The British expressions were not very happy now! To be precise, everyone in a house in a parish in St. Giles Parish in the West End of London was very unhappy! Because their efforts failed again.

"Robert, what caused the failure this time?" Morris Thompson, who arrived in a messy house, asked helplessly.

"I'm sorry, sir, I lost you five hundred pounds, but we are still far from success." The middle-aged man called "Robert" wiped his black hands with a towel and smiled apologetically: "But we are not without progress. Now we have clearly known that the reason why the steam engine is inefficient is mainly due to two reasons: one is that the steam in the cylinder cools too fast, and the other is that the seal is not in place, and most of the steam is leaked. Just like the experience I have summarized, if it is an ideal closed container, the pressure of the gas in it is related to temperature and volume. It is roughly the higher the temperature, the greater the pressure, the smaller the volume, and the greater the pressure. This has been proven by many tests."

"A very good theory, did you summarize it, Robert?" Mr. Thompson asked casually over the mess of metal tools and scrap on the ground, looking at an "unusually ugly" steam engine in the yard.

Speaking of which, since the Almeida family sold research materials on steam engines in Lisbon, Mr. Thompson, who has been paying great attention to this matter, has also spent a lot of money to get a copy from the British merchants he purchased, and then recruited people around to study it. He is not a businessman who has not seen the world. On the contrary, he is very clear about how huge benefits the East Coast people use this magical machine to obtain. Morris Thompson also needs this kind of benefits.

This time, he recruited many scholars from London and Oxford through various relationships, and also recruited many skilled blacksmiths in Birmingham to try to build a suitable steam engine through their intelligence. Unfortunately, after spending more than 2,000 pounds in front and back, they still failed. The main problem was the problem of insufficient cylinder pressure, and insufficient pressure could eventually be attributed to factors such as cylinder sealing and gas temperature. This involves many factors including design, materials and processing, which are not something they can overcome in the short term.

"Yes, Mr. Thompson, I summarized it." Robert smiled shyly. Then he said, "The steam engine of the East Coast people is really an epoch-making great mind, really. For this kind of machine with a wide range of uses, Mr. Thompson, I personally think it is worth getting it at any cost. Over the years, we have obtained a lot of information about the steam engine intermittently. Even some scrap parts of the steam engine have gradually scattered to the old 6, but we still haven't been able to obtain a complete physical steam engine. Of course, it also includes the specific design of the practical steam engine. This is a pity. But as you know, this aspect is overall backward, and perhaps it is not enough to have a steam engine alone. We also have to get the best cylinder sealing method from the East Coast people. I heard that they initially used a metal swelling ring and graphite ring to seal and the best cylinder processing machinery, which is particularly important because it directly determines the efficiency of the steam engine."

"Yes, you're right. Even if we understand the entire mystery of the East Coast people in steam engines, we may not be able to imitate it. Or even if it is imitated, the cost is unacceptable, because their technology is a complete set, representing their overall industrial level, just like these high-priced knife heads that we smuggled through hardships." Mr Thompson bent over and picked up several high-carbon steel knife heads smuggled from the East Coast. He frowned and said, "These cut heads illustrate the problem in some ways. Without these high-priced knife heads worth 1oo2oo pounds, our processing machinery can't even accurately process the cylinders. Every time we think of this, it's frustrating. England's backwardness is really all-round and we have to improve it."

Robert nodded and added: "According to the Dutch, the East Coast people are processing the barrels with something they call boring machines, and they have bought some outdated hydraulic or foot-pedal boring machines. Of course, the accuracy and stability are not high, and it is very troublesome to repair after damage. They also have to buy high-priced East Coast goods. Since the barrel is processed with boring machines, the gun barrel is of course also possible. The difference between the cylinder and the gun barrel is not large, so we only need to scale the boring machine proportionally. But the problem now is that we cannot make such boring machines, there are too many materials, design and process problems, especially this large cutting head, which is only available in some steam engine factories and military factories on the East Coast, so it is too difficult to obtain."

Thompson was speechless when he heard this. It seemed that the act of trying to imitate the steam engine was really ill-fate. Perhaps he should contact more aspiring people, raise more funds and technical forces, and work together to overcome this problem. Of course, this requires a slow plan. After all, now the industry and commerce in England are developing rapidly, and there are more and more East Coast-style handicraft workshops to be produced in designated locations. The "farmhouse economy" in the past began to be added in the contemporary era of land enclosure movement (meaning that there are more and more landless farmers), because the labor force of industrial capitalists is becoming more and more sufficient. With more centralized production manual workshops, there will naturally be demand for more advanced machines, because this will effectively reduce their costs. Mr. Thompson decided to go to the lower house colleagues (more than two-thirds of them are industrial basics, and the rest are commercial capitalists) to seek help from financial and technical talents, which is exactly the right way.

After leaving the factory he secretly set up, Mr. Morris Thompson got into a carriage, and under the escort of his servant Harrison, he went along the gravel-paved avenue to Vidastre Diocese. There are many shops on both sides of the road that have been opened in recent years, mostly from a large number of emerging merchants to sell Indian perfumes, gems, refined cotton, silk fabrics, and tea and porcelain from the East. In addition, some shops are getting bigger and bigger by importing East Coast goods or American specialties. For example, a North American businessman named George Hampton resells the East Coast soda ash and has now built a large storefront on this street, which is very eye-catching.

It is worth mentioning that the materials and styles of these buildings built this year are very different from the traditional English wooden structure style. In addition to using traditional wood, they also imported various building materials such as cement and asphalt from overseas, which greatly improved the fire and waterproof performance of the buildings, just like the brick and tile buildings everywhere on the east coast.

Mr. Thompson agrees deeply and has ordered his new or renovated buildings to use new materials as much as possible. This actually doesn't cost much, and he also invested in a building materials factory in the suburbs. In terms of cost, it is not much more expensive than wood (who has made England import wood from abroad in recent years). Especially after a fire broke out in a residential house in St. Porterfe's Parish a while ago, causing serious damage to the entire street buildings, Mr. Thompson became more determined.

The idea is that wooden buildings are too easy to be damaged, and the planning of London neighborhoods is too messy. If you are not lucky, theoretically a small fire can burn half of London neighborhoods, which will be a lot of losses. Fortunately, the top government officials have also realized this problem. Recently, some officials have begun to take people to patrol the entire London and evaluate the safety and fire protection conditions of various buildings. They hope that residents can spend money to renovate their own houses, but it seems difficult.

The Parish of St. Vidast arrived soon. As soon as he entered the parish entrance, Mr. Thompson smelled a strong smell of smoke and the endless metal knocking sound. This is the metal processing area in London. Although Mr. Thompson started out with overseas trade (imported Virginia tobacco leaves), he has now begun to invest in industries, such as building materials workshops outside London, and a machining workshop in St. Vidast.

Well, to be precise, it is a factory specially designed for processing machinery and parts in the woolen textile industry. The original owner of the factory owed Mr. Thompson a lot of money due to the failure of business. In the end, he had no choice but to sell the blacksmith shop. Even he himself became Thompson's employer. After Mr. Thompson took over the blacksmith shop, he invested more than 3,000 pounds of funds to expand, transform and update it. Now the company not only has forty or fifty craftsmen and apprentices, but also many of the mechanical processing equipment are the latest East Coast goods, which is different from the past.

"Sir, you are here." Walker, the former owner of the blacksmith shop and the current craftsman, bowed, "The factory is operating normally. Recently, we have received many orders from the north, mostly parts of spinning machinery, and the business is very good. It seems that it is God's will to hand over the shop to you, because she has received such a huge exhibition only under your management."
Chapter completed!