In December, the grasslands on the east coast have entered early summer. The temperature in the Changshanbao area was only about 18 degrees Celsius at this time, and Shao Shude only felt relaxed and happy in the cool breeze blowing on the river surface with the smell of river water.

A fleet of five shallow-water vessels has left the Yi River and turned northward, entering the artificial canal connecting the iron ore area with the Yi River. At the beginning, after Shao Shude led a team to dredge the Yihe River, he applied to the Executive Committee to mobilize manpower in winter to excavate the river in this swampy land and discharge the stagnant water into the low-lying land and build an artificial reservoir. After a winter of struggle, the artificial canal connecting the iron ore mining area with the main artery of the Yihe River was finally completed.

With the current level of logistics and transportation in the Republic of China on the east coast of China, it will be difficult to move an inch away from the river in the inland areas. In fact, the transportation capacity of this era was generally low, and before the invention of the steam locomotive, the cost of transportation in the inland areas without relying on water transportation would be prohibitive, especially in the uninhabited wilderness of the eastern coast.

At present, the various nodes of the Republic of East Coast of China are basically connected by sea or river transportation, from the southernmost Luoqia to the northernmost Ping'an Town, from the easternmost Dongfang Port to the westernmost Changshan Fort, all of which are connected by water transportation.

The cheapness and efficiency of water transport is unparalleled in this era. In the new year's work plan of the Government Council, there is an ambitious "Grand Canal Plan" - the construction of a reservoir and the excavation of a canal in the semi-marshy area between the Chui River and the Negro Lake extending at the southern end of the Lake Milin Lake, and at the same time, the canal will eventually extend south to the Big Fish Lake. The Oriental Port, the current elite zone of the country, is connected with various inland nodes.

Once the canal is completed. At present, all the water systems in the country - Yi River, Milin Lake, Two Lakes Canal, Yazi Lake, Yazi River, Coal River, Ping'an River, and the Chuyi River, Grand Canal, Negro Lake, Dayu Lake and Dayu River in the south will be fully connected. Completely solve the current situation of relying too much on coastal shipping. It is of great strategic importance for improving the transportation situation in the country, as well as for traffic safety during the war.

There is a small beacon at the junction of the canal and the Yi River. It was also recently built and is staffed by eleven militiamen. The beacon tower was sturdy, and a certain amount of food and fuel was stored in it, which could be used by the militia for a short period of time.

Recently, for some reason, the number of horse bandits on both sides of the Yi River has gradually increased, and they have begun to frequently harass the Changshanbao iron ore mining area and the lower Yihe Fort area downstream. All of these bandits have horses, and many even have two horses; It is also relatively well-equipped. There was no shortage of sabers and muskets, and some even carried flintlock pistols that were not cheap. These men crossed the West Ridge Mountains, crisscrossed the vast hills and grasslands, and frequently attacked the strongholds that harassed the Republic on the eastern coast.

After learning of this, the Executive Committee and the Government Council urgently expanded the cavalry battalion and transferred three outposts to start a-for-tat battle against the horse bandits on the grassland. It's just that the grasslands are vast, and the cavalry battalions have limited troops, so the two sides can't meet each other most of the time, so horse bandit attacks are still frequent.

In order to deal with them, Shao Shude racked his brains. All available means were used. For example, building beacon towers, pulling barbed wire, cleaning up the nearby Charuya tribe (cutting off possible supplies for horse bandits), deep ditches and high fortifications, and so on. At the same time, he asked the Executive Committee to use diplomatic means. The Spaniards in La Plata were asked to strictly restrain the gaucho herders in their territory, strictly forbidding them to cross the border into the territory of the Republic of the East Bank.

Of course, this level of diplomatic protest is ineffective. Even the Spanish Superintendent in Buenos Aires sent an envoy to the port of Orient to protest to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs against the connivance and support of the Araucan rebels in the Peruvian Viceroyalty, and to provide them with weapons through covert channels.

It can be seen from this that the contradictions and distrust between the two sides have accumulated to a very deep extent.

Shao Shude stood at the bow of the ship, saw the national flag flying high on the beacon tower and the garrison militiamen waving their arms in greeting, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief: The beacon tower is still there, so there should be nothing major during this time.

The sailors in the bilge shouted trumpets and rowed in unison to drive the ship through the water and move forward. Whenever there is a reverse current or when there is no wind, these oarsmen need to help. Not to mention the slow speed, the staying power is also a problem. At this time, Shao Shude was extremely eager to want a machine-powered boat, even if the diesel engine was not good, at least a steam-powered one.

It's a pity, Shao Shude sighed, through the lack of talents. It's been a few years, and the whole small steam boiler can explode, and what else can be hoped for.

The flotilla docked at the iron ore cargo terminal. An army platoon was stationed here, and sturdy barracks and watchtowers were also built. The newcomers, who had been rocking in the cabin for a long time, trembled and stepped on the solid ground with each other's support, and Shao Shude asked them to arrange for them to rest and eat here first, and then go to the iron ore area in the mountains in the afternoon. He didn't care about eating, so he took two meatloaf directly from the dock kitchen, took a few retinues, and rode to the mine. It's been more than a month since I left, and I don't know what the situation is like in the mining area now.

The situation at the mine is not rosy. Due to the continuous rain, not only did the miners not be able to start work smoothly, but there was also a large amount of water inside the mine, which increased the difficulty of mining. Of course, the mine is not unprepared for such a situation. Some of the pumps produced by the First Machinery Plant were installed two months ago to pump out the stagnant water in the pits.

Most of the pumps are driven by animal power, with the exception of one steam pumper. This steam engine, which was sent by the First Machinery Factory for trial, can only be described as "miserable", because it spends most of its time lying on its stomach - no way, there are too many problems of all kinds: poor machining accuracy, not too hard material, poor sealing, and so on. Of course, the design flaws are not small.

In essence, this steam engine designed for pumping water has not yet gone far from the technical level of Watt's improved push-button steam engine. Of course, the design may be more optimized than Watt's improved steam engine, after all, with the thermodynamic theory of later generations as the foundation, the steam engine research and development department will definitely be more reasonable in the design such as the ratio of cylinder to boiler, and the thermal efficiency of the steam engine will be higher comparatively.

Moreover, Li Hongxing, the former physics teacher who led the design of this steam engine, adopted a two-way cylinder design, so that the steam engine can be pushed by inputting steam on both sides of the piston in turns, which is much more advanced than the piston of the button door steam engine mainly depends on atmospheric pressure reset, and the cylinder pressure can also work at a pressure greater than 1 standard atmosphere, which can be said to have the elements of a real steam engine.

However, the steam engine designed by Li Hongxing did not have a device like a crank flywheel, so the steam engine still carried out a linear reciprocating motion. Li Hongxing's explanation is that this steam engine is mainly used for pumping water in the mine, not for power output, so there is no device added to change linear motion to curved motion.

Shao Shude's luck today is not bad. As soon as he entered the mine, he saw the steam pumper, named "Barbarian-1", full of someone's nasty name, working, and large streams of turbid water being pumped out of the pit and discharged into a nearby drainage ditch.

Shao Shude looked at the bubbling boiler with some uneasiness, Xu Wenxuan's words a few days ago were still in his ears, the things that these unreliable guys made out would explode if they didn't get it right.

Li Hongxing, who was covered in soot and almost black, saw Shao Shude coming, smiled with a mouth full of white teeth, and said: "The First Machinery Factory (No. 1 Machinery Factory) sent some specially made parts and components, and my brothers and I tinkered a few times to toss this steam engine again. No, a rainy day comes in handy. ”

Shao Shude nodded, other designers are not afraid, and it will be boring to dodge as a leader. "This steam engine is much more efficient than the livestock-driven pumps next to it, but unfortunately it is an old problem and has little practical significance. You've got to keep improving. ”

"Of course it's better than those pumps." Li Hongxing's voice was a little loud, probably because he had been in the boiler room for a long time, "We tried an Andalusian horse at the beginning, and the output power is equivalent to eight horses, that is to say, it has eight horsepower. What's even more rare is that it doesn't eat or drink, it works 24 hours a day, as long as there is enough fuel. Of course, we are also working on the material of the parts and some design issues, but it is more difficult. The reason is that we lack an industrial base. For example, the precision machine tools needed to process parts, many parts can only be built by hand, and the error is very large. Although other parts can be made with molds, the error is still not small. You can't change it for a while, you can only take it slowly. Of course, our 'barbarian' steam engine is much stronger than Watt's improved push-button steam engine. ”

"Hmm. Improving thermal efficiency, reducing volume, reducing coal consumption, and increasing output are your eternal pursuits. Shao Shude also joked, "The steam engine can't be mass-produced, so let's make it by hand first." While improving the design, while waiting for the progress of other industrial sectors, take your time, don't rush, anyway, we don't plan to sell steam engines to Europeans. ”

In the past month or so, Shao Shude has been running around everywhere, witnessing the industrial progress that is struggling to move forward in various parts of the East Coast Republic of China. It doesn't mean that you just know the principles of the Dao, it also involves a whole set of industrial systems, which are extremely complex, and it can be said that it is not easy to make any progress.

And this, just like this country, is moving forward with difficulty but perseverance. (To be continued......)