Chapter 489: Telegraph Machine 2

The twenty‑fifth year of Hongwu, third day of the first month.

The festive atmosphere had not yet faded, and the fragments of firecrackers in Yingtianfu City still lay on the streets, being blown by the cold wind into piles at the corners of walls.

Zhu Yong stood in the courtyard of the Ministry of Works Office, and in front of him was a huge wooden workbench.

On the bench were spread dozens of Blueprint, each drawn densely with wiring, coils, telegraph keys, relays; every component was labeled with dimensions and material, and each process had detailed instructions.

Lin Yuan crouched at the edge of the workbench, holding a magnifying glass, repeatedly scrutinizing a relay Blueprint.

He had already been looking for half an hour.

"Lord Lin, what have you discovered?" Zhu Yong sat down on a stone bench beside him.

Lin Yuan lifted his head, his eyes shining startlingly.

"Prince, this thing… is too exquisite. Look at this relay: when the coil is energized, the armature attracts, the contacts close, and another circuit is completed.

Just this small device can let an electric signal travel hundreds of li; I have served in the Ministry of Works for twenty years, considering myself well‑versed, yet I have never seen such a delicate design."

Zhu Yong nodded, saying nothing.

The relay, in the previous era, was one of the core components of the telegraph machine.

Without it, an electric signal cannot travel far before attenuating away.

With it, the signal can be passed level by level, traveling hundreds or thousands of li without issue.

"Prince, I have also examined this Morse code," Lin Yuan took a thick volume from the table and opened it.

The volume was densely filled with combinations of dots and dashes, each corresponding to a Chinese character.

"A short dot and a long dash; the combinations represent different characters. The sender presses the telegraph key, the receiver listens to the sounds, records the dots and dashes, then translates them into text.

I tried it: the simplest characters, for example "one", are a single dot; "two" are two dots; "three" are three dots.

"ten" is a dot followed by a dash. After a day of study, I can already transmit a dozen or so characters.

Zhu Yong's mouth curved slightly.

Lin Yuan's mind was indeed sharp; he learned a dozen characters in a day.

In his previous life he studied Morse code, taking a full week to memorize the twenty‑six letters.

"Prince, I have an idea," Lin Yuan closed the volume and stood up.

"Speak…"

"The telegraph machine is different from the generator; the generator is a brand‑new invention, created from nothing, explored from scratch, so it took more than half a year to develop.

Most of the telegraph machine's parts can be made by the Ministry of Works: coils, telegraph keys, relays—all have existing techniques. I think, if we hurry, a prototype could be produced in two or three months."

Zhu Yong nodded, "Good, you have free rein; if you need anything, tell me, Prince."

Lin Yuan replied, turned around, and went to make arrangements.

Zhu Yong stood up and paced around the courtyard.

The telegraph Workshop was in the rear courtyard of the Ministry of Works Office; it had originally been part of the generator Workshop, later separated to focus exclusively on telegraph machines.

Dozens of craftsmen gathered around the workbench, some winding coils, some polishing telegraph keys, others assembling relays.

An elder master held a file in his hand, meticulously refining a relay's armature.

The armature was tiny, barely larger than a fingernail, yet the precision required was extreme; a fraction off and it would not latch securely.

"Master, how long will this armature need to be ground?" Zhu Yong walked over.

The elder master looked up, saw the Prince, and hurried to kneel and pay his respects.

Zhu Yong steadied him, smiling, "No need for formalities, you may continue your work."

The master wiped his hands, carefully saying, "Prince, this armature must be ground for three days; after grinding it must be polished, then tested, then aged, then tested again. At least a month is needed before it can be used."

A month—not short, but not long either.

Zhu Yong nodded, patted the master's shoulder, and turned away.

Leaving the Ministry of Works, Zhu Yong rode his horse toward Zijin Mountain.

The Zijin Mountain power station had been operating for almost a year; the cables drawn down from the mountain were strung on wooden poles, reaching the Imperial City and several main streets.

The electric lamps had been lit for nearly a year, and the people had gone from initial novelty to habit; at night they no longer looked up at the lights when stepping out, but kept their heads down to watch the road.

But the telegraph machine was different; this device was invisible and untouchable to the common folk, useful only to the court and merchants.

Zhu Yong rode up to Zijin Mountain and tied his horse in front of the power station at mid‑mountain.

The station was small, a few Stone houses containing a water wheel and a generator.

The water wheel roared, the generator buzzed, and several technicians in Ministry of Works uniforms busied themselves before the instruments.

Seeing Zhu Yong enter, the foreman technician hurried forward to greet him.

"Prince, you have arrived."

"Is the voltage stable?" Zhu Yong asked.

"Stable. Since we replaced it with a new voltage regulator, the voltage has not fluctuated. Lord Lin had someone bring back from Europe that special material, installed in the regulator; its effect is far better than before."

Zhu Yong nodded.

The voltage regulator, too, was devised by Lin Yuan.

Without a voltage regulator, the voltage spikes and drops, light bulbs burn easily, and the telegraph machine operates unstably.

The special material brought back from Europe, called silicon steel, is an excellent material for transformer cores.

Great Ming cannot yet smelt it itself, and must import it from Europe.

But there is no hurry; once the steelworks' technology improves a bit more, we will be able to smelt it ourselves.

"Prince, the power from this station currently suffices only for the Imperial City and a few main streets. I have calculated that if the whole city were electrified, at least three more stations would need to be built."

Zhu Yong glanced at the technician and asked, "Three stations—enough?"

"Not enough; at least five stations. Yingtianfu City is this large, with this many people and factories; electricity consumption grows year by year."

"When we just installed street lamps last year, daily consumption was only a few hundred kilowatt‑hours; now it is several thousand, a multiple increase."

Zhu Yong turned and walked out of the power station.

Building the power station isn't urgent; first finish the matters at hand.

The telegraph machine is ready, so news spreads quickly; the rest can take its time.

When we returned to the city, it was already afternoon.

Zhu Yong didn't go back to the residence; he went straight to the East Palace.

Zhu Biao was sitting in the study reviewing documents; when he saw him enter, he put down his brush.

"Second brother, have the telegraph machine matters been arranged?"

"All set. Lin Yuan says if it goes fast, a prototype can be made in two or three months."

Zhu Biao nodded, took a document from the table, and handed it to him.

"Take a look at this..."

Zhu Yong took it and unfolded it.

The document, sent by the Ministry of War, reported that several tribes on the northern Grassland were being unruly, gathering forces, and might breach the border.

After reading, Zhu Yong placed the document on the table.

"Elder brother, if we get the telegraph machine working and set a few at the border passes, whatever happens here will be known there instantly."

"Indeed, with telegraph machines, warfare becomes much more convenient." Zhu Biao stood up and walked to the window.

In the courtyard outside the window, a few electric lights were still unlit; the sun had not yet set.

"Second brother, how long would it take for the telegraph signal to reach the border passes?"

"If it goes fast, we could install one in Beiping by the end of this year; from Yingtian to Beiping is over three thousand li, and we'll need to erect telegraph poles along the way, set up relay stations, and fine‑tune the machines—quite a project."

Zhu Biao nodded and said, "You'll handle it together with Lin Yuan."