People in the Song Dynasty were lawless

Chapter 445 Internal combustion engine?
"Cai Zhisi, the Zhiyuan is here."

When Wei Huanzhi saw Cai Zhi still typing on the machine, he stepped forward to remind him.

However, Cai Zhi seemed to be immersed in it and didn't hear it.

It was not until the worker next to him pushed him that he came to his senses. He turned around and looked at everyone, revealing a face covered in oil.

When he saw Zhao Jun, he was surprised at first, then he remembered something, and quickly dropped the hammer in his hand, grinned, showing his white upper teeth, and said with a bow: "Your humble servant greets the governor."

"Cai Zhisi is much darker than the last time I saw him."

Zhao Jun turned his head and joked to everyone: "The former white-faced scholar has now turned into a black-faced Zhang Fei."

There is no record of Zhang Fei's specific appearance in history, but during the Sui and Tang dynasties, water puppet shows were popular for creating images, and gradually, the prototype of Zhang Fei as a rough and bearded man came into being.

For example, Li Shangyin wrote in his poem "Some people make fun of Zhang Fei's beard, while others laugh at Deng Ai's eating."

Later, in the Song Dynasty, storytelling gradually became popular and the image became more three-dimensional. It was not until the Ming Dynasty, when "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" was completely formed.

Therefore, the image of Zhang Fei did not emerge in the Ming Dynasty, but was gradually passed down orally during the Sui, Tang, Song and Yuan dynasties. Later, Luo Guanzhong compiled and adapted the stories, which led to the creation of the Four Great Classics.

This is not limited to "Romance of the Three Kingdoms".

The same is true of the image of Sun Wukong in "Journey to the West". There have been legends about monkeys from the Han Dynasty to the Northern and Southern Dynasties. In people's stories at that time, it was just a half-human, half-beast monster.

By the Tang Dynasty, the image and legend became more detailed and three-dimensional.

For example, in the Tang Dynasty legendary novel "The Legend of the White Ape at Bujiang River", the monkeys in the novel are cultured, capable of magic, martial arts, and the ability to fly, and they even have an indestructible body, which has added a bit of divinity to the previous image of monsters.

By the Song Dynasty, the prototype of Sun Wukong had basically appeared and was called Monkey Walker.

The widely circulated story is that Monkey King was subdued by gods because he robbed women or stole food, and then he turned over a new leaf and became a god.

During this period, the legend of Master Xuanzang's journey to the West for Buddhist scriptures became popular, so the story of Monkey King became that he was demoted to the mortal world for stealing peaches in his early years, and finally escorted Xuanzang to the West for Buddhist scriptures.

People in the Song Dynasty even fabricated the story that the Monkey King was named "The Great Sage with Steel Bones" by Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty based on the common knowledge at that time that he had supernatural powers such as "indestructible", "going to heaven and earth", and "multiple changes".

Later, in the Yuan Dynasty's Yuan Zaju, the image of Sun Wukong was almost perfected. When Wu Chengen wrote "Journey to the West" in the Ming Dynasty, the Monkey King Sun Wukong that we are familiar with later generations appeared.

So among the four great classics, except for "Water Margin" and "Dream of Red Mansions", "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and "Journey to the West" actually had their prototypes in the Tang and Song dynasties.

Zhao Jun's statement that Cai Zhi is a black Zhang Fei is based on the image created by water puppet shows in the Tang Dynasty and storytellers in the Song Dynasty.

"Hahahahahaha."

When everyone heard Zhao Jun's joke, they laughed and said it was very funny.

Cai Zhi smiled and said, "Although I am the company director, I have the expectations of the court above me and so many workers below me who need to eat. How can I just sit in the government office and enjoy the fruits of their labor?"

As he spoke, he remembered something and tried to make up for it, "It was said before that the governor would come, and I was going to greet him, but I didn't expect that something broke, so I kept repairing it and forgot about it. I hope the governor will forgive me."

"well said."

When Zhao Jun heard his words, he gave a thumbs up and said, "The court needs officials like Cai Zhisi who work hard. How can I blame him? If all officials in the world are like this, there is no need to worry about the country not prospering."

"I'm ashamed. I'm just doing my duty."

Cai Zhi said hurriedly.

Zhao Jun turned his head and looked at the machine and asked, "Okay, tell me, what is this?"

"This is a steam engine that I developed with several workers."

Speaking of this machine, Cai Zhi suddenly became excited and pointed at the machine and said, "Please look, the court has brought a lot of steam engines to the steel mill. These steam engines often break down. I wanted to study the internal structure, so I dismantled a few steam engines. After dismantling them, I was surprised by their precision, so I devoted myself to studying them for several years. Last year, I suddenly had an idea and developed this machine."

He introduced: "This machine will be much smaller, and its internal structure is completely different from the big machine. This subordinate is in this position."

He knocked on the outer wall of the machine and said, "This is the heart of the machine. I made a hollow design inside and a plug underneath. There are air inlets and outlets here. When steam enters, it pushes the plug underneath to keep turning."

"There is also this position. I have installed some springs. They will rise and fall as the gas flows in and out. In this way, you inhale, press down, then rise up and exhaust, forming a continuous cycle."

Cai Zhi fumbled and pointed at both ends of the machine. Since the outside was made of steel, he had no idea what the inside was designed like, so naturally he had no idea what he was talking about.

Zhao Jun stood there stupidly, wanting to say, "Master Cai, stop reciting, stop reciting."

But he could only pretend to understand and nodded while being confused and said, "And then?"

"Then the plug will drive the lever below, which is connected to the turntable outside. The turntable has a steel shaft. I was thinking if I installed a few wheels outside, then I could drive it around."

Cai Zhi gestured and said, "It's just like a train, except it's much smaller than a train, but it should be more convenient to use."

Okay.

Now Zhao Jun understood.

Steam car?

Could this thing be an internal combustion engine?

Zhao Jun stared and said, "Can you tell me specifically how it works?"

"It's very simple."

Cai Zhi patted the middle of the machine and said, "It uses the steam to push the plug down, and the lever connected to the plug will move. When the steam is exhausted, the plug will rise again and push the steam forward. The plug will fall again, exhaust the steam, and then rise again, just like a person breathing in and out. Between the inhalation and exhalation, power will burst out, which will drive the wheels outside to rotate."

"stroke?"

Zhao Jun asked tentatively.

“What is a stroke?”

Cai Zhi was confused.

They have no professional knowledge and no naming in this area. They only know how to describe the operation of the machine in general terms.

As for terms like "movement", "compression", "work" and "stroke", I have no idea what they are.

"nothing."

Zhao Jun held his forehead, feeling his scalp was itchy and he thought he was going to grow a brain.

He thought back to his physics class in the third year of junior high school.

As Cai Zhi explained, the knowledge of mechanical energy in the first chapter of the third-year physics course, which he had almost forgotten, suddenly emerged in his mind.

I vaguely recall that this seems to be the compression stroke in mechanical energy.

Unfortunately, his math, chemistry and physics levels were average in junior high school, and he was assigned to the liberal arts class in high school.

Moreover, I didn’t do very well in math in high school. The math in the liberal arts college entrance examination was so easy that I only scored 96. I was able to get into Renmin University only because of my good scores in liberal arts Chinese and English.

If I had worked harder and studied the math, physics and chemistry knowledge in junior high school carefully, how could I have only remembered these points of knowledge now, or even only had a vague understanding of them and didn't understand them clearly?
"I didn't know what a stroke was, but I knew it was something that moved the steel shaft, and the gas inside moved the shaft underneath."

Cai Zhi sighed and said, "The only problem is that after trying it a few times before, the steel shaft below sometimes malfunctions, and it moves very slowly, slower than a train, and the power doesn't seem to be enough." "Speaking of"

Zhao Jun thought for a moment and said, "I have an idea."

"Oh?"

Cai Zhi became interested and asked, "Does the dean think there is anything wrong with my design?"

"No."

Zhao Jun said: "I just wonder, if the steam inside is replaced with other gases, will it be more powerful and run faster?"

Cai Zhi pondered, "Isn't it that the Director is talking about gunpowder? I have thought about it before, but I'm afraid it is not easy to achieve."

"It's not gunpowder, it's gasoline. Never mind, I'll send someone to deliver it to you when the time comes."

Zhao Jun said: "You can try it with that thing."

His eyes were full of anticipation.

If Cai Zhi really invented a car, it would be a big disaster.

As a history major, Zhao Jun actually doesn't know much about engineering.

But thanks to the world history course, I have a clear understanding of Western history, including some inventions and details of the Industrial Revolution.

Before Watt improved the steam engine, steam as a power source had already been recognized in the West.

For example, in 1680, Newton envisioned using steam as a jet power to invent a car that runs on jets, but the idea was abandoned because it was difficult to implement.

In 1670, Huygens had a wild idea that gunpowder could be used as a propulsion system, and he invented a machine that used gunpowder to burn and expand in a cylinder to push a piston to do work, namely the "internal combustion engine."

Therefore, in fact, steam cars and internal combustion engines are not the products of the Industrial Revolution at all, but existed before the Industrial Revolution.

However, due to the limitations of the materials at the time, although there was an idea in this regard, it was difficult to implement.

It was not until 1769 that Frenchman Nicolas Cournot built the world's first steam car, nine years after the start of the First Industrial Revolution.

It can be seen that many times what people lack is not wild ideas, but the materials to make ideas become reality, just like the steam engine existed before Watt improved it, but Watt used rubber to change the key lead ring, perfectly solving the sealing problem, which triggered the first industrial revolution.

Cai Zhi's genius idea excited Zhao Jun.

If he really invented the internal combustion engine like Huygens did in history, he would only need to replace the steam material with oil and solve the problem of the spark plug. Wouldn't he have a car then?
Think about it carefully, when others were still in the feudal primitive society, the Song Dynasty had trains, cars, and ships. What a dimensionality reduction attack that was.

"It would be great if Zhiyuan had something to replace steam as a source of power."

Cai Zhi said.

"Well, your innovative invention is very important and the court takes it very seriously."

Zhao Jun said, "Well, I will allow you to form a research and development team and find skilled workers to work with you on the research and development. The expenses will be covered by the group's profits. And don't use these inferior waste materials. Use the best steel to build it and strive to perfect this machine as soon as possible."

"Thank you, Zhiyuan!"

Cai Zhi was overjoyed. It took him a year to produce this defective product. It was not because of his incompetence, but because of many factors.

First, he often can only deal with the affairs of the company group and can come here to study in his spare time.

Second, the R&D team is weak, and each time we can only find some workers who are interested. The other workers are either too busy at work or just want to rest after get off work and are unwilling to come.

Third, the materials are not up to standard. They are all waste materials discarded by steel mills. Using such materials for high-pressure operations will naturally not last long.

Therefore, Cai Zhi's research and development progress has not been very smooth. He has only developed this thing and has not conducted any loading tests.

Now with Zhao Jun, he can invest more resources in it.

"Okay, then I won't disturb you."

Zhao Jun urged, "You should pay more attention to this matter. I believe its effect and potential are very great. If the experiment is successful, it doesn't matter even if it takes five, ten, or twenty years. Do you understand?"

"Yes, please rest assured, if it can run successfully, I will build a car that can run on the ground as soon as possible."

Cai Zhi cupped his hands and said excitedly: "If it can run on the ground as I thought, I will drive it to Bianliang myself to let the governor see that I have lived up to the trust of the court."

"very good!"

Zhao Jun nodded with satisfaction, not caring about the dirt on the other person. He patted his dirty shoulder and said, "I'm optimistic about you."

He smiled and turned away.

Watching his departing back, Cai Zhi's eyes were filled with excitement and emotion. He was excited that he could show his talents, and he was touched that the dean trusted him so much.

You have to know that this research will cost a lot of money. If there are no results, it will be a waste of money.

It can be said that the dean would rather waste money than trust him.

This trust is naturally touching.

The crowd here surrounded Zhao Jun and left.

After leaving the factory, Wei Huanzhi asked in surprise: "Director, Director Cai's research will probably cost a lot of money. What if it is of no use?"

"It'll be useful."

Zhao Jun smiled.

Wei Huanzhi scratched his head and said, "I don't think it's useful. Since we already have trains, why do we need to make something else? Even if we make it, how can it be as convenient as a train?"

"You don't understand. Its importance is far beyond your imagination. It even determines the future destiny of the country."

Zhao Jun put his hands behind his back, looked into the distance and smiled.

A train is a train and a car is a car; the two cannot be lumped together.

Many inventions in history seem useless at first glance, but time will prove everything.

We don’t know exactly what Cai Zhi’s invention is yet, but if it is really an internal combustion engine, that would be a big deal.

Zhao Jun naturally knew how important the role of the automobile industry would be in future generations.

Aren't Germany and Japan, the two defeated countries in World War II, relying on their automobile industries to occupy the third and fourth places in the world's GDP?

Therefore, even though it was uncertain whether Cai Zhi was researching the internal combustion engine, and even if it might be proven later that Cai Zhi's invention was useless, Zhao Jun had to take the gamble even for that one in ten thousand chance.

This concerns the future of the Song Dynasty and its ability to rise rapidly within a few decades and complete Zhao Jun's strategy of dominating the entire East Asia within a hundred years and becoming a pole in the East.

So this has nothing to do with anything else, it’s simply that the Song Dynasty needs such a pioneering spirit so that it can stay on the right path and determine its future destiny.

(End of this chapter)