The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 325 Glaciers, Rivers and Aviation Power

Zhu Jianxuan was indeed somewhat interested in Wang Lai's third engineering idea because of its large scale, many benefits and low difficulty.

A super water conservancy project connecting the Selenga River, Lake Baikal, the Yenisei River, the Ob River, the Turgay Lowland, the Aral Sea and the Caspian Sea.

The actual effect is also to transfer water from cold areas to warmer and arid areas. In nature, it can be seen as an enlarged version of the North-to-South Water Diversion Project.

The scale of the project exceeds the existing North-to-South Water Diversion Project and will become a new unprecedented super water conservancy project, but the difficulty of the project itself is actually not high.

If one simply wants the water from the North Sea to flow naturally into the Caspian Sea without considering the transformation of shipping conditions, the total engineering volume should be smaller than the North-to-South Water Diversion Project.

There are only three facilities that require manpower to build: the dam that blocks the middle reaches of the Yenisei River, the dam that blocks the lower reaches of the Ob River, and the canal in the Turgay lowlands.

As long as these three projects are completed, the other tens of thousands of kilometers of routes will not require human intervention, and the water will flow naturally to form a river channel.

After the river enters the West Siberian Plain, the overall height difference along the entire route is not large, and it can flow by gravity without the need for locks, so the natural shipping conditions are not too bad.

Because most of the area along this route is the remains of an ancient river from the Ice Age.

(The general route of this great river and a schematic diagram of the great rivers of the Ice Age)
(Detail of the topography of the Turgai lowlands, as a remnant of large rivers from the Ice Age, interspersed with numerous small lakes.)
During the Ice Age, the northern part of Western Siberia was frozen over, and the Yenisei River and the Ob River could no longer flow northward into the Arctic Ocean. Instead, they accumulated water on the Western Siberian Plain and formed a super lake.

After the water in the lakes of Western Siberia was full, a gap was opened in the Turgai region in the south, and the water merged with the Syr Darya and Amu Darya rivers in a lowland to form the Aral Sea.

After the Aral Sea overflowed again, the larger rivers with larger basins continued to flow southward and merged into the Caspian Sea in the southwest of the Turan Lowlands.

After raising the water level of the Caspian Sea to twenty meters above sea level, the glacial river continued to flow westward into the Black Sea.

After entering the Black Sea, it can naturally continue to flow into the Mediterranean and even the Atlantic Ocean.

The easternmost important node in the entire basin should actually be the Selenga River, which flows into Lake Baikal. Ulaanbaatar is located upstream of the Selenga River.

So under the most extreme conditions, Ulaanbaatar can enter the Atlantic Ocean via land and water through this river.

This river is three thousand kilometers longer than the Nile.

Including Lake Baikal, the Aral Sea, the Caspian Sea, the Black Sea, and the West Siberian freshwater lake which is twice the size of the Caspian Sea, are all super lakes along the major rivers.

After the Ice Age ended, the West Siberian ice sheet melted and the West Siberian glacial lakes disappeared.

The Yenisei and Ob rivers opened up channels in the north, continued to flow northward and eventually merged into the Arctic Ocean, and the super rivers of the Ice Age were cut off.

However, the river left behind a series of lakes along its way, the largest of which is the almost disappeared Aral Sea.

The ice sheet that once covered the northern shore of the Great Lakes of Western Siberia eroded the rocks on the northern shore, forming a series of intermittent low hills.

Most areas of this mountain range are only 130 to 150 meters above sea level, while the West Siberian Plain itself is around 100 meters above sea level.

In other words, the relative height is only a few dozen meters.

Therefore, on larger-scale topographic maps, this arc-shaped low mountain range often does not need to be specifically depicted.

But it is this low mountain range that turns the West Siberian Plain into a very shallow basin.

The basin has only two exits, the north and south exits. The northern exit is the main channel of the Ob River, and the southern exit is the Turgai Depression.

The central part of the Turgai Lowland is about 140 meters above sea level, and the areas on the north and south sides of the lowland have lower altitudes, at least lower than the low mountain range in the north.

Therefore, by artificially blocking the main channels of the Yenisei and Ob rivers and digging a ten-meter-deep canal in the Turgay region, the glacial river can be restored.

The runoff of the middle and upper reaches of the Yenisei River, plus most of the runoff of the Ob River, is about twice that of the Heilongjiang River and two-thirds of that of the Yangtze River.

After the restoration of this super river, Central Asia will no longer be short of water, a large amount of desert can be turned into fertile fields, and there is even a chance that the Aral Sea can be restored to its ancient freshwater lake state.

The vast majority of residents along the river can benefit from this.

However, the prerequisite for launching the glacier river restoration project is that the Ming court can control all areas along the route.

The areas east of the Ural Mountains in Russia and the northern grassland areas of Shun State should be brought under the jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty.

At the very least, the rulers of the two countries should be made to submit to the Ming Dynasty, become true vassal states of the Ming Dynasty, pay taxes to the Ming Dynasty court and fully open their internal markets.

Otherwise, neither Russia nor Shun would have taken the initiative to ask Ming to carry out this project. Even if they were willing, Ming would not be willing.

If the Ming simply worked for them, it would be strengthening the strength of both countries, and the key would be to enhance their control and interference capabilities in the East.

If the Ming court controlled the large rivers after they were built, it could control the water supply of the rivers and thus control most of the land and population through which the rivers flowed.

Central Asia is more water-scarce than North China. Whoever controls this river can control the local lifeline.

Combined with the Selenga River, Syr Darya River, Amu Darya River, Ili River, Irtysh River, and the major railways that run through Central Asia, the Ming Dynasty would be able to truly gain deep control over the Central Asian region.

A giant lake has appeared in western Siberia, and the surrounding mountainous areas should also see an increase in precipitation.

Zhu Jianxuan’s next strategic goal is to conquer Shun State and Russia, but he has to wait until the situation in Europe and America is completely stabilized before he can take action.

The Beichuan River restoration project will have to be delayed for a few years before there can be substantive planning.

Zhu Jianxuan was worried about it in his heart, but he said nothing on the surface and continued to cooperate to complete the rest of the completion ceremony.

After the ceremony, Zhu Jianxuan led the officials on the scene back to the city by car.

The convoy did not take the same route as before, but instead drove on the newly built asphalt road on the drainage channel embankment.

This will not only allow us to enjoy the scenery along the new canal, but also confirm that there are no major flaws in the new road and river project itself.

This new canal directly connects to the moat of Shuntian Prefecture. The construction standards of the entire project were the highest and the construction process was extremely careful.

The convoy did not find any accidents along the way. They could only see the rushing river water flowing along the river channel and finally flowing into the moat naturally.

It turned out that the water in the moat was flowing extremely slowly, almost like a pool of stagnant water. Since the local water resources in Shuntian Prefecture were limited, if the water was allowed to flow downwards, the moat would be empty.

Now that there is sufficient water supply and the sluice gates downstream of the moat have been opened, the water in the entire river channel is rapidly being renewed, and the moat will become part of the river channel.

In order to prevent panic, the imperial court had already announced many times through posted notices and broadcast announcements about the reconstruction of the moat and the construction of drainage channels.

Before the drainage channel and moat were officially opened to water, Shuntian Prefecture issued a new notice, and the people in the outer city knew what would happen today.

So at this time, outside the moat, a large number of people came out to watch the excitement and the changes in the surrounding environment.

When the water flow became basically stable, the guards responsible for maintaining order relaxed the restrictions, and people immediately drove small boats into the river for sightseeing.

After Zhu Jianxuan's motorcade entered the city, it did not immediately head to the imperial palace and government office, but stopped on the inside of the city wall. Zhu Jianxuan got off the car and climbed up the city wall to enjoy the view.

The nature of the moat of Shuntian City has changed a long time ago. It is no longer a traditional moat, but is more like a modern ring-shaped city park.

Landscape trees are planted on both sides of the river, and there are large areas of artificially trimmed lawns. Although the original purpose was to prevent soil erosion, it also adds a bit of greenery.

The city wall next to it currently has the function of controlling access, preventing ordinary people from entering and leaving at will, but it will become part of the park in the future.

Zhu Jianxuan stood on the city wall for a while, asked the people from the Tongzhengsi to take some photos, and dismissed the officials to go back to the palace to rest. During the morning court the next day, Zhu Jianxuan officially issued an order to start the fourth phase of the North-South Water Diversion Project, allowing Wang Lai to continue to be in charge of the final stage of this super project.

After the North-to-South Water Diversion Project is fully completed, Zhu Jianxuan will let Wang Lai participate in the planning of the Glacier River, but will not let him preside over the construction of the project itself.

After the morning court ended, Zhu Jianxuan took a car to the Academy of Engineering and the Academy of Sciences to inspect and accept the recent scientific research results.

Zhu Jianxuan's former disciples and apprentices have studied and researched under his guidance for nearly twenty years, and have now become independent scientific research leaders.

After more than ten years of accumulation and development, the Ming Dynasty's Academy of Sciences and Academy of Engineering have moved beyond the stage where Zhu Jianxuan personally led the research.

In addition to the scientific research projects directly arranged by Zhu Jianxuan, they also began to continuously produce scientific research results on their own.

However, Zhu Jianxuan had "foresight" after all, and the projects he directly requested to be launched are still the most important, most effective and groundbreaking.

Among them, the two largest related industries are gas turbines and petrochemicals.

Thanks to Zhu Jianxuan’s direct suggestions, Daming quickly solved the key difficulties and problems in the research and development of diesel and gasoline engines.

Directly design the plunger pump to solve the problem of insufficient pressure in the diesel engine.

It also avoids possible historical problems by prohibiting the use of lead to solve the problem of gasoline engine knock from the beginning.

Knock is controlled through engine design and fuel refining.

The Ming Dynasty now controls the Persian Gulf, which has the largest oil reserves, and also has high-quality fuel in Southeast Asia.

There is no restriction on the use of diesel engines in civilian vehicles, nor on small, cheap gasoline-powered vehicles; there are ways to consume low-quality gasoline.

After solving the basic problems, the internal combustion engine can be widely used.

The main task of the Internal Combustion Engine Laboratory is to design more powerful engines, especially in aircraft and tanks.

We started with the lost wax method, developed industrial investment casting technology, and manufactured aircraft engine cylinders, with the goal of increasing the precision of the cylinders themselves as much as possible.

Then the number of cylinders was increased within a controllable scale, and a double-row, eighteen-cylinder radial engine was quickly built up.

As an emperor, Zhu Jianxuan provided the strongest demands on behalf of the world, as well as the most stable scientific research environment and the most superior scientific research conditions.

Therefore, in the past ten years or so, the engine power of Ming Dynasty has increased rapidly. Now the latest engine in the laboratory has a stable operating power of over one thousand horsepower.

One thousand horsepower can be considered a relatively meaningful number, so this engine was also named "Thousand" by the laboratory.

The first thing Zhu Jianxuan came to see in person today was this laboratory-level Qian-type engine.

In a large experimental factory building, this thousand-type machine is fixed with steel bars and bolts on a specially made laboratory stand.

At the same time, shortened propeller blades are installed to exhaust and dissipate heat from the engine itself.

The maintenance craftsman asked Zhu Jianxuan for his opinion and pressed the electric ignition button to start the engine.

Accompanied by the hum of pistons and the whistling of propellers, this brand new engine spewed out smoke and started running in front of Zhu Jianxuan.

In fact, this engine had undergone a lot of inspections and was only reported to Zhu Jianxuan after ensuring that it could operate normally.

This kind of on-site acceptance activity is actually more of a ceremonial activity, so naturally there won't be any problems.

Zhu Jianxuan stood at the scene for fifteen minutes. The operation of the Type 1000 engine was always stable without any unexpected situations.

Zhu Jianxuan was quite satisfied with the machine. He led the applause and shouted "good".

Then he let the machine continue to run in the test field, and he took the craftsmen away from the noisy test field to the quieter conference room to listen to their detailed reports.

The craftsman in charge of power mining said on the spot that one thousand horsepower is not the limit of this thousand-type engine, and it actually has great potential.

In recent years, Daming's metal smelting and chemical industries have been continuously upgraded, and engine production processes have also been continuously improved and upgraded.

Therefore, after this engine goes into mass production in the factory, new technologies can be immediately adopted in the production process, and adjustments can be made to the upgrades and improvements in conjunction with the new technologies.

It is expected that in five years at most, the power of the improved model of the Type 1000 engine will be increased to more than 1,500 horsepower.

Zhu Jianxuan understood the reason. The Ming Dynasty was not only rapidly industrializing, but was also constantly upgrading its existing technology while industrializing.

The two industrial revolutions overlapped, and were upgraded immediately after rapid expansion and implementation.

When a result is achieved, it is not its final form, and it will take a few more years to reach its limit.

After listening to these reports, Zhu Jianxuan once again gave new guidance and reminders at the right time.

Let the craftsmen design the turbocharging system, the turbine power recovery system, and then build the water spray boost system for testing.

It will probably take five to ten years for all these technologies to be implemented and truly play their role.

By then, the power of aircraft engines should be able to exceed 2,000 horsepower.

In the future, if people in related industries continue to hone their skills for a few more years, they should be able to break through 3,000 horsepower as in history.

But that was already the limit of the piston aircraft engine era, and it would be impossible to have a more significant improvement along the same technical route.

Therefore, while the research on piston engines continues, the development of gas turbine engines will also be officially launched.

Turbine engines cannot be considered a new project. When Zhu Jianxuan proposed developing internal combustion engines and steam turbines more than ten years ago, Wang Lai already had the idea under Zhu Jianxuan's suggestion.

According to Zhu Jianxuan's original arrangement, the Academy of Sciences and the Academy of Engineering set up a team and have been conducting small-scale preliminary research.

They have confirmed over the years that the turbine engine is feasible, and their actual work in subsequent years has been to cooperate with craftsmen in basic research to tackle new materials.

The principle of a turbine engine is not difficult, and its mechanical structure is even simpler than that of a piston engine. In essence, it is a fan driven by fire.

The technical difficulties of the entire turbine engine industry basically lie in material strength and production processes.

Now that the research project has been officially launched, the team has expanded into a formal turbine laboratory and has officially begun trial production of turbine engines.

These include turbojet engines used in fighter jets, turboprop engines used in early warning aircraft and small and medium-sized transport aircraft, as well as engines that drive rockets and missiles.

Projects that are relevant to these technical principles have been included in the laboratory's research list and will soon begin actual research at the same time.

The goal that Zhu Jianxuan directly proposed at the meeting was to produce a finished engine with practical value within the next three to five years, just in time for the current piston engine which is approaching its potential limit.

However, Zhu Jianxuan's longer-term goal is to start equipping turboprop fighters within ten years and start using early missiles.

After determining the task, Zhu Jianxuan continued to use his foresight to bring out various experiences in his memory.

Ask relevant personnel to record it as a reference during the actual problem-solving process.

(End of this chapter)