Standing in the courtyard, Xiao Ming looked towards Bowen Academy and waited for a while, but no smoke appeared.
He thought to himself, this must not be an explosion in the chemistry academy, because after a chemical explosion there would usually be a plume of smoke.
But whatever it was, he had to go check it out—if there were casualties, it would be a big problem. With that in mind, he immediately had someone prepare horses to rush to Bowen Academy.
“What happened?”
As soon as he arrived at Bowen Academy, Xiao Ming ran straight towards the crowded area.
“Your Highness!” Seeing Xiao Ming, the gathered students immediately started talking all at once.
“The physics academy’s laboratory exploded. Lin Wentao and five students were scalded by hot water.”
“The physics students said they were doing a steam experiment, but the boiler exploded unexpectedly.”
“…”
On the way here, Xiao Ming had already guessed the cause, because at the last meeting, Lin Wentao had given him a report listing the steam engine as the top priority. The students’ words confirmed his guess.
“Where are they?” Xiao Ming asked anxiously. These were all key technical members.
One participant in the experiment said, “Your Highness, rest assured. Their injuries are not severe, they were only splashed by hot water. Right now, they are all at Medic Sun’s clinic.”
Hearing this, Xiao Ming breathed a sigh of relief.
Passing through the crowd, he went into the physics laboratory. Water was everywhere. In the center lay a deformed boiler on the ground, its exhaust port blown apart.
He sighed. He had warned Lin Wentao that steam could explode, but accidents still happened. Fortunately, this was only a small steam boiler experiment, so the power was limited.
After inspecting the scene, Xiao Ming headed towards the inner part of the academy, where the medical school was located.
At the medical school, inside Medic Sun’s clinic, he saw Lin Wentao and five others.
“Your Highness, ouch.” Lin Wentao tried to stand up when he saw Xiao Ming, but immediately grimaced in pain, clutching his lower leg.
Xiao Ming quickly told him to sit down. He looked at Lin Wentao’s leg and saw a patch of skin on his calf had been scalded by hot water, with some blisters forming.
He looked at the other students, who also showed some signs of hot water burns.
“Why weren’t you more careful? Didn’t I tell you to make the pressure gauge first? Without it, it’s no wonder the boiler exploded since you couldn’t monitor the pressure,” Xiao Ming scolded.
Lin Wentao smiled bitterly. “Your Highness, this time I was a bit impatient. I have already given the mechanical department the pressure gauge design drawings, but I couldn’t wait and led them to start the steam experiment early. I didn’t expect the pressure estimate to be off and cause the explosion.”
Xiao Ming shook his head.
The pressure gauge structure is not complicated, and Qingzhou can supply all the materials needed. The current machine tools can manufacture it easily.
Or rather, Qingzhou isn’t incapable of producing pressure gauges; it’s just that no one has invented one yet.
Now that Xiao Ming had given Lin Wentao the design, clockmaking craftsmen can manufacture pressure gauges without much difficulty.
The reason he insisted on having the pressure gauge ready first was to reduce accidents during the steam engine experiments.
After all, he had a complete set of knowledge. There was no need for this research to start from scratch. In fact, Lin Wentao and the others had already skipped the simplest steam engine designs.
“That’s nothing. What matters is that you are all safe. To me, you are more important than the steam engine itself. If something happened to you, there would be no one left to help me produce the things from the textbooks,” Xiao Ming smiled.
Lin Wentao and the others laughed softly. They were moved by Xiao Ming’s concern.
At this moment, Medic Sun said, “Your Highness, don’t worry. Their injuries are minor. They will recover in a few days.”
“That makes me feel better. Remember, cooperate with the mechanical department and produce the pressure gauge before continuing the experiments,” Xiao Ming reminded.
Lin Wentao nodded. “Yes, Your Highness.”
After calming the six students, Xiao Ming asked, “Since you are already developing the steam engine, what progress have you made?”
“The students have basically understood the principle of the steam engine. It is actually like a ceramic pot for boiling water. Steam continuously generates inside the pot, and the pressure inside gradually increases. When it reaches a certain level, the steam will push the lid off. If you try to hold the lid down hard, the pot will explode from the steam pressure. That was the cause of this explosion,” Lin Wentao explained.
After a pause, Lin Wentao continued, “So, if you add a piston inside the pot, the steam will push the piston outward, releasing some steam. Then the piston will fall back, and when the steam pressure is high enough, it will push the piston out again. This repeats continuously. If you add various mechanisms on the piston rod, the steam engine can produce linear motion, rotary motion, and so on.”
Lin Wentao spoke seriously and clearly. Xiao Ming nodded. “Good. It shows you have a deep understanding of the steam engine principle. But principles are one thing. Making a qualified steam engine is another. I’m looking forward to the day you succeed. Then I will reward you with titles and promotions.”
Lin Wentao and the others chuckled happily.
Xiao Ming smiled too. According to news from Yue Yun, the concept of the steam engine had already appeared in the West. Now Lin Wentao and the physics academy students were working hard to catch up.
With a solid knowledge foundation, Xiao Ming was confident that while there would be some setbacks in manufacturing a Watt steam engine, success was only a matter of time.
However, he would not underestimate the West. After all, the current world is very different from the modern era, and even in modern times, Watt’s steam engine was developed only this century. So the road ahead was still long.
After saying some encouraging words to Lin Wentao, Xiao Ming left Bowen Academy.
Although this experiment was thrilling, accidents in experiments were inevitable. He could not stop progress because of one accident.
Now, with the students’ grasp of textbook knowledge improving, Xiao Ming believed that an era of technological explosion was about to arrive in Qingzhou—a technological explosion even fiercer than in the West.
With technology as an advantage, his fiefdom could catch up with Western countries. Otherwise, the history of falling behind and being bullied would repeat.
After leaving Bowen Academy, Xiao Ming returned directly to the manor.
Lin Wentao and the others had no shortage of steam engine knowledge, only lacking practical application experience. There was nothing Xiao Ming could do but let them move forward step by step.
What he could do was provide these students with a complete environment to work in.