People in the Three Kingdoms: Starting from Preaching

Chapter 493 Wonderful
A naval fleet of thousands of ships, even if most of them are small and medium-sized ships, the overwhelming scene is enough to shock people.

Sailing out of the Bohai Bay and bypassing Qingzhou, the coastal fishermen seen along the way were all panic-stricken, but when they heard that this was their own navy, they would be delighted by the magnificence of the scene.

In the remote areas of Xuanxia, ​​news is not well-informed after all, and many people only learned at this time that Xuanxia had launched a military operation.

In Qingzhou and Xuzhou, Xuanxia had set up many military ports early on. These were not only facilities built for this southern expedition, but also preparations for Xuanxia's naval forces in the future.

In the internal struggles of China, water battles only need to be resolved in inland rivers, but in the future of Xuanxia, ​​the sea will be the conquest, and the ports will naturally shift from rivers and waterways to the coast. After completing this battle, the navy will also begin to transform into a marine army.

But these are all matters for the future. The real need is to win the current war.

The speed of the navy was not slow. After a brief repair in the coastal naval port, the vast navy set sail again.

Fortunately, Xu Chen was not seasick, so he would not suffer much on this trip. He stood on the deck at the bow, feeling the whistling sea breeze, and felt quite heroic in his heart. It was a pity that he had no talent for poetry, otherwise he would have learned from Cao Cao to write a poem "Viewing the Sea".

Only Tian Shitou on one side kept guarding nervously, ready to jump in to rescue Xu Chen at any time if he fell into the sea.

The ship Xu Chen was on was the largest ship in the navy fleet, named Youzhou.

Most of the naval ships were named after places. The largest dozen or so were named after states, and the ones below them were named after counties. Youzhou, which had now become the center of the world, naturally occupied the highest position.

The Youzhou is more than a hundred meters long, with a mast of dozens of meters. The huge sails flutter loudly in the wind, driving the giant ship to the south.

In fact, Xuanxia's ships have undergone considerable modifications. The ships are not only driven by wind, but also paddle wheels have been designed and utilized early on. However, in most of the time, wind power is still the driving force for the fleet.

Driving in this way will make the vehicle more dependent on natural conditions, and the driving speed will naturally not be fast.

Not long after, a man in work clothes came forward and said, "Prime Minister, after we calculated the effect of adding paddle wheels to the ship, we found that it is only mediocre. After all, it is powered by human power, and the rotation speed is too low. It is impossible to replace the sail."

Of course Xu Chen had foreseen this answer.

However, he still pretended to ask in a discussion: "In other words, if the rotation speed is fast enough, then the paddles may even completely replace the sails, right?"

The person standing in front of him was also an academician of the Academy of Engineering like Gan Shi, and Hu Tao, one of the earliest craftsmen specially recruited by Xuan Xia. After more than ten years of training and learning, Hu Tao has now mastered scientific tools and has begun to transform from a simple craftsman to an engineer.

The clocks that are becoming more and more popular in the capital are also invented by Hu Tao. The fact that he can make such a relatively complex device is enough to show that he has a considerable level of mechanical skills.

The theories of the mechanical engineering discipline established in Xuanxia Academy today were basically developed by several academicians headed by Hu Tao. It is no exaggeration to say that he can be regarded as a pioneer of this discipline, and his name will definitely be included in the textbooks of future students.

The biggest reason for being able to achieve this is of course the effect brought by scientific tools, but it is also inseparable from Hu Tao's own hard work and talent. Facts have proved that as long as there are enough opportunities, ordinary people can also achieve great things.

Hearing Xu Chen's question, Hu Tao nodded and said, "The Prime Minister is right. After all, wind power is uncontrollable. Sailing with sails has many disadvantages. It is too dependent on astronomical phenomena. Paddle wheel control is more stable and convenient. The only problem is that the speed of human drive is too low. If this shortcoming can be made up, then the paddle wheel boat will definitely be a perfect substitute for the sailing boat!"

"Oh!" Xu Chen's eyes suddenly lit up when he heard this, and he pretended to be enlightened: "That is to say, human power is only small after all. Then is there anything that can replace human power as a driving force? I suddenly have an idea. If we put that..."

Xu Chen stopped talking here. It was this lingering meaning that made Hu Tao stunned and then fell into deep thought.

This sentence gave Hu Tao a flash of inspiration, as if he had grasped something, but there was a layer of paper in between that he couldn't see through. However, since he had grown to this point, he was definitely not a stupid person, and he quickly broke through the layer of paper!
"Steam engine!" Hu Tao exclaimed, his eyes lit up, and then he looked at Xu Chen: "What the Prime Minister said is a steam engine!"

Xu Chen smiled and nodded, saying, "I heard that the Institute of Engineering has made great progress in developing steam engines. There are only a few technical problems left to be solved. I will keep this in mind. Today, I think that steam engines were born to replace human labor. Although they were originally intended to be used in factories, if their uses are expanded, it seems that anything that can be done by human labor can be done with them."

"That makes sense!" The more Hu Tao thought about it, the brighter his eyes became, and the more excited he spoke.

His excitement was not just that he suddenly realized this idea, but that more ideas were extended from this moment.

Yes, isn't the only drawback of paddle wheels the weak power? The steam engine is used to make up for this shortcoming. Since the steam engine can be used as a mechanical driving force in factories, why can't it be used on ships?
Already having mature experience in mechanical engineering, he formed a rough engineering concept in an instant.

He even imagined a picture: a huge ship without sails, with only the chimney on the top emitting thick smoke, and the paddle wheels below the ship running rapidly, constantly providing power for the ship to move quickly.

Inside the cabin, the ship's workers were constantly adding coal to the steam boiler installed in the hull.
As long as the coal inside the ship is not used up, the ship can continue to sail without having to wait for the celestial phenomena, and the sailing speed can also become stable and controllable.

Combining the two, this is the perfect solution!
Of course, in addition to this, his mind was suddenly opened up and he thought of more possibilities.

Since ships can do it, then what about horse-drawn carriages?

It can be used as a means of transportation, but can it be used for pumping water for irrigation?

Hu Tao has always known that the steam engine must be a groundbreaking thing, but now after hearing this, he suddenly realized that he seemed to have underestimated this thing, and its application scenarios seemed to be more extensive than he imagined.

What excited him most was that the steam engine seemed to be not so far away from being fully developed.

"Prime Minister, although there is still room for improvement in the development of steam engines, they are actually usable now. The two biggest problems that bother us are actually material problems, one is the sealing material, and the other is the body material. Although there is no perfect solution to these problems, there are solutions that can barely cope with them."

Hu Tao thought seriously for a while and said so.

Xu Chen was very clear about this. In fact, the working principle of the steam engine was not that complicated. During the research and development process, he had been unintentionally giving inspiration to Hu Tao and others, which greatly accelerated the pace of research and development.

It is not that difficult to understand the principles, but the materials are difficult.

Whether it is the strength of the cylinder or the sealing material, this will need to wait for a breakthrough in the future.

As for what Hu Tao said about it being usable, Xu Chen knew that it was not just bragging, it really could be used. Today's smelting technology is also improving. Even if the steel is not that good, it is not very bad. Even if the strength of the machine body does not reach the ideal level, it is not a big problem.

The steam engine itself has a pressure regulation safety device, and it can be put into use as long as it is operated properly.

The sealing material was a problem, but lead sheets and brass piston rings could be used to get by, at least allowing the machine to work normally without much loss of efficiency.

If Xu Chen hadn't known that steam engines are already usable, he wouldn't have mentioned this today. He talked about this with Hu Tao today just to guide her.

"I have been paying attention to the research and development of steam engines. It is a great achievement to have achieved so far, but how to fully utilize this machine is something you need to continue to work hard on. After this war, you can try to study steam ships, steam cars, or anything else that can be applied to steam engines. If you succeed, it will be a great achievement that will change the world and make a difference. You must seize the opportunity."

Xu Chen patted Hu Tao's shoulder, said this, then turned around and went back to the cabin under the protection of Tian Shitou, leaving Hu Tao alone there.

At this moment, Hu Tao was completely immersed in his own world, and he felt that there were countless thoughts in his mind.

He had no doubt about Xu Chen's judgment. After all, he knew very well how powerful the power provided by the steam engine was. If this power could be applied in various scenarios, the impact would indeed be earth-shaking.

What will the future look like?
Hu Tao shuddered whenever he thought about this question. The advantage of having enough engineering knowledge was that he could quickly determine whether an idea was feasible, and he felt that everything Xu Chen said was feasible.

He wanted to jump off the boat immediately and swim back, then stay in the laboratory to think about these new ideas.

But he soon calmed down. He realized that he was not here to have fun and watch the show. In fact, he also had his own mission. No matter how important the matter was, he had to wait until the war was over.

The fleet sailed through the waves, and looking ahead there was the vast sea and sky.

Hu Tao felt his mind was open and clear, because there were still so many things waiting for him to do.

He did not understand how lucky he was. Without Xu Chen's guidance, any of these undertakings would have required a long period of accumulation and countless geniuses' accidental ingenuity to succeed. Now Xu Chen had pointed out the direction for everything and he just had to move forward.

(End of this chapter)