Zhu Shun returned to the hall of Beijing Normal University, Song Shiyi was studying around a Song's flying shuttle loom, but Song Shihui disappeared, and he didn't think much about it, so he let Song Shihui continue to calm down for a few days.

Some of the iron materials used to build the Newcomen steam engine had already been delivered, and as early as a month ago, Zhu Shun asked Wang Gongju's craftsmen to build a workshop in the hall of Jingshi University.

Zhu Shun put on a shabby placket and walked into the craftsman's room, thinking about where to start.

The two most important devices of the Newcomen steam engine are the internal condensation nozzle and the automatic valve device, especially the automatic valve is extremely important.

The power of steam is very large, and when the steam pressure inside the steam engine is too high, it is likely to cause an explosion and kill the coal-burning furnace workers.

With the automatic valve, the cylinder and the condensing cylinder can be separated, and a relatively safe air pressure can be maintained at all times.

If the steam engine is used for a long time, the cylinder and condensation cylinder are damaged, which will only cause the steam engine to shrink inward, instead of exploding outward.

Zhu Shun didn't go anywhere during this time, he stuffed his head to build the cylinder, and waited until the cylinder was built.

Ten days later.

The weather gradually began to get cooler, Zhu Shun finally built the frame of the cylinder, and the rest was to polish it finely.

Before fine polishing, there is one problem to be solved, that is, the location of the Newcomen steam engine.

The size of the Newkemen steam engine was relatively large, and Zhu Shun was ready to build the first steam engine in the history of the Ming Dynasty on the edge of the Yongding River to the west of the Beijing Normal University Hall.

The site of the construction was also chosen, ten miles away from the Jingshi University Hall, anyway, these high-quality watered fields that could not grow grain were very cheap, and Zhu Shun took a hundred taels of silver from the Zhu spinning factory and bought a large piece of land.

The Newcomen steam engine could not be placed directly on the ground, the land had to be leveled, a layer of green bricks had to be laid, and a pool of water had to be dug that was not very deep and large enough.

This pool, Zhu Shun plans to dig according to the area of a small lake, this project is large, at least more than 300 servants.

Now that there are victims everywhere who can't eat, Zhu Shun wants to give this opportunity to those retired sergeants, or the sons of Liaodong sergeants' families.

Once the Newcomen steam engine was built, it could not be moved, and only small parts were made for the time being until the land was leveled.

The top priority was to level the land first, Zhu Shun rode a little donkey to Wang Gongju, and asked the second uncle to find a group of sergeants who had retired from Liaodong.

Zhu Shun stepped down from the little donkey, walked into the Wang Gong Bureau and walked around it several times, not only did he not see the second uncle, but he also didn't see the two chief flag Hu blind men and Yang Bald people: "It's strange, even if you go out to clean up the liukou, Wang Gong Bureau will keep someone." ”

"Why is there no one today?"

A small flag happened to come over with a team of sergeants, and Zhu Shun asked, "Have you seen a hundred households?" ”

The middle-aged Xiaoqi waved his hand and asked the other sergeants to patrol first: "Zhu Baihu and Hu Zongqi and Yang Zongqi went to visit an old soldier together." ”

"When they were soldiers in Liaodong, it was this old soldier who taught them to ride horses, and now life is getting more and more difficult."

"In the past, everyone was poor, and Zhu Baihu and the two general banners couldn't take care of it, but now that life is better, I want to send a few stones of food to the old pawn."

"If the ambassador wants to go, he can bring the ambassador there, and my family happens to live in that village."

Zhu Shun nodded: "Let's go over and take a look, it can be regarded as my second uncle's mentor." ”

Xiaoqi temporarily handed over the patrol to an old soldier, and when Xiaoqi explained, Zhu Shun thought that he couldn't go empty-handed, so he went to Zhu's spinning factory to get a bottle of liquor.

That old pawn was the old man Ji, and he was about to see his granddaughter get married, holding a rope in his hand, standing silently under the old locust tree.

Today's life is not difficult, but can not survive, the grain sold by the Jin merchant rice shop, the cheapest grain bran has risen to three dollars a bucket of silver, and the white rice has risen to five dollars a cent of silver.

forced them, the croppers, could only sell their sons and daughters and land, and their sons couldn't sell them, and Old Man Ji's four sons all died in Liaodong.

It is even more impossible for the little granddaughter to sell, Old Man Ji can only sell the land, and after selling three acres of surviving fields, the grain he bought is only enough for one person to live until the beginning of spring next year.

Old man Ji glanced back at the empty plain, there were many old trees between the ridges, and there were basically one or several old people, both men and women, standing under the old trees.

The chaff has been bought, and the granddaughter has found someone to take care of her, but she is a little reluctant to let the old man have a cigarette pouch pole.

However, if he gave it to Song Xiaozi, it can be regarded as finding a good master, and it can be regarded as his reward for taking care of his little granddaughter in the future.

Old man Ji looked to the north, that bitter cold land was his home, he lived for most of his life, and his four sons also died there.

After taking one last look at Liaodong, Old Man Ji hung the rope on the trunk without hesitation.

Hanged on an old locust tree.

killed the enemy in his life, and all four sons died in battle.

All his life, he was destitute.

There is only one rope.