After getting up in the morning, after washing up, Goritsyn ran to the dining room.
"Sir, I have prepared the equipment for the experiment you are going to do today," Goritsyn said.
"Come over for dinner," Pascal said with a smile. "I forgot to tell you that there is no work today. If you are willing, you can accompany me to the river to watch the steamship trial."
"Steam ship?" Goritsyn couldn't understand.
Pascal explained: "There is a kind of steam engine in China that foreigners are prohibited from studying, but it is still possible to watch it from a distance. To the southwest of the suburbs of Nanjing, there are many chimneys emitting black smoke, which is the smoke emitted by the steam engine."
Goritsyn still didn’t understand and couldn’t help but ask: “Is that Eastern witchcraft?”
Pascal smiled and said: "You can also understand it this way."
When Pascal went out, he not only asked Goritsyn to follow him, but also took his servants with him.
All the way to the edge of the Yangtze River, thousands of people had gathered there.
Suddenly, the imperial guards opened the way, and Zhao Han appeared with the royal family. However, he did not leave the city. Instead, he climbed up the north city wall and stood on the towering tower to wait.
Xu Zhengming, who is responsible for the research and development of steam engines, is by Zhao Han's side at the moment.
He has improved the steam engine again, changing the single cylinder into a double cylinder, which greatly improved the efficiency of the machine. The steamship on trial this time used a double-cylinder steam engine, and the inventor was Xu Zhengming's son and apprentice.
"Your Majesty, you are ready." Xu Zhengming said.
Zhao Han nodded and said: "Then let's try it out."
Xu Zhengming raised the flag in his hand. After receiving the news, his son and apprentice immediately ordered the steamer to set sail.
"Woooooo~~~"
The twin-cylinder steam engine has already been preheated. The steam hits the whistle and makes a loud roar. The ship's chimney emits thicker black smoke.
Paddles are installed on both sides of the hull. This thing is ready-made. Paddle boats appeared in the Song Dynasty. In the past, they relied on human power to step on the pedals, but now they are driven by steam engines, driving slowly forward in the Yangtze River.
Zhao Han looked at it with a telescope for two minutes and asked, "Can it be faster?"
"The boiler will have to burn for a while before it can reach the fastest speed." Xu Zhengming explained.
Zhao Han did not press any further, but turned around and asked the concubines, "How do you like this?"
"Walk too slowly." Fei Rulan said.
Fei Rumei said: "The smoke is too big."
Liu Rushi smiled and said, "It would be great if we could improve faster."
Zhu Aelao asked: "Isn't this really done with feet?"
"..."
After the concubines finished speaking, Zhao Han asked Zhao Kuanghuan: "What does the prince think?"
Zhao Kuanghuan replied: "As it stands now, it doesn't seem to be of much use. The machine still needs to be continuously improved."
The steamship in front of you is about as fast as a person walking. If a person starts running on the shore, he will be behind the steamship every minute. Moreover, its cruising range is less than 200 miles. When the coal is burned out, it has to dock to replenish fuel.
It has great scientific value but no practical value.
Everyone in the royal family was not very satisfied with the steamboat, but Goritsyn, standing on the shore, stared at the monster in the river with dumbfounded eyes.
"Witchcraft... is really witchcraft, witchcraft obtained from the devil!" Goritsyn kept muttering.
Pascal smiled and said: "This is natural science, a different kind of witchcraft. I am using my research on air pressure to help Qin Tianjian improve the steam engine. Maybe the steam engine can run faster in the future."
As the steamer went further and further away, the people on the shore cheered, many of them mixed with ridicule.
As for the joke, of course it is the sailing speed as slow as a turtle.
According to the original historical trajectory, more than 20 years later, the French proposed the idea of a steamship. However, no one paid attention to it, and the steam engine was not efficient enough to support the implementation of this idea.
More than a hundred years later, the French built a steamship, and during the trial voyage, the ship and the crew exploded together. Another American built a steamship, but the ship was destroyed in a storm and everyone died. Then another American built a steamship, and
While sailing on an inland river, the river operator stopped the boat and even towed the boat to the shore and impounded it.
Until Fulton appeared, first Napoleon supported him in building a ship, but due to the unstable center of gravity, it was blown over by wind and waves during the trial. Then he loyal to the British, but was ignored by the British. With the money earned from the British,
Fulton returned to the United States to do it himself, and the steamship finally made a successful trial voyage.
"Your Majesty, I will definitely lead my apprentices to continue to improve." Xu Zhengming was afraid that the emperor would be unhappy.
Zhao Han smiled and said: "Don't be in a hurry, take your time, you guys have done a great job."
"Thank you for your understanding, Your Majesty." Xu Zhengming breathed a sigh of relief and felt that this emperor was too kind.
Zhao Han suddenly said: "Have you ever thought about it, if you encounter strong winds and waves and lift the hull, the propellers on both sides of the hull will leave the water. Even if the hull does not leave the water, under the bumps of wind and waves, one side will be high
If one side is low, the propeller on the high side will also spin idle."
Xu Zhengming was stunned when he heard this. This was a question he had never thought about.
Zhao Han continued to remind: "Haven't you ever built a flying machine? That device, similar to a bamboo dragonfly, can be used on a steamship. I call it a propeller. If the propeller is placed under the water at the stern of the ship, the steamship can be
Push it away."
"Your Majesty is wise!" Xu Zhengming sincerely admired him.
Technological progress is not always smooth sailing.
Zhao Han, who was not even a dabbler, could only give some suggestions and leave the specific operations to professionals.
Even the steam engines in the factory have gone through a lot of hardships. In the past ten years, more than 20 boilers have exploded, killing and injuring more than 30 boiler workers. The bloody lessons have led to the advent of safety valves. Now steam boilers are finally no longer
It will explode easily.
Zhao Han said: "While improving steam ships, steam cars must also be made."
"It's already being built," Xu Zhengming said.
Tracks existed during the Qin Dynasty. Several kilometers of Qin Dynasty wooden track relics were discovered in Nanyang. The shape is similar to that of train tracks. The wood has been treated with antiseptic treatment and has not seriously decayed after more than 2,000 years.
Based on the conditions in the Nanyang Mountain area, it is speculated that it should have been used by the Qin Dynasty to transport ore.
I don’t know why, but mines after the Qin Dynasty no longer used rail transportation. It was not until the late Ming Dynasty that mine rails appeared again in Europe, and they were not as good as those in the Qin Dynasty.
When Zhao Han was still in Jiangxi, the mines under his jurisdiction began to use wooden rails, and the power was of course mules, bad horses and oxen.
Now that steam engines have been widely used in steel smelting, steel production has not only increased, but the price has also continued to decline. This has provided the conditions for laying railway tracks, and the development of steam trains should also be put on the agenda.
When the train was invented, it had to be put into use in the north first.
The mountains and rivers in the south are rugged, it is difficult to lay railway tracks, and there are rivers crisscrossing the country, so taking a boat is more convenient than taking a train.
Zhao Han had already thought about the route of the first railway track. It would be built from the Xishan Coal Mine in Beijing to Tianjin, so that the Beijing Coal Mine could be shipped to Tianjin for southward transportation.
With the experience of the first railway, the second railway will be built longer and can be built from Beijing to Shanhaiguan.
The third railway is longer and is built from Shanhaiguan to Shenyang.
The fourth railway is under construction in Guanzhong, Chencang-Xi'an-Huayin.
The fifth railway, Tianshui-Lanzhou-Wuwei-Zhangye-Jiuquan, was built all the way to outside Jiayuguan to strengthen the connection between the inland and the Western Regions.
These five railways are planned to be completed within forty years, and I don't know if Zhao Han can survive that long.
Isn’t America importing too much silver?
Spending money on railways will not only alleviate inflation, but also absorb the surplus labor force in the north.
Anyway, Zhao Han built several disconnected railways, all of which are relatively flat sections. When technology advances in the future, future generations will extend and connect them, and even build the railways to grassland areas.
Zhao Han returned to the palace with his wife and children, but there was a Mongolian prince on the riverside, looking at the steamboat in silence for a long time.
This Mongolian prince's name is Ayuqi. He lived in the Jungar tribe during his childhood. His grandfather was the Great Khan of Jungar. Then he went to Tibet with his grandfather to worship Buddha. Then, under the leadership of his grandfather, he crossed the entire Kazakh grassland and came to the Volga River. Downstream, life along the Caspian Sea.
More than a year ago, Ayuqi took five hundred tribesmen via the Kazakh Khanate, intending to return to Tibet to visit his teacher (a certain unspeakable lama) and take some monks to the Caspian Sea to preach.
When he arrived in Qinghai, he discovered that Qinghai-Tibet had changed.
So he asked his deputy to go to Tibet, and he took his people to Nanjing, calling himself the Torgut tribe to ask for the title.
The Han people are so rich, and the Han people are so powerful!
Ayuqi watched the street scene all the way, followed the officials of Honglu Temple to stay at Zhongshan Temple, and was finally received by Emperor Zhao a few days later.
"You are actually Oara people?" Of course Zhao Han knew "The Legend of the Heroes Returning from the East", but he was still surprised that a group of Mongolians actually went to the Caspian Sea to graze.
The protagonist of The Legend of Heroes Returning from the East is Ayuqi's grandson.
Ayuqi said: "Yes, His Majesty the Emperor, we are the Torgut tribe of Oara Mongolia."
Zhao Han asked again: "Do you really live in the lower reaches of the Volga River?"
Ayuqi corrected: "Your Majesty, the Volga River is the name of the Russians, and we Mongolians call it the Ezil River."
"What's the situation over there?" Zhao Han asked curiously.
Ayuqi said: "The Russians are very powerful in the middle and upper reaches, and they have also built castles in the lower reaches. We have been fighting the Russians for a long time. The Russians are weak in the field, but the castles are very difficult to deal with. Some Cossacks are accomplices of the Russians. There are also some The Cossacks are our allies and join us in fighting the Russians."
The Cossacks, who were enemies of the Torgut tribe, mainly operated in the Volga River Basin.
The Cossacks who allied themselves with the Torgut tribe mainly operated in the Don River Basin.
Ayuqi continued: "On my way to Nanjing, I heard that Your Majesty is also at war with Russia. The roots of the Mongols are in China, and the Mongols are willing to be the vanguard for Your Majesty and fight the Mongols until the end of the Ejil River!"
This was so interesting that Zhao Han almost laughed.
From Jiayuguan to the Volga River, there is a distance of 108,000 miles. It is all nonsense. Their obedience to the Chinese Emperor is just a show.
Of course, Zhao Han was very happy to be able to disgust Tsarist Russia and decided to give Ayuqi a thousand muskets.
After all, Ayuqi's grandson led his troops back east in history, and half of the 170,000 people died on the way.
He would rather die than return to China and refuse to accept the rule of Tsarist Russia, which shows how cruel the oppression of Tsarist Russia was.
