Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 34 Steam Fantasy, Deputy Supervisor [Seeking Follow-up Reading]

Upon hearing this, Liu Kuan looked at Zhao Wenyuan.

I thought that although Zhao Wenyuan lacked social skills, he had some talent as an inventor.

Zhao Wenyuan felt rather nervous under Liu Kuan's gaze, thinking that he had stumped Liu Kuan with his question and embarrassed him.

Cui Yan, who was familiar with him, also looked worried.

Liu Yan looked calm, while Zheng Zhiliang was just watching the show.

Su Quan, however, seemed to be thinking about something.

To their surprise, Liu Kuan didn't seem embarrassed or annoyed by the question. Instead, he smiled and said, "That's a good question. In fact, with a steam engine, we can not only build steam trains, but also steam cars."

"That is, using a steam engine to replace oxen and horses, and only pulling a carriage, it can be used on the official road."

Can it really pull only one carriage?
Except for Su Quan, the four clerks all showed surprise, even Zhao Wenyuan who asked the question was no exception.

Liu Kuan continued, "But have you ever thought about this? Steam engines are not easy to make, and the first generation of steam engines must be quite large."

"If you have a steam engine and you only use it to pull one carriage, is it worth it?"

"Also, a steam engine uses coal to heat water for power, which means if it wants to travel far, it must carry enough coal and water."

"So, if the steam engine only pulls one carriage, how much space in the carriage do you plan to use to load the coal?"

"It's safe to say that until steam engines were small enough and the efficiency of kinetic energy conversion was high enough, it wasn't cost-effective to make steam cars."

"Of course, if the steam carriage is not used to transport people or goods, but is used to fight cavalry in battle, it will still be quite useful at present."

Use steam vehicles to fight cavalry?

After hearing Liu Kuan's last words and imagining them a little, their eyes lit up.

Su Quan couldn't help but applaud, praising, "Brilliant! Steam engines are made of steel, unlike cattle and horses that can be shot."

"In this way, the soldiers can completely protect themselves by using the iron carriages as a fortress and face the enemy cavalry head-on!"

Liu Kuan smiled and said, "What Doctor Su said is correct. If the steam carriage is made large and strong enough, we can even install a cannon on it, allowing the gunners to load and fire the shells from inside the carriage."

"Indeed!" Su Quan was excited at first, then frowned and said, "But cannons are loaded from the muzzle. If they were placed on this steam carriage, wouldn't the soldiers have to go outside to load the ammunition?"

Liu Kuan asked, "Why not build a cannon that can be loaded from the breech?"

"A cannon that loads ammunition from the breech?" Su Quan was stunned, then fell into deep thought, as if wondering whether he could build such a cannon.

Seeing this, Liu Kuan couldn't help but shake his head slightly and said, "We've strayed off topic. Let's get back to business. We can consider the steam car issue after the steam train is built."

Su Quan came back to his senses and said, "Your Excellency is right. We have the Emperor's order. We should first try to build a train."

Liu Kuan nodded. "Let's go back to the question Doctor Su asked earlier. Trains run on railways because rails make them more stable and faster."

"Also, once a railway is built, it only needs regular maintenance, so it won't be as easily damaged as a government road."

"Trains are strictly for trains and pedestrians, so the possibility of collisions is very small."

"In short, railways are the supporting facilities of trains. Only together can we create the scene of a train carrying tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of kilograms of cargo, running day and night."

After saying that, Liu Kuan couldn't help but drink some water.

Then he asked, "Do you have any other questions?"

No one among the clerks asked any more questions.

Su Quan glanced at the group and said, "Where do you plan to start building the train? Steelmaking?"

Liu Kuan nodded, "Exactly."

Su Quan then asked, "Can we directly transfer refined iron from various ironworks and refine it into refined steel?"

Liu Kuan remembered that in some historical novels he had read, fine iron seemed to be another name for steel.

He did not understand the current situation of steel in the early Ming Dynasty, so he asked, "In the Ming Dynasty, what is the difference between fine iron and fine steel?"

Su Quan was a little surprised. He didn't expect Liu Kuan to ask such a question.

He thought Liu Kuan had no idea about ironmaking, so he explained in detail: "The iron obtained by smelting iron ore is called pig iron. Then, pig iron can be smelted using the steelmaking method to obtain fine iron and refined iron."

"Generally speaking, the time used to smelt iron is shorter and the fire is relatively weaker."

"On the contrary, if you increase the heat and smelt for a longer time, you can obtain fine iron."

"As for fine steel, there are two ways to obtain it. One is to repeatedly forge fine iron using secret techniques. Only after it has been refined for at least ten times can it be called fine steel."

"The second method is to use a crucible to smelt pig iron and obtain molten steel using secret methods. Unfortunately, the crucible method only yields very little steel each time, and is actually not as effective as the forging method."

Liu Kuan seemed to be thinking after hearing this.

According to what Su Quan meant, Wending Iron is most likely the low-carbon steel of later generations.

The refined iron obtained by the steelmaking method, which uses higher temperatures and longer smelting times, is most likely the wrought iron of later generations, the kind used to make wire. As for the medium-carbon steel and high-carbon steel of later generations, it was probably difficult to obtain them using conventional methods at this time.

However, according to what Liu Kuan learned from the relevant information about steam engines, the boiler must be cast with steel, and it is best to use high-quality steel that can withstand high pressure and high temperature.

Although the information did not specify which type of steel to use, Liu Kuan felt that it had to be at least high-carbon steel.

If possible, it is best to use special steel that incorporates materials such as manganese and tungsten!

Coming back to his senses, Liu Kuan felt that it was rare for Su Quan, a civil servant, to have such a detailed understanding of iron smelting. He could not help but praise him: "Doctor Su is truly knowledgeable and insightful. It is truly admirable."

Su Quan smiled modestly and said, "In the Yuan Dynasty, I worked as a minor official in the ironworks. I only knew these things then. They are not worth mentioning, not worth mentioning."

Hearing that Su Quan had worked as a minor official in the former Yuan Iron Works, Liu Kuan not only did not look down on him, but felt that this man was more reliable - he was most afraid of working with the kind of corrupt scholar who knew nothing about production.

Then, Liu Kuan said, "If what Doctor Su said is true, the steel obtained by traditional hammering methods is definitely not suitable for building steam engines."

"Why?" Su Quan was puzzled.

Liu Kuan said: "The core component of the steam engine is the cylinder. It not only needs to be resistant to high temperatures, but also needs to be able to withstand the high pressure generated by boiling water into steam. This requires a one-piece casting."

"If it's made of hammered steel, it can only be spliced ​​together, right? Even if it's hammered to perfection, there will definitely be weak spots inside."

"If you use this method to build a cylinder, I'm afraid it won't be able to withstand the high pressure of steam and will probably explode."

After saying that, Liu Kuan found that Su Quan and the others all looked confused.

Obviously, although he had explained the working principle of the steam engine before, several people still did not fully understand it, so at this time they could not understand what he meant by the cylinder bursting due to the high pressure of water vapor.

He then said, "If you don't understand, don't worry. Just write it down first. Later you can find an iron kettle with a lid, boil some water, and observe it."

"Of course, during this process, it's best to seal the spout tightly. If nothing goes wrong, you'll be able to see the power generated by boiling water."

Thinking that humans in the future would still obtain the energy they needed by "boiling water", Liu Kuan couldn't help but smile.

At this time, a man appeared outside the door, glanced at the people in the house, and strode in.

Liu Kuan looked over and saw that it was another middle-aged man.

Not only is he stronger than Su Quan, but he is also taller than Su Quan.

Of course, he was a little shorter than him, only about 1.7 meters tall.

The man had a beard and looked like a military general, but he was wearing a green civil official robe and had a serious expression, which gave people a very contradictory feeling.

The man first bowed meticulously to Su Quan and said, "I am Zhao Chengzhu, the newly appointed Deputy Director of the Department of Science and Technology. I am honored to meet Doctor Su."

Su Quan stood up and returned the greeting, saying with a smile, "Thank you, Vice-Lord Zhao, for your courtesy. Come in and sit down. We are just listening to Vice-Lord Liu talk about building a train."

Zhao Chengzhu walked in, but did not sit down. Instead, he looked at Liu Kuan and asked, "Are you Deputy Liu Kuan?"

"That's right." Liu Kuan took the initiative to perform a bow between peers.

Zhao Chengzhu returned the greeting and said, "Please let Vice-Minister Liu know that I have been appointed to the Science and Technology Department as a Deputy Minister. My duties are twofold: one is to oversee the finances, grain, and materials used by the Science and Technology Department, and the other is to supervise the progress of matters such as the construction of trains."

After hearing this, Liu Kuan thought to himself: These are the finance and supervisors sent by Lao Zhu.

But why did he feel that this person was a little difficult to get along with?

At least he doesn't look as kind as Su Quan.

Old Zhu shouldn’t ask anyone to cause trouble for him, right?
Perhaps Zhu Yuanzhang was not sincere - historically, Zhu Yuanzhang was not always accurate in judging people.

But people who speak their mind are better than those who are so cunning.

Although Liu Kuan had a lot of thoughts in his mind, as someone who had been in the workplace for several years, he would not be so upset by Zhao Chengzhu's blunt words.

He smiled and said, "Deputy Zhao's arrival is a good thing. The Science and Technology Department is in need of someone to manage finances and oversee affairs."

Zhao Chengzhu nodded slightly, but his face remained expressionless.

He looked around and found a chair that was closer to Su Quan and farther away from the four officials and sat down.

He saw that Su Quan and the others all had pens, ink, paper, and inkstones in front of them. Although he showed some doubts, he did not move and did not ask anything.

At this time, Liu Kuan continued the previous topic and said, "I won't explain the principle of the steam engine in detail. Everyone, go back and boil some water in the kettle and observe and understand it carefully."

"In short, the steam engine cylinder is best made of one-piece steel castings. We can try casting the cylinder using molten steel obtained by the crucible method and conduct preliminary experiments."

"If that doesn't work, we can only start with blast furnace steelmaking, obtain qualified molten steel, and then cast steam engine cylinders."

Zhao Chengzhu, who had just joined, was completely confused.

I thought:

What is Steam Chicken?
Why do we need to observe and experience the boiling of water in a kettle?
Could it be that Liu Kuan minds that I am the supervisor sent by His Majesty, and is deliberately saying something difficult to understand against me?

　Please collect, read and vote.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)