Volume 1: Birth! Seven time travelers Chapter 109: Set Sail Now (Part 4)
"Hey, Edmund, Thomas, long time no see."
"Oh~~ Your Highness, your coming brings infinite honor to your servant."
The fifth laboratory, the Optics and Mechanics Laboratory, was run by two Portuguese people. Zhu Youdong also sent the linguistic genius Yang Tingyun here for well-known reasons.
"Edmund, the eight-fold telescope you gave me last time is very good. I can clearly see the faces of people walking on the opposite street from the tower of the Nanjing Palace."
"It is my honor to receive your praise. Of course, I would be even happier if your Highness gave me more treasures."
"Well, Edmund, according to our previous agreement, if you can train an apprentice that satisfies me, I will reward you with one hundred taels of silver."
"Your Highness, please rest assured that I have absolutely no intention of hiding anything. God is my witness that I teach all the students you send me without reservation. After all, as a Portuguese, I only hope to return to my hometown with enough wealth after completing the five-year contract with Your Highness."
"Hahaha, as long as you can bring my students out and make them like you, your wish will definitely be fulfilled."
Zhu Youdong liked the faith of Edmund, the mirror grinder: "You like money, no problem, as long as the apprentices you bring out are satisfactory to me, I will definitely satisfy you." But Thomas, the watchmaker, gave Zhu Youdong a headache: this guy was a devout Christian.
Although it is hard to understand why such a devout believer would not stay in Lisbon to serve his God, but instead sold his house and land to buy a ship to do business, not only Zhu Youdong, but even several old craftsmen from Honghe Village admire Thomas's hands-on ability.
He was able to complete all the parts of the entire clock by himself and assemble it completely. This ability alone was enough to make Zhu Youdong tolerate his preaching to the Chinese craftsmen who were learning from him in Fangshan.
Be patient. It’s hard to say about children, but adult Chinese, haha, generally won’t become fanatical believers.
After all, a watchmaker may make watches, but he is actually the master of all machinery. A person who can make watches independently can quickly make any machinery as long as he has the blueprint.
"Mr. Yang, what is the production capacity of table clocks in Fangshan now?"
"Your Highness, at present, the craftsmen of our Daming can independently complete more than 90% of the common parts, except for a few parts that cannot be processed. Assembly is even easier. As long as there are enough people, it is not a problem to produce 20 clocks per month."
“Well, how did those North Korean craftsmen perform?”
"Very good, very obedient, and very hardworking. I have appointed the twenty Ming craftsmen in this laboratory as foremen, and the two hundred Korean craftsmen assigned to this laboratory will work under the command of these foremen. As they become more and more skilled in cooperation, the output of table clocks will increase in the future."
"Okay, when the production capacity of table clocks increases to 60 per month, I will ask Cao Sanxi to come to you."
"Please rest assured, Your Highness. Your requirements will be met in three months at most."
"Well, when producing this clock, we need to pay attention to the different grades. Didn't Mubang bring in a lot of jade? We can inlay some on it, or simply make a small number of table clocks with full jade shells or something like that."
"Yes, I understand."
"After the clock is put into stable mass production, the Mechanical Laboratory will have two tasks. First, we will work hard to miniaturize the clock." Zhu Youdong flipped his wrist and said, "It can be shrunk to the point where it can be bolted to a person's arm. Second, we will help Mr. Xu solve some problems."
"Uh... to reduce the size of the clock by so much, the accuracy of the gears... I understand. Starting next year, I will work towards this goal."
As for what Zhu Youdong said about helping Xu Guangqi solve some problems, that was of course because Fangshan’s sixth laboratory was studying something epoch-making: the steam engine.
The principle of the steam engine is very simple. The Greeks before the Christian era had already made the most primitive steam engine based on this principle. But if we really want to build a steam engine that can be used as a power source for industrial production, there are too many problems that need to be solved.
In the historical dimension, James Watt spent a full 25 years building on the achievements of many predecessors such as Savery, Newco, and Fulton before he gradually solved many problems of the steam engine and built a real industrial steam engine.
As for what problems need to be solved in the development of the steam engine, Zhu Youdong, as a medical student, has no idea. All he can do is to tell Xu Guangqi the principle of the steam engine and then directly explain what effect a mature steam engine should achieve. He has no control over the rest.
The seventh laboratory is the materials laboratory. Under the guidance of the physical and chemical laboratory , the old craftsmen from Jingdezhen are more responsible for the hands-on operation. The theoretical research is handed over to the younger generations of the old craftsmen - only they have enough energy to learn the relevant knowledge of physics and chemistry.
If the steam engine laboratory requires huge investment and once successful will bring about great social changes, then basic sciences such as materials science, at least at this stage, can only require continuous net investment.
Therefore, don't blame Cao Sanxi for being ignorant and saying that Fangshan spent too much money. It was because Zhu Youdong took too big a step and laid out many disciplines such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, medicine, engineering and even cutting-edge science.
However, without such a comprehensive layout, it is not enough to climb a certain technology tree. The progress of human technology requires the mutual support of various disciplines. For the current muskets, gunpowder is stuck on smokeless gunpowder. Once the power of gunpowder is improved, it will put forward higher requirements for metallurgy. After metallurgy meets the requirements, it will put forward new requirements for the power of production machinery... In short, if the foundation is not laid more solid, after a certain level, a single technology tree will not be able to develop upward.
So, stupid people use stupid methods, it is better to lay a solid foundation honestly.
In Fangshan, in addition to these seven laboratories and a school, there are two other institutions.
One is the hybrid rice research base, which is still in charge of Xu Guangqi: he has a very high level of agricultural attainments. However, agricultural research takes a very long time, and most of the time is spent waiting quietly. So Xu Guangqi can hold two positions. And to be honest, the agriculture in the north of the Ming Dynasty is currently experiencing a reduction in production, but in terms of the whole country, the grain output of the Ming Dynasty is sufficient. So, there is no rush for this thing.
And another institution.
"Mr. Zhang, I've taken a look at the layout you sent me yesterday. It's pretty good. Let's just finalize it."
"I obey your command. Then, Your Highness, when will we officially start publishing?"
"Well, it's already August. If we prepare more properly and have more time, Ruzhang will be able to control the Yangtze River Navy more firmly, which will make transportation more convenient in the future. And I also need to accumulate more manuscripts. How about this, the first issue will be officially released on October 1st!"
Yes, as a time traveler, especially after seeing the time traveler in the east take out something like comics, how could Zhu Youdong not want to run a newspaper? This is a powerful weapon to compete with the gentry class for public opinion and enlighten the people!
…
After staying in Fangshan for more than a month, Zhu Youdong had to return to the Nanjing Palace to take charge after the garrison eunuch Wang Kun strongly protested that Zhu Youdong did not attend the ten-day meeting, which showed that Emperor Wanli was lazy in governance.
After descending the mountain, he stepped onto his ship. The gentle autumn wind blew gently along the Qinhuai River, blowing up the sails of the ship. Zhu Youdong looked back at Fangshan, which was full of hope. He shouted with confidence: Let's set sail!
