At this time, several old craftsmen sighed: "The biggest problem of hydraulic drive is limited by the terrain, you must find a place where there is a flow of water, it is very inconvenient, now all the workshops are struggling to find other power, some people mention the use of wind power, like the sail of a sailing ship, some people mention the use of animal power, use a donkey to pull the turntable, and some people think of the marquee, why does the marquee turn, can you use the marquee to make the waterwheel turn by itself?" For this reason, the Chai family also offered a reward of 1,000 yuan to reward the craftsmen who used the marquee method to solve the rotation force. ”

Fanning sighed in his heart, the wisdom of the people is really infinite, thinking of the wind, and actually thinking of the marquee, the marquee is actually propelled by hot air, only half a step away from the water vapor, I believe that there is no need to say it yourself, in the near future, there will be craftsmen who will discover the power of water vapor.

The key is that with the big workshop, capital has the motivation to invent new technologies, with the mechanism and platform for invention and creation, under the promotion of capital and intelligent craftsmen, any kind of invention can be made, and the same is true for guns, so in history, the Song Dynasty is the closest dynasty to capitalism, and if there is no alien invasion to interrupt, the future of the Song Dynasty must be an unimaginable world.

Fan Ning couldn't hold back the excitement in his heart anymore, and said to Zhu Yuanfeng: "On my way back from overseas, in the casual conversation with the seafarers, one of the seafarers thought of a wonderful solution. ”

Everyone was in good spirits and looked at Fan Ning together, Zhu Yuanfeng hurriedly said: "Say it quickly, what is the best way?" ”

Fanning asked the chief steward to gather all the craftsmen, and when everyone heard that little Fan Xianggong had a good way, they looked at him together.

Fanning said unhurriedly: "The brilliant way I said is to use water vapor!" ”

"How do you use water vapor?" Everyone asked in unison.

"The principle is very simple, when we boil water, the water vapor keeps pushing the teapot lid upwards, should everyone have an impression?"

A craftsman reacted very quickly and hurriedly said: "Xiao Fan Xianggong means to make a big teapot lid, and the water vapor pushes the teapot lid, just like the water force constantly pushes the waterwheel." ”

Fanning smiled and nodded, "That's what it means, but the teapot lid doesn't have to be too big, as long as there is enough water vapor, make a big iron container like a teapot, fill it with water, burn it with stone charcoal, and the water begins to boil, and then there is a copper piston on the mouth of the iron container, and the other end of the copper piston is a copper or iron linkage rod, and the water vapor constantly pushes the big piston to move back and forth, so is there power?" ”

All the craftsmen cheered loudly with excitement, they were all skilled craftsmen, and what was missing was a key point, Fanning told everyone about the power of steam, and everyone suddenly realized.

Fan Ning immediately announced: "Zhu Yuanwai and I each took out 10,000 guan as a reward fund, and now we are offering a reward of three things, the first is a steam furnace, the second is a linkage rod including a piston, and the third is a shaft that drives the spinning machine to rotate by the linkage rod.

I suggest that everyone form their own team and study it together for a month, but I remind everyone that the walls of the steam furnace should be made of iron, and the combustion chamber should be made of iron-shelled refractory bricks, and it must be thick enough, otherwise it will explode. ”

"But we don't have that much raw material, we need iron or copper."

Zhu Yuanfeng said slowly: "All the raw materials are provided by me, and the reward is doubled, but there is one thing, no one can leak this matter, I don't mean that I will use it exclusively in the future, I mean, we must invent it successfully, and we can't let the Chai family take the lead." ”

Zhu Yuanfeng understood in his heart that if he succeeded in inventing the steam engine, then he would be able to seal the county just around the corner, he had to catch Fan Ning today, he had a strong intuition, this steam engine Fan Ning must have figured it out a long time ago, and he must be allowed to draw the drawings.

Unable to resist Zhu Yuanfeng's repeated pleas, Fan Ning had to simply draw a schematic diagram of a steam engine, a link rod diagram and a wheel axle diagram, the principle of the wheel axle is also very simple, a hexagonal wheel sleeve hexagonal shaft, there is a linkage rod on the wheel, the piston moves back and forth when the wheel rotates, and the shaft also rotates, all materials are made of copper, which is also the principle of train drive.

Fanning also put forward the condition that once the steam engine was built, it would be handed over to Zhu Xiaolin immediately, and he would be allowed to conduct experiments on the ship and replace manpower with steam power.

At the same time that Fan Ning turned on the steam engine in Chenliu, in the palace, the Empress Dowager Cao also met her brother Cao Tong, and the Empress Dowager Cao was also helpless with this brother, since he was young, he liked to go around to seek immortals and visit the Tao, and now he is forty-five years old, but his heart is still not settled, and he has never been willing to set foot in officialdom.

Although the Cao family has a lot of power in the military, there is no one in the civil office, the only Cao Shi is still a concubine, it is difficult for a concubine to be a high-ranking official, Cao Tong is obviously the most ideal candidate, but he has always refused to be an official, which made the Empress Dowager Cao very disappointed.

"I heard you've been running a newspaper all this time?" Empress Dowager Cao asked lightly.

Cao Tong nodded, "I'm just helping temporarily, and I'll let Luo Ting take over after a while." ”

Luo Ting is the son-in-law of the Cao family, with a high literary talent, who retired due to illness, and he will soon come to take over the two newspapers.

Empress Dowager Cao suddenly asked a little unhappy, "Then what are you doing?" ”

"I want to go out and follow Fanning to the New World, where I've been fascinated for a long time."

"You-"

Empress Dowager Cao was angry in her heart, and there was no way to take him, she was already middle-aged, and she didn't have a good job.

"You came to see me and you wanted to talk about it?"

"Not really, the sixth uncle hopes that the Cao family can participate in the purchase of the island, he had this idea three years ago, and I hope that the imperial court can set the rules as soon as possible."

"Why did the Cao family buy the island?" Empress Dowager Cao asked coldly.

"This is the unanimous decision of the family, not only the Cao family, but also the Gao family, the Pan family, the Shi family, the Li family, and the Guo family all have the idea of buying an island, and everyone hopes to have a family foothold overseas."

Empress Dowager Cao was silent for a moment and said, "I know about this matter, what else do you have to do?" ”

"I don't have anything else."

Empress Dowager Cao glanced at him, "I sent a letter to your sixth uncle last time, and he didn't respond?" ”

Cao Tong shook his head, "He didn't tell me!" ”

"That's it! Then you tell him, I hope Fan Cao will marry, this matter is very important, please make sure he is a jade success! ”

Cao Tong was stunned, and asked for a while, "Who does this Fan refer to?" ”

Empress Dowager Cao snorted, "Who else besides Fan Ning?" ”

"But he has been married and has a wife for many years, and the Cao family has long had no chance."

"Since he has a second wife, why can't he have a third wife?"

The third wife refers to the wife, the partial wife and the lower wife, the partial wife and the lower wife just say it well, but why don't they go to the main house, Cao Tong opened his mouth and stammered, "This, it seems inappropriate, right?" ”

"Ouyang Xiu's daughter can be his second concubine, why can't the Cao family? Your sixth uncle didn't tell you, it was he who wanted me to open this mouth, as long as you agreed, I can also seal the fate, but this matter is related to the future fate of the Cao family, if the Cao family doesn't do it, then don't blame me in the future. ”

Empress Dowager Cao knew in her heart that she couldn't control Fanning just by threatening, although she left an important piece of evidence, she didn't want to use this evidence to tear Fanning apart, this evidence was a double-edged sword, hurting Fanning, but at the same time, it would also expose the truth of Gao Tao's death.

Empress Dowager Cao was worried that once the official family knew the real cause of his mother's death, after her death, the Cao family would not have a good life.

Thinking about it, sitting in the same boat with Fanning, helping each other in the same boat is the best way, marriage is the best link to the same boat, as long as the marriage is reached, she can destroy the last evidence, and she is not worried that Fanning will say it in the future.

Cao Yan's face was flushed, it was obvious that the only girl in the Cao family who had reached marriageable age and did not marry was her third daughter Cao Xiu, and let her daughter marry Fan Ning as her next wife? Although he has always hoped that Fanning is his son-in-law, this time he is not his wife! will wronged his daughter.

Empress Dowager Cao said unhurriedly: "Let Xiu'er marry him, and I will give her the order of the county lady, just like the daughter of the Zhu family, what are you dissatisfied with in this matter?" ”

Cao Tong was forced to be helpless, so he had to grit his teeth and say: "I can agree, but I want to know the reason?" ”

Empress Dowager Cao sighed and said quietly: "The three caves of the cunning rabbit, doesn't the Cao family just want to go overseas to build a cave?" With Fanning's son-in-law, the Cao family is still worried about finding a good place? ”

Cao Tong felt that this was not the real reason, but his sister had a tough attitude, and he had to agree, he needed to discuss this matter with the Fan family and the Zhu family.

"What if Fanning doesn't agree?"

"I'll talk to him personally, and I'm sure he'll say yes!"