The dawn came on, and the sound of roosters crowed one after another. After a night of hard work, in the straw shed in the backyard of the Su family, with the last pipe connected in place, the first thing that could truly be called a 'steam engine' finally appeared. in front of everyone.

This is a huge iron lump, from the boiler at the front to the iron shaft at the rear, it is more than one foot and four feet long. Densely packed official gears, crankshafts, connecting rods and other objects are wrapped outside the boiler and cylinder body, making the entire machine look like a It looked like a monster crawling on the ground. In the dim light of the morning, the entire machine exuded a cold metallic luster, giving it a strange sense of splendor.

The more than twenty people involved in the assembly were all covered in oil and sweating profusely, and the muscles of their naked upper bodies were shiny. Everyone was exhausted. However, everyone looked at the formed monster in front of them, and they felt very happy in their hearts. .Finally completed this manufacturing process that no one has ever experienced before. It took them more than a month to smelt, cast, and grind. The hard work can be imagined.

More importantly, they have no idea what they are trying to build, and what kind of machine they have worked so hard to get. This kind of confusion and uncertainty is the most tortured. At this moment, when all the components are When many of them are assembled together to form a physical object in front of me, although I still don't quite understand how this thing works, since so many weird-looking parts can be put together without any hindrance. According to their past experience, With my own experience, I know that this thing is definitely not a useless thing, and it is definitely not a pile of scrap metal.

The assembly process last night was not smooth. In addition to the extremely difficult assembly of the weird-looking parts during the assembly process, and the extremely delicate connections between small areas and complex parts, which was frustrating several times, there was even an extreme situation during the process. The big mistake was that there was a slight error in the size of the cylinder piston, so that it could not be installed smoothly into the cylinder. Naturally, it could not slide back and forth smoothly. This made Su Heng very angry. For this reason, he made a big fuss. I lost my temper and finally refused to let anyone get started. I polished it myself for half an hour before solving the problem.

But now, all the hard work is over, and the entire machine has been assembled and placed in front of everyone.

"The final assembly is complete. The next step is the most critical step, which is whether this thing can work. Master Su, should we take a break and let everyone get some sleep, and then we can test again in the afternoon?" Fang Zian's face was full of tears. It was oily, but he was in a happy mood and smiled at Su Heng.

Su Heng's hair was in a messy bun, his face was unshaven, and he no longer looked like a human being.

"Can't sleep, work hard and test immediately. If there are any problems, they can be solved immediately. I don't want to procrastinate in doing things." Su Heng waved his hands.

Fang Zian nodded and said: "That's fine. But we need to let everyone take a breather, eat something, and clean themselves. The sky is brighter, so we can look more carefully."

Su Heng nodded and said: "Okay."

Su Heng ordered them to go down, and everyone gathered around the well in the yard and poured buckets of well water over them to relieve fatigue and heat. At the same time, they used soap locust to wash away the mud on their heads, faces and bodies. When they finished washing, Qin Xiqing Shen Ling'er and Shen Ling'er helped Sister Su put porridge, rice and hot steamed buns on the table. Everyone devoured the meal, eating and drinking to replenish their energy.

Fang Zian held two big white steamed buns in his hands until his cheeks were bulging. He kept circling the assembled machine, carefully observing whether there were any

The flaw. Qin Xiqing came to Fang Zian and said softly: "Zian, your dream is about to come true. I didn't expect that you would finally create this thing."

Fang Zian swallowed the steamed bun in his mouth and said with a smile: "I dare not say it is a success yet. I have to test it before I can say it is a success. If the test fails, it is just a pile of scrap metal."

Qin Xiqing said: "It will definitely succeed, I firmly believe it. The last time you made that simple thing, you succeeded. What's more, it took more than a month and so much energy and money to build something.

I have a hunch that it will definitely succeed."

Fang Zian smiled and said, "Then let me lend you some good words. I hope everything goes well."

Qin Xiqing looked at the huge thing in front of him and admired sincerely: "If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't be able to believe it. You guys just gathered so many steel parts together. It doesn't look too much or too little. Every part is so close to each other.

It’s really unbelievable. I really don’t know what kind of structure is in the minds of you people. Just thinking of these things is enough to make people admire you. If it were me, I would never think of this in my life."

Fang Zian smiled and said: "That's not surprising. Everyone has his or her own skills. Just like you can compose and sing songs that are best in the world, everyone has their own expertise and abilities. As the saying goes, it's not difficult to meet people. This is the truth."

Qin Xiqing smiled and said: "What do I mean? My skills are not worth mentioning. Are you tired? Do you want me to help you rub your shoulders?"

Fang Zian laughed softly: "How dare you in front of so many people? Aren't you afraid of their jokes?"

Qin Xiqing said: "What is there to be afraid of?"

Fang Zian looked at her tired face and said softly: "You have stayed up all night and are very tired. I can't make you tired anymore. It's already dawn, or you can go back. I don't know yet.

How long will it take? If it goes well, that's it. If something goes wrong, it will have to be reassembled and solved. Then I don't know when it will be over."

Qin Xiqing shook his head and said: "If I don't leave, the last moment is the most critical time. If I go back now, all the time ahead will be in vain. Besides, this is also the moment you value most, so I will naturally stand by your side and share success together.

If we fail, we will bear it together.”

Fang Zian was moved when he heard this and reached out to hold Qin Xiqing's hand and nodded gently.

"Ready, ready. Start testing." Su Heng clapped his hands and shouted loudly as he walked out of the house. The craftsmen who were eating and sleeping in the yard all jumped up and finished eating in two or three mouthfuls.

Gathered under the thatched shed.

The sky was bright, and under the command of Fang Zian, everyone was carrying out preparations for the test in an orderly manner. Water began to be filled into the five-foot-tall iron boiler, the furnace door below was opened wide, the blast equipment was connected in place, and a large amount of charcoal was transported and stacked.

On the side. In order to facilitate the discharge of smoke, Su Heng even ordered people to lift a piece of the roof of the straw shed above the boiler to prevent the smoke from filling the straw shed.

Fang Zian and Su Heng did the last systematic inspection and confirmed that all the parts were assembled in place, and then the test officially began. The charcoal fire burned brightly at the bottom of the boiler, and after a stick of incense, the water in the boiler began to boil. When the steam

When the floating plug opens the steam hole and the steam emerges from the steam hole rapidly and hurriedly, it indicates that the water vapor in the boiler has reached a certain pressure.

"Master Su, please pull the airlock." Fang Zian shouted in a deep voice.

Su Heng nodded and said: "Okay.

, then I'm not welcome. You should have taken action at this moment, but I didn't give in, because I have already put too much hope into this thing."

Fang Zian smiled and nodded. Su Heng put his hand on the wooden handle of the airlock and slowly turned the valve to open the air outlet. The high-pressure steam in the boiler suddenly found the outlet, rushed out of the air outlet and poured into the pipe. The pipe was straight through. In the cylinder, the space on the left side of the cylinder was instantly filled.

Fang Zian stared closely at the external crankshaft connected to the cylinder, feeling extremely nervous. Not only him, but everyone's eyes were fixed there, because they all knew that only by pushing the piston in the cylinder can the crankshaft be pushed and pulled back and forth to rotate forward. The gear is considered a success. The risk is that no one knows whether the steam is strong enough to push the piston, and whether the reciprocating device in the cylinder can work. Whether the piston leaks air, or whether the sealing is good or not. The switching in the cylinder Will the valve of the air port open as the piston is pushed, allowing steam to pour into the space on the other side and push the piston to move in the opposite direction? There is actually no reference or answer to these questions. Everything depends on the results.

Boom! Chi!

After a roaring sound, the crankshaft was pushed forward. With a spurt of steam, another roaring sound sounded, and the crankshaft was pulled back again. This pull took less than a breath, but for Fang Zian In other words, this has been a long period of evolution of mechanical technology spanning hundreds of years. Over and over again, the crankshaft just drew an irregular oval, driving the main gear to rotate in one circle.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! The rhythmic sound of the piston reciprocating sounded. Although the roar was harsh, to the ears of Fang Zian, Su Heng and others, it sounded better than any beautiful piece of music in the world.

"Succeeded! Mr. Fang! We succeeded." Su Heng said with a trembling voice, and his eyes when he looked at Fang Zian were a little wet with excitement. He rarely had such excited moments, but at this moment, he was really emotional. More than a month ago, Fang Zian told himself the mechanical principle of this idea that almost made people think it was a lunatic. At first, even he didn't believe that this thing could be built or successful. But now it's all happening before his eyes. It is really possible to propel the operation with the power of steam alone. It is a completely unbelievable thing, but it has been successful through complicated transformations. For himself, starting from today, he has surpassed his ancestors and completed his transformation. , and became a true manufacturing master.

Fang Zian understood his mood. Of course he was also very excited. He held Su Heng's hand and laughed and said, "Yes, Brother Su, we succeeded. Hahaha, we succeeded."

"Success!"

"It's amazing!"

Everyone around was shouting and jumping excitedly. Everyone gathered around the steam engine and watched its operation with wide eyes. The pile of lifeless steel seemed to come alive at this moment. Under the push of the steam, the gears were transmitting force. Road, all kinds of pipe tie rods, large and small gears are running happily, all the force is transmitted forward, and finally the fine iron spindle in front of the arm as thick as the front receives all the force and is rotating rapidly.

Boom, boom, boom!

Accompanied by the wonderful rhythmic sound of machine operation, the real roar of mechanical power sounded for the first time in the world of the Song Dynasty. It was an epoch-making roar, and it was an unparalleled industrial sound. This moment will last forever.
Chapter completed!