When it comes to the steam engine, Deng Qingnian was a little embarrassed, "This steel can be used in the steam engine, but it doesn't work as well as expected, so you better go and see it yourself." ”

The two came to a corner of the workshop area, which was a specially built workshop for Zhang Chu to test steam engines. In order to avoid this from happening, Zhang Chu divided a part of the limited funds and the best craftsmen to tackle key problems, which was pinned on high hopes.

For the steam engine, a machine that changes the world, Zhang Chu of course hopes to make it as early as possible, the more advanced the better, so he drew a schematic diagram of the watt steam engine according to his memory, and then asked the craftsmen to try it out according to the drawings, Zhang Chu came here to see the progress of the craftsmen's work as soon as he was free, and constantly searched his memory to put forward suggestions for improvement, and when he was free, he experimented with the craftsmen, and there were five steam engines in the factory, four of which Zhang Chu was very familiar with. Each part was assembled by Zhang Chu and the craftsmen, and if you look closely, you will find that there are subtle differences between each unit. Among them, there are not only the results of Zhang Chu's search for intestines and stomachs, but also the crystallization of the wisdom of craftsmen, in Zhang Chu's view, each piece is a work of art. Through the manufacture of four steam engines, the craftsmen have basically understood the working principle, so Zhang Chu decided to sum up the experience and finalize the production of a practical steam engine, so the fifth one is much larger than the previous ones, and the other ones are placed there like some toy models. Deng Qingnian came to the side of the machine and introduced to Zhang Chu: "This fifth machine summarizes the production experience of the previous machines, and uses the latest steel as raw materials according to the final final design. In the middle of construction, some small improvements were made, but there were still some stubborn problems that could not be solved for a while. A lot of financial and manpower was consumed, and this machine was much larger than the previous ones, but the power generated was very small, and now it seems that it is not practical, only one thing, this machine can be operated, proving that the manufacturing method should be right. However, due to the gap between materials and manufacturing processes, there are still many problems. ”

Zhang Chu has invested a lot in this work under the existing financial resources, but it still cannot be practical after it is made, and Deng Qingnian feels very ashamed of it.

After the introduction, Deng Qingnian ordered someone to ignite the fifth steam engine and start it, so that Zhang Chu could see the actual effect.

The fire in the boiler was ignited, and by trial-making the steam engine with the craftsmen, Zhang Chu finally understood why the workers of later generations had created the words "run, run, drip, and leak". Even this last built steam engine had the same problems.

The crowd moved away from the machine and watched from a distance. The water in the boiler gradually boiled and steam was produced. With the increase of pressure, the problem also appeared, the pressurized steam was sprayed out from the pipe interface, the craftsmen had already taken precautions against this, there were craftsmen wearing protective clothing made of animal skins, wearing animal skin gloves in the past to tighten the interface, the injected steam stopped, the whole steam engine began to move, the steam pushed the piston in the cylinder to drive the flywheel to rotate, but the closure of the cylinder and the piston was not very tight, resulting in the leakage of steam, the steam pressure in the cylinder was not very large, and the flywheel could only run very slowly. The craftsmen looked at this machine that was constantly eating coal but couldn't work, and they couldn't raise their heads in front of Zhang Chu. However, Zhang Chu's perception is very different from that of others, and he finally understands why the industrial revolution started with the steam engine, not the internal combustion engine, the electric motor or something. The problem is in this "running, rising, dripping, leaking", with the current materials and processes can not make particularly precise things, the internal combustion engine and electric motor in this state is impossible to run, and although this thing runs steam, leakage, it is tenaciously rotating, as long as the dynamic explanation principle is not a problem, and can be manufactured by simple hand. It's just a little less efficient, and by increasing the accuracy, it will eventually provide a steady stream of power.

"That's great, continue trial production, and then find a way to process a little more precisely, make it bigger, its power will be a little bigger, and you can drive some things." Don't worry, this thing will be of great use after all. Zhang Chu was satisfied from the bottom of his heart. I don't know how many days and nights of hard work the craftsmen have gone through to produce these machines. This is a crucial first step, and the road ahead will be much easier.

"We've remodeled the original tools, made new lathes, made new parts with lathes, and some of the artisans have become skilled in handmade parts, and the accuracy is much better than the previous ones. If you put it back together, it will be better than this one. Deng Qingnian saw that Zhang Chu did not show disappointment, so he reported the progress of the whole situation.

All this has exceeded Zhang Chu's expectations, and it seems that the steam engine used to pump water is not far from being put into use, but it is only low efficiency, high energy consumption, and not environmentally friendly. The top priority is to be able to fight the drought of God, grow crops, and wait for the rest to be improved slowly.

Seeing that the workers had made such great achievements in a short period of time, Zhang Chu couldn't help but have more expectations, so he asked Deng Qingnian: "Is there any progress in other aspects?" Deng Qingnian's answer really gave Zhang Chu a bigger surprise. The craftsmen have just made a couple of muskets these days, and they are flintlock muskets. ”

"That's great, take me there." Zhang Chu didn't expect that the breakthrough was the musket that was related to the life and death of the security army.

The group left the workshop area and came to a very secluded hill col, where there was an independent workshop. Zhang Chu was also very familiar with this place, and he had soaked here for a long time in order to improve his musket. The craftsmen brought up several muskets that had been made. Zhang Chu picked it up and checked it with his hand, fortunately, one person can move it and operate it conveniently.

"After the new iron-making furnace produced steel, we applied the latest steel to the manufacture of the barrel, and improved the hydraulic forging hammer with new parts, so that we could produce better raw materials, the barrel could be made longer and thinner, and it could withstand the explosive force of the gunpowder fired without exploding the chamber, and the range of the musket with a sufficient amount of gunpowder was about the same as that of a normal bow and arrow. The biggest breakthrough was the improvement of the ignition device. We took the new steel and repeatedly tempered it under the forging hammer, and obtained a steel with particularly good elasticity, and the spring power we made with him was greatly increased, and the firing rate of the flintlock pistol assembled with this spring exceeded that of the fire rope, and the flintlock pistol designed by the commander was finally ready to be equipped in the team. Deng Qingnian took a musket and pulled the trigger while introducing, and demonstrated.

Watching the flint slice across the steel sheet and then stir up a cloud of sparks, Zhang Chu felt that this was more beautiful than all the fireworks in the world.

He impatiently took a gun and came to the shooting range outside, and the team member in charge of testing the gun wanted to take the gun to demonstrate for Zhang Chu but was stopped by Zhang Chu.

"I'm going to try this gun for myself, you won't be unconfident in your product, will you?" Zhang Chu asked the craftsman who came with him with a smile.

"Confidence, this gun will not explode." Repeated trials have made the craftsman confident in his own products.

The team members handed over the bullet to Zhang Chu, who had asked the craftsman to reconstruct it, and wrapped the standard amount of gunpowder and a lead bullet in a paper tube that had been weighed in advance. Zhang Chu bit the upper end of the paper tube with his mouth to bite the lead bullet in his mouth, poured a small amount of gunpowder into the fire pool, closed the fire pool cover, poured the remaining gunpowder into the muzzle, and then put the lead bullet into the muzzle, and used the bullet pusher on the gun to push the lead bullet into the bottom of the gun chamber and compact. Then the wrapping paper of the bullet is also pressed into the chamber of the gun to prevent the bullet from falling out. Lifting the head of the gun and aiming at the target fifty paces away, he pulled the trigger, and with a loud bang, fire and smoke erupted from the muzzle. The musket was safe and sound, and everyone was relieved. The target was taken, and the lead bullet was deeply embedded in the target's plank, and it seemed that there was no problem with the armor piercing at this distance.

"This gun is good, it seems to be practical, is there any difficulty?" Zhang Chu was very satisfied with this gun.

"According to the results of the experiment, there is no problem with the use of this gun in actual combat, and the difficulty now is that there are too few craftsmen who can make qualified muskets, the output of muskets is too low, and it takes a long time to equip the team, and the new iron-making furnace has increased the furnace temperature, and the refractory materials in the furnace are consumed very quickly, and the furnace must be frequently stopped for repairs, which affects the output of steel." Deng Qingnian said the problems he was facing, and hoped that Zhang Chu would have a way to solve them.

"Send some more craftsmen to this workshop, let them boldly try not to be afraid of wasting materials, let more people master the technology of making guns as soon as possible, and build a new iron-making furnace, so that Yang Liu and their caravan can purchase more refractory materials. Priority is given to the production of a batch of flintlock short muskets, I have some ideas for the modification of the short muskets, and we will refer to them in detail later. Zhang Chu was in a good mood and gave the order cleanly.

On the way back to Yanchang County, Zhang Chu still couldn't help the happiness in his heart, and finally he had something ahead of this era, and the survival of the security army was another guarantee. He decided to reward himself and relax himself. But in this era when entertainment life is very poor, what can make people relax, after thinking for a long time, Zhang Chu decided to go back to the city to tease women.