Black Corporation: Joseon

Episode 993: The Clear-Eyed Madman (18)

Although the scent was not completely the same as the grade of petroleum fuels I was familiar with in my past life, petroleum fuels were created that still had quite good thermal power and convenience.

“Well, considering that the fuels I know have been continuously improved for over 100 years, it is a natural result.”

After reaching a conclusion, Hyang registered the ‘petroleum refining’ item in the record. The result of the review committee, which included Hyang, was ‘Medium to medium to medium-high’.

* * *

Once the problem of ‘a fuel with more thermal power than coal but more efficient’ was solved, the production of Da Vinci’s new type of flying machine accelerated.

“It is complete!”

“Really? Let’s take a look.”

A month after receiving the report, Hyang ran to the banks of the Han River, looked at the prototype, and nodded.

“I think it came out okay. Good job.”

“I’m devastated!”

After congratulating Da Vinci and the craftsmen for their hard work, we began to examine the outline of the prototype in more detail. A heating device modeled after a stove was attached to the large oil tank. It was a method of controlling the output of the engine by controlling the heating power using the wick of the heater.

Above the trachea was a skeleton that served as the spine of the fuselage, and a drive shaft extended along the skeleton. There were two boxes connected to the drive shaft. One contained gears that transmitted power to the pinwheels responsible for vertical movement, and the other contained gears that transmitted power to the pinwheels responsible for propulsion. The box filled with large and small gears was filled with lubricating oil from petroleum refineries.

“Hmm… it’s okay up to this point.”

Hyang, who was satisfied with his head nod, looked at the cockpit and smiled bitterly.

“As expected…”

The cockpit was full of various control sticks and pedals. First of all, there was a control stick that was responsible for the vertical rise and descent of the aircraft. And of course, this was responsible for controlling the output of the power engine. Next, there was a control stick that was in charge of moving the aircraft’s nose up and down and tilting the fuselage to the left and right

. And underneath it, there was a pair of footrests that were in charge of turning the nose left and right. On the left and right of the pair of footrests were wind vanes. There were blocking pedals – clutches – in place that blocked the power going to.

‘It reminds me of a line from an animation I saw in the 21st century. The line whining about how there are dozens of pedals and levers.’

“Whew~”

Hyang sighed after inspecting the cockpit and looked back at Da Vinci and Gong Yajang.

“It looks like you need at least four or five limbs to control it properly.” “

You’ll have to make up for that with training. So today, I’m just going to make sure I remember the right thing.”

“Really? That’s how you do it.”

“Yep! Guys!’

“yes!”

In the subsequent test, the blade rose vertically. However, even though the engine’s output was maximized, it could not go up more than 3 feet (about 10 meters) and had to come down again. After the experiment was over, Da Vinci and the craftsmen bowed their heads to Hyang.

“Due to the lack of talent among small people, we have shown such poor results. I apologize. Please forgive us.”

When Da Vinci and the craftsmen asked for forgiveness, Hyang smiled and answered.

“It’s okay. You can’t fill up on the first drink, right? And didn’t you float up properly and land safely? I think that alone is a great achievement. We have truly established diplomatic ties. I can’t help but admire your efforts.”

Da Vinci and the craftsmen who were impressed by Hyang’s praise bowed down on the sandy beach and shouted.

“I’m devastated!”

* * *

The evaluation of the fragrance was not overrated. Until now, most of the successful experiments related to flight were related to monks. The only successful one related to flying machines was the human-powered flying machine that Hyang attempted on the Han River. And Hyang muttered with a bitter smile every time this matter was mentioned.

“It was rather a strange case that it succeeded…”

Among the soldiers, the smallest was selected to take the control, and the soldier with the strongest leg strength and endurance was selected to step on the pedal that turned the pinwheel. As if that wasn’t enough, people were loaded onto an aircraft that was built with little regard for durability and safety.

Therefore, this experiment was sufficient to be evaluated as a monumental success. Da Vinci and the craftsmen who gained courage again from Hyang’s praise began to analyze the problem again.

“As expected, the power engine is the problem.”

“It is lighter than a steam engine, but its output is also weaker.”

Engineers and artisans who believed that the performance of the power engine was insufficient focused on improving this aspect. These weren’t the only ones. Many scholars studying thermodynamics at the research institute also participated in this work.

“I think I can gain a lot of knowledge about thermodynamics by working with them!”

“They have a different perspective than us. They can fill in what we’re missing!”

With this concentration of manpower, the performance of the Stirling Institution began to steadily improve. However, the level of performance that Da Vinci and others hoped for still seemed far away. And another problem, the complex control method, was not easily answered. In the end, the township also registered this issue in the challenge record.

“The power engine rating is medium to high.”

And when this was posted on the bulletin board, many people’s eyes began to shine.

“The last oil refining was also registered because of Da Vinci’s flying machine, right?”

“Da Vinci’s flying machine was a field of gold!”

“The oil and power engines have a hard time controlling the steering wheel… I think it will be okay?’

“If it’s just a struggle… should I give it a try?”

“If it’s a struggle, the competition is fierce, so I like to move around. In that case, it would be a good idea to research the oil field.”

Many people began to argue fiercely.

* * *

Among the officials of the research institute and Area 51, there were many who had a desire for fame, or to be more precise, a desire for success. And among them, there were many. The grade of Jeonjeonrok became another standard. In the case of the lowest grade, Go-go-dong (孤軍奮鬪), you can achieve your goal if you work hard even if you die alone.

However, the competition is that fierce. The highest grade, Woogong-isan. In the case of (愚公移山), you can leave a name just by grasping the concept. However, it is difficult to even grasp the concept. Therefore, realistically, the most easy one was the horsemanship level. Even though it is easy, there is

an additional explanation that ‘at least three generations have to hang on.’ As I said, it was not an easy grade at all. However, if you worked hard as if you were struggling, there was a high possibility that you would be able to grasp the concept. If you did that, you would have your name written proudly in the application log.

“I was born as a person and my name is at least three characters proud. Shouldn’t we leave it to that!”

At the research institute, Area 51, Area 52, and many other academies, people full of ambition, regardless of gender, said this and devoted themselves to research. No, they were not the only ones. There were many people outside who were also challenging the challenge. .

After several revisions after the local government’s decision, it was possible for the outside world to know to some extent that Majokjeok was at a medium to medium level. Of course, it was not completely open as the word ‘to a certain extent’ implies. It is

a part deeply related to the military field. was prohibiting opening as much as possible. Nevertheless, the reason there were quite a few people who attempted the challenge log was because of the things they could gain if they succeeded.

Just by leaving their name in the response log, they could boast about it for generations to come. In addition, if it was useful, If you could create a technology or object that could be used, you could obtain wealth that could be used by three generations. Thanks to this atmosphere, many people throughout the empire devoted themselves to research on discoveries and inventions. Even in the New Territories, natives who came into contact with the empire’s culture and technology There were many cases where people started studying the basics of Jeongeum and Imperial Language immediately after learning them.

This was possible because of the social atmosphere of the empire. With ‘intellectual property rights’ clearly guaranteed, even small inventions and discoveries could be guaranteed rights by registering them as intellectual property. If the discovery or invention was useful at all, economic benefits could be gained through intellectual property rights.

Therefore, people who devoted themselves to research and inventions continued to appear in research institutes and academies even if they were not affiliated with Areas 51 and 52. This was because he was treated as ‘a human being who still earns his own living’ rather than as ‘a small man who wastes his time eating expensive meals and doing foolish things’. Because of this, later historians’ evaluations of the empire during this period were largely divided into two.

One was the ‘Age of the Great Leap’ and the other was the ‘Age of Madness’.

This was because, by the standards of later times, there were more than one challenge – for example, the development of the Northern Sea Route – that would be evaluated as ‘this is crazy!’

* * *

Da Vinci’s new flying machine and new power engine continued to show lack of progress, leaving a mark of disappointment, but there were also those who were happy about this. The most representative one was the imperial army, especially the units that operated self-powered aircraft.

“How can you say you don’t have to worry about water or coal?”

“You can significantly reduce weight just by not carrying water!”

The biggest problem when operating a self-powered flight deck was water and coal management. Oil was the best choice for a self-powered flight vehicle as it had a power engine that did not require water and had greater thermal power than coal, requiring only a small load and guaranteeing a longer range of activity if loaded at a similar weight. Thanks to this, the Imperial Army and the Ministry of Defense immediately rushed to the prefecture.

“Please buy me a new power engine! I’m getting dizzy!”

Since the prefecture thought it was appropriate, he immediately approved it, and Da Vinci and his gang began developing a new power engine to meet the performance requirements of the imperial army. This wasn’t a bad thing for Da Vinci and the gang. This was because research on new power engines could continue.

“No matter how much Taesang said he would look after me, I felt a lot of pressure, but this is a great opportunity!”

In this way, a self-powered flying aircraft equipped with a new power engine was revealed. The self-powered flight vehicle equipped with a new power engine showed better performance than the existing one.

I was able to climb a little higher and move a little faster. In particular, not having to carry a large amount of water was a big advantage. The increased margin meant that more soldiers could be carried, which meant that reconnaissance could be done better.

“Just hold on…”

When things get like this, there are always people who come up with new tricks.

“What if we load the water loading space with coal instead of water?”

“Huh?”

“Huh?”

“Wait…”

The executives of the Imperial Army who heard the new idea thought it over carefully and their eyes lit up.

“I think this will be okay?” This

was the birth of ‘aerial bombing.’ And later, After hearing this, Hyang unconsciously looked up at the sky and muttered,

“I didn’t do this!”