Chapter 159 Chapter 159 The Calcium Carbide Lamp is on
The days after ascending the throne went smoothly until the fifth year, and the first five-year plan formulated by Lin Si and Liang Nian was over-fulfilled.
Liang Nian was very satisfied with the current Da'an, and he worked even harder, causing the officials in Anjing to complain bitterly. Sometimes Liang Nian would even work in the yamen until late at night.
Lin Si later went out on several incognito visits. What she loved most was chatting with the people she met on the roadside and judging what their current needs were from the content of the conversation.
Anjing now has primary schools, middle schools and universities, and more people are studying. There are also college students from ordinary families who work part-time as tutors in their spare time.
Therefore, the phrase "Don't let your children lose at the starting line" spread from Li County to Anjing.
Once the demand for reading increases, some people will need to study in the evening or at night.
There is a very inconvenient thing about this.
The nights in ancient times were really dark, and candles were expensive and costly, so ordinary people could not afford them.
Therefore, people generally choose to use lamp oil for lighting.
Although lamp oil is not cheap, it is a very affordable option compared to luxury items such as candles.
The woman who was chatting with Lin Si revealed sadness in her words. She said that her daughter was studying very hard now, but at night they could only use lamp oil to light the lamp, and the light was really weak.
This was not just a problem for the woman alone. In ancient times, there was indeed a lack of cheap lighting in the dark nights.
As an emperor who puts the needs of the people first, Lin Si went straight into the system and searched through it before going to bed.
Finally, she found what she wanted with her fragmentary memories.
Calcium carbide lamp!
This was something she had accidentally seen while watching a short video. It did not require electricity or oil, but only needed a stone and water to provide lighting.
The most important component of a carbide lamp is calcium carbide, chemically known as calcium carbide. It reacts violently with water to produce flammable acetylene gas.
Calcium carbide is not a natural ore, but is made by heating and burning limestone and coke.
With Daan's current technology, this is completely achievable.
So the next day after court, Ding Pu and Zhang Dai were called to the palace where Lin Si was holding a meeting.
Zhang Dai just came back from a business trip two days ago and has just submitted his leave application to rest at home.
He knew that His Majesty had summoned him early this morning, and he did not dare to be negligent in the slightest.
Being able to summon a minister who was on vacation to the palace must mean that he had something important to tell him.
Zhang Dai and Ding Pu not only work in the Ministry of Industry, they also serve as teachers in the Department of Physics and the Department of Chemistry of Anjing University, and occasionally go there to teach.
Lin Si then spoke slowly. "A few days ago, I went out on a private visit and saw that many people were troubled by the problem of night lighting, so I asked you two to come here."
Zhang Dai's face lit up with excitement. "Great! Your Majesty, if you say so, there must be something you want them to study."
Ding Pu's body trembled. Another experiment was about to begin.
Lin Si signaled Chunyi to show the blueprint and the chemical structure diagram of calcium carbide to the two of them.
Both of them had read physics and chemistry books, and they understood what was going on at a glance.
"I will definitely live up to your Majesty's trust."
While looking at the drawing of the calcium carbide lamp, Zhang Dai exclaimed that chemistry and physics are truly wonderful and great things.
They don't need to worry about calcium carbide. All they need to do is make a prototype of the calcium carbide lamp first.
The calcium carbide lamp is divided into two parts, the lower part is the calcium carbide chamber, the upper part is the lamp nozzle box, water tank, and drip control valve, the middle is the acetylene gas pipeline, and a metal focusing reflective disc is hung on the side. In addition, there are rubber gaskets to ensure the airtightness of each connection part.
Although there seem to be many components and parts, the entire calcium carbide lamp is not large in size.
After the two successfully tapped rubber, they were assigned to research steam engines. Lin Si said that this was a long-term plan, so they didn't need to rush and could just take their time.
Today, I discovered that rubber played a decisive role in the installation of the calcium carbide lamp, and I couldn't help but sigh. "Rubber is really a good thing. It can be used in so many places."
The two then talked about the outstanding students in the physics and chemistry departments of Anjing University.
“I wonder if these students are willing to come to our Technical Department.”
"I heard that our Technology Department will be renamed the Science Department next year."
Zhang Dai put the last part in place and said, "The Science Department is good, and science is the only way to make the country prosperous."
After the sample of the calcium carbide lamp was installed, we just had to wait for the fired calcium carbide to be delivered before we could start the experiment.
During this period, the two of them spent their free time working with steam engines as usual, and then went to the university to teach.
Zhang Dai used to think he was very smart, even a little conceited. But ever since his cleverness backfired and he was tricked into going to Nanzhao, he often doubted his own intelligence.
Especially after seeing that the brainless Feng Ling was able to save him, he began to doubt his life even more.
Fortunately, I later joined the technical department and studied physics and chemistry, and that familiar and confident feeling was restored.
After Feng Ling told him about the electricity issue, Zhang Dai went to ask Lin Si for advice.
The result made him very regretful.
At least in his lifetime, he will not be able to see electricity. To generate electricity, too many things are needed, and Da'an's current technological level is far from enough.
Zhang Dai's thought process was also different from that of ordinary people. After hearing this, he went home and was distraught for several days.
He deeply felt that it was all because he was not smart enough!
He was in a sad mood, but he turned his grief and anger into appetite and ordered several takeouts in one go. When Feng Ling returned home and saw the food, he exclaimed what a good day it was.
Zhang Dai just drank water instead of alcohol. "Nothing, I just hate myself a little bit."
Feng Ling ate chicken wings with a look of horror on his face. "Brother, are you crazy about gain and loss? I'll let Sister Zhu take a look at you."
Zhang Dai: ......
Several days passed like this, and finally a batch of calcium carbide was fired and sent to the government office of the Technical Department.
Not only Ding Pu and Zhang Dai were present at today's experiment, but other officials from the Ministry of Industry also came to watch the fun.
"Can this calcium carbide really light up?"
"If it's really that magical, I'll definitely buy one of these calcium carbide lamps."
No matter whether they are wealthy businessmen, officials or common people, night lighting is something that every household needs.
It was the first time that everyone saw fired calcium carbide. From the appearance, it was black in color and had a very rough surface.
The two knew that acetylene gas was dangerous, so they opened all the doors and windows for ventilation. They also weighed ten grams of calcium carbide and put it into the calcium carbide chamber of the calcium carbide lamp. Then they tightened the upper part, opened the drip control valve from the water tank, and added a small amount of water.
After hearing the sound of the calcium carbide reacting violently inside the calcium carbide lamp, the two men took out a lighter and pointed it at the acetylene gas outlet on the reflective disk from a safe distance.
A magical thing happened. A beam of light as bright as lightning suddenly burst out from the pipe.
Because of the effect of the reflective disc, the warm light is reflected even brighter. Even though it is still daytime, such obvious light can be seen.
Although Zhang Dai and Ding Pu were prepared, they did not expect the effect of the calcium carbide lamp to be so good.
The other officials were shocked, pointing at the calcium carbide lamp and saying, "This is very good, this is very good."
"This is definitely brighter than a candle."
"That way, there's no need to fumble around to light candles at night."
Candles are really expensive. Because of their extremely high cost, it is impossible to sell them at a low price. Even officials use them very sparingly.
Since the experiment was being conducted during the day, the people in the Ministry of Industry unanimously decided to wait until it was dark at night to see the results.
The office of the Ministry of Technology was originally the office of the Imperial Observatory, and it was almost next to the office of the Ministry of Rites.
Since Lin Si did not believe in ghosts and gods and advocated frugality, the Ministry of Rites is now a leisurely department. The number of posts has been reduced again and again. The Minister of Rites sometimes fears that one day he will wake up and see His Majesty announce the dissolution of the Ministry of Rites.
With such an uneasy mood, the Minister of Rites worked diligently. When the Ministry of Rites had nothing to do, he would lead other officials of the Ministry of Rites to help write documents for the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Education.
On the one hand, it was to show that they were still somewhat useful, and on the other hand, it was also for future consideration. In case the Ministry of Rites was really abolished or disbanded one day, they would have worked in other departments and would not be without official positions.
That evening, the Minister of Rites returned home. It was already dark after dinner. He suddenly remembered that he had forgotten something at the yamen when he was off duty today.
After much thought, he decided to take his servants and carry a lantern to the Ministry of Rites to get it back.
The yamen was pitch black, and the technical department yamen next to it was also pitch black.
The Minister of Rites used his key to open the door of the Ministry of Rites and walked in to get something. When he turned around, he saw a light coming from the Technology Department office across the wall.
The bright warm yellow light had a wide irradiation area, and he could feel it even through a low wall.
The Minister of Rites and the servants' legs suddenly went weak.
The servant's forehead was covered in sweat. "Sir...the technical department next door must be so empty-handed. What's with that bright light?"
The Minister of Rites was even more frightened. Candles and lamp oil could not produce such a lighting effect unless many candles were lit together.
But these candles are very expensive. Who can use so many candles at once and light them in the Technical Department?
This is indeed a bit weird.
The Minister of Rites and the servant looked at each other, neither daring to move.
Until a familiar voice sounded from the other side of the low wall.
"It works, it works! I didn't expect the lighting effect to be so good!"
"This thing is very good, this thing is very good!"
In the five years that he had been neighbors with these two people, he had heard this sound countless times, and there was no way he was wrong!
The Minister of Rites instantly returned to normal and even patted the servant on the shoulder.
"It's okay. The two people in the Technical Department are working on something again. Let's go back."
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