With talents in electromagnetism, the next step is to consider the mass production of steam generators and wired telegraph transmitting and receiving devices, and to mass produce steam generators and wired telegraph transmitting and receiving devices, there must first be wires, this wire to mass production is not a simple matter, and a lot of equipment is required.

First of all, there must be smelting equipment, copper ore and scrap copper smelting into pure copper rods, that is, copper rods, this is not a big problem, the Ministry of Industry Wang Gong factory smelting steel technology is quite mature, as long as they let the equipment slightly transform the smelting of pure copper should not be a big problem.

Then, there must be a wire drawing machine, the thigh-thick copper rod is drawn into a thin copper wire, which is more complicated, not that the structure of the wire drawing machine is complex, the wire drawing machine is mainly an extrusion and wire drawing roll, the drawing Zhu Cijiong has in his mind, the key problem is that the extrusion requires a lot of strength, how to use the steam piston to output such a huge extrusion force, and the hardness requirements of the wire drawing die are also very high, and the material problem is also a big problem.

Finally, there is also a copper wire coating equipment, that is, the fine copper wire is heated, and then the rubber particles are evenly dissolved on the surface of the copper wire, which is not very difficult on the equipment, mainly because of the material, and a large number of rubber must be imported from Portugal or Spain and South American colonies.

Comprehensively integrating these problems, the most difficult of them is the wire drawing machine, without the wire drawing machine everything will become a fantasy, so Zhu Cijiong is ready to overcome this difficulty first.

He first sketched the drawing machine drawings in his mind, and then he gathered a group of cronies from the Ministry of Industry to discuss the problem of wire drawing machine manufacturing.

This purely technical pre-imperial meeting was usually held in his private study, and the participants were three old cronies, Bi Maokang, Wang Hui, and Song Yingxing, and two new protégés, Xu Fuyuan and Xia Yunyi.

Zhu Cijiong has never been formal when discussing technical issues, he summoned all five of his cronies to the conference table, and then directly put the sketches on the table, and the six people got together to discuss.

Zhu Cijiong first briefly introduced: "I recruited you this time to make a machine for the production of fine copper wire, that is, to draw the smelted pure copper rod into a copper wire with the thickness of noodles, a bit like ramen, well, it is too vulgar to call a ramen machine, so call it a wire drawing machine." ”

The emperor will still joke! Xu Fuyuan and Xia Yunyi were taken aback, but Bi Maokang and the others were used to it, and they chuckled a few times.

Zhu Cijiong made a little joke to make the atmosphere easier, if everyone was respectful, this technical issue could not be discussed.

After introducing the function, Zhu Cijiong pointed to the sketch on the table and explained: "This machine is actually very simple, it is an extrusion and drawing and rolling device, here is the extrusion part, see the middle of the groove, put the arm or thigh thickness of the pure copper rod in this groove, and then add a huge force to squeeze forward, here is a drawing mold, behind is a conical groove, in the middle is a small hole, the copper rod is squeezed out of this small hole, become a filament, and then pull this through these pulleys, Finally, it is rolled here, and this final roll is the same as spinning, but it is not a human to rotate the wheel, but to drive it with a piston, and that's about it. I don't know if you are good at machinery now, and I don't know if there is a problem with making such a machine with the current technology of Daming, do you think there is any difficulty in making this wire drawing machine? ”

These words were naturally said to Bi Maokang, Wang Hui and Song Yingxing, they can be said to be already experts in machinery, and the theory may not be as strong as Zhu Cijiong, a monster who has crossed over, but in terms of application technology, it is now stronger than Zhu Cijiong, which is not a star and a half.

Bi Maokang first spoke: "I don't know how much copper wire the emperor wants, if it is only a few zhang long or even a few miles long, it is better to directly open a mold die-casting, this wire drawing machine is afraid that it will take a long time to make it." ”

Zhu Cijiong was overjoyed when he heard this, as long as he could make it, this copper wire was not going to be used immediately, and it would take a little time, he exaggeratedly said: "I want more than that, I'm afraid it's not enough to be ten thousand miles long or even a hundred thousand miles long." ”

As soon as his words fell, the three old subordinates immediately took a breath at the same time, and Bi Maokang exclaimed: "Hey, I want so much!" ”

Zhu Cijiong just wanted to surprise them, and now that this little bad taste was satisfied, he smiled and explained: "I want to pull this copper wire from the capital to the residences of the Xuancheng political envoys, and then from the residences of the Xuancheng political envoys to the state capitals, and finally even from the state capitals to each county seat, the amount of use is very large, and die-casting is definitely not possible." ”

When Bi Maokang heard this, he said with a solemn face: "Then this wire drawing machine must be done, Liangfu, how do you see the extrusion strength that the emperor said is achieved now?" And Chang Gung, what material do you see the emperor said about this drawing mold? ”

This officialdom has the rules of officialdom, if the emperor does not ask by name, then it is generally the person with the highest position who answers, and if the subordinates rush to answer, it is a substitute for the deputy, this is a taboo in the officialdom, although Wang Hui and Song Yingxing are not familiar with Bi Maokang anymore, but they still know this basic rule and do it very well, so it has always been Bi Maokang who is replying.

Now, Bi Maokang asked them to reply, and they just spoke, or according to the grade, Wang Zheng is a waiter, so naturally he will answer first.

Wang Zheng's specialty is mechanical structure, if it is a variety of machine tool problems, he can answer with his eyes closed, but this wire drawing machine is not a machine tool, but a new machine, to squeeze the copper rod out of a small hole like squeezing noodles, how to achieve such a large extrusion strength is really hard to say, he had to hesitate: "This, Wechen is still not good, according to the practice on the large lathe, then we can only increase the number of gears on the extrusion shaft, but Wechen estimates that even if the limit of the road is added, I am afraid that it will not be able to reach this strength, Only a few more gears and several steam pistons can be used together to achieve such a large force, how many steam pistons are needed, and how many are needed, this has to be experimented, I don't know if the emperor is in a hurry, if he is in a hurry, Weichen will do the experiment now. ”

Zhu Cijiong knew that if Wang Zheng was allowed to go at this time, I am afraid that Wang Zheng would not stop if he did not make things successful, he had a deep understanding of the madness of the people who were engaged in research, and the wire drawing machine was not in a hurry, so there was no need to let Wang Zheng go hard, he quickly raised his hand and said: "Don't be in a hurry, it's good to have a way, you can try slowly after you go back, and now discuss all the problems clearly." Chang Gung is up to you, what material is suitable for the mold? ”

Song Yingxing's expertise is multifaceted, it can be said that he is a generalist in the field of machinery, he is especially good at this material mechanics, but the hardness of this extrusion die really stumped him, with a huge force to squeeze the copper rod, to squeeze the copper rod into filaments like squeezing noodles, no one has done this, how hard the mold can be carried, how to know if you don't try, he had to hesitate the same: "This, Weichen can't say it well now, I am afraid that this drawing die is harder than turning tools and milling cutters, so it can only be quenched with high-carbon steel, How hard it will be still needs to be experimented. ”

It is harder than turning tools and milling cutters, so how to process? Zhu Cijiong couldn't help asking: "Then how to process it, the taper groove and fine holes of this wire drawing die need to be processed very smooth, otherwise you won't be able to pull out the regular copper wire at all." ”

This question is naturally not a problem for Song Yingxing, he replied easily: "The emperor doesn't need to worry, the amount of this wire drawing die is not large, it can be clamped onto the lathe and slowly ground with oil stones, and it is no problem to make a few a day." ”

Uh, shame, no one said the problem of processing, naturally there is a way to process, Zhu Cijiong felt that he had asked a very stupid question, he coughed a few times embarrassedly, and continued to ask: "How to solve the problem of rolling, this synchronization must be done well, it is not good if it is fast or slow, if it is fast, the copper wire will be broken, and if it is slow, the copper wire will be knotted." ”

This question is not a problem for Song Yingxing, he replied confidently: "This emperor does not need to worry, Weichen has personally spun yarn, the yarn is similar to the copper wire, it will break if it is fast, and it will be knotted if it is slow, this is mainly a problem of the strength used when turning the handle, Weichen went back to test it, how much strength of the copper wire of various thicknesses is appropriate, and then match the corresponding number of gears." ”

Zhu Cijiong heard this, his old face turned red, Song Yingxing's description made him think of something, that is, a constant torque motor, yes, as long as the strength is appropriate, the copper wire is always stretched and straight, and there is no need to care about the speed at all, he is embarrassed today, and he actually asked two stupid questions in front of the apprentice he brought out!

At that time, when they first started to make machine tools and flintlock pistols, Bi Maokang, Wang Hui and Song Yingxing treated him as gods, followed him behind his ass and asked this and that, how many years have passed, and in a blink of an eye, they have all become expert-level figures, but they have become lonely and unheard. Fortunately, they have not seen so many advanced things in later generations, and they are 108,000 miles behind themselves in terms of theory and knowledge, so he decided to let them make machines in the future and only ask if they can do it, and they said that they can do it, as for how to do it, it is better not to ask, so as to save people shame.

This kind of gap from the professor to the taught is really a bit big, Zhu Cijiong Gu Ying felt sorry for himself for a while before coming back to his senses, it seems that there is nothing wrong with this wire drawing machine, but it just takes time to experiment. Now Bi Maokang, Wang Hui and Song Yingxing have fully grown up, not to mention precision machinery, as long as the function and structure of ordinary machines are explained to them clearly, they can basically make it, looking at the discussion of the wire drawing machine did not take too much time, Zhu Cijiong simply even brought the machine with copper wire coating insulation layer and let them do it.

There is no difficulty in this machine to coat the copper wire with an insulating layer, but it is not easy to grasp the control of the heating temperature of the copper wire, there is no temperature controller in the Ming Dynasty, and it is impossible to accurately control the temperature, but this can be made up for with experience, try a few more times, take the best effect, and set the heating amount and speed to death.

The smooth discussion process on the mechanical issue was simply beyond Zhu Cijiong's expectations, and the military industry was indeed the project that could best promote the development of technology, and now the Ming Dynasty has been very different from the past in terms of technology, and has far surpassed all countries in the world. With so many professionals, he doesn't have to worry too much about technology, what he has to do now is to let the Ming Dynasty develop in an all-round way in politics, economy and military, and transform technological advantages into comprehensive national strength as soon as possible.