Accepting Ma Cheng as a student is not that Song Yingxing has nothing to do when he is full, although Song Yingxing is upright, he is not stunned. When Ma Shiying first became the first assistant, he also let Song Yingxing go out of the mountain to become an official, and the official position given to him at that time was Chuhe Bing Patrol Road, which was already a high-ranking official from the fourth grade. Song Yingxing did not become this official because he hated Ma Shiying, of course, Song Yingxing did not scold Ma Shiying, but proposed that he was not in good health, and rejected Ma Shiying's solicitation with such a tactful reason.

When Song Yingxing saw Ma Cheng's drawings of the steam engine, he moved his mind to stay. Although Ma Cheng's drawings are marked with incomprehensible formulas, Song Yingxing can still understand the basic framework, and Song Yingxing has high attainments in physical chemistry, and it is found at a glance that this steam engine has high practical value.

Song Yingxing was a great scientist in the Ming Dynasty, and he always regarded himself very highly, believing that there was no machine in the world that he did not understand. But when he saw Ma Cheng's drawings and found that this strange machine was beyond his own cognition, Song Yingxing's mood at this time was like a widow meeting a widower, and he couldn't wait to start building this machine immediately.

Although Song Yingxing was anxious, after all, he had been an official for more than ten years, and if he made a very attentive appearance, he would be looked down upon by Ma Cheng. When Song Yingxing saw that Ma Cheng's arithmetic was very good, he had the idea of taking Ma Cheng as an apprentice.

Becoming Ma Cheng's teacher, Song Yingxing can openly ask for drawings, and at the same time, he can live in the student's house openly, and of course, he can also alleviate the criticism of himself in the officialdom. The old man didn't want to come to Ma Shiying, it was Ma Cheng who sent someone to Jiangxi to arrest the old man, and when he arrived in Nanjing, the old man saw that Ma Cheng was a material that could be made, so he reluctantly accepted Ma Cheng as an apprentice.

Ma Cheng didn't know that the old guy's little Jiujiu in front of him was still happy to be able to gather such a big scientist, Ma Cheng said happily: "Teacher, since this is the case, the apprentice will go home and report to his father, and let the teacher serve as the battalion secretary of the Ministry of Industry!" ”

The Langzhong of the six departments are all positive five-grade, which is as big as Song Yingxing's previous governor, but Langzhong is a Beijing official, and the place he is selected to be the four-grade prefect, which can be said to be reused by Song Yingxing.

Ma Cheng thought very well, but Song Yingxing didn't appreciate it, he had already shirked Ma Shiying's solicitation, where could he go back on his word and go to Nanjing as an official in less than two months? Do you still want this old face?

Song Yingxing's face sank and said: "Zhonghe, you know that the teacher and your father are not compatible, so the teacher doesn't want to be an official, just stay in the capital and help you with a white body!" ”

Ma Cheng still had to persuade, but seeing that Song Yingxing rejected himself very firmly, Ma Cheng had no choice but to agree, anyway, now the Weapons Bureau of the Ministry of Industry is managed by Xu Zhenye, and letting Song Yingxing take charge is a matter of his own words.

Song Yingxing was willing to stay and help Everything was easy to say, the two of them were in high spirits at this time, and after eating a little bit, they rode out of the house and rushed to the Weapons Bureau in Beicheng. In the interior of the Ordnance Bureau, Ma Cheng had already built a steam turbine, which was made by Ma Cheng and Chen Zilong together at that time, and most of them had been completed, but the cylinder leaked during the trial operation.

The main building of this steam engine is a large hollow iron ball with a diameter of nearly six feet, which consists of two semicircular iron balls, connected by rivets in the middle. It was this rivet that had a problem, because the entire cylinder was too large, and more than 300 rivets were used, and more than half of them were leaking. The soul of the steam engine is in this cylinder, and at the same time, the steam turbine also needs high-pressure steam, and now the cylinder is leaking, then don't mention anything.

Song Yingxing came to the steam engine and took a good look at this big guy who was more than ten feet tall, in the middle of this big guy was an iron-gray big steel ball, probably the cylinder that Ma Xiaozi said, and there was a combustion chamber built with refractory bricks under the cylinder, but now the steam engine has not been completed, and there is no furnace fire in it. At the top of the cylinder is a string of thick to thin iron cylinders, and at the end of the cylinder is a nozzle, facing a large wheel with a diameter of 20 feet.

The steam turbine developed by Ma Cheng is very simple, it is a large kettle of boiling water, and then the steam is used to drive the fan blades on the wheels to rotate, thereby driving the machinery. The thermal efficiency ratio of early steam turbines was not as good as that of reciprocating steam engines, but Ma Cheng now had no rubber on hand, and he did not understand reciprocating steam engines, so he could only use steam turbines with this simple principle.

Song Yingxing stepped forward and looked at the rivet in the middle of the cylinder, which was an ordinary rivet, and after burning an iron bar red, he stuffed it into a pre-made hole, and then a person used a hammer to hammer the iron bar inside. This kind of riveting is the most primitive riveting, and the craftsmen of the Song Dynasty have been proficient in this process, because the diameter of the iron bar is slightly larger than the hole, so after hitting it hard, it can be waterproof to a certain extent.

But this kind of rivet does not work on the steam engine, the cylinder of the steam engine needs high-pressure steam, and it is easy to leak air if the pressure is too strong from the inside out.

Ma Cheng saw Song Yingxing looking at the cylinder in detail, and hurriedly stepped forward and asked, "Teacher, is there a solution to the air leak?" ”

Song Yingxing said while looking at it: "Zhonghe, your steam engine is really advanced, so that the water wheel by the river can be eliminated, and various workshops can be set up in the inland provinces in the future." ”

Ma Cheng saw that this old guy answered the question, and scolded angrily: This fucking use you to say, Lao Tzu not only can build this kind of garbage steam turbine, but also the internal combustion engine.

Although Ma Cheng scolded secretly in his heart, he didn't dare to be disrespectful at all, and asked patiently: "Teacher, that's all in the future, can you solve the problem of cylinder leakage at present?" "Fate

Song Yingxing came out from the bottom of the steam engine, smiled and said: "This is simple, it is nothing more than that the rivets are unqualified, and then another rivet will do." ”

Ma Cheng listened to Song Yingxing's simplicity, and hurriedly asked: "Teacher, I asked the craftsmen of the Ordnance Bureau, they will do this kind of riveting, will the teacher have other kinds of riveting?" ”

Song Yingxing didn't answer Ma Cheng's question, lowered his head and picked up a waste rivet from the ground and said: "Zhonghe, you see this is an ordinary rivet, as long as a copper sleeve is added in front of the rivet, and the rivet head becomes larger when riveting, the copper sleeve will be pressed on the cylinder wall, and at the same time, because the air pressure inside the cylinder is higher than that outside, coupled with the soft copper, all leaks can naturally be blocked." ”

Song Yingxing is talking about the blind rivets used in later generations, before World War II, the electric welding process was not invented, and the British tens of thousands of tons of battleships were riveted by this kind of blind rivets.

Ma Cheng was very impressed when he heard this, it seemed that he was still an expert who knew a lot, so he hurriedly found his subordinates and asked them to prepare according to Song Yingxing's instructions.

Song Yingxing's suggestion was very good, and all the rivets of more than 300 rivets of the entire cylinder were riveted the next day, and no water leakage was found after the water injection inspection. Ma Cheng was very satisfied when he saw it, and immediately ordered his subordinates to start a fire.

For safety, Ma Cheng took Song Yingxing to hide behind a high wall, Ma Cheng heard from the guy who reported that the air pressure had reached two atmospheres, and the cylinder did not leak, and knew that he had succeeded.

The steam turbine developed by Ma Cheng can reach a maximum pressure of five atmospheres, that is, the pressure on one square centimeter is about five kilograms, although this kind of boiler can not be compared with the steam locomotive of 20 kilograms per square centimeter in later generations, but it is also much more advanced than the watt steam engine that is only 1.3 kilograms per square centimeter.

Ma Cheng heard that the guy said that there was already two atmospheres of pressure, and hurriedly ordered his subordinates to open the nozzle and start trial production.

With the opening of the nozzle, a stream of high-pressure steam roared out from the nozzle, blowing the steam turbine fan blade in front of it, with the drive of the steam wheel, the transmission shaft drove the machinery on one side to do work, and Ma Cheng's steam turbine was completed.

Ma Cheng stayed behind the protective wall for half an hour, and only after the various indicators of the steam turbine were checked did he take Song Yingxing to the scene to watch. Through the rudimentary barometer developed by Ma Cheng, Ma Cheng saw that the air pressure was stable at three atmospheres, and the maximum air pressure of this steam turbine design could reach five, and now three atmospheres is no problem.

Song Yingxing saw the big guy in front of him snorting and steaming, and he couldn't help but feel a little afraid in his heart, this is also a normal reaction of people, people can feel helpless and small in front of the great power of nature.

"Zhonghe, now that your steam engine is working, what do you need him for?" Song Yingxing didn't know what the use of this big guy was, in the yard, he only saw the steam wheel driving the transmission shaft to rotate, and at the same time the transmission shaft drove the belt to rotate, but the belt was very long, as for what machinery was driven, Song Yingxing couldn't see it.

Ma Cheng heard Song Yingxing ask this and smiled: "This is a big use, teacher, please follow the apprentice and go to another courtyard to have a look!" ”

Coming out of this courtyard and walking into the courtyard on the side, it was a sweltering heat as soon as you entered, and inside was the drilling workshop for muskets. The power from the steam engine drove the drill and began to spin the barrel wildly.

Ma Cheng estimated the time, if you use manual drilling, you can only drill two per day, and now with a steam engine, you can drive fifteen drilling machines in the entire drilling workshop, and fifteen barrels can be drilled every half an hour.

Song Yingxing was also dumbfounded when he saw this, he didn't expect this kind of steam engine to be so useful, which was much stronger than artificial. Of course, making a gun barrel is only the simplest function of the steam engine, and now Ma Cheng's Shenji battalion has been equipped with muskets, and there is no practical point in adding muskets, and the state finance does not allow Ma Cheng to be brainless and violent musketeers, and Ma Cheng is currently in urgent need of cold weapons.

After all, gunpowder is not easy to get, but what people outside the city of Nanjing have is that if they are given a knife and a set of armor, they can go into battle to kill the enemy, so this is the reason why Ma Cheng needs a steam engine.

At present, the Armory Bureau relies on manual armor to make it too slow, each set of armor requires fifty-four armor leaves, and it takes ten days of hard work by a skilled blacksmith, not counting the time spent on manual inlay.

Now with the steam engine, it is different, with the steam engine there is a pneumatic press, you can produce slatted armor on a large scale, although the defense of the slab armor is not as good as the armor, but it is also much stronger than the cotton armor.