Volume 1 Princess Taiping Grows Up Chapter 45: Tang Dynasty Black Technology
Looking at Shangguan Wan'er pedaling her tricycle around the Anfu Hall with a look of surprise on her face, Li Yuechen smiled at her but started thinking to himself.
This kind of car can run here because the floors inside the palace are paved with stone slabs, which is considered a very high-grade road surface.
But if this kind of vehicle is used on the official road outside the city, it will become very troublesome to ride.
One is the road surface and the other is the tires, which are difficult problems to solve in this era.
The road conditions were the most troublesome. Li Yuechen had almost forgotten all the knowledge about cement and could only remember bits and pieces.
But the problem is that even if we remember it, it is almost impossible to use cement to pave roads in this era.
The current Tang Dynasty cannot afford such a large project.
As for tires... natural rubber trees seem to be native to America? And natural rubber is different from the rubber used to make tires. In this era, this is almost an unsolvable problem.
She knows a lot about tires, after all, she often rides off-road motorcycles and climbing bikes.
I have visited the Mitas factory before and even talked to the designers about the effect I wanted to achieve.
Because of this, I know how troublesome it is to just make tires here.
At present, it is already good enough to be able to make this kind of iron Fu Tiao wheel.
Of course there is one more thing, which is the bearings.
It should not be difficult for craftsmen of this era to make large bearings, but it is questionable whether they can make bearings that can be used in tires.
Another problem is quality. The quality of steel in this era is definitely not as good as that in later generations. It is also hard to come by and the cost is extremely high.
Such an interesting tricycle soon spread throughout Anfu Temple.
Sisters Xuancheng and Yiyang also ran out to watch, perhaps wanting to try sitting on it as well, but unfortunately it was built according to Li Yuechen's body shape, and they definitely couldn't fit in it.
Seeing Li Yuechen leaning against the pillar of Linbo Pavilion with her head down thinking, Princess Xuancheng ran over and reached out to rub her delicate face.
"What is Chen'er thinking about? You look so sad!"
Li Yuechen curled her lips: "I was just wondering if there is any way to make a better wheel."
"Isn't this wheel okay now?" Princess Yi Yang put her arm around her shoulders and asked, "Aren't all carriages like this now?"
Li Yuechen didn't say anything, just shook his head.
I was just thinking about taking the mahjong to show Li Zhi, when I suddenly remembered that I seemed to have moved the table.
In desperation, Li Yuechen asked Xiao He to go to the Craftsmen's Supervisor to ask them to make another square table, and then told her to ask the Clothing Bureau to prepare a wool felt for her.
As for today, let Li Zhi take a look at his tricycle first.
Having said this, he waved to Shangguan Wan'er and said, "Come down first. I'll go see my parents first, and then I'll give you something to play with when I come back."
"Yes!" Shangguan Wan'er agreed and hurried down.
Li Yuechen rode his tricycle all the way to Renshou Palace. The palace maids and eunuchs he saw along the way all looked at him in surprise, and some even forgot to salute.
Of course she would not blame them for this . She hummed a little tune all the way and rode her tricycle to Renshou Hall.
Zhang Chengxin, who was guarding the door, saw it from a distance and hurried in to report to Li Zhi and Wu Zetian that the princess was coming in a carriage without a horse.
After hearing this, Li Zhi and Wu Zetian stood up and walked to the entrance of Renshou Hall.
As soon as I came out, I saw Li Yuechen, who was wearing a red dress, humming a little tune that I couldn't understand and riding a tricycle towards me.
Seeing Li Zhi and Wu Zetian coming out, Li Yuechen raised his arm and waved to them, then pedaled twice quickly and stopped outside the Renshou Hall.
"Mom and Dad, look, how about this tricycle of mine?" Li Yuechen said after getting off the car.
Of course, Li Zhi squatted down to look at the tricycle immediately, while Wu Zetian stared at the ponytail behind her head and frowned: "Why is this hairstyle so casual?"
"I think that high bun is too troublesome," Li Yuechen shook her head, "Mother, don't you think this hairstyle is simple and beautiful now?"
Wu Zetian frowned and said, "How is this casual hairstyle different from that of a commoner?"
Li Yuechen came up to her and said with a smile: "Why do you have to pursue a different hairstyle? Doesn't this hairstyle mean that you are no longer a princess? Or, does it mean that if Grandpa takes off this yellow robe, he will no longer be a saint?"
"Shut up!" Wu Zetian suddenly shouted, "This..."
"No problem, no problem!" Li Zhi beside him suddenly turned around, waved his hands and said with a smile, "Chen'er, what you said makes sense. Even if I wear a cloth, am I still a saint of the Tang Dynasty?"
Li Yuechen hugged Wu Zetian and laughed: "Actually, mother can also try this hairstyle on weekdays, it's very relaxing!"
Hearing her words, Wu Zetian frowned: "I am the Queen of the Tang Dynasty..."
"Yes, mother is the queen now, can't she relax a little?" Li Yuechen chuckled, "Grandpa must want to see what mother looks like with this hairstyle, right?"
Li Zhi beside him nodded: "I really want to see it too!"
" Look!" Li Yuechen stuck out her tongue at Wu Zetian.
Wu Zetian no longer wanted to say anything about Li Zhi's doting on his daughter. After sighing helplessly, she took two steps forward and observed the tricycle in front of her.
Men seem to be naturally interested in mechanical gadgets. Li Zhi walked around the tricycle, then shook his head with a look of regret.
"Chen'er, why don't you make a bigger one? I can take you to try it together."
"Uh..." Li Yuechen thought about the scene and felt a little bit uncomfortable watching it.
"Don't worry, Grandpa. After I spend some more time studying it, I will definitely make a better one for you two adults!" said Li Yuechen.
Li Zhi nodded: "Well, that couldn't be better!"
It’s really hard to say what it is and when it can be done.
It is actually very easy to make a large tricycle, but as I said before, the tire problem needs to be solved.
…
After playing around with the couple for a while, Li Yuechen returned to Anfu Hall and started drawing the design of the bearing with pen and paper.
Again, it is certainly possible to make large-sized bearings in this era, but it is hard to say how small the smallest one can be.
Li Yuechen lay on the table, thinking and drawing. To be honest, it seems that roller bearings are easier to make than ball bearings in this era.
But fixation is a problem. How to ensure that the rollers inside do not rub against each other?
From this perspective, it seems that ball bearings are easier, as long as a simple ball divider is added.
As for how to make a sphere...that has nothing to do with me. That's a problem that craftsmen need to think about.
Perhaps seeing her scratching her head and looking very irritated, Shangguan Wan'er came over and asked gently, "Your Highness, would you like to light some incense? Perhaps it can help you calm down."
"Yeah." Li Yuechen nodded casually and continued to draw the design on paper.
After a while, Shangguan Wan'er came over with a small hollow metal ball and hung it on the pen holder next to the desk.
Green smoke rose from the hollow incense burner, and the incense inside made Li Yuechen sniff and look up.
But just with this glance, he was slightly stunned, and then he reached out and took the small metal ball in his hand.
This small spherical incense burner can be separated into two halves, and a latch-like structure is used to hold the upper and lower layers together.
But the problem is...
Li Yuechen leaned her head closer and unlatched the ball, only to see something that truly surprised her.
I saw a small brass bowl-shaped incense burner with burning incense emitting slowly rising green smoke.
And this small incense burner is actually connected to three metal rings that expand successively!
Li Yuechen slightly turned the small ball in his hand. No matter which direction it turned, under the action of gravity, the small incense bowl in the middle always kept its opening facing upwards, and the incense ash inside would not spill out!
Seeing this obvious mechanical mechanism, Li Yuechen couldn't help but open his eyes wide, his pupils trembling!
What a request! Mechanical gyroscope?
Is there such a thing in this era?
Li Yuechen obviously felt incredible, this was not something that should appear in this era at all!
However, the shock this small incense burner brought to her was not over yet. When she looked at the connection between the two halves of the ball, she found that it was a hinge structure!
Although it is the simplest one, it is indeed a hinge structure!
Damn, is this really the Tang Dynasty?
After finally coming to his senses, Li Yuechen looked up and called out, "Xiao He!"
"What do you want, Your Highness?"
Li Yuechen raised the small incense burner in his hand and asked: "Who made this?"
Xiao He replied: "I only know that it was produced by the gold and silver workshop, but who exactly is it..."
"Gold and Silver Workshop?" This was the first time Li Yuechen had heard of this department. "Who is in charge of it?"
"Shaofujian."
Li Yuechen stood up, rolled up the bearing design he had drawn, and waved his hand, saying, "Let's go!"
Shangguan Wan'er asked curiously, "Is Your Highness angry?"
"Angry?" Li Yuechen suddenly grinned, "Wan'er, do you know what this is?"
"Isn't it an incense burner?" Shangguan Wan'er asked in a daze.
Li Yuechen shook his head and placed the hand holding the incense burner in front of her, with a serious expression: "This is a treasure! A huge treasure!"
After saying that, he took Xiao He and ran out of Anfu Palace and went to Shaofujian.
Along the way, Li Yuechen could hardly contain his excitement and even began to hum a song.
After arriving at the imperial city, they were immediately led by Xiao He to the gold and silver workshop under the jurisdiction of the Shaofujian.
While walking here, I was also listening to Xiaohe's popular science explanations along the way, and I finally figured out what kind of department this was.
The gold and silver workshop is a place where skilled craftsmen from all over the world gather to make various jewelry and utensils for the royal family.
For example, the pure silver lotus candlesticks, the hairpins on the heads of all the concubines, and the gold and silver plates used to hold fruits at banquets, etc.
The place is not far away, just within the imperial city, and its full name is Gold and Silver Workshop.
Perhaps because there are precious metals here, there are many heavily guarded troops.
Seeing the princess coming, everyone along the way bowed to her.
Li Yuechen is different from the other two princesses because she often goes to the imperial city, so people here basically know what she looks like.
Arriving outside the gold and silver workshop, the soldier at the door saluted and said, "Greetings, Princess!"
"No need to be so polite!" Li Yuechen rushed in without stopping, and Xiao He followed him jogging all the way.
Liu Jiancheng, the Minister of the Imperial Household, was also here. When he saw the princess, he immediately bowed and said, "Your Highness has met the princess!"
"No need to be polite!" Li Yuechen raised his hand and took up the incense burner in his hand, "Excuse me, Supervisor, I want to meet the person who made this."
Liu Jiancheng looked up and nodded: "Your Highness, please wait a moment. I will send someone to call him."
Having said that, he brought Li Yuechen into his office and sent someone to serve her a cup of yogurt.
About ten minutes later, a middle-aged man who was wearing plain linen clothes and looked to be about forty years old walked in stiffly.
People of this generation generally age quickly, and with a beard, they look like little old men.
Li Yuechen couldn't help but sigh in his heart, no wonder he could call himself an old man after he was over 40, it seemed normal in this era.
The man bowed immediately after entering: "Greetings, Princess!"
"No need to be polite." Li Yuechen raised his hand and said, "Do you have a name?"
The other party replied respectfully: "Your Highness, my name is... Wang Gangdan!"
"cough……"
Li Yuechen almost couldn't help laughing, but he quickly rubbed his face, picked up the incense burner in his hand and asked, "Did you make this?"
He looked up and identified it, then nodded slightly: "It was done by Xiao Lao."
"Can you read?" Li Yuechen asked.
"Your Highness, I don't know."
Li Yuechen nodded , but still handed over the blueprint in his hand: "Can this thing be made? If you have any questions, you can ask me now."
Wang Gangdan took the drawing respectfully, opened it and looked at it, then looked at Li Yuechen with some confusion.
"If you don't understand something, just ask!" Li Yuechen said.
"Your Highness, do you want to place this small ball between the two rings?" Wang Gangdan asked.
Li Yuechen nodded: "That's right! But we can't let them collide with each other, so we need to fix them with a ball divider..."
After her explanation, Wang Gangdan understood what she was going to do.
"What kind of materials does Your Highness want to use?" Wang Gangdan asked .
"Steel!" Li Yuechen replied, "And it has to be small enough."
Wang Gangdan raised his head: "How small do you want it, Your Highness?"
Li Yuechen raised his head and the distance between his thumb and index finger was only about one centimeter.
"Such size!"
After saying that, Li Yuechen added: "If you can do it, this princess will personally ask the saint for credit for you! There will be a huge reward! If you can't do it, there will be no punishment!"
Li Yuechen said this to motivate him. If you can't do it, you won't be punished. If you do it, you will be rewarded!
Wang Gangdan nodded: "I am sure about this thing, but it cannot be made in a short time. I wonder if Your Highness is in a hurry?"
"how long it takes?"
"At least half a year." Wang Gangdan replied.
Hearing this answer, Li Yuechen couldn't help but feel a little disappointed, but still nodded: "No problem, as long as you can do it, this princess will keep her word!"
Wang Gangdan saluted: "Then please wait for me, Your Highness!"
…
Walking out of the gold and silver workshop, Li Yuechen took a deep breath. He had originally thought that he could make the bicycle quickly, but now it seems that there is still a long way to go.
Xiao He at the back couldn't help but ask, "Your Highness, what if this thing can't be made?"
"It's not a big deal," Li Yuechen smiled while looking at the sky, "At least this promise will remain valid for as long as I am alive!"
