Chapter 642: Solving the Casting Problem
At the Yongji Gudu Ferry, a steam-powered vessel gently approached the shore.
Bai Gongzi practically shot off the boat, his feet hitting the bank, only for him to land with a solid thud and a stumble. Years spent living in the laboratory had caused his physical coordination to deteriorate.
When it came to disciplines of the Six Arts like "archery" and "charioteering," which demanded athletic prowess, he was certainly never going to catch up to his father in this lifetime.
But Bai Gongzi didn't care.
He turned, gazing at his steam-powered vessel, and burst into hearty laughter: "It's done, it's done! A successful maiden voyage, hahahaha! Once again, we've used our own ingenuity to replicate a celestial artifact!"
A large crowd swarmed forward, marveling at the steam-powered vessel.
Suddenly, Bai Gongzi saw the Heavenly Lord flying towards them. Accompanying him was the Saintess's carriage. As they reached the dock, the Heavenly Lord slowly descended from the sky, landing directly in front of him.
Li Daoxuan smiled, "I've been in Henan recently, helping your father with disaster relief there. You've done quite well here at home."
Just a single word of praise from the Heavenly Lord filled Bai Gongzi with an inexplicable thrill.
Bai Gongzi replied, "Heavenly Lord, rest assured, I will certainly do so!"
After a brief exchange, several more people disembarked from the ship: Song Yingxing, Wang Zheng—all the scientists had arrived.
Indeed, with the maiden voyage of such a monumental invention as the steam-powered vessel, there was no way the scientists would miss the spectacle. And it wasn't just them; a large number of graduate students, as well as senior technical engineers led by Li Da and Gao Yiyi, were also on board. The ship was packed with the very soul of Gao Family Village.
Li Daoxuan, watching them disembark, couldn't help but laugh and shake his head, "Hey, I'm telling you, you've all piled onto an experimental vessel? If this ship were to fail its trial and capsize in the Yellow River, wouldn't the scientific progress of Gao Family Village be sent directly back to square one?"
It was fortunate he mentioned it, for as soon as he did, the scientists' faces blanched. "Ah? We didn't consider that at all. That was a close call!"
Li Daoxuan said, "For experiments, you must establish safety standards. No more recklessness."
Everyone promptly agreed.
At that moment, Song Yingxing suddenly stepped forward, standing before Li Daoxuan with a deeply perplexed expression. "Heavenly Lord, my research has recently encountered a rather frustrating impasse. I've racked my brain but cannot find a solution, so I must humbly request that the Heavenly Lord provide me with some new technical information."
Li Daoxuan asked curiously, "Oh? Tell me about it."
Song Yingxing explained, "It's like this: the Heavenly Lord once gave me a set of guiding principles regarding 'standardization.'"
Li Daoxuan nodded, still remembering that conversation.
Gao Family Village had, in fact, already begun using the concept of standardization in production. They had unified the unit of length to the "meter" and introduced a division of labor, requiring that parts crafted by different blacksmiths be precisely identical.
This had significantly increased the manufacturing efficiency of Gao Family Village's flintlock rifles.
Song Yingxing continued, "However, in applying this standardization, I've encountered some difficulties. For example, parts crafted by two different blacksmiths for the same position will have minute discrepancies, too small for a ruler to detect, due to variations in their craftsmanship. This ultimately leads to a 'poor fit,' causing the flintlock rifles to be easily damaged."
Li Daoxuan nodded. "Mm! Continue."
Song Yingxing said, "I then decided to abandon 'forging' and instead use 'casting' to create the flintlock rifle components."
A smile touched Li Daoxuan's lips. "A very good idea indeed."
Song Yingxing proceeded, "I fashioned a set of identical 'molds' for the flintlock rifle components. Then, I melted iron, poured the molten iron into the molds, and after cooling, removed and polished them. This allowed me to easily produce a large batch of identical parts."
Li Daoxuan said, "Ha, you've come to me because you want to say that while these parts are identical, their quality is substandard, right?"
A faint blush colored Song Yingxing's seasoned cheeks. "The Heavenly Lord is indeed the Heavenly Lord; you instantly know where the problem lies. These parts, made by cooling molten iron in molds, are exceptionally brittle. A flintlock rifle assembled from them would fail after just one or two shots."
Li Daoxuan replied, "That's to be expected, of course. Parts made from cooled molten iron haven't been forged or compressed, so their internal structure is loose and not dense enough. Air bubbles will also form, making their strength insufficient."
Song Yingxing sighed, "This problem... with my current capabilities, I truly cannot overcome it. I don't know how to even begin."
Li Daoxuan chuckled, "Well now..."
He drew out the sound...
Li Daoxuan was stalling for time because he didn't know the answer either.
But there was no need to fear; things he didn't know, he could look up.
He just needed to keep the little man calm while he frantically looked up information.
Li Daoxuan said with a show of solemnity, "To solve this problem, a series of new research endeavors will be required. Are you prepared for that?"
Song Yingxing's eyes lit up. "I'm not afraid of research; the more, the better!"
"Excellent. Since you possess such determination, wait here a moment. I shall return to the Scripture Repository above and retrieve a Heavenly Book for you."
Song Yingxing was overjoyed. "A Heavenly Book!"
"Indeed!"
With that, Li Daoxuan, with a flash, switched back outside the box.
Seeing the Heavenly Lord's statue freeze still, Song Yingxing knew he had ascended to the divine realm and was so excited he puffed out his beard.
As for Li Daoxuan, he was, of course, back on the historical military forum.
He continued to post anonymously: "Hey guys, if you traveled back to the Ming Dynasty and needed to cast flintlock rifles, how would you solve the problem of insufficient strength in cast parts?"
Reply 1: "Use vibranium!"
Reply 2: "Bury the first floor poster alive. The insufficient strength you're talking about refers to density and porosity issues, right? To solve this, you need to start with smelting furnace technology. If you smelt good molten iron, it will naturally cool into better parts."
Li Daoxuan humbly asked for guidance: "And this smelting furnace technology..."
Reply 3: "Abraham Darby invented the coke smelting method, and coke was a crucial step in developing large blast furnaces. Here, I'll give you the coke production method, along with information on the old Coalbrookdale furnace that used coke for smelting. I got these from the Harbin Institute of Technology library!"
Reply 4: "Iron smelting alone isn't enough; it's just for making transitional equipment. Ultimately, you have to go down the path to steelmaking. I'll give you Henry Bessemer's steelmaking technical data too, but... there's no way a time-traveler could achieve that in the Ming Dynasty, hahahaha. It would take at least decades, even centuries, of research."
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