Five days before the new year.
"Teacher, teacher, we have succeeded! It's moving! It's moving! "Ren Baqian was sitting in his room when he heard the shouts of the students coming from outside the window.
Ren Baqian closed the book in his hand. He had been paying attention to the progress of these students and initially thought that it would be faster.
They only needed to adjust the connecting rod of the steam engine and install the wheels. He didn't expect that it would take nearly two months to succeed.
There was a saying that there was strength in numbers, and the aboriginals were indeed very powerful. However, they were very slow on this matter.
However, among so many students, there were quite a few who were holding them back, such as Tong Lan. If they were excluded, they would probably be able to succeed half a month earlier.
Ren Baqian could hear the cheers of many students coming from the backyard while he was still in his room. He strolled over with his hands behind his back and saw dozens of people surrounding a huge tractor …
Well, it was really a tractor. Its overall appearance was very similar to the tractors that Ren Baqian had seen when he was young, but it was cruder and simpler.
The cylindrical steam engine was at the front with an exhaust pipe on top.
At the back was an empty iron plate piled with coal. A man stood on top of it, continuously adding coal to the furnace in front. The furnace heated up the water tank, and the steam was continuously sent to the cylinder in front through the connecting pipe above.
At the same time, these students also made use of the characteristics of the conversion between water and steam to make a guide pipe below the steam cylinder. The cooled water could be sent back to the water tank through the guide pipe below.
As for the bottom, there were two large flywheels and six gradually shrinking flywheels. They were no longer connected by animal tendons, but by metal connecting rods.
When Ren Baqian arrived, Du Laoliu was bare-chested and covered in dust as he added coal to the furnace.
"It's moving, it's moving!" Many students were cheering. "After so long, we have finally succeeded in making a steam car that can move without manual labor!"
Regardless of whether it was Shi Gan, who had the best grades, the worst students, or the commoners, they were all excited at this moment.
Even the blacksmiths and carpenters that Tong Zhenye had transferred to help at the school were standing at the side with their arms crossed as they looked at their masterpiece! After all, this steam car was their blood, sweat, and tears.
"Get out of the way, get out of the way! The car is going to speed up!" Du Laoliu shouted at the crowd in front of him as he continuously added coal to the furnace. At the same time, he laughed maniacally in excitement.
"This is the first steam-powered car since the beginning of the world. Of course, I have to drive it! Hahahaha! "
"Fool!" Tong Lan, who was sitting on a rock outside the crowd, curled her lips when she heard Du Laoliu's laughter. "This thing can't be turned!"
Ren Baqian, who had just arrived, heard Tong Lan's muttering. Then, he looked at Du Laoliu, who was standing on the steam locomotive in high spirits, and immediately revealed a look of sympathy.
You caused the first traffic accident of the first steam-powered car since the beginning of the world!
As the students gave way, the steam car began to accelerate. As the steam car moved forward, mud flew behind it.
The wheels of the steam car left two trenches in the ground.
Then, the speed of the steam car began to increase. From a walking speed to a jogging speed, it crashed into the opposite courtyard wall!
"Eh eh eh? How could this thing turn? Giddy up! " Seeing that the steam car had crashed into the wall, Du Laoliu suddenly thought of this. He wanted to pull the reins, but he couldn't find them. In his anxiety, he even shouted, "Giddy up!" However, the steam car didn't budge and continued to crash into the courtyard wall.
The sound of bricks collapsing could be heard as the steam car crashed into the courtyard wall and continued to move forward.
The academy was located to the east of the palace and north of the Beihong District. There weren't many people in this area, and only a few imperial guards who passed by stopped in their tracks to look at the strange thing that had crashed out of the academy. It crossed the road and crashed into the courtyard wall of Great Elder Shi Qing's residence!
The courtyard wall of Shi Qing's residence was made of rocks and was much sturdier than the academy's walls. The steam car, which was the result of the painstaking efforts of many students, made a loud crash when it crashed into the courtyard wall of Shi Qing's residence. There was a small dent in the wall, but it didn't break through.
It was as if Shi Qing had poked a hornet's nest. More than 10 burly men jumped onto the wall and glared at the murderer who dared to attack Shi Qing's residence.
Du Laoliu, who was covered in dirt, felt as if he was being stared at by more than 10 ferocious beasts. He broke out in a cold sweat and smiled guiltily at everyone. "It's Shi Gan who made this."
As he spoke, he pointed behind him.
A group of students was running out of the hole.
"Brothers, it was an accident!" Shi Gan hurriedly went forward to explain.
"It's the steam car that we made, but there was an accident."
With Shi Gan's explanation, everyone's gazes finally eased up.
"Come back." Shi Qing had unknowingly appeared outside the wall and waved his hand.
He looked curiously at the steam car that had crashed into the courtyard wall of his residence. "Is this the thing that you have been busy with these days?"
"Father!" Shi Gan greeted him honestly. Then, he said with some excitement, "This is called a steam car. It's propelled by a steam engine and doesn't require human or animal labor to move. You won't get tired either."
"How many kilograms of iron is this?!" Shi Qing's first concern was how many kilograms of iron was used to make this steel monster. How many weapons could it make? How many soldiers could it equip?
Although the output of Mount Damo's iron mine was a hundred times higher than before, the price of Dayao's iron mine would drop in another two years.
However, decades of experience had made Shi Qing unable to be immune to it.
"About 2,000 kilograms," Shi Gan whispered.
Shi Qing was silent for a while before saying, "You guys are really generous!"
"Sir Shi, iron will no longer restrict Dayao. Furthermore, these things are worth 20000 kilograms of iron, let alone 2,000 kilograms. Just like the solar furnace, if one doesn't know how to use it, it won't be conspicuous at all. However, if it's used in the right place, it won't be exchanged even if it's worth ten or a hundred times more. "
"Principal Ren!" Shi Qing nodded his head and said, "I know, but it's an old idea that can't be changed in a short time."
"I still remember what Principal Ren said previously, but can this thing really do what Principal Ren said?"
"This is just a prototype, and it still needs to be improved," Ren Baqian replied.
"I don't understand these things, so I'll wait and see your performance." Shi Qing smiled at Ren Baqian and returned to the Shi residence in a flash.
After that, everyone carried the steam car back for inspection and found that the collision just now had created a hole in the cylinder, causing Du Laoliu to receive a beating.
"Teacher, how can this thing change direction?" someone immediately asked Ren Baqian.
"There's no need to change direction, just make it run on the steel rails."
Ren Baqian then took out a few wooden sticks to demonstrate to everyone, and Shi Gan immediately understood. "In this case, the impact on the road will be reduced, and the speed can be increased significantly."
Then, he was speechless and asked, "But how much steel will be used?"
"You don't have to worry about this. All you need to know is how useful this thing is. If it can set off from Lan City and reach the Yun Nation in three days, it will be worth it no matter how much steel is used. "
"Understood!" Everyone left excitedly after hearing Ren Baqian's words.
When they personally made such a steamed car, everyone's enthusiasm was raised. They wanted to make the steam car that Yagui had mentioned.
After seeing them leave, Ren Baqian chuckled.
Other than himself, no one knew how much steel was needed to build a railway.
If they knew, they would probably be scared to death and try to stop his idea of building a railway.
One meter of track required 100 kilograms of steel, and one kilometer required 100 tons of steel.
At present, the annual output of Mount Damo's iron mine was two million kilograms, which was only 1,000 tons. It could be used to make weapons, and the steel produced in a year could be used to make 100,000 steel knives, which would double the number of soldiers in Dayao.
With 200,000 iron hooves, it wasn't impossible to conquer Great Xia.
However, it was impossible to build a railway.
It was at least 1,000 kilometers from Lan City to the border of the Yun Nation. According to the output of Mount Damo's iron mine, it could only lay 10 kilometers of track in a year. It would take more than 100 years to build such a railway.
Fortunately, Ren Baqian didn't set his sights on the output of Mount Damo's iron mine.
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