wind and rain scissors shop

Chapter 66 - 66. The Leverage Principle of Scissors

Seeing that Zheng Yide was suspicious, Zheng Yuansheng persuaded: "Father, there is no need for Chen Shizu to lie to us. You sent Steward Lu to inquire about the news. Didn't you say that the government forbids talking about 'cloth for testing scissors'? Since the government does not have much to say about this matter , there must be something inside."

Zheng Zongde thought for a moment, then nodded: "If that's the case, we can only pass the test by forging scissors with iron."

"Father, the government doesn't want one or two scissors, but many. We use precious iron to make so many scissors. Not to mention the high cost, the raw materials are also difficult to find, which is very unrealistic."

Zheng Zongde sighed: "I know what you said is right, but if you can't get so many good scissors the day after tomorrow, your eldest brother and my second brother and I will still be beaten. What should we do now?"

Zheng Yuansheng pondered for a moment, and then relayed Tian Erya's words: "Father, the scissors procured by the Armed Forces Institute are mainly used in the war in the Northwest. The winter in the Northwest is cold, and the cloth wrapping the soldiers' wounds may be frozen. Use the frozen cloth to test the scissors. Question, it doesn’t make sense to try cutting with oil-soaked cloth. Shall we tell Master Zhou about this matter? Let Master Zhou know to reduce the difficulty of cloth trial?”

"Fourth, I am very pleased that you can see this. However, if we report it to Mr. Zhou, Mr. Zhou may also think that we are sophistry, and he is not willing to listen to our excuses. Why did the government use oil-soaked Cloth and scissors? It's puzzling."

"Father, could it be that this batch of scissors test cloth and oil were put in the same boat, and the oil accidentally spilled on the cloth?"

Zheng Zongde shook his head: "If there is such a mistake, the government will transfer new cloth in time."

Zheng Yuansheng frowned: "In the past, the government only folded a few layers of coarse cloth and tried cutting it. Why did they make a big fuss about the cloth this year? It uses oil and refrigerates it. Why do they do this? There must be a reason."

"Fourth, you are worthy of being a scholar. You are willing to use your brain and see places that others can't think of. You are much better than your brothers."

"Father, it was Tian Erya who reminded me. She was the first to see that there was something wrong with Bu and suspected that it had been tampered with. Let me tell you and ask you to investigate."

"She came up with it? It seems that this country girl is not useless." Zheng Zongde's voice changed, "Is she still pestering you?"

Zheng Yuansheng smiled bitterly: "No, she never pestered me. She is very careful. She keeps a distance from me every day."

"That's good. I'm really afraid that she will cling to you. For the sake of the family's reputation, you will have to give her a title. It has nothing to do with her natal family for the rest of my life. I'm just afraid that you will be laughed at by others." .”

"Father, Tian Erya is very self-respecting and self-loving. She is diligent and studious. She works hard in the blacksmith yard every day. She doesn't want others to support her. She won't stay with our Zheng family forever."

Zheng Zongde was quite surprised: "Fourth, you seem to have bought a lot of his ideas. She knows how to avoid suspicion, and you also know how to avoid suspicion!"

Zheng Yuansheng nodded: "Father, I know it well."

"You're a smart man. Father believes that you will handle it well. That's right. You ask your servants to prepare a batch of coarse cloth according to the government's trial cutting specifications, and our family will test it first."

"Yes." Zheng Yuansheng led the order to go out.

at night.

Tian Erya was reading comic books under the lamp in the corridor.When Zheng Yuansheng walked over, she was still watching intently, and didn't even notice that he was standing behind him, still muttering something.

When Zheng Yuansheng heard that she had changed "slack" into "stage", he couldn't help correcting her.

Tian Erya was startled when she heard the voice, she turned her head and saw him, and hurriedly stood up: "Fourth young master?"

"Haven't slept so late?"

"This comic book is so beautiful, I want to memorize every word on it, and recite it to my brother and my father when I go home."

Zheng Yuansheng nodded, sat aside, and looked up at Xingyue.

Tian Erya continued to read the comic book, and after reading a page or two, she couldn't help turning her head to look at him: "Fourth young master, why don't you go to bed?"

"I can't sleep. New scissors will be handed in the day after tomorrow. I'm really afraid that my father and brothers will be beaten again if the family fails to hand over qualified scissors."

"The scissors forged by Er Ye are of good quality, there should be no problem."

Zheng Yuansheng sighed: "It used to be no problem, but now the government has oiled and refrigerated the cloth used for the scissors test to increase the toughness and thickness of the cloth. It may be very difficult to break the cloth with the scissors."

Tian Erya blinked: "The government has changed the standard for testing scissors this year, there must be a reason for the change!"

"Father sent Steward Lu to inquire about it, but they didn't get any information."

"Fourth young master, will the scissors purchased by the government be used to shear sheepskin or thicker leather when it is sent to the northwest?"

Zheng Yuansheng found it fresh, and asked, "How do you say it?"

Tian Erya explained: "In our north, the winter is very cold, and many elderly people wear sheepskin jackets. I heard people say that it is very difficult to deal with sheepskin in winter. The sheep's body is full of grease, and it is so hard that it can't be cut with scissors." , must use a particularly sharp knife."

An idea flashed in Zheng Yuansheng's mind: "What you said makes sense. Most of the scissors from the Armed Forces Institute are shipped to the northwest or northeast. The northeast and northwest regions are both freezing cold. Now there are mostly Mongols and soldiers from the Qing Dynasty on those two sides. I heard that In the past two years, Mongolian yurts have also been used in the barracks.”

"What is a yurt?"

"It is a house made of wood and felt cloth. I heard that the cloth used by Mongolians is different from ours. It is usually felt or sheepskin. If you use scissors to cut felt cloth or sheepskin outdoors in winter, it will be thick and thick. Oily leather, scissors are really difficult to cut, so many Mongolians use their precious waist knives to do these rough jobs.”

Tian Erya was excited: "Wow! If the scissors we forged meet the requirements of the Mongolians for cutting felt cloth, we can open up the Mongolian herdsmen's market. The scissors will not worry about selling at all! We will make a lot of money."

Zheng Yuansheng laughed: "You are thinking too simply. The scissors forged by many merchants can't cut felt cloth at all."

"What kind of standard is required for shearing felt cloth?"

"A dozen layers of rough cloth are stacked together like in the Armed Forces Institute, soaked in oil and then refrigerated. If you want to meet the standard, you can only use scissors made of iron."

Tian Erya thought for a while: "If we make the scissors head longer and the scissors bigger, the blades of the scissors will be thicker and sharper, and it should be easy to cut that kind of cloth."

Zheng Yuansheng was excited: "What you said makes sense. According to the principle of leverage, the angle of force can be adjusted."

She looked confused: "What is the principle of leverage?"

"The principle of leverage is also called the condition of lever balance. To make the lever balanced, the two moments (the product of the force and the arm of force) acting on the lever must be equal in magnitude. The lever is also called a labor-intensive lever, a labor-saving lever and an equal-arm lever. Scissors are labor-intensive levers. We need to use low-effort levers."

"what?"

Zheng Yuansheng explained: "The lever of labor saving is mainly to save labor and distance."

(End of this chapter)