Han Jiang pointed to the whistling steam engine and said, "This thing is that when burning charcoal here, wind will come out with a fan, which looks very interesting. But when I see it burning charcoal a lot every day, it is useless to carry a fan."

Du Zhongxiao said: "This is just a toy. To try how boiling water is, it is of use. If you use it well, replace the fan there, which will be infinitely useful. Now bring a fan, but the weather is hot and it is not used to cool off."

Han Jiang nodded: "I think so. If you just blow the air and cool it down, this thing will be useless. But I don't know anything about it, why will it turn around when boiling water here? The beauty of this thing lies in it."

Du Zhongxiao patiently explained: "When we boil water, the water becomes steam, and the space it occupies is much larger than the original water. Use this steam to hold up a plug inside and go back and forth, and then you can drive the other side to turn. Brother Han said it well, the wonderful things are all here."

The principle of the steam engine is actually very simple and cannot be understood. The difficult thing is how to use this simple principle to make it a practical machine work. The key is to use steam to realize the reciprocating movement of the piston, and the other is to convert the reciprocating movement into rotation and be able to work reliably. Realizing these actions is not as complicated as imagined, but it is difficult to improve power and efficiency.

Du Zhongxiao learned textbooks in his previous life, and actually added a lot of legendary colors when talking about these mechanical principles. Those legendary stories may not be compiled, but they did not happen in a time and place, but were only concentrated on one or two people in a short period of time. In fact, people are not that ignorant. The first reaction when seeing these new things is curiosity, just like Han Jiang now, rather than being surprised and scared.

The development of steam engines has gone through a long process. It was not complicated in the early days, and of course it was not so practical. It was on the eve of the Industrial Revolution. Many people improved it in the face of real needs, and finally became Watt. Later, the various principles and structures learned in textbooks were finally formed after summary and rational research in the process of improving the steam engine. Du Zhongxiao had learned the various key points of steam engines in his previous life, and he avoided many detours in the process of making this model. In fact, in his previous life, he could easily make a principle machine when he was able to buy mechanical parts. The size of this model can be used as a normal mechanical power. In this era, all kinds of mechanical parts needed to be handmade, which was far from it.

Han Jiang nodded repeatedly, pointed to the various parts of the steam engine in front of him, and asked about the function one by one. His mind was flexible, and he was practical, and he could see the future of the machine. Although it seemed like a toy now, just by changing the rotating blades behind it would be of many use.

After asking one by one, Han Jiang let out a sigh and said to Du Zhongxiao: "Brother Du, this thing you did is much more useful than the method of steaming wine dedicated to the court last year. Unfortunately, there is no talent-conscious minister in the court, so you cannot show your talent and knowledge."

Du Zhongxiao couldn't help laughing when he heard this: "Brother Han was joking. No matter how good this thing is, it is just a talent of a craftsman. What can you do? If you contribute to the court, you still have to study for the imperial examination. That is the serious way."

Han Jiang nodded, Du Zhongxiao said it well. In this era, you can become an official by offering technology, but it is just a martial arts and has no future. If you really want to have a future in politics, you should take the Jinshi exam, otherwise he would have been an official, so why did he come back? Han Jiang has a good vision. This steam engine is much more useful than the method of steaming wine that Du Zhongxiao presented to the court last year, but the current actual interests are hard to compare.

Su Song walked up and smiled at Han Jiang and said, "Zihua, what's the use of this thing without a fan?"

Han Jiang said: "I heard from people that in Jiangnan, where the lake is open, there are boats carrying wheels and walking on the wheel. If you use this thing to drive the wheels on the boat, wouldn't you be able to use manpower and wind to let the boats walk on the rivers, lakes and seas without using manpower."

Su Song clapped his hands: "Zihua is right. Brother Du and I discussed it many times, and I think the best use of this machine is to load it on a ship. Now, the Bian River canal transport is no less than 100,000, which consumes countless costs. If you use this kind of thing to sail the ship, how much manpower and material resources will be saved!"

Du Zhongxiao smiled and said, "This matter is excellent. But I don't know how much effort it takes to load this machine onto the ship. First, the machine is too small now, and the ship that can be pushed is just a toy. Second, the machine is too large. If it is loaded onto the ship, don't load it anymore."

Han Jiang said: "After the first thing to make, there will always be some unsatisfactory things. As long as you recruit experts and craftsmen, you will always be able to make it easy to use."

In fact, Du Zhongxiao's impression, the steam engine was connected to the train. But there was no trace of the train in this era. When he discussed with Su Song, the two agreed that the biggest use was on the ship. Especially the Bian River canal transport, the ship was in good condition and was most suitable for use. The prototype of the ship was driven by wheels, which was somewhat similar to the water truck used in Jiangnan. It has been available now and is suitable for inland rivers. The spiral pulp with wider applicability has too high technical requirements and is not so easy to make.

When Han Jiang saw this, his first impression was also used on the ship. Of course, he was inspired by the impeller he is carrying now. However, it also shows that installing something like steam engine onto the ship is the easiest use of this era.

Du Zhongxiao was determined to take the Jinshi exam and become an official. He would not spend too much energy on steam engines. At least it is now. For more than a year, he has not only transformed the machine with Su Song, but also taught Su Song to draw pictures. He was unwilling to spend more effort on other things. The initial improvement of this machine depends on people of this era, not Du Zhongxiao. Du Zhongxiao first had to consider his future.

Su Song's family has a root in his studies and has been exposed to astronomy knowledge, including astronomical machinery since he was a child. It was extremely rare in this era. Since the reign of Emperor Taizong, private research on astronomy has been banned. Su Song's family has been teaching astronomy, but I don't know how it was passed down.

Astronomy machinery is extremely precise. Su Song is not unfamiliar with machinery and mechanical drawings. However, the drawings in the past did not pay attention to actual size, but were more like schematic diagrams, which were similar to the drawings of Du Zhongxiao's previous life. Du Zhongxiao taught Su Song axiometric drawings step by step, including the principle of perspective, and then taught him three views. Now the two can basically communicate with drawings. Drawings are the language of engineers. Being able to communicate with drawings avoids many misunderstandings in communication. In Du Zhongxiao's view, this is more important than making a more complete steam engine model.

Su Song was obviously more interested in these things than Confucian classics. He learned to draw in more than a year and was trying to compile a textbook for drawings. In his opinion, this was also helpful to the painters at this time.

Han Jiang was a local official. Compared with Su Song and Du Zhongxiao, he was more interested in the practical value of machines. He circled around the machine, thinking about how to install it on the boat. In addition to the boat, there are other places to use.

Other Imperial College students were very excited to see it, but no one participated in the discussion. Han Jiang and Su Song were both sons of high-ranking officials and did not interact much with people around them. In the eyes of most scholars, these craftsmen's things were only suitable for watching the excitement.

After walking around for a few times, Han Jiang made up his mind and said to Du Zhongxiao: "After the trial, if nothing happens, how about you teach me how to make a station?"

Du Zhongxiao was surprised: "Brother Han, this item is expensive. Last year, I offered a steamed wine booklet, and the rewards I used to capture Dangxiang's fine work, all of them were spent on it. Don't look at the black outside, but a lot of copper was used inside, and they all need to be refined by masters and craftsmen."

Su Song smiled and said, "Brother Du is joking. How could Zihua's family lack this little money?"
Chapter completed!