Short video spoiler history: The beginning of modern warfare

Chapter 64 Thermal Power Generation and Steam Engine
During the Zhenguan period, Chang'an City.

Li Shimin looked at the principle of power generation he had just copied and couldn't help but smile.

Although electricity is a product of the Second Industrial Revolution, it has not been subverted by the Third Industrial Revolution. In fact, its uses have become increasingly widespread, and it has become as important as mineral resources such as coal and oil.

Just like how electricity consumption is used to measure the economic performance in later generations, it can be seen how wide its application range is.

"With electricity, can we make light bulbs and electric fans?" Many people spoke excitedly. They wanted to use some high-sounding words, but then they found that they didn't know what things could use electricity.

"Yes, this light bulb looks extremely simple. It has a transparent glass cover on the outside and copper or iron wire inside?"

"You'll know if you try it." Some people don't care. Many things are actually directional issues. Once the direction is determined, the rest can be figured out even if it is just enumeration. Light bulbs are a case in point.

Moreover, we have also copied its structural diagram.

The electric fan only has the exterior, and the internal structure cannot be seen at all. Apart from that, many people are trying to recall what other items can be replicated.

What about cars? What about planes flying in the sky? Can weapons be used?

What about the telephone? Does it depend on electricity?
After such speculation, everyone finally understood why this is the most important thing in the Second Industrial Revolution. This thing is completely fundamental and can profoundly reshape all walks of life.

Take the light bulb for example. It has better lighting effect and is more convenient to use. If the cost is more advantageous, it will inevitably quickly replace the lantern manufacturing related industry.

Or if the car is really powered by electricity, then.
Cheng Yaojin swallowed his saliva. The long trains and cars in the sky were moving at extremely fast speeds. It would be a great thing if they could really be built.

Amid the discussions of the crowd, the sky gradually fell silent.

Li Shimin did not let the civil and military officials disperse, but presided over a small meeting to review the technology mentioned by Tianmu and arrange the work for the next month.

During the Hongwu period, in front of Wuying Palace in Chang'an City.

At this time, there was a lot of noise in front of the hall, and everyone was discussing what else could use electricity.

Zhu Biao closed his eyes instead. He knew the principle of power generation, so what was the difference between hydropower generation and thermal power generation?

There seems to be no difference. As long as the coil can be kept rotating, electricity can be generated. This can be achieved by using the impact of water flow, just like.!

Waterwheel!

Yes, just like a waterwheel!
As long as the coil of the generator can be transformed into a structure like a waterwheel, the coil can be driven to rotate after being impacted by the water flow, and then electricity can be generated!

What about thermal power generation? Or coal power generation? How can the coil rotate when burning coal?

Thoughts flashed through his mind one after another, and his brows furrowed even more tightly.

The coil is not afraid of fire. It will not spin wildly on its own once it is burned. There needs to be something impacting it like a stream of water to push it to spin.

Water flow, impact.
If it is driven by water, wouldn’t it be hydropower?

At this time, the sky slowly became silent. Thoughts kept flashing through Zhu Biao's mind. He rehearsed and eliminated them over and over again in his mind, and his face turned pale with pain.

Many people have noticed something strange about His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and are at a loss as to what to do.

Zhu Yuanzhang felt a little distressed, and held Zhu Biao's hand and called his name softly.

And a long-standing name suddenly jumped into my mind: steam engine or: boiling water.

All of a sudden, Zhu Biao opened his eyes, gasping for breath, just like a drowning man who was suddenly saved.

"Biao'er." Zhu Yuanzhang opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by Zhu Biao.

"Steam engine!" Zhu Biao panted, swallowed his saliva, and explained, "I know what a steam engine is!"

These two sentences were spoken quickly and hastily. Hu Weiyong was stunned for a moment, and then he habitually looked at Wang Guangyang, and both saw the confusion in each other's eyes.

The next second, there was an uproar in front of Wuying Palace.

"What did your highness just say?"

"Steam engine!"

"Steam engine?"

Zhu Yuanzhang had a look of confusion and heartache on his face, but his expression became much more serious the next second.

Steam engine? Tianmu didn't mention it.
Zhu Biao organized his words: "When you boil water with coal, it will produce a constant stream of water vapor. If you collect this water vapor, you can use it to drive the machine, such as driving the coil to rotate, which is thermal power generation!"

"Water vapor?" All the civil and military officials were shocked by Zhu Biao's words.

Of course they have seen what water looks like when it boils, and they know what water vapor is. But water vapor is so weak, can it really drive such a heavy machine?

In fact, some people have thought about this before, because it is very consistent with the naming style of later generations, but in the end, without exception, they denied it because the water vapor is too weak.
So everyone was silent at this time.

Zhu Biao saw everyone's reaction and knew what they were thinking. He used his hands and feet to gesture and said, "As long as you seal the top of the pot and make a hole on the right side, all the water vapor will inevitably be discharged from this outlet. If you increase the fire power, the collected water vapor may not be weak."

The reactions of the civil and military officials varied; some seemed to be thinking about something, while others still frowned.

At this time, a clerk bravely drew a rough sketch of what Zhu Biao had described, and presented it to the emperor, saying, "Is what the Crown Prince said the same as this?"

Zhu Yuanzhang was surprised, but still ordered someone to bring the painting.

It can be seen that he completed the generator after Zhu Biao's description, and extended the end of the coil to draw it into the shape of several fan blades.

As it is drawn, when the water vapor is discharged from the exhaust port, it will hit the fan blades and then drive the coil to rotate.

Zhu Yuanzhang was overjoyed and ordered it to be circulated.

The painting was quickly circulated and then returned to Zhu Yuanzhang, who then asked, "What is your name?" "Your Majesty, my name is Sun Chuanshi."

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said, "Starting tomorrow, you will work in the Science Department!"

Sun Chuanshi was stunned for a moment, then he thanked her ecstatically: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace!"

"Well, do it well!"

When these words were spoken, the clerks' eyes turned red with tears. What a sudden rise!

! !
Not only them, but officials from all departments are very jealous. Why?!
Although the Ministry of Science does not have much power at present, everyone knows that His Majesty values ​​it. Joining the Ministry of Science means entering His Majesty's favor, and it will only take a few words to get promoted.

This was of course done intentionally by Zhu Yuanzhang. The Ministry of Science did not have much power, but it was extremely important, so in order to increase the attention of officials and mobilize the enthusiasm of those under him, he had to do this.

This move also includes a group of clerks. After all, there is a ready-made example of someone who could achieve success overnight. I am afraid that the clerks will work harder. There is a shortage of talents in the Ming Dynasty now, so one more person means one more idea.

Of course Zhu Yuanzhang knew that this would definitely not be the last time this happened.

Time flies, and more than half a month has passed.

Several major events occurred in the Ming Dynasty during the past half month. One was that His Majesty welcomed the Northern Expedition soldiers back to the capital in Longjiang. He was very pleased and rewarded the three armies.

Another was to formulate a household registration model, draw personnel from the Ministry of Households and the Imperial College, and conduct a nationwide census and registration.

In addition, His Majesty rewards people according to their merits, confer titles on meritorious officials, and bestows golden medals of immunity from death. Although the value of the golden medals of immunity from death has dropped significantly after being poked by Tianmu, it is better to have it than nothing.

After Xu Da returned to the capital, he was conferred the title of Duke of Wei, and the title became hereditary. Of course, all this was as expected. There were some joys, but not much.

On his first day back in the court, he was deeply shocked by the changes in Jinling City.
This change is not as simple as adding a few more things. From the palace to the people and the court, the focus of topics has never changed.

On the second day after he returned to the court, His Majesty invited him into the palace and showed him a great treasure - electricity.

The Ministry of Industry got a natural magnet from somewhere, split it in half, and then made a large coil. The coil slip ring was connected to two smooth copper wires through brush adapters. The eunuch worked hard to spin it manually.
They said they were watching, but in fact they saw nothing. The two people looked at the rotating coil, one excited and the other confused.

Of course Xu Da also saw the power generation principle mentioned by Tianmu, but he didn't have time to understand it.

So, Xu Da was confused, but Zhu Yuanzhang was excited.

"Your Majesty, this electricity..."

“You can’t see it, right!” Zhu Yuanzhang knew that he would not have time to understand, so he became more excited and felt a little proud in his heart.

Xu Da didn't know why His Majesty was even more excited, so he could only nod and ask curiously: "Does this electricity really exist?"

"Of course it exists! This electricity cannot be seen or touched, but it really exists."

"How to prove it?"

Zhu Yuanzhang had gradually stopped smiling and sincerely suggested: "How difficult is this? You can feel it by touching the copper wire!"

Xu Da did not doubt it, he squatted down and reached out to touch the copper wire. The next second he felt a blow to the head, and Xu Da got goose bumps and his hair and beard almost stood upside down.

Xu Da was startled by the shock and stepped back with a changed expression. Then he felt his body with both hands and breathed a sigh of relief when he found that no parts were missing.

"Hahahaha!" Zhu Yuanzhang laughed loudly beside him. After a while, he stopped laughing and said, "To be honest, I, Biao'er, and Hu Weiyong didn't believe it at first. But after being electrocuted once, we believed that electricity really exists."

Even the young eunuch beside him tried to hold back his laughter, and Xu Da instantly understood that the emperor was playing a prank on him.

Well, he’s probably the only one in the entire palace who doesn’t know that this thing can have such a terrifying electric shock effect.

Xu Da smiled helplessly. Electricity is something that cannot be seen or touched.
At this time, he smoothed his hair and beard and said helplessly: "This electricity is too dangerous, I still have to..."

"Hey, this is specially prepared for you. The one used by the Science Department now is wrapped in tree lacquer."

"."

Zhu Yuanzhang then ordered people to replace the current copper wire with one wrapped in tree lacquer, and the young eunuch began to "generate electricity artificially" again.

As the "whoosh" sound rang out again, Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said, "Try again?"

"It won't electrocute people again this time, right?" Xu Da was still a little worried. Although the damage just now was not great, it almost scared his heart out.

"I'll accompany you!" Zhu Yuanzhang held the lacquered copper wire with a calm expression.

Xu Da also breathed a sigh of relief and held the copper wire again with trembling hands.

Okay
But this thing doesn't completely isolate the power of electricity, and the hands holding the copper wire feel numb and itchy from time to time.

"So, the light bulb has also been made?" Xu Da asked curiously, wanting to see it for himself.

Unexpectedly, Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head slightly, sighed and said: "I have tried copper, iron, silver, and gold wire, but none of them work."

Xu Da understood it and had a deeper understanding of future generations. He never expected that even an inconspicuous light bulb had such a threshold.

I thought it would be OK if I sent out a call.
In other words, electricity alone is not enough. It cannot be promoted and applied at present because there are no corresponding things that require electricity.

On the other hand, hydroelectric power generation equipment and thermal power generation equipment were developed in a short time. This was a big progress. However, compared with thermal power generation, Zhu Yuanzhang felt that hydroelectric power generation was more convenient.

Thinking this way, Zhu Yuanzhang did not prohibit the further research and development of "thermal power generation" and "steam engine", because thermal power generation was not completely abolished in later generations, so it must still be necessary for its existence.

Rather than banning it and then finding out that it has to be done again later, it is better to copy it right from the beginning. It saves time and effort, although it costs a lot of coal.

All he can do is to support and ask the Ministry of Science and the Ministry of Industry to reduce the cost.
(End of this chapter)