Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 1045 [Something is wrong]

Zhu Ming still underestimated the amount of water used in the imperial city.

In less than three days, the generators were no longer able to provide power to the water pumps.

Moreover, because the water tower was too high, the manual pressure pump was not easy to use, so the eunuchs had to use a pulley system to draw water.

Zhu Ming was somewhat speechless. He walked slowly to the telegraph room and said to the telegraph operator there, "Send a message to the Emperor."

It beeped and beeped for a while before finally connecting to Wangchuan Valley.

But the telegraph operator on the other side said that Zhu Guoxiang went boating on the lake. Could we inform him immediately?

Zhu Ming replied that it was not necessary and asked the emperor to reply to the telegram in the evening.

In the evening, the father and son began to connect online.

Zhu Guoxiang asked as soon as he came up: "What are you doing?"

“After only two and a half days, there was no water to generate electricity.”

"I told you to build a power station by the river, but you insisted on building it in the imperial city. The water power is converted into electrical energy, and the electrical energy is converted into mechanical energy to pump water. The loss in the middle is not small. If it can really be cycled continuously, it will be a perpetual motion machine."

"I mainly want running water and flush toilets. The Imperial City is too far from the suburban river. You have tested it yourself. The power transmission loss is frighteningly high. I don't want to disturb the people, so I can only build one inside the Imperial City."

"Just wait until I get the alternator and transformer out."

“Are alternators complicated?”

"Anyway, it's much more complicated than a DC generator. I'm not a professional, so I can only lead my students to try again and again."

"Then get a DC transformer first."

"I have tried many times, but the DC transformer is difficult and does not work very well. If you want to build a power plant in Xuzhou, you must use AC power for industrial power generation. At this stage, forget about industrial power use, just use the generator as a toy for now."

"Then send your students over to build a steam water pump next to the water tower, the kind commonly used in mines."

"Use a steam engine to pump water up the water tower, and then release the water to power the generator?"

"Yes."

"There's nothing wrong with me, I can't think of this idea."

"With the steam water pump, we can free up electricity. I want to install some ceiling fans in the Imperial City."

"Don't bother me with such things. My students who are working as art officers in the Ministry of Industry know how to build and install steam water pumps."

"Row."

"I'll withdraw first."

"When can the AC generator and transformer be developed? Xuzhou is waiting for your results."

"I don't know. Maybe it will be invented next month, or maybe it will take another 10 or 20 years. Or maybe after it is invented, it will still need a lot of improvements before it can be put into industrial production."

"Is it that troublesome? You should know the principle."

"It's easier said than done. I'm really not a professional. I was thinking about inventing a gas lamp. I saw that thing when I was a child. But I got stuck on the refractory net of the gas lamp. I couldn't make refractory materials at all. And the bamboo charcoal filament light bulb, do you know how difficult it was for me to fill it with carbon dioxide? I finally filled it in, but it seemed to have some reaction when I was using it."

"Okay, okay, I'm going to hang up first."

Watching the emperor leave, the telegraph operator hurriedly wiped the sweat from his forehead.

He studied under the retired emperor for several years, but he still often could not understand the conversations between the two emperors.

Even some of Zhu Ming's words needed to be written on paper before he could send the message, otherwise he would not know how to write certain key words.

The next day, Chuigong Hall.

Zhu Ming looked at Li Hanzhang and said, "You said you wanted to build a dam over at Longmen to store water and generate electricity?"

"This matter benefits the country and the people," said Li Hanzhang.

Zhu Ming shook his head: "You won't understand even if I explain too much. You must know that the current generators are not suitable for large-scale civilian use. The emperor is working on improving them. In addition, you can never build a dam to store water at Longmen. If something goes wrong, a flood will flood Luoyang City!"

Li Hanzhang wanted to explain further, but ultimately stopped arguing because there was a real possibility that something might go wrong.

Zhu Ming smiled and said, "I am actually very happy that you can think of building a dam to generate electricity. Let's drink together tonight to have some fun."

"According to the order."

Li Hanzhang was in a very happy mood. He came here to make such suggestions, perhaps with the intention of pleasing the emperor.

Just one month later, the steam water pump next to the imperial city water tower was completed, and a boiler room was specially built in a house.

Since the emperor had given the order, the craftsmen naturally did their best.

Listening to the noise of the steam engine, looking at the chimney of the boiler room, and then glancing at the hydroelectric generator, Zhu Ming felt more and more magical.

Steam is used to extract water, and then hydroelectric power is used to generate electricity.

Just like Zhu Guoxiang said, if you don't have any serious problems, you wouldn't do such a thing.

There are steam engines and generators, which are more like a display of scientific and technological achievements, making officials and students more interested in it.

Officials, however, were clearly more interested in flush toilets.

They first inquired about which kiln produced the flush toilets in the imperial city, and then secretly placed an order with their own money.

Even in ancient China, large porcelain was considered a luxury item.

The yield rate is extremely low!
Since the one-time demand for flush toilets and ceramic urinals in the imperial city was so great, Zhu Ming had multiple kilns produce them at the same time.

This made the kiln owners and craftsmen very worried, as they simply couldn't deliver on time. The craftsmen were pushed so hard that they actually made a great revolution in porcelain firing technology!

Craftsmen in Gaoling Village, Jingdezhen, added mineral soil (kaolin) to porcelain clay and found that the yield of large-scale porcelain fired in this way increased exponentially. China's porcelain-making technology evolved from a single formula of porcelain clay to a two-component formula of porcelain clay and kaolin.

Not only that, the hardness of the porcelain body is also enhanced.

Zhu Ming ordered the promotion of this formula to porcelain kilns across the country, but many porcelain kilns simply could not learn it because it was difficult to find kaolin near them, and the cost of transporting it over long distances was too high.

However, some officials in Luoyang, after finding out the truth, were too lazy to travel a long way to buy it.

They directly asked craftsmen near Luoyang to make squat toilets with clay, and then used wood to make water tanks. Some people just painted a few layers of paint to save trouble, while those who were more particular made water tanks into lacquerware.

There was no running water outside the imperial city, so they built a small water tank themselves and manually pumped water into it to ensure availability at any time.

At the beginning, only officials in the cabinet and ministries did this, and they also renovated their own toilets.

Soon, middle-level officials and wealthy people followed suit, and eunuchs and palace maids spread the secret that the emperor used a toilet. Some officials and wealthy people secretly imitated the toilet at home.

In just two months, the toilet renovation of Tianwang Temple in Luoyang was also completed.

The toilets there are already high-end, and pilgrims even need to take off their shoes before entering to avoid the toilet floor being dirty by mud and water from the soles of their shoes.

Now, all of them have been replaced with wooden flush tanks and clay squat toilets, and the dry toilets have been modified so that the flushing channels underneath cannot be seen. It received rave reviews immediately!

However, the toilet fee has increased by three cents, which is a small matter for pilgrims.

Because those who pay to use the high-end toilets in Tennoji don’t care about the few cents at all - even though three cents can buy half a pound of rice.

The septic tank next to the toilet is still there, but it is not connected to the sewer to flush the feces away. It is not that it cannot be done, but that it is not necessary, because feces are also a commodity and can be sold for money.

……

In summer, wheat harvesting ends in the north.

The first batch of Ningxia and Shaanxi troops began to gather towards Shazhou.

Henan, Hebei, Shandong, and Shanxi also each dispatched some troops and marched towards Shaanxi one after another.

Laborers from various provinces were conscripted after the wheat harvest. Their family land could be exempted from some taxes and they could also receive a resettlement allowance.

Zhu Ming ordered local officials to give priority to selecting men who had many male children in their families and were unmarried as commoners.

The intention was very clear, that is, after the war was over, many civilians would be left in Gaochang (Turpan) and Yizhou (Hami). Many people would be killed, especially nobles of all sizes, and their lands would be taken away to be distributed to civilians for cultivation, and their wives would be taken away to be given to civilians as wives.

If there are too many civilian men and not enough captured women, then force the local people to marry their daughters to the civilian men!

Yelu Dashi found it difficult to digest Gaochang and kept it in a semi-vassal state.

Although Xiao Tabuyan completely annexed the area, he also won over the nobles so that they did not dare to kill the King of Gaochang.

The problems they encountered were nothing to Zhu Ming, because the Ming Dynasty could easily keep tens of thousands of civilians in the area. After killing all the nobles, there were also enough officials to transfer there to govern.

Li Yanxian was appointed commander-in-chief of the Western Expedition, and Emperor Zhu's uncle Zhong Yanchong served as deputy commander-in-chief.

Wu Jie, who was stationed in the Hexi Corridor, served as the vanguard general.

The general of the army under the Inspectorate would go there in person to serve as the military supervisor, but he was not allowed to interfere with the command.

The armies from various northern provinces gradually gathered in Shaanxi and Gansu.

Before the war broke out, six second-generation officials who had gone to sea accompanied the Eastern Roman delegation to Luoyang.

They traveled quickly and gained a superficial understanding of many cities along the way.

It was not until they checked into the Sifang Pavilion in Kaifeng that the Roman envoys were completely stunned in the toilet.

The toilet renovation trend has spread to Kaifeng.

Moreover, the Kaifeng Sifang Pavilion was the first to be renovated, and all the toilets in the main pavilion were made of porcelain. After all, envoys from the east, south, and north would first stay at the Kaifeng Sifang Pavilion, which could greatly enhance the majesty of the Ming Empire.

Aksuhe, accompanied by two of his subordinates and a clerk, walked into the toilet.

As the capital, Kaifeng Sifangguan retained an official from the Honglu Temple, and the rest were regular clerks or temporary workers.

The clerk pointed to the water tank and said to the translator: "After using the toilet, press this button to flush it."

After saying this, the clerk left the toilet and no longer disturbed the messenger.

An envoy, an interpreter, and two members of the diplomatic mission were now standing in the toilet in a daze.

Aksuhe reached out to touch the water tank and asked in a trembling voice, "Is this porcelain?"

The translator pointed at the squat toilet and said, "That... that looks like porcelain, too."

"Oh God, how could I pee on porcelain?" Aksuhe pressed his belt but was reluctant to untie it to pee.

A member of the delegation asked: "Is this the capital of Taohuashi? The toilets are made of porcelain."

The translator said, "I have asked the officials of the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty now has three capitals. This is their Tokyo, which was the capital ten years ago."

Aksuhe couldn't hold it any longer and had to urinate on the squat toilet, but he was trembling with fear throughout the whole process, feeling that he was desecrating a work of art.

The translator said, "The official just now said to press here after peeing."

Aksuhe pressed the button tremblingly, and a stream of water rushed out, flushing the squat toilet clean.

He sniffed again and found that there was no strange smell in the toilet, but instead there was a faint fragrance.

Aksuhe muttered, "It is indeed the Peach Blossom Stone. It is a hundred times richer than the legend says!"

(End of this chapter)