Wu Dong, Ling Zhen and others had already left the ironworks. Even far away, they could still see the huge chimneys emitting thick smoke. The air around them was very bad and a bit choking. Wu Dong looked at those people.
The huge chimney could not help but frown.
"Grand Governor, the ordnance factory is only three or four miles away from here. We can get there soon. After we get there, we will eat first and then go to the workshop." Ling Zhen saw Wu Dong stop and thought Wu Dong was inspecting something.
I worked in the morning, so I was tired and wanted to rest, so I reminded him.
"Ling Zhen, from now on, we need to plant more trees around the Academy of Sciences and the factory. The more trees we plant, the better." Wu Dong suddenly said.
He actually saw the chimney in the distance and thought of environmental protection. Originally, he wanted Ling Zhen to transform the iron-making process to reduce waste emissions. But thinking about it carefully, it is simply unrealistic to transform the process now.
It is impossible for the iron smelting plant to figure out a method. And even if it can figure out a method, Wu Dong will not agree if the steel output is limited. Now is the time to develop vigorously, and the speed of development must not be slowed down, even temporarily.
If it pollutes the environment, that's all it can do.
"Grand Governor, why do we need to plant more trees?" Ling Zhen asked a little strangely. It's extremely dirty. If you stay here for a long time, the workers' bodies will be affected. If you plant more trees, they can absorb the black smoke and reduce the impact on the workers.
Human body injury." Wu Dong said.
"Is this true?" Ling Zhen said in surprise.
"Of course it's true." Wu Dong said with a smile.
"Grand Governor, actually there is a person in the Academy of Sciences who is interested in these black smokes." Ling Zhen said.
"Are you interested in black smoke?" Now Wu Dong was surprised.
"Actually, he's not interested in black smoke. It's hard for me to describe what's going on. By the way, he is interested in 'qi'. Some time ago, he was wondering why humans inhale and exhale, and what exactly humans inhale.
, what is it that is exhaled?" Ling Zhen asked while sorting out his words.
"Oh? What did he find?" Wu Dong asked curiously.
"He said that what humans inhale is 'life' and what they exhale is 'death'. He also did many experiments and finally proved that 'anger' can make fire burn, but 'death' cannot make fire burn.
It can even extinguish the fire. Some time ago, he even collected black ash from the ironworks.
Smoke, trying to figure out whether the black smoke is 'living' or 'dead'. But black smoke is difficult to collect. Often it will dissipate after a while just after it is collected. He put the black smoke in a porcelain jar
, even this can't stop the black smoke from dissipating." Ling Zhen said.
"What's his name?" Wu Dong suddenly became interested.
"His name is Jin Hu. He was originally a Goryeo noble. He was almost defeated by the poor peasants. Later I heard that this man knew how to refine colored glaze and was very famous in Goryeo, so I took him to the Academy of Sciences. But after he came
, instead of developing colored glaze, we studied these inexplicable things." Ling Zhen said with a bitter smile.
"Besides him, is there anyone else in the Academy of Sciences who studies some strange things?" Wu Dong asked hurriedly.
"Yes, there are quite a few people there! Since you, the Grand Governor, encouraged all miscellaneous studies, many people have begun to study some weird things. The most famous person in the Academy of Sciences is a man named Su Yuan. He was originally just
An ordinary craftsman, but he has been fascinated by the stars in the sky since he was a child
Chen is interested. Half a year ago, he actually said that the earth we live on may also be a star, distributed in the universe like all the stars. Such absurd remarks naturally attracted attention, and many people came to him to debate, but
He still believes in that point of view." Ling Zhen said.
An expression of extreme surprise appeared on Wu Dong's face. He came from later generations and naturally knew that the earth was also a star. This was almost common sense in later generations. But in this era, it is really not simple to reach such a conclusion.
Such discoveries were ahead of their time.
"Ling Zhen, do you believe what he said?" Wu Dong said.
"Grand Governor, I think it's ridiculous! The earth we live in has a round sky, the sun shines on everything, and the stars are just things used by Emperor Yu to decorate the night sky. How could it be possible that the earth we live on is also a star? By the way, he
They also say that our earth is round, not square, which is extremely ridiculous!" Ling Zhen shook his head.
"I want to see this Su Yuan." Wu Dong suddenly said.
"Grand Governor, after we return, I will ask him to come and see you as soon as possible." Ling Zhen said.
"Besides him, is there anyone else who has made some unique discoveries?" Wu Dong said.
"There is another person, a master of mathematics, named Lu Jiu. This man was originally from a poor peasant family. He didn't even have a name. He was the ninth oldest, so he was called Lu Jiu. He used to be a clerk in a small shop in Jiangnan. He can't stay in Jiangnan anymore.
, he just came here. Because of arithmetic
He was very good, so he was called to the factory. He discovered many calculation methods, and any addition, subtraction, multiplication and division was not difficult for him. I once took a test on him and found that he was really amazing. He also taught me the method and I learned it.
After that, my arithmetic ability also improved greatly." Ling Zhen said.
Wu Dong walked all the way towards the ordnance factory, while listening to Ling Zhen explain those strange people in the Academy of Sciences and their various discoveries or inventions. In addition to Jin Hu, Su Yuan, Lu Jiu, there are
More than a dozen various characters have made their own discoveries, many of which are basic theories of some modern basic disciplines. But they are still ignorant and cannot fully understand them.
Wu Dong was shocked. It seemed that Korea was experiencing a technological explosion.
In the history of human civilization, science and technology have never developed at a uniform speed, but will suddenly accelerate and lead to a "technological explosion." The so-called technological explosion refers to the scientific achievements in a short period of time exceeding those in previous centuries or even hundreds of years.
Thousands of years in total.
In the original history, it was not until the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries that there was a technological explosion in Europe. Almost all basic subject theories were discovered during that era. The discoveries in mathematics, chemistry, physics, and biology exceeded those made in the previous thousands of years.
In total. Before the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the development speed of science and technology was extremely slow. There was almost no essential difference between the science and technology of the Song Dynasty and the science and technology of the Qin Dynasty. They were almost the same in principle.
Now, it seems that Goryeo is about to enter an era of technological explosion, four to five hundred years ahead of its original history.
In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the reason why there was a technological explosion in Europe was mainly because the dark rule of the Holy See in the Middle Ages ended and the shackles of human thought were broken, so science and technology developed explosively. And now the reason why Korea is showing signs of a technological explosion is, according to
Wu Dong's guess is that the government treats craftsmen well, strongly encourages various discoveries, inventions, and encourages various ideas in the scientific community. From ancient times to the present, the status of craftsmen in China has been extremely low. For thousands of years, craftsmen have not enjoyed any enjoyment.
Pass
This is the current treatment. Since the Qin Dynasty, China has been a world of scholars. "Everything is low-grade, except studying high." Except for reading, everything else is basically a low-level profession. Any discovery and invention would be fine if it has some practical effect.
.If it has no practical effect, a discovery like Su Yuan's is simply "treason" and will be knocked to the ground by readers. Ancient Chinese science and technology has never experienced the explosive development that Europe did, and the dominance of Confucianism is also an extremely important factor.
Important reasons.
In any case, Goryeo has now shown such a momentum, and Wu Dong is very excited. If the technological explosion can be achieved in China hundreds of years in advance, China will completely lag behind the West, just like the West has continued to lag behind the East in later generations.
Same at the back.
"In my lifetime, I wonder if China can enter the industrial age? It seems that I will continue to encourage various discoveries and inventions, and continue to encourage the Academy of Sciences to engage in innovation! In the future, science will also be included in the examination content of admission officials to encourage science in the entire society
Atmosphere." Wu Dong secretly said.
The potential of relying solely on the Academy of Sciences is too low. The entire society needs to launch a wave of scientific research in order to continue the technological explosion.
After visiting the ordnance factory today, we first took a short rest here and had a simple lunch, and then Wu Dong and Ling Zhencai continued to head inside.
The sound here is even noisier. There are more ordnance manufacturing and countless forging operations, so noise is definitely inevitable. If you work in such a place for a long time, your hearing may be affected.
Walking all the way inside, when he reached the rows of huge rooms on the left, Ling Zhen stopped and said, "Grand Governor, these are all saber production workshops."
At this time, the person in charge of the workshop had received the news and hurriedly came out to greet him. Wu Dong did not exchange more greetings with him, but directly entered the workshop.
This is a pure assembly line operation. Some workers are responsible for quenching steel, some are responsible for the production of preliminary embryos, some are responsible for quenching the steel, and some are responsible for polishing. Each process is orderly, and all kinds of workers are only responsible for their own procedures, and
Specialized supervisors are responsible for checking the work conditions of workers.
Everything was so orderly, as if he had arrived at a modern factory. Wu Dong looked at everything in front of him with relish.
"Grand Governor, this is our latest cavalry saber! Here are all finished products!" The person in charge of the saber workshop followed Wu Dong and introduced his product to Wu Dong, with obvious pride in his voice.
Obviously very satisfied with their product.
Wu Dong took a samurai sword over and examined it carefully. The saber was about 14 meters long. The overall blade was somewhat similar to a Japanese samurai sword, but it was much thicker than a Japanese samurai sword, especially the spine. This design was more
Conducive to chopping, the life of the saber will be longer
.It’s just that with this design, the weight of the knife will be much greater. Cavalry can rely on horse power to fight, so there is no problem with using such a saber. If it is infantry fighting, using such a weapon will be a bit too heavy for soldiers with poor physical strength.
There is no use for such a saber at all.
The blade of the blade was very bright, giving people an unusually sharp feeling. Wu Dong slashed hard, and a sharp sound came from the front.
"Have the sabers you designed been handed over to the cavalry for testing?" Wu Dong put the saber away and said to the person in charge of the workshop.
The person in charge of the workshop hurriedly said: "Grand Governor, more than ten famous sword-making generals of various ethnic groups in our workshop have designed a total of more than twenty cavalry sabers. These more than twenty cavalry sabers have all been sent to General Han Shizhong's troops on the front line.
After the trial by General Han’s army, they were most satisfied with the saber in front of them, so we began to vigorously produce sabers of this style.”
Wu Dong nodded and said: "How is the quality of the knife? How does the sharpness, hardness, and durability compare to the swords of the Great Song Dynasty, the Khitan people or the nv real people?"
The person in charge of the workshop said: "Grand Governor, our sabers are better than those of other countries! Our famous knife makers come from various countries and are the best craftsmen in each country. The sabers they design together are by no means comparable to the sabers of other countries! We
Before mass production, comparisons were made with sabers and armors from various countries. The Song Dynasty generally used spears and very few sabers. When their sabers and our sabers cut each other, they generally
It can be broken by us in five or six blows. The Khitan's saber is better, but at most, their saber will be broken in ten or so blows. Most of nv's sabers come from the Khitan, and their sabers are similar to those of the Khitan people.
The military knives are not far behind. In the past six months, we have been constantly improving our knife-making technology, and we pay attention to excellence in every aspect. I believe we will surpass other countries in every aspect."
"What's the current output?" Wu Dong nodded and asked again.
"From January to now, we have produced 10,000 sabers, all of which were sent to the army of General Han Shizhong in Liaodong some time ago. Now we are vigorously increasing production, hoping to be able to handle 200 sabers a month.
"Do you have a testing site here? I want to try the saber in front of me myself!" Wu Dong said.
"Please come to me, Commander-in-Chief," said the person in charge of the workshop.
Wu Dong thought for a while and asked the guards who came with him to each get a saber and go to the testing site in front to try it out.
The testing site ahead has various experimental materials, including Song Dynasty, Khitan, and Nv real armors, huge solid wood, and even various animals used for experiments, as well as some tiny steel bars, which are also used for experiments.
The sharpness of the saber.
Wu Dong held a saber and waved it slowly in front of a row of wooden pillars. Constantly feeling the performance of the saber, the guards he brought also began to wave the sabers in their hands.
After a while, Wu Dong called all the guards over.
"What do you think of this knife?" Wu Dong said.
"Grand Governor, it is extremely sharp and can cut through the Khitan armor. There is only a small gap in the sword. It is much more powerful than the saber we used before! Moreover, this sword is unusual to use.
It feels so comfortable, as if it can exert all the strength of the whole body!" A soldier said fondly, touching the saber in his hand.
"If you are riding on a horse, this knife will be more effective. It can cut or stab. There are no enemies now, but I feel that in actual combat, the effect of this knife is much better than the enemy." Another soldier said.
The rest of the soldiers spoke one after another, most of them with compliments. Wu Dong nodded slightly, and he felt extremely satisfied. Half a year ago, he heard that the ordnance factory of the Academy of Sciences had begun to produce sabers, but he was busy with Liaodong at that time.
During the war, the production of military knives had just begun, so it had not attracted his attention. At this moment, after experimenting, he also found that this knife surpassed all the knives he had used before. It can be seen that the Academy of Sciences and the Ordnance Factory were also inferior in this knife.
A lot of effort was put into it.
"Fighting the enemy, bravery is indispensable. In addition to bravery, weapons are also extremely important. Now with such sabers, if our cavalry encounters nv real cavalry again, I believe it will not only be a stalemate with them.
, we may even defeat them. But the number of sabers is still a bit too small, only 10,000, I hope your production speed can be faster." Wu Dong said with a smile.
"Grand Governor, in fact, we have developed some sabers used by infantry. However, the rifles and spears currently used by infantry are very good. The demand for sabers is not very urgent, so we have not mass-produced them." The person in charge of the workshop said.
Wu Dong nodded, thinking that the infantry formed a spear formation, which was very powerful and had already exerted great power in various battles in Liangshan. There was indeed little need for the sabers used by the infantry. In the Tang Dynasty, Tang Dynasty
The sword was once extremely popular. The Mo Dao of the Tang Dynasty was also a weapon used by the Tang people to deal with the cavalry. However, the Mo Dao was only prominent for a while. By the end of the Tang Dynasty, it had been exploited by the army.
Whether it is the East or the West, most of the Cold Weapons Age used spears and crossbows to fight against cavalry. Even in the Hot Weapons Age, rifles were equipped with weapons similar to spears.
Three-edged or four-edged thorns, like the "Blade Team" that appeared during the Anti-Japanese War, used broadswords to chop off the heads of Japanese soldiers. These are relatively rare infantry weapons.
"Grand Governor, in addition to the cavalry saber, during this period of time, we have also developed a very special armor, which is extremely powerful. If this armor is equipped for the army, no matter how fierce the nv real person is, it will never be ours.
Opponent." Ling Zhen saw that the inspection here was completed, so he said to Wu Dong.