Chapter 46 Not enough precision
It only took a few minutes for Cao Wei to finish explaining the flying principles of bamboo dragonflies to Cao Ying.

And when he wanted to further explain the principle of the evolved helicopter, there was a knock on the door.

Cao Ying turned around and opened the door. Standing at the door were two small officials in regular uniforms.

"Who are you looking for?" Cao Ying sized them up and asked.

The two people outside the door raised their hands to Cao Ying: "May I ask, is this the residence of Mr. Cao Wei?"

Cao Wei heard the movement and walked over slowly, "Are you looking for me?"

When the two men saw Cao Wei, they bowed their hands again and said, "We are here to ask Mr. Cao Wei to go to the Ministry of Industry on the orders of the Minister."

Ministry of Industry?

Cao Wei and Cao Ying looked at each other.

Zhu Yuanzhang once said before that the steam engine was taken away by the Ministry of Industry to continue research and development. If necessary, Cao Wei must join the Ministry of Industry to cooperate.

"Ying'er, let's go for my father."

"Well," Cao Ying nodded, "Father, be careful."

Then Cao Wei went out and followed the two minor officials.

After walking quickly, we entered the imperial city and entered the thousand-step corridor facing north and south. After walking for a while, we finally turned in at a gate.

Cao Wei, who had never been to the Imperial City, was already dazzled by the scenery he saw along the way.

After entering the Ministry of Industry, I was even more amazed by the elegantly styled houses and courtyards inside, and the office staff walking back and forth.

Having lived in a rural village for 12 years, Cao Wei's first entry into the palace was similar to Grandma Liu's entry into the Grand View Garden.

Just as Cao Wei turned his head and looked around, a shout came.

"Brother Cao."

Cao Wei turned his head to look, and it was Yan Zhong who had spent all day with him in the blacksmith's shop.

"Old Yan." Cao Wei smiled and waved to him. Generally speaking, the relationship between him and Yan Zhong was quite pleasant.

When Yan Zhong came to his side, Cao Wei remembered Zhu Yuanzhang's identity.

... Yan Zhong's identity at that time was probably not true either.

Cao Wei turned to the two junior officials who were stunned at the moment and asked: "Who is this Lao Yan from your Ministry of Works?"

The two petty officials were shocked by Cao Wei's addressing Yan Zhenzhi as "Old Yan", when they heard his question, they answered in a daze.

"He...he is our Lord Shangshu."

At this time, Yan Zhenzhi had already walked to Cao Wei's side, looking at him with a half-smile.

"Hiss—tsk!" Cao Wei didn't expect that Yan Zhong's background was so big.

The Minister of the Ministry of Industry is a high-ranking official of the third rank in the imperial court, and he is a high-ranking official with real power in his hands!
It is true that there are higher official positions than the six ministers, but most of the first- and second-rank officials are just names, or have real positions, but no real power, and their official positions can only prove their status and respect.

Especially in the Ming Dynasty, after Zhu Yuanzhang founded the country, he made a lot of efforts to take some important rights into his own hands, of which the abolition of the prime minister system was the most obvious symbol.

Therefore, it is difficult for ordinary people to get acquainted with high-ranking officials like Liubu Shangshu who hold great power, and ordinary people would never even think about it.

But Cao Wei is obviously an exception.

Compared with Zhu Yuanzhang, the six ministers are nothing. No matter how high the official position is, aren't they working for the emperor?

Cao Wei was surprised for a moment, but he didn't expect "Yan Zhong" to have such a high official position.

Yan Zhenzhi waved to the two minor officials, indicating that they were no longer needed here. The two minor officials bowed and left.

Cao Wei turned his head and looked at Yan Zhenzhi with hanging eyes.

"Okay, it's hidden deep enough!"

Yan Zhen smiled straight, and cupped his hands towards Cao Wei:

"Yan Zhenzhi, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, did not intentionally hide this from me before. I hope Brother Cao can forgive me."

Although the identities of the two are one in the sky and the other in the underground.

But Yan Zhen knew that the Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang of the Ming Dynasty valued Cao Wei very much, so he would not neglect Cao Wei!

What's more, from Yan Zhenzhi's perspective, Cao Wei is also a very talented person, and he is willing to be polite and treat him with a little courtesy.

Cao Wei waved his hand, "Okay, okay, don't do this. You guys don't go to the Three Treasures Hall for anything. Tell me, why did you ask me to come?"

Yan Zhenzhi chuckled, "Brother Cao, please come with me."

He took Cao Wei around in the Ministry of Industry, and after passing through a corridor door, there was a building, just like the blacksmith's shop before, and many people could be seen working inside.

Yan Zhenzhi walked over with Cao Wei, and the people inside stopped their work and bowed their hands to Yan Zhenzhi.

"Brother Cao, look..."

Following the direction of his fingers, Cao Wei saw the steam engine he had built, which had been sawn open by someone at this time, with uneven incisions, and the internal situation could be seen at a glance.

Cao Wei stepped forward and looked at it carefully.

Only then did I finally know the reason why the piston would be stuck.

Inside the inner wall where the piston is moving, there is an obvious scratch and friction trace, presumably there is a slight error in the manufacture, of course, this little error cannot be seen with the naked eye.

And at one end of the piston inside the steam engine, one of the rings of the copper gaskets that were turned in the groove was pulled out, and it was firmly stuck between the piston and the inner wall.

This must have been the reason why the piston was completely stuck that day, almost causing the boiler and steam engine to explode.

In the final analysis, it is still because of insufficient precision, whether it is the inner wall of the steam engine or the copper gasket on the piston.

"Isn't this problem obvious? Just improve it." Cao Wei turned his head and looked at Yan Zhenzhi.

The latter shook his head and smiled wryly, then stretched out his finger again and pointed to the other side.

Only then did Cao Wei see that there was a steam engine there.

"After sawing the steam engine open, it was not difficult to find the cause of the problem. After some measurements and calculations, I ordered people to start building the second steam engine."

"However... the second steam engine was built and tried to run it once, but it was not as good as the one built the first time."

"Stuck too?" Cao Wei asked.

Yan Zhen shook his head, and then gave instructions to those workers from the Ministry of Industry:

"Light up the fire, run it again, let little brother Cao take a look."

The staff of the Ministry of Industry followed suit, and after a while, the water in the boiler began to boil.

Cao Wei couldn't help but step back a little. He was afraid that the steam engine would get stuck and explode.

However, after reaching sufficient pressure, the piston of the steam engine began to move slowly, but when it reached a certain point, a burst of gas suddenly emerged from the end of the inner wall, along with tiny water droplets.

Cao Wei instantly understood that this was an air leak!
The steam engine will only work when the inside reaches a certain air pressure. If there is an air leak, the air pressure inside the steam engine will not be enough.

Although the air leakage is only for a moment, the piston can continue to run back and forth relying on inertia, but the momentum is much weaker and runs extremely slowly.

After reaching enough air pressure again, it will leak again, and this cycle repeats, and a large part of the energy of the steam engine is wasted...

It's still a question of accuracy!

(End of this chapter)

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