The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 474: Rowing against the Current, Whoever Retreats Gets Beaten

What else is steam used for besides heating?
If this question is asked in the future, it may be a joke.

Steam has many uses.

However, people these days have never seen the application of steam.

How to explain this?
Wanli frowned and pondered for a while, then pointed to the water filling port on the boiler and asked, "Father-in-law, what will happen if we open the water filling cap now?"

Are you kidding?
Don't dare open it at this time.

Yongnianbo Wang Wei shook his head repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, the fire is too big now, we can't open the lid and add water.

If you open it at this time, the steam inside will blow the lid off.

That is too dangerous. Not only will it burn people, it may also cause injuries.

We have to add coal to cover the fire and stop the water from boiling before we can open the lid and add more water."

This is the most basic application of steam.

Wanli nodded slightly, then pointed to the polished cannon barrel and asked, "Father-in-law, think about it. What would happen if we used a thin tube to connect this cover to the back of the cannon, added a valve, sealed it, and then stuffed the cannonball into the barrel and opened the valve?"

Uh, is it that troublesome?

Yongnianbo Wang Wei pondered, "The shell will probably be ejected, but not very far."

You probably understand.

It seems that this method is good.

I won’t explain it, I’ll let you think about it yourself, it will help you understand it faster this way.

Wanli nodded slightly and asked, "Think about it again. What if we replace the cannonball with a plug that slides in the barrel, connect an iron rod to the plug, and then connect the iron rod to the oar. Then add a retaining ring to the mouth of the barrel to prevent the plug from flying out, and then open the valve? What will happen?"

This is really troublesome.

However, it's not that hard to understand.

Yongnianbo Wang Wei raised his hand and gestured, "The oar will move forward that way."

That's about it.

Wanli pointed at the gun barrel and said, "Think about it again. If we add a steam pipe at the front and back and seal the gun barrel, the plug and the iron rod can slide back and forth.

Then, we add a special valve to the steam pipe, so that when steam is added on this side, gas will be discharged on the other side, and when steam is added on the other side, gas will be discharged on this side. What will happen then?"

Upon hearing this, Yongnian Earl Wang Wei finally became interested.

Because he thought that steam could replace human rowing!
He said excitedly, "Your Majesty, if that's the case, then there's no need for human rowing.

All we have to do is arrange for individuals to open and close the valves so that the oars will keep moving back and forth.

If the steam force is strong enough, we can even lengthen the iron rod and connect the oars of the octopus boat or even the centipede boat to the iron rod.

In this way, only one person is needed to open and close the valves and one person is needed to steer the boat, and the octopus boat and centipede boat can be rowed, saving manpower for rowing.

The speed of the rowing can also be controlled by the speed of the valve opening and closing. The faster the valve opens and closes, the faster the rowing will be."

Are you getting excited now?
Wanli shook his head slightly and said, "Actually, you don't need to assign people to open and close the valves. The oars can move on their own."

what?
Upon hearing this, Yongnian Earl Wang Wei pondered for a long time, then said helplessly, "Your Majesty, I am a fool. How can the oars move on their own without someone opening and closing the valves?"

This is a bit complicated.

Wanli explained in detail: "Think about it, as long as the steam is passed through one side, will the iron rod on the plug move?
You can make something more sophisticated and connect the iron rod and the valve. When the iron rod moves, the valve will move as well, just like opening and closing a valve.

As long as their movements are opposite, then they can move on their own by simply opening the valve."

Iron rod connected to valve?
Yongnianbo Wang Wei thought about it carefully, and suddenly danced with excitement and said, "I understand. When the air intake iron rod on this side moves forward, it pushes the valve to let air in on the other side and out on this side. Then the iron rod will move backward and push the valve to let air in on this side and out on the other side.

This way the rod will move back and forth on its own, and rowing will only require one person to steer the boat."

You finally understand.

But this is just a basic application. Wanli pointed to the waterwheel shaft not far away and said, "Think about it, if we add a cam to this shaft, can we turn the rotation into a back-and-forth motion like an iron rod?

The reverse is also true, as long as the iron rod is connected to the crank, it can also push things to turn, right?"

This is a bit complicated, but there are some ready-made references.

Upon hearing this, Yongnian Earl Wang Wei nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, the wheel boat is powered by pedals. We just need to replace the pedals with this thing and try it out."

This thing?
Wanli nodded slightly and said, "Let's call this a steam engine from now on.

Steam engines have many uses, and using them to power warships is just a relatively simple one.

You could also consider replacing the machines for making muskets and cannons, and even the machines for spinning and weaving, with steam engines."

Yes, the steam engine has so many uses.

Upon hearing this, Yongnian Earl Wang Wei could not contain his excitement and rubbed his hands repeatedly, saying, "I understand, Your Majesty. How about I order someone to make a steam engine prototype and try it out right now?"

Do you think the steam engine is so simple?

Make a sample now and try it out!

It would be good if you could produce a truly usable steam engine in a year.

However, as long as you understand the principle, it is only a matter of time before you can produce a trial version.

Wanli nodded slightly and said, "Okay, go and try to make the steam engine.

Remember, don't be impatient. If it doesn't work the first time, try a few more times. If tempered steel doesn't work, try copper.

Also, don't forget to build more foundries. We need to make tens of thousands of boilers next year, otherwise the Nurgan Dusi garrison troops won't be able to survive the winter."

"Okay, I'll remember this."

Yongnianbo Wang Wei was so impatient that he bowed and took his leave, and ran away!

Seeing this, Zhu Changxu couldn't help but ask curiously, "Father, can't we use water wheels to make many things now? Why do we still have to go to the trouble of trying to make such a complicated steam engine?"

Is your idea wrong?

Wanli shook his head slightly, then patiently taught: "Xu'er, many things in this world are like rowing against the current, if you don't move forward, you will fall behind.

If you don't paddle hard upstream, the boat will move backward.

That’s nothing, at most you can’t go where you want to go.

Some things cannot be reversed.

For example, shipbuilding technology.

The Ming Dynasty's shipbuilding technology was already far ahead of other countries during the Hongwu and Yongle dynasties.

At that time, no country could build a giant ship weighing thousands of tons, but the Ming Dynasty could build a giant ship weighing thousands of tons.

Unfortunately, the Ming Dynasty stagnated at this point, and even rarely built giant ships of a thousand tons.

How is the result?

It was only a hundred years from the Yongle Dynasty to the Jiajing Dynasty. How chaotic was the situation during the Jiajing period due to the Japanese invasion?

If the Ming Dynasty still had an invincible navy fleet consisting of hundreds of giant ships, would the Japanese pirates dare to come to the coast of the Ming Dynasty and burn, kill and loot at will?
For example, force.

During the Hongwu and Yongle dynasties, the Ming Dynasty had an army of more than one million or even more than two million. Who dared to provoke the Ming Dynasty at that time?
The northern barbarians were beaten by the Ming Dynasty and fled in panic or even surrendered.

If the Ming Dynasty had continued to develop its military power since the Yongle period, there would have been no Battle of Tumu and no disaster caused by the northern barbarians.
Therefore, a dynasty is like rowing against the current, if it does not advance, it will retreat.

Whoever retreats will be beaten or even destroyed!

Therefore, we must keep making progress. We are not satisfied with just having the waterwheel. We must also develop the steam engine.

Only in this way can we ensure that the Ming Dynasty will remain in an unassailable position."

(End of this chapter)