Begging in late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 724
In the last few months of the 21st year of Chongzhen, the topic that occupied the entire empire was the counterattack against the Mughal Empire. Today, where the fleet marched and when the official exchange of fire, major newspapers reported extensively every day. This patriotic enthusiasm also became more and more intense as the war was unprecedentedly stirred up.

As a result, some truly trans-epochal news were submerged under the bottom line. First, the railway from Jingzhou to Hanyang was officially completed, which was suppressed under the subheading. Soon after, the steam engine of the Imperial Academy of Sciences came out, and no one paid attention to it. Song Qingshu himself was very depressed.

The matter of the steam engine is indeed quite depressing, because it was Fang Yizhi, Song Qingshu's former political opponent and the fourth son of the late Ming Dynasty, who made the mess.

Yingtian Imperial Palace, Academy of Sciences compound, a circle of rails are also fixed on the ground like Hanyang Iron Works, a big guy weighing several tons stands on a huge chimney, lying on the rails like a rhinoceros, behind, several cars are full of Stone carriages are attached at the back.

The principle of the steam engine is actually quite simple. Using steam as power, it continuously rushes into a sealed cylinder under high pressure. The cylinder has two inlets, and a huge piston divides it into two halves. When the left cylinder intakes air, it will The piston pushes to the right, and drives the lever connected to the cylinder to recede to the right. When the left cylinder is closed and the right cylinder takes in air, the piston is pushed back to the left, driving the lever to return to the left.

In this way, between advancing and retreating, there will be a steady stream of uniform power, driving the wheels of the train to roll up and down under the arms of the steam.

Under the order of several officers, the driver lit the stove, and the red-hot coals quickly boiled the water in the water tank, and the steaming heat immediately pushed the heavy engine, showing its god-like power from the industrial age Come.

A puff of black smoke billowed into the blue sky, and with the whistling of the siren, the heavy guy pulled the several hundred tons carriage, and began to run faster and faster, and finally flew up, even the horses seemed unable to keep up up.

But looking at this thing, a large group of experts specially hired by the Academy of Sciences showed dissatisfaction on their faces. Fang Yizhi's steam engine was not much improved in structure from theirs. The only difference was the piston. The Imperial Academy of Sciences used cowhide, while Fang Yizhi Yizhi actually used rubber.

The Fang family clamored for retro etiquette, but in fact they were not far behind when it was time to make a fortune. In the first sailing of the Mayflower to the American continent, the Fang family, which was still half of the family property in Huguang, invested 14 yuan. Two, it turned out to be nearly ten times the return. When the boat came back, it brought back more than 100 million taels of income.

In particular, the guy from the Fang family who went with the boat bought a kind of extremely elastic ball and hundreds of barrels of gum sap to make this kind of ball during the transaction with the Portuguese. Fang Yizhi is also willing to study it. Then he discovered the optical principle of light, fat and thin, and learned the research and development goals of Song Qingshu Academy of Sciences. This guy who was always willing to do nothing started to study it at his own expense. In lieu of the Pistons, the results have been surprisingly good.

No matter how suffocated the scientists under him are when they can't get the bonus, and Fang Yizhi pinches his waist so awesomely, watching the speeding locomotive, Song Qingshu is so happy that he wants to dance, with this dark and throbbing heart , This is the real beginning of industrialization!
"Mr. Fang has made great contributions to the state. He is an official. It is recorded that this invention patent belongs to Fang Yizhi. According to the Imperial Patent Law, the ownership period is 100 years. Regardless of the empire or individuals, anyone who produces and uses steam engines must purchase the patent from Mr. Fang... "

"My lord the cabinet!"

Song Qingshu hadn't finished his excited words, but Fang Yizhi interrupted him by waving his hand pretendingly, and said to him with his head held high.

"Students make this machine to prove to the adults that this amazing skill is just a plaything in front of the scholars. The real governance of the country still requires the modest words and righteousness of the saints. Not everyone falls into the eyes of money like the cabinet adults. I hope adults can make mistakes!"

"Bold, don't be rude to the commander in chief!"

If the sarcasm of this literati was really sharp, the angry Xiaobao immediately cursed, but the scolded Song Qingshu was not angry at all, instead he smashed his eyes dumbfounded, and asked in surprise.

"Mr. Fang, this patent fee is quite a lot, you, you really don't want it?"

"A student's clothes can keep him warm, his food can satisfy his hunger, and ten thousand taels of gold is like floating clouds to me. This strange and obscene skill is a treasure in the eyes of the cabinet adults, but it is worthless to me!"

Pretending to be here, Song Qingshu couldn't help giving a thumbs up, and finally bowed cooperatively: "Mr. Gao Yi, I'm ashamed of myself!"

Unaware of my pretentiousness, within 100 years, the Fang family lost nearly [-] million taels of silver in income. The steam engine became popular, and it used it as the most powerful mechanical power before the appearance of the internal combustion engine to promote the industrialization of Daming, benefiting almost every field. , but the Fang family didn't get a penny of the patent money, and the descendants almost scolded him to death, and with the joy of pretending to be successful, Fang Yizhi left the palace with a smile on his face, and immediately surrounded him by a large group of newspaper reporters. There are also sketch painters sketching his handsome and tall image quickly for him.

"Marshal, he is just a corrupt scholar, or a remnant of the Donglin Party, why are you being so polite to him?"

After sending Fang Yizhi away, Xiao Bao asked again in puzzlement, but Song Qingshu, who was listening, looked eagerly at the speeding locomotive, smiled and shook his head.

"You don't understand, this thing, let alone bowing to Fang Yizhi, even if it is to give him tens of millions of gold, this commander is willing, the value of this thing is limitless!"

"By the way, how do you tell this thing to stop?"

Feeling emotional for a moment, looking at the locomotive that had already run N circles and the coal shoveler on it who was confused, Song Qingshu suddenly scratched his head in a daze, and blurted out, Xiaobao and craftsmen from various science academies looked at each other immediately.

…………

Fang Yizhi's steam locomotive is just a prototype. An exhaust brake is added to it to quickly empty the steam. At the same time, a locking function is added to the wheels. It can be regarded as the two important things of parking and braking. The steam engine The importance to Daming is self-evident. Song Qingshu stayed here for more than a day and returned to his official residence very late.

But here, a guest has already been waiting for a long time.

"Master, why are you here!"

Just after changing clothes, Song Qingshu blurted out in the living room.

The one who came was really his master, the missionary Tang Ruowang!Many of the most useful things in the Ming Dynasty today, such as cement, surgical traumatology, and many firearms, military postures were not brought by Song Qingshu, but translated by Tang Ruowang from the Holy See, ancient books that once belonged to the ancient Roman Empire, and Some of the books he and Tang Ruowang jointly translated also opened up Daming people's first impression of the West. It was no longer as simple as the barren land of the past. The West also had a powerful civilization, and many people's sense of urgency was aroused.

However, although Tang Ruowang has made great contributions, he is not very popular in the country. This old guy is still a missionary after all, and his goal is to preach. His book "Summary of Tianxue" a while ago even promoted the Eurocentric theory to the world. Ultimately, belittling the Four Books and Five Classics is just a branch of Catholicism, believing that the Chinese Fuxi clan is the descendant of the Deya seedlings after the creation of human beings by the Western Gods, in an attempt to include Chinese civilization after European civilization.

This caused a fierce social backlash. Even the emerging bourgeoisie of Ming Dynasty believed in Confucianism!For a while, anti-religious sentiments in Jiangnan were high. If Daming did not punish crimes with words, did not spread rumors, and stated his views normally without guilt, Tang Ruowang would have lost several heads. The small publications published are also like the Internet trolls of later generations, spraying him for nothing.

This kind of spray war has lasted for half a year, Song Qingshu really hasn't seen Tang Ruowang visit him for a long time.

But looking at Song Qingshu's surprised eyes with a hint of kindness, Tang Ruowang stuttered, and it took him a long time to reveal his intention of coming.

"Well, Brother Nicholas Song, His Majesty the Pope has sent envoys here. We have arrived, we have arrived in Songjiang. I hope you can receive him with high etiquette!"

"pope!"

Just sitting on the chair, Song Qingshu stood up again in amazement. Faintly, he seemed to have grasped some of the reasons why the Ming International was so tense recently, but he was not sure. After walking around with his arms folded, Song Qingshu With a serious face again, he hurriedly walked in front of Tang Ruowang.

"Father Tang, we have been friends since Xi'an, tell me! The purpose of the Pope's envoys, I will decide whether to meet them or not!"

Looking at Song Qingshu's urgent eyes and serious expression, Tang Ruowang's wrinkled forehead under the red hair once again dripped down big drops of sweat...

(End of this chapter)