Steel Dynasty - Chapter 66

[Chapter 66 The Hydraulic Age]

“Water power forging hammer?”

Chen Qi said in surprise. He had never heard of these two words before.

But he has become accustomed to Xiao Ming constantly creating these magical machines in the Equipment Department, which is a kind of satisfaction for him.

Xiao Ming nodded. He found a chair to sit down and gave Chen Qi a seat. Then he told Chen Qi about the plate armor and the hydraulic forging hammer.

Plate armor, an armor that appeared in the 16th century and was eliminated by firearms, has been controversial in history, and the debate about the strongest armor has never stopped.

But Xiao Ming believes that war will only eliminate backward armor.

In the long Middle Ages in the West, after countless wars, Western knights finally chose plate armor. This only shows that the cost performance of plate armor is much higher than other armors.

And after the Middle Ages, the emergence of hydraulic forging hammers made the mass production of plate armor possible.

The word forging has appeared since the concept of steel. The so-called electric hammer forging is the forging of steel. The more times forging, the better the quality of the steel will be.

As a result, there are expressions such as hundreds of steelmaking, and this all requires forging. To put it simply, it means repeatedly hitting the iron with a sledgehammer to continuously improve the quality of the iron.

However, this method of manpower swinging a sledgehammer made the production of armor weapons very efficient, so hydraulic forging hammers appeared for the first time in the West. Some scholars believe that this was the beginning of Western military technology catching up with the East.

Now Xiao Ming is preparing to copy the hydraulic forging hammer.

Before the steam engine appeared, he had to use hydraulic power to lay the prototype of the industrial foundation, because he needed a hydraulic forging hammer to create metal materials with sufficient strength, and at the same time increase the production volume of lathes and other machinery. Currently, Xiao Ming only owns a small number of lathes. .

This was far from what he expected.

In general, he needs water power to store various supplies, materials, high-strength knives, etc. for making steam engines.

As Xiao Ming was talking, Chen Qi became more and more excited. The slow forging work of the craftsmen had long made it impossible for him to cope with the increasingly large steel orders. Now the machine designed by Xiao Ming has completely solved his problem.

“Your Highness, if a hydraulic forging hammer is produced, it can improve forging by at least thirty times.” Chen Qi said excitedly.

“No, it’s forty times.” Xiao Ming said. He checked the information and found that the hydraulic forging hammer directly increased the blacksmith’s work efficiency by forty times. This hydraulic forging hammer can complete hundreds of strikes per minute.

However, the only disadvantage of the hydraulic forging hammer is the instability of the power. After all, the water flow is unstable, but even so, it is enough for him to use at this stage.

After a detailed explanation, Chen Qi basically memorized the manufacturing method of hydraulic forging hammers. In fact, the power of hydraulic machinery is basically the same, which is similar to that of a cow-powered car. As long as it rotates, it can generate power, gears, and bearings. These things are very different. No, it’s just that the workpiece is different.

Therefore, it is not a difficult task for Chen Qi, who successfully created the Niu Li Rollover.

Moreover, after observing during this period, he came to the conclusion that the ancients were definitely not stupid and were as smart as modern people. The only flaw was their lack of education and knowledge.

In the fields they are familiar with, they are not inferior to modern people at all in terms of poetry, writing, painting, and even strategy.

As the saying goes, one point is all it takes to reveal the truth. Today’s ancients only need one person to point it out, and he plays exactly this role.

Realizing the importance of hydraulic forging hammers, Chen Qi focused on manufacturing hydraulic forging hammers. Thanks to the cheapness of lathe processing, the manufacturing of hydraulic forging hammers went very smoothly. However, even so, the first hydraulic forging hammer had to be It took a month to assemble it because the composition of the hydraulic forging hammer was still very complicated.

Xiao Ming believed in Chen Qi’s ability, so he naturally left the matter to Chen Qi. When Chen Qi didn’t understand something, he would come to the school to ask him, and the two would discuss it together.

During this period, he taught classes normally, but he asked Lu Tong and others to start the first chemical production, extracting alkali from plant ash.

This work was originally a matter for the servants and equipment department in the palace, but now Xiao Ming has completely separated this matter in order to refine the industrial system.

Moreover, during this period, soap production workshops sprung up in Qingzhou, and the demand for alkali increased greatly. This is why he produced alkali alone.

Otherwise, he would really be annoyed to death by the merchants who came to buy alkali.

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

Another batch of alkali was shipped out from the palace. The businessman who bought the alkali smiled happily, but he was also heartbroken.

Because alkali is too expensive, basically alkali accounts for more than half of their soap production costs. If they sell the soap, they can only earn one tael of silver.

“Hey, if we could learn how to produce alkali, wouldn’t we be rich?”

One businessman said to another businessman as he gradually walked away.

“Study? How to learn? It is said that this alkali is no longer produced in the workshop area. It is only produced in the yard next to the palace. Not everyone can get close to that place.”

“Yes, but it is said that there are two hundred students living there. , and go out once a week, if you give them a bribe, maybe…”

“Don’t think about it, these people are followed by guards every time they go out, and it’s impossible for outsiders to approach them.”

“Hey…” the businessman sighed.

At this time, Pang Yukun passed by the two businessmen. Hearing this, he couldn’t help but sneered and said to himself: These businessmen are really obsessed with profit and will do whatever it takes.

Entering the palace, he saw Xiao Ming and first repeated the conversation of the businessmen outside to Xiao Ming.

“I know the tricks of these merchants very well. In addition to this method, they also deliberately resell slaves to Liang Dahai, hoping that these slaves can sneak into the workshop area. Huh, they underestimate me too much. They only let them in and cannot get out.”

Pang Yukun said: “I remind His Highness about this matter, not to talk about craftsmanship, but now that Qingzhou is becoming more and more crowded, it is time for Your Highness to establish his own secret guard.”

Xiao Ming looked confused and said: “No I don’t want to, but I don’t have a suitable candidate.”

The secret guard that Pang Yukun talks about is actually an organization similar to the Jinyiwei in the Ming Dynasty, which is a modern intelligence system. Without these people, Xiao Ming would be blind and unable to do anything. have no idea.

For example, he knew nothing about the horse smuggling case revealed by the Wang family in advance.

When Pang Yukun thought of this incident, he thought he was stimulated by this incident.

“Your Highness, this is exactly why I came here. I think there is someone you will be very interested in.” Pang Yukun said with a smile.

Xiao Ming thought of Pang Yukun’s need to find talents for him, and he said: “Pang Changshi has a suitable candidate? Who is it?”

(End of Chapter)