Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

Of these two things, the former can actually be produced by Europeans, while the latter is nothing short of epoch-making black technology.

The lens of the monocular telescope that Zheng Zhibiao gave him was made of glass produced by Europeans.

Glass is extremely important. Not only does it have extremely high economic value, but it can also promote chemistry and lead to technological progress in various disciplines.

Glass can not only be used as a decoration, but can also be used to produce many products that are no less beautiful than crystal.

And because glass is extremely chemically inert and rarely reacts with other chemicals, chemical experiments become much more convenient with this kind of container.

China actually knew how to produce it thousands of years ago, but what it produced was not called glass, but called colored glaze.

Colored glaze is an opaque or translucent semi-finished glass product, but it took China a thousand years to produce real glass due to this technology.

"I know the glass. A missionary from Europe once showed it to me. It is a magnifying glass.

Wherever you place the object, it will magnify the object under the mirror, which is very magical.

However, its effect is somewhat similar to that of water, which can also magnify objects.

I believe that there must be some profound knowledge contained in it, but the missionary did not know how to make glass.

I also did some research later and tried to refine quartz sand, but I could only make something slightly better than colored glaze, and the clarity was still not good.

However, I think the difficulty is not in refining, but how to avoid the formation of bubbles.

This is probably because the number of experiments was too small. Now that I have the support of the Marquis and the court, I am willing to concentrate on research and development.

But this cement? I have never heard of it." Wang Zheng was devoted to scientific research and spoke very rigorously.

Song Yingxing also only knew about glass but had never heard of cement.

Zhang Shikang was not surprised at all, and roughly explained:

“Cement can be used as a building material, but its significance is much greater than just a building material.

This is an adhesive with extremely strong adhesion. If this material can be developed, it will not only improve the defense capabilities of our court, but can also be used in water conservancy projects.

If this thing is combined with gravel and steel, it can be used to construct a building that is tens or even hundreds of feet high.

Moreover, this building material is not only resistant to water and moisture, but also more fire-resistant than wooden buildings.

You two elders can think about it. If we have this kind of material in the future, we can build the city wall to a height of ten feet.

The rammed earth layer can protect against artillery fire, so we can add a thicker rammed earth layer outside the cement wall to maximize the defense.

If it is used for water conservancy, for example, the floods and droughts that often occur in our Ming Dynasty.

Imagine if we could dig a large enough dam upstream of the river, made of cement, steel and gravel, oh, it would be a more advanced project than the Dujiangyan Irrigation System.

This huge dam can store a lot of water. In case of drought, the stored water can be released for irrigation.

If there is a flood, it can also be adjusted to reduce the severity of the flood.

These are all things that cement can do, but they are not even half of what it can do.”

Zhang Shikang said a lot of things in one breath, all of which were based on the experience of later generations. After all, reinforced concrete can be seen everywhere in later generations.

Song Yingxing and Wang Zheng looked at each other and saw horror in each other's eyes.

They had never seen a building that was hundreds of feet high, and it could reinforce city walls and build dams. It was not only waterproof and moisture-proof, but also more fireproof than wood.

This……

"My lord, what materials are needed for this cement?" Wang Zheng couldn't help but ask.

Zhang Shikang, who was talking nonstop just now, was suddenly stuck when he heard this.

"This...I'm not sure."

After all, he is not a professional, and at this moment, he wishes he was a civil engineering expert.

In the eyes of a civil engineer, cement and concrete are probably no problem at all.

But he was not. He only knew that the cement used to build houses in his hometown was called silicate cement.

But who knows it’s silicate!

Wang Zheng and Song Yingxing were also a little dumbfounded. These were all concepts. The functions were indeed powerful, but if no information was provided and they only relied on ideas, it would undoubtedly be too fantastic to make cement.

"But it's probably a mixture of limestone, volcanic ash and some minerals.

But I really don’t know the proportion and the specific material.” Zhang Shikang racked his brains and could only think of these.

But after hearing this, Song Yingxing and Wang Zheng changed their expressions.

"As long as there is a general direction, we will definitely do our best.

It’s just that we don’t have volcanic ash in Shuntian Prefecture. I heard that there is some in the mountains of Yunnan and Sichuan.”

After all, they are engaged in scientific research. Once they have a direction, they immediately have a clear idea in their minds.

"That's easy. I made a new friend yesterday, the Duke of Qian who guards Yunnan. I asked him to think of a way to get a batch out first.

But there should be volcanic ash in other places, the two elders can ask more people to look for it, and of course I will ask the Jinyiwei to help find it. "Zhang Shikang thought for a while and said.

After chatting with Song Yingxing and Wang Zheng for a while, their minds were immediately focused on the glass and cement. Zhang Shikang did not disturb them and left the room.

He called Bi Maokang out alone. Bi Maokang was studying the bronze cannon with Johann Adam Schall von Bell, and seemed very unhappy to be called out suddenly.

This is generally the case for all big guys who focus on scientific research. The increased enthusiasm for the research and development of a new technology is no different from that of a fisherman who hasn't gone fishing for a month.

"Mr. Bi, I have another important thing to entrust to you." Zhang Shikang didn't waste any words.

"My Lord, please speak."

"In addition to artillery, I hope Mr. Bi can also devote some of his energy to muskets and black powder."

"Hasn't the self-propelled musket been put into production? Black gunpowder, what's so good about developing black gunpowder? It's a thousand-year-old thing." Bi Maokang said in great confusion.

The instant-fire musket had long been handed over to the firearms workshop of the Ministry of Industry for mass production. Now, 5,000 musketeers in the Beijing Camp had replaced their Rumi guns with the Ming-made instant-fire muskets.

"It's not powerful enough, Mr. Bi. I know a way that can greatly increase the lethality and accuracy of musket bullets." Zhang Shikang said bluntly.

After hearing this, Bi Maokang's eyes finally lit up.

He was very familiar with the power and types of Ming Dynasty's firearms, and had been working to increase the power of firearms.

But all he could do was keep trying and improving, and what Zhang Shikang implied was that he already had a method.

This is different from blindly trying.

"My Lord, please speak." Bi Maokang said excitedly.

"If we can find a way to carve specific lines into the barrel so that the bullet rotates along the carved lines when it is ejected by the gunpowder, we can increase the accuracy and power of the bullet."

Zhang Shikang said with great certainty.

……