When they met Du Zhongxiao, several craftsmen sang their promises with their hands.

Du Zhongxiao waved his hands repeatedly: "No need to be polite, the work in his hands is important."

Several craftsmen continued to lower their heads to make sickles. Tao Shiqi pulled Du Zhongxiao aside and pointed to the millstone pulled by a donkey and said, "After listening to what the officials said, I made this millstone. A donkey could hold up several people to swing hammers. With this hammer, the sickles made by two craftsmen over there every day are even better than those made by ten people before, and it is very convenient."

Under the millstone driven by this donkey, there is a large wheel, with a partition on the large wheel, and the donkey walks on the large wheel. There are huge sawtooths on the edge of the large wheel, one side is oblique and the other side is straight. When the large wheel rotates, the oblique side pushes a lever to press down, and the straight side suddenly rises. The other end of the lever is the forging hammer. When the other end is pressed down, the forging hammer is lifted, and when the other end rises, the forging hammer falls down by its own weight.

After looking at it for a while, Du Zhongxiao said to Tao Shiqi: "What do you think this hammer looks like?"

Tao Shiqi scratched his head: "In my opinion, it's like a monk slamming a bell--"

Du Zhongxiao couldn't help laughing: "What's the bell? Does this hammer hit the iron? Does it look like a mortar that pounds rice?"

Tao Shiqi looked at it for a while, suddenly realized it and clapped his hands, "As soon as the official said, the hammer really looked like a mortar, but it just turned around."

This was originally designed according to the mortar, but no longer manpower is used to step on it, but donkeys are used as power to continuously lift and fall. Of course, the structure is not just this one. Changing the position of the lever fulcrum and the height of the teeth can achieve several effects. Even changing the fulcrum to the rear of the large wheel, it is no longer pressing the lever to lift. Through various adjustments, you can get a greater impact force when falling or a higher drop frequency.

After looking for a while, Du Zhongxiao said to Tao Shiqi: "Have you heard that people in Jiangnan pound rice by the water and use water wheels, so they do not need to use humans or livestock? It's like the water mill we use."

"I heard of it - official, do you want to change this forging hammer to the edge of the water and use hydraulic iron?"

Du Zhongxiao nodded: "That's right. Although using a donkey saves effort, it is not easy to raise a donkey, and the donkey's strength is limited and it cannot create big things. If it can be placed by the water and uses water power, everyone can create anything."

Tao Shiqi didn't speak, stared at the forging hammer for a while, and said happily: "What the official said is that if the forging hammer is moved to the edge of the water and made it larger, I don't know how strong it is! If that's the case, wouldn't it be like kneading dough!"

Du Zhongxiao nodded: "You can teach me! I want you to make such a pair of sledgehammers to create a big thing!"

When talking about the industrial revolution in Europe, I often say that before the steam engine is practical, they often used hydraulic machinery. The two most important hydraulic machinery are: one is a water conservancy spinning machine and the other is a hydraulic forging. For engineering students, these are not difficult, just structure, and do not involve complex mechanical calculations. Since there is a large amount of surplus female labor in rural China, the demand for water conservancy and textile machinery is not urgent, Du Zhongxiao first thought of hydraulic forging machinery. Forging machinery is similar to the cone mortar principle that China has used for thousands of years. With a slight transformation, it becomes a forging hammer. However, the Chinese have countless intelligences in agricultural tools, but for some reason, the same principle is not satisfactory to turn to industry.

Tao Shiqi followed Du Zhongxiao for a long time, and was influenced by his eyes and mind. Du Zhongxiao talked about the principles he had conceived. In a short while, he brought the craftsman to make this donkey as a powered hammer. This hammer was used to create large workpieces with insufficient impact, but it was enough to create agricultural tools and swords. Now, twenty or thirty steel knives can be made soon.

However, what is really useful about this structure is that it can change the power and transform it into a hydraulic forging hammer. If the design is reasonable, it can create large workpieces, die forging gears and other large parts, and even cold forging of steel plates. Although Du Zhongxiao is not a weapon determinist in military affairs, he also knows how shocking it would be on the battlefield of this era if there were thousands of iron-armored cavalry shining with cold light.

Thinking of this, Du Zhongxiao secretly found it funny. At this time, no matter what new technology it developed, he unconsciously thought of the military aspect. Although he was still far from being in the hands of the army, there was always a magic power that made him think in that direction. Perhaps, the military weakness of this dynasty left too deep an impression on future generations, and it was difficult not to think about it.

Since we got here, Du Zhongxiao looked at the place where other farm tools were built. The plow was made by Tao Shiqi, and Du Zhongxiao gave instructions. The modified curved plow was much shorter than that recorded in the "Pu Hu Jing". Because with the curved plow, the length of the plow can be shortened. If the length is shorter, it will be flexible when turning on the ground, and it can even be operated by a single person. Speaking of the turning on the ground, the component connected to the front end of the plow and the cow cover on the "Pu Hu Jing" is called the plow plate, which made Du Zhongxiao very interested. This part is replaced by the car, which is the steering gear.

Online articles in previous life often say that there was no four-wheeled carriage in ancient China because the steering gear was not invented, and the turning radius was too large. In fact, at least in the Tang Dynasty, because the turning radius was too large, components similar to steering gears on agricultural tools had been invented. So why were similar inventions not used on cars? Du Zhongxiao tried to analyze the advantages and disadvantages of four-wheeled carriages and two-wheeled carriages, and quickly gave up. Really doing theoretical analysis, Du Zhongxiao's knowledge of engineering at the University was not enough. Where did he check relevant information in this era? For the mechanics analysis of wheels, it was not middle school at all.

What you can do with the knowledge of life, let alone multiple wheels. You can only roughly calculate it with existing experience. For example, a person carrying an empty shoulder pole is a way to carry it, and once it is a heavy object, it is another way to carry it. A person pushes an empty wheelbarrow is a way to push it, and a full-loaded wheelbarrow is another way to push it. A car with two wheels, an empty car is gently pulled, while a heavy load is carried by hanging a fence around the neck. More than two wheels, a train with small friction is to be pulled, and a truck on the road is half-dressed on the chassis. Tractors that are towed like trains have the same horsepower, which is much less than a large truck.

After passing the trains I have seen, Du Zhongxiao could only draw one conclusion that the four-wheeled carriage is used to pull people and a small amount of cargo, and it has the advantage of stable rides and fast speed. However, China has lacked horses since ancient times, and the most ox carts in the Central Plains were not suitable at all. If you want speed, ride horses directly and stabilize, then you can sit in a sedan chair carried by manpower. "Put the cow and ride the horses, lead the weight to the farther and benefit the world." The ancients had their own arrangements for these types of livestock, and it was not a problem that one or two parts were not invented. If you want to ride a carriage, you have to wait until the number of horses is too large and there is a demand at the same time.

Ploughs are the most important farm tools. They are not only used for plowing fields, but also for ridges to carry out various operations such as inter-cultivation and weeding, which greatly liberates manpower. Only by fully exerting the role of plows can we cultivate well. This is the farm tools that Du Zhongxiao attaches most importance to. This is the farm tools that a large amount of funds will be used in this regard. Next spring, a large amount of plows will be credited to farmers through mutual insurance.

There is no big difference between the shapes that Du Zhongxiao saw in his previous life. Du Zhongxiao could not explain the use of various shapes and could only be gradually improved according to the use of farmers. The difference is that the hoes and shovels made here in Du Zhongxiao are made of steel. Although they are not tool steel made in crucibles, ordinary filling steel is also rare for farmers. With careful quenching, it is a rare fine product around.
Chapter completed!