Daming: I, Zhu Di, threatened to seize the heir apparent at the beginning!

Chapter 501 Let Ming see how man can conquer heaven!

"My lord, let me do it."

"No need to persuade me any more. I am confident that this test drive will be successful. I have agreed that I will do the test drive today in person."

……

Fang Xiaoru and Lan Yu followed Yu Jing out of the carriage and saw a group of people arguing around Zhu Di next to a huge square steel monster.

"Yu Jing, what are you doing?" Fang Xiaoru asked curiously.

Yu Jing smiled bitterly and spread his hands, explaining: "The test run is definitely going on. The locomotive has been made. However, the previous test runs failed and accidents occurred. Although the lives of the researchers involved in the test run were not in danger, several people were injured. Injured, obviously, the prince decided to test the car himself this time.”

Fang Xiaoru and Lan Yu looked at each other, left Yu Jing, and walked quickly toward the crowd.

Hey!
Yu Jing looked at the two of them, his mouth twitching angrily.

Quickly catch up.

"Fang Xiaoru and Lan Yu pay their respects to the prince!"

A sudden voice from behind interrupted the argument between Zhu Di and a group of researchers.

Zhu Di turned around and when he saw Fang Xiaoru and Lan Yu, he immediately smiled and walked quickly through the passage that everyone had given way to, "Fang Xizhi! Liang Guogong! Rare guest, rare guest!"

Fang Xiaoru and Lan Yu silently looked at Zhu Di's expression.

It is certain that King Yan welcomes their arrival.

As Yu Jing said, the Lord of Yanhua, the second generation Longzi of the Ming royal family, had actually long hoped that the imperial court would send someone here.

Fang Xiaoru collected his thoughts and looked at Zhu Di, who was dressed in a blue canvas work suit, and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, you are not doing your job, and you are engaged in research? If some people know about this, I am afraid they will applaud and celebrate."

Haha ...

Zhu Di laughed heartily and pointed at Fang Xiaoru, "You, Fang Xi, have become the chief civil servant of the Ming Dynasty, which makes you more humorous. You, the left prime minister who assists the king and decides national policies and is the first person in the cabinet, don't think that I am not doing my job properly." Bar?"

Fang Xiaoru shook his head with a smile and looked at the square steel beast behind Zhu Di.

Of course, he would not think that developing rail trains is not doing his job properly.

As a reformist, he already understood the power of industry.

After so many years of experience, Fang Xizhi.

He is no longer the stubborn bookworm he used to be, full of books about saints and sages.

Of course, all these changes in him are inseparable from getting to know the prince in front of him.

From the moment he went to Tuqiao Village with tentative thoughts, it seemed that the trajectory of his life had changed irreversibly.

Later, I witnessed the rise of this prince with my own eyes.

Especially, witnessing the achievements of the students taught by this prince.

He realized even more that he could not be a good official for the country and the people simply by relying on a few sage books that he had regarded as a guide in the past!

Fang Xiaoru pointed at the train and locomotive with a smile and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, can I accompany you to test the train?"

"And us, we can't wait to ride this train and locomotive!" Lan Yu scrambled for a spot.

Zhu Di smiled and said: "Yes, yes, but several previous test drives failed, and there were some accidents. You are a prince and a prime minister, are you sure you want to test the car with me?"

"The prince is not afraid, is it possible that we can be more valuable than the prince?" Fang Xiaoru looked at the motorcycle and said solemnly: "The emergence of new things is always accompanied by various uncertainties. We want to tame and master new things. , you need to have the courage to take risks, prince, right?"

Zhu Di glanced at Fang Xiaoru in surprise.

'This Fang Xizhi is really different. '

Say something secretly.

He smiled and said, "Yes! Come on, let's pedal!"

The previous three consecutive test runs failed, which had a huge impact on the morale of the researchers.

Moreover, the devastation caused by the overturning of the steam-powered locomotive was too great.

As a result, there were opinions within the Research Department about whether to continue researching this extremely destructive machine.

Although there are not many such remarks.

Moreover, he can also understand the reason for such remarks.

Before the steam engine, Yanhua's industry was, to put it bluntly, an industry between handicrafts and industrialization.

And relying on thousands of years of accumulated experience, studying various mechanical knowledge left by the ancients, and combining it with the experience of craftsmen, it has developed very quickly, even easily.

During the whole process, I almost never encountered setbacks and failures as severe as a train or locomotive.

Steam engines are the product of craftsman experience.

But when it comes to rail trains, it’s no longer just a craftsman’s experience!

In addition to the steam engine, in other aspects, the technology involved is small, but complex and important!

Failure like never before.

Accident injuries.

It had a great impact on a group of researchers who had had smooth sailing in the past.

Therefore, he must step forward and test the car himself!
Establish and demonstrate the true researcher spirit!
The people engaged in research in the Research Department actually need Yu Jing's spirit of adventure.

Zhu Di took Fang Xiaoru to the front of the car.

Yu Jing and Yang Liuliu quickly followed.

Inside the front of the locomotive, there were two workers responsible for adding coal. The front of the small locomotive suddenly became very crowded with so many people pouring into it.

Lan Yu reached out and took the shovel from one of the locomotive workers' hands, "You go down, we can do the work of adding coal. Master Yang and Yu Jing will cooperate with the prince to operate the locomotive."

Fang Xiaoru also took the shovel from another locomotive worker.

Zhu Di smiled and sat down in the only seat.

Loudly said: "Add coal and start preheating the boiler!"

"Got it!"

Lan Yu shouted, picked up the shovel and began to add coal to the bottom of the burning boiler.

Fang Xiaoru also followed suit.

Yang Liuliu stared at the simple pressure gauge made during the process of making the locomotive.

It is said to be a pressure gauge, but it is actually a free piston with a high-strength spring added inside it.

At the other end, connect a steam pipe that leads directly to the boiler.

When the boiler is preheated and heated up, and steam pours into the free piston, it will squeeze and push the high-strength spring. The spring pushes outward against a small iron rod marked with a scale at the other end of the piston.

This pressure gauge doesn't even have the concept of atmospheric pressure.

Just based on repeated trials, when the first scale of the small iron rod reveals the free piston, it means that the locomotive has the power to start.

The second scale shows that the maximum speed that can be achieved in a pure locomotive state is forty miles.

The third scale...

And so on.

up to the maximum pressure mark that the boiler can withstand.

Once this scale is reached, the pressure relief mechanism connected to the pressure gauge will be automatically triggered.

"My lord, the starting pressure has been reached!" Yang Liuliu shouted, clenching his fists nervously.

"Start the brake valve!" As Zhu Di's voice sounded, he held the iron rod in front of him and pulled hard, "Sound the siren!"

Yang Liuliu quickly opened the whistle valve.

Di-

Fang Xiaoru and Lan Yu stopped at the same time and heard a sharp whistle sounding from the left front of the car, followed by white air covering the front of the car.

blah blah blah...

The slow reciprocating sound of the piston was heard when the whistle sounded.

The body swayed slightly.

They felt that the front of the locomotive started very slowly under their feet.

The two of them clung to the shovel handle, full of tension, curiously feeling the wonderful feeling of the locomotive starting.

"Add coal and continue to heat up!"

Zhu Di's voice sounded, and the two of them were awakened. They bent down and continued to work hard to add coal.

Yu Jing also picked up the spare shovel next to him and joined in.

In the furnace, under the action of the blower, the flames burned brightly.

As Yang Liuliu unscrewed the fuel valve, clearer oil sprayed on the flames, which had obviously been processed.

The fire wave in the furnace instantly rolled outward...

When the smell of soot and burning oil fills a narrow space.

blah blah blah...

The rhythmic sounds of friction and collision came more urgently.

Everyone can clearly feel that the speed of the locomotive has accelerated a lot.

"Hurry up!"

Outside, a group of researchers rushed to hitch the horses, untied their horses, got on their horses, and rushed outside the Research Department.

……

blah blah blah...

Di-

Amid the rhythmic sound of tracks and whistles, the locomotive's speed is getting faster and faster.

When Yang Liuliu asked Lan Yu and the others to stop adding coal.

The locomotive has already driven along the railway track and out of the Research Department.

Lan Yu and Fang Xiaoru stood in the motorcycle, looking at the factories on both sides and the chimneys emitting black smoke as they swept back.

When he saw a group of researchers behind him, he rode wildly past them.

Lan Yu smiled and said: "What is the maximum speed of this motorcycle? It seems that it is not as fast as the speed of a war horse?"

Zhu Di had nothing to do at this time.

He stood up and stared at the researchers rushing to the test bench at the terminal, "The maximum speed is forty-five miles per hour!"

Fang Xiaoru's eyes widened instantly, "When we first experimented with steamships, didn't the prince say that the maximum speed was more than 20 miles per hour? Steam engine technology has improved again?"

"How is that possible?" Zhu Di smiled and shook his head. "Steam engine technology has not advanced. At that time, I ignored the resistance of water. The model of this horizontal steam engine is not as large as that of the naval warship. It is the same model as the one used by the test ship..."

But now it's on the road.

And running on track.

Compared with the sea, the resistance is much smaller.

"According to our calculations, this locomotive, with a load of 50 tons, can run at a maximum speed of about 20 miles per hour and can climb slopes of less than 30 degrees."

Such data is actually really poor.

However, it is already practical.

"This speed is indeed not fast, but steam locomotives also have advantages that animal power can never solve. They are easy to serve and have strong sustainability. As long as there is enough coal and the steam engine is not broken, it can run all day long. On the other hand, war horses ?”

Even the best warhorse.

When running for hundreds of miles, the horses must be slowed down and rested. Otherwise, the horse will be left with permanent damage.

Back then, when he was traversing the grassland.

In order to escape for their lives, a thousand brothers spent several months on the grassland.

Tens of thousands of horses were consumed and the war horses were snatched one after another!

How much does it cost to raise a war horse?

Even the grassland nomads actually raise most cattle and sheep, and they don't dare to squander war horses like they do.

Lan Yu asked curiously: "Your Majesty, is it necessary to build a rail train system in Yanhua if the locomotive rolling stock experiment is successful?"

"It can't be so fast." Zhu Di shook his head and explained: "The locomotive experiment may not be successful. Even if this trial is successful, a series of technical difficulties such as the connection between the locomotive and the carriage must be solved."

"Your Majesty, we're at the turning point!" Yang Liuliu said nervously, even with a trembling voice, "Do you want to slow down, Your Majesty?"

"Look for the handles and hold on tight!" Zhu Di looked at the large curve in front of him. The researchers who had arrived on horseback in advance were also standing in the distance on horseback, staring nervously.

Zhu Di shook his head: "No, just experiment at the maximum speed. I believe it will be successful this time!"

Previous test drives frequently failed due to accidents on turns.

swoosh-

A sharp friction sound was heard.

Lan Yu and Fang Xiaoru immediately felt that their bodies were leaning toward the inside of the track.

They couldn't see the friction between the bottom of the car, the wheels and the track, and the spray of sparks.

This corner is actually not that big.

It actually only takes a dozen seconds to complete the turn.

But amid the sharp friction sound, whether it was Zhu Di and others inside the motorcycle, or the researchers sitting on horses outside, it seemed as if their days were like years.

"It's done!"

"It's done! It's passed! We're done!"

……

When I saw that the locomotive passed smoothly without overturning or the wheels derailed.

The researchers outside immediately shouted excitedly and urged their horses to chase the locomotive.

"Your Majesty, we are done! It is done!"

Zhu Di stood at the door with a smile on his face, smiled and waved to the researchers on horseback who were shouting, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

In order to solve the problem of locomotive derailment, the wheels were improved successively.

It is clear that the outer diameter of the wheel is smaller than the inner diameter.

And there is also a raised rim on the inner ring of the wheel.

In order to solve the turning problem, we repeated experiments and finally found the general relationship between the outer track superelevation and the turning radius.

Although he knows these technical concepts.

But he didn't know the specific relationship.

It is also not clear how to construct it correctly.

Everything requires a little bit of experimentation by researchers.

……

Lan Yu and Fang Xiaoru looked outside at the researchers who were shouting as the motorcycle ran wildly.

I was happy and full of emotion.

Yanhua...

Every time I come, I am always surprised and shocked!
"Your Majesty, slow down sign." At a certain moment, when the slow down sign appeared in front of him, Yang Liuliu reminded him.

Zhu Di ordered: "Start to relieve pressure!"

Yang Liuliu turned the valve.

laugh!
Behind the locomotive, thick white mist spewed out from the pressure relief pipe.

The locomotive obviously began to slow down.

Zhu Di sat back down, and under the gaze of Lan Yu Fang Xiaoru, he held the wheel brake lever with both hands and pulled it back hard.

Boo!
The sharp sound caused by friction became even more harsh.

The locomotive came to a slow stop.

……

After Lan Yu and Fang Xiaoru followed Zhu Di out of the car, they couldn't care less about the lightness of their feet and couldn't wait to circle around the motorcycle to look at it.

……

At noon that day.

Zhu Di invited Fang Xiaoru and Lan Yu to a banquet.

Fang Xiaoru bluntly asked the Ming court for help.

At the same time, Lan Yu also conveyed Zhu Yuanzhang's words about killing Chen to Zhu Di.

afternoon.

There were some urgent matters in the pre-war mobilization that needed to be handled by Zhu Di.

Lan Yu and Fang Xiaoru, accompanied by Zhou Chao, came to his biological research site.

The carriage drove into an almond grove surrounded by barbed wire.

Xing'er is ripe.

Chickens were pecking and playing under the woods.

After Zhou Chao got off the bus with Lan Yu and Fang Xiaoru, he introduced: "Uncle Fang, there are five thousand chickens here. However, at lunch today, based on your introduction to the imperial court's rural breeding situation, I don't think they need to be transferred from our Yanhua When the chickens go back, all they need to do is bring red starlings and several species of birds that are natural enemies of locusts."

"Raising a large number of chickens quickly and on a large scale is to quickly contain the intensifying locust plague."

"Several types of natural enemy birds of locusts are introduced for long-term considerations in the future, so that these birds can thrive in the Mongolian-Han demonstration area. In the future, with the presence of these birds, locust plagues can be curbed. We use the food chain approach to prevent locust plagues and nip them in the bud.”

……

Fang Xiaoru and the others listened attentively and asked questions from time to time: "Xiao Zhouchao, these birds are omnivores, right? Will they flood and cause harm to crops in the future?"

Zhou Chao smiled and scratched his head, "No, birds also have natural enemies, especially starlings. They like to build nests in cracks and piles of stones. Wild cats, weasels, and eagles on the grassland are all their natural enemies. After repeated research, we , as long as the introduced species has natural enemies in the original biological chain environment, the food chain will soon return to balance after a brief fluctuation."

"The reproduction rate of wild cats and weasels will be temporarily accelerated due to the emergence of starlings, but soon their natural enemies, wolves and eagles, will also increase. In the end, the new food chain will soon restore balance!"

"In the new ecosystem, due to the emergence of birds that are natural enemies of locusts such as starlings, it will be difficult for this ecosystem to reappear in the future, unless the balance of the ecological chain is artificially destroyed. For example, people Unrestrained hunting of eagles, wolves and other animals at the top of the food chain makes the lower food chain lose control..."

……

"In fact, the principle of mutual restraint in the food chain is the same as my master's establishment of rural village communities and the employee-share system. A good ecology must be a balanced relationship in which people, businessmen, and officials are interdependent and restrictive of each other."

Haha ...

Lan Yu laughed and pointed at Zhou Chao, "Good boy, if you compare your master's two concepts and ideas to the food chain of beasts, I will file a complaint with your master!"

Zhou Chao smiled brightly and said: "My master won't mind. Moreover, my master often says that humans are also animals in nature, just advanced animals. I agree with the master's view very much, because from the perspective of the food chain in our biological research, , Human beings are indeed at the top of the food chain, and we humans also cause the greatest damage to the biological chain."

"In fact, the locust plague is not only caused by climate reasons, but also mainly caused by human activities. The Mongolian-Han demonstration area used to be a traditional nomadic area, but after the establishment of the demonstration area, farming activities began to intensify, destroying the original grassland ecology. At the same time, , and farming provides a lot of nutrients for locust reproduction."

Fang Xiaoru and Lan Yu listened carefully.

Fang Xiaoru asked curiously: "Xiao Zhou Chao, through your research, do you think that food chain disasters such as locust plagues are mainly caused by human activities that damage the food chain?"

"Yes!" Zhou Chao nodded.

Lan Yu asked: "Then how to prevent and control it? It can't be done. We people shouldn't be active, right? But being too active will lead to disasters, and many people will starve to death."

Zhou Chao scratched his head and spread his hands with a wry smile: "Actually, this is the food chain. People starving to death or dying of illness due to natural disasters is actually a rebalancing of the food chain. According to our biological research and the concept of automatic adjustment of the food chain, this situation , indeed there should be no human intervention.”

"But we are human beings and advanced animals. We must always save ourselves and cannot passively accept the self-adjustment and rebalancing of the food chain."

Fang Xiaoru reached out and picked a yellow apricot, wiped it and asked with a smile: "Then how should we save ourselves?"

"It's actually very simple. First, understand and master the rules of the food chain, train a group of people who are proficient in biology, master the food chain in a certain place, and monitor the food chain. For example, more accurately grasp the status of organisms at all levels in the local food chain. The growth and downward trend, according to the changes in the food chain, either adjust human activities, or introduce new species, preemptively introduce certain organisms before a certain link in the food chain becomes unbalanced, and artificially interfere with the balance of the local food chain, as if, I want to give Mongolian Han Starlings are introduced to the demonstration area.”

……

"With the popularization of technical tools such as telescopes, it is not difficult to conduct general monitoring of the food chain in a region through sampling surveys and other methods."

"Our biological experiment team will now take on the task of monitoring changes in food chains in various places for Yanhua."

Fang Xiaoru and Lan Yu looked at each other and smiled bitterly.

See it.

At first, when Zhou Chao played with animal specimens, King Yan supported it, but many people laughed at the teacher and student behind their backs.

But let’s look at it now.

Only then did I discover that Xiao Zhou Chao, who played with plant and animal specimens, had now become the mainstay of Yan Fan's stable agricultural production!

But how many scholars in the imperial court are willing to do this kind of thing called miscellaneous arts?

Lan Yu shook her head and patted Zhou Chao on the shoulder, "I'm afraid, it won't be long before your master is going to write a book for you and be knighted, right?"

"Our team's research has only scratched the surface. I haven't gone to various parts of the world to investigate the diversity of organisms, and I have yet to grasp the diversity of organisms. It's far from the point where I can write a book about it..."

hiss!
Zhou Chao is introverted and scratches his head when he is humble.

Fang Xiaoru took a breath of cold air and hurriedly spit out the apricots that were brought to her mouth into the palm of her hand, "Why is the skin of this apricot so thin? It's so bitter. How can you grow such an apricot tree with no edible value?"

Zhou Chao raised his hand to pick one, pinched it open, took out the apricot core, and explained: "Uncle Fang, this kind of apricot mainly eats the almonds inside. It is different from our traditional apricots. The flesh of this mutated apricot is very thin." There are few, and they are sour and unpalatable, but almonds have a sweetness. In our biological research, this variation is called trait mutation.”

"Select seeds with this mutant trait and carry out selective planting from generation to generation, and you can get seeds with stable traits."

……

"This is a kind of non-staple food in the future. The master said that when it is difficult to make breakthroughs in agricultural science and technology, and when grain output is very long-term and it is impossible to have a qualitative mutation, all kinds of non-staple food must be fully developed and abundant non-staple food. Not only can it satisfy people's appetite, but it can also effectively replace staple food and reduce the consumption of staple food."

"If people can eat two handfuls of these sweet almonds every day, just imagine how much less food they can eat every day?"

Fang Xiaoru and Lan Yu were speechless for a long time.

Zhu Laosi's remarks actually already existed in Fujian.

Therefore, when Zhu Laosi was in charge of Fujian, he allocated the mountains and forests belonging to the imperial court to farmers.

People plant persimmon trees, jujube trees, acorn trees that can be used as livestock feed, etc. in the mountains and forests.

But within the Ming Dynasty, every rural village community could truly implement Zhu Laosi's policies.

In fact, it was only Fujian and a few counties and prefectures controlled by the reformists.

On the other hand, what about Zhu Laosi?
Yanhua not only implements this set of policies.

Not only the daily meals of the people are richer, but also a large amount of food is saved, allowing the people to earn more money.

That’s all.

We have also developed and cultivated various crops that can be used as non-staple food and do not occupy cultivated land.

It is clear.

Xiao Zhouchao, a biological research team that has been laughed at by many people in the past, also plays an important role in this regard.

do not forget.

Zhu Laosi also has an Agricultural Sciences Department that specializes in agricultural research!
Lan Yu suddenly hugged Zhou Chao's shoulders, "Little Zhou Chao, come back with us this time. You have to behave well. It's okay to be a little crazy. I, Lan Yu, will support you and let us rotten people in the Central Plains take a good look at you." How man can conquer heaven!"

Daming just lacks impact!
Controlling the locust plague this time is an opportunity!
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(End of this chapter)