Relying on the current industrial base of the Golden River Country, can you build a steam engine and a breech-loading rifled gun? Hong Tao thinks that the difficulty of these two types of machinery is not in technology, but in the idea and material.

The steam engine has actually been built, not now, Wen Xiaoqi has already made it two years ago, and it is directly a two-cylinder steam engine with connecting rods and flywheels, which is more perfect than the single-cylinder steam engine of Newcomen.

This kind of machine is not difficult, as long as you understand the principle and general structure, and have enough materials and time, you can find the right size and structure by slowly trying again and again. Wen Xiaoqi used this method to experiment for four or five years before it was finally finalized. Hong Tao had never seen what the Watt steam engine looked like, and he felt that most of the steam engines made by Wen Xiaoqi were better than the steam engines in the early days of Watt. Because they can already drive several looms to linkage, the output power is much higher than that of the steam engine used by Watt to pump water. Moreover, there is a simple pressure relief device, and it is no longer necessary to manually open and close the faucet to relieve pressure by virtue of experience.

But it was still not efficient enough, and in order to use this steam engine to power ships, trains, and large-scale machinery, one problem had to be solved: sealing. The sealing work of later generations relied on metal processing technology and rubber sealing gaskets, both of which were not currently available in the Jinhe Empire.

If you want to improve the accuracy of metal processing, you have to get all kinds of machine tools, this thing Qizu has been working on, but there is not much progress, only some simple manual machine tools, such as manual milling machines for drilling rifling, manual drilling machines for drilling holes, and manual machines for threading. There is only one reason, there is no power to replace the manual, and it is impossible to test the stability of the machine tool and the machinability of the tool at high speeds.

There is such a material as rubber, and there are around the tribe of Tu, and the local Indians use the sap of rubber trees to rub on their clothes and roofs as a means of protecting themselves from rain, which is not a new thing, but there are no artificial rubber trees. But since a few years ago, under Hong Tao's arrangement, they are also intentionally planting and domesticating this wild tree, and it is estimated that it will be produced in small quantities in a few years.

In fact, if you don't have rubber, you can also use other gums, such as eucommia gums. Its properties are similar to rubber, Wen Xiaoqi used to seal the steam engine is this kind of gum, and it does work, that is, after a long time and a high temperature, the gum will soften and become sticky.

Whether it is natural rubber or natural eucommia rubber, there will be this problem, they need to be plasticized, smelted, vulcanized, molded before they can become high temperature resistance, corrosion resistance, high plasticity of industrial rubber.

One of the most important of these processes is vulcanization, which forms a bridge-like structure between the molecules of the natural polymer, known as cross-linking. Raw rubber without vulcanization process, with or without is about the same, the reason why rubber has become an important auxiliary material in the industrial age is because the vulcanization process has changed its properties.

If in the past few years, Hong Tao did not dare to hope that he could vulcanize rubber, this process technology is not difficult, but it needs some chemical synthesis of raw materials. But now the empire had a naïve chemical industry that could purify sulfur, make carbon black from oil, dry distill pine tar from pine wood, and refine rosin with chemical solvents.

With these raw materials and additives, the vulcanization process of rubber is hopefully completed. Of course, this is only theoretical, whether it can be successful or not, or that word, try! Keep experimenting and find a path to success. There is no need for Hong Tao to complete this work himself, with technical maniacs like Qi Zu and Wen Xiaoqi, plus a chemical genius like Bush, the result is still very optimistic.

After listening to Hong Tao's solution to the insufficient power of the steam engine, Wen Xiaoqi felt that his decision to follow His Majesty was really correct, if it were not for His Majesty's brain, even if he researched to death in Jinhe City and had inexhaustible research and development funds, it would be impossible to think that gums could be vulcanized with these inconspicuous raw materials. As for whether the vulcanized gum will be as heat-resistant, wear-resistant, and age-resistant as Hong Tao said, Wen Xiaoqi feels that this is certain, since His Majesty said it, it must be done, and it has never been done.

"I'll go to Boss Xu, his boat is too slow, it's really not possible, let's take my small boat to Cape Town first, and let His Majesty's family follow the big ship." At this time, Wen Xiaoqi suddenly felt that the speed of the ship was too slow, and it would take one day to reach the port of Cape Town, he didn't want to wait for an hour, and he couldn't wait to fly over directly.

"You wait! Anyway, I am also your elder, and Your Majesty calls me uncle, why don't you take me seriously like this? Your problem is solved, what about mine! Before Wen Xiaoqi could stand up, he was pressed back by Qi Zu. The old man was unhappy, very unhappy, because Wen Xiaoqi's problem was solved, and he didn't have it yet, what should he do with his rear-loading gun?

"Uncle Qi, I think you're in the right direction, but your thinking is a little limited. This bolt-type gun bolt is too laborious to open and close, and it is particularly troublesome to process, once the gun chamber leaks, the high-temperature gas will burn the thread, and it is not possible to even twist the gun after opening it. Even if it can be unscrewed, don't you think that this kind of bolt is slower to use than a front-loading shell? Rifled guns shoot as far and accurately as rifled guns, but they are too slow to reload and not very good, you say? "Qi Zu's rear-loading cannon is actually very similar to the technology of later generations, scientific research is a strange thing, it seems to be more stubborn than the trend of history, some things go around and around, and they will always go around to a starting point.

In the history of mankind, when the rear loading cannon was first started, some people used a similar method to Qi Zu. To put it bluntly, it is to imitate the principle of screws and nuts, treat the tail of the cannon as a big nut, and then make a screw plug and screw it in to plug it, so that you can load the shell from the back and then seal it.

It's just that this method has a big flaw, that is, the reload speed is not fast at all. The reason why it is necessary to load from the rear of the cannon is mainly to increase the firing speed of the cannon and solve the problem that it is difficult for rifled guns to be loaded from the front. The use of threaded gun latches solves the problem of rear loading, but does not solve the problem of loading speed. In addition, the thread does not effectively seal the breech, so this method is not a reasonable solution for rear-loading guns.

“…… So that's such a waste? Is there any way to improve? I also used the vulcanized glue you told Xiao Qi to seal it as a gasket? If you make the thread deeper, reduce it by a few turns, and train more, maybe the reloading speed can be increased. Qi Zu felt that Hong Tao's words were to the point, this kind of cannon bolt that was screwed in like a screw did have these shortcomings, but he was unwilling to give up like this, and after more than two years of tinkering, was it all in vain?

"No waste, we don't use gum sealing, I probably know a few ways that might work, I'll draw it, and we'll figure out how to improve it after you read it." This time, Hong Tao said very modestly, and he didn't dare to pat his chest again. It's not that he doesn't want to, it's that he can't. Because he has never touched the rear-loading artillery, he is not an artilleryman or a person who has engaged in the military industry, who has nothing to do with the bolt of the rear-loading cannon? I can't touch it even if I want to!

"Hey, hey, hey, I'll just say, there's nothing in this world that you don't know. Xiao Qi, see it, Your Majesty gave you an idea, there are only a few here with me, and you can pick and choose! Hurry up and find Boss Xu, you are not needed here. Hong Tao felt that he was already very modest, but Qi Zu didn't think so. He and several masters pondered the problem for two years, and when they came to Hong Tao, there were several solutions at once, if this was modest, then these craftsmen who specialized in making cannons would not live, and they would die.

"I can't go, I'll listen to it too!" Wen Xiaoqi and Qi Zu, the old and the young, are natural rivals, and the two of them have been secretly competing every day since they were ministers and deputy ministers, and neither of them wants the other party to suppress the limelight. Now they are seven or eight years older, and their positions have changed, but their personalities have not changed at all, and they are still competing.

(To be continued.) )