Hongwu Survival Guide

Chapter 217 The Future ([-])

After finishing the last page of the "PPT" related to the railway, Zhu Yuan gave the people around him a little time to taste, and then took everyone to another long table covered with red silk.

"Just now, Zuo Xiang and Qian Shangshu both asked how to realize the nationwide railway construction. Here is part of the answer," Zhu Yuan said, instructing the craftsmen to carefully uncover the red silk, revealing a series of sizes all about one foot "I call these 'engineering machines', because the time is too short, I only made one shape for the time being, and it can't work yet. However, since the 'steam engine' as the heart has been completed, it is only time to make a finished product in the future." question."

Everyone leaned closer and looked at it together.

The so-called "construction machinery" in front of us, some have square buckets, some have digging shovels, some have booms, and some have rollers.

All the smart people present, just by looking at the shape, everyone can roughly guess the purpose of these things.

Zhu Yuan quickly began to explain: "The so-called 'construction machinery', in simple terms, is the mechanical equipment used to build roads, bridges, canals and other infrastructure. Compared with manual labor, the biggest advantage of these equipment is super high efficiency. The amount of work that can be done by one construction machine in one day may even be worth hundreds of pure human operations.”

"Let's start with the truck," Zhu Yuan pointed to the first one, and then he felt something was wrong. The truck...why is it called a truck...it seems to be a transliteration. Forget it, this is the last part, so I skipped it and continued: "It's obvious. , this is a large truck for carrying goods, it can also be called a truck. Don’t look at the model as small, in fact, I hope the size of this truck in the future, um... about as big as a warehouse next to it, if It’s not a problem to add one or two carriages like a train, and a truck can transport hundreds of tons of goods at a time. Oh, as I just said, 1 ton is equivalent to 1000 catties, and 100 tons is 10 catties.”

After talking for a while, seeing that no one asked some possible low-level questions, Zhu Yuan asked himself: "You may think, since there are trains with heavier loads, why do we need trucks? It's very simple. After all, trains are subject to Due to limitations, we can only build on the main traffic arteries, and the transportation outside the traffic arteries must rely on trucks. Just one thing, in the process of railway construction, we need to move a large number of rails, timber, stones, etc. from relevant The raw materials are transported to the railway site. If we only rely on traditional oxen and people to pull a railway, we may not be able to repair a railway for hundreds of years. Only in this way can the construction of the railway be completed within a reasonable period of time allowed by the cost of time.”

When Zhu Yuan said this, Yang Siyi, Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, raised a question: "Pingzhang, as you said, this truck...a truck can weigh up to 10 catties, so I'm afraid...ordinary roads can't pass through it? "

"That's the problem," Zhu Yuan nodded with a smile: "So, before the railway era, we first had to use these construction machinery to build a corresponding road system. The so-called road, as the name suggests, public roads, are actually our current roads. However, the road I imagined will be a hardened road surface that can carry heavy vehicles, which involves... oh, too many, this is not the topic of today, you can imagine it as a road that runs through the whole country paved with stones As I said just now, relying on traditional manpower, it is impossible to lay stones across the country, and the amount of work is too large. It’s feasible, let me add a word of my "economics", which is a fundamental improvement of "productivity" beyond a certain level, a brand new era, and a bright future."

Regardless of whether they understood or not, everyone nodded again.

The inexplicably high-spirited old Zhu also said: "Yuan'er, what you said today... will be compiled into a document for me later, and I have to think about it carefully."

Zhu Yuan quickly agreed, and seeing that everyone had no problem, he continued to explain: "The second one, the excavator, as the name suggests, is used to dig earthworks. You can still imagine expanding this machine to the size of a house. With a bucket, it is not difficult to dig out 500 catties of soil. If one person digs this 500 catties of soil, it may take half a day. The soil can be dug out and sent to the corresponding location. Compared with manual labor, the efficiency improvement is still a hundredfold."

Hearing what Zhu Yuan said, Lao Zhu couldn't hold back, stepped forward to hold up the excavator model, gently moved the flexible mechanical arm, and exclaimed: "If this thing is built, it can dig rivers and dredge silt. a weapon."

As he spoke, he remembered the Jianghuai Canal that was being planned.

It's a pity that it will definitely not be available this time, and it will cost tens of thousands of manpower.

Zhu Yuan followed with a smile and said: "It is indeed very useful, but my ancestors, if we only dig rivers to dredge, we can design more targeted and efficient construction machinery in the future, for example, for river bottom mud, we can use similar pumping equipment just now, Pump the silt straight out."

Old Zhu didn't quite believe it: "I've seen pumping water, pumping mud... Is it possible to pump it?"

"This is actually a simple question of power," Zhu Yuan said, and explained: "The so-called power can be understood as the power level of a machine. Just like a water pump, just pumping water, we say its power is equivalent to 1 The power of ordinary adults, then, if we want to pump mud, we only need to design a larger steam engine, or use multiple steam engines together to make its power equal to the power of 10 adults, which is enough to pump gone."

Lao Zhu understood instantly, and had an association: "Just like that soldier, some people can open two stone bows, while others can open five stone bows."

Zhu Yuan nodded: "My ancestors are wise."

Lao Zhu didn't bother to pay attention to the flattery of his precious 23rd generation grandson, and turned to the excavator in front of him: "The water pump and the train... are all driven by 'turning'. This excavator is probably not easy to operate, right?"

"At the beginning, I felt that it was not easy to build a steam engine," Zhu Yuan said in words that only he and Lao Zhu could understand: "However, when I saw the crystal palace engraving a few days ago, my ancestors still remembered it. Well, the exquisite and cumbersome structure of it, I think, far surpasses what we have in hand, so I am determined, as long as the current craftsman understands the principle and finds the direction, it will not be a problem to create a steam engine, or even other deeper applications."

Lao Zhu also thought of the special engraving that he sent to his precious 23rd generation grandson after seeing it, thought about it, nodded and said: "It's true, I think things are difficult."

After Lao Zhu put down the excavator model and glared at his eager second son, Zhu Yuan continued to explain the following cranes and road rollers, and ended the explanation of the four models. After thinking about it, he did not talk about the helicopter.

Today's limelight is enough, there is no need to be too much.

Moreover, after two days of deliberation, Zhu Yuan realized that he seemed to have taken the wrong direction.

helicopter...

The corresponding technology is much more difficult than other jet or propeller aircraft, so that in the past, fighter jets in many countries have been developed for many generations, but the technology of helicopters has not been able to break through.

Perhaps, it's time to start with a propeller plane.

After talking here, Zhu Yuan led everyone to the lakeside, and while uncovering another demonstration board, he signaled to the craftsmen on the boat in the lake to put down the model.

Another big hit today.

The craftsmen who had already prepared quickly placed a total of six miniature steamboats in the lake, and began to move forward slowly with smoke.

There are six mini steamships, all about one foot in length. In terms of usage, there are cargo ships, passenger ships, and military ships.In terms of structure, there are ships and paddle boats.It is a huge paddle wheel installed on the side, and a propeller blade installed on the invisible bottom.

In addition to the boats cruising in the lake, there are also six corresponding models on the long table on the side of the demonstration board.

Waiting for everyone to appreciate it for a while, Zhu Yuan began to explain: "Steam engine ship, this is a means of transportation that I think is faster and earlier developed than steam trains. Let's take a look at this schematic diagram first. Heh, the content in it is that the ancestor and the prince Your Highness already knows, here is a simple introduction for everyone."

Looking at the world map and many text annotations on the demo board, Lao Zhu listened with a smile, while Prince Zhu Biao frowned slightly again.

Zhu Biao still felt that Zhu Yuan shouldn't talk nonsense about these knowledge.

It's a pity that Zhu Yuan didn't notice Zhu Biao's little action, otherwise he would definitely be vigilant. He didn't forget the "Hongwu Survival Guide No. [-]" that he realized at the beginning.

Prince first.

Lao Zhu has already taken care of it. The biggest hurdle in the Hongwu Dynasty is the prince instead.

At the moment, Zhu Yuan quickly sorted out the previous preparations, and said: "This is a map of the world after the globe is flattened. It is not difficult for everyone to find that the ocean area occupies a large part. Here, I can give a relatively The exact number is [-]%. The ocean occupies [-]% of the earth's surface, and the remaining [-]% is land. Moreover, the land in the extreme south is covered with ice and snow all year round, which is not much different from the ocean. , Therefore, the land area that we humans can use is actually less.

There was a brief pause as usual, and no one asked any questions, so Zhu Yuan continued: "I proposed to my ancestors to set up a sea camp to open up the ocean. The sea fishing and water transportation that have been completed so far are only the most elementary applications. The actual ocean resources are abundant. The extent is far beyond our imagination. Here, using a saying I once mentioned to my ancestors, the sea is a field, and, compared with our land, which is only a few feet shallow and suitable for crop growth, the average depth of the global ocean is less. The level is several hundred feet, and the deepest point is more than 3000 feet. Within the three-dimensional space of this level, there are creatures on each floor, or fish, or shrimp, or shellfish, and things such as kelp and seaweed. Algae that can be eaten by human beings, etc., and so on. To extend, the seabed area, there are many minerals, gold, silver, copper, iron, zinc, tin, the vastness of the ocean, what can be found on land, in the ocean There will only be more. Going back to just now, another advantage of the sea field is that it does not need to be taken care of, and the harvest can be guaranteed in drought and flood. Farming requires spring planting and autumn harvest, and there is no leisure in all seasons, but for the ocean, there is only one thing we need to do. Word: Receive!"

After clicking on a large word 'Receipt' specially marked on the demo board, Zhu Yuan turned to everyone: "So, how to 'receive', I think everyone has an answer, yes, it is 'ship' However, the traditional sailing and paddle boats are too primitive, especially relying on wind power, so that people on land have been unable to truly use the richness of the ocean for thousands of years. Therefore, to achieve real "harvesting", what we need , right in front of you!"

(End of this chapter)