated piston, planetary gears, parallel motion linkage mechanism, centrifugal governor, throttle valve, pressure gauge, etc., the principle of these parts is actually very simple, even at this time the Ming craftsmen can understand the mystery, the difference is just a kick in the door.

You must know that at this time, the Ming Empire was not at all the Manchu Tartars who frantically suppressed science and technology in later generations, and the domestic skilled craftsmen and technology accumulation were still very considerable.

Liu Juntao recorded all the optimized parts he knew, not only drew some sketches, but also accompanied the corresponding explanations, and the rest of the matter depends on how the skilled craftsmen of the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of War work together.

These parts will increase the efficiency of the steam engine by more than three times at this time, which is not much different from the Nuremberg steam engine of later generations, which Liu Juntao still has confidence, and Liu Juntao also believes that the improved steam engine will be used as an industrial steam engine.

At this time, the promotion of the first generation of steam engines was first in the mining industry, and then in the war bureaus of various places. Liu Juntao, together with the Ministry of Industry, made every effort to promote, and the imperial court not only gave preferential treatment to businessmen who were willing to install and use steam engines, but also gave a certain degree of tax incentives, and the Ministry of Industry undertook all the repairs and maintenance of steam engines.

These are just incentives, the most popular thing for private businessmen is the strong productivity and efficiency revealed when the imperial court demonstrates the steam engine, which is all real money!

Today's Ming Empire, like the late 16th century to late 17th century in England, the mining industry, especially in coal mines, has developed to a considerable scale, and it is difficult to meet the requirements of removing groundwater from mines by manpower and animal power alone, and there is abundant and cheap coal as fuel on site, which is the favorable conditions and power for the popularization of steam engines.

The first batch of Shanxi coal miners who installed steam engines used the first generation of steam engines developed by the Ministry of Industry to pump out the stagnant water in the mine, which was very time-saving and labor-saving, and most importantly, greatly improved the safety of the mine.

Looking at the steady stream of stagnant water, many onlookers cheered loudly, which gave everyone an insurance, and it would be much safer to go down the mine in the future.

Many of the craftsmen present had worked as manual pumping machines before, and they could see the doorway when they looked at the steam engine at work.

The valve is closed after the steam engine is pumping steam into the cylinder, and then cold water is sprinkled into the cylinder, creating a vacuum when the steam condenses. The air pressure on the other side of the piston pushes the piston. A pump is driven by a rod connected deep into the shaft in the mine, through which the movement of the piston of the steam engine is transmitted to the piston of the pump to pump water out of the shaft.

Such a process recurs rapidly under the action of steam, which is far more efficient than manual pumping.

"The imperial court is really powerful, it can cast such a magical machine, my Ming is really powerful!"

Almost all the craftsmen present said that although the appearance of the steam engine means that their housekeeping skills may be lost, it also means that the future will be better, as long as they are willing to work hard, they will still have a place to use in the future.

At the same time, Liu Juntao was in the Ministry of Industry and more than a dozen craftsmen to look at the samples of the second-generation steam engine.

The second-generation steam engine already had a number of differences from the first, and the first great improvement was the separation of the cylinder from the condensing cylinder through a single valve. An R&D team in the Ministry of Industry invented this improvement, which increased the efficiency of the steam engine. The next improvement is to automate the operation of the valve.

The second-generation steam engine is mainly composed of cylinder, base, piston, crank connecting rod mechanism, slide valve distribution mechanism, speed regulating mechanism and flywheel. The cylinder and base are stationary parts.

In a steam boiler, water is boiled into steam through the combustion process, and steam is sent to a cylinder through a pipeline. The valve controls the time when the steam arrives at the cylinder, enters the slide valve chamber through the main steam valve and the throttle valve, and is controlled by the slide valve to alternately enter the left or right side of the cylinder to push the piston to move. The steam pushes the piston inside the cylinder to do work, and the cooled steam is introduced into the condenser through the pipe to re-condense into water. This process is repeated constantly while the steam engine is in motion.

The general steam engine has three cylinders to form a group, and the steam engine directly converts the up and down movement of the piston into the rotational motion of the ship's shaft. The new steam engine also contains a small turbine, and the steam coming out of the cylinder can also use its waste heat to propel the turbine to improve the efficiency of the entire drive.

In this way, the power of the second-generation steam engine will be greatly increased, according to the calculation of the Ministry of Industry, the efficiency of the second-generation steam engine will be more than twice that of the first-generation steam engine!

Liu Juntao nodded with satisfaction, according to the calculation of the Ministry of Industry, this second-generation steam engine can temporarily meet the use of the people of the Ming Dynasty, even the military bureaus in various places can temporarily meet the needs of use.

However, these are far from Liu Juntao's ultimate pursuit, Liu Juntao hopes that in his lifetime, the steam engine can be truly enriched to every corner of the Ming society, and you can see the train running on the territory of the Ming Dynasty, so that you can effectively control every inch of the territory of the Ming Empire, no longer have to be limited to the limitation of distance, you can send the tiger of the Ming Dynasty to any corner!

Liu Juntao also hopes to see ironclad steam warships sailing on the ocean in his lifetime, which can be a foreign land for China, and can rely on the power of the generation difference to accurately attack any enemy country from the sea!

This kind of thing was only a few years ago, and Liu Juntao thought it was an extravagant hope, even a fantasy, and I was afraid that he would never see these scenes in his life.

But now, with the rapid popularization of the steam engine, with the rapid improvement of the steam engine by the Ministry of Industry, the beginning of preparations for the mass production of the second-generation steam engine, and the organization of craftsmen to develop the third-generation steam engine, Liu Juntao's heart is also rising flames, maybe in his lifetime, he can really see trains, ships, and even automobiles These things in his previous life.

However, even if Liu Juntao was overjoyed, he still maintained his sanity.

At this moment, the Ming Empire is experiencing an industrial revolution, and it is different from the industrial revolution in Britain in later generations, it is a bottom-up, industrial revolution driven by productivity and market, and now the industrial revolution of the Ming Empire is completely driven by the state!

In this way, in the industrial revolution, once there is any problem, all the spearheads will be pointed at the imperial court, and if it is not handled well, the imperial court will be in the position of public targeting!

If nothing else, just because of the increase in productivity driven by the steam engine, the private businessmen will lay off craftsmen and workers in order to save costs, which will inevitably cause a large number of people to lose their jobs, and the discontent of the people is destined to swell rapidly.

In the process of the industrial revolution in Britain in later generations, there were many workers who smashed steam engines and other machinery, and people protested and resisted new technologies.

For this reason, Liu Juntao also took precautions, and after discussing with Tang Yu, the secretary of the Ministry of Finance, and Guo Yongzhong, the secretary of the Ministry of Households, he issued a decree:

"Merchants who dismiss craftsmen and workers must compensate for the amount of money, limited to the number of years the craftsman or worker has worked, and the number of years in one year is worth one month's wages, otherwise it is illegal......"

"Unemployed people can go to the local prefecture to receive unemployment benefits, and the government will assist them in finding a job......

"The number of craftsmen and workers shall not exceed 10% of the total number of employees in all localities, and those who violate the order shall be fined half of their assets; In addition, merchants in various localities can only dismiss craftsmen and workers once a year, and those who violate the order will be fined and their general assets will be confiscated......"

"Craftsmen and workers shall not destroy machines out of personal anger, and those who violate the order shall be punished as disorder......"

This order was brought together and compiled into the first industrial and commercial code of the Ming Dynasty, and gradually improved in the follow-up, which is all a later story.

During this time, Liu Juntao was always busy in the court, and one day when he reported the affairs of the court to Emperor Chenghua, the two also talked about the steam engine.

Liu Juntao said excitedly to Emperor Chenghua: "Your Majesty! Now that the steam engine has been vigorously promoted, my emperor will go straight to the sky from now on, and there will be no fetters in the world, and no one in the world will be my opponent in China! ”