Great Wei Overlord

Chapter 426 Really Flying (Part [-])
Chapter 430 Really Flying

Xie An was in a dilemma. If Ran Min could recover smoothly, it would be possible to help Ran Min overcome this difficulty.At least Ran Min can protect Xie's wealth for at least 30 years if he is alive.

However, once Ran Min could not be cured, Xie would have no way out.

Xie An was very troubled by this question.

Looking at Xie An's attitude, Ran Ming understood that Xie An still wanted to leave a way for the Xie family, and he was not angry, after all, this is the tradition of the noble family.

Ran Ming thought for a while, and made up his mind to throw out a huge bait, saying, "Whether this matter succeeds or fails, Gu can help the Xie family establish a feudal state."

Xie An was puzzled.

Ran Ming explained: "With only a copy of the navigation map, you can reach Ryukyu smoothly. Ryukyu is a huge island. It is isolated overseas and rich in products. It is different from the Central Plains. But I don't know it. It is a fairyland on earth. If it is not love, it is a fairyland. Already, I just keep this treasure island for myself!"

Xie An couldn't help being moved when he heard this.

You know, Xie An is also good at Xuan, Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism, so he naturally yearns for that kind of fairyland on earth. If this fairyland is really unique to the Xie family, then the Xie family can become a family of gods.

However, this matter is related to the rise and fall of the Xie family's honor and disgrace, Xie An must carefully consider it.

But Ran Ming was in a hurry, and he almost lost his position.

Ran Ming said again: "Add [-] sets of armor, and [-] large ships that can carry [-] people."

"Deal!" Xie An didn't hesitate any more, the seven big ships were enough to emigrate the entire Xie family overseas, and when the time came, all the kingdoms of Wei, Jin, and Yan would all go with the wind.

"Crack!" Ran Ming and Xie An swore by high-fiving that the deal was considered complete.

Ran Ming issued a war mobilization order to Ding Haijun, ordering them to prepare for battle immediately, and carry as much equipment and fuel oil as possible. The other preparation is to build hot air balloons. If hot air balloons cannot succeed, everything is in vain.

Ran Ming considered these things, and surrendered to the operation of developing hot air balloons.

In this era, there are Kongming lanterns, which are actually the original small hot air balloons, and the working principle is the same.Ran Ming only needs to calculate how big a hot air balloon needs to be made to send Ran Min to Jiankang.

In fact, Ran Ming already had a solid idea of ​​the approximate size.

In later generations, when Ran Ming was in the army, he had seen the observation hot air balloon of the artillery.The observation hot air balloon has a volume of only [-] cubic meters and can carry [-] kilograms.

Of course, Ran Ming can't produce natural gas or liquefied petroleum gas in this era. He only uses fierce oil.

Therefore, his hot air balloon needs to carry at least one ton of fuel if he wants to carry Ran Min and enough fuel. That is to say, this hot air balloon needs at least two thousand cubic meters. It should be at least [-] cubic meters before it can be used.

Three thousand cubic meters is only three thousand cubic meters. Now the biggest problem has arisen. Materials are hard to find. These things are hard to find in a small city of Luhun. I am afraid that no city can have such a huge Materials needed for balloons.

Ran Ming didn't care whether the members of Tianyan were exposed or not. He sent out orders one by one from Luhuncheng. The two institutions of Tianyan members and "Heavenly Deaf and Mute" began to operate rapidly, and the materials and craftsmen needed to make balloons began to send Lu Hun assembled.

Unknowingly, a day and a night passed, and a huge monster with a height of more than ten feet was erected in Luhun Pass of Wei State. I didn't know what it was, but nearly two thousand craftsmen were so tired that they crawled on the ground and couldn't move.

The tense moment came, and Ran Ming was both excited and apprehensive.

For this hot air balloon, Ran Ming can be said to have worked hard.Making hot air balloons in this era is no less difficult than landing on the moon in later generations.You must know that the biggest difficulty facing Ran Ming is the need for a large number of airtight ball skins.In later generations, this kind of hot air balloon is made of reinforced nylon or polyester. Although the ball skin looks thin and light, it is very strong.

In this era, Ran Ming couldn't find reinforced nylon at all, let alone polyester.

Although there were no these two things in ancient times, there were airtight things, such as the rainproof tarpaulin.But the tarpaulin is too heavy. If tarpaulin is used, the hot air balloon may not be able to fly, and even if it does, the load capacity is extremely limited.So this kind of heavy and not very strong oilcloth is not suitable for ball skin.

Later, Ran Ming recalled seeing swim bladder glue when inspecting the shipyard in Qingzhou. Swim bladder glue is the gap between the glued wood boards, and it is not afraid of water like chemical glue.Ran Ming thought of a way. He soaked the swim bladder glue with fine silk. After the silk soaked in the swim bladder glue was dried, the swim bladder glue and the silk were closely connected. Both silk can be strong and strong, and there is also swim bladder glue. airtight.

Moreover, the combination of silk and swim bladder glue does not increase the weight too much, and it is more advantageous than oilcloth overall.

With the method, it is actually very troublesome to manufacture. Luhun is a small city, and the entire city was searched, but only less than a thousand bolts of silk were obtained. These silks are far from enough to consume a huge hot air balloon. There was also a shortage of glue, and just urgently dispatching these supplies gave Ran Ming a headache.

Later, it was Xie An who came forward to guarantee Chu Yan, a powerful man near Luhun, and borrowed [-] bolts of silk from Chu Yan in Xie An's name.Finally, enough silk was raised. As for the swim bladder, Ran Ming bought all the swim bladders in several surrounding counties at once.After collecting all the ball skins, Ran Ming used more than a thousand people to get the jerseys up overnight.

Ran Ming looked at this large hot air balloon, which was tens of feet high and had a converted volume of more than [-] cubic meters, and carefully checked whether the installation was consistent with the design.

"Your Highness, can this thing really take us to the sky?" Dong Run asked very worriedly.

"Haha!" Ran Ming said with a smile, "I can't fly, what is the purpose of working alone all day and all night?"

After more than an hour of inspection, Ran Ming finally confirmed that the hot air balloon was completely assembled according to the design drawings.

"Your Highness, can this thing really fly?" Zhang Wen also looked at Ran Ming suspiciously.

It is not that the ancients did not have dreams of flying into the sky. The fact is recorded in "Huainanzi" that Mo Di, the first Mohist of the Mohist school, once made a mechanical wooden bird, which flew for a day without falling.This should be the earliest human aircraft to the sky.Of course, modern scholars are skeptical of this historical record, thinking that it is fabricated and unreliable, because it is impossible for the aircraft to fly for so long because of the power source.

Zhang Wen also believes that if a person wants to fly, he must have a pair of wings, like a bird, to soar into the blue sky.

"Gu has been checked and should be able to fly!" Ran Ming blushed from excitement and said: "Get ready to take off, light the fire."

Jin Nu was wearing armor, holding an iron spear, and carrying a strong bow, and was about to walk into the hanging basket to light a fire.

Ran Ming said: "Wait, General Jin, what are you doing?"

Jin Nu said: "Come on... light the balloon!"

Ran Ming angrily pointed at the armor on Jin Nu's body and said, "I see that you are not going to light a fire, but to fight a war!"

Jin Nu didn't feel that there was anything wrong, he was used to wearing armor with a spear, and seeing Jin Nu's bewildered expression, Ran Ming explained: "This hot air balloon has a very limited capacity, so when we go up , must carry as few things as possible, wearing armor and spears like a general, I am afraid that one more person’s weight will be added, so put down all the armor and spears on the general’s body!”

"This armor was used by my late father, and he gave it to my waiter before he died..." Jin Nu explained cautiously.

"A is alive, but A is dead?" Ran Ming waved his hand at Jin Nu helplessly and said, "Forget it, let's keep A, but this iron spear."

Tie Nu hurriedly said: "This tiger-slaying spear and dragon-slaying halberd are all gifts from His Majesty back then!"

"Okay, I've convinced you!" Ran Ming said, "Light the fire!"

The gold slaves and iron slaves with abnormal stamina and physical strength naturally did their part to work as coolies.Jin Nu and Tie Nu each turned the hand-operated blower to blow air into the stove, and the hot oil stove, which was fully oxygenated, sent the hot air to the huge air bag.Hot air is lighter than cold air. Everyone understands this truth now, but the ancients did not understand it. They watched the huge air bag slowly inflate and rise slightly, gradually tightening more than a dozen fixed ropes.

Ran Ming didn't conduct the flight test because Ran Min's body started to become inflamed and hot. Although he lowered Ran Min's temperature with wine, it was only a temporary solution, not the root cause.To solve the injury on Ran Min's body, surgery is necessary.If the operation time is delayed, Ran Min will lose all hope of treatment.

Ran Min is the hope of the Wei State, the future and hope of the Han people, and the banner of the only independent movement of the Han people in this era, so Ran Min cannot die.

In desperation, Ran Ming had no choice but to resign himself to fate, and directly took Ran Min into the air without going through experiments. Of course, Ran Ming prepared a parachute, so even if there was an accident, he could save his life.

Ran Ming asked people to carry Ran Min into the hanging basket. This hanging basket was only about two feet long, one foot and eight feet wide, and about six feet high. It was made of tough bamboo.Watching the hanging basket rising slowly, Ran Ming said excitedly: "Quickly untie those few ropes."

It is said that facts speak louder than words. Dong Run and Zhang Wen, who had questioned Ran Ming just now, were dumbfounded at this moment, especially Dong Run, his eyes really felt like they were about to burst. "Did it really fly?"

Dong Run patted Zhang Wen's shoulder excitedly and said, "It's flying, it's flying."

"I'm not blind, you don't need to tell me, old Dong, I saw it too." Zhang Wen said, "I saw it too."

Since this hot air balloon is quite immature, besides Ran Min who is carrying nearly [-] catties, there are Jin Nu and Tie Nu, both of whom weigh more than [-] catties, plus Ran Ming, the only balloon pilot , the only thing left is fuel and a little drinking water. As for Dong Run, Zhang Wen, Xie An, Xue Tao, and Zhang Ping, who were originally planned to carry, they can only rush to Jiankang by land.

(End of this chapter)