Wentang

Chapter 642 Escapers and Clocks
In the morning, Yue Shan woke up on time under the action of his biological clock, and carefully got up from the bed to start morning exercises.

Just as he opened his legs, he stopped helplessly, rubbed his waist with his hands, and showed a helpless and happy smile.

It is said that thirty is like a wolf and forty is like a tiger. Now it seems that the little girl is not bad at all when she becomes crazy.Fortunately, he has insisted on exercising to be physically fit during the past ten years, otherwise he would really be overwhelmed.

The little girl who was worried about him last night was very obsessed with him, and she didn't fall asleep until the middle of the night.But she is doomed to be in vain, these few days are a safe period.

Originally, he wanted to ask for leave to rest at home for a few days, but there were too many things he needed to deal with, so he had to give up the idea.

After breakfast, under the reluctant eyes of the little girl, he left home as if fleeing.

He didn't go directly to the six doors, and there were a few things that he thought of on the spur of the moment that needed to be dealt with, so as not to forget them in a few days.

First, I went to the medical school, found the director and the head of the obstetrics and gynecology department, and assigned them the task of "statistics of dystocia data for women of all ages".

Although the two of them didn't know what he wanted the data for, they hurriedly agreed.

Although Yue Shan doesn't take much care of the medical school's affairs, he is still the honorary dean, and there are legends about him everywhere in the school, so his words are still very useful.

He didn't stay long after assigning the task, and went straight to Weishui Academy after leaving.Instead of looking for Wang Ji and others, he went directly to Gewuyuan and found the director of Gewuyuan.

A science genius without any records in history, Ma Cong.

Taoist origin, alchemy expert.

His original purpose of joining Gewuyuan was to learn the knowledge of Gewu and apply it to alchemy. However, when he came into contact with systematic physical and chemical knowledge, he was completely addicted to it and couldn't extricate himself.

Then he became the principal of Gewuyuan.

Of course, Yue Shan didn't seek him for alchemy, nor did he want to discuss science, but to inquire about one thing.

"Do you know the escapement?"

Ma Cong, who was pulled out of the laboratory, scratched his scalp and said blankly, "What is an escapement?"

Yue Shan knew that he was too impatient, so he calmed down and said, "It's the thing that drives the armillary sphere."

"Oh." Ma Cong showed an expression of enlightenment, just when Yue Shan thought he knew, this guy suddenly said: "This is knowledge about astronomy and astrology, you should go to the Taishi Bureau and ask me what I do."

His panting almost pissed Yue Shan to death, seeing that he really didn't know and didn't bother to talk to him, so he turned around and left.

He ran all the way to the Taishi Bureau, and met Taishi Ling Fu Yi smoothly.

Fu Yi was very surprised when he heard that he was looking for an escapement, this thing is really rare.

The so-called escapement is the device that powers the armillary sphere, and it can only be used when making the armillary sphere.

But the armillary sphere has not been imitated for many years.

During the successive years of turmoil in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, no force had the leisure to make a big ball to play with. The Sui Dynasty fell too early, and the time for the founding of the Tang Dynasty was too short to make such a thing.

That is to say, the escapement and the armillary sphere have not been real objects for hundreds of years, and there are only records in some ancient books on astronomy.

And astronomy and astrology is a very remote knowledge, few people learn it, and those who have learned it will cherish it and don't want to pass it on to others.

It is also because of his family background, plus he has been studying astronomy and astrology for decades, and he has collected many related books with the help of the imperial court, that he knows how the armillary sphere works.

There are only a handful of people who know about the armillary sphere, let alone this almost 'useless' supporting device.If Yue Shan hadn't mentioned Fu Yi in particular, he might not have thought of such a thing.

"The armillary sphere knows about it, and has restored its blueprint. It's just..." Fu Yi stroked his beard and said with a smile, "May I ask Yuehou what is the use of this escapement device?"

Yue Shan is so smart, he guessed the meaning of the old man right away, and said directly: "I have heard the name of the Armillary Sphere for a long time and have always wanted to pay tribute to it, but it is a pity that the original object has been lost and no one understands the production principle."

"Since Tai Shiling has researched on this, how about my academy assisting you in rebuilding one?"

Fu Yi smiled, and said: "That old man is really disrespectful. Just wait a moment, I'll go and get the blueprint of the armillary sphere."

Yue Shan was also very happy that the transaction was successful. For him now, things that can be solved with money are not a problem.He donated money to help Fu Yi make the armillary sphere, and Fu Yi gave him the blueprint of the armillary sphere, a win-win situation.

As for why Fu Yitangtang Tai Shiling didn't build the armillary sphere himself, it's very simple, this thing is not only a matter of money, but also requires the permission of the court.

Moreover, in ancient times, this thing was already considered a relatively sophisticated instrument, and it required a large number of highly skilled craftsmen to manufacture it through trial and error, which required the participation of the Ministry of Industry.

Without an order from the imperial court, the Ministry of Industry would naturally not be thankless to build an armillary sphere for him.But now Li Shimin doesn't have any intention of building an armillary sphere, no matter how many ideas Fu Yi has, it's useless.

Yue Shan is different, he is rich, and the academy has all kinds of top craftsmen, the key is that he can easily get orders from Li Shimin.

The two parties have a basis for cooperation and have the idea of ​​cooperation, so they hit it off naturally.

This cooperation is not afraid of others knowing, because the court did not suffer.After the armillary sphere is built, it can only belong to the country, and the imperial court has lost an astronomical wonder.

What Fu Yi gains is fame, as long as the armillary sphere is alive for a day, his name will be passed down forever, and even when the armillary sphere is gone, he can still engrave his name on the history books.

What Yue Shan got was the blueprint he wanted.

After getting the blueprint, Yue Shan took a brief look at it. It was very complicated, and he was dizzy and couldn't understand anything.But he knew that Fu Yi would not lie to himself, so he put away the drawings with confidence.

First go to the six doors to deal with the things that need to be dealt with by yourself, and then go to Li Shimin to show that he is working hard. By the way, he also solved the matter of the armillary sphere, and went to the East Palace...

After turning around in a circle, it was already afternoon, and he told Chen Yu to return to the academy when he saw that there was nothing to do.

Grab Ma Cong from the laboratory again, throw the blueprint to him, and let him build the real thing as quickly as possible.

Ma Cong was very upset that the experiment was interrupted again, but he did not refuse the task. He was still more interested in the legendary armillary sphere.

What's more, even Yue Shan attaches so much importance to this thing, maybe there is some mystery hidden in it that he doesn't know.He couldn't wait to think of this.

Of course, what Yue Shanrang built was not a complete version of the armillary sphere, but a scaled-down model.He is not interested in things, but just wants to understand the structure and working principle of the escapement through the model.

Because of this incident in his heart, he was a little out of control and often distracted.

Li Lizhi thought it was caused by her ignorance of restraint in the past few days, so she was so scared that she quickly prescribed several nourishing prescriptions, and she didn't dare to be so obsessed at night.

Li Shimin mistakenly thought that he was too tired, so he asked him to go home and rest for a few days so as not to overwhelm his body.Yue Shan thought that there were still many troublesome things ahead, so he went along with the flow and asked for a few days off.

After getting the vacation, he plunged into the laboratory of the academy and studied his armillary sphere with Ma Cong.

The armillary sphere they made is very small, only two feet high, and made entirely of wood.Several carpenters worked together to make it in a few days.

Then there's the experimentation.

Although this is a miniature armillary sphere made of wood, it has all the necessary functions, and it can still work.

The armillary sphere made by Zhang Heng is driven by water power, that is, the escapement is driven by water power, and then the workmanship of the escapement drives the armillary sphere to run again and again.

The full version of the armillary sphere requires a lot of power, and it is best to use river water to provide reasoning.This scaled-down version is very simple, just bring a basin and a copper pipe.

A small stream of water flows out of the copper pipe and falls on the wooden wheel, and the miniature armillary sphere slowly rotates.

Ma Cong stared at it without blinking, trying to find out the secret inside.

But soon he found that Yue Shan didn't even look at the armillary sphere, and all his attention was focused on the matching thing called 'escapement'.

The escapement was named by Yue Shan, and it didn't even deserve a name before.

Could it be that the secret lies in it?Ma Cong quickly ran to the other side, and also stared at the escapement.

But after watching it for a long time, I didn't see why.

Yue Shan naturally saw Ma Cong's actions, but he didn't pay attention to them. At this moment, he frowned and fell into deep thought.

Sure enough, this escapement is not the same as a watch escapement.

Yes, he was looking for an escapement to make a watch.

In my previous life, I was used to checking the time from time to time, but after timetraveling, it was awkward for a while because of this.

Because there is no need to go to work, the mastery of time does not need to be so accurate.Besides, he is a powerful man, and his family has someone who watches the time. If he wants to know what time it is, he can just open his mouth and ask.

Although not so accurate, but the error is not intolerable.Gradually, I got used to the days without a watch, and ignored this matter.

A few days ago, he needed to check the time during the operation, so he came to his senses and forgot the clock.This thing can not only help people accurately control the time, but also sell money.

You don't need a fancy pocket watch, even Big Ben is worth a lot in this day and age, and if you research it, you can definitely make a lot of money.

He has never built a clock, nor disassembled it like the protagonist in the story, but he knows that the core structure of the clock is the escapement.

He also knew that the watch escapement was made by Su Song in the Song Dynasty, and it also powered the armillary sphere.

It's a pity that it's the Tang Dynasty now, and Su Song's ancestor is probably a tadpole, let alone a clock escapement.

But it doesn't matter, the watch escapement was not created by Su Song out of thin air, but improved from the original escapement.

As long as he finds the original escapement, gathers the elites of this era, and has his own ideas, he doesn't believe that he can't make a watch escapement.

Of course, the main reason why he is so confident is that he knows that the structure of the watch escapement is not complicated.

In his previous life, he had seen the structural diagram of the escapement in the history books. It was so simple that he was surprised that this thing could actually make a clock?

It's just a pity that he is not interested in making clocks and watches, so he just glanced at them and turned them over, otherwise he wouldn't have to worry about it now.

Fortunately, its structure is simple. Although the details are not seen, the general outline can still be recalled.

Yue Shan began to recall the sketch of the escapement, as if there were two wheels, one on top and one on the bottom.Is the top one bigger or the bottom one bigger?Forget it, wait for the experimental study to determine the size.

Oh... The wheel below seems to have teeth, just like a saw blade... It's not a saw blade, but a wheel with teeth on it, and there seems to be a claw with two hooks on the toothed wheel...

More and more details were recalled, and Yue Shan began to compare with the original escapement in front of him.

On the one hand, I want to see which part of the structure is the same, and on the other hand, I want to see if I can remind myself of more structures.

But unfortunately, he did see some familiar structures, but he didn't know if they had the same principle, but the hint he wanted didn't appear.

I can't recall any details other than two wheels and a grip.

Then he began to change his thinking. Since he couldn't recall the structural diagram, he recalled the obvious structures of the clocks and watches he used back then.

The most obvious is undoubtedly the swing. He knows that the watch escapement is powered by swing, commonly known as a swing clock.

So which structure should the swing be associated with?
He immediately thought of the part with the gear very definitely, the reason is very simple, the wheel is at the bottom of the structural diagram, and the swing is at the bottom of the clock.

What structures are there other than swing clocks?pointer?scale?Other than that it's gone, but these two are the least important.

This is what the front of the clock looks like, and what's behind it.

There is a casing and you can't see the inside. You can only see a few screw screws on the back of the clock to check the time, and nothing else.

Yue Shan was extremely disappointed, just when he was about to re-observe the original escapement, a flash of light flashed in his mind.

No, there is another screw, which is wound up.

Yes, it is winding.

Clocks need to be wound, not just clocks, but also mechanical watches.

There is a spring inside the clock.

So where is the spring?

Without any hesitation, the toothed wheel appeared in Yue Shan's mind.

Yue Shan began to deduce the entire structure with his meager knowledge of physics:
The swing and the clockwork work together to provide power to drive the gear, and the gear transmits the force to the big wheel above through the grapple-let’s think so, the big wheel rotates at a constant speed to drive the pointer.

That's how clockwork works...as it should be.

So the question is, he can think of the principle of the swing and the clockwork driving the gears, but how does the grapple transmit the force to the big wheel above?And how to ensure that the pointer does reciprocating circular motion at a uniform speed?

He didn't have any clue about the former, but as for the latter... Yue Shan immediately shifted his gaze to the connection between the original escapement and the armillary sphere, and soon showed a clear smile.

This problem has been solved for him before, and according to the transmission principle of the original escapement, he can basically judge that there is a problem with the escapement in the history book.

The wheel on the structural diagram is just a decoration, and I don’t know why it is drawn on it.

Of course, it is also possible that he made a mistake in his judgment, so he did not delete it for the time being, but waited for the follow-up test to talk about it.

The problem of the uniform cyclic motion of the pointer is solved, then as long as the problem of power transmission by the grapple is solved, the watch escapement will be available.

As for how to solve this problem... He smiled and looked at Ma Cong, isn't this a ready-made coolie.Being good at drawing on the strength of others is the way successful people behave.

Ma Cong, who had been observing Yue Shan's "nervousness" from the sidelines, was shocked when he found that Yue Shan suddenly looked at him and laughed.If it wasn't in broad daylight, he would have thought that Yue Shan was possessed by a ghost.

"Dean, have you found what you want?" He asked tentatively.

"I found it. This is only the first step. There are still many problems that you need to lead people to overcome." Yue Shan looked at him like a little white rabbit and said.

Ma Cong's eyes lit up, and he said excitedly, "Dean, are you going to tell me your discovery?"

Yue Shan was stunned for a moment before he understood what he meant, and a sense of guilt rose in his heart.He was thinking of ways to use the other party, but Ma Cong was simply happy to learn new knowledge, and he didn't think about using it at all.

He is a simple scientist, and he is more and more like a politician.

But he doesn't regret it. Many things must be done by someone. If you just want to be a white lotus, what's the point of traveling.

Besides, if there is no academy established by oneself, people like Ma Cong don't know where to waste their lives.

I provide them with the best conditions to develop their strengths, and they solve some problems for themselves. This can be regarded as what they need.

Thinking of this, he put away his guilt, and said: "I can teach you, but you must make sure that you will never disclose it to anyone. This matter is of great importance, and even saints attach great importance to it. If you are not strict with your mouth, you may not be able to contact Gewu in this life." gone."

Ma Cong's expression changed, not because the object had anything to do with the emperor, but because he was not allowed to touch Gewu.

He is not afraid of death, and being unable to continue studying Gewu is more painful than death to him.

"Can you guarantee that as long as I don't say anything, it will be fine?"

"Yes, as long as you can research this thing and keep it a secret, the imperial court will reward you with a lot of money. I know you don't care about money, but you have a family, don't you?" Yue Shan said affirmatively:
"And you should be able to feel that the further the study of Gewu, the more financial support it will need. To research this thing, you will never have to worry about research expenses, you can have as much as you want."

Ma Cong gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, I'll do it."

So Yue Shan took out a pen and paper and drew all the structures of the watch escapement that he knew, and then explained them to him one by one.In the end, I told him what kind of thing he needed and what kind of function it could achieve.

After listening to Ma Cong, he was completely stunned. He couldn't believe that someone could design such an exquisite mechanical structure.

Moreover, this thing is deduced based on an armillary sphere supporting structure that almost no one knows or pays attention to.

Is this the magic of the children of the gods?It's really enviable.If only I had this kind of brain, I can find the answer to many multi-grid problems.

But then I thought about what Yue Shan didn't understand in Miraculously Different. Doesn't this watch escapement still need me to perfect it?

Thinking of this, he suddenly became proud again, so what about ordinary people?You can also do things that your fairy children can't do.

……

Ma Cong locked himself in the laboratory with the structure diagram drawn by Yue Shan, and had no contact with the outside world except for calling his assistants to help him build some strange parts from time to time.

In order not to arouse other people's suspicion, Yue Shan did not come again, but asked the housekeeper Bao Dalin to keep an eye on the situation of the laboratory.

It has been like this for a week, just when everyone was worried that he would die suddenly in the laboratory.Suddenly he heard his excited voice:

"Haha... made it, I made it."

The loud half of Gewuyuan people heard it.

Yue Shan, who got the news, rushed over immediately, looking at the familiar structure hanging on the pillar, and listening to the long-lost 'tat-tat-tat' sound, he was also overwhelmed by ecstasy.

"How is it? Is it what you want?" Ma Cong said proudly.

"Yes, that's what I want, you're such a genius." Yue Shan boasted recklessly.

"Haha..." Ma Cong was so happy that he saw his teeth but couldn't see his eyes.

Yue Shan didn't care whether Ma Cong was tired or not, so he started making clocks and watches with him.

A day later, a boxy object three feet high, one foot and a half wide, and square was placed in front of Yue Shan and Ma Cong.

The whole wooden shell of this thing looks very bulky. There is a window in the lower part, and a long strip of things can be seen swinging back and forth.

There is a disc in the upper part, numbers from one to twelve are engraved on the edge, and many black lines are engraved between every two numbers.There is a pointer in the middle of the disk pointing to those numbers, and if you look carefully, you can find that the pointer is moving slightly.

This thing is the clock they made.

The shaking below is naturally swinging, and the disc above is the dial. As for the pointer... this clock has only one pointer.

The minute and second hands can only be said to be powerless. The current escapement can only drive one pointer, which is the hour hand, and the minute and second hands can only be studied later.

But even if there is only one pointer, it can still accurately point out the hours and minutes, which is countless times better than the original method of only looking at the sky and using sundials.

It should be said that there is a fundamental difference between the two.

Looking at the formed clock, Yue Shan was very excited. In his eyes, this is not a clock, it is simply a large piece of gold of the same size.

Ma Cong on the side was even more excited than him.

Accurately grasping the time is an eternal problem, and now he and Yue Shan have solved it, so they are naturally very happy.Secondly, as an expert in investigating objects, he knows how important it is for scientific research to accurately grasp the time.

He pointed to the clock and said, "This thing..."

"The clock." Yue Shan reminded.

"I need a clock, too. It's very useful for experiments."

Yue Shan nodded and said, "You can build one for yourself, but only one. Tell me if you want it in the future, and I'll find a way to get it for you. Remember to keep it secret."

……

It took four or five times longer than usual, and Yue Shan arrived at the gate of Yong'an Palace.

There is no way, no one can guarantee the quality of this clock, they walked very slowly to prevent it from being damaged on the road.

When he arrived at the door, he opened the box containing the clock and was relieved after confirming that it was intact.

Then he went to the gate of the palace and asked to enter the palace.

He himself could enter the palace directly, but the items he brought had to be handed over to the imperial guards, and they would be handed over to the palace only after the inspection showed no problems.

But Yue Shan didn't dare to hand over clocks and watches to the imperial guards, these gangsters would definitely dismantle them.The only way is to let the imperial guards go in to report, and wait for the special orders from Li Shimin or Changsun Wugou.

What Yue Shan was asking for was naturally the special purpose of the eldest grandson Wugou, and he must have been tricked miserably when he brought the clock to see Li Shimin, and there was still room for negotiation with the eldest grandson Wugou.

As for why not make and sell it yourself, it’s still the same sentence, there is no patent protection law.The structure of clocks and watches is not complicated, and others can quickly imitate them after buying a few and disassembling them.

In the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty in the previous life, Western clocks had just been introduced to China, and it didn't take long for people to imitate them.Even our clock-making technology once surpassed that of foreigners, and imported clocks were completely excluded from China.

In the film and television works, the dignitaries of the Ming and Qing dynasties pursued foreign clocks and watches at high prices, which is pure editorial nonsense.

If Yue Shan makes clocks and sells them by himself, it won't be long before the market will be full of imitations, and it would be a good way to cooperate with Changsun Wugou.

Huang Commercial Bank has branches all over the country, and it is also the largest foreign trade group. It can distribute watches to the whole country and even export them abroad in the shortest time. When the imitations come out, they have already made a lot of money.

Changsun Wugou's actions were quick, and it didn't take long for Ren Feng to bring a group of wrestlers to carry the clock away.Yue Shan asked Xu Shanying and others to wait for him at the six gates, and followed Ren Feng to the Hall of Qinzheng.

(End of this chapter)