Chapter 1637: Steam Engine

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

It’s no wonder that Uncle Hei’s Mali Empire and Songhai Empire look like flowers and flowers, but in fact, this country’s technology is extremely backward, and they don’t even know how to make salt. Arabs need to transport them from North Africa with camels.

Moreover, these two so-called empires did not know how to smelt metals. Iron and copper were also transported by camels from North Africa.

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

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

Gold, because its nature is too stable, so-called gold mines, generally most of the gold is in the state of metal, and does not need smelting and reduction. Therefore, the black uncles only need to wash the sand in the river to get the sand. Moreover, there seems to be a lot of gold in West Africa.

Therefore, although the technology of these two West African empires is extremely backward, and they are rich in gold resources, some Arab bearded men in North Africa are willing to lead camels and come across the Sahara Desert to trade with them.

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

In addition, the most important thing is that the oases along the desert trade route cannot provide the fresh water needed by the army. Therefore, even when the Saad dynasty of Morocco conquered the Songhai Empire in 1590, they only sent 4,000 soldiers and horses. Because, if there are too many people, a few small oases in the desert will not be able to 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 Laayoune conveniently and safely. Even if you follow the camel team, you can only bring a few hundred people at most at a time. No matter how much, the fresh water brought by the camel team will not be enough.

"Oh, forget it, let's prepare a few more camel teams then!"

...

In fact, the straight-line distance from Laayoune to Timbuktu is only about 1,000 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 be there in two or three days.

But the problem is that the current research progress of the train is a little behind...

Currently,

The only scientific researcher in Marin's hands who can do it is Leonardo da Vinci alone. Others can only be regarded as good craftsmen, with a serious lack of scientific research ability.

However, Marin was afraid that there would be no one after Da Vinci's death, so he put too many teaching tasks on Da Vinci. Da Vinci has to teach physics to students every day, and also studies chemistry that he doesn't understand. Therefore, there is not much time to study trains.

The steam engine Da Vinci helped to research it, but the problem is that its miniaturization has not been able to be 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 with a width of several meters that Leonardo da Vinci has now created cannot be carried on the train.

However, Leonardo Da Vinci was busy teaching students every day. Marin asked him to teach physics and chemistry alone, and the mechanical major also brought a group of apprentices. He had no time to concentrate on studying steam engines...

Therefore, for now, the train or something can only be postponed. But Marin also knew that it was worth it. Because, if Leonardo da Vinci brings out a group of qualified mechanics, many people will be able to get the train out together in the future.

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

You know, sailing alone can run at a speed of 10 knots if the wind is down. A speed of two or three knots is of no practical value!

At present, the only practical use of the steam engine is probably to drive the water pump to pump water. Although the current single-cylinder steam engine is not efficient and rotates slowly, it can pump water without stopping. Therefore, after all, the efficiency is higher than that of windmill pumping water. Because, if there is no wind or the wind is weak, the pumping capacity of the windmill will be greatly reduced. The steam engine is different, as long as the machine is not broken, it can be pumped forever...

In fact, the earliest Newcomen steam engine in the world was used to pump water for mines, and it was invented at the end of the 17th century. But for the next few decades, the steam engine was limited to pumping water. It wasn't until Watt improved the steam engine that it was used in the textile industry. It was not until the beginning of the 19th century that it was really used in transportation to drive trains and ships.

...

Were Newcomen and Watt smarter than da Vinci? Obviously impossible. Newcomen and Watt are, at best, the best of the craftsmen. Da Vinci, on the other hand, is at the level of a great scientist.

However, Newcomen and Watt were luckier than Da Vinci, they stood on the shoulders of many giants. Before them, many people were working on steam engines. Even Newcomen, who invented the steam engine, before him, the French made a working model of the steam engine. They stand on the shoulders of giants, so they can do well.

As for Da Vinci, he was even more sad. He had to hide his scientific research secretly, for fear of being discovered by the Holy See. Fortunately, Marin gave him the space to play freely, otherwise, Da Vinci could only do scientific research in the basement.

Moreover, although Marin provided the theory, there is no ready-made experience to learn from. Therefore, how to do it depends on Da Vinci himself to explore.

But Marin worried that Da Vinci was getting old and might die at any time. Therefore, many students were found for him to teach. In this way, even if Da Vinci dies in the future, it is better to study with a group of students than Da Vinci alone. After all, as the old saying goes, "Three cobblers are better than Zhuge Liang".

Therefore, it is not easy for Marin to force Da Vinci to stop teaching and study steam engines. In this way, we can only rely on those craftsmen who have worked for Da Vinci to continue to study the miniaturization of steam engines.

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

Therefore, it is estimated that the trains and ships from Beihai will have to wait for many years. At least, after Da Vinci's first batch of students majoring in mechanics graduated, and after a few years of honing, it would be possible to develop some famous tricks.

Right now, everyone has to make do with pumping water with a bulky, rudimentary version of the Watt steam engine or something...

However, it looks like the spinning jenny and shuttle are ready...