Daming: Stealing Chen Yuanyuan at the beginning

Chapter 282
Half an hour later, when Zhu Cijiong and Bi Dengfu hurried from the Military Academy to the Hall of Martial Arts, the emperor had already been waiting for a long time.

In the scorching summer, the two of them were smoking above their heads, their faces were sweating, and the collars of their clothes were wet, making them extremely uncomfortable.

I thought that entering Wuying Palace would provide some relief from the intense heat.Unexpectedly, there was a stove placed in the hall. The flames in the stove were blazing and the heat wave was overwhelming. The two of them felt even more hot and felt like they were going to melt.

"Father, why did you light the stove on such a hot day?" Zhu Cijiong couldn't laugh or cry, and beads of sweat fell from his furrowed brows to his nose.

Bi Dengfu did not dare to complain at all, and lowered his head in silence. However, it was too hot, and his standing posture was a little awkward.

Li Cunming laughed loudly: "I am going to give you two a physics lesson today! Wang Chengen, bring two bowls of sour plum soup and two fans."

Zhu Cijiong drank the cold sour plum soup, shook his fan, and finally felt relieved, and asked: "Father, what is physics class?"

Li Cunming prepared a set of arguments early on, and said in a leisurely manner: "Zhu Xi said that everything has a reason, and scholars should learn to learn from things to know, that is, to get the truth by observing and studying the things in life." Wang Yangming Do you know the story of Gezhuzi?"

"Wang Yangming aspired to be a sage when he was a child. He followed Zhu Xi's teachings and practiced knowledge by investigating things. Once he found a friend, and the two of them watched bamboo all day long, trying to find out the truth contained in bamboo." Bi Dengfu replied. road.

Li Cunming nodded and said: "That's right, this is the story of Wang Yangming's Gezhu. Later, Wang Yangming really became a saint. He was a great talent in both civil and military skills in the Ming Dynasty. He is a character who only emerges once in hundreds of years! Let's learn about it today." Just like Wang Yangming, we don’t use bamboo, but kettles.”

With that said, Li Cunming walked over and put a kettle filled with clean water on the stove.Apart from the fact that the spout of the kettle was stuffed with a wooden stopper, there was nothing unusual about it.

After a while of burning incense, Zhu Cijiong couldn't figure out why. He was drowsy and thought to himself, what big reason could a mere kettle bring? Is his father trying to make fun of us?
At this moment, the water boiled, and hot steam came out from the gap on the edge of the pot lid, making a sharp sound.

"Stand far away!" Li Cunming reminded.

With a bang, the hot air lifted the lid of the pot, and the lid fell to the ground and cracked.The hot air swelled, making the Hall of Martial Heroes even more humid and stuffy.

"Okay, do you understand? What do you think?" Li Cunming asked, clapping his hands and calling two eunuchs in, motioning them to take the stove out.

Zhu Cijiong said: "You see, I understand. I just boiled a pot of hot water. What can you think?"

Li Cunming frowned slightly and looked at Bi Dengfu.

Bi Dengfu said: "Your Majesty blocked the spout of the kettle with a wooden plug. The heat could not be vented out. It accumulated more and more inside the kettle, and then the lid flew off. I am wondering if your Majesty wants to tell us that it is better to remove the blockage than to remove it. No matter whether you are a human being or an official, you should learn how to deal with troubles?"

Li Cunming smiled wryly and said: "Hey, you guys are too deeply influenced by the Four Books and Five Classics, and all the truths in the world have to be thought about how to behave in the world. In fact, it's not that complicated. I just want you to take a look. Water vapor contains Huge energy!"

"Whether it's Zhu Xi or Wang Yangming, what they call studying things to learn is to find the principles of ethics. But what I call studying things to learn is to discover the principles of the existence, movement, change, and development of things themselves, which are related to how people behave and govern the country. It doesn't matter, it's physics."

Bi Dengfu and Zhu Cijiong were thoughtful, but they were more confused, and it was difficult to understand and digest the emperor's theory.

Li Cunming didn't force them to get rid of the limitations of their previous thinking in a short time. He walked to a corner, tore off a piece of red cloth, revealed a very special machine, and greeted him: "This is a steam engine, take a look."

Bi Dengfu and Zhu Cijiong stepped forward, only took a look, and were immediately shocked. They had never seen such a complicated machine!
Li Cunming explained: "The so-called steam engine is to use steam to drive the machine to run. You see, this is a boiler. After the steam is generated in the boiler, it is sent into the cylinder through the pipe. A piston device is installed in the cylinder, and the steam pushes the piston to reciprocate. Then it drives the flat lever to pull up and down, so that the pull rod of the water pump connected to the other end of the flat lever also moves, and the accumulated water in the mine can be pumped out.”

After listening to the emperor's detailed explanation, Bi Dengfu could already picture the movement of a steam engine in his mind. His eyes lit up and he said: "So, this kind of machine is used to pump water in mines. If it is really useful, it can solve a big problem." La!"

"Both Zhang Huangyan and Fang Yizhi wrote to me. They said that current mines generally rely on horse power to turn windlass to drain water, but a coal mine requires hundreds of horses and the cost of drainage is very high. Your Majesty, please give me some time. On that day, after the ministers and craftsmen thoroughly studied the operating principle and manufacturing process of the steam engine, they immediately started production and then transported it to mines in various places for use."

Li Cunming said: "I have also considered this. Our government's demand for coal is increasing. Let's put steam engines into large-scale use as soon as possible to meet the demand for coal from all walks of life."

"However, I specially summoned you, and there are more important things to explain. The steam engine in front of me is not perfect, and there are many defects, especially the thermal efficiency is not high, and it is limited to the application of mine pumping water. I hope you can study and improve it. The steam engine can also be used in other places."

"Father, are you saying that there is still room for improvement in steam engines?" Zhu Cijiong suddenly became excited, his eyes sparkling.

Li Cunming smiled and said: "Why, are you interested? Don't worry, don't think about flying before you learn to walk. What you have to do now is like eating a delicacy, chewing slowly and thoroughly, and savoring it Do you understand how this delicacy was concocted, what materials were used, and how the knife was cooked?"

Bi Dengfu and Zhu Cijiong nodded their heads, and it was obvious that they were eager to have a try, but couldn't hold back their excitement.

Li Cunming smiled slightly and looked at what Zhu Cijiong was holding in his arms: "Is this a sextant? Very good! Prince, you first go to the Academy of Sciences to apply for a patent, and then make a few more and send them to the Navy barracks."

"It's too troublesome to apply for a patent. I just want to study steam engines, so I don't want this patent." Zhu Cijiong stared at the steam engine intently. At this time, the sextant was no longer important to him.

"Nonsense, what should be yours is yours. This patent still needs to be applied for. Besides, researching and improving steam engines is time-consuming and expensive. You can invest the money obtained by using the sextant patent into research activities. Would you like to save me some money?"

Zhu Cijiong thought for a while, ran out, and shouted: "Mr. Bi, I will go to the Academy of Sciences to apply for a patent first, and I will come to the Military Academy to find you at night. From today on, we will work tirelessly, eat, drink, and tinker with the steam engine!"

Bi Dengfu laughed loudly: "You still have to eat, and you still have to sleep. Your Majesty, I take my leave."

Several eunuchs carried the steam engine and followed Bi Dengfu carefully.

Li Cunming stood at the door of Wuying Hall, looking at the backs of Zhu Cijiong and Bi Dengfu as they rushed away, and thought to himself: "It took Watt more than 20 years to improve the Newcomen steam engine. How long will it take the talents of our Ming Dynasty?"

(End of this chapter)