Volume 1: Birth! Seven time travelers Chapter 053: Climbing the Technology Tree Together (Part 2)
After Cao Sanxi, Cao Huachun, Wei Zhongxian and others who were responsible for the economic operation of Zhuangzi left, Zhu Youdong sent someone to invite Xu Guangqi in.
Apart from Zhu Youdong, no one can control the overall situation of Honghe Manor. Those who manage operations cannot manage technology, and those who manage technology cannot manage security. And Li Shizhong cannot intervene in anything except security.
"Mr. Xu, shall we get started? Which masters would you like to invite in first?"
"Your Highness, time is tight. We have to go back to Xinghua Palace to prepare for tomorrow's homework, so I think it's better to start with the difficult tasks and then move on to the easy ones."
"Okay, then please invite Master Huang and Master Huo in first."
Huang and Huo are the leaders of the porcelain and ironware groups, and they have the heaviest tasks.
"Master Huang, tell me about the situation here."
"Yes, Your Highness, Lord Xu. For the past year, I have been mainly following Your Highness's advice to make bone china. Thanks to the use of thermometers, we can now control the temperature more effectively after starting the furnace. We have developed various types of porcelain containing 25%, 30%, 40% bone powder. We have also mastered all kinds of coloring. However, uh... Your Highness, I live very comfortably in Honghe Manor, and my family is very satisfied. I have absolutely no intention of leaving. It's just that the clay sources near the capital are very rare and the quality is very poor. In addition, the bone powder in our manor is mainly pig bones... Therefore , although this bone china has the advantage of not being easy to break, it is still a little short of completely surpassing the top porcelain in Jingdezhen."
"Haha, Master Huang is still talking about his profession. Well, this level of bone china is enough. What I'm interested in is how the research and development of glass is going."
"Reporting to Your Highness, according to the three heat preservation methods taught by Lord Xu (actually, they are several methods of heat transfer in junior high school physics), I and several masters rebuilt the crucible kiln. The temperature can be guaranteed, and quartz, soda ash and other things can be melted. I also told the strong guys in the village to stir it constantly (to release bubbles). But the glass fired here still doesn't feel completely transparent."
"Has Mr. Xu been to see it?"
"I have visited many times, and the craftsmen are really working hard. But the fired glass always seems to be slightly reddish, and after being molded into a flat plate, there are obviously some impurities inside, and it is also very brittle and will break easily if you are not careful."
"Reddish? Oh, how could I forget this?" Zhu Youdong patted his head and said, "Mr. Xu, Master Huang. This should be because other metal impurities in the minerals have not been cleaned up."
"Your Highness is wise!" Xu Guangqi jumped up when he heard this: "I actually think this is the case recently. Well, Master Huang, do you know what to do next?"
"Don't worry, Lord Xu. I'll leave this matter to you." After saying this, Old Man Huang turned around and walked away. After walking a few steps, he suddenly remembered and turned back quickly: "Your Highness, please forgive me! I... I am a humble servant, I am rude."
"Hahaha, it's okay, Master Huang, go ahead." As a time traveler, when facing technical workers, he likes this kind of technical geek. He is not at ease with the kind of guy who thinks too much about things other than technology.
Oh, glass, as long as large pieces of flat glass can be produced stably, I can use silver to make mirrors! That's the real money-making tool!
Zhu Youdong was in a good mood and couldn't help laughing out loud, so much so that when Lao Huo, the leader of the blacksmith group, came in and saw Zhu Youdong's silly look, he couldn't help but wonder in his heart: He looks so silly, maybe he is mentally retarded?
"Hehe, this is Master Huo, right? Come, sit down. Master Huang just solved a production problem, so he got a little carried away. Master Huo, have you been doing well recently? Are your family and children doing well?"
"Thanks to your Highness, everything is fine. I have no complaints. I just feel that our team has produced too little, and we may be unworthy of your Highness's kindness!"
"Well, then tell me, what has your iron group come up with recently?"
"Your Highness, for the past six months, we have been grinding this screw every day according to the measurement standards set by Your Highness. After seven or eight months, we have only polished out three screws." Seeing that Xu Guangqi next to him didn't look very good, Lao Huo quickly added: "Your Highness, Lord Xu, we have not been lazy at all in the past few months. There are at least three hundred screws that have been worn out, if not five hundred."
"Hmm? Master Huo, do you think those three screws are successful?"
"Yes, Your Highness. We are ashamed that we have received such a great favor from Your Highness, but in the end we only managed to produce three..."
"Show them to me."
"The three small screws have all been brought... Your Highness, please take a look. This one is centimeter-level, and the distance between each thread is one centimeter. This one is five millimeters, and the distance between each thread is five millimeters. We have ground nine threads on these two screws. We can indeed ensure that the distance between each thread is exactly the same. The last one is millimeter-level, but we have limited time and skills, so we can only grind three threads..."
"Good! Good! Good! Master Huo, the masters in your group have worked hard!" Standing up, Zhu Youdong instinctively wanted to pat Master Huo on the shoulder, but after extending his hand, he remembered that his body was not even six years old.
Zhu Youdong withdrew his hand awkwardly and said to Xu Guangqi: "Mr. Xu, these masters did a great job! I will reward them handsomely!"
"I don't quite understand what your Highness means."
Speaking of which, Xu Guangqi's current job is the Hanlin Academy, which is a relatively leisurely position mainly for observing politics. After being invited to teach at Zhu Youdong's place, the engineering man spent more time in Honghe Manor.
Over the past six months, the craftsmen arranged by Zhu Youdong, under the unified command of Xu Guangqi, have been working on various topics designated by Zhu Youdong. In fact, the blacksmith team spent the most but achieved the least results. Who would have thought that the praise that the porcelain team, which was already making money for Honghe Manor, did not receive was given to the unpopular blacksmith team?
While he was puzzled, Zhu Youdong was delighted: "Master Huo, a nine-pattern screw is enough. With nine patterns, eighteen patterns, twenty-seven patterns... after we have the mold, we can have as many patterns as we want. Mr. Xu, don't underestimate this screw. With the screw, we have the fixing parts, the transmission, and the future rifling!"
"Your Highness, I seem to have touched upon something, but I am not quite sure."
"Haha, well, once they bring out the real thing, you'll know the wonderful uses of the screw. Master Huo, go find Master Huang first and ask them to make you a mold so you can make more copies of this set of screws. I have a few sets of drawings here, and after you take a look at them, you'll naturally know what the screw can be used for!"
"Yes, I thank you for your generosity. We will continue to work hard and return ."
"These three screws are truly amazing things. The huge reward I just mentioned was no joke."
The research and development of the porcelain and iron groups is the heaviest at this stage, while the cloth group, carpenter group, and leatherworker group are relatively easy.
After many repeated tests, the fabric
The carpenter team has been making various molds according to Zhu Youdong's drawings. As a non-engineering time traveler , many of Zhu Youdong's sketches are actually full of errors. However, in line with the principle of "practice is the only criterion for testing truth", Zhu Youdong also asked them to use various molds to make various things in the next period of time.
In fact, the greatest contribution of the carpenters during this period was the creation of a variety of strange water conservancy machines. Now, not only the land along the river in Honghe Village, but the entire village has been irrigated by river water. The work in the workshop that originally required a lot of manpower has also begun to be replaced by machines. The only problem is that although the carpenters are very good at hands-on work and have enough intelligence, no matter how precise the mortise and tenon structure is, it is still difficult to last under the long-term huge stress - and this problem will be quickly solved with the advent of screws.
During this period, the leather craftsmen team produced a variety of leather boots, leather suits, leather jackets, etc. These things will become the basic equipment of the Ming army soldiers in the future. Some of them are made according to Zhu Youdong's combination of the shape of later clothing, such as fine leather jackets, leather boots, leather bags, etc., which are high-end goods that he gives away.
