Chapter 94 Water Conservancy Machinery
Ge Tiangong has been preparing for a long time.
You know, when he was in Liaodong, the official he had named in the Ministry of Industry was already touching the doctor's side. After a few years, there is no problem in becoming a doctor in the Ministry of Industry. Of course, Ge Tiangong's official position is just an additional title.
After all, the position of these industries within Ming Dynasty's control is difficult to determine.
Even after the Shaofu was established, it was the same. Appointments can only be made temporarily by borrowing other official positions. This separation of official positions and dispatches was also very common in ancient times.
For Ge Tiangong, there is no difference at all. As long as he is an official.
After losing his official position in Liaodong, Ge Tiangong has been waiting for a comeback. Although He Xi asked Ge Tiangong to do a lot of things, most of them were repeating the previous things. He Xi had no intention of conferring an official to Ge Tiangong. .
In fact, He Xi did not confer an official position on Ge Tiangong. On the one hand, it was because Ge Tiangong had to be punished for his previous affairs. After all, although Ge Tiangong was not involved in the Liaodong incident, He Xi actually didn't believe it. Just enough is enough.
Ge Tiangong's actions will not be replaced for a long time.
On the other hand, He Xi also wanted Ge Tiangong to correct himself, or at least change his mind from fame and fortune to science and technology.
But as time went by, He Xi also determined that after thirty, many things would be difficult to correct. For example, Ge Tiangong, many of his thoughts were already determined before he met He Xi, and it is difficult to correct them.
Although he is a great expert in technology, He Xi has not found anyone who can replace Ge Tiangong. But he never had much love for science and technology itself.
The reason why he has his current status is that he was the first to come into contact with He Xi and was the first to combine science and technology. However, this advantage can be replaced when many students grow up.
Everyone has their own ambitions, so don't force them.
He Xi was a little helpless, but there was nothing she could do.
This time, Ge Tiangong was asked to take action, naturally relying on his technical talents. At the same time, He Xi has changed his positioning of Ge Tiangong, from a chief expert who takes both science and technology into a technocrat.
The former, although taking into account management work, pays more attention to technology research and development. And the latter, provides technical support for certain things.
Today, dredging Tianjin rivers requires technical support. Before He Xi met Shen Guogong, he had actually discussed it with Ge Tiangong. The simplest technical solution is given. But how to realize it is Ge Tiangong's business.
Of course, in He Xi's eyes, Ge Tiangong, although he had problems of one kind or another, was not the kind of great scientist who could advance the evolution of a version, but as a scientist or engineer, he was absolutely qualified.
There is no big problem in leaving this task to Ge Tiangong. Ge Tiangong himself is also very confident.
More importantly, Ge Tiangong regarded this incident as an opportunity to regain his official position. Only then did he dare to issue a military order.
Things in Tianjin have been arranged.
He Xi has to arrange the following things, but the following things are not so easy to arrange.
Moreover, it was still raining outside, and the sky was covered with water. It seemed that the entire eastern part of Hebei had turned into a swamp. We only know that floods are serious in various places, but we don’t know where it is more serious.
Therefore, what He Xi needs to do is nothing else. Instead, it aims to connect Beijing with other places as quickly as possible.
Only by controlling first-hand information can we make arrangements for the following matters.
As a result, countless people set out from Beijing and took boats to go south. The boat they took was not big. They are all sand boats with very shallow drafts. Wherever there are floods, go there.
What really made progress was Ge Tiangong's work.
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In the south of Beijing, the canal wharf.
This wharf is also one of the supporting projects in Beijing and one of the most important supporting projects.
Without him, the main reason why the prince and He Xi moved Beijing to the east was that the canal could not lead directly to Beiping. The transportation cost is too high. In this case, waterway transportation is particularly important in the construction of the new Beijing city, and the dock, as an important node, is naturally even more important.
Even with this heavy rain, the water level in the canal rose significantly, but it still did not have much impact on the dock. This issue was already considered when the dock was built.
Now several large ships are staying here.
Hundreds of people shouted in unison in the heavy rain, dragging very tall objects. The largest one seemed to be an iron stove lying horizontally, about one foot high. Wrapped in oilcloth, it was dragged bit by bit like ants.
Even more because it’s a rainy day.
Many people slipped and fell to the ground, causing serious injuries, even broken bones and tendons, leaving large blood stains.
Duke Shen was riding on his horse, pointed at these things with his whip, and said, "This is -----"
Ge Tiangong also rode on the horse, bowed and said: "It is not the place to talk in the rain. Please also ask the Duke to come on board with me, and we will talk in detail on the boat."
Duke Shen glanced at Ge Tiangong, then glanced at the boundless rain, and said, "Okay."
Duke Shen and Ge Tiangong quickly boarded the ship.
Shen Guogong could see that this ship was almost the largest ship in the canal. The entire boat is two to three feet wide. If it hadn't been for the heavy rain and the swollen river water, it would not have been easy for the boat to get here.
However, as soon as Shen Guogong got on the ship, he discovered a problem, that is, the entire ship had been disemboweled.
The decks were removed and the masts were gone. The bottom cabin appeared in front of him, and even Shen Guogong saw some water.
Duke Shen turned to look at Ge Tiangong and said nothing. But the implication of Shen Guogong's words was already clear. I want Ge Tiangong to explain.
Ge Tiangong said: "My lord, this is for the steam engine to board the ship."
Duke Shen said: "Get the steam engine on board? What's the use of getting on board?"
It is no secret that steam engines are used on a large scale. Duke Shen still knew a lot about steam engines.
Indeed, today's steam engines cannot be used as power machinery, and they are of little use on ships. It's just that today's steam engines cannot be used as power. It doesn't mean that they can't do other things.
Especially in this situation.
Ge Tiangong said: "The top priority of the government is to dredge the river. Let the accumulated water in Tianjin flow into the sea quickly. The best way is to dig deep into the river bottom. However, the previous method of digging boats and muddling river dragons only relied on manpower, which was too difficult. The effect is not good either. Now we use a steam engine to drive a shovel, go deep into the river bottom, and dig up the sediment on the river bottom. This is the best way."
There were several types of dredger-like vessels in ancient times. They had an iron claw-like object on the bow or stern of the vessel, which was sunk to the bottom of the river and then dragged by the vessel to remove the sediment from the river bottom. There is a roller with many iron bars and chains on it. It is very heavy and can be put down or lifted up. After putting it down, the wheel is turned to hit the bottom of the river, thereby stirring up the sediment on the bottom of the river. etc.
Generally speaking, these use human power or water power. The effect cannot be said to be bad. It can only be said that many times, the design requirements cannot be met.
After all, these engineering ships were built to regulate the Yellow River. It is obvious that the Yellow River has not been regulated.
Nowadays, He Xi doesn't know what kind of effect it will have if steam engines are used to drive these machines, but it is thought to be more efficient than using human power. When it comes to dredging Tianjin rivers, if we can do it faster, one less person will be affected by the disaster and one less person will die.
If it's faster, it's faster.
And in He Xi's view, this also broadens the scope of use of steam engines. We are also preparing for another thing, which is to get the steam engine on board.
After all, the technical requirements for steam ships are much lower than those for trains.
It can even be said that the more he understands the technical details, the more he understands the high requirements of steam locomotives. Apart from anything else, even in the 21st century, there are still many places where steam engine locomotives are still used, which shows that the technical content is not too low.
The marine steam engine can also be made larger. Today's matter is to make technical reserves for future steam engine ships.
In addition, Ge Tiangong assured He Xi that this technology was achievable, and He Xicai strongly supported it.
