New Han Dynasty 1834

Chapter 10 Reinterpreting the Power of Ancestral Rules

The vast majority of officials, scholars, and craftsmen at the Gewu Academy believed that foreign technology should not be completely banned.

Machines invented by foreigners should be used directly if they are easy to use.

In fact, during most of the early Qing Dynasty and earlier periods, officials and artisans of the Central Plains dynasties did not oppose the use of foreign technologies.

The view of foreign technology as a strange and ingenious skill and its subsequent resistance was actually a unique phenomenon that only emerged in the mid-to-late Qing Dynasty.

In the mid-Ming Dynasty, after defeating the Portuguese, they even learned from and copied the Portuguese breech-loading cannon.

Towards the end of the Ming Dynasty, they also learned from and imitated the Hongyi cannon.

The bizarre rules of the Great Han Academy of Natural Sciences are purely Liu Desheng's personal opinion, and he was most likely poisoned by the online slang and slang from his previous life.

However, for the Han Dynasty at that time, this requirement was a genuine "ancestral rule".

Directly modifying the rules would not only be "criticizing the late emperor," but would also give the new emperor the power to interpret the "ancestral rules" at his own discretion.

So although most people felt that it should be revised, when Liu Yulong first expressed his attitude, no one immediately echoed him.

Everyone was still observing Liu Yulong's clearer stance and the reactions of others around them to determine whether this was the inevitable trend.

Looking at the reactions of the people present, Liu Yulong felt that it might be because he had not expressed himself clearly enough.

So they reorganized their language to lay the groundwork, and at the same time made more direct arrangements:

"For thousands of years, Europeans have learned from and imitated many of China's existing technologies."

"We did not refuse to use technologies such as paper, gunpowder, silk, porcelain, and blast furnaces just because they were created by the Chinese."

"They even actively steal the technologies they need, such as blast furnaces and silk."

"Our ancestors did not refuse to use high chairs, high tables, folding chairs, iron tin, and Ferghana horses just because they were items of the Hu people."

"When the Great Han wants to acquire an item, a technology, or a mineral, it doesn't necessarily mean that we have to make it ourselves."

"We can also learn from outside, we can also seize from outside."

"Some machines or facilities should have an optimal design, and no matter how many people develop them separately, they will all end up with the same result."

"This design is actually a theorem that cannot be organized into a simple formula for the time being."

"Of course, no one can guarantee that what our Han Dynasty needs will be available in other parts of the world."

Therefore, the technology and products that the Han Dynasty needs should still be primarily developed through its own proactive research and creation.

"But we should also pay attention to useful technologies from outside and bring over technologies and products that are useful to us."

"Take the steam engine for example. Since the European steam engine works, we can just use it!"

"It can be used as a temporary power source for all equipment that requires continuous and stable power, including forging presses, blowers, water pumps, textile machines, sawing machines, various machine tools and vehicles, etc."

"Our self-developed new steam engine has greater potential than these European steam engines. Once it matures, it can replace these temporary machines."

Liu Yulong spoke frankly, and the officials, scholars, and craftsmen present were completely certain of his intentions.

The emperor wanted to change the "ancestral rules" that made them the most uncomfortable.

The young emperor's standards for doing things were surprisingly pragmatic, and he even knew that many things lead to the same goal through different paths.

After making the changes, I no longer need to deliberately avoid mature designs and waste energy on useless parts. I can finally be considered truly free.

The rules set by Liu Desheng were indeed the "ancestral rules" of the newly established Han Dynasty.

Whether or not the ancestral system should continue to be implemented, and how it should be implemented, depends on what most people think at present.

The emperor also wanted to change the interpretation of ancestral rules, and most of the people involved supported the change, and no one stood up to demand that the ancestral rules be strictly enforced.

The ancestral system itself can then be modified by reinterpreting and re-interpreting it.

After a brief silence, the officials, scholars, and craftsmen rose one after another, exchanged glances, and then bowed in unison to accept their orders.

"Your Majesty, we obey."

With the emperor issuing a direct order and the officials collectively echoing it, Liu Desheng's peculiar ancestral rule thus gained a new interpretation.

The emperor who presided over the interpretation of ancestral rules also established his authority.

Liu Yulong breathed a slight sigh of relief and continued to issue a series of more specific arrangements on the spot:

"From now on, all research and development projects of the various departments and agencies under the Institute of Geology will be divided into two categories: theoretical and practical."

"Theorists focus on studying the principles of heaven and earth and all things, and try to adopt the ideas that the Han Dynasty has independently developed."

"However, when it is truly necessary, we can selectively refer to foreign technological ideas."

The evaluation criteria are originality, pioneering spirit, and novelty.

"Practitioners focus on the practical application of theory and technology."

The evaluation criteria include specific indicators such as actual effectiveness, ease of production, and ease of maintenance.

"Taking machines as an example, theoretical projects continue to explore and design new machines, including steam engines or other forms of machines."

"In this process, we summarize abstract physical and chemical knowledge such as the laws of energy conversion."

"The practical project is responsible for summarizing the knowledge of various machines currently acquired, and designing and producing various machines with the best practical value."

"Pursue the highest possible power output, the highest possible fuel efficiency, and the greatest possible ease of production and maintenance."

"But in the future, we no longer need to worry about whether the specific design is unique to our Han Dynasty."

"The project currently underway will complete the qualitative distinction between theory and practice within the next fifteen days."

Liu Yulong's approach separates theoretical scientific research from applied technological research, clarifying the responsibilities and evaluation standards for both parties.

For the people from the Gewu Academy present, since the original ancestral rules had already been changed, such matters were even less important.

Wang Lai immediately led everyone to bow and accept the order again:

"Your Majesty, we obey."

Liu Yulong gently raised his hand, gesturing for them to go back and sit down:

"Now let's solve the problem of steel smelting and processing. Send someone to bring over tables and chairs, and prepare banknotes and rulers."

"Have someone carefully record what I'm about to say, and verify it as soon as possible."

Most of the officials, scholars, and craftsmen present were somewhat bewildered and confused when they heard Liu Yulong's order.

Is the emperor going to lead them in research and development?

The previous two emperors never did anything like this.

The key question is whether an eighteen-year-old young emperor can really participate in research and development.

Although those on the scene were all bewildered and confused, none of them would dare to provoke the emperor.

Grand Secretary Zheng Fuguang immediately arranged for people to bring in two large tables and place them in the middle of the hall.

Zheng Fuguang, accompanied by two scribes, sat on the left, simultaneously recording Liu Yulong's "instructions":

"Your Majesty's teachings are to be heeded..."

The first two emperors of the Han Dynasty, Liu Desheng and his son Liu Jin'an, had almost no direct involvement in technological research and development.

Liu Desheng simply established the Gewu Academy and then provided political, financial, and resource support to enable scholars and craftsmen to conduct research.

Aside from urgent and necessary matters such as flintlock muskets and quinine, Liu Desheng made almost no specific arrangements or guidance regarding the research topics and directions of the Institute of Natural Sciences.

In his will to his descendants, Liu Desheng mentioned many key ideas for modern technologies, but he also instructed his descendants not to provide them directly to scholars and craftsmen, but to let them study them on their own.

Later emperors only needed to refer to his will to confirm what stage the research and development had reached and what kind of support should be provided.

Therefore, Liu Yulong knew that Liu Desheng was not completely ignorant of modern technology, but rather genuinely believed that it should not be taught.

This is the second large pit that Liu Yulong discovered, and when combined with the first pit, it has a huge destructive potential.

He did not provide specific technical directions and did not allow the adoption of European technical approaches.

Let the scholars and artisans of the Han Dynasty find their own way to conduct research and development...

In Liu Yulong's view, this was an obsessive-compulsive disorder of competing with himself, trying to prove that craftsmen could develop the necessary science and technology on their own without the guidance of time travelers.

The mid-to-late 19th century was not the time to be serious about such things.

On the one hand, Liu Yulong wanted the Institute of Physics to produce some practical results as soon as possible to demonstrate its value.

Later, when Liu Yulong became emperor and provided support to the Academy of Natural History despite opposition from traditional bureaucrats, he would have something to rely on.

On the other hand, it is also necessary to promote the rapid industrialization of the Han Dynasty so that the Han Dynasty can stand firm in the most crazy colonial era.

Therefore, Liu Yulong decided to ignore Liu Desheng's request and directly provide the Institute of Geology with specific technologies.

After gathering his thoughts, and drawing on his experience with steam turbines, Liu Yulong inquired about the situation before making any formal arrangements:

"Tell me first about the progress you've made in your research on metal smelting."

"The key is the methods of iron and steelmaking, such as blast furnaces and continuous hot-rolling processes. Have there been any improvements?"

Grand Secretary Zheng Fuguang, representing the newly appointed Grand Secretary, answered the question as a representative:

"Your Majesty, in recent years, the Metallurgical Department has indeed made special improvements to the blast furnace and the continuous steelmaking process."

"In terms of blast furnaces, craftsmen continuously refined bauxite to produce better refractory bricks."

"At the same time, cast iron was used to manufacture the blower ducts, multiple layers of fencing were installed inside the ducts, and large furnaces were used to bake the outside of the ducts."

"As the blast air passes through the pipes, the heated pipes and grilles will be heated before entering the blast furnace."

"This almost doubled the speed of iron ore smelting, while also halving the amount of coke consumed in smelting iron ore."

"Ultimately, this reduced the cost of smelting pig iron by more than two-thirds..."

Liu Yulong was somewhat surprised, but also very happy. The craftsmen of the Gewu Institute had actually figured out the hot air blowing technology on their own.

Converting cold blowers into hot blowers is a very simple technical idea, but its practical effect is enormous.

In the era of cold blast, the blower was cooling the blast furnace while blowing air. The cold air consumed the heat generated by the combustion of coke, making it difficult for the blast furnace temperature to quickly reach the target value for smelting pig iron.

At that time, it took about ten tons of coke to smelt one ton of pig iron.

By using hot air and raising the air temperature to 120 degrees Celsius, coke consumption can be reduced by half.

If the heating pipes and grilles are specially designed to further increase the blower temperature, coke consumption can be reduced by half again.

By the late 19th century, only one and a half tons of coke were needed to smelt one ton of pig iron.

Compared to the nearly ten tons of coke consumed in the era of cold blast ventilation, the consumption has been reduced to almost nothing.

The key is that hot blast can break through the upper limit of blast furnace temperature, from about 1,300 degrees Celsius, which can only melt pig iron, to about 1,600 degrees Celsius, which can melt pure wrought iron, thus providing a basis for the direct application of modern converter steelmaking methods.

Upon hearing this, Liu Yulong immediately praised, saying:

"Well done. The proposer and implementer of the hot air blowing idea, your craftsman level will be promoted one level."

"And the earlier disc-type steam engine, the proposer of the idea and the one who ultimately organized its implementation, were both promoted one level."

The scholars and craftsmen present immediately stepped forward to express their gratitude:

"Your Majesty, I thank you for your grace."

Liu Yulong raised his hand, gesturing for them to go back and sit down.

Zheng Fuguang continued to explain the craftsmen's other improvements to the steelmaking process:

"The original method of 'stirring steel' involved building a fixed iron pool on the ground, pouring in molten iron, and then using tools to stir-fry the molten iron."

"Now the craftsmen have improved the 'stir-frying' method into the 'tossing' method, which has greatly increased the speed of steel frying."

Liu Yulong was puzzled when he heard the descriptive words "stir-fry" and "toss in the wok":

What is "flipping the wok"?

Zheng Fuguang gave a brief introduction:

"Using the methods for casting cannons, cast a short, thick iron urn with a small mouth and a large belly, and line the inner wall of the urn with bauxite refractory bricks."

"The iron urn has ears on both sides of its waist, similar to the ears of a cannon. The large iron urn is supported by a frame made of brick or stone or cast iron."

"Then use a waterwheel or steam engine, along with gears, to drive the iron urn to rock back and forth on the support."

"Such improvements have greatly accelerated the steel-making process."

"But problems still exist. The steel is still relatively hard and brittle, and can only be used to make rough farm tools, not precision instruments."

"It also cannot be directly used to manufacture blades and other components for disc steam engines."

"At the same time, some craftsmen suggested blowing air into the iron urn while shaking and turning the molten iron.

"At this time, the molten iron will surge violently as if boiling, which can further accelerate the frying speed of steel."

"However, after the molten iron boils and churns, a large number of holes are easily left in the cast steel ingots, which are called honeycomb steel by craftsmen."

"Honeycomb steel needs to be carefully forged and processed by craftsmen before it can be used."

As Liu Yulong listened to Zheng Fuguang explain the process of "flipping the wok," a thought involuntarily arose in his mind:

A large iron urn was set up, molten iron was poured in, and then it was shaken and blown with air. Isn't this the early converter steelmaking method?