Chapter 75 The Steam Engine Finally Arrives

Hughes paced excitedly in the study, looking at the desk from time to time. There was an ugly metal bucket on the desk.

It was crooked, not even symmetrical, and covered in messy hand prints.

This is the final product that Nini made using that piece of iron plate.

It took Nini several days of trying before she successfully used fossils as mud to melt the steel. After anxiously waiting for a day, the banshees were delighted to find that this did not cause cognitive interference.

This means that Hughes's guess was correct, and turning fossils into mud does allow matter to become fluid at room temperature.

This spell has great development value, but this is not what Xius is most concerned about right now.

"Success! Success! We finally got to this point!"

Being able to process metal at room temperature meant that he could use simple molds for casting, which meant he could create a hand-rubbed steam engine without any hindrance.

The steel that was difficult to melt is now just plasticine that can be kneaded at will and can be manipulated at will.

"After so many days of hard work, we finally developed the core of industrial manufacturing!"

The steam engine is definitely one of the most important milestones in the history of human industry. It was from then on that industry demonstrated its amazing power and completely distanced itself from small workshops.

Since this arrival, Zeus has been thinking about how to build a steam engine. He once tried to find a blacksmith shop to see if he could make it by hand one part at a time.

Theoretically it is possible, and in fact that is what the factories in the Rhine do, but it requires the cooperation of a large number of skilled craftsmen, and also a lot of luck - in a world without an industrial base, the yield rate of hand-kneading is shockingly low. These conditions are somewhat feasible in the capital of the empire, but almost impossible in Castres.

He had originally planned to give up, and even considered finding some channels to order some key parts from Rhine, and then slowly collect the rest on his own.

So Hughes had to open some factories that were less dependent on mechanical equipment, which consumed a lot of manpower.

Now, if the steam engine can be successfully developed, the olive oil factory can free up more than 80% of the labor force and can operate day and night.

"Quick, go find the blacksmith, potter, and carpenter on the island!" Hughes called Connor and told him, "I'll give you some drawings and ask them to make some molds. You don't have to worry too much about the strength of the molds, but the precision must be as high as possible!"

With the Banshee's spell, you can simply make a mold with wood or clay to complete the casting of steam engine parts. Even if you fail, you can do it again quickly and easily.

Moreover, the energy consumption is low, only two fried fish are needed to produce 100 kilograms, which is quite environmentally friendly.

Well, I have to give Nini a raise.

Hughes had no time to rest and drew many copies of the drawings so that the craftsmen could start working at the same time.

He was not worried that these drawings would cause cognitive interference. He had ordered a lot of miscellaneous parts from the blacksmith shop before, most of which were used in blast furnaces. As long as these parts were not combined into specific machines and equipment, cognitive interference would not occur.

After handing the drawings to Connor and repeatedly reminding him of the importance of this matter, Connor took the drawings to find the craftsmen.

Although the steam engine has many parts, it is not difficult to make the mold. It can be quickly handed over to Nini so that she can use the fossils as mud to proceed to the next step.

Hughes opened his notebook. He needed to seriously consider his next step.

When the steam engine came along, something that had not been very important before suddenly became a problem: Castres had no coal mines.

The island is indeed rich in mineral resources, but that is mainly brought by volcanoes. Volcanic eruptions can easily bring about mineral deposits, and over the years Castell has become a mineral-rich island.

But coal mines are different.

The formation of coal mines requires a large amount of forests, which are not available on general islands, and most coal mines are located inland.

Due to the movement of the earth's crust, there may be coal mines and oil on the seabed, but the difficulty of mining is such that even the Banshee, who is fearless of water pressure, cannot do it. What Zeus needs is a mine that can be mined on a large scale, and relying on manpower to carry things on shoulders and hands is of little use at best.

Fortunately, coal is not a rare resource and can be bought as long as you have money. There is also some in the forests of Castel Island. The steam engine is not so picky and can be used to boil water. Wood can also be used.

But in the future, when industry develops, we will have to consider the fuel issue.

If physical pollution can really be burned, that would be a great help, but we cannot pin our hopes on it. We still have to consider where to import coal from.

In addition, there is the issue of training engineers.

If it were on Blue Planet, if the engineers were not trained well, the probability of accidents would be higher and the reliability would be lower. However, a certain big country in South Asia managed to develop its industry by making do.

But here, his engineers must have a very accurate understanding of the work in their hands, and there cannot be any deviation in the various principles. Once the cognition is inconsistent with reality, it will lead to cognitive interference and pollution will fall from the sky.

This is the case when he has the ability to purify the pollution. If he opens the factory across the sea in the future, the requirements for engineers and workers will be even more stringent.

Now he has to train a group of engineers. Speaking of which, the school's literacy classes have been running for a while, and it's time to add more courses.

He currently plans to offer courses in basic physics, chemistry, and mechanical principles in order to train engineers who will be used in the future.

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The steam engine will probably be built soon, and if we want to use and maintain it, we just need these engineers.

But if you want to offer a course, there is a problem, that is -

“There’s no one else who can teach.”

Hughes sighed.

He had to take these courses in person, as he couldn't find the teachers.

Rhine also has factories, but since cognitive interference exists in this world, the technical data of the factories must be extremely valuable, and finding someone to give lectures would be extremely difficult.

Besides, Xius was worried about finding other people.

The knowledge in his mind has been verified countless times by people in later generations. He is born standing on the shoulders of giants. If he asks other people to teach him, and if they teach some knowledge points incorrectly, the consequences will be unbearable for him.

"Come to think of it, Chloe once told me that the Candlelight Society would be sending a group of workers. I didn't pay much attention to it at first, but now it seems that they may be the talents I need most right now."

There should be many ways to avoid cognitive pollution in the factory. In his previous life, Zeus was killed not long after staying in the factory. Moreover, he was a lowly apprentice and did not have much contact with the factory.

These people have worked in factories before and know much more about factories than he does. They should know a lot of taboos and requirements in factories. Although the types of work may not be the same, many things are in common.

What's more, they are skilled workers themselves and can get started right away, which is extremely important for Castel, which is in urgent need of qualified workers.

The arrival of this group of people should be able to help him set up a factory.

Hughes thought expectantly.

"Maybe I can see those old faces again."

(End of this chapter)