Kai Fu Han

Chapter 451
The waterproof paint currently available to Xinghanmeng still dissolves slowly in water and is not very durable. It needs to be repainted every once in a while to prevent rust. The material and labor costs are very high.

Fortunately, Liu Xinqi knew a way to prevent iron ships from being corroded. In later generations, almost everyone knew this method, and it was very simple.

Just as he was about to tell Liu Zhimu, the driver outside reminded him:
"Master, we're here."

In a few words, the vehicle arrived at the Grand Hyatt Restaurant.

After Liu Xinqi got off the car, he saw Li Gang and Xu Han standing outside the restaurant, followed by two servants.

Li Gang was obviously shocked by the steam engine. He saw such a huge machine and carriage marching to the front of the Grand Hyatt Restaurant without horses.

"You sir, please get in the car and we'll chat while we walk." Liu Xinqi got out of the car and invited.

Seeing Liu Xinqi walking out of the carriage, Li Gang realized that this was really a "carriage."

"Oh,...okay." He stumbled a bit in reply. Even if his brain had been tempered by the changes in the Xinghan League, he still couldn't stand facing the steam engine carriage.

Liu Xinqi stepped forward to help Li Gang, and helped him step on the steps outside the carriage to get into the carriage, while Xu Han got into the carriage by himself. The two servants were guided by the guards, and they rode together with the guards behind.

"Is this a carriage?" After the vehicle started, Li Gang couldn't help but lift the curtain of the carriage, and glanced forward again, only to see a person adding coal to the huge machine in front of you, and the machine made a "chug-chug" noise, Driving the carriage forward at a constant speed.

"Yes, but it is not run by horses, but by steam engines as traction power." Liu Xinqi replied without explaining in detail.

Li Gang and Li Gang realized that this might be the secret of the Xinghan Alliance and did not continue to ask. There was some silence in the carriage.

"Alliance leader? Do you have any good solution to the rusting of the ship?" Liu Zhimu asked.

"Yes." Liu Xinqi replied: "Japanese lead, do you know?"

"I know." Liu Zhimu said.

"In the chemistry textbook I gave you, Japanese lead is called 'zinc'."

The method Liu Xinqi mentioned is the junior high school knowledge of later generations: the sacrificial anode protection method.

Weld some zinc blocks under the bottom of the iron boat, because the reducing property of zinc is stronger than that of iron, and it is connected with iron to form a reduction battery.Zinc is consumed by oxidation reaction as the negative electrode, and the protected iron can be used as the positive electrode to avoid corrosion.

Rust is oxidation.

This method sacrifices the anode to protect the cathode, so it is called sacrificial anode protection method.

According to this principle, it can also be done with other metals that are more reducible than iron. However, among these metals, only zinc is the easiest to refine. Zinc is an associated ore of copper and has a higher yield.

In later generations, half of the world's zinc production was used as various anti-rust materials, which shows that zinc is the most suitable anti-rust raw material after repeated exploration by mankind in the Golden Kingdom.

China has begun to utilize zinc very early, starting with the refining of brass.Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc.During the Han Dynasty, there were legal regulations that prohibited the use of "fake gold". "Fake gold" is brass.

There are documents from the Tang Dynasty recording the use of "calamine" (zinc carbonate) to refine brass.

At present, the State of Zhao is not able to extract pure zinc, and only the State of Japan has some zinc of low purity. However, Liu Xinqi believes that "refining zinc" will definitely not be a problem for the Academy of Sciences of the Xinghan League.

Song Yingxing of the later Ming Dynasty recorded the method of refining brass in detail in "Tiangong Kaiwu": "For every six kilograms of red copper, four kilograms of Japanese lead are put in, melted in pots, and taken out after cooling to become brass. ." The "red copper" mentioned here refers to copper, and "Japanese lead" refers to zinc.It shows that people at that time had mastered the extraction and purification of zinc.

People in the Ming Dynasty could do it, but there is no reason that the Xinghan League, which had already popularized scientific knowledge, couldn't do it.

"I understand. Since zinc is more reducible than iron, it means that refining zinc should be easier than refining iron. Calamine contains zinc, and you can mix calamine and coal and heat it. I believe that it will definitely be better than refining iron. The temperature required for iron is low." After hearing Liu Xinqi's explanation, Liu Zhimu was very excited and wanted to try it immediately.

Fortunately, there were still guests in the car and there were tasks that needed to be completed today, which stopped Liu Zhimu's impulse.

After hearing Liu Zhimu's guess, Liu Xinqi didn't know if it was really that simple. After all, he never came into contact with any information about zinc extraction in later generations.

Li Gang and Xu Han listened to the conversation between Liu Xinqi and Liu Xinqi as if they were listening to a book from heaven.The words spoken by two people can be understood separately, but together they are incomprehensible.

After talking about this topic, Liu Xinqi noticed that Li Gang and Li Gang were confused. He understood that the topic between him and Liu Zhimu made them feel "unconscious".

"I have neglected Mr. Li and Mr. Xu." Liu Xinqi apologized.

"It's okay, I think you must be talking about important official business." Li Gang waved his hand.

"I think the second elder must already know the reason why I came here this time. I wonder if I can agree to stay in Dengzhou for retirement." Liu Xinqi got down to business.

"I'm sorry, Ye Luo has returned to his roots. I don't want to think that I will have to travel far away when I am old." Li Gang objected simply, while Xu Han did not speak, but judging from his expression, he should have the same attitude as Li Gang.

"It doesn't matter, I'm just asking, the two elders can choose by themselves." Liu Xinqi said with a smile, not angry because of the rejection: "Today we went to Baishiwan for official business, and we took the two elders for a walk. When we got to Baishiwan, the two elders could Go and take a look inside Liujiabao. The fort is very prosperous, very different from Jiangnan. I believe you will not be disappointed."

"Thank you." Li Gang had just rejected Liu Xinqi. He had prepared what he wanted to say before, but he couldn't say the questions he wanted to ask.

Liu Xinqi did not make the atmosphere in the carriage awkward again and took the initiative to find a topic to chat with the two of them. Liu Zhimu was immersed in his own world and did not participate in the chat between the three of them.

After the birth of the steam engine, it can be said to be disruptive to industry. Many machines can be powered by steam engines, thus greatly enhancing efficiency and improving efficiency dozens or hundreds of times.

Previously, a research institute tried to use a steam engine to drive a spinning machine. It was actually able to drive [-] improved spinning machines at the same time and spin [-] spindles at the same time. The number of people operating the machine was also greatly reduced, compared with the number of workers originally required to operate [-] machines. Five times less, and four times faster, the overall efficiency increased twenty times.

Fortunately, Liu Zhimu had the foresight to know that if this kind of machine entered the market, many women textile workers would be out of work, and the cotton, wool and hemp in Xinghanmeng would not be enough, so he stopped the launch of this kind of machine.

In addition to spinning machines, there are also hammer forging machines and various machine tools. After switching to steam engines to provide power, production efficiency has been improved dozens of times.

(End of this chapter)