I became a witch, but I started the industrial revolution

The crowd was in a commotion and no one noticed the house at the deepest part of the workshop that was emitting thick black smoke.

At this moment, there were two slaves in the house, their bodies covered in sweat and their faces covered in black ash, desperately adding wood and various strange combustible materials into the stove in front of them.

The thing that was burning with flames was exactly the steam engine that Medea had modified. She had dismantled the magic crystal set and restored it to the original boiler combustion mode.

Of course she knew that burning charcoal and wood could easily cause pollution, that there would be losses in the energy conversion process, and that the demand and consumption of combustion materials were too high, but this was exactly the effect she wanted.

Anyway, the power output of this steam engine is definitely enough to drive the continuous operation of this workshop, as long as you can solve the fuel problem. That’s not too much, right?

Anyway, Master Newman felt that the Astaire tribe was very considerate and knew how to reduce costs for him.

At this time, Viscount Newman was thinking in his own manor about how to build a few more workshops with the help of this artifact he obtained through connections and make full use of it.

Chapter 31 Technological Breakthroughs Driven by Demand

Media sold a large number of the low-pressure steam engines they had previously used, and used the various raw materials they received in exchange to build more advanced triple-expansion steam engines to upgrade the factory.

Just as she expected, nobles from various countries soon discovered the benefits of machines, and many industries that they had previously ignored because of low profits now became profitable.

Even the most basic wood cutting and processing, mass production and sales is a lucrative business, not to mention other areas of people's livelihood. Steam machinery has opened up a boundless blue ocean for them.

Under strong pressure from nobles of various countries, royal governments had to open industrial and commercial trade ports to Astar, allowing Astar's caravans to do business legally.

But they couldn't just sit back and make money by importing steam machinery. Astell's caravan brought not only steam engines, but also a wide range of industrial products.

Such as soap, cloth, porcelain, pottery, strong liquor and perfume, the daily necessities sold cover the entire range of people's livelihood from low to high, and the cloth and pottery are of good quality and low price.

Under the dumping of these products, in order to make profits, they can only lower the prices of their products, reduce workers' wages, or even simply delay payment in order to survive in the market.

Only the aristocracy can afford strong liquor and perfume.

In particular, perfumes packaged in exquisite small porcelain bottles attracted crazy rush of noble ladies and young ladies. As soon as the caravan's ship docked, a large number of servants would wait at the dock waiting to buy them.

The caravan also accepted unique trading methods. In addition to gold and silver coins, it also accepted local ordinary wine, various raw materials and even craftsman slaves as bargaining chips.

In fact, the strong liquor produced by Astar is made by re-distilling and purifying the low-alcohol liquors purchased from various countries at low prices, and then selling them back at high prices...

The production of perfume has something in common with the distillation of alcoholic beverages in terms of industry. It also uses centrifugal distillation, and the cost is also incredibly low.

These two products always ensured that the caravans sent out by Asstar would return with full loads, bringing back large quantities of gold, silver and various raw materials, which rapidly increased the gold reserves of Asstar's national government.

Of course, since Astell's caravans were so profitable, it naturally aroused the envy of others. Both the sea fleets and land caravans had been attacked many times.

However, in most cases, these "pirates" and "robbers" returned empty-handed, leaving behind a large number of corpses under the muzzle of the rifle.

However, the increasingly frequent attacks also forced Medea to urge the construction of the harbor shipyard to speed up, as time means money and benefits.

There are still a large number of small companies in China that have received deposits but whose products cannot be shipped overseas, and the loss caused by every day of delay is not small.

But shipbuilding cannot be rushed.

In the traditional shipbuilding field, 3,000 tons is the limit of manpower, but the construction standard issued by Medea is 10,000 tons! The tonnage has increased so much, how can those old shipbuilders do it...

For example, huge iron anchors, all-steel keels, and large steam turbines are difficult to transport and install, let alone process.

The most urgent task at hand is to develop tools for building larger ships.

Where there is pressure there is motivation. Under the guidance of various attempts and Medea's occasional ideas, the craftsmen who gradually became scientists also burst out with a strong motivation for innovation.

The hydraulic press was made by using the rubber imported from the Sexter Kingdom, which was mentioned by Commander Medea, to seal the gaps in the steam cylinder.

The terrifying force of the hydraulic press can squeeze a ton of steel into shape like dough, but due to technical reasons its power is still not strong enough.

The steam hammer came into being.

The steam hammer has a cylinder piston at the top, which uses the steam principle to lift the heavy hammer up, and finally uses steam to help it fall down, using its powerful impact force to forge the super spindle required for large steam turbines.

The large steam hammer powered by a single four-expansion steam engine was so powerful that the entire factory was shaken when the hammer was struck.

For this reason, a new wooden factory building had to be built to install it in order to reduce the vibration to the foundation.

A solution was soon found for how to transport and install the heavy steel components. The hydraulic press manufactured previously reminded the scientific craftsmen of the water pressure drive principle.

A large water room was built nearby to pump seawater for storage, and then pipes were laid to transform the water flow from high altitude into a high-pressure water column that fills the pipes.

The people on the other side only need to twist the valve to drive the cylinder piston to lift heavy objects. This is also the first time that people in this world have become aware of the hydraulic technology, which can be called black magic.

The emergence of hydraulic cranes immediately accelerated the speed of ship construction, but the all-steel hull plates were too smooth, and the firm connection between the plates became a problem.

For this purpose, the idea of ​​installing iron nails to reinforce wooden furniture was borrowed, and large steel plate rivets were also born.

At the same time, in order to strengthen the solidity of the bottom and the hull, so that this 10,000-ton steel monster can truly float on the sea, a longitudinal skeleton and a double bottom were also designed.

In order to make Media's goal a reality, countless factories and related technical personnel worked overtime and pooled their wisdom to overcome various technical difficulties bit by bit, turning the impossible into possible.

External problems have basically been overcome, and what remains is the manufacturing of finished parts, outfitting and rivet reinforcement. The demand for various parts production also forces the factory to expand while optimizing its production speed.

The steam engine provided a constant source of power, and belts connected the entire factory to operate. Shipyards and society required a large number of new machines, which kept the factory busy.

However, as production was expanded, precision would decrease. Screws and nuts would collide, gear meshing would be poor, and pistons would always leak. They urgently needed a better way to quickly produce these precision parts.

In the past, machine tools were actually modified from old manual machine tools. They simply added steam engine belts to use steam power to change from manual to automatic.

Although this type of machine tool has gotten rid of manpower and simple parts can be manufactured by one person, precision parts still require experienced craftsmen to operate personally.

Faced with huge orders from shipyards and society, the factories in Sendegas and Uruk City joined together to form a team of experienced masters and began a comprehensive overhaul and improvement of old machine tools.

Medea also joined in the fun with great interest. She couldn't help but be interested. In a sense, the current industrial base of Astar was already very strong.

But it is like a child who is very strong in some aspects but still blank in some other aspects.

With the level of materials that Lord Astell had achieved through his previous crazy research in order to make guns and cannons, as long as you dared to dream it, basically everything could be achieved. There was no pressure to provide the power before.

Now let’s see that the effect brought by Medea’s crazy 10,000-ton planned ship is very good.

Such as the hydraulic press, steam hammer and hydraulic crane, these are masterpieces created when the pressure is sufficient and the mind is free from constraints and restrictions. Now she only needs to give them a little inspiration occasionally.

Chapter 32 The period of rebellion has arrived

Together with Medea, the craftsmen began to optimize the lathe equipment, such as turning machines that could move the tool holder in parallel to cut smooth surfaces.

The parallel movable tool holder is changed to a power drive, and the tool moves at a constant speed, thereby cutting precise threads on the rotating cylinder.

In this way, brass lead screws were cut out, and lead screw lathes were made using the brass lead screws. This is the classic model of producing machines with machines.

With her intervention, large planers and milling machines capable of reciprocatingly cutting steel parts, as well as shapers were tested and manufactured one after another.

Using the grinding wheel made of silicon carbide, the grinding machine was created. By now many people probably understand that these are the five traditional carpenter's crafts: turning, milling, planing, grinding and drilling.

But when these carpentry skills are applied to metal processing, they take on a different kind of charm.

Among them, the most inconspicuous screw lathe is precisely the most important, because it is specially used to engrave precision bolts. Threaded bolts are one of the most practical inventions of the industrial age and are used in almost all related fields.

Of course, there are also metal gears, which can also develop various types of gear machine tools for turning, milling, grinding and drilling to manufacture gears of various configurations.

With threaded bolts and gears, there must be a tolerance matching theory to unify the assembly standards. Only through large-scale collective efforts can theory and practice be combined to quickly create a reasonable application basis.

The reason why Medea worked so hard with the craftsmen to create these things, in addition to optimizing industrial machines, was ultimately to create a foundation for the emergence of something.

That's the internal combustion engine!

Taking the most common piston internal combustion engine as an example, its interior is densely packed with various special-shaped components. In the past, Astell's industry would not have been able to manufacture an internal combustion engine.

But now after the upgrade, there are lathes that can manufacture components such as crankshafts, connecting rods, pistons, camshafts, etc., making the impossible possible.

The solution to the fuel problem is also very simple. The idea of ​​detonating different types of magic crystals of firearms at the same time can solve the problem.

It just changed the previous principle of mixing magic potion powder to produce explosion, and changed it to spraying mixed magic crystal powder into the cylinder through a nozzle.

At this time, air is rushed in to spread the powder throughout the chamber, the piston pushes up on the compressed air and dust, and then the internal crystal excites the elements to detonate the compressed dust.

The pressure generated by the micro-explosion is converted into powerful kinetic energy, which squeezes the compressed and lifted piston to the bottom, driving the crankshaft at the bottom to rotate and do work.

Usually, piston internal combustion engines are composed of four pistons in a group, and their four pistons have different functions.

For example, the first one inhales air, the second one compresses the powder blown away by the air, the third one activates and detonates, and the fourth one discharges exhaust gas. This is the complete movement process of an internal combustion engine.

This time she did not let them study the principles on their own, but directly drew a structural drawing of the internal combustion engine and asked them to wait for the new lathe to be produced and then manufacture parts according to the drawing.

Are you kidding? If you have a cheat, don’t you want to keep it until it expires?

At the same time, they were also given a set of the most basic drawings of wheeled vehicles and tracked wheel chassis for study, and they were allowed to do it according to the actual situation.

Medea returned to the Commander's Mansion with great satisfaction. She was in a very happy mood while reading the documents. Damn, she could finally get a carriage. She had long been fed up with the slow speed of the carriage.

It’s just that tanks are a little difficult to make, at least the kind of tanks she has in mind cannot be made.

A single-barreled gun must be small enough, powerful, and not too heavy, which is extremely difficult.

But if she just wants to make a small cannon, then there is still a chance of success~ So I guess she will have to be the heir of the multi-cannon cult for a while...

Obviously, the technical difficulty of placing a gun on a moving chassis is much lower than that of building a real tank.

Under her conspiracy to vigorously export steam engines to increase production capacity, a frenzy of making money emerged from top to bottom in all major kingdoms, and no one had time to pay attention to her in the short term.

However, based on her observations of the speed of cargo transportation and circulation in this world, this trend will not last long.

Once there are too many goods left unsold, a strong chain reaction will occur, and the contradictions that were previously hidden due to huge profits will inevitably be detonated in an instant.

This conflict can either be vented internally or externally by starting a war. The first option is easier to deal with, as she can not only watch the show but also help add fuel to the fire.

If it is the second case, then the first one to suffer is naturally her, who seems to be the easiest to control.

She is not afraid of others causing trouble for her. She can even use this opportunity to advance into the other party's territory and capture cities.

But the road traffic in this world is so bad that even if she wins, she probably won't get anything.

Apart from anything else, how do you transport your ammunition and supplies after you enter the enemy's territory? Use a horse-drawn carriage? Just maintaining the supply line will be enough to kill her!

That's why she wants to develop ships and cars. These are force multipliers, and without them it will be impossible.

After returning home, Mitia hung up her military cap and coat, loosened two buttons on her shirt collar, and smiled at her brother who was looking at her at the door: "Koi~"

"elder sister!"

Koi replied respectfully, and Medea pursed her lips.

Astar has been developing rapidly in recent years. She has been so busy that she has neglected her family.

Koi used to be so small and cute, but now he has grown into a teenager. Medea feels a little lost when she thinks about it.

After all, as the saying goes, it’s better to hit your brother early, but she lost the opportunity after only hitting him a few times...

Suppressing his messy thoughts, Mitia put his arm around Koi's shoulders and walked out: "Why are you so distant all of a sudden? You're not asking me to sign for you because you failed your class again~"