Yan Shaoning's waist was already severely injured, and with Mo Lingwei's push, it could be said to be one disaster after another. He felt like his waist was about to fall apart.
Actually, he wanted to say that he didn't mean to save her, but Mo Lingwei's second half of the sentence made him shut his mouth and dispel the thought of telling the truth.
"Oh! Oh! Oh! Little Ning, how are you? Are you okay? I … I didn't mean to push you there! "
Mo Lingwei hurriedly stood up, tidied her clothes, and said apologetically.
"Cough cough!"
Yan Shaoning struggled to get up from the ground. He first looked back at Li Zexuan bitterly, then forced a smile at Mo Lingwei, "Uh, it's nothing! Wei Er, what's this? "
At this moment, he noticed the two-wheeled bicycle that Li Zexuan stopped, and couldn't help but feel strange.
Mo Lingwei heard Yan Shaoning mention the bicycle that she was playing with, and immediately became excited, "Little Ning, this is the two-wheeled bicycle that Faubert just made. He said that this thing can be pedaled. I've been practicing this before, but I didn't expect the two-wheeled bicycle to suddenly lose control and almost hit you guys! Luckily, Yamachō helped me stop it! "
After saying that, she patted her chest with a face full of fear. Yan Shaoning's face turned red, and he hurriedly turned his head.
"Hehe! This is called a bicycle ~! "
Li Zexuan laughed.
That's right, the second blueprint that he gave to Faubert was a bicycle.
At that time, Faubert looked at the blueprint and thought that the structure of this thing was quite simple, so he thought that he would be able to give it to Li Zexuan in ten days. Who knew that when he actually built it, he realized that this bicycle wasn't as simple as he thought.
A bicycle can be simplified into a body, handlebars, pedals, chains, seats, wheels, and brakes.
These basic parts were first invented in 1885 by the Englishman John Staley.
Under his improvements, the bicycle had the basic form of a modern bicycle: a triangular frame, pedals in the middle, chain-driven, and brakes.
But 1885, according to the classification of middle school textbooks, was already modern.
At that time, the United Kingdom had already established a relatively complete industrial system, and the smelting technology of steel was also mature. It was not difficult to make bicycles.
But this was the Tang Dynasty! The Tang Dynasty had an underdeveloped industrial system! It would be quite difficult to make one or two bicycles.
First, it was the frame. Modern bicycle frames were usually made of steel or aluminum alloy. Carbon fiber … Cough, cough, cough. It would be a bit of a bully to ask the ancients for this. However, if there were not too many requirements for the strength of the frame, bamboo or wood would be fine. It was just that they had to pay attention to fire and prevent insects from eating them. The front fork was relatively strong, so it could be made of cast iron or relatively hard wood.
The bicycle in Li Zexuan's hand was made of iron.
Next, it was the wheels. If Li Zexuan had not transmigrated, it would be impossible for him to make rubber tires in the Tang Dynasty. This was because China had only planted rubber trees for about 100 years. Before the reform, there were not enough rubber trees to make condoms. Rich people had to wash their condoms before using them. That was why the wheels could only be made of wood.
But it was different now. Under Li Zexuan's push, rubber was introduced to China more than 1,000 years earlier. At this time, it was not a problem for factories to make rubber tires.
Not only did Uncle Fu make the rubber tires, but he also made the pump according to Li Zexuan's drawings. It could be said that he had a complete set of tools.
The first two parts were not difficult to make, but the next part was the transmission of the bicycle – the chain. The chain was made up of an outer plate, an inner plate, a shaft, and a roller. From the perspective of modern people, it was not difficult at all. It was also very simple to make. Stainless steel or carbon steel. A machine would punch out a pile of steel plates and fasten them together.
But in the Tang Dynasty, steel could only be forged and processed. To hammer out hundreds of identical small steel plates would force the blacksmith's entire family to hang themselves. It was possible to use cast iron because the molten iron was poured into the mold. The shape and size would be similar, but the strength of cast iron … Let's put it this way. If an iron pot in your house broke into eight pieces, it would be cast iron.
As the transmission of the bicycle, the chain had to withstand a considerable amount of tension. The strength of cast iron was obviously not enough. Also, cast iron chains had another disadvantage. Once it touched water, it would rust to death.
That was why Faubert had been worried about this for a long time.
Later, he could not think of a better alternative, so he went to find Li Zexuan and explained the situation. Li Zexuan then realized that a simple chain in modern society would be so troublesome to make in ancient times. In fact, this problem was not unsolvable. A hydraulic stamping machine would be enough.
However, the hydraulic punch machine required strong water power. The flow of the Ba River was relatively gentle. If he wanted to get strong water power, he needed a large water level difference. Then, he needed to build a dam to store water. The project was too big. He could do it in the future, but now, it was winter. In winter, the river might freeze. Even if he did it, it would be useless.
At the beginning of October, he had planned to build a generator, but after the cholera and the telescope incident, he felt that it was too late. The river was about to freeze, so the generator blueprints he had drawn could only be locked in the cabinet for the time being.
As for the chain, Li Zexuan decided to give up on using the chain because the conditions were not ripe yet. He chose to install the pedals on the front wheel and change it to a front-wheel drive. This form was already made by the Scots in 1839. Although it was more strenuous and easy to fall into a trap, at least it could be used on the road.
As for the chain-driven bicycle, because it needed the hydraulic stamping machine, it would have to wait until next year! Coincidentally, he planned to update the workshop with a new batch of professional equipment!
After Faubert got the plan, he immediately came back to lead the craftsmen to modify the bicycle.
After more than half a month, this kind of front-wheel drive bicycle was finally made.
"Bicycle?"
Mo Lingwei heard Li Zexuan's words and her eyes lit up. She said, "This name is very appropriate. Bicycle, bicycle, a bicycle that can walk on its own! Hehe! But Yamachō, your bicycle only has two wheels. It's not easy to ride at all! It's hard to stand still! I've fallen a few times! "
Yan Shaoning chimed in, "Yeah, Xiaoxuan, can't you make three wheels? It's too easy to fall with two wheels! "
Li Zexuan laughed. "Who said that it's not easy to stand still with two wheels? That's because you haven't mastered the balancing skills of this type of bicycle. I'll show you two later! "
…
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