1635 Han style rises again

On May 1663, 5, New Huaian (now Palmerston, Australia).

In the long river of history, precision machinery cannot be manufactured successfully until certain conditions are not met.It is very difficult to assess the importance of these conditions, because they are exerted in rather complex ways, about which scientists (or engineers) of later generations are still poorly understood.

Historians have been limited to mentioning certain perfect instruments and the appearance of new machines.They admit that some technological advances, which they mistakenly call revolutionary, occurred only over a relatively short period of time.They have also studied the impact of these changes on industry and society.But the reasons for these changes, and how they developed, have never been very thoroughly analyzed.

In the field of precision machinery development in Qi State, inventions and the transformation of inventions into practical results will only be manifested when some opportunities for craftsmen or scientific researchers to achieve a new goal arise.Technological development requires the tireless work of skilled craftsmen, the use of high-quality materials and expensive instruments and machinery.In other words, it requires a lot of human and financial capital.If capital is so tied up that it can't be productive—that is, without customers—inventions will die for lack of input.

In fact, when new inventions and new applications appear, its customers are not very many, and if there are, those customers are not always ready to apply the new inventions.This makes some inventions and innovations face the dilemma of insufficient financial resources and unsustainable in the course of their development.

However, in Qi State, there are no cases where certain inventions or innovations cannot be further promoted due to lack of target market or lack of funds.Because, in addition to the corresponding financial support at the government level in Qi State, there is also a big benefactor who is very obsessed with invention and innovation—— King Qi.

Before the founding of the Qi State, the civil government at that time established the Industrial Research Institute and the Institute of Tiangong. The former mainly researched and manufactured various instruments and machinery that would help the development of industry, and was more inclined to practical applications, while the latter was for the development of industries. Experience summary and theoretical exploration of various artifacts and future scientific directions that have emerged in the course of industrial development at home and abroad for thousands of years.

However, as the Industrial Research Institute under the Cabinet Ministry of Industry has limited funds and budgets, it cannot cover and support all domestic inventions and innovations. However, the royal family of Qi State has always been well-managed, with abundant financial resources and abundant funds.

Back then, when funds were unsustainable due to the application of steam engines, King Qi invested a huge amount of money in it, and took advantage of the opportunity to establish the Royal Science Foundation, which began to fund various domestic inventions and innovations.Over the past ten years, through the support that has been spared no effort, while the scientific development of Qi State has achieved remarkable results, it has also obtained more than a hundred various invention and innovation patents, and through the authorized use of some patented technologies, recovered Quite an investment.

Precision machinery, which originated in watchmaking, was first developed in workshops for the manufacture of scientific instruments.The market demand for these products is still very limited in the middle of the 17th century, and it is impossible to make great progress without the support of huge funds and spare no effort.

Someone in later generations once said that the symbol of the industrial age is clocks and watches rather than steam engines.A timepiece is a piece of machinery at the cutting edge of modern technology, and remains ahead at every stage, a perfect symbol of what other machines aspire to be.It can be said that clocks provide models for other machinery.The indirect influence of the watch industry is equally important, as the first true precision instrument, it is the model for other instruments in terms of precision and finish, whether it is mechanical influence or social influence, the watch is the first.

In the history of mankind, the original intention of clocks and watches with such an important status is not to "lead the industrial revolution" or "drive technological innovation".The appearance of the mechanical clock stems from the monks' careful observance of the schedule.In order to keep their prayers faithfully timed, they needed more reliable time instruments.

Soon, expensive timepieces also found a market outside European monasteries.First, various magnificent buildings in the city (such as courts and parliaments) bought mechanical clocks, and then rich people's houses.Regardless of public or private expenses, it is to declare its extraordinary financial resources and ostentation.

It can be said that what promotes the development of watches and clocks is people's desire to own "Patek Philippe" and "Vacheron Constantin"-not only time-telling tools, but also high-end toys and jewelry crafts.

Today, various types of tower clocks have been widely used in the cities of Hanzhou and overseas territories, providing very accurate time for the people who are accustomed to working day after day with the sunrise.In the homes of some wealthy businessmen and high-ranking officials, many clocks produced locally in Hanzhou have also been placed one after another.The precise nautical clock has become a sharp weapon for Qi to explore the unknown ocean, and has played an extremely important role in the domestic navigation industry.

But how to reduce the clock into a watch, the scholars and craftsmen of Qi State spent a lot of time.When the governor of the Dutch East India Company in Batavia, Gene Mattesek, visited Qi in August last year, he presented a slightly rough "Nuremberg egg" as a gift to the king of Qi, which immediately aroused the attention of Qi's watch industry. focus on.

The Nuremberg Egg, first introduced in 1564, is the earliest prototype of pocket watch and the earliest portable timing tool.This earliest pocket watch, made entirely by hand, looks like an egg and can be put in a pocket. Because it was produced in Nuremberg, Germany, it was called "Nuremberg Egg".Although there is no second hand in the dial of the Nuremberg egg, there is a second hand structure in the watch.This is because people at that time did not have high requirements for time accuracy, and usually timed by quarters, watchmakers omitted the production of the second hand, leaving only the hour and minute hands.

After the Hanzhou Precision Instrument Factory located in Xinhuai’an heard about it, the principals Zhang Shuochen and Ji Tanran immediately begged for the “Nuremberg Egg” from King Qi. After getting permission, they dismantled the whole machine and studied it carefully. various parts.

In mid-February this year, Zhang Shuochen, Ji Tanran and others successfully copied a "Nuremberg egg", and the shape was flatter, the weight was correspondingly reduced, and the accuracy was even better.However, almost all the parts of this "Nuremberg Egg" made in Hanzhou are purely handmade, which took more than a dozen watchmakers and took three months.

Naturally, the cost of this imitation original pocket watch is also very astonishing, the cost is close to [-] Hanzhou silver dollars, even if it is sold to those luxurious sea trade merchants, it is indeed worth a bit more.

Unsurprisingly, King Qi was very dissatisfied with this, and asked the master and craftsmen of Hanzhou Seiko Instrument Factory to reduce the manufacturing cost of this pocket watch to the limit, reduce its cost as much as possible, and then carry out commercial and large-scale production .

Since it is a commercial and large-scale production, it means that this kind of pocket watch can no longer be made by hand, and must use corresponding precision tools and exquisite craftsmanship.

A hand drill with a crank and bevel gear replaces the previously customary belt drill, making the drilling of holes more accurate and efficient; a mathematical instrument and a scribe used to index the full disk and ruler Instruments were also developed; a machine with helical teeth on a wheel was also tinkered with by watchmakers to cut tiny dials; a caliper micrometer that could measure lengths with threads...

Many new tools and special working methods were designed one after another, and these were quickly adopted not only by watchmakers, but also in all workshops where precision work was performed.

In both time and importance, the first machine available to artisans, ancient and modern, foreign and ancient, was the lathe, which dates back to some unknown age, but did not come into general use until the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.In Qi State, due to the lack of human resources, machinery and lathes are used to the fullest in various factories and mines, in order to maximize production efficiency and save labor.

In order to process the mandrel and cylindrical parts of the pocket watch, after more than two months of exploration and experimentation, Hanzhou Seiko Instrument Factory cooperated with Heishan Machinery Factory to develop a small precision iron lathe.The lathe consisted essentially of an iron crossbar of square section, with a fixed headstock at one end and a movable headstock that could slide the entire length of the bar.There is a cylindrical hole on the top of each head frame, and a pointed round rod passes through this hole to clamp the workpiece.The head frame and top are firmly fixed with bolts.The tool holder is mounted on a sliding support.The part being turned is rotated by a bow between two centers.

With this precision lathe, the arbors and cylindrical parts of nearly fifty pocket watches can be processed every day, and the operation is only carried out by two craftsmen.In Zhang Shuochen's view, with the development and application of more and more precision machinery and lathes, within a few years, Qi will be able to reduce the manufacturing cost of this portable pocket watch to around two hundred Hanzhou silver dollars. The realization of its commercialization and large-scale production has become another export "foreign exchange earning" product of Qi State.
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On June 6, Kaiyuan (now Humpty Doo, Australia), Institute of Health.

Yin Donglai stood in front of this slightly gloomy building with an instrument in his hand. Seeing the two gendarmes with live ammunition standing at the door, he was a little apprehensive and didn't dare to walk over for a while.

"What are you afraid of?" Jin Rongchun, who was walking in front, turned his head and saw Yin Donglai's shrinking appearance, and couldn't help scolding: "Look at you, you are so timid! Hurry up and follow me to send the things in, the doctor in the hospital is waiting to use them! "

"Jin Tou, didn't you send something to the Institute of Health? Why, there are soldiers standing guard at the gate?" Yin Donglai asked in a low voice.

"Nonsense!" Jin Rongchun glanced at the gendarme standing guard at the door, and whispered back: "This is the place where our country of Qi specializes in researching how to cure diseases and save lives, so it must be closely guarded! Otherwise, let the young people touch it, Injured the doctor inside, or stole the prescriptions for saving people and curing diseases, so what will happen!"

"There is a police brigade next to it. I heard that the nearby Kaiyuan Mine has a gendarmerie and several squadrons of local soldiers on duty. Who would dare to touch this place and cause damage?" Yin Donglai murmured softly.

The military police at the gate carefully checked the passports of the two of them and the delivery certificate issued by Jianye Liulichang, and then called a doctor who was familiar with them inside, and then let the two of them in.

This two-story building in the shape of an "L", although the surrounding windows are all equipped with transparent glass, and the outside eyes are warm and dazzling, but for some reason, Yin Donglai still feels a little oppressed and uncomfortable.Walking from the first floor to the second floor, the nose is filled with a smell of decay and mildew, and there is a faint smell of blood.

Going up to the second floor, walking towards the depths of the corridor on the east side, I met two Hanzhou natives walking towards them carrying a wooden board.When passing by each other, Yin Donglai saw that what they were carrying was a dead body, which was covered with a layer of gray sheets and soaked in the blood oozing from the dead body.

"Don't look around, let alone think about it!" said a doctor who was accompanying him sadly.

When Yin Donglai heard the words, he immediately retracted his gaze, and subconsciously hugged the instrument in his arms even tighter, his heart jumped up for no reason.

"Dean Ding, this is the latest microscope assembled by our Liuli Factory. Our shopkeeper ordered it to be delivered to you."

Several people came to a spacious room. After Jin Rongchun saw a man in his forties sitting inside, he immediately took the instrument from Yin Donglai's arms, and carefully placed it on a table in front of him.

"What is the magnification of the microscope you sent this time?" Ding Chuangen lifted the silk covering the instrument and asked with a smile.

"Master Duan said that the magnification of this microscope should be three hundred times." Jin Rongchun replied.

"Three hundred times?" Hearing the words, Ding Chuangen couldn't help raising his brows, with a hint of joy on his face, "Then Master Duan must have polished the lens on the microscope for a long time, right?"

"Master Duan has been grinding for more than a month, and there are more than a dozen damaged lenses." Jin Rongchun said: "He originally polished a few lenses with a higher magnification half a month ago, but accidentally broke them. Yes. Before coming, Master Duan said that if Dean Ding needs it, he will spend some more time and energy to make a microscope with a larger magnification."

"Very good!" Ding Chuangen picked up a glass vessel from the corner of the table, carefully placed it under the observation port of the microscope, and wanted to try the observation effect of this instrument.

"Ah..." A low exclamation suddenly came from the room.

Everyone looked for the reputation, and saw Yin Donglai, who came to deliver the microscope together, was pale, and stared straight at a transparent glass vessel in the corner of the room. A hideous human head was soaked in the potion.

"Hehe..." Seeing Yin Donglai's appearance, Ding Chuangen couldn't help smiling, "This is scaring people. Xiao Wei, send them out. Oh, and by the way, give them some errand fees, and go all the way from the building It’s hard work for Yecheng to deliver the goods to us.”

"Dean Ding, you're welcome!" Jin Rongchun glared at his companion, and said with a smile on his face, "It's hard work coming from Jianye City. We came here by train, and it took less than an hour before and after, so it's very convenient!"

After everyone left the room, Ding Chuangen smiled and looked down at the latest microscope.Under the lens of [-] times, the capillaries on the human tissue can be clearly seen, which also confirmed the theory about blood circulation once said by King Qi.

Looking at the clear water from the stream outside, he even found many strange-shaped little creatures wriggling, and the number was astonishing.Perhaps, this is the so-called "bacteria".

However, Ding Chuangen failed to find the virus mentioned by King Qi when he observed some diseased human tissues.Presumably the magnification of the microscope is not large enough to detect this finer matter.

However, all medical researchers, including Ding Chuangen, are very satisfied and excited about the various substances in the microcosm that have been discovered so far.Compared with ten years ago, the current microscope has made great progress.

I still remember that more than ten years ago, when the lens was only a dozen times, when they first observed the tiny matter that they had never touched before through a simple microscope, everyone was beyond shocked.It turns out that the water I drank and the food I ate contained so many microorganisms, some spherical, some rod-shaped, and some spiral-shaped..., densely packed, countless, these small creatures are probably tens to millions .

The invention and continuous improvement of the microscope has since opened the door to another world for many scientific workers in Qi, allowing people to focus their attention on the microscopic world.At the same time, the microscope also shines in the medical field of Qi State. The discovery and understanding of bacteria makes Qi State's medicine slowly enter the era of modern (modern) medicine.