Daming Crazy Emperor

Chapter 301 Opening the Age of Steam

Taichang dismantled the steam engine and gave an explanation, all the ministers showed eager expressions.

The emperor is right!

We have a steam engine, nothing is impossible, as long as the idea is bold enough, anything can be done with a steam engine!
Bi Maokang couldn't help asking: "Your Majesty, there are still many parts on the flintlock gun that are not round. It seems that they can't be processed by the lathe you mentioned. Can we also develop a machine tool to process those parts specially?" Woolen cloth?"

It's so easy!

Taichang nodded without hesitation and said: "No problem, we can modify the grinder or lathe and install a milling cutter similar to a reamer on it.

When this kind of milling cutter rotates, it is the same as a reamer reaming the inner wall of the gun barrel and the gun barrel. Once milled, it will be half a cent thick or even a cent thick.

In this way, as long as the speed of the milling cutter is fast enough, we can process parts as quickly as cutting tofu.

We can call this kind of machine tool a milling machine. "

Well, with this kind of milling machine, not only the speed of processing flintlock guns is faster, but also the speed of processing artillery is also faster, because there are also some parts on the artillery that need to be cut or milled.

At this time, Xu Guangqi and Sun Yuanhua couldn't sit still anymore. As long as Taichang waved everyone back, they would probably run out in a hurry and forget about eating and sleeping to develop various steam machine tools.

It is estimated that new machine tools such as lathes, drilling machines, forging machines, milling machines, etc. will be developed soon.

However, Taichang had no intention of letting the ministers retreat at all.

Because he hasn't finished yet,
The uses of the steam engine are much more than that.

He put the parts of the steam engine aside, and then smiled slightly: "What we discussed just now was only the processing of the steam engine itself or the machine tools for processing guns and cannons. In fact, the steam engine has more uses. For example, as Chang Geng said, using the steam engine Pulling mine carts is good, you can be bolder, let go and think about it, see what other uses the steam engine has."

In fact, this is no longer a question of boldness, but a question of insight.

After all, before the appearance of the steam engine, the ancients still relied on manpower for manual work, and at most they added some animal power, water power, or wind power.

These have certain limitations, unlike the steam engine, which is not limited to places, occasions, or industries.

The known applications of steam engines are actually two industries of processing and transportation, and most of them are limited to the application of steam engines by the imperial court or the Ministry of Industry, and steam engines have not been used at all in folk processing and manufacturing.

Can these people think of other industries or other applications?
At this moment, the ministers really couldn't figure it out, because they generally felt that all the places where the steam engine could be used had already been used.

Alas, it seems that I still have to come.

Seeing that everyone was silent, Taichang simply suggested, "Let's talk about the steam engine that Chang Geng came up with to pull the mine cart. The steam engine can pull the mine cart, so why can't it pull other things? For example, the plow used to plow the land used to be It is pulled by oxen, if we use a steam engine to pull it, isn’t it quick and labor-saving to turn over the ground?”

Use a steam engine to pull a plow to plow the ground?
This idea is good, the problem seems difficult to achieve ah!
Song Yingxing couldn't help asking: "Your Majesty, can this steam engine go to the field? A steam engine plus a boiler plus water inside plus coal to burn, etc., at least a few hundred catties to a thousand catties, If you don’t make it like a mine cart and move on the rails, won’t you get stuck in the field as soon as you open it?”

This problem is actually not difficult to solve.

Without hesitation, Taichang said: "We can change the wheels to four big wheels with forks, which is equivalent to the water wheel of the wheel, except that it is not made of wood, but made of iron. Moreover, the protruding fork can be made longer, anyway, it doesn’t matter how deep the fork is inserted, right?”

When Song Yingxing heard this, he just thought about it for a while, then he was a little excited and couldn't sit still.

He is no longer eager to try it now, but wants to try it right away.

Taichang then gave another example: "For example, horse-drawn carts or flatbed carts, these can actually be driven by steam engines, as long as we make the wheels wider and add a ring of rubber to the outside of the wheels, it will be no problem to drive on ordinary dirt roads. "

Good guy, this time the concept of the car has been proposed.

All the ministers couldn't hold back when they heard the words.

What would happen if a steam engine was used instead of mules and horses to pull carts?
It is no problem to open all day long!
Even traveling thousands of miles a day is not a problem!
In fact, these are nothing.

Taichang then gave an example: "Another example is mining. Now we dig slowly by manpower, which is not only tiring but also very slow. If we install a large iron wheel on the steam engine and bring a The one with a sharp shovel, think about it, how fast is the mining speed? A big iron wheel is equivalent to several strong people digging desperately. As long as the steam engine is turned on, the ore will not crash. It's falling down with a clatter, when the time comes, just shovel it into the mine cart."

My God, the steam engine can also be used for mining!
The faces of the officials showed shock again, because they hadn't thought about it at all!

Of course, the use of steam engines is not limited to these.

Taichang then gave an example: "Have you all seen weaving? How many actions does a loom have? A loom is actually a simple vertical thread interlaced up and down, and then the horizontal thread is passed through the middle with a shuttle, and then the horizontal thread is passed through with a grate. Crash tightly, and then repeat these actions, think about it, how fast can these actions be replaced in a steam engine?"

Can the steam engine be used to weave cloth?
When the ministers heard this, they couldn't help but be shocked.

However, when they thought about it carefully, nothing seemed impossible.

Bi Maokang just thought about it for a while and couldn't help asking: "Your Majesty, how do you realize the movement of the shuttle? The two movements of staggering up and down the longitudinal line and hitting them tightly with the grate are really easy to realize. between the longitudinal lines, can this steam engine do it?"

This is not easy.

Without hesitation, Taichang said: "Do you know how the mold on the punch press is pulled up? This shuttle is actually similar to that one. Just find a way to tighten the threads at both ends of the shuttle so that the shuttle does not fall to the ground. ?”

How is the mold on the punch press pulled up?

Very simple!

Just use a big wheel to drive the rope!
This is indeed a bit similar to the shuttle, except that the shuttle runs horizontally, while the punch pulls vertically upwards.

Hearing this, Bi Maokang couldn't help but nodded excitedly and said: "The emperor is wise, I understand."

Just understand, let me give you a few more examples.

Taichang went on to give an example: "Another example is spinning, which is simpler. There are only two actions in total. One is to twist the yarn into a thread, and the other is to wind the thread into a roll. These two actions are used like a steam engine. Is it much faster to replace spinning?"

My God, if spinning and weaving are all driven by steam engines, how much cloth can be produced in that day?

In fact, these applications have not been separated from the scope of production or transportation. In fact, there are many other applications of steam engines.

Taichang thought for a while, and then gave an example: "For example, how tiring it is to fan the fan in summer, or how tiring it is to blow the wind when iron is smelted, and how tiring it is to pull the blower? We can directly use the steam engine to blow the fan. Pull the blower, we can also make something similar to a wheel, install a circle of fans, and then drive it with a steam engine, think about it, how strong is the wind and how much labor is saved like that?"

All the ministers were dumbfounded again when they heard this.

Can the steam engine still be used to fan the wind?
Of course!
I don't know how extensive the use of the steam engine is. Anyway, as long as it uses human power, animal power, water power, wind power, etc., it can be replaced by a steam engine.

Taichang's mind was wide open, and he imagined it unscrupulously.

He gave examples of everything he could think of, such as ships and trains, guns and cannons, basic necessities of life, mining and smelting, agricultural production, handicrafts, etc.

At this moment, the heads of the ministers seemed to be equipped with a steam engine, and they started to operate crazily.

A steam age, a steam age belonging to Ming Dynasty, just started!

(End of this chapter)