Gong Shuchang originally just said it casually, but he didn't expect Master Uncle Ghost Hand to follow his words.
Bronze ship!
Gong Shuchang's eyes lit up and he said excitedly: "If this method is feasible, the bronze ship made will be much stronger than the wooden ship. When fighting on the water, it will be invincible."
After saying this, Gongshu Chang looked at Jiang Yifeng, "You provide money, Gongshu Jia and Momen provide people, and we build a bronze ship?"
Jiang Yifeng smiled and shook his head, "Your idea is good, but you have ignored a very important issue."
"what is the problem?"
Gong Shuchang and Master Guishou asked at the same time.
"power!"
Jiang Yifeng looked at the two of them, "Today's ships rely on the power generated by sails to move, but have you ever thought that the bronze ship is so heavy, can the sails move it?"
"Even if it can barely drive, the speed is far less than that of a wooden boat. As a result, it will only become an attack target and will not have any effect."
Although iron ships were not invented in ancient China, Jiang Yifeng did not believe that no one in ancient China was aware of the concept of density.
As long as someone is aware of it, there will definitely be an idea to try to build an iron ship.
However, iron ships have never appeared, so he guessed that in addition to the small output of ancient steel and technical limitations, there is also a possibility of driving problems.
The power generated by the sails can drive a wooden ship, but it is completely unfeasible to drive an iron ship that is several or even dozens of times heavier than a wooden ship.
"this……"
After hearing this, Gongshu Chang and Master Guishou also realized that they had not thought carefully.
"certainly……"
Jiang Yifeng suddenly grinned, "If you can build a steam engine, you can make ships no longer rely on sails. Then I can spend money to build an iron ship for fun."
The two of them were so motivated that there was no way he could disappoint.
"Thank you Mr. Jiang!"
Gong Shuchang and Master Guishou quickly thanked him, and then asked cautiously: "Master Jiang, your words are unfounded, why don't you write us a deed?"
It's not that they don't trust Jiang Yifeng, it's that Jiang Yifeng is so good at playing rogue. His words are like water thrown out and will disappear in a few days.
"Deed?"
Jiang Yifeng was stunned for a moment, then said with a smile: "Two seniors, I feel sad when you say such things. We have been together for such a long time, can't you still believe me?"
Gongshu Chang said earnestly: "It's just that we've been together for a long time, so I don't believe you. Just take the past few days as an example..."
"Okay, okay!"
Jiang Yifeng saw that Gong Shuchang was about to expose his background and quickly interrupted him, "When I have time, I will write you a deed to the head office. The most important thing now is to experiment with hot air balloons."
"Oh well!"
Gongshu Chang originally wanted to refuse.
After all, according to his understanding, if Jiang Yifeng could not write the deed on the spot, he might continue to cheat.
However, Jiang Yifeng is the sponsor after all and has already promised him, so he can't be pushy. The worst he can do is push him a few more times in the future.
Then, everyone's attention returned to the hot air balloon.
In fact, it is very unwise to build a hot air balloon in Dazhou.
The main reason is material limitations.
For example, in the hot air balloons of the past, the air bags were made of high-temperature resistant nylon material, and the fuel was propane or liquefied petroleum gas.
But in Dazhou, none of these things exist, and he doesn't know how to make them.
Therefore, he could only use other things to replace these materials.
The nylon material can be made of silk with good airtightness, and animal fat can be applied on the surface to improve heat resistance. For fuel, ethanol can be used instead.
The problem is, these two materials have too many drawbacks and are not safe at all.
but……
Even so, he still did it.
Of course, he did this for a purpose, which was to help with transportation.
Nowadays, the mines in Meishan are getting deeper and deeper, and the slopes are getting steeper. It takes a lot of effort to pull up hundreds of kilograms of coal using oxcarts.
If a hot air balloon could be invented and combined with oxcart traction, the transportation capacity could at least be doubled.
"How long will it take to build the hot air balloon?"
Jiang Yifeng looked at Zhang Litang who was still busy and couldn't help but ask.
"Soon!"
Zhang Litang looked at the drawings for a few times and said, "The airbag is almost sewn. I am considering applying animal fat to increase the airtightness and heat resistance of the airbag."
Jiang Yifeng thought for a while, shook his head and said, "Don't think about this for the first time. Let's see if it can fly first. If it can't, it's a waste of time."
"yes!"
Zhang Litang had no choice but to nod.
Then, Gong Shuchang, Yao Chen, and Uncle Guishou also stepped forward to help. It took them two hours to finally complete the simplified version of the hot air balloon.
How simplified is it?
Let’s just describe it this way. It’s similar to the Kongming lanterns we played with when we were kids. It doesn’t even have a hanging basket.
In addition, the color of the silk used in the airbag is different. From a distance, it looks like a beggar’s clothes with patches, making it difficult to look directly at it.
After doing this, Jiang Yifeng took over the fuel he had prepared long ago, which was a large barrel of high-concentration alcohol.
Gongshu Chang sniffed, looked at Jiang Yifeng and asked, "Is this a bar?"
"Um!"
Jiang Yifeng found a clay pot and poured the ethanol into it while explaining: "This is the wine I have purified. It has a high concentration, so it can burn."
Hearing this, Master Gongshu Chang, Yao Chen, and Master Guishou had expressions of astonishment on their faces.
Because in their view, these wines are the same as water, and water and fire are incompatible, they subconsciously believe that these water-like liquids cannot burn.
Seeing the shocked expressions of the three people, Jiang Yifeng did not explain.
It's not that he doesn't want to explain, it's just that he doesn't know how to speak. He can't write down the molecular formulas of ethanol and water to them.
The key problem is that even with the molecular formula, he only remembers the molecular formula of water, and has long forgotten the molecular formula of ethanol.
…
After Jiang Yifeng filled the clay pot with ethanol, he found a thick hemp rope as a wick and inserted it into the clay pot.
Using a fire stick to light the wick, the huge alcohol lamp really started to burn.
"Successful."
Jiang Yifeng breathed a sigh of relief and provoked everyone to tie the jar under the air bag.
As the alcohol lamp continued to heat the gas in the air bag, the air bag inflated at an extremely slow speed and became larger and larger.
However, this process was extremely slow, and it took almost half an hour for the air bag to fully inflate.
"It's flying."
At this moment, Zhang Litang suddenly shouted excitedly.
Hearing this, everyone looked over and saw that the hot air balloon was really slowly leaving the ground. It did not continue flying until it flew dozens of meters into the air and was caught by a rope.
Although several people had already known the principle of hot air balloons, they were still dancing with excitement when they saw the hot air balloons actually flying.
Until a gust of wind blew by, the huge unfixed alcohol lamp kept swinging and accidentally ignited the air bag.
