Rubber shoes had the characteristics of being light and comfortable. Moreover, they were very soft and elastic, and could be suitable for various sports. There was no doubt that they were better than all the shoes in the Tang dynasty.
Although the later generations commented that natural rubber shoes were not wear-resistant, that was because the technology of the later generations was very advanced. There were many products that were more wear-resistant than natural rubber shoes. Therefore, natural rubber shoes seemed to be very wear-resistant. As far as the current shoemaking level of the Tang dynasty was concerned, no shoes could surpass the rubber shoes that had just been developed by Ang Lee.
Rubber shoes would definitely be popularized in the Tang dynasty in the future, but at present, the possibility of popularizing them was completely impossible. Of course, this was because the output of rubber was too low to meet the needs of large-scale production. Moreover, because mass production could not be realized, the cost of each pair of rubber shoes was very high. Ordinary people really could not afford to buy them.
Wearing the natural rubber shoes that he designed and made, Ang Lee felt that his whole body had become energetic, and he walked much more freely than usual.
Because it was winter, Ang Lee put thick cotton pads in his rubber shoes and thick cotton socks on his feet. Therefore, he did not feel cold at all. However, because the soles of his shoes were too thin, it was difficult to walk in muddy places. However, almost all the roads around the entire capital were paved with concrete, and there were almost no muddy roads. Therefore, there was no such worry.
In addition, in addition to the rubber shoes, Ang Lee also had a pair of rain boots. When he went out in the rain boots, no matter how muddy the place was, he could calmly deal with it.
Winter was a season of snow. Once the weather was a little warmer, the snow would melt, and the soil would become muddy. For a person of high status like Ang Lee, there was no need to walk on muddy roads. However, for people who lived in places where the radiation of concrete roads could not reach, it was very painful to go out.
In addition, rice was mainly planted in the water network in the south. When planting rice, most people were barefoot, so it was more convenient to plant rice. However, it was easy to be targeted by leeches, which would cause great harm to people's bodies. Once they wore boots, they could resist the leeches' invasion.
There were many fields near Ang Lee's courtyard. In the past, when the weather was bad and the road was muddy, Ang Lee would never inspect them. After all, if he went there, his shoes would be wet, and his feet would be very uncomfortable. But now, with the advanced rain boots, of course, there was no need to worry about this.
"Assistant Minister Li, this field will be planted with sweet potatoes this spring. The field next to it will be planted with corn, which is a new species imported from America. The yield is much higher than that of millet in the Tang dynasty.. People are willing to plant American crops, which can fill up their stomachs.."
When Li An went to inspect the fields, an agricultural official opened his mouth and introduced him to Li An.
Although the promotion of American crops had been completely handed over to the relevant officials, after all, only Ang Lee had the highest technology and understood the characteristics of these American crops. Therefore, Ang Lee would go and guide these officials from time to time, teaching them how to better promote these crops. He also observed the results of the promotion of the officials, praising those who performed well and encouraging those who performed poorly.
In order to carefully inspect the preparation of the relevant crops, Ang Lee personally went to the field and stepped on the muddy ground to observe the preparation of the land. This made the agricultural officials of the imperial court cry.
Ang Lee walked on the muddy ground with rubber boots, while the other relevant officials walked on the muddy ground with ordinary cotton shoes. The rubber boots were covered by the mud, but it didn't hinder anything and their feet wouldn't get wet. Ordinary shoes were different. After being stained by the mud, it would easily seep into the shoes, making people's feet wet and very uncomfortable.
The reason why Ang Lee personally walked on the muddy ground was not to deliberately make things difficult for the others, but to verify the effectiveness of the rubber boots. A new product had to be tested before its performance could be confirmed.
After an hour of continuous inspection in the muddy ground, Ang Lee was generally quite satisfied with the performance of the rubber boots. At least, his feet were always dry, and the mud didn't enter the rubber boots at all. This was enough for the rubber boots.
After walking out of the muddy ground, Ang Lee sat on a small stool and personally took off the muddy rubber boots and changed into the rubber sneakers.
"I'm very sorry to have to make you walk on the muddy ground with me, but the people are watching. Only when we walk on the muddy ground can we be closer to the people and make them trust us officials more. In addition, this official has invented a new rubber boot. It's this thing. The effect is pretty good. At least, my feet aren't wet at all. After mass production in the future, all of you can wear these rubber boots. Then, you won't have to worry about walking on the muddy ground. "
Ang Lee pointed at the dirty rubber boots and said.
"These are rubber boots? They look impermeable and soft. What material are they made of? "
An agricultural official asked.
"They're rubber. They're made from the sap extracted from the rubber trees transported from America. See if they're good."
Ang Lee said with a smile.
"Oh, so these are shoes made of rubber. I didn't know the rubber tree had such a great effect. It can be used to make shoes. How amazing!"
"The sap from the rubber tree can be used to make shoes. How interesting. With the rubber trees in the Tang dynasty, these impermeable shoes can be used in the future."
Ang Lee said happily, "There's nothing amazing about it. A silkworm is just a small insect, but the silk it spits out can be made into clothes. Isn't that amazing?"
"Yes, yes, yes. Assistant Minister Li's words are reasonable. Since the silk it spits out can be made into clothes, the sap from the tree can, of course, be used to make shoes."
"The Tang dynasty had magical silkworms, and America also had magical rubber trees. Now, the rubber trees in America have taken root and sprouted in the Tang dynasty. In the future, our Tang dynasty will become richer. You must work hard to build a stronger Tang Empire."
Ang Lee encouraged them excitedly.
"We will follow Assistant Minister Li's instructions and do our best to serve the imperial court."
All the officials were excited. It was a very happy and proud thing to be an official in a very powerful country.
After verifying the performance of the rain boots, Ang Lee returned to the R&D center and sorted out the technology of making rain boots. When there were more rubber resources in the future, they could be mass produced.
In addition, Ang Lee began to develop more important equipment. This equipment was more important to the Tang Empire and would be very important in the future. Without this equipment, it would be difficult for the whole society to develop.
This was the famous pneumatic tire. Only a steam car equipped with pneumatic tires was the best steam car.
In addition, tires were also divided into sizes and thicknesses. Large tires were used for steam cars, and small tires could be used for bicycles. As long as pneumatic tires could be mass-produced, bicycles would have practical value. Steam cars would also become more comfortable, consume less fuel, and move faster.
Because Jiaozhou and Yazhou could only transport a little more than 50 kilograms of rubber juice per day, rubber resources were extremely scarce strategic materials. When Ang Lee used it, he also cherished it, fearing that it would cause even a little bit of waste.
The technology of pneumatic tires and outer tires was not complicated. As long as they tried hard, they would find a way. However, the inflating position of the pneumatic tire was a technical difficulty. It was not easy to grasp the position. After all, this was the position that was most likely to cause air leakage. It must be handled well. Otherwise, it would cause a lot of hidden dangers in the future.
After many rounds of research, Li An and the other technicians had finally managed to create the most primitive inflatable inner tube. As for the outer tube, the technical difficulty was even lower, and they were able to quickly develop it. As for the cylinder used to inflate the inner tube, it was an extremely simple tool. With Great Tang's current industrial strength, creating a cylinder was a simple task.
The inner tire, the outer tire, and the pneumatic cylinder were all manufactured. Next, it was time to experiment. In order to reduce the difficulty of research and development, Ang Lee first developed the inner and outer tires, which were small tires on bicycles. It was easier to manufacture, and there was almost no danger in the experiment.
Speaking of bicycles, because the pneumatic tire had not been invented, it had not been popularized. Even if Ang Lee later made more modern bicycles, they were still too bumpy to be popularized on a large scale. Only a few servants of aristocratic families used them.
Now that the pneumatic tire had been invented, Ang Lee believed that as long as the pneumatic tire was introduced to the market, bicycles would soon be popularized throughout the Tang Empire. Especially the servants of aristocratic families, they would soon be equipped with such a means of transportation. After all, compared with horses, which were difficult to serve, bicycles were much more durable. They would not be hungry, and they would not be startled. The cost of preservation was relatively low.
"Assistant Minister Li, will the bicycle become much more comfortable if this inflatable tire is placed on the bicycle?"
Without experiencing it personally, the crowd naturally did not believe Ang Lee's words. After all, it was only adding a layer of inflatable rubber to the rim of the bicycle. How big of a change could it make? As for bicycles, everyone knew how to ride them, so it was not that difficult.
"As for the effect, you will know when you try it yourself."
Ang Lee was too lazy to explain. He proposed to let them try it themselves to prove how great his invention was.
"I'll go first."
A young technician volunteered himself. He pushed a bicycle with inflatable rubber tires and walked a few steps before he got on it and started riding.
"Hey, it's really different. It's much better than when the tire was not installed. I can barely feel the bumpiness. The effect is really extraordinary!"
After riding it himself, the young craftsman commented excitedly.
"Let me try it too."
Suddenly, more craftsmen proposed to try the bicycle with the tire and see the difference between it and an ordinary bicycle.
After trying it, almost all the craftsmen gave a positive evaluation of the bicycle. They believed that the bicycle with tires invented by Ang Lee was a very practical means of transportation.
Ang Lee was not surprised to get the affirmation of everyone. This was a very natural thing. However, he was still very happy because his scientific research results were recognized.
But at the same time, Ang Lee also understood that the price of rubber pneumatic tires was too high for it to be popularized in a short period of time. Only when a large number of rubber trees grew into big trees in the Tang dynasty could the cost of natural rubber be reduced and eventually be popularized.
But for the imperial court and the great aristocrats, no matter how high the cost was, they could still afford it. Therefore, rubber tire products could temporarily be popularized by the imperial court and the great aristocrats. Ordinary people could only wait for many years before they could enjoy this kind of transportation.
With the continuous supply of rubber resources from Jiao Zhou and Yazhou, Ang Lee made 100 sets of bicycle tires, which could be equipped with 100 bicycles. It could be said that they were limited edition.
He also made 50 sets of pneumatic tires for carriages, which could be equipped with 50 carriages, making the carriages more stable and faster. Most of them were sent to the palace and given to the emperor for distribution. The remaining few were kept by Ang Lee for his own use.
In addition to these relatively small tires, Ang Lee also made heavy tires, which were specially used for armored artillery vehicles and various heavy machinery.
This kind of tire had a higher requirement for quality. The inner tube had to be strong and durable, and the outer tube had to be wider and thicker to resist wear. Only then could it meet the needs of large vehicles.
In particular, the armored artillery vehicles had a certain weight. They weighed at least 10,000 to 20,000 pounds. In the future, they would weigh 5 to 10 tons. They could be considered as heavy vehicles in reality. Of course, the requirements for the tires would be higher.
Due to the extreme shortage of materials, the large tires Ang Lee made could only be equipped with 20 heavy vehicles. Among them, 10 were equipped with armored artillery vehicles, and the rest were equipped with armored command vehicles and various transport vehicles. The results were very good.
After Ang Lee developed the tires and tested them for a period of time, the entire imperial court saw the huge use of pneumatic tires and put forward a request to popularize them on a large scale as soon as possible.
However, due to the lack of rubber trees, it was somewhat unrealistic to popularize them on a large scale. Faced with this problem, the emperor of the Tang dynasty, Li Longji, thought of a way to set up a factory in the Americas and immediately summoned Ang Lee to the palace. He wanted to hear Ang Lee's opinion.
"Your humble servant Ang Lee pays his respects to Your Majesty."
Ang Lee respectfully bowed to Li Longji.
"Assistant Minister Li, come quickly. I have something important to discuss with you."
Li Longji appeared to be very amiable and treated Ang Lee very warmly.
"Your Majesty, please tell me what you need. I will do my best to do it."
Ang Lee said.
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