Ming Zuo

Chapter 264 Minerals
"boom……"

With a deafening explosion, flames and black smoke rose into the air, and the house was overturned.

Amidst the endless screams, a large group of people rushed forward.

"Save people! Put out the fire!"

It was another toss, and finally the dust settled.

Three people were injured, three were burned, and one house was destroyed.

The remaining people were still in shock and filled with endless regret.

Even Zuo Menggeng was having a hard time, one of his eyebrows was burnt off.

But the young man next to him, seeing the messy scene, cried out unexpectedly.

"Damn it, isn't it okay?"

Zuo Menggeng could still laugh. After all, no one was killed in the accident, which is the greatest blessing.

"Don't rush, take your time. As long as you persevere, you will be able to make it sooner or later."

This is the steam engine laboratory.

Since Zuo Menggeng taught the principle of the steam engine in the school, some young students formed a scientific research group out of interest.

The leader is Qin Luo, the grandson of Lao Qintou.

With Zuo Menggeng's special approval, they could receive funding from Zuo Xiang, and started research from scratch.

Zuo Menggeng also gave them as much conceptual support as possible.

But Zuo Menggeng didn't know much about steam engines.

Apart from the theory, the difficulty of the steam engine is always in the craft.

Qin Luo and others made seven or eight cylinders one after another, and the result was that without exception, all of them burst after working for a period of time.

Today's accident is like this.

After tidying up the scene, Zuo Menggeng gathered everyone together and asked, "What are the problems encountered so far?"

Qin Luo answered on behalf of everyone.

"There are two main ones. One is that the cylinder is not hard enough to withstand the energy of the steam; the other is that the airtightness is not good, and it always leaks."

There is actually another girl in this group, Li Meizhi, the youngest daughter of Li Xiangzhu.

After Li Xiangzhu died, in recognition of his achievements, his family received super high treatment.

Li Meizhi took her father as an example and worked very hard in school.In terms of steam engines, her knowledge reserve is more solid than Qin Luo's.

"We used many methods and materials for sealing, but none of them worked at the high temperature of the steam."

Zuo Menggeng didn't know how Watt made the steam engine, but his idea was similar to Watt's.

"If the pressure of the cylinder is too high, it can't be compared with the artillery. The barrel of the artillery is safe under such a high pressure, and it can naturally withstand the pressure of the steam. Why don't you go to the artillery factory later? , see if I can help you?"

Qin Luo and the others quickly wrote it down, and at the same time, their expressions became cheerful.

"What about the sealing problem?"

No rubber!
Zuo Menggeng scratched his head.

In fact, he didn't know that the seal of the steam engine was never made of rubber.

In this respect, he is also a second-hand knife. Mostly he learned it from the time-traveling text, and he only knows that rubber can seal.

In fact, rubber is not resistant to high temperatures. If it is used to seal a steam engine, it is not even as good as the existing sealing materials.

What to do without rubber?

Zuo Menggeng went to find Yang Gui, Zheng Erbai and others.

"Now the steam engine laboratory needs sealing materials, and ordinary cloth and hemp materials will definitely not work. I thought, copper is softer than steel, can it be used for sealing?"

The way Zuo Menggeng came up with was to use a slightly softer metal to achieve the purpose of sealing by extrusion.

But regarding the steam engine laboratory, Yang Gui and Zheng Erbai were quite critical.

"Seat, the people at the gun factory are about to point at us and scold us, they can no longer provide copper, iron and coal to that laboratory."

Zuo Menggeng's face was very ugly.

"what happened?"

Zheng Erbai said depressedly: "We don't have many sources of coal, iron and copper materials, just a small amount, and we must give priority to satisfying gun factories. In addition, major factories also need a lot of metal materials to make workpieces. There is really no way to give them Help the dolls spoil it."

It was only then that Zuo Menggeng realized that there was a competition for resources among various departments under his banner.

But he was very clear about what the steam engine meant, and he said without a doubt: "The supply of the steam engine laboratory must be guaranteed. Don't blame me for saying something ugly at the beginning. If there is no material there, I will not spare you."

Yang Gui, Zheng Erbai and others sighed, but there was nothing they could do.

Looking back, in fact, Zuo Menggeng also had a headache about this problem.

Still, the territory it occupies is not large enough, so it cannot get enough mineral resources.But now is not a good time to expand, you can't do it for the sake of minerals, right?

"Sir, we discovered iron ore."

Liu Dacai came back from Anshan Lake, and reported good news like rain in time.

Zuo Menggeng seriously suspected that Liu Dacai knew about his problem, so he wanted to flatter him.

"Don't you want to lie about the military situation?"

Liu Dacai was puzzled.

"Why are you lying about the military situation? So many people have seen it. We just came back to report because we thought the iron ore was very important."

Zuo Menggeng's heart suddenly warmed up.

"Where is the iron mine you speak of?"

Liu Dacai lay down on the map and pointed it out for him.

"here."

When Zuo Menggeng saw it, it was a coincidence that it happened to be under the control of the new army.

The place Liu Dacai pointed out was between Dongping County and Wenshang County, on the east bank of Anshan Lake, only a distance of more than fifty miles.

If God does not take, it is hard to escape the blame!

He had no idea that this was the location of Pengji Iron Mine, an important iron mine in Shandong in later generations.

"How did you find out?"

Liu Dacai said enthusiastically: "We followed your instructions and raided the surrounding area of ​​Anshan Lake. When we arrived at Pengji, we found that someone was forging iron in the small town. After asking, we found out that people here can find iron. When we got to the place, we saw that it was not too small."

The reserves of Pengji Iron Mine are about [-] million tons, and mining is very easy, so the local people can smelt iron.

Zuo Menggeng suddenly thought of a question.

"Whose land is the iron mine?"

Although the world is big, there is no land without an owner. This must be taken into consideration.

Liu Dacai had already inquired clearly.

"The owner of that piece of land is surnamed Huang. It is said that my sister married the steward of the Confucian Mansion, and ascended to heaven with chickens and dogs, and became a landlord as well."

It's the Kong family again!

Zuo Hua's revenge has not yet been reported.

The Confucian family had a lot of worries, but how could Zuo Menggeng care about something that was out of reach?

"Do you know what your mission in Anshan Lake is?"

Liu Dacai blinked and suddenly understood.

"This family colluded with the thieves of the White Lotus Sect and plotted against them. Our department will completely eliminate them."

Zuo Menggeng looked serious, and instructed: "The White Lotus Sect rebels are insidious, cunning, cunning, vicious and vicious. When fighting, we must eliminate all evil and do everything we can, and don't give them a chance to fight back."

Liu Dacai took the order and left.

Zuo Menggeng turned around in circles excitedly.

Originally thought that the problem of steel can only be purchased from outside in the near future.Although it is not enough, it can only make do with it.

Unexpectedly, there were iron mines within his sphere of influence.

From now on, I won't be afraid of being stuck in the neck.

As for the iron ore once it is mined, what will happen if people find out?

Zuo Menggeng has an army of [-] in his hands, anyone who dares to get involved will try.

Just as he was thinking about it, Liu Dacai actually left and returned.Not only that, but there was one more person beside him.

Cai Jiachuan, Political Commissar of the Fourth Regiment.

"Why are you back again? Didn't you tell you to kill the thieves quickly?"

"Come on, we found a coal mine!"

Cai Jiachuan's excited voice made Zuo Menggeng dizzy.

Could it be that he is really the child of destiny?

What is needed and immediately available?
The location of the coal mine discovered by the fourth regiment is even better than the location of the iron mine.It is on the bank of Anshan Lake between Liangshan County and Wenshang County.

This place has long been the sphere of influence of the new army, and it is very tightly controlled.

In fact, coal and iron are associated.Basically when one of them is found, there is bound to be another one next to it.

The most typical ones are the coal and iron veins in Anshan, Fushun, and Benxi, which became the cornerstone of the industrial take-off of the new China in later generations.

Well, this is also where Hou Jin started his career.

Therefore, there is no shortage of weapons in Houjin.

The discovery of coal mines and iron mines in the sphere of influence one after another made everyone excited.

After discussing with everyone, Zuo Menggeng immediately decided to develop the two mines.

Among the people who migrated from Yanshen Town, many of them have the ability to prospect and mine.

The fundamental reason why the glass in Yanshen Town can grow bigger is that there are coal mines in the area.Otherwise, fuel problems limit glass firing.

In order to protect the coal mines and iron mines, Zuo Menggeng sent two more regiments near Anshan Lake again, absolutely not allowing anyone to get involved.

Anyway, there is a war going on now, and anyone who dares to come and kill him has no reason to go.

As for when to call?
That's not what he said.

It's not like he doesn't know how to play tricks that Li Chengliang has played.

(End of this chapter)