Chapter 240: New products of the base, a weapon of war

The morning at the base is always so bright and golden. Looking at the red sun in the east, the rising sun also indicates that his career is booming, Zhang Yang's heart is full of energy.

Jiao Yu is already busy with work. He first needs to make a mold for casting cannons, that is, a mold made of soil, waiting for cast iron to be poured. Fortunately, a by-product of the base is a grenade. This grenade requires a mold. This thing is not short of this kind in the base. When the mold becomes dry, Jiao Yu needs to confirm whether the fine iron produced in the base can meet his needs.

Zhang Yang began to instruct Li Youcai and Zhao Jiamin to assemble the steam engine with a few workers.

Only with steam engines can we enter a new era called industrialization. In recent times, with steam engines, the manufacturing of gun barrels will be more mature and there will be enough power to allow warships to sail.

This is a medium-sized machine, about half a person tall and about one meter long. The cylinder and the base are stationary parts and have been fixed to the ground. In order to prevent it from vibrating, several stones were pressed on the base. In assembly, the most important thing is the bite between the piston and the cylinder.

The piston must be closely linked to the cylinder to prevent air leakage and not be too tight, otherwise it will cause greater resistance during the reciprocating process. This is also the biggest difficulty for these people to build steam engines. After several failures, Li Youcai decided to use brass to make the piston. First, the cast cylinder wall was extremely round and smooth, and then gradually polished the slightly larger brass piston to be in close contact. This piston became the most expensive part of the steam engine.

Other components are much simpler. The crank connecting rod mechanism, slide valve steam distribution mechanism, speed regulation mechanism and flywheel are all cast or built from fine iron, which can solve the lubrication problem at the joint.

Seeing Zhang Yang inspecting himself, the craftsmen all started to work hard. After a morning of assembly, a brand new machine was first in shape.

"Brother, the steam engine has been assembled!" Zhao Jiamin said excitedly.

"Okay, ignite the fire and prepare for the experiment!" Zhang Yang said.

Next to the steam engine, there is a large teapot, ready to start boiling water. The earthy fire table is placed on it, which is a large teapot that is enough for one person to take a bath. The teapots are all sealed, leaving only a steam outlet and a water injection outlet.

When Zhang Yang saw this device, he shook his head. It seemed that he had to say everything himself. He should use a boiler to burn steam, but only that big teapot, which was too inefficient.

It is very simple. The boiler adds many tubes in the middle of the teapot, also called flue. The fire burned below passes directly from each tube, greatly increasing the contact area between the flame and the boiler, which greatly improves the efficiency. Now, only the bottom of the teapot can receive heat, and the efficiency is very low.

Let's try it on the fire first!

Since coal needs to be bought for silver, except for coke for ironmaking, most of the fuel is replaced by wood. One by one, the wood is thrown into the large earth stove, and the giant teapot begins to heat up gradually.

Finally, the rhythmic gurgling sound came from the teapot, and the water began to boil!

The white water vapor surged forward quickly in the tube and finally rushed into the cylinder. It tried hard to push the huge piston, but the piston kept insisting on it.

"It's moving, it's going to move soon!" Everyone saw that the entire machine was trembling constantly and could run at all times, but it was always ready to move, but it couldn't move.

"Increase the firepower!" Zhang Yang shouted. The machine cannot move now, so it must be because the steam pressure is not enough.

More firewood was added to the earthen stove, and the flames were very strong, and people standing nearby felt the heat was pressing. Finally, the piston of the steam engine began to move, pushing the connecting rod, driving the flywheel, and slowly turning.

"It's moving, it's really turning!" The people next to him suddenly became excited.

The ability to move the steam engine means that the test run has been successful, but there is still a certain process to be practical.

"There are wealth and family members" Zhang Yang waved to them and asked them to come over: "This machine can be considered to be able to be rotated, but there are still many things that need improvement."

"Yes, brother is right." The two nodded, and the unconcealed joy surged into their faces. Today's success made them very excited.

"Although the machine can rotate now, the strength is not strong enough. The key is that this teapot that produces water vapor is not good." Zhang Yang began to analyze: "If you want the machine to rotate faster and more smoothly, you have to make a fuss about this teapot. Our teapot is too backward and you have to use a boiler."

Zhang Yang then began to explain the structure of the boiler: it was made of fine iron, the lower part was the furnace, and the upper part was the teapot, but the teapot had to be changed, and some flues were opened inside to increase the heating area and improve utilization.

After saying this, the two of them nodded frequently. Judging from the posture, they wanted to start a transformation immediately.

As he was talking, Zhang Yang felt a little hungry in his stomach. He looked again: It was already evening?

Time flies so fast when you do this job!

"Let's do it tomorrow, go back and rest first." Zhang Yang said. He didn't eat, and they didn't eat either. Today he saved a meal.

Many people still surrounded the steam engine and refused to leave.

Zhang Yang didn't go back. Before going back, let's see how Jiao Yu's cannon was made. Have the mold been made within this day?

The place distributed to Jiao Yu was on the south side of the island. From afar, Zhang Yang saw the mud mold like a hammer, sucking the sunshine full, and Jiao Yu checked the progress from time to time.

"Jiao Yu, this mold is very fast!" Zhang Yang said.

"Master, I have thought about it carefully. To be on the safe side, I did a slightly thicker one. I waited until the experiment was performed gradually and then reduced the thickness."

Jiao Yu doesn't have much confidence in the steel that the base can provide, especially the steel-fried ones, can it really be as strong as Bailian Steel? It even surpasses copper?

Zhang Yang nodded. The idea of ​​this kind of experiment is correct. If it is thicker, it is thicker. Anyway, one of his own iron smelting furnaces is 2,000 kilograms, and the output is enough.

What affects the progress is the number of blacksmiths. Originally, burning one furnace of iron in ten days could meet the needs. Since we recruited enough blacksmiths, it has been shortened to one furnace in three days.

Zhang Yang looked at the mud mold and knew that the cannon Jiao Yu was preparing to build had the characteristics of this era: the cannon body is short and the barrel is thick. Such cannons are not far away. The reason is very simple, and the power of gunpowder is not useful! Before the high-temperature and high-pressure gas produced by the combustion of gunpowder fully expanded, the shells were already fired.

In addition, the round projectile was also very unscientific. Ancient people thought that the round was the most perfect shape. If a projectile was made, it was also a spherical shape, but they did not know that the spherical air resistance was still very large.

Zhang Yang only wanted Jiao Yu to verify the feasibility of his fine iron making cannon body and produce accurate data. Others are not yet considered.

"Jiao Yu, have you had lunch?" Zhang Yang asked.

"What? It's already noon?" Jiao Yu asked.

Another workaholic, it's all night now!

"I knew you didn't eat. Let's go, I'll give you a wild duck to satisfy your cravings." Zhang Yang said: "The wild duck here is tender and has a very good taste when roasted."

"Master, I want to look at the mold for a while. This mold is heated evenly and rotated for a while. Otherwise, the areas with more sunlight will easily crack." Jiao Yu said.

"What kind of sun is too hot, the sun is going to go down." Zhang Yang said.

Jiao Yu then raised his head. Sure enough, it was already sunset, and the shadow of the mud mold was stretched quite long on the ground.

"Let's go, go back." Zhang Yang continued.

Then Jiao Yu looked at the mud mold reluctantly, followed Zhang Yang and walked back.

The hard work day is finally over.

Jiao Yu spent his first day in the base. The working atmosphere here was very strong. He quickly integrated into it. He didn't need to think about other things and just do research. Every worker here has wages, and he did more and rewards. He liked this system more, which was much more comfortable than Zhu Yuanzhang's forced orders to make him work.

Zhang Yang felt that he had to thank Zhu Yuanzhang. If it weren't for him, he would have to be on guard against the devil's claws stretched to him by the province. Now, he can preside over the manufacturing of steam engines and cannons in the base. Once these two things are successfully developed, they will become new equipment after the Tianque gun. At that time, he can leave with confidence, let these things be trial-produced on a small scale and gradually equip the troops.

Steam engine ships, cannons are installed on both sides of the ship and placed anywhere, so they are enough to stand out from all the heroes. If you apply a layer of steel armor outside the ship, it would be even more amazing.

On the fourth day, the mud mold was completely dry and I started to prepare for casting.

Only then did Jiao Yu have the opportunity to see the base in the north, the blast furnace standing on the ground, and the strange steel stir-frying device.

The iron smelters were already familiar with the road, adding materials, lighting fires, and checking the furnace temperature. Everything was under control, but Jiao Yu was already stunned.

Especially when I saw the red steel coming out of the blast furnace, it was not poured directly into the mold, but first entered a large crucible and stir-fryed. The burnt jade mouth was wide open: Can you stir-fry out this way?

Until the fiery red steel was poured into Jiao Yu's mold, Jiao Yu's mouth did not close. In addition to the cannon mold, he also made ten shell molds and poured them into the steel.

All I have to do is wait for the molten steel to cool down gradually.

Because there are still some things that need to be kept confidential in the focus jade, the equipment for making the gun barrels has not been put into use. Anyway, the inventory of the gun barrels is already a lot, and the remaining steel is all used to create parts of the Tianque gun, and some basic parts have been cast for the steam engine.

"Jiao Yu, can the cannon be fired after it cools down?" Zhang Yang asked.

"Master, what has been cast now is just a blank. It needs to be carefully polished before it can be used. It will take about four or five days!" Jiao Yu said.

Manual polishing is definitely extremely slow, and of course, this kind of smooth-bore cannon must be made very smooth inside. It also needs to be checked for whether there are trachoma or something when casting. If it is not done well, it will be blown up.

If each gun uses this manual grinding method in the future, it would be strange if you don’t feel exhausted! Zhang Yang had already thought that with a steam engine and power, he could actually use a machine to grind it, which would greatly improve the efficiency.

While Jiao Yu was grinding, Zhang Yang continued to check the improvement of the steam engine.

Li Youcai and Zhao Jiamin are worthy of being skilled craftsmen. Under the guidance of Zhang Yang, the large teapot has been improved into a boiler in the modern sense. The hollow pipes will make the utilization of heat energy more reasonable. Moreover, Zhao Jiamin actually tried his best to create an exhaust valve!

The boiler is sealed and produces a large amount of high-pressure water vapor. However, the pressure of the water vapor cannot be too large. If it is too large, it exceeds the capacity of the boiler to bear, and the boiler may explode.

An exhaust valve, also known as a pressure relief valve, can exhaust gas and leak too much pressure when the pressure is too high.

"Puchi, puchi..." From afar, Zhang Yang saw that the steam engine was constantly radiating white smoke. As the white steam came out, the flywheel was rotating quickly.

"Success, success!" This time, the crowd around the side cheered. This time was different from last time. It was only able to operate last time, but this time it was able to output power normally and reach the practical stage.

"Brother, it's successful!" Li Youcai and Zhang Yang said as he watched Zhang Yang walk over.

"Well, this is just the beginning." Zhang Yang said.

It's the beginning? When he heard something in Zhang Yang's words, Li Youcai covered up his smile and asked, "Brother, what are we going to do next?"

"Next, divide the personnel into two groups, one group and then try to make the steam engine. We need many steam engines, and the other group is responsible for the practical words of the steam engine. This steam engine is connected with our centrifugal gun barrel making machine to replace hydraulic power to increase the yield of the gun barrel again. We will develop a blower to provide power, blow air, and use the blast furnace to make iron smelting, and strive to increase the furnace temperature again, which will save so much energy for the young man."

This is the truth. Although fine iron can be produced in large quantities, every time the blast furnace steelmaking and stir-frying steel requires a lot of labor, especially the large bellows, which must not be stopped. Once the furnace temperature does not reach, it will become a furnace of slag. Each time, it has to be divided into several groups, continuously pulling the large bellows, turning the steel to flip. Now, these physical tasks can be done by the steam engine.

Without Zhang Yang's explanation, the significance of this steam engine has been taken root in everyone's heart. With these things, you will save yourself effort!

"The most important thing is that we need to install a steam engine on the ship. Therefore, based on the existing steam engine, we must continue to improve efficiency and reduce the size of the boiler and steam engine. Our ships are not big now, and the steam engine is too big to be installed." Zhang Yang said.

Using a steam engine on the boat? This idea shocked the craftsmen surrounding Zhangyang. What are they doing with a steam engine on the boat?

"Brother, our boats have always used sails, so why do we use steam engines?" In their opinion, using sails is enough, so why use steam engines? Waste.

"How long does it take to travel from Xinghua to Gaoyou now?" Zhang Yang asked.

"This is probably a day's waterway. If the wind direction is not good, you have to walk for two or three days." said the familiar person.

"Yes, that is, when we are sailing now, we have to ask God. If we encounter no wind, we have to row the boat. It is inefficient at all. We put this thing on the boat, and even if it is against the wind, it will still be unobstructed!" Zhang Yang said.

"After this steam engine was loaded onto the ship, our army was more confident of winning. From now on, our warships were all sailing with steam engines, and the ships were equipped with cannons. All rivers in the south of the Yangtze River were our world!"

Speaking of this, everyone's eyes are full of infinite longing: in the Yangtze River, in the major lakes, there are warships of their own troops everywhere, what a spectacular scene!

Although they did not go to the battlefield, they also knew that the eldest brother is also a well-known figure outside now. It is their honor to be able to do things for the eldest brother. Although it is closed here, the news is not blocked. They have enough confidence in the eldest brother and keep following the eldest brother.

The steam engine has been initially successful, and the key to the artillery is the cannon.
To be continued...