Turning the next page, the painting is different, but it is something similar to the appearance of Kong Ming lantern. Xiao Bolang was overjoyed in his heart, and was about to take a closer look, when he suddenly heard a knock on the door. Without the permission of the master, it was extremely rude to turn over the master's things privately, so Xiao Bolang put down the stack of papers, turned around and looked at the door, but saw the Zhao family Lang who had a relationship that day looking at him with a smile.

Xiao Bolang's face was slightly red, and he coughed dryly: "It's boring to sit alone......"

Zhao Heju nodded, and bowed his hand like an adult: "Zhao Youju has seen Xiao Xuexue. ”

Xiao Bolang blushed again, he was not as good as a child, after a little thought, he also gave a deep thought: "Don't dare to be, don't dare to be, it should be just to meet Zhao Shaojun." ”

The two looked at each other and smiled, both feeling that this situation was a little weird, Zhao Heju said: "That's it, there is no one else, there is no need to be so restrained, Xiao Xuexue, you have seen the drawings I drew?" ”

"Exactly, this thing on paper, although absurd, is also whimsical." Shaw Brown is also welcome.

"Absurd? Have one's head in the clouds? Zhao Youju laughed and said: "These things, what kind of absurdity is not whimsical?" ”

"Could this be true?" Shaw Brown still didn't believe it.

Zhao Youju didn't bother to explain to him, even if this Xiao Xiucai likes some sideways, but after all, he is limited by what he has seen and heard, so he naturally can't think of the future. He changed the subject: "Xiao Xue is here, isn't he here to see the large Kong Ming lantern, and come with me." ”

Xiao Bolang had a hundred and ten questions in his heart and wanted to ask him to answer them, but he always avoided talking about them, hanging Xiao Bolang's appetite and making him restless. Hearing the large Kong Ming lantern, Xiao Bolang remembered the true purpose of his trip, and followed Zhao Heju out of the study.

Before leaving the door, he glanced back at the pamphlet on the desk, and thought to himself, aren't these things drawn on paper really false?

Because they were afraid of going to the water, Zhao Heju chose the paddy field at home as the place where the lights were placed, one was an empty place in winter, and the other was close to the stream, so that if there was an accident, it was easy to get water. Shaw was taken aback when the bankers brought out the extra-large Kong Ming lantern, because it was not papier-mâché, but covered with fine silk.

In addition to this Kong Ming lantern, Zhuang Ke also lifted another thing, which was also covered with satin, so it was impossible to see what it was. Xiao Bolang was depressed in his heart, and wanted to ask Zhao Heju, but he could see his serious adult appearance, so he knew that he couldn't get an answer from him, so he had to suppress his curiosity and see what surprises Zhao Heju would come up with.

Ordinary Kong Ming lanterns will light pine resin and candles at the lower end of the lamp, but this large Kong Ming lantern is not, even if it uses ten candles, I am afraid it will not be able to make it float. Shaw saw one of the bankers put the grease-soaked rags in the place where the candles had been kept, and after the other two bankers had stabilized them, they lit the rags with flint.

The flames were raging, and the heat blew the silk covered with Kong Ming lanterns outward, and the two Zhuang Ke let go, this guy who was several parts bigger than the usual Kong Ming lantern actually floated up and slowly rose into the air. Xiao Bolang heard the cheers around him, but he was a little disappointed in his heart, he thought that the little master of Yuzhang Villa would come up with something he had never seen before, if it was just like this, it would not be unusual.

"If you make this Kong Ming lantern bigger, do you think you can take someone to the sky?"

He was disappointed, and Zhao and Ju said in his ear leisurely.

"Impossible, impossible!" Xiao Bolang said categorically.

"Not necessarily."

Zhao Youju said with a smile, and then waved his hand to the villagers: "Bring everything here." ”

The bankers hurried back to carry their things in high spirits, and Xiao Bolang was suspicious, and his eyes stopped on another thing covered in silk. He stepped forward and touched the silk with his hand, and found that something seemed to be coated on it, and the silk, which had been so breathable, became less ventilated.

"Coated with eucommia gum. (Note 3)" Zhao Youju watched his movements and said with a slight smile.

"Eucommia gum?" Xiao Bolang heard the string song and knew the elegant meaning: "In order not to make this silk breathable? ”

"Exactly, you're going to see a real hot air balloon today." Zhao Youju patted the silk lightly.

Two months ago, he asked a pharmacist to buy Eucommia ulmoides gum from Jinghu South and North 2nd Road, and in more than ten days after the year, he took children to boil it and then apply it to the silk.

After a while, Zhuang Ke brought a bamboo basket and some wooden frames, and Zhao and Ju commanded them to erect the wooden frames, and spread out the silk coated with eucommia gum on the wooden frames, as if it were a huge canopy. Xiao Bolang estimated that this piece of silk is huge, fifteen zhang square, and the cost of making this thing alone is not bad.

"Let's light the fire!" Zhao Heju ordered again.

A fire was lit under the silk, and at first it was not very strong, but there were several people watching, so there was no need to worry about burning the silk on it. As the heat rose, Shaw realized that the large piece of silk was not flat, but sewn into a ball.

There was more and more heat, and the big ball was gradually lifted up by the heat, flying into the air like the Kong Ming lantern. After half an hour, Xiao Bolang saw the whole picture of this thing. This thing, which Zhao Heju called "a real hot air balloon", has a large ball sewn with silk coated with eucommia gum, and the lower end of the ball is a hole made of bamboo chips, and the heat is constantly poured into this hole, holding the ball up and floating.

The heat is generated by an iron pot that is tied with beef tendon and hemp rope directly below the mouth. This was made of a very thin iron sheet on a wooden shelf, because it was protected by a thin iron sheet on all sides, and there was no fear that the wind would blow out the fire inside.

The iron pot is the bamboo basket that Zhuang Ke came at the end, and the bamboo basket is square enough for two or three people to move. Xiao Bolang already understood at this time, his hands and feet trembled, and he couldn't help but want to climb into the bamboo basket, but was grabbed by Zhao Heju.

"I'm also trying, I don't know if it can be done or not, if you hastily put people up, it's not good if there is an accident." Zhao Youju said with a smile.

"Da Lang, do you want to add fire?"

It was Fang Youcai who was adding to the fire, he turned around and shouted to Zhao Youju, Zhao Youju waved his hand: "Wait, put things on first." ”

Packed into the basket were several bags of sand, Xiao Bailang estimated, the weight of these bags of sand, no different from the two adults, he held his breath and looked at this scene tremblingly.

With Zhao Heju's order, Fang Youcai stuffed a pile of fuel into the iron pot, and the fire immediately grew again. Fang Youcai jumped out of the bamboo basket in a panic, and the Zhuang Ke who was pulling the rope here let go together, and the big balloon with the bamboo basket began to rise slowly again. (Note 4)

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(I don't make up a paragraph today, I may be able to go to Sanjiang next week, and I will strive to add more at that time, and please also ask for great support from the officials)

Note 3: Eucommia gum can replace rubber to some extent, but vulcanization is required. During the Cold War, the Soviet Union used to grow rubber on a large scale, and it was impossible to buy rubber to prevent the outbreak of war.

Note 4: Regarding the hot air balloon, the author refers to the first hot air balloon experiment in history: on June 4, 1783, in Annene, France, the inventor Montgolfeld and his brother filled a hot air balloon with a diameter of 10 meters made of linen and paper with hot air from burning wet straw, shredded wool and carrion. After much effort, they finally let the clumsy creature slowly rise into the sky. Everyone was surprised that this smoking rag bag could fly. Interestingly, the Montgolfeld brothers always thought that smoke was the impetus for the balloon's ascent. It is said that they were inspired by the fact that the steam from boiling water could rise to the roof and the smoke from the stove could rise. The people of that time did not realize the greatness of this invention in the slightest, but used it as an entertainment. On September 19, 1783, King Louis XVI of France and the Académie de France invited the Montgolfeld brothers to the Palace of Versailles in Paris for a show. This time, the brothers ingeniously hung a cage under the balloon, in which a duck, a rooster and a baby sheep were placed, and the balloon flew in the air for 8 minutes at a distance of 1.6 kilometers – in any case, the world's first hot air balloon was born.