The Young Dragon of the Ming Dynasty: Bound to an Industrial Blueprint from the Start

Fire can boil water, and when the water boils, it turns into steam. The steam has pressure, and the pressure can push a piston, which in turn can drive a water pump.

This is nothing new.

In his previous life, he had read about the history of the Industrial Revolution, and he also had his own resources and technological systems. He was too small to put them to use before, but now he could give it a try.

Now, he's going to build it.

"Go to the workshop."

Pushing open the door to that large room, a wave of heat hit me.

Sun San was squatting on the ground, hammering and tinkering with a pile of sheet metal. When he saw Sun San come in, he quickly stood up.

"Your Highness."

Zhu Zhanji waved his hand, signaling him to continue, and then walked around the room himself.

Scrap metal was piled up in the corner, and various tools were displayed on the shelf.

On the wall hung the drawings of the "detachable carriage" he had drawn last time, and next to them were several new drawings, which were standardized parts sketches drawn by Sun San himself.

He stood in front of the drawings for a while, then turned around.

"Master Sun, stop what you're doing for a moment. There's something new to work on."

Sun San put down the hammer and came closer.

Zhu Zhanji walked to the wall, squatted down, and picked up a small wooden stick.

"Look, this is our coal mine." He drew a circle on the ground.

"There's water at the bottom of the well, more than one person can scoop out. We need to find a way to pump the water up."

He drew a vertical line next to the circle: "This is a pipe that extends into the water. If you can reduce the amount of air in the pipe, the water will be forced into the pipe by atmospheric pressure, and then it can be pumped up."

Sun San was stunned: "Your Highness, what is atmospheric pressure?"

"It's the downward force of air. You see, water flows from high to low because of gravity, but sometimes water can also rise from low to high because of the pushing force of air." Zhu Zhanji thought for a moment and explained in a simpler way.

"When you inhale water, the water can enter your mouth because you suck out the air in your mouth, and the outside air pushes the water in."

Sun San nodded thoughtfully, but clearly didn't fully understand.

Zhu Zhanji didn't expect him to understand everything, and continued drawing.

"To pump water, you need something that can continuously remove the air from the pipes, allowing the water to be continuously pushed up."

He drew a cylinder. "It's an iron cylinder with a piston inside, fitting together perfectly. When the piston is lifted, the space below it expands, the air decreases, and the water is forced up. When the piston is pushed down, the water is pushed out."

Sun San's eyes lit up: "Your Highness, isn't this the manual water pump? The one you had me make last time."

"Yes, but that was pulled by a person. Now we need to make this piston move by itself."

"It will move on its own?"

Zhu Zhanji then drew a large jar next to the cylinder.

"This is an iron can, welded shut, with only one opening. Water is filled inside, and a fire is lit underneath."

When water boils, it turns into steam. Steam takes up much more space than water, so it gets trapped inside the container and bursts out through the opening.

If this opening is connected to the bottom of the cylinder, steam will rush in and push the piston upwards.

He drew a line connecting the jar and the cylinder.

"After the piston is pushed to the top, steam needs to come out before the piston can fall back down, so another opening is made at the top of the cylinder and controlled by a valve."

When the piston rises, the lower port opens and the upper port closes; when the piston falls, the lower port closes and the upper port opens, allowing steam to escape.

He drew the positions of the two valves.

"In this way, the piston can move up and down and back and forth by itself. If this back and forth movement is connected to the water pump, it can pump water by itself."

Sun San stared at the map on the ground, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets.

"Your Highness, is this...is this using fire to push something?"

"Yes." Zhu Zhanji stood up and looked at him. "This is called a steam engine. It uses fire to boil water and steam to do the work."

Sun San squatted down, leaned close to the picture, gestured with his fingers in the air, and muttered something under his breath.

He watched for a full fifteen minutes, then looked up, his face a mixture of excitement and confusion.

"Your Highness, I roughly understand, but when do I open and when do I close these valves? How do I make them move by themselves?"

Zhu Zhanji had made preparations long ago.

He asked Sun San to bring paper and pen, and drew a more detailed diagram.

"Look, this is the intake valve, and this is the exhaust valve. A crossbar is attached to the piston rod, and the two valve switches are connected to the two ends of the crossbar by ropes."

When the piston reaches its maximum position, the crossbar tightens the rope of the intake valve, shutting off the intake; at the same time, it loosens the rope of the exhaust valve, allowing the exhaust valve to open.

When the piston reaches its lowest point, the crossbar closes the exhaust valve and opens the intake valve.

He drew a simple linkage mechanism.

"This is called a linkage device. The piston moves on its own, which controls the valve to open and close automatically."

Sun San stared at the picture, his mouth widening in disbelief.

"Your Highness, how...how did you come up with these ideas?"

"Never mind what I think," he said. "First, think about whether you can do it."

Sun San took a deep breath, stared at the drawing again, and began to ponder each item one by one.

"This iron can must be able to withstand the force of steam and not burst open. It must be made of the best wrought iron and welded tightly."

"This piston must be able to move back and forth inside the iron cylinder without leaking air. It must be made very precisely. The inner wall of the iron cylinder must be smooth, and the outside of the piston must be wrapped with burlap soaked in oil."

"These valves need to be able to open and close smoothly, and they also need to be airtight."

The more he talked, the more difficult it seemed, but the light in his eyes grew brighter and brighter.

"Your Highness, I think it's possible, but we have to try it slowly. We'll do it one thing at a time."

Zhu Zhanji nodded: "Then let's do it one step at a time. First, make a small iron can, weld it shut, leaving only one opening. Put a valve on the opening, fill the can with water, and light a fire underneath. Let's see if we can hold back the steam and whether it will explode."

"The second step is to make a small iron cylinder and piston, and try to push and pull it by hand to see if it can fit perfectly."

"The third step is to connect the can and the iron cylinder, manually open and close the valve, and see if the piston moves."

"The fourth step is to make the linkage device."

Sun Sanzhong nodded repeatedly: "I've got it."

Zhu Zhanji walked to the door, then turned back.

"If you need any materials, ask Manager Qian for the money. If you don't have enough manpower, hire more. This room is for your use, but don't let anyone disturb you."

Sun San bowed and said, "I understand."

On the 27th day of the twelfth lunar month, Zhu Zhanji went to Mingyue Tower.

Inside Tingxue Pavilion, Qian Lai was doing accounts. When he saw him come in, he quickly got up.

"Master, this is yesterday's account. After the Shen family's final payment of three thousand taels arrived, the total is eleven thousand seven hundred and twenty-one. In addition, Tongyuan Car Dealership ordered thirty sets of card buckles and paid a deposit of one hundred taels."

Zhu Zhanji nodded, without looking at the account book, and said, "Manager Qian, Master Sun needs to make some new things and needs some money. Write it down for him, and give him whatever amount he needs. Don't be stingy."

Qian Lai was taken aback: "Boss, what new thing is being made that costs so much money?"