Scientific research work is easier said than done, especially work that requires the cooperation of many people.
Originally, Chen Jingke's idea was that everyone would work in groups, with each group responsible for the research of one component. This was how a lot of work had been done before.
For example, this method was used when building steam engines and water pumps, and he thought it would be similar this time.
Then when I actually operated it, I realized how naive it was.
Scientific research and production according to drawings are two completely different concepts.
Production is carried out according to the drawings, and the data standards and so on are all ready-made, and everyone can just follow the standards.
Scientific research is from scratch to something. Even though he has pointed out the direction and provided some drawings, it is still difficult.
Without a scientific and systematic plan, without a strong coordinating organization, without a strong leader as the team leader...grouping will only make everything more chaotic.
Everyone worked enthusiastically for several days, but found that they had done a lot of things but had no results at all, which shocked them.
Chen Jingke was very happy and said: "Everyone, do you now know the difference between producing according to the drawings and doing research from scratch?"
"Don't be depressed, on the contrary, this is something to be happy about. Recognize the difference between the two, face our shortcomings and correct them, only in this way can we make progress."
Everyone's mood has improved a lot.
Li Tai asked: "Have you thought of a solution?"
Chen Jingke said: "I have a preliminary idea, but we still need to try it to know whether it will work."
Cheng Huailiang said: "Then what are you waiting for? Let's make arrangements quickly. Don't worry about whether it works or not. Let's try it first."
Others also said: "Yes, let's try it first before talking."
Chen Jingke waved his hand to calm everyone down, and then said: "Okay, everyone listen to me."
"The original grouping remains unchanged, but this time each group selects the one with the best skills to be the team leader, and then selects the smarter one to be the deputy leader."
"Set up a technical general advisory team, and the leader of each group will serve as a team member. I will be more arrogant and serve as the team leader, and King Wei will be the deputy team leader."
"The job of the technical team is to gather everyone's efforts to formulate various plans for watch research, and then divide the plans into various groups..."
"Every day after get off work, the team leaders gather together to exchange experiences, determine their own research progress, etc..."
Naturally, everyone had no objections to his arrangement. After some operations, each group re-elected the chief and deputy group leaders.
Then the team leaders gathered together to conduct a technical demonstration on the production of the clock to ensure that everyone understood what they wanted to make.
What are the technical requirements, what are the current problems, and what problems do we need to overcome.
After the group leaders had a clear understanding of clocks, they formulated a research plan again, and then each group leader received the task.
At the same time, the team leaders made plans within the group and explained them to the general technical advisory group, so that each group knew what the other group was studying.
Only then did each group begin to conduct specific research.
Chen Jingke didn't know if this method was right or not. He could only do it based on what he heard from previous lives and his own imagination.
Then we constantly sum up experience and make improvements during the work process. I believe that one day we will be able to establish a truly scientific research method.
But no matter what, the method he came up with is indeed much stronger than what everyone used to do before.
In particular, this technical coordination group has played a vital role. Various research work has been carried out rapidly and considerable progress has been made.
For example, a model of the escapement was quickly built, and hanging the pendulum can indeed drive the gear to rotate.
Another group specializes in making clockwork and quickly produced a qualified spring. It was installed on the suspension point of the pendulum to provide driving force for the pendulum.
However, due to the quality of the steel, the spring is not elastic enough and needs to be tightened every four to five days.
But no matter how you say it, the most basic power structure of the clock is completed, and the rest is a matter of subtle adjustments.
For example, how to make the escapement rotate at a constant speed, how to determine the speed of the rotation speed... these all require time and slow exploration.
Originally, Chen Jingke thought that this would be difficult and that he would have to build a transmission gear structure or something, but then a student named Zhao Youchang solved it with two nails.
Specifically, a nail is nailed on each side of the escapement's transmission rod. No matter how great the force is, the swing range of the transmission rod cannot exceed the constraints of the two nails.
The problem of the escapement rotating at a constant speed is thus solved.
Chen Jingke was dumbfounded when he saw it, and then he began to reflect on himself. He was still influenced by his previous life and could not help but complicate the problem.
Inspired by Zhao Youchang, everyone seemed to have awakened and put forward various methods.
Then someone discovered that the length of the pendulum can affect the speed of the rotation. After a series of experiments, they finally found the accurate frequency of beating once per second.
Chen Jingke's watch played a big role in this. After all, it was starting from scratch, and no one could accurately know how long a second was.
If you rely solely on manual measurement, it will take a long time and the error will be very large.
The earliest clocks in the past world were considered high-quality products if their error within one day was guaranteed to be within fifteen minutes.
Later, as generations of people studied and summarized, the error of the mechanical watch was fixed to within one minute per day.
Now with his watch as a reference, we can more intuitively measure whether the second hand is beating fast or slow.
Not only does it save time for fumbling, it also directly reduces the clock error to a minimum.
Of course, if you want to reduce the error to less than one minute per day, it cannot be achieved by simple structure. Workmanship is equally important.
Everyone was naturally surprised by his watch, but he dismissed it by saying that this was the only one made by the family elders.
Seeing this, everyone did not dare to ask any more questions.
Li Tai was very calm. He had seen sports bracelets before, so there was nothing surprising about having multiple watches.
Now the last problem remains, how to solve the problem of different speeds of the three hands of hours, minutes and seconds. If the amplitude is not adjusted well, everything will be in vain.
Fortunately, the team led by Li Tai personally produced the differential gear under Chen Jingke's prompts.
Three gears of different sizes are combined together, a very simple and crude structure, but it solves this problem perfectly.
After all the parts are assembled, the clock starts to tick.
"Oh!!!" Everyone cheered in unison.
"Haha...we made it, we made it."
The loud voice was heard by half the people in the outer courtyard.
The outer courtyard is only that big in total, so everyone will know something happened soon. Chen Jingke is leading the Wuwu class to make a timing tool, and everyone knows about it.
You will know success when you hear their cheers.
I couldn't help but sigh in my heart, as expected of Master Chen, he is so smart.
Then it's time to do whatever you have to do.
Chen Jingke was also very happy. Part of it was the creation of a clock, but more importantly, this action stimulated everyone's interest and established a set of scientific research processes that seemed feasible for the time being.
As long as these things are formulated, even without his guidance, everyone will be able to continuously create more good things.
Although the clock is finished, the work is not over yet.
Next, we need to make subtle adjustments to the clock to ensure that it can run longer without problems and to reduce errors as much as possible.
The most important thing is to statistically measure various parameters.
For example, where should the two nails that limit the swing of the escapement transmission rod be nailed, what is the gear ratio of the three hands that control the hours, minutes and seconds, the proportion of the length of the pendulum that affects the speed, etc.
Only when various parameters are determined can watches be mass-produced in a unified manner. Other craftsmen can learn and use them to produce more styles of products.
In order to prevent the production process from affecting the accuracy of the parameters, they built several clocks and measured them at the same time, and finally determined a more accurate value.
At the same time, the entire production process of the clock was also determined.
Naturally, there was a celebration afterwards, as Tiantianju was my own home, and all kinds of food and wine were available.
Wu Shu also came to the celebration banquet, and she could naturally see the value in it, as she was very rare about clocks.
It's just that she already knew Chen Jingke's plan, so she could only withdraw her plan to start this business with some regret.
After the celebration party was over, the two returned to the backyard together.
Wu Shu said with admiration: "You have created another amazing thing, and it is one step closer to your plan."
Chen Jingke smiled and said: "Yeah, it's so happy to be able to watch my plan come true step by step. By the way, I haven't asked yet, is there anything you want to do?"
Wu Shu was stunned for a moment and said: "Me? I hope that Zixiao Temple will become more and more prosperous, and I hope that I can help you realize your wish as soon as possible."
Chen Jingke shook his head and said, "This can't be considered a wish, right? What else? For example, to become a female poet or a successful businesswoman."
"Just like Yi He wants to be a female scholar, Yi Nu told me a few days ago that she wants to be a novelist. Don't you have something you are interested in and want to do?"
Wu Shu thought for a moment and shook his head: "No. I never thought about it when I was a child. After Ye Ye passed away, I wanted to live a good life, and then I wanted to help you and run Zixiaoguan well."
When Chen Jingke was about to say something else, she took the lead and smiled: "Why do you have to have lofty goals and ideals? You said before that the greatest meaning of life is to live well."
"I strive to make myself live a better and happier life, and to make our family more prosperous. Isn't that the biggest meaning?"
On the contrary, Chen Jingke was left speechless and could only say: "What you said makes sense. I use myself to save others. As long as you are happy, everything else is not that important."
Wu Shudao: "Yes, but I am very happy that you care about my thoughts."
Chen Jingke's heart felt warm, he took off his watch, grabbed her hand and put it on her wrist, saying: "This is one of the most precious items I brought from my hometown, and I give it to you."
Wu Shu, as her pillow friend, naturally knew about this watch. Chen Jingke also taught her how to use it, so she naturally knew the value of this thing.
Seeing him giving this watch to her at this time, infinite joy surged deep in her heart. In the same way, she also believed that this was Chen Jingke's final recognition of her.
She had long known that Chen Jingke had given Zhang Ping, Yuzhu and Yi Nu items brought from their hometown, and she had always been concerned about this matter.
The value of the item is not important, what is important is the meaning. Does anyone else have a problem with her if she owns it?
Now that she finally has one, all her previous doubts have disappeared. What’s more, the gift given to her is the most precious watch, which clearly highlights the status of a lady.
…
Next, Li Tai and others used copper, gold, silver, sandalwood and other materials to build a three-story attic-style clock. They also went to the palace to get a piece of flat glass to install in front of the clock.
It took almost a week to create an exquisite and luxurious one-person tall floor clock.
Then Chen Jingke and Li Tai escorted the clock into the palace and dedicated it to the eldest grandson Wugu.
The reason why it was given to the Queen instead of the Emperor is very simple. They are all protected by the Queen, so they naturally give priority to pleasing her.
Changsun Wugou really liked this luxurious clock and looked around it again and again.
Here Chen Jingke deliberately opened a window behind the clock and installed a small piece of flat glass. Through this small window, people can clearly see how the machine operates.
This subtle effect is very good. When a person often watches mechanical movement and discovers the beauty in it, he can't help but pay attention to science and engineering.
As expected, Changsun Wugou liked it very much and stood behind and watched it over and over again.
But she was not an ordinary person after all, and she quickly returned to normal and said: "Sun Fucai, give this clock to the saint and say that it was given to him by Erlang and Jing Ke."
"Here." Sun Fucai directed a few people to carefully carry the clock away.
Chen Jingke and Li Tai were not surprised by what she did. It would be strange if she didn't do this.
When others carried the clock away, Changsun Wugou said again: "Come and sit down, let's chat for a while."
The two of them sat down across from her obediently, and then handed her the detailed drawings, parameters, and production processes of the clock.
Changsun Wugou didn't know much about these things, so he wasn't very interested. He just flipped through them and put them down.
Then he said to the two of them: "I have been paying attention to you, and you did a good job this time."
Li Tai smiled and said: "The main reason is that Jing Ke's command is good, and I am the one who contributes."
Chen Jingke said modestly: "Without you leading the team to tackle the key problems, I wouldn't even be able to make it next year."
Changsun Wugou was very pleased and said: "Okay, okay, don't be humble, you all have contributed. What I want to say is not this matter, but other things that I want to discuss with you."
Both of them became serious and said: "You tell me."
Changsun Wugu thought about it for a while and then said: "Jing Ke gave the profits from the clock to the Gewu Ban in order to spin it off from Zixiaoguan."
"What I want to ask is, when are you going to split up and how will you split up?"
