Seeing Li Meizhi, Zuo Mengeng couldn't help feeling that time flies by.
When this girl fled to Linqing with her parents, she was just a little baby with a sallow face and skinny muscles.
Unexpectedly, in the blink of an eye, they are both tall and graceful girls.
"Success is close at hand."
When Li Meizhi mentioned the career she was working on, she suddenly became lively and her words were full of pride.
"Oh, tell me, how far have you achieved it?"
Although Zuo Menggeng has never seen the development of steam engines, he attaches great importance to them.
Li Meizhi followed Zuo Mengeng with her little hands behind her back, chattering and making a report.
"We have built a qualified cylinder block, and after testing, the pressure-bearing effect is very good."
Zuo Mengeng was quite pleased.
The first important thing in a steam engine is obviously the cylinder.
This is the core area where steam engines operate.
Not only must it be smooth enough to allow the push rod to operate smoothly, but it must also be able to withstand sufficient steam pressure.
Otherwise, if the cylinder explodes, it will not only fail to work, but also injure people.
He originally thought that Qin Luo and Li Meizhi, who had been tinkering with steam engines for less than ten years or eight years, would not be able to produce a qualified cylinder.
Although he provided a lot of ideas.
Unexpectedly, these kids are so talented that they have already made a qualified cylinder.
"Tell me, how did you do it?"
Hearing him ask, Li Meizhi couldn't help but be a little more cautious.
"I told you, Uncle Zuo is not allowed to be angry."
Zuo Mengeng was so funny.
"You girl! Your uncle, my heart is much broader than you think."
Only then did Li Meizhi cautiously speak.
"During the Chinese New Year, we went to see artillery exercises, and I found that the barrel of the artillery was very strong and smooth, so I asked. Uncle Jia told me that the reason why the barrel is like this is because it is bored out of one piece. I
We thought, since the barrel made in this way is so strong that it can withstand even the barrel pressure of the gun, it should also be able to withstand the steam pressure. So, we went to Uncle Yang Gui for help and asked him
We used a boring machine to boring a cylinder for us. The cylinder turned out to be perfect and is still intact even after being used."
Zuo Mengeng suddenly realized that he didn't expect this to be the case.
He also didn't know that the first qualified steam engine cylinder in history was made by Watt using a barrel boring machine after asking John Wilkinson for help.
Although the time was advanced by more than a hundred years, Shandong actually followed the same path.
There is no way, after all, the manufacturing of artillery is the most advanced craft of this era.
When other processes encounter difficulties, it is natural to seek breakthroughs and help from artillery manufacturing.
Li Meizhi is worried that Zuo Mengeng will blame Yang Gui for this.
After all, the artillery factory is extremely important, but Yang Gui did private work for them, and he will be punished according to the regulations.
Zuo Mengeng did not think of this.
Even if he remembered it, he wouldn't care.
Compared with a steam engine, a mere violation is nothing.
What he thought of was...
"It just so happens that Yang Gui has requested many times and plans to retire from the artillery factory. How about letting him join your steam engine team? Yang Gui's knowledge is not up to par, but his skills are very good. With him here, he should be able to help you a lot.
"
Yang Gui is old.
He was the number one craftsman in the camp at the beginning, but now he is gradually falling behind.
Just because he absorbs new knowledge too slowly, he cannot calculate or understand many things.
If it weren't for his superb craftsmanship, Yang Gui would be the kind of person who would be eliminated.
But now his apprentices have graduated one by one. They are young and powerful, and their skills are even better than their predecessors.
Yang Gui felt that he was redundant.
Anyway, he received the master craftsman's stipend and salary, so even if he retired, he would not have to worry about food and clothing, so he repeatedly proposed to abdicate in favor of someone more worthy.
Originally, the big guys couldn't bear to part with him.
But Zuo Mengeng learned about the progress of the steam engine, so he decided to ask Yang Gui to help, which could be regarded as using the remaining heat.
Li Meizhi didn't think much about it and was very happy when she heard this.
"That's great. With Uncle Yang Gui's help, many parts can be made."
They are young people with lively minds and advanced ideas. Only their hands-on ability is a bit poor, which seriously hinders them.
Having the help of Yang Gui, who is mature, steady and skilled in craftsmanship, is a great enhancement to their team.
"I don't have much time. If you still have any problems, please tell them all. See what I can do to help?"
After meeting Li Meizhi by chance, Zuo Mengeng decided to pay more attention to the steam engine group.
After all, this thing represents a whole new era.
If we want to truly realize industrialization, the steam engine is the foundation.
Even if he didn't say that, Li Meizhi actually had a lot of things he wanted to ask.
The concept of the steam engine was proposed by Zuo Mengeng. Although he never participated in the research and development, no one dared to doubt his role in the steam engine.
"Our experiment found that in order for the steam in the cylinder to do work, it must be condensed. But once it condenses, the temperature of the cylinder will drop and it needs to be reheated. We have tried many methods, but none of them are ideal."
A huge problem that plagues the steam engine team, but in Zuo Mengeng's case, it is so simple that it is outrageous.
Anyone in future generations who has driven a car or knows something about mechanics will immediately know how to solve it.
"Why don't you try to separate the condenser and cylinder?"
Li Meizhi paused and was speechless. After a while, she suddenly hit her head with her embroidered fist.
"Oh, really, so stupid, so stupid!"
Zuo Mengeng laughed loudly, fearing that she would knock him silly.
"Are there any other problems?"
Li Meizhi became a lot more active.
She originally came to Zuo Menggeng to complain, but in fact she had no expectations of whether Zuo Menggeng could solve the problem.
I didn’t expect that Zuo Mengeng would be so powerful once he opened his mouth.
Now she finally found her backbone, and another problem came one after another.
"Also, everything about the steam engine we made is good, but it leaks air. We used a lot of materials and thought of many ways, but the effect is not good."
Air leakage is definitely a taboo for steam engines, which will significantly reduce the efficiency of the steam engine and cause safety hazards.
But this is another problem within the scope of Zuo Mengeng.
He squatted down and used a branch to draw a small ring with a gap.
"Don't use fabric or glue. When you go back, you can make a small metal ring like this and put it on the screw. How about the effect?"
Zuo Mengeng knows that the sealing effect of this method is absolutely no problem.
Because this small metal ring that looks ordinary is called a piston ring.
It is the preferred means of sealing for many machines in later generations.
