The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 224 Research Progress and Research Plan

By late April of the 43rd year of Xianning, the adjustment and reconstruction of the departments and institutions of the Ming Dynasty central court was basically completed.

Zhu Jianxuan breathed a sigh of relief and no longer stayed in Wenhua Hall.

He only asked officials to send the routine documents that needed his review to Wenhua Hall, and he would come here from time to time to process these documents.

If there are urgent documents, you can hand them over directly to the Ministry of Public Security and have them delivered directly to your residence.

But where he lives specifically is not disclosed to the public.

It could be in the Forbidden City, the Western Garden, the Old Summer Palace, or the Summer Palace, or even in a military camp.

Only a few disciples and guards who followed him knew the details.

On the morning of May 1st, the 43rd year of Xianning, Zhu Jianxuan once again ascended the throne in the Wenhua Hall to accept the worship of the officials of the central government offices who had completed their adjustments.

After the ceremonial court meeting, Zhu Jianxuan left behind representatives from the Daming Academy of Sciences, the Daming Academy of Engineering, and major royal companies.

Listen to their reports on the status of Australia's industrial construction and arrange the main tasks for future local industrial construction.

The production capacity of the Beihe Steel Industrial Base has been fully released, with annual steel output exceeding one million tons.

The output of the seamless steel pipe factory has also been fully released, and the annual output of Type A bolt-action rifles has exceeded 500,000.

The shipyard has completed its second expansion and is now able to simultaneously build four 6,000-ton steel-structured warships and eight 2,000-ton pure steel warships.

Zhu Jianxuan’s requirement for local areas in Australia is to continue production according to the current status, continue to open up new land and expand new urban areas, and improve the living standards of local people.

Australia already has power plants, telegraph and telephone lines, and electric fans that can be sold to the public. It is now the place with the highest level of military and civilian technology in the world.

Zhu Jianxuan is quite satisfied with this situation. In the next few decades, Australia will probably still be the southern industrial center of the Ming Dynasty.

However, Australia's upper limit is relatively low. If Australia's fragile ecological environment is not to be destroyed on a large scale, it is estimated that the population must be limited to 10 or 20 million in order to maintain living standards.

The future core of the Ming Dynasty can only be its homeland. While continuing to acquire southern industries through southern companies, construction in the north must also be accelerated as much as possible.

Zhu Jianxuan required that all former state-owned companies of the Wu Kingdom should build a set in North China and Liaodong respectively according to Australia's existing industrial system to expand the scale of the industrial industry.

After the work was arranged, Zhu Jianxuan invited the relevant personnel to stay in the palace to have lunch together. In the afternoon, Zhu Jianxuan went to the Academy of Sciences accompanied by representatives of the craftsmen.

The Ming Academy of Sciences and the Academy of Engineering were court institutions. According to the plan, they should be located south of Chang'an Avenue, that is, opposite Chang'an Avenue outside the south gate of the imperial city.

But they are also scientific research institutions and should be located north of Chang'an Avenue and west of Xuanwumenli Street. This is a specially designated scientific research area.

Finally, Zhu Jianxuan placed him in Xiaoshiyongfang, north of Chang'an Avenue and east of Xuanwumenli Street, in the southwest corner of the imperial city, which was a reserved area for royal use.

To the south is the reserved land for court institutions, and to the west is the reserved land for scientific research institutions.

This was the most special neighborhood in old Beijing. The imperial city shrank inward here, missing a corner.

This place is only separated from the Taiye Lake in the western garden of the imperial city by a wall. Among the imperial court offices, the only one here is the Taifu Temple, which is responsible for the emperor's travels.

Most of the residents who lived here before Chongzhen were the emperor's favorites.

Zhu Jianxuan designated this area for office use by the Academy of Sciences and the Academy of Engineering, which also shows his attitude of importance.

At the Academy of Sciences’ residence, Zhu Jianxuan, Song Wendao and several of their disciples visited the place where they currently work and live.

Then he gathered his disciples and main craftsmen in their conference room and listened to a brief report from them.

Zhu Jianxuan's disciple Li Rui was the representative. He first introduced Zhu Jianxuan's scientific research achievements in the past two years:

"Teacher, now according to your request, we have basically separated the principle research and technical implementation issues.

"Now the Academy of Sciences is mainly responsible for theoretical research, and the Academy of Engineering is responsible for technical implementation.

"Since we returned to the capital of Wu in the 38th year of Xianning, we have continued to work on this for more than five years and finally figured out the basic laws of electromagnetic waves.

"A reliable set of electromagnetic equations was developed, and the Academy of Engineering also produced a basic radio transceiver.

“We can finally control the radio signals to send information.

"When we were in Australia years ago, we verified the sending of information from land to ships and the sending of information between different ships.

"The Academy of Sciences is currently studying how to further increase the distance of radio transmission.

“The Academy of Engineering is designing wireless transceiver equipment that is more reliable, easier to use, and worthy of mass production.

“We will strive to install radio equipment on all warships in the future.

“At the same time, based on the theoretical research of Swiss Bernoulli, we sorted out the motion equations for conservation of momentum of viscous incompressible fluids.

“The craftsmen mastered the vacuuming and tungsten filament processing techniques, and we finally made a tungsten filament incandescent lamp that was barely usable.

“With the vacuum tungsten filament light bulb, we made a vacuum tube according to the teacher’s idea.

"On this basis, theory and technology worked together to design a negative feedback circuit and make an audio power amplifier."

When Li Rui was introducing, a craftsman took out related things.

Zhu Jianxuan sat there, listening to Li Rui talk about the theoretical research content, which had really gone deep into a very "abstract" range.

Many invisible things and logic that cannot be simply reproduced physically were sorted out by them through observation and calculation.

These smart children, selected from hundreds of thousands of people, were directly guided and cultivated by themselves for several years, and were also guided and trained by the top craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty for several years.

They are around 19 to 20 years old this year, and their basic scientific literacy should have reached the top level in the world.

Many of them are already doing research of an almost purely theoretical nature.

Zhu Jianxuan observed the things produced by the Academy of Engineering with great emotion and satisfaction.

First up is the humble tungsten filament incandescent lamp.

Compared with the mature incandescent lamp in Zhu Jianxuan's previous life, it still appears very rough in shape and design.

The light bulb is thick in the middle and thin at both ends, shaped like a football.

The filament in the middle is relatively thick, and it is a straight long tungsten wire, not a curled and folded thin wire.

The lifespan, brightness and efficiency cannot be compared with the incandescent lamps of the previous generation.

But it is unique in this world.

It has barely entered mass production.

In fact, simple light bulbs were made several years ago, so directly lighting up a tungsten filament incandescent lamp now does not have a particularly direct and shocking effect.

The most important equipment among the results of this display is undoubtedly the radio transceiver.

Radio is a very important technological node.

Radio communication and information transmission over the air can greatly improve the efficiency of military command and thus change the pattern of warfare as a whole.

The army commander can understand the situation of the entire battlefield and can directly command the countless troops distributed throughout the battlefield and make them cooperate across the entire battlefield.

Naval commanders can also truly command the entire fleet, rather than conveying the simplest node-based commands through traditional flag signals.

However, the impact of radio is macroscopic, and the on-site functional demonstration does not seem to be very impactful.

Li Rui operated the equipment and sent a message to his companions who stayed in the Old Summer Palace. The other party replied with a message, and the operator wrote out the message for Zhu Jianxuan to see.

The best things in the live show are undoubtedly the amplifiers and electric sound systems.

The power amplifier amplifies the signal of the original sound source while maintaining the basic clarity of the sound source. This thing that was everywhere in the past life is absolutely high-tech in this era.

Before power amplifiers were invented, all microphones were just pieces of metal that could only use basic physics principles to focus the sound in a specific direction.

The volume of the phonograph was also very limited, so a huge speaker was needed to increase the volume as much as possible.

Only with a power amplifier can we truly increase the maximum power of the sound itself and directly increase the volume of the sound itself through direct support of electricity.

Li Rui stood beside Zhu Jianxuan and introduced the amplifier equipment on the table in the conference room:

"Teacher, this amplifier is connected to the electric speaker in the yard and can produce a very loud sound. Would you like to try it?"

Zhu Jianxuan nodded gently:
"Open it, I'll say a few words..."

In the eyes of the craftsmen, the effect of the power amplifier system is very strange, which can expose the content of speech in public.

So Li Rui specifically confirmed Zhu Jianxuan's intention before turning on the power of the amplifier.

Zhu Jianxuan listened to the inexplicably familiar background noise of the radio wave. He brewed his emotions for a few seconds and said something into the microphone that could not be wrong:

"Well done, everyone has worked hard—"

This sentence appeared directly in the yard outside the conference room door, as if a giant shouted to the sky outside.

This area is dedicated to the Academy of Sciences and the Academy of Engineering, and there are no outsiders around.

Those who could hear these words were craftsmen and students.

Naturally, it could be heard very clearly in the conference room.

Although it is far from high-fidelity audio, it is very close to the effect of radio.

Historically, early power amplifiers were actually quite unclear because directly amplifying the signal would result in audio distortion.

Later, the distortion problem was solved by the invention of negative feedback circuit.

Zhu Jianxuan directly gave the tips on how to make negative feedback, and then the disciples were able to make a usable power amplifier.

The power amplifier is also a very important invention in this era.

It allows a manager to speak directly to tens of thousands of people without having to rely on human communication which could make mistakes at any time.

The key point is that the effect of sound amplification is like speaking in the sky. For ordinary people who don’t know the relevant knowledge, they will instinctively think of mysterious power.

This effect is very useful for rulers like Zhu Jianxuan.

So Zhu Jianxuan was very satisfied. After Li Rui turned off the switch, he asked them to arrange people to install one set in the Fengtian Temple Square and one set on the street where the yamen was located.

In the future, if the imperial edict needs to be announced publicly, the person who reads it will speak into the microphone so that more people can hear it directly. Zhu Jianxuan simply checked the recent achievements, and then started a new round of scientific research and design with his disciples and craftsmen.

Zhu Jianxuan sat in his seat and introduced them and assigned them tasks:

“Everyone should be able to realize that the simpler the mechanical movement, the fewer energy conversion links, the smaller the energy loss, and the higher the energy efficiency.

"It is also possible to make a device with greater total power by enlarging the mechanical structure.

“You should also be able to find that the power of the multi-expansion steam engine we are using now has an unclear upper limit.

“It’s because the energy transmission method of this kind of machine is relatively complicated.

“Steam first has to do reciprocating motion, and then it is converted into circular motion through the crankshaft and connecting rod. There are also a lot of transmission and auxiliary structures outside.

“If we want to continue to increase the power of the steam engine, we have to consider reducing the complexity of the steam engine.

"So what if we could skip the process of the steam pushing the piston back and forth and just have the steam drive the machine in a circular motion?

“Logically, yes, the natural reference is the windmill.

“Steam can be used to directly drive a special metal windmill to rotate, and the windmill can be used to drive the transmission shaft to rotate to drive other equipment.

“In order to minimize energy loss and use all the energy to drive the windmill to rotate, the windmill should be placed in a closed environment.

“My idea was to make a cylinder and have all the steam go through it, and the steam pressure would spin the fan in the cylinder.

“To maximize steam pressure, there can be many layers of closely spaced fans in the cylinder.

"I am going to call this new type of steam engine a steam turbine.

"We will make this our next key scientific research task. We will carefully confirm whether this idea is feasible and try to make it happen.

"Calculate and evaluate the working efficiency and energy conversion efficiency of this machine."

While Zhu Jianxuan introduced his concept, he also took out the steam turbine working principle diagram he had drawn and circulated it among his disciples and craftsmen on site for review.

The schematic diagram is still of a popular science nature, not a design drawing, nor a production drawing, but is only used to illustrate the working logic of the machine.

The disciples and craftsmen only needed to take a quick look to understand how the machine theoretically worked.

The principle of a steam engine turbine is very simple, so simple that it does not need to be explained specifically. Most of the difficulty lies in the manufacturing process.

Almost all the craftsmen and disciples were immediately enlightened when they saw this schematic diagram.

I don't think it's difficult.

So Zhu Jianxuan did not stay here. After briefly introducing the idea of ​​the steam turbine, he took out two other schematics of the new machines.

While passing the drawings around among the craftsmen and students, he briefly introduced this new type of machine:

“The steam turbine was conceived on the basis of the idea of ​​reducing the conversion of motion, while the two machines were conceived on the basis of reducing the loss of energy.

"In the past, our steam engines burned coal outside the boiler to create steam, which then pushed the piston to do work.

“External combustion, steam driven, both of these links have a lot of energy losses.

"So I thought, what if we no longer need to boil water to generate steam, but use fuel combustion to heat the air to directly do work? The key is to burn and do the work in a closed space.

“The fuel conversion efficiency of this machine should be higher, and the power density of the machine itself should be higher.

“That is, we can make a powerful machine with a smaller size and weight, and then install it on equipment that is smaller in size.

"I am going to call this machine an internal combustion engine.

“Due to the different properties of typical fuels, there are two different designs, one that is lighter and faster, and one that is heavier and more powerful.

"This machine is the second key task."

Zhu Jianxuan mentioned two types of internal combustion engines with slightly different structures, the "spark ignition internal combustion engine" that uses kerosene or gasoline, and the "compression ignition internal combustion engine" that uses diesel.

These two schematics are not particularly complicated, and talented disciples like Zhu Jianxuan can basically understand them.

However, after listening to Zhu Jianxuan's two ideas, some of the disciples had further ideas, and Li Rui raised his hand at this time.

Zhu Jianxuan smiled and nodded at Li Rui:
"Do you have any idea?"

Li Rui immediately explained his thoughts with some urgency:
"Teacher, is it possible to reduce the loss of energy while also minimizing the loss of motion conversion?

“For example, can your ideas for these two machines be realized on the same machine?

"For example... using the combustion air to directly drive the turbine to rotate?
“Will this machine have a higher power density, and will the size and weight of the machine itself be relatively lighter?”

An internal combustion turbine is a gas turbine, which is theoretically feasible.

Gas turbines can also be lightweight and powerful.

A modern gas turbine is the size of a diesel engine and the power of a steam turbine.

It’s just that the requirements for materials and processing technology are very high.

Zhu Jianxuan was very satisfied with Li Rui's reaction:

“I think it is possible, and you can try to verify it experimentally.

“Determine whether it is feasible, how efficient it is if it is feasible, why it is not feasible, and whether it becomes feasible after certain conditions are met.

“At the same time, we should also take into account that technological upgrades and iterations all come at a price. The larger the span of the upgrade and iteration, the more difficult it is to implement.

“Based on this logic, I believe that the machine you are talking about can only be produced into a practical product after the steam turbine and internal combustion engine are relatively mature.

“Conversely, our current research on internal combustion engines and steam turbines is laying the foundation for what you call the future gas turbine.

“Even if we were to research gas turbines directly now, we would have to master both turbine and internal combustion engine technologies first.”

Li Rui bowed very seriously:
"The students understand——"

Zhu Jianxuan answered Li Rui's question about the gas turbine, and then took out a batch of machine design drawings based on the internal combustion engine.

“The main scientific research force of the Academy of Sciences will focus on these two types of three new engines in the next few years.

“The engineering design force, designing new machines around these three engines.

"First, there were bicycles, tricycles, and four-wheeled passenger cars powered by relatively light spark-ignition internal combustion engines.

"Then there are heavy-duty vehicles, construction vehicles, excavators, bulldozers, and small ships powered by compression-ignition internal combustion engines with greater torque.

"Finally, we designed a new type of battleship, abandoning the sails and using steam engines to drive it. We tried to place the main guns on the battleship deck and on the middle line of the battleship.

“Try to put the two main guns together on a rotating platform, and rotate them through hydraulic or electric equipment.

"This way, when facing the enemy on any broadside, the power of all the main guns can be fully utilized.

“Install the already existing telephone, telegraph and radio equipment on the warships.

“We can first use a triple-expansion reciprocating steam engine as the drive, and in the future we can consider changing it to a steam turbine drive.

"Everyone should take a good look at these scenarios and raise any questions as soon as possible for discussion."

In battleship design, the center-mounted twin-gun is a natural and correct experience. Even in the era of ironclad ships and pre-dreadnought battleships, it was a very useful design.

Zhu Jianxuan now directly proposed that the craftsmen should try to tackle the problem of manufacturing.

Zhu Jianxuan played a lot of war games in his previous life, and learned about the design and development history of modern warships. He knew many more "advanced" modern designs.

For example, the most reasonable armor structure in theory, the alloy formulas of various advanced armors, and the integrated rotating turret.

However, none of these more futuristic things were mentioned in the warship design requirements this time.

There is no rush to use the steam turbine, so we will continue to use the mature three-stage steam turbine.

First, these designs are of little significance now. After all, most of the enemy's warships are still wooden ships, and our own ships can crush them with new cannons.

Second, the more complex and novel the design is, the more troublesome it will be to implement, and the cost will naturally be higher.

Therefore, Zhu Jianxuan’s requirement for warship design is to maximize the current firepower advantage and not to prematurely apply defense and attack technologies that are ahead of their time.

By installing the already manufactured telegraph, telephone and radio, and then installing rifled cannons on the rear of the entire steerable deck, your warship will be invincible.

However, for technologies that require long-term accumulation to achieve, it is still necessary to start research and make basic preparations in advance.

Therefore, Zhu Jianxuan has always been paying attention to and investing in metallurgy and mechanical processing, pointing out the right direction for the craftsmen and allowing them to move forward step by step.

Research is now also beginning on internal combustion engines and steam turbines.

The Ming Dynasty already had breech-loading rifled cannons, wireless wires, telephones, and telegraph systems, as well as steam engine technology, which gave it all the key prerequisite technologies for the dreadnought.

When the Europeans develop ironclad ships, I will just make a dreadnought to suppress their "new battleships".

Several veteran craftsmen at the scene felt quite familiar when they heard Zhu Jianxuan's series of arrangements.

Although Zhu Jianxuan specifically said two years ago that he would let his disciples and craftsmen conduct experiments to verify whether the principle designs of those engines were feasible.

But in fact, Zhu Jianxuan has already taken out various machines driven by these engines, and it is highly likely that the designs of these engines are feasible.

Apart from verbally mentioning the need for verification, Zhu Jianxuan's other arrangements were very similar to those made in King Wu's laboratory.

However, Zhu Jianxuan's disciples did not have this feeling because they had not experienced that period of time.

Most of the disciples just thought that it was because they hadn’t seen each other for more than a year and the teacher had accumulated a lot of new ideas, so they had to quickly figure out how to implement them.

But no matter how they felt, they all took on the task honestly and began to actually analyze the design drawings.

Zhu Jianxuan’s own mentality is actually quite simple. I have been working hard to guide you for several years. Now that you have grown up, I will let you go.

Zhu Jianxuan continued to stay in the Academy of Sciences with a smile on his face, and continued to meet with his disciples and craftsmen until the evening.

Go through all of your specific design drawings.

(End of this chapter)