From Chief to Ball

Chen Jian nodded quickly, thought for a while and said, "Since this is the case, you can do something else before the boring machine and weights and measures are completed."

"what's up?"

"Use the skills of files, brass, lost wax, soldering, and reeds to make a few gadgets. I will think about what to do, but they are all impractical, can be done by hand, and cannot be copied Ingenious thing."

"What's the use?"

"I want to open a world expo, through your hands and these exquisite models, let more people see the future, see that the future I promised or described is not out of reach, and let some people open up earlier Open your eyes to see the world 50 years from now."

"Why do you have to look at 50 years from now?"

"Shock."

"Why not wait 50 years to see it?"

"late."

Chapter No.17 Science is making progress secretly (End)

Seeing that Chen Jian had made up his mind, the craftsmen all came alive.Many of them are proficient in these gadgets, especially the "apprentices" who are learning from them are a group of basic education, many things can be quantified and calculated, and all kinds of whimsical ideas In the past, it could only be used for self-entertainment, but now someone pays them to do it, so the mood is naturally different.

The so-called union of free people, at this time, is not religious abstinence, not saint-like morality, but these craftsmen or the carpenter emperor who may appear - in the case of no worries about food and clothing, all the energy Put them all in the industry you love, there is nothing better than this to give full play to the creativity of a free person.

The only thing that the craftsmen didn't understand was why Chen Jian wanted to hold such an exhibition, and who was he referring to when he said it was shocking or late.

Chen Jian thought of an excuse, found a small stool and sat down, took out a cigarette purse from his arms, and offered everyone a handful of expensive Spanish tropical tobacco.

In the smog, Chen Jian hid his face in the gray smoke and said: "This time I went to sea, I saw a lot of things, such as some gods believed by other countries. They described the ideal world in the book. The world is full of milk and honey, and everyone can post a lot of female-like objects for venting. I am shocked, and many people are also shocked. After the shock, they either believe it or not."

"However, I also paint a future in public. What will the future look like? It's always a little tasteless to rely on imagination alone. We are a group of very pragmatic people, so the first thing we describe in the future is to solve the problem of 'everywhere. Flowing milk and honey 'from where? This can be simply called from where."

"Then, we have to describe what the city of the future will look like. Just like when the dignity marched, the future described by those people is actually just a reappearance of the past. With the dream of scattered land, small workshops, and rural wishes ——I don’t think it’s qualified to call it the future, but it’s hard for people to imagine what the future world will look like, so our propaganda here is always overwhelmed by them. Since it’s the future, it can be referred to as where to go.”

"Where do you come from and where do you go? These two problems must be solved, and we have been solving this problem. But now it is too far away from the future, so I can only rely on your skillful hands to knock out a miniature future, a A miniature future with thick smoke, a future with a blueprint of a miniature big workshop and big factory with smoke."

"It's like...the world that those people talk about is full of milk and honey, but our world is tangible, and there is hope in our lifetime. Or the hope of children in their lifetime, there is always a real hope. "

"So, this matter is really important."

The craftsmen nodded again and again with the feeling of dizziness after swallowing clouds and fog, and asked Chen Jian some knowledge about going to sea, and finally returned to this question.

"Mr. Chen, we all understand what you said, but what will the future look like? This needs to be known by someone, and then we can tell us to knock out these exquisite little things according to the plan. Or should we use our imagination and play freely?" to our imaginations, and then displayed among the grotesque black smoked brass and wrought iron?”

Chen Jian thought about these artisans, apprentices, or some romantic literary and artistic workers who have accepted the enlightenment of nature at this time, and their brains must not stop.Whether it is models, blueprints, imagination or novels, there will always be an extremely weird style, and he can imagine this style: black smoke, steel, and the kind of newborn calf who is not afraid of tigers and thinks that he can control everything The pride of conquering nature.

From a scientific point of view, this and the next hundred years are certainly not the end of science.

But from the perspective of feelings, this time and the next hundred years will definitely be the most romantic time for people.

Begin to understand the world systematically from scratch, but have not touched the deeper and unattainable realm, so the nascent sun-like feelings will not be replicated.Even when science is so developed that it is ridiculous to look back at everything we have seen in the past century, there will be no such boundless romance, because it lacks the contrasting feelings that have been suppressed by cruel nature for thousands of years and suddenly turned around.

Just like these craftsmen in front of them, many of the things they imagined and designed may be useless in the future.For example, things like perpetual motion machines will emerge in endlessly, and may even consume a lifetime of hard work by craftsmen, and even delay the diligent pursuit of several generations.

However, Chen Jian didn't want to kill these things, at most he would provide some of the ideas he was familiar with, and the rest depended on the craftsmen's free play.

As for what kind of thing is the most shocking, Chen Jian already has a general idea in his mind.Industrial production of many things is absolutely impossible at this time, but the models or concepts of many things can be made by craftsmen.

For example, buildings with miniature cement masonry and iron bar prefabricated board structures, expensive ceramic flush toilets that cannot be mass-produced at this time, mill waterwheels driven by steam models, heating with alcohol or kerosene, made with brass and refined iron files Small steam trains, miniature hydrogen airships driven by clockwork springs, paddle steamers driven by clockwork springs without sails, rolling bearings with double-layer clips hand-beaten, hand-blown and hand-pumped charcoal with a short life Filament light bulbs, electromagnet ticking concepts at close range, wired telegraphy, capacitors that can electrify people, Leyden bottles...

These things can be made by craftsmen at this time, including the mysterious-sounding steam train model, which can be completed with a file, but it is as small as the size of an arm.

The difficulty is not the concept or the miniature model, but the mass production and sustainability.In fact, as long as you understand the principles, many things here can be made by craftsmen in the Tang and Song Dynasties with guidance, regardless of the cost, and they may be more exquisite.

These things not only describe a heaven-like, concrete and seemingly achievable future, but also clear up the original deep-rooted concepts, and rely on unique skills and ingenuity to impact the boundaries of people's imagination at this time.Similarly, it is also for the sociological ideology platform organized by one’s own party, using this miniature model of the world of the steam age to conceive future life, instead of using small workshops, small producers and perfect patriarchal guilds as blueprints to conceive future society .

Maybe these are just toys, but compared to the descriptions in books, three-dimensional things are more likely to make people feel shocked.

Facing these eager craftsmen, Chen Jian replied: "There must be a plan, but also freedom. I will think about some things. After you are done, you still have to use your imagination to make something you really like. "

"How long will this take?"

"There must be enough time, but I have to prepare now. I'm thinking about three years. After three years, I will invite people from all over the world from east to west, from south to north to watch. I understand, you can fight without a fight." It is the best way to defeat others. What they don’t understand can make them think they want to understand. It’s just that those things can’t be transformed, and they can only start to accumulate and try now. Perhaps in the eyes of many people, spending a lot of money in exchange for A bunch of playthings three years later, but don’t think so, people will always remember your name when the things you conceive or knock out become practical reality in the future.”

Craftsmen think about it, many things can be done in three years, but what Chen Jian gives has always been beyond people's imagination, and it is not known whether it can be done in three years.

Chen Jian didn't say what to do at this time. Many things still need to be carefully planned and pondered after returning home. At this time, he just let the craftsmen know what they might do.

After leaving here, Chen Jian also went to look at the rest of the places, and the overall development is not bad.There is no doubt that planned and directed development is faster than capital needs or the accident of craftsman's hobby.

Such as precise weights and measures, this was requested by Chen Jian. It is said that these things were not needed before, so few people tried to do it.This is the basis for many things in the future, just like the bottleneck of the nautical clock and the steam cylinder at this time, the meaning of accurate measurement also emerged.

But if you want to say that there is no such thing as a sudden light that can change the world immediately, it can only be said that it is constantly improving, and it is getting closer and closer to breaking through that bottleneck, but the closer it is, the more it feels like stagnation.

In general, the five most important things have been moving forward in the past few years, but most of them have not yet been finalized.

The only thing that could be considered final was the iron pump blower that replaced the original wooden box blower.

Compared with the bellows whose technology is quite mature, this kind of pump blower does not have much innovation in technology.The proper structure was completed hundreds of years ago when the bellows were smelting iron and copper. What needs to be done now is to transform the wooden box into an iron pump that can withstand higher wind pressure.

Valves, air intake, and air outlet, these technology accumulations with bellows have been perfected; the centrifugal pump type is not possible at this time, in fact, this is a large-scale iron pump with higher wind pressure, smoother flow, and more air supply. Water-driven blower.

Although there is no earth-shattering progress, the role of this thing cannot be underestimated for the growing demand for iron at this time.

Its appearance means that more iron can be produced every day, a larger pig iron blast furnace, a higher furnace temperature, and more sufficient oxygen supply.

If the steam engine, nautical clock and the like belong to a kind of progress from scratch, the pump blower is more like another improved progress that has been taken for granted by replacing materials for this group.

The former is the accumulation of technology until the world changes.The latter is to improve the scope of change based on actual improvement.Chen Jian is convinced that science and technology are really advancing secretly, and he is also convinced that the day to break through that bottleneck is getting closer and closer.

Chapter 18 Overseas Investment

Assuming that the amount of iron used will increase in the future, the application of this new type of large-scale blower is imminent, and the first large-scale coke pump-blown pig iron blast furnace must be in the hands of its own people.

In the future, there will be more and more places to spend money, and the importance of steel will become higher and higher. It is a must to monopolize the pig iron in Fujian County or the coast or gain an absolute advantage.

The technical conditions have matured, and it is wise to prepare in advance while the iron consumption has not suddenly increased.

After confirming the fact that the iron pump blower was already practical, Chen Jian took advantage of the little time left before leaving Min county for the capital, discussed with the people in the organization, and started preparations first.

If it is just a large-scale iron smelting workshop, it is not a big problem, but it is necessary to make arrangements for other things in advance, so there will be more noise.

First, Chen Jian paid a courtesy visit to Nan'an Coal Mining Group in the eyes of outsiders.

Due to the identities of both parties, the relationship is somewhat delicate.The canal is in Chen Jian's hands, and the coal bosses dare not provoke it.The miners' association is basically controlled by the Mexican Party, and the labor and consumer cooperatives or various grassroots cooperation similar to trade unions or anarchism models are also constantly going on. In addition, some technical mine talents are trained in batches by Lanxiang Technical School. As well as the surge in coal consumption and the profits after the monopoly, the conflict between the two parties has not intensified.

After confirming that the coke and coal were guaranteed, Chen Jian selected an address in the upper reaches of the Min River where he planned to build an iron smelting workshop in the future, and calculated the distance and cost.

Later, Chen Jian used a small part of the shares of Nanyang Company that he was about to sell to exchange for several small-scale iron smelting workshops. Not too many people were affected by the orchid craze a few years ago.