The eldest grandson of Emperor Ming Dynasty!

Chapter 682 Why Did I Choose Liberal Arts
On the outskirts of the capital, the Daming Research Department.

This is a new department established less than two years ago. It is not subordinate to any department, but directly controlled by Zhu Ying.

The specific location of the Scientific Research Department is on the northwest side of Xiaoling Mausoleum, that is, near Xuanwu Lake.

Within twenty miles around, there is control from the Xiaoling Guard.

The reason why Xiaolingwei was chosen was because of the special nature of Xiaolingwei.

Xiaoling Guard itself has a strong combat power, and has lived in Xiaoling for a long time, which can be regarded as isolated from the world, which just provides security for the scientific research department.

The building of the Scientific Research Department is very different from the current Ming Dynasty style, or in other words, it has a more modern feel.

The houses here are basically made of cement red bricks, except for some furniture, there is basically no wooden structure.

As a scientific research area, the wooden structure is too easy to cause safety hazards.

A simple gunpowder formula research, a wrong test, can start a fire.

Wooden structures can only support combustion in the face of such a fire.

"I will pay my respects to His Royal Highness the Grandson."

"No gift, get up."

"Thank you, Your Highness."

In fact, Zhu Ying has not been here many times. He is very interested in scientific research, but after participating in it, he finds that he is probably not that material.

Perhaps the talent itself is not in this area, rather speaking, it may be more professional in terms of inspiring.

Zhu Ying walked straight inside. The architectural pattern here was still designed by him personally, so he is naturally very familiar with it.

Dozens of guards followed Zhu Ying.

There is no way, as a great-grandson, he naturally needs some guarantees and ostentation when traveling.

There are also two old eunuchs who are in charge here.

The two old eunuchs are the person in charge here. The group of eunuchs may generally have some problems in their hearts, but there is no doubt that they are the most loyal to the imperial power.

boom! ! !
Just as Zhu Ying was moving forward, a huge explosion sounded not far away.

Dozens of guards behind him reacted almost as soon as the explosion sounded, and everyone surrounded him immediately, forming a protective circle, firmly protecting Taisun inside.

If there are assassins at this moment, then the first to face are these guards.

His resolute eyes glanced around, trying to find out from the surrounding environment any factors that might affect Taisun's safety in the slightest.

"Don't be so nervous, let's spread out."

"Oh, is this another failure?"

Zhu Ying waved her hand to let the guards return to their original state, and sighed at the same time.

As the sound spread, thick white mist could be clearly seen rising not far away.

This is formed by the boiling of hot water after a steam explosion.

After the guards dispersed, Zhu Ying wanted to go to the scene to see.

The old eunuch on the left suddenly said, "Your Highness, please wait a little while. The old minister will check on the safety first. The water temperature after the explosion of the steam engine is very high, and it is extremely easy to cause burns."

Zhu Ying nodded: "Check the situation at the scene. If anyone is injured, arrange for a doctor to come and treat him immediately."

"Learn lessons and strengthen security measures in the future according to the situation on the spot."

The old eunuch bowed in response, and then ran forward quickly.

Zhu Ying did not stand still, but walked slowly towards the place where the explosion occurred.

There is basically no possibility of a secondary explosion in the steam engine, that is, the heat after the explosion may have a short-term effect, but it will dissipate quickly.

The old eunuch ran back quickly, saying that the scene of the accident was very safe.

Shan Wenli is over 60 years old, and most of his hair has turned gray.

But his body is full of muscles, which doesn't look like his age at all.

He patted his head, the ground was full of desolation, and he was very regretful: "Obviously there is no problem this time, why did it still fail?"

Although a little upset, Shan Wenli quickly adjusted his mentality and directed the apprentices on site to clean up the chaos caused by the explosion.

After many researches and developments, there is already a whole set of safety protection measures.

Around the steam engine, there are brick walls to resist the shock wave of the explosion.

Even when adding coal, it was thrown in through holes in the brick walls.

All the personnel at the scene were dressed in leather products, even the headgear was made, in order to prevent the high temperature burns caused by the explosion of the steam engine.

If these people took off the leather clothes, they would find that everyone present had more or less burn marks on their bodies.

Undoubtedly, the one with the most scars is Shan Wenli, after all, he is the first person in charge of the steam engine project.

"Records, the steam engine project No.20 failed seven experiments. The reason for the failure is currently speculated to be insufficient sealing. No one was injured at the scene."

When Shan Wenli was speaking, there was a person behind him holding a pen and paper to record.

Although the previous explosion caused many people to behave in a panic, including the collapse of four brick walls due to the huge impact, it was only a panic.

The record of the experiment was requested by Zhu Ying, and even the record template was made by Zhu Ying.

When Shan Wenli was meditating, the old eunuch had already run over and forcibly pulled Shan Wenli back from his thoughts.

"What, His Royal Highness is here in person, okay, I'll make preparations right away."

"Hurry up, lads, His Royal Highness is coming down, be quicker with your hands and feet."

The term His Royal Highness Taisun seems to have a kind of magical power, and everyone who was a little depressed at first became full of energy as if they had been pumped out of thin air.

Almost at the same time as they were cleaning up, almost everyone looked at the door subconsciously.

Finally, with the sound of footsteps, the grandson in royal casual clothes appeared.

"Meet His Royal Highness Taisun!!!"

Everyone knelt down and shouted without hesitation.

Zhu Ying felt helpless.

He suddenly understood the feeling of later generations of stars watching their illegitimate meals.

For the era of imperial power, the emperor or the prince himself is the biggest traffic star in the country.

Not to mention that Zhu Ying has truly changed the lives of the people while controlling the weapon of public opinion.

After some procedures, Zhu Ying began to ask Shan Wenli about the current production of the steam engine.

Shan Wenli was appointed by Zhu Ying as the first person in charge of steam engine production. Even though he was in his early sixties, in terms of physical condition, he was probably healthier than many young people.

Shan Wenli is not a royal craftsman, but a blacksmith from the folk.

At the very beginning, Shan Wenli responded to the call of the Ministry of Industry and joined the large team that made fire bombs.

Shan Wenli himself has a family inheritance. He was not a blacksmith at first, but a gold and silver craftsman.

It's just that in the war-torn era, who would have the mind to buy custom jewelry, the market itself is extremely fragile, and there is no room for development at all.

In order to make a living, Shan Wenli had to change his career to become a blacksmith.

War has a huge demand for weapons. Industries like blacksmiths are obviously sought after by the market. Even if the power is destroyed, blacksmiths can be well accepted.

It doesn't matter to most craftsmen, it's not about doing things for whom, as long as they can have something to eat.

In most cases, no one would treat a blacksmith harshly.

If you do a lot, you will naturally understand and become proficient.

Compared with making jewelry, the requirements for making weapons are obviously much lower, and Shan Wenli quickly gained some fame.

Even in the troubled times at the end of the Yuan Dynasty when there were refugees everywhere, he lived a pretty good life, after all, the craftsmanship is here.

Among the matchlock gun craftsmen, Shan Wenli quickly stood out.

Especially for the modification of the fire bomb, it showed extremely exquisite craftsmanship.

This quickly attracted Zhu Ying's attention.

Including Zhu Ying's short-barreled flintlock gun, the main producer is Shan Wenli.

"Your Highness has let you down. This is another failed test. I don't even know when it will end. At the moment when the explosion is about to come, I'm even a little confused."

"With so many failures, I have already spent an untold amount of precious money. With this money, I may be able to buy a relatively large courtyard in the capital."

"But here, I don't know how many times it will take to complete."

Shan Wenli's voice was slightly dejected.

You must know that the construction of each boiler is not a simple matter, all wrought iron is used here.

Parts, including boiler connections, are all individually made to order.

In other words, for a test of a steam engine, at least a dozen blacksmiths were required to build it last month to complete the preliminary work.

And in the end, all of them were blown up with a 'boom'.

"The other courtyards of the capital are not as important as this thing. Let alone one courtyard, there are ten or even a hundred."

Zhu Ying said with a smile: "There is no need to worry about how much money is spent. Whether it is the national treasury or internal funds, there is more money than you can imagine. No matter how many times you fail, it will not have any impact."

"In fact, for now, Master Shan, you have already succeeded. It is not such a simple problem to really use it fully."

Zhu Ying pointed to the scattered parts on the ground: "Every place here is very important. If any part fails to pass the test, it will cause a huge effect."

"Have you heard? I have asked the Ministry of Industry to issue a notice to gather talented craftsmen from all over the world. Maybe there will be a few strange people who can solve this problem."

"My rough guess is that it's not the limitation of the material, it may be that there is a problem with the design method, maybe some carpenters can be found to conceive together."

Simply put, a steam engine is driven by the heat generated by a boiler.

It's not too difficult at this point.

It only needs to ensure the airtightness, make a pipe to push the piston, and give the driving force to drive the outer gear.

Zhu Ying still understands gears.

The key issue at present is the intensity.

Ordinary steam engines are safe enough, but they are inefficient, shrinking inwards instead of exploding outwards in the event of material damage.

This kind of propulsion could not drive the ship at all, and it was too far from the steam iron-clad ship that Zhu Ying imagined.

And the reason for the explosion is to try to play under high pressure.

Apparently the steam was too powerful in the end, so it caused the explosion.

'I knew that I should have studied science in my previous life. If I had known science, it would have been much easier to make this thing. '

'Why did I choose liberal arts? Is it because there were so many girls in liberal arts? '

'No, absolutely not, it's just because I prefer Three Hundred Poems of Tang and Song Dynasties. '

'It's a pity that this is Daming, maybe others are more proficient in memorizing it than me. '

Zhu Ying muttered in his heart, with a little helplessness on his expression, he really wanted to fast forward directly to the appearance of the steam iron-clad ship.

Now I can only rely on some tiny memories of steam engines in my previous life to guide the production process.

The steam engine is not built to be useful, and it has great disadvantages in various aspects such as fuel efficiency.

In fact, Zhu Ying can build more than a dozen steam engines to jointly propel them, which can also produce enough power to drive the ship.

But it's a pity that this is destined to be just a show.

Because of the efficiency of coal combustion, a large amount of steam heat is lost, and a large number of coal mines are required to be burned to provide sufficient power.

In this case, the entire steam ironclad ship can only be used to load coal mines, and the huge consumption of a dozen steam engines, even a ship of coal mines, cannot last long.

In comparison, it is not as good as a wind-powered sailing ship.

What about a bigger boat?
Sorry, that needs more steam engines, more coal mines, it's an endless loop that can't be untied.

The only way to deal with it is to improve the steam engine as it did in history.

But this is easier said than done.

The current problem with the steam engine is that it has been stuck here.

At the beginning of the seventeenth century, Savery made the world's first practical steam extractor.

It was not until the beginning of the eighteenth century that Watt successfully improved the steam engine, and the first industrial steam engine appeared.

It was not until the early nineteenth century that Fulton was the first to successfully use a steam engine to drive a ship.

In other words, from the invention of the steam engine to the drive of the ship, there is a process of 200 years.

And now, at the end of the fourteenth century.

It is still 200 years before the invention of the Western steam engine.

Zhu Ying knew very well that if he didn't develop the steam engine now, he dared to bet that this project would definitely be lost in the hands of his descendants.

Currently, in terms of physics knowledge, Daming is a complete vacuum.

Of course, the West is not much better.

After all, although the Hundred Years' War between Britain and France has come to an end, there are still more than ten years before it ends.

In other words, in this day and age, there are no scientific talents.

The only good thing is that Zhu Ying knew that the direction of the research was right, and the result was absolutely correct.

No matter how you do it, it will eventually come out.

Here, consumption, friction, heat loss, and air leakage are all problems to be solved.

The design of the piston and slider can only be tried slowly.

How to ensure stability under high pressure.

In fact, as far as the present is concerned, Zhu Ying feels that the final shape is not too far away.

Even if there is no lathe, as long as the first steam engine can handle it, it doesn't matter if you rub it by hand.

As for the latter, how to reduce heat consumption and increase efficiency can be studied slowly.

"Don't be discouraged, Master Shan, you are now at the forefront of this era. No matter how difficult it is, believe me, it will be resolved in the end."

"History will never forget your contribution. When you succeed, I will ask the historian to write you into the history books. This will be an epoch-making stroke."

"This is the name that scholars dream of forever. Similarly, the imperial court will not forget your contribution. All the rewards you want can be given to you."

Zhu Ying patted Shan Wenli on the shoulder, and said in a seductive tone.

Facing the big cake drawn by Taisun, Shan Wenli expressed that he was very full.

Even though many words in Taisun's dialect were unfamiliar to him, this did not prevent Shan Wenli from rekindling his fighting spirit.

It turns out that a craftsman with my status and status can also have the opportunity to be famous forever.

(End of this chapter)