Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 222 Paddle Steamer

The large output of potassium nitrate had a profound impact on the East Coast Republic.Because this substance can be heated to decompose nitrogen oxides, and these nitrogen oxides can react with sulfur dioxide (obtained by burning sulfur) and water to produce sulfuric acid. This is the predecessor and main principle of the lead chamber method to produce sulfuric acid.

By the same principle, these oxides of nitrogen (mainly nitrogen dioxide) can dissolve in water and react with water to form nitric acid.With sulfuric acid, it can be reacted with table salt to produce hydrochloric acid and soda ash; with soda ash, caustic soda can be produced; with nitric acid, nitrocellulose can be produced (this is more difficult); and so on...

A kind of potassium nitrate that can be produced on a large scale can make people produce so many important basic chemical products, which makes people sigh that chemistry is so wonderful.Of course, the above methods for preparing various three acids and two bases have only been successful in laboratory conditions, and there is no case for large-scale industrial production, and the executive committee needs to invest a lot of money and manpower in the production process. design and research.

Considering the current limited manpower and material resources of the East China Republic, as well as the many other ongoing projects, the funds that can be distributed to the chemical industry must be limited, so the process of industrial production of three acids and two alkalis is bound to be very long.Moreover, judging from the limited industrial categories of the East Coast Republic at this stage, at most there is not a small demand for soda ash (for papermaking, leather processing, dyes), and the demand for other products is really limited, so there is no Such a strong impulse to build a three-acid and two-alkali production line.

……

Just when the local industry and agriculture were booming, on January 1, Guo Zili, who had just returned to the mainland, quickly received a reply from the executive committee and the military department.Before that, he had submitted a risk warning report on the establishment of a colony in the Antsiranana region of Madagascar, which received the attention of the executive committee and the military department.After a period of discussion, the higher-ups believed that his suggestions and warnings were very pertinent, so the Executive Committee decided to suspend the establishment of colonies there until the medical department could provide enough anti-malarial drugs.

In addition to the reply from the executive committee, Guo Zili also received a reply from the military department.The military department's reply was rather vague and ambiguous, neither saying yes nor no, but Guo Zili still understood the military department's intention at once.This reply should come from the Minister of the Navy, Wang Qinian. He hinted between the lines that Guo Zili could capture a large number of indigenous people in South Africa and develop them in the Antsiranana area, so as to reduce the excessive death of people on the east coast that may be caused by the development. Rate.

Guo Zili sighed, and put both replies into his bag.In fact, he was opposed to the hasty colonization of the Antsiranana area at this stage in his heart, but the leaders at the top were so overjoyed that they couldn't help expressing it. Well, let's see when the time comes, and take one step at a time.However, no matter whether we build this colony or not, the route to the Ottoman Empire must be explored. At present, only the section to Mozambique Island has been completed, and there is still a long voyage waiting to be completed, and this is still up to him. Zi Li came to take the lead.

Guo Zili's Spanish wife brought him a brand new set of uniforms for summer naval officers, and looked at him with resentful eyes.That's right, I just came back from wandering in the sea for a few months, I haven't rested for half a month, and I'm about to set off again, no one would be happy about it.

Guo Zili gave his wife an affectionate hug and kissed his two little children, then turned over and rode on the horse drawn by the guards, and headed towards the dock of Dingyuan Fort under the morning glow rising from the eastern horizon.

Dingyuanbao Wharf opened a regular flight to the North City of Dongfang Port a long time ago.There are two flights a day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. At this moment, Guo Zili and his guards are taking the morning flight.

It was around eight o'clock in the morning, and there were a dozen or so residents scattered on the pier who were about to take a boat.Most of these people are farmers nearby. Some of them are visiting relatives in the county, some are shopping, and some are selling their own products.After seeing Guo Zili's arrival, these people all gave envious eyes, especially after seeing the rank of lieutenant on Guo Zili's shoulder, their eyes were mixed with a trace of awe.

Nowadays, the status of soldiers at the grassroots level is getting higher and higher. Their income is not only higher than that of farmers who cultivate the land, but even not much worse than those of factory technicians.The income of many military officers is no worse than those of small workshop owners, and their social status and influence are far superior to them. In many villages, the right to speak at the grassroots level is often in the hands of the soldiers.

A small steamer approached, belching black smoke and white steam.Guo Zili was not surprised at all. This is a 10-horsepower small inland river steamship that has just been trial-produced through the joint efforts of the Ministry of Communications and the No. 10 Machinery Factory.The boat is not big, and there is a paddle wheel on each side of the boat, so it is called a steamer.The ship is driven by a 6-horsepower steam engine, and its speed reached more than [-] knots during the trial in the relatively static Big Fish Lake, which can be described as extremely fast.

From Dingyuanbao Wharf to the county seat, the short voyage of less than 20 kilometers can be completed in less than two hours, which is more than twice as fast as sailing.What's even more commendable is that this kind of ship not only needs a small number of sailors, but also doesn't need to consider the influence of wind direction like a sailboat, and can basically maintain a certain speed in different seasons and different wind directions.As far as inland water transportation is concerned, the superiority of steamships almost completely surpassed those inland shallow water transport ships that had been widely used before.

Be aware that many of the east coast rivers flow very slowly, especially the new canals.If the wind is not in the right direction, many times the boats will not be able to pass at all, and sometimes even need to be pulled by the trackers to pass.The appearance of the ship perfectly solved this problem. This kind of ship driven by water does not need to look at the face of the wind direction at all. Perhaps its only enemy is itself - its steam boiler full of flaws and its quality is very suspicious. wheel blades.

"It's a ship again!" Falcao, Guo Zili's guard, sighed in disappointment, and muttered: "This kind of ship is very unreliable, and the crews are poorly maintained. It breaks down every few days. I hope There will be no problems during the two-hour flight today."

Guo Zili patted him on the head amusedly, and said, "Go and store the horse, hurry up, I'll wait for you on the boat." After speaking, Guo Zili stepped onto the chair with his briefcase in his hand. Paddle boats by the pier.

There is a large gap between the paddle steamer and the trestle, which is covered with wooden boards and is wobbly. People who pass by must be very careful not to fall into the water.This is also a shortcoming of the paddle steamer. The paddle wheel is installed outside, and it is easy to bump into something, which will cause the paddle wheel to be damaged.I heard that a group of people from the Ministry of Communications and the Shipping Institute are studying whether to replace the paddle wheels with propeller blades, but obviously, the processing of propeller blades is not a small challenge for people on the east coast.

Taking the several machine tools with original design and extremely poor precision currently owned by the East Coast Republic, it is really a problem to process a qualified marine propeller.Even if it is barely processed, a lot of energy will be spent on grinding and cutting in the later stage, and it is completely unfeasible for large-scale industrial production.For the tens of hundreds of inland water transport ships that travel through various waters in the country, the inability to mass-produce them means extremely high costs, and this has basically sentenced this technology to death.

But knowing that the paddle wheel technology will eventually be eliminated, how could the people who travel through the world allow the propeller technology to be buried.They are currently repeatedly looking for other methods of processing the propeller, such as casting a rough embryo with a mold at one time, and then grinding it; for example, simply using a large hydraulic machine to slowly knock out the propeller blades, etc.In short, this technology has to come slowly, there is no rush.As for the present stage, these ships should use bulky paddle wheels first.

After more than a dozen passengers boarded the ship, the workers on the pier moved more than a dozen barrels of fishery products into the cabin, making the whole ship full of a strong fishy smell.After these years of over-exploitation, the fishery resources of Big Fish Lake have shown a clear trend of depletion. Not only is the production of fish and shrimp caught every month gradually decreasing, but even their size is much worse than before.After discovering this situation, the government of Dingyuan Township urgently stopped all fishing activities of the fishing team in Dayu Lake to give Dayu Lake time to recuperate. At the same time, it also began to study and promote the technology of raising fish and shrimp in cages.

The dozens of barrels of fresh prawns in the cabin in front of me were bred by the fishing team in the Big Fish Lake in cages, and now they are going to be transported to Dongfanggang County by steam express boat for sale.

Seeing that no one was on board, the staff on the pier pulled the small entrance and exit door, and then waved the flag in their hands vigorously a few times.Seeing this, the pilot on board began to order the boiler room to be pressurized slowly, and the black smoke from the chimney on the ship suddenly became thicker.

Guo Zili stood on the deck, black soot fell on his light blue military uniform, and a gust of escaping steam blew in his face, making his hair wet.

"The coal ash is relatively large, so the quality of this coal is not good after all." Guo Zili said to himself, "The coal in the Ping'an Coal Mine is said to have a very low combustion value, and it also contains a lot of impurities and dust, after all, it is not suitable for power. Coal. I don’t know if we want to develop coal in South Africa in the future?”

After the boiler was pressurized for a while, the steamship finally started to move.The paddle wheel blades on both sides of the ship's side also began to rotate slowly, rattling the water flow, and the reaction force returned by the water flow drove the ship forward.

(End of this chapter)