Chapter 1637: Steam engine

A few pounds of salt or a few pounds of sugar can be exchanged for a strong living person. Who would dare to believe this matter in later generations? But in this era, Timbuktu really happened.

It ’s no wonder that Uncle Black ’s Mali Empire and Songhai Empire look like flowers, but in fact, the country ’s technology is extremely backward, and it does not even know how to make salt.

Moreover, these two so-called empires did not know how to smelt metal. Iron and copper were also brought in by camels from North African bearded men.

In such a country, the level of science and technology is not as good as that of China's Shang Dynasty. After all, the bronze technology of the Shang Dynasty was very developed. In these two so-called empires, all metal weapons are imported. Without North African bearded merchants, they would have to play stone weapons like the Aztec empire in Mexico.

However, God is too partial to these two so-called empires. Although their technological level is far inferior to that of the slave dynasty and Shang dynasty thousands of years ago, they have gold!

Gold is so stable because of its nature. Most of the so-called gold mines are in a metallic state and do not require smelting and reduction. Therefore, the black uncles only need to wash the sands in the river to get the sands. Moreover, there seems to be a lot of gold in West Africa.

Therefore, although these two West African empire technologies are extremely backward and reliable with rich gold resources, some Arab beards in North Africa are willing to lead camels and come across the Sahara to trade with them.

Moreover, the harsh climate of the Sahara Desert has also prevented the Arab countries of North Africa from conquering them. Because the conditions for the army to cross the Sahara are too bad.

In addition, the most important thing is that the oasis along the desert trade road cannot provide the fresh water needed by the army. Therefore, even when the Saad dynasty of Morocco conquered the Songhai Empire in 1590, it only sent 4,000 troops. Because, if there are too many people, several small oasis in the desert cannot provide enough fresh water ...

Therefore, Marin is also worried. Because, even if he exchanged enough black slaves in Timbuktu, there was no way to bring too many black slaves to Ayoun conveniently and safely. Even if you follow the camel team, you can take a few hundred people at most. No matter how much, the fresh water brought by the camels is not enough.

"Ah, forget it, prepare a few more camels!"

...

In fact, from Ayoun to Timbuktu, the straight-line distance is only about a thousand kilometers, which is equivalent to the distance from Paris to Madrid. If the train can pass, even if the speed is only 30 to 40 kilometers per hour, it will arrive in two or three days.

The problem is that the current research progress of trains is a bit lagging ...

Currently, the only scientific researcher in Marin's hands is Da Vinci. Others can only be regarded as good craftsmen, and their scientific research capabilities are seriously inadequate.

However, Marin was afraid that Da Vinci would have no one after his death, so he put too many teaching tasks on Da Vinci. Leonardo da Vinci has to teach students physics every day, but also to study chemistry that is not well understood. Therefore, there is not much time to study the train.

The steam engine Da Vinci helped to study it, but the problem is that its miniaturization has never been done. In particular, the boiler of the steam engine has not been miniaturized.

You know, the trains of later generations are only two or three meters wide. If you want to put the steam engine on the train, you must realize the miniaturization of the boiler. Otherwise, the large boiler a few meters wide made by Da Vinci cannot be moved onto the train.

However, Da Vinci was busy with bringing students every day. Marin asked him to teach physics and chemistry all by himself. The mechanical major also brought a group of apprentices and had no time to concentrate on the steam engine ...

Therefore, the current train or something can only be suspended. But Marin also knew that it was worth it. Because if Da Vinci brings out a group of qualified mechanics, a lot of people will get on the train together in the future.

In fact, Beihai now has steam ships. However, similar to the earliest steam ships in history, the current steam ships in Beihai are extremely inefficient and slow. Driven by the steam engine alone, the speed is only two or three knots ......

You know, sailing alone can run 10 knots if it is downwind. The speed of two or three knots has no practical value!

At present, the only practical place for the steam engine is probably to drive the pump. Although the current single-cylinder steam engine is not efficient and the speed is slow, it can't stop pumping without stopping. Therefore, it must be calculated that the efficiency is higher than the windmill pumping. Because if the windmill is windless or has little wind, the pumping capacity will be greatly reduced. The steam engine is different, as long as the machine is not bad, you can keep pumping ...

In fact, the earliest Newcomen steam engine in the world was used to pump mine water, and it was invented at the end of the 17th century. But in the following decades, the steam engine has been limited to the pumping field. It was not until Watt improved the steam engine that it was used in the textile industry. It was only in the early 19th century that it was actually used in transportation to drive trains and ships.

...

Are Newcommen and Watt smarter than Leonardo? Obviously impossible. Newcommen and Watt are the best among the artisans. Da Vinci is a great scientist.

However, Newcomen and Watt were better than Da Vinci. They stood on the shoulders of many giants. Before them, many people were working on steam engines. Even if it was Newcomen who invented the steam engine, before him, the French had worked out a steam engine working model. They stood on the shoulders of giants and naturally did well.

Leonardo da Vinci is more tragic, he engaged in scientific research, secretly hiding, fearing to be discovered by the Holy See. Fortunately, Marin gave him the freedom to play, otherwise, Da Vinci can only do scientific research in the basement.

Moreover, although Marin provides theory, there is no ready-made experience to learn from. So ~ www.wuxiaspot.com ~ has to rely on Da Vinci to figure out how to do it.

But Marin worried that Da Vinci was getting older and might hang up at any time. Therefore, I found many students for him to teach. In this way, even if Da Vinci hangs in the future, there is a group of students who are studying together, which is better than Da Vinci alone. After all, as the old saying goes, "Three stooges competed against Zhuge Liang."

Therefore, Marin is not good at forcing Da Vinci to put down his teaching to study the steam engine. In this way, we can only rely on the craftsmen who once laid down Da Vinci to continue to study the miniaturization of the steam engine.

But people are different, their wisdom is too far away from Da Vinci. Even if there are dozens of craftsmen, the progress is not as good as Leonardo. After all, the gap between scientists and ordinary technicians is not a star.

Therefore, it is estimated that the trains and ships of Beihai have to wait for many years. At least, it's only after Da Vinci's first batch of mechanical majors graduates, and after a few years of hard work, that it is possible to research a little.

Right now, everyone can only use the bulky and junior version of the Watt steam engine to pump water or something ...

However, it seems that Jenny Spinning Machine and Flying Shuttle can be launched ...