Ming Dynasty man

Chapter 90 Stamping Machines

On the day when the reservoir was closed, everyone in Hongshanling came to the side of the reservoir to cheer.

Every farmer knows that farming is inseparable from water. No matter how drought-resistant crops are, they cannot grow without a little water.

With this reservoir, unless the reservoir dries up due to years of drought, there is no need to worry about the land downstream of the reservoir. As long as the land is harvested, they will not go hungry.

Li Jing stood in the crowd. Like everyone else, Li Jing was also in a very good mood.

Li Jing knew that this reservoir was the lifeblood of Hongshanling. With it, Hongshanling would have a good harvest.

Looking at the fields below the reservoir from a distance, Li Jing felt a lot of emotions for a while.

Suddenly, Li Jing had a thought in his heart, could the water in this reservoir only be used for irrigation?

Water power is the most primitive power!Is it such a waste of nothing?
The water level of the reservoir is so high, once the gate is opened to release the water, how much energy will be generated!Can these energies be utilized?
Li Jing stared blankly at the fields under the reservoir, and became engrossed in his thoughts for a moment.

Seeing Li Jing's sudden loss of focus, Shen Zheng felt a little strange, touched Li Jing lightly and said, "Nephew, what are you thinking?"

Li Jing came to his senses when he heard someone talking beside him. Seeing that it was Shen Zheng, he hurriedly smiled and said, "I didn't think about it. By the way, uncle, do you think we can use the water in this reservoir?"

"Aren't we just using the water here to irrigate the fields? What? What else do you want to do?" Shen Zhengqi asked.

Li Jing shook his head, knowing that he was asking Yu Blind. Shen Zheng is a businessman, so he doesn't know how to use water.

But the old river worker standing next to Li Jing laughed when he heard Shen Zheng's words: "Master Shen, in fact, the water in this reservoir can still be used."

"Oh? How to use it?" Shen Zhengqi asked.

The old river worker pointed to the mountains on both sides of the reservoir and said, "Look, Mr. Shen, the mountains on both sides are not steep, and the soil layer is very thick. It is possible to drive out grain fields. Although there is no water on the mountains, we can use water trucks." Bringing water up to the mountain will solve the problem of irrigating the fields on the mountain.”

Hearing the old river worker talk about the waterwheel, Li Jing's mind flashed, as if he had thought of something.But then he was attracted by the words behind the old river worker, opening fields on the mountain, isn't that just terraced fields?As long as water can be brought up, it can also grow food.

"Old man, can you make waterwheels?" Li Jing asked hurriedly.

"Hehe, I'm just a river worker. How can I make a waterwheel? But I've seen someone use a waterwheel to transfer water from a low place to a high place." The old river worker laughed.

At this time, Shen Zheng also understood, and immediately smiled and said: "Nephew, do you want to build a water truck to irrigate the fields on the mountain? This is easy to do. I will offer a high price for the reward. It is not easy to find someone who can make a water truck?"

The old river worker shook his head and said with a smile: "That's not necessary, just find a few carpenters. I've seen a waterwheel, and it's not difficult to make."

Li Jing was overjoyed and hurriedly asked Shen Zheng: "Is there a carpenter on our mountain?"

Shen Zheng shook his head and smiled, "We don't have anything else on the mountain, but we have carpenters. Otherwise, how would those houses be built?"

Li Jing smiled and said, "I forgot happily."

Shen Zheng smiled and nodded to Li Jing, turned around and gave some instructions to Zhang Ao beside him, Zhang Ao nodded, turned and left.

After a while, Zhang Ao led several old people over and said, "Brother, Uncle Shen, these few are all carpenters, and their craftsmanship is beyond words."

Li Jingjing nodded and said to the old people: "Several uncles, do some research to see if you can make a waterwheel. If there is a waterwheel, we can open up wasteland and farm under the mountainside."

One of the old people shook his head and said: "I've heard of that thing, but I haven't seen it. If I have seen it, I can definitely make it."

Li Jing smiled and said: "It's okay, this Uncle Hegong has seen it, you just do what he says."

The old carpenter nodded and said, "That's easy."

Old Hegong smiled and said, "I've only seen it before, so I don't know if it's right, so tell me, and listen to it, and I'll take a look at it together."

As he said that, the old river worker bent down, picked up a branch, thought for a while, and then drew on the ground, explaining to several carpenters while drawing.

This waterwheel is indeed very simple. To put it bluntly, it is a huge fan blade in a circle. The power of the water flow makes the fan blade turn.

The only difficulty is making the fan blades, because the fan blades are too big and require extremely solid wood.

The other is the location of the waterwheel, which must be in the place where the water flow is the most urgent, so that the fan blades can rotate.

Seeing the waterwheel drawn by Lao Hegong gradually take shape, Li Jing suddenly slapped his head and shouted: "I understand!"

Hearing Li Jing's yell, the old river worker and several carpenters felt strange, and said in their hearts: "You don't need to do this if you understand? You don't need to make waterwheels yourself."

How did they know that what Li Jing wanted was not a waterwheel, but a hydraulic stamping equipment based on the principle of a waterwheel.

Li Jing didn't bother to explain to everyone, and hurried back to his residence, found a pen and paper, and began to draw, and soon a simple hydraulic stamping machine was outlined.

The principle of this hydraulic stamping machine is very simple, that is to use the blades of the water wheel to drive the small gear, and then the small gear drives the large gear. When the large gear rotates, it drives the pull rod, and then drives the boom to make the boom reciprocate up and down. .

Li Jing drew the blueprint, modified it briefly, and ran back excitedly with the blueprint.

After meeting those carpenters, Li Jing unfolded the drawings and said, "Look, can this be made?"

The carpenters looked at it for a while, and although they didn't know what the use of Li Jing's making this thing was, they still nodded and said: "It can be made, but it will take some work."

Li Jing was overjoyed: "It doesn't matter, as long as it can be made, I will have a big reward after I make it."

Li Jing couldn't be unhappy, because as long as the hydraulic stamping machine is made, the craftsmanship of the musket will be greatly improved.

Suifa guns are more advanced than matchlock guns, but they are far more troublesome to manufacture than matchlock guns, especially precision parts such as bolt caps, which are prone to problems even if they are manufactured through molds.

Because when making these parts, molten iron is poured into the mold, and the mold is easily deformed when it is heated instantly. At this time, we can only make a new mold, but at this time, there is no precision instrument for measurement. It is difficult to make the specifications exactly the same, so these parts often have errors.

It would be easy to handle these parts if they were bigger, but these parts are very small, and it is really hard to polish them, and it is difficult to make the same parts into normal sizes.

This creates a problem, that is, the specifications of each gun may be different.In other words, the parts of the gun cannot be replaced, and even if it is barely replaced, it is prone to failure.

But with hydraulic stamping equipment, this shortcoming can be changed.

First make a batch of molds by stamping, and then stamp the parts with the molds, so that there is almost no difference in the size of the parts, which can be replaced and used, and the manufacturing speed of guns will be greatly improved.

Likewise, this device can also be used to make gun barrels.

We must know that when craftsmen in the Ming Dynasty made gun barrels, they mainly relied on manpower to hold a drill and drill through a solid iron rod.

Such a manufacturing process can imagine how big the error of the inner diameter of the barrel will be?

Due to the difference in the thickness of the inner diameter of the barrel, many soldiers always face the danger of explosion when using muskets.

Although Li Jing changed the shooting method of the musket, the technical problem of the barrel has not been solved.

It can be said that the gun barrel is what Li Jing is most dissatisfied with.

When Li Jing saw the drop of the reservoir, he vaguely thought of a way to use water pressure as power.

But this was just an idea. It was not until seeing the blueprint of the waterwheel drawn by the old river worker that he thought of how to use the potential energy of water.

Although Li Jing is not very good at mechanical equipment, he has seen these things after all, and knows the operating principles and functions of these equipment.

Of course, modern equipment relies on electricity during operation. At this time, only hydraulic power can be used, and the efficiency is much lower.

In addition, the hydraulic stamping machine made of wood is definitely not durable. Li Jing did not expect to work with the wooden machine all the time. What he needs is to use this wooden machine to make iron parts, and then replace the wooden machine step by step. into iron machines.

When the iron machine is built, the gun parts can be stamped.

Li Jing knows that the ancients were actually very creative, even more creative than modern people. It is only because most people do not understand science and do not understand many things, which leads to superstition.

Although he understands the principle of the hydraulic stamping machine, the craftsmen under him may not understand it. Li Jing needs to make a wooden object and let these people see it, so that they can understand the truth and convince them.

Li Jing believed that as long as he opened a window for these people under his command, these people would definitely be able to see the light outside through this window.

Hearing from several carpenters that such a machine could be made, Li Jing immediately asked Shen Zheng to arrange manpower for these people so that they could make the machine as soon as possible.

It should be said that although these craftsmen did not know what Li Jing was making, they did a good job of carpentry. It only took about ten days to make all the parts of the wooden hydraulic stamping machine according to Li Jing's requirements.

Li Jing immediately ordered people to assemble these parts, and then turned the fan blades manually to check the meshing of the gears, the degree of rotation of the pull rod, and the frequency of lifting and falling of the boom.

After many improvements, the prototype of a stamping machine was finally completed.

After everything was done, Li Jing ordered the machine to be placed under the gate of the reservoir, and then ordered to open the gate to release the water.

As the water falls, the fan blades run at high speed, and then drive the subsequent parts to run, and finally the mallet is lifted, then dropped, and then lifted again, and so on. .

　Thank you "Wu Wei Nan Hai" for the reward, I hope everyone will support, the popularity is bleak...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)