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Half a month later, Qin Mu took some time to go to the workshop to check the progress of the steam engine development. The workshop was led by Li Yi, Hu San, and Qian Yi, and there were more than 30 craftsmen. There was a smelting furnace, steaming, and the sound of iron forging was clanging.
Qin Mu arrived suddenly, and Li Yi and others hurriedly stopped what they were doing and came up to pay their respects.
"Get up. Li Yi, how's the progress?" Qin Mu asked with a smile.
Li Yi was in his thirties. As he was a craftsman, he seemed very reserved. He quickly replied, "Reply to the King of Qin, all the components have been basically made and are being polished."
"So fast?" This was beyond Qin Mu's expectations. In his opinion, it should take a long time.
Li Yi replied: "There are only a dozen parts. We have the King of Qin's blueprints. We are making them according to the blueprints. This is already slow."
"Okay, take me to have a look."
"Yes, King Qin, please follow me."
When talking about steam engines, many people may think of huge machines like lighter heads.
Of course, the steam locomotive represents its strong kinetic energy. But in fact, steam engines come in different sizes. The first steam engine developed by Qin Mu, Li Yi, Hu San, and Qian Yi was not big. The total weight of the cylinder was only 30 kilograms, which was very small and only suitable for driving light machinery such as textile machines.
The cylinder is square in shape and cylindrical inside. It is cast in two parts, the inside of the cylinder has been polished to be very smooth.
Thanks to the rough drawings provided by Qin Mu and the detailed explanation of the working principles of the steam engine, their progress was indeed very fast. In addition to the most important cylinder, the crank, connecting rod, sliding valve, and flywheel components had all been made.
Qin Mu looked at the various components carefully. The craftsmen roughly followed his drawings and then made them with precise dimensions. There is a slide valve chamber on the upper part of the cylinder. The steam first enters the slide valve chamber through the pipeline. There is an air inlet on each side of the slide valve chamber. When the slide valve is on the left, it blocks the steam inlet on the left. The steam enters the cylinder from the air inlet on the right, pushing the piston to the left.
The piston movement drives the connecting rod to work, and at the same time pushes the slide valve to the right, so that the right steam inlet is blocked by the slide valve in turn, and the steam enters the cylinder from the left steam inlet, pushing the piston to the right;
The steam pushes the piston in the cylinder to do work, and the cooled steam is introduced into the condenser through the pipe and condensed into water again. This process is repeated continuously when the steam engine is running.
The working principle is not complicated. There are only a few parts. The key depends on your craftsmanship. If the steam engine has a lot of steam leakage or cannot fully utilize the heat energy entering the cylinder, the working efficiency will be greatly reduced.
Qin Mu was looking forward to the first steam engine, but unfortunately the components had not been polished yet. Polishing is a delicate job and cannot be rushed. He praised Li Yi and others and said before leaving: "Li Yi. When the steam engine is installed, remember to tell me. I must come and see the effect in person."
"Yes, King Qin. I will go and report to you then."
"Well, are the two thousand taels of silver enough?"
"That's enough. There is still a lot of surplus. After it is finished, I will return the total surplus to the King of Qin."
"Haha. Keep it for now." Qin Mu was sure that they would not dare to covet his money.
Besides, as long as the research and development is successful, let alone two thousand taels of silver, even if it costs two hundred thousand taels, Qin Mu will not blink an eye. This is a steam engine. With it, it will bring about a huge revolution, from small looms to large trains and ships.
Qin Mu left the workshop reluctantly with endless fantasies in his mind. He told Li Yi and the others everything he knew. Staying there would make it difficult for the craftsmen to work with peace of mind.
When he returned to Qiulu Garden, he heard that the Zheng family had donated nine million taels of silver to him to build the imperial palace, which made Qin Mu even happier.
Over the years, the Zheng family has made a profit of more than 10 million taels of silver every year just by collecting protection fees from passing merchant ships. It is no exaggeration to say that they are rich enough to rival a country.
He was sensible enough to donate 9 million taels this time.
Li Shi said dissatisfiedly: "King Qin, I heard that the house built by Zheng Zhilong in his hometown is more luxurious than the imperial palace. He has plenty of money, but he only donated 9 million taels. This is too cheap for him."
Qin Mu glared at him and said, "Stop talking nonsense. Do you still want to confiscate the Zheng family? Confiscating property can make money quickly, but it is ultimately killing the goose that lays the golden eggs. If the court always wants to increase its income in this way, it will only bring about its own destruction. Even if no one rebels, after you confiscate the Zheng family and then the Wang family, when all the big families have been confiscated, who will you confiscate?"
"Yes, yes, I know I was wrong."
"You are the people around me. Your every word and action is closely watched by others. Please be careful when speaking. If words like this get out, it will inevitably cause a big disturbance."
"The King of Qin is teaching me that I must be careful with my words and actions in the future."
Two days later, Zheng Sen, Shi Lang, Tong Haifeng, Yang Qihuang, Shi Fu, Hong Xishan and Ke Chenshu were summoned to Ningbo. Qin Mu set up a royal banquet in Qiulu Garden and invited them to attend.
Shi Lang and others were flattered, only Zheng Sen remained relatively calm.
The moment he saw Qin Mu, Zheng Sen couldn't help but think of the letter he had received before. Now the words in the letter had come true. It was indeed the destiny of heaven that belonged to Qin.
Thinking of this, he no longer felt much resistance when he paid the grand obeisance.
"Greetings to the King of Qin. Long live the King of Qin. Long live the King of Qin. Long, long live the King of Qin!"
Looking at the seven people who were prostrating, most of them were young men in their twenties, full of heroic spirit, Qin Mu nodded slightly, raised his black sleeves and said, "Stand up, and have me sit down."
"Thank you, King Qin!"
Qin Mu gave a slight signal, and Han Zanzhou immediately asked the maids to bring up the prepared wine and food. Zheng Sen and the others each took a seat, sitting upright, and after seeing the dishes brought up by the maids, they couldn't help but be a little surprised. This imperial banquet was full of seafood such as fish, shrimp, and crab.
Qin Mu raised his glass and said, "Don't be shy, everyone. Come, let's drink from this glass together."
"Cheers to the King of Qin!"
Zheng Sen and others raised their glasses to toast each other.
"You all grew up by the sea, so I specially asked someone to prepare some seafood. You can try it first and see if it suits your taste." After Qin Mu finished speaking, none of Zheng Sen and the others dared to pick up their chopsticks.
"Okay, I'll go first." Qin Mu said as he picked up a peeled drunken shrimp and put it into his mouth.
Zheng Sen and others were not afraid that the food might be poisonous, but there was a hierarchy. At the imperial banquet, the King of Qin had not yet started eating, so who would dare to do so first
For the ministers, attending the imperial banquet was a way to gain face but to go hungry. After the imperial banquet, very little food was actually eaten.
"When I founded my kingdom, I was eager to recruit talented people. I heard that you are all talented people of the time, so I summoned you here. There is no need to hide my purpose, which is to hope that you can serve the Qin Dynasty."
When Qin Mu said this, a young eunuch hurried in and said to Qin Mu, "King Qin, Li Yi came to report that the steam engine has been installed."
"Is it ready?" Qin Mu raised his eyebrows.
"Yes, King Qin, Li Yi asks King Qin if he wants to go to the imperial court for inspection?"
Qin Mu laughed loudly, stood up immediately, and said to Zheng Sen and others: "Come on, I will take you to see a rare thing first. You can drink this wine later."
Zheng Sen and his seven companions followed Qin Mu to a workshop in a state of surprise. They saw more than 30 craftsmen in the workshop surrounding a strange device and carefully examining it. There was a blazing charcoal fire under a stove next to it, and an iron boiler was placed above the charcoal fire. The boiler had an iron pipe extending out, connected to the strange device.
What is this thing that made the King of Qin rush over to watch the banquet in the middle of it
Qin Mu asked one of the craftsmen, "Li Yi, are you ready?"
"Report to King Qin, everything is ready."
"Okay, let's give it a try..."
"Yes, King Qin."
Li Yi returned to the steam engine, looking very nervous, with his hands shaking slightly.
Qin Mu comforted him in a gentle voice: "Li Yi, don't be nervous. Even if you fail this time, it doesn't matter. You can improve slowly."
"Thank you, King Qin."
Li Yi still couldn't help but feel nervous. With trembling hands, he opened the valve of the boiler pipe. In an instant, a lot of steam was seen gushing out from the cylinder. Under the pressure of the steam, the piston in the cylinder drove the connecting rod to move, and the speed was getting faster and faster. The connecting rod drove the crank... ...
Zheng Sen intuitively felt that the connecting rod and crank were like people pushing a millstone, driving a large wheel outside to keep turning. Before he understood what was going on, the dozen or so craftsmen could not help but cheer.
Qin Mu was also ecstatic and shouted repeatedly: "Great, great, great, Li Yi, hurry up and add some ignition, and see if this wheel can turn faster."
"Yes, King Qin."
Li Yi answered excitedly, and ran to the boiler himself, picked up a shovel and added coal into the furnace. Hu San shook the blower vigorously, and the charcoal fire in the furnace became stronger. The large wheel driven by the connecting rod and crank turned faster and faster.
Suddenly, there was a "bang!" and something exploded, emitting steam...
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ps: The situation is not good, my dears, the monthly votes are getting fewer and fewer, I am almost desperate, please give me monthly votes, please give me monthly votes!
.(To be continued..)
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